“I had to let Skylar go. He was supposed to be watching you the other night.” He kisses the side of my neck.
That explains the blood. I don’t think of myself as an evil person, certainly not compared to Lock, but the thought of Skylar no longer breathing nearly warms my heart.
“He failed me and you ended up in the arms of my enemy.” He kisses the other side of my neck.
He moves one of his hands underneath my shirt and cups my breast. Then he takes his fingers and squeezes my nipple so hard it brings tears to my eyes. He doesn’t let go until the pain is so strong that I cry out.
He smiles as he slides his hand lower and wastes no time diving under the waistband of my shorts. The rough friction of his fingers burrowing their way inside me feels like razorblades. Thankfully, he pulls out almost as quickly as he went in.
“I hate to think of what could have happened to you that evening.” His face moves back in direct view of my line of sight. Then he adds with a smirk, “What’s going to happen to you tonight, because of it.”
My eyes go wide with fear just before I feel Lock’s fist connect with my eye. As I start falling to the side, I try to run away, out of his grasp, but I can’t see with the black dots and flashing lights dancing in my vision.
I end up tripping on one of the side tables in my sitting area and land hard, onto the floor. I try getting up to run, but Lock grabs me by my ankle and pulls me backward. He flips me over so I am on my back.
As soon as my eyes land on his, I start swinging, trying to make contact anywhere I can that will make him loosen his grip. He straddles my waist, bringing my arms down and pinning them to my sides with his knees.
He loosens his tie. When it’s off, he wraps it around my head, covering my mouth and securing it around the back of my neck.
I begin to hyperventilate. Thrashing my head from side to side, my muffled screams die before getting a chance to break free from the fabric around my mouth. He moves his hands to my throat and begins to squeeze, crushing my wind pipe.
I squeeze my eyes shut, praying to any God who will listen for them to either strike him down where he sits, or to end my pain quickly. Still gasping for breath, I open my eyes to see Lock, a hurt and angry look on his face.
For a moment, our eyes hold one another’s gaze. At the same time that I think I see a trace of pain and hesitation cross his face, I’m crushed by an overwhelming wave of sorrow. Not the kind of sadness that you feel when you’re a child and you’ve broken your favorite toy, or the kind of heartache you feel when you lose a pet.
But the kind of despair you feel when you’re looking into the eyes of someone you once loved, and you no longer know the person looking back at you.
Just as I start to see my pulse beating within the black dots spotting my vision, I feel his grip loosen. I feel his legs relax at my sides a little.
Reacting faster than I thought possible at the moment, I am able to get one of my arms free. Before Lock realizes it, I swing it toward his face and I scratch my nails across his cheek. This stuns him for a moment, before a smile creeps onto his face.
I use the distraction to lift my leg and knee him right in the balls. His faces contorts with pain before he falls over onto his side. I take this moment to get up and run.
I have no idea where I am going, but I need to get out of here as fast as possible. I can hear him behind me, struggling to get up.
“You’re going to pay for that, you bitch!” I hear him grunt as I reach the doorway of my room, fly over the threshold and into the marble hallway. I almost fall as I round the corner in my bare feet.
I know he’s regaining his strength when I hear the table in my room crash into the wall as he screams. I make it to the stairs just as I hear him run out of my room, barreling down the hallway behind me, laughing maniacally as he goes.
“Keep running, Lana! I love hunting! The longer the chase, the more exhilarating the kill!”
That’s the last thing I hear before I make it to the entry way and fly through the front door, out into the sunlight.
* * *
Since the grounds are so vast, I figured outside would be the best place to get away forgetting that it’s mostly open. With the limited number of hiding places out here, I race toward the garage.
I get to the side door, slowing down just enough to open it and enter. I throw it shut behind me and loosen his tie from around my neck as I frantically search for a safe place to hide. I am standing at the back of the garage, looking around quickly. The area around my eye is beginning to swell where Lock hit me, making it tough to find a good place to hide.
The garage is laid out with one wide aisle down the middle of the space. The cars are parked diagonally in two rows, one to my left and one to my right, on either side of the aisle. Of the seventeen cars in the garage, there are only two that are high enough off the ground for me to crawl under.
I run toward the white Infiniti SUV in the row on the left and practically dive beneath it. I don’t know how long I lay there before the hum of the automatic door begins to buzz.
As the door to the garage begins to open, my eyes go wide and I am paralyzed by fear.
The outside light shining in from behind him casts a fifty-foot tall shadow on the smooth concrete floor of the garage. I see his feet start to move. They are slow, almost quiet. They’re methodical and threatening. Most of all they’re terrifying. My body shakes faster the closer they get.
He stops in between the first two cars of the garage. When his feet move again, they head in the direction of the first car in the row on the right. He circles the car, looking for me.
Immediately upon returning to the aisle, he does the same thing to the first car in the row on the left—my row. When he is satisfied that I am not there, he moves to the next car on the right. Then the left. He comes back into the aisle between the cars and does it again with the next set. And the next set after that.
Once he finishes searching the car next to me, I begin to slide back toward the wall of the garage, as carefully as possible.
I slowly get to my feet as he starts checking around the car across from me. I have to crouch over in order to stay hidden behind the ridiculously short, stupid-expensive sports cars. But, their chassis are so low to the ground, they do a great job hiding me from Lock’s view.
I move quickly behind the first three cars before I notice him moving toward the Infiniti that I was hiding under. I duck between two of the cars so he won’t see me when he circles the Infinity. Once I see him go down to the ground to look under the car, I bolt toward the open garage door.
“There you are! You’re always playing hard to get when we both know what a slutty little minx you are!”
I scream in surprise as he starts shouting. I’m crazy for thinking that I would be able to get out of the garage without being seen. But, I am out and that’s all that matters.
I run around the garage and head toward my garden. My happy place. My solace. The garden is about a hundred yards away.
There are trees scattered all around it. I wind my way through the trees, going away from the garden, then turning and heading back for it.
“I’m gaining on you Lana, baby!”
He sounds closer than he was a moment ago. I wish my legs were longer, I wish I could run faster. I wish that my nightmare would end.
I reach the garden and hide behind the dense cluster of the rose bushes. I know I can’t stay here long, but I need to catch my breath a little.
I listen carefully for the sound of grass being crushed beneath his expensive Ferragamos. My heart is racing and I can’t hear anything other than the sound of it beating in my ears. I try to calm my breathing enough to slow my pulse.
After a few deep breaths, I strain my ears to hear any sounds that I may be missing. I don’t hear anything. That can’t be right.
I pop my head up from the rosebush slightly to see if I can see any movement. My eye is swollen shut by this point, making it nearly impossible to
see anything.
I turn my head left, then right. Nothing. Where did he go? He didn’t give up already. There’s no way.
“There you are.” he says calmly.
I don’t know if I’ve ever jumped so high in my life as I do when I hear his voice. I bolt upright and try to turn and run away from him again, but I’m too slow. Before I know it, his hands are at my back and I am flying through the rosebushes, my skin tearing as it gets caught on each thorn.
I throw my hands up to block my face from getting scratched. I land on my back on the other side and kick my feet to dislodge some of the thorns from my legs. I begin to crawl away as I hear laughter coming from behind me again.
My legs hurt so bad from running and the thorns that I can’t find the strength to get up and run. I crawl as fast as I can through the garden until I feel his hand on my ankle once more, stopping my progress.
I’m completely exhausted. Tears start falling as I realize I’m about to accept defeat. My arms give out and my chest his the ground.
Lock doesn’t need to hold onto my ankle to keep me there and he knows it. He lays down on me, my back to his chest, crushed between him and the ground.
He pulls my tangled hair back, away from my tear-stained face and whispers into my ear, “Tag, you’re it.”
He sits up and removes a knife from his pocket. He uses it to make a small hole in my shorts before tearing them away. He does the same to my shirt. Then, he rips my bra and underwear from my body as if they were made of paper.
He turns me over and I can see him scanning me from my swollen eye down to all of the scrapes on my body from the thorns, blood running from most of them. He bends down over one of my arms and licks from my wrist to my shoulder.
“Mmm…” he groans and I can feel is erection grow against my stomach.
He stands up and unbuttons his pants removing himself from his spandex boxer briefs and kneeling back down on the ground. He grips my legs and places one on each of his shoulders. Then grabs the top of my thighs and pulls my body toward him.
“You know,” he starts, “there was a time that you thought I hung the moon. Where did that girl go? Where did my girl go?” he pauses looking down at me with disappointment and distaste. “Your recent actions have proven to me that you forget who you belong to. We’re going to change that tonight.”
He plunges himself forward into me with a loud roar. I’m dry as a bone and it feels like he’s fucking me with a spiked cock, but you’d never know that by my reaction. I have none.
This is a business meeting to him. A claiming. I am just a piece of his property. I don’t know why it took me so long to get to this point, but it has.
I lay there, in the middle of the garden, staring blankly at the flowers and trees above as Lock shatters another piece of me with each thrust.
In my garden, where I’ve found solace for the past three years.
In my garden, with all of its beautiful glory.
In my garden which, like everything else in the rest of my shitty life, has been tarnished by Lochlan Finch.
I’ve reached my breaking point; I am completely and irreparably broken. There is no coming back from this.
November 2014
Adrienne
It’s been three months since I told Marshall that I was pregnant and he has been getting more and more excited as each day passes. He has also been driving me insane with his “Sit and relax,” “Don’t lift anything heavier than your kindle,” “You need to drink more water,” commands.
If he wasn’t so adorable about it, then I would yell at him a little more often. But, then he gets on me about my stress level. He doesn’t want to hear that he is the reason my stress level is rising most of the time.
I roll over in bed and cuddle up to Marshall’s side. I place my leg over his and move it up and down, caressing his calf with my toes. He moans slightly, his timbre heavy with sleep. As he turns toward me, his arm moves under my neck to support my head, and places a sweet, light kiss on my forehead.
“Good morning, beautiful,” he says.
“Morning,” I answer back mid-yawn.
“Did you sleep okay? You cuddled with me a lot.”
“Well, I’m just so drawn to your rock hard body and masculine disposition. Seems I can’t help myself from touching you even when I’m unconscious,” I smile at him and raise an eyebrow as I move my hand down his stomach and pause just as my palm covers the hard, length in between us.
“Is that so?”
“Mmmhmm,” I answer as I lightly drag my fingernails down his shaft and over the soft skin at the base. He shudders.
“Adrienne,” he breathes, “you’re going to be the death of me.”
He pulls me up until I am straddling his waist. I lean over and kiss him passionately, showing him how madly in love with him I am, as well as how badly I want him to impale me with his hard cock. He opens his mouth for me and I grab his tongue between my lips and suck, simulating the technique I use when I give him a blowjob.
His hand moves between our bodies and he grips himself. As he does so, I lift my ass in the air to give him room to move his cock upright, in just the perfect position for me to move my body down and wrap his entire length in my soft heat.
He grabs my hips and holds me still as he pounds into me from below like a jackhammer. With each thrust, he is leading me higher, propelling me to a place where need and ecstasy come together forming the most intense state of nirvana. A place from which I can never return.
* * *
“Hey, babe?” Marshall yells to me from the living room, below.
“I’m sorry! I’m almost finished. Be right down!”
I’m on the cusp of starting my second trimester and I can’t wait! I haven’t had much morning sickness, thankfully, but I am so tired. I check myself out in the mirror once more, smiling like crazy at the sight of my almost non-existent baby bump.
I have on my eggplant colored dress with the three-quarter length sleeves, over a pair of blank leggings. I walk over to the closet, grab my new matching booties, and head downstairs.
“Sorry it took me so long, I’m still really sluggish. I can’t wait for this part to be over,” I say as I meet Marshall in the foyer. He is standing there, my jacket in his hand, ready to help me put it on.
“I’m sorry that you’re still so tired. I read that the second trimester brings a surge of energy with it,” he pauses, “so you should start feeling better soon.”
When we left Liza’s office after our first appointment, Marshall demanded that we go to the nearest bookstore so he could purchase every pregnancy book ever written.
“Thanks, doc,” I laugh as he helps me into my coat.
“I’m excited to see Lock today! It’s been so long,” I say to Marshall when we get into the elevator.
“Yeah, it has,” Marshall answers, a little less enthusiastically than usual. He must realize, because he looks down at me as he adds, “He said the trip was a complete success, so that’s great.” I look at him with a little bit of suspicion, but after a moment I decide to let it go.
Lochlan
I am anything but excited for Marshall and Adrienne to come over today. They’re sickeningly sweet. It makes me want to puke. The only reason I didn’t call it off is because Marshall is all up my ass about my trip.
He is ever the perfect CEO, always calling the shots and keeping the business in perfect order. Well, I can make decisions too. Marshall just doesn’t know about them. Let’s call it a side-business.
I’ll give Marshall a full report of my visit to each hospital. Talking to the Boards of Directors. Schmoozing with the Presidents and CEO’s. Making sure that everyone is happy with the products and services that they’re receiving from T.F. and ensuring that they are going to extend their contracts.
I am not, however, going to tell Marshall about all of the other places that I visited. Politician’s offices, Covert Governmental Agencies, Heads of Drug Cartels and the Mob. I have my hands i
n everything.
At this point, T.F. is the perfect cover for the sadistic son-of-a-bitch that lives inside me. The person that wiped the old me away the second that I finished gutting Jimmy Hayes.
Don’t get me wrong, the money in pharmaceuticals is off the charts, but the power you can obtain from being the sole distributor with the kind of drugs that Curtis and I have been working on gives me the biggest high and greatest pleasure.
We’re talking about being able to off people without leaving even a minute trace of drugs in their system; mind-erasing shit that would turn enemies into slaves. Currently, we’re testing this out on inmates. The biggest pieces of shit that we can find; rapists, murderers, serial killers.
We had a major breakthrough with the most recent round of testing. We put a serial rapist in a locked room with a runaway girl that we stumbled upon, and told him to go town. The girl was scared shitless; screaming, crying, begging to go home. The inmate was mostly confused, but a few times you could see that look of sadistic desire flash through his gaze telling us that he still has a sliver of his memory and understanding left. We’re one small tweak away from perfection.
There are only two things that need to change in order for me to be completely happy. First, Marshall out of my life. Second, Adrienne by my side.
Marshall
Shit has been going downhill with Lock at an alarming rate. I’ve been suspicious for a while now. He hasn’t been his normal self in well over a year. I thought he was just dealing with past demons, but now I think it’s something much deeper than that.
Lock has a dark side, one that doesn’t come out very often, but when it does it scares the shit out of me.
Then, about a month ago my PI, Travis, got a tip about a classified meeting between Congressman Dawes out of Colorado, and Moe Randall, President of Summit Medical Center, one of our hospitals out there. I asked him to go and see what he could find out.
Stolen Love (The Wildheart Duet Book 1) Page 12
