“Oh god no,” I responded automatically. I was never very good in malls. I’d been abducted from one. It had been six years since that day and I could force myself to go to one if I had to. But I much preferred to avoid them. “I hate shopping and besides, Mrs. Suramongkol set me up with more clothes than I’m going to need in my lifetime. There’s one temple I wouldn’t mind going back to, if you don’t mind doing tourist things?”
“Lead the way.”
I took him to the temple complex of Wat Pho. It was crowded with tourists taking photos and Thai families worshipping but most of them clustered around the giant reclining Buddha in one of the buildings. I headed instead for the quiet tucked away corner, where smaller statues of seated Buddhas were set in arches all around the little courtyard.
There was no one around. The sun shone and I could feel trickles of sweat inch down the vee between my breasts. Far off screams of children playing could be heard in the air but we were very much alone. I folded myself down to a seated position at a corner. “Sit,” I invited.
He raised an eyebrow but followed my lead. I suppressed a snort of rather hysterical laughter. I had no idea why I had brought him here. Every time I was in Bangkok, I tried to come to this little courtyard at least once. It was quiet and peaceful and I felt nourished by the space. Here, I could close my eyes and allow the memories to recede to the background. Here, I could forget the rapes and the beatings and the men I’d killed in response to what had been done to me. Here, I could hope there was a way forward after I’d killed Dylan.
In this tiny courtyard, I would allow myself to dream. Now, I’d brought him here, the man who had featured in many of my dreams over the last two years.
It should have felt like a violation. But I leaned my head on his shoulder without even consciously thinking about it and I closed my eyes.
“Why do you like it here, Jenny?” His voice was barely audible.
“Look at it, Alexander,” I whispered. “It’s so peaceful. Here, I can forget things.”
“Things like your sister’s illness?”
It was my cover story, so I nodded. “Not just that, though,” I said. I needed to be real with him. I’d always needed to be real with him. “It helps me forget my former master.”
“You are very brave for going through with the auction.” His fingers linked in mine.
“Brave or desperate?” My voice was wry. “I didn’t have many other choices.” It was perfectly true, only I wasn’t talking about a sister with leukemia. I was talking about Dylan.
“Mm.” He kissed my forehead. “I like your honesty.”
“I thought you’d be angry that I’m not exactly what you bid for?”
He chuckled. “I’ve done this a few times before,” he responded. “No one is ever exactly who they think they are. People are complex and layered. Just because someone is submissive in bed, it doesn’t make them two-dimensional.” His fingers brushed at my neck. “I’m going to enjoy getting to know the real Jenny Fullerton. The one who is more than a very sparsely filled checklist.”
I shivered. Jenny Fullerton didn’t exist and Ellie Samuelson couldn’t be revealed to Alexander. It would be a death sentence to let him in too close. But I stayed where I was and I didn’t pull away. I was playing a dangerous game of Russian roulette.
***
Alexander:
Each little bit of realness she revealed felt like a precious gift.
Jean-Luc was doing his own investigations. No doubt it involved tracing her every movement in Bangkok, following the paper trail to Cleveland, and finding her supposedly sick sister.
Me, I did things my own way. I listened.
There was much more to her than was initially visible. There had been hints in Paris, of course. But I added up the pieces she revealed.
She was fiercely independent, unconcerned with material things. She hadn’t reached for any of the clothes I’d purchased. She was dressed in a pair of pants that had seen better days, and a faded t-shirt. No jewelry, no make-up. She’d reached for the check automatically, almost shocking me with the move. It had been a very long time since a woman had offered to pay for a meal around me.
Her former master had punished her painfully, and that helped explain why she was skittish. More than that, in Saint Denis, she’d told me she hadn’t had sex in four years. Whatever he’d done to her had made her afraid of sex.
That prompted my comment on her bravery, which had elicited an admission from her. She didn’t feel like she had a choice about this auction.
She found genuine solace in this temple courtyard. It was a place of refuge for her and she’d still brought me here. That knowledge filled me with pleasure. I’d done something very similar in Paris two years ago. Almost on instinct, I’d taken her to a home that I had never shared with anyone else.
I had no doubt she was dangerous, but I couldn’t muster up caution around her. If she was a threat, I was being a fool.
I had three months. There was time to win her trust, take her to my bed and uncover her secrets. Maybe there was enough time to even reveal a few of my own.
Chapter 15
Ellie / Jenny:
He had a private plane. Of course.