“Whoa! Watch it. That’s someone’s husband, Charlotte.” April sounded anxious.
“I didn’t mean it in that way. I think I am attracted to him because he has suffered a lot and I want to try to help him. He loves his son, but the boy is afraid of him.”
“Just be careful that it doesn’t become anything more. Remember your motto. Other women’s husbands are off limits.”
“Yeah, I know that. I won’t go there even though the housekeeper said his wife sort of abandoned him when he met with his accident and went her own way.”
“Wow, she sounds like a complete bitch.”
“Apparently, she has loads of lovers.”
“You’re not looking for an excuse to have an affair with him, are you?”
“Absolutely not,” I said firmly. “I told you it’s not like that. It’s something to do with the guilt I feel about Aisha. I just think maybe I’m getting a second chance to help. To redeem myself.”
She sighed. “It was not your fault, babe.”
“I know. Look, I should go to bed. I’ll call you tomorrow.”
“Okay. Have fun indoors.”
“No, I’m taking Zackary outside to play tomorrow.”
“Hey! His mother said no.”
“His father insisted otherwise.”
“Whoa, Charlotte, you’re on a tightrope right now.”
“Tell me about it, but I have to do what’s right for the kid. I’ll just take him out for a short while.”
“Alright then, let me know how it goes.”
“Wait—” I called just before she hung up.
“What is it?”
“Does … can someone’s voice affect you through the phone?”
She was quiet for a few moments, so I immediately stepped in. “Don’t assume anything, it’s just an innocent question.”
“What exactly is innocent about that question? Whose voice affected you through the phone?”
“Goodnight!” I said to her.
But she was like a dog with a bone. “Don’t you dare put the phone down.”
“It’s nothing, I was just wondering.”
“Charlotte …”
I started to regret my decision to even ask the question in the first place. “You know who …” I mumbled.
“What? You just said …”
“Forget it. It’s late and I’m tired.”
Her voice was serious. “What was so special about his voice?”
I sighed. “I don’t know. It was just … I’m not doing this. It was nothing. Goodnight, April.”
I cut the call and threw my phone aside. I shut my eyes to sleep, but shivered at the waft of the early autumn breeze. The nights in the country were much colder than London.
Dragging myself off the bed, I headed over to the window by my bedside and was about to pull the curtains shut when I stopped. Mrs. Blackmore had told me earlier that his wing was opposite mine, across the inner courtyard. All the lights were turned off, other than perhaps one dim lamp, and I got the glimpse of a shadow by the window, standing silhouetted in the dark, just as I was.
I was startled, but I didn’t scream in fright. Unmoving, I stood and watched the figure, tall and unidentifiable in the shadows for a few more seconds.
Was that him?
Whoever he was I knew he was watching me, staring straight ahead, and unmoving. I was suddenly hot. Stepping away from the windows I stood just inside the shadows and watched him. He turned away and I found my breathing was shallow. Had he truly been watching me, or was it all just my imagination? A trick of the light. My phone buzzed and I picked it up without even bothering to check the ID. I smiled as I saw that my mother was trying to Skype me.
“I knew you were awake because I saw your green light,” she said.
“You’ve really learned to use your phone properly now, haven’t you?”
“Yes, I have,” she said proudly.
I smiled. “Good.”
“I didn’t wake you, did I?” she asked.
“No, you didn't. How are you?”
“I’m alright. How are your new employers?”
“They’re alright,” I replied.
“Are they nice people?”
“Yeah, they’re both great.”
“Oh, good. You know how I worry about you.”
“Mom, I’m living in a castle. You should see this place. It’s like a fortress.”
“Well, as long as they are nice to you.”
“They are. I’m just about to go to bed, but I’ll call you tomorrow, okay?”
“Yes, you do that. You must be tired. I just wanted to say thank you. I received the money you sent. You’re a wonderful daughter to me.”
Her compliment made my heart turn to mush. “Wow, you change your tone so easily don’t you.”
“What do you mean?”
“Remember when you threw me down the stairs for being your too stubborn, bad tempered daughter?”
“I didn't throw you down the stairs, you brat, you fell.”
“And whose fault was that?”
“I’m sending the money back to you if you're going to gloat about that accident,” she snapped, and I was glad I had my feisty Mom back. “If not for those damn scraps they call a pension,” she continued, “I wouldn’t have to bother yo—”
“You're not bothering me, Mom. Being able to give back to you is a blessing for me. I love you.”
She sighed deeply. “I love you, little one. Make sure you take care of yourself. When will your day off be?”
“I’m yet to sort it out. When I do I’ll let you know, alright?”
“Very well, goodnight sweet child of mine.”
“Goodnight, Mom.”
Chapter 11
Charlotte
I was very tired and deep in sleep, but I heard my door creak open.
My eyes fluttered open for a moment, but I saw nothing so I shut them and turned away, too exhausted to be bothered. Then, I felt the bed around me compress down as though someone were joining me on it. My heart lurched into my throat, and my eyes shot open. Through the darkness, I met the glittering gaze of a stranger.
A hand shot over my mouth to muffle the scream that rose up in my throat, but then I looked into his eyes and I knew he would not hurt me. He was wounded and I felt a simple peace settle over my heart.
I reached out a hand and touched his face. It was covered by a mask. It felt warm from his skin and it glinted in the soft shadows. He didn’t do anything so I carefully took the mask off, but it was too dark to see his face properly. His eyes never left my face. My hand moved to the switch on the table lamp, but he caught it. His hand was large and strong. There were calluses on his palms.
What came next was a kiss. At first gentle, then more and more passionate until it shot a dose of ecstasy down to my core. My arms rose up. I found the fingers of one hand in his hair, and the other circling around his shoulders, as though terrified that he would disappear.
He dragged away his lips to press them on my neck. The action set me on fire. My arms fell away as I reveled in the sweet assault. An alarm sounded in the back of my head. What are you doing, Charlotte? You don't know this man. And yet I felt no real fear, or a s
ense of caution.
His hands tore away at my pajama bottoms. A gasp escaped my lips when the tip of his tongue dug into my navel. An ache began somewhere deep inside me. I began to writhe in anticipation. He opened my thighs and bent his head to look between them.
“Jesus, Charlotte. You’re so beautiful. And so fucking wet,” he rasped.
I recognized his voice and responded to it. He was no stranger. I knew this man.
He lowered his head I was still trying to see his face, but it was almost completely shadowed. When he took my swollen nub in his velvet mouth and sucked on it sensuously, like someone sucking a sweet, I almost shot out of the bed. Juices poured out of me.
My hands fisted the sheet and my body arched. The sheets were jerked out of their hold under the mattress when his hot, wet tongue lapped at me, as if I was a melting cone. I whimpered with ecstasy.
“Shhh … the child,” he whispered, and clamped his hand over my mouth.
I couldn’t recover, his tongue speared into me, and my hands tore at his hair.
My moans I was sure had moved to borderline screams. Thank God for his palm pressing down on my mouth. I tried to say something, but there was no coherence. Just a muffled animal sound. Weird. Embarrassing.
I wanted to come … I wanted this to end … before I went out of my mind.
My fingers moved to my swollen nub to aid the process along, but before I could get to it, he took it between his teeth and bit down. The pain was precise, but it was the trigger I needed. A scream was torn from my throat. Then, hot cream poured from my slit as I lost it.
“Fuck!” I cursed.
I had come, but the maddening ache for more refused to stop. I wanted more. Much more. Unsatisfied, I moved my legs and wrapped them around his head, trapping his mouth on my pussy.
“Who was he? Who the fuck was he?
I needed to know. I needed to know now. I reached down to pull his head up to mine. It was too dark to see. I had to see his face in the light.