by Rye Hart
Just as I opened my mouth to speak, I felt a hand slither around my ankle, the fingers digging into my skin. My eyes widened and before I could react, I was yanked down into the water and dragged to the bottom. Ryan was still holding onto my hand and because he refused to let go, he was dragged down too. I was staring into his terrified eyes as my lungs burned and begged for air, but when I opened my mouth to breathe I only sucked down a mouthful of water.
My eye shot open and I sat up straight in bed, screaming at the top of my lungs. I was back in the cabin, but that didn’t sate the fear that was bubbling in my chest. The sun was coming through the window and Ryan was across the room, packing our bags.
The second I started screaming, Ryan flew across the room and wrapped his arms around me, holding me close and stroking my hair. “Shhhh,” he whispered, kissing my temple. “Shhhh. I’m here,” he promised.
I fell into him, shaking and trying to hold my tears back. He sat with me, holding me close and trying to bring me down, though it wasn’t really working. After what felt like an eternity, my breathing finally evened out and I started to calm down.
Ryan pulled away and cupped my cheeks, looking at me seriously. “Kisha, are you okay?”
I wiped my eyes quickly and nodded, taking a few more deep breaths. “Yeah, I’m fine,” I whispered, my voice shaking.
It took some convincing, but eventually Ryan went back to packing and left me to calm myself down in the bathroom. As I stood under the hot water, I couldn’t ignore the very disturbing thought that crawled into my mind.
What If my dream as a warning?
Chapter Thirteen
I found myself alone shortly after waking up from the nightmare. Ryan fought me on it. He didn't want to leave me alone, especially since I wouldn't tell him what the dream was about, but I told him to go. He said there was something very important in town that he had to pick up. I didn't want him to leave it behind because I was a mess and couldn't handle a nightmare.
He tried to get me to go to town with him, but I knew someone had to stay at the cabin. My brother was sending the trucks back in to come and collect us.
I was finishing packing up the last of our things, my mind still spinning round and round, from the nightmare. I couldn't understand why I would have that dream now that everything was alright. It made no sense. I sighed and just shook my head, picking up my bags and carrying them to the door.
A sudden knock on the door made me stop dead in my tracks. I frowned and looked at the door, setting my bags down slowly and approaching it. There was no peep hole and the shades were drawn so there was no way to see who was outside.
As I approached the door I could hear an unfamiliar voice, but before I could even begin to place it, the glass window to my right shattered. An eruption of flames blinded me and for a moment I could only stare as the Molotov cocktail rolled around on the floor, drenching everything in gasoline.
It took every ounce of strength in me not to scream. As far as they knew, I was already gone. I started to run toward the back door but discovered that it was engulfed in flames as well. There was no way I was going to be able to get out on the first floor.
Pure instinct told me to get to higher ground so I ran up the stairs, trying to escape the plume of smoke that followed me. I knew that the smoke was just as dangerous as the fire, and I held my breath as I ran.
Once I made it upstairs, I threw the bedroom door open and looked around frantically for my gun. I rifled through the closet open and checked under the bed before I remembered that I'd left it in the truck; the truck that Ryan now had.
I cursed under my breath and did my best to stay cool, even though I was panicking internally. I had to keep it in. I had to keep it quiet. The more I panicked, the more mistakes I was likely to make.
My eyes darted towards the window and after deciding that it was big enough for me to fit through, I pushed it open and climbed through onto the roof. I managed to slide down the downspout into the bushes without hurting myself and jumped up, cursing as I yanked at the branches that had snagged my shirt.
I was wearing shorts and a tank top, which had led to several open cuts on the way down. I wasn't even slightly concerned with that. I had far bigger fish to fry. I had a rival biker gang on my tail and they wanted blood.
My only way out was down the mountain and I knew it. I took off as fast as I could through the woods, my eyes fixed straight ahead. I could see the glistening asphalt just ahead, steam rising from the blacktop like a ghost. It had just rained and the smell of wet dirt was still in the air. My eyes were wide and my heart was pounding. I was so close to safety. Surely there would be someone on the busy main road!
Just as I was about to break the tree line, a sharp pain in my scalp took me by surprise. Someone had a hold of my long curls and was tugging me backwards. I screamed on instinct and struggled against the fingers that were wrapping about my hair and dragging me back toward the cabin.
I reached into my pocket and pulled out a switch blade. I reached back and sliced into my hair, cutting it off. The curls fell around me and a man cursed. I didn’t stop to look and see who it was before scrambling away, trying desperately to make it to the road. Something told me that if I could get to the road, I’d be safe.
The same fingers that had wrapped themselves in my hair, wrapped around my ankle. I fell forward and hit the ground hard, suddenly paralyzed with fear. It was just like my dream. I heard a man grunt as he started to pull me back.
“Finally got you, you dumb bitch,” he hissed.
A sob was stuck in my throat, but I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of seeing me cry. I somehow managed to get a hold of myself and I started to scream, twisting and turning in a desperate attempt to get away, but nothing I did mattered. He was much bigger than me and this time, size won out. I turned to try and stab him but he caught my wrist with ease, twisting it until I was sure it was going to break. I screamed and the knife hit the ground.
The man, who I could now see was at least six feet tall, threw me over his shoulder and carried me back towards the cabin which was still actively ablaze. He set me down and when I looked up to scream he drew his fist back and punched my square in the nose. The blow made stars explode behind my eyes, but it didn’t knock me out.
I spit out a mouthful of blood, panting and wide eyed. He just chuckled and used my dazed state to his advantage, tying me up to a nearby tree. He somehow managed to force my legs apart and tied them down as well.
“There we go, exactly how I wanted you,” he hummed.
I was doing my best to keep the tears back and keep myself from shuddering. I was more than a little surprised to see that he was the only one around. I grit my teeth and dropped my head forward, shuddering.
“Where are the rest of you?” I whispered, venom dripping from my words.
“There are no others. They ran off after you killed the boss,” He murmured, settling on a stump across from me, looking at me thoughtfully.
My eyes widened as I took in what he was saying. If he was telling the truth, it meant that one of the most dangerous outlaw biker gangs had been taken out and I was the one to do it. That brought me some comfort at least. Maybe I was going down, but at least I’d taken these fuckers with me.
“Can’t say I feel much sympathy,” I murmured.
He stood up, the cabin blazing behind him. “Keep your mouth shut!” he snapped, stepping forward and slapping me across the face so hard my ears rang.
I spit out another mouthful of blood as he continued on his pathetic rant. “They might have just been criminals to you, but those men were my brothers! That was my family.”
“You picked a shit family,” I murmured, looking up at him, my gaze defiant. I wasn’t going to let this jerk off win. If I was going down, I was going to go down swinging.
His eyes narrowed and he closed the space between us, reaching out and gripping my jaw between his fingers. I was forced to look into his face now and I saw a man who loo
ked far older than he really was thanks to years of drugs and alcohol. His teeth had all but rotted out of his mouth and his eyes were red and hazy, while the deep wrinkles in his skin did nothing to help his aged appearance. His breath smelled rancid and it made my stomach turn, but I never broke from his gaze. I wasn’t going to give this up without a fight.
“You’re going to regret every word that came out of your whore mouth. Did you think I was just going to kill you?” he whispered. “Of course not.” A wicked smile came to his lips and I felt a shiver run down my spine. “I’m going to wait right here until that boyfriend of yours comes running. And when he gets here, I’m going to rip him to pieces right in front of your eyes.”
My blood turned cold and I reacted without thinking. I started to scream. It wasn’t a fearful scream, it was an animalistic sound of rage. I pulled at the ropes that held me to the tree and I managed to slam my forehead into his nose.
He howled and stumbled back, holding the broken and bleeding protrusion. “You whore!” he screamed stepping forward.
He wrapped his thick hands around my neck and began to squeeze. I could feel the power and anger in those hands, squeezing and crushing the life out of me. My eyes fluttered and my head lolled as I felt the last of the air slipping from my body. I whimpered weakly and just as the world started to go black he pulled his hands away.
“No, I want you to be awake for this,” he grunted.
I sucked in as much air as my lungs would hold, watching him blankly as he started to tear at my shorts. Soon enough they were around my ankles and he was working at his own belt buckle. Blood was pouring from his nose and I could hear him muttering under his breath.
“If she’s going to act like a whore, I’m going to treat her like one.”
The acidic panic was coming up my throat now and I tried to yank my legs closed but it was no use. Luckily, the rancid, rotting man wouldn’t make it very far.
A gunshot echoed through the forest and an explosion of red filled my sight. Blood splattered my ankles, but it hardly registered. The man fell forward, blood pooling underneath him where the bullet had entered and exited his skull.
I was panting hard, laughter exploding from me out of pure instinct. Nothing in this moment was funny, but it was the only way I could vocalize my relief. I slumped against the ropes, my eyes closed. Before I knew it I was wrapped in warm, safe arms and the sounds of police sirens echoed around the mountains. The police weren’t typically the people Ryan and I would have relied on, but this time we didn’t really have any options.
“Kisha, oh my God Kisha,” he whispered, kissing my face over and over again. “I’m here. I’m here,” he whispered.
The words turned me to mush, and all I could do was collapse against him as he untied me. I eventually managed to pull myself together and give the police a statement. As soon as we were cleared of any crimes, we hopped in the truck to head back to Nashville.
Damien’s convoy never came because the fucker had taken the men out before they could arrive. It was how he managed to find us. Even the strongest man could crack under the right kind of pressure. We hadn’t said much to each other since the rescue and I could feel his eyes on me every few seconds.
“Kisha,” he said softly. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t,” I said simply, my voice even and relaxed. “I’m not mad.”
“I shouldn’t have left you.”
I took a breath and looked at him. “It’s probably better you did.”
“How can you say that?”
“If you hadn’t gone down the mountain, we would have both been tied to a tree and we’d probably be dead now. It worked out. I’m not mad.”
He was silent for a long time. “How can you be so relaxed?”
“I’m not. I’m shaken up as fuck, but it’s okay. I’m going to be okay and we’re going to be okay.”
Another thick silence. “What did you need to go get in town, anyway?”
“Well, this isn’t the ideal way I wanted you to find out, but no time like the present I suppose.”
He handed me a small hunter green box and when I opened it, there was a delicate diamond ring inside and a small note that simply said.
‘Will you marry me?’
Chapter Fourteen
I said yes of course and in the spring we were married. Despite the horrid events in the mountain, we still went back there for our honeymoon. We weren’t going to let that asshole ruin the place we’d found love.
Our story ended the way so many others do. It was a fairytale, really. We got married, we made love and we had two beautiful daughters who were growing up just as wild and fast as we had. Ryan was teaching them how to play pool and I was teaching them how to drive the little mini bikes we got them for Christmas.
I leaned on the counter, watching as Ryan read to them. It was some outlaw, Western that he had loved growing up and the girls loved it just as much. I smiled softly and disappeared back into the kitchen to toss the first batch of cookies I’d made that night. I’d accidently burned them and had run to the store in order to buy the prepackaged one.
Once we were married, I’d wanted to be a good wife, but cooking was just never a skill I was meant to master. I stacked the cookies on a tray neatly and carried them out to my children and husband, watching Shiloh and Riley squeal with excitement.
Ryan took a cookie off the tray and bit into it, looking at me with a cocked brow. “Kroger?” he asked with a little grin.
“Kroger,” I confirmed.
He smiled and pulled me down onto his lap and the girls made faces of disgust. I just laughed and shook my head, placing a big wet kiss on Ryan’s cheek.
“I love you.”
“I love you more.”
I smiled and nuzzled his cheek, “You’re going to have to prove it.”
He just grinned and pressed his lips to mine and I was instantly transported back to our very first kiss. This was my life and I couldn’t have been happier with the way it turned out. I’d spent most of my teenage years thinking I was unlovable until Ryan came back into my life.
He’d saved me. I knew that without a doubt.
Best Seller: Rock Hard Fake Groom
A SINGLE DAD, FAKE MARRIAGE ROMANCE
CHAPTER ONE – SARAH TILLERMAN
“Great, did you hear that?” Barney stared down the road where a man from next door to my bakery had just ridden off on his motorcycle. “You’re going to be hearing it night and day.”
I dipped my sponge and wrung it out so the suds turned foamy in my bucket. “This was the only location I could afford, besides, bikers eat cake too, right? Maybe I could do a specialty pastry inspired by leather and chrome.”
“I don’t think that would help.” Barney, my sister’s husband, had way too many opinions and loved hearing himself talk.
My sister, Angie, came out wiping her hands on her jeans. She’d been inside cleaning and stood back to look at my windows. “Great job, sis. You’ve got those windows looking new. I finished up inside and now you just have to fill the shelves with deliciousness.”
“Who’s that?” Barney shielded his eyes from the sun and I turned to see a car pulling into the parking lot in front of my business.
“That’s got to be the inspector.” I turned toward Barney, giving a warning glare. “You let me do the talking. It’s my shop, remember.” Barney had a way of shooting his mouth off and I really needed to pass inspection. I was so glad I’d gotten the windows cleaned and everything was officially scrubbed up and ready for the grand opening, bright and early on Monday - as long as I passed this inspection.
The man got out and made his introductions and I showed him inside. He went over the check list of my requirements and all was going well at first, until we came to the kitchen.
“Your floor drain is capped. That will have to be opened up. And I see you don’t have the extra sink. That’s a requirement. Your freezers are not up to temp and your overhead light will need to be replaced with
a proper cover. When is your grand opening planned?” The man was all business and quite intimidating.
“Monday, but I was going to bake and prep over the weekend.” My heart sank. I’d waited all week for this man to come and he’d arrived so last minute that now I wouldn’t have much time to fix anything - much less install a sink with new plumbing.
The man walked around looking at the rest of the shop. “You’ve done a lot of work. The best I can do is come back on Sunday to give you my approval. I know it seems like a lot of work, but you’ve got time. I’ve seen miracles before.” He handed me a piece of paper and hurried out.
Angie and Barney, who’d waited outside came in once he left. Angie met my eyes and offered a hug of support. “How bad was it?”
I pulled away and showed her the paper. “It could have been worse I guess. The biggest thing was the sink. I have to have a separate one for hand washing, and it has to be installed by Sunday when he comes back.” I wasn’t worried about the cap over the drain or the stupid light, and the freezer hadn’t had enough time to reach its proper temp, but it would. Even the sink wouldn’t be so bad if I had the money to deal with it.
I swallowed a hard lump that had formed in my throat. “I’m running out of money. I’ll have to close shop before it even opens.”
“Get a loan.” Barney shrugged like his suggestion was the answer to everything and my sister seemed to agree.
“I’m sure the sink won’t be too much. There’s still time to go down to the bank if you want to. I’ll ride with you and Barney can stay here.” She nudged her husband who nodded.
“There’s one problem. I’ve already tried to get a loan and was denied.” I was ashamed to admit it, but my ex had ruined my credit before our nasty break up.
Angie’s eyes narrowed with anger. “Why would they refuse you?”
The last thing I wanted to do was relive my last miserable relationship, but I could tell that Angie expected an answer. “Darrel stopped paying on the motorcycle.”
