Chapter 16
When Truman returned, finally satiated of his own hunger, she wasn’t in their room. She wouldn’t have been let out of the building, and he set off to find her. He’d missed her when he was away, and it struck him as odd. She treated him as though he was a stranger, and it was painful, but as much discomfort as that brought him, he still wanted to be near her—needed to be near her. He felt pathetic when she saw his arousal after she’d fed off him, and he wondered if her lips on his body would always incite such a response or if he would ever be able to stifle his body’s desire. He just wanted her, and there was no hiding it from her … and part of him wondered why he should.
He found her in the pool alone. The atrium was much like a greenhouse without plants. It was completely made of glass and showed the surrounding city skyline. It was still a couple hours until dawn, and the darkness of the world with the lights of the city was amazing. She was wearing a black bikini, floating on her back in the middle of the pool. She didn’t see him immediately, and he watched her, becoming more aroused with every passing second. It was as much of her body as he’d been allowed to see for nearly six weeks, and he was responding as he always did to her. He was fully hard, and his body was begging to impale hers when she finally looked up and saw him. She watched him as intently as he watched her. She was as stunning as she’d always been in life, but her wariness was becoming difficult to stomach. She’d always shown trust in him, even when she knew his true nature. Trust had always been hard for her, but it had come so easy for them … but not now.
He was now just like every other man who had come into her life over the years. He could see it in her eyes when she looked at him, and it hurt more than anything else. During the summer, she’d overcome her fear of him even though she had no memory of him, but this place was different. Summer had been her choice at her speed in a life she was comfortable in. This place was new to her, and she was still finding her place within it. It was the worst possible place for her to get to know him again. He’d give anything to have her in his own home in Gloucester or any private place of their own outside of this fortress, but it wasn’t possible right now.
As she watched him, he decided again that his arousal and desire for her was not something he should have to hide. He’d never hidden it from her in the past, and he wasn’t going to start now. He’d never force himself on her, and that fact alone would have to reassure her she could trust him. There was nothing wrong with his arousal, and she already knew they had shared it plenty of times in the past. He shrugged out of his suit jacket, letting it fall to the ground. He then unbuttoned his shirt slowly as she watched. She was treading water and studying him at the same time. He dropped the shirt to the floor on top of his jacket, and she continued to study him. He pulled his shoes and socks from his feet, tossing them to the side, and when his hand moved to the button of his trousers and then down to the zipper, her gaze left his body … but only for a moment.
She watched as he lowered his pants and underwear to the ground, and her lips parted as she took in his arousal. She moved slowly to the side of the pool, holding on to the edge as she continued to watch. He sat on the side of the pool catty-corner from her, his hand moving to his erection with little thought to how she might perceive it. He stroked his shaft, realizing a bit late he was making her nervous, and thinking better of it, he eased himself over the edge. She watched as his body sank into the warmth of the heated water. Her gaze followed him as he approached her, and when he was facing her, she spoke. “What are you going to do to me?” She was nervous.
“Nothing at all that you don’t ask for.” When he reached to her hip, it was to pull the string tied there, and as the skimpy fabric fell away from her body, she gasped and clutched at the pieces. He took the opportunity to reach to her other hip, pulling that string as well. She scrambled to cover her body. “I want your suit off. I won’t lay a hand on you, but you don’t need to hide what I’ve already seen plenty of times in the past.” Her hands froze, and the black fabric drifted through the water to settle at the bottom. Truman placed his hands on the wall of the pool under her arms, closing all but a small margin of space between them, and leaning to her ear, he whispered, “Take off your top.” She watched his eyes for a moment but complied.
She pulled the tie at her neck, and as it was released, the fabric sank away from her breasts. She then reached to the lower strap on her back, arching her back as she did, and the fabric that covered her breasts fell away completely, and her hard and erect nipples brushed his chest. He groaned uncontrollably as he looked down at her incredible, small, round breasts that touched the pectoral muscles of his chest. It was as much of her body as he’d experienced for so long. When her hands returned to her side and her breasts pulled back from him, he watched her eyes. She was so terribly nervous, and her cool expression was guarded and judging. His body was coursing with need that he was trying to stifle.
“So, who did you kill tonight?” Always with the questions. It had always been endearing to him, but her expression was anything but sweet.
“Do you really want to have this conversation?” She nodded her response, and he obliged. “A pimp.”
“So, you’re killing pimps now too? What happened to killing pedophiles?” The accusation was apparent in her tone. She was looking for a reason not to trust him—to hate him, in fact.
He sighed in frustration. “He had twelve-and thirteen-year-old girls working for him, Ember, and he’d abused every last one of them. He was beating a twelve-year-old girl when I found him tonight.”
“Did you kill her too?” Her sarcasm was not at all appreciated.
“Of course not,” he muttered, “I took her to the hospital.”
“Is that what I was to you … what I am? Just one of many of the spoils of war you’ve come across over the years. It could be any one of them really. You could replace me with any one of those girls someday.” She wasn’t accusing now; she was suggesting—offering even, and it hurt. She was throwing out ideas as though perhaps some other victim could take her place and set her free.
He moved his lips to her ear, and letting his chest touch her still-erect nipples, he spoke through gritted teeth. “It … has … only … ever … been … you … Ember.”
She spoke quietly in his ear as well. “Why?” Her question was valid, but he didn’t know the answer.
“I don’t know. I’ve never understood my attachment to you.”
He continued to watch her, study her, and though his eyes seemed so at ease on her body, she was struggling to look up from his chin. She was still up against the side of the pool, and his hands were still at her side. He scared her, intimidated her, but her body betrayed her, and her skin was flushed, her jaw was aching, and her mind wouldn’t stop imagining what it must feel like to have his hands on her skin.
She must have accepted his touch willingly once. At one point, she must have trusted his hands to allow them on her body, but she couldn’t recall it. And so that trust was impossible to feel at this moment. She wanted to trust him. She was sired to him for eternity after all, but her missing memories left her feeling vulnerable and exposed, and that wasn’t a feeling Ember enjoyed—even if she enjoyed the way his closeness left a warmth in the pit of her stomach that radiated out to her body—a warmth she’d not felt since transitioning.