Falling for the Villain

Wasn’t it?

The lights from the main house finally showed as I pulled off the driveway and in front of the garage that housed my car collection.

I parked and went to Juliet’s door to help her out.

Her eyes bulged, looking at her surroundings.

Waterfalls surrounded the garage on all sides, flowers, trees; it was my own personal Eden.

It was built for my mom.

She gave me heaven in her music, so I gave her heaven in my home and gardens.

At Juliet’s soft gasp, I continued carrying her in my arms. There was no letting her go. This was where she needed to be. I was the only man who could offer what she needed in that instant. She might have been mad at me, and I deserved it. I would make it better. I would heal her if it was the last thing I ever did. I would make it right. I needed to, for her and for me.

I shouldn’t have let Troy manipulate me as if I was nothing more than a child, a little boy, the one he had taken under his wing. He’d made me the man I was supposed to be. I couldn’t believe how foolish I’d been to fall into his fucking trap.

I knew better.

I was smarter.

Wiser.

Always a step ahead of him.

I let him take her, and the motherfucker even tried to get her to call him Master. He had pushed me to the brink, and I’d allowed it. Despite beating his face in, I still felt weak and at his mercy. He knew now without reasonable doubt what I’d do for Juliet, and that was a power he’d eventually hold over my head.

Fuck.

“The house is mine,” I shared, trying to control my reckless emotions and scare her further into oblivion where I couldn’t save her. “Over twenty thousand square feet on more than ten acres. Be careful when trying to escape because I know you will. But for tonight…” I nearly stuttered, carrying her through the front door toward the open-aired entry. “For tonight. Stay. For me. With me.”

“This is,” she finally spoke. “This…”

I carried her toward my bedroom where no other woman, least of all a pet, had ever been.

This was my sanctuary.

My safe place away from the demands of the world I’d created for myself.

I wanted her to see me.

Truly see me for someone other than a villain. I didn’t know what had come over me, and I resisted the urge to take her back to her room. It was the order of things, and I was fucking it all up for her and for me.

My feet moved on their own accord, one step after the other until there were no more steps to take, no more feelings to hide, no more uncertainty to bask in.

Just her and me.

Two massive doors opened to my bedroom, and her eyes widened like a deer in headlights when I slowly revealed my paradise.

Setting her on her feet, she waited for my command.

“Good girl,” I praised, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. “Go ahead, I’ll allow your questions this time.”

She didn’t waver. “Why?”

“Why what, pet?”

“Why did you let him take me into that room?”

I growled, pissed with myself. “I shouldn’t have, and for that…” Unable to hold back, I willingly gave her what she sought, “I’m sorry.”

I couldn’t remember the last time I’d said those two words to anybody.

I never apologized. I was never in the wrong. Yet, she needed to hear them, and I obliged her request.

I was sorry.

Wholeheartedly sorry.

She had the power to bring me to my knees, and a huge part of her was starting to see and realize it.

“Do you mean that?” she asked, her gaze filling up with fresh tears.

“I’ve never meant anything more in all my life, Juliet.”

She breathed out a heavy sigh. “I didn’t like it. Having him as my master. So please, I beg you, is that what you’re training me for? To sell me off to a man like him who will hurt me also?”

I flinched, showing her my true colors before speaking with conviction, “You’re mine. I give you my word.”

“Your word? Is that supposed to mean something?”

“My word is all I have.”

“Then what? You’ll share me? Like you did tonight?”

“Tonight was a mistake, and I won’t let it happen again.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means you’re mine. Only mine.”

Her lips trembled. “And what about you?”

“What about me, pet?”

“Does that mean you’re mine too?”

“My, my, Juliet. Remember, pet, curiosity killed the cat.”

She smiled, despite herself. “You can’t do anything more than what you’ve already done to me.”

“And what’s that?”

“Made me yours.”

“Not quite, but we’re getting there.”

“Is this your plan?”

I arched an eyebrow, cocking my head to the side.

She answered my rebuttal without me having to say anything.

“Is your plan to make me crave you and the things you do to me?”