by Rome, Ada
“Goodnight, Cayne,” I whispered as I stepped out into the night and watched him drive away.
Fifteen minutes later, I packed a few key belongings into my suitcase and stowed it under the bed. It’s only a precaution, I told myself. If I need to run, I’ll be ready.
My conversation with Aunt Lu replayed in my mind. I had promised to stand firm if Granton found me. Images of Cayne tied my heart in knots. There was no way I would be able to leave him, not now. In the few days that we had spent together since my return to Hallow River, I was already certain that he had become an essential and irreplaceable part of my life.
But the terror pounding in my temples overwhelmed my reason and all other emotions. In that moment, all I knew was fear.
Chapter 9
The auto shop was busy when I arrived the next morning. I parked on the gravel drive and scanned the premises for any sign of Cayne. The heat settled like a blanket around me in the high southern summer. I plucked uncomfortably at the collar of my waitress uniform and fanned the skirt around my legs in a futile attempt at relief.
A burst of giggles sounded on my left. I turned to see Cayne’s broad shoulders and sculpted back leaning under the hood of a very familiar cherry red pickup. Mindy Lowder leaned at his side, her hips angled toward him. Her voluptuous breasts, stretching the seams of a flimsy purple tank top, rested on the crook of his elbow. Cutoff jean shorts barely covered her crotch, nearly giving a view of her ass through the border of scraggly threads.
Cayne flashed her the gorgeous dimpled smirk that I knew so well. She perched flirtatiously on one foot and twirled a lock of honey blonde hair around her finger. As I walked closer, I caught a snippet of their conversation.
“Caaaayyyyyyne,” she crooned in an exaggerated baby voice. She arced one long red fingernail down his bicep. “Where have you been hiding? You haven’t come by to see your little Mindy lately.” She flipped her hair over one sun-freckled shoulder and shifted her weight to her other foot, brushing her breasts firmly against his arm in the process.
He took a rag from his back pocket and wiped his hands, not moving any closer to her but also not moving any farther away. “Oh, you know,” he said in his deep droll voice that oozed masculine sex appeal. “I’ve been spending time with old friends.”
“Aw, baby,” she whined. “I know a couple of old friends who’d like to spend time with you too.” She bent her upper body forward and wiggled her shoulders, the abundant mounds of her cleavage dancing lightly against his skin.
At this point, I was standing immediately behind them. I cleared my throat loudly. They both turned, Cayne with a swift swivel and Mindy in a slow slither.
Cayne’s face brightened into a broad smile, his teeth flashing and his eyes glinting with delight.
“Brinley.” He stepped towards me. Mindy glared, giving my waitress outfit a quick up-and-down and curling her lip in disgust.
“A waitress, huh? Did somebody order lunch?” she asked, her red talons reaching out and grabbing Cayne’s forearm. He shook his arm to release her grip.
“Mindy, I gotta go. I’ll have one of the guys finish up with your truck.” He called to one of the other mechanics and pointed to the exposed engine. Then he placed a hand on my waist and spun me toward the shop. I heard Mindy release a furious huff as we walked away.
Cayne led me inside the building to a small windowless office with his name etched in black letters on the door. The room was about eight feet by eight feet. A desk covered in papers took up most of the floor space. A calendar on the wall featured a woman glistening with body oil and sitting spread-eagled on the hood of an old Corvette, the spheres of her fake breasts spilling from the top of a leather bustier. He closed the door. The shop floor racket of clanking metal and male shouts immediately receded.
“Nice calendar,” I said sarcastically.
“You like it?” he asked with a wink. “It’s one of the benefits of being a mechanic. You can paper your office walls with half-naked women and no one will complain. That’s why I didn’t become an accountant.”
“Lovely story. Way to follow your dreams.” I could feel myself getting testy and saw him raise an eyebrow at my snippy tone. “Speaking of half-naked women, I heard some of your conversation out there with Little Miss Big Tits. Who are these ‘old friends’ you claim to be spending time with? Is that what I am to you? An old friend? Or did you just not want your girlfriend out there to know you’ve been screwing someone else?”
“For Christ’s sake, Brinley. Lighten up.” He perched on the edge of the desk, his legs spread wide. He hooked a finger into the ribbon around my waist and tugged me toward him. I inched reluctantly forward. He closed his thighs around my hips and clasped his hands around my lower back.
“Mindy is nothing to me,” he said matter-of-factly. “We had a thing once. Now we don’t. It was meaningless while it lasted anyway. I didn’t tell her about you because she has a big mouth and a hot temper. Our personal business would be all over town in five minutes. Is that what you want?”
“No,” I admitted with a pout that made me feel childish. My anger was already starting to melt like ice in the heat of his presence.
“Good. Me neither.” He pulled me in closer. “What we have is just for us right now.” He kissed me lightly on the lips.
“Well, you didn’t have to get so cozy with her. She was practically suffocating you in a boob sandwich.”
Cayne laughed heartily. The corners of my mouth twitched as I tried to stifle a smile. He reached up and plucked the gold chain of my necklace, lifting the pendant out from where it rested underneath my collar.
“Says the girl wearing some other dude’s ‘love’ charm.”
I snatched the pendant from his fingers with a ferocity that surprised us both. I tucked it back beneath my buttoned-up collar.
“I told you that necklace has nothing to do with love. You’re not being fair.”
“Ok,” he said gently. “Be fair to me, and I’ll be fair to you. You’re telling me not to worry about the necklace, and I’m telling you not to worry about Mindy. Trust works both ways. If you want me to trust you, then you have to trust me as well.”
I nodded, feeling chastened. He was right, after all. I was being unfair in refusing to tell him anything about my own past life but becoming angry and judgmental when I glimpsed fragments of his.
“You know,” he said in a throaty purr as he fingered the edging of my short skirt, “I like seeing you get all jealous like this. It’s turning me on.”
He kissed the side of my neck from my collarbone to my ear. His hands inched up the backs of my thighs and under my skirt. He gripped my ass tight and pulled me in even closer. I could feel the bulge of his sizeable erection through his jeans. His fingers traced outlines over my hips and then plunged forcefully into the front of my panties.
As always, his touch made me wet in a matter of microseconds. First one and then two of his fingers slipped deep inside me and pumped in and out several times. A raspy groan escaped involuntarily from my lips. I clapped my hand over my mouth, embarrassed that anyone outside might have heard me.
“Relax,” he said soothingly. “No one will hear. These walls are thick. I’ve had sex in here a thousand times.” I opened my mouth in shock. He laughed. I slapped him jokingly on the shoulder. He held up his hands in mock surrender. “Babe, I’m totally kidding. It wasn’t a thousand times. That’s ridiculous. It was probably only about seven hundred.”
We both dissolved into laughter. His flashing eyes met mine. Then I shuddered and drew in my breath sharply as his fingers expertly fondled the slick folds and swells of my vagina and dipped deliciously inside again.
“How much time do you have before you need to be at the diner?” he asked.
“Mmmmm, about a half hour,” I responded breathily.
“I think I can work with that.” He winked and hopped off the desk, standing straight. He reached over the small space of the office and flipped the lock on the door
. He shifted the papers that littered the desk, clearing a space in the middle.
“Turn around,” he instructed me.
I turned to face the desk and felt his palm pressing flat on my back, angling my upper body gently downwards.
“Now bend over, baby,” he whispered.
I bent low over the desk, placing my hands on its surface with my fingers spread. A rush of air hit my thighs as Cayne flipped my skirt up and over my back. He reached over the top of the desk, opened a drawer on the other side, and pulled out a condom.
A part of my brain knew this was crazy. There was a garage full of mechanics and customers on the other side of the wall. But my body craved Cayne like a drug. I was utterly incapable of resisting. I would never be able to resist.
I heard the tearing of the condom wrapper from behind me as I stayed bent over the desk. This was followed by the buzz of an opening zipper and a rustle of cloth.
He slowly and delicately pinched the top of my panties between his fingertips and slid them down over my hips and thighs until they dropped around my ankles. I kicked them off to the side. He kneaded and rubbed my naked ass with both hands and teasingly spanked it twice.
I bent lower, my nose nearly touching the desktop. He pried my legs farther apart. I poked my ass up higher toward him. He grasped and lifted my hips. Then, with a sudden forceful thrust and a rush of heat, he plunged thick, rigid, and deep into my vagina. I cried out in urgent lust, my fingernails scratching into the wooden surface of the desk. He pulled out in a long wet slide and entered me again. I gripped the rim of the desk with white knuckles.
“How does that feel, baby? You like it when I fuck you from behind?”
“Oh my god, yes,” I panted. “Fuck me harder, Cayne. Fuck me as hard as you can. Make me scream.”
He plunged into me with more vigor, lifting my hips higher and thrusting harder and deeper. He reached forward and massaged me with his fingers while he filled me up strong and full. My erect nipples grazed the desktop through the fabric of my dress. The tingling pressure of his fingers combined with each powerful slippery thrust to send me into agonies of ecstasy.
“Holy shit, you feel so fucking good,” he gasped. He spanked me hard again and then gripped my hips tightly. “Tell me you want this forever. Tell me you want me to fuck you just like this forever.”
“I want you to, Cayne,” I moaned. “Just like this forever. Please. I need you to.”
My orgasm was building. We were both breathing heavily. He pounded into me with speed and force as his rough fingers rubbed my clit again and again. My hands hurt where I clutched the edge of the desk, but I couldn’t let go. My mind and body were totally overwhelmed by the throbbing intensity of our passion. I didn’t know if anyone outside could hear us, but I didn’t care at that point. I moaned and gasped in an increasing rhythm, signaling that I was getting close to orgasm.
“That’s it, girl,” he said. “I want to hear you. Make it loud. Scream for me.”
He pounded into me faster, crashing against the backs of my naked thighs with each forceful plunge until an unbearable rush of pleasure made my entire body tense, my back arch low over the desk, and a full-throated ecstatic groan escape from my parted lips. He thrust into me strong and deep several more times and came with a low rumbling growl and a thick final shudder of release. I lay flat on the desk, relaxing my fingers and sighing with satisfaction as the final few surges of orgasm coursed through my body.
He pulled out. I stood up straight. He spun me around and kissed me long and hard, his fingers gripping the side of my neck. Our racing hearts slowed together. We stood in silence for several minutes.
I bent down to retrieve my panties from the floor. We dressed and readjusted our clothes. Once we had both cooled down enough to face the world, we exited the office. No one in the bustling garage seemed at all aware of our recent activities.
Cayne caught my eye and winked adorably as we made our way out onto the gravel drive.
“So, I’ll make sure the car gets fixed today. Do you need a ride to the diner?”
“No, that’s alright,” I said. “It’s a nice day to walk.”
He looked up at the glaring sun and gave me a quizzical look. “If you say so.”
“I need to refocus before I can start serving lunch to the good people of Hallow River. The walk will help me clear my head.”
He laughed. “Makes sense. How about I pick you up after your shift?”
“That sounds great.”
Aware others were watching, I lifted up onto my tiptoes and gave him a peck of a kiss on the cheek. I strolled down the drive, turning once to find him watching me with a satisfied smile. Little did I know that our nightmare was about to begin.
Chapter 10
“Hey, girl!” The diner was in a mid-morning lull. Cami was wiping down the counter over the pie case. She eagerly waved me over. I hopped onto one of the stools and looked around the room. A smattering of customers sat chewing their meals and chatting under the lazily spinning ceiling fans.
“Seems pretty quiet today. How is everything going?”
“Quiet is right. It was boring as hell until you got here.” She scrubbed at a spot on the counter with her washrag. “I’ve spent the morning listening to clacking dentures.”
A fly buzzed around her unruly mess of curls. She batted her hands in annoyance and then slapped at the fly with her washrag when it landed on a napkin dispenser. “It’s like a damn nature preserve in here.” She dropped the rag onto the counter as the fly buzzed away.
“So, anything exciting to report?” I asked. “Did Mr. Pinkles melt into a peach smear on the linoleum? Did the Times restaurant critic stop by to sample our delectable chicken-fried steak?”
Cami giggled. “Oh!” she exclaimed. “There was one thing!” She fished around in her pockets, removing several pieces of gum and three different tubes of lip gloss.
“Ah. Here it is.” She held out a page of her notepad that had been torn in half and folded. “This guy came by asking about you.”
Anxiety crept into my chest. My heart beat faster.
“Good-looking, probably in his 40s,” she continued. “Salt and pepper hair. Expensive watch. Seemed friendly enough. Anyway, he told me his name, but I knew I’d forget it, so I made him write it down. Here you go.” She held the paper out toward me. “He said you two go way back. How do you know him? I’ve never seen him around here. Is he from New York?”
I stared at the paper like it was a burning coal. I finally took it from her, gingerly pinching it between my index finger and thumb. I already knew what it would say before I opened it. Cami blinked expectantly at me. I carefully unfolded the paper.
Granton Langley, it said in the smooth script that I recognized. He had the nerve to draw a heart underneath his name. That bastard. My throat felt like it was about to close. I couldn’t breathe or swallow.
“Did he, um,” I started to croak out a question once I regained some measure of control over my vocal chords. “Did he say what he wanted?” I shoved the paper into my dress pocket to hide my trembling hand.
“No, he didn’t.” A shadow of concern passed over Cami’s face. She was must have sensed my discomfort. “Brinley, who is he?” She scrunched her eyebrows together in an expression of uncertainty.
“Oh, nobody.” I faked a smile, hoping to appear breezy and nonchalant. “You were right. He’s just somebody that I knew back in New York. No big deal. I wonder what he’s doing all the way down here.”
Cami’s forehead smoothed, the worry lines instantly erased. Her glossy lips curled upwards in a cheery grin. “How exciting! Well, I told him that you normally work the afternoon shift. He said that he’d be sure to find you.”
“Great. Thanks, Cami.” I returned her smile and patted my pocket where the paper rested like a millstone. “I’m just going to put my stuff in the back and get ready for my shift.”
She gave a sprightly nod. I jumped when the front door opened with a tinkle of bells,
but relaxed when it revealed a couple of high school kids playfully pushing each other and laughing before settling into a corner booth.
Cami rolled her eyes. “Duty calls,” she said, blowing away a corkscrew curl that had flopped over her eye. She spun away and crossed the floor to take their order.
I walked past the kitchen in a daze, scooting past the perpetually nervous Mr. Pinkles in the narrow back hallway. He gave me a distracted “hello” and continued on his way. I closed myself in the small bathroom, sitting on the toilet lid with my hands on my knees, trying to steady my pulse and draw air into my lungs. Blood pounded in my temples like a drumbeat.
“He’s here,” I whispered to myself. How could he be here? How did he find me? What was he planning to do? My mind reeled through possible scenarios. If his first step was to instill fear, he was succeeding. That was the purpose of the note. He wanted me in exactly this position, terrified and shaken.
I hurriedly removed my phone from my purse and dialed Aunt Lu’s number. No one answered. I let it ring at least ten times before I hung up. Just as I did so, my phone buzzed with an incoming text. My stomach twisted when I saw that it was from Granton.
Lovely little town you have here. Such friendly folks. I especially enjoyed my lunch at the diner. Looking forward to seeing you soon. ;)
The phone vibrated again.
I’m sure your new boyfriend will be excited to meet me too. I have so many interesting things to tell him.
I hurriedly typed out a text to Cayne.
I need to talk to you.
I had to tell Cayne the truth before Granton found him and fed him a pack of vicious lies. One thing I knew about Granton was that he could be extremely convincing. No one else knew about his secret self. No one suspected that a monster lurked beneath his smooth and polished exterior. Everyone took him at face value, as the sophisticated and charming financier who held the world in the palm of his hand. I knew better. I had felt the crushing fury of that hand, and I was determined never to feel it again.
