There's a razor, toothbrush, some cologne, and deodorant, all black and manly and faintly scented like him. I like looking at them, as if it’s somehow intimate.
There isn't a feminine touch in this entire place, and I like it. I wash my face in the sink, using a bar of soap. It’s so nice being away from home, I don’t even miss my own toiletries and little bottles of face wash and moisturizer.
I hate my home. I hate living there. And this is the first time in my life I’ve gotten a night away.
I brush my teeth, exhaustion suffusing my limbs, as I hear Mac getting ready behind me. I turn to see his bare back, all muscled and inked, flexing as he takes off his shoes. Something stirs low in my belly, something like arousal but not quite, more like desire muted by exhaustion. Still, my heart thumps a little faster.
I suppose I get to sleep beside him tonight, and that will hardly be a hardship.
When I’ve cleaned up, I run my fingers through my hair and dress in one of his t-shirts. I don’t miss the way he eyes me, the way he stifles a groan when I shimmy out of my knickers.
“I’m too tired for any funny business,” I say, wagging my finger at him.
He grins. “Darlin’, you wouldn’t have to actually do anything.”
As eager as I am to please him, I like the sound of… not doing anything.
“You mean like submitting…?”
“I mean lying on your back with your eyes closed while I eat you out. I mean coming on my tongue, then spreading wide for me to fuck you before I tuck you in for a good night’s sleep.”
Even in my utter state of exhaustion, that sounds fucking magnificent… even the whole “tucking you in” thing.
“I’ve never… no one’s ever… ummmm…” I yawn widely.
But he’s already lifting me in his arms and carrying me over to his king-sized bed.
He drops me on the large bed, then climbs in beside me. “I’m shattered, too,” he says. “Let’s get some rest for now.”
Even though he tempted me with his words, and the thought of lying back in bed and letting him do whatever he wanted to me is appealing, there’s something massively attractive in just… lying in bed as well. Beside him. And I have a feeling the “for now” part is really just so he can rest up and fuck me again.
Not that I’m complaining.
He ropes an arm around me and hauls me to his chest, and I fit just right. I sigh in contentment. I’ve never spent the night beside a man, and definitely not someone like him.
I fall into a deep and dreamless sleep, wrapped in a cocoon of warmth and protection. Something I haven’t felt before… ever. I’m too tired to dwell too long on the irony.
I’m walking down a darkened hallway, and my heart beats hard and fast. Something’s brought me here, but I don’t know who or what, only that I’m in danger and the only way out is ahead of me. I look to my left and right, trying to determine where I am, but I can only see blackness.
A man’s scream makes me freeze, the sound sadly familiar. Who is that? And what will I do when I get there?
“You did this on purpose.” It’s my father’s voice, that deadly calm that precedes his wrath.
“Did what?” The words fade into a tortured scream, when I realize I recognize that voice.
Mac.
I’m running, my bare feet slapping on the cold tiled floor. We’re somewhere in my house, and my father has Mac. I don’t know how I’ll stop him, but I have to. Mac isn’t going to hurt me.
It’s the other way around.
But the longer I run, the further away I seem to get. Their voices are far in the distance with every moment that passes. I pause, trying to get my bearings. Where am I? Where are they? I have to find him; I have to rescue him.
I can still hear the words though they’re beginning to fade.
“You tricked her. You were trying to hurt her from the very beginning. You never had anything but ill intent from the very first moment you laid eyes on her.”
“No! No!” he screams, and nausea rises in my belly. I’m going to be sick. What are they doing to him?
“Leave him alone!” I scream, when suddenly I feel someone shaking me, and a voice breaking through my subconscious. I quickly sit up in bed, wide awake.
Mac’s awake beside me, his arms around me.
“Y’alright?” he asks, his voice all husky and gritty with sleep. I’m panting, a fine sheen of sweat covering my body. My heart still beats frantically from the intensity of the moment, the very real fear that I felt. I've never had a boyfriend, or anyone like this who I actually felt anything toward, and the thought of my father hurting Mac…