Her Last Love Affair by Clara James

the
sheet, he spun her before pushing her back onto the bed. The sheet stayed with
him, unraveling from Allie, until, when she landed on the mattress, she was
naked once more.
    She laughed loudly as she fell, screeching when she realized
he was ripping the sheet from her. However, her laughter soon tapered off, when
she noticed Reece wasn’t laughing with her. “What’s wrong?” she asked, looking
up at him.
    Reece was gazing back at her, a look of horror on his
features.
    “What is it?” Allie quickly blurted when she was met with
silence.
    Reece’s jaw slackened in dismay, as he lifted his hand and
pointed at her torso.
    Allie followed the line of his finger and found herself
looking at a large blue bruise beneath her left breast. She didn’t notice Reece
moving, but he stepped towards her and placed his palm on her right knee.
Allie’s eyes flashed to his face in alarm. She opened her mouth to speak, but
was forestalled when Reece gently parted her legs. There, on her inner thigh,
was another bruise, this one much larger than the first.
    “I hurt you,” Reece whispered, barely able to say the words
for the bile rising up from his stomach.
    “No,” Allie quickly stated, covering his hand with her own.
    “Look at you,” he mumbled, flinching and sweeping his hand
out from beneath hers. “They weren’t there last night, Allie,” he said,
standing straight and raking his fingers through his hair. “I did that to you.”
    “It’s not your fault,” Allie tried to placate him. “I
just….I bruise easily,” she awkwardly explained.
    “Allie,” he shook his head, disbelievingly.
    “It’s true,” she insisted. “I’m a little anemic.”
    Reece stood silently, watching her carefully, as he seemed
to assess whether her body language suggested she was telling the truth. He
couldn’t make up his mind. The fact that he remembered the night well and was
certain he hadn’t been even remotely rough with her supported her explanation.
And yet, something in her eyes troubled him.
    “I promise,” she added sincerely. “You did not hurt me,” she
insisted, looking him directly in the eye.
    That, he was fairly certain, was the truth. “Are you sure?”
he urged.
    “I swear, Reece,” she stated, shuffling towards the edge of
the bed, until her legs were hanging off the end. “Now,” she sighed, desperate
to change the subject. “What were you saying about coming back to bed?”
     
    ***
     
    Tossing her purse into the deep bottom drawer of her desk,
Allie kicked the thing closed before angrily throwing herself into her chair.
    “Hey, you feeling any better?”
    Lifting her head to the sound of Grant’s voice, Allie
scowled at him. “Huh?” she asked.
    “Are you over the flu you had last week?”
    “Oh,” Allie finally sighed, remembering the excuse she’d
given for taking the latter half of the previous week off work. “Yeah, thanks,”
she grumpily added.
    “You’re a little late, I was wondering if you weren’t coming
in today, either,” he noted good-naturedly.
    “You keeping track of me?” she snapped.
    “No,” he innocently replied. “No, I was just worried about
you.”
    Allie had wanted to take another day off. She’d intended to
do just that. However, after she’d been unable to convince Reece to get back
into bed with her, she felt too depressed moping around the apartment.
    He’d left shortly after discovering her bruises, although
he’d assured her that he no longer believed he’d hurt her, he still felt
responsible for harming her. No matter how many times she told him she hadn’t
even known the marks were there, he refused to make love to her again.
    He’d gone, leaving her with nothing more than a kiss on the
forehead and a promise that he’d call.
    “I’m sorry, Grant,” she sighed, leaning both elbows on the
desk and massaging her temples with her index fingers. “Things are just…” she
stalled, before changing tact. “Anyway, I shouldn’t be taking it