by LM Terry
I shake my head in acknowledgement, then let the floodgates open. I talk, I cry, I scream, I even get sick to my stomach, but Luis doesn’t leave my side. He listens as I tell him every ugly thing they did.
I did it. It is out. I had locked all that shit inside for so long I didn’t realize how heavy it had all been. It weighed me down so much I couldn’t even speak.
Mrs. Cortez comes out from the house. “Luis, Anna, I brought you lunch, it is over here on the patio. The others have all eaten, I thought since it was such a nice day you would like to eat out here.” She points to courtyard, then backs away, quickly leaving.
Luis looks at me. “What do you think? Hungry?”
“Yes, I’m sorry I kept you so long, you almost missed lunch,” I say.
He stands and offers me his arm. “Oh, we wouldn’t have missed anything, Mrs. Cortez would have made sure of that.”
∞∞∞
Dylan
It seems Liam’s suggestion of pushing Anna is paying off. Locking her room was the hardest thing I have ever had to do. I have killed men, but locking that door, that was tough. I knew it would force her to face things, dark things. I almost gave in. But when she barged into my office, I realized I had made the right decision. The spark in her eye was back. She stood there and stomped that little foot of hers, oh how I have missed her.
I couldn’t help but follow her. I didn’t think she would hurt herself or run away but I had to make sure. I watched as her dark hair blew in the wind reminding me of the days my sister would push her on the tire swing. She is finding her peace, unfortunately some of that she must do for herself. I tried going to her when she went to the cemetery, but Liam stopped me. He was right she needed time to herself. She knew I was close by.
When she left there and walked to the house she made a point to walk by the lake, giving us a smile. For the first time since we came home, I knew she would be okay. She is finding her way. Once she passed I quickly gathered up our fishing gear to follow. How will I ever be able to be away from her? Eventually I will have to go back to work, it is a part of me. I don’t think I can shut it off. We saved her but there are so many more, more than anyone can imagine, it is endless.
When Liam and I get to the house, we find her sitting on the lawn with Luis and she is talking. I watch her lips move. I’m overwhelmed with relief. She tucks her hair behind her ear, she always does this when she is feeling shy. My girl is talking, I should have locked her door sooner. No, she needed time. Now is her chance to heal. Liam pats me on the back as we head back in, she is in good hands, Luis will take care of her.
When I get inside, I unlock her room and go in and peek out through the curtains. She is crying, my heart breaks. Torment is splayed across her face. I turn away and walk out, I can’t fix it, I can only be here for her.
Mrs. Cortez informs me she will take lunch out to the patio for them when they don’t arrive for the noon meal. I look at my watch. They have been out there a long time. Is that a good sign or a bad one?
“Stop Dylan,” Liam says tossing an olive at me, hitting me in the head.
“Stop what?” I say grouchily.
“You know, she will be fine. You did the right thing today,” he says about to toss another olive at me but pauses when I give him my death glare.
Anthony picks up where Liam leaves off and pelts me with an olive in my neck.
I fling it back so hard it splats on Anthony’s forehead. Mrs. Cortez walks in at the exact moment. A long tirade of Spanish comes flying out. She smacks my hand lightly and removes all our plates, meal over I guess.
We laugh and haul ourselves down to my office to discuss business. We have been diving into the material we found at Oliver’s. A treasure trove of information to a dark world. After we finish, I pour each of us a glass of scotch and recline in my chair, thinking to myself that I should go in search of Anna.
Someone knocks on the door. Anthony gets up and pulls it open, he peeks at me from behind the door, throwing me his shit-eating grin. He steps aside and Anna walks in. She stands there for a second taking us all in. She doesn’t move. She tucks her hair behind her ear, I want to go to her, but I am glued to my chair. She is nervous, this is a big moment for her and every man in this room knows it.
“I…well I…I want to say thank you all for saving me and for staying with me.” Her eyes shine with unshed tears. The guys all make comments about no thanks needed, they love her, it was nothing, all shifting nervously.
She holds up her hand to stop them and turns to look directly at me. “I have one more thing to ask. I need your help again.”
We all glance at each other, not sure what she needs but all of us know whatever it is we will give it to her, on a silver fucking plater. She has us wrapped around her little finger.
She continues, “I need help finding a girl, all I know is that her name is Addison, and that Oliver was keeping her somewhere. Brian trained her…” She stops and wipes at a tear that was threating to slip over her cheek. “He trained her, and I think he fell in love with her. Anyhow, I want to find her. I would like to read through the information you guys took from Oliver’s to see if I can find any clues to where she may be.”
I stare at all the files on my desk, the flip drives all of it from Oliver’s…all of it ugly. I don’t know if she knows what she is asking. “Why Anna?” I ask, I need to understand.
“He saved me, he tried to protect me from Oliver.” I start to argue with her, I saw the fucking tape of him whipping her. She holds up her hand to stop me. “Listen Dylan, I am not naïve, I know what he did.” She swallows hard but continues, “Oliver was going to kill me, his guard had a weapon pointed at my head. Brian jumped in front of me and took a bullet that was meant for me. He told me you were coming before he died, it was the only thing I held on to while…”
We all sit in silence not sure what to say. Someone fired a gun at Anna, how close was I to losing her? It all makes sense now, the phone call Liam received from Brian. He called us to spare her, but he also recognized how good she was and that if she lived he would also be saving this other girl.
“Okay,” I hear myself answer, not needing to hear another thing.
“Okay?” she asks hesitantly.
“Yes, I said you were a part of my team when we were in Colorado and I meant it. You killed one of the assholes with your bare hands. You provided valuable information to the FBI. You are one of us,” I declare as I go to her, I need her in my arms.
The guys all agree as I pull her into my embrace. Anna is back, the strongest woman I know, and she is mine, all mine.
Chapter Thirty-Four
∞∞∞
Anna
Luis encouraged me to talk to the others. I am so glad I did. I want to pursue my dad’s dream. I am Anna Velasquez. I will show the world that the monsters did not break me. They empowered me. I will continue my father’s legacy with Dylan and the rest of the guys.
We are going to start by finding Addison. I want to find her for Brian. Monster’s aren’t always what they seem. I thought Dylan was a monster at first too, a drop dead gorgeous one but none the less that was my initial judgement. Maybe Brian wasn’t all monster either. I will never know. Oliver looked like an angel, but I quickly learned who he turned out to be.
I have felt so much better these past few days. I even visited my old room, I imagined having a daughter of my own someday. It’s good to be home. I see why my father loved his men and his employees. I love everyone here. I am happy to call them my family. Then there is Dylan, I love him, I can’t imagine life without him.
I went to Mark today for a checkup. He gave me the all clear. I turn my wrist over, just a small scar on the inside are all that remains of my ordeal. That and the scar you can’t see, the one in my mind. I’m getting past it though, slowly, each day better than the previous.
I feel almost bad for snooping through Dylan’s things, but I am looking for something. Something I think will help me get over these la
st few hurdles. I miss being with Dylan. He snuggles me every night, but he is reluctant to do much more than that. He thinks I’ll break, I won’t. I need him to see that. This is the only way I know how.
I take a deep breath as I saunter into his office. The guys are all in their usual spots sipping their drinks. They need this time to decompress. They deal with a lot of shit on a day-to-day basis. This is their time to joke around and give each other gruff.
I stroll in and Anthony jumps up to get me a drink, I politely decline. “Sorry guys, I’m heading to bed early tonight. I wanted to tell Dylan goodnight.” I step over to him and lean in to kiss him, reaching behind me to pull the cuffs I found in his dresser out of my pocket. I place them on the desk while he is distracted by my lips. Then, I “accidently” bump into his glass, knocking it to the floor.
I quickly bend over to clean it up. “I’m sorry Dylan, I’m such a bad girl.” I peek up at him as he notices the cuffs. I set the glass in front of him, then turn to walk out, ignoring the catcalls from behind me.
Oh, how I love these guys. I hoped that if I did it in their presence, they would encourage him. He is afraid, but I need this, he needs it too. I have seen the beast prowling in the shadows of his eyes.
I go into our room and undress, kneeling by the foot of the bed. I need him to erase the bad memories, to replace them with good ones. I want him to be rough with me as crazy as that sounds. I crave it.
I don’t wait long before the door opens. Dylan walks in and our eyes latch on to one another. As soon as the lock clicks, excitement bubbles inside me. He holds the cuffs up in front of him, dangling them off a finger. I lick my lips. I am so damn hungry for him to touch me that even the fear of the cuffs cannot stop the wetness from building between my thighs.
“It seems someone has been a bad girl.” He walks towards me and stops so that his crotch is directly in line with my face. I can see that he is excited by the bulge in his pants. I wiggle on the floor itching for his touch.
He runs his hand over my hair. I lean into it. I have missed this. He crouches down. “Anna what is your safe word?”
“Water,” I reply licking my lips again. I watch his hesitation. Please don’t stop this I plead with my eyes.
“You will use it if you need to,” he orders.
I shake my head as I say the word. “Yes.”
“You know I will stop if you use it?” he asks again running his finger along my jaw.
“Yes, sir.”
And with that he takes my mouth forcefully. This what I need, this will not be gentle. I have had enough gentle lately. I want him to take me, to own me, to claim me, to make me his again.
He picks me up and tosses me over his shoulder, spanking my ass as he walks to the bed. He dumps me in the middle of the bed and watches me intently as he backs away yanking his shirt over his head then slowly dragging his belt out of his jeans. Fuck he is hot. I train my eyes on his movements, reveling at the sight of him. His eyes are dark and smoldering, a hungry beast taking his time to move in for the kill.
Once he is naked, I watch as he walks back to the spot I was kneeling, retrieving the cuffs from the floor. He stalks up the side of the bed. “Lay down baby, hands up.” I quickly do as he instructs. He watches me closely as he clicks the cuffs loosely around my wrists.
He runs his thumb over my neck, pausing over the extreme beating of my pulse. It is a traitor, letting him know how anxious the cuffs are making me. He reaches over to the nightstand and plucks out a blindfold. He leans over me to place it over my eyes. No, no, too much. I need to look at him so that my mind doesn’t go to someone else. Shit, I don’t want him to stop but I need to see him.
“Water,” I say in barely a whisper. He halts and pulls the blindfold back, smiling down at me.
“Good girl. I had to make sure you would use your safe word. I wanted you to know that I would listen to you,” he says as he tosses it to the floor.
He bends over and kisses me, trailing them down my neck moving all the way down my torso. Oh, thank god he didn’t stop. As soon as his tongue glides over my clit I arch off the bed and writhe like a woman possessed. He brings me to the brink over and over again, stopping just before I tumble over the edge.
He waits until I am a complete mumbling mess, then pushes two fingers into me, curling them at just the right angle. Finding that itch that you just can’t scratch yourself. Then he lets me fall, white sparks break behind my eyes as I float in the darkness.
He crawls over and thrusts into me, slowly moving back and forth, waiting for me to focus after my mind-blowing orgasm. I stare up at him and wrap my legs around him driving him deeper, pulling him closer. Our eyes lock on each other, we are one. I will never get enough of him. He is like a life-saving drug.
He thrusts into me and pushes hard until I feel the pain, the burn, going faster, harder, the momentum rises. His muscles tense and he groans out my name as I feel myself reach the summit, then together we fall into heavenly bliss. The world melts away, the only sound our heavy breathing. His body rests heavily on me. I love him. He has said the words, but I have never returned them. He needs to hear them, he needs to know.
“I love you Dylan,” I say breathlessly.
He looks up at me. “I love you too baby, more than you will ever know.” He gets up to retrieve the key to the handcuffs.
I watch over my head as he unlocks the cuffs. He frees me of so much more than the metal that keeps me chained to the bed. He frees me of everything I have been through. I’m so alive. The minute he has them off I jump up and push him onto his back.
“I love you Dylan Lorenz. I love you!” I say as I straddle him and kiss him passionately. “I would let you lock me in a trunk a thousand times as long as it ended with you being mine.”
He laughs and sits up with me still on his lap. He wraps his arms around me, tickling me. I wriggle in his hold enticing him to grow hard again.
“Luckily that won’t be necessary. I don’t need to lock you in a trunk, you seem more than willing to be with me.” He nuzzles my neck. “I love you Anna Velasquez, I am so happy that I found you,” he says as he brushes my hair off my shoulder, gazing deep into my eyes.
“Me too.” I climb off him and slink away from the bed. “But, you will have to find me again if you want seconds.” I run for the door and glance over my shoulder, taunting the beast…my beast.
The End
Epilogue
∞∞∞
Anna
It’s been two months since Dylan and his team found me. I can’t lie, there have been dark days but most of the time I’m blissfully happy. To have a family again, is indescribable. I love Dylan and everyone here on the estate.
We’ve been working hard at dismantling Oliver Wright’s organization. Dylan talked me into claiming my biological father’s inheritance. It wasn’t easy for me. The money he made had all come from the suffering of others. I sold every asset. All the cash is now in an account dedicated to helping the women that we save. There were many, there will be many more.
The things I’ve learned have been horrible. I understand now why my father worked so hard. I have mostly focused on the search for one girl, Brian’s girl, Addison. We found her. It has taken a lot of convincing, but Dylan finally agreed to let me go undercover with him to get her out. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t scared. I am. I’m terrified.
I won’t allow him to see that though, the fear will only make our story more believable. We are going into a dark underground club. One where girls are sold, traded, or rented. It is a place for the elite. Elite garbage if you ask me.
Dylan is going in with me, nobody should recognize him. Liam and the others will be outside waiting. If anything goes wrong, they will be there. We are trying to do this with as little disruption as possible. We are going to buy her.
Once we rescue her, the second phase will be a complete takedown. Dylan and I will hopefully gain information on the layout of the club. We need to know where the girls
are kept. We don’t want to risk anyone who is innocent getting hurt. Get Addison out, learn as much as we can…two birds, one stone.
I watch Dylan put on his tie. He is sexy as hell in a suit. He catches me watching him and gives me a smoldering stare.
“You ready baby?” he asks.
“Yes, sir,” I say as I take a final peek at myself in the mirror. I have a little black dress on, with stiletto heels and a diamond collar around my neck.
Dylan walks towards me and slides his fingers under the collar, pulling me close to him. “You will stay by my side the entire night. Eyes down, don’t look at anyone and I mean anyone,” he growls.
I know he is nervous about taking me, but it makes his story more believable. He is playing the wealthy businessman and I his slave. Hopefully we find Addison, it appears Oliver had been keeping her at this club. I hope that if I am there, I can make her feel better. Dylan is intimidating, I don’t want her to fear him. We can’t tell her who we really are…not until we get her out.
Liam bops his head in the door. “Ready guys?”
“As ready as we are going to be,” Dylan answers.
He turns to me. “Last chance to back out, I can go in alone. Are you sure, baby?”
“I’m not backing out,” I say with confidence. I think I will recognize her even though I have never laid eyes on her…I will know. “I want to help save her.”
“Okay baby let’s go save Addison,” he says as he hugs me tightly to his chest.
About the Author
LM Terry is the upcoming dark romance novelist of Finding Anna, her debut novel, the first in the Hidden Duet. She has spent her life in the Midwest, growing up near a public library which helped fuel her love of books. With most of her eight children grown and with the support of her husband, she decided to follow her heart and begin her writing journey. In searching for that happily ever after, her characters have been enticing her to share their sinfully dark, delectable tales. She knows the world is filled with shadows and dark truths and is happy to give these characters the platform they have been begging for. She is currently working on Saving Addy, the second book in the Hidden Duet.
