Read Online Explore Her, More of Her by Z.L. Arkadie - Free Book Online Page A

walkway. A plush green lawn fills the ground in front of the quaint cottages. Each house has a white french door entrance with views of the grape vines and the winery in the distance, and I walk inside the far south cottage. It’s nice, cozy, and furnished in the French country style. I go into the living room and open the large windows. Fresh air flows over me. In the tiny kitchen, a cheese platter sits on a wooden table. Suddenly I’m starving, and I dig in. Oh, French cheese made of sheep’s milk is one of the tastiest foods on the planet. I devour the bread and cheese.  
    I satisfy my stomach then head to the bedroom. I’ll be sleeping on a four-poster bed set against an exposed brick wall. Sheer floral-patterned curtains hang from the rails. The bed is so gorgeous and inviting that not only do I want one for myself, I want to strip off my clothes, go into the kitchen for the rest of the cheese platter, and eat in bed until my belly is tight and all I can do is lay on my back and dream of the last time Belmont ravaged me. I should also think about my next article. I need to publish soon in order to stay relevant. I sit on the mattress and bounce a couple of times to test its comfort. It’s very comfortable .  
    I go to the bathroom which, for me, is the most important room in any house. Actually, the bathroom is where my and Belmont’s tastes find harmony. I love a decadent one. I have to step down into the bathroom in the cottage. The walls are made of frosted glass and red brick. A European-style bathtub is on a platform in the middle of the room, and it’s calling my name.
    “Oh my,” I whisper.  
    I kick off my sandals, stomp out of my jeans, and snatch off my tank top. I run the bath water and find the towels, loofa, and jasmine bath soap. As soon as my bath is ready, I grab my cell phone and get in. There’s another person I must speak to as soon as possible. So I find her name in my contact list and place a call to her.
    The phone rings twice, and then, “Hello.”
    “Angelina?”
    “Daisy? Is this you?”
    I put the phone on speaker and set it on a wooden stand next to the tub. “It’s me.”  
    “Oh...”  
    I smirk at her surprise. “Did you think I’d still be confined to an island without access to my cell phone?”
    “Are you? I mean, still on the island?”
    “No, I’m not on the island anymore. Belmont saved us.” I sink into the water until my shoulders are covered.   “Although I have no idea where he is at the moment.”  
    Angelina is silent.
    “Angel?” I ask.
    “I’m just… what about the ankle monitors?”
    “Belmont took it off of me.”
    She sighs with relief. “Oh my God… I’m so sorry, Daisy. Tell me you’re not mad at me.”
    “You were only trying to help. I just don’t understand why you cooked up such an extreme scheme. It had to have taken a lot of planning to pull off.”
    “You have no idea. But I don’t think you guys will make it without real help.”
    I’m silent as I look at my hands waving through the water in front of me. Belmont and I definitely need real help. Our problems aren’t glaring. They can only be seen through a professional lens. “I understand. But how did you even do it?”
    “At first we were just going to wait until the party.”
    “Your engagement party?” I ask.
    “It wasn’t a real engagement party.”
    I slap the water, splashing my face. “I knew it!”
    “Are you taking a bath?”
    “Yeah, I’m actually outside of Bordeaux. In a castle…”
    “You’re at Chateau Mes Fleurs?”
    “You’ve been here?” I sound as surprised as I am.
    “Many times.”
    “I’m not the only one here. I have a cousin on the premises. Anton…”
    “Anton Bisset?” she says.
    “You know him?”
    “He’s your mother’s brother’s son, which makes him and me unrelated, but Papa still considers him family, so I know him. Like know him, know him.”
    “Ha! No way!” I say.
    “Yes way.”
    “Oh my God. He’s