Companionate (18+) | Completed ✔️

Chapter 8: "Until then, Roe."

I felt my insecurities rife within me. The feminine voice brought me back to everything I had endured with Chase. My trust issues that he had tattooed onto my skin were skinning through the fresh ink. I shook my head trying to shake the thoughts away but I couldn't, they consumed me so deeply and I couldn't control it. "This - this was a -"

"No. It wasn't a mistake Monroe, it wasn't." I felt my chest heave as I heard his authoritative voice ring through, I wanted to fight him on this but the chills that travelled through my body when he spoke didn't allow me to. "Don't hang up. Don't go anywhere, please?"

He was so confident in every word that he spoke but his intonation as he pleaded with me made me crumble, even more than his usual sexy domineering cadence. I physically couldn't put the phone down from my ear, just the thought of his voice distancing made my chest tighten. Why was everything about him so addictive?

"Ash, we can finish off there. Thank you for helping me in the darkroom, I know it's a lot to ask. Jacob is already waiting downstairs to drive you." His voice wasn't muffled, his hand wasn't over the speaker, he wasn't hiding what he was saying because he had nothing to hide. I felt all of my insecurities melt away as I felt the immediate trust I had for this beautiful stranger remain as hopeful as it was when he first met me. "I'm so sorry, that was just my -"

"Stop, okay? For some reason my gut is telling me to trust you Tobias. So, what I'm saying is, you don't have to tell me. However, I do want to hear about this darkroom, a little old school don't you think?" I giggled to myself as I felt a sense of confidence as I lightened the mood. "Hey, there is nothing wrong with old-school. And what do you know about darkrooms? You into film?"

My lips began to curl up at the sides as I pulled my heels off of my feet and happily swayed my hips walking towards the master bedroom. "I dabbled a little bit but no, I do however know a little something about photography though. It was a hobby, a long time ago." I was stunned when I finally stepped past the threshold of the room that used to belong to my aunt.

The room, I used to know had now completely changed into a room fit for me, everything I had once told Clarise that I wanted for my bedroom was in there. I couldn't ignore the magnificent cream canopy California king bed with the snow-white curtains decoratively tied around the four oak posters. I felt my heart smile as I looked at my dreams come into fruition by the hands of my dear sweet aunt.

The flirtatious tone of Tobias' voice brought me back to him "Oh, now I see. I see why you really want me. It's not my amazing body, you're just using me for my contacts and you're coming for my job. Miss Monroe, you could have just told me, I would have let you use me in every way." The way he purred that last statement had the hairs on my arms standing to attention.

I don't know what came over me but I couldn't help the words fall out of my mouth "Well, you figured it out. It definitely was not your amazing body, it was that beautiful Canon Mark5 IV that had me all hot and bothered." My voice laced with his reciprocated flirtation but as soon as I let the words slip I had to retract. "Oh, Tobias. I didn't - I didn't mean -"

"Oh, so it was just the camera that had you feeling all hot and bothered?" the way he emphasised every vowel through his silky smooth voice had me warming from the inside. I was trying to pull back but all I could do was stutter. "I'm kidding, okay gorgeous? Anyway, I'm glad you called. Honestly I was beginning to think that you wouldn't."

His domineering side had softened and I almost crumbled at his confession. This man had so many layers and piece by piece I felt he was pulling them back before my eyes. "I - I didn't know if I was going to but I know I would have regretted it." I was struggling with being so open with him but something deep inside of me was telling me that the reward would have been so much bigger.