QUIVER (QUAKE Book 2) (10 page)

      “Wow, that didn’t take long. Did you at least make him work for it?” He smirks.

      “That’s not nice.” I nudge his leg with my foot. “I love him; why wouldn’t I accept his apology? It’s not like he cheated on me or did something unforgivable.” Zack knows what happened with Kyle and I. The last time he came over I shared all the details with him.

      “I know, but a girl like you deserves the best and that means a guy who’ll go to any lengths to prove his love for you. I’m just not sure Kyle’s that guy.”

      He doesn’t know Kyle. He doesn’t understand he’s the best man I know and he’s perfect for me.

      I tell Zack I’m getting tired and he leaves shortly after.

***

      She sleeps soundly on her couch when I open the door. She looks innocent and angelic with her hands folded over her stomach. I reach down and lift her up, she feels tiny and childlike in my arms. I place her gently down across the width of her bed; I don’t want her to stir. She’s drunk enough of that wine to keep her out for the night, the empty bottle is all the reassurance I need. I peel her yoga pants and panties down her legs and throw them on the bed beside her. It’s still early in the night and light enough for me to see her bare pussy clearly. There’s a narrow strip of hair I can’t help but run my index finger down. It’s so soft, so sexy. I need to know what her tight cunt feels like. I sink to my knees on the floor beside her bed and lean forward to peer at her pussy. She’s too much temptation for me to resist. I lower my face until my nose is as close to her slit as I can get. I inhale deep, savoring the scent of her. I unzip my jeans and fist my cock. I have to know what she tastes like. Soon she’ll be mine and I will. One day I’ll stretch the tip of my tongue out and gently slide it along the length of her slit. Goddamn. Her pussy will taste fucking better than any I’ve ever had the pleasure of sampling and I’ve had my fair fucking share. Stroking my dick faster, I think about hooking my tongue around her clit. I want to make her come. I want to know I can bring her to that level of pleasure, I fucking need to know I have that much power over her. I brace my hand beside her hip and support my weight while I pump faster and faster. I want to bite her pussy so hard. I want to make her jump off the bed from my teeth clenching her clit between them. I’ll have to fight off my baser instincts to tear into her and instead go softly, slowly. She stirs. No. She can’t wake up, everything will be ruined. Slowing my pace, I force myself to hold off my orgasm. I’m going to exhibit supreme control. Each day that passes brings her closer to being mine. Not his. My cock throbs in my hand, and I pick up her sheer panties and slide them up and down my length. Her hips shift in her sleep. Faster and faster I stroke. Soon I’ll make her come and I’ll hungrily lap up the proof of her orgasm. My come spills onto the silk of her panties. Our time is coming. I can’t wait until she looks at me with love shining in her eyes. Hold on my precious angel, I’m coming for you.

      Soon there will be no secrets between us.

***

      This week has dragged with Kyle being in Boston. He’s coming tonight and I can’t wait to see him. We’ve been texting and talking on the phone multiple times each day, but it’s not enough. I need him here with me. I haven’t seen him since last Saturday. It’s been six long days. I walk home as fast as I can and jump in the shower. I want to be ready by the time he gets here.

      I slip a black shirt over my head, pull it down to rest on my hips and pick up my phone when a new text comes through. Hopefully it’s not Kyle cancelling on me. The message is from an anonymous number and there’s a link titled
Janny
. I know better, but I can’t curb my curiosity. Hoping it’s not a virus, I click on it and wait for it to open. It takes about two seconds for my world to crash down around me. I gasp. It’s a video of me; asleep on my bed, bare from the waist down. My legs are spread exposing everything there is to see.

      What the fuck?

      How is this possible?

      Who filmed this and how did I not know?

     
My hands shake and I stare at the screen, stunned. I don’t breathe while I watch. A cold sweat breaks out across my forehead when a male hand reaches down, running his fingers along my slit.

     
Oh my God. Who did this to me?

       He stands over my sleeping form, in shadow. I can’t make out any identifiable characteristics about him. Nothing. It’s only a hand. Tears cloud my eyes and drop onto the screen. Bile rises to the back of my throat when the camera angle switches. The stranger’s hand moves forcefully up and down his cock. A sob escapes me, echoing in the quiet of the room. He continues, moving faster and faster until he comes on a pair of my panties. The screen goes black. The tears flow down my cheeks; I feel helpless.

      Someone violated me.
How? Was I drugged?
There’s no way I’d be able to sleep through that.

      I want Kyle.
Oh God, Kyle. How am I going to tell him about this?
I take a deep breath to calm myself, but it’s not working. My heart pounds. I glance around the room. I’m scared.

     
Someone has access to my apartment.

      Someone could be in here right now.

     
I take a deep breath to calm myself, but it’s not working.

      I bite down on my lip to contain the screams that want to escape. I break through the skin and the metallic taste of blood seeps between my lips. My hands fist so hard my fingernails cut the skin on my palms. I squeeze my phone so hard my hands tremble.

      Oh Jesus. Please, no
.

    
My stomach is gripped with a painful wave of nausea.

     
Why did he do this to me?
          

      How the hell did this happen?

      How am I going to tell Kyle?

      He’s going to kill whoever did this to me.

      I violently throw my phone against the wall with a shriek, and run to the bathroom. I fall to my knees in front of the toilet and lose everything I’ve eaten today. Wave after wave of vomit leaves me while I hug the cold porcelain. I sob and wish I could rid my mind of the video I just watched. I wish I could purge my body of his touch. I’m not sure there’s anything that will ever make this better; not even Kyle.

     
How will I ever get past this?

      How will we?

Kyle

      The missing person case I’ve been working on this week threw up some red flags for me. After spending the past four days working to locate the client’s long lost sister, he sent me a message saying she returned safely home; after missing for three years. My Spidey sense is tingling like mad. It’s too much of a coincidence for me; a little too pat and dry to believe. I spent this whole week working on locating her and I never came up with any leads. The client paid me cash up front, there’s no balance to be settled and other than taking the time to look into him, no way for me to check if he’s who he claimed to be. I’m curious to know what his possible motive for wasting my time could be.  

      I’m working from home today. I’ve lined up the next sixty days’ worth of work and I feel like I’m being productive. It’s a nice change from the last couple of months. All the time I spent in the hospital and at rehab wore on my nerves and made me feel useless. I’m finally getting back into the groove of my normal work routine, and also being with Janny. Everything’s getting back on track; life is good. I smile and think about my beautiful girl. I wonder what she’s doing at this moment. I stretch my neck from side to side to loosen the tight muscles working on my computer gives me. I pull up my email account and look through all the new ones I’ve received. Most of them are things that can wait for now. I answer the few that are time sensitive and when I’m about to log off I notice a new one. Even though the email address is unfamiliar to me I assume it’s someone inquiring about our services and open it. There’s only a link and a short message.

     
Thought you might like to see this…

     
I hesitate, unsure if I should be clicking on this link. I hear Lana, the new tech specialist we hired, cautioning me about malware and other viruses I could infect my computer with by clicking random links. Lana may kick my ass, but the curiosity has bitten me too hard to ignore.
I click the link. I wait for an image to appear and when it does I wish I could reverse time.
What the fuck?
I wish I would have listened to that voice in the back of my head telling me it was a bad idea. Now I can never forget the image I’m seeing on my screen. Janny is naked from the waist down, legs spread wide. I watch in horror as a male hand caresses her pussy, before the angle shifts and that same hand wraps around his dick. I watch as he pumps his hand up and down, roughly handling himself. My heart pounds so hard in my chest I can hear the beat of my blood in my ears. My hands clench the armrests on my chair so tight I hear the plastic creak in protest.
I’m going to kill this motherfucker. When I figure out who this is I’m going to rip him to fucking shreds.

     
Watching this is making me violently angry and absolutely disgusted, but not knowing how it ends might be worse. I have to find the strength to watch the rest no matter how bad the pressure in my chest hurts. Is it physically possible for your heart to open in fissures and yet still beat?

      The sound of his fast-paced breathing has me gulping in mouthfuls of air to calm myself. If I wasn’t already sitting I would be on my knees by now. My hands fist; I grind my teeth so hard I can hear the sound of my molars cracking from the pressure. I never take my eyes off her image on the screen. Watching this stalker come on her panties has me jumping up from my chair. My blood is practically boiling; I’ve never been this enraged in my life. If he was here in front of me right now I’d snap his neck without a second thought and never feel an ounce of regret or remorse.

      I learned a long time ago I could do questionable things – things most people would balk at. This is the way it is if you choose to work in law enforcement. I do what I have to do to survive, and if it means I have to beat the shit out of someone or even put a bullet in them to protect someone I love, you can bet I’m not going to fucking hesitate.

      When the screen goes black I punch a hole in my office wall.

      I immediately try Janny’s number, but she doesn’t answer. My heart pounds with panic while I fear for her safety. Did this fucker harm her? Did he take her? My mind is assailed with memories of what happened when she was kidnapped.

   
  “Janny, are you okay?”

      “I love you,” she cried. “I love you and I thought I’d never get the chance to tell you.”

     Goddammit. I rake my shaking hand through my hair, knowing without a doubt this is one of those pivotal moments in my life that will change everything.                     

***

      I jump in my black Charger seconds later and I’m on the highway almost immediately.

      Fuck. She still won’t answer her phone. The drive is spent making myself crazy with visions of worst-case scenarios. I’ve seen some horrible things working in law enforcement and I know the atrocities people are capable of.

      I arrive in New York a few hours later. I didn’t even take the time to pack a bag and sped the entire way there. My stomach is a turbulent mess on the ride up to her floor and the short distance between the elevator and her apartment has me feeling like I’m walking in slow motion. I stand in front of her door and brace myself for what’s coming. I’ve faced down men with guns, been shot in the head, and right now either of those things seems like a better option than the worry of not knowing where she is.

      I knock on her door. “Janny, open up!” I yell.

      When she opens the door, I breathe a sigh of relief. Her eyes are bloodshot and rimmed with red like she’s been crying. When I open my mouth to speak she throws herself at me, clinging to my neck. Her sobs shake her tiny frame from head to toe. Even though I’m angry with whoever did this to her, I want to give her as much comfort as I can.

      “Baby, what’s wrong?” I ask, my arms wrapped tightly around her. I walk her backwards, giving me enough room to kick the door shut. My face drops, I bury my nose in her hair and inhale the familiar floral scent of her shampoo. Her long, silky blonde tresses are soft against my face. Thank God she’s okay. The thought of losing her has the pressure in my chest increasing like a leather belt is being tightened notch after notch; strangling my heart. Painfully squeezing the life out of it as it narrows inch by inch. When will it reach its breaking point?

      “Janny, baby.” My voice sounds hoarse. “You need to tell me what’s wrong.”

     
“Someone sent me a video.” When she pauses I cut her off.

      “I know, baby. They sent it to me also.” Jesus. I pinch the bridge of my nose between my thumb and index finger, rubbing her back with my other hand. How will I ever get that image of him standing over her unconscious body out of my mind?

      I take a step back from her and hold her upper arms with my hands. “Do you have any idea who could have done this?”

      “No,” she whispers gripping onto my arms. “Who would do this to me?” she cries.

      I run a hand over the top of her head and then move it down to caress the side of her face.

      She chews nervously on her bottom lip and stares in my eyes. I can see so much turmoil in the cerulean blue and I wish I could make it all disappear; snap my fingers and magically erase the last twenty-four hours. But I can’t. What’s done is done, and now it’s time to deal with the reality of the situation.

      “I’m going to find the motherfucker who did this to you and make him regret it.”

      “I know,” she says.” Her eyes fill with tears. “I don’t want anything to happen to you. I just got you back.”

      “Janny, I’ll be fine, baby. Don’t you realize by now, I’m immortal. I survived a gunshot to the head.” She smiles. “I’m not going anywhere. Everything I’ve ever wanted is right here.” I cup her face with my hands and softly brush my lips against hers.

      “I love you, Kyle. I know you’re going to do what you want and not listen to me, but promise me you’ll be careful.” She wraps her arms around my waist. “I can’t survive losing you. I need you too much.”

      My hands rub up and down her back while my eyes look over the city skyline. I wonder where in that concrete jungle I’ll find the bastard who did this? It makes me feel better to think he’ll be seeing me soon.

      “I need a drink,” she says, stepping back from my arms.

      I push my hands into my pockets, stare out the window at the darkening sky and wish my parents were still alive. I could really use some fatherly advice right now. My dad was always good at calming me down and helping me to see the bigger picture. I smile when I think about my mom and how she used to love to bake. I’m not sure a piece of her vanilla cake smothered in homemade frosting would make all this pain go away, but it couldn’t fucking hurt.

     
“I’m sorry he sent it to you,” Janny says, handing me a bottle of Heineken. “I can’t believe you saw a video of what happened.” She tucks her hair behind her ear and looks at the sky. “It was bad enough just thinking of telling you, but now that I know you’ve seen it.” She shakes her head, “it’s so much worse.” She walks over to the couch and sinks down. Even in her sadness, she moves gracefully.
Her hands are clenched together in her lap.

     “Tell me what happened.” I walk over and take a seat on the black leather next to her.

      She lowers her hands. “I don’t remember much. Zack and I grabbed a couple pizzas last night and came back here to eat. I was missing you and thought the company would be nice. We talked for a while and then he left. The rest is a blur until I woke up this morning.” She pauses for a moment, her eyes lowered. I pull her into my lap and hold her close to my chest. She was sexually assaulted. My mind is racing. I keep thinking about all the things I’m going to do to this bastard when I figure out who he is. My fingers twitch when I imagine squeezing his neck tighter and tighter until his eyes bulge with the combination of lack of oxygen and fear. He’s not going to get away with this.

      Janny finally fell asleep wrapped in my arms but I’m still wide awake. I can’t shut my brain off and the more I try, the worse it seems to be. So for now, I’m counting all the ways I’m going to torture this guy. I told Janny to let me take care of it, and after some persuading, she agreed. I’m not letting the police handle this. I need to dole out a special beat down, just for him. This fucker is going to regret even breathing the same air as her. 

***

     She’s restless in her sleep. I hold her in my arms and soothe her when whimpers fall from her lips. This is how she was after the Martelli brothers kidnapped her. I hate that all of this is going to set her back and she’s going to be dealing with anxiety all over again. My fingers ache with the need to inflict some damage on this dude. Thoughts of what I’m going to do to him consume me, keeping me awake for hours. I need to calm down, figure out who he is and deliver the beating of his life. I have to resist the urge for immediate retribution. I’m not usually one for knee-jerk reactions and this situation demands a well thought out plan. He’ll get his.
All in good time.

     
I’m almost asleep when I hear it. Someone is at the front door of the apartment. The sound is so faint I almost convince myself I’ve imagined it but I know better than to second guess my instincts. I carefully slide Janny off my chest and rise out of bed without making a sound. I dress quickly and slip my sneakers on my bare feet before creeping out of the bedroom.

      Within seconds I’m standing beside the front door while I wait for the knob to turn. Normally I’d stand behind it to avoid giving the person entering a direct line of sight, but tonight things are different. Standing behind it would only increase the odds of the door being slammed shut during the initial moments of the confrontation. That would keep us inside, closer to the bedroom. From this angle I can surprise him. I’m pretty sure this is the same bastard on the video and my best chance of keeping him away from Janny is to get him out of the apartment as quickly as possible.

      I concentrate on the absolute silence in the room and listen for a hint of anyone else on the other side of the steel. One person is bad enough but two people would present a much bigger problem. The adrenaline of knowing what’s coming is pumping through my veins. I exhale slowly and ready myself for what will happen next.

      There’s a moment of sudden quiet outside the door before the knob turns quickly, and it swings open. The glint of a knife reflects the light from out in the hallway. I immediately rush forward striking him in the chest and chin with the palm heels of my hands, sending him three steps backwards out of the apartment.

     
Motherfucker
. It’s Zack; why didn’t I suspect him? He must have heard me waiting on the opposite side of the door. Maybe I was breathing too loud or maybe he caught sight of a shadow under it as I moved into position. Either way, he’s ready, and swings the knife across my midsection as he stumbles out into the hall. I feel the blade slice along the surface of my stomach, but can’t stop. Securing the weapon is my main concern, as years of training kicks into overdrive.

      Zack’s momentarily off balance so I keep moving forward, striking his chest and face again and sending him further back into the hallway. Before he can recover I quickly secure the hand holding the knife with both of mine, wrapping my left arm under his as I spin back around and snap his wrist inward, forcing the knife out of his grasp and onto the floor. He’s still playing catch up when I kick the knife across the hall with my heel and then immediately snap my leg forward, sweeping the inside of his right leg out and dropping him face first to the carpet. He reacts in an instant and rolls aside before I can stomp a heel onto the side of his face.