by Claire Adams
“Brian!” I cried as I felt him trace a path of fiery wetness down my belly with his tongue.
“What?” He looked up at me questioningly. The desire in his eyes mirrored my own, so I shook my head and let it go. He nodded, “Uh huh,” and then returned to the path he was forging on my body. I had never been so heightened in my awareness of my own body, but somehow, he managed to draw out every sensation; every desire, as he kissed and stroked and caressed every inch of my naked skin with his tongue, his lips, and his hands.
When he had licked his way to the wet heat between my legs, he stopped for a moment and looked up at me as he gently teased me with his fingers. I whimpered again as I nodded. I wanted to beg, but I knew better than to open my mouth and ask.
Seconds later, he grabbed each of my thighs with his large hands and used his thumbs to splay my pussy lips wide open. The rush of cool air made me cry out just before Brian buried his face in the wetness. The moan that escaped my lips was an anguished cry as his tongue began teasing my exposed clit. He dragged his tongue over it lightly as he slid his thumbs up and down, stopping to coat his fingers in my wetness before sliding back up to spread me open again. The slow rhythm of his tongue and fingers soon took over and pushed my brain to the edge of pleasure as he licked and sucked and teased me into a frenzy.
Since my legs were draped over his shoulders. I couldn’t push enough to lift my hips, but my hands were free and so I reached down, grabbed the back of his head, and pushed him down hard as I tried to find a way to push his tongue or his fingers inside me.
“I need it! I need it! Oh God, I need it!” I pleaded as I pushed him down harder. “Brian, fuck me! Fuck me! I can’t take any more! Please!”
Seconds later, he slid his long, thick fingers deep inside my aching pussy as his tongue continued to work its magic on my clit. Soon, I was bucking and writhing beneath him as he drove me to the edge of an orgasm that threatened to consume me. The flicking tongue, the knobby fingers, the long hard strokes followed by short thrusts as he licked and sucked and sucked and licked all pushed me over the edge, and I screamed as I came.
“Brian! Brian! Brian!” I chanted as I flew off the edge of the cliff and fell into the orgasm below. He kept thrusting into me as I came, and while he lightened the pressure of his tongue, he didn’t stop licking my clit. Soon, we were building toward a second orgasm, and when we found it, he released me into the air and sat back to watch me fly. He gently continued sliding his fingers in and out as I returned to consciousness, and when I looked up at him with wild eyes, he smiled and cupped my cheek.
“Welcome back, beautiful,” he whispered. “Have a good trip, did you?”
I gave him a dazed nod and then promptly fell fast asleep.
*****
The next morning, I woke to a loud pounding on my door. At first I thought it was a fire alarm, and sat up frantically trying to think about what I needed to grab before running down the exit stairway.
“It’s okay, Ava,” Brian called from the couch. “I’ll take care of it.”
I nodded and lay back down as he went to the door and looked out the peephole to see who it was. He frowned as he stood at the door, then stepped back and put one hand inside his hoodie.
“What is it?” I whispered as I sat up and grabbed my phone from the beside table, preparing to call security.
“Quiet!” he ordered as he again looked through the peephole and frowned. He reached out and slowly turned the doorknob, then cracked the door open to get a better view of the hallway. When he saw nothing there, he opened the door a little wider and stuck his head out.
“Brian, what is it?” I asked in a stage whisper.
“It’s nothing,” he replied as he stepped into the hall and looked up and down for signs of an intruder. When he found nothing, he shrugged and stepped back in the room. As he did, I saw something on the floor flutter under his feet.
“Hey, there’s something on the ground,” I called.
“What the hell?” he said as he bent and picked up a large white envelope that had my name typed on the front, but no address. After he’d shut and locked the door, then double-checked to make sure it was secure, Brian brought the envelope to me and sat down on the edge of the bed. “You don’t have to open that, you know?”
“Yes, I do,” I replied.
“We can call the police and hand it over to them and let them work on this,” he reminded me.
“No, we can’t,” I reminded him. “If we do that, then they’ll leak the details to the press, and my father will be really pissed about the scandal and you’ll be fired.”
“Would that be so bad?” he asked.
“You have no idea what my father is capable of,” I replied. “He would shift the blame to you and ruin your career.”
“What career?” Brian laughed. “I’m a glorified security guard, it’s not like I’ve got a future in high level espionage or something.”
“Just don’t,” I said quietly. Brian stopped laughing and watched as I slid my finger under the flap and opened the envelope. I shook as I reached in and grasped the edge of the paper inside, and as tears welled up in my eyes, Brian reached over and took the envelope out of my hands.
“Here, let me do that,” he offered. He quickly pulled out the sheet inside and read it. I couldn’t see what it said, but I could see that the entire thing was written in red ink that had bled through the page. The writer had pressed hard as they’d composed their message, and there were places on the paper that looked like they’d almost been torn. In those spots the ink had formed an ominously crimson pool. I shivered as I watched Brian read the note again.
“What does it say?” I asked. When he didn’t respond, I asked again. “What does it say?”
Brian shook his head and started to fold the note and put it back in the envelope.
“Brian, what does the note say?” I was starting to feel panicked. I reached out and grabbed the note from his hand and read it.
My Dearest Ava,
For the longest time I loved you and tried to provide the best possible life for you – for us. I gave you everything a woman could possibly want, and I showered you with love and affection that many women would die for, but you rejected all of that for some unknown reason. I don’t know what I did to drive you away aside from loving you with every fiber of my being.
Now I see that you have quickly replaced me with some substandard replica of what you think a man is. Does he love you the way I loved you? Does he cherish you and treat you like the jewel you are? Does he give you the life that I gave you?
No, how could he? He is an imposter. Someone who does not know the demands of the kind of world we inhabit. He is a foreigner. An outsider. He can never give you the things that I could give you, and he will never win the approval of your demanding family. The best he can do is to act as a shield and attempt to protect you from the only man who has ever loved you.
Why won’t you come back, Ava, my love? Why can’t you see how much I adore you? How much I worship you? Why can’t you accept that we are meant to be together and that no matter what stands in the way, I will never, ever give up on doing everything in my power to ensure that you are returned to me?
You belong to me, Ava. You are mine.
Please stop fighting what I know you know is the right thing. We are meant to be together. We are meant to shape a life that will be full and beautiful together. I want to marry you and raise a family with you.
Only with you, Ava.
Why are you being so stubborn and refusing to see that we are ordained by God to be together? Come back to me, Ava. Come back and I will fulfill you beyond your wildest dreams. I will give you the moon and the stars. I will move heaven and earth to ensure that you are happy. All the riches of the world will be at your disposal and I will make sure that no one ever disturbs you or makes you unhappy.
Only I can do that for you, Ava. You know this to be true. I’m the one who loves you more than anyone else.
Please come back to me, Ava. I need you. I need you to be with me.
If you can’t come back to me, I promise that I will come and find you, Ava. I will come for you and rescue you from the clutches of those who would silence you and keep you from me.
And I am telling you now that if that Neanderthal has in any way hurt you, I will do more than simply rescue you. If he has hurt you, I will end him.
Why won’t you come back to me, Ava? Why are you staying with him? Why don’t you choose me?
I am warning you, Ava. If you don’t return to me, I will find you. I will hunt you down and I will reclaim you as my own. And if you won’t come with me and be mine, as you should be, the consequences will be dire.
If you refuse to welcome me back into your life, then you will have no life at all, and neither will the loser who thinks you love him.
Loving you always,
D.
As I read the note, I felt sick. Dominic was obviously delusional, and reading his rambling thoughts on how our “relationship” needed to be rekindled made me simultaneously outraged and disgusted.
“Ava, are you okay?” Brian asked as he watched me read the note for a third time.
“Fine,” I said absently. “I’m fine.”
“You don’t look fine,” he pointed out. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
I looked up at Brian and threw my hands up in the air. “How do I even counter his inability to live in reality?” I asked helplessly.
“Ava, we need to go to the police,” he said quietly.
“No! I told you, we can’t do that!” I cried.
“But I’m starting to wonder if he’s lost it,” Brian said. “And if he has, then I might not be able to protect you from his psychotic break. This is about your safety, Ava, not your father’s ego.”
“Stop it! I know that!” I yelled. I was panicked because I knew that this note was not a good sign, but I also knew that notifying the police would set off a reaction from my father that might end with Brian being fired and me never seeing him again. I couldn’t stand the thought of not being with him or feeling him touch me ever again. I looked up into his eyes and willed him to understand what it was that I couldn’t say.
“Ava, we have to do something,” he said as he reached out and cupped my face. “We can’t sit around and wait for him to make his move. It’s not safe.”
I nodded as I folded the note and put it back in the envelope. I had no idea what to do next. How could we protect me from Dominic’s imagination? What would he do to me? What would he do to Brian? The thought of Dominic harming Brian made me ill, but I had no plan for how to protect him.
“I don’t know what to do,” I admitted. “And I’m scared…”
“I know,” Brian said as he wrapped his arms around me and rested his chin on my head. “We’ll figure something out. Together.”
*****
“Ava, we’re going to have to move out of here for a while,” Brian said. “You know that you’re not safe here, don’t you?”
I nodded and fought back the rising panic that threatened to swallow me. The thoughts raced through my mind: Why do I have to move? Why can’t Dominic just leave me alone? Why is my life such a mess? Brian held me tight as I fought to get my bearings, and once I’d calmed down, he began making plans to try and shore up my security.
I began packing a bag as he sat on the couch and tapped out text after text, arranging for us to move out of the dorm until Dominic could be located, questioned, and, hopefully, locked up. The sound of Brian’s phone ringing broke the silence and he stepped out into the hall to answer it.
I continued sorting out my clothes and trying to decide what would be necessary and what would simply be an unnecessary burden to carry with me. Then I went into the bathroom and began gathering my things. I wanted to leave the room looking like I was still living here so that when the dorm housekeeper came in to collect trash and dust, she wouldn’t notify the RA who was supposed to be keeping watch over us all. The last thing I needed was to have the university involved in this mess since my father sat on the executive advisory board and would most likely turn the place upside down if he found out they’d been harboring a criminal who was after his daughter. I was tired of being the outsider everywhere I went; tired of being seen as either the poor little rich girl or the stuck-up snob. I was neither of those things, and I wanted a chance to solve this problem on my own.
Besides, the problem with Dominic was entirely my fault. I knew that for certain, but I couldn’t tell anyone—not even Brian.
“Alright, we’ve got a place to stay and we’ve got a team in place to help us move without being seen,” Brian announced as he reentered the room with a smile on his face.
“Uh huh,” I nodded as I tossed a small cosmetics bag into my duffle bag that was already stuffed to the gills.
“Ava, we’re just going across town, not to another country,” he joked.
“I know, but I want stuff that’s familiar,” I said in a choked voice. I was trying so hard to keep it together that I feared one wrong word and I’d lose it.
“I’m teasing you,” he said gently as he crossed he room and put a hand on my shoulder. “It’s all going to be okay, Ava. I promise. I’ve got friends who are going to help me flush out Dominic and get him to where the police can track him on their own.”
“I just…just…just…” I stammered as I turned and looked up at him, my eyes brimming with tears that threatened to spill down my cheeks.
“I know, and it’s okay,” he said softly. “It’s all going to be okay.”
I nodded as I turned back to the bed and zipped my bag. I didn’t fully believe that everything was going to be okay, but I was choosing to believe Brian—for now.
*****
Once I’d packed up, Brian told me to wait in the room while he carried my bag down to the SUV and checked to make sure the path downstairs was safe. When he returned, he told me to do one more check to make sure I had everything I needed before we headed out. I surveyed the room and felt a little sad to be deserting it, and a little nostalgic since Brian and I had had our hottest sex in there.
The little bubble of laughter that escaped from my lips as I thought about this made Brian tip his head and look at me like a confused puppy. That made me laugh harder, and soon he joined me, and the dark mood that had clouded the day began to lift.
“C’mon, let’s get out of here,” Brian said as he motioned for me to follow him down to the vehicle.
As we drove away from the dorm, Brian turned on the radio, and as the sound filled my ears, I started to relax. The past week had been the single most stressful time in my life aside from the week I actually decided to leave Dominic. I thought about that week and shuddered as I remembered how frightened I’d been and how unsure I was of what I was going to do next.
“Are you okay?” Brian asked as he turned down the volume.
“Yeah, just thinking,” I replied as I watched the scenery flashing past.
“What are you thinking about?” he probed.
“Just thinking about all that’s happened,” I said. “How messed up it all is.”
“It’s going to get better, Ava,” he reassured me. “We’re going to get Dominic out of the picture and then you can have your life back, and I won’t have to follow you everywhere.”
“Yeah, right,” I turned toward him, smiled weakly, and then looked back out the window.
“Has he always threatened you this way?” Brian asked.
“Pretty much,” I said quietly. “Well, not in the beginning, of course. In the beginning he was all sweetness and light. I fell so hard for that act.”
“He’s pretty manipulative,” Brian echoed.
“He’s…so seductive,” I whispered. “He sucked me in before I knew what had happened and because I’d never known what it was like to have someone focus on me and me alone, I thought what he was doing was what love should be like. I had no idea.”
Brian remained si
lent as I tried to gather my thoughts and organize them in a way that I could use to make him understand how dangerous Dominic could be. I was more worried about what would happen to Brian than I was about what would happen to me. Dominic had already beaten me within an inch of my life and proven that he had no desire to actually kill me, but Brian…when it came to Brian, I knew what Dominic was capable of because I’d seen it before.
“I’m just worried about you,” I said once I’d regained some clarity.
“Don’t worry about me, it’s you that we need to focus on,” he said. “You didn’t answer my question, though. Has he always threatened you like this?”
“Yes,” I answered simply. “He always threatened me, but he never followed through on his threats. He might have beaten me to teach me a lesson, but he never came anywhere near killing me.”
“Something has changed,” Brian mused.
“It’s you,” I replied. “He’s never had anyone who challenged him for my affection the way you do.”
“Do I?” he asked as he looked at the road ahead.
“Do you what?”
“Do I challenge him for your affection?” Brian asked.
“Well, you know what I mean!” I protested. I wasn’t ready to get caught up in a romance with my bodyguard, no matter how much I liked him and how good I felt when I was with him. “I just mean, in his head he sees you as the competition. He’s delusional!”
Brian’s mouth formed a thin line as he nodded and made a left turn into the hotel parking lot. He’d driven us a good distance away from the campus in an attempt to move me out of range. Maybe if Dominic couldn’t detect me anywhere on campus, he’d stop this pursuit and I’d be safe.
As we pulled up to the front door, I looked at Brian and said, “I’m not kidding, I’m worried about you.”
Brian reached out and cupped my cheek in a gesture that was becoming achingly familiar and comforting, and said, “And I’m worried about you, and only you.”
The blood rushed to my cheeks as the hotel bellhop opened my door and cheerfully chirped, “Welcome to the Midway, folks! Can I get your bags?”
