Sweet Temptation

by Angel Steel

  “I heard what happened and came over to see how you are doing,” Nate said.

  “Really, and why do you care all of a sudden?”

  “I always cared, baby. Nothing stopped me from doing that,” he said, leaning against the door frame.

  “Don’t call me that.”

  “Why?” he frowned.

  “Because you have no right. Remember what you said this morning, you’re over it and we had nothing, it was just sex. So why the hell should you care?” she yelled. “I think you should leave, there’s no reason for you to be here.”

  “I don’t want to leave until I know you’re all right, Skylar.” He walked into her house and stopped in front of her.

  “Well, if you want to know so badly, go and ask Dom.”

  Alex chose that moment to walk in with a towel wrapped around his waist and glanced at Nate, “You all right out here, baby girl?”

  “Yeah, he was just leaving,” Skylar answered him.

  Nodding, he walked back into the kitchen.

  “Who the hell is that?!”

  “That was Alex, Nate.”

  “So you are sleeping with him then?”

  “You really are a bastard, aren’t you? Well, you think whatever the hell you want, Nate. I’m not sleeping with anyone and I’m sure as hell not going to sleep with you, ever again. Good-bye.”

  Skylar slammed the door in Nate’s face. Why couldn’t a male and female walk around in a towel together and not get accused of sleeping together? Well, to hell with him. She stomped off to where Alex was.

  * * *

  What the hell just happened? He went over to see if she was all right, not to accuse her of sleeping with some guy. He knocked on the door again.

  “Yes?” Alex opened the door.

  “Can I talk to Skylar again?”

  “Do you really think that is a good idea? After what you just said, I doubt she will want to see you,” answered Alex.

  “All I wanted to know was if she’s all right,” he said.

  “Well, you have a funny way of asking,” Alex frowned. “You really think we’re sleeping together?” Alex asked him.

  “It’s pretty obvious to me, you’re both walking around half-naked,” he growled.

  “Are you that blind?” Alex crossed his arms over his chest.

  “What the hell do you mean?” Nate asked.

  “I’ve only slept in a bed with her, and it’s never gone past that. She’s like my little sister, man.” Alex tried telling him that way instead of coming straight out and saying what he had to say. He watched Nate as it clicked.

  “You’re gay.”

  “I’m Alex, Craig’s partner.” Alex smiled.

  “This is so fucked up.”

  “I agree with you. You need to sort this out between you two, but not now. If I let you in right now, she’d castrate both of us.”

  “I’ll come over tomorrow and see if she’ll see me then.”

  “That’s a good plan.” Alex shook Nate’s hand.

  “I’m ready, Alex.” Skylar called out.

  “I better go. I told her I’d bandage her up.”

  “Okay, I’ll see you later.”

  Alex nodded and closed the door. Nate walked down the stairs and back over to his place. How could he not pick up that Alex was gay? Jesus, he was a bloody fool. She wasn’t sleeping with anyone but him. He really had to sort this out quick, or he was going to lose her altogether. He would have to plan his actions tonight after he fixes Skylar’s car.

  The next morning Skylar couldn’t move very much. After yesterday’s accident, her whole body was stiff and really sore. Moaning, she sat up. “Alex,” she called out.

  A few minutes later he walked in, “What’s up, darling?”

  “I need to use the bathroom. Can you help, please?”

  “No worries.” Alex helped her up and walked slowly towards the bathroom. He sat her down on the toilet seat. “You need any help in here,” he smiled down at her.

  Skylar slapped him on his leg. “I’m not that disabled, I can manage. I just need a hot bath to loosen up my sore muscles,” she laughed.

  “Yell if you need anything.” Alex closed the door halfway behind him. Breathing out, she stood, removed her clothes and made her way to the bath, turning on the water and filling it enough that she could sit in it and slowly got in. Glad her grazes had waterproof dressing over them; she picked up the washer and started to rub her body, especially paying attention to where she was really sore.

  Once she did as much as she could handle, she leaned back against the bath and stretched her legs, trying to soak most of the stiffness out of them. When she had enough, she reached for the towel Alex had left her, dried off and carefully walked out to her room. Pulling on a singlet and shorts, she crawled back into bed. She didn’t want to walk too far and decided to just stay in her room. Alex came in some time later and placed a tray beside her with breakfast, “Thanks, Alex. That smells really good.”

  “Someone has to look after you.”

  “No they don’t. I can do it myself,” she said.

  “Really, looks like you’re doing a good job at it,” Alex laughed.

  “Don’t make me laugh, Alex. It hurts,” Skylar said, holding her stomach.

  “Sorry. Do you want your painkillers?”

  “Yes, please.”

  Alex walked out to grab the tablets and returned. “Here you go. These are the last ones. You’ll have to get some more tomorrow.”

  “I will, thanks,” Skylar said. After she ate the food, Alex kissed her and took out the tray. Lying down and getting comfortable, flicking on the T.V. she found a show she had been dying to watch.

  * * *

  After lunch both Nate and Dom walked up Skylar’s stairs and knocked. “How is she?” Nate asked, when Alex answered the door moments later.

  “She was a bit sore this morning, but after having a bath she seemed better,” Alex said.

  All of them made their way into the lounge and sat down.

  “Is she up?” Nate said.

  “No, she’s asleep right now. I gave her some pills to help with the pain. So, what happened to her car? Did someone really cut her lines?” Alex asked.

  Dom spoke, “Someone definitely cut the lines. It was a clean cut.”

  Alex nodded.

  “The police are coming over tomorrow to check it out. Hopefully they will get some kind of print off the line and see who did this to her.” Dom Said.

  “I’ll lend my truck to her, since the cops will be taking hers.”

  “No problem,” Dom said.

  Alex stood up and went to the fridge, pulling out three beers. He went back to the room and handed one to each of them.

  “Do you have any idea who would do that to her car?” Nate asked.

  “The only person I know that would do anything like that to her is nowhere around.”

  “You mean her ex?” Nate growled.

  “Yep, but he doesn’t have a clue as to where she is right now, that we know of.”

  “If it wasn’t him, who else would do it?” Dom asked Alex.

  “I have no idea, she gets along with everyone.” Alex frowned. “We’ll just have to see if the cops get any prints and keep a close eye on her.”

  “I agree,” Nate said. “I’ll do as much as I can for her. I know she doesn’t want me around, but I’ll keep a close watch.”

  “She needs all the help she can get.”

  Both Dom and Nate nodded.

  “Okay, we’ll head back over and finish working. If you need one of us, just yell.”

  “Will do.” Alex shook both their hands and let them out the door.

  * * *

  Skylar stretched and sat up slowly, trying to avoid further injuring her already sore muscles. Noticing that her lamp was on, she looked over towards her window and saw that it was dark outside. She stood up, waiting for the pain to hit, but nothing. Carefully walking out her door, she made her way to the kitchen looking for
Alex. Walking in, she saw a note attached to the fridge;

  I’ve gone to the grocery store to grab a few things, I’ll be back soon. If you need anything while I’m gone, Nate’s next door. I also made lasagne for dinner; your share is in the microwave, enjoy. Xoxo.

  Smiling, she went over and reheated her dinner. Grabbing a glass and the leftover red wine, she made her way to the table, sat down and started to eat. God, she was hungry. She had missed out on lunch again. At least there was a decent amount on the plate, she thought. After finishing she rinsed and stacked the dishes, deciding she would have a shower before cleaning them.

  Making her way back into the room, she threw some clothes on her bed and strolled into her bathroom. Removing her clothes and wrapping a towel around her, she reached for her razor and shaving gel and popped her leg up on the basin. She filled the sink with water and lathered her good leg with the gel. Halfway through, the power flickered in the room. Maybe there was a storm coming, she thought. She quickly ran the razor over her leg but went too quick and nicked her ankle. “Shit.” Leaning over she snatched a tissue and covered the spot, then gently brought her other leg up.

  The lights flickered again. Rushing with the gel, she reached for her razor again. Before she could start on her next leg, someone spoke behind her.

  Stepping into the bathroom, she moved closer to the bath tub, having nowhere else to go.

  “Our time will come soon, Skylar. When that time comes you will be mine, and no one else’s,” Lucas snarled. The power flickered again, making the light bulb in the bathroom blow out. Screaming as the room went completely black; she reached out to grab the sink but lost her balance and slipped. Going down fast, she couldn’t move her body in any direction. Everything went black.

  Chapter 13

  Nate was lying on his couch watching the local news when he heard a noise. Turning the TV down, he listened. After several minutes, there was nothing. Shaking his head, he figured he was just hearing things.

  Getting up, he moved towards the kitchen, grabbed a drink and started walking back when he heard the noise again. Frowning, he looked around, wondering where it was coming from. He walked to the front door, opened it and looked outside...nothing again.

  Sitting back down, ready to flick the TV back on, he heard a high-pitched scream coming from next door. Launching himself over his couch, he threw open his door and made a run for it towards Skylar’s. He kicked in her door and ran inside.

  “Skylar,” he yelled. He couldn’t see a damn thing. Why was her house pitch black inside. Flicking switches here and there, nothing turned on. He started looking in every room. Jesus, he couldn’t find her. He ripped open her bedroom door, but she wasn’t in there either. Where the hell was she? Turning around, he headed towards the bathroom.

  He moved towards it and pushed the door further open. He stopped in his tracks.

  “Fuck.”

  Skylar was lying on the floor of her bathroom, covered in a towel. He dropped down beside her, “Skylar, baby.” Jesus, there was blood everywhere. Checking her over, he couldn’t find where it was coming from; there was so much.

  “Honey, can you hear me?” He should have been here with her. He placed his fingers on her wrist to check for a pulse. Thank God, there was one, however weak. Reaching inside her cabinet, he pulled out the torch he knew was there, and turned it on so he could see what he was doing. He carefully lifted Skylar’s head, “Baby?”

  Skylar groaned. She opened her eyes slowly and looked up at him. She screamed and tried to push herself away from him. “Baby, it’s all right. It’s me, Nate,” he said.

  “Nate?” she whispered.

  “I’m here.”

  She groaned again. “My head hurts.” Skylar tried lifting herself up, but it just made her moan and rolled to her side.

  “Don’t move, baby. Just let me have a look.” Leaning over her, he examined her head. “You have a nasty cut on the back of your head.” Grabbing a towel, he covered the wound, adding some pressure to stop the bleeding.

  “I really don’t feel well, Nate.” Skylar closed her eyes.

  “Sweetheart, keep your eyes open for me.”

  “I can’t, I’m too tired.”

  “You can’t go to sleep, you have a head wound.”

  That was the last thing she heard him say. “Skylar.” He shook her a little. Jesus Christ. Reaching for his phone, he dialled 0-0-0.

  “Police, Fire, Ambulance,” the operator said.

  “Ambulance.”

  “What state?”

  “Qld.”

  “Transferring you now.”

  “Ambulance, what’s your emergency?”

  “My fiancée, she’s had an accident. It’s a head wound, deep. I can’t stop the bleeding and she’s unconscious.”

  “Do you know what caused the wound?”

  “We had a blackout, looks like she slipped and hit her head on the edge of the bath.”

  “You weren’t there when it happened?”

  He wished. “No, I just arrived home and found her like this.”

  “The ambulance is on its way, keep pressure on the wound. They should be there soon.”

  He hung up and called Alex. “Alex, you need to get home, now. Skylar’s had an accident; the ambulance is on its way.”

  “Fuck, I’m leaving now.” Alex ended the call.

  “Baby, can you hear me?” She didn’t say anything. Grabbing another towel, he wrapped it around her as much as he could. He felt for her pulse again…still weak. He didn’t want to move her and cause more damage. Leaning down he listened to her breathing. It was shallow. “Baby. Please wake up.” He was shaking, and he couldn’t do a thing. Nate lay down next to her and wrapped his arm over her waist and his legs over hers. She was so cold, her lips where turning blue from the cold floor. Moments later, he heard the ambulance pull up out front; he wasn’t going to move from where he was.

  “Paramedics.”

  “We’re in the bathroom,” Nate yelled. He sat up beside her and waited for them to come in.

  He watched as two lights came his way and two paramedics walked in, “I’m Jason, and this is Terry. What happened?”

  Jason sat down beside Skylar.

  “I wasn’t here, I think she slipped and hit her head on the side of the bath,” Nate answered.

  “Has she been unconscious the whole time you’ve been here?”

  “No, she was awake for a minute or two, that’s it.”

  “Okay, what’s her name?”

  “Skylar,” he answered.

  “Skylar, my name’s Jason. Can you hear me?”

  No response.

  Terry checked her pulse, respiration rate and pattern. Jason felt around her neck to see if there were any problems. Turning Skylar over onto her back, she moaned. “Skylar, can you hear me?” Jason asked.

  “Nate.”

  “I’m here, baby. You need to answer the paramedic.”

  She looked over towards Jason.

  “Do you know where you are?”

  “In my bathroom,” she answered with a shaky voice.

  “What’s today’s date?”

  “Seventeenth of August.”

  “Okay.” Jason looked her over. “Do you hurt anywhere?”

  “My head hurts,” she sobbed.

  “Anywhere else?”

  “No.”

  “We’re going to roll you back onto your side so I can have a look, okay? I’ll be as gentle as I can, but bear with me,” he said.

  Jason and Terry counted to three, and rolled her. Skylar groaned at the movement. Jason lifted the towel away from her wound, moving her hair aside to get a better look. “You have a deep laceration and the bleeding looks like it’s slowed down.” He replaced the towel and rolled her back.

  “She’ll need stitches for the laceration, also an X-ray, she might have fractured her skull, but I doubt it.” Terry stood up, grabbed the gurney from the lounge and moved it as close as he could to the bathroom door. “Skyla
r, we’re going to lift you and put you on the gurney.”