by Evelyn Glass
“Well... maybe the bomb part,” Sophie said, laughing. “We could have done without that added drama.”
“Yeah,” he agreed with a laugh. He stroked her neck and ran a line down her chest with his fingers. She looked into his dark eyes and felt completely lost in the moment. He was everything she wanted, and things were falling into place.
He kissed her neck as he ran his hands down her side to her hips. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, and when he was over her, she wrapped her legs tightly around his waist, causing a flicker of a naughty smile to pass over his lips.
He slowly unbuttoned her shirt, letting the soft fabric fall to the sides, revealing her pale blue lace bra.
He kissed her ribs, and she giggled a little. “That tickles,” she said, hitting his shoulder gently.
“You want it rougher?” he joked, pretending to take a bite out of her fleshy waist.
She laughed. “Is it wrong that I loved that?”
“No. We’re just animals. This is our mating game.”
She rolled her eyes, but the huge grin on her face told another story. “Get this off,” she said, pulling at his shirt playfully. “I want to see what I’m marrying.”
He lifted the shirt over his head and threw it down on the floor next to the bed. He was up on his knees, towering over her as she lay on the bed. He looked so strong. His taught chest muscles and abs were punctuated by the light coming in through the window, casting shadows in all the right places, emphasizing each muscular ripple. She bit her lip and took in the wonderful view. He was all hers.
He leaned down and teased her open shirt the rest of the way off her body and threw her bra to the side. “I’m one lucky guy,” he said in a hushed voice as he cupped her breasts with both hands. He began undoing her jeans and slid them off her legs gracefully. He slipped her panties off next and kissed a line from her knee all the way up her inner thigh until she could feel his hot breath between her legs. He hesitated for a moment, allowing the anticipation to build in her. She watched as he used his hands to gently part her lips and he began kissing her intimately and stroking her folds with such care. When he eventually met her flesh with his hot tongue, it sent shudders through her. She was instantly ready for him, soft and juicy. He licked at her like she was a popsicle on a hot day, desperately wanting more.
He kept up the pace as she arched her back and moaned. It was even better than before. It was as if some extra power was flowing between their bodies and her head spun with desire. After only a few minutes at the mercy of his tongue, she hurtled straight into an orgasm of mind-blowing proportions, causing her to writhe and gasp with sheer joy.
When it subsided, he lifted her through to the shower room, kissing her neck and chest as they went. He hugged her body close as they waited for the water to warm up and then he stepped into the warm cascade of the water and held out his hand in invitation. She stepped in next to him, placing her hands on his wet chest, watching the water pooling between her fingers and dripping in little streams down their naked bodies.
They started to kiss, but this time it was different. It was hungry kissing, with tongues flexing and meeting and sending clear messages of lust.
He slowly turned her around until she was leaning on the tiled wall and he squeezed her ass firmly with one hand. She leaned over further, and he used the opportunity to find his way into her hot wet core. He thrust back and forth as the warm water rained down on their skin. Sophie caught sight of her sparkly engagement ring on the tiles as she gasped and moaned with each blissful thrust and felt light-headed with happiness.
Zeke trembled and clutched at her hips as he climaxed, and afterward, she turned around to face him. He wrapped his arms around her, and they hugged in the trickle of water for what felt like a long time.
After a while, Sophie picked up a bottle of body wash and began lathering him up tenderly. He followed her lead and formed swells of white bubbles on her skin, stroking her skin lovingly until she was as clean as can be.
“I think we should shower like this every day,” he said with a huge grin.
“I don’t think so!” she said, laughing. “It would take us ages to get out of the door every morning.”
“Exactly. It’s ideal.”
They finished up and wrapped themselves in fluffy towels before heading back to the bedroom to dress in jogging pants and T-shirts.
That night Zeke and Sophie celebrated their official engagement with a takeout in bed. It was blissful.
But as they were about to drift off to sleep for the night there was a sudden bang in the driveway. Zeke leaped up and pulled back the drapes to look outside.
“Shit,” he gasped.
“What is it?” Sophie asked, fear rippling through her. Zeke was speechless. Sophie got up to join him at the window. His motorbike was in flames. She took a sharp intake of breath. “But... I don’t understand.”
Next to the bike on the lawn, there was lettering in flames, obviously written in gas and then ignited. It read – 4LBX. Zeke’s unit.
Things weren’t over.
Chapter Twenty Two
Zeke
“I don’t get it,” Zeke said, pacing the room. “The police said there were two bodies found in the blaze at Troy’s. They were too badly burnt to identify, but there were definitely two. Troy must be out there. Unless he had accomplices, but I doubt it. Who else would care as much as he did?”
Sophie knelt up on the bed. It had been hours since the explosion, but there was absolutely no chance of either of them sleeping.
“You need to get out of here in the morning. Go and stay somewhere safe for a while. I can’t let you get hurt.”
“But I want to be with you,” she insisted.
“I know, honey, it would just be temporary. Until this is all fixed. We’ve got another life to protect now, too.”
Sophie nodded. “I suppose so. But as soon as this is over, I’ll move in here. I just want us to be free to get on with our lives.”
“Me too,” he said, sweeping down and kissing her head softly. “It’ll be over soon. I promise.”
The next morning Zeke called Tina Graham to ask about the possibility of Sophie staying with them.
“Oh, Zeke, I was just about to call you. In the middle of the night, we had a brick thrown through our window. There was a note attached that said we’ll be dead within a week.” By the end of the sentence, her voice crumbled, letting out her true emotions and fears.
“Jesus. We need to get you and Jeffrey out of there. Sophie’s not safe here either. The three of you need to get out of town. I take it you’ve told Jeffrey about the calls now, too?”
“Yes. I had to. I was furious I’d kept it from him,” Tina said, “but eventually he said he understood why I hid it from him. No more secrets, though. We’re all in this together. Jeffrey too. I know a private spa lodge upstate we could book into. It has security gates and cameras. We’d surely be safe there.”
“Perfect. I’ll take Sophie round to yours, and you can leave as soon as possible. How far away is it?”
“An hour or so,” she replied.
“Perfect.”
As soon as he hung up his phone rang. It was Stephan. The same thing happened to him.
“I’ve sent Ruth and the kids away to stay at her mom’s,” Stephan said. “I just don’t want them in town right now. Not with everything that’s going on. We never know what the next thing will be, or who the next target is.”
“You’re right,” Zeke replied, holding the phone up to his ear while he looked at Sophie, who was packing her things in an overnight bag. “We can’t risk keeping them close to us.”
When he hung up, he walked over to Sophie and put his arms around her from behind. She turned to face him with a smile and placed her arms around his neck. “I really don’t see why I should go with Tina and Jeffrey on their little getaway. I’d much rather just stay here and help get things worked out. It’s not as if I’ll be able to take my mind off it all. I
’ll be doing nothing but thinking of you. And worrying.”
He frowned. “You need to do this. For me. I don’t want you in any more danger. Hell, you’ve been near explosives and a madman too many times already. Enough is enough.”
“But it’s not as if...”
“Sophie. You have to.”
The urgency in his voice shut her up. She sighed. “OK. Fine. I’ll leave you to it.” She sulked for a moment, before his warms lips landed softly on hers, thawing the frosty tension between them.
The truth was, he didn’t really want to be apart from her. He wanted to be near her warm smile all the time, to smell the candy scent that floated off her hair when she walked past, to hear her sweet laugh.... He couldn’t bear the thought of being separated from all that. But to be without it for only a few days was a far better prospect than losing her for good if something went wrong. If Troy found out he was heavily involved with Sophie, that she was expecting his baby, for God’s sake, then who knows what he would do? She could become his prime target. Hurting her would be the perfect way to get back at Zeke. Even just the thought of it made him shudder.
He drove her over to the Grahams’ house and kissed her slow and firm on the lips as if it would be the last time, before walking her to the door.
They rang the bell and waited a few moments later until Tina appeared.
“Hi guys,” she said, but some of her cheeriness was lost.
“Are you alright?” Sophie asked as they stepped over the threshold.
“I’m just a bit shaken up, that’s all,” she replied. “The sooner we get out of here the better. I’m paranoid he’s going to turn up any minute and try to kill us.”
“You’re doing the right thing by getting out of town for a while,” Zeke said. “Less distractions for Troy might lead us to him quicker.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of,” Sophie said, suddenly looking up into his eyes. “I don’t want you going anywhere near him. But I know this needs to end... somehow.”
Zeke rubbed her back and sighed. “I’ll leave you guys to set off for the lodge. Try to enjoy it. I know that’s tough. Think of it as an escape.”
Tina forced a smile and stepped forward to give Zeke a hug. Why did everything feel like a goodbye?
“See you in a couple of days,” he said casually as he walked back to the car, deliberately not looking back.
He got in, turned the key in the ignition, and started up the car, about to head over to Stephan’s when his cell buzzed again. It was Toby from the club. One of their members had been rammed off his bike by a car. Another biker who was following behind tried to stop the driver, but he’d sped away. John, the guy who’d been hit, was in a coma. Things were getting really ugly. Zeke knew straight away this had to be a message for him. Things like this didn’t just happen every day. It couldn’t be a coincidence that everyone connected to him was in danger.
He decided to take a detour to the club to show face and check in on everyone after this shocking news. But when he pulled up his gut churned with rage at the sight of the burning building. The clubhouse was on fire. It was as if hell had opened and was ruining everything he held dear.
A friend of his walked over, his face pale with worry. “There’s no one inside,” he said. “Everyone’s unharmed. But, damn, that’s gonna cost a shitload to repair.” He wiped his brow with an oil-stained hand and sighed.
Zeke was lost for words. He couldn’t tell them this was to do with him and that psycho Troy. As he stared at his home away from home, which had been violated so crudely, he noticed something shining between two bikes parked to the side of the building. His friend Pete was walking towards his bike.
“No!” Zeke shouted. “Don’t touch the bikes! They’re rigged!”
He ran over to Pete to pull him backward, causing Pete alarm. “Sorry man,” Zeke said. “But look – there are wires running between each bike. They must be set to detonate. Whoever set the clubhouse on fire was planning something much worse as an after party.”
Zeke told Pete to spread the word and keep watch to make sure no one came near the bikes until the authorities arrived. Zeke had to move fast before anything else happened. Who knew were Troy could be?
Before he could leave the parking lot, there was an almighty explosion as each bike went up in a powerful mass of flames, forcing Pete to the ground. He crawled along the ground, blood trickling down his forehead. He was hurt, but he was alive. Zeke rushed to him again and helped him to his feet, before a paramedic who was already on scene as a precaution took over.
Could things get any worse?
His phone rang. Sophie.
“Hey, I’m coming back to town. I’m just gonna let these two get some time alone at the spa. I miss you,” she said.
“No. You can’t,” Zeke said with a voice so fraught with tension it made even him wince.
“But... I, I can help,” she stuttered.
“No. I don’t want your help. Just stay away. Don’t come near me.”
“Zeke, why are you being like this?”
He hesitated. Nothing he would say about her being in danger would work, he knew that. She was braver than most. She embraced danger. But he couldn’t face drawing her into all this. He’d never forgive himself if she got hurt, or lost the baby.
“It’s not working between us,” he said, pinching the bridge of his nose as he spoke. “I don’t... I don’t love you.” His chest ached as he said those words. It was the hardest thing he’d ever had to say in his life. And it was as far from the truth it could possibly get. But he needed her to stay away. She hung up.
He dragged himself over to his bike and got on without checking it for wires or devices. Somehow, he didn’t care about his own safety so much anymore. Maybe if Troy killed him, this whole saga would end, and everyone would be free to live their lives without him. Suddenly, something clicked in his mind. Don’t be such an idiot. You have to end this properly. Even if Sophie never speaks to you again, you’re doing this for her.
Chapter Twenty Three
Sophie
After hanging up the phone, Sophie stood in silence for a few moments, completely stunned. Had Zeke really just finished with her? After everything they’d been through... and everything they were due to go through together. What the hell?
“Come on, girl, get your bag, we’re going,” Tina said as she squeezed past Sophie’s frame in the hallway. Tina stopped and stared. “Are you OK?”
Sophie nodded. She wasn’t ready to say anything yet. Not until she’d got her head around it. Did that really just happen? She’d heard so many horror stories about bad boyfriends who ditched girls out of the blue, even pregnant ones, but not Zeke, surely. He’d been different. Hadn’t he? And that kiss, just before he dropped her off. It was laden with feeling. He definitely loved her. She knew it. She hadn’t just imagined the whole thing. Maybe she’d trapped him, with the whole unexpected pregnancy thing? Maybe that’s what went wrong? Maybe it was all too much for him, and he was freaking out? But if that was the case, surely, they could fix this? If she took a step back and left him alone for a while, he would realize they were too good to throw away... wouldn’t he?
Sophie had gone full circle from her spot on the hallway rug – going from denial to rage, to confidence that he didn’t mean it and it would all be OK. She swallowed hard and bent to pick up her luggage. She’d keep this to herself for now. Maybe he’d text soon to apologize and backtrack?
The car journey out to the lodge was terrible. It’s not that Sophie didn’t want to be with Tina and Jeffrey, they were lovely, and like family. It’s just that she felt herself unraveling in the back seat of their car, as they drove the hour-long route, attempting – and failing - to make small talk with her.
When they eventually arrived, she followed them silently up to their adjoining rooms, managing a stifled smile to the young guy who’d carried their bags upstairs.
“Shall we meet out here in half an hour to go down to the restaurant fo
r dinner?” Tina asked.
“No, thanks. I’m fine,” Sophie said weakly.
Tina frowned.
Jeffrey added, “It’s on us. We’ll treat you, dear.”
Sophie shook her head. “Thanks, but... I don’t feel like eating.”
“If you change your mind, come down and find us, sweetie,” Tina said. “You have to look after yourself. Or order room service. Whatever you need.”
She thanked them and closed the door, looking around the quiet, tidy room. It was nice. There were modern drapes and a big bed with sheets that looked plump and soft. It had everything you could want from a luxury room, but she just felt miserable.
She sat on the edge of the bouncy bed and sighed. She couldn’t even be bothered to switch on the TV, although the silence was so severe it felt as though her head was vibrating with white noise.
