What He Desires (7 page)

I’m glad our mouths are tangled up in each other, the feeling of his cock deep inside me causing me to cry out.

There is no gentleness in this; no mercy. His hands control the movements, his body keeping mine trapped flush against the wall, and his mouth ravaging mine.

As the pleasure rises to a peak I’m sure will shatter me any second, it happens again.

“You’ve bewitched me, from the moment our eyes met.”

Too far gone to react at the words flashing through my mind as if they are real, Tobias thrusts in just the right way, sending me over the edge.

“Nothing will ever keep us apart. My cock is yours and your pussy belongs to me, and we fit together perfectly.”

God, yes we do.

And right now, I’m glad for the wall and his body.

Holding me up when I feel like I’m falling and I’ve no idea where I will land.

All I know is I better figure it out.

Fast.

CHAPTER TEN

He drops me off at my place around eleven-thirty after giving me his mothers number, reminding me about the rules, and delivering a leisurely kiss that promises all sorts of pleasure when he returns.

As I enter, I’m disappointed to discover that both Iris and Dexter aren’t home.

I head to my room and put away my stuff before going to take a shower.

When I finish, I head to the kitchen for some water, only to find them both in the living room. Iris is the first to see me.

“Hey, girl! Weren’t you supposed to be back tomorrow?”

“Yeah, but he has some work emergency out of town he had to go deal with,” I say, plopping down beside her. “How’s it going, Dex?”

He tosses me a smile, then returns to flipping through the channels. “Same old.”

“I’ve got a question for you. Well, for both of you.”

Turning their heads to look at me, I smile. “Iris, I’d like for you to be my maid of honor. And Dex, I was wondering if you’d be willing to give me away?”

And just like that, I’m pounced by the both of them as they scream with excitement.

Maybe the next few weeks won’t be so bad after all.

~*~

“What have you done?”

I storm into my fathers office. He’s behind his desk writing and looks up when I come in.

He frowns at me. “If you are speaking of what I believe you are speaking of, I did it for you. There is no need to ruin your future over a man of no consequence.”

“You have no right to decide such a thing—“

“I am your father. I have
every
right,” he barks, standing up to move around the desk. “And as my daughter, you will do as I say, not as you please.”

I’m close to the entryway. I back up as he storms toward me, fear skittering through me at the anger written all over his face. I know I may need to make a quick escape.

“Please, Father,” I beg even though I know I shouldn’t as tears stream down my face, “I love him. Do not take him from me. He brings me such happiness—“

His hand strikes my face, cutting off my words as I stumble backward, falling to the floor from the force of his strike.

“He does not love you. He wants your money, you ignorant child.”

I shake my head, covering the spot where he hit me with my hand as I sob, “He does love me! He does not care about the money. He said he would have me without it!”

“He took the money I offered him and ran.” His words are low and filled with a hateful glee. “You know nothing. He used you and your sister.”

I gasp, staring at up him through blurry eyes.

“That’s right,” he hisses, bending over to get close to my face. “I know all about your stolen moments with him, and how your sister aided you. Nothing gets past me.”

“What money?” I whisper, all the fight in me dissipating. “How much did you give him, Father?”

“Enough.” He straightens and turns around, his back to me. “Get up off the floor.”

I stumble as I try to get up without assistance, my clothing making it difficult to squat as needed to rise. When I am standing once more, he is back in his chair and staring at me.

“Do you remember me telling you what would happen the next time you disobeyed me?”

I nod, unwilling to say another word for fear he will hit me again, even as the panic returns at his words.

“Then you should prepare for your wedding to a man of my choosing. You may leave me now.”

He goes back to writing and I do as he bids.

On the way to my room, I start making plans to run away.

With or without Theo, I would stay here no longer.

~*~

The next few weeks fly by.

I returned to work on Sunday to keep myself occupied, only to find the diner in perfect working order.

Nicole really knows her stuff, and as the wedding preparations pick up, I’m glad to have her help.

Tobias’ mother calls me every day with more decisions to make.

Then, when he and I get the chance to speak, we discuss how she’s driving us both insane with her questions. He doesn’t talk about the work situation, instead choosing to send me random pictures of people he’s dealing with making funny faces during the meetings.

I continue to keep the dreams to myself.

Dreams that are so vivid they seem real.

I’m not sure what to make of them; nor did I have any idea I had such an imagination.

The names all start with the same letters in them all. The man’s face is Tobias, and I’m the girl.

After the most recent one, I had woken up to discover myself sobbing.

As if the sadness were my own.

As if my father had slapped me so hard I’d fallen to the floor.

And I wanted then to stop.

I don’t know what the point of them is, but I don’t want them anymore.

I had a bad feeling I wouldn’t like the ending of the most recent one.

And that evening, on the eve of our wedding, that feeling proved correct.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

I’m in bed when I hear a noise outside the glass doors that lead to my balcony.

Recognizing the secret tap we’d come up with, I make my way over as quick and quiet as possible to let Theo in.

His dark eyes sweep over me as he slips inside. “I was afraid he would hurt you. I needed to see you.”

“Oh!” I toss my arms around his neck, sobbing into the crook of his shoulder as he envelops me with his. “H-he hit me!”

“Shh.” He strokes my hair as I cry. “You must stop crying so we may make a plan to leave.”

I lift my head and stare at him, eyes round. “Y-you didn’t t-take his money?”

He removes one arm from around my body, pulling out a handkerchief and dabbing my eyes with it. After he’s finished, he holds it up for me to take.

“Of course I did,” he says with a grin. “We shall use it to start our new life.”

I wipe away the remnants of my despair, happy with his plan. I have no qualms about using my fathers money to start a new life with the man who loves me. If he refuses to let me be happy with Theo, while keeping him in my life, then I will happily never lay eyes upon him again.

“Where shall we go?”

He shrugs. “Anywhere. Everywhere. We will be free.”

“He’ll never stop looking for me.” My lower lip wobbles as I imagine never being free of my fathers control. “I will be a runaway and you, a criminal. But I refuse to let him choose who I’m to marry.”

“We will marry.” Theo slides his hand up my back to my neck, then brings his lips near mine. “I will never let you marry another. You belong to me.”

His words thrill me. Just before his lips meet mine, I whisper, “And you to me.”

The kiss is chaste; innocent in a way I know I haven’t been in an eternity. Our mouths move against one another, our bodies flush against one another, all the promises in the world between us.

I long to undress, pressing my soft, naked form against his strength-filled one. I know from experience how he can lift me without much effort and hold me against a wall, breathing unchanged. I wonder what it would be like when I’m bared before him; how he will touch me and what words he will whisper in my ear while making love to me.

Theo is an honorable man, for all that my father believes him not. He refuses to take me until we are wed. And in spite of the fact I don’t care either way, I still adore him all the more for it.

I pull my mouth away from his. “Let’s go now. I cannot bear to stay here any longer.”

He doesn’t even have a chance to reply as the door to my room flies open.

Theo shoves me behind him as my father enters. My eyes go wide at the sight of the revolver in his hand.

“Thought I had no idea you would try to run away with my daughter, didn’t you?” He lifts his arm, pointing the gun straight at Theo. “And now, you shall die for being foolish. You should have taken the money and left my daughter alone.”

“Please father,“ I move out from behind Theo, trying to take the attention off of him as I take a step toward my father. “Don’t shoot him, this was my idea—“

“QUIET!” His eyes, wild with anger, find me as he keeps the gun pointed at my love. “You stupid, witless girl. You are under age. You
belong
to me and you will do as I say!”

I lift my chin, defiant until the very end. “I will not. And if you kill Theo, you shall never see me again.”

He laughs. “Stupid! What will you do, hmm? Take up work as a maid? You have never done even so much as dress yourself.” His eyes move back to Theo, dismissing me.

Putting his hands up in the air as a sign of surrender, Theo gives me one long, heartbreaking glance before looking back at my father. “I will go peacefully. It is not my desire to make life difficult for Josie. I love her.”

“You think me unintelligent? I know that unless you die, you will never leave her alone. And since you are trespassing in my unwed daughters room, no one will find fault with me protecting her honor.”

I’m frozen with fear. My father is right. Nobody will question him if Theo is shot.

I don’t want to live without him.

I see my father say something, but it is lost amongst the thoughts swirling in my brain. At what my life will be if the man I love is not in it.

And when he steadies his hand and shoots to kill, I do the only thing a girl who will suffer either way would do.

As if I’m outside my body, I watch as I scream and jump in front of Theo. He shouts ‘No!’ but it is too late.

The bullet lodges itself in my chest as my fathers eyes go wide with horror, his face draining of all color as Theo wraps me in his arms.

With my last breath, I stare up at Theo as he holds me, eyes filled with tears and gasp one final word.

“Run.”

My eyes close as the darkness approaches with one final thought.

If I somehow end up living, I shall never love again.

~*~

The morning of our wedding dawns brightly.

And I feel like shit.

I slept alone last night even though Tobias has returned. His mother insisted we must sleep apart the evening before because he shouldn’t see me on our wedding day until I walk down the aisle.

I’m not happy about that.

I’m definitely not happy with the ending to that dream.

Nor am I thrilled with the fact I didn’t get to have sex last night after going two weeks without.

I am ready to burst from the sexual tension running throughout me.

Tension that not even masturbation could get rid of.

I wanted his cock inside me more than anything else.

And if it weren’t for the people who will hover around me all day trying to get things ready, I’d’ve already snuck off to his room for a quickie.

Soon
, I chant over and over in my head.
Soon you’ll be all alone with him.

Sighing, I toss aside the covers and make for the shower.

It’s going to be a really long day.

~*~

The moment I realize my feelings go deeper than I originally thought comes after I leave the shower.

I’m standing in front of the mirror putting on my hose when I see it.

A barely noticeable blemish on my chest.

And yet, there it is.

In the same location as the bullet hit the girl in my dream.

I must be seeing things because surely this isn’t real.

This isn’t logical.

It’s not making sense in any way.

Yet, I can’t ignore this feeling much longer.

The dreams featuring Tobias and I in differing roles. Different names, same faces.

A poem that I’m pretty sure is a curse upon the two lovers.

Hearing phrases in his voice while we’re having sex, yet he’s not speaking.

His sister, whose name is eerily similar to one from the past, lost in the woods in what appears to be a memory.

The nightmares where we one of us — or both of us — die.

I’m dressing robotically as I continue to stare at my face in the mirror, pondering.

If the girl in the most recent dream is me, is that why I avoid relationships? Is that the reason I don’t feel as if I can love anyone, ever?

And if it was me, if it had
actually
happened
—
and Tobias is the Thomas, and Theo, and Þórsteinn — does that mean there is no one else for me?

These notions torture me as I finish donning my lingerie.