Protecting You - Complete

Chapter 13 - Ana

"Mrs. Lincoln. That's why she acts the way she does toward you, and that's why you don't want her to know about me." One by one, the pieces were falling into place. "Oh, Christian... How could you?" The thought of Christian with that woman made me feel violently ill.

Tightening his arms around me, Christian whispered in a tortured voice, "Please don't leave. I can't change what I've done, but that's not me anymore. I promise you, I've changed."

"But you haven't," I said, anger starting to replace shock. "That woman is still a part of your life, and worse - you allow her to stay in your mother's life! How can you sit there, listening to the two of them talk, knowing the entire time what you're both keeping from her?"

"They've been friends for many years. Elena used to be our neighbor. Mom's known her forever."

"Friends don't sleep with their friend's son," I snapped. That woman, and the path she led Christian on, revolted me. While I was thinking about that, my mind started playing catch up, pondering his words. "You said you were her submissive for six years?"

"That's right," Christian replied, not meeting my eyes.

"Then you trained to be a Dom for what? Eighteen months?"

"About that."

"And since then, you've had how many submissives?" I asked, refusing to think about those women, their actions, or their motives too deeply.

"My own submissives under contract? Fifteen."

Something didn't make sense. The timeline didn't add up. I was almost shaking with anger, but I forced my voice to remain calm as I asked my next question. "Christian? Just how old were you when Mrs. Lincoln slept with you and introduced you to BDSM!?"

His lengthy pause was an answer in itself. Rubbing his hand across his eyes, Christian croaked out, "Fifteen. I was fifteen."

My anger was like a match hitting kerosene! Fury burning through me with an all-encompassing intensity. I tried to stand, but Christian held me tight against him. "For the love of God, Christian—let me up or I will not be responsible for my actions!" I snarled. I needed to be free. Containing me just made me angrier.

"Please, Ana. I know it's a lot to take in. But I have changed. I haven't had a submissive for over a year. I've been distancing myself from Elena. I've only just started to see what happened between us as wrong—very wrong. It's taking me time to work through it all, but I am done with her and done with that lifestyle. You have to believe me."

"Let me go, or I am going to scream blue murder," I threatened, intending to follow through. If Taylor heard me, and I was sure he would, I knew he'd remove me from Christian's restrictive embrace. Thankfully, taking me at my word, Christian dropped his arms to his sides, giving me the freedom to extricate myself from his lap.

"Are you leaving? If you want to leave, Taylor will take you to a hotel. Don't worry about how much it costs, I'm happy to pay for it for as long as you need. I care for you—I just want you safe." Christian sounded completely and utterly broken. It was that, and that alone, that tempered my rage and stopped me from finding out where the mutton dressed as lamb bitch lived, and ripping her back-combed hair out strand by strand.

"I'm not leaving unless you want me to," I growled, too angry to say much else.

"No! Baby... That's the last thing I want."

"Then I'll stay, but I want nothing to do with that woman. If she is going to visit, I want you to let me know beforehand so I can make sure I'm not here. And I'm asking you not to tell her anything about me—anything at all. The fact she even knows my name makes me feel dirty!"