Never Far Away (28 page)

 
  “Yes,” she groaned, trying to agree with him, but sounding more like she was enjoying the attention he was paying to her body.  “I remember.”

 
  “Maybe having people over to our house was a bad idea,” he said as he nibbled along her shoulder.

 
  “Why?”  She asked as she let her head fall to the side, thoroughly enjoying the feel of his mouth on her skin.

 
  “Because all I really want to do is take you upstairs and bury myself in you.”

 
  “Porter,” she rasped out, trying to hold back the urge to turn around and open herself up to anything he wanted to do to her.

 
  “Yes, Baby?”

 
  “There are two small children in your front yard,” she said and immediately felt his mouth halt.  “And your mother.”

 
  “You make a strong argument,” he said as he placed one more small kiss on her neck and stepped back from her.  “But you best prepare yourself for what you’ve got coming to you later,” he said, smoldering.

 
  “And what’s that?”  She said, leaning against the island in the kitchen, very aware that she was taunting a caged tiger.

 
  “Oh, Ella, if you have to ask, I haven’t done my job properly.”  He stepped up to her again, his hard body pressed all the way up against hers, his hands braced on the counter behind her.  His mouth came dangerously close to hers as he placed a kiss on the corner of her lips.  “I’m going to fuck you until you scream my name as you come,” he placed a kiss on the other side of her mouth.  “And then,” he pulled back and looked her in the eyes.  “I’m going to do it again.”

 
 She swallowed the large lump that had formed in her throat and let out a pant of breath that had been caught below it.  “Lucky me,” was all she could manage.  He laughed out loud and shook his head.

 
  “I think the girls from your store pulled up a second ago. You should probably come outside and say hello.”  He said as he brushed away a strand of rogue hair that had escaped from her pontytail.

 
  “I’ll be out in a minute.”

 
  He smiled at her, knowing exactly why she needed to cool down.

 
  “Ok,” he said and placed a kiss on her forehead before he headed back towards the door.  Ella turned around and faced the cheesecake again.  Contemplating for only a moment, she finally took a knife and cut out a generous slice.  She put it on a plate, covered it with a bowl, and hid it in the back of the fridge, fully intending for it to be for her and Porter later that night after everyone else left to go home.  It felt sneaky and sexy all at the same time.  She finished up in the kitchen and went back outside to greet all their guests.

   The afternoon progressed and Ella had a great time.  Her and Porter’s worlds melded seamlessly as her parents chatted with Tilly. Brook and Kalli seemed to really get a long, and Porter, Patrick, and Matt guarded the grill with testosterone fueling the flames instead of propane.  At one point, Ella found herself sipping sangria and just observing her life as it happened around her.  Everything was more perfect than she really every thought possible. 

 
  A few more men that Porter worked with showed up throughout the day, and they all seemed nice and polite.  A couple of them brought women, but they didn’t stay long, having other plans.  It was nice to put faces to names that Porter had used over the last couple weeks when they talked about work.  Ella spent a good portion of the afternoon talking with Brook, and eventually little Faith warmed up to her and even allowed Ella to hold her. 

 
  Ella was smitten as soon as the baby reached out for her.  The baby seemed more interested in the necklace around her neck than in Ella herself, but she would take anything she could get from the precious child.  Brook took advantage of the baby’s interest in someone else and asked Ella if it was ok if she got away for a moment.  Ella agreed immediately, smiling at Brook. 

 
  Faith had a distinctly baby smell to her, soft, clean and powdery.  Ella couldn’t help holding her nose to the crown of her head and inhaling deeply.  When she opened her eyes, she saw Porter watching her and the look in his eyes was something she’d never seen before, but she knew what he was thinking because she had been thinking the same thing when he had been holding Faith.  He was picturing Ella holding their baby.  She gave him a smile, knowing that whatever road they were on, babies were eventually going to be traveling with them.  She hugged Faith closer and pressed their noses together, talking to her in simple words, making silly faces, trying to elicit laughter from her.  Ella hasn’t really known before the power a baby’s laughter or smile could hold over a person. Once you are gifted with a smile from a baby, you spent all your energy trying to recreate that perfect moment the child deemed worthy of their precious smiles and giggles.  By the time Brook made it back to Faith, Ella had no ovaries left.  They had exploded and left her womb aching.

 
  The day went fabulously and the evening continued much the same way.  They set up a portable crib and Faith napped in the living room of the house. Joy sat on Uncle Porter’s lap and all the adults sat around the table playing cards, sipping on various drinks.  Ella was glad Brittany and Sarah came down, realizing when the new store opened she would miss seeing them constantly.  They had such good heads on their shoulders, and had been integral in the success of her business when she had gone through all of her medical issues.  It meant a lot to her that they viewed her as a friend as well as their boss.  The fact that they came all the way to the beach to spend a holiday with her made her feel like she’d done something right in the way she ran her business.

 
  Once the dark of night came, they all wandered down to the beach to get ready to watch the annual firework display.  Ella watched as Matt carried a sleeping Faith cradled in one arm, holding his wife’s hand in the other, walking slowly towards the sand.  Joy skipped, and often fell, along beside them, clumsily trying to navigate her lengthy limbs that she was still trying to grow into.

 
  Tilly walked next to Ella's parents, and her mom engaged in conversation with her, as they had all day.  Tilly was so different from her mom, but she could tell the two women really enjoyed each other’s company.  Megan and Patrick walked hand-in-hand, Patrick next to her father as they spoke about the upcoming football season.

 
  Porter held her hand in his and they silently walked behind everyone else, enjoying each other.  He gave her hand a squeeze and she looked up at him smiling.  Everything was perfect.

 
  As everyone found a place to sit in the sand, Ella found herself nestled in between Porter’s legs, leaning back against his chest.  They watched Joy, surviving off the sugar rush of the cake she earned by behaving for Uncle Porter, as she ran up and down the shore trying to do cartwheels and sometimes succeeding.  All you could see was moonlight, campfires, and flashlights as people swarmed to the sand, waiting for the fireworks to begin. 

 
  Ella felt Porter’s finger pull her chin up towards him, and when their eyes met, he lowered his mouth to hers and she received the warmest and softest kiss from him.  This was not a passionate kiss. He was not trying to seduce her. They both just simply craved the connection they shared, and the comfort that came with their kiss.

 
  Ella startled as a loud bang rocketed through her veins. Her heart beat pounded in her chest.  She laughed at herself as she realized what she heard was the beginning of the firework show and she saw Porter’s grin as she was amused by her reaction as well.  She gave him one more small kiss and then turned back around, snuggling her back into his chest, and enjoyed the rest of the fireworks.

 
Chapter Nineteen

Porter

   Funny how thirty minutes can change almost any situation.  The bundle of energy that was Joy, was now slung over her father’s shoulders like a sack of potatoes.  She made it about five minutes into the fireworks and she literally fell over with exhaustion.  Brook now held tiny Faith and Matt grunted with effort as he hauled the not-so-tiny eight year old up the driveway.

 
  “We better just put them in the car now,” Brook said to Matt. She turned to Porter and gave him a small hug, then turned to Ella and gave her a longer embrace which made Porter smile.  “Thank you for having us over today. It was so much fun.”

 
  “Thanks for coming,” Ella said with an enthusiastic smile.  After Matt placed a floppy Joy in the backseat of their car, he came around and shook Porter’s hand.

 
  “I’ll see you tomorrow,” Matt said.  “Ella,” he leaned into her and kissed her cheek, “I’ve been waiting for weeks to meet you and I’m so glad you’ve finally made Porter so happy.  Keep up the good work,” he said with a sneaky wink and then walked his wife to the passenger side of the car.  Everyone else made their way to their vehicles and said their goodbyes.  Luckily, all of the Portlanders rented houses or hotel rooms, so no one was driving very far.  Once they waved to the last car leaving the driveway Ella turned to Porter and wrapped her arms around his waist.

 
  “I think that was a very successful cookout,” she said smiling up at him, the moonlight reflecting in the blue pools of her eyes.

 
  “I think so, too.”  He looked around his yard at all the food and chairs strewn about.  “This is going to be a bitch to clean up.”  Her hands slid down his back to cup and squeeze his ass.

 
  “We can clean up tomorrow,” she said in a very convincing sexy voice that had him straining against his zipper.

 
  “Are you afraid of raccoons?”  He asked, laughing.

 
  “What?”

 
  “Raccoons.  That is what we will be dealing with if we leave this out here all night.”

 
  She rolled her eyes at him.  “Ok, I will clear the food if you haul the tables back into your shop.”

 
  “Deal,” he said, kissing her soundly.  She moved all the food off one of the tables so that he could move it.  He bent down and grabbed the table by the sides and picked it up, walking towards his workshop.

 
  “You’re a showoff,” she teased.  He knew she liked watching his muscles strain as he lifted the heavy table.  He knew what he was doing.  He walked towards the back of the house and his shop came into view.  His truck was parked along the side of the house and as he walked passed it, his eyes squinted and seemed to be playing tricks on him.  He put the table down and went closer to his truck to inspect.

 
  The windshield was smashed in, cracks spider webbing out from the center where it looked as if a sledge hammer slammed into it.  The same sledge hammer that probably put all of the crater-like dents along the sides of the bed and the giant dent on the hood.  He walked to the back of the truck, still not really believing his eyes, and saw two words spray painted on the tailgate: 

Last Warning

   “What the fuck!”  He yelled.  Porter heard footsteps behind him and swung around only to find Matt walking towards him.

 
  “Hey, Man, we left the portable crib in your house. Mind if I go – what the fuck happened to your truck?”

 
  “I’ll give you one guess,” he said, seething.

 
  “Fucking Kyle!”  Matt had been the one person Porter felt like he could talk to about everything happening with Ella and Kyle, so he was well informed on everything that was going on.

 
  “That son of a bitch was here, Matt.  He was here while we were out on the beach.  I’m going to fucking kill that bastard.”

 
  “Porter?”  He heard Ella’s voice coming from the front of the house.

 
  “Shit, she’s going to freak out,” Porter said as he rubbed his hands on his face.  “Matt, you need to leave.  Get your family out of here. He could still be around.”

 
  “Fuck that, Porter.  Brook can take the kids home.  You need to call the police.”  Just then Ella came around the side of the house and saw Porter and Matt standing in front of the truck.

 
  “Porter?”  She said, her voice already starting to tremble.  He walked up to her and took her face in his hands, making her look at him.

 
  “Baby, I need you to go inside right now.  Turn around and go in the house.”

 
  “Come with me,” she begged him.  He let out a loud breath, but turned her around and put a hand on the small of her back directing her towards the front door.  Matt headed back to his car. He saw Brook get out and move into the driver’s seat, backing out of the driveway.  Matt came back up to the house and stood guard on the porch.

 
  Porter took out his cell phone and called the police.  Ella was curled up on the couch, her legs tucked under her, wringing her hands in nervousness.  Porter wanted to comfort her, but he was so fucking pissed off he found it hard to even approach her.  Once he hung up the phone, he looked at her.  She stared at the floor, seemingly lost in her thoughts.

 
  “Ella, are you ok?”  She snapped her head up at him.  “Everything is going to be all right, Ella.”

 
  “There were kids here, Porter.  Our families were here.  What if…,” she lost her ability to speak as she began to cry.

 
  “No, Baby.  No.” He said as he sat down next to her, pulling her into his arms.  “Kyle is a fucking coward who will never have enough balls to actually do anything while I’m around.  He wouldn’t have hurt anyone, Baby.  He’s not capable.  He just accosts women in dark hallways and vandalizes property when no one is around to beat the shit out of him.”  He tried not to the let the tension he felt in his body seep out onto Ella.  He needed her to remain as calm as possible, especially since the police were on their way and would inevitably want to talk to her again.

 
  “Why won’t he leave us alone?”  She continued to cry.  That was a very good question; a question that had been plaguing him for quite some time.  What the hell was Kyle getting out of all of this?  Why wouldn’t he just disappear?  Wasn’t it in his best interest at this point to just fade away?  The more he hung around, threatening people, the more suspect he was.  He was going to be caught, Porter knew it.  He just wished it would happen sooner rather than later.

 
  Minutes later Porter heard the distinct crunching of gravel as the police cars pulled into his driveway.  He pulled away from Ella at the same time Matt called out from the porch.

 
  “Porter, the cops are here.”

 
  “Ella, do you want to come out there with me?”  She nodded at him and stood, walking behind him, but never too far away.

 
  The police took their statements, took photos of the truck, which was eventually hauled away by a tow truck. They gave them the same speil they had given them before: don’t let Ella be alone, report anything suspicious, be aware of their surroundings. Porter was nearly shaking with the feeling of helplessness.  All they could do was sit around and wait for something else to happen.  The police offered to patrol past his house overnight, but he was adamant that they weren’t staying there.

 
  “No, we’ll go to my mom’s house.”

 
  “Would you like us to patrol past her house, then?”

 
Porter nodded, not liking the idea of bringing this drama to his mother’s house, but also feeling like it wasn’t safe for Ella to be at his house anymore either.  “I would really appreciate that,” he said to the police officer.  Porter called his mother, waking her up from the sound of her voice. He asked her to come and pick them up, telling her he’d explain the circumstances when she arrived.

 
  Matt stayed and gave a statement as well, mumbling to himself and intermittently cursing and saying “Fucking Kyle” under his breath.  Porter was angry that Matt had to be included in the drama, but glad for the support of his closest friend in the stressful situation.  When everything was wrapped up, Porter slapped Matt on the back and thanked him for sticking around.

 
  “Go home to your wife and kids,” he said.

 
  “I will, let me know if you need anything.”  Porter nodded and shook his hand, and watched as he got a ride home from one of the police officers they knew from high school.

 
  Ella packed a bag for them, which they sullenly carried into the backseat of his mother’s sedan and rode all the way to Porter’s childhood home.

   After they explained everything to Tilly and tried to assure her that, for the moment, they were safe, Porter led Ella down the hallways of his mother’s small one-story house to the bedroom he used as a child.  His mother hadn’t really changed much in his room, just made it more neutral.  His old queen-sized bed was still there, along with the desk he used to sit at to do his homework. Ella walked in the room, looked around for a second, and dropped her bags on the floor where she stood.  Her hands came to her face, and Porter saw her shoulders start to move up and down in silent sobs.  He moved to her quickly and wrapped his arms around her, using his hand to guide her head into his chest.

 
  “Baby, I don’t want you to cry.  Everything is ok.  We’re ok.”

 
  “What if he had come while the kids were there Porter?  What would he have done…”

 
  “Don’t do that, Ella.  Don’t play those games with yourself.  He is a coward and he waited until we all left to do what he did.  He was never going to hurt anyone, Ella.  I promise you.”

 
  “Everyone was there, Porter.  Everyone we love was there.  He could have done anything he wanted and there wouldn’t have been anything we could have done to stop him because we were so careless.”  She nearly hyperventilated and Porter knew she needed her pills.  Soon she was going to go into a full blown panic attack and he didn’t want that for her.

 
  “Ella, breathe with me, I need you to calm down,” he said as he held her face in his hands and looked her straight in the eyes.  She pulled away from him suddenly, throwing his hands away from her face.

 
  “I don’t need you to help me breathe!” She yelled at him.  “I need all of this to go away!  I need to go away.  I’m the reason all of this is happening.  He wants me to stay away from all of you.  I just need to disappear.”  He knew she was emotional, with good reason, but he didn’t want her making decisions that were so drastic while she was upset.

 
  “Ok, we’ll go away.  Tomorrow we’ll drive to Portland and get on a plane and just go somewhere until this all blows over.”

 
  “We can’t be together, Porter.  As long as we’re together, he thinks you’re making me go to the police.  If we’re together he’ll never stop.  He’ll keep harassing us and putting our families in danger.  This will never be over. Can’t you see that?”

 
  Porter took in a deep breath.  “All I see, Ella, is you running.  You promised me you wouldn’t run.  We don’t stand a chance if we’re apart, Ella.  He won’t stop.  He’s a crazy son of a bitch and he won’t leave you alone until he gets whatever it is that he wants.”  He took the two steps he needed to be in her space again, placing his hands on her shoulders, willing her to listen to reason.  “Ella, if you go, if you leave me, it’ll be so easy for him to get to you. You’re not safe on your own.  Please stay with me. I can protect you.”  He rested his forehead against hers, hoping she was hearing what he was saying, that she understood how much he needed her to stay with him.

 
  “But if I leave, I’m protecting you,” she whispered. 

 
  He knew, right then, he’d lost her.  She thought she was doing the right thing. She thought she could keep him safe. It seemed that at that very same moment she realized she’d made up her mind.  With her decision seemed to come some peace.  He noticed that her breathing slowed and her cries ceased.  They were still standing in the middle of his childhood room holding each other and he knew that she was going to walk away from him.

 
  “I love you.”  The words left his mouth before he had even realized he’d said them, and it felt too much like a goodbye to him, so he pressed his mouth against hers, hoping the kiss would convince her to stay.  He poured everything he had left in him into the kiss, his tongue taking wide sweeps of her mouth.  She groaned into him like she had a tendency to do, and even though the situation was stress-laden and dangerous, he felt himself hardening for her.  His urgency in the kiss brought on a new fever and he could tell she was wrapped up in it as much as he was. 

 
  She started clawing at his shirt, trying to pull it over his head.  Once she pulled it off of him he went to work unbuttoning hers, but eventually just ripped it open, buttons splaying across the room, pinging on the hardwood floors.  His hands moved up to cup her over her bra, the lace of it scratching lightly at his palms.  He walked her backwards until her back hit the wall and he felt her hands running up and down his chest.  He reached between them pulling her shorts off of her with lightning speed and his hand found a lacy thong was the only thing that stood between him and her heat.  As his mouth ravaged her, he grabbed her panties and ripped them from her body.  She pushed his pants and boxers down with equal speed.  He grabbed her thighs and lifted her to wrap her legs around his waist, his cock perfectly aligning with her heat, and their bodies came together with such force and impact, he had to brace himself against the wall.