Torn Between Two Lovers

[BLACK BART]

"Just how long do you think you're going to live after you walk out that door Cerise?"

Tabor asked quietly and watched as she stopped, then slowly turned to face him.

"The tape will stand up in court....but only if you make it there...and even if your husband goes to jail?"

He continued and studied the womans face as she moved back to the table to stand before it.

"The people who I work for want him alive and able to lead me to another man...a man your husband was representing when he disappeared...a man who was accused of raping and killing several children. The word on the street is your husband is in contact with this man from time to time....trying to pay back the gambling debts he's piled up with an organized crime family..."

He poured another glass of wine and slid it over to her, watching her face and the indecision written all over it...

"You're a tough Lady, Cerise...But you're dealing with a very desperate man who you call husband...and a very powerful and determined mafioso family...try and run to the wrong people and you'll die...slowly, and painfully...is that what you want?"

 

[RedHairedandFriendly]

Cerise slipped back into her seat. “I hate you,” she whispered, her shoulders falling and her fingers shaking. “I hate you more than I hate Nicholas.”

She wiped at a tear that was threatening to fall, refusing to look at Tabor and read the joy that would be written on his handsome features. “I'll call Nicholas and unfreeze his accounts, telling him I was under the influence of too much medication. I’ll sleep with my husband again, learn his secrets and report back to you.”

Her hand moved to her drink and she finished her wine. “I’ll need a way to reach you. Tell your friends. . .to give me a few days to get Nicholas back in my bed. It isn’t like I can just seduce him in one night. . . but . . .”

Cerise looked up at Tabor, only then trusting herself not to show any real despair. Her eyes still shone with unshed tears, yet she held them back. “I’ll tell him I want a child. It was something we had decided against a long time ago, but this accident . . .well, I can convince him that almost losing my life showed me that I wanted something more to live for than what we have now. . .”

“Just give me a number or someway to get in touch with you. . . I assume you have my home bugged and since you mentioned watching me, you are having me tailed. I won’t double cross you. . . unlike you. . .I can be trusted and I promise not to pump you full of drugs in order to gain that trust.”

Her voice was calm, quiet and solemn. Her words were true. She wouldn’t double cross Tabor; she wanted this over with as soon as possible, because then he would be out of her life and she could go back to being her once happy self.

 

[BLACK BART]

“I hate you more than I hate Nicholas.

The words rang in his ears... overriding Cerise's plans to seduce her husband and give Nicholas what he wanted...that being her money...and her body



“Just give me a number or someway to get in touch with you. . . I assume you have my home bugged and since you mentioned watching me, you are having me tailed. I won’t double cross you. . . unlike you. . .I can be trusted and I promise not to pump you full of drugs in order to gain that trust.”

"I'm afraid we have a misunderstanding here"

He corrected quietly and finished his glass of wine.

"After going through all this trouble to keep you alive I'm not going to send you back to him...with that policy he took out on you and the call he made...he's not going to listen to you asking him for a child...He knows better than that...You'll last as long as it takes to transfer all your money to his accounts and then he'll let that man finish you off anyways..."

Standing Tabor eyed the money had tossed on the table and added to it, smiling at Cerise as he slid an arm around her waist and pulled her to him...

"What he needs is a line of reasoning he'll believe...if I called him saying you had contacted me in a state of hysteria...and perhaps then I told him you had caught my eye...and that I'd be interested in renegotiating our previous deal in return for you in my bed? It would delay Nicky calling in his hired assasin until after our deal was concluded and keep you where I wanted you all along...in my bed."

"Even Nick isn't that stupid, he'll never fall for it..."

Cerise protested as Tabor bent his head and kissed her...his lips claiming hers as his hands pulled her tight to him...

"He already did baby...he traded you for the front money and some spending cash...Now all you need to do is put on a good show when we see him next...and convince him that you're compliant and willing to behave for me..."

Letting his hands wander up and down her body he smiled as she whimpered and ground herself against him...

"Now lets get out of here baby...you were right...I won't try anything while we're here...I'll wait until I have you in my house...and in my bed"

 

[RedHairedandFriendly]

Cerise wanted to throw up. The way her body craved Tabor sickened her. The way she was being used by him and her husband made her feel as if she were nothing but some doll to be tossed around to the man with the biggest balls, and in this case it was Tabor. She held herself stiff against him, anger over her reaction of grinding and whimpering for him aided her in fueling her resolve.

Once again, he won. Once again, he defeated her. She wanted to lash out, but couldn’t. He had his goons. He had his drugs. He had her. She shuddered violently when they reached the car as she thought of what was going to happen to her once she got back to his place. Would they be there? Those masked people? Another shiver, had her rubbing her arms with her hands as she tried to ward off the fear that was threatening to consume her.

She got in the car, tucking herself into the door as far as she could. Not trusting herself and not trusting her new and unwanted partner. “You’ll have to drug me again.” She looked out the window. “I won’t beg for you. I won’t allow myself to come. . .so I hope you’re well stocked and your lackeys are ready to do your dirty work for you.”

Cerise tensed, not sure what he would do to her, but she had to make sure he knew she was not going to feel for him what he wanted her to feel, without the add of his magic syringe. She’d make sure she examined every reaction her body had, so she could determine if she were drugged or not. She was done with his mind games. She’d play her own and eventually she regain her freedom, it was just a matter of who in his group of low-level employees, fucked up first.

 

[BLACK BART]

It was what Tabor had come to expect of Cerise and he shouldn't have been disappointed, and yet as she tossed her snide insults and comments at him...he found he was...

"That's about what I'd expect from you Cerise, I've saved your life and prevented you from having to fuck a man you find disgusting, then listen to you berate me for my tactics. What the hell did you expect, a knight in shining white armor come to scoop you up and ride away into the sunset? It doesn't happen that way, not in my life...or yours..."

It was mean, it was rude...and yet in Tabor's mind it was the absolute truth...

"We'll see what happens Cerise, if I have to do this alone I will, if I have to be as big of a bastard as you accuse me of being, I'll do it....But in the end you'll do it my way."

He was mad. Hoping for a warm, grateful woman in his arms he got instead a block of ice... spitting insults and giving him looks like he was something found in a trash can...

She shunned him the entire trip back to his house, a rambling single story set back in the midst of a large growth of trees, a secluded pool in the rear complimenting the modest estate...

"My home Ice Queen, so mind your manners"

Tabor stepped out of the car and let Cerise open her own door, moving through the front door and into the brightly lit interior of the rooms...

"Our bedroom is there, the bath is attached...my two associates will be sleeping in the other two rooms and a security staff does rotating shifts outside the house, meals are brought in unless you feel like cooking and doing KP..."

He left her standing in the middle of the livingroom, not really caring about her thoughts or wanting to listen to her attitude, moving into his bedroom and stripping his clothes off to take a much needed shower...

 

[RedHairedandFriendly]

Cerise watched him leave. He wanted her to thank him, to get on her knees and confess her gratitude. . .he may not have said those words, but in Cerise's mind it seemed that he was expecting them. She would have laughed had she not bee so afraid. She was in his home. A place guarded and behind walls where he could do to her whatever he wanted, a shudder of fear made her body shake violently. She slipped to the sofa and slowly rocked herself back and forth. The sound of footsteps brought her out of her panic. Looking up she locked eyes with someone she’d never seen before. A sly smile poured over her as the eyes of the woman fell over Cerise, running a path from her pale features, down her silk blouse and long skirt. “Hello.”

The voice reached her and then the eyes. Cerise’s lower lip shook, but she said nothing, turning her head away and looking at a bookcase in front of her. She sat there stunned and visibly frightened. The woman left, not saying anything else, but her laughter filled the room and Cerise closed her eyes and fear again tried to consume her. Her hands came up and she buried her face in them as the tears fell.

Time slipped by and before Cerise knew it she’d fallen asleep on the sofa. Immediately she jumped up and spun around, terror stricken that someone had done something to her. No one was there and she questioned herself, wondering how much time had passed. . .minutes? Hours? Days? Had she been drugged and forced to act the slut again? To plead for a Master’s cock? Her stomach pitched forward, and she pressed her palm to it, only then realizing she had not been touched, nor had her clothes been changed.

She needed a drink, anything would do, her fear had stolen what moisture she had in her body and used it for tears. Timidly she walked through the house, ignoring the doors she believed were bedrooms. When she reached the kitchen she looked around, saying a silent, “Thank you” to the wind, for the room being empty. She had no desire to speak to anyone and would do her best to remain a non-speaking entity in Tabor's domain.

The refrigerator held various beverages. She opted for a bottle of V8, examined its seal and deemed it safe. . .the manufacturer’s protection untouched. Cerise sat down at a small table and sipped her drink. Her body was tense, her spine straight and her eyes darting at every sound that was made inside the home. It would happen, she told herself, and it would be when she wasn’t expecting it. A part of her wanted Tabor to just get it over with. Treat her like he had before so she could eventually become numb and find the darkness that would eventually blanket her.

 

[BLACK BART]

Tabor spent the rest of the day going over the security of his home and the schedules for the men made responsible for it, then when finally satisfied moved indoors to his studio to pour over the financial statements of Cerise's husband and her own.

What he saw was exactly as he suspected, that Nicholas had drained small amounts of money regularly from her accounts, then foolishly spent it on lavish bar tabs and private parties...it all verified the "playboy" image Nick had wanted to keep up, including the gambling habit he had picked up...and his resultant tie to a family that made sport of using saps like him on a regular basis...

But what didn't make sense was why that same family wanted him dead...even though he had represented one of their own and got the rapist off scot free...they had put a limited contract on his head and conditions that made Tabor still wonder...


"I ordered Cantonese and it's arrived, do you mind if we eat at the table and have a couple of bottles of wine to go with it?"

The woman’s voice cut into his thoughts and he sighed, glad for the interruption and the promise of food...

"Sounds good Sherri...has the Ice Queen woke up yet?"

"For quite a while...she was in the kitchen last I saw her, you want me to go fetch her?"

Tabor smiled at the raw eagerness in Sherri's eyes but shook his head from side to side and replied.

"Just ask her to join us, then have James bring up a couple of bottles, will you? I'll be out as soon as I give this one more quick looking over..."

 

[RedHairedandFriendly]

Cerise looked up when another walked into the kitchen. She looked up and then down just as quickly, fear radiating from deep within her, along with fury. It was time, she told herself, readying for the assault of her person. When nothing came but a simple line of “You’re to have dinner with us, in the dining room” Cerise was surprised.

She rose and watched the woman leave. A sigh of relief fell from her lips that she’d been wrong. But the night was young, she realized as she still had hours to deal with Tabor and his crew. She walked to the dining room, and sat down, no one was there, but she knew that would change. The woman returned, taking her seat and then a man. Cerise didn’t have to look at him, or hear him speak to know who he was, she knew. A shudder rolled over her as she kept her hands in her lap and her mouth sealed.

Tension ran up and down her spine as she waited for Tabor to join them. A pitcher of water sat in the middle of the table and she reached for it, her hands visibly shaking. A snicker and a chuckle came from the other occupants in the room, and she bit her lip, biting the cutting remarks that wanted to leap forth. She poured herself something to drink, wanting anything in her hands to calm their trembling.

The cool liquid slipped down her parched throat and she surprised herself over her need to replenish the fluids that fear had drained from her.

 

[BLACK BART]

"Sherri...James...stop it"

Tabor spoke quietly and yet his words were brittle and warning...

"Cerise, relax..."

His tone softened as he spoke to Cerise and doled out a portion of each box onto his plate...

"They're playing with you,"

He passed the boxes and sampled the food, then opened the first bottle of wine and poured for James and Sherri, then looked to Cerise...

"Neither of them will touch you unless you want them to..."

The words brought a mixed reaction of emotions to her face and Tabor smiled, touching the bottle to the edge of her glass...

"Neither will I....now would you like to try some of this excellent wine?"

 

[RedHairedandFriendly]

Cerise had jumped when Tabor scolded the other two. It wasn’t lost on her that they had immediately listened to him. She was surprised to say the least, but then again, she told herself, they were his employees. She listened to his claim that no one would touch her, or do anything to her, unless she wished it, including him. "A cold day in hell, I’ll ask for anything." The words never left her lips, just sat there in her mind. She saw the wine and heard Tabor’s offer. She looked at him then, trying to read his eyes. “No, thank you.”

Her voice was quiet. She didn’t believe he’d tampered with the wine, after all the others were now drinking it. She didn’t trust herself with it. One drink often led to another and then another and though she had never gotten drunk on the stuff, tonight she feared if she started indulging she very well could try to drink herself in oblivion. If that happened then she had no way of protecting herself.

Food arrived and she waited till everyone started eating before she took one bite. She kept to herself, letting the conversations roll over her. She said nothing. The food seemed bland, but she knew it was probably some of the best she’d eaten, but again nothing was right here. Everything she’d expected to happen wasn’t happening and she felt on edge. He’d strike. She knew it. She’d have to be ready. Over and over she repeated the words, just waiting for the first slap or the first taunt or the first command to come flying out at her.

A few times she jumped or flinched when Sherri or James would reach for something, but not once did they touch her. She was glad for that, she wasn’t sure what she would have done if they had. Strike out? Scream? Or scare herself and lean in for more of whatever it was they offered. Even trying to not feel Tabor’s gaze on her was hard to ignore, but she did, as lump after lump of food slid down her dry throat.

 

[BLACK BART]

Tabor didn't miss the nervous movements of Cerise as she went through the mechanical motions of eating or the way she jumped...even though James and Sherri had treated her politely since his gentle warning...

The meal ended quietly, and Tabor rose from his chair to kiss the cheek of Sherri as she volunteered to clear the table with James, and he turned to Cerise as she sat quietly eying the three of them.

"Normally after we eat we relax Cerise...watch a movie on the bigscreen in the den...work out a bit beside the pool...or enjoy the heat and warmth of the jacuzzi...since you're the guest of honor I'd like you to choose something we could all enjoy doing..together?"

His face was pleasant and words sincere, and yet the minutes dragged by with Cerise quietly staring at him and not answering...until Tabor shrugged his shoulders and gently shook his head...

"Then you leave the choice up to me...there isn't a show on we could agree to, and we worked out last night...so it looks like the jacuzzi is the logical choice, why don't I show you it...and the other two can join us in a few minutes?"

Again he was greeted with the silent treatment, and yet he didn't take offense as he saw Cerise struggling with her emotions, instead moving to slide her chair back and place a hand gently on her shoulder.

"Let's go Cerise...no ones going to hurt you...I promise"

Pulling his hand back he waited quietly, his eyes going over Cerise's head and to the two figures working quietly in the kitchen...until Cerise stood and stepped away from her chair.

"That's better, it's this way"

Tabor spoke softly and lifted a hand to point to the rear of the house, then followed his guest as she took the lead and moved down the hall...

"Right here..."

He opened the door and then closed it as the stepped inside the moist warmth of the room and turned the lights on...

"There are no suits....but then you're not seeing anything you haven't seen before, are you?"

Tabor studied her face and began to undress, waiting to remove his shirt until her own hands moved to her clothing...

"And once we're in the water it will be covered again anyways...won't it?"

 

[RedHairedandFriendly]

Cerise stared at Tabor, his words ringing in her ear. . .not the words of undressing, or covering up, or even the words about her and the others relaxing in the jacuzzi. Instead the words that played in her mind were the ones that could either be her greatest hope, or the best lie the man had told her yet. . . “I promise.”

“Don’t do that. . .” she told him as she moved to take off her shoes and then turned away, not wanting to see him disrobe.

“Do what?” he asked, his voice showing his confusion.

“Promise me something. . . You may not be hurting me physically, but you are mentally. So don’t promise me that you won’t hurt me, or they won’t hurt me. . .”

Her skirt, stockings and panties, slipped to the floor, before she pulled her blouse off her head and then unclipped her bra. “You don’t own them do you? Blackmailing them too, so they are forced to do your bidding?” her voice was monotone, no emotion from the words, just simple statements given in a factual way. “So don’t promise me something you can’t give.”

She turned around, crossing her arms in front of her, failing to hide the nakedness that Tabor and the others had seen as well as used. Tabor also had disrobed, as he listened to her, and Cerise did her best to look past him, focusing on a picture that rested just over his shoulder, so as not to glance at the body that had made her want so much more than any had before.

 

[BLACK BART]

"And if I were to simply leave you alone, what then?"

Tabor was puzzled over the sudden words of Cerise, not of the meaning, or accusation...for he had grown used to that, but by the obvious pain and it's depth...

"I did not put you into this pressing situation, your husband did...and when he sought to discard you, worth more to him dead...than alive...I gave you protection in my own home..."

Unlike her own eyes, his were used to admire the beauty of Cerise's graceful body, and the ugly marks about her throat...

"Your husband gave you those bruises, when I at my worst could not...as for why James and Sherri are with me...ask them, they will answer you honestly if I am here...or if I am not..."

Stepping into the water he turned back to face Cerise as she stood above him, raising his hand in offer to help her...and his eyes to meet hers...

"As for what I can give you Cerise...All you need do is ask, and if it is in my possession...it is yours"

 

[RedHairedandFriendly]

Cerise walked a few feet away and slipped into the water unassisted.

“You did put me here. You took me from my home. Humiliated me. Defiled me. Degraded me. You did things to me that I didn’t want. Forced me to do things I never would have done. You pumped me full of some cocktail of your creation, so that I would behave the way you wanted. . .not the way I would have behaved if I had been given the choice. . .but we’ll never know that will we? We’ll never know if I’d have liked it without your. . .oh so gentle persuasion. You promise me anything. . .as long as it is in your power. . .well. . .right now your promise means nothing, for the only thing I want I can’t have. I can’t go home. I can’t return to the life I had before and you won’t magically disappear.”

Her voice shook and her hands trembled as water rushed over her tense body. She turned away when the other two walked into the room, disrobed and joined them. Cerise had never felt so conflicted in all her life. She was always in control of herself. . .her emotions. . .her life and now she had nothing. She had noone to turn to, not that she ever had before. . .but perhaps one day she would have found someone to turn to, but not now. Cerise was alone, more alone than she’d ever been in her life and she found herself hating it.

A shudder went through her as she thought of her fate. Her lower lip trembling and tears feeling her eyes, but again, she said nothing, and kept her face turned toward the wall, in hopes that whatever they were planning for her would be over and done with quickly.

 

[BLACK BART]

Cerise's words shook Tabor, tore at a part of him he thought long dead, and inside he felt the wounds begin to bleed again...

And yet he refused to show it, simply turning his head away as if distracted by the arrival of his two friends...

"James is leaving us in a few hours, he has....business to attend to for the next week or so, lets not ruin this for him before he leaves..."

He offered a hand to the lithe and lovely form of Sherri, smiling as she took it and placed her free hand on his shoulder, her lips carressing his cheek as she moved into the water and past him...

"Sherri is sister to James, Cerise...We met when her brother was running from the local law.... And though the debts incurred have been long ago settled they stay with me... It would make me happy if you could look at them in a gentler light for just one night..for this night"

He turned as James slid into the water and placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder, his eyes calm again despite the pain that ached within his heart...

"Sherri, pour us some of that Brandy we found while in Spain, will you please?"

Tabor spoke softly and placed his own hand on the James's shoulder, squeezing it softly before moving into the water to sit...

"I think we all need to relax...to rest...and to forget, if only for the evening."

 

[RedHairedandFriendly]

Cerise glanced at the three of them, seeing them in a different light, but still she felt uneasy. She listened to Tabor and how he explained that he wanted them to be at ease with each other, if only for the one night. “I think if you want that to happen, then it would be best for me to retire for the night. I can not forget. . .even for one night. . .not yet.”

She rose from the water and climbed out of the heated liquid. “Good night,” she said and walked away, her body tense and her back straight as she tried to hear someone, anyone try to stop her. Nothing happened and when she closed the door behind her, she leaned against it, trying to calm the beating of her heart. Several deep breaths later, Cerise was in her blouse, panties, and skirt again, having nothing of her own to wear, nor had she been shown any clothing.

She glanced at the bedrooms, shuddered and headed back to the living room, where the couch had welcomed her before. Cerise glanced around and noticed a throw blanket, she picked it up and lay down. Her eyes were wide as she studied her surroundings, praying they would leave her alone, forget she existed and just let her disappear into the night.

The emotional roller coaster of the day consumed her, eventually making her eyes heavy and her breath become more shallow. Soon she was sleeping, hours slipping by and her dreams filling her stressed mind. Images of Tabor, Sherrie, James... all of them flittered in and out of her subconscious, eventually they melded to the face of her husband and she kicked at the blanket that covered her, dug at her throat as she tried to free herself from his deathlike grip.

 

[BLACK BART]

"Hey there now, be still, it's only me"

James sat on the couch and held his hand over the mouth of Cerise, his eyes gentle and soft as he waited for her to wake completely.

"They killed her, you know"

He spoke softly as Cerise calmed and he dropped his hand from her lips.

"He'd never tell you, of course, but they killed Laurell for not doing what they wanted him to. You remind him of her..."

"And why should I care, or believe you James?"

The man sat back and smiled, his face showing a mixture of scorn and empathy, and he pulled a picture from his pocket to offer it to her.

"He told you I was running when we met, but what he didn't say was why, the people he works for controls the law, and just on the street levels...He came for my sister and I with the intention of taking me to them to be killed, and I would have been if not for the intervention of his wife. The woman in that picture with him...She was his conscience and his will to live, and when she convinced them I had done nothing wrong he refused to give me up."

James took the picture back and slid it into his pocket, his eyes serious and intent as he raised them to Cerise’s, his words matching the look as he rose.

"They killed her as a lesson, and then discarded me, to show him how powerful they are...and to make a point of not crossing them again...He thought you were just a pampered bitch of a rich man when this started, but after they ordered him to kill you? It made him think, and then find the truth he was ignoring through the years... He should have killed you, it would save him him his own life, perhaps....Only they don't know him as I do...He never stopped loving her even though the best part of him died with her, and he's going to teach them a fatal lesson...soon."

James straightened his tie and brushed off the arm of his suit, his eye going to the Rolex on his wrist and raising an eyebrow and a smile on his face.

"I'm off... To deliver his message of defiance... So wish me luck, I should be back in a few days unless they kill the messenger, then it will take me a few days more."

Tapping his briefcase James winked and turned, his shoulders set square and strong as he walked from the room, not expecting the defiant and strong willed woman to answer...his final words coming over his shoulder in a light hearted and teasing tone...

"Be a dear and keep your lips sealed about our talk, will you?"

 

[RedHairedandFriendly]

Cerise had been ready to scream and had it not been for the hand over her mouth she would have. She scooted up to the far end of the couch as James told the story of Tabor. She said nothing, just watched him, trying to gauge the truth of his words. He gave her no time to respond as he left the room, telling her to keep her mouth shut about what he’d revealed. She watched him leave, only then relaxing the muscles in her body that were honed into flight or fight. Silence reached out to her and she suddenly felt uneasy.

Rising from the couch, she tugged at her sweater and brushed her skirt back down her legs, the wrinkles an obvious sign she’d been sleeping in it. She walked to the kitchen, used the moonlight filtering in to find her way around. Eventually she found a glass, filled it with water from the sink and then drank deep of the cool liquid. Taking a deep breath she turned to go back to her couch, and stopped as her toes smacked into the table leg. “Ouch!” she hissed and grabbed a chair.

She ran her fingers over the tender flesh, cursing when she brought away a sticky substance, knowing she’d split the nail and was now leaking blood all over herself as well as Tabor’s floor. She held her foot for several minutes, debating on what to do. Biting her lip, she limped over to the wall and searched out the light switch. Once the light flooded the room, she stared down at her bloody toe and rolled her eyes, before limping back to the sink to hunt up a rag, so she could clean herself up and then the floor.

 

[BLACK BART]

"Do you want help?"

Tabor stood quietly and regarded the bleeding woman, his earlier promise fresh in his mind, just as her defiance in walking out of the jacuzzi the night before was.

"Or do you want to bleed all over my floor?"

Eyes glaring his "guest" nodded, and with gauze and tincture in hand he kneeled as she took a chair...

"Rest your foot on my knee Cerise"

He spoke softly and steadied the wounded foot, his fingers dabbing at the blood and applying pressure gently until the blood flow stopped.

"Yes, you split the nail"

He confirmed and proved he had watched the event from the start...

"This will smart, allright?"

He warned and waited for her affirmation, his left hand holding her ankle as he opened the small bottle and pulled the applicator from it...

"Hold still Cerise..."

He spoke gently as her leg began to shudder, his own hand rubbing the muscle of her calf to find it cramping...

"Just a muscle cramp, I can rub it out now...or after, IF you want?"

His eyes on hers he kept his face carefully neutral, and as Cerise gritted her teeth and then spoke he nodded and went to work...

"Just my calf Tabor, no further.."

His warmer hands on the cooler skin of her calf he massaged the muscle slowly, working his fingers into the tight cord, pausing when he felt her tense or heard her hiss air through her lips...until he felt the leg relax and looked past the long leg and white panty to see her body relaxed and eyes closed...

In short, quick moves he treated the wound, then wrapped it in gauze and used his teeth to tear the end before tying it off, his eyes lifting a second time to see Cerise studying his face...

"You might want a sandal...to wear for a day or so...I think there is a set in my bedroom yet that will fit you...I'll get them if you wish?"

 

[RedHairedandFriendly]

Cerise had felt the spark of want flow from his fingers up her leg and along her spine, until she found herself slowly easing into his caress. When he was finished she had surprised herself and continued letting him hold her foot. She heard his words, not yet registering the intimacy of the moment, until a few seconds had passed. She pulled her foot away and looked back down at Tabor.

“Thank you,” she whispered, pulling her skirt back down. “A sandal would be nice. . . I also. . .” she took a deep breath, gnawed on the inside of her cheek and sighed again, “need clothes Tabor. . .or I’ll be rather smelly or at least my sweater and blouse, panty and bra won’t live to much longer.”

She wasn’t sure what had made her make the off-handed and humorous comment, but she did. Shrugging her shoulders she watched him rise.

“I’ll take care of it,” he said, before leaving her alone.

She watched him leave, not liking the fact that she still burned for his touch, nor did she like the fact that he had taken care of her in a gentle way. He was not the man James spoke off. He was the man in her nightmares, one of the many faces that haunted her dreams.

The sounds of Tabor’s returning steps reached her and she turned to face him, wondering what he would provide for her to wear about the house. The image of the way he had made her dress bore down on her and another inner battle began. Would he bring her something only a whore would wear or would he give her the clothing that would allow her to keep herself from his prying eyes. She wasn’t sure which she wanted.

 

[BLACK BART]

It was easier than Tabor thought it would be...

Opening a drawer he had deliberately ignored for two years, in hope that the memory of Laurell's face wouldn't be there as he did...

Her face came, but instead of the pain he imagined would be with it...only her face and a sense of longing...

It took only a few moments to find the garments Cerise needed, a modest and comfortable set of panty and bra, a sweater that would compliment her hair and a calf length skirt that would be warm...with the sandals in one hand and the clothes in the other he returned to find Cerise sitting with a look of confused pain on her face and her leg crossed...her skirt riding up on her trim thigh...

"This is all I have Cerise...you look to be the same size as...as she was...if you can use them you're welcome to them, if not I'll have Sherri make a run for you..."

He handed the clothes to her then set the sandles on top, his eyes on the handmade shoes as his mind moved back to a better day when he had bought them....his fingers brushing Cerise's own and sending a jolt into him that opened his eyes in surprise...

"There's a bathroom first left...with a lock on it from the inside, you can shower and dress in there, I'll call Sherri and we'll get something warm to eat on the table...do you like eggs?"

 

[RedHairedandFriendly]

“James told me about her. . .sorry for your loss.” She took the clothes. “Thank you, no eggs, fruit will be fine, or toast. . .thanks,” she said again before leaving and heading to the bathroom, to shower and change.

She locked the door, almost wishing she didn’t feel the need to protect herself from Tabor. The feel of Tabor’s touch was still on her skin and she told herself, she could not be fooled by his so called “caring” caress.

Once in the shower Cerise allowed herself to become completely absorbed in the heated sting that rapped at her skin. She stood under it for several long minutes before beginning to cleanse herself. Her body was covered in a soft froth of bubbles, her hair treated to a bath of thick suds. She rinsed the soap away, leaving nothing but clean flesh in its way. After the shower and once she was dry, Cerise pulled her hair back, braiding the wet locks and then pulled on the borrowed clothes.

They fit almost perfectly, hugging her snugly around her hips and chest. Taking a deep breath, she unlocked the door and walked back to the kitchen. She glanced at Sherri, then took her seat at the table, before pulling an orange from a bowl and working on the peel. “When does this end?” The question hung in the air. She didn’t care who answered her. “I just want to go home. . .so what do I do to make that happen?”

 

[BLACK BART]

"A week, perhaps less"

Tabor responded and set the gauze and tincture on the table.

"All you need to do is relax, read a book...bide your time. I'll do the rest...And redo your dressing, it's wet and needs to be changed...I'll be upstairs"

With a cup of coffee and a plate of eggs and toast he moved to quietly thank Sherri and tell her he'd be back to do the dishes, then turned to move to the doorway...

"You look good in those clothes Cerise, keep them when this is over, won't you?"

Upstairs he made quick work of the eggs and set the steaming coffee on the dresser top, moving to pull a dusty suitcase from it's corner in the closet and back to the drawers that contained his wifes intimates....

"It's time Laurell...Time I moved on after this is over, so I'm going to pack away your clothes and giive them to someone that might want them...But I'll take you with me...I promise"

 

[RedHairedandFriendly]

Cerise peeled her meal in silence, making no move to converse with the woman, who she trusted as far as she could throw her. “We’re really not that bad, you know.”

The voice caught her by surprise and she turned to look at the woman. “Really? Not that bad? Did you enjoy yourself? Did you have fun taking me, a stranger, down a peg? A woman you knew nothing about, but since you were told to do what you did to me. . .there should be no guilt?”

Cerise took her orange, not even half finished and threw it away. “Don’t bother me. Talk to me or even breathe the same air I breathe. . .for a week and I’ll be happy. Don’t tell me you aren’t that bad, because from what I recall. . .there was nothing good about you or your brother, or him.” She didn’t say Tabor’s name; she didn’t need to.

She left Sherri, making her way to Tabor and discovered him with a case of stored away clothing. She studied him for a short moment, leaned against the door frame and cleared her throat.

“So tell me. . .if I look so much like Laurell, as James claimed, then why do to me what you did? Why treat me like nothing more than someone to fuck, use, abuse, degrade and humiliate? You took pleasure in it, don’t deny it. Don’t sit there over your dead wife’s belongings and tell me you didn’t find pleasure in hurting me. . .be honest with yourself.”

 

[BLACK BART]

"Don't bring Laurell into this"

Tabor lifted his face and studied the woman who so casually invaded his personal life.

"I loved...love her...and I lost her because of my righteous attitude. I just as good as killed her..."

Standing he set the now packed suitcase aside and moved to the lone picture he allowed himself, lifting it to look into a face that would never be in his life again as anything but a memory...

"You?...You were an assignment, a task to be accomplished, to get to Nick and the records he has been hiding...Records that have the names of known criminals and judges on the same pages...You didn't have a face...or a name that meant anything to me."

He met her eyes again and opened his hands to let the picture down.

"I was going to break you because it was my job...and I was the best at it, I was going to use the pain of my loss to help me as I had before...only this time I was told to forget you and go straight to Nick instead...that he didn't really want you, only your title and money....and it struck me how stupid he was to not want you.

It was at that point I knew I had made a terrible mistake...and that you became a human being to me, and I defied the men that ordered you dead..."

Sitting on the beds edge he clasped his hands between his legs, his eyes moving around the room that had meant so much in the past...and now meant so little...

"I'm sorry I hurt you, I'm sorry for what I did and YES....I enjoyed it, but I can't change the past...as much as I wish I could, for you...and Laurell..But NOW?....Now I'm going to make it right the best way I can..."