Page 12 of The Princess & the Prospect

Chapter 6

He apologized. There was really no telling what the apology was actually for since there were so many things I felt he did wrong yesterday. Maybe it was for my ruined wedding? Probably not. Someone most likely told him that I saw his make-out session with another woman, or about all the other women who were hanging on him. Then again, maybe the apology was for leaving me stranded while he got drunk at the club in the first place. I wasn’t even sure he would feel bad at all about the blow job he got since he looked as though he enjoyed it a whole heck of a lot. Besides, it was doubtful that he knew someone had told me about that. No matter which part he was apologizing for I was actually just shocked that he’d done it at all.

Despite my shock, I refused to acknowledge him while we were still in his truck. I didn’t want to upset him and then be stranded somewhere else for who knew how long. I wouldn’t put it past the asshole to leave me on the side of the road somewhere. I’m sure the brothers would believe him if he simply said we stopped to get gas and I ran off. I was the liar in this relationship after all.

I had never been to Joker’s house so I was a little surprised when we pulled up to a small two-bedroom ranch-style house with a carport off of one end. The house was probably no more than a thousand square feet, and certainly didn’t compare to the one I had grown up in with its four bedrooms and multiple-car attached garage. I didn’t need all that, but still I wondered about why he had chosen this place. I actually wished I could ask how long he’d had the house. Did he buy it when he left the military? There were so many questions I would have asked if we were the people who had gotten along so famously before my lies caught up to me. Back when he was a prospect named Evan Masters and I was just a girl named Lise. He would have answered my thousand and one questions brightly.

Now, I didn’t think I’d get more than a grunt or a one word answer telling me it really wasn’t my business because our marriage was for medical coverage until the baby was born only. I glanced around the property as I held my tongue. While the house was on the smaller side, the yard was overly large with plenty of room for him to expand when he finally got the family he really wanted one day. The yard was surrounded by a thick line, or maybe it was multiple rows, of trees down three of the four sides making it feel very isolated from anyone else in the area. The Spanish moss hanging from the limbs in the trees added to an otherworldly spooky quality that was sure to be worse as night fell.

Honestly, I wasn’t certain if I’d like living here or not. On the one hand, it looked cozy. On the other, it already felt a bit like my own personal prison, especially considering I no longer had a car of my own and his house wasn’t close to town.

My tummy did flips at that thought. It was just now hitting me that I was married to man who hated me, and I was having his baby, and had to live with him. If only he had been the Evan Masters I first met. I would have done cartwheels in the front yard to have been moving in with him. The man that sat beside me watching me take everything in was cold, mean, and heartless. He was the man who cheated on me on our wedding night. Worry finally settled deep into my bones. Would anyone know if he was mistreating me out here all by ourselves? Would I be safe? Would he force me to perform my wifely duties? Would I get any choices from here on out? My heart started beating wildly in my chest as the panic set in. I couldn’t breathe. I just couldn’t catch my… Oh God!

“Anna? Jesus, Anna take a deep breath for me,” he called out as he pushed my body forward, putting my head between my knees. Now, blow it out. Easy. That’s it. Deep breath in, again.” He coached me through getting my breathing back under control. I refused to look at him after that. I also noticed he was rubbing small circles on my back in an effort to help calm me.

“What was that all about?” He finally asked once I had everything back under control.

“I don’t want to be raped,” I cried and then continued to word vomit. “Is it even rape since we’re married? I have a baby to think about. I can’t get diseases you might be carrying now. This place looks like a prison. Everything’s closing in and I… I… Oh God!”

“What the fuck?” He spat out and I hesitantly glanced over at Joker who had stopped rubbing circles on my back. He was no longer touching me at all and had his hands up in the air near his shoulders. The look on his face, he seemed absolutely horrified. “Christ Anna. I would never force you or hurt you in any way.”

“You already hurt me, and how should I know? You’re a stranger to me. I never would have thought you’d be so cruel to anyone, but now I know better.”

He moved quickly then and started peeling a key off of his keyring. He laid it on the seat beside me. “There, go in, make yourself at home. I’ll go back to the clubhouse since you think you have to worry I’d rape you!”

To my surprise, he didn’t sound angry. He just sounded hurt. I couldn’t help how my anxiety and thoughts spiraled though. This was a horrible position to be in and right in that moment I hated everyone and had no one. My family all let this happen. I wished Toby were still here. He would have never allowed this. He knew. I’d confided in my big brother before he got killed. I told him about my crush on Deck’s friend. He’d asked me to wait until I was old enough.

I couldn’t stand the thought of watching Joker get with other women, but I’d agreed. Then Toby was killed and we found out about Gretchen and how she was going to have a baby, but she lost it. I understood then that life was short and you had to take what you wanted. I never wanted it like this though. Toby had been right. He would be so upset with me now, but never would he have just handed me over to a stranger the way everyone else seemed to have done. Even knowing this had been my choice, Toby would have found a way to talk me out of it.

I got out of the truck making sure to take my bag with me and once I was on the covered front stoop Joker backed his truck up and drove away. He didn’t’ even stay to see me safely inside or show me around. It wasn’t like I could help the panic attack I’d had. Once I made my way inside I realized I was already standing in the living room area and there was an open floor plan that led to the kitchen as well. He had furniture, sparse though it may have been. There was a brown leather couch and reclining chair along with a smaller loveseat. The kitchen had a little dining area built in where a table and four chairs sat. They were all also a deep cherry wood brown, as if the house was afraid of color. I nearly stumbled on the large suitcases by the door. They were mine, and I wondered briefly when they had been deposited there. It also made me curious as to whether I would have a room here or if I was meant to sleep on the couch or something.

It would suck to have to live out of suitcases until after the baby was born, but I figured I could manage. As I moved to the only hallway off of the left side of the living room I saw there was a full bath with sink, toilet, and shower/tub combo at the end of the hallway. Off to the right was a door that led to a bedroom that was pretty no-frills. It had a utilitarian full size bed, a small chair, one bed-side table, and a six drawer dresser that stood nearly waist high for me. In other words, like the house, it was on the smaller side.

Looking left the door was open there too. I walked into what must have been the master bedroom. A king size bed, which had been made up nicely, multiple dressers, and a television on top of the one facing the bed took up most of the space. There were three doors on the wall facing back toward where the bathroom would be if I were still out in the hall. On the far left was a closet that was mostly empty with the exception of two boxes on a high shelf. On the right was a similar walk-in closet which was full of all of Joker’s things. I backed out quickly as soon as I realized that.

The middle door led to a gorgeous bathroom with a garden tub separate shower and toilet area and then his and hers sinks. There were mirrors up behind both the sinks and then all along the wall behind the tub. I stared at myself in those mirrors for a few minutes seeing a girl who looked far too tired and far too fun down to just be 17-years-old. I didn’t want to acknowledge my lack of sleep or care for myself over the past two days. If I did, I’d have to face the fact that I was already a crappy mother.

I couldn’t remember the last time I’d eaten. I moved to the kitchen to see if he had anything I could grab quickly, but there was nothing. He had a box of Captain Crunch cereal in a cabinet, some condiments and beer in the fridge and not much else beyond water straight from the tap. I found the glasses and grabbed some water to take with me to the smaller bedroom. There I sat gingerly on the bed and sipped my water as I took in the room. There was enough space here for a crib and maybe a small changing table if I organized things carefully. The chair would probably be a good choice for sitting in while nursing the baby.

It took me a minute to realize that by the time the baby was out of me and the six weeks post-partum checkup was done I would probably have to move into a place of my own. That meant I needed to find a job as soon as possible so I could save up some money in advance.

Once I was finished with my water I stood and put down my canvas satchel I’d brought in from Joker’s truck, thankful it had still been there after I’d left it in his truck the other night. I moved to the living room and worked hard to drag each of the heavy suitcases back to the bedroom where I could go through them and see what all had been packed up for me. My mother had told me not to worry that she would see to it, and make sure my things got settled in that way I could be stress free after the wedding. Little did she know… There was no such thing as stress free in my life anymore.

My stomach growled again warning me that I needed to eat very soon or I would start feeling sick again. I’d had enough of morning sickness that lasted throughout the day before. I didn’t want to start having that again. Remembering that there wasn’t any food in the house though, I just grabbed another glass of water and made an internal to-do list. I needed to be able to go grocery shopping at some point. I assumed I’d have to break down and call my sister in the morning to ask her to take me since I didn’t have a lot of money. I couldn’t afford to waste any of it on taxi fare.

I got up and closed the door to the bedroom noting that there wasn’t a lock on the door, much to my dismay. Then I laid down on the too-soft bed and cried until sleep finally claimed my weary body.

I turned the corner, laughing with abandon as I tried to use the doorjamb to slow my progress before I slipped and fell. It gave him just enough time to spring at me. He wrapped his arms around my waist and lifted me up off of my feet with my back to his front. Giggles spilled out of my mouth as the happiness I felt in the moment filled me to bursting and it was the only way to not just burst apart and float away with the clouds.

“I got you,” he whispered into my ear, breathing heavily as he did. His warm breath on my skin sent a shiver of anticipation through my body. Never had my body experienced need in this way before. Every piece of me being felt electrified as his lips found the shell of my ear and nibbled there.

“What do you plan to do with me now?” My voice was raw and breathy all at the same time, sounding completely foreign to me, but apparently he liked it.

He growled low in his throat as if my question tortured him. Then he answered and everything in my lower region pulled taut in response. “Oh, I think you know,” he answered before tossing me on his bed. I bounced, forcing more laughter from me before he pounced and proceeded to attack my body with gentle nibbles from his teeth. When he managed to snag one of my nipples through the thin material of the tank top I wor,e he bit down a little harder causing me to squirm and moan out in response.

“That’s it, beautiful, so responsive for me all the time.”

“Evan,” I cried out his name when he treated my other nipple to the same attention. “Please,” I begged.

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