by Sienna Mynx
“Oh God, what have I gotten myself into?” she sighed.
30.
From the day his father brought him home from the orphanage, Tarek knew his destiny was to be Alek Marshall’s prodigy. Now he knew his destiny was this. The turning point where he decided a future that wasn’t ruled by the Marshall legacy.
Tarek climbed down off his horse and led her back inside to her heated stable. He glanced around at the other horses, and they all seemed to be in good health. That meant the keeper was making regular visits. However, he had little hope that the grounds keeper would show up during the storm.
Tarek went to the office that his managers occupied when they worked the ranch. The family not only had oil and gas rigs, but farmland as well. Once upon a time this place was the source of their wealth. Now it was a relic in testament to it. The Marshall men were cowboys in business suits now, corporate hustlers, oilmen. But as a child he loved this place.
He flipped on the light to the office and saw the phone. He picked it up and found that the line was dead. He gave the order to turn off the equipment and electricity, but it was supposed to happen when the last of his animals were moved and the place was closed for good.
“Shit!” he groaned.
31.
When Kassidy sat still the weariness of the day crashed on her. The only time she felt less achy and afraid was when she was on her feet. So she stood again and paced. The cramp in her neck and back was the most persistent. And her head felt dull, almost numb to the touch. He warned her not to sleep so she was desperate to keep alert, to persuade him to honor his promise and release her. Yet sleep pulled on her conscious mind. And she feared sleep more than she did her nightmares.
“Ow,” she groaned as she walked toward the bathroom on her toes. Inside she switched on the light to look at herself in the mirror. Two accidents later, and she expected to see a battered woman. Besides the small scar above her brow, and her frizzy hair, she didn’t look too bad.
“You can do this, girl. Whatever happens, you can do this,” she said.
Her fingers pushed one button loose, then the next, until she had opened her blouse. She eased her shirt off, and it was then she uncovered the dark bruise to her shoulder. Kassidy winced as the fabric came down and over the bruise. She leaned into the mirror and stretched her neck by tilting her head to the right. It looked far worse than she felt. She shrugged the shirt off the rest of the way, and turned to see that the bruising spread over her shoulder to a lower portion of her back.
“Jesus,” she said aghast. She looked found another bruise to her side. This one wasn’t as bad. Kassidy reached down to unbutton her pants. They were wet and sticky and she wanted them off. She let them drop to the floor and stepped out of them. She uncovered more bruises with this reveal, and tears misted over her eyes. It was a new nightmare to add to the list of horrible memories she’s made in her life.
32.
Tarek had walked back in the snow. He first made sure Smoke was secure and the generators were at the very least gassed up enough to keep the electricity going through the storm. And it was a storm. The clouds were the darkest grey he had ever seen. The wind pushed at him with tornado like strength. He could barely see the house ahead of him. He found he had to keep his hand pressed to the top of his Stetson to prevent it from blowing away in the gust.
Five minutes later, he arrived back at his home, and had to pause on the porch to catch his breath. The snow was stirred up and whined all around him. He was grateful for the warmth when he went inside and pushed the door shut. He nearly slid down to the floor with relief.
“Fucking insane out there,” he said. He stomped his boots, and clumps of snow shook off his feet and body. Tarek glanced up to the stairs. He’d have to tell her it might take longer than he thought to get help. Cash was very capable and he was sure his man was headed to them. Snowstorm be damned. They just needed to ride it out.
He started up the stairs with her warning in his ears. Not about the cops. He had enough lawyers to make this little kidnapping adventure look like a dinner invite. No. He had lost all communication before he could find out what the fuck ‘Easter EGG’ meant. He had to know if she was telling him the truth.
Tarek walked down the hall to her room. He didn’t bother to turn on the hall lights he knew his place in the dark. When he arrived at the door, he found it closed. He frowned and then smiled. He half expected to find it locked too. It was. There was not a room on his ranch he could be locked out of. He bounded down the staircase and went back into the parlor. Inside the desk, he found the master house keys. One key alone opened all the doors upstairs. The other keys were to his wine cellar, garage, and rooms where he kept safes stashed with money. He could have forced his way in. He could have banged on the door and demanded entry. Instead, he wanted to deliver a different kind of message. He wanted to make amends for what he'd done to her.
When he returned to the door, he eased in the key and released the lock allowing the knob to turn in his hand. He pushed it open and peeked inside. The bed was empty. It was the first thing he saw. So, he opened the door wider and found the room empty. Tarek heard her before he saw her. The sound came from his right. His vision swiveled in the direction of her soft humming. The bathroom door was partially closed, and water in the sink or tub was running. A few feet from the door, he could see inside the bathroom.
Kassidy wore her bra and a very thin thong that revealed how shapely her hips were. He wanted to see more. She turned from where he could watch her and he drew closer. He couldn’t help himself. Before he knew it, he was standing at the door. Still he couldn’t satisfy his curiosity with the limited view. He eased the door open a bit more with his open palm pressed flat to the wood.
She was at the sink, with her back to him. The bathroom had a vanity, a sink on both sides, and a sunken spa tub. It also had a bricked in shower with glass doors, and the toilet was hidden behind another door. Tarek was not surprised by how lovely her shape was. She had the kind of curves he liked on his women. She’d used them to seduce him more than once and he had no doubt she could do it again. It was best to turn away. Still he didn’t.
“What the hell are you doing?” she screeched. He stepped back. How did she see him with her back turned? And then he realized she saw his reflection in the mirror. She grabbed a towel and covered herself. He expected her to slam the door in anger, but instead she charged out with the towel wrapped around her. “What the hell were you doing?”
Tarek put his hands up as if caught. “I'm sorry, I came to tell you... ah, the door was locked and I came in to tell you....”
“That’s really creepy and disgusting, even for you. Spying on me while I undress? Really?” she asked. “I locked the door! How the hell did you get in?”
“It’s my house. You aren’t exactly a guest. So I didn’t bother to knock,” he said.
“You told the horse I was a guest!” she snapped.
“What?” he asked with a frown. “Oh? Okay,” he laughed. “You caught me. I was just checking in on you. Didn’t know you were—”
“Liar! I saw your face.”
Tarek shrugged. “It was rude. I apologized.”
She frowned.
“How bad is it?” he asked.
“Asshole!” she turned to go back into the bathroom and he quickly cut her off. He stepped around her to block her escape, even though the bathroom didn’t have door lock.
“I’m sorry. It was shitty. But those bruises, I can help.”
“You can help by calling the paramedics, and getting me the hell out of here!” she shouted at him on the verge of tears. Gone was the temptress and deceiver. Before him stood the woman. She looked terrified. And that too was his fault.
Tarek bit down on his tongue to keep from saying the first thing that came to his mind. After all, he wasn’t good at humility. “Come with me. Let me show you something.”
He walked over to the window. She stood there glaring. She was so angered by his
peeping actions she forgot she was still in a state of undress which was fine with him. The towel barely covered her ass, and her crossed arms made her breasts heave up for him.
“Look,” he said and pointed to the window.
Her gaze cut from him to the window. She stared at it for a moment, and then walked over cautiously slow. The storm had gotten worse. In just a half hour it had turned into some kind of blizzard. “I went out there to look for my phone. I dropped it in the snow, probably when we struggled, or when I went to help you on the side of the road.”
He could smell the fresh scent of soap she used to clean up with. They were so close he could see the tiny freckles she had on the tip of her nose. He didn’t know women of her color could have freckles.
“It’s getting worse. The weatherman said the roads are wiped out,” he said.
“We’re stuck? No phone?” she asked.
“For now,” he said.
“For now? What does that mean?” she looked up into his eyes.
“Cash. The one who has your boyfriend, he’s on his way. The storm may slow him down, but he’ll get here. When he does, we’ll call the police and end this.”
She looked relieved. “He’s not my boyfriend,” she mumbled. Her gaze returned to the darkness covering his land. She didn’t seem bothered by his closeness, or the might of the storm, so he pushed his luck. “The bruises, are you in a lot of pain? Anything, ah, internal hurting?” he asked.
Kassidy frowned at him. She turned and walked back to the bathroom.
“There’s some Epsom salt in the cabinet. You can run a good hot bath and I—”
The door closed. He heard it lock. Tarek smiled. He thought the bathroom door didn’t have one. He walked over to it and listened, but didn’t hear anything.
“Soak a bit, yeah, that might help. There’s a robe in there. When you’re done you can come downstairs. I’ll make us something to eat while we wait.”
From the inside of the bathroom Kassidy stared at the door. She half-expected him to force it open, or unlock it like he had before. Instead, she heard him leave. She sighed in relief. He was fucking insane. Did he just invite her downstairs to dinner? After the hellish day and nightmare he put her through? And now they were stuck in the stupid storm waiting on some man, possibly crazier than him, to arrive. She paced the floor. But soon felt dizzy. She walked over to the tub and sat on the edge of it. She’d washed off in the sink earlier, tried to soothe her bruises that way but it didn’t work. Resigned to her fate, she turned on the tap and let the hot water flow. She winced as she stood, and then went to the cabinets to find the epsom salt to soak in.
Chapter 15
Tarek removed his hat and tossed it to the counter. Next he shrugged off his coat and kicked off his boots. Cooking was his stress reliever. And lucky for them he was fucking good at it. He checked the freezer and found a few frozen steaks. He’d over exaggerated about the groceries. The fridge was all but empty, except for some eggs, butter, and milk. It had been close to two weeks since his last visit, and he was the one, not the staff or his mother, that brought the food. He checked the cabinets and there were a few things to season the meat with, but not much. It would have to do. He took out the steaks and popped them in the microwave to defrost. While he worked on an idea for dinner, he turned on the television that was mounted under the top kitchen cabinet.
It’s a monster winter storm, folks, battering the Midwest. And for the first time in a decade it's taking aim on Texas. Arctic air is coming out of the central plains and gathering moisture from the Gulf of Mexico. This snowstorm is already leaving its mark. We have a white out over half the state as it marches on toward the Southeast. We anticipate temperatures to get down to the single digits before seven o’clock. If you have to travel, well I must say, don’t. I repeat we have severe weather conditions from Ft. Worth to Dallas, extending all the way to Plano. Take a look at your screen. Emergency vehicles are unable to access many roads, and people are walking... yes... walking off the expressways to find shelter. I repeat this is the worst we’ve seen in over ten years!
The lights flickered in the kitchen. There were generators out in the stables. But he didn’t have one hooked up to the ranch. Never saw the need. The lights blinked out again and Tarek held his breath. He waited. They flickered back on as did the television. He shook his head. Could Cash make it through the storm with that asshole in his trunk? His fucking phone was gone. He felt helpless. And that wasn’t a feeling he liked. He went to the other cabinet and removed a few bottles of wine. Behind them he found candles.
“These might come in handy.”
33.
Kassidy sat up. The lights flickered off for longer than a minute. And when they blinked on again, she was already out of the warmth and comfort of the tub looking for a towel. Her heart raced with panic. She couldn’t imagine how cold it might get at night or how long they would have to wait for this terror to end. She dried herself off, but found that her clothes were still soggy from the snow. And her blouse was speckled with blood. Kassidy glanced over to the robe hanging on the door. It would be wise to let her clothes run through the dryer for a cycle, and then put them back on. Or should she let them air dry and wait for rescue before she put them back on? Both ideas seemed crazy when she considered her predicament. She dropped the clothes on the sink and slipped the robe over her body. She then checked the cabinets for lotion. Her skin typically dried out horribly after a shower or a bath but unfortunately she found none. Conflicted she used baby oil she found that must have been left by a female guest.
Once she was half way decent, she crept out of her room in bare feet. She didn’t hear anything stir in the big house. When she went down the stairs, she could see the snowstorm raging outside of the lower level windows. It tossed snow and sleet at the windowpanes.
“Tarek?” she called out.
“In here!” he answered.
The smell of cooking meat made her stomach churn with hunger. She went in the direction of his voice. When she stepped inside the kitchen, she found him busy frying steaks. The television blared with the weather reporter standing in what looked like a map of the Antarctic.
“Hi.” He glanced up.
She didn’t respond at first. The normalcy threw her. An hour ago, she feared he’d strangle her with his own hands.
“Ah, do you have a dryer, where I can, um, dry my clothes?”
He glanced to the clothes in her arms. He nodded. “Sure, back out in the hall to the left is the laundry room. Help yourself. She nodded her gratitude. She started out of the kitchen and glanced back at him. He was busy cooking, adding what looked like too much seasoning. He glanced up at her and winked. She turned and left. In the laundry room she found what she needed. She worked at the sink to clean out the blood from her shirt. And then put her business suit and blouse into the dryer before she set it to tumble dry. When she returned to the kitchen he was setting the table.
“Hope you like steak and eggs. It’s all I have,” he put the plates on the table along with a large bottle of Sam and Pete’s hot sauce.
Kassidy glanced to the television again. “Is it letting up?”
“Not at all, he said. In fact, they say we haven’t gotten the worst of it yet.”
“Do you think your man is still coming? The man you hired?”
“He’ll be here,” Tarek said. “Wine?”
“Huh?” Kassidy asked.
“Wine? Want some? Take the edge off?” he asked.
She stared at him in disbelief.
“An answer would be nice,” he said.
“What are you up to now?”
Tarek set the wine bottle down. “I’m innocent.”
“You’re what?” she nearly laughed.
“Innocent. You’ve convicted me of some moral crime and decided it justified you sneaking around my company and my life.”
“I don’t sneak.”
“The first night I took you to bed you got up and sneaked around my roo
m. You’ve been sneaking ever since.”
“I got up to...”
He waved off her explanation. “I reacted badly and scared you earlier. This is my peace offering. Let’s just leave it at that.”
“You attacked me,” she said.
“And you deserved it. So I guess we’re even,” he countered.
“Not even close,” she replied.
“I’ll accept that,” he said with a smile. “If you accept dinner and wine, it can be a start over. Do you have to like me to eat?” he asked her.
She glanced to the food and then back to him. She was starving. But she drinking led to trouble for her. Maybe today called for an exception.
“Okay,” she mumbled and tightened her robe. She went to the table and drew out the chair before she sat down. Tarek seemed pleased. He located glasses and silverware. He brought them to the table and set them down.
He uncorked the wine.
Kassidy picked up the fork and knife. She glanced to him and then to the food. She cut into the meat. All of her friends were vegans. Though she tried, she could never give up her love for beef. She was raised in Texas after all.
“How did you get involved with the E.P.U. gang?”
“E.P.U. is a legitimate non-profit...”
“Domestic terrorist gang,” he finished for her.
She narrowed her eyes on him. Instead of conversation, she decided to eat. The knife slid through the steak as if it were a block of warm butter. She couldn’t believe how tender pink it was in the middle. He’d all but charred the top layer. And when she tasted a morsel she winced at the spicy seasoning he’d cooked it in. But she appreciated his method, the blackened spice with the tender seasoned center exploded with hot tangy flavor over her tongue. To her surprise he poured half the bottle of hot sauce on his steak and eggs, then added more pepper.
