Three

Rose could have stopped the kiss the moment she realised that her husband was still next to them, but the joy inside her made her curious, and she chose to pursue the kiss till the end. So, with carefulness, she planted tiny kisses all over the man’s lips, her soul hoping his inactiveness didn’t mean that he hated what she was doing. Rose transferred her kisses to his forehead, nose, and neck. By the time she returned to his lips, the man’s hands circled her waist, his breath ruffled the top of her lips, and he made her feel the essence of intimacy with the urgency of his kiss.

Honestly, Rose melted into that kiss. Her entire soul gave in to the man whose name she had yet to know, and she knew she would not be stopping him; that was a considerable chance to feel the connection her husband had refused to give her. She would be thinking about the repercussions after she gets satisfaction from that pleasurable moment.

“Rose,” the man murmured against her lips, his hands roaming her back in search of more contact with her skin. “Rose,” he repeated, the weakness in his voice making her crave more of the unknown man. “Rose.” His lips made sure to make her feel loved, even when they moved to her neck, she felt great. “Rose…”

A groan from her unconscious husband brought her to reality, she pulled away from the man before more could happen.

With haste, she got up, avoided his gaze and said, “You should leave.”

“Not without you.” His voice remained calm, his eyes continued to relax her. “I cannot leave you with this man. He is hurting you. He will not stop hurting you.”

Hearing someone mention her reality made her pained and embarrassed. She bent to take her bag, removed her phone, ended the voice recording and handed the man the device.

She looked at him when he refused to accept it and said, “He must not find out I have this. We will meet again, won’t we?” Rose did not understand why she was trusting the man so much. “When I decide to see you, give me this.”

“That makes no sense.” His fantastical eyes darkened. “I am not asking you, Rose. You have to come with me. I will not leave you to chance, this man does not mean well.”

“I don’t care if you ask me to come with you. I don't know who you are. How you know my name is still a mystery. I don’t know your name, yet you… yet we…” She didn’t know how to say they kissed without announcing it. “Anyway,” she cleared her throat, “I can tell you mean well. So, take this and meet me later. Give me a week. I will leave here in a week.”

He shifted closer, his worry multiplied while brief anger flashed in his eyes. “Why? Do you want to die here?”

“I don’t know. No. Of course, I don’t want to die. I just have to think about things. I can’t just leave. I need to process my movements before-”

“That is why I am here.,” he insisted. “I will get you out of here. This man, he won’t stop until he harms you.”

“You think I don’t know that?!” She was almost losing her mind, yet the man was making it worse. “I can’t rely on anyone. I only have myself now! If I don’t think or plan the escape well, I might end up in a worse situation.” She looked away from him. “I know I should have walked away from this shithole a long time ago. Maybe those times I suffered because of his silence were the escape opportunities life gave me.” The regret worsened, and the tears returned. “I have been foolish. I was blinded by the love I thought he had for me and the one I had for him.” She quickly mopped the fallen tears with the back of her hand. “Not anymore. I won’t be foolish once again. I will leave this place after I perfect everything.”

“Everything? How can you perfect anything in this mess? You can’t even think straight right now.”

“It’s not your business.” Afraid that her response was too sharp, she looked at the man. “Thank you.”

He was not comfortable leaving her behind, that was clear. But he chose to respect her decision, and Rose respected him for that.

He took her phone from her hand and said, “See you in a week, Rose.”

She wished she could tape the way he said her name. It truly was calming and enough to wash away Richard’s poison.

“Wait,” she stopped him from turning, “will you tell me your name?”

“See you in a week,” he repeated, his brief smile making her smile for a weak second.

“Wait.” She glanced at Richard. “He will wake up, right?”

“Give it some time.”

“Like three hours?”

“Is that how much time you need?” he asked, and she nodded. “You are good to go.” Contrary to what he said, he walked closer to Richard and slapped the man’s head. “Now, you are very good to go.”

“Uh… thank you?” She was unsure how slapping his head would help solidify his unconsciousness, but then, it was a satisfying thing to see. 

Without a word more, the man walked out, the swag in his steps adding to his overall allure, and Rose started to clean the mess in the room before dealing with the mess in her life. 

[break]

His steps refused to rush. Rune wanted to believe that Rose would trash her one-week ultimatum and accept his help. But nothing of that sort happened. 

Disappointed that he was unable to convince her to leave her hell, he considered using brute force for a second, but he cautioned himself before his body could take up the suggestion.

True, based on what he had just witnessed in Rose’s life, anger boiled into fury, and he needed a way to let it out; he should have hit that bastard harder. But, for the woman who he was now sure was his mate, he would recline his emotions. He will wait for her. Then, he will go to her, refuse any refusal she puts up and make sure that henceforth, he wakes up with her next to him. 

Once Rune resisted the urge to look back, he treasured the kiss they shared, increased his paces and tucked the phone Rose gave him into his pocket, after which he brought his phone out to text Symon, who was hopefully no longer as pissed as he was when he saw him leave the theatre.

[break]

With a grunt, Rose pinned her husband’s back to the dining chair. Tears filled her eyes as she used all her strength to tighten the rope, glueing him to the seat. In the past, the only time she wished to tie up her husband was when she imagined the many ways their bedroom fun would progress. She always suspected that her husband had a fetish of being submissive in bed, so she prepared herself before their wedding and got some kits with the help of Hannah, the shoemaker next to her shop. 

“You should have loved me right, Richard,” she whispered as she glanced at the whip staring back at her from its box. Laughter from the TV reacted to her statement, so she abandoned the idea of whipping her husband to watch how blissful they were on their wedding day.

Oh, what a great day it was. 

That day, Rose was not saddened by the slightest thing. Even her lack of family members could not crush the massive smile on her lips. Anyone could see that Richard was enough for her; he was all that mattered. As she focused on the smile she carried, Rose wondered if there was a way for her to go in there and tell twenty-five-year-old her to run away. But then, even if that was possible, Rose knew that past her would not listen. That was how much Richard meant to her. 

Rose turned her eyes to TV Richard, whose gaze could not stop watching her. Back then, she blushed because of it. Now, she wondered if, during all that staring, he was plotting how to destroy her life.

“What next?” Rose weakly asked herself once she summoned the strength to turn off the television. “Should I close down my shop? Where do I hide once I escape?” Her plan was simple. She was going to wait till Sunday to make a move. Despite his plan to keep her locked up, Richard would have no choice but to take her along to church because he would not want people asking questions. 

“Argh…” She scattered her hair. “I should have told that sexy man to meet me at the church.” She could tell that the stranger would play a significant role in her escape, he would be a great protector in case Richard moves mad. “Well, I can text my phone from my laptop. I hope he sees the message.” 

She leaned back, her hand underneath her chin. “I only have the next one hour to close down my shop. Or should I wait till Sunday? I should drop hints as well. Hannah and Sister Debbie will report to the police if my plan does not work. Right?” 

Doubt muddled her thoughts, but she quickly shook her head and got up. 

“This has to work, Rose. Richard does not love you anymore. Do not get confused.” After glancing at her tied-up husband, she walked past him and went to the kitchen for a water bottle. Unfortunately, when she reached half of the bottle, she started feeling funny. Her stance wobbled, she failed to find support, slumped, and slipped into the unknown world.