10 Nights (25 page)

16

Decisions

After ordering from room service, Rhett brought Leah breakfast in
bed. When he saw she was still asleep, no doubt exhausted after the previous
night’s events, he thought, he quietly placed the tray on the bedside table so
as not to disturb her.

He was going to leave the room but found himself entranced by
watching her sleep. It seemed as if he had thought it a hundred times already
since he met her, but he had never seen her look more beautiful. The pain and
anguish that had marred her features the night before were gone and she looked
at peace, as he wished her to look all the time.

As he watched her he thought about what he had planned for that
night. He had made the arrangements before the events of the previous night but
now he wanted to just stop the entire game. He couldn’t stop it; as much as he
wanted to he knew he couldn’t bring himself to stop the ten nights before they
were finished. He could alter them though, and make them easier for her to deal
with.

He knew he couldn’t bear the thought of another man’s hands on his
Leah, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t watch her control a man. He believed it
was exactly what she needed just then, to be the one in control, to be the
Mistress and give orders to a submissive. Not only would it help her to have
total control over a situation for a change, it would show him whether she had
a dominant side that he could bring out.

Briefly it crossed his mind that she might order the submissive to
pleasure her. That thought sent a surge of anger and jealousy through him,
which he quickly quashed, not at all happy at his loss of focus. He didn’t
think she would, not after the events of the night before, but if she did, well
the decision was hers, he thought, driving his feelings away.

Doing his best to consider the situation rationally he decided that
he needed to finish out the ten nights, not just for Leah’s sake, but for his
own. If he stopped them now, because of the feelings he was developing, then he
would look weak in her eyes; he would no longer be the dominant one in their
relationship and he was not prepared to accept being the weaker of them. He was
the one in control, he always had been when it came to women, and he was
determined that he always would be.

Rolling over in bed Leah’s eyes popped open. They were too sleep-filled
for her to see much but after blinking and rubbing them she noticed Rhett, who
was leaning against the wall by the window. She was still upset after what had
happened, though she wasn’t sure whether she was more upset with him or with
herself, but the sight of his beautiful body, illuminated by the sunshine
pouring in through the window, still took her breath away.

Pulling her gaze away from him she noticed the tray of food on the
bedside table. Her stomach rumbled at the aroma of the food and she hurried to
push herself into a sitting position so she could lift the tray onto her lap.

Her movements pulled Rhett from his thoughts and he gave her a warm
smile. “I thought you might be hungry,” he said.

“Thank you, Sir, I am,” she replied, not looking at him. Instead she
focused on the food before her, starting her breakfast with the eggs. She
didn’t know what to say to him that wouldn’t start an argument, and she didn’t
have the energy for that just then, so she ignored him.

The deliberate way she avoided looking at him was a knife in his
gut, it told him she still wasn’t over what had happened, but he’d hoped she
would at least show a little more emotion this morning. Her voice remained as
blank and emotionless as it had when she spoke to him before going to bed. “I
have meetings today, so I will be back late.” He had a deadline to meet since
they were leaving the next day, if he hadn’t he would have cancelled his
meetings to spend the day with her and attempt to work things out. Leaving her
while she was still like that didn’t sit well with him.

“I hope your meetings are productive, Sir.” She continued eating,
relieved that he would be gone for the day, time away from him would be good,
she thought.

Sighing Rhett pushed away from the wall. He was already behind
schedule after staying to watch her sleep and much as he wanted to stay he knew
he couldn’t afford to. “I’ll see you at six tonight, Leah, please be dressed to
go out,” he said, hoping the civility would have an effect on her, it didn’t.
He felt a dull ache in his gut as he made for the door.

Leah waited until Rhett had left the room and then set the tray back
on the nightstand. The food was only lukewarm and it tasted like ashes in her
mouth, though the aroma has aroused her appetite it had disappeared again
almost immediately.

Sitting in the bed, her head resting against the wall behind her,
she wallowed in her misery; knowing she had to come to some decision about
their relationship. Either she was going to figure out a way to live with what
had happened, or she wouldn’t; if she couldn’t she would have to walk away. She
knew she would suffer if she walked away but was sure she would get over Rhett
eventually.

Making a decision she reached for her phone to call Janie. She was
relieved when her friend answered on the second ring and quickly invited her to
the beach, hoping some time with her friend would ease the despair she was
drowning in.

When Janie agreed to the beach trip Leah got out of bed and quickly
washed and did her teeth. Returning to the bedroom she pulled on a bikini, one
of the ones she had arrived on the island with, not the string sort she had
bought at Rhett’s behest. She didn’t care right then if Rhett would have
insisted she wear the string bikini, she felt too exposed in them and just then
wasn’t in the mood to do something just because it was what Rhett would have
wanted her to do.

The last thing she did was throw a bottle of sunscreen and some
water into her bag and grab a towel; that done she left the room and went to
Janie’s.

Janie had no idea what was going on, but having heard the pain in
her best friend’s voice during their short conversation she hurried to get
dressed. She knew how intense Rhett could be, and guessed he was the reason for
Leah’s unhappiness.

When she opened the door and saw her friend her heart was broken. It
was apparent that whatever had happened the previous night, and she had no idea
what that was, had been a deal breaker. “What the hell happened, hon?” Pulling
her friend into her arms she held her tight.

It was a few moments before Leah felt able to speak; she simply
stood there, clutching at her friend, trying to hold back the tears she felt.
“How much do you know about Rhett’s ten night plan?” she asked when she felt
calmer.

“Nothing, I told you, I turned down his offer to train me.” Seeing
the state her friend was in she decided she had been sensible in doing so.

Pulling out of her friend’s arms Leah nodded in understanding.
“Let’s go down to the beach, enjoy the salt air and talk, okay?” Right then the
thing she wanted most was to relax in the sun and try to put the previous night
behind her.

“Of course, honey.” Picking up her beach bag Janie motioned for Leah
to lead the way and together they walked out the door. From the way her friend
was acting she was sure it was going to be one hell of a conversation.

They made their way out of the hotel and down to the beach, located
a couple of beach chairs, set them up and applied sunscreen, all without
talking. An island man, wearing the hotel’s insignia on his shirt, appeared
almost immediately to inquire if they wanted drinks; Janie ordered for both of
them and the moment he was gone she turned to her friend. “Okay, what happened,
Leah?”

Leah was more embarrassed than she’d ever been, but knew if she
couldn’t talk to Janie there was no one else she could turn to. “Rhett
introduced me to a male friend of his last night.” She wasn’t sure she could
even say what had happened, it was so humiliating.

“Um, okay, was he a nice guy?” Janie wasn’t sure what meeting one of
Rhett’s friends had to do with her friend looking and sounding so miserable. As
Leah covered her face with her hands she realized just what her friend meant.
“You mean you met met one of Rhett’s friends?” she asked, wanting to be sure
she had grasped things properly.

Nodding her head Leah kept back her tears by sheer willpower.

“Oh, honey,” Janie sighed, “you were so not ready for that. What the
hell was he thinking?” She was pissed, what kind of idiot was Rhett, doing such
a thing.

“I just let it happen, Janie.” She couldn’t prevent the waterworks
any longer, she felt like the biggest slut that had ever walked the planet.

Crossing to her friend’s chair Janie took Leah in her arms and held
her. “It’s okay, honey, everything’s going to be okay. It’s something that some
Dom’s enjoy, but he should never have moved so fast with you.” Just then she
wanted to slap Rhett for not using his brain, and for putting Leah through such
an experience. He knew Leah had never been with another man before him, how was
she supposed be ready to deal with such an experience so soon?

“You’ve done it?” Leah asked, shocked. She knew Janie had had her
share of lovers, but she had never thought about her being with more than one
man at a time.

“A few times, honey, but only after years of experience with men.”
She couldn’t even imagine doing something like that less than a week after first
having sex of any kind. It had taken her five years to get comfortable enough
with her own sexuality to want something like that, and another year to find
someone she trusted with her fantasy.

Wiping her eyes Leah looked up at Janie, shocked. “How did you, well
you know, not feel like you were a horrible woman? Didn’t you feel like a
slut?” She didn’t want to offend her friend, but at that moment that was how
she felt about herself.

“I never claimed to be an angel, sweetie.” She grinned as she stood
up. “I enjoy sex, always have; as far as I am concerned, as long as I enjoy
what I do, and it isn’t hurting anyone, then anything is fair game.”

“I just feel dirty, Janie.” Pulling her knees up she wrapped her
arms around them and laid her cheek on them.

“All this is so new to you, honey. I remember what it was like for
me in the beginning. Hell, you’re not only new to this way of life; you’re
coming into it in a strange way, with a man who obviously isn’t thinking about
how inexperienced you are.” Once again she was pissed as hell at Rhett, she had
thought he was experienced enough as a Dom to handle the situation better than
he was.

“I could have said no, he isn’t the one to blame here.” Leah didn’t
know why she was defending him, he had pushed her into it, but at twenty-four
she knew she was old enough to take her share of the blame for any decisions
she made, no matter how bad they might be.

“Rhett isn’t an easy man to say no to, Leah.”

“I just don’t know what to do now. I told him that would never
happen again and he agreed, but what’s going to happen on these next four
nights? Nothing could be worse than what took place last night, can it?”

“You have to make a decision here, sweetie. Either speak up when
something is too overwhelming or walk away. Those are really the only two
choices you have with Rhett.”

The conversation died for a short while as the waiter appeared with
their pina coladas. Janie charged them to her room and then the two of them sat
there sipping at the cocktails

“He changed the rules last night, Janie, he told me if I walked away
from any of the ten nights then things were over.”

“Wow, he really said that?” If she was pissed off before, it was
nothing to how Janie felt then. Now she wanted to kill Rhett. “I really think
you should consider walking away, honey,” she said. It was clear that Rhett
couldn’t deal with her friend the way her inexperience required. “If you still
want to explore this lifestyle, well we can find you someone more suitable;
someone who will pay more attention to your needs.”

“Janie, I love him.” She knew her friend didn’t want to hear that,
but it was the truth.

“Honey, sex isn’t love. I know he was your first, and okay, that’s a
huge deal, but this isn’t healthy for you. Look at how miserable you are. Love
isn’t supposed to make you feel that way.”

“The thought of walking away from him rips my heart open, Janie. I
know sex isn’t love, and I know love shouldn’t make you hurt like this, but I
can’t change what I feel.”

“Well you know my feeling on this; you should walk away now, before
walking away is no longer an option. I just don’t like this side of you he’s
bringing out.” She wanted to rip Rhett’s balls off and stick them down his
throat, that way he wouldn’t be able to hurt her friend again, but she knew it
was a decision Leah had to make for herself.

“A few more nights, Janie,” Leah said, closing her eyes and sighing.
“I’m going to go through with them. If I can’t stand myself after that I’ll
leave.” It was all she could do, she thought miserably, even if she couldn’t
have him forever she would at least build up as many memories of him as she
could.