I woke up to a hell of a scream from the woman next to me in bed and sat up in a panic, thinking the worst. As I scanned the room, I found Rylan sitting in the chair in the corner with a coffee in her hand.
"Morning," Rylan said, watching her phone, and I rolled my eyes. The woman I had spent my entire evening getting in bed yesterday picked up her clothes from the floor and got dressed in a hurry before she left the hotel room without saying goodbye. With a deep breath to calm down my speeding heart, I fell back down in bed with a thud.
I don't remember her name, but I sure did enjoy my time with her. Been trying to get rid of Rylan for almost two weeks now, and I realized that it wasn't possible. She followed me into the bar last night, and with that, I didn't care if she was there or not. Rylan has made me feel as if I have had no control or power over my own life. But last night, I finally did.
Twisting that woman around my little finger, with drinks and being flirtatious. These women are dying to be seen, and the best part; they let me be in charge of it all. Let me touch them, kiss them, and please them. Yet, no matter how many there have been through the years, I can't seem to let them touch me.
I don't feel anything when they do, as if it's more uncomfortable. Perhaps it is because I don't want to lose that sense of domination. It's the only thing that I have left to control in my life. I pushed myself up on my elbow, staring at the older woman in the chair.
Rylan looks fresh as if she has had a shower this morning, yet the dark circles underneath her eyes are not that easy to wash away. The blond hair up in a tight ponytail, like always not one hair out of place. Her leather jacket folded nicely and tucked on top of the other chair next to her.
"You were in the military, weren't you?" I asked, and she looked up from the phone in her grasp.
"What makes you think that?" She wondered curiously.
"You are tidy and nothing can be out of order. You have the same postures as the others who guarded me, who were in the military. Straight back, and when you stand still, you have your hands rested on your back," I explained, and she nodded with an impressed look on her face but didn't say anything as she glanced back down to her phone.
"So, were you?" I asked, wanting a proper answer, and for the first time, softness crossed her face, her ocean eyes now filled with pain. It's clearly a sensitive subject as she seems to be lost in a dreadful memory.
"Eleven years," Was the only thing she said as she looked back down at her phone. I raised my eyebrows in shock.
"When did you join the military? You don't look that old," I blurted out, and she narrowed her eyes.
"Eighteen," She said, following a loud breath.
"So you are twenty-nine or thirty?" I wondered after I had calculated her age.
"We need to talk about your trip to Europe in full detail," She ignored my question; at least now, I have narrowed down her age. Her mystery act absorbs my interest, yet it's seriously provoking and intimidating because I have nothing to work on to hurt her for her to go away.
"We will leave for the airport precisely at 10:30. Your private plane will be ready by 12:00. We will leave at 13:00 and arrive in London at 18:50. The ride to the hotel will be in a limo, and we will be at the hotel by 19.15," She looked at me after I had breathed out in boredom.
"Why are you always here when I'm naked?" I asked, and she furrowed her eyebrows.
"I mean, I don't mind having you in here. You have made the women go away without me needing to explain to them that I don't want to see them again," I shrugged.
"But the two times you have been there is when I'm sleeping with someone. At home, you don't," I said with a sly grin on my lips. She looked thoughtful before she leaned forward in her seat.
"First of all, I need to make sure that the person you are sleeping with hasn't killed you. Second of all, I don't have the same overview here as at your apartment, and third of all, I need a place to sit when I have my coffee," She said, and I tried so hard not to laugh at the last point. I can't believe Rylan actually made a joke, or maybe she was just dead serious. I can't tell by the stern look on her face.
"Are you sure you aren't here just to see me naked," I chuckled as I got out of the bed to pick up my clothes.
"No," She said, staring down at her phone, which annoyed me as I stepped past her and into the bathroom.