by Colora, R.
“Princess, I wish you would have told someone. When I called and asked, Pat and Mel said they had no clue why you were at the airport. Kennedy and Tristan didn’t have a clue either. We are your family; we want you to come to us. I’m sorry I made you feel like you depend on us too much. Princess, if this goes to trial, I think you will need all the support you can get. I’ve talked your dad, Sal, and Vaughn; they said you will come over and cook, but you don’t say anything. When they try to talk, you keep the conversation simple—never going too deep,” he says kissing my hand.
“It’s not that, but my dad is dealing with some stuff at work. Vaughn is trying to figure out if he wants to continue fighting or switch careers, and Uncle Sal, he isn’t a man of many words, he likes to watch and listen.” I rest my head against the chair.
“Easton and Kennedy have their hands full, they are about to start the terrible twos with the triplets. Kennedy is raising a family and trying to run her business. Tristan is still trying to get Frankie to give them a chance. I will give it to him, he is persistent. Everyone is doing their own thing; and I learned that it's ok for me to do that too," I add in earnest.
After telling him all this, I fall asleep on his shoulder. I wake up to him kissing my forehead and moving the hair off my face. “It’s time to get up, Princess. The plane is landing and just so you know, while you were sleeping, I upgraded our return tickets to first class. I will be lucky if I can move my legs when I get up—I’ve been so cramped.” He says, trying to stretch his longs legs out. I kiss his cheek.
“Thanks, babe I’m not sure you will be allowed in the room with me, but you're more than welcome to go hang out at the hotel.” I say gratefully
“No, I’m here for you even if I have to wait in the lobby. I’m here to support you, not lay by the pool.” He kisses the end of my nose after making that grand statement.
After leaving the plane, we make it to the hotel and go to the check-in desk.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Kerrigan. We have no open rooms and the room that was reserved is a king bed. We can bring a cot up. Will that help the situation?”
The front desk clerk looks sorry. She can’t fix this for us. I see Rhydian closing his eyes, thinking about, and dreading, sleeping on a cramped cot.
“No, that won’t be necessary. The one bed is fine.” He turns his head and ask if I’m sure I’m really okay with us sharing a room We walk into the room and it’s really nice. “I’m going to take a shower,” I tell him. ”The car will be back to get us in about an hour and forty-five minutes.” I see him nod. I grab all my things and take them into the bathroom. I don’t even bother adding any hot water, I need to cool off. I wash my body and get out. Fuck, I forgot my underwear. I put on the fluffy white robe and walk over to my bag. I grab my underwear and look over to see Rhydian tracking my movements. I rush back to the bathroom and put on my clothes. I make sure I leave nothing behind and step out.
I pull my hair-dryer out of the bag and dry my hair. When Rhydian comes out of the bathroom, he is dressed. The phone rings, it’s the front desk telling us the car has arrived. We hurry down and make it to the federal building. After signing in, I’m led to a big office. It has boards with pictures that were caught from the videos and questions marks drawn over the men they still have yet to identify. I am introduced to everyone at the table. I feel Rhydian, who takes a seat next to me, squeeze my knee under the table.
I start the story from the beginning. They have identified no one, but Frederick Greenly. I walk over and grab a legal pad and marker. I write down each name, how many times they raped, cut, or burned me, and as I tape each sheet of paper to the board, it becomes real. Then I pull the ledger out of my laptop case, open it, and put up three different dollar amounts.
One-What they paid Edwin to rape and torture me.
Two-How much money Edwin had laundered for them.
Three-How much money he owed them at the time of his death.
There are eight men in total.
Frederick Greenly is dead, that leaves seven more bastards to take down. For the next ten hours we go over every detail, while everything is recorded. That’s when the FBI does the paperwork for the federal crimes that have been committed. It is now eleven o’clock, and judges all over the country are being woken up to get local warrants. A heads up, courtesy of Governor Dewitt, had been leaked to all the major news outlets exactly twenty minutes ago, so they will be parked and ready to catch the perpetrators walk.
Rhydian and I call it a night after that and go back to our hotel room; the minute I get in the door, I collapse. I feel Rhydian undress me and put me in the bathtub he’s filled. I noticed the water is scalding hot, just the way I like it. He turns off the light and lights a scented candle, I didn't even know where the hell the lavender bath oil has come from. He walks back into the bathroom and puts his iPad on the sink with the Josh Groban station playing, and closes the door again. I lean back and close my eyes, then about thirty minutes later, Rhydian comes back in with some pajamas.
“Can you scrub my back?” I ask. I can’t reach it and I don't feel clean. I’ve folded my body so nothing was visible. He grabs the soap, applies it to the washcloth, and scrubs small circles on my back. He gets the plastic cup from beside the sink and wets my hair, washing it. He massages my scalp, making sure all my hair is soaped up.
He rinses my hair, my back, and wipes my face with a towel. Just then Leona Lewis's version of the Roberta Flack Classic ‘The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face’ comes on, and it portrays exactly how I felt about Rhydian. I unfold my body and stand up as Leona sings in the background. I kiss Rhydian.
“Princess, let's not rush this.”
“It’s not rushing, Rhydian. This song is exactly how I feel. “I’m tired of my life passing me by, I realized today that life is too short and I need to grab it by the horns. That’s when he kisses me back and lifts me out of the tub. I wrap my legs around his waist and he carries me to the bed.
“Are you sure, Princess? I can wait.”
“No babe, I'm ready.” I say, kissing him behind his ear and on his neck.
He grabs my chin and forces me to look him in the eyes and says, "Princess, I want to be clear about this. I will only go as far as you want, but if you feel the need to stop or don’t like something I’m doing, you only need to say the word and I will stop. I promise you, I won’t hurt you in any way, shape, or form.” He pauses and caresses the side of my face lovingly.
“I understand, Rhydian. I’m ready for you, please put me out of my misery and love me the way I know you are capable of.” I say seductively
He then gently lays me down on the bed and reaches over to the nightstand, grabbing a bottle of my vanilla and brown sugar body lotion and says, "Lay on your belly for me, Princess. I want to start this the right way." He says in a gentle tone.
Warming the lotion in his hands, he gently massages my feet and works his way up to my calves finally ending at my back. As he slowly works all the muscles there, leaving me feeling like a puddle of mush in the center of the bed. Suddenly, I feel his entire body pressed up against my back and he whispers in my ear, "Don’t fall asleep on me now, Princess. The night is just beginning.”
I can feel his rock hard erection press up against my ass, and a little shiver runs through my body.
He then turns my body over and begins a slow and sensual kiss. Leaving my mouth, he trails his lips across my jaw to my ear and nibbles there for a moment. From there, he works his way down my neck, licking my collar bone. He slowly continues his way down to my breast. While he's working on one, he refuses to let the other be neglected. So he takes his hand, which is not holding up his body, and grabs my other breast, holding it in his hand at first like he was weighing it. Then grabbing onto the nipple and giving it a slight pinch. I can feel myself getting even wetter.
He switches sides, and his mouth has taken the place of his hand. After he feels like he has paid enough attention to my breasts, he slowly makes his way, with
little butterfly kisses, down my stomach. He locks his arm around my back like a steel band, as his mouth lands on my clit. His tongue jets out, applies the right pressure to my clit, and at the same time slides two fingers inside my pussy. He bends his fingers slightly and moves them in and out slowly. I let the wave hit me and I am seeing stars. I come so hard I blackout for a few seconds. Coming to, I look down at him and see a very satisfied smirk on his face.
"Do you think you have a few more of those in you?” I reply with a smirk of my own.
He climbs up my body and gives me a tender kiss; then reaches down between our bodies, grabs ahold of his cock, and rubs it against my already tender clit. I beg him, “Rhydian, please.” He looks me in the eyes as he pushes his cock into my slick folds. He keeps his eyes locked on me and goes at a nice slow pace. I want to beg him to go harder and faster, but I can tell by looking in his eyes that this means a lot to him and that alone makes it mean increasingly more to me. Just as the walls of my pussy start to clench, he says, “Are you ready, Princess?” we both find our release together. He stays planted deep inside me, leans down, and gives me a deep but gentle kiss.
“Princess, I know things have gone bad between us and we are just now trying to get our shit together, but I want you to know that I’m here for you in the long run, no more of you running off, no more of me running off, no more of me being a careless asshole. I want you in my life forever."
I fall asleep not thinking of the seven men who were just arrested earlier, or the upcoming trial I will face, or even that I broke my no sex rule. My only thought is of Rhydian and the life I hope we have this time around.
Rhydian’s POV
I see Ashleigh running down the glass sky annex, connecting the two buildings, making it our offices. Her long hair like a cape blowing behind her. She crashes into my door, unable to stop the momentum she's built. When she finally gets it open, she is breathing heavy. She ran fast across almost the length of a football field between our offices.
“She’s heading to the airport!” she says, trying to catch her breath.
“Who is heading towards the airport?” I ask her with a confused look in my face.
“Estelle is, you dumbass.” She sounds annoyed she had to clarify for me.
“How do you know that, Ashleigh?”
“I'm still monitoring her GPS unit. I set perimeters, if she steps outside them, I get an alert.” She looks at me like she is giving me an obvious answer to a stupid question.
“Do you have any idea how pissed she will be?” I shake my head at her.
“Look, you keep losing the girl. I'm just looking out for her.” She states in a matter of fact manner.
“Ash, do you have it covered here? I'm going after her.” I say as I grab my stuff. I’m upset she is going out of town didn’t mention it at dinner.
She nods her head, still out of breath.
“Kid, you need to work on your cardio. For someone so sure the zombie apocalypse is coming, you’re outta shape."
“Oh, fuck off!” she says and throws her hands in the air, shaking her head and grumbling like the surly teenager she is.
I am glad I keep an overnight bag and a few suits in the office. I grab my shit and head to the garage.
While driving, I call Mel, who knows nothing about Estelle going anywhere. I call Kennedy, and she calls Tristan, they know nothing either. I park in short term parking and head toward the ticket counters. I'm not even sure which fucking airline she will fly. I start at the major ones and ask if anyone matching Estelle's picture bought a ticket, a young ticket clerk tells me that she didn't buy one, but she picked a ticket up.
“Can you tell me where to?”
“No sir,” she says, “but if you wanted to buy a ticket to that location; I have that screen up and as I'm looking, the seat next to said passenger is empty.”
“Book it, please. And can you upgrade the return flights to first class?” I look at her name tag. “Thank you, Celine.”
“It was my pleasure.” she hands me a ticket to California, leaving in one hour.
I rush to the gates and turn around to wave, but she's gone and the lights are dimmed. I wonder how the hell she closed up so fast. I walk to the security check. I'm holding my shoes in my hand, everything is in the tray, and I make it through with no problems. I rush to the gate and the doors are just about to close.
Rushing up to the gate, I plead, “Please, I have to get on that plane.” The flight attendant supervisor lets me through, and I make my way up the aisle.
“Going somewhere, Princess?”
She explains why she is headed to California and I feel like an asshole. I’ve made her feel like she shouldn't ask anyone for support. After that, she falls asleep on my shoulder within a few minutes; she must have slept little last night.
When we get to the hotel and they are booked solid, the desk offers a cot and my back is already protesting. When Estelle tells her we don't need it, I feel apprehensive.
We head to the room, and she excuses herself to take a shower. Suddenly, she steps out of the bathroom in her robe, walks to her bag still dripping water and I can see her grab panties out of her bag—light pink, lace panties and my cock is instantly hard. I can’t tear my eyes off of her as she walks back to the bathroom.
When it's my turn to shower, I turn it on cold, but I still have to jack my dick to find relief—and yet, getting out the shower, I'm still hard. I get dressed and we get a call that the car is ready. I have no issues getting into the building or the conference room. When we get there, we see eight boards set up, each with a series of pictures of the men and Estelle.
They have taken black marker and covered her private areas, but you still know what's happening. While she adds information to the boards, I text Ashleigh a list of things I need at the hotel room. She texts back that she will make sure the hotel has everything in the room within the hour. For the next couple of hours, I watch as she tells them everything. They order dinner and get the ball rolling in grabbing these guys from their nice comfy beds. By the end of the night, I can see Estelle is exhausted. The minute we walk into the hotel room and the door closes, her legs give out.
I know she needs a shower—she needs to feel clean, but she isn't able to stand. Therefore, I undress her and fill the tub with the hottest water there is. I set a relaxing mood for her and sit on the bed. When I go to check on her, she wants me to wash her back; so I do. I also wash her hair. Just then, I hear the song change to a song I know, but I don't know who’s singing it.
While I’m still listening to the song, she gets up and kisses me. I want this so bad it hurts, but only if she is sure. I can't handle not making it this time. I know she's my forever. All my fuck ups have led us to this. I grab her chin and make her look at me.
"Princess, I want to be clear about this, I will only go as far as you want, but if you feel the need to stop or don’t like something I'm doing, you only need to say the word and I will stop. I promise you, I won’t hurt you in any way, shape, or form."
She’s assuring me she understands and is ready for me. I lay her down on the bed on her stomach and reach over to the nightstand for a bottle of lotion. I don't know what the brand or scent is, but I know it smells like vanilla and I love that scent on her. I think back on how much of an asshole I was, and I know I will do everything in my power to prove I deserve this second chance. I glance up at her to see her reaction and notice the glazed look on her face. I feel proud of myself; I made my girl feel like that.
Chapter 16
My cell phone is ringing and so is Rhydian’s. I grab mine and see its Ashleigh.
“Estelle, I need you and Rhydian to get back here right now," Ashleigh says over the phone.
I hand Rhydian the phone. I know this is bad, I can feel the fear curling in my stomach. Everything I've been through in the last few months is nothing compared to how I feel right now.
Rhydian is talking to Ashleigh on my phone, when all of a sudden we hear a bang o
n the door. “It’s Reed, open up!” I run to the door, wrapped in a sheet, when I open the door, Reed and his team push into the room.
“Estelle, we need you to get dressed right now,” Reed says, having his men guard the door.
Fear is coursing through my veins as I grab my bags and run to the bathroom to put on my jeans and sneakers, I never go anywhere without get away clothes. I see Rhydian pulling up his boxers and a female from Reed's team is checking him out. When she sees me watching her, she blushes and looks away.
We are hurried out of the hotel room and into a fleet of waiting SUV’s. Once we are in the back, Reed begins to talk.
“Listen, we were able to apprehend six of the seven men still alive, but one must have gotten tipped off because when we went to get him, he was long gone. He left this.”
He spun his phone around, and on it was a picture of a pair of underwear laying on top of a picture of me with a knife stabbed through it.
“Who didn’t you get?” I ask. I know, but I need to hear it.
“We got everyone except Jack Wells.” Reed says, the look on his face lets me know it’s bad and about to get worse.
“Who is that?” Rhydian asks me.
I squeezed my eyes shut. “He is the cutter. He prefers knives, like the one in the picture, he is as demented as they come. Edwin told me he usually kills his girls, but Edwin made it clear I could be hurt, but not killed, or marked on my face.”
Reed looked at Rhydian, seemingly thinking about something before he speaks.
“They searched his house. He left the evidence out in the open, and from what we can tell, we are dealing with one of the most prolific serial killers of all time. His kill count is up in the high hundreds. He hasn’t ever shown up on any radar. And he kept trophies for every victim; there are things dating back thirty-five years. He keeps it all in a trophy room—a lock of hair, a picture of the victim alive and a picture of his handy work after. Which means we are moving you to a safe house.”
