Jewels and Panties (Book, Nine): The One

by Brooke Kinsley

  Phillips was seething, his eyebrows pulling themselves together into a tight frown that wrinkled up his forehead.

  "You do know how serious the charge of murder is, don't you sergeant? Do you know the shit storm that will rain down on this station when your boss realizes who you've brought in here?"

  He remained silent. Meanwhile, the young cop was looking up at Phillips with wide, child-like eyes. I could sense he got a peculiar sense of gratification from watching the old man lose the upper hand.

  "Besides," I leaned back in my seat and crossed my arms behind my head. "You can't prove a thing. She overdosed. I didn't touch her."

  "We know you gave her the fatal dose on purpose," said Phillips.

  I couldn't help but notice the slight tremble to his voice.

  "Oh, you know that do you? Any lawyer, or law student even, would have that thrown out of court in seconds. How do you know, eh?"

  He remained silent, his gaze beginning to waver.

  "Answer me. How do you know?"

  At last, his eyes dropped away from mine and he walked away. His younger partner looked down at the table as he tried to stifle a triumphant smile. He'd probably been waiting months to see the old guy crumble and get knocked down a peg or two.

  "So... from your silence I can only assume you don't know at all and that you’re vilifying me because... what? You're jealous? You wish you had my car? Your wife saw my face on TV and said I was handsome? Or is it just that you don't like outsiders? Especially wealthy ones who drive cars that cost as much as ten years of your salary in this tiny town?"

  He looked up at me but kept his gaze off my face. Instead, he looked over my shoulder out to where I could only assume his superiors held office.

  Then he stormed out without saying a word, the door nearly coming off its hinges as he tore it open.

  The young boy across from me laughed to himself and stood up and stretched.

  "Well, it's been a pleasure to meet you,Mr. Bosworth."

  He slapped his palm into mine and gave me a firm handshake.

  "You get back home safely."

  "I certainly will. If you'd be kind enough to give me a ride back to my car."

  "Absolutely," he beamed. "Any chance you could take a picture of me in the driver's seat?"

  Chapter Four

  BERGER

  The linen closet was cramped but that suited me fine. With hardly any space, we had no choice but to be pressed up against each other, the towels and blankets cushioning every space around us.

  We both listened with baited breath as the doctor and his team ambled by, their shoes squeaking as they walked.

  Miranda sighed impatiently as they lingered in the hallway for a moment and breathed a sigh of relief when they moved on.

  "I shouldn't be here," she breathed as she placed her hands on my chest.

  "Who will ever know?"

  She glanced away, blushing again. I pressed my hand beneath her chin and brought her gaze back to me. She responded to my touch, leaning into my hand as though she'd been caressed for the first time. As I clenched my hand around her jaw and moved to kiss her, I could smell the sweet and animalistic smell of her arousal. It made me harder, made me want to jump on her, pushing her down onto the floor and fucking her hard.

  But I took it slow. Despite her being strong, I could sense a vulnerability inside her. I felt that she hadn't been touched in a long time.

  I pressed my lips to hers, as softly as I could before brushing my tongue up against hers. She slipped her hands around my back and pulled apart the frail length of string that held my gown together. It fell to the ground, leaving me free and naked with my cock hard and throbbing.

  I was so desperate for her to touch me it ached, a small pearl colored droplet of pre-cum oozing from the tip. She licked her lips and fell to her knees, looking up at me with large, girlish eyes.

  "Promise you won't tell."

  "Oh, Miranda, with that mouth you could make me promise anything."

  She smiled and licked her lips one last time, preparing her mouth to take me. Then she swallowed me up. There was no tease, no subtle kissing, licking or stroking of my length. She just wrapped her lips around me and drove her head forward until I could feel the soft heat and wetness of the back of her throat.

  Maybe she wasn't as vulnerable as I thought she was. Maybe she'd done this a thousand times already. She definitely wasn't the innocent sensible older nurse I had previously assumed.

  But I didn't care or have the chance to dwell on my thoughts because the blood was draining away from my head. Every drop of it rushing toward her mouth.

  I couldn't stop the groan that escaped my mouth as the purest pleasure invaded my body. It had been so long since I had felt the touch of a woman and being cooped up in here with all the young nurses fussing over me had been torture.

  "Shhhh!"

  She pulled away and slapped my thigh, angry that my moaning could get us caught.

  "Sorry, I couldn't..."

  "Shhhh!"

  She slapped me again but it did nothing to dampen my feelings. I was more aroused than ever as I felt the sting of her slap still tingle on my skin. Looking down, I saw a red handprint on my pale thigh.

  "Get up," I whispered.

  Without hesitation, she jumped up, turned around and pulled her dress up around her waist.

  "Be quick," she hissed. "Hurry!"

  I pushed my hand between her legs and felt how her panties had been soaked through. Pulling them to the side to reveal her plump and shaved sex, I tentatively thrust two fingers inside her.

  She grabbed a towel off the nearest shelf and held it to her face, biting down on it to stifle the scream that was waiting to explode from her. It made her body shake as though it was on the cusp of erupting.

  Still biting down, she looked over her shoulder and pushed her ass out toward me. I didn't need to hear her speak to know what that meant. It meant hurry up.

  I pulled out my fingers along with a stream of wetness as she let out a grunt of frustration.

  "Fuck me," she said, her face still pushed up against the towel. "They'll be wondering where we are."

  "You want me to fuck you?"

  I trailed a finger down her back, sending goosebumps down her legs.

  "Yes!"

  I lingered the tip of my cock against her and she ground against it.

  "Put it inside," she begged.

  "Say please."

  As much as I was desperate to fuck her, I was enjoying every second of tormenting her, watching her grow wetter and wetter the more I waited.

  "Just put it inside," she moaned and I reached through her legs to grab me. "Fuck me!"

  She pushed herself onto me and at last, we were both in heaven. I bit down on my lip to stop myself crying out but it was pointless because all around us, the shelves were shaking. Blankets rained down on us as I thrust into her, our bodies melting together.

  It wasn't long until my thighs were shaking, barely able to hold my weight. I couldn't stop the intense and blissful orgasm that was gushing through every cell in my body.

  Grabbing her arms and pulling them behind her back, I drove myself into her, our bodies sticking together with sweat.

  I grunted through my teeth as I ejaculated, almost collapsing as my knees gave way. With a hand between her legs, she rubbed herself furiously as she trembled, her vagina clenching around me as she came.

  Breathless and trembling, she released her body from mine and lowered her dress.

  "Fuck," she gasped and clapped her hands to her cheeks that were now as red as my cock. "I need to go. Don't follow me or they'll know we were together."

  "Do I not even get a goodbye kiss?"

  She was already gone, the light from the hallway almost blinding me as she walked out. As I lifted my gown from the floor, I felt like a schoolboy that had just lost his virginity.

  I knew I'd be seeing her again.

  Chapter Five

  ETTA

 
; I didn't know how long I'd been sitting on the cold, tiled floor. It could have been minutes or hours. It was only when a sharp pain accosted my hand did I pull my attention away from the shuffling noise in the hallway. I saw that I'd been gripping the cologne bottle so tight a red imprint was burningon my skin.

  Meanwhile, Craig was still mumbling to himself, still moving just inches beyond the door. I couldn’t imagine what he was doing. The noises gave nothing away but I knew that the longer I waited, the worse it was going to get.

  He was growing angrier, more frustrated and the fact that he hadn't tried to break the door down already meant, at least in my mind, that he was plotting something, playing the long game.

  Now, locked in a stalemate, there was nothing to do but wait. There was no point reasoning with him. He was now unhinged and irrational. Anything I said would be misinterpreted and anything he said would be indecipherable.

  One of us was going to have to make the first move. But who?

  I could feel my body becoming weak. With no memory of the last time I ate, I could feel my stomach clench tight with the beginnings of starvation. With no sense of time, I could only gauge how long I'd been in the house by how thin I was becoming. I was never a skinny girl but beneath the towel, I could feel my ribs and the angular shape of my hip bones.

  At least I had tap water and for the time being, it was enough to help me survive. I'd worked as a medical professional long enough to know what dehydration could do to your body. It made your mind foggy, made your organs work at minimum capacity while your brain struggled to cope with the most basic of tasks.

  Water. It was one thing to be grateful for in this horrendous situation.

  Wary of turning my back on the door, I edged back toward the sink before bending down to suck at the faucet. I swallowed enough water to feel my belly swell like a balloon before dashing back to the door.

  I needed to feel ready, needed to know I had the upperhand. Although right now it didn't feel as though either of us was in charge. We were both manic with exhaustion and fear.

  "Fuck..."

  I leaned my head against the door as a wave of nausea hit me. The water was heavy in my stomach, making me feel as though I was about to be sick. Swallowing a deep breath, I willed it to stay down.

  This can't last much longer, I thought. It just can't. How long can we sit here?

  How long would it take until someone found me?

  Lincoln must have noticed I was missing but where the fuck was he? Did he not realize I was with Craig? Did he not think this was at least one of the places I was being held?

  A sense of guilt flowed through me. He was probably out there trying his best to find me and I was sat in here chastising me for not getting here quick enough. I knew that he was on his way. I trusted him. In this chaotic world, I was sure of one thing. That he loved me and would do anything for me.

  Just sit tight, I thought. It won't be long until he's here. He'll save you.

  Yet, as much as I tried to steady my nerves, I wasn't sure that he would get here on time.

  Outside the door, Craig was moving. I could hear his clothes brushing up against the wood, could hear his breath. As night fell and the house grew darker, I could now see a sliver of electric light beaming from the minute gap beneath the door.

  Lying on my stomach, I tried to make out any shape or movement that would give me a clue as to what he was doing. I narrowed my eyes. There was something but I couldn't quite make it out. I approached a few more inches, pressing my face right up to the door.

  I saw it clearer and my stomach dropped.

  There were the frail ends of matted hair, something yellow and moist lined with red veins. The edge of a thick eyebrow.

  He was looking right at me.

  "Bitch," he spat as he pressed himself up against the door. "Bitch I'll kill you."

  I reeled back and kicked my feet up against the door just in case he tried to barge his way in. He was angry and screaming profanities at me. There was the leather squeak of his jacket as he reached for something.

  Then a metallic swiping sound cut through the air followed by a flash of silver beneath the door. He'd forced a knife through, moving it from side to side as he tried to reach me.

  "I'll kill you!"

  In a moment of panic, I reached for the phone charger and brandished it by the end of the cable. I brought it down onto his hand, over and over again. Blood spattered up the door as the prongs lashed his fingers but he didn't cry out in pain, didn't even flinch. He just kept coming at me, oblivious to the injuries I was inflicting.

  "Get the fuck away from me!"

  With all my strength, I hit him one last time. The crack of his fingers echoed throughout the bathroom and this time, he couldn't fight the pain. He yelped and pulled his hand away and I took my chance. Grabbing the knife, I pulled it through the slit beneath the door just before he reached or it.

  "Don't you dare!" he screeched.

  But it was too late. Now I had a proper weapon, one I wouldn't hesitate to use.

  Chapter Six

  LINCOLN

  "I'm going to marry her," I told myself as I gripped the steering wheel. "As soon as I find her, I'm going to marry her."

  There was not a single doubt in my mind that it was the only thing to do. After all we'd been through, after everything that had happened to us, I knew there was no one better suited to me than her, and there never could be.

  As I raced back toward Normont, the golden hue of the cornfields turning into gray concrete as I returned to the frozen north, I stepped on the accelerator. That bastard jobs worth sergeant had wasted enough of my time.

  The weather changed with every passing mile, growing colder and colder, the wind picking up and shaking the car as the clouds became black and swollen, pregnant with an approaching burst of rain. My hands were growing sore but I was unable to loosen their grip. It was as though if I held on tigther and kept looking North to where she had to be, I'd get there faster.

  My knuckles turned white as my palms grew sweaty but I didn't dare uncurl my fingers from around the soft leather that enveloped the wheel. Nor did I slow down even a fraction.

  It felt as though I wouldn't be able to think, to breathe until I knew I could see her again.

  "I'm going to marry her," I said. "And we're going to get the hell away from everything and everyone. I'm going to keep her safe. I'm going kill that motherfucker Craig."

  I stepped on the accelerator with as much strength as my body could muster and cranked the engine up a gear. Up ahead, I could see every car move into the adjoining lane, knowing full-well I wasn't going to slow down.

  "…fuck outta my way…"

  Looking down at the speedometer, I saw I was hitting nearly a hundred miles an hour. The last thing I needed was a cop to pull me over but I didn't want to think about that. I just wanted to get back to the city. After all, if we weren't supposed to reach this speed then why did they build cars to go so fast?

  At last, on the horizon, loomed Normont's skyline like a cubist painting with blocked overlapping structures in a series of grays and blacks.

  It was easy to see why it wasn't a glamorous city like so many others. It was beyond dark. Beneath the black clouds it looked ominous, like anyone who entered was doomed to never leave. It was my home.

  As I entered the packed out streets and the traffic began to slow my progress, I had no choice but to hit the brakes. Finally, I took what was something akin to a full breath and joined the end of the traffic jam. It was the morning rush hour and it was likely I could be stuck out here for at least an hour. But I didn't have an hour!

  Part of me thought I could get out, abandon the car and run, but I knew that was just the anxiety and rage filled insanity within me thinking. That wouldn't do anything but leave me without a car only moving as fast as my feet would take me.

  Gliding down the window, I let the city smells waft inside. It was the scent of diesel fumes and stressed out commuters. In a strange
way, I'd missed it.

  Poking my head out the window and looking up at the sky, I thought there was maybe the chance I could arrange for my helicopter to come get me. But then what? What were we to do? Fly over the city during a storm looking for Etta?

  That was crazy, not to mention dangerous. I needed to be on the ground, needed to be winding my way through the streets. And the fewer people that knew, the better.

  With the traffic still at a standstill and the rain beginning to batter down on the windshield, I had no choice but to glide the window back up and sit tight.

  I shook with the sensation of being trapped, not just of being trapped in the car, but of being held within my own head, a slave to my misery and fear.

  That's when I truly realized how scared I was. I was petrified. It wasn't a feeling I'd had often but now it was different. I was scared for Etta as I worried that she could be hurt. I didn’t care about what could happen to me. It was only her I thought of.

  The fear I felt for her was so intense it ravaged my body, made me feel as though I was losing my mind and made my hands twitch and shake like I was having physical withdrawals.

  Then the tears came.

  They dripped down my shirt, soaking themselves through to my skin. It felt as though my body was folding up, crumpling with the stress and grief of losing her. In the moment I was certain that I'd never see her again.

  She’s gone forever.

  I sobbed into my hands until I was shuddering against the steering wheel, the supple leather becoming slick with saltwater.

  There were times when I tried to take a breath, tried to slow the swell of sadness that overwhelmed me but any fleeting second of calmness was washed away by a tidal wave of anger and frustration.