Escape from Bondage Read Online Free Page A

the place
would make some opening move, some gesture of friendship or even
just polite interest. Sooner or later, someone would want to talk
to her outside of the dinner table or the lounge.
    Braden had dumped her into a steaming
heap of dog-poop, and while it was all very sweet, it was the sort
of thing that made a person wonder about his sanity or even his
intelligence.
     
     
    Scene Two

     
    Much to her surprise, Braden stopped
abruptly. He gave her a peck on the cheek, a quick slap on the bum,
and then stepped out of the shower. With his back turned, he
quickly toweled off and left. When the bathroom door opened, the
temperature went down in the bathroom and internally for Heather as
well.
    Heather turned off the shower water
and reached for a dry towel. Braden was giving her a choice, which
was just what she had always thought she didn’t have. There was
some sort of message in the behaviour…his and hers. While she liked
surprises, and making love this weekend was now definitely in the
cards, Heather was torn both ways.
    Now that she was there, she might as
well stay there, rather than try to sneak back during daylight
hours.
    Her stomach rumbled, and she realized
that she had always found breakfast on the table when she went down
in the mornings. She had led a sheltered life, with its limited
perspective.
     
    #
     
    When she came into the kitchen, Braden
was pulling items from the fridge. He had a carton of eggs and a
pound of bacon. He sliced open the package and began separating
strips into the pan.
    “ I hope you’re
hungry.”
    “ Oh, I don’t know. I
usually just have toast and jam first thing in the
morning.”
     
    He looked up.
    “ Please don’t go to any
extra trouble for me.”
    He grinned ruefully.
    “ The perfect woman. Look,
why don’t you trust me on this one?”
    She looked at the meat, the eggs, the
tomato, the onions, the diced potatoes all ready to go in when the
fat was hot. He was going all out.
    She bit her lip.
    “ Listen. You can’t fuck on
bread and jam—”
    She hooted with laughter.
    “ My old man used to say
that.”
    She nodded. Why struggle? He had some
kind of a plan. There was some kind of message here in all of this
and given enough time it would all come out. As for the matter of
marrying Braden, all of her emotions were in a spin and maybe she
really should just sit back and let someone else take the reins of
responsibility for a while. On that thought she patted him on the
shoulder and left him alone to get on with the cooking.
    A few minutes later he came into the
living room with a fresh cup of coffee for her, even going to the
extent of wearing a frilly white apron that she presumed was a
relic from the past, either the ex-spouse or even his mother. He
looked ridiculous, of course. She shook her head at the sight of
it.
    “ Thank you.” She watched
him bob and turn back into the kitchen.
    Braden was up to something. She could
just sense it. There was the usual stirring in her abdomen as
Heather contemplated just what form his plans for the rest of the
day might take. The promise of the shower would be fulfilled sooner
or later.
    His little game of not talking to her
had interesting psychological insights. He had her wondering what a
life with Braden Mitchell would be like.
    In a word, it might be
interesting.
    If only she wasn’t a Bride of
Christ.
     
    #
     
    It occurred to Heather how little she
had in common with other people. She didn’t know what to think, how
to act or what to say as they ate breakfast, plates on the coffee
table and a sports magazine show on the TV. She didn’t think she’d
eaten off a coffee table in her entire life.
    It was all right.
    Braden seemed intent on the show, and
it was obviously a part of his Saturday morning routine. Talking
about the weather wasn’t all that compelling when you were already
lovers.
    Husband and wife would have things to
talk about.
    Heather crunched bacon and dipped her
toast in the slightly-runny egg