The time was coming, and he would have his prize. Here was the redhead for the collection and his heart.
The clock was ticking, and soon it would begin. There was a growing sense of giddiness building in his body.
She was going to be his.
* * *
The two women were waiting for them.
Tori and Vivian sat on the couch and stared at their watches in complete silence. When Julian and Justin arrived, it would be time to split up and handle the situation.
There was going to be some Littlemoon hides skinned tonight.
The wives both glanced over as the door opened. The two men strolled down the hall laughing, like they were heading to a party and not their own executions.
That stopped the second they saw their expressions.
“Shit,” muttered Julian. “We’re in a lot more trouble than I thought.” He had been married long enough to recognize the look on Tori’s face. It wasn’t a happy one.
In fact, it was indescribable.
“Uh oh,” stated Justin. Vivian had the twin look of displeasure on hers and honestly, it was something he hoped to never see again. “Hi, ladies,” he stated.
Neither spoke.
“We’re back.”
Again, they were faced with silence.
“Are we in big trouble?” Julian asked, as he focused on Tori. When she only stared at him, he began to get even more worried.
Tori didn't think she could form a complete sentence. If she did, she would certainly break down. Her heart had been pounding in her chest for the last hour, as she tried to put on a good show for Vivian.
It wasn’t easy not to lose it.
Slowly, she stood from the couch. “Good night, Viv. If you need me, call,” she stated, as she headed towards the door.
“Tori, honey,” he called after her, trying once more and still she said nothing to him.
“Let’s go,” she finally mustered.
Behind her, Julian followed as he fully expected a tongue lashing when they arrived back at the office. It wasn’t like he blamed her. What they did was dangerous, and he knew it.
“Tori, wait up,” he said, as she headed for the SUV.
Shit! He was screwed.
Now, it was time for the second man to face the music. Justin stared at his wife, fully expecting an argument. “Okay, let me have it.”
She moved at him and noticed that he flinched, as if he actually believed that she was going to physically strike him. That alone made Vivian’s heart ache. Instead, she raced towards him and jumped to wrap her legs around his waist, and arms around his neck.
“Oh God! Justin, I was so worried about you!”
He held her against his body and hugged her. “I’m okay, Viv. It’s okay, I swear.”
She buried her face in his neck and just held onto him. The scent of his cologne was cathartic and helped soothe the fear that had been living in her body. Her husband was home and safe, and that’s all that really mattered to her.
Vivian had him back.
“I thought you were going to be mad at me,” he murmured, as his lips brushed against her ear.
She stared into his eyes. “I am mad, Justin. I was just more worried than angry.”
He gently placed his lips against hers in a reassuring kiss.
Vivian wasn’t having it. That wasn’t what she was feeling in that moment. What she wanted was to have life return into her body. She wanted heat and fire.
Using her hand, she held his mouth to hers and poured everything she had into the kiss. It was sensual and spoke volumes of what she was feeling for her husband.
Justin responded immediately. His body sprang to life as he kissed his wife. Already, he was beginning to tighten and need was filling him.
“Vivian,” he murmured into her mouth, as tongues did battle. “I want you,” he added.
“Bedroom now!” she ordered, as the want flowed from her body into his. She released his neck to begin unbuttoning his shirt.
Justin had to lean her against the wall when her nails scraped down his torso. He reacted to the call of mate to mate. “So hot,” he muttered, as his mouth found her collarbone and began to nibble across it.
“More,” she replied, as his hands found the front of her shirt and ripped it open to find more flesh.
She gasped and then moaned as he pulled down her lace bra to taste and explore with lips. “Hurry, Justin,” she begged as he once more began to carry her to their bedroom.
“God, I need you,” he stated, and he did. Never in his life, had he wanted someone this desperately. This was the ultimate need and it was growing daily. Vivian was the only one who could ever quench it.
As they stumbled into the boudoir, he finally placed her down on the bed. She began to fumble with his belt as he slipped out of his shirt.
When she had the zipper down and her hand in his boxers, he moaned. “Vivian, please,” he whispered, as she stroked him. There was something so amazing about his wife’s warm hand teasing him to release.
Staring up at him, she let her eyes wander his now naked torso. “I love your body, Justin. I just want to spend hours running my lips over it.”
“Yes, please.”
She took that as an invitation. “Tell me how you like it,” she asked, and then began to tease him with slow licks.
He groaned as he watched his woman tasting him. “In your mouth, Viv. I need you to take all of me.”
She obeyed and began to torment him. From the sounds that he was making, she knew that he was more than enjoying the experience.
“God, so perfect,” he whispered, as he watched his wife take very good care of him. When she said she loved his body, she wasn’t kidding.
“More?” she asked, as she stopped.
“Yes, forever!” he stated. “I never want this to end.”
Vivian gave him what he wanted, and when his breath started coming heavier, she knew he was close.
Pulling her free from his body, he wanted her to feel exactly what he was experiencing in that moment. Laying her back, he knelt on the floor between her legs and slid her panties down her legs. “My turn, baby,” he whispered, before finding just the right spot. Diving in, he wanted to make his wife beg like he had.
Vivian had to admit, her husband was amazing in bed. His technique was making her absolutely crazy. As she moaned his name and shook under his lips, she knew that she was close to shattering.
“Justin!”
He pushed on and used his mouth to bring her pleasure. When she shattered and her body tensed, only then did he pause.
“God!”
Justin grinned and waited for her eyes to clear. When she was able to focus, he pulled her to her feet and spun her around. His mouth found the back of her neck. “I love my wife,” he whispered, as he leaned her over the bed and slid into her from behind.
Vivian moaned at the feel of his body invading hers.
“I really love my husband,” she replied.
Justin held onto her hips and moved with long smooth strokes. Her body gripped his like it was made for him. “Oh, Vivian,” he moaned, as he dropped his head back. With each thrust into her, she moved back towards him, until he was incredibly deep in the warmth.
“More, Justin. I want more.”
He was willing to give her exactly what she begged for. Her breathy gasps and moans were making him crazy. When his body began to tighten, he knew that he wasn’t going to make it much longer.
“Baby, I’m so close,” he hissed.
“Now, Justin,” she shouted, as she slammed herself back onto him to impale herself.
He erupted and felt the world turn and shift. When they fell to the bed, he landed beside her. Mumbling, he fought to get through the bliss and back to awareness.
“What?” she asked, as she was unable to move.
He started laughing. “I can’t imagine my life without you.”
Vivian turned and faced her husband. “You won’t ever have to do that
. I’m not going anywhere.”
He stared at her with brown eyes that were filled with so much emotion. “Promise?” Deep down, he didn't believe he was worthy of this love. Not after the sins that he had committed in life.
“I swear to you, Justin. I’m never going to leave you behind. This wife is like a Marine. We go through this together, and as a team.”
He kissed her on the lips. “Thank you.”
“You don’t have to thank me, unless it was for that spectacular sex.”
Justin snickered. “Yeah, I was pretty damn good,” he replied.
Vivian slapped him on the ass.
“I’m glad you’re not mad at me anymore,” he said softly. “I don’t want to ever fight with you.”
“Me either.”
“Want to get some sleep?” he asked.
She cuddled up into his body and enjoyed the feel of him under her hand. “Yeah, my love, I do.”
His heart swelled at the term of endearment. No one in his life ever called him anything other than his name before.
As she closed her eyes, and both of their breathing evened out, she had one last passing thought. “Justin?”
“Mmmm?” he muttered.
“If you ever do what you did tonight again, there won’t be sex for a very long time,” she stated.
He grinned and was warmed by having someone care about him enough to lay down the law. “Yes, Vivian. I understand.”
* * *
The entire ride home, Tori said nothing. Julian was more than sick over all this, and he wasn’t quite sure how to fix it. He had made his wife angry plenty of times in their relationship, but this time, she looked to be more than pissed.
There was something more brewing beneath it all.
Inside their apartment, she moved away from him and as she turned, her eyes were filled with tears. “I need you to promise me that you’ll never do anything that insane ever again. He could have shot you both and claimed that you had attacked him.”
“I know, honey.”
“No, you don’t. I can’t lose you, Julian. I’ve spent the last five years trying to get over the men who were taken from my life, and I won’t add you to that list. It would kill me.”
He felt horrible. Julian didn't even consider how she would feel about him risking his life. She had lost her father and brother within days of each other, and then the man she was engaged to wasn’t far behind. Right then, he realized why she was so quiet. It was all because he had put more fear into her heart.
“Promise me, Julian, that you won’t put me through that,” she said, as the tears began streaming down her cheeks. “I don’t want to bury you.”
He moved towards her. “Oh, Victoria! I am so damn sorry. I never even thought about how this would hurt you. I was only doing it to protect my brother.”
She took a step back. “I need to be protected too, Julian. I hurt too. I may look strong on the outside and be Army to my core, but I’m more than that. I’m a woman who loves and can be broken.”
Again, he took another step closer and laid his palm on her face. “I promise you that from here on out, I’ll think about how my actions affect you.”
Tori was willing to accept that, and she moved into his arms. “Thank you, Julian,” she whispered, as she left little kisses across his throat.
“I can’t live without you either,” he added. “I’ve tried, and my life is bleak and dismal. You’re the only light in my world.”
She clung to him as the emotions that she kept buried were finally able to be set free. “I love you, Jules.”
He lifted her chin to stare into her stormy eyes. “I can’t imagine loving anyone but you.”
She let the last of the emotion free, as she clung to her husband. For now, he was safe and by her side and that’s all that mattered.
Her heart was still intact.
* * *
Three Hours Later
Twelve A.M.
The darkness surrounded her and the confusion was making it hard to focus.
She had no idea where she was at that moment. Trying to think back, she couldn’t recall what had happened.
Something had changed.
The dizziness came in wave after wave, as the need to vomit wasn’t far behind.
How did she get there? Wasn’t she just at home in bed with her husband?
Then, she realized that she was dreaming again.
Here was another one.
Immediately, her entire senses went on alert. Now, she would study all the details as acutely as possible. They needed a clue, and it was up to her, as part of the team.
As she looked around the darkness, all that was visible was the soft glow of red lights. There were two, and one was at her head and other was by her feet.
Taillights.
Vivian knew where the next victim would be. She was going to be transported in the trunk of a car.
There was pain at the back of her neck, and she knew why. He had injected her there with the drugs to knock her out, only she was fighting it.
The woman he took was trying to survive.
Vivian silently urged her on, as she went through the motions. Her arms felt like bricks, but yet she tried to move them anyway.
As she watched it all unfold through the eyes of the victim, she could feel the memories trying to reach her. She saw a kitchen, a sleeping baby, and then a knock at the door.
Then, there was a flurry of nothingness.
He had taken her in her own home.
As she fought to rationalize the situation, the surroundings once more had her attention.
There was the crunch of gravel as the vehicle began to slow.
Then the trunk opened and Vivian found herself staring up at the man who took her. Unfortunately, she couldn’t focus. The victim was barely coherent and her eyes weren’t cooperating.
Vivian willed her to fight him. She wanted the victim to scream and shout. If she did, maybe someone would hear her and come for her.
They would save her.
His laughter filled the night, as he reached in to scoop her up. His words to her were slurred and barely audible as he was talking to her.
Then, she could feel his lips across her skin, and she wanted to escape his touch. Vivian knew what was in store for the woman, and she prayed that the victim would just head into the darkness.
She struggled to hear the words he was saying to her. It was like she was deep under water and trying to listen to someone above her.
“Welcome home,” he murmured.
She felt the woman’s heart begin to pound in her chest, and it caused hers to do the same.
As he carried her in his arms, her head lolled back and forth with each step he took. Vivian knew when they were inside the house.
The air had changed.
Gone was the cool fragrant breeze from outside, and in its place was the smell of death and decay. Something was dead there, and she prayed that the women, who were taken, weren’t the source.
The need to retch rose as he moved them further into the structure. As he placed her on the floor, her head turned towards the couch. All she could see was a head with scraggly hair, from behind. The television was on and someone was there.
She willed the woman to begin screaming, and yet nothing came out.
Her fate was sealed.
Once the basement door was open, he hefted her up into his arms and carried her down the stairs. As he laid her on a mattress on the floor, her head rolled to the side and she finally saw them.
There were the cages and the two women who everyone was searching for in town. Both were alive, but they didn't look too good.
They didn't have much time.
He turned her head to face him and his garbled voice mixed with wails and screams from the captives. She wanted to move and escape, but she just couldn’t get the victim’s body to obey.
Vivian struggled to look around.
There was a small window with a piece of wood over it.<
br />
Concrete walls.
And more cages.
Oh, God, there were so many more cages.
He had plans to fill them.
Suddenly, Vivian could feel her clothes being removed and she began to panic. This time, her pleas to the woman must have been heard. Her eyes closed and the woman blocked it out.
That meant one thing.
Vivian was free from experiencing what was coming.
Unfortunately, the poor victim was not.
* * *
Justin woke to her distress filled cries and pleading whispers. This time he wasn’t ignorant to what his wife was experiencing. He was living it through her voice.
When she began whimpering and begging the woman to fight, his heart was pounding in his chest. He didn't want to listen to her battling for this woman’s life, but he had no choice.
“Come on, Viv. Please come back to me. Find your way home!”
He held her in his arms as her body shook. If he could carry this for her, he would in a heartbeat.
God, he was desperate to save the woman he loved.
When she suddenly stopped moving, he panicked. Before he could touch the pulse in her throat, she sat up in bed and nearly rammed her face against his.
The gasp of breath said it all.
Justin pulled her against his body. “Baby, I have you!”
She just nodded and let him hold her tight. For that brief moment, Vivian needed to regain her focus and just breathe calmly, once more.
“Are you okay?” he finally asked. He knew for certain that he wasn’t. Watching her struggling in sleep made him want to be sick.
“He’s going to take another or he already has her.”
He understood. “I’ll call my brother and Tori.”
She nodded and laid back in bed. “I have to go back to sleep.”
“Was he…? I mean is he planning on…?” Justin couldn’t even put the words together. He knew what the sicko had done to the last woman, and he didn't want his wife experiencing that again.
Ever!
“Yes,” she answered, as she closed her eyes.
Blood Red Rage (LIttlemoon Investigations Book 1) Page 40
