MACY

Red! That was all I could see when those words reached my ears. My blood boiled, my temper rose and it was futile to try to prevent my brain from jumping to unnecessary conclusions. I clenched my fists around the hard plastic handle of my suitcase, if it broke I would take care of it later. Counting was meant to calm a person down but I slowly counted my way up to fifty three and still couldn't feel the pressure of my anger decreasing.

One of the conclusions that my brain so willingly jumped to was that he had called me here, to England, just to pretend to be his so called girlfriend. If that were so, then the next conclusion would be that he wanted all the perks of a girlfriend without the actual stress of one. Meaning, he would use me to satisfy his sadistic fantasies. I couldn't even blame him for wanting to do that. He probably thought I would be more than willing to just because I was an escort. He probably thought I did it all the time so I wouldn't object and how could I blame him for thinking that when that was what the job generally entailed.

Everyone believed that he threatened Chase to fire me because he had some strange, unknowing good intention but in reality, a reality I always knew would be possible, he had his own selfish motives. He painted a facade of being a gentleman but what really went on in that head of his only he knew. It's probably why Chase didn't even like him. Chase probably knew that Axel was a two faced piece of shit.

My breathing became heavier, deeper, more raged. I tried to relax but with each thought of Axel's true intentions my muscles became stiff and the pressure to release the building anger grew unbearable. My teeth clenched together, grinding, allowing the muscles of my jaw to tick. If I had to clench anymore harder, my jaw would have surely snapped but that didn't seem to alert my brain. All my brain cared about was finding the best way to punch Axel's face in.

"Oh dear, are you fine there, child?" Wavering words of the sickly woman I now knew as Axel's mother caught my attention, "You look rather uncomfortable. Is it something I said?" She asked in the most innocent tone she could possibly feign.

My eyes recovered their vision and immediately snapped to Axel's horror stricken face. If he were gulping down water he would have probably either choked or spat out the water due to his mother's unexpected words. His eyes were the size of saucers and his mouth hung open.

Damn it! Even in a state of utter shock he still looked way too appealing to the eyes!

"Mum!" Axel's voice came out in a mere whine, "Of course it's something you said. How many times do I have to tell you that she isn't my girlfriend? She's not even a friend, just a colleague for the next couple of months and she needs a place to stay." I pretended not to hear the disappointment in his tone as he said his last sentence.

His mom playfully swatted him on his toned bicep, "Nonsense, I see things, son." Her attempt to lighten up the tension in the room didn't go unnoticed but the tension remained as thick as ever. Axel helped her walk the rest of the way to me. Her smile was contagious, even with my pent up anger I couldn't resist the urge to return the smile and be polite, "My name is Agatha Churchill but you can call me Aggie." She gleefully introduced herself as she took my free hand that wasn't murdering the handle of my suitcase into her fragile grasp.

Her hand felt odd in mines. It's texture wrinkly and boney due to how thin she was. If I had to apply even the slightest amount of pressure on her hand, her bones would have broken and that scared me. I wanted to remove her hand from mine just so I wouldn't cause her any accidental harm.

"Dear, what's your name?" Aggie gave me a persisting smile, ushering me to speak.

Swallowing the lump in my throat, I croaked, "Macy, my name is Macy." My hoarse voice made me sound like a seventy year old man whose only hobbies were smoking and drinking the occasional glass of whiskey.

"That's a lovely name, dear," she grinned, clearly satisfied that I wasn't some mute girl that her son had brought home, "Your room is directly opposite Axel's. He will help you settle in."

Refraining from the urge of doing a dramatic eye roll, I mumbled, "Cool, I'm really tired. Could I possibly freshen up?"

"Of course, dear. For the next few months think of this home as your own. You don't even have to ask." She said saccharinely. Her motherly tone made me wish that my own mother was around.

Axel guided his mother back to her seat on her Victorian style lounge set before stalking toward me with an insanely handsome stoic expression plastered on his face. He grabbed the two bags that he had left on the hardwood floor and then gestured for me to follow him by nodding in the direction of the hallway.

The first entrance we passed on the right led to a kitchen, opposite the kitchen was a room with a door labeled 'Stephy'. As we walked down I noticed an entrance to a bathroom on the left hand side as well as another bedroom which had a plain cream coloured door with no markings. Automatically, I came to the conclusion of that being the main bedroom because a dark green door came into view on the right hand side of the passage and I immediately realised that the room could only belong to one particular moron. We stopped at a room with an identical cream coloured door as the master bedroom.

"This is your room," Axel grinned warily, placing my cosmetic bag onto the floor so that he could turn the door nob, "That's my room across." He didn't turn nor gesture to the green painted door but I knew which room he meant.

He must have always been eccentric.

The moment he had the door opened wide enough, I shoved him aside and entered the room, rolling my suitcase behind me. Cream was all I could see. From the colour of the beddings and curtains to the plush carpet that sat under the bed, everything was cream. A double bed sat in the middle of the room against the right adjacent wall. The wall opposite was covered in the thick material of the cream curtain, allowing just enough light to enter the room. A door on the left adjacent wall caught my interest, that too was a shade of cream that brought brightness to the room but also created a dull feel. The room needed some sort of colour.

"That's your bathroom." Axel gestured to the door that piqued my interest. He placed my luggage at the corner of the room before stalking over to the entrance door and silently closing it, "Look..." He trailed off when he turned to face me again but I held a hand up to stop him. I could feel the anger bubbling deep within me again.

"I don't want to hear it! You brought me here so you can have your way with me didn't you?" I gritted, pointing an accusing finger in his direction.

His brows furrowed for a moment and then his face lit up with understanding. Taking a step toward me, he began, "Do you seriously think I would do that?"

"Of course I do!" I harshly whispered, throwing my hands up exasperatedly.

Without warning, he caught one of my arms and twirled me toward him, my back hitting his rock hard chest. His broad hand and long, slender fingers clasped around my mouth whilst his other arm, the arm that pulled me toward him, snaked around my torso to pull me impossibly closer to him.

My hands immediately flew up to meet the hand that was preventing me from speaking. I tried scratching and clawing at his hand to pry it away from my mouth but all my attempts failed miserably. When I got desperate, I decided to use my heel and stump it onto his toes, again my effort got me nowhere. He did huff and groan in pain which made me feel slightly better but I wanted him to let go off me.

And then I felt it. His soft lips grazed the tip of my ear sending a rush of heat through my body. All of a sudden every part of me was alert, awake. I could feel my heart racing in my chest as every hair on my body stood at the electrifying feeling of his touch. His warm breath fanned across the width of my cheek, leaving goosebumps in their wake. My eyes fluttered close on their own accord as I concentrated on one thing and one thing only, my ability to keep breathing.

What was happening to me? Every part of me felt as if it were shutting down.

And then he spoke, "Shush, stop fighting me." He cooed into my ear and with that my resolve gave away completely along with my ability to stand. His hold on my torso tightened even further so that I wouldn't plummet to the ground. "Do you really think I would do that to anyone, to you?" He steadied me and then dropped his hand from my torso to gingerly pull my hair behind my ear.

Both my hands that were originally clawing his massive hand that clasped my mouth, to set me free, dropped and flailed feebly until they came to a standstill. He finally released my mouth, his hands gripping my shoulders gingerly before swinging me around to face him. My eyes flew open and before I could register what was happening, his arms slivered around me again, this time pressing my chest into his.

"I would never let anyone use you like that, I would never use you like that," he coaxed softly, his eyes boring into mine. I could feel myself drowning in their sincerity which dissolved any remaining anger I had left.

I wanted to speak, to reply, to object to whatever he was saying but the words were stuck in my throat. Focusing on both breathing and talking was harder than I expected. He unwinded one of his arms from my waist and placed his huge hand on my cheek. Without a second guess, I kneeled in his touch. The electrifying, complex feelings that flowed through me sent my heart into overdrive. His thumb traced small circles on the soft skin of my cheek.

"Have I ever told you how beautiful you look?" His gaze dipped from my eyes to my lips and, unconsciously, my tongue darted out of the corner of my lips to trace my bottom lip.

His eyes screwed shut and he let out a huff before opening his eyes and retreating from me. The moment he stepped back the cold air embraced me making me yearn for his touch once more. Every part of me wanted him to be closer and although I couldn't understand why, but I didn't care.

The features of his face contorted, switching from what I could only describe as need to a sullen expression, "I'm sorry. I overstepped the line just now." His stern, husky voice sent a shiver down my spine, "I just wanted to prove to you that I could take advantage of you and you wouldn't be able to do anything about it, but I won't because I am not that kind of person. I'm appalled that the thought even crossed your mind."

I stared at him in blatant shock. That whole escapade that he just pulled was to show me that he could take advantage of me but wouldn't? Apart of me felt enraged that he proved his point so easily and the other was a tad bit hurt, a feeling of rejection coursing through my veins. Did he not feel the weird feelings I felt whenever our skin made contact?

"Yo-you had no right!" I stammered out, my voice shaking from his now stoic expression. I felt broken, I was tougher than this but at the moment I couldn't find my snarky comments or my harsh retaliations.

"Don't!" He snapped at me coldly, "You had no right to jump to such conclusions. I'll leave you to freshen up. I have some work to do so I will see you later." With that, he turned to leave.

~~~

Somewhere between balling my eyes out because of missing home and cussing myself out for what Axel did to me and what I assumed his intentions were, I fell off to sleep. The bed was comfortable enough and the cream comforter that I cocooned myself in made me feel warm and cozy, urging me to never leave the solace I found in them. 

The only light that streamed into the room came from the magnificent full moon that was visible through a thin lace curtain. I remembered that I never drew the thick cream curtains when I arrived so someone must have come into the room and drew them when I was asleep. People walking in and out of a room that would be considered mine for the next few months was blatantly disrespectful which led me to the conclusion of making sure my door remained locked at night.

Wouldn't need Axel trying to prove another point with me, especially not at night.

Since I hadn't left the room, I didn't even know whether or not Axel returned from wherever he went off too. He probably made the excuse of work just to be away from me and I couldn't say I blamed him. If I were him, I would want to be away from me too.

Heavy footsteps caught my attention and I could see a shadow through the gap beneath the closed door of someone standing outside my bedroom. The passage light allowed me to see that the person was pacing back and forth and then suddenly came to a halt. A second later a small thud echoed in the room, followed by three more thuds.

It was someone knocking the door. Maybe if I pretended to sleep they would go away.

I snuggled deeper into my fluffy pillow before shoving the comforter over my head. It would be easier to pretend to be sleeping if the person couldn't see my face and I couldn't see theirs. I tried my best to keep my breathing even and not make any sudden movements but then the door creaked open and the sudden urge to jolt out of bed and throw a shoe at them came over me.

Did privacy mean nothing to these people?

I chewed on the inside of my cheek to keep me from opening my mouth. The person edged closer, not even bothering to tiptoe unless they were intentionally banging their feet to sound like an overgrown mammoth. When the bed dipped, I froze. I held my breath and snapped my eyes shut, praying that the person would leave. Of course, luck was never in my favour and I felt a massive hand on my arm through the thick comforter. Even with my clothes and the comforter as a barrier, I could still feel those strange tingles and immediately I knew who it was.

He gently shook my body and in a tone softer than a whisper he said, "Sunshine, sunshine, you have to get up. You need to eat," I felt his hand move up from my arm to the edge of the comforter and I screwed my eyes tighter.

The feeling of the comforter shifting, moving away from my face, made me wince. It was if the cold air in the room was just waiting to attack me. A shiver traveled through my body and I clenched my jaw to prevent my teeth from clattering.

His low chuckle made me glower at him with my eyes shut. The feeling of his thumb lightly brushing the skin between my eyebrows made me snap my eyes open. Without a second thought, I retreated from his warm touch almost as if he zapped me with an electric gun. A frown etched itself onto his perfect face as I propped myself up onto my elbow.

"You look better when you smile, but you also look adorable when those frown lines form between your brows. But, I still prefer the smile." He seemed to be lost in thought as he stared at me. Almost as if he didn't even realise that he said those words aloud.

I quirked an eyebrow at him, "What do you want, Axel?"

As if he were brought out of some trance he shuddered and then replied, "I came to get you to eat. It's already nine and my mom won't let you spend the night with an empty stomach. I would have called you sooner be she thought it best that we leave you to rest."

"I'm not hungry."

"At least have a little bite. I don't want my mom to feel bad. She broke the promise she made me just to cook you a meal and around her breaking promises is a big deal." He said the words 'big deal' with raised eyebrows and wide eyes to emphasize his point.

Rolling my eyes, I shifted in bed trying to turn away from Axel's face. "I'm not hungry and I'm going back to bed."

He grunted, yanked the covers off me and somehow picked me off the bed before tossing me over his shoulder as if I didn't weigh a thing, "Stop being so obdurate," he threatened.

I flailed my feet in the air, trying to knee and kick him as my fits pounded his back, "Put me down you...you..."

"You what?" He snarled, his voice dropping an octave and somehow it was the sexiest thing I had ever heard.

Oh dear Lord! I've lost my shit, haven't I?

"If I were you, I would stop making such empty threats, or calling me names or jumping to conclusions. Remember, you work for me and for the next three months you do what I tell you too and if you don't then I guess you will be working for me free of charge."

An image of me bashing his head against the brick wall floated into my mind but he wasn't worth the jail time and if I wanted to get paid then I needed to play nice. My limbs became dead weight and I allowed him to carry me toward the dining room. I still had my turtle neck jersey and skinny jeans on, the only things I took off were my shoes and coat. With that being said, I was more than presentable to be in front of his family.

We passed the kitchen and I heard Axel's mother shriek at the sight of her son carrying me like some bag of cement. When we passed the lounge, I caught sight of Stephanie choking down a laugh but she immediately scowled at me when I shot her the bird in return.

It was definitely going to be fun getting on her nerves for the next three months!

The sound of an oak wood dining chair being scrapped on the hardwood floor made everyone glare at Axel but he didn't seem to notice. He plopped me down onto the chair and my butt landed with a hard thud. I grimaced as a shot of pain traveled through my gluteus maximus.

"Woops," Axel chimed, "I didn't think you would land so hard but then again, you're so thin, I should probably be more careful with you." He apologised, kneeling down so that we were face to face. His eyes searched my face and then narrowed as he brought his hand up to my check. He brushed my cheek with the back of his fingers making my breath hitch, "Have you been crying, Sunshine?"

Immediately, I drew in a sharp breath. Of course, he didn't notice my tear stained cheeks in the darkness of the bedroom but with the dining room light on they must have been painfully clear for him to see. I couldn't help but shy away from his touch yet again, this time to wipe my cheeks with the pads of my fingers. 

Just then a man looking just as tall as Axel walked into the room. His receding hairline and excessive amount of facial hair made me want to grab a pair of scissors and super glue so that I could trim off his scruffy beard and stick it to his head. He had an untamed mustache which made me cringe since I already hated the idea of facial hair. The beer belly he had entered the room before he did and when his hazel eyes met my gray ones, I could feel the coldness that lurked in them.

Axel visibly stiffened in front of me. He sensed the man's presence in the room without even looking, "Macy, this is my dad, Stephen."

The man gave me a single, curt nod, "Aggie told me to bring you something to eat. She wanted to bring it herself but I sent her to bed. Too much excitement isn't good for her." Stephen's tight smile wasn't as hospitable as his wife's but I brushed it off and whispered a quick thank you, "Axel, since she's finally eating there's no reason for you to starve yourself anymore." Stephen placed a second plate onto the table before walking off to the lounge.

I stared at the plate and waited for Axel to take his seat next to me. There were mashed potatoes, peas, and pot roast. The smell of the tantalizing meal made my tummy growl in appreciation. With the first mouth full, I was hooked and couldn't stop eating. As I ate my mind drifted to what Stephen had said. I couldn't understand why Axel would starve himself just because of me. He seemed to only think of me as something he owned and could use as he pleased, maybe not in the sexual way as I originally thought but he acted like he owned me nonetheless.

All I knew for sure was that the next three months would surely be interesting, a pain in my behind but interesting!

So do you think Axel was being a total jerk in doing what he did? Let me know your thoughts!