Free Love Earned (Flash Fiction Romance) by Janice Collins

Love Earned
    The collar was beautiful.  She admired how it fit her personality perfectly and she knew he’d had it made for her especially.  He took it out of the box and held it up for her to see it better.  It was soft inside, velvety with a padding.  The outside was black leather with gold details. The leather was engraved and inlaid with gold lace.  In the front was a single tear shaped diamond, it had to be at least 2 karats.  She stared at it, admiring how elegant it looked and she was just waiting for him to put it on her. 
     
    “Do you like it my love?” Robert asked as she looked longingly at it.
     
    “Oh yes, very much!”  She had hoped this moment was coming.  She had been so good for him.  She obeyed every command, followed every rule and she knew this was the reward. 
     
    Over 6 months ago she had met him.  A chance meeting really when she thought about it.  She was stranded on the side of the road when her old car had broken down yet again.  It had started to pour rain on her while she stood gazing under the hood, trying to assess exactly where the issue was. 
     
    She wasn’t car stupid and generally it was something simple like a hose or low fluids.  She kept a jug water in the car for the ever evaporating radiator fluids and she assumed this was the problem as the temp gage spiked when she pulled over. 
     
    Now, here in the rain she added the water and prayed this was the only issue.  Through the rain she saw headlights and heard the low rumble of a large throaty engine.  The car that parked behind her was a stunning 2014 Cobra Mustang.  Black on black and it sat there rumbling while she stood like an idiot in the ever increasing rain. 
     
    The moment the door opened the rain settled to just a sprinkle and she saw him get out.  He was broad and dark.  His black hair was wild and he walked with a swagger toward her.  She blinked twice not even sure she was seeing straight.  As he approached she saw bright green eyes contrasted against olive skin.  He was beautiful and big, she guessed well over 6’ tall.  When he got up next to her he popped open an umbrella and held it over her.
     
    “Looks like you’re having some issues miss…” He hesitated, waiting for her to give her name.
     
    “Cecilia, everyone calls me CC though.” She answered a little more abruptly then she intended to.
     
    “Well do you mind if I take a look, I’m a little bit of a gear head.” He looked into her eyes which made her to melt.
     
    “Have at it, I’ve tried the things I know about.” She shrugged. “Normally it’s just low on fluid, but it seems to be more screwed than I thought.”  He handed her the umbrella.
     
    As he moved against the car she could see the muscles of his arms flexing under his shirt sleeves.  She took a small step to admire his ass and she almost fell when she realized he was watching her watching him. 
     
    “ah-hm, well it looks like you’ve got a busted belt and unfortunately I don’t carry spare parts for 2000 ford escorts.”  He slammed the hood closed, the rain had all but stopped and she closed his umbrella.
     
    “Well I guess I need to find a ride.”  She pulled her phone out of her purse and started scrolling through the contacts to see who might be available to get her. 
     
    It was now 10:30 and she was sure most of her friends were in bed.  None of her family lived anywhere even close to there.  She started to go through the list again hoping maybe a name would jump out at her.
     
    “Where are you headed, I can give you a lift?”  He smiled, a genuine smile.
     
    She thought about the offer.  He seemed nice enough, he did stop to help after all.  But on the other side of that wasn’t being nice the way the serial killers lured women into their cars to be killed? 
     
    “Hey look, I’m not a creeper or anything.  I’m a cop, I can prove it, hold on a sec.”  He jogged back to his car and came back with something in his