“She needs you,” Priscilla said.
“She’s got me. I’m there for her. We go on dates, and she visits me here. Everything is working as it should be.”
“That’s not what I’m talking about.” Priscilla growled in frustration. For an educated woman she didn’t have a better way to expel her frustration. The sound she made amused James. “You’re being deliberately obtuse. You take Prue on dates and give her what you think she needs.”
“With all due respect, Mrs Charles, you’re telling me what you think she needs,” James said, reminding her.
“You’re being a pu**y. There, I’ve said it.”
“What?” he asked, annoyed with the woman.
“Prue talks about Possession and Ravage. She explained your dominant role at the club along with your feelings of possession and the need for her to submit.”
James listened to her shocked by how much Prudence had opened up to this woman. “What are you trying to say?” he asked.
“You’re not being that man for her. Yes, you have men watching over her and you’re attentive, but you’re not the James you were before she was taken by that ass**le. I actually believe there is nothing physically or mentally wrong with Prudence Star. She came back messed up, but she understands that and has gotten over it. Personally, I think enough time has passed for her to stop behaving the way she has. The only difference is the way you treat her. You’re not possessive anymore. You walk around her as if you’re on egg-shells. Prue needs to know you still love her regardless. Not with words but with the man you are.”
Her words made a lot of sense, but that didn’t mean he had to like them. “You think I need to be dominating over her. After everything she has been through that would make me no better than an abuser.”
“No, it wouldn’t. There is a huge difference between domination and abuse. You’d never hurt Prue. The way she talks about your relationship, you couldn’t bear to see her in pain.”
Running his fingers through his hair, James stared at the woman before him. Her words gave him hope and confused him.
“What do you want me to do?” he asked.
“Take Prue away for some time. Where you and she are together and you can explore your relationship. Being here with Ravage, Possession, and your lives around you, they’re distracting you from what you both need, which is each other. As a friend that is the advice I’d give. Prue has been a brat for long enough. Show her what she signed on for when she took you on.”
“You’re advising this as a therapist?” he asked, wondering if he really needed to know the answer.
“As a therapist, she needs to explore what she wants. I’d advise for her to get out with friends and date other people so she can understand how she feels about you,” Priscilla said.
“That’s out of the f**king question.”
“Then think about what I’ve said. If she’s at her next appointment then I’d be advising she move on and to give herself some space. I came here as a friend, James.”
He nodded. Priscilla had been in the same year as he and Stephen at school. He couldn’t believe the woman he remembered from the past was the same woman helping his woman.
“I thank you for everything you’ve done.”
“I like Prue, and I think she’ll turn away from this relationship unless you do something to prevent it.”
“I’ll handle it.”
He watched her leave. Her words stayed with him for some time. Sitting behind his desk he replayed the last few months. If she hadn’t been taken by Daren then he wouldn’t have given her the time to get over it. He’d have been part of her life like he was before the incident she was taken from him. Running his fingers through his hair, James hated how right the woman was. He’d changed to be what he thought Prudence needed, when in fact he should have done what he thought was best.
James grabbed his credit card, lifted the phone and started making calls. He knew exactly how to fix the wedge between them, and it didn’t require thousands of dollars of f**king therapy.
Once he finished the phone call, he dialled the men he’d hired to keep an eye on Prue. She was at the supermarket where he worked. He needed to get a few things in order before he made his move.
****
The last therapy session ran through her mind. She couldn’t believe how open she felt with the woman. Admitting the truth to Priscilla had helped to free her in some strange way. She grabbed the tins from the trolley she’d filled up then started stacking the tins on the shelf. When a customer asked her where an item was, she left to deal with them. She wondered if James would visit her that night. Returning back to her shelf, she heard some commotion on the shop floor. Walking to the end of the aisle, Prue looked to where the sound was coming from. Following the path she stopped as Prue heard the women muttering loudly on the shop floor. She turned in the direction of where the sounds were getting louder. What she saw stopped her on the spot. James was walking toward her. Without thinking she took a step back. He looked menacing, angry, and downright determined. What startled her more was the answering heat filling her body. Seeing him coming toward her made her heart leap. He didn’t scare her. The image before her excited her beyond comprehension.
He said no words as he grabbed her arm and led her out of the supermarket. The women watching the scene stared after them with wide mouths.
This is my man!
“What are you doing?” she asked. Her voice sounded excited, and her ni**les were hard from the pleasure of having him in control.
“I’m doing what I should have done a long time ago.”
James escorted her out of the supermarket to his waiting car. Arthur wasn’t in the front seat. He helped her into the seat then fastened the seat belt around her. His fingers brushed her ni**les. They were hard from having him close, but now they were painfully erect.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“I’m taking us away for a while,” he said. “A vacation ought to do us some good.” He climbed behind the wheel and pulled away in the direction of her house.
“I can’t leave,” she said, looking behind at the supermarket growing smaller in the distance.
“You’re not working in a supermarket, Prudence. I’ve lived with your decision to work there but no more. When we get back you’ll be working behind the bar or resting in the office with me. You’re not staying out of my sight.”