He carries me into the bathroom. “How about a hot bath?”
I nod.
“Do you think you can stand?”
I nod again. I’m not in a very talkative mood.
Jett places me on my feet and I wince, the contact with the floor vibrates all the way up my body. He turns on the faucet and squeezes some soap into the water. The now familiar scent of eucalyptus fills the room. Jett turns to me once the enormous soaking tub is halfway filled. As soon as he reaches out to me, I crack. I don’t even know where it comes from. The emotion wasn’t there a second ago, but now tears are falling like an unstoppable rainstorm from my eyes.
“Ellie!?” Jett wraps me in his arms and the embrace hurts. “Are you in that much pain?”
“Yes. No. I don’t know. It’s just … how am I supposed to survive like this? I feel empty. How am I supposed to live with no emotion? No love? As just someone’s pet? To be taken off its leash and played with.” I sob inconsolably. “I didn’t work my ass off for four years so I could end up like this. As nothing. No one. I was supposed to start school in the fall. Travel. See everything my parents couldn’t afford me. And now it’s all gone. All my hopes, all my dreams.”
“Oh, honey.” Jett hugs me tighter and I whimper. “I know this isn’t your ideal situation. But there are things going on you know nothing about. Trust Kayne.”
“Trust him? He did this to me!”
“What? Gave you several nights of unbelievable pleasure? So you’re in a little pain. It will subside.”
“No, it’s not that.” I wipe my eyes. “He’s isolated me. Emotionally exiled me.”
Jett sighs, as if conflicted. “Get in the tub.”
He helps me step in, and I sink into the cathartic hot water. Then Jett crouches beside me. “Let me tell you something about Kayne,” he whispers. “When it comes to you, his emotions are more present than you think.”
I skeptically look into Jett’s aqua eyes. “Are you trying to tell me he cares about me?”
“In his own way. Not everything is always black and white. And some things need to be revealed in their own time.”
“What does that mean?” I press.
“It means patience is a virtue and submission is your salvation.”
I have no idea what he’s talking about. Kayne won’t always treat me like an object? That underneath he actually cares? It’s hard to believe. He looks at me, treats me, and handles me like I’m nothing but a sexual vessel for his use and abuse. I shift in the tub and my muscles wail.
“How can anyone go that long? He never got soft. What did he do, take Viagra?” I grimace.
Jett whistles pseudo-innocently at my accusation.
I widen my eyes. “He took Viagra?!Why?”
Jett shrugs. “He can’t get enough of you. You’re the first woman I’ve ever seen him like this with.”
“Animalistic?” I snap.
“Infatuated.”
“Is that what you call it so you can sleep better at night?”
“Sweet thing, I sleep just fine.” Jett kisses me on the head. “Enough talk. Just relax for a while. Okay?”
“Yes, Jett,” I sneer submissively.
He rolls his eyes.
I WALK SILENTLY INTO ELLIE’Sroom and hear her crying. The sound shreds me apart. As her voice carries from the bathroom, I listen to her tell Jett everything she’s feeling. She opens up to him, and I’m stung with jealousy. I want her to confide in me. Trust me.Iown her. Not Jett.
I’m tempted to kick him out and join Ellie in the tub but decide against it. It’s clear she needs some space. And some time alone.
