She giggled. “Well, we know why I do, now don’t we?”
He grinned wickedly at her, as he pulled her against his body. While she was pressed against him, his hands found the clasp at her back and began to set her free from the wicked looking bustier.
“Please tell me that you have more sexy things planned for the rest of our lives,” he asked, as his lips traveled across her neck and collarbones.
“I think that can be arranged, if you like them.”
He began laughing. “Like doesn’t cover it.” Justin pressed her against him so she could feel exactly how much he was enjoying it.
Next, his lips found hers, and he began to kiss her. It was so deep and filled with emotion, that when he stopped, his eyes were filled with tears.
The bustier dropped away, and he swept her up into his arms. “I want to worship my wife.”
She didn't say a word as he laid her on the bed. When he took his place beside her, Vivian watched every move he made.
Justin wanted to enjoy every second with his wife. Slowly, he placed his body over hers, and began leaving a trail of kisses down her torso. When he reached the tiny lace panties, he stopped to glance up her body. He was moved by the emotion he found in her lovely lavender eyes.
“I want to devour my wife even more,” he whispered, first tasting her through the lace until she moaned. “Now, I need so much more,” he added before sliding them down her legs and setting her free.
“Justin,” she murmured.
“Vivian,” he replied, before diving in to her.
As his lips and tongue found the exact spot, she fought the involuntary shudder that went through her body. He was devouring her whole, and she never wanted it to stop.
When her body shook, and then tensed, he nipped her and shoved her off into the ecstasy.
She called his name and fell through the spiral of color and explosion of light.
Justin waited for her to resurface, before he slid up her body. What he wanted was to taste her more, but he opted to feel her wrapped around him.
“Vivian,” he called, as he slid into the warmth.
He immediately had her attention. “Justin,” she whispered, as she wrapped her legs around his hips and stared up into his eyes.
“I want you,” he said, huskily. “I can’t wait any longer. Right now, I need my wife.”
“Yes,” she answered. “Your wife needs you too.”
It was all that it took. Justin began slowly, but the pace picked up as the euphoria grew. The feeling of his body finding its way home drove him to the point of insanity. He never wanted the feeling to end.
This was perfection.
Bliss.
Love.
Vivian pulled his mouth down to hers, and as her hips met him stroke for stroke, she kissed him like he was the last man on earth. As she moved closer to the edge, Vivian could feel him shaking against her. Vivian knew that he was close to falling too.
When his wife’s body tightened down on his, he pulled his mouth from hers. “So close,” he groaned.
She stared up into his eyes as the heat overwhelmed her and pulled her over the abyss. Vivian shouted his name, only to hear hers being returned.
Together, they tumbled and fell, wrapped in each other’s arms.
When they finally both resurfaced, he braced himself on his elbows above her. “I love you.”
Vivian grinned back at him. “I love you too.”
“How about we have some champagne and roll around some more?” he offered. “It seems I’m not quite finished with my brand new wife.”
She ran her fingers across his back. “That’s funny, since I haven’t even begun to have my way with my brand new husband.”
He lifted an eyebrow. “I so can’t wait.”
* * *
Hours Later
She didn't know where she was.
Nothing around her looked the least bit familiar. In fact, she was pretty sure that she had never seen this place before in her life.
It was dark and the trees appeared to be closing in on her.
The fear pounded through her as her heart had the same reaction.
It was all off balance.
The trees seemed weird.
The colors were distorted and there was a pain in her neck.
Bringing her hands up to her throat, she couldn’t feel anything.
She was numb.
As she tripped, she pulled herself to her feet and tried to keep moving, only her limbs were getting heavier and heavier.
It was like she was… drugged.
The panic took over, and she was running on instinct.
Vivian took a deep breath and forced herself to look around. Nothing escaped her speculative glance. If she was lost, she needed to be able to get back home.
But to who?
In that moment, nothing seemed right.
Looking down at her hands, they weren’t her own. Her ring was gone, and in its place was a bracelet that she had never seen before in her life.
What the hell was going on?
Then, she heard it.
Somewhere behind her, there were footfalls through the trees. Now, she knew why she was running.
She was being chased.
Pushing ahead, she tried to stay ahead of him, even as fear beat at her and pain slowed her down. When she stumbled again, she tried to get up.
Yet, in the back of her mind, she knew it was useless. Now, her limbs were numb. She had definitely been drugged.
It was the only explanation.
As she lay there, her vision wavered. The peripheral remained, but her center focus was skewed.
Something glittered in the moonlight as it caught her attention.
Gold.
It was gold.
She remained on her back as he stood above her. Vivian couldn’t see his face, but she could smell his cologne.
Fear reverberated through her. This wasn’t her husband. It wasn’t Justin. The confusion came next, as she tried to recall how she went from their bed to here.
Then, it hit her.
This was another horrible dream.
Desperately, she tried to focus on the man standing above her. Something about him felt evil and angry.
When another sharp pain shot through her neck, she fought to remain conscious.
Only, she wasn’t able to.
The darkness crept in at the edges and soon threatened to cover her entire vision.
The last thing she remembered was being lifted from the ground and tossed haphazardly over a shoulder.
She tried to scream.
She tried to fight.
And then… there was simply nothing.
* * *
Justin heard her distress. The thrashing began shortly after they both fell asleep. They had just made love again and were curled around each other’s bodies.
As he woke, he knew what was happening. Vivian was trapped in another dream.
What scared him most was the helpless little noises that she made. It sounded like she was terrified and in pain.
God, he wished he could carry this burden for her. As much as he hated being trapped in his own nightmares, he loved her so much that he would take hers too.
“Viv, come on, baby. Wake up for me,” he pleaded. No matter how much he shook her and begged, she wouldn’t come out of the trance like state.
Soon, the erratic motions became more frantic, and when a little stream of blood began to run from her nose, he almost wanted to dial an ambulance.
Instead, he hit speed dial on his phone as he held onto his wife. When his brother’s voice sleepily came over the line, he began shouting.
“Get here now! Hurry!”
He disconnected the call and waited for his family to arrive and Vivian to come out of the dream.
Julian was pretty sure he was going to have a heart attack. When his brother called screaming into the phone, his blood pressure shot right up. It was a good thing that they only lived a mile
apart.
He and Tori rushed to the car and raced down the dark roads of the Rez. His biggest priority was getting to his brother and Vivian.
When the car slid to a stop, they both bolted from it and to the door. Julian used his key, as they rushed inside.
When they hit the bedroom, they found Justin holding Vivian in his arms. She looked confused, and he was splotched with her blood.
Both were naked.
Tori stepped up and took control. She moved towards the bed and grabbed Justin’s boxers from the floor. She tossed them to her husband and pointed. “Get him calmed down and cleaned up. I have Vivian.”
Julian listened to his wife and tried to extricate the woman from his brother’s grasp. “Come on, Justin. Tori’s going to get her fixed up.”
Only when his brother was there, could he begin to think again.
Tori climbed onto the bed and moved cautiously towards Vivian. “Hey, are you okay?” she asked, pulling a blanket up to cover the woman.
She stared at her. “Another dream,” she finally replied, shivering.
Tori figured it had to be a particularly bad one. “You have blood coming out of your nose,” she said, grabbing a handful of tissues.
“I must have bumped it,” she answered.
Tori brushed her hair from her face, as she took a seat beside her on the bed.
“I’m sorry,” Vivian whispered, as the tears began to fall. While she kept them in for Justin’s sake, Vivian didn't think she could hold the dam any longer.
It broke Tori’s heart. She immediately held the woman against her body and let her weep. She’d had many a nightmare and this was just part of coming down afterwards. “It’s okay, Vivian. We’re here now.”
The woman shook her head.
All she wanted was for this maniac to stop.
Julian got his brother dressed and helped wipe the blood from his chest and arms.
“What happened?” he asked.
“We were sleeping, and she began having a dream. Her cries woke me up.”
“Where did all the blood come from?”
That was the worst part. Justin’s body began to shake. “Her nose just began bleeding.”
“Okay, well it’s over now.”
Justin sat on the couch and covered his eyes with his hands. “That was the most horrible experience of my life, and I’ve been shot at and almost blown up.”
Julian just let him get it off his chest.
“I couldn’t wake her. It was like she was trapped and wouldn’t come out of it. Then suddenly, her nose began bleeding. I thought she was dying. I nearly called for an ambulance.” Then he looked up at the clock. It was barely one in the morning. “Jules, I’m sorry that I called you and woke you guys up.”
“Hey! You don’t have to apologize. You needed us.”
“Watching her live through that is almost too much to take. I never want to see that again. I don’t think I can do it, Jules.”
“I’m sorry,” she said from the doorway. She had heard what he just said, and it broke her heart.
He looked over fast at the sound of her voice. “Vivian.”
She shook her head. “No, I understand. I don’t blame you for never wanting to live it again.”
Tears filled her eyes, and she left the room.
The only thing they heard was the sound of his bathroom door closing.
“Oh shit, I didn't mean it like that,” he said.
Julian and Tori knew that he didn't.
“I’ll go,” Tori said, softly.
He shook his head. “No, she’s my wife. I’m going to fix this.”
Julian and Tori sat on the couch and said nothing. It was great to have the insight of what was happening to the women, but was it worth it at this cost?
“What do we do?” Julian said.
She shook her head. “Nothing. All we can do is wait.”
“I hate this part,” he muttered.
“Welcome to the club.”
* * *
She was almost home.
It had been a later evening than she anticipated, and she was really glad that she didn't have work in the morning.
When she got home, she was taking a shower, turning off her phone, and sleeping in all day.
Oh, and getting out of these shoes. Wait, maybe she’d take them off now. As she reached down, she swerved across the line, but managed to get her car back under control.
“Shit,” she muttered. “That was close.”
Then, she saw it.
The lights flashed in her rearview mirror.
“Oh come on! Why is there a cop out here at this time of night?”
Pulling off the road, she reached for her wallet. This was going to be a shitty night.
When she heard the tap on her window, she rolled it down, only to be blinded by a beam from a flashlight.
“Miss, can you step out of the car?” came the voice.
It sounded familiar.
As she did what she was told, she slipped off her shoes. If she was going to do a breathalyzer and sobriety test, the stilts weren’t going to help her out.
Once standing, she tried to focus on the man in front of her. For a brief second, the flashlight moved away from her face, as he reached into his pocket.
Alarms went off in her head.
This wasn’t right.
Before she could move, there was a sharp stick in her neck towards her spine.
Then, the news coverage that she had seen that morning came crashing back to her. Women were being taken at night, and in fact, right from their cars.
Fight or flight immediately kicked in.
Trying to escape, she knocked his arm and the syringe away from her body. Without thinking, she raced for the trees.
Already, she was wobbly, but she knew she just needed to make it through the woods. They opened up not far from her house. If she could just get to her yard, she could call the police.
Off she ran full force into the brush and forest.
Only, she wasn’t alone.
He found the syringe and followed.
It was time to chase down his prize...
Chapter Twenty
When Vivian had heard his words, life came to a halt. Could she blame the man? How could she expect him to live this nightmare with her, day in and out?
She would want to run too.
For now, Vivian just wanted to go home. There she could lock herself away and protect what was left of her heart.
At the tapping on the door, she chose to ignore it. Yes, this was his place, but technically, they were married and it was hers now too.
Except that he had already stated that he didn't want to live this night ever again.
As the tapping became louder, she buried her face in her knees as she sat in the corner of the bathroom. In her head, she began praying that he would just go back to bed. Soon, the next dream would be coming, and he didn't need to see it.
“Vivian, let me in, baby.”
She ignored him and stayed, silently weeping. Losing Justin was the most painful thing that she had ever experienced. Who knew that falling in love so quickly would hurt this bad when it ended?
The click grabbed her attention, as she glanced up at the door. It was pushed open and there he stood.
“Oh, baby, please stop crying,” he murmured, as he closed the door behind him and moved towards her side. “I didn't mean it the way it sounded.”
“It’s okay,” she whispered. “I understand.”
It wasn’t lost on him that she looked like a wounded child, huddled in a corner after being scolded for doing something horribly wrong. Somehow, he didn't think this was the first time that she had had to soothe herself alone like this.
It broke his heart.
“I was frustrated and meant the blood. I didn't want to see that much blood coming from my wife. It scared the hell out of me.”
That gave her hope. Maybe he wouldn’t run from her, and push her away.
Sitting beside her, he draped his arm over her shoulder to offer her some sort of sign that he wasn’t upset any more. He only prayed it worked, because it was a total lie. His gut was a churning brew.
“Do you want to get an annulment? I’ll sign the papers and not fight you, because I understand.”
He was appalled that she even brought that up. “Vivian! NEVER!”
“Because the dreams are a part of me, and I can’t stop them, Justin. They are who I am.”
“Baby, I love you as you are. I don’t want to change you or ‘fix’ you. I want to start a life with you, because I’m crazy about my wife.”
“They’re a horrible curse.”
He shook his head. “No! They brought us together. They’re just part of us now. We’ll live with it and move on, but for the record,” he began, “If you plan on locking doors to keep me out, I will bust each and every lock. I don’t want my wife putting up walls between us, emotional or in reality. We stand and fight for our marriage, not run and hide.”
She nodded and still didn't look up at him.
When he lifted her chin with his fingers, he stared into her eyes, and they were haunted. “It was a bad dream, wasn’t it?”
Vivian didn't speak, she only nodded.
“There’s going to be a follow up one, isn’t there?” he questioned.
“I’m sorry, Justin. I’m sorry that this is going to mar our wedding night. It’s really shitty timing.”
“It’s okay, Viv. You never have to apologize for the woman you are. I think you’re perfect, and so was tonight.”
She knew that she was incredibly lucky to find a man who would accept this entire mess so easily. If it weren’t for him, she would be sitting alone in the middle of her bed, afraid and terrified. Now, she at least had him.
Holding out his hand, he wanted to give her some peace before she had to relive the dream for Julian and Tori. “We can do anything together, Vivian. Nothing will stand in our way as long as we move forward as a team.”
Blood Red Rage (LIttlemoon Investigations Book 1) Page 30
