Amara Villafuerte POV I wake up, shocked to find Manfred beside me. His arms are wrapped tightly around my body, clutching to me as if he’s worried I’ll run away. The scary thing about all this is the fact I know I won’t. I slowly untangle myself and get out of bed so I can use the toilet and when I open the curtains I notice a black bag on the floor behind them. Taking a peek inside I see what looks like a balled-up suit, and a pair of black leather gloves. I have no idea why they are here but I leave them where I found them so I can head to the bathroom. I brush my teeth before I go back to him, and when I step through the door his eyes are open and staring at me like I’m in trouble. “What did I do?” I shrug my shoulders. “Nothing. I’m allowed to look at you, aren’t I?” He raises his eyebrows as I slowly move towards him and climb back onto the bed. “I don’t know, you make the rules. Are you?” I tease, straddling his body with mine. When he reaches his hand up to frame my cheek
Manfred Valderrama POVI text Daniel and tell him I’m taking the day off. I can’t remember the last time I did it, but after Amara made her confession to me this morning, I want to stay close to her. We fall back to sleep for a few hours, then we wake up and go downstairs for a mid-morning breakfast, hand in hand, like a real couple. My best friend has a very disturbed look on his face when he sees us. “Manfred, I must talk with you.” He follows us into the dining room and watches as I pull out Amara’s chair for her. The way his eyes flick over her barely-covered body makes me decide that from now on she needs to start wearing much more than what I provide her with when she is downstairs. I don’t want the others looking at what's mine. “Manfred.” He speaks up again like I didn’t hear him the first time. “Then talk.” I take Amara’s plate and start to load it with the things I want her to eat. Then smile at her as I place it back in front of her. “Well, come on, what is so important
Amara Villafuerte PO “Amara, it’s time to come home. I’m getting worried. Dennis is dead. He was murdered.” My father scolds me, like a child, down the phone while Manfred lies beside me, drawing circles around my tummy button and listening intently. “I saw it on the news,” I admit. Dennis’ murder has been headline news, and my biggest concern being that Manfred gets found out, has made me realize how twisted I’ve become. “Enough is enough now, Amara! You can’t expect me to be okay with you disappearing. It's been almost two months. I demand you tell me where you are!” He sounds beyond angry and yet, I don’t fear him anymore. I draw strength from Manfred and the way he looks so proud of me. “I’m not expecting you to be okay with it. But I also won’t be obeying your commands, anymore. I’m not a little girl, and I’m not a bargaining tool. I’m pleased Dennis is dead.” “Amara!” Father sounds as angry, as he is horrified. “I need to go, I called because I didn’t want you worrying
Amara Villafuerte POV It’s late morning when I wake up, and as the sun creeps through the window and warms my face, I smile to myself. I can’t pinpoint when everything changed, but what I do know is that nothing can ever go back to being normal. Is it wrong that I don’t miss my father? That the only person I want to be around is Manfred? Even if it is, I don’t think I care. I like the idea of the life he has planned for us. The door knocks and when I call whoever it is in, Daniel smiles at me politely, as he places a tray of food on the bed. “So, you’re my servant, as well as my protector, now?” I sit up, making sure I’m covered by the blanket as I examine what's been sent up for me. “Manfred figured you might want to stay in bed today, he’s had to leave town. He will be back tomorrow evening.” “He never told me.” I frown when I realize how much that hurts. “You will learn that Manfred can be spontaneous.” He widens his eyes and prepares to leave. “Wait.” I stop him. “What else c
Manfred Valderrama POV “Do you have work to do, today?” she asks, getting up from her seat at the breakfast table and sitting on the table in front of me. I can tell she’s still mad at me for leaving without saying goodbye, but some things require urgency, and what I had to do couldn’t be avoided. “There is always work to do.” I smile, taking her hand and licking the syrup from her fingers. “Did you have something in mind?” “A walk around the gardens, maybe a drive into the local town. I don’t even know where that is.” Amara plays with the cuff of my shirt and tries being all cutesy, maybe her little act might work if I hadn’t woken up with her lips wrapped around my cock. I swear the girl is developing some kind of syndrome, you hear about people falling in love with their captors as a coping mechanism. I don’t want to be Amara's coping mechanism. I’ve learned over the past few weeks that I want to be the start, and end, of her world. “It is not safe for us to go into town, not
Amara Villafuerte POV “You look pretty today.” Manfred stares at me as he does up the cuffs of his shirt. It’s amazing what a compliment from him can do. It puts an instant smile on my face and makes my stomach flip, especially when he sits on the mattress next to where I’m laid and rests his hand on the other side of my body. “Your period is due,” he whispers, leaning over my body, so his breath tickles my ear. “How do you…?” I give up asking. I would say I’m surprised but nothing about this man shocks me, anymore. “I have an app on my phone.” Manfred kisses my cheek before standing back up and lifting his suit jacket from the end of the bed. “You shouldn’t get your hopes up. Women are late on their periods all the time. I’ve never really kept track of mine.” I shrug, starting to feel a little pressured. I know how disappointed Manfred was last month when I came on my period, he didn’t speak, touch or look at me for five days. I don’t know how I’ll cope if he does that to me, agai
Manfred Valderrama POV I find Amara in her room, sitting in the chair that's placed in the corner, with her arms folded and a scowl on her face. She looks pretty when she’s angry, and that makes me want to punish her even more. “Come.” I go straight to her, taking her hand and dragging her up on her feet. Then, leading her into the bathroom, I take the pregnancy testing kit from my back pocket and start opening the box. I can see the confused way she’s looking at me from the corner of my eye when I neatly unfold the instruction leaflet and lay them out on the basin unit. “You want to do that, now?” She doesn’t look angry anymore. She looks nervous instead. “Yes,” I answer, taking the plastic stick in my hand and removing the cap from the part she has to pee on. My eyes gesture to the toilet and she makes that sarcastic, little laugh that sends me fucking crazy. “While you're in the room?” Her eyes stretch in disbelief when she realizes I’m not going anywhere. “Manfred, I’m not gon
TWO MONTHS LATER Manfred Valderrama POV “Why are you so tense? Today's supposed to be exciting.” Amara swallows the last of her pancake from the fork, I’m holding to her mouth. I have to be really strict with her at meal times, if she had her way she wouldn’t eat, at all. Since she’s been pregnant, the baby’s only been making her feel sick, luckily she keeps whatever I can get into her, down. “I am excited.” I stroke my hand across her tummy, there's still no sign of her condition from the outside, but it won’t be long before she starts to show. “Are you scared there might be something wrong? I’ve done everything your doctor friend told me to. I’ve eaten the right food, taken that folic, whatever, tablet. Apart from the nausea, I feel great.” She tries to reassure me, but that's not why I’m anxious about today. I have kept Amara in my protective bubble for the past four months. Today we are having to step out of it, and that concerns me. “Not at all, our child’s going to be perfe