When she saw her sister leave Prue ran for the bathroom and threw up. She couldn’t deal with this. It was just a f**king door. No one would harm her anymore.
She threw up until nothing else came up and she was only dry heaving.
Flushing the toilet, she grabbed a toothbrush to start cleaning away the taste of sick.
This is why you can’t be with James.
Staring at her reflection she saw the perspiration dotting her forehead. The bruises didn’t bother her. They were there and would soon fade, but this fear hurt her more than she liked to realise.
Once she cleaned her teeth, Prue made her way down to the kitchen. Her sister sat at the table hulling strawberries then placing them into a separate bowl.
“Shall I make the batter?” Prue asked.
“You make a much better pancake batter than I do.”
Prue moved toward the pantry to grab everything she’d need to make the best pancakes ever. After grabbing flour, sugar, and eggs, she moved toward the kitchen. The television was on. She saw the news playing the report on a leading gang leader in England who had been seized during a raid.
Without waiting for her sister to say a word, she turned the channel over to play cartoons.
Veronica jumped then turned to her.
“What’s the matter?” her sister asked.
“I can’t watch that.”
“Is that the guy?”
Nodding, Prue moved to the side and started weighing out ingredients, but her appetite was long gone.
“You know what? I need to take a walk.” She dropped the measuring cups then walked out of the kitchen. Flour spilt over the side.
Grabbing her coat she left the house within minutes even as her sister called to her. She didn’t look left or right but kept moving as if something was chasing her. The feel of the biting cold air helped to relieve the pressure in her chest.
Several people nodded in her direction, and she blanked them as she continued moving forward. She didn’t have any cell phone or any money on her.
Prue didn’t know where she was going or why. She kept moving needing the space around her.
When she stopped at the local park, she opened the gate and ran. No one was there to stop her or to pull her away. She basked in the freedom of being able to move without fear of being pulled back against her will.
Images of Daren and Henry grabbing her tugged at her mind. She ran until those images faded into nothing. When running hurt her side she slowed down to a walk and then stopped as she suddenly realized where she was. James’s house stared back at her. She wrapped her fingers around the gate closing her off from him.
She used the button to try to gain his attention.
Why are you doing this? You said you needed time.
This is not giving him time.
I need to see him.
You’re being cruel.
Still, Prue continued to press the button with a desperation she didn’t understand. All she knew was that she needed to see him.
“What the f**k do you want?” James asked. His voice came over the intercom sounding distorted.
“I-it’s me, Prue. I need to see you.”
There was no sound, but she saw him running down the driveway to her. He opened the gate within moments and pulled her into his arms.
She sobbed as his arms wrapped around her. Prue held onto him as tight as she dared. After the way she’d treated him she was worried that he wouldn’t want her again. He escorted her into the house.
Prue felt moisture on her cheeks and realised she’d been crying. James closed the front door and simply held her in his arms.
“I’ve got you, Prudence. I’ve got you, and I’m not letting go until you let me.”
Closing her eyes, Prue inhaled his scent. She loved the fact his scent was comforting to her and that she needed him in order to feel safe. There was so much she loved about him, and it all scared her because even as she loved him, she felt the fear of what happened to her.
“You’re wearing a robe,” she said, stroking the soft fabric.
“You woke me up. I went to sleep a short time ago.” He laughed kissing her head.
She leaned away to stare up at him. “He was on the news, and I needed to get away.”
James touched her skin, and she was thankful his touch didn’t repulse her.
In fact nothing about James repulsed her at all.
“You’re freezing.”
Prue frowned and then opened the belt keeping his robe together. She pushed the fabric down his arms watching as the length fell in a heap on the floor.
“Prudence, what are you doing?” he asked.
Before she gave herself time to think or to analyse what she was doing, she pressed her lips against his, wishing for the sweet oblivion of his touch.
For the first few seconds James succumbed to the kiss and then grabbed her cheeks to pull her away. “You said you needed time. Why are you doing this if you need time?”
“I need this, James. Please, I need to feel you against me, taking me and loving me like you did before…” She couldn’t finish the words.
“Before you were taken?”
She nodded. The action was jerky, but it was better than putting her fears into words.
“I can’t do this,” James said, taking a step back.
“What?” She moved closer to him.
“This isn’t right.”
Prudence removed her coat until she stood before him in a plain white shirt and a pair of jeans.
All he wore was a pair of boxer shorts. She saw his arousal straining against the confines of the material. An answering pool of heat gathered inside her. She wanted him desperately.
Time.
No more time.
She pulled the shirt over her head then unbuttoned her jeans. Within moments she stood in his hallway completely naked.
For those moments she felt free as he stared at her with such lust in his gaze.
“I’m going to hell for this.” He pulled her close, pressing his lips against hers.
Wrapping her arms around his neck she pressed her body against him. The feel of the hard ridge of his c**k next to her stomach made her melt. She remembered the feel of him inside her, the pleasure she could gain from giving herself to him. He plunged his tongue into her mouth, and she answered the call with the same passion.
“I love you, Prudence, I love you so much.”
“I love you, too.”
She closed her eyes feeling the pleasure he gave her. Closing her mind off to the pain she had felt seconds ago, Prue used her new-found freedom to explore the contours of his body. He lifted her in his arms and moved her upstairs to the bedroom. She didn’t stop him. Wrapping her legs around his waist, she released one hand to run down his body to grasp his thick cock.