Desiring Dorothy

by Albertson, Alana

And that feeling was rage.

  I shone a bright light in their eyes. “Wakey, wakey, love birds. Tin is here.”

  I untied them. Dorothy jolted up; a look of fear graced her beautiful face. “Tin. Why do you even want those shoes? They wouldn’t even fit you.”

  Smartass. “Because I want to fuck you in them.”

  “Please let us go. Isn’t enough that you murdered my uncle and took my dog?”

  I wouldn’t even dignify her with a response.

  Crow stood up, but he was no match for me. “Are you behind this? A dirty SEAL? Fuck you. Are you going to force us to fuck too?”

  What the . . .

  What had Lev done?

  “Lev!” I yelled. “Get the fuck over here.”

  Lev busted out of his room, his hair a matted mess. His face went pallid when he saw the expression on my face.

  Fucking coward. Wiz should’ve known better than to hire a scared, second-rate mafioso to pull off this operation. It was a wonder he even succeeded in kidnapping Dorothy. Even worse, he had brought along dumb-ass Crow. Who was now a witness. I would have to make sure he never got out of here alive.

  I got in Lev’s face, and he cowered, despite being taller than me. “You forced them to fuck?”

  “What’s it to you, Tin? You weren’t here.”

  I laughed. “Nothing. You are just pathetic. If you were any type of man, you would’ve fucked her yourself. She’s incredible. Are you a cuck?”

  Lev shook his head. “No. But I like to watch. Let’s make them do it again.”

  Dorothy let out a gasp.

  I turned to her. “Don’t worry, babe. That ain’t my kink. The next man you fuck will be me. And no one will be watching.”

  Dorothy spit in my face. “I’d rather die than sleep with you again.”

  Liar. “We will see about that. You seemed to enjoy yourself during our first night together. So much so you did it again and again.”

  “Why did you kill my uncle? And where is Toto? Did you hurt him, you motherfucker?”

  I refused to answer her questions. She didn’t have a clue who she was dealing with.

  “We’re leaving. The wizard expects us to meet him. He has sent a plane for us.”

  I didn’t have a choice anymore. I had given up everything in my life. I had lost my family. I would probably be charged for abandoning my fellow SEALs and spend the rest of my life in the brig.

  Dorothy was all I had now.

  And I knew one thing.

  Dorothy must die.

  10

  Dorothy

  Lev stood idly by, but his eyes were on me. Just like they’d been...that night. I couldn’t think of it as anything more than that night. Tin, I understood. He was a psychotic killer who delighted in the misery of others. Heartless.

  Lev was different. He wasn’t like Tin.

  In the days, or nights, I didn’t even know how long it had been, Lev had done little more than ask his questions and watch. Wait. He had his little tortures, but he was not overt like Tin was. It took Tin showing up for me to realize the difference.

  Lev was a coward. Oh, he had the nerve to keep us locked up in this cabin, to interrogate us, but, after he had knocked me out in the truck, he’d never laid a hand on Crow or me. He only watched.

  “Come on now, let’s get a move on,” Tin urged. He moved toward us, but Crow inserted himself in front of me, causing Tin to sneer. “All right lover boy. I won’t touch her—if the two of you get your asses out to the rig. We’ve got a plane to catch.”

  “Where are we going?” I asked, with a quelling look at Crow. We didn’t need any more trouble than we already had. Crow’s eyes burned with resentment, but he fell in step behind me.

  It was the first time I’d seen anything other than the room where Lev had kept me and Crow. The cabin wasn’t much. A small room fit a couch which had been made up as a bed. A thin blanket was draped over one end and a pillow with an indention where Lev must have slept was on the opposite.

  It was ordinary. Unassuming. Far from the image of the torture compound I’d conjured in my mind. I didn’t know which was worse.

  “To Kansas. So, you can give me the shoes,” Tin replied enigmatically. He shared a glance with Lev, who had a cruel smile twisting his lips.

  I would never give them the shoes. They were the last thing that I had to remember Uncle Henry by. Why did they want them so badly? Sure, they were expensive and beautiful, but their intense desire to get them was insane.

  Unless.

  Unless, something was hidden in the shoes.

  Which was just plain ridiculous. Uncle Henry wasn’t a cobbler. He wouldn’t know how to hide anything of importance in a pair of pumps.

  I’d come to the conclusion it didn’t matter where they’d take me. Anywhere with these men, except Crow, will be a nightmare. I could only assume it was going to get worse from here.

  But I needed to meet the wizard. Whoever he was knew what happened to Henry. He was probably the one who contracted his murder. He had probably taken Toto.

  I didn’t know if I was afraid to find out who he was or looking forward to it.

  “I already told you I don’t have the shoes.” That was true. I didn’t have them. Alice did. And I would not endanger her life. If I died over these shoes, so be it.

  Lev adjusted his coat to fit over his gun holster. “Don’t believe you. Your life, and Crow’s, hang in the balance. You could have told me the truth, that would have been the easy way. Now we’re going to do this the hard way.”

  “Could you be any more cliché?” I bit out.

  Tin snorted. “Careful, Lev. This one’s feisty.”

  I snarled at him in response.

  “She’s all bark, though. Once you get her underneath you, she melts like candle wax. Pretty as hell when she comes, too, though I guess you already know that, considering you watched this one fuck her.” Tin pointed to Crow, and I gave half a thought to stealing a gun from Lev and shooting Tin right in his smirking face.

  “Don’t try anything stupid,” Lev warned.

  He might have been a coward, but he didn’t miss a thing. I guess that was what you got when all you did was observe everything around you. I’d have to be careful when he was near. I hope he went away once we got wherever we’re going. Having his gaze on me felt like there was a weighted blanket on my skin at all times, leaving me hot and itchy like I needed to get moving.

  Lev gave Crow and me suitable clothes, and we dressed quickly. Crow huddled close to my side as Lev and Tin herded us out of the cabin and to a rusted out old truck. Crow stood motionless as Tin bound our hands together, but his eyes burned with everything he wished he could do to the both of them. I was grateful he didn’t follow through with it. We were in enough trouble as it was, and after everything that had happened...I didn’t want to see him hurt.

  But I might not be able to help it.

  While we were in transit might be the only chance we have for escape.

  I had to get free of them before I ended up like Henry.

  I was quiet as Lev and Tin talked about whatever the fuck psychopaths talk about. They directed Crow and me to climb into the back of the truck and piled blankets on top of us. If I wasn’t so scared and angry, it might have even been romantic.

  “Are you okay?” he asked.

  “I’m all right. You?”

  “You’ve got to get out of here the second you see an opening.”

  Whatever I expected him to say, it wasn’t that. “What?”

  “Once they get you wherever we’re going, you’re not going to be safe. It doesn’t take a genius to figure that out. You can’t tell them anything and don’t give them the shoes.”

  I pressed fingers into my eyes. When had my life gotten so crazy?

  “Well, that isn’t even an option because I don’t have the shoes.”

  “I believe you, Dot.”

  Dot. It sounded so sweet. Like a pet name for his girlfriend. Would I ever be anyone’s g
irlfriend again? My friends had called me Dot, too. God, I hoped they were safe, that they weren’t worried for me. And now I worried that I had put Alice in danger by giving her these shoes that Tin wanted so badly. I wondered if I’d ever see my friends again and an errant tear leaked down my cheek.

  “What about you?” I asked. I didn’t even try to deny that my plan was to escape. I’d do what I could to help Crow, but I didn’t want to die. Tears pricked at the back of my eyes, causing my nose to sting, but I swallowed them back.

  “I told you before I’d be fine. That hasn’t changed. They don’t want me. They want you. They’ve already proven they’ll do despicable things to get what they want. You have to get out.”

  “I’ll come back for you,” I said, my voice small, barely audible above the sound of the engine cranking up.

  Crow shook his head sadly and lifted a hand to brush the hair away from my face. It was the first time I’d let him touch me since...that night...without immediately cringing away internally. “You don’t have to say that. I’ll be fine.”

  “Yes, I do,” I insisted, trying not to shiver at his touch. “I’ll do whatever I can to make sure you get out of this alive, too. I promise you.”

  “Stop talking,” he said gruffly. “Come here.”

  This time, I went to him freely, the man who had yet to ask anything of me. The kind, unassuming farmer who deserved so much better than the hand he’d been dealt. I was a jerk for moving as close to him as I could get, for soaking in the warmth and comfort I found in his arms, but I couldn’t seem to find it in me to stop. Crow may think he was stupid, but he was so gentle, so kind. Worlds different from the Lev’s and Tin’s I’d known.

  His big arms wrapped around me. We hadn’t showered in days, but I liked the way he smelled. I buried my face in his chest and let sleep take me again as I wondered what life would have been like if I’d met Crow under different circumstances.

  ***

  “Aw, isn’t that sweet?”

  Tin’s voice penetrated the cozy bubble I was in, jerking me instantly awake, and I sat up.

  “We have to stop meeting like this,” Tin said. “Get up, we’re here.”

  “Where’s here?” I asked as Crow helped me from the truck.

  Tin didn’t have to answer. A plane jetted overhead, drowning out whatever he had planned to say. We were not at the main runway. Of course not. They couldn’t smuggle the two of us in looking like we did without making us a spectacle.

  Instead, they’d parked in front of a standalone hanger a couple miles away from the main drag of the small airport. A private runway. Who the hell was this Wizard person, and how could he afford to charter a private jet?

  What did he have to do with Henry?

  And what was on this chip that no one had?

  None of it made any sense.

  But I wouldn’t give up trying to figure it out.

  I owed it to Henry.

  Tin jerked me from the bed of the truck, and I fell into his arms. As soon as my body collided with his, I jerked back, disgusted with myself for remembering what it had been like to be pressed against him in different circumstances. He merely smirked.

  I wished I could slap that smirk right off his face.

  “Let’s go,” Lev said after a moment. He didn’t seem pleased, for whatever reason. Good.

  I let them herd me into the hanger where the plane was waiting, biding my time. They chatted with the pilot who didn’t seem concerned to find two people forcefully loaded onto his plane. Then, Tin and Lev followed us to a seat. Tin took extra time belting me into mine while I glared at him. Soon, we were in the air.

  I passed the time running through scenarios again and again. I had to find a way to escape as soon as possible. Wherever they were taking me didn’t bode well. I had no idea why they wanted the shoes so badly. I had to get back to Aunt Glinda’s, then to Alice’s undetected to get the shoes before they found them first. It was the only way I’d have any leverage.

  I shared a look with Crow as we finally began to descend, and he gave me a subtle nod.

  My stomach pitched as the plane landed and began to taxi to a stop. It was now or never. I had to find a way to escape.

  I had to get the shoes before they did.

  Then I’d come back for revenge.

  11

  Crow

  Dorothy was going to bounce.

  And they would probably kill me.

  But as long as she got away, I’d die a happy man.

  Her eyes were scanning everything—the landscape, the door, Lev, and Tin.

  Was she truly innocent of what Tin had accused her of? Was she hiding some secret shoes? Or was she playing them?

  And more importantly, was she playing me?

  I was damn sure she was smart enough to hide a pair of shoes if she really wanted to. Hell, she was brilliant. I had watched her over the last few months at the compound. She played dumb, for sure, but I could tell she was always thinking. Always plotting. Being an airhead was just an act—I wish I could say the same for me.

  And that was another thing that didn’t make sense. Why was she in the Arctic? Why would a beautiful woman like her come out to the end of the earth? She had said it was to track down Tin in order to avenge her uncle’s murder. That made sense. She could be telling the truth about Tin. Or she could be hiding the shoes which were valuable while plotting an evil plan.

  Something wasn’t right. But I doubted my ability to figure it out.

  The plane touched down. Tin rounded Dorothy and me up like we were cattle and ushered us down the runway while Lev followed behind Tin like a beaten puppy. What was Lev’s deal? Dude was a pussy. I saw the way he looked at me and Dorothy, the way his eyes hungered for her. Was he a cuck? Why didn’t he want to fuck her? Instead of forcing us to have sex, he could’ve raped her if he wanted. What he had done to her was rape anyway, but unfortunately, it was done with my dick. Not that I didn’t enjoy it—sleeping with Dorothy was a fantasy come true, I just wish she had wanted me and hadn’t been forced. A blanket of shame passed over me—I wasn’t that guy. I’d never taken advantage of a girl. Hopefully, one day Dorothy would forgive me, and I could show her how I felt about her. And she would kiss me by choice, not by obligation.

  I squeezed her hand, wanting to assure her that I was here for her. Even if she had hidden these shoes and lied about them, she must’ve done that for a reason. I would do anything for her.

  Even if it cost me my life.

  Once inside the airport hangar, Dorothy squeezed my hand back.

  “I have to use the bathroom.”

  Tin laughed. “I’ll go with you.”

  “No. I don’t think so. I just got my period. I could be awhile.”

  A smug grin graced Tin’s face. “I don’t mind your war paint, baby.”

  What the fuck was wrong with that guy? Those SEALs were freaks.

  “Well, I do. You’re a SEAL, Tin. You don’t trust me to go to the bathroom alone? What do you think? I’m going to escape on your watch? You are going to fail? Again?”

  Damn, she was great. Kicked him where it hurt—the SEAL’s ego.

  “Fine, but if you don’t come back in five minutes, I’ll kill Crow.”

  A look of horror washed over her. And pathetically fear flooded my body. Tin knew how to kill a man in three hundred ways. I was doomed.

  I exhaled. Maybe this was what I was meant to do. Sacrifice myself for Dorothy.

  I put my hand on her shoulder. “Dorothy, go to the bathroom, you will be fine.”

  She let out a little sob. Her soft hand wrapped around my head, and she pulled me into her, her lips pressing on mine.

  I kissed her back, grateful for this kiss, even if it was out of pity and not lust. But it didn’t feel like pity. It felt hot, sexy, loving, and intimate. Kissing Dorothy in the airport hangar with Tin and Lev circling around us like a school of sharks replaced my fear with joy.

  Tin and Lev had taken a step back from us, clearly
enjoying the show. Also, probably not to want to call attention to themselves as Dorothy and I looked like lovers, so anything suspicious could alert the security nearby.

  She pressed her hand deep into my chest and darted her eyes toward the outside as if she was signaling something. And with that, she walked toward the bathroom.

  Tin shot me a jealous look, though he didn’t say a word.

  “Gonna shoot me, huh? You just go around murdering people. SEALs are like legal serial killers, right? Just like you murdered Dorothy’s uncle.”

  His voice remained low and calm. “You don’t know what you are talking about, Crow. And I’m not going to kill you. Even so, you better hope she comes back. For your sake, I mean. You are clearly in love with her.”

  “Well, maybe I am. I’m not like you and your Teammates. I don’t fuck everything that glances at me. Dorothy is smart, gorgeous, and nice. What’s not to love?” I got in Lev’s face. “And what’s your problem. You just like to watch? Maybe you have a limp dick or something.”

  I expected Lev to deck me, and honestly, I deserved it. But before I could say a word, a loud siren went off.

  And within minutes, sprinklers were showering us with water.

  Dorothy had done it.

  She had escaped.

  And I was going to go with her.

  Lev slipped in the water and Tin raced over toward the bathroom.

  I didn’t go after him.

  I ran as fast as I could out the building toward a waiting taxi.

  When I opened the door, Dorothy was waiting inside.

  Guess I had some brains after all.

  12

  Dorothy

  Pure luck allowed us to escape from Tin and Lev.

  It couldn’t be anything else.

  Having spent time enough when them both I knew luck was the only thing that would allow us to escape with our lives and sanity intact. Relatively at least. I didn’t know if I’d ever be the same after everything that had happened, but at least I was alive.