Caged by Amber Lynn Natusch Page A

I felt the growing tension in the air and knew I wouldn’t be able to take it for too much longer. I knew he was angry and clearly distraught by my behavior, but there was something else coming off of him, something that I couldn’t place.
    Is he…hurt?
    He finally broke the silence.
    “I’m sorry,” he said as he turned to face me. “I have no right to judge your behavior or your choice in…men.” The last word came off his tongue like it was bitter, offending his mouth.
    I sooooo wasn’t expecting that.
    I wasn’t sure what to say. The truth was that I didn’t recognize my behavior that night any more than he did. I felt strange from the moment I laid eyes on Eric. That sensation seemed to only increase with my physical proximity to him. As soon as he went back into the club it was like I slowly came down off a high and more into myself. With that came the embarrassment and shame of my uncharacteristically whorish behavior. I was even more ashamed that Sean had been there to witness it, and to add insult to injury, had to save me from the whole debacle.
    He owed me no apology.
    “Don’t be. I was being defensive earlier. I…I don’t know what happened. I’ve never felt like that before and certainly haven’t acted that way either. What’s really weird is that the feeling seems to be fading. Do you think somebody slipped something into my drink?” I asked while I grasped for something to rationalize my behavior.
    “Yes,” he said, firmly. “I think that’s exactly what happened. I’m going to take you home now, and I’m going to stay over to make sure there aren’t any ill effects from whatever got into your system tonight.” He fired up the engine and backed the car out onto the street. “No arguments, either.”
    I saw no point in challenging him and surrendered to his plan, falling asleep on the car ride home. Before I reached the point of dreaming, I awoke with a shooting pain in my head, courtesy of the wall it was banged against in my stairwell.
    “OUCH!” I groused.
    He grinned impishly.
    “Sorry, I didn’t gauge that corner very well,” he said.
    I closed my eyes and rubbed the growing knot on the top of my head. He gently put me down in front of the apartment door and unlocked it. I dragged myself across the threshold and headed down the hall. I stopped at the linen closet and got out extra blankets and a pillow for Sean’s rendezvous with my sofa. I walked back into the living room and placed them on the coffee table before immediately heading back down the hallway to my room. I didn’t stop to use the bathroom or brush my teeth. My clothes remained where they were when I collapsed on my bed, too exhausted to stand any longer. I didn’t care about anything but sleep.
    I heard his footsteps coming down the hall to my room, and knew without looking that he was paused in my doorway.
    “I just came to say goodnight,” he said softly. I managed to grunt in response as I laid across the bed on top of the covers. He moved closer, making his way into my room uninvited. My pulse started to quicken. My body went rigid.
    “Shhhhhhhhhhh,” he said, seeing the anxiety he was causing me. “I just wanted to make it better,” he said, leaning over to place a whisper of a kiss on my head where he’d bumped it against the wall. “Sleep well, Ruby,” he said softly as he walked out of my room, closing the door behind him.

14
    I awoke the next morning feeling much more like myself. The effects of the drugs had worn off completely. I did a quick scan of my body, making sure that all the appropriate bits were functional and accounted for. Sitting up cautiously, I paused when I reached a full, upright position, unsure if there would be a bass drum playing in my temples from the previous night’s shenanigans. Luckily for me there wasn’t, so I proceeded to get up and go see what I could wrangle up for breakfast.
    I sauntered down the hallway, passing the bathroom and kitchen on the way to