CHAPTER 11
I woke up an hour before sunset with sore muscles and a crick in my neck from lying on something hard. I lifted my head and found the hard thing was John's chest. The man himself was still asleep and, most importantly, naked. We both were, and the only thing that saved anyone from coming into the room and having an image engraved on their memory was the blanket from over the couch.
That scenario rattled me; what if someone had come in and found us in this, well, compromising position? I blushed to think of the shock, horror, and mental scarring. Hell, what we did struck me with horror; I'd finally done, well, my boss. How could I have let the relationship slip into this? What would he do now that his craving for my flesh was satisfied? Did he think I was a slut? Worse, did he think he could take me anytime now that he had me under his power?
I shuddered; that's what happened. I had been under his power. His delicious, masculine power. It had felt so good to have his strong arms around me, protecting me from the world by becoming my world. The way he held me close and touched me where I'd never allowed anyone to touch me. He was my first, nobody could take his place, and that scared me. He had a place in my life, a permanent place, and I didn't know if he was the one I wanted in there.
I slipped off the couch, taking the blanket with me, and wrapped myself in it as I stood over his still, pale form. His hair was ruffled, and I almost regretted that his shining blue eyes were closed. However, closed meant I could make a clean getaway, and he wouldn't be able to stop me. I had to leave here and think about what had happened. Staying in that house meant biased memories, and he was there. This was all just so confusing that only escape could clear my thoughts.
I grabbed all my clothes and crept out into the hall. Each squeak of the old boards made me wince and wish for DW40 for wood. I changed in the study and snuck back down the hall to the front door with my purse and coat in hand. As a precaution I slipped my head into the living room to check on Sleeping Beauty. Somebody must have kissed him because he was gone.
A noise at my back startled me, and I instinctively swung my arm around to knock their head off. John grabbed my arm and raised a mischievous eyebrow. "Do you hit all your employers, or just the sneaky ones?"
I wrenched my arm from his grasp and scowled at him. "I don't do anything to my employers except what they deserve." At my words his grin grew wider, and that made me angry. I didn't want him to see me as an easy sex partner. "But I make a mistake every now and then, and I'm going to remedy this one by leaving." I stomped toward the door, but he grasped my arm again. "Let me go! You can't keep me here!"
He let me go and I stumbled back into the wall beside the living room entrance. His expression held confusion and pain. "What's wrong? Why are you acting like this?"
"What's wrong? You're asking me what's wrong?" I gestured to the couch. "We just had sex on the couch, that's what's wrong!"
"We could have had it in the bed, but the couch was right there," he pointed out.
I threw up my arms. "You're impossible! All you're thinking about is getting back into my pants!"
John's good humor slipped from his face. "That's not what I'm thinking, and you should know that."
I furiously shook my head. "But I don't know that, and I can't think straight here. I need to leave."
I rushed to the door and made it out onto the porch with John close behind. "Wait! Please don't go!" he begged me.
I didn't pay any attention to him until I was out on the gravel driveway, and that's when I heard his bare footsteps behind me. I swung around to find him blinking in the sun in only his pants. The sun shone off his pale skin, and his blue eyes sparkled in the full light of the evening day star. My eyes widened and I rushed over to place my hands on his bare chest. "What in the world are you doing?" I shrieked at him. I tried to push him toward the house, but he stood firmer than a boulder in a field needing to be plowed.
"I won't go back inside without you," he insisted.
"And I won't go back, so you go on in right now!" I ordered him.
"Then come back in with me or I won't go," John repeated.
I glanced between him and my car; freedom from this insanity was so close, but I expected him to turn the shade of a tomato at any moment. I growled, turned him around and shoved him back into the house. He toddled along with a stupid grin on his face, but when we got inside the dark hall I noticed his body had a distinct touch of heat on the skin. "Aren't you supposed to combust or something?" I quipped as I shut the door behind me.
John turned around and shook his head. "No, but the symptoms will come along in an hour or two."
"And what are the symptoms?" I asked him.
"You'll see the welts and blisters, but I'll feel the heat," he replied.
"Any way we can avoid this? Any medication or anything?"
He sadly shook his head. "The only relief is a cold bath, and even that-hey!"
I had shoved him toward the stairs. "Then let's get one for you right now so you'll be ready for when the heat comes," I told him. I shoved and pulled him upstairs and into the bathroom, where I readied his bath and sat him down on the toilet. "Now watch the water and don't move!"
John noticed me creeping backwards to the door and shot up from his royal seat. "Where are you going?" he questioned me.
"Only downstairs, now watch that water and I'll be right back!" I closed the door behind me and clattered downstairs. In the study I found what I was looking for; a phone number for Cecil. Since he'd raised the boy from the age of ten he would know best what to do in this situation. I called the number and was relieved when Cecil answered. "Cecil, this is Miss Calhoun, the girl-"
"I remember you," he chuckled. "What seems to be the problem that you'd search out my number?"
"John went out into the sun without a shirt on and-"
"What!" he exclaimed, and I flinched. "Why in heaven's name would he do that?"
"Because he was being stupid-"
"Obviously," Cecil quipped. "Have you made him comfortable? Within reason, that is."
I rolled my eyes. "Yes, and he's filling the tub with cold water, but isn't there anything else we can do?"
"I'm afraid not, but I'll be right over." Cecil canceled the call and I felt a wave of relief wash over me and sweep me onto land; he would take charge and handle John while I slunk off.
Cecil was quick in coming, and even quicker to take charge. He stalked up the stairs and surprised John in the bathroom on the, well, john. John shot up and glared at his uncle with me behind Cecil. "What are you doing here?"
Cecil looked him up and down, and frowned. "I heard you'd done something stupid. Now I can see for myself that it's true." I, too, could now see the effects. His skin had a reddish hue and he moved with a stiffness showing the increasing pain he felt.
John scowled at Cecil. "I'll be fine. It's not like this hasn't happened before," he countered.
"But not for a long while, and I can't think why you would-" Cecil paused and glanced between John and me. I blushed, and he smiled at me. "Could you leave us for a moment, Miss Calhoun? I want to, um, help John into his bath."
I eagerly nodded and would have shot off but for John's pleading look; he still didn't want me to run off. I sighed. "I'll be downstairs if you need me," I told them.
I tromped downstairs and went into the living room to relax. With the couch sitting there laying testament to our sexual romp, the living room was now the worst room in the house to clear my worried, befuddled thoughts. I distracted myself by listening to the murmuring voices upstairs. I couldn't make out what they were saying, but John didn't sound happy and Cecil was amused by something. The exchange was tedious until John's voice rose up and there was a splash as a great amount of water spilled over the walls and floor. I shot up and stared with wide eyes at the ceiling. The splashing noise was followed by a great deal of laughter, but only from Cecil.
A few minutes later
I heard squeaking shoes down the stairs and stuck my head out into the hall to see Cecil step down soaking wet and with a big grin on his face. He noticed me and aimed his wet feet toward me, leaving a trail of wet footprints behind him. "There's something I wish to speak with you about, Miss Calhoun. Would you do me the honor of stepping outside so I may dry off a little?" he politely requested.
"Um, sure."
He guided me out to the gravel driveway, and soaked in some of the lingering sun before he turned to me with an attentive glance. "You must be very fond of John to have stayed this long with him."
I blinked in bewilderment. "I'm supposed to work for him, remember?" I countered.
He waved aside my explanation with his hand and a frown. "Yes, yes, John told me the arrangement, but nobody could be this in need of money to put up with the strangeness around John's life. There must be something else
I shrugged. "I just wanted to help him get outside. He just seemed so afraid of his shadow, literally, that I thought maybe he just needed somebody by him to encourage him out."
"So you stayed out of pity for him?" Cecil guessed.
"I guess."
"I don't buy into that," he snappily replied.
I folded my arms across my chest and glared at him. "And why not?"
"Because I believe there's another reason you stayed with him."
"And that would be?"
Cecil leaned in and winked at me. "That age-old troublemaker, love," he answered.
My face warmed with my blush, but I held my tone firm. "How can I love somebody? I just met him a few days ago."
He chuckled. "Does love have a point at which it comes into existence?"
"I don't know, but I don't love him!" I insisted.
Cecil still grinned from ear to ear. "Then perhaps you might tell me why your hair is such a mess, and your clothes in such a disarray on your person?"
I self-consciously tried to de-muss my clothes and control my hair. "It's been a hectic day for us."
His face lost some of its humor. "So I heard, but you haven't directly contradicted my statement."
I stopped my fussing and blinked at him. "What was the question again?"
"Do you love him, or not?" he rephrased.
"I-I don't know," I stammered out. "I mean, he's nice and cute and a lot of other adjectives, but I don't know how I feel about him. I mean, how am I supposed to feel about my boss?"
"Is that all he is to you?" Cecil persisted.
I threw up my hands. "I don't know, okay? I can't think straight, not after-" I froze, and Cecil raised an eyebrow. "Not after today," I finished.
Cecil sighed and rung water out of his coat. "Well, I'll leave him in your uncertain hands and check up on him tomorrow. Make sure he stays in that tub for at least an hour, and if you need to feel free to add some ice cubes."
Rather than me escaping with Cecil watching over John, Cecil escaped in his car and left me with the patient. I groaned and glanced up at the old house. The selfish part of my mind told me to run away, but that would make me both a coward and break my promise to John to not leave. He'd probably get in his car and drive after me, especially since he didn't know where I lived.
I trudged back into the house and upstairs to the bathroom door. I didn't hear anything on the other side, and knocked. "Yes?" John called to me.
I almost heeded his pain-filled voice and rushed inside the bathroom to nurse him, but I held steady to the other side of the door. "It's me, Trixie. How are you doing?" I asked him.
"I've been better," he groaned. "Is Cecil still here?"
"No, he left, but he said you had to stay in the bathtub for an hour or more," I replied.
"I don't care about that. I wanted to talk to you about what happened between us earlier today," John spoke up.
I blushed at the mere mention of our tryst; traitorous female cheeks. I meant for my voice to be firm and indifferent, but it came out shaky and fearful; I was afraid he'd send me away. "What's there to talk about?" I countered.
"About us. What we did changes everything," he insisted.
"Including my salary?" I tried to joke, but that sounded dirty even in my mind. There was silence on the other end of the door, and I hung my head. "I'm sorry. That came out pretty bad, didn't it?"
John sighed. "This is foolish talking through the door like we're miles apart. Get in here," he ordered.
"I'm just fine outside," I replied. I didn't want him to see the tears pooling in my eyes.
"Then I'm coming out to you," he countered. I heard the splash of water and dove inside the bathroom to stop him.
"Don't you dare get out of there!" I scolded him. I pushed his nakedness back under the water and tried to slip away to sit against the door, but John gently grabbed my hand and held me beside the tub. I turned my face away, but his gentle fingers clasped my chin and raised my eyes to look into his. They looked as scared and uncertain as I felt, and it was then I realized we were thinking the same thing; we were both terrified the other was going to push us away. "I don't care about the money, or about any of this experiment. I just want to know if you're going to leave me and never come back," he softly told me. I opened my mouth, but no sound came out. He smiled sadly at me. "If you do stay I have to warn you that I can't change how I feel about you."
I shook my head. "And I'm not ready to take that leap yet, but I'll stay and be your secretary," I promised him.
That didn't sit well with him as clouds of worry flew across those sky-blue eyes. "Then you don't feel the same way?"
I sighed and pulled my chin out of his fingers. "I don't know what I feel, and that's why I don't want anything to change-yet. Until I figure out what I want to do I'll stay here and keep care of you." I glanced at his red skin and smirked. "It looks like you need somebody to keep you from doing stupid things for stupid people."
John raised an eyebrow. "I did this because of you," he countered.
"Like I said, stupid things for stupid people."
He smiled; I was glad to see he could still do it through the burnt muscles on his face. "I guess I'm stupid that way."
"Yep, so I'll stay on until I figure us out while keeping you out of doing stupid things," I promised.
"So longer than the week?" he eagerly asked me.
I shrugged, and a teasing smile slipped onto my lips. "If that's what it takes, but don't go trying to convince me to stay with any of that sexy stuff."
John leaned over the tub and caught me in his dazzling kiss. I pulled us apart and gasped while the imp had that evil grin on his face. "Like that?" he asked me. I dumbly nodded my head. He leaned back against the walls of the tub, looking as satisfied as a cat with a mouse; I suddenly had a craving for cheese. "I guess we'll have to see if I can break down that boss-employee barrier in your mind before you leave."
I smirked. "Challenge accepted."
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