Chapter 67 - Past Experience

Present (2018)

"Aliza? Come out, please," Shadrach called out from outside, but I didn't reply. I did not want to talk to him. He broke his promise.

"Butterfly?" He tried, but I remained quiet. I heard him sigh and walk away, but I still did not get out. I wanted to be alone for a bit.

Why could he not trust me? Why would he think I would leave him? After everything we have been through together. I was never leaving him. Not unless he'd hurt someone I love. In fact at that point I did not think I could go a single without seeing him. I had been living with him for over four months now, and I had grown extremely attached to him. I loved him.

I heard the door of the bathroom click, making me frown. Of course. Shadrach unlocked the door with a key, and entered.

"Seriously?" I looked at him in disbelief.

"Talk to me," he pouted, crossing his arms.

"Leave me alone," I muttered, and pushed past him, exiting the bathroom. He quickly followed behind me, and caught hold of my arm.

"Butterfly, please, don't act like this," he said softly.

"I'm the one acting like this? You're the one who broke your promise!" I snapped, pushing him away from myself. He probably didn't expect it, because he stumbled backwards, and fell down on the bed. Before I could even think of walking away, he caught hold of both my wrists and pulled me down with him, quickly climbing on top of me.

"I'm sorry," he pouted.

"Get off of me, Shadrach," I muttered, trying to push him away, but he caught hold of my wrists. I was glad he was straddling my body, or he would have crushed me under his weight. Stupid waste of muscle. I was extremely pissed off at him.

"I'm sorrryyyyy," he repeated, dragging the sorry a bit too much. I looked away from him, my jaw clenched.

"Aliza?" He said softly, but I refused to look at him. "Aliza?" He asked again, and this time, he poked my waist, making me jump. I shot him an angry glare. He was not going to tickle me into submission. I was not talking to him no matter what. "Hi," he said sheepishly. I maintained my glare, refusing to utter a word. "Talk to me," he poked my waist again, and I closed my eyes shut, annoyed. "Butterfly," he said in a sing song voice, before he actually began to tickle me. I could not resist any longer, and thus I burst out laughing, pushing at his hands.

"Stop," I laughed. "Shadrach, stop. Stop!"

He obliged, smiling at me.

"Talk to me, please. I love you," he grinned at me.

"No," I replied, my smile disappearing.

"So this is how you're gonna be?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Yes. And you can't get me to talk to you even if you tie me to the bed and tickle me all night long," I said seriously.

"Hmm, but I can try, right?" He smirked, and my eyes widened.

Shit. Did I just give him an idea? I was already trapped under him, and even if I wasn't, I doubt it'd be hard for him to capture me.

"Relax, Butterfly," he laughed. "Don't worry I'm not going to tickle torture you to get you to talk to me. I'd never abuse my power like that," he winked.

"Thanks," I said sarcastically, rolling my eyes.

"I do have other ways, though," he whispered softly, tapping my nose with his index finger.

"And what are those?" I raised an eyebrow.

"I could try..." He trailed off, as he leaned in close to me, stopping only when our lips were inches apart. "Seducing you," he whispered huskily, making my stomach explode with butterflies.

"Like I'd fall for it," I replied, even though my heart was already racing in anticipation.

"Oh I know every little thing that turns you on, my Queen," he whispered, and just his words alone did the job. For some reason, whenever he called me his Queen when we were in an intimate position, it did weird things to me and my body. He placed his hand on my waist, breaking me out of my thoughts, and his hand slowly travelled downwards, to my hip, stopping at my thigh.

"Stop that," I hissed, but he shut me up.

"Shhhh," he shushed, placing the index finger of his other hand on my lips. "You know, you like to think that I'm the kinky one, but in reality, you love it as much as I do," he said softly, casually pushing my hands above my head. "I'm right, aren't I?" He asked, holding onto my wrists using one of his hands.

Yes. But I'm not telling you.

"I'm not answering any of your questions, Shadrach. Get off of me," I said.

"Are you sure, Butterfly?" He said softly, grabbing my chin. He slightly squeezed my cheeks with his index finger and thumb, making my lips part and pucker out.

"This isn't going to work," I said, looking him dead in the eye, even though I sounded ridiculous because of the way he was holding my face.

"Again, same question. Are you sure?" He smirked, winking at me, before he finally closed the space between us, gently rubbing his lips against mine. He kissed the top one, and I now closed my eyes shut, enjoying the touch. He then moved onto the lower one, kissing it as well. His tongue moved over my lower lip, and just as I thought he'd slide it into my mouth, he flicked it across my upper lip, also proceeding to lick my nose. I squeezed my eyes shut and moved my face to the side, my nose scrunched up.

"What was that?" I asked, trying to wipe my nose, but he was holding onto my hands, leaving my attempt looking more like a struggle to get free.

"Peace offering," he grinned, and I raised an eyebrow at him.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what you're high on right now, but I'm not into you licking my nose," I replied seriously.

"You want me to lick somewhere else?" He winked, and my eyes widened. I blinked and looked away from him, resuming my struggles to get free. "No?" He asked, when he noticed my wriggling. "Okay. I won't." He shrugged.

"Get off me," I said, and surprisingly, he obliged. I had thought we'd stay in this position until I'd agree to talk to him. Hmm, that's new. "Thank you," I muttered, and sat up, but before I could even think about standing up, his arm wrapped around my waist and he pulled me down again, with our position flipped over this time. He was lying on his back, and I was on top of him, with his arms wrapped tightly around my waist.

"Shadrach! Let me go!" I slapped his chest.

"You told me to get off of you, so I did," he shrugged.

"Leave me alone, Shadrach," I now frowned in annoyance.

"Okay, I'm sorry," he said dejectedly, and finally let go of me. I got off of him, and sat down on the bed, and he sat up as well.

"Look, Butterfly," he said seriously, taking my hands into his. "I'm sorry that I'm breaking my promise, but I just can't let you go, not with the fear of never seeing you again. You can say I'm being paranoid, that I should trust you, etcetera, and you'll be right, but this paranoia is rooted in past experiences, right? I've... I've lost you once before, Alizabeth, and this situation is just really reminding me of what happened last time. You found out about a dark part of me, we had an argument, you told me to leave and I did. And then I didn't see you for the next four years. I just... I can't afford to have that again. Especially when I know that your family still hates me. They're surely going to say negative things about me to you, and if any part of you is unsure of me, after what you've just seen in the basement, there could be a chance that you'd start to dislike me again, and I... I just can't bear-"

"Shadrach," I interrupted him, cupping his cheeks with my hands. "I love you. All of you. Sure, there are things about you that are so dark that I never wanna be a part of them, but I fell in love with you knowing all that. I fell for you despite knowing everything about you, every part of you. And trust me, my Love, no one is taking you away from me now."

"I trust you, but I just don't trust your family so much," he sighed. "I don't want you to go, and so I'm not dropping you home tomorrow. That's final. I'm sorry."

I sighed in defeat, removing my hands from his face.

"Alright. It's up to you. I forgot that I'm still a prisoner, and I can't really do shit without your permission," I said and got up. He got up as well.

"That's not true, Butterfly, you're no one's prisoner," he said.

"Yeah, right," I rolled my eyes, feeling extremely disappointed. "I'm leaving the house, going out in the garden. Take me to your farmhouse or whatever. And hurry. I feel suffocated in here."

And with that, I left the room, leaving him alone.

Just when I thought things would become normal, this had to happen. Of course. What else had I expected?

I roamed around in the garden, staring at the night sky, completely lost in my thoughts for the next hour. Finally he came to me and before he could say anything, I walked past him, to his jeep. He unlocked it and I sat in, noticing how only three of his men were accompanying us.

"What? No more guards to prevent me from escaping?" I asked, and he sighed, before starting the car and pulling out of the parking area.

"You know they're there for protection and security," he replied.

"Your security, and my imprisonment," I replied.

"Our security," he corrected me. "Don't forget that you had been kidnapped-"

"Oh you mean five years ago? When I was surrounded by black jeeps, tied up and thrown into the back of one? Or do you mean a few months ago when I was kidnapped from my own wedding?" I asked, not looking at him. I could still tell when his grip on the steering wheel tightened.

"No," he replied. "I mean a few months ago, when you were taken from here by people who wanted to hurt you."

"Oh yeah, you mean when I was kidnapped from my kidnapper's house," I chuckled.

"You're not making this any easier by doing this, Aliza," Shadrach said.

"Hmm, perhaps," I whispered, after which I decided to shut up.

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