STUNG (Dark Erotic Romance)
Stung
Alana Marlowe
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Copyright 2015
All Rights Reserved
No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form by any means, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.
This book is fiction. Names, characters, places, organizations, brands, media, events and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
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Awakening
Sara sleepily opened her eyes as a little sliver of sunlight forced its way through the tiny space between the blackout shade and the window trim. Even when she wanted to sleep in, the light always seemed to find her. She remembered when she was younger and could sleep all day.
Damn, I miss those days
, she thought.
Now, after years of working in corporate, her body automatically got her up at the crack of dawn. “What ever happened to sleeping until 10? Hell, I would be happy with sleeping in until 8?” she mumbled to herself as she rolled over.
In the faint light of the room, she could see something on the pillow next to her. She lifted her head to get a clearer view, then reached behind her to turn on the lamp that was sitting on the nightstand.
Squinting from too much light, too soon, she looked back to see a ruby red rose lying on the pillow with a ribbon that had an envelope tied to it. She smiled to herself as she held her breath, trying to listen to hear if he was in the other room.
All was quiet. She wondered what time he’d actually left. There had been a few nights in the last 6 months that he had stayed over, but always slept on the couch out of respect for her wishes.
Last night was a little different. She allowed him to fall asleep next to her in bed. She needed to feel his strong arms around her as she dozed off herself.
She reached over and picked up the rose, bringing it to her nose. Her eyes closed as the sweet, heady aroma filled her nostrils. The scent imprinted the memory permanently on her mind as she looked at the envelope. There was just a large “S” written in ink on the outside.
She could feel the butterflies already in her stomach. Flipping it over, she carefully slid her finger under the edge and peeled back the flap. She hesitated for a moment as she thought back to her past.
There had been one other time she had received a letter on the pillow next to her. That time it didn’t end well as it was a breakup letter. In a flash, she was reliving that awful feeling of dread and anxiety as she looked at the letter in her hand. She could still feel the sting to her soul of the harshness of that previous letter.
Could she be in for another one?
She didn’t think she could handle getting dumped like that again. The words were so cruel and hurt her so much emotionally that she thought she would never date again. The butterflies now turned into rocks in the pit of her belly as it churned.
She sat there staring at the envelope, unprepared for what lay ahead.
She took a deep breath and just figured that if it was him breaking it off, at least she didn’t have sex with him. For some reason, having sex too soon always seemed to mess things up with her and the men.
That is why THIS time, she did it completely different by letting him know up front that he wouldn’t be getting any easy sex with her if they dated.
He respected her wishes and never pushed her into anything intimate. The times he stayed at her place, he would lie next to her, stroking her face and kissing her until she would fall asleep.
Knowing that the longer she sat there the harder it would be, she pulled out the letter that was folded in half. Shaking, she unfolded the letter and laid the envelope and the rose on the bed beside her. She began to read…
My Darling Sara,
I love you with all my heart and soul. I have searched for a woman like you for many years and can’t believe I found someone that makes me feel the way that you do.
I want to spend the rest of my life with you, loving you, caring for you and being your hero and protector. I want to make love to you and feel the depths of our souls intertwine as we get lost in each others love.
Forget about all the past pain, I am here to take it all away. I will love you and care for you always. I will provide for you and protect you and make you feel secure.
Please allow me to spend the rest of my life loving you and showing you love.
If you want this as well, please go into the living room to find the next letter.
Truly Yours,
Alexander
The tears welled up in her eyes as she read the words she longed to hear from a man. So many failed relationships with so many guys that never “got” her. This one did... at least that is what it seemed. Her heart had misled her in the past.
But this one was different.
This one country boy got her and she was more in love than she ever thought was possible. Was he asking to be married to her? In a letter?
In all her previous relationships, she was up front about wanting marriage so that if a guy wasn’t interested he wouldn’t pursue her.
However, that tactic backfired after at least 3 long term relationships where the guy never stepped up to the plate and proposed. She could never figure out why.
Why would men continue to date a woman that they had no intention of marrying, KNOWING that she wanted marriage? That was when she decided on a new plan of attack when it came to men.
In all her past relationships, she had been pretty easy to get into bed. She felt that if she held out and not allowed intercourse, the man would leave because she wasn’t giving him what he needed.
It took several years of dating and doing it the wrong way before she realized that tactic wasn’t working. She learned the hard way, that men love the chase!
Sure, they may want it to come easy. But men don’t eagerly marry the easy ones as quickly. They want to conquer!
So that is when she did the emotional overhaul and changed her way of thinking. And it worked. Sara smiled to herself as she scooched down back under the covers, reading the letter again and sniffing the rose.
She wanted to remember this moment forever and wanted to put all the doubt out of her mind about Alex.
She lay in bed for only a minute before flipping off the covers and bouncing out of bed to go see what the other letter said. As she made her way around the bed, she quickly noticed the rose petals all over the floor. Her face beamed as a huge smile came to her.
She followed the petals down the hallway and into the living room. On the coffee table sat a huge bouquet of red roses. She paused momentarily to take it all in, her heart filled with excitement as she moved towards the flowers.
She felt light and graceful, almost as if gliding on air, as she floated over to the couch. She loved how she felt. She thought to herself that if she could bottle this feeling and sell it, the world would be a much better place.
As she sat down, she noticed the letter leaning against the vase holding the roses. In front of the vase was a blue velvet box, just the right size for a ring. Her heart skipped a beat as she gasped, her hand quickly covering her mouth and her eyes wide open.
She looked around as if to see if he was still there…watching her…waiting to see her expression. Although she was excited, she was also a little confused. If he was proposing, why wasn’t he there? Her smile left her face as she tried to process what was happening.
Her first impulse was to grab the box and open it. But she decided to wait and read the letter first. Hopefully it would provide some insight as to what was really happening.
She hated feeling lost, but the elation of love kept her in check. Sara grabbed the letter and flipped it over. Pulling out the letter, she carefully unfolded it and leaned back on the couch.
As she made herself comfortable, she read his words again…
Hello Again My Darling Sara,
I want to spend the rest of my life loving you and showing you love.
I want to hold you forever in my arms and heart.
I want to share my soul, my life, my dreams and desires with you.
My hope is that you want to be my wife.
I want to ask you to marry me.
Your love is something that I cherish with all my heart.
I want to protect you and provide for you.
I want to show you the way a man should love his wife…his woman.
I want to share my dreams, my goals and my life and I want you to feel safe and share yours with me.
I have searched for many years to find the kind of woman I see in you. I would feel privileged to have you by my side, sharing our lives and working in harmony toward happiness.
But there is something that I must be honest and open about, which is why I decided to write this in a letter. It is something that I feel strongly about, but isn’t something that is understood by most women.
What you read may confuse you and may actually scare you a little if you do not understand exactly what I am sharing. I hope you take the time to understand and learn what it is I am trying to say before making any kind of decision.
You see, the way I was raised, the man is the provider, the protector, and the head of his household. He should be strong and able to care for his family. He should guide his family and make smart decisions for his family with the help of his soul mate…his wife.
What that means is, I don’t want my wife to work a regular job, but instead take care of me and our home. I know this goes against what is considered modern, but I am cut from a different cloth.
I feel that women who are willing to allow the men in their lives to do what comes naturally to them (provide and protect), can benefit greatly by reducing stress and allowing women to do the things they do better than men. I do not feel that women should have to work like a man. Women are much too valuable.
But there is one other part of this that I need to share. Being head of household, also means taking disciplinary measures when needed to correct any ill behavior that his wife may exhibit.
What exactly does this mean? It means that if my wife decides to act like a child, then she will be treated as such. It means that if my wife decides to throw a tantrum, then some form of physical discipline may come into play. It means that if my wife acts like a brat, she will get her bottom spanked.
I know you have a million things running through your mind right now and you may be shocked to hear something like this. Believe me, it took a lot for me to share this. But please just follow through and try to understand.