21. To coax not coerce...

"My name is Marco not sir... Say it, Marco..."

"M_Marco" thank goodness there was no mirror around, he would slap himself hard across the face if he saw the look on his own face as she said his name.

"Good." He says, picking up the bowl and taking it to the sink. "So, Mea, are you always this quiet and timid? You looked different at the bar." He asks as he washed the plates.

"That's because in the bar, I'm prepared for anything that would happen, but with you, I_ I don't know why you paid double for me and brought me here, and now you even fed me and you did not drug the food. No one ever feeds me without putting something in it."

"I see," he paused. "Well I want to believe I'm nothing like those dogs. And I promise I won't coerce you into anything you don't want." He had no idea why he was saying this. He actually didn't plan on keeping her with him, he just brought her with him because leaving her on the street would only be like throwing away his money, those men would definitely go after her again. So he'd brought her to his house to keep her from them for now.

"How old are you?"

"Twenty-five sir… Marco." she instantly corrects herself as he eyed her wickedly.

"And you've been trying to pay your debt since you were sixteen?"

"H_How do you know that?"

"You said it yourself while you were asleep, apparently you were begging someone not to touch you, saying you were only sixteen." As he said this, he could see her shiver again, curling up on the dining chair, dragging down her dress again, almost as if she could feel the pain from that time all over again.

"They killed my father because he borrowed their money and refused to pay, and then they said the child is to bear the sins of the father, so I was to pay them back, and since I didn't have any means of paying them back, they_ they_they… that old man he_ he_" she'd never had to explain this to anyone, no one had ever cared, so she'd forgotten about it. Or so she thought. But right now it was too painful and scary a memory. Heart wrecking tears flowed down her eyes, she just couldn't bring herself to say the rest.

Marco's hands were clenched in a tight firm fist, his nails digging into his skin, why it hurt him so much he had no idea, why did it feel like his heart was wrecking as those tears flowed down her eyes. He'd just met her some hours ago, so he barely knew her, and yet_yet he had this serious urge to wreck the one who made those tears flow.

He wanted to make them pay, but more importantly he wanted to wipe those tears from her eyes. Without any much thought in his head, he walked round the table to her side, and as usual she flinched at his touch, but the terror in her eyes seemed to slowly fade as she realized it was just him.

Slowly he wiped the tears from her eyes, but they kept on pouring, there was so much water that it covered her hazel eyes. I can't see her eyes. He says in his head. I want to see them.

And with no more thoughts in his head, he leans in and claims her lips, carefully and tenderly fusing his tongue into her mouth, he could still taste the spaghetti she had eaten, then slowly, slowly he could taste her, sweet and soft, finally getting the the response he wasn't expecting, but was now realizing he wanted, she kissed him back, she wasn't crying anymore, instead her eyes were closed as she focused on exploring the insides of his mouth.

The firmness of his kiss made her shudder, the way his tongue wrapped around hers made her hunger for more. She'd never been kissed so soft and tender before, she'd never had the chance to enjoy a kiss before, she hated it when those men forced their mouths in hers, but right now she didn't hate it, he was making her crave for more.

Almost naturally, her hands reached for him, holding onto his shirt, leaning in closer to him, tasting how a kiss could be gentle and alluring, learning what it felt like to be comforted with a kiss, falling under the spell of his soft touch.

His fingers stroked her bare legs, softly working his way up her thighs, and then down her legs again, stroking up her thighs again, causing an evocative desire to light up within her. The kind she had never had the chance to know, something she didn't even know existed. She was sure he didn't drug her, and yet she was going dizzy from his kiss, from his touch, he touched and kissed her like no one had done before.

"You said you wouldn't coerce me" she managed to say.

"I wasn't coercing you Mea, I was coaxing you… Was that forceful?" he asked in turn. And she shakes her head in a NO. "How was it?"

"Gentle, Like nothing I've felt before." she sincerely says, and a proud smug was plastered on his face."I didn't know a kiss could be that sweet__ and tender." Why was he feeling proud of himself all of a sudden, like he just achieved something huge. He was glad she enjoyed it, glad she kissed him back. All the while he was trying not to hurt her lip that already had a cut.

"There are different ways to kiss your lips," he takes a thumb to her lips, feeling the roughness on his fingers, feeling the spot where she had a cut. "but it doesn't have to be violent or harsh, but it could be. But not to the point where you get hurt, just to the point where you get lost in your desires" Every word he spoke sounded alluring, his voice was soothing, his eyes on her were calming, and his touch was burning, he was nothing like the others.

"Why didn't you hit me?"

"what?"

"W_When I slapped you earlier, and when I pushed you, and when I spilled food all over your face. Others would have beaten me till I went numb, why didn't you?"

"Would you have felt better if I did?" he always answered her questions with another question. "would you?" he asks again, and she nods a no. "it would have hurt." She says.

"Exactly."

"What are you going to do with me now? Are you going to sleep with me?"

"What do you want me to do with you?"

Maybe she was going crazy, but she'd never felt this kind of crazy before. But he was enticing. The way he spoke, the way he looked at her, even how he touched her. Everything was different from the others. So it made her want to try everything out with him. She wanted to see how he'd treat her. Would it be violent like the others who did it by beating and hitting her, or would it be as tender as his kiss, would his touch get even gentler or grow harsh the longer he held her? She wanted to know.

"Tell me Mea, what do you want me to do with you?"

"Teach me_ show me how to do it tender"