The Broken Benefactor

~10~ (UPDATED 2/9/2020)

(VALERIE)

Valerie's earlier focus was solely on their professional relationship and nothing more. He was her patient and she was his healthcare provider. Even his request to marry her was taken with a grain of salt. Such a ridiculous question was far fetched, so she discarded it as if it were a joke. 

          Busy work was intentionally utilized as a tool to forget about the stress of the job. It also made each day fly by while exhausting just a little extra energy. Her goal was simply to keep the subtle shift between them from affecting the way she viewed her boss.

          Denying the power of his words was actually quite easy. Since she had plenty of the experience required to send a man packing without so much as a "Hi," "Bye" or "Go to hell," she wasn't moved by anyone's attempt to gain access to her heart. 

          She often found herself reconsidering her decision to remain on the job the first time he screamed at her as if she were the enemy. It wasn't until she overheard Charlotte lying to him about some make-believe slight that she came to realize just how maniacal the woman was.

          Reasoning that she would work for him until she saved up enough money to go back to college, Valerie maintained the concentration she needed to get through each day.

          When she overheard their messy breakup, her heart cried for the man who sacrificed selflessly for others. That was the man she refused to leave in the manipulative hands of a red-headed vixen. Charlotte was obviously a gold digger, but it wasn't her place to weigh in on the relationship the couple shared.

          All Valerie was concerned with was caring for a serviceman who didn't deserve to be betrayed. 

          It was beyond reason for Valerie to believe that Ethan was genuinely filled with a need for her. As his lips shot sparks of fire across the cocoa skin they sampled, Valerie was forced to reevaluate her previous assumptions.

(ETHAN)

Ethan casually ran his finger along the smooth line of her chin. He often found his gaze lingering on skin he found was hard to describe.

          The hypnotizing color was that of warm roasted honey pecans, cinnamon coffee, caramel, and a hint of milk chocolate. During the times he relied on her to help him stand, his eyes were lost in the complexity of the hue.

          Occasionally, he fought the urge to steal a taste to determine if she were as sweet as he imagined her to be. He wasn't aware of Valerie's previous assumption that he was a racist. His words once convinced her that he hated the color of her skin when in truth, he had always been mesmerized by it.

          As he pulled her close, the sight of her curves produced a sensation of light-headedness that made him feel drunk with passion. Ethan was sure he was lost in a dream from which he preferred never to be awakened. 

          His lips brushed her skin as the wetness of his tongue seduced her senses. Valerie's breath hitched in her lungs as she drew him closer. Her response left him with a high he had never experienced in his life.

          A primal need grew in the pit of his belly as he indulged himself in her. Since the night she walked in the bathroom and caught Ethan in the act of releasing his sexual frustration, she was completely unaware of the power her body held over him. 

          For months before that fateful night, his eyes had been fixated on every move she made. At first, he reasoned it was due to boredom. The more he allowed his eyes to feast on her completing daily tasks, the more a forgotten sensation stirred deep within him.