Emerson and the Lion Ch. 03

There were pictures of me from before I came here. He had the pictures Caleb must have been talking about. One showed our 7th grade field trip to the dairy, us posing in front of an unhappy cow. Another was us sitting in swimsuits by the pool a year ago. Then there was one from the dance we'd done for the visiting sultan. This was the event that led to my coming here.

At the bottom, there was another folder and this one was labeled Emerson Kelley. Ali never called me by my full name. Even in his phone he had me entered as "the baby."

I made a quick check of the window and saw Ali coming back with a servant holding a tray behind him. I closed out of the folders and tried to remember what the arabic script looked like for the one about me. I closed his laptop and laid on my side with my eyes closed, faking a nap.

Like sleeping beauty I opened my eyes at his kiss. Ali pointed towards the table where plates were left for us. I was pretty hungry, but what I really wanted was to open that file. I looked over at him as we ate. Was Caleb right? What was he hiding?

Our dinner plates didn't match up. Ali had a thick steak on his plate with a side of roasted potatoes and vegetables, while mine held a small piece of grilled chicken and salad which was flavorless but probably just what I needed. He reached over to take my hand as he ate and I put my hand into his.

As we settled in for sleep that night, I typed on the tablet that I wanted to go back to school. He took the tablet from me and studied it for awhile and then typed back, "OK... I don't think it's a good idea yet, but we start slow and if you feel sick or overwhelmed or even lonely, you will let me know. I will take you and pick you up. You will answer my texts when I send them. Right away."

I nodded excitedly and decided to push my luck. I took the tablet and typed, "And I want a car. Nothing too fancy,"

He took the tablet and laughed, tossed it on the bed and pulled me up onto his chest. I straddled his stomach with my knees and leaned down into him. He kissed me wildly and then started to tickle me until I pounded my fists on his chest. I'd agree to any condition. I'd follow any rule he wanted. I was ready to get back.

He pulled the covers around us and leaned me into his chest, and then one thing led to another and we got another round at each other.

**********************

Sunday was my first day back to classes (The concept of a weekend is different here). We had woken up early and did a full workout which wore me out, but I was determined to get back to why I was here in this country.

He got all the way to the drop off area and then typed out, "Are you sure you want to do this?" I nodded and gave him a kiss.

He had on a tight black polo shirt tucked in to soft, grey dress pants that had this almost silky texture. Safe behind the heavily tinted windows, I leaned in to kiss him. His cologne hit my nose and I melted into him. I'd come to associate so much with that smell, it would mark these memories for the rest of my life.

I was dressed in a long-sleeve white shirt and light grey pants. Both were made of this super thin material that was designed to block the sun without making me hot. Ali had picked it out, of course. He typed that for a boy to be covered up completely meant he belonged to someone, a family... or a lion. Wearing clothes that showed skin implied that I was free to be looked at and would send the wrong message to other lions out there. There was so much to learn about this culture.

My first class was biology and the sign language translator didn't show up for me. The professor waited a few minutes and then put me up at the front next to his star student who typed out impeccable notes. I sat uncomfortably close to him and read almost word for word what was going on in the class. He was my age, dark and very thin. He smelled like cloves and didn't care much for deodorant.

At the end of the class, he sent the whole thing to me in an email. He made sure to do this in front of the professor to earn a smile and nod from him. I was mostly lost through the whole class, but at least I could go back and read the chapters I had missed and use these notes to catch up.

After I got out I immediately texted Ali to let him know everything was ok. I had another class before lunch and he told me he was picking me up for lunch and to wait for him outside my next class when it let out. I didn't tell him about the trouble with the translator as I was sure he would use it as an excuse to come and get me.

On the way to my next class I passed my dorm. I didn't have my keys or anything (I still didn't know where they were), but I really wanted to go up and see it with the 15 minutes I had before the next class. I took the elevator up and went to my door. It was closed, and I knocked just to see if Adam was there, he wasn't.

And then I saw what was written beside the door. Back where my name had been typed under Adam's, there was some other name. Someone had taken my room. I backed up until my backpack hit the wall. I didn't really think Ali would let me move out, but I thought at least I'd have the option.

I took a picture of it with my phone and gathered myself for a moment before heading off to my next class. Emotions could wait. I wanted to get through one regular day.

I was late to the second class. I'd forgotten which hallway it was down. It was an arabic class, just reading and writing of course. My translator wasn't there either. I guess she didn't get the call that I was coming back. I would have to make it without her.

Class had already started and the professor looked at me with disdain for coming in late. Everyone was leaned over their desks working on some paper. He pushed paper at me without a word and directed me to a seat high up in the little auditorium. I realized it was a quiz or test of some kind.

I sat down and looked at it and my heart sank. Everything on there was written in Arabic. All I had learned before my injury was things like days, colors, some objects. I had no idea what to do. I did recognize the space for my name and the date.

I sat there for the whole time just trying to make sense of things. I didn't even recall the things I'd learned before I left. Maybe the hit to the head had knocked it out. I felt this anxiety build inside my stomach, tighten my chest, suck the air out of my lips. I froze and felt my head start pounding.

I only looked up because I saw a finger tap my desk. I looked up and the professor was giving me that "what kind of idiot are you?" look. He held his hand out and I gave him my paper with only a few blanks filled in.

He gave me an arrogant smirk and then pointed towards the door. I grabbed my backpack and followed his direction. Every step felt like my legs were wobbly.

******************************

Ali was there outside my class building talking on the phone. He pulled me into him and patted my shoulder as he pushed me off towards his car.

He opened the door for me and put me inside before closing it and finishing up his conversation. I pulled at the collar of my shirt feeling hot and tight. I couldn't breath well. He slid in behind the wheel and reached over to squeeze my hand as we drove to lunch.

For lunch we went back to his office which was close to the university. He had take-out food cartons waiting on his desk. He brought them over to a table in the corner of his office with a spectacular view of the city.

I hadn't even looked at him, but he seemed too busy to notice. He was typing things into his laptop as he opened the cartons.

His lunch was a pita sandwich stuffed with lamb, a lot of salad, and some other unidentified sides. My take-out carton was smaller and again filled with salad and grilled chicken.

He had a large tablet on the table and he hit a button and started to talk as it translated to text for me.

"How did it go? You look tired."

Before I could answer, he got a phone call. The text translator was on but he was speaking mostly in Arabic and my day had already proven that I couldn't read it. I watched the script dance across the screen and it just made me feel awful all over again. He paused a few times to type "eat! eat!"

When he finished, he asked how things went and I told him all about the test. He was furious. The tablet translated his speech to text that the whole thing was completely unfair. I hadn't been there. I didn't have a translator. I had medical issues. He finished with, "Don't worry, baby, I will fix this. It's not right."

"You can't fix everything for me. I should have spoken up for myself and written a note." I typed.

"Yes, but they know who your family is. They assured me you wouldn't have to worry. We have given huge amounts to that school. Our family name is on three buildings."

"You can't buy my grades, Ali. I'm here on scholarship and I don't want to cause trouble." I typed back, ignoring the lunch he kept pushing closer to me.

"You're not on scholarship. That's for kids who need it. I paid it off so someone else could have it and then paid for your classes all the way through to the end. You're marked as first class now. You're with my family. You're one of us."

I took a second as my brain puzzled several pieces into place. I opened my phone to the picture I'd taken of my dorm room door and slid it over to him. I typed, "Is that why I lost my room? The guy who got my scholarship got my room and things? What happened to all my stuff? How could you do this without even talking to me? Where will I live?"

He dropped his fork with a look that told me this was the first time he'd considered that I might not be super happy with what he'd done. He looked genuinely confused. "Of course I saved your things. They are in one of the guest rooms. I was saving it until you felt more settled with me. You'll live with me. Why would you want to go back there with the scholarship kids? You have all the money you could ever need now. Your place is in my bed and on my heart."

"Because," I typed, "It was mine. It was the first time I had something that was mine. You had no right to take away my choices. I had everything set up and now it's gone. I want to go back to school now. I have class this afternoon." I pushed away from the table and went towards my backpack.

He grabbed my arm, pulled me between his spread legs, and wrapped his arms around me. He rubbed my tummy lightly and kissed the back of my neck. His lion scent hit my nose. For some stupid reason it made my hole twitch and my dick hard, but I was supposed to be mad at him. I wanted to be mad at him.

"I did this for you... for us," he said to the tablet translator. "I did this because I need you with me when I go to sleep and when I wake up. I need to know you're not out wandering the campus too late at night or coming back from the shower in a towel that shows you off to every horny jerk in your dorm. You don't think they would take advantage of you. You're too naive to see how men see your little baby butt and trusting smile. You're upset right now, but someday you'll understand. You have to understand, little cub. You don't know how my body aches when you're out of my arms. You are mine to protect."

He pulled me up into his lap and I felt his cock throb against me. He was pulling me deeper into his control and it had us both strangely turned on yet angry. He slid my salad in front of me, and I took a few bites while sorting out the tornado of emotions. My stomach wasn't feeling hungry, but food was not the argument we needed to have at the moment.