“I can handle Franklin,” she says calmly. “At least for now. He doesn't seem that interested in me, which is a good thing.”
“Okay,” I say slowly, unsure as to where she is headed with this.
“I need your help with something else. I saw this girl running out of our apartment. She was crying and really distressed. I saw Franklin talking to her at the party we hosted. I tried to get her to tell me what happened but she was too afraid to say a word. Maybe she thought that I would get upset because I'm his wife. Who knows?”
Aurora pulls out her cell phone and scrolls through her photos.
“I took this picture of her,” she says, showing me the screen. “Just as she was leaving but luckily, I got a little bit of her face. I don't know if it's enough but is there any way that one of your investigators could find out who she really is? Maybe even talk to her? She's not in trouble. I'm just worried that…”
“What?” I push her.
“I heard something at the party,” she says quietly.
The expression on her face turns from upset to serious.
“I heard these two people talking about how Franklin is into underage girls. This girl,” she says, pointing to the screen, “she didn't look very old and I don't know what happened but I suspect that whatever he did, it wasn't consensual.”
“Holy shit,” I whisper.
“Yeah, holy fucking shit.”
We sit quietly for a while as I try to process what she has just said. I knew that Franklin was fucked up but that's really fucked up.
Suddenly, Aurora starts to cry again. I take her in my arms and she buries her face in my chest.
“I just feel so guilty,” she mumbles in between sobs.
“Why? What did you do?”
She shakes her head and refuses to answer. Her whole body begins to shake. When she calms down for a little bit, I raise her head up to mine and look deep into her eyes.
“You did nothing wrong,” I say, wiping her tears.
“I just keep thinking that maybe this is my fault.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Maybe if I just let him have me. Maybe if I hadn't resisted him and… maybe he wouldn’t be doing this.”
“No, you're wrong. If he's into little girls, then there's nothing that you could’ve given him to change that.”
It makes me sick to my stomach to even think about this.
Aurora doesn't believe me. She shakes her head, averting her eyes.
“He would do this regardless,” I say. “You have to believe me. If he's into that, then no matter what you would have done it wouldn’t have been enough.”
She gives me a slight nod and buries her face in my shoulder. I pull her close to me and kiss the top of her head. When she looks up at me, I kiss her cheek.
Suddenly, something has changed. This moment of tenderness morphs into something else. I look down at her luscious lips and watch them part slightly.
I glance up into her eyes to make sure that it's okay. She gives me a slight nod and I press my lips onto hers. Our mouths open and everything outside becomes a blur.
I run my fingers over her neck and down her spine. I hear her exhale quietly as we kiss.
“Is this okay?” I whisper.
“Yes,” she mumbles.
I kiss her harder. Our tongues find each other's and she presses her body against mine. I feel the softness of her breasts and the intensity of her grasp as she buries her fingers in my hair.
But then she pulls away.
“No,” she says, shaking her head.
“What's wrong?” I ask.
“I don't know but it feels wrong. I'm married.”
That statement pushes all the air out of my lungs. It feels as if I have been punched in the gut.
“I'm sorry,” she says, draping her arm around me. “I know that this is so…complicated.”
“No,” I say. “It's not complicated. It's stupid.”
She narrows her eyes and stares at me. I glare back.
“You're not married. I mean, perhaps you're married on paper but we both know that it means nothing. He's forcing you to do this to get what he wants and you're going along with it to get what you want.”
Aurora doesn't respond. Instead, she pulls her hands away from me and places them on her lap.
“You don’t have to be so cruel,” she says.
“You don't have a real marriage and you know it,” I continue. “I'm here for you. I want to help you. I don't want to pretend like we don't have anything between us. Those sparks that you feel in the pit of your stomach are not something you can deny.”
She doesn't say anything. I'm tempted to go on but I force myself to stop. She has been through a lot and another fight is the last thing she needs.
But I'm angry.
I'm fuming. Just not at her.
I'm pissed at Franklin for making her feel like she is doing something wrong.
I get up and walk over to the window. There isn't much to look at but the building across the street and the parking lot below. Looking up, I search for the sun through a blanket of low-hanging clouds.
“I will help you get to the bottom of this,” I say with my back toward her. “You don't have to worry about that.”
“I'm not,” she says and I suddenly realize that she is standing right behind me.
She puts her arms around my waist and squeezes me tightly.
“I shouldn’t have said that,” Aurora whispers.
“It's okay, it doesn't matter.”
“No, it does. I love you, Henry. You were the person that I was thinking of when I was walking down the aisle.”
I turn around to face her and furrow my brows.
“What are you talking about?” I ask.
“When I picked out my wedding dress, I imagined that I would be wearing it to marry you. When I walked down the aisle, I transported myself to another world, one where we could be together. My wedding night? I wished more than anything that it was with you.”
I pull her closer to me to give her a hug but she puts her hand on my chest and looks up instead. Standing up on her tiptoes, she presses her lips to mine.
Our tongues find each other's and I lose myself in her. She presses her fingers into my back as I bury my hands in her hair.
She tilts her head back and I run my lips down her neck and bury my face in her bosom.
Her breasts move up and down with each breath as I cradle them in my hands. Her fingers make their way toward my stomach, pausing briefly at my belt buckle but not letting it stand in her way.
After undoing it, she pulls out my shirt and unbuttons it. I flex my stomach and watch her eyes light up at my protruding six-pack.
She runs her fingers slowly over each muscle, licking her lips in anticipation. I like the way that she looks at me.
What I like more is looking at her.
I lead her to the bed and push her down. I climb on top of her and she pulls me closer. Our lips touch again as she helps me out of my shirt.
I slide my hand underneath hers and push my way up past the lace covering her breasts. She lifts herself up a little so that I can unclasp her bra and I don't wait for her to take it off before I take her into my mouth. Her nipples are hard and aroused and her moans make my dick as hard as a rock.