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.“I really want to try this age-play thing with you.You are right,” Camille whispered.“I realized today how much of life I have missed out on because my little girl was forced to grow up too quickly and what little was there, was not wanted.Will you help me? And her? Please? Can you maybe teach me how to have fun and not worry so much about what people think? Like you?”“You want to be like me? But you hear…”“I know the tabloids exaggerate and manipulate everything they can.You have pursued your dreams.You don’t put up with any guff from the directors or other actors.You are strong and confident, and yet you still know how to enjoy the things that life gives you.I want to be more like you are.I am so tired of being the perfectly behaved Camille LeCroix who, except in her role as Pippi, never smiles.”“I am not that happy, honey.I…”“Okay, you need to learn how to laugh more and goof around, but maybe this… this thing we are doing can help both of us.Please, Erik.Teach me.I saw you play last night.When you caught me cheating, you almost let go of your need to be stoic.I really liked that side of you.It made me laugh and I want to see more.”“I don’t know what to say.I mean, I am both surprised and thrilled that you can see who I am past the image of the media.As for the playful side, I give you the credit; you bring it out in me.I have been engaged in this lifestyle for a long time and I have never been more relaxed and free with a little as I am with you,” he admitted quietly.“I also need to know what having a real friend feels like.I have never had one.My life was filled with acquaintances—tons of people who I never knew intimately or learned to care about.For the last eleven years, I hid in my dressing room between scenes to avoid being ridiculed by my costars.When I got home, I holed myself up in my bedroom to escape my mother.I am so tired of hiding.”“Believe it or not, I am a loner as well.I never had the time, or desire, to make friends.Mainly because of my trust issues.I was the opposite of you.It took me a long time to accept that late-night parties and greedy women did not satisfy my need for intimacy.So you see, I do understand.More than you realize,” Erik responded contemplatively.“I guess we have both chosen to live a very lonely existence, huh, kiddo? You… Even in this role… Satisfy my need for intimacy.”“Then can we work on helping each other? I know that I need this, Erik.I did not realize how much until I woke up this morning and felt so alive.Will you teach me? I want to explore the very depths of this character inside of me and I can’t do it alone.”“Of course I will, baby girl.Anything that you need, I am here for you.”“Good.And that need goes both ways.” She put her mug down on the table and stood in front of him.“Right now, I need you to be consistent.I managed to divert you this morning and, by nature, I can be a little manipulative.I don’t like that part of me and want to change it.”“Really? What do you suggest I do about it, dear?” Erik raised his eyebrows with amusement at her doughtiness.“You can start with spanking me for breaking your house rules of jumping on the bed and swearing.” She attempted to appear brave, hoping that he would admire her integrity.“Seriously?” He looked taken aback.Soon a small smile covered his face.“You do understand that breaking house rules means a more severe punishment than what you have previously received, don’t you?”Camille nodded, lifting the Life Alert button from her neck and tossing it on the table.She was determined to see this through, without an escape.It was time for her to stop hiding from herself and the world.She needed this.“Yes, Uncle Erik, and I don’t need, or want, a way to run from what you have to teach me.I… I trust you.”“Trust is a gift that I don’t take lightly, darling.May I ask what really brought this on? Yes, we kissed, but…”“I had an epiphany, that’s all.I realized that I need to start somewhere in this healing process if I am ever going to be any good for anyone else I might end up with in my life,” Camille said softly.“I owe this to myself, and Stan, to at least try.I have to find a way to wipe out the past and not allow the words spoken to me in cruelty to have the power to dictate my future.No one can do that for me, but I need to learn some tools to help myself.”“You are wise beyond your years,” Erik sighed.“Are you going to allow me to direct you in any way that I see fit?”“Yes, sir.I will try not to fight you.No promises, though.If I am going to react, then it might also include noncompliance.I have to take the risk that being myself will not drive away the people I care about.”“I expect that.May I also touch you? Intimately?”Camille hesitated and then nodded her head.“I am just not ready for sex.I mean…”“Me neither, baby.With you, I would want to make certain that there is something more between us than a movie contract.You deserve that.Nothing less.”“Thank you,” Camille whispered.“That means a lot to me that you said that.”“Go to your room, Cami.You are to find a nice corner and put your little, freckled nose in it while you wait for me.I will be there shortly, after I straighten up in here and put the skates away.”“Yes, sir, Uncle Erik.” On impulse, Camille reached down and hugged him tightly before racing out of the room.Chapter NineErik leaned back against the sofa, watching the young woman scurry away.Then he reached forward to pick up the Life Alert button, holding it thoughtfully in his hand.What happened? he asked himself.It was just a kiss.Two kisses…No, not just a kiss.Not for him, anyway.The taste of her lips on his was the sweetest thing he could ever remember having experienced.She had abandoned her fears for him, trusting him to guide her through this journey into womanhood.Like him, she was tired of living her life in the way that others desired; she wanted to live for herself.Staring at the little device in his palm, he began to plot out his mission.First, to bring her to a place of true abandon and absolute trust and second, to make her his own possession.His fingers wrapped around the object in his hand, closing to a fist.She truly trusted him
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