Captive

Chapter Twenty Nine

Juliet looked down at their hands joined on the table and a small sigh escaped her lips as the years fell away until there was just a boy and a girl comforting one another, a boy and girl who despite their limited interactions knew one another almost better than they knew themselves. With the reassuring weight of her necklace back at her throat she felt complete again, more like herself. As Bret ran his thumb along her knuckles she felt a curious aching sensation inside of her, a longing for something she couldn't name. It was a feeling she had only had a couple of times in her life before; once when Bret kissed her when she was sixteen and once when he kissed her when he held her captive. She recognised it for what it was but it was accompanied by a sudden rush of nerves because she had spent so long keeping her walls up, preventing anyone from getting too close that she didn't know how to relinquish them. She looked up and Bret met her gaze steadily, his brown eyes dark under the peak of his cap. A jolt went through her body, thrumming along her skin making her tingle all over with a feeling like anticipation. She wanted him to touch her, to take away that feeling akin to an itch and she could suddenly understand what he had been saying when he said the girls were simply to scratch an itch because that was how it felt, like her whole body was aflame with irritation.

"Can I kiss you?" he suddenly asked and her eyes darted away and then back again. She bit her lip and nodded. Bret slowly got to his feet and removed his cap, placing it on the table before he took her hand again and drew her to her feet. Pulling her close to him, he slipped his arms around her waist and hers automatically went around his neck as he leaned down, his eyes meeting hers briefly before he pressed his lips to hers. She was frozen for a moment but then she started to relax, to enjoy the sensation of his mouth pressed to hers, his lips brushing against hers. She felt his tongue suddenly push against her  as if asking for entry and her lips parted to admit him. As she melted against him and submitted to his kiss Bret felt a surge of lust go through him, making him regret that they needed to take this slow. But he would control himself for her sake; he knew if he pushed her he would frighten her and it was unlikely he'd get a second chance with her. Juliet happily let him dominate the kiss, enjoying the feeling of handing control over to him and enjoying the feel of his tongue exploring her mouth. Bret's kiss was igniting a fire in her and for once she didn't let that feeling frighten her, she allowed herself to be aware of it and to take comfort in the fact that it was the man of her dreams who was setting her alight, the man she had secretly loved since she was a child. Part of her wished he would touch her, caress her, but he kept his hands around her waist, making no move to touch her anywhere else. She was conflicted, part of her wishing he would but another part of her hoping he wouldn't as she wasn't sure how her body might respond.

Slowly Bret withdrew from her and then pulled her into a tight hug, dropping a kiss on the top of her head which felt tender and protective all at once. She looked up into his eyes and found herself lost in the swirling emotions there. He loved her, she could see it plainly in his eyes in that moment and it made her heart soar. For once she did not allow herself to second guess this, just allowed herself to bask in his very obvious affection for her and to enjoy the feeling of being loved for her own sake. Bret had nothing to gain from loving her; in fact given what her father had done and her past she considered that he was altogether better feeling indifferent towards her.  But he didn't and she could see that clearly from the way he looked at her.

His eyes flickered to the clock behind her and he sighed.

"I guess I should let you get some sleep really," he said. "Will you be ok on your own?"

"Of course," she said, but she sounded a little uncertain. He looked down at her, saw the slight widening of her eyes and the way she bit her lip nervously. Bret knew from the months of her living with him that her nightmares were an almost constant and the thought of her waking from them completely  alone in this house made his skin crawl a little. He'd not really suffered from nightmares since he was a boy but he could remember that awful panicked feeling, the reaching for the light and shouting for his mom to come and not being able to relax until his room was flooded with light and his mom was holding his hand until he drifted back asleep. Worse still he knew what she dreamed of, knew how painful those dreams were for her as they were based in fact. The monster under her bed was all too real and had left scars on her skin and her mind with his treatment of her.