His hands clenched slightly as he continued. "When she pulled down my pants and saw my... saw me, she screamed. Loud enough to wake up half the other rooms. She stood up so fast she nearly fell backward, backing away from me like I was something terrifying."
Victoria's expression remained unreadable and calm, her professional mask firmly in place as she processed his words.
"She kept muttering something I couldn't quite grasp through the haze of whatever she'd given me. Then, before she ran out of the room, she called me a monster. The fear in her eyes..." James shook his head, the memory still painful after all these years. "I'll never forget that look."
He took another shaky breath before continuing. "At the time, I didn't know how to process what had happened. It was a miracle I was not taken advantage of in the way she intended, for that I was grateful. Seeing my lower body prevented her from following through with her plan. Yet that night left scars that I'm still dealing with."
James looked directly into Victoria's eyes, his vulnerability laid bare. "That's why I'm struggling with the idea of exposing myself to you. I don't want to see that same look of shock and revulsion on your face. I couldn't bear it if you looked at me the way she did."
He paused, gathering courage for his final confession. "I need you to know the truth about me, Tori. I'm sadly inexperienced with matters between a man and woman. I know you're probably attracted to experienced men, confident men who know what they're doing."
The silence stretched between them as James wrestled with his next words. "With the way things are between us, it's probably best if we don't go further in our relationship. I wouldn't be able to satisfy you the way you deserve, and no woman wants an amateurish touch from someone who doesn't know what he's doing."
James looked down at his hands, a bitter laugh escaping his lips as he contemplated the cruel irony of his situation. "My first real relationship ending before it even truly begins. What are the odds?"
He lifted his eyes back to Victoria's face, seeing her bound and unable to respond to his devastating revelations. "You can laugh if you want," he said quietly, remembering all her past insults and cutting remarks that had wounded him over the years. "I know this probably confirms everything you've ever thought about me."
Victoria made urgent muffled sounds through the tape, her body wiggling frantically as she tried to communicate her desperate need for him to free her from her binds. Her eyes were wide and intense, boring into his with an emotion he couldn't quite decipher.
James hesitated for a moment before reaching forward and carefully peeling the duct tape from her lips, wincing slightly as he tried to be gentle. He waited, bracing himself for her words, expecting mockery or confirmation of his worst fears.
Victoria simply stared back at him, her expression completely unreadable. It was the same mask she wore in the office during important meetings, giving nothing away while her mind worked behind those calculating eyes.
"Release me from the sheets," she said finally, her voice steady and commanding.
Though reluctant and uncertain about what would happen once she was free, James carefully began unwrapping the sheets that bound her. Layer by layer, he freed her arms and legs until she could move again.
The moment she was completely liberated, Victoria pushed James with surprising force. He tumbled backward, falling to the other side of the bathtub against the porcelain. Before he could even begin to react or regain his balance, Victoria had moved with predatory swiftness.
She pulled his shirt up and over his head in one fluid motion, throwing the garment into the far corner of the bathroom. Her other hand immediately dove inside his joggers, her fingers seeking their target with bold determination.
James reacted on pure instinct, his strength allowing him to catch her intrusive hand in a tight grip before she could make contact with his most vulnerable area. His head was spinning with confusion and arousal. Why was she so aggressive, so determined when he had opened his heart about his deepest insecurities?
Before he could process his thoughts any further, Victoria's voice cut through his mental chaos.
"How were you so confident you knew the kind of men I liked?" she demanded, her eyes flashing with something between anger and passion. "And what do you know about what I think of you? I only know you are my man."
James stared at her, completely thrown by the question.
"If you're inexperienced, then that makes two of us," Victoria continued, her voice growing more heated. "And that bitch was lucky she didn't steal my James's first time."
The possessive way she said "my James" sent shockwaves through his system. James couldn't wrap his head around what was happening, couldn't process the reality of her words.
"Is what you said true?" he asked in a small voice, hardly daring to believe what he was hearing.
Victoria's expression softened, and she leaned down to give him a slow, tender kiss that was completely different from her previous aggressive advances. When she pulled back, her eyes held a vulnerability he had never seen before.
"I never had the urge with my exes," she explained, her voice quieter now. "It is you alone who makes me feel this way without doing anything at all. I'm like this because of you, James."
James was stunned into silence, his mind reeling from this revelation. So she truly only behaved this way with him? No one else had ever seen this passionate, uninhibited side of Victoria? The thought made his heart start beating erratically, pounding so hard he was sure she could hear it.
Victoria, oblivious to his emotional turmoil and mistaking his racing pulse for physical arousal, leaned down and began kissing a trail down his chest. When she reached his nipple and sucked gently, James's entire body tensed with sensation.
"What happened to the bitchy senior?" Victoria asked between kisses, her lips moving against his heated skin.
"She was later arrested," James replied absently, his mind still struggling to process everything that had occurred.
"Good," Victoria hummed with satisfaction, her breath warm against his chest.
James lay there in the bathtub, Victoria's body pressed against his, her lips trailing fire across his skin. The bathroom felt charged with electricity, every touch sending sparks through his nervous system. He could feel her heart beating against her ribs, could sense the barely contained passion radiating from her every movement.
The realization that she wanted him, that she had never felt this way about anyone else, was thrilling. His hands trembled as he fought against the urge to pull her closer.