Maybe Baby Lite (18 page)

I opened my eyes, enjoying
the calming effect of our first kiss. His eyes were a deeper blue
than before. He was watching me; what was he looking
for?

“
Hmmm,” he breathed
against me, “do you know how much I've wanted to do that since the
very first time I laid eyes on you?”

I was dumbfounded. I shook
my head. He lifted an errant lock away from my face, and then
brushed his thumb lightly against my lips, still moist from our
luxurious kiss.

He pulled me in, and
kissed my brow. My head rested against his chest again, listening
to his steady heartbeat. His hand traveled up to my ponytail,
twirling it around his fingers absently.

“
Are we going to talk
about it Tylar?” he asked softly.

“
I don’t want to Trey,” I
replied quietly. “But I will.”

“
Go ahead,” Trey urged
gently, “please tell me what these clothes mean to you.”

“
Okay,” I began, shakily.
“The other night, when you were in Atlanta, I'd been cleaning this
cottage like crazy. It brought back some memories. Memories of when
I was growing up in Radcliff—Radcliff, Kentucky, where I’m
from?”

He nodded for me to
continue.

“
In our house, Saturday
was special to my mom because that was the only night out of the
whole week that she had her date. By that, I mean a date with her
boyfriend.”

“
And what was his name?”
Trey asked.

“
Well,” I answered, “I’m
not really sure.”

Trey looked
confused.

“
It seems like maybe there
were a few of them.” I paused, gathering my thoughts. “So anyway,
my best friend was Laurie and her mom was Mona, my mom’s friend. On
Friday nights, Laurie would spend the night with me, and then on
Saturday nights, I'd spend the night at Laurie’s.”

“
Okay,” Trey commented,
“so how does this tie into the purple pajamas?”

“
I’m getting to that. The
dream involved a particular weekend at Laurie's house when we were
both 13. Laurie had made up a story so that we could stay out later
that night."

He nodded for me to
continue.

“
When we got to the video
parlor Laurie told me that we were all going out in a car with some
older boys and I refused. Laurie got pissed and they left without
me. I walked home and let myself in. Mom and her boyfriend were
upstairs. When I got ready for bed I put those plum silk pajamas
on.”

Trey glanced at the
shopping bag while I continued.

“
My mom heard me in the
bathroom and was pissed that I was home on her date night. I heard
her boyfriend ask who I was and she told him I was her younger
sister. That’s pretty much it. I went to bed.”

“
Tylar,” Trey said in a
very serious tone, “that can’t be it. That doesn’t explain the
ripped pajamas. That doesn’t explain the note about Sissy.” He
rubbed my back, comfortingly, consolingly.

“
In the dream I had, it
got into more detail. But I’m not sure that part really
happened.”

“
What part?” he asked.
“Tylar you must tell me everything, sweetie. We'll sort it out
together, remember?”

I swallowed nervously,
afraid that I might be sick. I snuggled closer to him, as if that
would help my memory be less despicable.

“
After I went to my room
that night, I couldn’t sleep so I put my headphones on and listened
to music. Later I woke up when I felt Mom's boyfriend on top of me,
touching me. He was calling me “Sissy,” and telling me the things
he liked doing to my “older sister.” He smelled bad, like whiskey
and garbage. He looked at me under my clothes and ripped my pajama
shorts right off of me.” My voice started cracking. I was so
ashamed. Trey held me tight and kissed my forehead.

“
Tell me what he did to
you, Tylar.” The tone of his voice frightened me.

He'll never touch me again
once he knows…

“
Don’t you see, Trey? I’m
not sure.”

“
Tell me what he did to
you in your dream.”

“
In my dream he put his
fingers in and around my private parts. He told me that I had a
clit that was working perfectly fine. He put his mouth and tongue
down there and asked if I liked it.”

I could feel Trey’s body
turn to stone underneath me.

I disgust him.

“
Go on,” he
said.

I told him the rest ending
with me kicking him in the crotch and screaming for my
mother.

"Didn't your mother help
you?" he asked tersely.

“
I thought she would when
she finally heard me screaming and came into my room. All she told
him was that I wasn't part of the deal and he owed her another
hundred for touching me. Those are the pajamas I was wearing," I
finished, nodding towards them.

Trey held me close. I
needed to get out of his grasp. I was nauseated. I didn’t want to
be sick in front of him.

“
Please Trey, let me go. I
feel sick," I said as I clasped my hand over my mouth and ran to
the bathroom slamming the door behind me... I didn’t want him to
hear me retching.

He knocked softly on the
bedroom door moments later, bringing me a glass of ice
water.

“
Drink this,” he
commanded. I drained the glass, handing it back to him. I lay on
the bed numb, scared, and confused. Who'd kept my ripped pajamas
all of these years and then used them to terrorize me? Was it the
same person that left the jewelry inside of my cottage?
Why?

Trey hurried around my
bedroom, collecting clothing from my dresser drawers and closet,
putting them in a pile on my bed, searching for a suitcase. He
found the one under my bed and packed what he'd gathered inside. He
was in the bathroom, gathering up my toothbrush, razor, and the
rest of my toiletries. He found my phone charger and purse, shoving
it all into my suitcase.

“
What are you doing?” I
asked.

“
You're not staying here
Tylar,” he stated. “And it's not up for debate.” He did not have to
worry about me arguing that point. There was no way I'd stay in
this cottage one more minute. “You're staying at the house tonight
with me.”

I noticed the pile of mail
still on the counter. He grabbed it, shoving it into the zippered
flap on the outside of my suitcase.

“
I think we’re ready,” he
said, guiding me to the front door.

It was dark now, which
provided a cloak of privacy. Trey held my hand, leading me up the
path that led to his home. The mansion stood in peaceful and safe
serenity. There were a few lights on inside. He led me around to
the front door, reaching into his pocket for his key. The door was
opened before he needed his key. A tall, slender man who looked to
be in his 60s greeted us. He wore a uniform.

“
Good evening Thatcher,”
Trey greeted him, pulling me behind him into a large entry hall.
“This is Ms. Preston. She is my houseguest this week. Please see to
her every comfort.”

Trey set my suitcase down
in the entry hall.

“
Of course, sir,” Thatcher
responded. “Where would you have me take Ms. Preston’s
things?”

“
To my suite,” Trey
directed without hesitation.

Thatcher didn’t bat an
eye, as he lifted my suitcase and ascended the wide staircase just
off of the entrance hall to deposit my things in
Trey’s suite.

“
Trey,” I said, “I’m not
sure about this.”

“
About what?” he asked,
looking surprised.

“
About staying here,
without you being here. It’s going to make me feel really weird,” I
said quietly.

“
I see no reason why it
should,” he replied nonchalantly. “You heard me ask Thatcher to see
to your every comfort. He'll inform the rest of the staff to do the
same.”

“
I know,” I replied, “but
what about when I’m off work? I mean, its sort’ve like I’ve been
separated from the group.”

“
You're not seriously
thinking about going to work tomorrow are you?” he asked,
incredulously.

“
Well, yeah,” I answered.
“Why wouldn’t I?”

“
Tylar, you're not to
leave the manor, do you understand?”

“
Whoa Trey, I don’t
understand.”

“
I’ve already explained to
you how I feel about you. If the first message you received with
the jewelry left under your bed covers wasn’t clear enough, this
latest one certainly was. No— I’m afraid I cannot allow you to put
yourself at risk until we find out who's behind this.”

“
Trey, I appreciate your
concern for me and I no more want to stay in that cottage by myself
then you do, but we have to draw the line somewhere. I still need
to work. I could go behind your back and go in anyway tomorrow, you
know that. So let’s please find a way to make it happen, okay? I
want to work tomorrow.”

I saw a flicker of
amusement cross his handsome features.

“
Tell you what,” he
offered, “why don’t I take you upstairs to my suite, and let you
draw yourself a nice relaxing bubble bath? How does that
sound?”

“
I’d really like that,” I
answered.

“
Good, and while you're
doing that, I'll make a couple of phone calls, and get myself
packed for tomorrow’s trip. Then we’ll meet up and discuss
tomorrow, sound fair?”

“
Absolutely,” I agreed,
flashing him a smile.

Trey led me upstairs
through his suite of rooms to the large bathroom. There was a
double marble shower at one end. In the center was a sunken bathtub
with jets. The double vanity was against the adjacent wall next to
the commode. The bathroom was ceramic tile throughout, with brass
fixtures, ceiling fans, and one wall was completely mirrored. Trey
gathered some clean towels and washcloths for me.

“
Tylar, your suitcase is
on the bed. You can unpack the rest of your things after your bath.
I shouldn’t be more than an hour.”

I nodded and smiled. I
filled the sunken tub with vanilla bath oil. It felt so relaxing.
After I finished my bath I wrapped one of the large bath towels
around me and returned to the bedroom. Trey wasn't back yet so I
found a short silk nightgown to wear to bed. I brushed my teeth,
placing my toothbrush in the holder next to Trey’s. I was so tired
and Trey's king-sized bed was so inviting. I crawled beneath the
sheets feeling safe and secure for once.

I woke up to a dark room
and was momentarily alarmed until I remembered where I was. I heard
the shower going in the bathroom. The clock on Trey’s nightstand
read 11:33. Trey and I still needed to have our talk. The shower
stopped; I could hear him moving around in the bathroom, closing
drawers and brushing his teeth. The bathroom door opened and he
flipped the light off as he came into the bedroom. He was wearing
only a pair of silk boxers. His stomach was flat and taut. He
climbed into bed next to me and leaned over to set his alarm. I
moved over to him and kissed him.

“
Did I wake you, Tylar?”
he asked, turning over and pulling me close.

“
I expected you to wake
me, Trey. We're supposed to discuss tomorrow, remember?”

“
It’s all taken care of,”
he announced. “I called Rebecca and she will swing by here about
8:45 in the morning to pick you up for work, okay?”

“
Great,” I said,
happily.

“
She will drop you back
off here at 4:15 p.m. after your shift.”

“
I don’t really think I’m
comfortable staying here without you being here. I just feel weird
about it.”

“
Nonsense, Tylar. This is
where I want you this week, understood?”

“
Whatever,” I replied
pulling the covers up to my chin. I dozed off again briefly, waking
a bit later, feeling Trey’s warmth right next to me. I snuggled
closer to Trey, pressing my backside against his front to see if
anything stirred.

“
What,
are
you doing, Tylar?”

“
Nothing,” I answered,
continuing now to swivel my hips ever so slowly against his crotch.
"Go back to sleep."

“
I hardly think so,” he
whispered, rolling me over onto my back and positioning himself
above me. He clasped my hands, our fingers interlocking above my
head. I had goose bumps. He lowered his head and his mouth found
mine in an instant. His kiss was passionate and hungry and mine
matched his with the same intensity. He released my hands and I
clasped them behind his head. His hair was still damp from the
shower. I covered his lips and his face with kisses. I couldn’t get
enough of him. I pulled him down on top of me, wanting to feel his
full weight. I could feel his hardness and I wanted it. Putting
both of my hands beneath his firm backside, I pulled him closer. He
quickly moved off of me and pulled himself up into a sitting
position. His breathing was heavy and ragged.

“
Tylar, we talked about
this remember?”

“
No Trey, you talked and I
listened."