Page 99 of Empowered
She had spent the past hour readying her mind for what she had asked him to do. Although Lucas sounded as confident as always, she knew him well enough by now to hear that slight tremor implying there was another way to go about this.No. There isn’t.
The only way Sarah would be whole again was by embracing both sides of herself. She was the one who had willingly split herself into two as an unhealthy way of coping with her trauma. She was the only one who could sew both halves back together – and if some of the bullshit was conveniently left out of the end result? All the better.
But that didn’t mean she had to do it alone. Having a man who loved her – and she could eventually come to trust – could make all the difference.
“Angel.”
It was a command. A soft, stern command. Sarah stood, her aching feet pressing in her boots. She had touched up her makeup and wig while Lucas prepared in the bedroom. What had he done? What was he going to do to her? How deep would her brain be forced to go?
The moment she approached him, she turned on Angel’s charm. It was as familiar as a splinter that had stabbed her skin for one day too long.
“Yes, sir?” She drew one finger down his prickly stubble. “What can I do for you?”
“I didn’t invite you up here to sit on my couch and look pretty.” He pulled away from her, gesturing to his dimly lit bedroom. Candles flickered beyond the doorway. Candles and a neatly made bed, unlike the one she had seen when she first walked into his apartment that day.
“Of course not, sir.” She opened the front of her jacket, showing off her slinky dress beneath. “Where do you want me?” A giggle. “Howdo you want me?”
“You can start by taking off that dress and sitting on my bed.” He went into the master bathroom and rooted through one of his drawers.
“Hmph.” Sarah dropped her jacket on the floor and unzipped her dress. Getting out of it with a man helping her was far more preferable, but she wasn’t incapable of undressing herself. “Whatever you want, sir.”
She shimmied out of everything except for her underwear and garter. By the time Lucas returned from the other room, Sarah sat on the edge of his bed with clothes tossed on the other side of the bedroom.
“You’re confident for someone who’s here to do what I want.”
Sarah leaned back on her hands, pushing her chest up.That’s what Angel does. She entices, ensnares, and ensures that she’s ultimately the one getting what she wants.Angel knew how to seduce men into bed and leave them absolutely wasted. Lucas was no different when they met, and he would be no different tonight.
Nobody could eschew Angel’s charms.
“Even with that wig and makeup on, you’re still the same beautiful Sarah I’ve always loved, aren’t you?”
She shrugged. “I’m whoever you want me to be.”
Lucas rolled up his sleeves. Hair as fine as the rest of him speckled his skin. His watch glistened in the candlelight until he had the sense to unlatch it and toss it onto his dresser. How much did Sarah have to pay to get this guy to unbutton his shirt next?Let me at him. I’ll nuzzle my nose against that chest and feel every breath of strength inside of him.Sarah wanted to draw upon that strength for herself. She’d make sure she wanted for nothing for the next 24 hours.
“Take off your wig, Angel.”
Her languid eyes snapped open. “Excuse me?”
“I told you to take off the wig. I don’t care how you act. Just take off the fake hair and let me see the real thing.”
She kept her chest puffed out while she pulled the pins from her scalp and left them on the bed. Didn’t take much to dislodge the wig from her scalp after that. Flattened black hair spilled out from the cap and fell limp against her face. Was this what he wanted? To see her post-Angel look?
“You don’t need this anymore.” Lucas gently took it from her hands and tossed it on top of her clothes. Sarah looked between it and him with a judgmental gaze. Even his hands caressing her face couldn’t ease the tension behind her eyes. “This is the real Sarah right here. And I’m going to treat her like any man would treat Angel.”
Sarah steeled herself. Those were fighting words to her subconscious.
“You’re going to see that neither of us need her. We only need each other, Sarah.”
He lowered his lips and kissed her forehead. Sarah stiffened even more, her legs on the brink of shaking. But she wouldn’t. She couldn’t. The last thing she would do was let him see a blink of weakness.
“You only need yourself. You don’t even need me.”
Lucas combed his fingers through her short hair. When he was satisfied with her appearance, he stood up straight, sincerity never leaving his stoic visage. “You’re not happy.”
She slowly shook her head.
“I’ve ripped off your mask. I’d apologize, except I can’t make a point with that thing around, now can I?” He let one finger trail down her cheek. “I love you. You know, right?”
