Reaper

by B E Kelly

  “Um, yes,” she squeaked, again trying to hide her hurt feelings.

  “Sorry sweetheart,” he said. “I’m just not buying it. You could have read what happened to me—hell, it was front page news. I still think someone sent you, but you know what? I don’t give a fuck anymore. You tell whoever you work for that I’m done caring. I want my sister back and I’ll walk away from it all—the company and the human trafficking— everything.”

  Elizabeth gasped, “Human trafficking?” she repeated.

  Reaper’s laugh was mean; his smile menacing. “Yeah, you didn’t know that my boss was tied up with human trafficking when you took the job, did you? Well, he is and I have enough evidence to bring him and his precious son down. I don’t care if I fall with them. It’ll be worth it to get Sophie away from Ringer and maybe she can have a half decent life.”

  “Oh Reaper,” she said. “I’m so sorry.” Really, she shouldn’t feel bad for him but the way he explained it all made perfect sense. She was sent to help him get free from this mess and to save his sister. That must be why she was led to him today—to help them both. Nothing else mattered. If Reaper never believed her, she could live with that. Although it did sting a little that he believe she could do something as underhanded as to work for a man who was involved in trafficking women. But Reaper didn’t know her and she needed to keep that in mind. Just because she felt as though she knew him from her dreams, didn’t mean that the feelings went both ways. As far as he was concerned, she was a complete stranger and if she was a betting woman, she’d put money on him thinking she was a complete kook to boot.

  “I wasn’t sent by anyone, Reaper. I wish you would believe me but I get it—you and your sister have been through a lot. Even if you don’t trust me, I want to help you both. I wish there was a way I could prove that to you but I can’t. You will just have to have a little faith and some trust in me.”

  Reaper shot her a look and she knew that he didn’t have much practice in either of those areas. “Not gonna happen, honey.”

  Reaper

  They drove for the next couple hours in complete silence and Reaper felt like an ass. When Beth told him to have a little faith and trust, he almost didn’t have the heart to tell her that he lost both of those things years ago.

  Being taken against your will did that to a person. He had lost all his faith trying to claw his way back to his former life after he was taken and there was nothing and no one that could get it back for him. Still, he felt like a complete jerk for treating Lizzy the way he had. He didn’t really believe that she was working for Anthony Sr. or Ringer but his irrational, suspicious mind went into overtime every time she shared her supposed dreams about him. Honestly, it was eerie that she seemed to know so much about him and no amount of digging or research would have told her that he owned a pair of red swim trunks or that his favorite childhood vacation was to the beach. But, accusing Lizzy was easier than trusting her and that was who he had become.

  Lizzy seemed to be hard at work on her computer, but every once in a while she’d glance at him sideways and sigh. Reaper felt as if he was holding his breath, waiting for her to say something—anything, but she didn’t. A part of him was relieved that she seemed to drop the whole subject and another part of him felt hurt that she gave up on him so easily. With each passing mile, he hated himself a little more and by the time they reached the Louisiana state line, he couldn’t take her silence any longer.

  “I’m sorry,” he almost whispered.

  Elizabeth stopped working on her laptop and looked over at him. “What?” she questioned. He knew good and well that she heard him, but she was going to make this harder on him than it needed to be.

  Reaper cleared his throat and pulled over to the side of the road. If he was going to apologize, he needed to do it properly and that meant looking her in the eyes to let her know he sincerely meant it. Reaper put the car in park and stretched and groaned at just how good it felt.

  “I’m sorry, Lizzy,” he said, knowing that he was pushing his luck, calling her by a nickname she admittedly hated but he couldn’t help it. Every time he looked into her dark brown eyes, it was as if he knew her and she was right, he thought of her as “his Lizzy”.

  She rolled her eyes and smiled, “Elizabeth,” she reminded. He didn’t hide his smile. “What exactly are you sorry for, Reaper?” she asked. Okay, she was going to make him spell it out and that worked for him. He wasn’t the type of guy to run from a challenge and judging by the sly smile on Lizzy’s beautiful face, she was issuing him a challenge.

  “Do you usually give a guy this much shit?” he asked.

  “Only if I think he’s worth it,” she admitted. “You know you are, right Reaper?” she asked. Lizzy ran her hand up his arm, letting her fingers trail up his sensitive skin and he felt that same damn heat just as he had each time she touched him. He had never felt anything like it before.

  “I’m what?” He asked, leaning into her body, wanting more.

  “You’re worth it,” she whispered, leaning the rest of the way into his body to gently brush her lips against his. Reaper moaned and took over the kiss, sealing his mouth over hers, loving her breathy little sighs as he licked and nipped his way into her mouth. Lizzy wrapped her arms around his neck, giving him everything he was craving from her and he knew that he was in deep with just one simple kiss.

  “Fuck,” he growled, breaking their kiss. “What the hell?” He wasn’t sure what to do about the sexy brunette sitting next to him, but he was sick to death of thinking things through and trying to not feel anything. He wanted to feel things again but Reaper wasn’t sure if that was even possible.

  “I’m sorry,” she said, smiling up at him.

  “Liar,” he teased.

  “You’re right,” she admitted.

  “Anyway, I thought that was my line,” he said. “I didn’t mean to accuse you of working for my boss. Hell, just because I don’t believe you’re a—what did you call it?”

  “A seer,” she helped.

  “Yeah, that,” he said. “Just because I don’t believe you doesn’t mean you’re not telling me the truth. I’ve just been through a lot and life has taught me that I can’t believe someone just because I want to.”

  “Well, I’m sorry that you’ve been through so much but that’s a shitty way to live, Reaper. If you never trust anyone, who do you turn to when you need help?” Lizzy asked and hell if she wasn’t right.

  Reaper nodded in her direction. “Apparently, you,” he said.

  “Alright,” she said. “Then how about a truce? You try trusting me and I’ll help you. Deal?” Lizzy held out her hand and he knew before even taking it into his own, that her skin would feel like fire when she touched him. Still, he reached for her hand and shook it.

  “Deal,” he agreed. “Thanks, Lizzy.”

  ****

  “Since we have some time to kill, want to play a game?” Elizabeth asked. Reaper didn’t hide his groan. He hated games, always had. When he was little, his mom would make them all play board games every Friday night and he and Sophie were constantly looking for excuses to get out of it.

  Lizzy’s giggle filled the cabin of the car and he couldn’t help but chuckle. “Wow, tell me what you really think of my idea, Reaper,” she teased.

  “I hate games,” he admitted.

  “This one will be fun,” she promised.

  “Besides, you just said you want to try to trust me and well, this might help.” She sat quietly next to him and he could feel her eyes on his face, watching him, waiting him out. Reaper knew he wasn’t going to dodge her stare and spending the rest of the trip in silence would get on his last nerve.

  He sighed, “Fine,” he agreed. “What game would you like to play, Lizzy?”

  She smirked at him and he wasn’t sure if he had ever seen anything or anyone cuter. Lizzy was starting to wear down his defenses and he fucking hated that. He prided himself on being tough enough to not need anyone else, but Lizzy was chip
ping away at his rough outer shell.

  “How about we play twenty questions—you know, get to know each other?” Reaper groaned again and she squealed and clapped as if she took his discomfort to mean that he agreed.

  “I’ll go first,” she offered. “Why do you go by Reaper?”

  “It’s my name,” he said. “That was an easy one. My turn.”

  “Nope,” she said, holding her hand up as if stopping him. “Your name is Chris, or at least that is what you told me—in my dream.”

  “Fuck,” he grumbled. “How the hell do you know my real name?”

  “I told you that I saw you in my dream, Reaper. Do we really need to go over this again? We’ve been through this a few times now.” Lizzy seemed to be getting more and more impatient with each passing minute and he wasn’t sure what to say next. A part of him wanted to accuse her of lying again but he had made her a promise—his trust in exchange for her help. The other logical explanation was she was telling the truth and could see things—namely him and that scared the shit out of him.

  “So, you’re a witch then?” Reaper questioned.

  Lizzy giggled, “Um, I’m not sure that is what I would call myself—but you’re starting to get it now. So, you want to answer my question? How did you go from Chris to Reaper?”

  “My name is Chris Payton,” he said.

  “Well, that’s a perfectly lovely name,” Lizzy said. “Why change it to Reaper?”

  “I didn’t change it,” he said. “It was given to me.”

  “By whom?” Lizzy innocently questioned. How did he explain everything to her? Reaper really didn’t want to discuss his abduction or the way his captor gave him his nickname. Hell, the whole story would probably have the sexy little brunette running as far and as fast as she could in the opposite direction.

  “I mean, it’s a pretty ominous name,” she continued when he made no move to answer her. “What, did you kill a person or something?” He could tell she was teasing, but his cringe must have given him away. He could feel his own reaction and judging by the way she stared him down, wide- eyed with her mouth gaping open, Lizzy had noticed it too.

  “That’s it, isn’t it? You killed someone and that’s how you were given your nickname,” she squeaked.

  “Yes,” he confirmed.

  “Oh my God,” she whispered. “Did you go to jail?”

  “No,” he said.

  “Are you going to kill me too?” she questioned.

  “What? No,” he growled. “Why would you think that?” Reaper asked.

  “Um, because we don’t really know each other,” she reminded.

  “You just had your tongue in my mouth,” he challenged.

  “Yeah, well that was before I knew how you got your nickname.” Lizzy slid a little further away from him, closer to her door and he had to admit, it felt like a slap in the face.

  “I still haven’t told you how I got my nickname,” he said. “Do you really want to know?”

  “No,” she quickly hissed. Lizzy sighed and looked back over at him. “Yes,” she amended. “I want to know. I did ask, so—yes.”

  “I was abducted when I was fourteen,” he began.

  “Oh God, that’s awful,” she soothed, reaching out her hand to put it over his own. If he was going to get the rest out, he couldn’t do it with her touching him, reminding him of their connection. He shrugged her off and she retreated to her side of the car.

  “I’m sorry,” she whispered.

  “I just need to get this out, Lizzy and I won’t be able to do it with you touching me,” he admitted. There was no way he was going to tell her everything but he could at least give her part of his story.

  “Yeah—I was on my way home from soccer practice. My mom forgot to pick me up and I had to walk. I was about a mile away from my house when a guy pulled up in his truck and asked if I could give him directions. I was such a stupid kid and when I got close enough to his pick-up, he opened the door and shoved me in the back of the cab.”

  “Shit,” Lizzy swore.

  “Shit doesn’t even begin to cover what I had to go through to survive. After about a month, I realized that no one was coming for me. You know those cop shows where the family pays the ransom and meets the kidnapper’s demands and the hostage is released? Well, that doesn’t always happen in real life. At least, that isn’t the way it happened for me. I’m guessing Ron was at a loss as to what to do with me because it was also about that time that he put me to work.”

  “Ron?” Lizzy questioned.

  “Yes, that was his name—Ron Blackman. He was the man who kidnapped me. He told me that he had been watching me and he thought my parents would have paid a good amount to get me back. When he issued his demands, he was told by the authorities in charge of my case that my parents wouldn’t negotiate with kidnappers. And well, that was that. He was stuck with me. I mean, he certainly couldn’t just let me go?”

  “Why not?” she asked.

  “I wasn’t a little kid. I was old enough to give a good description of both Ron and where he had been keeping me. He couldn’t risk it, so he decided that I could be of some use.” Reaper thought back to the day when Ron announced he was going to pimp him out and make some extra cash for his troubles of having to take care of him. The first guy he had to “service” was a little rough with him. When he gagged on the guy’s cock, he shoved further into Reaper’s mouth and caused him to puke. He thought that would be the end of his run with Ron but he was wrong. Night after night he was sent out and after a while, he just didn’t care anymore. Giving men blow jobs to stay alive almost seemed worth it.

  Then Ron said that he was getting requests for more than just blow jobs and Reaper refused. Ron slapped him around some and every time he asked if he had enough, Reaper told him to go fuck himself. Ron got so angry; Reaper was sure he wasn’t going to live through the rest of the beating. That’s when he saw his chance and took it. It was the exact moment he decided to fight for his own life and take control of his destiny. He rescued himself that day and he never looked back.

  “When I just couldn’t take anymore, I saw my out and I took it. Ron went too far one day, beating the shit out of me and when I finally had enough, I lunged for his gun and after we went back and forth, fighting for control, it went off. At first, I thought I was hit but then I realized that it was Ron. He fell to the ground and I just stood over him and watched as the red spot on his shirt expanded from where I had shot him in the chest. Just before he died, he smiled, looking up at me, and said the word ‘Reaper’. That was the last breath he took and I became who he made me—Reaper.”

  He looked over to where Lizzy quietly sat, listening to him ramble on and realized that she was crying. “No,” he barked. “You don’t need to cry for me, Lizzy,” he said. “That was a long time ago and I got out. I went home and the police labeled the murder as self-defense.” He shrugged, “I don’t know if it was or not, really. I wanted that asshole dead since the first night he took me away from my life, but when I told the cops about the struggle for the gun, they let me go.”

  “And you’ve had to live with all of that pain and guilt ever since?” she croaked. Lizzy was right, he had demons he fought daily, especially right after he got home. His parents put him into therapy but that only helped him to function daily. It never really helped him figure out what to do with all the shit he had to deal with and who he had become. He wasn’t sorry he had to kill a man—Ron deserved it. Hell, he’d kill that fucker a thousand times over if it meant his freedom. But the things he had to do for Ron; the things he saw, those were the things that kept him up at night, haunting his dreams, making it almost impossible to move on.

  Lizzy wiped at her eyes and gave him a watery smile. “I’ll try not to cry anymore,” she lied. “It’s just that when I connect with someone, it’s almost as if I can feel that person’s pain. You know—if you’re happy, I’m happy and if you’re sad, I’m sad.” He nodded even though he had no idea what she was talking about
.

  “So, is it my turn to ask a question?” he asked, needing to change the subject.

  “Sure,” she agreed. “And, I promise that I won’t make you cry.”

  Reaper chuckled, “I don’t cry,” he admitted.

  “Okay, tough guy,” she said. “What’s your question?”

  Reaper thought for a few minutes, wanting to come up with something good. But he had nothing. He knew who Lizzy professed to be and didn’t believe her. Maybe that was his problem and not hers, but asking her a question he wouldn’t fully buy the answer to felt like a complete waste of time.

  “You hungry?” Reaper asked.

  “What?” Lizzy questioned. “Is that really your question?”

  “Yeah,” he said and shrugged. “I told you I’m not very good at games. Besides, I’m starving and we are about an hour ahead of schedule. How about we find a place to stop and grab a burger. We can also gas up your car to make it the rest of the way to my meeting.”

  “So, you’re going to buy me dinner rather than ask me a question?” Lizzy looked him over and he could feel her scrutiny but refused to look at her. “Okay, Reaper. Let’s have a burger.”

  Elizabeth

  Beth wasn’t sure if she was more pissed or hungry. She could decide that after her belly was full, but she knew one thing for sure, Reaper was avoiding getting to know her and that made her angry. She thought they were making headway when he agreed to try to trust her and she said she’d help him.

  And when he told her his story, she hoped that he was opening up to her because he felt safe with her. But she knew now that she was wrong. He didn’t trust her and that hurt. Lizzy was determined to stay true to her word and help him out, but hoping for Reaper to hold up his end of the bargain wasn’t happening.

  They pulled into a little diner that had a gas station across the street. “How about we eat first and then I’ll gas up the car and we can finish the rest of the trip?” Reaper asked.