How to Fall in Love (85 page)

“Give me a number,” he growls.

A number. Not a name. Not a person. Just a number.

That’s all we are—numbers.

I stare at him. “No.”

His body jerks. “I beg your pardon?”

“It’s your fault I’m here, William,” I whisper, shoving him away and moving my achy muscles so I can force myself to my feet. It takes several attempts, but I get there.

He stares at me, his dark hair fluttering around his shoulders. “Who did this, Number Thirteen?”

I lose it.

My control.

Everything I’ve had together.

It goes.

“My name is NOT Number Thirteen,” I scream, clawing at my hair. “My name is Emelyn. I don’t know what my last name is. I don’t even know how old I am. Now I’m being bullied, and do you want to know why, William? It’s because of you. Because I’m your
pet
. Because I’m the one who you
fucked
,” I snarl.

He flinches at my words but manages to move himself forward, curling his hand gently around my upper arm. “Give me a number,” he almost hisses.

“No.”

Suddenly my back is against a wall, and he’s in my face. I can smell him, and my entire body aches to feel him surrounding me again.

“I will ask only once more; give me a number,” he rasps, running his finger along my bloodied lip. “They will pay.”

“Why should I?” I whisper, unable to tear my gaze from his lips. “You made it very clear that I mean nothing to you. You made it very clear that I’m no more than a lover. You don’t give me anything, William; you take, but you don’t give. I don’t even feel it.” I begin to scream again. “You fucked me, and it was amazing, but I didn’t
feel
it because you took it away from me before I could.”

“You want to feel it?” he growls into my ear. “You’ll feel it.”

His hand goes up, wrapping into my hair. He tugs it, causing my head to jerk backwards. Then his lips are on mine, hard and determined. Pain cascades through my jaw, but the lust far outweighs it. I moan as his tongue plunges into my mouth, consuming me. His hand finds my ass, and he uses it to lift my body and place me more firmly against the wall. I lift my legs, hooking them around his waist.

His mouth wrenches from mine and moves down to my neck, where he bites into my flesh. I cry out, reaching up and taking his hair, tugging it hard. He growls, thrusting his hips, causing his rigid erection to ride against my core. My body quivers with need, and I scratch my nails over his head. He rumbles, and his fingers bite into my ass as he lets me know he’s feeling everything I’m doing.

His fingers slide down to my panties, and effortlessly he rips them off. He jacks my dress up, and his fingers find his jeans. He jerks them down, freeing himself. A low moan escapes my throat to match his rugged growl as he presses his erection against my soaked entrance. I know I’m ready for him. There’s nothing that can stop my want now. Especially when he lowers me onto his cock, slowly sliding into me.

“William,” I gasp.

His hand goes up to my hair, and he presses my back deeper into the wall until I can feel it beginning to burn as he starts his deep, penetrating thrusts. I tug his hair harder, and he hisses, lowering his mouth to find my nipples. He nips at them, causing sensational little bolts of pain to shoot through my chest. I tense my legs around him as I feel the familiar warmth spreading through my body.

Suddenly, he pulls out of me, causing me to cry out. He holds my body against the wall while slowly lowering himself.

When he’s got his head between my legs, he stands up, shoving me up the wall higher. His face is right between my legs, and his tongue slides out, flicking my clit with force. I scream; there’s no stopping it. I tangle my fingers into his hair as he moves his mouth over me, driving deep, taking his fill of my sex. He sucks until I’m having an earth-shattering orgasm around him, and then he’s lowering me and spinning me around, pressing my face to the wall.

He trails his fingers down my spine. He reaches my ass, and he slaps it lightly. I whimper and push myself backwards, wanting more of him. He takes hold of my hands, raising them above my head and placing them on the wall, and then he wraps his arms around me, pulling me back against him and placing his hands on my breasts.

Then he’s inside me again.

It’s different from this angle, but the pleasure is equally as strong. I press my forehead to the wall, and shudder as his lips go down and trail over the backs of my shoulders while his hand holds onto my hip, using it to drive his deep, penetrating thrusts. I feel myself building again. My knees are wobbling, my body is tense and I’m crying his name.

Then he speaks. “Give. Me. A. Number.”

His voice is gravelly and laced with lust. I shudder, but I ignore him. I’m so close. God, so close.

He stops.

I cry out. “William, please.”

My orgasm dies down, and he slowly begins to move again, building me right back up again.

“Give me a number,” he orders into my ear, sliding his fingers around to pinch one of my nipples.

“William,” I plead. “I’m close.”

He stops again.

“A number, or no release,” he growls.

I bite my lip; I can’t give that to him. He thrusts again, only this time he finds my clit, and he pinches it between his thumb and forefinger. I gasp, and drop my head back, feeling my hair cascade down my back. He buries his face into my neck, and he rasps, “You want to come? Give me a number.”

I’m so close again. I need it. I need to feel myself erupt around him. When he rolls my clit in his fingers, I can’t hold back.

“N-n-number Eleven and One,” I say, and then I cry out. “Oh God, I’m going to...oh...”

“Yes,” he growls, thrusting his hips harder.

I come so hard my knees buckle. William wraps his arms around my waist, holding me up while still thrusting his cock upwards. A moment later, his grunts are filling my ears as he comes hard inside me, pulsing and shuddering until we’re both fully relieved. Then he pulls out of me, and spins me around, pressing my back against the wall. His hands go up either side of my face.

“Did you feel that,
frumusețe?”
he mutters, staring at my lips.

“Yes,” I breathe.

He runs his fingers down my jaw again, and I see his tick. “Go to your room. I will call on you soon. I have to deal with this now.”

“They were jealous,” I say, giving him my best pleading eyes. “You were giving me a part of yourself they weren’t getting.”

He leans in close. “They have a roof over their heads, food in their bellies, and a bed to sleep in each night. It’s more than they ever had before. I call the shots in this house; they do not. Go to your room.”

I nod, knowing that nothing I can say will sway him. He runs his finger down and then cups my jaw. “That was amazing.”

I flush, and smile.

“Good day, William.”

He grins at me, and my heart flutters. I’ve seen a lot from William, but never an outright grin.

It’s...devastating.

He has dimples. Big, beautiful ones.

“Good day,
frumusețe.”

“Y
ou chose to take it upon yourselves to punish someone in my home?” I growl, pacing in front of Number One and Number Eleven.

They say nothing.

There’s nothing to say.

“I thought you would have known better by now, Number Eleven. I offered Number Thirteen your punishment and she let you escape it, and this is how you repay her? By beating her? That’s a
bully,
Number Eleven, and I don’t tolerate bullies. You will be punished for your actions, and this will continue until you
learn
.”

She hangs her head, her jaw tight.

“George,” I growl, and George appears in my view, his arms crossed.

“Yes, sir?”

“Number Eleven is to be treated the same way she treated one of her own. Take her to the basement, and give her twenty lashings. She will then proceed to do as Number Thirteen commands for the next week. If she disobeys Number Thirteen, she will be punished far worse.”

Number Eleven snaps her head up. “I’m not listening to that bitch.”

“Make that thirty lashings,” I say, not looking at her.

“You’re a bastard!” she screams.

I spin to her, storming forward and wrapping my hand around her shoulder. “I will continue with these punishments, doing whatever I have to, until you learn that it is not your place, nor will it
ever
be your place to lay your hands on another person. Especially a person who has done nothing at all to deserve it. That is the act of a coward.”

She jerks her body from mine, and glares at the floor again.

“Number One didn’t hit Number Thirteen, so she will receive only ten lashings for being present. She may come back up, but she will take all the kitchen duties tonight as well as the washing. Give the girls a night off.”

“Yes, sir.”

I turn and walk away. When I reach the door, I turn to face the girls. “You will learn that nothing gets past me in this house, and if you wish to remain in it, instead of in the lives you were in before this, then you will obey my
every
command until such time that you can create your own lives. I am
all
you have right now; do not forget that.”

~*~*~*~

“
Please let me go,” I scream squirming as his fingers run down my thighs. “She’s out there alone, please.”

“Hush, we don’t have long before your momma is home.”

“Lanthie!” I scream from under him. “Lanthie!”

I can’t hear her. I can’t hear anything, not for the longest moment. All I can hear is his panting as he tries to rub himself against me, letting him get that little bit further than last time. Vomit rises in my throat, but it’s mostly from panic. My baby sister is out there alone, on the patio...the patio with a balcony that she is always climbing.

“Lanthie!” I cry again.

“Shut up, puta,” he hisses, slapping my face so hard I scream. Tears leak out of my eyes as he presses his hand over my mouth while his other hand yanks my hair, causing my head to burn.

Then I hear it.

And I’ll never forget the sound.

My baby sister’s tiny cry that grows more distant until it suddenly stops. Then I hear screaming, all of them, screaming to call 911.

I wake up screaming, clutching at my blankets as the dream assaults me. I throw myself out of bed, disorientated. I run towards nothing, slamming into a wall, which quickly propels me backwards until I land on the floor with a thump. Blue eyes, blond hair, and a smile that lit up the room. Lanthie. My baby sister. The baby sister who died because of me.

My screams turn ragged, and I claw at the floor, shaking my head from side to side as my mind spins with the remembrance of my life before this. The light flicks on, and suddenly I’m being scooped into a set of strong, hard arms. William. He carries me down the hall quickly, urgently, until he reaches his room, then he places me down, kneeling in front of me.

“Hush, Beauty. What is wrong?”

“Lanthie,” I sob, “I killed her. It’s all my fault. It’s my fault. I didn’t fight hard enough. I didn’t stop him.”

“
No
,” he rasps, pulling me into his arms and rocking me backwards and forwards.

“She was just a little girl,” I wail, feeling my teeth clatter together as I inch closer towards a complete meltdown.

“It wasn’t your fault. You were just a girl too.”

“She was just a baby,” I scream, pummeling my tiny fists into his chest.

“Shhh,” he soothes, holding me tighter, squeezing the air out of my lungs.

“She’s d-d-d-dead, because of me.”

“No,” he murmurs again. “She’s dead because you had a careless mother. She’s dead because you had a monster in your lives. She lived that long because of
you
, Emelyn. Because
you
protected her.”

“How could I have forgotten her, William?” I whimper. “Even for just a second.”

“You never forgot her, sweetheart. You just put her in a safe place for a while.”

Tears leak from my eyes as I clench them shut. “Take me to her. Promise me you will take me to her.”

“I promise,” he murmurs into my ear.

“Are the rest of my memories going to hurt like this?”

He doesn’t answer me for a long while. When he does, his voice is soft. “Nothing can hurt more than losing the only thing you’ve ever fought for.”

I press myself closer into him, hearing his heart ponding into my ear.

He’s right.

Nothing can hurt more than that.

R
emembering Lanthie hasn’t gotten easier as each day goes by, but I am learning to breathe through the pain. I know the guilt that swarms me won’t go away easily, but William soothes it. He eases my pain. He makes it better. Easier. Each time he runs his fingers over my body, each time he kisses me, each time he makes love to me, he makes it hurt a little less. He’s giving me a reason to save myself.

Number Eleven has been my “slave” for the past few days, and it hasn’t been easy. I don’t want to tell her what to do, I don’t want to bring that kind of shame to her, but William gave me no choice. I’ve just had her help me out, and slowly she’s stopped glaring at me like she wants to beat me. It’s kind of strange, but I think it’s helped build our relationship.

“It’s movie time,” Number Seven smiles, coming into the bedroom her usual evening swim.

My stomach twists with joy and my body becomes excited. I enjoy movie night, and I enjoy the feelings that come with it.

“I can’t wait,” I beam.

“The girls are arguing over the movie we’ll watch, I’m voting
Top Gun
, but they’re going with
A Walk To Remember
.”

“Ugh,” I say, scrunching up my nose. “We’ve done
A Walk To Remember
, I don’t want to watch it again. It makes me cry.”

“Same,” she says, dropping her towel in the bathroom and changing.

The girls are getting better as each day goes by. We spend time interacting, talking about life in general and hanging out. There is a bond growing between all of us, even though things have been a little tough. William is interacting more with us, and we’re all coming along in ways I never thought possible. I never thought he would be the reason we began to breathe easier.