Chapter 60 A Night Out and a Rescue
The distance from the family kept things under control. Jonathan saw Elizabeth smile and even sing while tidying the house. He explained Lays’s situation to her, and she understood that for now Lays couldn’t leave Mrs. Ceci or Anthony alone. Elizabeth loved knowing that James was taking care of her. Despite the past, she thought Lays could be a great wife for James.
Jonathan got home and found Elizabeth on the couch. He thought he needed to give her more comfort—he would buy a more spacious sofa so she could enjoy her afternoons reading on it.
“Hi, my love! How was your day?” Elizabeth asked excitedly.
“Very good, my beautiful. Even better now with you.”
Jonathan came closer and kissed her. He never missed a chance to give Elizabeth passionate kisses.
“Eliz, let’s go out!”
“Where to?”
“First we’ll go to your brother’s house—I know you want to see it. Then we’ll take a walk through Times Square. I don’t think I’ve ever taken you to see the city lit up at night.”
“I love the idea. I’ll take a shower and be ready in a minute.”
“I’ll shower with you. I think we’ll take a little longer,” Jonathan said with a smile.
Jonathan picked Elizabeth up and kissed her all the way to the bathroom. When he set her down, she undressed. Jonathan turned on the bathtub—he intended to have Elizabeth on his lap there.
“No, Jonathan. I don’t want to use the bathtub.”
“Do you still have fear after what happened?”
Elizabeth nodded. She avoided the bedroom bathroom, especially the bathtub, and preferred the main one in the house.
“If I ask you to get in the bathtub with me, will you be upset? I don’t want you to feel forced. I just want to help you get over it…”
Elizabeth waited while Jonathan filled the bathtub. He got in first and held out his hand to her. Elizabeth entered and sat between his legs. She hugged Jonathan. At one point she looked at her wrist—there was a thin line like a scar. The right medications and proper care had made the mark discreet, but it wouldn’t disappear completely.
“Eliz, what do you think about when you’re here?” Jonathan asked while pouring hot water over her back.
“I remember the pain I felt—not the pain in my wrist, but the pain inside me. I felt broken. I thought you would never love me, never believe me. I thought I would spend my days being cheated on and humiliated, that at any moment you would start hitting me too. I thought I would have my mother’s fate, and I wanted to avoid that suffering. I thought about jumping straight to the final step.”
Jonathan felt his heart skip beats. Elizabeth had gone through a moment of deep pain, and he felt guilty for causing it.
“My beautiful, you know I love you. I know I make more mistakes than right choices with you, but I don’t want to hurt you anymore—never again!”
Jonathan pulled Elizabeth’s face to his and kissed her. He started caressing her body. When he got near her legs, he felt her hot—it was desire and closeness that made her like that. Jonathan reached her intimacy and began massaging it. He had already noticed what excited Elizabeth—she loved his big hands on her body. When he touched her intimately, she reached ecstasy quickly.
Before Elizabeth showed signs of the first wave of pleasure, Jonathan made her turn and lower herself onto his member. He helped her movements, making her moan his name. Jonathan was turning those painful memories into memories of pleasure.
“I want you to remember what you feel right now! I want when you look at this place, you remember me loving your beautiful body. Remember that I love everything about you,” Jonathan whispered in her ear.
They reached climax together.
After the hot bath, they got dressed and headed to Adam’s house.
It was in a middle-class neighborhood in New York. The house was single-story with modern, very masculine decor. Elizabeth thought she would change a few things to make it cozier.
“This is my room, and that one is Dave’s…” Adam explained.
“Is he really moving in with you?” Elizabeth asked.
“Part of it is his. I needed it because of my age, but he hasn’t moved yet. He’s still at our father’s house.”
Elizabeth admired Adam—he was overcoming the family barriers on his own.
“I hope, just like me, you find love!” Elizabeth said and hugged him.
“That’s not what I saw when we were at your house,” Adam replied and looked at Jonathan.
“Adam, all I can say is I don’t treat Elizabeth that way. I acted like that to protect her.”
“I won’t try to understand, but if she’s happy, then it’s fine with me.”
They spent a pleasant early evening. Elizabeth promised to come back and cook for Adam. Besides frozen food, he had sodas in the fridge. She laughed at her brother—they had never had a very regulated diet living with their father, and now living alone, Adam seemed like a child when it came to taste.
Jonathan and Elizabeth left. They dined at an upscale restaurant in Times Square, walked the street, and even got ice cream together. Elizabeth felt like a teenager out with her first boyfriend.
It was almost dawn when they got in the car.
“We have to do this more often. I loved seeing you smile!” Jonathan said as he drove.
They were on the way home when they stopped at a traffic light. Jonathan immediately rolled up the window.
“Jonathan, is everything okay?”
“The fight across the street… I don’t want them looking over here!”
Elizabeth looked and almost jumped out of her seat.
“Jonathan, it’s Doug! That’s Doug!”
Jonathan turned the car and parked on the sidewalk next to a group of guys beating Doug.
“Don’t get out of the car!” Jonathan said and grabbed the gun from the glove compartment.
Jonathan got out with the gun in hand. He wouldn’t leave a friend who had helped him so much in a situation like that.
“Hey, you faggot! I’m gonna bash your face in just like they do to your ass!” The men mocked while hitting Doug.
“Three against one—how brave!” Jonathan said, approaching slowly. The man looked at the luxury car and at Elizabeth, who had rolled down the window.
“Listen up, big shot—take your lady and get out of here! Our business is with this fucked-out fag!”
Jonathan pointed the gun at them. The men had no weapons—they just hunted homosexuals and beat them. They had prejudice written all over their faces. They went out in packs looking for lone victims. That night Doug had a late appointment across town. He was heading home when his car broke down. He left it at a trusted garage and walked the rest of the way—he wasn’t far from home. He wasn’t a man who started fights or drew attention on the street, but he wore a colorful ribbon bracelet, a gift from Paul on their last trip. The men saw the bracelet and immediately assumed his sexuality—that was the reason for the attack.
“I’m leaving here with my wife and my friend, and if anyone tries to stop me, they’ll get a bullet right between the eyes! Doug, get up and get in the car!” Jonathan said firmly.
Even injured, Doug managed to stand and get in the car.
“You’re lucky my wife is here—otherwise you’d be dead!”
Jonathan got back in the car and drove to the condominium. He took Doug to their own place—Elizabeth would know how to do some basic first aid.
“Elizabeth, take care of Doug. Paul will be here soon!” Jonathan turned to leave again.
“Jonathan! What are you going to do?” Elizabeth didn’t ask where he was going—she knew that away from her, he would finish off the homophobic group. He was definitely going hunting for the men.
“I’m stopping by my uncle’s to tell Paul Doug is here. I won’t be long!”
“Be careful!” Elizabeth said. She wouldn’t ask for mercy for the group that attacked her friend.
Doug was badly hurt but lucid and conscious.
“Elizabeth, is Jonathan going after those men?”
Elizabeth confirmed yes—and he would certainly take James with him. The group’s hours were numbered.
“Elizabeth, is Jonathan dangerous?”
“Doug, just think that he’s your friend! He becomes dangerous to anyone who tries to hurt someone he cares about.”
Doug wasn’t reassured, but he was grateful. Jonathan, with his hot temper, had just saved his life. He was now in debt to Jonathan and would repay it by being loyal to the neighbor.