Obey

Chapter Four- Negotiations

My eyes continued to dance between the moonlight teasing its way through the slits of the blinds and that of the man now motionless in slumber at my side. I envied both the moon for its beauty but also the way my bedfellow had managed to find restful sleep so quickly, when I found no position or angle to allow this for myself. Eventually, the annoyance that filled me when looking to Warren in analysis would now turn to thorough study. Everything from the curves making up his back muscles, tensing as he moved into comfort within his sleep, to the stubble upon his perfectly chiseled face drew my attention in a way I would regret since its conception. And yet, with this promise of perpetual loathing, I couldn't deny how beautiful he was to me in this moment as he was silent and vulnerable. As I became aware I wouldn't find a rest at his side as my mind and heart would battle for dominance, I quickly threw myself onto my soles, collected the pillow beneath me, and made my way into the safety of the bathroom.

Even if the comfort of the shower bench would not compare to that found in the luxurious soft yet firmness of the bed I had now left, it would provide a peace of mind in its place. And so, I would position myself on the bench, curling myself into the fetal position, before finally managing to close my eyes into a rest. But I would not be able to recall my dream the next morning as my awakening would be brutal in the form of cold water cascading onto me and leaving me breathless.

As my eyes parted and came together in a glare, I watched as Warren looked at me with a beaming sense of pride.

"What are you doing?!" I ridiculed as he ceased the water before leaning against the glass of the door.

"Trying to shower...Did you want to join me?" My narrowed eyes sharpened deeper as I would take possession of a towel folded on a nearby rack as I noticed his eyes taking in the stock of my wet tee. Before I could object, he had already stood before me in a naked torso, and now reached for his bottoms until they were absent his hips and exposing himself shamelessly at my side. Averting my eyes immediately, my peripheral vision would catch his manhood in stride as a blush would take over my cheeks.

"Have you ever seen a man before?" He would ask while bending into the shower, his perfect buttocks now facing me as I would allow my gaze ro drop as he turned from me, but rolled my eyes once he looked back at me once more.

"Have you ever touched a man before?" My blush deepened as I couldn't help but conjure the image in my head just as he hnd spoken it. But I did not imagine a sweet moment, instead, I thought of stroking him in deep strides, only to be pulled and raved in violent passion within the hot steam of the shower.

"Have you ever let a man touch you?" This question sourered my expression as I did not care to hide this from him.

"You're delusional!" I snapped in his direction before slamming the door at my back and making my way into the tranquil isolation of the bedroom. The feeling of my cheeks wearing this feverish crimson hue also forced my heart to beat in palpitations until I was able to collect myself once more. But this serenity wouldn't come in isolation alone as this could be altered by his arrival or that of one of his "men". Instead, it would come to the sight of the luggage on the edge of the bed having now allowed me to possess something of my own.

Tearing at the zipper while keeping the towel wrapped around me for warmth, I pulled the items to view, before realizing there was nothing I could use. Although I was not a fashionista by any sense as I preferred tees and jeans in opposition to anything else, all that lay before me had been a swimsuit, a mess of shorts I hadn't fit in since junior high due to the expansion of my hips, and the reveal of a few bodysuits left over from my attempt to follow a singular trend that faded before it took flight. Realizing I had to change, but without the resources to do so, I would venture to his closet once more. Only now, upon my arrival, I would find his clothes to have been replaced and ironed as if my fingers had never caused such chaos the day prior. Somewhat thankful for it in this instance, I would begin to finger the hangers in search of something I could use.

It would take wrapping myself three quarters of the entire closet before coming to a basic tee that I would collect over my arm. Ensuring I did not have an audience at my back in the form of my captor or his affiliates, I would quickly remove my sodden clothes and replace my top with his shirt. Ignoring how luxurious the expensive fabric felt against my skin, I would return to the bedroom in search of bottoms. But as my fingers pushed on the dresser to open it after struggling for a moment, I would come upon the perfect precision of his boxers folded to militant standards before deciding on a pair of his boxers to wear over my panties. Turning behind me once more to ensure I was alone, I undressed and redressed in his clothes at the very moment the door would open at my back.

For a moment, only mist would make up the opening of the door, before his silhouette would now penetrate and remain glossy in remaining water. He would move beyond me and to the same dresser I had just closed, looking to me in approval, before taking the items he needed for the day. But once again, he would disrobe by dropping the towel to his feet, as if we were consistent lovers, quite familiar to be exposed before one another. But in my lack of confidence in this, he made up for in thrice, as he kept himself free as long as possible, until I requested he stopped making a fool out of himself. He would now be the one to roll his eyes as he finally dressed and allowed by blush a relief.

"I believe we have some business this morning?" I nodded as I followed behind him as he led me into his office before closing the door behind him. As he now took a seat on his side of the desk and motioned me to do the same across from him, I returned to the door and pulled it open once more to ensure he understood my grounds from the get go.

"Very well...shall we begin?" I detested that look of arrogance constant on his face as it would make me nervous. But I would remain professional in my ambition as I kept my focus on his eyes while enlisting my first sense of business.

"I want my own room."

"That's ridiculous-"

"I don't feel comfortable-I don't want to sleep next to you." He paused for a moment before slowly nodding.

"Fine...but you will have the guest room across from my room then, just so I can keep an eye on you…" I wouldn't nod as I felt as if his words were somehow s****l, but would bow my head in proving that I had heard him, before moving on to my second request.

"I want a cell phone-"

"Absolutely not!"

"I want to be able to talk to my dad!"

"No. You could use the phone to write a first person essay about all of this...You will NOT have a phone."

"Then what about one call? Supervised by you? Just so I can make sure he is alright?" He clenched his jaw, but found a lack of grounding to deny me and so he would be forced to nod once more.

"Anything else?" He spoke through his tensed teeth.

"I want my things-not new things...nothing bought for me that I'll hate. I want MY clothes, MY music, MY sketchbook…" he seemed taken aback by this request before now leaning forward towards me.

"You understand I can buy you new clothes? An entire art studio if you wanted it-"

"This is my final term. I just want my own things." He let out a deep exhale before agreeing.

"Make me a list of what you need, I'll send Jaymes." I nodded in approval before suddenly forcing my hand up.

"And no...touching! I will smile at your side in pictures and go along with whatever story you tell for the sake of getting my life safely back in a year, but I will not, I don’t want you to touch me!”

"I understand." I was surprised and annoyingly disappointed he did not fight me on this, but ultimately agreed.

"Now my terms…" my stomach dropped.

"You won't try to leave again and as a sign of good faith, I won't have your every action followed." I nodded, well aware of the risk this held I trying to leave before he gave this term.

"You will eat three meals a day and be checked every month by a doctor to ensure you're of peak health."

"Is that really necessary?" He nodded to my question.

"And you will try."

"Try?"

He bobbed his head in approval that I had heard him correctly.

"When we eat together, you will talk to me. Tell me about yourself and we might even end up as friends-'' I scoffed to this as his brows rose.

"I'm not asking for you to lay out all your secrets...Just to fill in conversation in place of this awful silence all the time. Those are MY conditions." I nodded before offering my hand from across the table. Forced to stand due to the distance between us and meeting his reach, he would now walk around the desk until he stood across from me.

"There is one last thing…" I now dropped my hand at the sound of his voice.

"Of course there is…" I muttered as he ignored me but tensed his jaw when I spoke, showing he heard me.

"I need you to sign this." I recognized this as having been a nondisclosure agreement.

"This protects us both. I can't speak about you and you can't speak about me...not in detail. That way, you don't have to remember a lot and I don't have to pretend to care about how we met by your version of events." He offered me a pen as he signed the first line and awaited my signature. Reading the document slowly as he signed, I verified that was what this was before sliding the tip of the pen over the page.

"Good. Now to make this official…" stepping back behind his desk, he would remove something from a drawer before asking me to close my eyes as he concealed it behind his back. To which, I rivaled, as expected.

"Please?" He asked in frustration as I would slowly close my eyes as he asked me to hold out my hand. Asking me to now use the other one, he would then flip it over in my lack of following directions properly, before I would feel a heavy weight now fall to my left hand. To the feeling, my eyes sprung open as I pulled a diamond to view.

No matter the views of marriage or the politics behind diamonds, you could not deny the beauty of this ring. Simplistic with a thick four carat diamond at its center, the band held a remainder of being spanning to the rest of my other fingers, as he would look to me in the wait for my approval.

"Will that do?" I let out a deep breath while admiring it further.

"I think it's...too much…" I spoke honestly as he would answer me in a calm timbre, not laced in lust or arrogance, just his usual voice, that I found somehow comforting without the push to be someone he wasn't.

"Well, considering you are the woman I'm supposed to love above everyone else...the one who I want to give the world to...and the one I see keeping my wild oats sown...It needs to be a statement piece-"

"This is a full billboard or a blimp-"

"You have to make yourself indifferent to things like this...Not just the ring...because you will have to do dinners and functions with me...you can't be acting like…"

"Like I'm poor?" I scoffed and shook my head.

"Like you don't belong...because you do-or at least, you will..." I was temporarily confused by his words as he kept his expression from me before I was unable to tell if this was sincere or spoken in a facade to break my walls down.

"So what's first?" I would ask as he let out a breath before pulling his phone to view and looking through his calendar.

"A speech to announce I'm officially in the running...all you will have to do is stand there and smile, let me put my arm around you for pictures, do a quick interview-you won't have to say anything, and then we come back here and pretend the other doesn't exist."

"Perfect!" I spoke quickly, before coming to regret this swift response as I saw the pain somewhere deep in his eyes. But since he shared my stubbornness, he would then respond with a reflection of my words.

"Perfect…" he spoke the word as if it was meaningless to him.

"I'll have Jaymes get you after breakfast to get ready for the announcement...And please don't fight me on it...but a dress will be waiting-"

"I don't want-"

"Just until you get your own clothes, then you can pick whatever you want. For now, just let us both get through this unscathed…" he would be the one to leave his office first as I would follow behind him, until learning he had already disappeared, leaving me to wonder what this day would consist of…