“But pa,” she whined pathetically, her rear still smarting from the punishment, even as the day wore on and dusk approached.
“‘But pa’ nothin’! You’ll make supper and then get to yarnin’, and that’s that. A young lady can’t be trusted outside the home without proper male escort,” he decreed. And she knew it was futile to argue, even if she was plenty old enough to be on her own.
Evenin’ settled in, and Laura’s worries grew. She couldn’t help but keep glancin’ towards the window.
“What you lookin’ at, girl?” her father said curtly. “You think you’re coming with me to the town tonight for the dance, huh?”
She’d forgotten all about it truthfully, but her pa didn’t need to know that.
“Well think again. You’ll stay home, mind your chores while I go. And if you’ve got your mind set on finding a suitor, you’ll just have to hope your dear old dad finds you one,” he said so harshly. Almost as if it were a threat.
It sent a cold chill right up and down her spine. She’d had no interest in goin’ to the dance, not really, but now all she could feel was anger that he’d be off gallivantin’ around and forbidding her to find a man that’d save her from his rule.
She was the young woman in the prime of her life, and she should’ve been the one lookin’ for a partner, not him.
She wasn’t used to feelin’ mad at her pa, though, even when he did punish her. She’d always felt it was in her own interests, ‘til she met Jake and realized what she was bein’ kept from.
“Finish up that work there,” he said as he pulled on his overcoat. “I expect it to be done by the time I get back,” and like that he left her with an impossible task. Yet another thing she’d get punished for not doing, even though it was impossible to do it.
That left her alone, in the dim lighting of their home, with nothing to do but wait.
She wrung her hands in front of her, anxiety making her veins buzz with a nervous energy. She picked up the yarn, mulling it over. It was as though she were for the first time seein’ the constraints of her life, the tasks intended for her to fail, and the punishments that weren’t deserved.
She went to the window, her knitting needles still in tow, and she knew her lover’d return to her soon, that he’d try to rescue her.
But was she actually willing and able to leave? To run off with some man she barely knew, had so little in common with? He’d told her he was good, and she believed him, but was that all it truly took to convince her?
She returned to the large chair, the wood hard on her behind as she thought back on the pleasure he’d given her. The firm and guided strokes of his fingers into her body, the way he’d brought her to new heights of sensation.
She shivered with anticipation, craving more.
There was a noise outside and she gasped, dropping the knitting needles and walking to the door, her eyes trying to pierce the darkness.
She saw nothing, no sign of movement. And just as she was turning to go back to her seat, there he arose.
Jake appeared out of the darkness, dressed in a black leather jacket and jeans, looking right at her, indicating for her to come to the door. She did just that, hurrying over to it as he followed on around the building.
Though the moment that door flung open, he was smiling at her and she found herself wrapped in his thick, muscular arms.
“There ya are, babe,” he said in his deep husk, the towering mountain of tanned muscle squeezing her into his hard chest, his jacket open so only his thin black shirt separated her from the beat of his heart.
She was scared to admit that part of her was relieved he’d come, as if he were the type to just use her, take something so precious and then abandon her.
But when she was wrapped in his arms, his warmth enveloped her, soothing the chill she’d felt in her bones all day. “Pa’s gone to the dance,” she said with some urgency. “I’m to finishin’ yarnin’, and it ain’t possible what he wants, not at all.”
She’d seen him naked and in his most vulnerable, yet still, looking at him there was nothing vulnerable about Jake. That towering mountain of muscle could never seem weak, and his compassion for her only made him seem the stronger.
“Don’t fret,” he said to her with a smile, reaching a hand up to cup her cheek in his large grasp. “You’ll be fine with me, promise,” and with that he scooped her up off her feet with such incredible ease, as if her whole body weighed nothing in his big, strong arms.
Her arms wrapped around his neck, and though she was excited, she was scared, too. She wasn’t sure if she could turn her back on everything she’d ever known, all the people she’d loved. Her father was cruel and harsh, but he was still the man who raised her, who presumably wanted the best for her.
She trembled, taking in a deep breath.
“What’s going to happen, Jake?”
He didn’t answer her, not right away.
Instead he pressed his lips to hers, gave her such a deep, loving kiss, and then kicked the door shut behind them. Instead of leaving, he carried her to the stairs and began to ascend with her in his grasp.