Page 7 of Her Dragons

“Damn him,” said Jake.

“Maybe he’ll get himself some other toy,” I said, then reconsidered my thought.“I shouldn’t wish that on any other woman.Forget I said that.”

“Forget him,” Jake said firmly.

“I wish I could.”

“It’ll get easier.”

There was a moment of silence then.Jake and I didn’t say anything else.We just sat on the piano stool, looking ateach other.In his eyes, on his scruffy, handsome face, was a tenderness that I thought I’d never see in a man, human or Drake.I’d been accustomed to a false kind of gentleness that could turn to cruelty in a heartbeat.Jake was something different, something much more real.

That moment lingered — until, as if pulled by gravity, Jake moved closer to me.I stayed still where I was, but Jake leaned over, tentatively at first, then more surely.While I was frozen, he moved his face closer to mine, close enough for me to smell the familiar Drake male scent on him.It was like the burnt wood of a campfire.His lips touched mine, softly, gently…

…and in another moment of sudden shock, I pulled back and away from him with widened eyes.Startled, Jake pulled back as well.

Not wanting this awkward, painful moment to go on, I continued, “Know what else he used to tell me?”

With an expression as pained as I felt, Jake said, “What?”

“He used to tell me that I was lucky to have him because a lot of men wouldn’t be interested in a woman like me.He’d say that most men preferred thin, skinny women over someone of my type, who’s all curves.You hear what he was implying, don’t you?He was telling me I was fat, and men don’t like fat girls.I was lucky that he’d have me and take care of me because a girl with curves is too fat for most guys, and I should be grateful that he wanted me.Imagine telling someone a thing like that.And he actually had me convinced he was right?”I shut my eyes and shook my head.“Damn, what was wrong with me?How could I fall for that?How could I have fallen for him?”

I opened my eyes to see the sincerity on Jake’s face when he said, “You are not fat.There is nothing wrong with having a curvy body.There’s nothing wrong with not being built like some stick-figure model.Those girls aren’t healthy.What you are is healthy.”

“Not healthy enough to keep from falling for a guy who wanted to own me and beat me up when he thought I wasn’t behaving the way he wanted.”Admitting that felt like a spike of pain through my body as bad as one of Mark’s physical blows.

“That’s exactly right,” said Jake.“He never loved you.He thought of you as something he owned.You should only belong to someone if you really want to, and if they really care about you.Nobody should be anyone’s property.That’s how Mark treated you, like you were his property, and he could do with you whatever the hell he wanted.You didn’t deserve anything he did.”

Listening to Jake say these things to me, I suddenly felt as if some closed and bolted door inside me had opened and let warm air and sunshine into some dark, fear-filled place in my heart.I sniffled a bit at the kindness — actual kindness — of his words, and the genuine feeling that I felt behind them.My God, I was actually sitting with a man who was incredibly beautiful and good.Jake was truly good.

“What you deserve,” said Jake, “is someone who’ll be gentle with you, someone who tries to make you feel good when they’re near you; feel good when they touch you.That bastard made you feel scared to be touched.You didn’t deserve that, Lily.You didn’t deserve the way he made you feel: owned and controlled and scared of being hurt any minute.I hate that he did that to you.”

That door inside me opened a little wider.I remembered that, when I first knew Mark, I wanted him.Being with him had turned into a frightening thing where I couldn’t want him, where every time I let him come near me or touch me was because I felt obligated to him, and what was meant to be tender could turn into pain at any moment.I felt none of that with Jake.

Which was why, when Jake leaned closer to me, I didn’t flinch or pull away.But then, he caught himself, realizing whathe was doing again.I could sense him not wanting to scare me, being afraid of invading my space where he wasn’t wanted.And he pulled away again.

“Listen,” Jake said, “this is turning into a reminder of things you probably don’t want to think about right now.You’ve just gotten away from this guy and I’m making you remember all that.I’m sorry.I should just go and get a shower and let you get back to your playing.”He got up from the bench.“Excuse me, Lily, I’ll just go now.”

He started to walk away, and I turned to watch him go.His muscular back was as beautiful as his chest and abs, and the cheeks of his ass were the tightest, firmest muscles.The sight of him leaving made something call out inside me, and I suddenly heard myself say, “Jake…wait.”

Jake did a half-turn to look back at me, curiously.“What?”

“You don’t have to go,” I said.“I’d rather you stayed.Please.”

“Really?”

I nodded at him.“Really.”

He returned to sit on the bench with me.This time when he sat down, he straddled it, with one beautiful bare leg on either side of it.I swung one of my own legs over to straddle the bench facing him.There was no fear, no hesitation in me.I felt only a dawning of new trust, a sureness that the stunning guy sitting in front of me would not hurt me, that nothing would happen to me that I didn’t want to happen.

Jake sat still, with a small, gentle smile.Whatever happened next, he would let me decide.Not him — me.

I reached out and touched him on his muscular, hairy chest.I ran my hand over his pecs.They were the most wonderful thing I’d felt in such a long time.Jake patiently let me explore his upper body.With slowly growing confidence, I began to use both hands, letting them roam over his pecs andbrush against his hardening nipples.I moved my hands to his abs, a cobblestone path of hairy muscles.And I looked down below those muscular stones to where his pubic hair began.There, the bulge in the pouch of his thong was growing.Jake was responding to my touch as I responded to his body.

Slowly, Jake reached out to touch my T-shirt, ever so gently feeling my bosom.My heartbeat quickened.He asked, “Is this okay?”

“Yes,” I softly answered, my fingertips brushing his abs.

Jake slowly moved his hands down to the bottom of my T-shirt and tentatively touched the skin of my abdomen under it.“Is this all right?”

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