Playing With Fire (Guarded Hearts)

by Noelle, Alexis

  My hand gripped the doorknob. "Chris, I hope you have a good life. Have fun in New York." He seemed to realize I was leaving and, before he could reach me, I was in the crowded hallway.

  I started to walk fast down the hallway, constantly checking behind me to see if he was following. Everyone was looking at me like I was crazy, but I really could care less right now. My phone chimed, which scared the crap out of me, and I reached around in my purse to find it.

  How was lunch?

  It was Carter. Should I tell him what just happened with Chris? He barely let me out of his sight now, not that I was complaining. If I told him about Chris, he'd insist on coming here, but I liked being able to have some independence. I knew Carter watched over me because he cared, but sometimes I felt like a child instead of his girlfriend.

  It was good! On my way to sell back my books now, then I'll be home. Love you!

  Once I was done in the bookstore, I met Nicole at the dorms. She was packing up all of her stuff.

  "Hey, mama! No watchdog today?"

  I had to laugh. Nic got how I felt about the boys sometimes, and thought it was hysterical how they took shifts with me. "Ha ha ha…I can't believe you're leaving today. I'm really gonna miss you."

  "Ugh...me too. Listen, you need to come visit me at least one weekend this summer. We'll go shopping, lie by the pool, watch chick flicks, and stuff our faces with junk food."

  "That sounds amazing." I never thought I'd meet a friend like Nicole and, now that I had, saying goodbye sucked. Even if it was only for three months, I was still going to miss being able to have our girl time.

  "All right, chick, come on and help me get all this crap in my car."

  Once we loaded her car, she dropped me off at home and left. I made a promise that I'd come visit her this summer, and I couldn't wait.

  Carter

  When I got home, Maddy was cooking and the house smelled incredible. I walked up behind her and wrapped my arms around her. "Hey, babe, it smells amazing." I kissed her cheek and she blushed. I loved that I could still affect her like this.

  "Hey, yourself. I rented a movie for us tonight."

  "Oh, yeah? Let me guess...some cheesy romantic movie aimed at robbing me of my man card?"

  She giggled and nodded. "It's called ‘The Vow.' I'm sure you can find another way to earn back your man card, though."

  "Mmmm…then the cheesy movie is definitely worth it." I started to trail kisses down her neck, nipping gently here and there.

  "Okay, I think that's enough for now, before dinner is nothing but a charred mess."

  I laughed and walked into the living room. I loved the way that things were now. I don't think they could be any better. We were finally happy and everything had fallen into place. Tomorrow was my last day of work, then the next day we were going to go to Myrtle Beach for a week. I couldn't wait, because last time it was too cold for the beach. This time, though, I told Maddy she was going to live in bikinis.

  After that, we were going to visit home for a month, then come back here and get used to life again before school started. Holly and her friend, Christen, were going to be coming to Duke this year, and I was happy to have my sister close again.

  We had dinner and watched the movie Maddy picked. I swear, whoever Nicholas Sparks was, he hated men. I mean, either you looked like a girl for getting upset at the movie, or you looked emotionless because you couldn't care less about the couple. In my case, it was the first option and Maddy loved it.

  The boys still constantly teased me about it, but I told them it was because neither of them had ever been in love. I think that was why these movies affected me so much, because I could imagine it being Maddy and me.

  She was in the shower now and I couldn't wait any longer. I slipped in behind her and, at first, she was surprised.

  "Carter! What are you doing in here?"

  "I figured why wait until you get out of the shower. This way, I can clean you after I make you dirty."

  She relaxed against me and I wrapped my arms around her. I cupped her breasts and started to roll her nipples between my fingers. I could tell by her little moans that she was completely on board now. I moved my hands up and down her sides and middle, taking advantage of being able to touch her while the hot water was pouring down on us.

  When I moved my hand down to her pussy, it was soaking wet...and not just from the water. I ran my fingers up and down her middle, slowly moving over her clit and showing it a little extra attention each time. I could tell she was close because her legs were starting to shake.

  I inserted two of my fingers inside of her while using my thumb to massage her clit. I pushed her back against me with the other hand so she could feel the full effect of what she did to me. When I lowered my head and scrapped my teeth across her neck, she screamed my name.

  When her muscles stopped contracting around my hand, I turned her around to face me. I grabbed her face and crushed my mouth to hers, while backing her against the tile wall at the same time. She lifted her leg around my waist, letting me know she was ready. I couldn't get enough of her if I tried and, after everything that happened to her, I was thankful that she felt comfortable with doing things like this.

  I pulled back and thrust into her. "Carter!"

  "I know, baby. You feel so fucking good."

  I started thrusting in and out of her faster. She was so tight, and the sounds she made drove me crazy. She started digging her nails into my back, letting me know that she was close again. I leaned down and took her breast into my mouth, sucking and biting and then moving to the other one.

  I'd never had a problem with stamina before, but something about having sex with Maddy took all of that away. When she came and her pussy started squeezing my cock, I was done. With one hard thrust, I emptied myself inside of her. We both stayed like that for a couple minutes, trying to catch our breaths.

  "I don't think I'll ever get enough of you, baby."

  She laughed and ran her hand through my hair. "Good, because I don't plan on going anywhere anytime soon."

  * * *

  Today was my last day of work until September, and I couldn't be happier. I was on my way to pick up Jason because he needed my car today. He was going to drop me off at work, run a couple errands, and then he and Maddy were gonna watch a movie.

  "Hey, Carter, guess you're happy about leaving tomorrow, judging by that big ass grin on your face."

  "Yeah, I can't wait to get out of here."

  "You and me both, dude."

  J dropped me off at the club, and I told him I'd call him when I was ready to leave for the night.

  Chapter Twelve

  Madison

  I walked to the door to let Jason in. Tonight we were going to have a movie night and I'd already made the popcorn. Shawn and I had definitely become closer this year, but Jason was like my big brother. I was looking forward to being able to hang out with him tonight.

  When I opened the door, I saw one of the sources of my nightmares. I tried to shove the door shut, but he put his foot there to stop it and then forced his way into the house.

  Chris looked absolutely crazy, his eyes had nothing but anger and hate in them. I started to scream and tried to make a run for my phone. Chris grabbed my hair by the ponytail and pulled me back to him, clamping his hand down over my mouth to silence my cries for help.

  He pulled me back against him and I could feel his breath on my neck. I felt him press something hard against my side. "You scream one more time and I'll put a fucking bullet in you. Do you understand me?" I nodded my head. "I'm going to take my hand off of your mouth. Don't try anything."

  He let my mouth and hair go, and I took a step away from him. What the hell was I supposed to do now? Jason should be here soon, but I almost hoped he didn't come. I had no doubt that if Jason showed up, Chris would flip out. I needed to keep him talking for right now. "What are you doing here, Chris?"

  He smiled at me, reached in his pocket, took out a roll of duct ta
pe and some rope. "I told you I wasn't letting you go, Madison. I'm leaving town tonight, and you're coming with me."

  "Chris, don't do this, you don't need me."

  He laughed at me. "You're right, I don't need you." There was no way that this was going to be that easy. "But I want you and you are mine."

  This was what it had always been about with him...control and being able to treat me like I was his possession. I looked around the apartment and silently said goodbye to everything. I wouldn't put up a fight because I didn't want to be here when Jason came. I didn't want anyone to be hurt because of me, and I knew Chris wouldn't hesitate to hurt him. I heard my phone ringing in the bedroom. This was about the third call since he got here. I needed to get him out of here before something happened to someone I loved.

  "Okay, I'll go with you."

  "I wasn't asking, and I don't fucking trust you. Get over here, Madison."

  I walked over to the man that, I was sure, would eventually kill me. When I got within a foot of him, he gripped my arm and pulled me the rest of the way. "You'll pay for all the shit you did here, Madison. Once we get to New York, I'm going to have some fun with you."

  I started to cry, and I felt like I was going to throw up. He pulled me to him, intent on kissing me, but I instinctively turned my head. He gripped my face so hard I let out a yelp.

  "You won't deny me what I want anymore, you little bitch." He crushed his mouth to mine angrily, and then moved down my neck. At this point, I just wanted him to kill me. Anything would be better than this. Just then, he bit down on my neck so hard that I yelled. I couldn't believe he just did that! He leaned down to whisper in my ear, "I'm going to mark you so much that you'll never forget you're mine again. This is enough for now, though."

  He lifted the duct tape and secured it across my mouth. "Turn around and put your hands behind your back."

  Apparently, I didn't move fast enough because he spun me around, making me stumble and fall onto the arm of the couch. He readjusted me so I was lying face down across the arm of the couch. He situated himself behind me and I could feel his erection digging into me. I was sobbing now, but the tape muffled my cries. He pulled my arms back and tied my wrists together.

  Once he had them secured, he pulled back only to thrust into me, while using my arms to increase the force. He started rubbing my ass with his other hand, and slapped me so hard I bit my lip. When he pulled on my arms again, I felt my shoulder pop and yelled in pain. His hand rubbed over my backside again, and he started to laugh. "Just a taste of what's to come. I might have to leave you like this for the first time. I'd ask you where your clothes are, but you really won't be needing any."

  All of a sudden the door slammed open and when I looked up, I saw Carter standing there.

  Oh God, no.

  Carter

  I'd tried to call Maddy twice and she didn't answer. I couldn't shake this feeling I had that something was wrong.

  "Hey, John, I can't reach Maddy and Jason has my car. Is there any way I can borrow yours? I just need to make sure that she's okay and I'll come right back."

  "No problem. Keys are under the bar."

  "Thanks, John!" I grabbed his keys and ran out of the club. I dialed Maddy again to see if I could get her, but there was no answer. I had this feeling in my gut that something was really wrong.

  I pulled up to the house and saw Chris's car in the driveway. Fuck! I barely got the car in park before I jumped out and started running toward the house.

  When I opened the door, that bastard had her bent over the couch and her hands were tied behind her back. When she turned to look at me, I could see that her mouth was taped too. I was going to kill this motherfucker.

  I surveyed her to make sure she wasn't hurt anywhere. That was when I saw her neck and the big bite mark that was tinged with blood. What the fuck? This animal was going to pay. I started to move toward her when Chris stood her up, and lifted a gun that I hadn't seen before.

  "Hey, Carter! Did you come to say goodbye to us? That was so nice of you!"

  He had the gun held against her side, and I knew I had to choose my next move very carefully. "Chris, I don't know what's going on, but why don't you just put the gun down. I heard you were going to school in New York, and that's great. You can have a fresh start."

  "I'm planning on getting a fresh start…" He leaned down and kissed her on the cheek, and my whole body tensed. "…with my girl."

  He started to move toward the door and lifted the gun so it pointed at me. "Move out of our way, Carter."

  "You know I can't do that, Chris."

  He laughed at me. "Well, then, I'll have to make you move."

  Maddy screamed something that I couldn't understand and shook her head. Chris grabbed her harder and started to whisper something to her, and I saw my opportunity.

  I rushed toward him, but he saw me. I heard a pop and I felt a burning pain in my shoulder. It made me stumble and the next thing I knew, everything went black.

  Madison

  Chris started to move toward the door and lifted the gun so it pointed at Carter. "Move out of our way, Carter."

  "You know I can't do that, Chris."

  "Well, then I'll have to make you move."

  I knew what he meant and I screamed for Carter to move. Chris leaned down and started to whisper in my ear. "You better convince him to-" Carter started to move toward us, and I heard the gun go off.

  I saw a growing red spot start to form on Carter's shoulder. He stumbled from the impact and when he fell, he hit his head on the coffee table. He landed face down on the floor and didn't move again. I screamed and sunk down onto the floor.

  He couldn't be gone. I had to see if he was okay. I started to crawl toward him, which was really difficult with my hands tied behind my back. I was only about a foot away from him when Chris grabbed me.

  "Don't you worry about him. Let's go."

  I just shook my head and kept trying to get to where Carter was lying. Chris picked me up and started carrying me out to the car. I was kicking and doing anything I possibly could to get away from him. Once we got to the car, he put me down and punched me in the stomach. "You better stop because you're only going to make things worse for yourself when we get to New York."

  He pushed me into the car and slammed my head in the process. My ears were ringing and I started to feel dizzy. Chris buckled my seatbelt and locked it so I could barely move. I noticed headlights and when I looked closer, I saw that it was Carter's car. Chris sped out of the driveway so fast that I was thrown back into the seat.

  When I looked in the side mirror, I saw that Jason was following us. I just hoped that Chris didn't notice. "You know, this is all your fault, Madison. I warned you to stay away from him the first day you met him. Now look what happened because of you."

  No, this wasn't my fault. I was done letting people make me feel like everything was my fault. This was all happening because Chris was a psychopath.

  "Is that car following me?" Shit, he noticed. "All right, buddy, try and follow this."

  He sped up and started to race down the city streets. Jason seemed to be keeping up, though, and it was pissing Chris off.

  We were coming up to a red light, but Chris wasn't slowing down. Oh my God, he was going to run it!

  I was facing toward the passenger window and I saw the truck coming. I don't think Chris did and by the time he did, it was too late. The truck clipped the back of the car and sent us spinning. The next thing I knew, the car flipped a couple times and landed upside down.

  There was broken glass everywhere and car alarms were going off. Chris was no longer next to me, and I thought I could hear someone yelling my name. I felt like I was in a tunnel. All the sounds were muffled and everything looked blurry. I could almost feel myself slipping away.

  They say that sometimes in life, you reach a fork in the road and need to decide what to do. You can take the safe and normal way that you are used to, or you can take a chance with the road wher
e the ending is unclear. I chose that road with Carter, and I wouldn't change a thing. If I could do it all again I would, but I couldn't believe that this was it.

  I couldn't believe that, after everything, this was how I was going to die. I refused to grieve for myself, though, because no matter what, this past year had been the best of my life. I wouldn't trade my time with Carter for anything.

  I could care less if Chris lived or died. He caused all of this unnecessary pain.

  All I could think of was Carter. I hoped he was okay because he was my everything. I didn't know why he chose me, but I'd be forever grateful that he did. I wasn't worried about dying. The only things I was mourning for were Carter and our baby.

  I was going to tell him tonight, but now I'd never get the chance.

  About the Author

  My name is Ashley Piscitelli and I live in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with my husband, two kids, and two dogs. On top of starting a writing career, I am a full-time student and a full-time mom. I love spending time with my kids, although I have to hide the computer from them when I am writing! I love being active and being outdoors.

  I have always been passionate about writing, and wrote this book in about three months. I love reading romance books! I feel like being able to lose yourself in a book is one of the more exciting aspects. The books I love to read and write will be ones that make you feel for the characters. You should have an opinion on every character in a book whether you love them, hate them, or think they are up to something.

  I have always thought that the most important critic is your reader, so I would love to hear from you. If you read the book and loved it or hated it, tell me. As long as it is in a constructive way, I will always answer and interact with you. I want fans to feel free to tell me what they want for the characters in the story, and what they want to see happen.

  I hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!