Pauline

Pauline turned on her side and opened her eyes slightly only to be greeted by the blinding sunlight that filtered into the room through the window. She shut her eyes again and rubbed them before opening them and this time it was much bearable.

She sat up with a slight headache but it wasn't something she wasn't used to. She looked around the house and came to a realisation. It was her house!

When did she come home? She began to think hard and long till all the events of the previous night came back to her.

She had gone to the bar to hook up with a guy but in the end she didn't find anyone who looked appealing enough. Most of them looked fat and flabby and some even had flabby stomachs. She was disgusted at the sight. Years of drinking beer had dealt with them.

This frustration turned on her and made her order one shot after another till she had one too many and started to feel her head pound. She realised early enough that she wouldn't be able to go home by herself and what could she do but call her hero?

The moment she took her phone she realised that she was so drunk that the screen looked blurry to her. this was a bad thing for a soldier like her who had to be on high alert at all times and it was also bad for her reputation to get so drunk that she needed help to call someone.

Thankfully no one at the bar knew she was a soldier. She handed her phone to Roderick—the bar keeper—and told him to call Richard.

The next parts came as snippets to her but she did recall clinging to him and the feel of his body and his scent that made him so delicious. Then she recalled kissing him!

Pauline almost jumped out of the bed at the thought. She had kissed Richard and this was even the first time! What was she thinking? He was his team leader….

Just as her face was heating up the door to her room opened and Richard walked in with a cup of hot tea. He paused by the door and observed her carefully before entering and shutting the door. He noticed that Pauline was all red from embarrassment.

"Why so embarrassed? It's not like you're naked and even if you were, back then I saw you naked like every day." He let down the cup beside her.

Pauline turned a deeper shade of red as she countered quickly, "that was at the military camp and females and males had to share a bathroom at the same time because of the war situation but now is different! Besides who said I'm embarrassed?"

Pauline was clearly running on fumes. She took deep breaths to calm herself down and thankfully Richard didn't probe the issue further. The room fell silent and she then took the tea and began to sip slowly.

She kept glancing at him from time to time and Richard looked straight at her making her more and more uncomfortable. He sighed and asked, "I assume you didn't hook up with a man yesterday?"

She nodded, "it's so frustrating! Also, I'm very sorry for last night and for the kiss. It shouldn't and will never happen again."

Richard nodded, "try not to get too drunk the next time."

He was well aware that Pauline had a little habit of looking for random men to hook up with. All she wanted was the casual sex and as long as the man had a good body shape then she was okay with it.

The only thing to note about her obsession is that during this sex she loved being dominant. Richard knew exactly why she was doing things like this but what could he do? He had talked to her a couple of times before but she had only nodded to say that she understood but afterwards she would go back to doing it.

He also couldn't bear to berate her. He could still remember when he found her all dirty and scared in the Royal Woodland just a few miles from the city. After that day she had made up her mind to never be weak again and had joined the army and trained hard till she got to where she was today.

"You know that I wouldn't have done it in my right mind," she began while her eyes were fixed on his face, "I look up to you as a brother and my hero and I would never do anything to ruin that relationship which is why no matter how badly I want to throw you into bed I won't."

Richard chuckled at her honesty and asked, "You won't do it even if I throw myself at you?"

"Hell no!" Pauline waved her hand like that was an abomination to think about. "I would gladly hook up with you if you agreed. Among all the men I've slept with you straight up have the best body."

"Thanks," Richard said while flexing his muscles. "A result of years of hard work and training."

She smiled bashfully. "I hope you don't mind if I come in for training late?"

"Take your time." Richard patted her leg before getting up from the bed, "I have to go back now and prepare for the day's work."

She nodded and said, "take care of yourself."

Richard smiled but after a while he looked back at her and said, "Pauline, you know that it's time you accepted your past and moved on, right? You don't have to live your life like this—with the shadow of your past still hovering over you."

She looked down and nodded. If only it was easy then she would do it. Her past was pretty messed up even from when she was just a child. The only things that could drown out those traumas were alcohol, men and sex and a brutal one at that.

She was deep in thought that she didn't notice that Richard had left.