Save Me (Elk Creek)

by Lee Crystal

  Terror didn’t compare to what I saw on her face. She was lying on the floor shaking. She was so pale, her eyes wide with shock. Her right cheek was red and swelling, there were scratch marks on her neck, and her fists were clenched so tightly I could see blood oozing from under her fingers. I felt tears gather in my eyes, and it took all I had not to lose it. Seeing her like that killed any thoughts of human decency toward Felicia I had left.

  I picked Taryn up as gently as I could and carried her into the living room to sit on the couch. I noticed Felicia huddled on the floor whimpering, I had no sympathy for her. She did this, she hurt Taryn, and who knew who else she was capable of hurting. Right now, I wished she were a man, then I could pound out my frustration and not feel guilty about it. I had to take care of Taryn before I could deal with her.

  “Shut her the hell up!” I yelled at Dad. I couldn’t stand to hear her. Fuck, I wanted her to get the hell out. My dad bent down to her, and whispered something I couldn’t hear, but I heard her gasp and then she was quiet. I turned back to Taryn, and was afraid of how white she was. I began rocking and rubbing her back, trying to hold my anger as I crooned, apologized, and touched her sweet face. With the rage I felt, it would only scare her if I didn’t keep a tight hold to it.

  I was afraid I was going to have to give her a shot of Ativan, thankfully she came to enough that she could take a pill instead. She looked so confused and like she had a billion questions. Relief washed over me when she drifted off to sleep in my arms. I was in a terrible frame of mind to have that talk with her. I needed to get rid of Felicia and calm the fuck down.

  After Taryn fell asleep, I carried her to my room and gently laid her on the bed. I removed her shoes and socks, then I pulled down her jeans. For once, my dick didn’t respond to seeing her shapely legs and her yellow panties. I sat her up, noting she didn’t stir, and removed her bra from under her shirt, doing my best to maintain her modesty. I lifted her, and pulled back the blankets, then laid her down. I couldn’t hold the few tears that fell, I felt responsible for what happened. I failed to keep her safe.

  It was my grand scheme to bring her, and I was overconfident in my ability to keep her safe. Of course, I would have never suspected that Felicia was this crazy, but Taryn’s safety was my responsibility. I prayed she would forgive me, and give me a chance to explain everything before she walked away from me forever.

  I walked to the bathroom and held a washcloth under the warm stream of water. I wanted to clean the tears and sweat from her face. I wiped along her cheeks and under her eyes, then up her forehead and under her chin. I traced the scratch marks on her neck, which reminded me of her hands. I lifted up her left hand and opened it, seeing four bloody crescents with dark smears across her palm. I gently wiped away the blood, and kissed each little crescent, then each of her fingers. I found the same on her right hand, and made sure to kiss those, too. After I was done, I leaned down and kissed her forehead, and stayed there while my tears ran down my cheeks and into her hair.

  “I love you, Taryn, God knows I love you,” I whispered. The constriction in my throat wouldn’t allow me to talk any louder. She emitted a small moan, and tried to move her body closer. I moved my head down and kissed her nose, then rested my lips on hers. Feeling her soft breath on my lips was calming, and I soaked her in, trying to get a hold of my emotions.

  With a final kiss to her lips, I stood up, and wiped the tears from my face. I turned toward the door, taking a moment to let the anger from earlier flow through me. I had to deal with Felicia. I wasn’t about to let her assault the woman I love and traipse on out of here. The injury she was inflicting on my life had to stop now.

  In the living room, my Dad was sitting on the edge of the couch, staring at Felicia. She was still huddled on the floor, but was quiet. Her skirt was hiked up around her upper thighs, and she didn’t bother to cover up her exposed skin. I walked over to her and waited for her to look at me.

  “Stand up,” I said coldly. She instantly started sobbing, and when she stood up she tried to wrap her arms around my neck. I grabbed her wrists before she could touch me and squeezed hard enough to get her attention.

  “Wh-what are you doing, Carter?” she cried, and tried to maneuver her hips against me. I pushed her back, still holding onto her wrists. The touch to her wrists was enough contact to make me want to puke. I could smell sickeningly sweet vanilla perfume wafting off of her, mixed with the stench of sweat.

  “I love you, Carter, I don’t understand why you have her here. We are married. You can’t be upset with me,” she whined. Obviously she was delusional in addition to crazy. “You need to get her out of here!” she screeched. I tightened my grip on her wrists. Her eyes grew wide, and I saw fear there. Good.

  “What are you doing here, Felicia?” I ground out. “You can’t just go around beating people up. Why do you hurt people? Why do you spread pain everywhere you go?” She darted her eyes around the room, coming back to my face. She narrowed her eyes, and tried to glare at me. I held her gaze steadfast, demanding an answer.

  “This is my house, you married me. I have a right to be here, and you need to get that fucking bitch out of here. I can’t believe you would want a fat slut like that. I am—”

  “First of all, we are not married.” I cut her off. I was done looking at her vile face with mascara running down her cheeks. I was done witnessing the pain she caused to everyone in her life. Done watching her betray people’s trust, use people for her own selfish reasons and discard them.

  “You are a liar, and the only slut in this house. You disgust me,” I continued. “Just to look at you makes me feel like I need a shower. You are nothing to me but an extremely bad memory. I will never be with you. Hell, the thought of touching you makes me want to vomit.” I looked down her body and sneered. “You think you got something on that girl? Let me tell you, you have nothing, you are nothing, and you will always be nothing.”

  “Carter, you’re hurting me,” she whined, and when my hold on her wrists didn’t ease, she changed her tactic. She pressed her body forward, closing the space between us. “You married me, and we love each other, Carter. I have given you over two years of my life. You can’t mean what you’re saying.” My face grew hot with anger.

  “I married you because you lied! You gave me two years you say? Well, since you gave the same two years to at least three other guys, that means shit to me. You mean less than that.” Her eyes widened, and I could see no soul there, no humanity. I laughed a mirthless laugh. “Let me put this in terms you might understand, being the vile, heartless bitch that you are. I regret every moment that we spent together. I should have known that all you would do was use me. You were a mistake in my life. I hope that someday you pay for the pain you’ve caused me, for the lives you’ve destroyed.” Felicia lifted her chin indignantly. Hatred emanated from her eyes. I pushed her back, creating space between us once again. She stumbled slightly on her high heeled shoes, but I tightened my grip on her wrists, causing her to wince.

  “You have two choices,” I continued. “I am here only because you petitioned the court to go against our annulment. You lied to me, you took advantage of me, and then you lied to my father. Tomorrow you will withdraw your petition, you will also sign an agreement that you have no interest in me or any of my holdings. You will never contact me or anyone I am close to. Or, you can go to jail for assault, and I will call your transportation now. Do you understand?” I spoke with no inflection in my voice. Her jaw was set stubbornly and I could see she still wasn’t understanding. “Answer me,” I said, squeezing her thin wrists in my hands. I was starting to feel like a sadist.

  “I-I understand, I will withdraw m-my petition,” she finally stammered out. Sweat was dripping down her face, and her breathing was rapid and erratic. I released her wrists, then threw her hands away from my chest while I took a step back.

  “If you have not followed through by noon tomorrow, I will file charges against you. I advise that you not doubt m
y ability to ruin your life. You stay away from me, forget you even knew me. And make sure you remember this, because it will be your only warning. If you ever as much as look at that woman in there,” I pointed toward my room, “I will not hesitate to ensure that you spend the rest of your life in jail. Do you understand?” She nodded and was openly crying now. How I ever thought she was beautiful, I would never know.

  I bent down so my face was inches from hers, “Now, get the fuck out of my house!” I blasted at her. I straightened and watched as she stumbled to the door. She stopped for a moment, and looked back at me—to make sure I was serious, no doubt. I didn’t bother saying anything, just waited for her to leave my life for good. She opened the front door, and it clicked shut behind her.

  There was a hand on my shoulder, and I knew it was Dad. I turned to see a solemn look on his face. I let out the breath I had been holding, and everything in me just wilted. If it weren’t for him standing next to me, I would have face planted on the floor.

  “Why don’t we sit down?” he asked. I nodded—it was all I seemed to be capable of. We made our way to the couch, and I slumped into the overstuffed cushion, throwing my head against the back.

  “Carter?”

  “Yeah,” I answered, closing my eyes against the migraine I was developing.

  “I’m proud of you. I don’t think I would have been able to not beat the hell out of that girl. I’m just sick over what happened to Taryn, I have never seen anything like that. Would you mind telling me what exactly happened with her?”

  I was exhausted, and all I wanted to do was crawl into bed and hold Taryn. The last thing I wanted to do was discuss Taryn’s attack right now.

  “It’s a really long story, Dad. If you don’t mind I’m going to simplify it, so we aren’t here all night,” I stated.

  “That’s fine,” he said, his eyes full of questioning. “I just want to know what you’re getting into with her. It seems like you’re taking on a lot.”

  I snapped my head toward him. He was sitting across from me and held a wary expression.

  “Don’t!” I growled. “That woman is the most precious thing in my life. I love her! You can’t even imagine how strong she is, how much she has endured, and continues to endure. So don’t presume to know what I am getting into, and be careful what you say about her.”

  He cleared his throat, and his look had turned from wary to astonished. I needed to make it clear I would not tolerate any slight to Taryn.

  “Explain to me then, I would like to understand,” he pushed.

  I leaned forward, rested my arms on my legs, and let out a sigh. “Taryn witnessed her father’s murder during a convenience store robbery, and she was shot in the process.” I looked up to see horror on his face. God, telling him about this was not helping me be calm.

  “After she healed enough to use a walker, she was abducted off the sidewalk outside her home by the twin brother of the man who killed her dad. He brutalized her, and used a knife to mark her before the cops found them.” I looked to gauge his reaction, and saw what I expected: shock, anger, and worry. I continued.

  “She has panic attacks that are triggered by a whole list of things. Mostly she gets nervous with new people.” I narrowed my gaze at him. “You don’t even know how hard it was for her to shake your hand. You are probably the only other person she willingly let touch her besides her family and me,” I said firmly, wanting him to know just how much courage it took her.

  “My God… I knew she looked nervous, but I just thought it was because I am her boyfriend’s father, not that I scared the hell out of her.” He let out a long sigh.

  “Don’t swear around her, some swear words can be a trigger also. There’s something else… Someone is sending her letters, creepy letters. Saying it’s time for her to die and such. I’ve been staying at her house, and working with Mr. Dalton and her brother, Ethan… I pushed for her to come with me, and we’re not even here an hour and what happens? I didn’t protect her,” I said in self-condemnation.

  “Don’t be blaming yourself, you did save her,” Dad said reassuringly. “Who knows what that nut case girl would have done if you hadn’t pulled her off. I thought it was odd, why Taryn wasn’t fighting back when we first came in. I can see now, she couldn’t do anything to help herself, could she?”

  “No, it’s like she gets trapped in her own mind. It takes a bit for her to come out, and it’s scary as hell. I can only imagine how terrified she is while it’s happening. But you’re right, she can’t defend herself when she’s like that. She’s too frozen up, and incoherent, to act. It’s terrifying because people could do anything they wanted to her when she’s like that,” I told him.

  He stood up and shook his head, walking across the room to stare absently at the fireplace. “And you love her?” He did not turn to look at me.

  “Yes,” I said curtly.

  He turned and narrowed his eyes on me, then waited a moment before saying, “Okay… okay, I see you do. I have to be honest with you, this won’t be easy. She seems like a great girl, but she comes with a lot of baggage. Are you sure you can handle it?” He was sincerely worried, and I tried to tamp down my irritation.

  “Yeah, I can,” I replied without hesitation. “My problem now is going to be getting her to forgive me for not telling her about Felicia, and for allowing her to be hurt,” I said glumly. God, I hoped she would hear me out.

  He walked over to stand beside me. “I think she will, and what Felicia did was not your fault.” He squeezed my shoulder reassuringly, then let out a sigh. “I think I’m going to head home, why don’t you try to get some sleep. There’s food in the kitchen for breakfast.” He had started for the door, then paused. “Just talk to her, Carter. If she’s worth it, she will listen and understand.” I gave him a nod and watched him leave, hoping he was right.

  Chapter 14-Taryn

  There was something hard digging into my back. I groggily tried to shift away from it. Hard arms pulled me firmly against a hard chest, and the poking shifted to my bottom. The thrust into the crease of my bottom had my eyes shooting open, and a screech coming out of my mouth.

  The hold on me slackened and I turned to see a bleary eyed Carter, blushing. I was stunned from seeing his blush, and tried to think of how to make fun of him when he wiped his face with his hand and lay on his back. All thoughts ceased as I could clearly see what was poking me, and I, too, was blushing. Oh God, that looked big, scary big. My eyes moved back up to his face, and now he was smirking at me. Oh God, he caught me staring at his junk. I felt like I was on fire from embarrassment.

  I scooted off the bed, and quickly made my way to the bathroom, muttering, “I need the bathroom.” I heard his chuckle as I shut the door. Nice to know I was still amusing him. Holy CRAP! I wasn’t sure if the heat I was feeling was from simple embarrassment or something else, but I felt like I needed ice, a freezer, maybe the whole state of Alaska to chill the heat consuming me.

  After I used the toilet, I washed my hands and face, then brushed my teeth. I noticed in the mirror that my cheek had a light bruise, and there were scratches on my neck. I remembered that woman, his Dad, and that she was angry, also she said Carter was married? I needed to talk to Carter, I had to know if what she said was true, and if he was married what the heck was he doing with me? Kissing me? I was thoroughly confused.

  I was hesitant to go back in the bedroom, especially after I noticed I was only in a thin t-shirt and panties. Would he see my fat and be grossed out? Would he think I was slutty? What if he got that hungry look again, and wanted to have sex? I had to stop thinking, I was driving myself nuts! Besides, if he was married, he shouldn’t be looking at me anyway, and I definitely shouldn’t be ogling his appendages.

  Having spent way too long in the bathroom deliberating with myself, I finally opened the door to find the bedroom empty. It was weird, but I felt let down. Probably from psyching myself out, only to find there was no reason to. I sighed, and grabbed a pair of lounge pant
s from my bag.

  After I was decently covered, I walked to the kitchen. I needed some juice, and I hoped there was some in the fridge. Opening the refrigerator, I was happy to see that indeed there was apple juice. I usually had orange juice, but apple juice was great, too. I always hated coffee, even the smell of it gagged me, but my Dad loved it. When he would have his morning cup, he always poured me juice in a coffee mug. It was those quiet moments with him, where nothing needed to be said, but we both felt the common joy of being with each other, that I missed the most.

  I was sitting at the table, thinking of last night and trying to piece together what exactly happened, when Carter walked in. He was only dressed in pajama bottoms. My gaze zoned in on his naked chest, and my mouth went dry. He was muscled, with a smatter of dark hair across his chest that trailed toward his belly, disappearing under his pajamas. I felt myself heat up again, and tried not to look, I did, but great balls of fire! He was beautiful.

  At his chuckle, I finally tore my gaze away from his chest to his face. I doubt that smirk had left his face since the first time I ogled him. “Don’t you have a shirt?” I snapped, tired of feeling like I was the butt of a joke.

  He stepped to me, lifted me out of the chair, then put his hand to my cheek and ran his finger down to my jaw. “And miss this pretty blush? Nah, feel free to look your fill, baby.” My jaw dropped at what he said, and then he lowered his lips to mine. Taking advantage of my open mouth, he covered it with his and thrust his tongue inside. He wasn’t waiting for a response from me, he was just taking, and I loved it. All too soon, he pulled his mouth away, then drew me to his chest.

  He held me for several minutes, not saying a word. I was fascinated by the feel of his bare chest against my cheek, although I could feel the tension radiating from him. I knew he was worried about last night, and so was I. I needed to know who that woman was, why she attacked me, and if he was married. That last thought had me pulling away from him.