Page 28 of Lost Petal

Chapter 16

Petal

I follow with my eyes closed, unwilling to face what awaits me. He helps me up on my feet, guiding me with tender patience as he holds my right hand in one while placing his other hand on the small of my back.

I’m sobbing when he gives me a gentle push, moving toward the bench. I don’t have to open my eyes to know that’s where he’s leading me, that’s the place where it’s going to happen. He doesn’t stop until my knees meet the edge of the bench and we both come to a halt. I freeze, waiting for him to push me down so he can have his way with me.

But nothing of the like happens. He lets go of my hand and lets the tips of his fingers move along my arm in a compassionate journey that makes my skin prickle. I let it happen, standing tense and with my shoulders up to my ears.

A feeble whimper escapes my lips when he places both of his hands on my shoulders, lightly squeezing as if he wanted to massage me.

“Relax, Petal,” he says in a soft voice, leaning forward so that I can feel his warm breath on the back of my neck. “You need to relax.”

“How?” I burst out, biting my lip to stop further exclamations that could be seen as defiance in his eyes.

“Trust me,” he says matter-of-factly, as if it were that simple.

My question remains the same. “How?”

His dark chuckle sends a cold shiver down my spine, only intensifying my anxious tension instead of relieving me from it.

“I won’t hurt you, Petal,” he promises, still massaging my shoulders. “I only want one thing: Honesty.”

My chest tightens at the sound of that word. Honesty. It’s as if he’s looked right into my head, seeing the betrayal spelled out right in front of him.

I could fake it. I don’t really have to come for him. It’s so easy to make him believe what he wants to believe.

And now he’s asking for honesty.

“I don’t like to be lied to,” he adds, worsening my predicament while his hands travel down the sides of my body, taking the straps of the white gown with him. Another sob echoes through the room when he exposes me in front of him, moving with agonizing slowness as he pulls the thin fabric down over my tits, subjecting them to the cold air before he moves farther down, pausing above my hips.

I can sense him tensing up behind my back while his breathing speeds up. He moves closer, the warmth of his body providing me with eerie consolation as his chest meets my back. I flinch when something pokes me at the small of my back, just above my ass.

He’s hard. Rock-hard.

My first instinct tells me to move away from him, to remove myself from his intrusion.

But I don’t. And it’s not because I fear being punished for it, or because I expect him to pull me back right away.

It’s something else, a feeling of familiarity, of warmth, of actual comfort.

Right in this very moment, he doesn’t feel like a stranger. It doesn’t feel wrong to have him this close, it doesn’t feel wrong to be touched by him like this.

However, it doesn’t feel entirely right either.

My contradictory thoughts are cut off when he continues to undress me, pulling the gown down over my hips before he lets go of the material, letting if fall to the floor, where it gathers in a cloudy pool around my feet.

He lets out a heavy sigh while I close my eyes in shame, feeling so vulnerable as I stand before him completely exposed.

“Fuck, Petal,” he hisses right behind my ear, grabbing me by the hips to pull me even closer as he grinds his steely length against my back.

“This is what you do to me,” he breathes. “And we haven’t even started.”

My chest is heaving under heavy breaths while my heart stutters in confusion. What is this? I should feel nothing but repulsion. I should be scared, terrified, disgusted even.

But right now, I’m none of those things.

I’m dazed, breathing rapidly while my cheeks blush as I stand naked before my captor, the man who’s about to rape me.

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