My Body-His Marcello Page 7

  “Hands up,” a policeman said. He scared me practically to death. I dropped my backpack and threw my hands in the air.

  “What are you doing climbing out of Mr. Hall’s house?”

  “I’m Mrs. Hall.” I stood still, scared to move.

  “Why would Mrs. Hall need to climb out the window?” he said. The intensity of his eye contact made me afraid he might use his gun.

  “We got into a fight and he changed the locks. He’s in Japan and I couldn’t reach him.” I kept my hands in the air, slightly shaking.

  His demeanor changed and he lowered the gun. He must have decided I wasn’t dangerous.

  “I have to take you down and verify your story.” He waved me over to him.

  I dropped my arms, swung my backpack up on my shoulder, and stepped toward him as he read me my rights. I held my wrists out to him so he could cuff me.

  “That won’t be necessary,” he said, opening the back door to let me in.

  I’d thought being whipped in front of a group of people had brought me to my all-time low but my journey of degradation continued to prove me wrong. I had never felt so mortified in my life. I kept my head down, hoping no one would see me riding in the back of the squad car.

  Once we arrived at the Hollywood police station, they booked me and shoved me into a cell with two women I thought might be prostitutes. They checked me out and both made disgusted faces, which I found funny. I was on the verge of hysteria but held my laughter in. I knew if I started laughing, I wouldn’t stop. The two ladies of the night ignored me and continued their conversation as if I didn’t exist.

  I couldn’t fathom how my life had gotten to this place in a matter of months. I wish I could express the psychological scourging I experienced as they fingerprinted me and made me pose for mug shots. On the edge of a breakdown I realized how being photographed had taken on a completely new meaning for me. How does one recover from this? I thought.

  I understood Janice in that moment better than I ever had. For the first time I thought, Maybe he won’t take me back and where will I be then? How can I go on another minute knowing I’d be alone again? How can I go on living without the man who filled me, captured me, and freed me?

  The two women were liberated about an hour later, leaving me to occupy the cell on my own. I lay back on the bench and fantasized about reuniting with Luke. After two more hours I realized I had a phone call coming. That released my pent-up emotion. I laughed until I cried, and it seemed as if the tears would never cease. There was no one I could call. Truly alone in the world, I had only myself to blame. I had trapped myself in this particular box—one that currently had bars on it. I can’t be sure how much more time elapsed but the officer who had made the arrest finally came for me.

  “I was able to reach Mr. Hall. Please come with me,” he said, handing me my backpack.

  I wasn’t sure if I should be relieved or scared. I felt raw and cut wide open.

  The officer led me to the front room, where people waited on a bench for processing. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a sight for sore eyes. Janice headed toward me. When she embraced me, the tears began anew.

  “Oh Jane, it’s going to be all right. He’s expecting you,” she said as she rubbed my back and held me tight.

  “Please say you mean … Luke … and not Marcello,” I said, my speech punctuated by sobs.

  “Yes, Luke, but you’ll be seeing Marcello shortly.”

  “Luke won’t forgive me.”

  “Yes, he will, but remember this, he only gives one chance and you’ve had yours. Don’t screw it up, Jane.”

  “I don’t think I can survive Marcello.”

  “Of course you will,” Janice said. She stepped out of our embrace and put her arm around my shoulder. “Remember, Marcello has to answer to Luke in regards to you. It’s not like he owns you and is free to do as he pleases, but expect it to be unpleasant. Although, you never know, you might find you enjoy yourself.”

  “Is that what happened to you?” I said as we ambled out of the police station.

  “How do you mean?”

  “Luke said that you had no limits and wanted to go further than even he did.”

  “Luke has a clever way with history.” Janice led us to a bright yellow VW Beetle and said, “I will say this; I was changed after my time with Marcello.”

  “He sent you to Marcello?”

  “Yes, and while I was with him, Marcello sent Luke one of his women. There are some pics on the website of that time.”

  “I’ve seen some of them. Are you saying Marcello will ‘swap’ a woman for me while I’m there?”

  “It’s possible,” Janice said. She drove us over to the beach, back to my house.

  “Is this your car?” I asked.

  “Yes. I’ve always wanted one.”

  “Marcello?”

  “Marcello.”

  “Oh.”

  We rode the rest of the way in silence. The anxiety in me kept building until we arrived at the beach house. I sat there in the car, unable to move.

  “What are you waiting for?” Janice said.

  “Aren’t you coming in?”

  “No. You’ll see me again soon enough.”

  “I don’t know how to thank you,” I said. I leaned forward to kiss her on the cheek and she turned her face, making my kiss land on her lips. I felt the flick of her tongue and pulled away.

  “No worries,” she said. She stared into my eyes and I felt her desire.

  I quickly left the car. I stood for a moment in front of the door feeling disoriented by this bizarre world I had fallen into. In that moment, I believed that fate had ceased to exist for me because I knew that a decision as meaningless as going to a party can change a life forever.

  I stood there understanding I should run the other way, because I knew what I’d have to endure to make it up to Luke. As on that crucial day in his bedroom in the party house, I had a choice—to stay or to go. I knew I would make the wrong decision yet again but could make no other.

  I knocked at the door of my own house and waited for it to open.

  Luke unbolted the door and to my utter relief lifted me into a fervent hug as though I had become the very air he needed to breathe. I wrapped my legs around his waist and laughed and cried at the same time.

  “Oh baby, don’t you ever do that again,” Luke said. His voice choked up and for the first time ever I saw tears in his eyes.

  “Never,” I said. “I can’t live without you, Luke. I’ll do whatever you want to make this up to you.”

  “Yes, you will,” he said, looking me squarely in the eyes.

  “When?”

  “First thing in the morning Janice will be back to get you.”

  “Oh,” I said. I lowered my legs back to the ground and rested my head on his chest.

  He buried his hands in my hair and tilted my face up to his. When we kissed I knew there could be no other place for me.

  “For tonight, we reconnect, but you should know that if you ever leave me again—by using the safe word or just leaving—I will never take you back.”

  “I understand,” I said as I pulled my top over my head.

  “Where did you stay that first night?” he asked, watching me slip out of my shorts.

  “At Christian’s shop,” I said, locked in his stare. It was then I realized he knew about the rest of the time—that I had broken in and was living in the house. Did that mean he had tolerated it at first, then had me arrested to teach me a lesson? Did he have the police in his pocket?

  “Are you trying to make me jealous, Jane?” he said. His ears flared red and I could see a flush on his cheeks.

  “Jealous? No, I’m answering you honestly. I slept on his couch, nothing more.”

  He clinched my arm and pulled me in closer, saying, “Make no mistake, Jane, going to Christian was totally unacceptable. You’ll pay for this when you get back.”

  “What did I do this time?” I asked. I couldn’t understand his re
action. I struggled to free my arm but he was too strong.

  “I have already warned you of my jealousy. Stay away from other men unless I order you to be there.”

  “Luke, I thought about my mother but we were just married and she has reservations about us already. I tried to make arrangements with my father but he is the loser my mother always warned me he was. I didn’t know you would be upset or I would have slept on the beach.”

  “What about your friends?”

  “They didn’t feel like an option at the time. Luke, we’d just gotten married and well ...”

  “I see,” he said. He paused for what seemed like forever and then took a big breath and sighed. “Well, let’s not waste the time we have tonight.”

  He wrapped me up in his arms as if nothing had happened. In that moment I didn’t care that I’d be staying with Marcello. I had made it back to where I belonged. No longer alone, I had someone I could call, someone to take care of me, someone to love me. Nothing else mattered.

  Luke opened a chilled bottle of wine and filled two glasses. Handing me one, he took my other hand and led me out through the French doors to the deep end of the pool. We dangled our feet in the water and enjoyed the breeze as we drank our wine. Not knowing what to say to him, not wanting to relive the recent past, I sat next to him in silence.

  “I thought of you often while in Japan,” Luke said, enfolding my hand in his.

  “I thought of nothing else,” I said, my eyes glistening with tears.

  Luke kissed the tears away and wove his fingers into my hair, guiding my mouth to his. He groaned, and I hoped he felt as I did—as though reconnecting to the very source of life.

  Our passion quickly ignited as he claimed my mouth. The intensity of his kiss penetrated my core, and I gave myself over to him completely. I might have been weightless; with little effort he flipped me around to face him and straddle his lap. He lowered his head to my breast as I held it up in my hand, offering it to him.

  “Too long,” Luke murmured against my breast. He sucked my nipple into his mouth and pulled on the piercing with his tongue, causing me to gasp. The pleasure and pain caused my juices to flow. “I need to get out of these clothes,” he said, moving me off his lap. We both stood by the edge of the pool as I watched him hastily disrobe. This man who always folded his clothes carefully each night now discarded them in a heap. He lifted me up and I wrapped my legs around him, feeling his hard erection against my belly.

  He carried me back into the house—leaving the wine glasses and his clothes behind—and strode over to the couch, where he sat down with me on his lap. Lifting me up slowly by my hips, he positioned my body above his cock and slid home. “Remember while you are gone that you are mine,” he said, controlling the pace of his penetration.

  I moaned at the force of his thrusting, which simultaneously hit against my uterus and rubbed my clit. He pinioned me with his eyes, clasping my waist and continuing the lift and fall. He had found the perfect pace—a dance of our bodies surging together and pulling apart. I could smell my arousal mixing with the scent of his own pre-cum each time he drove into me and forced my hips down onto his cock. With my juices bathing us both, our lust was punctuated by a rhythmic sloshing each time he slapped into me.

  “Tell me when you are about to cum,” he said, grunting with each stab as my pussy stretched to accommodate him.

  His look told me everything I needed to know. “Yes Luke, yes,” I started, “I’m so close, oh god!”

  Luke growled into me, as my climax hit its peak and we tumbled down together. Still locked in each other’s arms, we both breathed heavily as we returned to reality.

  After a few minutes he said, “I’ve had a long day.”

  I took my cue, placing my hands on his shoulders and lifting myself off him. I scurried to the master bathroom to clean myself up. Once I had joined him in bed, Luke quickly spooned me, and I sighed, deeply content to be home again. I would deal with tomorrow when it arrived.

  Looking back, I can see that my father’s further abandonment propelled me once again into Luke’s arms. I was searching for the father I never had. I needed someone who loved me regardless of the mistakes I’d made. I was so grateful to receive Luke’s forgiveness and devotion that I pledged my loyalty to him without even considering that I might put myself first. I had no idea then what that loyalty would cost me.

  * * *

  “Baby, you need to wake up,” Luke said, kissing my forehead and stroking my hair.

  “Already?” I said, gulping air as I recalled the ordeal ahead.

  “Yes. Janice is waiting for you.”

  “Breakfast?” I sat up and stretched my arms over my head.

  “That’s up to Marcello.”

  “Oh, Luke.” I dropped my arms and felt my shoulders slump as well. I’d be entering Janice’s world today. Maybe Christian had been right about me. Maybe I wasn’t so different from Janice. I took a deep breath and swung my legs over the side of the bed.

  “Clothes?” I asked.

  “You don’t need to pack anything. He says he has everything you’ll need. It doesn’t matter what you wear over.”

  “Oh.”

  I trudged to the bathroom and freshened up. I didn’t like that I had no idea what to expect. I hoped Janice would enlighten me. Back in the bedroom I said, “How long?”

  “Three days. I will see you Thursday morning.”

  “Oh,” I said again. I felt sick to my stomach. I couldn’t imagine what horrible things Marcello might do in that length of time. Janice said that her sessions with him had left her forever changed. Would I be as well?

  “Can I take my computer?” I asked.

  “No, nothing. Now get dressed.”

  I grabbed a pair of shorts and a t-shirt and headed to the front bathroom, passing Janice on the way. I dressed quickly and joined her in the living room.

  Janice sported a black miniskirt and a tank that accentuated the shine in her smooth straight black hair, which hung to the middle of her back. Her toes, painted ruby red, drew attention in the black flip-flops. The nail color matched her lipstick perfectly. Her dark cat eyes were lined to a point, enhancing her long, thick lashes.

  “It was always going to be this way,” Janice said.

  “What does that mean?” I said.

  “Marcello always gets what he wants.”

  “Janice,” Luke said in an aggravated voice, “cut out that tripe.”

  “Luke’s just in denial. Marcello will have you as his own eventually, simply because that’s what he wants.”

  “Leave us, Janice,” he commanded, jabbing his index finger toward the door. “Go wait in the car; you’re working my last nerve.”

  “I’m through taking orders from you, Luke, but I’ll do it for Jane’s sake.” She winked at me and headed out.

  After the front door closed he said, “I’ll miss you,” and drew me into his embrace.

  “I’ll think of nothing else,” I said. My tears—I seemed to have an endless supply—resumed their perpetual flow.

  “It will be okay, Jane. You have to trust me. I love you and want us to start fresh when you get back.”

  “Okay, Luke. I’m doing this for you, make no mistake.” I rose up on my toes to reach his lips.

  “I know, love.” He held me at arm’s length and gave me a long look. In his eyes I saw love and a hint of sadness. His sadness scared me more than what I had conjured in my imagination. If Luke—strong, sure and contained—worried about my time away, what was I left to think? I shuddered involuntarily.

  He guided me so that I faced the door. I peered over my shoulder one last time and hoped that, despite all I would experience over the next three days, I could keep the image of his loving face ingrained in my mind and use it as the will I needed to return home with my sanity intact.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Marcello’s house surprised me. I expected some kind of monstrous Moorish villa with ten or twelve bedrooms, each containing a woman
awaiting his bidding. Instead, it was modern, masculine, and warm. I found myself amazed by the overall comfort. In addition, Janice told me she was the only woman currently in permanent residence.

  There were five good-sized bedrooms. The living room reminded me of a Native American lodge. Rugs decorated with tribal designs covered the rich dark wood floor beneath brown leather couches and matching chairs. The exposed wood beams in the ceiling matched the hardwood floors.

  “Please take your shoes off by the door,” Janice said.

  “Wow,” I said, gazing all around as I slipped off my sandals.

  “Yeah,” Janice said. I could tell she understood what I meant. “He has many sides, you’ll find.”

  “Oh.” I just stood there not knowing what was expected of me.

  “You won’t see him today,” she said, reading my mind.

  “Well, then, how do I know what to do?” I tore my eyes away from the Celtic wood sculpture of interlocking hearts hanging on the wall and faced her.

  “You’re mine today.”

  “Excuse me?” I furrowed my brow, unsure if I should be annoyed or relieved.

  “You are a gift to me for today. A reward, let’s say.”

  “What do you want from me?”

  “Everything,” she said, stepping forward to close the gap between us.

  “You sound just like Luke.”

  “Let’s just say I see what he sees in you.” She reached out and took my hand. She ran her finger along my palm and stared into my eyes.

  I blushed, not understanding why. “Thank you, I think. Do you plan to whip me again?”

  “Not like I did for Marcello. It’ll be completely and only for your pleasure. You’ll see.”

  “Oh.” I broke eye contact and looked down at our clasped hands. I trembled.

  I had experimented a bit in college with another woman but decided that—even though parts of the play felt pleasant—it just wasn’t my thing. I know I should’ve felt gratitude or relief or anything other than irritation that Marcello couldn’t find the time to greet me himself.

  Again reading my thoughts, Janice said, “You’ll see him soon enough.”