12
Regina
“Let me help you with this,” Ansel offered. He reached his hands around me, closed me into his body and unzipped my dress. My breath caught and wouldn’t release as a river of tension surfaced. As quickly as he pulled me in, he backed off, but his hands gathered the top of my dress and started to slip it down my shoulders before I could part my lips to protest.
I would have liked to have had some privacy to change, but Ansel wasn’t going to allow that.
The material stretched with ease as he peeled it over my shoulders, then over my chest. His lips drew into a pleased smile at the view of my ample chest in my black strapless bra. When the dress slipped past my chest threatening to expose my midsection, I froze. I hadn’t had time to prepare him for the scars on my body, a gift from my cousin Sorio. The ones on my arms had faded and nearly blended with my skin, but there was no hiding the ones on the left side of my stomach. They were ugly and large jagged knife marks.
Ansel’s actions ceased, and his gaze was focused on the large slashes.
“Did he do this to you?” he questioned. His voice carried above a whisper, but I could sense the hate rolling off him. I believed he’d kill my cousin a hundred times over if given the opportunity.
“Yes,” I answered, embarrassed and horrified. My cousin was a beast of a man that had no tolerance for me, or my quest to get away from my family. He had marred me with so many cuts and bruises that cocoa butter and various quick healing medications had become my best friends. Some scars, I’d been able to fade into whispers of what they once were, others I’d take to the grave.
The wall in front of me had suddenly become interesting because I couldn’t bear to glance down at Ansel. I was afraid of his reaction as we were just getting started. My back had more evidence of my cousin’s hatred of me.
When the material of my dress started to slip further down, my breathing stopped, but my heart pumped twice as fast. Was he not disgusted? My black bra and panty set was on full display as he continued to peel away my dress.
The warmth on my cheeks highlighted my embarrassment as it started to travel down the expanse of my body. Fighting to keep from fidgeting, my weight shifted left and right as tension tightened my legs.
It wasn’t until I gathered the strength to glance at Ansel that I found his appreciative gaze roving my body. Lust rested in his roaming eyes versus the hurtful stab of disgust I expected.
“Regina. Regina. Regina.” He sighed as he shook his head. I was so ensnared by his gaze that I didn’t even flinch when he swept the material the rest of the way down. The dress swept the back of my calves before it pooled at my feet.
I’d been concentrating so hard on my scars being exposed that I’d forgotten about all the other imperfections he’d find. My immediate reaction to standing before him in nothing but my underwear was to cover my stomach.
“Don’t you dare,” he commanded, casting a stern eye on me, knowing what I was about to do. I dropped my hands, letting them hang limply at my sides as I brought my gaze back to that interesting wall. I’d always been insecure about my body, to the point that I kept my clothes on during sex and always turned out the lights. The men I’d been with didn’t mind it as long as they were getting laid.
“Regina, look at me,” Ansel ordered as he stood. My gaze lifted, landing on his penetrating green stare.
“You have a gorgeous body. I knew that you would. Trust me, if I didn’t like what I see, you damn sure wouldn’t be standing in front of me. And, I can assure you, I damn sure wouldn’t be taking you on an outing. You understand?”
Unable to speak, I nodded, more grateful for his words than I could say.
“If you ever try to hide yourself from me again, you will be punished, and I’m not going to take it easy on you like I did the first time. As a matter of fact, you can start addressing me as Sir when I’m giving you a command. You’re smart. It won’t take you long to decipher when I’m Sir and when I’m Ansel.”
“Yes, Sir,” I answered, getting into this play more than I assumed I would.
My answer caused his eyes to flicker with a burning heat I’d never seen in them before. I’d finally done something right. The idea that I could make heat burn within a man like Ansel gave me a sense of pride I’d never experienced before.
He stood in front of me, unzipping the sexy dress he’d picked. My heart fluttered as his hot gaze swept my body. He bent and assisted in removing my discarded dress from around my ankles.
So that I could step into it, he lowered the new dress to my feet. The black material fluttered across my hot skin, and his gaze roamed every inch of me and shot my lust level past the boiling point. No man had ever dressed me. None had looked at me the way Ansel did. He’d let his eyes linger, allowing me to see the lust shining in them. He left no doubt that he liked what he saw.
The back of his hand skimmed my hot skin as he dragged the dress over my thighs. His tongue glided over his sexy lips, licking them before clenching the left bottom edge under his teeth in a way that quickened my pulse and had my breaths rushing faster.
When he reached my stomach, he leaned in and left a quick peck there that drew a moan from me and caused my eyes to flutter close. My fingers curled into my palms at my side, and it took everything in me to keep myself from passing out from the rush of energy he’d set off in me.
A few deep, steadying breaths sent enough calming relief into me to entice me to stay on my feet. He tugged the dress up over my chest and stopped, holding one of the thin sheer straps up so that I could slip my arm into it. This life he was introducing me to was going to take some getting used to, and I appreciated that he took his time with me.
With my arms under the straps, Ansel paced around my body to zip up the dress. He swept my hair off my back with a light stroke, and I assisted by holding it and tilting my head down. That’s when I noticed that the bottom of the dress was see-through lace and stopped just above my knees. The solid parts of the dress were enough to cover my hips, butt, stomach, and chest. Together, the lacy and solid sections made the dress more tasteful than if it had been a minidress that hardly covered my ample bottom.
I jumped, sucking in a huge chunk of air when Ansel’s warm fingers brushed my lower back. More scars marred my back, but I didn’t believe he cared.
“Relax. I haven’t even begun to touch you yet,” he stated. His voice was as much a caress as his fingers. His hot words poured into my ears like liquid heat. I’d have to call on all the reserved strength I possessed to endure him.
The slide of the zipper sounded at my back as the skin of the dress tightened around my body. It was a perfect fit. I lied to myself, praying I was a ten when I was at least a good healthy twelve.