Shaw
Angerburnedinsideme when Ari came into the bathroom. Even though I had my eyes closed, I sensed him and the way he disturbed my thoughts. He’d set this up. I knew he had. Insisting Nathan come up to the house to ask him out when he knew damn well I was his Daddy. Did he really expect me to say yes and share him with Nathan?
A part of me wanted to believe he’d done it only to make me jealous, but people found men like Nathan exciting and dangerous. I was a boring high school principal who looked nothing like the young cop. Nathan was the cool, handsome jerk whose sex appeal didn’t need additional points by being in law enforcement. What if Ari really wanted a date with Nathan? I should have said yes just to see what he would have done.
But the thought of another man lusting after Ari fired up every protective instinct inside me. It wasn’t just protective, though. The idea of someone wanting to touch him. Nathan practically salivated when I opened the door and he asked for Ari… No fucking way. Over my dead body.
And it scared the shit out of me. This new wave of possessiveness. The urge to keep him inside and away from the rest of the world. Locked in a tower. My own little Rapunzel.
He was mine.
I opened my eyes. He was so beautiful, all dolled up like that in one of those dresses he loved so much. He even had on stockings and heels. No one else got to see this side of him. Only me.
Here in my house, I could wade in the deluge of my filthy thoughts. Because it didn’t matter that he made me angry, something few people accomplished. Or maybe because of that anger, I wanted to place his hands on the marble countertop, like the naughty boy he was, and lift his skirt. To make my way to what was beneath and take it because it belonged to me.
He was driving me insane, and these past days I’d been avoiding my home to get my sanity back. It was as if he’d been seeping under my skin all these years and he was finally wedged in so good there was no pulling him out. I might not even want to pull him out. Some sick, twisted part of me liked that he paid me so much attention. That he wanted to cook and clean and serve me in every way.
But the duck. I couldn’t forget the way he’d hacked into that bird with the butcher knife. Was that the same way he’d laid it into Rich?
My stomach turned.
I met his gaze, filled with such eagerness to please. I knew if I told him to strip and suck me off, as hard as I was, he would do it in a heartbeat. I was finally beginning to understand what Anne had seen all those years. She hadn’t been wrong that this boy wanted more from me than a father should give his son.
“You can put the wine down and go,” I said.
I expected him to argue, to pout, for those long lashes to drip tears. Instead, he accepted my dismissal, nodding politely, and placed the glass of wine on the edge of the tub. I watched him walk out, the bow at the back of his dress so pretty and delicate. Just like him.
At the door, Ari paused and looked over his shoulder at me. He was up to something, but what? Was he off to meet Nathan now? I clenched my teeth.
“If you need help, call me,” he said, giving me a small smile. “I’ll be in the other room.”
He slipped away before I could do something stupid and call him back. Just as well. The door closed behind his slender back, and I sank farther in the tub. He’d lit candles around it just for me, and the temperature of the water had been just right. How had he known I would be home soon?
With a sigh, I picked up the glass and took a drink. I was supposed to be relaxing, to make decisions about Ari, but instead, thoughts of how he’d entered my shower and rubbed his dick furiously played in my mind. Memories of how much I’d wanted to take his cock into my mouth and suck all that cum down. Or how I’d been on the verge of shoving him against the wall and fucking him senseless.
The volatility of my thoughts had frightened me out of the shower. I’d always been a gentle lover, someone who took my time to learn and please my partner. But at that moment, I hadn’t cared if he came or not. All I’d been able to think about was stuffing him full of my cock and staining his insides with my cum. I’d wanted to have him stand there until I could see myself dripping out of his hole, which I’d just used.
And it scared me. A hysterical laugh bubbled out of my throat, and I gulped some more of the wine to chase it away. I’d buried a dead body, and now that made me what? Who was this man I was becoming?
I drowned my mood into the wine, wishing there was more but not wanting to call Ari for a refill. I wanted him as far away from me as possible. Maybe it was time to let him go. To shun the excitement his being here brought and return to my staid life.
When I tried to get up, my limbs felt like rubber. I frowned as my vision blurred. I hadn’t drunk a lot. One glass of wine wasn’t supposed to make me feel this way.
Ari.
What did you do?
He had to have added something to the wine. No wonder he’d left without a fuss. That butcher knife crowded my mind, but instead of that duck, it was me on the table before Ari, that innocent smile on his face, even as he hacked me to bits. Was that what this was all about? Did he plan to get rid of me now that I knew he killed Rich?
I cried out his name, but it didn’t come out as strong as it should have. I’d trusted him. I’d invited him back into my home and protected him all these years from his mother. Would he really do this to me?
Whether he heard me or he’d been timing this whole thing, the bathroom door opened, and Ari entered with that same innocent look on his face, as if he hadn’t drugged me.
“What’d you do?” I whispered.
“Nothing to hurt you, Daddy.” He walked over to the bathtub and sat beside me. “It’ll just make you relax and sleep a little. You haven’t been sleeping well lately.”
Even my heartbeat seemed to be slowing down with one giant thump after another. It was as if I could hear it in my ears.