Author's Note: Hello my dear Readers! I suppose I have kept you waiting long enough, so here is chapter two (finally!) for you all to enjoy. I love seeing comments and feedback so drop a few words if you have them. I do my best to respond to all of them. Until next time!
*****
Emma jerked awake the following afternoon and found herself utterly alone. Whether that disappointed or relieved her more, she could not say for sure, but she knew that she could not face William yet, and definitely not in the light of day.
She was naked she realized. Her nightgown had been removed from her sometime after she had fallen asleep. Apparently, he stayed long enough fold it neatly and set it atop her duvet at the foot of her bed. How was she supposed to feel about that?
She felt like a raped virgin, her cunt sore and tender, her muscles aching everywhere, and her eyes swollen from crying. She was emotionally and physically rubbed raw.
Her legs were unsteady under her weight as she stumbled out of bed, but she somehow made it to her bathroom. When she saw that her window was still wide open, panic gripped her. She rushed over to crank it closed, bolting it securely the moment it slammed shut. Afterwards, she had to take a moment to regain herself, holding herself up on the windowsill in her white-knuckled grip. Her breathing under control, she turned only to freeze in place at the sight of herself in the full-length mirror on the sliding door of her bathtub.
She brought her hand to touch her reddened bee-stung lips, her fingertips lightly brushing the cut on her bottom lip where he had bitten her. She turned her head and saw the purplish bruise where he had backhanded her, and let her fingers linger there too. She swallowed with difficulty as she lifted her head to touch and examine the marks his hand had left along her neck. Tears welled in her eyes at the frightening memory of how hard he had squeezed her there. Her eyes lowered to her breast, and she noticed their angry red color, from his attentions. When she gently cupped them in her palms she realized that they too were tender and sensitive to the touch. Her wrists had not gone unscathed either, her delicate skin raw and chaffed from being bound.
The proverbial dam broke then, and there was nothing that she could do to prevent the sob that burst forth. She was weeping uncontrollably, crumpling to the bathroom floor, her legs curled beneath her, her hands covering her face. She was angry, guilt-ridden, and very confused by what had occurred the night before, but more so by her responses than his actions. He had branded and marked her, and yet, not every single part of her had been, or was even now, wholly objectionable to the treatment. It was that part of her that that made her think twice about what she thought she knew about herself, or about her desires. And it scared her, the feelings that the memories wrought from her. She was sexually aroused at the memories of their violent coupling.
Her tears slowed, as she recalled another memory from the previous night. It was a vague one that left her feeling even more confused about the man and about herself. If her semi-conscious memory was to be believed, at dusk that morning, William had brought a bowl of steaming soap water and a washcloth to her bedside and bathed her.
She remembered that he had been quiet as he administered to her body, taking great care as he wiped her clean with the wetted cloth. He had dipped the cloth back into the hot water often, as if to ensure that it was not too cold when it touched her skin. He bathed her every nook and cranny, and limp limbs with quick efficiency, saving her most private part for last. When his attentions finally did come to the space between her thighs, he slowly swabbed his dried cum from her vulva with the utmost care, ever mindful of her discomforted hissing, which he gently shushed. Cleaning done, he had blown his cool soothing breath upon the seam of her pussy until she was dry, and then lightly pressed his warm soft lips there in a kiss that was more penitent than erotic. It had worked on her like the greatest healing balm in existence, and she had promptly sunk back to a deep sleep as he tucked the blankets back around her.
That memory made her disgusted at herself, because it made her heart swell with warmth and affection... It was appalling to realize that she was actually attracted and aroused by the rough strong man who had selfishly taken what he wanted last night, and it terrified her that she missed and yearned for the side of him that kissed her so sweetly and held her so protectively afterwards. She rarely, in all her life, experienced that sense of security in another persons arm, and never with a man. How fucked up was it that he was also the one to make her feel unsafe in her own home?
The sun was already starting to set by the time Emma snapped out of her stupor and realized she was still sitting on her bathroom floor, her body trembling from the cold. She felt brittle and weak, but she picked herself up from the floor and got into the shower. The water was too hot, scorching almost, to her chilled body, but she didn't care. She scrubbed herself until she had nearly used up all of her body wash and her skin burned. Then she made quick work of drying herself off and climbed back into bed where she would spend nearly all of her time for the remainder of her weekend.
---<@EW@>---
Emma felt exhausted even though she had spent the majority of the past two days, and that very morning, curled up dazedly in bed. She slid her keys into the doorknob of her apartment, struggling a bit as she was hauling a huge bag of groceries that her manager had sent her home with.
After skipping her classes that morning, Emma had forced herself to go to work that afternoon. She was almost immediately pulled aside by her manager, Alice, because of the visible bruises she had no hope of disguising with make up. Emma had burst into inconsolable tears after a quarter hour of being questioned, but refused to answer her manager's concerned inquiries. Alice had not pushed her any further, but from the pitying looks that she received from the older woman, Emma could tell that Alice had developed her own theories, which were probably not too far off the mark. To her immense relief, Alice then gave her two weeks off, one of which was paid, and bought her a bag of groceries to take home. It was all done with the understanding that her work would not be effected by the time she returned to her duties. Emma had never been more grateful to another person in her life.
Emma slid the bolt on her door into a locking position with a satisfying click and then slid her chain lock into place. She flicked on the lights before walking sedately across her small living room to the hallway that led to the kitchen and other rooms. When she reached the doorway to her kitchen and dining area she stopped dead in her tracks. She would have dropped her groceries if she did not snatch it to her chest as if it could protect her, and she just knew she looked like a deer caught in the headlights.
It was evening, and though the sun hadn't completely set her kitchen was mostly shrouded in darkness. Even so, she knew in her heart what the dark silhouette at the opposite side of the room was. William sat at her small dining table for two, at the opposite wall, but at her appearance he got up slowly to his feet. He stood in the last rays of light that shone through the single small window to her right.
By god! He looked good. His strong squared jaw was dark with unshaven hair. His body was muscled and broad, and he was a very tall man, making her already small kitchen look pathetically tiny. When she met his dark brown eyes they were smoldering. He looked ready to spring at her at any second, which made her heart drum an excited beat. It was all so wrong.
"Where have you been?" His voice was gravely, like he hadn't spoken in a while.
There was another long silence that followed as she watched him eye her from head to foot, lust darkening his features the longer his eyes undressed her. She swallowed hard. Her nipples hardened, and her pussy tingled at his perusal. She was mortified by her reactions to him.
He took a step forward. She took two steps back, shaking her head and saying, "Don't."
"Emma..." She turned and bolted with her groceries still clutched to her chest.
"Emma! For fuck's sake!" He cursed behind her.
She was already at the end of the hallway when she heard his footsteps thumping after her, but when she reached the middle of her living room, her escape in sight, he caught her up in his arms and lifted her high into the air.
"Let go of me!" She shrieked finally dropping her bag of groceries to the floor. Vegetables, fruits, and cans spilled out into the middle of her living room as she struggled in his arms.
"Stop!"
