Chapter 9

Gillian

It had been a few days since the break-in and I was consciously aware of my surroundings. I was looking for anything out of the ordinary. I found it dressed provocatively.

The new maid hired to pick up the slack of the one who was on vacation had a chip on her shoulder the size of the rock of Gibraltar. We were never in the same room long enough to make conversation. She was doing everything she could to keep me at a distance. I could only attribute that to the fact she was temporary and she didn’t want to bond emotionally with anybody.

The ring and the research I was doing on it was a work in progress. I had been to several different shops in the area and nobody could give me a straight answer.

“I don’t know why you have become obsessed with that thing. You’re a dog with a bone. You don’t know when to let something go. It’s frustrating and I get so mad that I need to punch something. It’s the reason why I have the gym to burn off whatever is getting underneath my skin.” Grant was a fine specimen, there wasn’t an ounce of fat on his body.

“I do have an obsessive-compulsive disorder. I get a whiff of a mystery and I need to uncover all the pieces to put the puzzle together.” I had been quite vocal and had even recruited a few online parties to look into the ring on my behalf.

“Take a break from that. We need to talk about how you have been talking with the staff about your problems.” He seemed a little miffed and I felt like I was being called to the principal’s office.

He sat down wearing his gray khakis with one leg draped over the other in a casual stance. His arm was nonchalantly hanging across the back of the black leather couch with his fingers drumming incessantly.

“You make it sound like I did something wrong. It can’t come as any big surprise, the walls have ears. I haven’t said anything they haven’t already read about or heard on the news.” I needed some space and I had found a way to get out during the night but had yet to implement any kind of escape.

It wasn’t easy, but I was able to pinpoint a weakness in their security. It was a blind spot. I was going to use it to get a necessary breather from the claustrophobia I was feeling. The walls felt like they were closing in on me.

“It doesn’t matter what they hear. We try to refrain from making any personal connections with them. Their employment is a revolving door. Very few stay more than a couple of months. I know the demands of this family are sometimes unreasonable. It takes somebody with a thick skin to be able to handle our outbursts.” He was trying to explain his family dynamics.

“I’m doing my best to fit in around here. It isn’t easy.” I was making lemonade with the lemons given to me.

“My mother has expressed interest in you joining us for Sunday brunch tomorrow. I would like the opportunity to show you off to those I consider a friend and enemy at the same time.” I was learning valuable lessons in how to carry myself with manners and sophistication.

They had force-fed me a crash course in what it took to survive in their world.

I was wearing an original sky blue dress and it molded to my body like a second skin. I didn’t know the name of the artist who had crafted such a delicate piece of material into a work of art. I was never much for fashion, but I was finding I could be converted. The shoes on my feet were designer high heels. I don’t follow designers so I don’t know who Jimmy Choo is.

“I suppose it’s time for me to be baptized by fire. I’m a little nervous and understandably so. I thought carrying the flag of my country into battle was nerve-wracking. It doesn’t even compare to the way these people are going to judge me from the moment they meet me.” The crash course in manners entailed what utensil to use for certain dishes presented to me in a social setting.

“I’ve spared no expense in training you to know what to say with a speech tutor. She tells me in confidence you are one of her finest students to date. I’ve been impressed by how you have become a sponge. Who knew my mother could be useful in situations like this?” He was downplaying the role she played in making me the polished apple he was looking for.

“It was her personal experience I have found to be most helpful in my transformation.” They could take me out of the military, but they couldn’t take the military out of me.

“I’m glad to see you’re coming around to my way of thinking. An example of your lessons is necessary to see how you conduct yourself when faced with certain personalities. You need to keep a straight face and wear a fake smile. It shouldn’t be that difficult for somebody with your natural charm.” He was buttering me up and I almost forgot the leverage he had to make my life miserable.

“I can appreciate how hard it is for you to live up to the family obligations. It can’t be easy to be the gatekeeper of all their secrets. I’ve only lived here a short while and already I feel it’s necessary to run headlong into a chopper blade.” He had promised me heaven and instead, I was walking through hell with no vestige of hope on the horizon.

“The only thing you have to do is paint a smile on your lips. Nod politely and laugh at their insipid jokes. You play your part to my satisfaction and I promise you a world of riches beyond your wildest dreams. I’m not an ogre. I do know what position I have placed you in, but I know you can rise above it.” He was the warden and I was his prisoner with him holding onto the key to my freedom.

“I’m sure there’s somebody else you could have made into your image of the perfect trophy wife.” I was doing my best not to be distraught and depressed about my current predicament.

“They don’t have a vested interest in making things work in my favor. I do believe we have come to an understanding. I don’t have to worry about you taking me for half of my stuff, so a prenuptial agreement won’t be necessary. I did mention you can have affairs, but they will have to be personally approved by me.” He was coming up with new rules all the time. It was getting hard to keep them straight.

“I’m getting lost. I might need a scorecard to keep track of all of these changes you have made to the agreement.” Grant produced a book and slapped it into my hands with a resounding crack like thunder in my ears.

“I was going to save this until we were married officially in front of a priest, but there’s no time like the present. You will have to follow the rules I have outlined in that book to the letter. There will be consequences for disobedience.” I didn’t think the punishment was going to come in the form of going to bed without my supper.

“It’s getting late and I’m starting to get a headache. I do believe I’m going to retire early. I will see you at breakfast after I finish my daily workout with the security.” I had used my training to shape the mind of his security personnel into a military mindset.

“I’ve been looking for quite some time for the right woman. It’s been a painstaking effort. It was almost like fate intervened when you told me the secret.” I put my hand on his shoulder to show there were no hard feelings, but I wasn’t sure he was buying my gesture of good faith.

I went up the stairs and bumped into the new maid. She apologized meekly and her voice was like a child not yet out of puberty. I waved away any discomfort with a dismissive motion of my hand. She was the only one who didn’t go out of her way to make me feel welcome.

The blue feather duster went perfectly with the outfit too small for her frame in more than one way. She couldn’t move without almost busting out of the bodice. She was within the jungle of animals hiding under the guise of manners and class. I was prepared to take her underneath my wing, but she had declined any form of friendship.

I freshened up in the bathroom by having a hot shower before bed. I had to resort to medicinal help to sleep through the night. I had gotten the sleeping pills from the chef.

Tossing and turning every night made me ineffectual in the morning. Sleep deprivation caused many different side effects. I couldn’t risk saying something untoward.

I swallowed two of them without having to chase them with water. I got underneath the down comforter and snuggled into the warmth of the red sheets fresh from the dryer. It was a guilty pleasure I had come up with courtesy of my mother growing up.

The staff was a little confused, but they were given strict orders to be at my beck and call. I didn’t want to take advantage of them, but it was the only benefit of being cloistered like a nun behind these four walls. Any physical comfort came from my own hand and it was getting old quickly.

I needed to feel an orgasm courtesy of a man’s hand finding all of my hidden erogenous zones. I was patriotic, but I was also a woman with needs.

My needs in the Navy were never met to my satisfaction. I had to stand head and shoulders above the rest to prove myself as a valuable asset. It meant keeping it in my pants.

I made myself comfortable and waited for the pills to kick in. The room became disjointed after a few minutes. This was my first time trying these pills and I didn’t ask any questions. An interesting note was how it enhanced the fantasy of my perfect man coming to light before my eyes.

I saw him standing in the room and I reached out quickly like a snake after its prey. I grabbed him by the collar and pulled him down onto the bed with his body pressed up against me. The feel of his hair in my hands felt real. These pills had awakened a powerful hallucination and the feelings brought forth were something I wasn’t going to ignore.

My skin was on fire and it was flushed with a crimson paintbrush across my chest. I had this desperate need to be with the man of my dreams. The ghostly image of his face haunted me in my nightmares, but this was different. I wanted him to make me scream in the throes of unbridled passion.

“I know this is a figment of my imagination, but I don’t care. I’ve always wanted to do this, Dalton. I could easily shrug it off, but I don’t see any reason to deny myself this kind of pleasure.” He tried to say something, but I didn’t want anything to ruin the heat that was building up between my thighs.

I rolled over and was sitting on top of him. I made him lift his arms so that I could take off the black sweater he was wearing. The scar on his shoulder had me kissing it to make it feel better.

My hands were on the belt of his pants and I heard the snap of the leather when it came undone. I could feel his excitement. This was my chance to see it up close and personal.

I could feel the length of him rubbing up against my naked mound. I slept in the buff and there was nothing separating him from the delectable curves of my body. I took a moment to survey the rippling muscles underneath my touch. Everything seemed to stop like I had stepped back in time. It was interesting to see him at my mercy. I was looking forward to uncovering what was going to make him pant with desire.