Held by the Billionaire Bossy

Billionaires 1st Edition Gia Bailey

Visit to download the full and correct content document:
https://ebookmeta.com/product/held-by-the-billionaire-bossy-billionaires-1st-edition-gi
a-bailey/
More products digital (pdf, epub, mobi) instant
download maybe you interests ...

Kept by the Billionaire Bossy Billionaires 1 1st

Edition Gia Bailey Bailey Gia

https://ebookmeta.com/product/kept-by-the-billionaire-bossy-
billionaires-1-1st-edition-gia-bailey-bailey-gia/

Owned by the Billionaire Bossy Billionaires 1st Edition

Gia Bailey

https://ebookmeta.com/product/owned-by-the-billionaire-bossy-
billionaires-1st-edition-gia-bailey/

Caught by the Billionaire 1st Edition Gia Bailey

https://ebookmeta.com/product/caught-by-the-billionaire-1st-
edition-gia-bailey/

Kept by the Billionaire An Age Gap Office Romance Gia

Bailey

https://ebookmeta.com/product/kept-by-the-billionaire-an-age-gap-
office-romance-gia-bailey/
Claimed by the Billionaire An Enemies to Lovers Romance
1st Edition Gia Bailey

https://ebookmeta.com/product/claimed-by-the-billionaire-an-
enemies-to-lovers-romance-1st-edition-gia-bailey/

She s Mine The Billionaire Boy s Club 1 1st Edition Gia

Bailey Bailey Gia

https://ebookmeta.com/product/she-s-mine-the-billionaire-boy-s-
club-1-1st-edition-gia-bailey-bailey-gia/

Stolen by the Billionaire An Older Man Younger Woman

Office Romance 1st Edition Gia Bailey

https://ebookmeta.com/product/stolen-by-the-billionaire-an-older-
man-younger-woman-office-romance-1st-edition-gia-bailey/

His Forever A Billionaire Romance 1st Edition Gia

Bailey

https://ebookmeta.com/product/his-forever-a-billionaire-
romance-1st-edition-gia-bailey/

Just for Him A Billionaire Romance 1st Edition Gia

Bailey

https://ebookmeta.com/product/just-for-him-a-billionaire-
romance-1st-edition-gia-bailey/
HELD BY THE BILLIONAIRE
BOSSY BILLIONAIRES
GIA BAILEY
Copyright © 2021 by Gia Bailey
All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical
means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission
from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
 CONTENTS

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
One year later
Two years later

About the Author

Also by Gia Bailey
 CHAPTER ONE

E liza

“Lottie! Let’s go!” I yelled up the stairs.

Every night I make an endless sequence of resolutions that
immediately get broken the next day. Today, I broke the first one at
7.30 am. A new low.
“I can’t find Bubblegum!” Lottie’s little voice reached me from the
bedroom we shared. It held the threatening note of imminent tears
that I recognised well. I hurried in her direction. As soon as I got to
the bedroom, I saw her standing forlornly in the middle of the room.
The bottom lip was trembling threateningly.
“Right, let’s find this flying horse,” I said, starting in all the usual
places. I prayed I’d find Bubblegum quickly, I couldn’t afford to be
late today. I had an cleaning appointment this morning with a new
client, and the agency had made clear that this was a potentially big
account, and everything had to go perfectly.
“He’s a rainbow Pegasus, mom,” Lottie corrected me, as I
triumphantly pulled the well-worn soft toy from the comforter and
brandished it in the air.
“Well, he’s a found rainbow Pegasus now, let’s get a move on,” I
told my daughter, as she squealed with joy and hugged her favourite
toy. I wished I had any possession that I loved half as much as
Charlotte loved Bubblegum the rainbow Pegasus.
“Ok, mom,” Charlotte agreed, finally heading toward the door.
 I breathed a sigh of relief as I went.
Today, at least, everything wouldn’t fall apart.
Today at least, I’d manage to meet all the obligations and duties
that felt never ending, keeping up with the single mom schedule
from hell.
Lottie smiled up at me, as I locked the door to our small
apartment, and slipped her hand into mine.
“Let’s go, mama,” she said, and my heart shook. Every single
early morning, every sprint for a bus, every extra shift was worth it.
For her.

W ren

“The new cleaner will be arriving soon. She’s the best at the new
agency, and hopefully she will prove to be more adequate than her
predecessors,” Mrs Smyth said briskly, as she closed her folder and
looked at me over her half-moon spectacles.
“Let’s hope so, for both our sakes,” I said, looking out through
spotless windows at Central Park, stretching away in a deep green
rectangle, crowded on both sides by Manhattan buildings. The tiring
cycle of cleaners was getting monotonous. I knew the problem. It
wasn’t them. It was me.
“Quite. You have a conference call at nine, I told the cleaner to
arrive before, and that you are not to be disturbed.”
“Perfect. Mrs. Smyth, what would I do without you?” I asked
sardonically and only hoped my bitterness wasn’t showing through.
My housekeeper had no need to respond to that question, we both
knew the answer. I would no doubt die in this tomb of a multi-million
dollar house that I had stayed in for the last five years.

Mrs. Smyth left with a sharp click of her heels, and after a long
while, the door to the apartment clicked closed. Silence descended
over me like a well-worn shroud. I was alone, once more. My
preferred state.
I changed into workout clothes, placing every single item I’d
worn the day before into the hamper, and selecting perfectly clean
and pressed clothes to wear. I rowed, ran, and lifted weights while
listening to news channels and staring out at the park. If I looked
hard enough and turned the air conditioning on the machine up
enough, I could almost imagine I was out there. In the real world.
Not stuck inside my townhouse, a prisoner in his own home.
As I lifted weights, I stared at my reflection critically in the
mirror. I had doubled the size and strength of my body in the last
few years. I’d always been tall, but before, I’d been lean. With a
body built by swimming, my old preferred form of exercise, my
upper body strength had been nothing like it was now. Now, it would
be hard to fight me and win. Now, it would be hard to take me.
Darkness crowded in at the memories of being overpowered. Of
being beaten and hurt. Of being powerless and out of control. My
watch beeped, as my heart beat suddenly increased. I dropped my
weights and took up my water bottle, drinking deeply. There was no
use thinking about the past. I was alive, and that was what
mattered. I was alone, and safe, here in my castle. Clean, and
controlled, safe, and measurable. It was what I needed to survive.
I showered with the usual routine that I had developed to calm
my anxiety, and once completely dry, dressed in my usual attire of a
bespoke suit.
I ate the same breakfast I always ate and drank the same two
cups of coffee, then I went alone to my huge conference room,
clicked on the video screen at the end of the room, and connected
to a meeting happening one mile away, in Midtown, my company’s
Head Offices. A place I hadn’t visited in over five years.
No one bothered to mention how strange it was that the CEO of
a multi-billion dollar company didn’t come into the office anymore.
No one questioned my absence anymore. In fact, I’d bet they were
happy because of it. It was no doubt a relief… not to see me. I was
eccentric and strange. I was a broken man, and I made others
uncomfortable.
I can’t say I didn’t agree with them.
 CHAPTER TWO

E liza

The house that I was in this morning was the most

modern and starkly cold place I’d ever been. Everything was clean,
with white lines and minimalism. It was spotlessly clean, as far as I
see, and I wondered wildly why the client had been quite so
insistent that today be the cleaning day. The place looked like it had
just been done.
Regardless, I read the instructions left by the housekeeper and
collected the cleaning supplies from the cupboard. In the mad rush
to drop Lottie off with a friend, so she could go to the local state
nursery, I hadn’t even had time to run a brush through my hair or
have a cup of coffee. Everything in the kitchen was pristine. There
was nothing in the sink, or drying rack either. I wondered for a
moment if anyone actually lived in the house, or maybe it was being
cleaned before a viewing. I was often sent to clean houses before
they were viewed by potential buyers. I let out a loud whistle, as I
pictured what the real estate listing would look like for a place like
this.
The Housekeeper had left detailed instructions and I scanned the
list now. It was long. There was also a uniform hanging on a chair to
wear. I looked at it dubiously. I’d never worn a uniform to clean
before, I wasn’t really keen on doing it now. It wasn’t like I was
wearing clothes I couldn’t get dirty. I fingered the fine material of
the overalls. It was a thoughtful offer, but I couldn’t be bothered to
change.
Instead, I tucked the list in my pocket, loaded the cleaning things
into a bucket, and started through the house toward the first
bathroom. In the cleaning game as in life, I had one rule. Do the
worst job first. It was my hack to never procrastinate. If I just did
the worst part first, the rest was a breeze.
I put my headphones into my ears and clicked my usual playlist
on my phone. Music was my one luxury, in working days full of
tediously repetitive actions.
I usually kept it pretty quiet, but considering this was an empty
house, and I was here all by myself, I let myself sing along a little. It
was my treat to myself. It didn’t matter how awful my voice was, or
that I barely knew the words, or made most of them up. I sang
along, and let my heart feel light. This was my therapy, and it was
free. My favorite price.
The bathroom was a dawdle to clean, so much so I felt a little
guilty being paid a full fee for such a clean house, and I was soon
done and on my way.
The trouble came when I opened the bathroom door, and found
out, quite dramatically, that I wasn’t alone in the house, after all.
The man standing before me was huge. Tall and broad in a way I
hadn’t experienced outside of a Marvel movie night. He filled my
sight and still went upward. I looked up slowly, taking in his charcoal
grey suit and blue pocket square. No high street retailers made suits
that would fit that body. That was custom-made.
He was blond, with skin that looked like it hadn’t seen the sun in
days. Longer even. But his pallor didn’t distract from the clean,
handsome lines of his face, nor the arctic-cold ice-chip blue eyes
that stared at me narrowly. I grasped for my headphones and pulled
them from my ears as our eyes collided.
‘Jesus Christ!” I exploded, fright sending the words bursting from
my lips. My heart pounded in my chest from the sudden adrenaline
of finding someone else here.
“Quite,” the man said, in a deep voice. “I take it you’re the new
cleaner?” he asked. I nodded quickly, hoping there was some way I
could salvage this. I didn’t need my behavior to be costing my
agency a big-ticket client.
“Yes, I am. I’m Eliza, nice to meet you,” I stumbled through. I
held a hand out to the man, and he simply looked at it. I slowly
realized with horror that this man wasn’t going to shake my hand.
He was going to embarrass me and leave me hanging. I dropped it
to my side.
“I’m Wren Erickson. Mrs. Smyth left you instructions, I presume?”
he asked. I nodded, feeling heat blossoming in my cheeks. I felt like
a told-off school girl.
“Then there must be a reason why you’re singing at the top of
your lungs when I am not to be disturbed, and you’re not wearing
your uniform,” he continued.
“It didn’t say anything about disturbing you, in the notes, I
mean, I didn’t know anyone was-,” I rambled.
“Are you arguing with me?” he asked in a hard tone.
“No, I’m correcting you,” I clarified, seeing my own anger rising
at the man’s highhanded attitude. Ok, so I hadn’t been great, but it
was a misunderstanding. He blinked at me, seemingly perplexed by
my words.
“Correcting me?” he repeated slowly. He was starting to look
even madder, so it seemed like a good time to get the hell out of the
bathroom and let him cool down. I spun on my heel and went to the
bucket I had kept the cleaning things in, and picked it up. I
approached the door.
“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I should get on, and I’m sure you have
plenty to get on with too,” I said with my tried and tested reasonable
tone. If it worked on a four-year-old that hated to eat her greens,
hopefully, it would work on this outrageously attractive, and very
angry man. I took a step closer to him, and he stepped immediately
back. His angry expression turned wary, and he backed up a good
few paces as though the thought of coming into physical contact
with me was repellent. I can’t lie, that stung a little, but I pushed it
aside. Who cared what a randomly handsome, snobbish rich guy
thought of me? I had a job to do.
 “Apologies for the singing, I’ll keep it down, from now on,” I said
with false cheer, and turned away down the hall, leaving the mystery
man staring after me. I could feel his eyes on my back.

W ren

This morning was not going to my usual plan. Not in the

slightest. I was off schedule, turned about, unsettled, and generally
uncomfortable… because of her. The cleaning lady.
Eliza.
I usually avoided the cleaning staff. If I did happen to have a
run-in with one, I never saw them again. I didn’t like strangers in my
space. I didn’t like anyone in my space. Granted, my run-ins with
people weren’t usually as dramatic as having to hang up a
conference call because of loud off-key singing echoing along the
cavernous halls of the house.
Then, to add insult to injury, she’d opened the door, and… she
hadn’t been anything like I’d expected. She was beautiful, stunningly
so. She wasn’t wearing the uniform, and her curvy body would live
in my fantasies, I could already tell.
Her leggings had molded up long legs, and her tight black t-shirt
had clung to her extremely generous curves. She had red hair, so
usual in its deep, auburn color, and it was caught up loosely in a
bun. Strands had escaped and fallen around her shoulders. She had
freckles on her nose and green eyes. She’d looked like a highland
pixie or some other kind of woodland sprite. Her mischievous smile
had only completed the impression.
I’d been struck dumb by the vision of her, in the flesh, after so
long being isolated, and then she’d corrected me. For someone like
me, whose life was run by people scrambling after my goodwill and
endless money… it was something new. A change, after so long.
 So, when Mrs. Smyth called later to check on her, I didn’t
mention our run if. If I had, I’d have never seen her again, and I
was already determined to.
 CHAPTER THREE

E liza

So, I hadn’t gotten off to the best start with Mr

handsome and uptight yesterday, but tomorrow was a new day. I’d
almost convinced myself that everything was going to be fine, when
my phone rang that morning, just as I was finishing Charlotte’s
pigtails.
“Ok, go and get our shoes on, we leave in five,” I told her, pulling
my phone from my back pocket. My heart sank at the sight of my
friend’s number. I depended on Claire to drop Charlotte off every
morning during the week, and bridge the awkward gap I had
between job and nursery.
“It’s Evan, he’s got to go to the ER. We’re in a taxi on our way
already. He decided to see if his new cape really could make him fly
this morning, and he might have broken his arm,” Claire sounded
panicked and I felt terrible at that moment for thinking about myself.
“Oh god, I’m sorry. Good luck and let me know if you need
anything,” I said.
“Medical insurance would be a good start,” Claire said quietly,
and my heart broke for her. At any one time, myself and Lottie were
just one bad fall or illness away from bankruptcy as well.
“I’ll come by the hospital after my shift and we’ll see what we
can do, ok?” I offered, though raiding my meager piggy bank wasn’t
going to help much, that was what friends do.
 “Thanks. What about you? Do you want to bring Lottie to the
hospital? She can stay with me,” Claire offered.
“No, there’s no time, and anyway, you need to concentrate on
Evan. Don’t worry about us, we’ll be fine,” I told her, sounding much
more confident than I felt, and hung up the phone.
‘What’s wrong mommy?” Charlotte asked, appearing in front of
me in her pressed little nursery dress and sneakers with frilly socks
around the top. I forced a bright smile to my face.
“Nothing Lots, you are just getting to come with me to work
today,” I told her brightly. Inside I cringed at the thought of the
uptight man from yesterday finding a messy four-year-old in his
pristine space, but there was nothing I could do. I was a mother
first, and everything else second.

We arrived just on time at the townhouse on the Upper East

Side. Charlotte was quiet, looking around the place in wonder, as if
unable to believe such a pretty, clean street existed. The mum guilt
was thick this morning.
We entered and made our way to the kitchen.
“Lottie, we need to be really quiet here, and not make any mess,
ok?” I whispered to her, as we walked barefoot through the sparkling
house. It looked like no one had been in since the last time I’d been
here, not even the man who lived here, disturbingly enough.
“Does one person live here?” Charlotte asked in wonder, looking
at the huge kitchen, with a marble island in the middle of the space
that was bigger than our entire kitchen.
“Yes, he does, and although he might be quiet, he is home, so
we have to be super silent little mice, ok?”
“Does that mean you won’t sing?” Charlotte asked with a giggle.
“Wow, I guess tales of my excellent singing have spread far and
wide?” I teased her, as she giggled. I took her little backpack and
pulled out the water-based markers and a coloring book I’d brought
with me. It was never going to keep her entertained for long, but I
was planning on cleaning faster than I’d ever cleaned before.
Then I changed into the overalls and tied my hair up.
 “I’m going now, Lottie. Be a good girl,” I told her, feeling my
heart squeeze to leave her in the kitchen while I went about
cleaning. “I’ll look in on you soon, and if you really need me, come
and find me, ok?” I told her. No doubt professional suicide, but
mothers would understand me. Charlotte nodded seriously. I left her
standing there, in the middle of the kitchen, with her little art station
set up on the floor, and could only pray it would buy me some time.

W ren

Eliza was back. Not that I’d spent the morning hanging out near
the security camera screen that showed the front door. Not at all. I
wasn’t sure for whose benefit I was even denying it. I was
absolutely waiting to see that she arrived, and not someone else
from the agency. I’d been very clear that I wanted Eliza herself to
return.
And she did… only ten minutes ago, and most interestingly and
most worryingly of all… she hadn’t been alone.
I walked down the hall toward the kitchen and was arrested by
the sight of the child, a little copy of her mother, sitting on the
kitchen floor, coloring with terribly messy strokes of a virulently
colored pen. She looked up suddenly as though sensing me. We
stared at each other.
“Hello,” the child said, standing up. She seemed to be wearing a
school uniform, but she certainly wasn’t at school. Perhaps she was
sick. The thought made me keep my distance even more so. “What’s
your name?” she asked. She had red pen on her cheek.
“Wren. What’s yours?” I asked her.
“Charlotte. Do you live here?” she asked without a pause.
“Yes.”
“Where are your toys?” she immediately asked again.
 “I don’t have any,” I told her. She narrowed her little eyes at me
suspiciously, as though a person without toys wasn’t to be trusted.
“Why not?”
“I don’t know why,” I told her. I must be going crazy. Too much
isolation had broken my mind, and I was now imagining having a
full-blown conversation with a young child in the middle of my
kitchen, in a house, I hadn’t left for five years.
“In our neighborhood, the library gives you toys to borrow, or
sometimes, you can get one for free at Christmas and keep it and
everything,” Charlotte said. I didn’t know what to respond to that.
“I can buy myself toys if I want them,” I told her. Charlotte shook
her head with perfect confidence.
“Toys have to be shared. You can’t keep them just for you, it’s
selfish.”
“Oh, ok,” I said finally, turned about by the conversation. “Do you
know where your mother is?” I asked her. She shook her head.
“I’m to stay here and not make a mess, except… I did get some
pen on the floor already,” Charlotte said, her small face turning
worried, as she looked down at her feet.
“Well, eh, just be sure to clean it up before you go,” I told her,
withdrawing. This whole thing was getting worse and worse. First,
this mysterious, rule-breaking Eliza spoke back to me, refused to
wear the uniform, and generally caused me to think of her all day,
and now, she brings a floor-scribbling child with her? It couldn’t
continue.

I started through the house in the direction of the large bathroom

that sat on the upper floor. If my timing was correct and she was
following the schedule, that was where she should be. Sure enough,
she was there. She was standing in the shower, the overalls rolled at
her ankle to keep out the water, and cleaning the glass walk-in
partition. She was just as disturbingly beautiful as yesterday. The
sight of her made me feel strange. My body felt tight and hard, my
pulse raced and for once, it wasn’t with anxiety. It was excitement,
the realization was startling. I hadn’t felt excited about anything or
anyone in a long time. Too long. The feeling was exhilarating.
“Now, look here-,” I started, having already planned what I was
going to say. At the sound of my voice, she jolted with surprise and
turned. Her baggy overalls, already far too large for her slight,
underfed frame, caught at the rolled, damp ankle, as she twisted,
and she started to fall.
I didn’t even pause to think about it. I just lunged for her.
 CHAPTER FOUR

E liza

One moment I was falling. The next, I was jerked hard

against a warm, solid body, and the rain of the shower was falling
across my body. My head was free of the spray, thankfully, and I
blinked up at the client. My grumpy mystery man. I wasn’t the only
one getting wet. His white shirt was soaking through, revealing a
muscle-packed abdomen beneath.
The gaping neck of the too-large overalls was letting the water
soak through my thin t-shirt, and my washday, hot pink bra was
shining right through. Wren’s eyes were stuck to it, and I felt a
sudden tension spring to life between us. His handsome face was
slack, shocked by the sudden fall, and no doubt the cool water
hitting us, but underneath that surprise, there was something else.
Desire.
My gut classified it, even while my head argued. Why would a
man as rich and handsome as Wren Erickson desire me? I couldn’t
find a good answer for that, but regardless, my gut remained
convinced. He blinked up at my face, tearing his eyes from my wet
chest, sitting just at his eye level. The shock was disappearing, and
the desire was taking over. His hands felt strong and huge, where
they were wrapped around my upper arms, and they flexed on me.
Tightening a moment. My pulse felt like it was hammering in my
veins. The tension between us seemed to be igniting a sequence of
attraction that I’d never felt before, like a string of dominos falling.
My breath felt tight, my heart almost painful as it shuddered against
my ribs, as Wren leaned toward me, I realized with perfect certainty
that this man, stranger, billionaire, clean-freak, client, was going to
kiss me. I also knew with perfect certainty that I was going to let
him. More than let him. I was going to kiss him right back.
It was mad, impulsive, irrational… it was all the things I never
usually let myself feel. Maybe it was because of that constant denial
that I was now powerless to stop myself from pressing closer and
surrendering my lips to his. I spent so long thinking about Charlotte,
about survival, food, rent, nursery, being on time… I neglected
everything else. I neglected myself, and the parts of myself that
made me a flesh and blood woman, and not just a care-taking robot.
I hadn’t been touched in so long… His lips met mine hard, knocking
my breath out of me, thrilling me, making me sure that this was
real, and not just a dream.
He was as shocked by his move as I was. I could feel it curling
off him. A strange, dreamlike state fell over us both. A state where
perfect strangers could kiss, and it was like dropping a lit match on
spilled gasoline.
He moaned in my mouth, a deep, bone-shaking growl that made
my core clench emptily. I pulled him against me, his shoulders
feeling like they were made of solid rock under his wet shirt. He
clutched me to him like I was a raft in a turbulent sea. The feeling of
being wanted like that made my bones melt.
“Mommy?” Charlotte’s little voice from the doorway was like a
bucket of iced water over the head. After a dizzying moment, I
pushed back, and slipped against the wet tile floor, and banged my
head hard on the wall.
“I’m here, Lots, what’s wrong?” I asked, pushing aside the
clanging pain in my head. She was looking between me and Wren
with wide eyes. She’d never even so much as seen me touch a man,
never mind being locked in an embrace with one.
“I got some pen on the floor,” she said, dropping my gaze and
looking at her shoes.
 “That’s alright, sweetie, isn’t it, Mr. Erickson?” I prompted the
man sitting in a daze beside me. The shower was still raining down
on us, and I shivered. I tasted blood in my mouth from biting my
tongue when I’d hit my head. Wren’s eyes fixed on the corner of my
mouth, and his handsome face pulled into a scowl. He pushed
himself up, and left the shower enclosure, dripping water across my
newly cleaned floor.
“Don’t worry about the pen. I’m sure it comes off. Why don’t you
go and watch TV in the den,” he suggested briskly to Charlotte. Her
eyes widened.
“Can I?” she asked me, biting her lip in an effort to restrain her
excitement.
“Just for a little bit,” I told her, giving her a reassuring smile that
I didn’t feel. TV wasn’t allowed in the mornings, and any diversions
from that rule were few and far between.
“Ok, mommy!” Charlotte’s voice echoed off the bathroom walls as
she turned and skipped away, completely distracted by the offer of a
rare morning cartoon.

In her absence, awkwardness crept in. Wren cursed softly,

shoving a hand through his dripping hair, and stepped around me to
twist the shower off. The silence after the rainfall sound felt
deafening.
“Here, give me your hand,” he said quietly, coming to loom over
me.
“I’m fine, it’s fine,” I said, pushing my wildly beating heart down
my choked throat and pushing myself up the wall. I steeled myself
to make contact with the man who’d just set my blood on fire. A
stranger. A client. I cringed. This was the danger of neglecting adult
needs for too long. They just boiled over.
“You’re bleeding,” Wren said quietly, his hand coming up to my
face. I frowned up at him, confused. His thumb swiped across my
lower lip and came away bloody. My tongue throbbed in my mouth,
reminding me of the sharp bite I’d given it.
“It’s fine,” I said again, unable to cobble together a more
reasonable sentence.
 “No, it’s really not,” Wren said, in a tone, I couldn’t decipher. I
had a sudden, terrifying feeling I was about to lose not only this
client but my entire job if he complained about me.
“I’m sorry,” I muttered, as I pushed past him, feeling the burning
warmth of his warm skin through his wet shirt as I went. “I’m so
sorry.”

W ren
I couldn’t work the rest of the day. I was a no-show at meetings,
I ignored Mrs. Smyth’s calls, and everyone else’s. I couldn’t function.
I sat in that bathroom that still held the faintest note of her
perfume, and let the water rain down on my shoulders until it
started to get cold. After turning it off, I sat some more staring at
the pale tile wall opposite me.
My body felt like a stranger’s. No, that wasn’t quite right. My
body felt vaguely familiar, like a feeling I used to know but had
forgotten. My body felt like mine, but a me I hadn’t been in a long
time.
The places where I’d touched Eliza throbbed, not to mention the
rest of my body, but those places, in particular, felt alive. The first
touch in so long, and I hadn’t died. I hadn’t lost it. I hadn’t become
weak. Nothing bad had happened.
Nothing bad at all, in fact, it had been more pleasure than I’d
ever thought I’d have again. With a woman, I knew nothing about.
Was Eliza married? Involved with someone? No, I answered myself
decisively. She wasn’t the kind of woman who would cheat. She was
a responsible mother. She was a good person.
She was the first one to reach inside the ice-cold fortress I’d
barricaded myself in and break through those walls in five long
years.
I didn’t know what it meant. I didn’t know how to feel about it.
The only thing I knew for sure was that I had to see Eliza again.
And soon. I rang my PA, and quickly gave instructions. I used to be
a man known for his decisiveness and authority. A man who went
after the course of action that he had decided was best, at all costs.
A master strategist. If there was a chance of becoming that man
again, I couldn’t let it get away.
 CHAPTER FIVE

E liza

A week later, I found myself back at the imposing

entrance to Wren Erickson’s uptown mansion. I was supposed to be
here to clean, but I’d already tried to get the agency to send
someone else. For some reason, I supposed I was just about to find
out, Wren wasn’t happy with that. He wanted me, and if I wanted to
keep my job, I’d better be there.

So here I was. I had to be here, but I didn’t have to be happy

about it. The housekeeper let me back into the cool, slightly clinical
house, and made painful small talk as I took my shoes off.
“Eliza, thank you for coming,” Wren’s voice floated down to me
from above. I craned my neck to look up at the imposing man
himself making his way down the elegant marble stairs in the foyer.
“Well, it’s my job, after all. Contrary to what happened last time,
I know-,” I started. So much for keeping my cool. I made it all off
two minutes. Wren waved a hand dismissively.
“No need to apologize,” he said, and I couldn’t help the snort
that left my lips. He blinked at me, clearly surprised.
“I wasn’t going to apologize. You kissed me, if you recall,” I told
him sharply, folding my arms over my chest like that meager
protection would help me against his withering stare. He approached
me, towering over me. I don’t think he meant to loom, but he clearly
wasn’t aware of just how imposing a figure he cut.
“You’re disagreeing with me?” he mused. I flushed but held my
ground.
“I’m correcting you,” I told him cooly, parroting our first
exchange. The faintest smile touched his lips. It was strange, like
seeing a marble statue smirk. He didn’t say anything for a while,
merely watched me. If he thought he could make me sweat with the
long silence, it was totally working, but I wasn’t about to let him
know it.
“Your daughter isn’t with you today?” he made a show of looking
over my shoulder. I shook my head, not trusting myself to speak.
Ok, technically, that had been breaking his rules, but I wasn’t about
to concede it. He kissed me, for god’s sake! I had to keep the moral
high ground here. “Perhaps best, as we have something to discuss,”
he said, and stepped back, giving me space to breathe again. He
turned on a heel and started through the house. “Join me in the
study, we have to talk,” he called back over his shoulder, so full of
command that he had no doubt that I might refuse. I could just go
on with my cleaning and ignore him, well, ignore him until he
realized how rude he was. But he was the client, and I was here to
do a job. I grumbled under my breath but followed. I was kind of
curious anyway, I reasoned.

T here was absolutely nothing that could have prepared me for the
contract that Wren pushed across his leatherbound, mahogany desk
at me. I stared at it.
“Let me get this straight. You want to employ me to perform
touch therapy on you. You do know I’m not a prostitute, right? If I
was I wouldn’t be cleaning houses,”
“I am aware. The touch part involves hands, arms, anywhere
accessible without removing clothing.” Wren’s voice was so matter-
of-fact, it made me feel like I was the crazy one here.
“I’m confused.”
“I assumed you would be.”
“Well, in that case, explain better,” I ground out. Wren nodded.
His face was completely devoid of emotion, except for a ticking
muscle in his jaw.
“It’s not an easy topic, so please forgive me for avoiding it,” he
said, his tone hard. My forehead scrunched and I waited patiently as
he thought over his words. “I had an accident five years ago. When
I was traveling abroad, I was taken for ransom, and held there for a
week.” The words sounded stark and heavy, sitting in the air
between us. Wren’s eyes dropped my gaze, and he turned his face
slightly to look out the window. That muscle still ticked in his jaw,
revealing how very much this conversation was costing him. “After,
when I was rescued, I came back here and didn’t go out for a while.
Then, I didn’t go out for longer. I wanted everything clean and
controlled, and predictable. I couldn’t stand anything else. After a
while, it stopped being a choice to go out or not. I’ve been here ever
since,” he said, turning back to me, and meeting my eyes. I don’t
know what he saw there in my face, but it had to reflect the horror
and compassion I felt inside me. His story was horrifying. I couldn’t
imagine being trapped inside, a prisoner of your own mind. I
swallowed a sudden lump in my throat. Bossy and strange as Wren
Erickson was proving to be, he didn’t deserve that. I thought of his
kiss in a new light. Was I the first person this devastatingly attractive
man had kissed in five years?
“Yes, Eliza. You are the first woman I’ve kissed in five years,” he
said quietly, and only then I realized I’d spoken out loud. “You’re the
first woman I’ve touched in five years,” he continued. “You are the
first woman I’ve wanted to touch.” His last confession stole my
breath. Suddenly, the room felt very warm and my skin tight. His
aloof mask seemed to have dropped and now he looked at me with
a frank, honest look. He was laid wide open, bare of defenses, and
after what he had been through, I worried what it cost him. “So you
see, you are already no ordinary person to me. You’re very special,”
he said. I opened my mouth to argue with that, but what could I
say? Facts were facts and this man hadn’t been able to touch
anyone else in five years. Despite the reasons why I was an
exception, I was still an exception. “So, please forgive me if this
contract seems bizarre, but I have to try. I understand if it’s strange
for you, or inconvenient, that is why I think you’ll find the financial
compensation attractive. Of course, I wouldn’t dream of taking your
time for free,” he said, once more tapping the contract.
I picked it up with shaking fingers. I felt Wren’s eyes on me like a
touch, as I flicked through the document. The figure on the first
page stopped my heart.
“You’re going to pay me half a million dollars if I can get you to
go outside?” I said numbly.
“While that is the end goal, I don’t have high hopes for it. I also
allow for financial compensation for each other milestone you could
help me achieve, chiefly, getting me used to touch again,” he said. I
stared a little more at the contract and then closed it, feeling the
words blur before my eyes.
“I don’t feel right taking money for this. What happened between
us was – a crazy impulsive moment born of mutual attraction. It’s
wrong for me to capitalise on your condition to get money from
you-,”
“A mutual attraction?” Wren asked, raising an eyebrow at me. I
nodded. No point in lying now. “Interesting,” he merely commented,
sitting forward, and suddenly seeming much more vital and focused
than he had appeared before. “You should know it has my
therapists’ full approval,” he said.
“It does? That’s nuts. I can’t let you just throw money away on
something that might not work,” I protested weakly, but my
arguments were failing by the moment. I can’t lie that I didn’t need
the money.
“Money I have. I could give you a million dollars every day for a
year and not have touched a tenth of my fortune, what I don’t have
is freedom,” he said. I couldn’t even imagine money like that, but in
Wren’s confidence, my worries fell away. If he was rich enough not
to care, then I wasn’t going to persuade him. Not when Charlotte
and I needed the money so desperately. “What I don’t have is
someone I want to touch. I don’t have someone to want to go
outside for. I don’t have a reason to change. I don’t have you, Eliza,”
Wren said, standing now, and coming around the desk. Without the
huge obstacle between us, the tension in the room seemed to
skyrocket. He stopped near me, but not touching me. I stood too,
feeling the height imbalance far too much while seated.
“Maybe it was a fluke. How can we know that it will work again?”
I asked him. His eyes dropped over me, stealing my breath. Why did
he have to be so sexy? Why couldn’t he be a hunchbacked monster
hiding in his clean castle? It’d be much easier to keep my head in
that scenario.
“Shall we test it?” he offered abruptly. My mouth went dry as a
desert at the very thought of being touched by this man again. I wet
my lips, and his eyes lingered there. “I’ll try and touch you if you
allow me to,” he said quietly. I shrugged.
“For that paycheck? Sure, let’s check and see,” I said. My heart
felt like it was beating in my mouth and I couldn’t quite keep my
breath steady. He reached out, and it felt like time slowed at that
moment. His fingers on my hand made me jolt. His hands were cold,
his skin frozen, like the man himself. Locked in the past he couldn’t
escape. His fingers slid up and over mine, coming up to my wrist
and back to my fingertips. I could see that muscle leaping in his jaw,
and I wondered how it felt to touch me. Was it awful? Was he
forcing himself to get used to it? I shivered at the sensation of his
featherlight touch, and then, it was gone. He cleared his throat and
nodded shortly.
“It works.” That cryptic and hardly illuminating statement didn’t
really answer any of my questions about how it made him feel. On
the other hand, I had a whole lot of feelings that were totally
inappropriate for the situation.
“Are you sure-,”
“It works, Eliza. I’m sure.” His voice was low and gravelly.
I nodded and folded my arms over my chest.
“Ok, if it works, then, I’ll do it. I need the money, as you can
probably guess, and if I can help you, then… I’ll be happy to,” I told
him honestly. “Obviously, the touching… it can’t be too – intimate,” I
said, getting flustered quickly. Wren raised an eyebrow at me.
“Obviously,” he agreed and I sagged with relief.
“Ok, well, when we start?” I wondered, glancing at my watch. He
followed my gaze.
“I suggest you read the contract in full and sign if you’re ready.
We can begin as soon as that,” he said, all-action now I was
agreeing.
“Today? I have to pick Charlotte up at twelve,” I told him. He
nodded, as though he had expected as much.
“Of course. I don’t suppose I’ll be able to manage much quickly,
at any rate. However, you might want to consider a closer nursery,
so you won’t be rushing around, and I’d recommend cutting your
other working hours too.”
“I can hardly afford a nursery around here,” I argued.
“Read the contract in full, and then, we’ll talk,” he said, and with
that, started toward the door. “I have a meeting, I will see you
afterward,” he said, and then just left me there, with a twenty-page
contract and about a million questions.

W ren

I sat through two hours of meetings, barely taking in a single

word that was said. My mind was still in the study, still lingering in
the smell of Eliza’s light, flowery perfume, and the feeling of her
hand in mine. Telling her it worked had been a colossal
understatement. It more than worked. Touching Eliza brought me
back to life. I felt my body in ways I hadn’t in years. I felt desire I
could only vaguely recall, but never quite so strongly. Touching her
hand, my entire body had hardened. The thought of being around
her, having her by my side, coaxing me outside, touching me… this
was it. I could feel it.
 I didn’t want to scare her. I was an intense guy and my situation
was far from normal. I had achieved with a contract what others
would have managed through charm. Time and attention from the
woman they were interested in. And I was interested in her. I
wanted her body, I respected her hard work and the care she took
of her daughter, and I admired her compassion. She was the
complete package, a dream woman, and somehow, she had landed
in my hands. She admitted to our mutual attraction? That was good.
That was a start. For me, it was already much more, and soon, she
would feel it too. There was something between us so potent, it
could shock to life even a body that had been stuck in stasis for five
years. It was unbelievable. That me, the man who couldn’t meet
anyone save the poor souls that wandered through this house, had
met Eliza. It was a gift from the universe after half a decade of
torment. I wasn’t about to let it slip through my fingers.

E liza was cleaning the kitchen when I managed to end my meetings

early. My blood was surging with excitement to see her there, in my
home, close enough to touch. The contract was lying on the kitchen
island, and I picked it up, feeling my heart hammer in my chest as I
flicked to the last page to see if she had signed. There it was, an
elegant scrawl of black ink.
Eliza was mine, in all ways.
She just didn’t know yet the full extent of my desire for her, and
that was fine. I shouldn’t scare her.
“You found the conditions acceptable then?” I asked. She jumped
when I spoke, having not heard me approach. She had headphones
dangling from one ear, and now, pulled the other out.
“Yes, though you are probably overpaying me horribly, I’ll take
it,” she said and gave me a tentative smile. She didn’t know that I
longed to give her much more than that. I would give her and
Charlotte an extraordinary life, that I swore to myself. “Did you want
to stick to the same schedule of cleaning?”
“I don’t mind. You don’t have to clean if you want to stop. Let
the agency send someone else,” I suggested.
‘But what would I do when I was here?” she wondered. “Just sit
around touching you?” My throat tightened at the thought.
“Why not see it as your free time, except for the therapy?” I
offered. She laughed and blew a stray strand of hair from before her
eyes.
“Free time? What’s that?” she said, coming around the island to
stand near me. “So, should we start, I mean, you said you wanted to
start today?” she asked me hesitantly. I nodded and gestures to the
chairs outside on the terrace.

Eliza sat beside me, and lifted her face to the sun, closing her
eyes and inhaling deeply. She looked moved by the simple pleasure,
and I was similarly affected, just from watching her.
“Ok, what should we do?” she asked.
“Let’s start slow. If I may?” I asked. She nodded and held out her
hand. Her slim, long fingers wavered in the air between us. I
reached out and closed the gap with my own. This time, there was
no shock when I touched her, only the gentle warmth and feeling of
peace. The panic that usually resided just inside me was calm and
allowed my entire hand to slip into hers, lacing the fingers together.
Her breath caught in her chest, and her eyes were glued to our
joined hands.
“Is it working?” she whispered to me. I nodded, unable to speak.
It was more than working. With my hand in hers, I felt like myself
again. “Can I touch you back?” she asked.
“Let’s try that next time. Don’t be late for your daughter,” I said,
mourning the loss of her touch immediately, but I couldn’t let myself
go too fast. Letting her know the desperate want building inside me
was strategically risky, and I hadn’t risen to where I had by taking
risks.
Instead, I reigned in my desire, and tentative hope and watched
her get her bag and slip her shoes on. I watched as she stopped on
the threshold of the door and look back, giving me a blinding smile.
Then, she was gone, slipping out into the bright afternoon sun, so
unafraid and brave. So much braver than me.
 CHAPTER SIX

E liza

The next month was the strangest of my life. For the first
time in longer than I could remember, I didn’t have to worry about
money. I dropped Charlotte at the nursery myself and picked her up.
I went and did other cleaning jobs that fit my schedule, and twice a
week, I met Wren and his therapist at his house. I still felt bad about
taking his money, especially since most of what I had to do involved
little from me. We sat outside on the terrace, and Wren would hold
my hand, or touch my arm. Once, we had gone to the door, and he’d
opened it, though we hadn’t gone outside.
I could feel his frustration and anger at himself, at what he
perceived to be his weakness. All the hardened and aloof edges of
Wren Erickson were gradually wearing away, and I was seeing the
man behind the façade. The trouble was that each week that
passed, and at each touch of his skin against mine, the more our
kiss replayed in my mind.
The more I wanted him.

This bright and sunny morning, Wren’s therapist, Dr. Lamb,

wanted to try a new therapy. For the first time, I would touch Wren
first.
“Are you sure you don’t mind?” I asked him. He was looking at
me with a stone-like expression. I had come to understand that the
more reserved and closed Wren was, the harder he was finding the
situation.
“It’s harder, but it’s important to try,” he said, seeming to steel
himself for my touch. Suddenly, Dr Lamb was pulling her phone out
of her bag and frowning at it. The sudden movement broke the
tension building between us.
“You’ll have to excuse me, I’m afraid I have to go,” the good
doctor said, as she stood hurriedly. I thought Wren might protest,
but he merely nodded. There was a rush of sound as she went from
the room and left us alone. I realized we hadn’t truly been alone
since that morning that we had kissed, four long weeks ago.
“Should I go too?” I asked, feeling uncomfortable and on the
spot. Maybe he was waiting for me to go? Wren shook his head
slowly, his eyes landing on me in a way that made me feel
breathless.
“No, I want you to stay, if you don’t object. Let’s not give up on
the session. We can continue alone,” he said quietly.
“Is that a good idea?” the words burst out of me before I could
help myself. Wren gave me a curious look.
“Why not?” he wondered. Because I’m afraid to touch you
without supervision . I merely shook my head and shrugged. “Let’s
do it,” I heard myself say, and cringed internally. God, I had to get
my mind out of the gutter.
We sat on the couch. It felt too intimate to me, but I was clearly
the only one struggling, as Wren relaxed back and smiled at me. He
looked so natural now, free of the anxiety that had hovered over him
like a cloud.
“Touch me then, Eliza. I’m ready,” he said easily. That made one
of us. I shifted forward, and started slowly, bringing my hand to lie
on his, gradually rubbing my thumb across the back of his hand. I
felt like my own skin had seared in the wake of this unsupervised
caress.
 “How does it make you feel?” I asked quietly, highly aware now
that his moods could be hard to read. I didn’t want to push him too
far too fast.

W ren

Being in control was easier, after the accident, and the loss of
physical control over my fate, touching Eliza first was manageable.
Being touched by her? It was something else. For a whole month, I
had endured the slightest touches by this woman who I’d come to
think of as the epitome of everything I wanted in a partner. She was
kind and compassionate, funny, and strong. I wanted her in every
way.
And today was the day I let her know it.
Today, I tipped my hand.
I just couldn’t hold it inside any longer.
I wanted Eliza, and I wanted her to know it.
“It feels good. Bearable,” I told her. I had to ease her in to my
feelings. Every session had made me more and more certain that
Eliza was my future, and I would do anything I had to keep this
woman in my life. She brought her other hand up to my forearm. My
shirt sleeves were rolled to my elbow, as they usually were, and
now, she closed her hand over my taut forearm. She let out a huff of
a laugh.
“It’s as hard as a rock,” she observed. “You like working out?” I
recognized her tactic. Some light, irrelevant conversation to make
the whole thing less awkward.
“Not particularly, but I never want to be weak again,” I told her,
brutally honest. I was unguarded, I couldn’t get a grip of myself.
Eliza had no idea that I only knew how to be awkward these days.
“I’m sure what happened wasn’t because you were weak,” she
said.
 “No, I’m sure it wasn’t. But when you can’t get over something,
and your entire life changes because of it, you look for ways to feel
even a little more in control. Working out, being strong, makes me
feel in control and I need that,” I told her. She nodded and gave me
a wry smile.
“Having a four-year-old my life is seldom under control. I can
imagine there’s comfort in it.” I didn’t tell her how I longed for a day
when I wouldn’t need it. A day when all the messy and
uncontrollable parts of a life well lived would be bearable. Enjoyable,
even.
“Charlotte seems like a very well-behaved child,” I told her. I
didn’t know much about children at all, but all in all, Eliza’s daughter
seemed very tolerable.
“She’s had to be. It’s just been us, forever, and she’s seen me
struggle. She’s seen me tired, worn out, frustrated. She’s seen it all.
I feel bad that I couldn’t protect her from all that.”
“She understands you, she knows it’s all for her,” I heard myself
say, without even thinking about it. She blinked up at me.
“Are you sure? Because sometimes I just feel like the worst mom
in the world,” she confessed. Her hand was still on my forearm, and
now, I took my other one and placed it on top of hers. The extra
touch thrilled through me.
“You are a stellar mother and an amazing woman. You are
helping me, after all. A stranger to you.”
“For a price.”
“You deserve every penny. I’d give you more if I thought you’d
accept it. I’d love to spoil you, Eliza. You and Charlotte,” I said. She
blinked at that a little, and I tried to pull myself back. I was letting
my obsession show.
“Spoil us how?” she asked, and her teasing tone reassured me
she wasn’t about to take my words as the confession of love that
they were.
“Everything you could think of… helicopters and private jets,”
“Transport is the first thing you think of?” she laughed.
“Ok, how about the best school money can buy, with a
brownstone right beside it,” I suggested.
 “Now you’re talking my language,” she laughed. My hand
tightened on hers. I couldn’t help it. I wanted to hold her tight and
never let her go.
“I want to talk your language. I want to understand all the things
you care about. Eliza,” I leaned in and carefully cupped her cheek. “I
just want you,” I confessed. There it was, the plain, unvarnished
truth, finally freed.
She should have been surprised. She should have been taken
aback if my performance over the last few weeks had been any
good, but she wasn’t. The chemistry between us was too natural
and undeniable for that. Even Eliza had admitted that our attraction
was mutual. I dared to hope she’d felt it develop into more. “I used
to dream about the kidnapping, you know. You’ve heard my therapy
sessions.”
“I don’t listen, I wouldn’t.”
“I don’t mind if you do. You’re the reason I’m even trying again. I
had lost interest in re-joining the world, I realize that now. I’d
stopped trying. I’d given up, until recently. Until you.”
“I – I don’t know what to say to that,” she said quietly.
“You don’t have to say anything, I just wanted to tell you that.
I’m sorry for kissing you so… abruptly that day. It was like a dam
burst inside me. I wanted to tell you that for a while,” I said.
She didn’t answer, merely studied me and then shifted closer.
She raised a hand to my face but stopped short of touching me. My
skin prickled just under the phantom finger touch.
“May I?” she asked, and I could barely get my answer out, the
excitement to be touched by her was so intense.
“Please.” The word came out more of a plea than permission. Her
fingers fell to my cheek, and she gently stroked downwards and
cupped my jaw.
“How about now. Is this bearable?” she asked.
“Very,” I hardly skipped a beat before answering. Her eyes moved
first to my neck, and before I dared think that she might touch
there, her fingers slid slowly downwards.
“How about now?” her voice was a deep murmur.
 “I don’t have words for how bearable it is,” I told her. She
smirked at that and shifted closer. My entire body hardened in a
moment. I wanted this woman more than I’d ever wanted anything.
I wanted this woman more than I wanted to go outside. “No one has
ever known me as you do. In all my inglorious state,” I said quietly.
The slightest frown passed over her forehead. “You must think me
pathetic. Damaged.”
“I don’t. You’re not damaged, or pathetic. I think you’re strong. I
admire you… and I don’t accept your apology for kissing me,” she
said. My breath caught in my chest.
“I-,” I started and stilled immediately when she brought her
fingers up to lightly press against my lips, sealing my apology inside.
Her touch was blissful, and I wanted to lean into it. I was almost
completely sure now that wherever this woman touched me, it
would feel good.
“I don’t want you to apologize because I enjoyed every second of
it. More than enjoyed it. If you hadn’t kissed me first… I probably
would have kissed you. The more I find out about you, the more I
want it,” she confessed, a wicked gleam appearing in her eyes. I
leaned in toward her, drawn by her confidence and warmth. Drawn
by that invisible thread of feeling that seemed to have sprung
suddenly into existence between her heart and mine, one that
couldn’t be severed.
I leaned my arm on the couch behind her, bringing my face
closer and closer to hers. My skin tingled with the feeling of being so
close to Eliza. I could smell her sweet scent, and wanted to surround
myself with it.
“Is that right?” I murmured, my eyes falling to her lips. “How
about now? Do you feel like kissing me now?” I asked her. My heart
felt like it could burst out of my chest. It was racing with something
other than fear for the first time in five long years. She nodded, her
eyes catching on my lips. My gaze invited her, as I reached for her
waist and pulled her against me. She fit in my arms as though she
was designed to be there. The missing part of me was finally found.
She raised herself up on her tiptoes and pressed her mouth against
mine. She kissed me gently, testing and tasting. I wondered if she
worried that I would break, or recoil. I had to show her how sure I
was in my desire for her. Her touch felt like the sun on my face, after
so long in the dark. I swiped my tongue across the seam of her lips,
taking control of her light, tentative kiss and taking it deeper. My
tongue pushed into her mouth and stroked along hers. Her breath
caught in her throat, as I pushed her slowly back into the cushions
behind her.
“I want you, Eliza, I’ve wanted you since I first saw you and it’s
only gotten worse,” I confessed, as I trailed kisses along her jaw.
She angled her head back and her eyes drifted closed. Her hands
flexed on my shoulders, holding me close against her. “Having you is
the first thing I’ve wanted in five years,” I murmured, reaching her
ear and tracing that delicate shell with my tongue, and making her
shudder in my arms. “Longer even,” I told her roughly, as I lowered
my hand to the black strap of her dress, and slid it down her arm.
We both watched it go. “I’ve been waiting for someone to make me
feel this way my whole life,” I told her. Her eyes were large, pupils
eating the iris up completely. “I don’t want to let you go. Let me
spoil you… let me spoil you forever.”
“Stop, if you don’t stop saying all those things -,”
“What? What will happen?” I wondered as I pressed kisses down
her chest.
“I’ll start believing it,” she whispered. I carefully peeled her vest
from her chest and revealed her bra. My heart started to hammer in
my chest. I looked up and pinned her with my honest look.
“Believe it,” I said fiercely and captured her lips in a fierce kiss.
She sank into my touch, as I let my hands delve into the cups of her
bra and rubbed my thumbs across her nipples until they were needy
little buds. I lowered my lips to the dusky pink tips of her breasts
and sucked one into my mouth. She moaned and held my head
against her. I worked my tongue over her nipple, lathed it, rolling it,
tugging on it. Eliza was writhing against me, rubbing her body
against mine.
 CHAPTER SEVEN

E liza
I wanted Wren Erickson, and today, I was going to have
him. I was sick of the growing tension between us without
release. I was sick of my growing crush, ripping like wildfire through
me and only burning hotter and hotter. I hadn’t lied. Every single
thing I learned about Wren, the more I liked him. Who could guess
that a man like him could be interested in me?
“I want you inside me,” I breathed to him, as his tongue
continued to suck on my breasts, making me wet and desperate. I
took his hand and slowly lowered it down my stomach, toward the
hem of my skirt. I wanted him to know it was ok to touch me. That I
welcomed his touch. “Is it too much?” I worried a moment, as Wren
stilled. His eyes flickered to mine and there was so much emotion
there, burning rolling emotions.
“It’s just enough. It’s what’s meant to happen between us, Eliza.
I want all of it, every single thing you have to give me,” he said
roughly, and his hand slid up my thigh, brushing my thin panties and
feeling my wetness through them. “You’re so ready for me,
sweetheart,” he said, as his finger pulled the elastic aside. I nodded
frantically, as my own hands went to his suit trousers and I tried to
unfasten them.
“Is this ok?” I checked again.
“Fuck yeah, it’s ok,” Wren said, breaking into wry laughter that
filled my heart. He helped me to shed the trousers, and kicked his
boxers out the way as well. I saw him naked, well, half-naked
anyway.
“Take it all off, I want to see you.”
“Likewise.” I wriggled out the rest of my clothes and watched
hungrily as he stripped off. He was just as muscly as he had
promised to be through his clothes. I wondered a moment if he felt
exposed or vulnerable in front of me, but there was nothing in his
face that showed me that. He would tell me if he did. Our
relationship had been nothing but brutally honest since the moment
we’d met.
He went to kneel before me, and I grabbed his shoulders and
pulled on him.
“No, not right now. I just want you, and I want you now,” I told
him, suddenly feeling frantic for his weight to bore me into the
couch. I wanted him inside me, to fill that deep longing within. He
grinned at me before kissing me and shifting his body weight over
mine. I spread my legs wide to cradle his hips.
“Who am I to deny you, but next time, I want to taste you,” he
murmured.
“Next time?”
“Next time, and the next and next… tell me you’re protected.”
“Of course I am. I have a four-year-old kid,” I laughed and felt
him shudder as he rubbed his dick against my entrance.
“You know I’m clean sweetheart, I’m practically a born again
virgin,” he said.
“Me too, let’s make our own little secret club,” I laughed, and
broke off in a gasp, as his dick pushed inside me. He was so hard,
and his cock was long and stretched me completely. I breathed
through my nose and tried to relax my tight muscles.
“You’re so tight sweetheart, you fit me so well,” Wren muttered,
as he started to nudge his hips in and out in shallow thrusts, before
plunging in more deeply. I cried out at the feeling and immediately
reached out for more. Wren started to build a steady rhythm, sliding
in and out deeply, and reaching a hand down to rub my clit.
“Wren, I’m going to come,” I babbled unthinkingly. I couldn’t
form thoughts properly, my mind felt hazy. It was embarrassingly
quick, but I’d waited years for this, and all the restrained touching of
the last month had been the most agonising foreplay.
“Come, sweetheart, come,” he said, angling his dick to rub
against all the delicious places inside me that set me on fire. The
hand circling my clit, as his dick pounded into me, sent me spiraling
over the edge.
I came hard, my whole body seizing up and contracting around
Wren.
“Sweetheart, you’re destroying me,” Wren muttered through
clenched teeth before he started to come inside me. He filled me up
and made me feel warm inside. He held me tightly against him,
tucked into his chest, cherished in his arms, and I knew at that
moment, that none of the sweeping and grand things that Wren had
said were lies. All the crazy feelings between us were real. I knew it
in my bones at that moment.

A fter , I lay on Wren’s chest and listened to his heart beat beneath
my ear.
“This is the most I’ve touched, or been touched in so long,” Wren
said, stroking a hand down my bare arm and making me shiver.
“How does it feel?”
“It feels… normal,” he said. I hit his chest and looked up at him.
“Normal?” I demanded indignantly. He laughed, a chesty,
booming sound.
“When you’ve felt so wrong, and so unlike yourself for so long,
feeling normal is a good thing. It feels like coming home, after being
lost in the dark,” he said quietly. My heart swelled at those words. I
looked up, just as a stray tear dropped my eye, down my cheek.
“Don’t be sad, I’m not good at this but I meant to say, I’m happy,”
he said and kissed my forehead. “I’m so happy. You’ve changed my
life. I want to make this feeling last forever. I want to make a home,
for you and your daughter, and spoil you every day.” I felt thrilled to
my core, my heart filling up and running over.
 “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I still have to get you outside,”
I said quietly. I needed to be able to do something for this man, this
incredible man that I loved so much. Loved?? Yeah, who was I
kidding? Loved.
“I don’t expect miracles. I don’t need them. It’ll happen, one day.
I have something to leave the house for now. It’ll come,” he said and
sounded confident. He leaned down to kiss me, tipping my face up
and shifting between my legs. “In the meantime, let’s get used to
the touching.” I welcomed him with open arms.
“Of course, you know, they say practice makes perfect.”
 ONE YEAR LATER

W ren

“Shhh, she’s coming,” Charlotte’s voice called down the hall, and
was preceded by the pattering sound of her little feet on the tile.
“She’s coming? She’s coming,” I repeated. My heart was racing,
and I felt my palms dampen. I was so nervous. I hadn’t been so
nervous… ever, maybe. Sure, I’d faced times when I thought I might
die by another’s hand, or die alone in my home, but now, I was sure
I’d die if Eliza said no.
“I’m home!” she called from the door, and I heard it slam.
Charlotte had reached the kitchen and now she scooted around the
counter and looked at me with wide eyes.
“Did you think of what to say?” she demanded, crossing her little
arms and tapping her foot.
“Of course, kind of,” I hedged. She sighed with a resigned air as
if she expected nothing less.
“Well, good luck,” Lottie said.
“What’s going on in here?” Eliza asked, as she came into the
kitchen and took in the scene.
“You have to sit here, mommy,” Charlotte said, coming and
leading her mother to the table where candles were lit.
“Do I?” Eliza murmured, playing along.
“You do, and you have to listen and not laugh, and say yes, ok?”
Charlotte coached Eliza. Eliza nodded solemnly. She raised her eyes
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
illustrissimo duque de Borbon, y el
duque de Traeto, y don Fernando
de Alarcon, y Pero Antonio conde
de Policastro; y avnque todos
estos señores tienen aqui sus
capitanes y compañias en alguna
cantidad, no es tanto como la
tercera[452] parte de la que el Rey
de Françia tiene en su campo.
Pues como el exerçito del rey de
Castilla está aqui seys meses en
que alcança todo el inuierno,
padeçiendo gran trabajo, y como
el Rey de Françia no acomete ni
haze cosa de que le puedan
entender su determinaçion,
determinan los españoles darle la
batalla por acabar de partir esta
porfia; y veys aqui cómo auiendo
el marques de Pescara a los diez
y nueue de hebrero del año de mil
y quinientos y veynte y çinco dado
vn asalto en el campo de los
françeses por probar su cuydado
y resistençia, en el qual con dos
mil españoles acomete a diez mil,
y sin perder diez hombres de los
suyos les mata mil y doçientos, y
les gana vn bestion con ocho
piezas de artilleria. Pues viendo
esta flaqueza acuerda el virrey
con todos aquellos señores dar la
batalla al rey de Françia en el
lugar donde está fortalezido; y
ansi el viernes que son veynte y
quatro dias del dicho mes de
hebrero; vn hora antes del dia
trayendo todos camisas sobre las
armas, porque se conozcan en la
batalla, dando alguna poca de
gente con muchos atambores y
trompetas al arma por la puerta
del hospital de San Lazaro, donde
estan los fosos y bestiones de los
françeses para estorbar que los
imperiales no entren en Pauia; y
mientra estos hazen este ruydo,
la otra gente rompe con çiertos
injenios y instrumentos por
algunas partes el muro del parco;
y dan aqui como veys en sus
enemigos. De todo esto es
auisado el Rey de Françia por
secreto que se haze, y ansi
manda la noche antes que todos
los mercaderes, y los que venden
mantenimientos y otra gente inutil
para la guerra salgan del real por
dexar esenta la plaza. Los quales
luego se ponen el campo y el
Tesin sobre Pauia, donde el Rey
tiene echo vn puente para passar
las vituallas que vienen de
Piamonte. De manera que
quando los imperiales ponen en
effecto su empresa ya el Rey de
Françia con todo su exerçito está
armado y puesto en orden de
batalla, y no se rompe tan presto
el muro que no se puedan muy
bien conoçer vnos a otros en la
batalla sin diuisa. El marques de
Pescara toma consigo seteçientos
caballos ligeros y otros tantos
arcabuzeros españoles, y la gente
de armas hecha dos partes lleua
el virrey la auanguardia, y el
duque de Borbon la batalla: y los
otros caualleros ligeros lleua el
duque de Traeto. El marques del
Gasto lleva la infanteria española;
la infanteria ytaliana y
lançenequeneques se haze tres
partes; la vna es cabo el conde de
Guiarna; y de la otra es cabo
Jorge cauallero aleman; y del otro
es cabo otro capitan de
alemanes; y ves aqui cómo en el
punto que el muro del parco es
derribado y los imperiales llegan a
la plaza los suyzaros se hazen en
contra de los alemanes y juntos
combaten muy hermosamente de
las picas, y juega con tanto
espanto la[453] artillería, que todo
el campo mete a temor y braueza,
y ansí cada qual lleno de yra
vusca a su enemigo: y
reboluiendose todas las
esquadras y batallas de gente de
armas y cauallos ligeros, se
ençiende vna cruel y sangrienta
contienda[454] y luego del castillo
y çiudad de Pauia, por esta puerta
que se dize de Milan, salen en
fabor de España quatro mil y
quinientos infantes con sus piezas
de artilleria y doçientos hombres
de armas, y treçientos cauallos
ligeros. Los quales todos dan en
la gente ytaliana de los françeses,
que está en esta parte
aposentada, la qual façilmente fue
rota y desbaratada. Aqui llega vn
soberuio soldado, y sin catar
reuerençia al gran Musiur de la
Palisa le echa vna pica por la
boca, que encontrandole con la
lengua se la echa juntamente con
la vida por el colodrillo. Un
arcabuzero español asesta a
Musiur el Almirante que da bozes
a sus soldados que passen
adelante: y hallando la pelota la
boca abierta, sin hazer fealdad en
dientes ni lengua le passa a la
otra parte, y cae muerto luego;
yendo Musiur de Alueñi con el
braço alçado a[455] herir con el
espada a vn prinçipe español,
llega al mesmo tiempo vn otro
cauallero de España y cortale el
braço por el honbro y juntamente
cae el braço y su poseedor sin la
vida. Musiur Buysi recogiendole
con vna herida casi de muerte le
alcançan otra que le acaba. El
conde de Traeto arrojó[456] una
lança a Musiur de la Tramuglia,
que dandole por çima la vedixa le
cose con la brida y cae muerto él
y su cauallo. El duque de Borbon
hyere de vna hacha de armas
sobre la cabeça a Musiur el gran
Escuir, que juntamente le echó los
sesos y la vida fuera. Un
cauallero ytaliano, criado de la
casa del marques de Pescara, da
una cuchillada sobre la zelada a
Musiur de Cliete que le saltó de la
cabeça: y acudiendo con otro
golpe, antes que se guarde le
abre hasta la nariz. Un soldado
español esgrimiendo con vn
montante se encontró en la talla
con Musiur de Boys, y derrocando
de vna estocada el cauallo, en
cayendo en el suelo corta al señor
la cabeça. Otro soldado de la
mesma naçion, jugando con vna
pica, passa de vn bote por vn lado
al duque de Fusolca y[457] le salio
el hierro al otro; y luego da otro
golpe al hermano del duque de
Loren en los pechos que le
derrueca del cauallo: y la furia de
otros cauallos que passan le
matan hollandole. Tambien este
mismo hiere a Musiur de
Sciampaña, que venia en
compañia destos dos prinçipes, y
le haze igual y compañero en la
muerte. Veis aqui cómo el Rey de
Françia, viendo roto su campo
piensa saluarse por el puente del
Tesin; y otra mucha parte de su
exerçito que ante él van huyendo
con intençion de se saluar por allí:
los quales todos son muertos a
manos de los cauallos ligeros
borgoñones, y muchos ahogados
en el rio; porque los mercaderes y
tenderos que el dia antes hazen
salir del real, como ven en rota el
campo de Françia, se passan el
rio y quiebran el puente por
asegurar que los españoles no los
siguan y roben; y ansi suçede,
que yendo el Rey de Françia al
puente por se saluar, a çinco
millas de donde la batalla se dio,
le encuentran en su cauallo
quatro arcabuzeros españoles,
los quales, sin conoçerle se le
ponen delante, y le dizen que se
rinda; y no respondiendo el Rey,
mas queriendo passar adelante,
vno de los arcabuzeros le da con
el arcabuz vn golpe en la cabeça
del cauallo de que el cauallo cae
en vn foso, como aqui le veys
caydo; y a esta sazon llega vn
hombre de armas y dos cauallos
ligeros del marques de Pescara: y
como ven el cauallero ricamente
atauiado y el collar de San Miguel
al cuello quieren que los
arcabuzeros partan con ellos la
presa, amenaçandoles que donde
no la partieren que les matarán el
prisionero. En esto llegó vn criado
de Musiur de Borbon, y como
conoçe al Rey de Françia va al
virrey que viene alli çerca y
auisale el estado en que está el
Rey; y llegado el virrey haze
sacar al Rey debajo del cauallo: y
demandandole si es el Rey de
Françia y a quién se rinde,
responde, sabiendo que aquel es
el virrey, que el es el Rey de
Françia, y que se rinde al
Emperador; y veys aqui cómo
luego le desarman quedando en
calças y jubon, herido de dos
pequeñas heridas, vna en el
rostro y otra en la mano: y ansi es
lleuado a Pauia y puesto en
buena guarda y recado. Y el
virrey luego despacha al
comendador Peñalosa que lo
haga saber en España al
Rey[458]. El qual es reçebido con
aquella alegria y plazer que tal
nueua y vitoria mereçe. En
compañia del Rey de Françia son
presos el que se dize ser Rey de
Nauarra, y Musiur el Gran
Maestre, y Memoransi, y el
vastardo de Sauoya, y el señor
Galeazo Visconte, y el señor
Federico de Bozoli, y Musiur San
Pole, y Musiur de Brion, y el
hermano del marqués de Saluzo,
y Musiur la Valle, y Musiur
Sciande, y Musiur Ambrecomte, y
Musiur Caualero, y Musiur la
Mota, y el thesorero del Rey, y
Musiur del Escut, y otros muchos
caualleros, prinçipes y grandes de
Françia que veys aquí juntos
rendidos a prision, cuyos nombres
seria largo contaros.
Y luego acabado de nos mostrar
en aquella pintura esta vitoria y
buenauentura del nuestro
feliçisimo Carlos prinçipe y Rey
de España nos passó a otro
quartel, donde no con menos
primor y perfeçion del arte estaua
pintada la imperial coronaçion y
trihunfo Çesarico[459] que hizo en
Bolonia en el año de mil y
quinientos y veynte y nueue años,
siendo pontifice el papa Clemente
septimo; y tanbien el viaje que
haze luego alli en Alemaña por
resistir al turco que viene con
gran poder hasta Viena por
destruir la cristiandad; y veys aqui
todo su campo y batallas puestas
apunto, y cómo le haze retirar.
Y como nos obo mostrado en
todo primor de la pintura todas
estas grandezas nos passó a otro
paño de la pared, y nos mostró la
terçera vitoria igual a las
passadas que obo en el reyno de
Tunez diez años despues, que fue
en el año de mil y quinientos y
treynta y çinco; y ansi nos
començó a dezir. Veis aqui cómo
despues que este bienauenturado
prinçipe huuiere hecho vn
admirable alarde de su gente y
exerçito en la çiudad de
Barçelona sin dezir a ninguno
donde va: veis aqui cómo vn
miercoles nueue de Junio,
estando todo el campo a punto de
guerra y partida como conuiene,
auiendo los tres dias antes
auisado, manda leuantar las
uelas: las quales son treçientas
en que va la flor y prez de
España, y con gran musica y
bozeria mueuen soltando mucha
artilleria del mar y tierra, que es
cosa marauillosa de ver. Veis aqui
cómo el sabado siguiente a las
seys de la mañana llega toda la
armada a la ysla de Çerdeña,
donde hallan al marques del
Gasto que con su armada y
compañia les[460] está
aguardando. Tiene consigo ocho
mil alemanes y dos mil y
quinientos españoles de los viejos
de Ytalia; y siendo aqui reçebidos
con muy solene salua se rehazen
de todo lo neçesario, y luego el
lunes adelante, que son catorçe
del mes, salen del puerto alas
seys de la mañana con prospero
viento, guardado el orden
neçesario; y el martes alas nueue
horas de la mañana llegan a la
vista de la Goleta, que es en
las[461] riberas y costa de Tunez:
puerto y castillo inexpugnable.
Pues tomada tierra avnque con
alguna defensa de los
contrarios[462]; porque luego
acudieron al agua gran cantidad
de moros, turcos y genizaros, a
defenderles el puerto. Pero
jugando desde los nauios muy
poderosa artilleria apartaron[463]
los enemigos del puerto, tanto,
que todos aquellos señores y
prinçipes sin peligro se pueden
saltar a tierra; y ansi todos
recogidos por aquellos campos
con la mejor guarda y miramiento
que pueden se aloxan hasta que
todo el canpo es desembarcado.
Despues que en dos dias enteros
han desenbarcado armas y
cauallos y aparejos manda su
Prinçipe bienauenturado[464] que
todos se pongan apunto de
guerra: porque los moros los
desasosiegan mucho, que a la
contina estan sobre ellos
escaramuçando. Veys aqui cómo
viene a bessar las manos del
Emperador Muley Alhazen Rey de
Tunez, con treçientos de cauallo,
y no se parte de aqui hasta que el
Rey[465] le mete y apodera en su
çiudad. Veis aqui cómo se hazen
trancheas y vestiones y
terreplenos para conbatir la
Goleta: en los quales tardan
veynte y ocho dias. Veis aquí
muchas y muy cotidianas
escaramuças y rebates que
tienen los moros con los
christianos a vista de su prinçipe:
donde cada qual se señala con
gloria eterna de buena fama.
Pues como es acabado este
vestion muy fuerte que aqui veis,
en contra deste castillo de la
Goleta, manda el Enperador que
se ponga en orden de vateria; y
ansi ponen en él treynta y seys
piezas de artilleria gruesa, los
mejores tiros de toda la armada,
los quales asestan a las dos
torres prinçipales del castillo; y en
los otros vestiones y trancheas
ponen hasta quatroçientos
cañones gruesos y menudos, los
quales asestan á la fortaleza y
galeras que tenian[466] los moros
en el estaño de agua que viene
de Tunez hasta la mar. Veis aqui
cómo estando todos apunto para
dar la vateria haze el Emperador
vn admirable razonamiento a
todos sus capitanes y soldados,
animandolos al acontecimiento y
prometiendoles grandes premios.
Veys aqui cómo miercoles que
seran catorçe del mes de Julio,
quando fue[467] venida la mañana
el Emperador manda que se
comiençe la vateria por la[468] mar
y tierra. La qual es la mas fuerte y
contina y admirable que nunca se
dió en campo de griegos,
romanos ni egipçios. Porque
dentro de quatro horas estan
deshechos y hundidos por tierra
los muros, çercas y valuartes mas
fuertes que tubo la antiguedad.
Todo es aqui en breue roto y
horadado, que ya no tienen los
moros con que se amparar, cubrir
ni defender, y les es neçesario
salir al canpo a pelear como estan
los de fuera. Veys aqui cómo a las
dos horas despues de medio dia
los soldados españoles enbian a
suplicar al Emperador les dé
liçencia para entrar la fuerça,
porque ya no es menester gastar
mas muniçion; ya comiençan los
moros a salir al campo viendo
poca defensa en su fuerça, y los
españoles los reciben con gran
animo y matandolos y hiriendolos
lançan animosamente en sus
muros que ya estan sin albergue
ni defensa, y tanta es la matança
que en ellos hazen que los hazen
huyr[469] por el estaño adelante,
donde se hahogan infinitos dellos.
Veys aqui cómo con gran[470]
alegria y esfuerzo ponen los
españoles las vanderas sobre los
muros y fuerça, auiendo muerto
más de treynta mil moros que
estauan en aquella defensa sin
morir[471] diez de los cristianos.
Estan tan esforzados y animosos
estos soldados españoles con
esta vitoria, que si en esta
coyuntura los tomasse de aqui el
Emperador serian bastantes para
façilmente vençer los exerçitos
del Turco y gran Can y Sophi si
todos estos poderosos prinçipes y
sus fuerças se juntasen en vno.
Porque aqui ganan la mas fuerte
y inexpunable fuerça que en el
mundo está en edifiçio. Ganan
aqui treçientas piezas de artilleria
gruesa de bronce muy hermosa, y
mucha muniçion de poluora y
pelotas, flechas, lanças y otros
infinitos generos de armas y
muniçion. Tomarse ha en esta
vitoria la mejor armada que nunca
pagano perdió: porque estan
seteçientos nauios gruesos y
treynta y seis galeras: y la resta
de galeotes y fustas mas de
çiento. De aqui parte luego el
Emperador otro dia adelante a dar
combate a la çiudad por dar fin a
esta empresa. Y suçede que le
sale al camino Baruarroxa con
çien mil convatientes por resistirle
la entrada: donde con muy poca
dificultad fueron todos
desbaratados, y muerta infinita
multitud dellos; y veys aqui cómo
viendo el mal suçeso el Capitan
Baruarroxa huye por se librar de
las manos del Emperador y se
acogió a la çiudad de Bona, vn
puerto vezino alli[472] en las
riberas de Africa; y veys aqui
cómo llegado el Emperador a la
ciudad de Tunez se le abren las
puertas sin resistençia, y le
enbian las llaves con los mas
antiguos y prinçipales de la
çiudad ofreçiendosele en su
obediençia. Veis aqui cómo
resulta desta vitoria ser libres
veynte mil cristianos que en
diuersos tiempos auian sido
presos captiuos por el mismo
Baruarroja: los quales todos
estauan en el alcazaua de veynte
años antes presos. Veys aqui
como hechos sus capitulos de
conçiertos, parias y rehenes entre
el Emperador y Rey de Tunez le
pone en su poder la çiudad,
dandole las llaues, mando y
Señorio como de su mano; y
despues de auerlo todo pacificado
se embarca para Siçilia: y de alli
para Sauoya por libertar lo que de
aquel ducado tiene vsurpado en
aquella sazon el Rey de Françia a
su hermana la duquesa.
Pasando mas adelante dixo: veys
aqui cómo prosiguiendo este
bienauenturado prinçipe en su
buen hado trabaja por juntar
conçilio en la çiudad de Trento en
Alemania, por dar buen medio[473]
en los herrores lutheranos que en
aquella tierra estaran arraygados
muy en daño de la iglesia
catholica. Y veys aqui cómo no
podiendo atraer[474] por esta via
los prinçipes electores del imperio
al buen proposito, determina de
lleuarlos por fuerça de armas; y
ansi el año de mil y quinientos y
quarenta y siete, a veynte y
quatro de Abril les da vna batalla
de grande ardiz y esfuerço:
siendo[475] capitanes de su liga y
confederación aquellos dos
cabeças de su prinçipado:
Lansgraue y Juan duque de
Saxonia, a los quales vencio[476]
y prendio junto al rio Albis en
aquella batalla campal con grande
ardiz[477]. En la qual murieron[478]
y son presos muchos señores y
prinçipes[479] de su compañia, y
avnque en los tiempos adelante
viendo los prinçipes alemanes
que las cosas del conçilio se
ordenan en su destruiçion,
trabajan a ser vengados por mano
del duque Mauriçio y con fabor
del Rey de Françia, con el qual y
de su liga hazen vn exerçito en el
año de mil y quinientos y
çinquenta y dos y vienen con
fuerça determinada, siendo
capitan el duque Mauriçio por
desbaratar el conçilio que está en
effecto junto en la çiudad de
Trento: y tanbien procuran
intentar prender al Emperador
que está sin auiso alguno de su
atreuimiento y desuerguença; y
avnque esto verna ansi, pero veys
aqui cómo plaze a Dios por ser
buena la intençion y zelo deste
bienauenturado prinçipe y buen
hado, como no tiene algun effecto
la dañada voluntad destos
herrados herisarchas. Mas antes
veys aqui cómo luego buelue todo
a nuestro buen prinçipe en
prosperidad, boluiendo a trihunfar
de sus enemigos. Porque sus
basallos y prinçipes de España la
proueeran de gente y dinero en
tanta abundançia que le sobren
fuerças para todo y verna en fin a
proseguir su conçilio: donde auida
condenaçion de sus peruersos
herrores se les dara el justo
castigo que mereçen cabeças de
tanta peruersidad; y despues de
largos años effectuando en vn hijo
suyo Don felipe sus grandes y
cesareos deseos yrá a gozar con
Dios a la gloria. Todas estas son
xornadas en que se muestra
admirablemente su buenauentura
y hado, profetizado todo y
diuinado doçientos años antes
que cosa alguna destas suçedan:
porque veais el saber desta mi
abuela, y el valor y buen hado
deste bienauenturado prinçipe y
Señor nuestro.
Y estando en esto vino el
maestresala diziendo que estaua
la çena aparejada, y ansi todos
engrandeçiendo el saber de la
maga y el injenio admirable de la
pintura y la buenauentura y hado
de nuestro prinçipe nos salimos
de la sala admirados todos de la
suntuosidad del edifiçio: la qual
tornó mi diosa a çerrar y
acompañandola por nuestra guia
nos venimos al lugar donde a la
çena soliamos conuenir, donde
hallamos las mesas puestas con
el mesmo aparato y magestad
que auia en las passadas; y ansi
començando la musica se siruio
con aquella abundançia que se
acostunbraua hazer: la qual çena
duró hasta que anocheçió, y
como fue acabada sentandose
todas aquellas damas y
caualleros en sus proprios
asientos y alçadas las mesas del
medio se representó vna comedia
de amor con muchos y muy
agraçiados entremeses,
agudezas, inuençiones y
donayres de grande injenio. Fue
juzgada de todos aquellos
caualleros y damas por la mas
injeniosa cosa que nunca los
humanos hayan visto en el arte
de representaçion: porque
despues de tener en ella passos y
auisos admirables, fue el ornato y
aparato todo en gran
cumplimiento. Todas aquellas
damas reçibieron gran deleyte y
plazer con ella: porque
notablemente fue hecha para su
fabor, persuadiendo lleuar gran
ventaja a los hombres el natural
de las mugeres. Eran los
representantes de tan admirable
injenio que en todo te pareçiera
ver el natural, y conuençido no
pudieras contradezir su
persuasion. En fin en aquella
casa no se trataua otra cosa sino
donayres y plazer: y todo era
deleyte nuestro obrar y razonar, y
como el mundo de su cogeta no
tenga cosa que no cause hastio y
enhado, y todo no enoje y harte,
aunque mas los mundanos y
viçiosos a el se den, en fin buelue
su tiempo, y los deleytes hazen a
su natural, y como el apetito es
cosa que se enhada y fastidia
presto buelue la razon a se
desengañar por el fabor y graçia
de Dios. Esto quiero que veas
cómo en mi passó; lo qual por ser
ya venido el dia dexemos para el
canto que se siguirá.

Fin del sexto canto del gallo de

Luçiano.
 NOTAS:
[444] G., quiero que por agora dexemos.
[445] Tachado: Siguesse el sesto canto del gallo de Luçiano
orador griego, contrahecho en el castellano por el mesmo autor.
[446] G., estaua.
[447] G., antes que entren en la çiudad, estando ya junto.
[448] G., pequeño.
[449] G., Rey.
[450] G., en.
[451] G., puso.
[452] G., terçia.
[453] G., el.
[454] G., batalla.
[455] G., por.
[456] G., arroja.
[457] G., que.
[458] G., Emperador.
[459] G., Çesareo.
[460] G., los.
[461] R. (Tachado), puertos y.
[462] G., resistencia de los enemigos.
[463] G., apartan.
[464] G., manda el Emperador.
[465] G., este nuestro dichoso caudillo.
[466] G., tienen.
[467] G., es.
[468] G., el.
[469] G., fuerçan yr.
[470] G., grande.
[471] G., faltar.
[472] G., puerto de alli algo vezino.
[473] G., remedio.
[474] G., traer.
[475] G., trayendo ellos por.
[476] G., vençe y prende.
[477] G., batalla que les da.
[478] G., mueren.
[479] G., prinçipales.