by Frankie Love
“I let my emotions take over last night. But now in the light of day, I see more clearly.”
Ryder shakes his head. “I think you are scared.”
“Of what?”
“Of this. You and me. Of what we could be.”
I look away, wondering if my heart is tightening right now because he is right or because I should walk away.
“I’m falling for you, Justine. Hard. And I think you are falling for me. And that terrifies you because you’ve never had a man before. A man who knows what he wants.”
I blink back tears, scared he might be right.
“You don’t need to run away because your feelings are stronger than you planned.”
“I have plans, Ryder. I want to make a difference with my life. Not give it all up for a man I don’t even know.”
“Dammit Justine,” he says reaching for me again. “Why does it have to be all or nothing with you? Why can’t you have both?”
“I don’t do things halfway, Ryder. And I don’t know how to do this. Us.”
“So, instead, you’ll walk away from what we could be because this is new territory?”
“I don’t know,” I whisper. “I need to figure out what I want. And I can’t do that here. I need to go home.”
When I look into Ryder’s eyes, I see he’s pissed. If he had his way he’d keep me here forever but I’m not sure I’m ready for forever.
“Well, I sure as hell can’t get you off my property today.” He runs his hands through his hair.
I look around the driveway, it’s covered by the fallen tree and his garage is completely blocked. “Isn’t there someone you could call?”
“I get that you want to go, but, Justine, what do you expect from me? This isn’t LA. This is Alaska. And maybe you’re idealizing everything right now. My mom and this state. Because you’re acting like a spoiled rich girl who can snap her fingers and get what she wants. That’s not the real world, princess.”
“I’m not a princess.”
He snorts. “Right, you’re just an heiress.”
“You’re loaded yourself. Your mom was a billionaire. So don’t judge me.”
“I can do what I like. This is my land, Justine.”
I groan, seriously agitated now. “Land that you forced me onto.”
“You know what, Princess? I’ll figure it out. I’ll find a way to get you home since you want to go so damn bad.”
I suck in a sharp breath as he steps away from me. I’m both infuriated with this argument and desperate to pull Ryder back in my arms. To rewind this stupid fight and remember how good we could be together.
But I also know I can’t stay another minute with this thousand-acre man who seems to know this land like the back of his hand. This man who seems to know me like the back of his hand.
This man who is causing tears to fall down my face.
If he wanted to save me from Luther so badly, then why didn’t he buy a ticket to the auction?
“You know the worst part about all of this?” I ask, tears welling up in my eyes. “I thought you were special. I thought we… I thought this might be more than a hook-up. I thought it might be…” I cover my face with my hands.
Ryder reaches for me again, but I pull back. He knows he has hurt me.
The truth is, I saw something with him.
Something real.
Chapter 16
Ryder
I walk inside the cabin so fucking pissed at myself for this entire situation.
Justine is infuriating, but that’s also the exact reason I’m so damn hot for her.
All I wanted to do was protect Justine from Luther but all I’ve done is hurt her.
Still, I know in my heart that Luther would have hurt her a hell of a lot more.
I pace the room until I think of what to do to give Justine what she wants. Truth is, I know she wants me as badly as I want her but my girl is scared.
Scared of what being with me—a man she hardly knows, would mean. It’s too fast for her, but dammit, you can’t choose when you fall in love. It happens and you can either go with it or push it away.
And hell, the last thing I want to do is push Justine far from me.
But I did just that when I called her Princess.
And now she is pissed at me, with reason.
It’s no longer just about the fact I kidnapped her.
And dammit, that was a bad fucking plan.
I never thought about being charged with kidnapping when I brought her here. I only thought of getting her away from Luther. But it looks like my short-sighted goal could backfire.
I don’t want to go to jail, but fuck, maybe it will have been worth it in the end as crazy as that fucking sounds. I really don’t want Justine, beautiful and naive and ridiculously aggravating Justine, anywhere near that bastard who has disgraced my mother by his choices after her death.
Consequences be damned. She wants to leave my woods, so I’ll help get her out, pain me though it does. Maybe if I give her want she wants—space—she’ll realize what she really needs is me.
Picking up my phone I call for a plane. I don’t have one of my own, but right now I sure as hell wish I did.
Still, a plane can get here soon, and that’s all that matters now.
I look around my place, looking at the bed where I devoured Justine and I run my hands through my hair. Letting her leave like this fucking kills me.
Maybe falling hard and fast is crazy to most people. Hell, under any other circumstance it would be crazy to me too but then I met Justine. Spent the night with her in my arms, my body filling up her perfect cunt and all I want is more of her. My desire for her is off the charts and it’s more than physical. She challenges me, makes me think about changing the way I live my life.
For the first time, my forest sanctuary feels isolated and I feel alone.
The meaning of life has got to be about more than living for me, myself, and I.
With Justine in my world, it feels like life could also be about so much more. A life with love and beauty. Hell, a wife and kids. More than a cabin in the middle of nowhere with Justine, I could have a fucking home.
She could be my home.
I need to convince her she is wrong about me. I sure as hell can’t let this woman go without a fair fight.
And I am the one who needs to be fighting.
For her.
I’m so transfixed with this idea that it takes several seconds before I register the noise outside for what it is.
It’s a plane.
That was fucking fast.
I head out the front door, trying to figure out what’s going on but I’m too late.
EXPOSÉ:
The Gossip Column You Can Sink Your Teeth Into
JUSTICE FOR JUSTINE! By Trista Piper
All evidence points to a kidnapping of virgin heiress Justine Van De Shire and when the local police ran the plates of the abandoned truck. The results shocked everyone.
But no one was more surprised than the highest bidder, Luther Morris, himself.
As we have learned more about this investigation we have learned that this case of kidnapping is more than meets the eye.
Luther Morris is the widower of Alaskan native, Helen Ottenbagh, founder of Humans Against Harming Animals.
While this was not disclosed at the auction raising money for HAHA, the ties Morris has to this not-for-profit run deep.
Especially now that we know more information about the deserted vehicle. The truck is registered in the name of Luther Morris’s ex-stepson, an only child, and heir to the Ottenbagh fortune and presiding director of HAHA, Ryder Ottenbagh. Though anonymous sources tell us he is the director in title only and does not have any direct influence over the organization.
Van De Shire publicist Eileen Dorset identified Ryder Ottenbagh as the driver of the limousine, having seen him briefly backstage post-auction.
Ryder Ottenbagh lives two hours outside of Anchorage in a remote location. Police
are moving toward the coordinates of the Ottenbagh cabin with the hopes of rescuing Justine Van De Shire safely and swiftly.
Luther Morris was not available for comment.
If charged with kidnapping, Ryder will face serious charges and we can only hope our girl Justine is found unscathed.
This scintillating story of an auctioned virgin should be ending with a sweet cherry popping. Not a police chase.
At EXPOSÉ we’re fighting for more than a good story right now. We are on #TeamJustine and hope Justine can find justice!
Chapter 17
Justine
Ryder left just like I asked him to.
And now I’m here, face planted in my palms, trying to stop the tears from falling down my cheeks.
I’ve never put myself in a position where I might end up with a battered outlook on love but right now it feels like I dove straight to that place, eyes shut, heart open.
Broken.
I walk down toward the lake, wanting to think through what exactly has me so scared.
Resolving to be more rational about all this, I wipe my face dry and take a deep breath. The fresh mountain air fills my lungs, promising to wash away my worries. The storm has passed and the bright green trees and ferns push me to be present in this moment. I’ve never let circumstance stop me before, and I won’t let it now.
I may have been kidnapped, but in a stroke of irony I was brought to the very land I was trying to save. It could be worse. I could be locked up in a basement with a serial killer.
Ryder is many things but a psychopath isn’t one of them.
But damn, he can be such a fucking ass.
But honestly, can’t we all?
The tears don’t stop flooding my face though. I step over fallen branches and tree roots, as I walk down the hill to the lake
Ryder is more than a man who kidnapped me. He’s also a man who I gave myself to and with good reason. With him, I felt not only alive but beautiful, capable, more myself than I am with anyone else. And the fact that he lives here in this wild land under the clear blue sky, the sort of place I can imagine myself living in so easily, it makes me want to forget that he kidnapped me for reasons that don’t entirely make sense.
It makes me want to run into his cabin and pull his mouth to mine.
It makes me want to pretend that I didn’t come here under these pretenses.
It makes me wish he wasn’t my kidnapper. It makes me wish he could remain my lover.
I run my hands through my hair and wind it up into a messy bun on top of my head, trying to think through what happened after I left the auction last night.
My parents must be worried sick. I can only imagine what happened once Eileen realized I was missing. My head begins to throb at my selfishness. How could I have not insisted on calling them last night to assure everyone that I was safe?
I need to call them now.
Tears fall again as I being to grasp how reckless I’ve been. I can’t believe I forgot everything important just because Ryder was sexy and wild in a way I crave.
I know I need to make the phone call and apologize. I hate myself for being so careless with my family’s feelings. Who knows how many people are out searching for me? There was so much press about my auction that everyone is probably reporting that I’ve gone missing.
Before I make my way up the hill toward the cabin, a seaplane flies overhead. I turn toward it, the bright yellow wings circling the lake, and descending toward the lake.
I lift my hand to my brow, watching the plane as it heads toward me.
The storm from the night before has passed, and the clouds in the sky part, letting the sun shine down on the ride that will take me far, far away from Ryder.
The plane lands on the crystal clear mountain lake, and when the propeller stops whirring, out steps a man.
A man I recognize.
“Justine?” the man calls.
The man who bought me.
Luther Morris. Ryder’s ex-stepfather. The man who paid for me, fair and square.
“It’s me,” I call back, regret washing over me as I walk toward the dock, knowing my prayers were answered with his arrival, but before I reach him, and his outstretched hands, I hear my name being called from up on the hill.
“Justine, stop,” Ryder shouts.
“Don’t listen to him, darling, he doesn’t have his head on straight,” Luther says coolly.
I swallow, the tears pricking my eyes again, hating the idea that the man I gave myself to was a monster. Was anything other than an untamed mountain man, with rough edges yet a soft heart.
But in other ways, I think Luther is telling the truth.
Ryder didn’t have to kidnap me. He chose to do that.
“Stop,” Ryder hollers, running down the hill. I watch him move quickly, and as he nears I see the lines of fear around his eyes.
My heart seizes, as I doubt everything I’ve learned about Ryder. Maybe Luther’s right. Maybe Ryder doesn’t have his head clear; after all, he did kidnap me without considering the consequences. I start crying more freely as I realize just how little I know. How deeply I have let myself fall. I’m so completely over my head.
“I’ll get you home, safe and sound,” Luther tells me, reaching for my hand as I begin to cry without restraint.
I let him take my hand, my chest heavy, the sobs crashing hard.
“Stop, Justine, listen to me,” Ryder calls, rushing toward me as Luther pulls me toward the plane and helps me in.
I sit in a small seat as Luther climbs into the pilot seat and turns the engine on as Ryder hollers from the pier, shouting for me to hear him out.
“Don’t listen to him, baby,” Luther tells me. “I’ve got you now. I’ll take you home.” We take off, bumping over the water and my stomach flips. I’m not sure if it’s because of the choppiness of taking off or if it is because I am leaving Ryder.
“You’ll take me home?” I ask, desperately wanting the comfort of my own bed right now, wanting to take a hot shower in my own house, washing away the pain that Ryder caused.
Luther’s eyes flash with something darker than I expect and he growls in my ear. “Not your home, mine.”
He reaches for my hand and takes hold of it as if it’s his to hold.
And I realize a minute too late that Ryder was right.
Right about everything.
Chapter 18
Ryder
I can’t fucking take it.
Watching Justine fly away with that monster, my blood boils, my screams scare the birds flying overhead, and my heart feels like it’s going to fucking explode.
I hurt and confused her, and fucking made her hate me.
But I swear on my life, I will protect her.
I did a dumb fucking thing kidnapping her but I only wanted to keep her safe.
And now she’s in Luther’s plane, headed to his torture chamber, where he will have his way with her.
Over my dead, fucking body.
I have one goal; getting Justine back in my arms. Proving to her that I’m not the villain she believes me to be.
On my knees, I’ll beg for her forgiveness and ask for a second chance.
She is all I want and more than I goddamned deserve.
When the plane I ordered lands a few minutes later, I tell the pilot where I need to go.
There is no time to waste.
Justine is more than a prize. She is my woman.
And I am going to save her.
Chapter 19
Justine
Up in the air, alone with Luther, I grip the handles on the passenger side door, my knuckles turning white.
This isn’t right.
“No need to cry, darling. I’ll take good care of you.” Luther grips my knee. “Ryder has always been a bit of a control freak, thinking he knows best,” Luther says. “But the fact is, he kidnapped you. And he will certainly pay for this.”
I swallow, trying to regulate my breathing. Everything feels so off.<
br />
A part of myself was left on that dock.
Ryder’s ice-blue eyes seared my heart with the way he looked at me through the window before the plane took off.
Desperation. Longing. Regret.
“Is there a radio in here?” I ask. “I have to call my family.”
“That won’t be necessary,” Luther says, flipping a switch on his side of the control panel.
“Why not?” I ask, my voice quivering. Fear growing in my belly.
“Because first I need to take you home and make sure Ryder didn’t tamper with my prize.”
Prize.
Me.
Luther bought me, fair and square and he wants to cash in on what he is owed.
Pressing my lips together, I don’t know what to do. I can’t exactly jump out of the plane.
“You don’t have to donate the money, Luther,” I say. “The auction, the night together…all of it’s called off.”
“Called off?” Luther sneers. “I paid for you, wrote the check to HAHA. Already. It’s done.”
“I’ll give you a refund. Pay you back myself.” I shake my head. “But if you were married to Helen Ottenbagh, why did you bid on me? Half of her estate was willed to the charity.”
“I don’t care where the money went. I came to the auction for you, not for your cause. I had to have you. And now I will.”
As he speaks, I realize just how compromising a situation I have put myself in. “I’m not going through with it,” I tell him firmly. “I changed my mind. I need to see my family, speak with my lawyer. Don’t take me to your house. Take me to Anchorage.”
He cocks an eye at me, shaking his head ever so slightly.
“That won’t be necessary.”
“It won’t?” I ask, my voice cracking.
“Look at you, so scared.” He pats my knee again. “There’s no need to fret. Your family is at my estate, waiting for you. I promised them safe delivery. The police are on their way to arrest Ryder as we speak, and I arranged for your parents—who flew up last night—to be there when the plane lands.”
