Maia's Pov:
Partly submerged in the large claw foot tub, I sighed as the warm water sooth my stress-ridden body. There were so many emotions that were going through my head; bliss, irritation, frustration, and anxiety. I had just gotten engaged and I should be the happiest woman on Earth... Or at least in Louisiana, but there is too much unnecessary bullshit going on around me. From Reuben's mother, his bitch-ass ex, that Arlo-man, Greg, and now Jacquees and Tierra.... This weekend has me ready to dig a hole and throw my ass in it until it is time to go back home to California.
Girl... Fuck his mama and his ugly-ass ex, Arlo is a bitch because a real man would keep his fight between the person he truly has an issue with-Let Reuben handle that ass and as for Tierra and her marriage... Let her sort out her own problems! But she is my friend. You and she are close... However, she was never one to make good decisions and she, also, never liked taking advice from you or anyone.
I was truly stuck in a difficult situation, there was so much shit going on around me that I did not know how to focus on anything at this point.
Closing my eyes, I tried to relax, but my mind was still racing as if it was in a NASCAR competition.
"Honey?"
Opening an eye, I searched the room until my sight landed at the doorway, and there stood Reuben with a teacup and saucer in his hands. God, I hope he put a shot a Hennessey or something in that tea... I needed a drink.
"I made us some tea, my Beloved." He said lowly as he strode closer to the tub then taking a seat on the antique vanity's bench; the bathroom was the size of my former apartment. It had not only the claw foot tub and vanity, but a large whirlpool Jacuzzi styled tub and a walk-in shower... If my sisters had seen this room, they would die. I do not know what our infatuations were with bathrooms, but this place would be my sanctuary back home.
My thoughts were broken as he placed the cup to my lips, startling me a bit. I smiled small at the gesture then brought my soap-sud covered hands from the water to grab the fine china but he pulled it back. "Please, allow me..."
"Now, Baby," I giggled lightly as I straighten my back against the warm porcelain. "I am more than capable in holding my own cup of tea." I bat my eyes at him causing him to smile slightly, I could tell something was truly bothering him. I knew he was dying to know what all had taken place with Arlo and myself, but I was just as inquisitive about what that bitch was up-to.
She wants to get fucked up, that is what she was up-to. Catching 'up-to' an ass whooping. Girl, you had better say that again.
"I know you are... But please just allow me." He stated this like a whisper, I turned my head and stared at him. He was off. This was not my Reuben at all... He seemed so weird.
"Baby, talk to me." I whispered back to him.
He looked at me then drew the teacup back from me then sat it on the Vanity table behind him. Reuben then withdrew eye contact from me and placed his hands in his lap.
"I am not a good man." He sighed. "I have done many horrible things, things that can and possible will change your views of me."
He gave me a quick side-glance then his vision returned to the floor, I had a feeling tonight would end in such an event... Between Sheridan and Arlo, I knew he would feel the need to confess his sins to me and I am not sure if I could handle it.
Some things are better left unsaid, but these dark things can also surface to the light... And, they have. You need to listen to your man, girl. I gulped then maneuvered by body so that I was facing him more, engaging him to continue on what he was saying.
"We have all done things that we are not proud of, Reuben... We're human." I tried to assure him, but he just shook his head. "Baby..."
He threw me a look with pleading eyes, as if he wanted me to be quiet so he could continue. I did what he mentally asked of me and closed my mouth. He hesitated; his whole mood read was defeat... What the hell, he looked like he has been waring with himself all night about this. Possibly have, but what made tonight the night to do this. We should be celebrating our engagement, discussing our futures together, hell... Anything but this.
"Maia, honey... I am..." He stopped once more, now I was growing impatient with him.
"What? What is it, Baby... Whatever it is, we can work through it." I said with a shrug.
"I am the Devil." He responded emotionlessly, he looked up then directly into my eyes. My breath hitched and my heart began to race.
Maia. Girl, run.
My back arched as my knees rose from the comfort of the water; shit, I was indeed about to run.
"Please," He quickly gazes back to me with concern in his eyes. "Don't look at me in that fashion."
"You can't just say you are 'the devil', Reuben, and then expect me to react normally." I sigh as my body straightens but I still keep my gaze on him. "What do you mean, anyways, Babe?"
He remained in his stance.
"I am a sick fuck who loves to punish women for my own enjoyment." He concluded.
"You 'love to punish women'?" I quoted with my eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "W-what does that mean? You abuse women?"
He sighed as he turned in the bench, facing me directly but reaching to grab a large towel.
"Let's not discuss this in here, let's go back into the master suite--"
"No, Reuben, I need you to answer my question. Do you get enjoyment from abusing women?"
He sighed once more as he helped me stand to my feet, lifted me from the waters from the tub, and planted me softly before him. A usual Reuben move would be to lick every drop of water from my skin, a bit of foreplay before we headed to the bed and him ravish me unto an oblivion. However, he just gently wrapped the towel around me then grabbed a silk robe and slipped over my shoulders. He was very intricate with his movements, as if he was trying to handle me with care. I must admit, after his discovery of my past happenings, i.e. Greg, Reuben has been more protective than usual... And I appreciated it, but right now... I knew he had the world and a mountain on his brain.
"Reuben?"
"No, I don't abuse women, Honey." He finally responded. "A good dominant does not abuse, he controls."
"Then why did you refer to yourself as a 'sick fuck'? I am confused and riddled, right now." I stopped and shook my head then slipped on my spa slippers.
"The things I like to bestow upon my submissives sometimes can deem me a sick fuck."
Now, I was even more confused.
Maia, he has told you before that he is a sexual dominant... There are layers to shit; you and I do not have the mind capacity to fathom the shit that goes on in his mind.
Curiosity killed the cat.
Do not, Maia... You cannot handle this.
"Like what?"
Dumbass.
Reuben never looked back up at me; he just grabbed my right hand with his left then with a gentle pull, led me into the master bedroom. The lights of the room were dim, as I had left them, and the comforters were drawn back on the large canopy, bed-the room was tidied up, so most likely the housekeeper had come through.
I took a seat on the chaise then began to apply shea butter to air drying skin, Reuben sat across from me. On the edge of the bed. Watched me intently.
"Are you going to answer my question?" I said as I kept moisturizing my skin. "Or shall I ask it again?"
"There is no need for you to repeat, I'm just trying to figure out the best way to explain this... Maia, you wouldn't understand this part of me because you are not a part of the lifestyle."
"But you brought this up, Reuben." I shot a look to him. "I didn't ask about any of this, you came to me..."
He let out an aggravated growl.
"That fucking prick, Arlo... If he hadn't-" He quickly stopped himself.
I closed my eyes then shook my head.
"You told me..." I began as I put the bottle of lotion to the side of the chaise on the floor. "If I had any questions or concerns to come to you... Reuben, I didn't question you about a thing. But here we are... You're spooked about something... What's going on?" He looked away from me once again. "It was that bitch, wasn't it?"
I stood to my feet.
"Did that hoe threaten you about me?"
She'll catch this fade fucking with us. I know that's right. Bitch's face will catch all these hands.
"Sheridan is obsolete." He gave me a look of certainty as he leans more comfortably on the bed. "She knows to never cross me-"
"Then is it your mom?"
"Ha!" He laughed. "And she will never be a concern!"
I huffed.
"Then baby what is it?! Arlo didn't get to me..."
"Yes, he did." Reuben said with a nod. "You are inquisitive, you are curious, and you should be." Reuben exhaled once more, this time running his fingers through his dark hair.
"I am never one to share my entire life with anyone. But you..." He scratches his scalp lightly. "You have broken these walls down from around me and I want you to never question me or anything I do." Reuben reaches his free hand out to me, I didn't resist... I walked to him and grabbed it. He pulled me, gently, on to the bed then laid me back on to it; he wrapped his arms around me and held me close... Snuggling his head into my chest.
He wanted to be held.
"When I was six years old," He begin, his voice was muffled and seemingly stressed, "I witnessed my mother being fucked by strange men for her own entertainment."
My eyes bucked at the statement.
Old HBO hoe has her nerve trying to judge you! Not now, Girl! Not now.
"My father had numerous of flings as well, he and mother enjoyed their outside martial affairs so much that they would host swingers' parties at our home. Sometimes my siblings and I would be home and sometimes we wouldn't. Evelyn, my father's now fiancé, was employed as our nanny back then but she and my mother often would come to blows-She was very vocal about her distain for my parents' lifestyle and my father actually stopped hosting the parties because of her concerns but my mother fired her for 'insubordination'."
He shook his head as he continued to remember.
"Evelyn made our life so pleasant when we were children: she read to us, she bathed us, she hug us and kissed us-She treated us as her own." I smiled as down at him, he had a true look of fondness on his face thinking about her. "When Mother fired her, my life just crashed... I was about ten or eleven when she left. And once she was out of the door was when my parents' marriage started to crumble-Father barely came home, and Mother began having her fuck parties..." He stopped talking for a moment, he closed his eyes and tried to give himself the strength to continue. I did not push him, I wanted him to take this conversation at his own pace, no pressure from me. "This is when it happened..."
"What happened, Babe?"
Reuben's body shuddered slightly, he grabbed my hand and sqooze it. He needed support from me.
"She was attending the party that night, she caught me watching the festivities...So, she threatened to tell my parents-- I begged her not to... Therefore, she offered a trade-"
"She raped you?" Reuben said nothing in response. He just bit his bottom lip and closed his eyes once again. I let out a horrified gasp, held him closer to me... I felt my heart break for him.
"She had her way with me, that was the first time but that wasn't the last." I closed my eyes as tears welled up. "By the time I was 14, I was a talented 'young stallion'-" He glanced up at me, wiping my tears with his thumb. "That was her nickname for me... She called me her young stallion, 'always kept a steady pace'.
I remember telling my brother, Nick, about her. He was furious... He tried to get me to tell my father, but I didn't think my dad would believe me. I mean... this woman was beautiful, and men threw themselves at her feet."
"And yet, she's fucking a child!" I blurted out, I was so angry at the current moment that all I could see was red. Reuben let go of my hand then patted my leg to calm me, I could tell he just wanted me to hear his story, but I don't think I can take it.
"Well, I eventually get the nerve to talk to my mother, Nick wanted to be my support and be there with me. And like I imagined... My mother didn't believe me-" That figures. "She called me a liar and a 'little attention, seeking bastard'." He began to tense up, which caused me to hold him closer and kiss his head. "She told me 'maybe if you had a good fuck, you wouldn't be so much of a little bitch'. She was drunk when she said this, she later tried to apologize but I had made up already in my mind... My mother never had my best interest, ever. To this day, I stand before you a man with everything I have ever dreamed of and I am still plagued by the demons of my childhood."
Girl... I am floored. This explains so much.
"So, sex became my medication... It made me feel like a man, I was sleeping with girls my age and women my mother's age. I got into B.D.S.M. when I met this girl in college who had asked me to choke her while we fucked, and..." He closed his eyes then shuddered. "...the rush I got when I saw her struggling underneath me, it scared me how much it turned me on... But it went from choking, to tying her up, to paddling, to watching her pleasure me and other girls I was fucking... Everything just escalated so quickly, that is when I got an invite to this club, Pandora's Box."
My eyes enlarged.
"The girl I was screwing was a frequent of the club, it was invite only and you had to sign a waiver when you attended... It was the church for every sexual fantasy you could think of. I would go and watch this man, who was called the 'Master' dominate dozens of women... I studied him closely, when I met him-He offered to take me under his wing to teach me the ways of being a proper way of being a good Master..."
"Baby, let me ask you this... Did you ever talk to your dad about the woman?" Reuben nodded his head. "What did he say, I mean-what did he do?"
He cleared his throat.
"He had her murdered."
My eyes bucked.
Oh my God, Bitch. Oh, my sweet my Jesus!
"H-he killed her?"
"Well, he didn't kill her... But he paid someone to." He was nonchalant with it that it shook me. "When he found out I tried to tell my mother, he lost control-He kicked my mother out of the house, he got custody of all of us kids, rehired Evelyn... Only for that to turn into a romance. Evelyn was and is one of the most remarkable women I have ever come in contact with-I see why my dad fell so hard for her. She really changed my father's outlook on life, you remind me so much of her." I looked at him and gave a small smile.
"Does your mom know that your dad had the lady killed?" Reuben shrugged.
"Don't know, and quite frankly I don't think he gave a fuck." I think this was enough confessing for the night, my head was about to explode. "Have I said too much at one time?" He said as he watched my stare off into space.
Giving him a gentle smile, I then leaned down and kissed his nose.
"I am just glad to see you feel safe with me, at one time-I didn't think you would ever tell me your story."
Reuben nodded his head.
"I wanted you to know, maybe not like this, but I wanted you to hear about my life from me and not from a spectator-"
"Like Arlo?"
Reuben rolled his eyes.
"Arlo has had it out for my entire family since before I was born, I don't know the full backstory-But something in my gut tells me it concerns my mother."
"Why would it concern her?"
"Honey, my mother is a very scandalous woman-She's used her womanly wiles for years to get what she wants. I mean..." He stopped and begin to think. "Not saying my father is a saint, he's far from one but Veronica..." He closes his eyes, let out a low growl then opens them back up. "Veronica has always lied, cheated, and stolen to get what she wants-Like she prides herself on being the "heiress" of the Langan Family-But it's only because she blackmailed her elder sister into having their ailing father to change her into his primary beneficiary."
"Why would she do that?"
"My aunt is not my grandfather's biological daughter; my grandmother was pregnant when they met, and he raised her as his own... Somehow the secret got out and my mother threatened to expose it to the public-My aunt begged her not to and the only way she wouldn't was if she surrendered her part of the inheritance."
Damn, that bitch is more twisted than I had thought! No wonder Reuben doesn't deal with his mother, she is destructive.
Reuben had finally opened his heart to me and bared majority of his soul. I could tell he's never done anything like this before and I felt honored that he trusted me. We shared more things in common than I ever thought, the saddest of them all was that we both were victims of sexual assault as young children. No wonder he was so guarded, and control driven... His life was stolen from at an early age and now he trying to take back everything that was stolen from him.
He admitted me to that there was so much left to tell about himself, but we both decided to take it one step at a time for now. I was so proud his bravery and honesty, though the details of his sexual prowess did leave an unsavory taste in my mouth... I know if I loved this man, I was going to have accept the baggage he carried along with him... As he did with me.
The night carried on, the room was dark, and Reuben had managed to fall asleep before I did. I laid in the bed, pondering on the events of the day... How could so much shit occur in so little time?!
Buzzzzzzz Buzzzzzzz Buzzzzzzz Buzzzzzzz
It finally occurred to me that my phone was on silent, had been since the ball.
"Who the hell is calling me at this time?" I muttered as I reached on the nightstand, by the time I got the phone in my hands the caller had hung up.
"Private/Unknown Number?"
The fuck?
Then a voicemail notification popped up.
I glanced over at a sleeping Reuben, he was dead to the world. While holding my breath, I played the message:
There was the sound of a bad connection then heavy breathing... My eyes widen and my heart began to pound against my chest.
"Maia... Maia..." A distorted voice purred. "I'm going to get you, Maia." Then there was an evil laugh that faded away as the message ended.
I gasped as Reuben stirred beside me, he jerked awake when he saw I was no longer laying down but now sitting up.
"Honey, what is wrong?" He said in a sleepy voice.
I looked over at him then gulped as I sat my phone down on the bed between us.
"I'm being hunted."