bay seasoning, and cucumbers in an olive oil and mayo spread.”
She’s eating it as if it may disappear. “Hell, Kitten, at the rate you are eating, it’ll be gone by the time I unwrap my own sandwich.” I can’t take my gaze off her. She’s that intoxicating.
“Hey, I have a question for you?” she asks.
“Okay, but I get to ask one for you, too,” I retort.
“Well, I guess that’s only fair.” She takes another bite of her sandwich and a sip of her water. Placing it down on her lap, she squares her shoulders to mine. “Tell me about your parents.”
Ah, fuck. I set down my own sandwich. “Well, the bottom line, they are shit heads.”
“And?” she probes.
“And what? They were just more concerned about appearances than my welfare. You’ve not met Greer yet, but we are pretty tight. His mom was my nanny and raised me. When they left on trips, I stayed with her in her servants’ quarters, and every time they came back, they’d punish her, by not letting me play with her son. In their minds, I was too good to stay in the servants’ quarters and they knew Greer meant a lot to me. I was in her care, Pamela that is. Greer and his sister, Grace, was the center of Pamela’s world and taking my friend from me, was punishment for all of us. My parents were assholes. And sure, I’m an asshole, but I hope I’m a little bit removed from the degree of assholes they were and still are.”
She opens her mouth to continue the questioning, and it’s my turn. “Ah, ah, ah. It’s my turn, Kitten.”
She’s back to shoving her sandwich in her mouth. “Your father. He raised you. He must love you in some way?”
Ever since the day in my office, I want to know more about her father. I know from experience that the shittiness of others sometimes changes one’s life for the better, so maybe she learned from his mistakes.
“I do think he loves me in his own way. But his disease has caused him to be the shell of the man I remember when I was little. There was a time alcohol didn’t rule his life. But when my mom left, it changed him. I’m not making excuses—fuck no. He’s hurt me so much in my life. And when I thought he’d change, he’d do something more disgusting. He’s the reason I moved in with Kira. He broke into my apartment and found the money I’d saved between my mattress and box spring. It wasn’t a lot, maybe three thousand dollars, but it’s what I wanted to use to get out of the city. And away from him.”
She wants to cry, but when she hides her face from me, I see her swipe at her cheeks. “He gave this creepy-ass friend of his a key to our apartment when I was seventeen, and the sick fucker almost raped me. And my father just brushed it off as Darryl being Darryl.”
I don’t realize I’m doing it, but I crush the beer can in my hand, and it spills everywhere. I can’t move to clean it up. “But you got away?”
“Oh, yeah, my knee really did a number on his family jewels. And Larry was there for me.”
I have it on the tip of my tongue. Who the fuck is Larry?
“Calm down, Thor. I mean, Darryl is the fucker you could go and teach a lesson to, but Larry was our apartment manager. I only had food to eat because his wife would send me what she claimed was leftovers, but I think she made it just for me. He was the sweetest man. He passed away three years ago, and to this day, his wife still checks on me.”
It gives me perspective. I hated my parents, but my childhood was good because of others—my boys, their parents who loved me, and my grams. Her childhood, though… I can’t for the life of me have the heart to ask her if she has one good memory. Ignoring the beer on the blanket, I do the oddest thing—for me—and crawl over to her, pulling her onto my lap. And she allows it. We sit like this for several minutes. I can’t put my thumb on it, but this very intimate moment has me wanting her in more ways than just my submissive.
In the two weeks since my temptation has arrived in my life, I swing from sweet to ice cold