A Game Of Control

I blinked in surprise as I was taken aback by the impact of his kiss.

I placed my hand against his chest to regain my balance. It was almost as if the heat of his kiss captured my breath and I could do nothing about it. The feel of his hard body against mine made my skin ignite with heat almost immediately. It was almost impossible to concentrate.

His hand wrapped around my neck lightly as he devoured my lips almost mercilessly. And yet I knew that I wasn't ready. I wasn't ready to let a stranger claim me yet. Even though my body was screaming in disappointment, I relaxed my grip on his chest and I pulled away almost immediately.

My lips were slightly swollen and felt almost empty without his lips. His dark eyes traveled down the length of my body in a not so subtle way. His eyes were clouded with a sort of heavy heat and primal hunger.

I swallowed nervously. I internally prayed that he wouldn't make any effort to move closer to me.

“We should stop” I finally mustered up the courage to speak out the words that gathered on the tip of my tongue.

My heart pounded against the confines of my chest heavily. For a moment, I was certain that he was going to move forward and resume claiming me. Men like him were probably used to getting what they wanted when they wanted it. They did not like the word “no”.

His eyes gleamed with something that I couldn't entirely decipher and it bothered the hell out of me to know that he was unpredictable and I might never be able to figure out what he was going to do next which bothered me immensely. I mean, he did kill his first wife.

With him, I had to learn how to figure out his next move so it would be easier to know when he was planning to strike. His gaze traveled to my lips and he stared intently at me once more. He finally took a step backwards and I released a breath that I didn't even know that I had been holding.

“Get ready for bed” he said dismissively as he headed towards the door. When the door slammed shut, my shoulders sagged in relief. I wondered if this was what my life was condemned to. Taking orders from a man and letting him control me for the rest of my life. I compared it to the empty, bleak life that I had in prison.

The only thing that made it worthwhile was Trisha. Lucrezia was right. The both of us had nothing going for us. Nobody was going to be bothered about losing two prison inmates. Uncle Elliot had already assumed that I was dead anyways.

Uncle Elliot. The mere thought of him made my mouth turn bitter. It was really baffling that he would be alive and well after all he did to my family and I. They really trusted him and at the end of the day, our trust cost my parents their lives and me being shipped away to prison.

A lump was beginning to form at the back of my throat. My thoughts were interrupted by the knock on the door. I dreaded opening it and finding out who was behind it. My life had been full of surprises lately. I wasn't sure that I was ready for any other surprise. I headed towards the door and my hand paused at the door knob before I opened it.

A girl was standing behind it. She was dressed in uniform. She regarded me in a swift sweep of her gaze.

“Master Roman sent me to attend to you” she said politely and I observed her for a moment before I opened the door wider, creating more space for her to come in.

It's been years since I had the luxury of having a maid. I guess I could consider it one of the little perks of being involved in this nonsense.

“I'll prepare you a bath” she said politely and headed towards the bathroom without waiting for me to reply. A few minutes passed and she returned with a robe and handed it over to me.

“What's your name?” I said. Her eyes flashed with surprise. Almost as if she wasn't expecting me to start up a conversation with her.

“Lydia, Miss” she said as she nervously averted her gaze almost immediately.

“Mine is-” I paused as I realized that I was almost about to mention my real name.

“Sofia” I said through gritted teeth. I was still getting used to the idea of identifying as someone else. I hated it. But what choice did I even have?

“You can call me Sofia” I said more casually. Her eyes flashed with surprise and I watched as she regarded me with a brief curiosity before her expression quickly shifted back to uneasy.

“I am very certain that Master Roman wouldn't like that very much, Miss,” she said politely as she nervously twisted her fingers together.

“Isn't it such a chore?” I blurted out. But it was too late to take it back. Somehow I was going to take advantage of this opportunity to let out my frustration. Venting to my maid wasn't going to solve the problem in any way but at some point, it was at least nice to have someone who was willing to listen.

She wasn't going to understand half of what I was saying which was another added advantage but at the same time, it felt good to just let it all out.

“Letting people tell you what to do at every interval. Doesn't it bother you? I for one am certain that it bothered me and I can do nothing about it” I huffed as I stripped out of my wedding dress.

She was silent for a moment but what was I expecting her to say? She would probably be frightened about losing her job.

“No miss. I'm here to serve as I have always been” she said politely once more.

“But it is exhausting sometimes. Isn't it?” I said. I had no idea why her reply was suddenly important. An awkward, brief silence lingered between the both of us and I sighed. I turned around to head towards the bathroom.

“Sometimes. It could be exhausting sometimes” she blurted out as I was about to approach the bathroom. I sighed with relief. At least I could say that I wasn't alone in my exhaustion. I closed my eyes and sighed. I don't know why her response made me feel better or why it was even important.

I just knew that I wasn't alone in whatever I was feeling at the moment. It was a short relief.

“Agreed. Me too” I said. I was half expecting her to ask what it was that I was exhausted about and yet she said nothing. Which was good because I wasn't so sure that I wanted to go into too much detail.

“You're dismissed for the evening Lydia. You seem light on your fit. You should get some rest” I said and she hesitated. Her face paled at the suggestion.

“That was an order. You're meant to carry out my order. Are you not?” and she nodded almost immediately like she was terrified of disobeying me.

“Good. You're dismissed for the night” I said and she nodded in submission before she headed out of the room. I guess I was going to leave a very lasting impression while I was here. I headed into the bathroom. The space was big and luxurious.

There were shelves of soaps and wash. The bath tub was a little further away from me and it was filled to the brim. This was a vast difference to the slimy stalls that we had back at prison. I guess it was part of the little luxuries that came along with being Roma's wife.

I guess I was going to have to bide my time until I figure out a way to escape from this agreement, I'll have to figure out a way to escape with Trisha too but until then. I entered the bathtub and a moan escaped me almost immediately. It had been ages since I had a warm bath.

I felt the knots in my muscles loosen immediately as I leaned my head against the edge of the tub.. the water smelt of lavender with a hint of cinnamon. I could get used to this.

I closed my eyes for a brief second until I drifted into peaceful sleep. The next time I awoke, I almost shrieked in horror as a pair of dark eyes remained on me. I had no idea how long Roman had been here or how long he’d been staring at me like some sort of creep.

“What the hell are you doing here?” I snapped. My heart raced frantically within my chest.

“It's my house. I can be anywhere I want to be” his voice sounded almost amused. His eyes gleamed with something fierce and dark and I wondered if this was the moment that he was going to strike.