My Story

I woke up the next morning to a bacon aroma wafting throughout the room. I wasn’t sure where I was, but the room was grand. I sat up in a large king-sized bed with a frame made of iron. The sheets were smooth on my skin and warm where I was sleeping.

At the end of the bed, there was a sitting area that opened to a fireplace, with a TV mounted above the mantle. It looked like a cozy area to cuddle up and watch a movie. To the left of the fireplace was a door, it must lead outside.

The right wall was completely glass, exposing the room to the elements and views from outside. You could see the whole lake from the balcony that was accessible through the glass French doors.

As I turned to look left, there was a claw foot tub in the middle of the wall. It was open to the room and on each side, there was a small vanity with a sink, along with a narrow wardrobe. I noticed used towels hanging over the side, then reached for my hair.

My hair was wet as if I has taken a bath, but I don’t remember last night after I passed out. I decided to get up and walk over to the sink to splash some water on my face. Needing to either wake up from this dream or accept that he took care of me.

Aching all over, I finally made it to the sink. My makeup had been removed and my hair had been washed before it was brushed. I don’t remember what happened, so I started to look around.

The bed looked as if two people had slept in it, which means Adrian stayed the night. He didn’t leave me this time, or so I hoped. And the fire was still burning hot which means he had been up for a while.

I was wearing an oversized shirt that smelled like him, so I decided to venture outside of the room. I walked down a long hall that multiple doors. Most were closed, but the few that were open looked very similar to the one I was in.

Turning the corner, I ended up in the living area that I remembered from last night and a flashback of what had happened hit me. Adrian planned one of the most relaxing dates I had ever been on, then finished it off by giving me multiple orgasms.

“Good morning.”, his deep husky voice echoed throughout the room.

I turned to see him in the kitchen, cooking breakfast.

“How do you like your coffee?”, he asked.

“Oh, um. I like it with milk and hazelnut creamer.”, I replied.

He walked over to the coffee pot and made me a cup of coffee, setting it on a little breakfast table that had been prepped for breakfast.

He pulled out a chair for me, “Come. Sit.”, he nodded his head toward the chair.

I walked over and sat down, then he pushed the chair in for me. He sat across from me and then began making my plate first. He loaded it with eggs, bacon, avocado, sausage, and toast. He placed a small bowl of sliced strawberries next to a glass of freshly pressed orange juice.

“You made all of this?”, I asked surprised.

“Yes, I love to cook.”, he shared with me.

“Thank you for this.”, as I sipped some coffee.

“How did you sleep?”, he began with some small talk.

“Good, I think.”, I wasn’t sure exactly how to answer.

We both began eating and silence fell upon us. I was looking everywhere, but his face. I felt his gaze, but this time it didn’t roam my body. This time it seemed to be looking at me, studying me. The heated sensation never left my face.

I broke the silence, “What happened last night after you know… the table?”.

He sat his fork down and rested his elbows on the table, clasping his hands below his chin.

“You passed out, so I untied you and carried you to the room. I laid you on the bed while I ran a bath, then I held you to help you in the bath.”, he paused.

I turned to look at him with nurturing and sincerity in his dark obsidian eyes.

“You woke up briefly to ask me to hold you in the water. I settled down behind you and bathed you as you rested your head on my shoulder.”, he sipped some of his orange juice.

“Thank you.”, was all I could muster up.

“You didn’t have a change of clothes, so I put you in one of my shirts and then held you in bed until you fell asleep.”, he grabbed my hand.

Oh no, I hope I didn’t…

“You had a nightmare. Once you calmed down, I started a fire in the room to fill the room with noise to help you relax.”, he rubbed my hand with his thumb.

I explained to him that my nightmares come and go. They are the worst when I am completely exhausted to the point, I can’t control my thoughts before I fall asleep. I hated he had experienced it.

He now knew that my parents had died when I was a child but watching them die haunted me to this day. The night that my parents died it took hours for anyone to find us. We were spotted by a hunter and his son.

I had screamed for hours, so my voice was gone when they found us. I was in the front seat still holding onto my mother’s hand. The rain had caused my father to hydroplane, and we ended up down an embankment upside down.

As I began to cry, he stood up and picked me up before walking over to the couch. He sat down, placed me in his lap, covered me with a blanket, and let me cry. I had never been able to tell my story to someone in detail before, but I continued because he made me feel safe.

The hunter who found me covered in blood had pulled me out of the car screaming. I wasn’t ready to leave my parents behind. He sat me by his son, telling him to hold me and not to let me look.

The emergency rescue teams came shortly after he found me. They pulled my parents from the car before placing them each in a black bag and zipping it closed. I was taken to the hunter’s house to shower, and he gave me a change of clothes that were his son’s.

A lady had come to the house, she was a friend of the man who had helped me. She worked with child protective services and was willing to take on my case to help place me in a home. The little boy held my hand the entire time, as I hid in his closet with him crying.

He brought me snacks and made sure that I was eating. He assured me that his dad would make sure that I was going to be okay. His uncle was the chief of police, and his aunt was the woman who had come to take me to my new home.

I had refused to go to the emergency room, but the hunter was a retired Army medic who gave the police his word that he would make sure I was okay. The only thing that saved me in the car accident was being so small that the law required my parents to keep me in a booster seat.

The little boy fought for me when his dad and aunt came to find me. He didn’t want his dad to let his aunt take me away. He screamed and tried to fight off his father’s hold, but he was no match due to his father’s size.

The home I was taken to belonged to Nancy, the woman who eventually adopted me. She was another family friend who had been a foster parent for 16 years. The hunter trusted her, and I was still in shock that I had lost everything in one night.

My family's estate was sold, and the money went into a trust that I would eventually get when I had children of my own. I was able to go to my home and pack a bag to take to Nancy’s. Everything else was scavenged by my aunt and uncle.

Neither one of them wanted to take me in, so I was thankful for Nancy. It was nice that she only lived a few houses down from the hunter and his son. I lived in denial for a long time.

Life was hard, but it got worse after I agreed to allow Nancy to adopt me. She started to get abusive, but I just kept quiet because I had no other family. No one wanted me, so I had to do whatever I could to stay out of a group home or keep from bouncing around.

When Nancy would beat on me, I would run to the hunter’s house and hide in his son’s closet with him. He made plans to save me and ruin Nancy’s life, but I told him to stop. I just let the abuse go on undetected for years.

I lived with Nancy until I was 18 and finally able to leave without any legal repercussions. I had made it through high school and graduated with honors, earning myself a full-ride scholarship. College was my sole focus that kept me going.

The hunter’s son put off going away to college, just long enough to wait for me to graduate. He protected me, so at 18 we went to the courthouse and got married. Then he took me to New York to get away from all the pain I had endured.

I grew up loving the hunter’s son, but he grew out of loving me. The boy who spent his childhood protecting me didn’t have a chance to live his life, so I don’t blame him for falling out of love with me. And it was about time I learned to protect myself.

I looked up at Adrian, “I have had to protect myself since and that’s when the nightmares started.”.

“I am here now, I will protect you.”, he looked me in the eye as if making me a promise.

“I appreciate it, but this is something I need to do for myself.”, I replied as I laid my head back on his shoulder.

He kissed the top of my head and for the first time in my life, I was able to voice my story.
His Burning Gaze
Detail
Share
Font Size
40
Bgcolor