by Cindy Pike
“How do all of you know my clothes and shoe size? Do normal guys know this kind of stuff?” I ask mostly to myself but I’m hoping he’ll answer. We find a free spot on one of the provided benches taking a seat and start trading out our shoes for the skates.
“I don’t know about other men, but we are nowhere near normal, Nora. We make a point to notice things that might be important or useful. Like I know your favorite color is purple even though you’ve never told any of us that. It’s just from observing you and that color is the most dominant in your wardrobe. I remember how you prefer your coffee, caramel flavored beans, with a teaspoonful of coconut oil, two heaping spoonsful of sugar, and a splash of caramel creamer. It’s the only thing you drink or eat that’s loaded with sugar. Otherwise you eat mostly healthy and not just because that’s how we all eat. I’m sure you make the same observations with us; you probably don’t even notice it. When you care about someone this is a natural occurrence.” His mini speech hits a cord in my heart and I lean toward him and give him a kiss gathering my courage, licking his plump lower lip.
Before I can react, I find myself in his lap with my knees tucked on each side of him. He’s got a hand on my lower back and the other is traveling up into my hanging loose hair. Since Silas cut it, I’m wearing it down a lot more. The guys all seem to like it, because they’re always playing with it or running their fingers in it. He opens his mouth and his tongue comes out to play with mine, letting me take the lead. I move one of my hands up into his hair loosening his bun while my other hand rests on his shoulder to help keep me steady. Heath slows the kiss and moves back far enough so he can look me in my eyes.
“I don’t know what I did to deserve that but I’m glad you gave it to me, Sweetheart.” He helps me off his lap and I take my spot next to him and continue to finish doing up the laces on my ice skates. Once we’re both done Heath stands and makes it look easy. When I stand, I almost fall flat on my face.
“Easy, baby steps until you get used to walking in them.” He puts my purse and our shoes in a locker and pockets the key then holds my upper arm helping me to make my way to the actual ice part.
“Maybe I shouldn’t be doing this…” I’m hesitant to go out there and make a fool of myself, but I should’ve known it wasn’t an option.
“No, don’t let your fear stop you. I’ll be with you and I won’t let you fall, ever.” He steps on the ice and slides back so I can join him. I take a tentative step and brace my leg while holding Heath’s forearms in a constricting grip. His palms are under my elbows in a firm hold that’s just enough to let me know he’s got me if I start to go down. I lift my second foot, putting all my weight on the first and plant the second one next to it. Once I’ve got even distribution of my weight on both feet, we are moving away from the entrance with zero effort from me. I’m looking down at my feet while trying to watch Heaths as he moves us closer to the middle of the rink. Thankfully there aren’t many people around, just a few families and some older teenage girls showing me up with their skill levels. They must compete, because they’re doing all kinds of spins and leaps. It makes my heart beat faster just watching them.
“Don’t look at your feet, look at me and move with me, okay?”
“It’s not that easy,” I start to argue with him when he quickly let’s go of me and is behind me lickity split. I start to fall, but he catches me before I’ve gone very far. He molds his body to mine and puts his hands over mine. I can feel every hard angle and the heat radiating off him makes me worry for the ice! The man is like an inferno.
“It is this easy, move your body with mine, let me lead you.” His voice sounds so seductive and convincing, I’m nodding my head before I know it and we’re off. The images he conjures up are not PG and I definitely shouldn’t be thinking them in a public space. It takes about fifteen minutes of us skating like this before I let go of focusing on how Heath’s moving and all that could mean for me in other scenarios to get my mind on our task and just follow him. After I focus, I start to get the hang of it. Eventually I’m confident enough that Heath moves beside me and then I’m skating on my own. Yay me!
“Can we take a break? I’ve got to use the restroom something fierce.” I say as we approach the exit for the rink.
“Yeah, I’ve got to go to, I drank too much tea.” Heath helps off the ice and we slowly make our way to the bathrooms. A woman goes around me with her hood pulled up. I wish I knew we were coming here so I could’ve brought mine. I didn’t notice the cold on the ice with Heath pressed up to me or after because I was having too much fun. My nose is frozen and my fingers don’t want to move.
“You go in and just in case you come out before me I want you to stand next to the men’s entrance. I’ll most likely be done before you, though. I’ll be waiting right here for you, Sweetheart.” We share a quick lip peck and then he’s in the men’s bathroom before me.
19 My Abduction
I Fall Apart by Post Malone
I open the door and take two steps in when I feel a pinch in my neck, a shadowed figure comes around me while another exits a stall, that’s all I see before things go dark.
My head feels like it’s been stuffed with cotton and someone took a hammer to it. I’m lying on a soft surface that’s slightly vibrating. I’m almost thrown off whatever I’m lying on as our momentum makes a sudden stop. I try to throw my hands out to brace myself, but they don’t obey my command. I hear a braking sound, but it sounds like it’s far away in a tunnel. Blinking my eyes open I struggle to focus them on my surroundings. It takes a few tries but eventually I can see that I’m in what looks to be the back seat of a car. A very old, and not well cared for, car. Okay, so this isn’t one of the guys vehicles, they’d never let them get in this state. My hands finally come around to my brain’s commands and I hold my head with them, trying to alleviate some of the pain and discombobulation.
We start moving again and I peer into the front seat and only see one other person, the driver. They appear to be male with short dirty blonde hair and broad shoulders. What in the hell? The last thing I remember was Heath telling me he’d be waiting for me when I got done using the bathroom.
I try not to let the man know I’m conscious and lose the upper hand. Leaning over the edge of the seat, I try and see if there’s anything in or around the back seat that I can use as a weapon. No such luck. My head now feels like there’s a drill going at it, so I lay back down and wait to see if it will let up any in this position. It does, but only slightly. Not a good sign. We slow down again and I have to close my eyes to fight against a sudden wave of nausea that comes up. We must have been at a stop light in traffic because all too soon we’re moving again and I have to fight hard to keep my turkey sandwich down. I open my mouth and try doing slow breaths in and out that way. If I can fake it long enough the guys will find me.
“What the fuck, this asshole needs to get off my ass!” The driver says in a familiar voice. It takes me a moment to place it, it’s the same man from the Halloween party. Then it really clicks into place and my world stops. Oh, God! It’s Jason! How did he get here?! How did he get me?! I try to keep my panic down, knowing it won’t help me right now. I open my eyes, my nausea completely forgotten with this sudden revelation. Okay, I need to think like Owen. He’d gather the facts and then make a plan from there. What do I know? I was at the ice-skating rink and Heath and I were just doing a quick bathroom break. So, Jason wouldn’t have had much time before Heath noticed something must have happened to me. He would’ve called the others and the cops by now. So, I just have to find a way to stop Jason from driving and if possible, escape from the car.
Our car gets bumped and Jason swerves before he floors the pedal making us take off like a shot. Oh, fuck, that can’t be good. Giving up on making him think I’m still knocked out and I sit up bringing the drilling feeling back in full force to my head. I try to focus on getting Jason to stop the car. I’ve got a death grip on the front seat as I lean into it.
“Jason, I need you to stop the car! I’m going to be sick!” What I say isn’t a lie. If he doesn’t stop, I’m going hurl my delicious turkey sandwich all over the back seat. I bet it won’t taste near as good coming back up as it did going down.
“Shut the fuck up! I’m not stopping so whichever of your fucking boyfriends that’s behind us can get to you! I’ve waited long enough to get you back and I’m not giving you up. If I can’t have you no one else will.” I don’t like that one bit. He pushes the car faster, blowing through red lights and taking turns faster than he should, making the car fish tail. I turn to look out the back window and see Kyle’s black Tahoe on our ass. I knew it! Now I just have to find a way to get Jason to stop without killing us in the process.
He mumbles to himself, “Can’t stop now, I’m so close.” Some of it I don’t catch before he catches my eyes in the rearview mirror, “You’re mine, I’m not letting you go ever again.” That spikes my fear, making me blurt out my next words.
“Jason, I’m not fucking kidding! I’m gonna toss my cookies any second! Pull over, damn it!” I guess he still doesn’t like being talked to like that because he reaches back and awkwardly slaps me in the face. It stings, but he’s done far worse to me and I’m not going to let him do it again without a fight. Last time I didn’t know how to properly protect myself, this time I’ve got Heath and the guys to thank for my increased chances.
I lunge for the steering wheel and try to bring us to the side of the road. It looks like Jason is trying to get us out of town, but he hasn’t quite made it yet. He jerks the wheel back the other way making the car nearly careen out of control. He manages to get it back then he elbows me in the side of the head, making me see stars.
I moan out my pain and tenderly hold the right side of my face where he hit me. “Fuck! That hurt you, psychotic bastard!” I screech, starting to lose my hold on my fear and panic, it turns to anger, with the blow he just landed.
“Shut the fuck up!” Jason roars back at me, taking his eyes off the road so he can see me as he does. I lift my sock clad foot and kick out at him, my foot glances off his shoulder as he dodges me. He faces forward again and takes a turn too quickly as Kyle gives us a love tap from behind. We spin out of control and I brace my hands on the roof of the car, with my feet planted firmly on the floorboard. My eyes stay open as we spin doing a three-hundred-and-sixty-degree rotation. Time slows down and all I can think about is the guys and how much they all mean to me. That I love how Owen doesn’t let me get away with hiding from my feelings. The piercing cold gaze that Silas gives me but it doesn’t freeze me; it makes me feel safe. Heath and how he’s always got my back both figuratively and literally. Flynn’s easy going look on life making everything that much more beautiful in the world. Then there’s Kyle, and how he has always been there even if he’s been unsure of where his place is with me. When I get out of this situation, I’m going to make sure he knows exactly where his place is. The car comes to a rocking halt and I scramble to get out and away from Jason.
I fumble with the handle in my haste to get the door open and I end up falling out as I finally manage to get it open. On my hands and knees, I start to crawl away before I’m grabbed from behind and yanked to my feet. I look out at the road and see Kyle running our way with his gun drawn. When he’s closer he skids to a stop and points his gun at Jason and me (hopefully more at Jason than me).
“Let her go, Jason!” Kyles voice is strong, ringing out, clearly full of rage.
“Fuck you! She’s mine!” Jason spits back at him and moves one of his hands around my neck squeezing just enough to make breathing difficult. I push back into him trying to loosen his hold but he doesn’t release any pressure. His other hand moves down my stomach, cupping me over my jeans.
Kyle moves his finger from resting next to the trigger, to placing it on the trigger. “Release her, now.” His eyes are burning with rage and I’ve no doubt that he has every intention of shooting Jason the first chance he gets. I whimper as Jason forces his hand to cup my pussy and rub it with the heel of his hand. Kyle takes a step towards us and Jason moves both hands to my neck, really squeezing this time.
“Take your fucking hands off her.” Kyle’s voice is a low rumble, but comes out steady and he’s got laser focus on Jason and me. My flight instincts take over all reason and I bring my head forward to gain momentum, then slam it back into Jason’s chin. I’m not sure who gets more hurt from that but it gets Jason to ease his grip on my neck and removes his hand from my pants to just around my midsection now. I cough while trying to inhale lungsful of air.
“Don’t you fucking touch me like that ever again!” My voice is fierce despite my terror. All the while Kyle keeps his gun trained on Jason and thus me as the coward is using me as a human shield.
Jason moves his hand back to my jeans and this time his fingers press in at my entrance over my clothes, “This is fucking mine! You don’t tell me what to touch! You’re not in control here, Little Whore.” He gives his finger a few rough strokes over my clothes as he’s talking. When he’s done, he sticks his tongue out and licks the entire side on my face that he didn’t elbow earlier. My response is to cringe and move as far away from his mouth as I can. I hear a gunshot ring out, making my ears echo the noise. Jason jerks back flinging me forward. I fall into a pair of steel bands for arms, my hair is blocking my view of both men. Kyle has me tight to him and I can feel my body shaking from both fear and the adrenaline. I have no idea where Jason is and I don’t really give a fuck, so long as he’s not here anymore. Kyle goes down on his ass, holsters his gun and pulls me into his arms. Being there is the best fucking feeling in the entire world to me in this moment.
“I’ve got you, Honey. You’re safe, he’s gone. I’ve got you.” Kyle rocks us back and forth as I lose my tenuous hold on my fear and it all comes flooding out. I start hitting Kyle in his chest. My wales of anguish at being in Jason’s clutches again sound like they’re ripped from throat. He doesn’t try to stop me; he just takes my beating on him and tries to hold me as best he can with my hysterics. My eyes blur with my tears and my hair sticks to my face from them.
“He got me! He fucking touched me!” I roar my outrage and continue hitting Kyle. By this time several police cars have stopped and an ambulance has pulled up. The officers try to approach us but Kyle must have warned them back, because they only come so close. I don’t know where Jason went and I don’t care as long as he can’t get to me again.
“Nora! Let me through! Nora!” I hear Heath roar over my own sounds of distress. I wrap my arms around Kyle and cling to the man I was just trying to beat my feelings out on. He holds me back and starts rocking us again.
“Shhh… I know, Nor. I know, I’ve got you.” He starts singing the song I Fall Apart by Post Malone in his awful voice. That’s when the tears really start to fall and all the fight leaves my body. I slump into Kyle’s strong frame and take the support he’s offering.
“Let me see her.” Heath kneels down next to us and I flinch into Kyle’s chest and away from Heath. “Fuck, I’m so fucking sorry, Sweetheart. Please,” I cut him off not able to hear anymore from him.
“Don’t, just don’t. I can’t, I can’t.” I chant the words over and over. Heath moves back as the other three burst from the gathering crowd. The entire time Kyle keeps singing. I try and burrow into him as much as possible as we just sit there and he rocks us. The others gather around us, not close, but also not too far. Once he’s done with the song, I hear Flynn start up with Even if It Hurts by Sam Tinnesz. Silas joins in and they sound magical together.
A pair of paramedic’s approach Kyle and I as closely as the others will allow them. Silas and Flynn stop singing when one of the paramedics kneels down and tries talking to me.
“Ma’am, do you need medical attention?” His voice is steady in a tone that probably invokes his patients to be assured he knows what he’s doing. For me it makes me cringe just thinking about another man touching me, even if it is just in
a clinical way. My body becomes tight in my anxiety, Kyle smooths his hand along my back.
“If she does, I’m a doctor and he’s an EMT. Thanks guys, but we’ve got her.” Owen informs them. With nods they go back to their ambulance.
Detective Daron and his female partner come up to the guys and start asking questions.
“What can you tell us?” Gemini is facing Owen, but I’m sure he’s voicing the question to all of the guys, including myself.
Kyle’s chest vibrates against mine as he responds, “I’ve been looking into Jason Miller since the garage incident. I got a tip that he left the state and was headed this way. So, I’ve been following Nora since, keeping my distance so no one would know that’s what I was doing, including her. While Heath and her were at the skating rink, I was parked outside. Out of the way but so I could see if Jason showed up trying to make contact with Nora. I didn’t see him go in, but I did see him come out with Nora in his arms and Silas’ ex-girlfriend, Cora, was with them. Nora was unconscious when Jason put her in his back seat. I was too far away to get to them before Jason and Cora parted ways. Jason took off in a hurry. I followed and did my best to stop him, eventually being able to. I suspect I had help from Nora.” He looks at me as he says the last part and I nod in agreement. Gemini is making notes of everything as Kyle gives his statement. When he’s done, he tries to get me to stand but I start to freak out and cling to him more like a spider monkey.
“It’s okay, Nor. I’m not leaving you; my ass is just going numb from sitting on the hard ground.” That makes me feel bad that I’ve caused him discomfort so I quickly stand. He follows, pulling me into his arms. We hold on to each other with me resting my head on his chest, listening to his heart beat. It’s a bit fast but as I give my version of the events to Gemini it starts to slow and even out. When I’m done, I catch a glimpse of the rest of the guys and every one of their faces display variations of their fury.
