Page 8

Prophet

The world outside was a palette of blues and grays, the ocean churning as if it shared my unrest. But the kitchen was warm with morning light, and Ares moved around it with ease, a plate of scrambled eggs in one hand, toast in the other. I watched her, noting the more relaxed look on her face, the way her eyes seemed to shine brighter than they had been.

“Breakfast’s ready,” she said, setting down the food in front of me on the small table that overlooked the beach.

“You didn’t have to cook,” I said.

“Yeah, I did. It was something I needed.”

I couldn’t argue with her. If making breakfast made her feel better, then she could cook as much as she wanted. I took a bite of the eggs and gave her a wink. Her cheeks flushed, but I saw the spark of pleasure in her eyes.

She seemed better this morning. Not quite her old self, but she’d definitely taken a big step in healing from her ordeal. I hadn’t dared ask the details of what happened to her. The simple fact he’d tortured and raped her was enough to give me nightmares.

Dr. Myron had called yesterday to let me know her lab results were in. He’d given her the all clear, but she hadn’t seemed to be in the right frame of mind at the time to hear the news. As much as I wanted to blurt it out right now, I worried it would cause her to retreat again. Still… she needed to know.

I cleared my throat. “Um, Dr. Myron got your labs back.”

She froze, her hand gripping her fork tighter. “And?”

“All clear.”

The tension drained from her and she flashed me a quick smile. “Good. I figured as much, but hearing it…”

“Why don’t we go out today?” It had been a while since we’d done anything more than hang around the house or walk on the beach.

“Out?” She paused, her brow furrowing. Had I asked too much too soon?

“Yeah. I thought we could explore a bit. Maybe play some mini golf or visit the tourist shops. I know this isn’t exactly a vacation, or at least it wasn’t intended as one. Doesn’t mean we can’t have fun while we’re here. Unless you aren’t ready.”

She shook her head. “No. I need to leave the house more, and I know it. As long as you’re with me, I’ll be fine.”

“Then as soon as we finish eating and get cleaned up and changed, we can head out. The main strip is only a few blocks away, if you’d prefer to walk?” There were also bicycles in the shed, but I wasn’t about to ride one. Only two wheels I wanted under me was my Harley.

We finished eating, and I rinsed the dishes before loading them into the dishwasher. I didn’t hear the shower running when I went to check on Ares and found her in the bedroom she’d been using. She dug through the clothes we’d bought since we’d arrived in Gulf Shores. There weren’t a lot, but I’d picked up a few more things for us shortly after we got here.

“You care if I shower first?” I asked. She paused, her back tensing. “Ares? Everything all right?”

She gave a jerky nod. “Fine. I just…”

I entered the room and put my arms around her, giving her a quick hug. The fact her cheeks were flushed made me wonder what she’d been thinking about.

“You know you can tell me anything, right?” I asked.

“It’s more of an ask,” she mumbled. “Never mind. I’m not ready.”

What the hell was she talking about? “If there’s something you want or need, tell me. How am I supposed to help you if you hide stuff like that from me?”

She turned to face me, her cheeks flushing even more. “The only naked men I’ve seen were the ones who’ve hurt me. After seeing you shirtless last night, and touching you, it made me wonder what the rest of you looked like. But as much as I want to see, I’m scared too.”

My cock started to harden at the thought of stripping my clothes off and having her soft hands touch me in other places. It twitched, and I knew if I didn’t get my mind off those sorts of thoughts, I might damn well come in my pants. It had been far too long since I’d had sex with anyone or had a hand touching me that wasn’t my own.

“Want to do this in baby steps?” I asked. I waited for her consent, then slowly tugged my shirt over my head.

She stared at my chest and reached out to touch me. Her fingertips lightly grazed my skin, and when she ran them over one of my nipples, I sucked in a breath and clenched my teeth. My dick got even harder and was now throbbing. No one had ever discovered that little secret about me… my nipples were even more sensitive than the head of my cock.

“Have you ever watched porn?” I asked.

“A few times, mostly because I couldn’t fathom anyone enjoying sex.” She winced. “Although, a few of the movies were a little too much for me. Are there really things that go in your butt with tails attached?”

I coughed to cover my laugh. “Yeah, there are.”

Her nose scrunched in the most adorable way, and I could tell she didn’t understand why someone would be into that sort of thing. Although, now that she’d brought it up, I suddenly wanted to see her with a fox tail and a pair of ears. Jesus. I’d watched one too many anime movies. I blamed Royal. He’d gotten me hooked on the damn things. Some of them were essentially animated porn.

“Um. Probably not a good idea for me to remove anything else,” I said.

“Why?”

I glanced down where my cock was pressing against my pants. She gasped and I looked up, seeing her eyes go wide. At the same time, there didn’t seem to be any fear in her gaze. “Do you want me to take my jeans off? I have on underwear.”

She nodded. “Wait. Is that all right? I don’t want you to do anything you don’t really want to do.”

“Ares, if our situation was different, I’d already be balls-deep inside you, making every inch of you mine. You have no idea how much I’ve wanted you, still want you.” I swallowed hard. “But I can control myself. I’m not going to pounce on you suddenly.”

She reached for me, her hands trembling. She opened the button on my jeans, then slid down the zipper. I let her tug the denim over my hips and down my thighs. I wasn’t sure if it was my own heartbeat or hers I could hear. With the gentlest touch ever, she reached out and traced a line down my cock. Even through the fabric of my boxer briefs, I felt the heat of her touch.

“Fuck! You have no idea how good that feels.” She placed her entire hand over me, cupping both my cock and balls. I damn near exploded. “Ares, sweetheart… I think you better stop.”

“Why?” she asked.

I ground my teeth together. “Because I’m really fucking close to coming.”

She gave my cock a squeeze. Shit ! I stumbled back a few steps, then bolted to the bathroom, nearly falling from my pants getting stuck around my knees. I couldn’t even bother closing the door. Kicking off my pants and shoving my underwear to my ankles, I gripped my cock, tightening my hold around the base.

It pulsed in my hand, the head turning purple and pre-cum leaking from the tip. I was too damn close. There was no holding back right now. Bracing one hand on the vanity and stroking my dick with the other, I got myself off in less than fifteen seconds. Nothing to be proud of. Over my ragged breaths, I heard a sound in the hallway. Turning my head, I saw Ares… watching me.

Closing my eyes, I wondered how badly I just fucked up. Way to go, asshole. You just had to push her for more, then scarred her for life by jerking off in plain sight .

Not my best moment.

“Fuck, I’m sorry, Ares. You shouldn’t have seen me like this.”

“I feel strange,” she murmured.

I glanced over at her and saw her nipples were hard and poking through the fabric of her pajamas. She pressed her thighs together, shifting from foot to foot.

“This is probably not a good question to ask right now, but have you ever made yourself come?” I asked. She slowly shook her head. “Do you sometimes touch yourself intimately?”

“Never,” she said.

My next question could either get her one step closer to being whole again or send her a million miles back. It was a gamble, and I wasn’t sure it was one I should take.

“Do you want to try?”

Her gaze dropped to my cock, which still hadn’t gone completely limp. “Like what you did just now?”

“Something like that. Do you not know how?” I asked.

“Is it like they do in those porn movies?”

“Jesus. You’re killing me.” I shook my head. “None of that stuff is realistic, but if you were curious about anything you saw or want to try it, then there’s no reason you can’t.”

“I don’t even know how to start.”

I was going to hell. Straight to fucking hell. Do not pass Go. Do not collect two hundred dollars.

“Close your eyes.” She did as I said, and I kicked off my underwear before moving closer. I tugged her into the bathroom, and she came willingly. Standing behind her, I positioned her in front of the mirror over the sink. “Imagine you’re the star in a porn movie. Your lover is behind you. The heat of his body pressing against yours. It’s one of those cliché ones about the shy virgin, so you aren’t ready to undress.”

A little whimper escaped her lips and I saw the way her cheeks flushed and her lips parted. Looked like she was enjoying this. Maybe it was a good start to building a different sort of relationship with her and replacing her nightmares with happier memories.

I took her hands and placed them over her breasts. “Using his palms, he teases your nipples in slow circles, letting the fabric of your shirt scrape against them.”

She felt stiff as I tried to help her move in the way I’d said, then she suddenly dropped them to her sides. “C-Can you do it?”

Every muscle in my body tensed. Was she serious right now? What if doing this hurt her more? It was one thing for her to touch herself, and another for me to do it. “Are you sure?”

She nodded and leaned into me. My dick started to harden again, and I hoped it didn’t freak her out. I gave her breasts a light squeeze, testing the waters, so to speak. I didn’t get any indication I was scaring her, so I rubbed my palms across her nipples the way I’d described.

“Does that feel good?” I asked.

“I… I feel weird.”

“Good weird or bad weird?”

“Good, I think. I like the way it feels when you touch me like that, but I’m starting to tingle between my legs.”

She was going to kill me. Seriously. The innocent way she talked about being turned-on made me want to yank her panties off, bend her over, and fuck her in front of the mirror. I wanted to see every expression she made, hear every cry of pleasure. I pinched one of her nipples, and she gave a little yelp, but I noticed she was arching her back and shoving her breasts into my hands.

“I can’t do any more, Ares. I want to, but… I’m worried I won’t be able to control myself. I refuse to do anything that might hurt or scare you.” I dropped my hands from her breasts and stepped away from her. “If you still want to do this later, then we’ll see how far you can go before it’s too much. Right now, I think I need to shower so we can leave.”

She wouldn’t meet my gaze as she scurried from the bathroom. I hoped like fuck I hadn’t made her feel like I didn’t want her. At the same time, I wasn’t sure how to explain how dangerous this was without terrifying her.

Way to go, Prophet. You just treated that damaged girl like she was your own personal toy .

Sometimes, I really hated myself.

* * *

Ares

I still felt embarrassed over what we’d done earlier. No matter how many shops we went into, or fun things we tried, I couldn’t get my mind off Prophet running from me so he could get himself off. That alone made him so different from every man who’d ever touched me. They would have forced their way into my body, made demands of me, and left me bleeding and wishing I were dead.

Feeling his hands on me had been a little scary, but also thrilling. I already knew I wanted to try again. Sex wasn’t wrong if it was between two people who wanted it, right? Clearly, Prophet wanted me in that way, and I thought I wanted him too.

I shook the thoughts from my head as we stopped at a park. Prophet found a picnic table and carried over the bag of food we’d just picked up from a nearby deli. A breeze made the leaves of the trees rustle, and I watched the families and couples enjoying their time together.

We ate our food in silence, and I sipped my lemonade. It felt peaceful here. I didn’t know how I’d feel once we went back home, but in Gulf Shores, I felt like I was healing one day at a time. After we finished, Prophet threw our trash away, and held out his hand to me.

“Ready to lose at mini golf?” he teased, drawing me to my feet with a tug on my hand.

“You wish,” I shot back, and the challenge in his eyes made something inside me flutter to life. I’d missed this. We’d once bantered this way frequently. Did it mean I was slowly becoming the Ares I’d been before the Lathems took me? I hoped so.

The mini golf place wasn’t far. Prophet paid for our game, and I lost. Not that it mattered. Doing something fun with him was the important thing. Afterward, we went to a few more stores before heading back to the house.

We changed into our swimsuits and walked down to the water. I still felt self-conscious, but I’d discovered people weren’t staring at me the way I’d thought they were. Everyone minded their own business, and I managed to relax and enjoy myself.

Prophet chased me into the shallows, and I turned to face him, my heart pounding in a way that had nothing to do with fear and everything to do with the excitement I felt when I was with this man. He smiled, and it held a world of promises. I knew he’d wait, however long it took, before I was ready to completely be his. I didn’t know how I’d gotten lucky enough for someone like him to want me.

He charged at me, and I squealed, running off. It didn’t take him long to catch me, his arms going around my waist.

“Gotcha!” He spun me around, then lifted me and dropped me into the water.

“Hey!” I protested, slinging my wet hair out of my face. “No fair!”

As the sun began to dip below the horizon, I realized I’d been having fun and hadn’t thought about the suffering I’d experienced. Right now, I wasn’t the Ares who’d been kidnapped and held captive. I was just… the woman who loved Prophet.

“Thank you,” I whispered as we walked back to the house, leaving wet footprints in the sand.

“For what?” Prophet asked.

“For this,” I said, gesturing at the fading light, the beach, the ocean. “For today. Everything.”

He squeezed my hand, and I knew without looking that he was smiling. “Anytime, Ares. Anytime.”