by Lynn, K. I.
Dissolution
Copyright © K.I. Lynn
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
This work is copyrighted. All rights are reserved. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced, copied, scanned, stored in a retrieval system, recorded or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without prior written permission of the author.
Cover image licensed by depositphotos.com/ ©Moguchev
Cover design by L.J. Anderson
Editors
Chanse Lowell
D Beck
Publication Date: June 13, 2013
Genre: FICTION/Romance/Erotica
Copyright © 2013 K.I. Lynn
All rights reserved
DISSOLUTION
by
K.I. Lynn
DISSOLUTION
My chest clenched, and I rubbed the spot with firm pressure. A familiar pain was flooding in, and once again it was all my fault.
The doors to the elevator closed in front of me, the number twelve disappearing before my eyes, leaving me to stare at my own lifeless reflection. The weight of my decision hovered above me, poised for the right moment to crash down.
I saw her long before I ever met her; Lila, my cohort in crime at work and at home. Across a sea of asphalt and cars, was where I caught my first glimpse of the woman who would do the impossible and awaken a long dead part of me.
She was unassuming, skittish even, captivating me with the way she walked. There was nothing particularly special about it; maybe it was just the way the light reflected in her natural blonde hair. Whatever it was, my eyes were glued to her. She became more intriguing when her demeanor changed, as two men approached; her body rigid, pace slowed, and eyes down. It was subtle, not many would notice, but I did.
The caged beast inside me also noticed and pulled at his chains, growling. He didn’t like that they made her feel that way. I was about to go to her, launch myself at her, the beast wanting the strange siren, when a hand clamped down on my shoulder and pulled me back to reality.
I shouldn’t have taken the job when Jack offered it to me. In fact, the only reason I did was to have something to keep me busy, keep my mind off everything. To keep the days passing as I waited to die.
Every day was the same; a spiral down to hell. I knew my family was waiting for the call that I’d offed myself. I’d been tempted, hundreds of times, but I never went through with it.
I wished I had. Better to destroy myself, and not take her with me.
The throbbing behind my ribs was damn near crippling and made my legs shaky, as I tried to brace myself in the elevator while it moved. No one would ever find out the level of asshole I’d achieved.
I’d done it. Done what I thought I couldn’t.
I left her…the one good thing I had in my purgatory.
So, why did it hurt so bad that my eyes stung? I could barely breathe or think. Shouldn’t I have been proud I finally found the inner strength to do what was best for her?
I blinked and swallowed, but the lump of shame in my throat wouldn’t budge.
It was a necessary separation. I couldn’t keep hurting her, and that night I physically hurt her.
She deserved more, so much more than me; an angry, depressed, broken man. I couldn’t give her what she needed—love. So, I did what I had asked her to do.
I left.
Once more my eyes stung like a son of a bitch, but there was no room for tears. I didn’t deserve them.
Visions of her collapsed and passed out after I lost control and took her, assaulted me. It’d been too much, too rough. I begged her to leave, told her I couldn’t control it. Not today.
Today was the day it all resurfaced. The pain, the agony…my wife.
The life, the love, and the family that was taken from me.
The last time I saw her surfaced. Her eyes open; staring, blank, void, empty…dead.
The medically induced coma they placed me in kept me from even saying goodbye. I was unable to attend her funeral.
The elevator signaled that I reached my floor, and I was left with heavy steps as I walked out and down the hall. I entered my condo after having deposited Lila back into hers, leaving her.
I shut the door behind me, leaning on it as it clicked closed. All of my belongings I’d retrieved from her place dropped to the ground, landing on the tile floor below.
My hands moved to my hair, tugging and pulling on it as the air around me became suffocating. I felt something digging into my palm and released my grip to find out what it was.
I opened my hand and in it rested a jagged piece of metal.
Her key…the key to my place. I took it from her key ring and returned the one she’d given me.
The weight was becoming too much, almost crippling. The animal inside me was stirring, the part of me that wanted her more than I wanted to admit.
Gone. She was gone. I left.
Mine! The beast howled. She. Is. Mine!
“No. She deserves to be happy and loved. I can’t give her that.”
I leaned my forehead on the door, pounding my fist on it—hoping the door would give way and I’d have an excuse to run back to her. Any excuse to end the agony in which I was beginning to drown.
“Stay here! You have to.”
Arguing with myself probably couldn’t be seen as sane, but my head and heart were warring. My feelings for her had become so strong.
Mine! He roared.
“Lila…”
Mine!
“Oh, God, what have I done?” I doubled over, the crushing weight of my actions coming down on me. “I need you. I need you so much.”
Get. Her. Back!
“I can’t. No. I won’t…I won’t hold her down, hold her back. Someone will worship the ground she walks on, love her.”
We can do that. No one will ever understand her like we do.
“Someone will try. Someone will want and love her.”
Someone like Andrew?
My voice broke down to a whisper. “Yes, someone like Andrew.”
No! Mine. Not Andrew’s. Mine. I need her!
A crunching sound that had become all too familiar in recent months filled my ears. I looked down to find my hand embedded in the drywall.
My knuckles began to sting as I stared at my arm still lodged in the new hole. I pulled my hand out and surveyed the damage. I spun around, looking at all of the holes that the entry walls contained. All were created because of her. Because I wanted her and tried to deny it. Because I wouldn’t face the truth about what was going on between us. Because I was angry at her for making me feel for her.
That was the moment I came crumbling apart at the seams.
I grabbed at the edge of the drywall and pulled, tearing a chunk from the wall.
It wasn’t enough. In a frantic pace I began pulling, large pieces coming off in my hands. The dust filled the air, clouding it, just like my mind and my heart. I needed the reminder of her gone.
I’d gotten one section down before it let loose; the pain, the loss, the anger. Nothing was safe from my path of destruction.
I pulled half a sheet down in one tug, tossed it to the side and manically finished the demolition of the remaining, offending plasterboard.
Every tug, every pull, I tried to push her memory away. The feel of her skin, her body beneath mine, her smile, her laughter, her mind, her taste, her need.
She needed me. I knew that. I needed her; something I was just beginning to understand.
I left. Separa
ting us.
I screamed out, cursing myself, my life, and cursing her, though innocent, for entering my solitary existence and turning my purgatory upside down.
My hands snapped the wallboard off the nails that were holding it onto their wooden supports. In my fury I tore, pulled, and yanked the walls down until there was nothing left.
No holes. No walls. No reminder.
Nothing.
I stood, breathing hard, in the middle of the entryway. Sweat poured down my face, plaster dust clung to my wet skin and clothing. The air was thick with a white haze, the drywall bits covered the floor, beaten.
And still I could feel her presence.
I fell to my knees, the dust floating back into the air.
My arms itched from the powder coating my skin and I coughed, gagging on the chalky substance hovering in the air. Didn’t matter. I deserved to suffer.
My body began shaking as I sat there in defeat. In the future I would mourn two losses of my love on that date: my wife and my Lila.
I wouldn’t let what happened to her happen to Lila. I couldn’t. Lila would live. Lila would meet someone worthy and start a family. Lila would be happy.
But not with me.
A sob erupted from my chest, startling me. The sting of tears in my eyes was disconcerting as my loss crushed me. I mourned them; one taken from me and the other I threw away.
Tears spilled down my cheeks, my body finally having had enough; enough fighting, enough feeling.
Enough.
The next morning my alarm went off, but I was already awake. My eyes were glued to the ceiling, staring blankly at the white expanse. In the time I was staring I noticed the nail pops, small cracks in the plasterboard, and the all-consuming ache in my chest.
I slept terribly; tossing and turning, fighting nightmares, and periods of insomnia.
As I laid there, I realized it was the first night in months that Lila wasn't next to me in the bed. Her delectable cherry blossom scent and warmth filling the room. It’d been months since I’d awoken without her soft body curled into mine, our limbs entangled.
Instead the bed was cold.
No good morning kisses.
No morning sex with my goddess.
No sweet smiles from my Honeybear.
No Lila.
My Lila.
An hour later, on autopilot, I was dressed and walking to my car. I noted hers was still in her parking spot a few down from mine. In the rearview mirror the dark circles around my blood-shot eyes made them stand out; evidence of my sleepless night.
I arrived at our office and breathed in her sweet scent that still lingered there. Sitting at my desk, I went straight to work and braced myself for her entrance. It was almost seven thirty; she would be there any moment.
Halfway through the Anderson contract and still no Lila. Odd, as it was a few minutes past eight. Then again, after what I’d done, I didn't expect her to come in early.
At eight forty-five she still wasn’t there.
I checked my phone every few minutes to make sure I hadn't missed her call. My leg started bouncing in agitation. In my head I began to spin different scenarios of why she was late, some of them causing me to worry about what might have happened to her.
The Boob Squad left me alone, obviously noting my mood. Thank God, because there was no way I could deal with them that day.
By nine fifteen I was pulling at my hair, when Caroline stuck her head in to say good morning and stopped as she noticed the empty desk.
"Where's Lila?" she asked.
I kept my focus on my work, refusing to meet her eyes. "I don't know."
She closed the door behind her and her tone, when she spoke , contained enough force to draw my attention. "What do you mean you don't know?"
I shook my head, my brain trying to find the words so she could understand. "I couldn't keep hurting her, Caroline."
There was a knock on the door before Andrew entered. I watched his bright smile fade when he noticed the scene in front of him. "What did you do?"
I leaned forward, my elbows resting on the desk, my hands pulling at my neck. "I ended it. I hurt her, and then I ended it."
"You fucking moron!" Caroline screamed at me.
At the same time Andrew yelled, "I can't believe I fucking trusted her with you!"
Caroline's hand collided with my right cheek, and I welcomed the physical pain. "You...She's in love with you!" My head swung back to meet her fierce gaze, my eyes wide in disbelief. "Do you have any fucking clue what you've done?"
It felt like the floor was falling out from beneath my feet.
No, oh please no. Don't love me. Please don't let it be true. They'll kill you. They'll kill you like they did her.
"Give me your key and I swear to God if she...if she isn't all right I will kill you!"
I stared up at Caroline, believing her threat. "I don't have her key. I gave it back."
“And how did she take all of this?”
“I don’t know. She passed out. I…I took her and placed her in her bed. I told her in a letter, though I’m sure she understood with my actions, and I switched out our keys before I left.”
“You fucking coward!” Andrew said; every muscle was tense, and I wondered when he was going to hit me. I deserved it.
I flinched at his words, but agreed with him.
“We need to check on her and we need to do it now,” Caroline said, pacing in front of me. “I’ll call her cell, if she doesn’t answer we are going over there and you will get us in.”
I nodded in agreement, my chest tightening.
She was all right, she had to be. She was just upset. She’d be fine.
I tried to convince myself over and over. It wasn’t enough. Opening up my desk drawer I pulled out my anti-anxiety pills and took one, then stuffed the bottle into my pocket.
Caroline wasn’t able to get ahold of Lila, so we headed out, leaving word with Jack’s assistant about the situation, leaving out the part about my relationship. The assistant hadn’t heard from her either and confirmed she would alert Jack of the situation and our absence.
I let out a sigh that Jack wasn’t available. I wasn’t sure I could face him right then, or lie to him anyway. He knew me too well and could call my bullshit. One look and he would know. He would know that we were something more.
We all piled into my car and ten minutes later we were in the parking lot of our building. Her car was where I had last seen it, cool and unused, in her parking spot.
“Mike!” I called out as we rushed in and up to the desk. “Have you seen Lila Palmer today?”
“Lila? No, she hasn’t come down yet,” he replied, a bit bewildered by our entrance.
I began to shake, Andrew had begun pacing, and Caroline was biting at her fingernails. None of those were good signs.
“Can you ring up and see if she answers?”
“Sure thing, Mr. Thorne.”
He let it ring nine times before hanging up and shaking his head.
“We need your help. Lila didn’t show up to work and her car is still here. We’re unable to reach her by phone and we’re worried there’s something very wrong. We need to get into her apartment and make sure she’s okay; can you help us with that?”
“Well, we do have keys for emergencies,” he said, his voice shaking and his jaw tense – making it obvious he was now infected with the same worry that plagued us.
“This is definitely an emergency.” My voice cracked with the force of emotions.
Something was wrong. I could feel it in my bones. My inner beast that had been silent, brooding, was whimpering and pacing.
Please, please, be all right.
Mike unlocked a hidden safe behind the desk and pulled out a bundle of brass keys. Andrew wouldn’t stop pushing on the elevator button, all in hopes it would get there sooner, and when it finally did, we all rushed in.
The soft elevator music could not dissolve the building tension as we climbed up to the twelfth floor. Mi
ke was out first, and we followed behind to Lila’s door, anxiously awaiting him to unlock it.
I was trembling, my stomach knotted. I felt like I was on edge and afraid of what we would find on the other side.
The door swung open and we burst through, all of us calling out for her.
“Lila!” I rushed toward the family room. In my peripheral I watched Andrew head right toward the kitchen and Caroline make straight for Lila’s bedroom.
I stared after Caroline and a few seconds later her voice broke the fear. “In here!”
I stood frozen, afraid of what I was about to see. It shattered when I watched Andrew run out of the kitchen.
I rushed after him, my eyes frantic in their search for her as I entered the threshold.
The sight before me caused my knees to go weak, my legs threatening to give out, and my balance shifted my weight backwards into the door frame, my hands grasping it for support to keep me from falling.
No. No, no, no, no, no, no! No!
Please! Please, Lila, please!
No, no! Please be okay, please be okay!
My mind was frantic, begging for hope.
Lying on the floor near the foot of the bed was Lila; her hips were twisted, shoulders against the floor, arms splayed, head tilted to the side. She was naked, just as I had left her the night before.
Her pale skin showed the deep bruises of my body’s assault on hers. I had been too hard, too rough, too much. I was out of control, and I knew it.
The world stopped – everything stopped – when I reached her eyes. Her beautiful gray-green eyes were open, the lids unable to close. They were glazed over, empty, flat, void.
Images of a night years before, another set of eyes, flooded my mind.
Empty.
Void.
Dead.
My stomach turned, and I propelled my body to the adjoining bathroom to heave into the toilet. I hadn’t eaten so only bile and acid were expelled; my stomach retching to purge my mind.
My ears were ringing, and I couldn’t hear anything that Caroline and Andrew had said from the moment I saw her lying on the ground.
