Predator

by Michelle Heard

  I cling to him as his body starts to shudder against mine. I hold him as tight as I can while he slams into me one last time. In this moment it feels as if he’s trying to become one with me.

  His breaths are hard in my ear before he lifts himself on his elbows, and he just looks down at me. He said there won’t be any I love you’s, but the look on his face tells me differently.

  “You’re mine, Cara Ellison,” he says my full name and tears form in my eyes.

  “I’m yours, Sam Rees,” I whisper because my heart is too full. This is the one moment we get to be ourselves. This is the part of us no one else will ever see. This is what makes us one… sex and secrets.

  CHAPTER 19

  DAMIAN

  Cara fell asleep a while ago. I’m lying on my side, just staring at her.

  I’m glad I was able to hold myself back. If I had fucked her the way I really wanted to, I might’ve scared her shitless.

  I’ve spent many mornings picturing how I’d take her, but all those fantasies pale in comparison to finally being inside her. Her body’s reaction to me was so hot. Fuck, it’s making me hard again.

  She stretches out and turns on her side, her back facing me. I want her again, and I want her now. I reach for the blanket and pull it back slowly, exposing her body to me. It feels like I’m unwrapping a present.

  I move closer to her, pressing my body against hers. I move her hair away from her neck and press a kiss to the soft skin, right where her neck curves into her shoulder. Her body jerks and I take it as a sign that she’s waking up.

  Feeling her heat, smelling that fresh scent that always clings to her skin makes me rock my hips into her ass.

  “I just want to fuck you all night long,” I growl in her ear.

  A sound ripples up her throat, and it makes me go ice cold. I’ve heard that sound before, and it was on the memory disks. It’s like a broken whimper, but then it turns into a feral growl, and she swings her arm back. Her elbow connects with my chest, and then she darts forward.

  Her eyes are still closed as she falls off the side of the bed. In a stunned stupor, I watch her head slam into the corner of the bedside table, and then she darts up and runs out of the room.

  Only then does life return to me.

  What the fuck have I done?

  I jump out of bed and quickly pull on the pair of jeans that were still lying on the floor.

  I can hear her yanking at one of the doors, and then her desperate cries reach me, and I run for her. Coming out of the room I’m just in time to see her yank the door open.

  “Cara!” I yell as she runs into the night.

  As I run out onto the porch, I see her slam full on into a tree. Fuck, that’s got to hurt. “Cara!” She bounces back and then darts around the tree.

  I jump over the banister and set after her. We’re both barefoot, so it’s not one of the easiest runs I’ve ever had. She’s fucking fast. Not even the branches lashing at her slow her down. I don’t think she’s feeling any of the pain in her shocked state. Her body must’ve gone over into survival mode, and it’s killing me that I was the one to trigger that in her.

  She’s heading in the direction of the beach. I start to catch up with her, and as I reach for her, she ducks and screams. She darts forward again, and for a moment, my heart stutters with pain. Seeing her like this is eating away at me.

  We reach the embankment that leads to the beach, and in horror, I watch her take the leap. Her body slams hard into the sand, and then she struggles back to her feet. I take the leap, and my legs shudder with pain as I slam into the sand so I can only imagine how much pain that must’ve caused her.

  I get up and go after her as she starts to wade into the ocean. Her shorter legs are making it hard for her to run in the water and it slows her down a lot, enough for me to catch up. I run straight into her, and wrap my arms around her, locking her arms to her sides.

  As I yank her out of the water, she starts to scream and struggle against my hold.

  Once I have us back on dry sand, I take her down. I lock a leg around hers and move a hand up to her forehead, securing her against me so she can’t hurt herself anymore.

  “You’re safe,” I rasp the words out. It doesn’t do anything to calm her, and I take a few deep breaths before I say in a neutral tone, “Cara, you’re safe. It’s me, Damian.” She growls at me, and I whisper urgently, over and over, “It’s Sam. You’re safe. It’s Sam.” I say the words until my voice cracks under the heartache I’m feeling for her.

  She stops her wild thrashing, and for a moment all I can hear is the ocean and her feral breaths racing over her lips.

  She starts to tremble in my arms, and then her body jerks us to the side. She heaves, and I quickly roll her over, so she’s on her hands and knees. It’s just in time as she vomits.

  I quickly gather her hair behind her neck, and I wish there was more I could do right now.

  I sit on my knees next to her until she starts to jerk with dry heaves and sobs. I can’t hold back my own tears. I hate seeing her like this. I hated it the first time, and I hate it now.

  I sit flat on my ass and pull her into my arms. The emotions swarming inside of me is just too much. I feel rage. I feel a deep craving to kill every single person who has ever hurt her. My chest aches for her. My heart breaks for her, and my soul screams for revenge for what has been done to her.

  She’s gasping for air through snot and tears, and I know I have to do something to calm us both down.

  Before I can think of something, she starts to pound her tiny fists into her chest. “I feel them all the time,” she rasps between cries. “It never stops.”

  “Tell me,” I whisper hoarsely. It will haunt me forever, but I need to know what happened, so I don’t trigger a panic attack like this ever again. “Tell me what they did, Cara.”

  She shakes her head, and for a minute I think she’s not going to open up, but then the words start to spill over her lips. I’m bombarded with image after gruesome image.

  Certain words hit harder, embedding themselves into my gut.

  ‘They shoved me face down every time.’

  ‘I was breathing in chunks of vomit, and still, they wouldn’t stop.’

  ‘It felt like I was being stabbed, over and over and over.’

  ‘It hurt so much.’

  ‘I feel defiled … just ruined beyond repair.’

  All of that pain for one man’s greed. I’m going to kill him.

  He’s a dead man walking for fucking with the woman I love.

  CARA

  It feels as if it just happened again, every single revolting second.

  I can’t remember much of what actually happened the past few hours. Damian says that I took off running through the trees and into the ocean.

  I’m sitting in the bath, staring down at all the scrapes over my chest and arms. My feet sting but I grit my teeth as Damian pulls thorn after thorn out.

  “What about your feet?” I whisper.

  “Don’t worry about that now. Let’s just get you cleaned up and in bed.”

  As he continues to clean my feet, I just sit and stare at his face. That worry muscle is jumping over time. He looks like he did back when he found me, like a killer.

  He rinses both my feet off and then grabs a towel. “Come on,” he says gruffly.

  It feels like a freight train went over me. I move gingerly as I get out and then step into the towel.

  I look up at Damian and whisper, “What are you thinking?”

  I need to know that he’s not angry with me.

  I need to know that I haven’t pushed him away with the crazy scene from earlier.

  He swallows, and then his eyes meet mine for the first time since we came home. Tears rush to my eyes, clogging up my throat. The sadness and anger in his eyes make him look wounded, and it hurts so much to see him like this.

  “I’m going to kill him,” he says. “We’re going to fly to South Africa, and I’m going to kill him.�
��

  The words shudder through me, cold chills racing up my spine.

  I shake my head and take a step back from him. “N-no. I don’t want to go back there.” I wrap the towel tightly around me and then grip it hard to my body. “Can’t we just forget tonight and go on as if nothing happened? We’re just starting to make a life for ourselves.”

  “Forget what happened?” he whispers. An enraged look tightens his features, and he growls, “I can’t forget! Cara, you… the sounds you made. You puked on the beach. Fuck no, he’s dying, and he’ll die fucking slowly.”

  I rush by him and go to the bedroom. I grab a clean shirt and slacks and quickly get dressed. Damian comes to stand in the doorway, and he crosses his arms over his bare chest.

  “You need to shower and then let me look at your feet,” I say in a rush, hoping he’ll drop this insane idea of his.

  “Cara,” he says, sounding calm again. I start to straighten the sheets when he walks right up to me. He takes hold of my arm and turns me around, so I’m facing him. He takes hold of my face, his palms cool on my hot skin. His eyes lock on mine. “We have to finish it. We either keep running or fight back and put an end to it. I can’t run. It’s not in me. I have to do this.”

  “I’m not as brave as you,” I whisper, and then the stupid tears come again, making me look as weak as I feel. “I’m not like you, Damian. I’m a coward. I’d rather run.”

  He shakes his head and presses his forehead to mine. “You’re not a coward, Cara. You’re so fucking strong. You’ve survived so much, and you keep coming back from it all. You’re not a quitter, and that’s how I know you can do this with me.”

  He presses a soft kiss to my lips and then catches my eyes again. “We promised to have each other’s back, Cara.”

  I nod, unable to come up with any more excuses. I’ll have to face my uncle.

  The next week is pretty much uneventful. I go to work as if nothing has changed. Damian said he’s been in contact with his friend Jeff to get us passports.

  It’s a normal Thursday at the hardware store. I’m checking to see what we need to order for the following week while wondering why Thursdays always feel so long. It’s like two days got shoved into one.

  I hear voices from the front of the store, and it sounds like Damian. I slowly make my way up the aisle with the list of stock we have to order.

  Sure enough, Damian is talking with Joshua. When they both look at me, I force a happy smile around my lips.

  I hold the piece of paper out to Joshua, “Here’s the order for next week.”

  He takes it and then looks at me with sympathy, which confuses the hell out of me. “I’m just telling Alex that it’s okay for you to take some time off.”

  “Huh?” the word pops from me. Now I’m even more confused.

  “Yeah, babe, so we can go to your uncle’s funeral.”

  The half stunned smile drops from my face, and I’m glad Joshua mistakes it for grief.

  “You can go now, Nina. I’ll get the Jameson boy to come help out after school for the next week.”

  I nod mutely as Damian takes my hand. He pulls me to his side and then reaches a hand out to Joshua, “Thank you so much for understanding. She’ll be back in a week.”

  Joshua waves a hand at us. “Sure thing.”

  I feel like a robot as Damian walks me out of the hardware store and then helps me into the truck. I look down at my hands all the way home.

  When Damian parks the truck in front of the cabin, we both just sit in silence.

  It’s Damian who breaks the silence. He opens his door, letting some of the stuffy heat out of the cabin. “We’ll meet Jeff tonight and then drive through to the airport. He has the tickets and passports.”

  “What about visas? What about transport once we’re there? What about a place to stay? How will we get close to my uncle? How will we get back? What if we get caught?” The questions pour from me in a desperate attempt to find a reason to stay here… where we are safe.

  Damian takes my hand and brings it to his mouth. His words are hot over my skin, “We won’t get caught. I’ve done my homework. South Africa has a high crime rate. Thousands of people die every day, and the killers are never found. I’ll hire a car under our fake names, and we’ll stay at some cheap hotel.” He presses another kiss to the back of my fingers. “We’ll be fine. I’ll keep us safe.”

  “But… but.” I swallow hard. There’s just no way for me to suppress the fear. “I’m scared.”

  “Don’t be,” he whispers. “We’ll be there for three days only. Remember what I told you? We make people look the other way. Make them not notice you. You can’t look scared, because that will draw attention to us. We’re just two more people going about our business. You’ll have to get your head right, Cara. You’ll be doing all the talking. People will notice my accent, but you will fit right in. I need you to have my back with this one.”

  I start to nod my head as I try to focus on what he’s saying. I swallow down the fear and then frown. “I have to do the talking? What if they ask me something I can’t answer?”

  “We’re going to go over every detail on our drive up to Charleston where Jeff will meet us. We’ll be flying from there. Everything is going to be fine.”

  I’m not so sure, but Damian has never lied to me before, so I have no choice but to trust him.

  CHAPTER 20

  DAMIAN

  The flight was fucking long. My legs were starting to cramp. The fact that we’re both tired from the super-long-ass flight is counting for us right now. We look the same as all the other passengers, sweaty, wrinkled, and tired.

  The African gentleman hardly looks at our passports, and soon we’re waiting for our luggage, which is only one bag. I didn’t bring any weapons, because… well, that would be a stupid fucking move on my part.

  I got us simple names for this trip. Mike and Sonja Burgess. I grab the bag and then, holding her hand, we make our way over to Avis car hire.

  As we near the small counter, Cara takes a deep breath and then smiles at the woman behind the counter. “Hi, we’d like to hire a car for a few days.”

  The woman smiles professionally. “Are you here for holiday?”

  Cara freezes suddenly, grabs my hand and pulls me away from the counter. When we’re out of hearing distance of the woman, she whispers, “Neither of us have a license. We can’t hire a car.” Her eyes dart around us to make sure that no one is hearing her.

  I look around realizing that she’s right. I totally forgot about that part.

  “Wait.” She points to outside. “We can get one of those taxis, it looks safe enough… I think.”

  She’s pointing to a gleaming white car. “Yeah, let’s do that.”

  When we get to the car, a man smiles hugely at us. “One stop cab service with a smile. Where can I take you to?” he says in a funny sounding accent.

  “Thanks, uhm…”

  Cara glances at me, and then the man starts to ramble in a language I know abso-fucking-lutely nothing about.

  “Ooo… julle’s Afrikaans. Sorry man. Waar wil mevrou-hulle gaan? Ek kry julle daar in ʼn jiffy.”

  Cara starts to laugh and she shakes her head. “My Afrikaans sucks. Let’s stick to English, please. Uhm… could you take us to a cheap hotel close to Bedfordview?”

  “Oh, sorry man,” he laughs and then opens the back door. “Sure, there’s one in Edenvale. It’s close to the shops.”

  I keep the bag with us as we get in the back and soon we’re on our way to the hotel. I don’t know what I expected to see once we got here, but it all looks pretty normal.

  Cara nudges me, and I look at her smiling face. “Did you expect to see wild animals roaming the streets?”

  “Yeah,” I laugh.

  “The only animals here are the people. Trust no one.” The smile drops from my face as I’m reminded of why we’re here.

  When we reach the hotel, Cara deals with the cab driver. Once we’re settled in a tiny roo
m, I take a deep breath. The first stage has gone down okay. It sucks that we don’t have a car. That makes things harder for us.

  Cara sits down on the bed and then stares at the floor. I kneel in front of her and catch her eyes. “What’s going on in that mind of yours?”

  She shrugs and gives me a sad smile. “I’m thinking about the last time I was here.” Her eyes meet mine, and I see the sadness. “Every Sunday, we used to drive out to the Vaal dam. We’d spend the day there, just the three of us. I was so happy back then, Damian. I loved my parents so much, and they were just ripped from me. I didn’t even get to go to their funerals. Uncle Tom just shoved money at me with the stupid passport and told me to run. I was only eighteen. I didn’t know any better. I didn’t understand anything back then, and I still don’t.”

  I brush the palm of my hand over her cheek and press a kiss to her lips. “Let’s just get this over with so we can get our assess back home.”

  “Sounds good.” She starts to twirl her fingers on her lap, and her eyes dart shyly to my face.

  I tilt my head and take hold of her chin, so she has no choice but to look at me. “What’s that look for?”

  “Uhm...” she bites at her bottom lip and then peeks at me from under her lashes, “I was just wondering if… uhm… did I ruin things between us?”

  Aww… fuck. She thinks she’s scared me off. I shake my head and smile at her. “Never. I’m just taking it slow with you, Cara.”

  She stands up, pulling me up along with her. Her hands settle on my chest, and she bites at her bottom lip again. “So… you still like me a little bit?” She pulls the cutest face ever, and it makes my heart melt.

  “I more than like you a little bit,” I whisper, but then I get serious. I’ve never told her how I felt, and that’s why she’s so unsure of us. “It’s not just about the sex, Cara.” Her eyes dart away from my face. She’s very uncomfortable with the word sex. I make a mental note not to use it again.