Papers for Roses

Chapter Twenty One

Chapter Twenty One

Megan

Car horns slurred in the distance. Traffic officers whistled scoldingly while they guided vehicles coming from here and going there. They faintly echoed hesitantly inside the luxurious, now-silent penthouse as she and her husband suffocated in the tension swimming blissfully around them.

She stared at him.
He stared back.

Once several seconds died in the pool of silence, Megan's shoulder squared in determination, mustering any dignity she had left.

She gathered her latest book on the bedside table and stalked out of the room. Wade resumed utterly wordless as she felt him moved toward their walk-in closet.

The house began to shrink as she walked deeper into the living room, its silence a new Pandemonium as the unwelcoming sensation rippled at the bottom of her stomach. I have to get out of here.

Looking down, the oversized T-shirt suddenly caused her to feel naked. Megan put on a pair of unwashed Yoga pants she found in the laundry room and made herself comfortable on the lounging chair on the balcony that overlooked the busy streets below.

No one had ever made her feel small and objectified than the devil doing whatever he needed to do several feet away. He made her sign contracts he knew she couldn't refuse, as if her life was a property. He used her on the bed as if she was a living sex toy, waiting for him to use for his own pleasure. He left her afterward and never mentioned what happened until earlier that night.

She understood he had the upper hand in their relationship. Thankful he was trying to be friendly and approachable. However, Megan craved more intimacy. She missed being held as if she was the only girl in the world, missed being loved and cared for, missed the how are you's, what are you doing's, keep safe's text messages every now and then every day. The hostility and anonymity on the bed didn't help no matter the sexual satisfaction she felt like never before came from there.

This was only business but somehow, two days after sealing the deal, too much submitting and lack of intimacy had been disturbing for a girl who had real relationships lasting for years.

Hairs on the back of her neck suddenly stood erect, eliciting goosebumps sprinting down her spine.

Megan lifted her head to see Wade leaning against the glass door in a T-shirt and light-washed jeans. His deep blues burned through her, standing out in the darkness, yet completely blending with the orange hues coming from the high-rises of Manhattan.

She smiled at him. His lips twitched a little in response. His intense stare swept from her head to toe, making her squirm in her seat. She didn't speak, didn't return his obvious ogling and go back to blindly reading her book. She heard him sigh and sat across from her.

"All right, let's talk." His voice was low and husky. "I don't know where that question came from. What I do know is, we are drawing boundaries here. I thought you understood that."

"I do."

"Hey." He tipped her chin. His gaze sparkling with nothing but genuine curiosity. "What's the problem here?"

Megan bit her lip. "You are being nicer and nicer every day and it's sparking stuff inside of me."

His eyes twinkled in amusement. A brow flew to his hairline, "That a bad thing?"

She looked away. "No."

"What kind of stuff?"

"I'm not having feelings for you," she scoffed.