Serving Him

“So now you’ve found me,” I said with a quirked smile. “In a city of a billion people, you’ve found me. What’s going on? Everything okay with the apartment?”

Of course, my casual voice was just a front. Inside, I was a fucking wreck, my dick semi-stiff, heart going a million miles a minute. If I could, I would have ravished her right here, in public, yanking off her clothes and burying myself in deep. But right. I was playing the part of the good guy, putting up a façade to look normal.

Becky took another deep breath then.

“No the apartment’s fine,” she said, meeting my eyes steadily. “Again, thank you Kane. But I wanted to know why you did it? You didn’t owe me, you paid me more than enough, the money was really generous. So why did you do it?”

I was silent for a moment. The truth was because I love her, and couldn’t bear the thought of my baby living in a hovel, sleeping on a ratty couch with cockroaches scrabbling at night. So I’d put my guy on it and commanded him to find something nice, with a water view, something where my baby could be warm in the winter, cool in the summer, with air and light, and plenty of room.

But all that was too much, so I shrugged like it was nothing.

“Just figured,” I grunted vaguely. “There were vacancies.”

Rebecca nodded slowly, twisting her purse in her hands.

“I know,” she said gently. “There are always vacancies for a man like you, even in a city as notorious as New York. But I have another theory, do you want to hear what it is?”

My head pounded, the silence thunderous although it was a normal day, the gray sidewalks and massive buildings looming as they always do. I didn’t reply. I couldn’t, there was a massive lump in my throat.

But my girl is a brave one, and she went for it.

“I think you found me an apartment,” she said slowly. “Because you care about me. I think during our two weeks together, something happened. I don’t know what it was exactly,” she said with a small half-smile, “but it was amazing and you didn’t want to let it go. You wanted me to be happy going forwards, and so you made it happen.”

There was no air in my lungs, but I forced myself to reply.

“Don’t overthink things baby,” I ground out. “There are billions of apartments in the city for the billions of people who live here. Don’t overthink it,” I warned, voice rough.

But the girl went for broke then, cocking her head at me, brown eyes so soft, so beautiful that I almost drowned.

“There are a billion people Kane, but there’s only one me. And I think you love me,” she said in a gentle voice. “I think you love me, and you care about me, and that’s why you did it. That’s why you put yourself out there, going above and beyond what was necessary, making sure I’d be safe, comfortable and happy. I mean something to you, something special, and that’s why we’re here now,” she said, gesturing at the sidewalk.

I could barely breathe. Hearing the words out in the open was like a flood breaking a dam, a swell of water coming from nowhere, making me shake in my shoes, my heart about to burst. Because she was right on the money. Of course I loved her, I would give her anything, I’d give her my fortune, my soul, my everything to make sure she was happy, to keep her close. But I couldn’t tell her that, it would bind her to me forever, and that was a shitty future for a young girl. So I denied it.

“Naw baby girl,” I drawled, rolling my eyes slightly. It killed me to do this, but Becky didn’t know what was right for her. I’m a much older dude, one with a dirty mind who’d use her again and again, forcing her against her will. A future with me was something to be avoided at all costs.

“Naw,” I tried again. “It’s just an apartment. Listen, I’m glad it made you happy and all, but this love stuff? That’s not what I do,” I said with a cocky grin. “Trust me, I’m forty-five, I know it when I see it.”

Rebecca looked at me then, tilting her chin, so soft, sweet and innocent.

“Do you really, Kane? Do you really know it when you see it? Then tell me this,” she said. But instead of continuing to talk, she launched herself into my arms, pressing those lips to mine, beckoning, like a siren singing a song.

And I resisted … for about half a second. Because this was everything I ever wanted. The brunette was so soft in my arms, so giving, so warm, and she knew me so well. The woman knew exactly how to break down my barriers, to expose myself, and she’d done it again. Rebecca knew how to make me feel safe so that I could do these things, so that I could reveal myself, and suddenly, resistance was futile. Kaput. It was all over, and I was putty in her hands, everything that I owned belonged to her, every fiber of my being, everything and anything in my power.