Forever a Stallion

by Deborah Fletcher Mello

  As she continued to stroke him, her motions becoming more intense, he lifted his hips to grind against her palm. His hands clutched the sheet beneath him as he allowed his body to give in to the intensity. His breathing began to quicken and Mason knew that he couldn’t hold on as Phaedra took him over the edge. He suddenly shuddered, his body shaking all over. His orgasm flooded over her hand and arm as the woman continued to milk him dry.

  As the last remnants of his climax lulled him to a comfortable slumber, Phaedra nuzzled her mouth against his ear and whispered, “Sweet dreams.”

  Chapter 14

  Phaedra woke well before Mason, the man snoring comfortably at her side. Rising from the bed, she tiptoed into the bathroom. Staring at her reflection in the mirror, she couldn’t believe that she was as wide-awake as she was. It had only been a few short hours since she and Mason had fallen asleep together. Any other time or place and she’d be a walking zombie, desperate for one more hour of slumber.

  After splashing cold water on her face and brushing her teeth to a pearl-white sheen, she tiptoed back into the bedroom. Her clothes were in the other bungalow so she borrowed one of Mason’s T-shirts, slipping the oversize top around her naked body. Sliding into a pair of rubber flip-flops, she grabbed her camera from the dresser and eased her way outside, mindful not to disturb Mason’s rest.

  Outside, the sun was rising, the beginning rays of light just starting to crease the dark sky. Phaedra was glad for the moment, wanting to capture the morning’s sunrise. They were headed back to Bangkok today, then back to the United States tomorrow, and despite the many hours they’d spent alone on the island, there was much Phaedra had yet to experience of the private landscape.

  As she walked the length of beach, photographing the early morning imagery, she was taken aback by the sheer beauty of the lush landscape. The tropical topography was like nothing Phaedra had ever experienced before and she knew Thailand would forever be one of her favorite places in the world. She adjusted the fifty-millimeter prime lens on her camera to accommodate the low light conditions and capture the more minute details of the flora.

  Maneuvering her way past the length of beach, she eased her way into the natural forest, snapping shot after shot of the diverse plant life. Before long she’d gathered a nice visual collection of the bamboo, coconut palms and banana trees posed against the morning sky.

  Not wanting Mason to worry if he woke and couldn’t find her, she eased her way back to the beach, a fresh-picked bunch of bananas in her hand. As she strolled casually across the sandy stretch she thought back to the evening before when Mason had made love to her right where she now stood. A bright smile flooded her expression and a shiver of heat coursed in the pit of her stomach. The man gave her butterflies and just the sheer thought of him sent her into sensory overload.

  She paused, inhaling the scent of the ocean, the warm morning air a soothing balm to her spirit. In the distance she could hear a boat approaching, the deep roar of the engine out of place in the midst of all the quiet. Mason must have heard it, as well, because just as she peered across the lagoon in the direction of the approaching vessel, he stepped outside.

  She waved excitedly at the sight of him, but Mason was focused on the speedboat, not looking in her direction. After resting the bananas on the sand at her feet, she switched out the lens for the two-hundred-

  millimeter telephoto lens and lifted her camera to her eyes. After making the necessary adjustments, she zoomed in on his face. His expression was pensive, an air of uncertainty seeming to drop down against the man’s broad shoulders. She snapped the shot, noting the concern in his dark eyes.

  Phaedra lowered her camera briefly, still staring, something about his demeanor giving her pause, her heart beginning to race. Mason hadn’t said anything about expecting visitors, she thought, wondering if the boat’s occupants were an unexpected intrusion. She was almost certain that it wasn’t the island’s elderly caretakers, Bahn and his wife, Rutana. They came every day by canoe, their arrival almost covert as the narrow boat cut through the water with an easy, quiet precision.

  As the speedboat came to a quick stop at the end of the dock, Mason strolled casually in its direction. Phaedra lifted her camera a second time as two men hopped out of the boat, appearing to greet him. She snapped one photo and then a second and she was poised to take a third when there was a sudden rush of loud chatter, the trio appearing to argue. Phaedra looked over the top of her camera, her anxiety rising tenfold. She peered back through the lens just as the taller of the two strangers struck Mason with something in his hand. Phaedra gasped loudly, her heart skipping a quick beat, then two. As Mason fell to his knees the other man threw a canvas sack over Mason’s head and, like that, they tossed his body into the boat, jumped in behind him and gunned the boat’s engine.

  Still snapping shot after shot, Phaedra struggled to keep her camera focused on what was happening. Then without thinking she began to run, desperation taking hold as she screamed out his name. By the time she made it to the other side of the beach and the end of the dock, the speedboat had rounded the north corner of the island, Mason disappearing from her sight.

  * * *

  Phaedra was at wit’s end. She’d been in the custody of the Thai Royal Police for over three hours trying to get someone to understand that Mason Boudreaux was in trouble. But nothing she said could convince them of the urgency. She pulled her hands frantically through her hair, pacing the small interrogation room she’d been left in. The officer who’d taken her statement had been exceptionally cooperative when she’d mentioned Mason’s name, but even that hadn’t been enough to motivate him to start searching.

  Dropping down onto a metal chair, Phaedra closed her eyes and tears began to fall rapidly. For whatever reasons, after Mason had been taken, she hadn’t been able to get any reception on her cell phone. Waiting for Bahn and Rutana to arrive had felt like forever. Bahn had saved the moment, though, ushering her to the mainland and the police department, promising that he and Rutana would pack her and Mason’s belongings and get her to wherever she needed to go when she needed to move. Now she was anxious to go do anything that would help find Mason. She jumped to her feet, the chair crashing from beneath her, the sound ringing like thunder against the concrete floor. Shaking, Phaedra clenched her fists at her sides, fighting not to scream out loud.

  Just as she was about to throw a major tantrum, the door swung open, Officer Don Niran eyeing her curiously. “Is everything okay, miss?” he asked politely.

  “No!” Phaedra screamed, desperately trying to contain her emotions. “Nothing is okay. Mason Boudreaux is missing and no one is doing anything to help me find him.”

  The officer nodded, his expression blank. “I assure you, miss, we are doing everything we can to corroborate your story. However, it is more plausible that Mr. Boudreaux simply left without telling you where he was going. As you said, you’ve just recently become acquainted with him. Perhaps you didn’t know the man as well as you thought?”

  Phaedra bristled, her eyes narrowing sharply. She took a deep breath. “Well,” she said, “I can appreciate your opinion, Officer Niran, but I assure you, I know him very well and I know what I saw.”

  “That being so, miss, these things take time. So, if there is nothing else that you can tell us, I must get back to my duties.”

  It was on the tip of Phaedra’s tongue to argue, but knowing that such would probably not be in her best interest she simply nodded. Clearly, she needed help, and help wasn’t going to be found here.

  The officer turned to the door, moving as if to make an exit, before Phaedra called after him.

  “Yes, miss?”

  “Please, is it possible for me to use a telephone to place an international telephone call? I need to call my family to let them know what has happened and to make arrangements to get back home,” she said, meeting his gaze evenly
.

  Officer Niran paused briefly before nodding. “Certainly, miss,” he responded after a quick second. “Whatever I can do to be of assistance to you.”

  Chapter 15

  John’s cell phone ringing pulled him out of a deep sleep. For a brief moment he thought he might be dreaming, but the ring tone persisted, disturbing the quiet in his bedroom. Beside him, Marah muttered incoherently, rolling onto her side as she wrapped herself around a pillow and pulled the sheet above her head.

  Leaning toward the nightstand, John grabbed his phone, squinting to see the caller ID. The display read UNKNOWN. For a brief second he thought about ignoring it, but something in the pit of his stomach wouldn’t let him. Flipping the device open, he pulled it awkwardly to his ear.

  “Hello?” he said, the lazy drone of sleep punctuating his tone.

  On the other end Phaedra’s voice pierced the airwaves. She sounded as if she was on the verge of hysteria. “John, I’m sorry to wake you but something has happened to Mason and I can’t get anyone to help me find him and I don’t know what to do. I’m scared and please, I need someone to help me and I didn’t know who else to call,” she said, barely pausing to take a breath as the words rushed out of her mouth.

  “Calm down,” John said as he sat up in the bed. Tossing a quick glance toward Marah’s sleeping form, he whispered into the receiver, “Tell me what’s happened.”

  Phaedra nodded as if he could see her. Taking a deep breath, she told him what had happened from the moment Mason had stepped out onto the dock to when the Thai police had allowed her to use their office telephone to make a call. She repeated verbatim every conversation she’d had since waking, and with every other sentence she kept reiterating how scared she was. By the end of telling her story she fought back tears thinking of the worst possible outcome.

  Wide-awake, John tried to be as consoling as the distance between them would allow. “Phaedra, I need you to relax, okay? I’m on my way and if Mason hasn’t shown up by the time I get there, I promise I will do whatever it takes to find him.”

  Phaedra’s head bobbed up and down against her thin neck. “Thank you,” she whispered, the words catching in her throat. “Thank you so much!”

  “How are you traveling?” John asked. “Do you have transportation?”

  “Yes. Mason’s housekeeper is being really helpful.”

  “Good. I want you to go to the Boudreaux Residence Resort and ask for the general manager. His name is Sean Martine. As soon as I hang up with you I’m going to call him. He’ll take care of you until I can get there.”

  “Sean Martine,” she repeated. “Okay.”

  “And, Phaedra, I do not want you running around Phuket trying to find Mason by yourself. I don’t want anything to happen to you. Do you understand me?”

  Another tear rolled over her cheek. “Yes,” she finally answered, swiping at her eyes with the back of her hand. “John? He’s going to be okay, isn’t he?”

  John took a deep breath as he swung his legs off the side of the bed. “Don’t you worry. Everything is going to be fine,” he said. “I’ll see you soon.”

  As he disconnected the call, John released a deep sigh. He’d promised Phaedra that things were going to be okay, but truth be told he wasn’t so sure. If Mason was in trouble, their being out of the country was going to make finding him difficult at best. As he shook Marah awake, he pressed the speed-dial button on his cell phone. He needed to round up the troops. He wasn’t sure himself where to begin, but he imagined this was a mission that was going to take more than himself to accomplish successfully.

  * * *

  Three hours later the Stallion jet was fueled and ready on the tarmac, the pilot waiting for John to order their takeoff. Both John and Matthew were on their cell phones, still issuing commands and asking questions. Half a day would pass before they reached Thailand, and knowing how things could change in that amount of time, no one wanted to take any unnecessary chances.

  Once John was assured that Phaedra was safely secreted away in the owner’s suite of the hotel, he was better able to fathom what had actually happened and how they might discover Mason’s whereabouts.

  Matthew put one call on hold to answer another. John smiled ever so slightly as he heard his brother trying to calm his wife’s nerves. “Katrina, you need to stop worrying, baby…. I’ll do my best…. I promise, honey…. Katrina, you just need to concentrate on taking care of yourself and our baby…. I will…I will…I will make sure your brother is okay…. Yes, dear! Yes…I’ll call you as soon as we get there and find out what’s going on,” he finally concluded before disconnecting the call.

  The two brothers locked gazes. Matthew shook his head. “This isn’t good, is it?”

  John took a deep breath. “I’ve spoken to the Thai police, who are less than helpful, to Mason’s housekeeper, who knows nothing, and the hotel staff, who were close to him, and no one has any idea what’s going on,” he said firmly.

  “When you speak with Marah, please make her promise to stay by my wife’s side. I don’t need her going into labor before I can get back here.”

  John nodded. “I’ve already handled it for you, brother. Marah will make sure Katrina takes care of herself.”

  “So will Mitch,” Mark said as he stepped onto the plane, entering the conversation.

  “Hey,” John said, rising. He and Mark bumped shoulders in greeting. Matthew tipped his head, the two men slapping palms.

  “What do we know so far?” Mark questioned as he took a seat in one of the leather chairs.

  John gestured toward the pilot, nodding his consent. “Let’s get in the air first and I’ll fill you in,” he said.

  An hour or so later the three brothers had settled down for the long flight, dozing comfortably in their seats. With the thirteen-hour time difference it would be late when they arrived in Thailand, and what they might be able to accomplish at that hour of the night would be slim. But each of them knew they needed to be as rested as possible if the next few days proved to be the challenge they predicted they would be.

  * * *

  Phaedra was stir-crazy as she stood at the front desk of the luxury hotel waiting for the general manager. Since her arrival the staff had been exceptionally gracious, extending her every courtesy. But she couldn’t sit in the luxury suite one minute longer and not do something. She strummed her fingernails against the marble counter as she waited, her patience having worn thin.

  Sean Martine greeted her warmly, the tall blond man with the strong Nordic features moving to her side. “Miss Parrish, I apologize for keeping you waiting. I hope everything has met with your satisfaction.”

  Phaedra nodded. “Yes, definitely. I have no complaints and I can’t tell you how much I appreciate everything you and your staff have done for me.”

  Mr. Martine smiled. “So, what else might I be able to do for you?”

  “I was hoping that I could get access to a computer and a printer. Preferably a color printer?”

  Mr. Martine paused in a moment of quick reflection. “I think that’s possible. We have a color printer in the marketing department and plenty of computers. Why don’t you follow me?” he said as he gestured toward the office doors.

  Behind the scenes of the hotel, the back office was a bustling whirlwind of employees ensuring that the mechanics of the Boudreaux Residence Resort worked smoothly, no guests having a clue that their perfect vacations might have come with some major bumps along the way
.

  In the marketing area Phaedra was directed to a small cubicle and given access to a computer and printer. Mr. Martine smiled and nodded politely as he instructed the employees to give her any assistance she might need. After expressing her sincerest appreciation and watching until he was out of the room and no one was looking over her shoulder, Phaedra finally relaxed the hold she’d had on her camera case, the instrument secured over her shoulder and beneath her arm.

  She took a deep breath as she pulled the sixteen-gigabyte SanDisk CF memory card out of the camera, inserted it in the computer’s SD slot and accessed the digital images she’d taken earlier that day. She had briefly thought of telling Officer Niran about the photographs, but something about his attitude and demeanor had stopped her. Instinctively, Phaedra had been certain that if she’d told and he’d confiscated her camera and pictures, they would never again have seen the light of day.

  One by one Phaedra printed each image that she’d taken, enlarging them as much as the system would allow. An hour later she had a stack of sixty-plus photos and duplicate copies that had captured Mason’s kidnapping. Sixty-plus images that put faces on the two men who’d taken him and the boat the three had ridden away in. After emailing the files to herself and stuffing the images into a manila folder, Phaedra headed back to her room to lay her head on a pillow and cry.

  * * *

  Mason woke to the stench of dead fish and a raging headache that made him feel as if his head were about to combust from the pressure. He took a deep breath, wincing from the pain and the sour smell that filled the air. The room was small, sparsely decorated, a concrete shelter with a single door and one window. He lay on the only piece of furniture in the room, a wire-framed bed with a paper-thin mattress that had seen better days. There was also a small plastic bucket in the corner and a week-old newspaper on the floor.