Bedtime
Zorah was sitting up in her bed, bible in hand as Icaro entered the room from the ensuite bathroom. A swirl of steam followed him out and she fought her foolish libido as it rose from the depths of her abdomen to painfully squeeze her chest in her heart. His towel wrapped around his hips and nothing else and she grunted her dissatisfaction at his presence, “pretty sure that’s a hand towel Icaro.”
He chuckled and winked at her, “when you’re built like this, a bath sheet can look pretty small.”
She huffed, “a comedian.”
“You think I’m funny?”
“Yes, but looks aren’t everything,” she retorted with a smirk.
He pointed at her with a wide smile on his face, “you’re not as angry at me this evening as you were last night. You wouldn’t be cracking jokes if you were still furious.”
“I’m not happy with you either.”
His smile faltered and he nodded, “I know. I have a lot to make up for, but I will.”
She turned her eyes away as he pulled a pair of briefs from a chest of drawers and carelessly tossed his towel to the floor and hopped into the undergarment. In her peripheral view she could see his ass bunch as he moved, and she cursed herself again for being so attracted to him.
“What has you frowning with such intensity your eyebrows are almost touching the tip of your nose?”
“Why can’t you be ugly?” she regretted the question as soon as it spilled from her lips and then regretted it even more when his loud laugh echoed in the room around them.
Rubbing his hands on his chest he smirked, “you like what you see, amoré?”
“Well duh,” she scoffed and then grabbed the book off her lap.
“Do you think there is something in your book which will help you find me repulsive?”
“No. I was looking to see if I could find a verse which would ease my mind but it’s not working.”
“Ease your mind about what?” He slipped a pair of cotton pyjama bottoms on and then stood at the end of the bed.
“My entire life, I’ve only ever really felt two emotions strongly.”
“Really? Which ones?”
“Sadness.”
“I can understand this considering your parentage. The other?”
“Fear.”
His fingers curled around the wood of the footboard, and he inhaled sharply. “What about happiness or joy or –”
“No. I’ve never been one to laugh loudly or get excited. Every other emotion I’ve always felt has been clouded by fear. The fear leads me to sadness, and it permeates everything. It invades my heart, and it makes me want to escape.”
He walked to the edge of the bed, “can I join you here tonight?”
“Yes, but I don’t want you being all,” she waved her fingers at his naked torso, “sexy with me. I’m not ready after the last twenty-four hours to be intimate with you again.”
“Understood but I’d very much like to hold you,” at her expression he held his hands, palms outward defensively, “however only if you allow.”
“Not yet but you can sit beside me.” She tucked her heel against the inner part of her thigh as she sat upright against the pillows.
“You know I’ll never let him hurt you again, right Zorah. None of them but especially Ippocrate Giannone. He’ll never lay a hand on you again.”
“I know.” She wasn’t lying. She knew Icaro would protect her from her uncle, “but after all this time it’s hard to let go. Everything I did always got back to him. Even after we moved out, Sidonia and I always felt there were people watching us.”
“There were,” Icaro admitted. “You’ve had security assigned to you a long time, but they were slack in their duties and let things slide they never should have.”
“Yes, but I can bet it wasn’t the slack guards who were reporting back to my uncle my every move.”
“Your every move?”
“We worked at his dentist’s office. The bus driver for our route we took to and from work every day, went to our church, as did our landlord, the manager of the local grocery store in our neighborhood and the owner of the corner store. Once Sidonia bought a bottle of red wine at the grocery store and we took the bus home. I was called back to his home before it was even uncorked. I was told to bring the bottle with me.”
“What did he do to you for having a bottle of wine?”
“Sidonia took the fall. She insisted I didn’t agree with her purchase and wanted me to put it back. He told me I needed to be stronger than her and to strengthen me I was forced to kneel for several hours in the church and repent.”
“Did you at least get to drink any of the wine?”
She gave him a sideways look, “no. He poured it down the sink while I watched but when I got back to the apartment with Sidonia, she pulled the other bottle she’d tucked into her backpack. Eventually we found there was a little shop near the dentist’s office, and we didn’t know anyone who worked there. Their wine was a few dollars more than the grocery store, but Sidonia would pack it in her lunch bag when she came back from lunch. However, every time we took a drink, I was scared of what would happen.”
“Oh Zorah,” Icaro whispered, “what else would he find out and call you back for?”
“I bought a red lipstick once. I didn’t even get to wear it. A few times I bought pretty panties at Victoria Secret from the mall and coincidentally the sermon would be about vanity and pornography the next day and I’d be assigned extra cleaning tasks in the church.” The way he shifted in the bed forced Zorah to turn her waist and face him, “what was the little shuffle you did there?”
“I once stole a pair of your pretty panties.”
“Icaro!”
“You didn’t think he took them, did you?” Worry etched his features.
“No. He would never sit foot in our apartment. Ever. We went to him which made the walk there infinitely worse.” She shook her head and turned to face him, “you stole my underwear?”
“They were little white lacy ones with a pink bow. I still have them.”
“Do I want to know what you do with them?” her breathing hitched in her throat at the thought.
“No. You really don’t. I’m probably going to steal your underwear all the time from now until the end of our lives together. You smell good to me, Zorah.”
“You are gross and weird.” She nudged him in the ribs.
“I cannot help myself.” He blew a kiss. “Tomorrow, we’ll walk through the vineyard, and I’ll give you a large glass of wine and we will take a photo, and we’ll send it to your uncle and mother. If you wish you can hold this finger,” he grabbed her middle one, “up around the wine glass as you drink from it. What do you say?”
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