Finding Home

by K. L. Humphreys

  “I want the first go at him when you do.”

  “Trent, you can’t say that shit around me! Fucking hell man, I’m a police officer. Riccardo will be handed over to me,” Peter says, his eyes on me. He thinks he’s getting Ric? No fucking way. If I have my way, that man will be six feet under with no way of recognizing him.

  “You get first dibs,” Heller tells me, and the man understands. Whatever Heller does or has done, I can tell that it’s painful. His eyes hold the same pain that I see in my own every time I look in the mirror. Pain that’s in Michelle’s eyes all day, every day. “I’ll be around if you need me.” He gives us a two fingered wave as he leaves the building.

  “He can’t be serious? What the hell is wrong with you two?” Peter asks, his voice rising as he does.

  “What’s wrong with you? If what happened to Michelle happened to Monica what would you do?” I ask and instantly see the darkness creep into his eyes, yeah, we all have that darkness, for some of us it comes naturally, like Heller. For others it takes a while but if push came to shove, your darkness will come.

  Catching a movement in the corner of my eye, I give an inward sigh. Fuck.

  “Ric’s a cop, Trent. If you get caught, you’ll be sent back to prison. Forget the five-year sentence that you were handed before. That’ll be a walk in the park compared to what you’ll be handed. Not to mention the guards are on your case twenty-four seven.” Peter tries to make me see reason, he’s right. One wrong move on my part, and I’ll be back inside. “Think before you act.”

  “As long as Michelle’s safe that’s all that matters. That’s the end game, I don’t care at what cost it comes. Michelle will be safe and free of that bastard, are we clear?” I say through clenched teeth, he needs to understand that just because he says something, it doesn’t mean it’s going to happen. Michelle is my priority, and she comes above anything else as does her safety and happiness.

  “You’re a stubborn fucker. If anything happens, call me. I’ll be your backup.”

  “Yeah,” I tell him but the asshole gets in my face.

  “You’ll call me. Michelle will be safe, and with her safe, she’ll need you. You’ll need me to be a witness, so call me if things go south.”

  “Fine. If things go south I call.” He glares at me before turning and walking away, and I close the door. “You were meant to be asleep,” I tell her and watch as she steps out of the shadows and into the sitting room. “How long were you listening?”

  She shrugs, not ashamed that she was eavesdropping. “Since you opened the door. Peter’s right. I need you, so don’t go off in the deep end. Please think before you act. We both know that Ric would love nothing more than to see you behind bars.”

  “Baby…” Fuck. “If something happens to you, I won’t be able to control myself. You understand that, right?”

  She walks over to me, her hands going around my waist. “I know, but I don’t want you going back to prison. You must be tired.” She yawns as she leans her head against my chest.

  “I’m fine, do you want to eat?” I didn’t get a chance to get breakfast sorted, I only managed to turn the coffee pot on. Michelle got her way, and I got a Godforsaken coffee machine.

  “No, how about we go back to bed. Did you even sleep last night?” I don’t answer her, she’ll just get upset. She pulls away from me and grabs hold of my hand, her palm cold against mine.

  She starts walking back to the bedroom, and my mind instantly hits the gutter. I close my eyes and do the only thing I know will get my cock down. I think of Ethel. Yep, it worked. Michelle walks over to the bed and lets go of my hand. She climbs in, throws the covers over, and pats the space next to her. “Come on, let’s get a nap in.”

  A fucking nap sounds good, although with the way I’m feeling, a coma may be better. I place the bag on the floor and set my cell on silent, not wanting anyone to wake us up. My foot bumps the bag Heller gave me. Bending down, I reach for it only to find it contains two Rolex boxes. I pass one to Michelle and open the other. Fucking hell, the dude actually got us Rolexes. I’m shocked, what the hell do we need Rolexes for? Surely a fucking bracelet with a tracker would have sufficed.

  “Typical Heller, he can’t do anything small. Everything’s expensive and flashy.” She puts on the watch and smiles, happy that she’s covered if anything happens to her. “Let’s get some sleep. I’m drained.”

  I get in the bed and pull her toward me. “Sleep, baby.” I press a chaste kiss to her lips, and she sighs contently. I close my eyes as I hold her close, within minutes her breathing evens out and she gives me her weight. She’s asleep. It doesn’t take me long to follow behind her. The one thing on my mind is that I hope I don’t have a fucking dream.

  I wake up to warm air hitting my bare chest before wet lips touch my skin. I don’t open my eyes. Instead, I lie here and enjoy the feeling of Michelle’s mouth on me. This is something I could wake up to every morning.

  “I know you’re awake.” She’s smiling, I can tell by her tone; it’s playful.

  I open one eye and gaze down at her. She’s staring at me, her eyes bright with love. “I am awake,” I admit unnecessarily.

  Her hand goes for my stomach, and she begins to caress it. My cock is now standing at full salute. Shit, I didn’t want this to happen today. Yesterday was full on, and she needs time to recover to deal with what’s happened but at the same time I can’t stop her. We’ve been going at a pace that is good for her, that she’s comfortable with. I’ve pushed the boundaries she set, and she’s responded to me in a way I only dreamed. My girl is magnificent, but I don’t want her to feel as though this is something she has to do. To prove something to me.

  “Baby?” I question her quietly.

  Her finger starts to draw circles on my stomach, leaving tingles in its wake. “You know, I’ve thought about us doing this. Being intimate. And it scares me but also excites me. I want to try something but I’m scared,” she tells me softly, her eyes begging me to do this.

  “I don’t want you to be scared.”

  “I need to find out if I can do it. Please.” Her voice is husky as she stares intently at me.

  I nod; I let her do whatever it is she’s scared of. My eyes are fixated on her as she makes her way to the end of the bed. My heart speeds up when she gets on her knees as her hands go for my shorts. Fuck, I don’t think I’m ready for this, let alone her. I lift my ass, and she pulls my shorts and boxers down together. Her eyes widen when my cock springs free, her mouth forming an ‘O’.

  “You don’t need to do this baby.” After what she told me yesterday about what that asshole did to her I’m worried.

  “I want to.” The warmth of her hand around the base of my cock makes me pulse in her hand. She squeezes a bit too hard, and I try not to flinch, I want her to get used to me and touching me. I’m fucking excited. If she’s okay with doing this, then she’s going to be in heaven when it’s my turn. My girl is going to fully learn what it’s like to be worshipped. She’s going to feel what love is, and she’s going to understand that not every man is going to hurt her.

  I close my eyes as she finds a rhythm, her hands moving up and down, and she gives my dick a squeeze every so often. Her rhythm is cautious, but it’s fucking good. It’s been a long ass time since I’ve had a woman’s hand wrapped around me; hands down, this is the best I’ve had. My eyes pop open when warmth surrounds my dick, her, wet mouth around me. Fuck, sheer heaven. That’s the only way I can describe it. Her eyes are on me as she begins to suck me off. I want to put my hands on her head and fuck her face, but I won’t. I let her play, let her see what she likes and what she doesn’t.

  She seems to have found what she likes as she sucks hard and squeezes the base as she brings my cock into her mouth, and she loosens her grip when she pulls back. It’s been too long and I’m about to come. “Baby, stop. Please.” I need her to stop. She has to come first.

  She pulls away like I’ve just burned her. “Sorry,” she whispers
, tears in those beautiful eyes of hers.

  “Don’t be sorry, fuck, baby. That was phenomenal.” A proud smile forms, but her eyes hold confusion. “I was about to come, and baby, you come first. You ready?”

  She’s quiet for a second, contemplating what she wants. Joy hits me when she nods, oh yeah my baby’s about to come apart. “Lie down,” I tell her, and she pulls off the sweat pants she’s wearing. She’s wearing a purple lacy thong, and fuck, my cock gets harder. I didn’t think that was fucking possible. It hurts like a motherfucker but I won’t come, not until I show Michelle how fucking magnificent she truly is.

  I leave her T-shirt on as she told me about her breasts, even though she’ll be aroused if I were to play with them, right now though, I can do it without them, that’ll be something we build up to. Leaning in so we’re face to face, I reign soft kisses along her jaw to her ear and back again. I add a bit of pressure as she gets used to it. I move down so I’m kissing and sucking her neck. “I love you,” I say quietly but empathically to her as I trail the kisses back to her lips. “You’re fucking amazing,” I tell her as I go back to her neck.

  She begins to pant, a telltale sign that she’s enjoying it. Her eyes are at half-mast and full of lust. Anytime I come back to kiss her lips she’s dying for more. I lift her T-shirt up just enough to show her stomach, and she tenses a bit but doesn’t say anything. Running my finger from her stomach to the top of her thigh and back up again, I murmur, “So fucking beautiful.” I trail my finger back down her stomach to her groin and then over her panties.

  Her sharp inhale is followed by a low moan, giving me all the encouragement I need to continue.

  I work my way back up to her stomach and start again, this time instead of my finger, I use my mouth. Planting kisses as I move my way down to her pussy. I press a kiss on her panties, right where her pussy is, and she moans louder. I gently take off her panties, and she blushes. Fuck can this girl get anymore fucking innocent? I leave her for a second, letting her get used to being bare to me. This time I start teasing her, I kiss her inner thighs, sucking as I do, I move up toward her pussy, still kissing her as I go. I begin to lick the outer lips of her pussy.

  “Oh my God. Oh Trent,” she cries, and I haven’t even gotten to the best part yet.

  When I put my lips on her vagina, she bucks off the bed, her chest rising and falling rapidly. Using my thumbs I open her up and go for her clit. It’s erect and swollen; she’s fucking loving this. As my tongue focuses on her clit, my fingers focus on her pussy. I insert one into her pussy and move it around in circles, with my mouth attached to her clit as I begin to suck.

  She tenses, so fucking close, I can feel her building, using my tongue I flick her clit as I find her g-spot. As I hit it, I suck hard on her clit and watch her detonate like the fourth of July.

  My cock is leaking, and before I can do anything, Michelle spots it. “Trent,” she whispers as she gets on her knees and begins to suck me off, it’s not going to take much more. From her going at me like a damn pro to her fucking coming apart against my fingers, I’m about to explode.

  “Baby, I’m close to coming. You don’t need to do this.” Even though I’m saying the words, I don’t actually mean them. I want her to suck the cum out of me.

  She nods but continues, this time her hand going to the base of my cock and she pumps and sucks in an erratic rhythm.

  “I’m coming,” I growl, the tingles starting in my spine and spreading throughout my body. Michelle doesn’t stop; instead, she sucks harder, taking every drop of cum into her mouth. “Fuck, you’re amazing.”

  She smiles as she swallows, which is followed by a grimace. “It was fun.” After all we’ve just done, she’s still shy. “Thank you Trent, I love you.” She leans up and kisses my lips.

  “Love you baby,” I tell her as I grab her head and kiss her unlike I’ve ever kissed anyone before.

  It’s been a week since Trent showed me how amazing he is and how good being intimate is. We’ve been slowly building each day. We’ve not had sex yet, but he’s seen my breasts. When he first saw those bite marks, his eyes grew wide, and I saw the anger swirling. He didn’t say anything about them, instead he started to worship my body, to send me to heights of pleasure I never knew existed.

  Today is the first day since my apartment was broken into that Trent and I have been apart. He’s gone to Tina’s house to meet Mark, and I’m hoping he will also reconnect with his father. I won’t push him to do it. I’ve said what I think about it, and if he takes what I said and talks with his dad, he’ll be happy. If not, it may be something he will regret later in life. Today, though, is about meeting with Mark. Trent was nervous and there really was no need, since from what Tina said, Mark already loves him.

  Maggie and Bryson are coming into town with me, all our supplies are running low, and Peter isn’t around today so Maggie volunteered. When Peter and Heller saw her gun and knew that she could use it they were all for her coming and being my protector. She purchased the gun when Ric hit her. She told me that she wasn’t prepared to be hit again, and if he came calling she’d be ready for him. I have no idea where she learned to shoot but from what the guys say she’s pretty good.

  Trent’s not happy, he understands that I have to go into town. Neither of our apartments have any food, not that I’ve been back inside. I can’t face it, the apartment is clean from what Trent’s told me, but the memories are still there, they’re too fresh at the moment. Trent’s been running back and forth getting anything I need from there. He’s been so supportive, it’s something I never thought I’d have, something I thought I didn’t deserve. When I killed Eddie and my dad took the blame, the guilt and pain I felt brought me to my dark place. I couldn’t escape my thoughts. I couldn’t understand why someone would lie to protect me when they never bothered before.

  My cell rings, and I smile. It’ll be Trent. This is the third time he’s called me, and he’s only been gone two hours.

  “Hello.” I can’t keep the happiness out of my voice. Being around him is the best thing.

  “Well aren’t we happy?” I can hear laughter in the background, and my blood runs cold at that laugh. I’m rooted to the floor. What the hell does she want? “What, no hello Mom?”

  “What do you want?” I bite out.

  “There’s someone here that wants to see you,” she fires back, anger in her voice. She hates me, and she’s made no attempts to hide it.

  “Yes, I bet there is but I don’t want to see him. Thanks for the call.” I go to hang up, but her scream stops me. “What?” I ask impatiently.

  “You need to come here, Michelle. He’s threatening to kill Sebastian if you don’t.” She’s crying, this is real; she’s not lying.

  “What happened?” I ask. How did Ric even now about Seb?

  “Enough talking. You need to come to us. Don’t even think of alerting anyone, otherwise he’s dead. Do you understand?” Ric warns me.

  “I understand.” I try to stay calm, they need me, and I have no choice but to go. If I do go, he’s going to hurt me, if I don’t he’ll kill my brother.

  “You’ve got an hour.”

  “Wait, I have no idea where I’m going?” I cry hoping he hasn’t hung up on me. I need to find out where I’m going.

  His laughter chills me to the bone. “I’m where it all went downhill for you. There’s a reason you’ve not been back here since your dad went to prison isn’t there Shelly? I’m going to find out.” He’s mocking me, he’s trying to get under my skin.

  The line goes dead, and I fall to the floor in tears. Trent’s going to kill me, he’s going to be so angry, but I can’t not go. It’s my brother, I have to try to help him, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I didn’t. I get up off the floor and walk into Trent’s bedroom, the Rolex watch is on the dresser, waiting for me. This is the only thing that could save me. I wasn’t meant to wear it into town because if I leave the complex it will sound the alarm.

  Putting it
onto my wrist, a calmness settles over me, Trent is going to find me. He, along with Peter and Heller, won’t stop until they find me. Guilt settles in when I consider the danger I could potentially be putting them in. Seb needs me, and right now that’s what I need to focus on.

  As I leave Trent’s apartment, the tears fall, this could be the last time I’m here. I hear talking and quickly check my phone. It’s almost midday, and that means it’s Maggie and Bryson on their way down to Trent’s apartment. I quicken my pace and exit the main door before they come into view. Thank God for the elevator being slow.

  I race to my car and quickly start it up, throwing my cell phone onto the passenger’s seat. Needing to get out of here before the alarm goes off and Maggie comes looking. Pulling out of the parking lot, I glance in my rearview mirror and sigh in relief, I haven’t been spotted. That means I have a head start and can focus on getting to Sebastian. I have no idea what I’m going to do once I’m there, hell I don’t even have a weapon. I’m like that stupid girl in the horror films, the one you scream at for being so damn stupid. Who in their right mind leaves the safety of their home and drives toward the mad man?

  Nerves kick in as I drive closer to my parents’ house. Ric’s right, I haven’t been back here since my dad was sent to prison. I couldn’t, not with Mom being a bitch, not with the memories that haunt me every day. Those memories that were relived every time I walked into my bedroom, every time I walked into the sitting room. It made me even more depressed, it made me retreat further into my darkness. There is nowhere to escape in that house, every inch of it makes me want to throw up, yet here I am, willingly driving toward it.

  My cell phone rings, and Trent’s name appears on the screen. I can’t answer it. If I do, I’ll tell him everything, and he’ll talk me out of it. I ignore the call, the tears falling harder. I can’t believe I’m in this situation; I should call Trent back, tell him what’s happening, and ask him to meet me at the house. But I can’t, he’d lose his mind and in doing so he’d hurt Riccardo, I can’t lose him, he can’t go back inside. I couldn’t be the reason he’s sent down, I can’t have two men on the inside serving time that neither of them deserve. I have enough guilt eating me alive, anymore, and I’ll succumb to it. I’m not strong enough, and I honestly don’t think I ever will be. I know my limitations, and I’ve done everything in my power to stick to them. That is until now.