Reprisal (11 page)

His hips are frantic and his breathing gets heavier, his lips leaving my nipple as his release is coming. But he slows and pulls back, almost leaving my body completely before he slowly pushes back in. He was on the verge of losing control and I was ready to watch him do just that, but apparently he has other plans.

He pushes me back on the bed, towards the padded headboard and then flips us over, so I’m straddling him. I see torment in his eyes, like he is fighting to hold on. I rise up over him and slam back down, his hips meeting my thrusting. But I decide to shake things up, so I lift myself completely off his body and turn around, my ass facing him now and slowly lower myself on to his cock. “Jesus, Sydney.” He sighs out as I slide slowly on to his cock, feeling every hard inch of him. He sits up a bit behind me and reaches around, pressing his fingers against my clit and placing his lips at my ear. “I’m not going to last like this baby. Come for me.” He whispers as he swirls his fingers through my damp, aching flesh. He hits the sweet spot and slams his hips upward and stills, spilling his seed inside me. He continues rubbing my clit and I unravel, the spasms taking over my body. Sweat mingling with the water still left on our bodies from the shower. I throw my head back against his shoulder and scream out his name, my hair across his face as he pulls us down on to the bed, my back on his chest.

I can hear his heart pounding and we both lie there for a minute, catching our breath. His arms wrap around me and he holds me, tight. I feel safe, secure and sated. Finally, I roll off of him and lay to my side, facing him and he turns to me as well. We are face to face, our breaths mingling and our eyes glued to each other
’s. He gently rests his hand on my hip and scoots closer, planting a soft kiss on my lips, his other hand brushing away strands of wet hair in my face.

It’s then I realize we are still soaking wet, and so is my bed. The breeze from the ceiling fan cooling by body and I start to get cold.
Gabe pulls me in to his arms and his body heat instantly warms me. With my cheek pressed against his chest, I can hear his heart beat and feel the rise and fall of his body as his breathing calms.

He wraps his arm around me and his fingers trace my damp skin, relaxing me in to his embrace. We lay there for some time before his fingers find the tattoo on my hip. I know it’s coming, so I brace myself for his question.

“Tell me about this.” He asks quietly.

I try and wriggle my way out of his arms but he’s too strong and he holds me closer. “No, Sydney, don’t pull away this time. I want to know what happened to you, I need to know. For the investigation as well as.......” And he drifts off.

“What Gabe, why do you need to know? It’s not a pretty story and........” This time I fade off, not quite sure how to tell him what he wants to know, without giving too much away. I drift off and my mind goes back to the day my father branded me.

The rope is tight across my body, my chest firmly secured to the metal chair up against the
wall. Each ankle bound to the chair legs, and I’m naked and cold. I can hardly breathe in the
damp, mustiness of the basement. Water puddles in the corner from the rain and he stands in the
corner, the tattoo needle in his hand, staring at me. My mouth is sealed by duct tape and blood
trickles from my nose.

He stalks towards me, an evil smirk across his face and he’s laughing. He stands to my side
and grips my hair, yanking my head back. Pain sears through my scalp as he yanks a handful of
my hair out, tossing it to the floor. Tears pool in my eyes, but I can’t speak - I can only grunt at
him.

I know he sees the fear in my eyes, and I try to mask it, but he loves it. He thrives on me being
afraid.

He traces the needle along my neck,
“Shall I put it here?” He says as the machine starts
humming.

“
Or here?” As he traces it down my chest, pressing it against my breast. The sharp needle
pricking my skin.

“Or maybe here?” As he faces me, reaching his grimy hand between my legs.

“No, I want it where everyone will see it, because when I’m done with you, no one will ever
get between these legs.” He says as he places the needle against the skin on my hip. I can’t see
what he’s doing, but I can feel the needle pricking my skin, injecting ink in to my flesh. I squirm,
but I’m bound so tight to the chair that it’s fruitless. “Be still or you’ll fuck it up.” He growls in
to my ear.

I close my eyes, fighting off the tears. I need to be strong. I begin chanting in my mind, “I
will survive this, I will survive this.”

But in reality, I don’t know this and I’m not sure I want to survive it right now. The pain
coursing throughout my body though, reminds me that I’m still alive. And until that pain is gone,
I must fight.

As he concentrates on marking me, I realize my hands are loose. I suck in a breath and try
not to let on to him that I can move. I scan his body and see his gun tucked in to the waistband of
his jeans.

My brain starts churning and I start trying to think of a way to get my hands on that gun. My
heart starts racing because I know the end is near. Either he dies, or I die trying to kill him. My
own father.

Right now, I can’t think about that though. Right now, he’s just an evil man intent on torturing
me. But knowing the end is near, my attitude shifts and I decide that I will survive.

He turns his body a bit to get a better angle on me as the rope falls from my hands. It lands in
a thunk and he turns to me, anger in his eyes. He grabs a pile of barbed wire on the floor and
wraps it around my neck, the sharp ends piercing my skin. I reach up and shove him hard enough
where he stumbles forward on to me.

With one hand grasping his face and my fingernails in his eyes, I grab his gun from his
waistband. He senses the loss of the gun and gains his balance, standing back from me. He looks
down on me with that evil look in his eyes.

“G
o on baby, shoot me.” He taunts as he steps closer to me. “You can’t do it can you? You
could never kill your daddy. Could you?” He smiles that wicked smile at me.

Without thinking, I aim and pull the trigger, the shot ringing off and echoing in my ears.

Blood splatters on the wall behind him and he reaches for me, pulling me over on to the ground,
my head hitting the concrete floor.

As I come out of my dream, or nightmare - I realize that I’ve just told Gabe everything. I wasn’t dreaming, I was talking. I know this by the look in his eyes. The pain, the sympathy, the anger.

I push back from him and turn my back against him. I can’t look at him right now, nor do I want him seeing my face. I’m horrified and mortified that I just spilled my story to him, without even realizing it. But he sits up and moves behind me, pulling me in to his arms.

“SHHHH
, it’s okay, Sydney. He’s dead. He can’t hurt you anymore.” He whispers.

“But he can, Gabe. He IS still hurting me! Even from the grave he’s killing me. Why? Why can’t this all just go away?” And I bury my face in to my hands and sob. I haven’t cried like this in a long time, and Gabe just holds me, stroking his fingers through my hair. My body shakes and he just holds me. He doesn’t speak, he just holds me, rocking me and comforting me.

Once the sobs subside I turn to him. I know I must look a mess, cause no girl is pretty after a good cry, but he smiles at me. He brushes his fingers across my cheek, “You’re beautiful, you know that right?”

Shaking my head, I can’t answer him right now. I see something in his eyes that I’ve never seen before, in any man’s eyes. I see adoration, lust and.....love? No, I’m just a raging hormonal mess right now and I can’t let myself get too deep. But he’s the first man I’ve ever told that story to. I’m suddenly not embarrassed anymore, I’m relieved. I lean in and brush my lips against his and he pulls me down on top
of him, so I’m looking down into his eyes.

“Thank you for telling me. I know that wasn’t easy for you.” He says.

“Honestly, I didn’t even realize I was telling the story at the time. Whenever I think about it, I disappear mentally and I’m absorbed into the scene, like I’m still there. The fear never goes away, but I’m glad you know. Now you understand why I have to help, why I have to be a part of this. Don’t shut me out of this investigation, please. I need to know everything so I can help bring this bastard down.”

He cups my cheek with his large hand and I press against him. “Okay, Sydney. I’ll keep you involved, but you have to promise me something.”

I look at him waiting on him to continue.

“You need to let me know if anything gets too much for you. I’ll keep you informed, but you must do the same. Okay?”

I nod against his hand, “Okay. I promise.”

Gabe

I’m totally stunned as I lay here holding Sydney in my arms. I had no idea what she went through and could only imagine. Most women I’ve known would have totally lost it and never gotten past it. But she did, or she’s trying real hard to. She is one amazing woman and I plan to make sure she knows this, every day of my life if she’ll let me. I know I’ve only known her a few days, but she has captured my heart already. I’ve never believed in love at first sight, but the moment I spotted her at Blazer’s, I knew. It was fate that I ran into her again, only I wish it had been under different circumstances.

She’s beautiful, successful and strong. But damaged in her own way and I can only pray she lets me in. I’ll do whatever it takes to keep her close to me.

Her warm body is resting on mine and her hair is tickling my nose, but her breathing has calmed and I think she’s actually asleep. I cock my head to the side and take in her face. Olive complexion, creamy and smooth. Her hair is a mess on her beautiful head and her almond shaped eyes closed.

I calmly move her off of me and make sure she’s comfortable to my side before I slide out of bed. Glancing at the clock I realize it’s two a.m. and I have to be at the station by six. But after what we went through this evening, sleep is the furthest from my mind. But I know if I don’t get some shut-eye, I’ll be useless and that is unacceptable. So I roll towards her and pull her in to my chest and close my eyes. She doesn’t stir and I realize that she must be exhausted. Two rounds of explosive sex and then her confession must have worn her out. But I let her sleep and finally succumb to sleep myself.

Her alarm goes off at six a.m. and her hand reaches over, pressing the snooze button. I realize that I am officially late for work and I crawl out of bed and head to the bathroom to shower. As the water heats I call Chuck and let him know I’m running late.

“Uh huh, rough night Gabe?” He chuckles.

“A bit, but a good kind of rough. I’ll be there within the hour.” I tell him.

“Take your time, son. This case will still be here when you get here. You bringing Sydney with you?”

How did he know......never mind.

“
Ummmm, I haven’t talked to her this morning.” Which is correct, since she’s still asleep.

“Well, if she wakes up in time, bring her with you.” Damn, he does know.

“Umm, sure,” is all I can say. I don’t want him knowing I’m with her, not yet anyway.

The door to the bathroom opens and in walks a sleepy Sydney. Her eyelids heavy and a little puffy from crying last night, but she looks beautiful.

“See you in a bit.” And I disconnect the phone without saying goodbye, because frankly, Sydney takes my breath away.

“Morning sleepy head.” I say as I press a kiss to her forehead.

She smiles, but says nothing while reaching around me to turn the shower on, not realizing it’s already on. Okay, so she’s not a morning person. I can deal with that.

The steam from the shower fills the room and Sydney steps in, giving me a sexy look as she does so. I’m not sure if she wants me to join her or if she’s telling me to stay put. Hell with that, and I open the door and step in beside her. Her head is back in the stream of water and her breasts pushed forward,
begging to be touched. Her nipples puckered and standing at attention.

So I reach for them, cupping them in both hands. She looks down at me, water dripping down her beautiful face. Her eyes are heated and as she licks her lips, my cock hardens painfully.

Her eyes move down and lock on to my cock, the bastard throbbing under her gaze. She scrapes her fingernails down my chest and stops just above my raging hard on. Her tongue pokes out and swipes across her upper lip as she lowers her body to her knees. I say a silent prayer that I don’t blow all over her face before she even touches it.

She grips my cock in one hand as the other cups my balls, before she drags her tongue along the rigid underside of my cock. Her tongue is soft, hard and warm all at the same time and my head rolls back. “Shit, Sydney.”

I feel her smile against me as her hot mouth sinks down over me, her lips hitting my abdomen. Damn, she really has no gag reflex and I’m sure I’m about to come just watching her.

She peeks up at me through her long lashes and pulls back, only to deep throat me once again.

Her hand still on my sac and her fingers massaging the sensitive area behind it. I start to wonder where she learned this and decide that I really don’t want to know.

As I feel my eminent orgasm coming, I step back and withdraw my cock from her mouth.

“No way am I going to come like this, I want to be buried deep inside you when that happens.” I tell her as I help her up. I move towards her and bury my face in her shoulder before tracing kisses down her chest and to her stomach. Lowering myself to my knees, I lift one foot and place it on my shoulder, exposing her pink pussy to my tongue.

Her flesh is glistening with moisture, both from the water as well as her own arousal. I lean in and press my nose to her flesh, taking a deep breath before stroking my tongue through her soft folds. I hear her suck in a breath as she lays her head back against the tile, her head
thunking against the hard surface. I peek up at her to make sure she didn’t hurt herself, but the look on her face tells me she feels no pain. Her eyes are closed and her mouth is open, her tongue darting out to moisten them. Jesus, she’s beautiful. Long lashes flutter over her cheeks, rosy pink lips and high cheekbones. Her chest rises and falls with every shuttered breath as I keep stroking my tongue through her cleft. I thrust two fingers inside and I feel her body stiffen as her back arches against the wall, her breaths getting heavy. I keep those two fingers deep inside her, stroking her as I press my thumb against her hard pearl. I don’t press hard, just enough to cause a multitude of sensations rocking her to her core.

“O
H.......GOD!” She screams, her hips thrusting against my fingers as her juices spill on to my tongue. Her body convulses as I keep up the pressure on her clit, slowly circling it, my fingers stroking deep inside her. Her leg grips my shoulder, the bend of her knee squeezing my shoulder like a vise. I slow my thrusting and allow her to gather her bearings before I lower her leg and stand up. I press my fingers in to her hips and direct her to turn around, facing the shower wall.

I move up behind and slide my hard as steel cock against her firm ass. She bends a little at the waist and lines her pussy up against the tip of my cock. Then she slams backwards, impaling herself on my cock. “Shit!”

But she doesn’t let up, she takes control and continues to pull forward, then slamming back down on to me. I let her get her rhythm, and then I join in her thrusts. The only sounds are the shower running, our heavy breathing and skin slapping against skin. Then Sydney lets out a moan, slow and low. Her reaction to me fucking her is my undoing, and I unload deep inside her.

As I thrust hard one last time, pressing my hips against her ass, she screams my name and I feel her pussy milking my cock.

We stay like that for what feels like hours, until the water starts running cold and chill bumps cover Sydney’s back. I slowly extract my cock from her still throbbing pussy and reach over, turning the water off.

She straightens up and turns to face me. The look in her eyes is pure, unadulterated bliss.

Her facial muscles are relaxed and her skin is glowing, though I don’t know if it’s from the heat of the shower, or her orgasm. Course, the water was cold by the end so I assume the latter. Her lips curl up in a seductive smirk and my dick jumps at the sight.

“We’re supposed to be down at the station. Chuck wants to see us.”

“Us?” She asks.

“Umm, yeah, he told me to bring you with me.”

“Does he know.......?” Her eyes drop to the floor. I reach up and gently nudge her chin to look up at me.

“I don’t know, and I don’t care. I didn’t tell him, if that’s what you’re asking. But he’s a smart man, he can figure stuff out on his own.” I tell her.

“Shit, he’s gonna freak out.”

“Why would he freak out? He has no control over you, or me.”

“I know, but we have to work together on this case, he might think our judgement will be cloudy if he knows.”

“Well, we won’t tell him. Keep him guessing, right? As long as we keep it professional while working, he won’t have an issue.”

“Ok, but.........” She pauses.

“But what?”

“Did we make a mistake?” She asks, suddenly very somber.

“A mistake? Making each other feel good and taking our mind off of things? You think it was a mistake?” I step back from her, removing my fingers from her chin.

“I...I don’t know, maybe? We need to be focused on this case, so that we can nab this guy before he hurts another girl. Feelings aren’t a good thing to put in the middle.” She says as she turns from me and walks to the bedroom. I watch her hips sway as she walks.

I shake my head and peel my eyes off of her ass and follow her to the bedroom, but she’s not there. I grab my jeans and tee
shirt and head out to follow her. I find her standing in the living room, staring over the New York streets. She’s still naked, the curve of her hips sloping gently to her thighs.

I walk up behind her and put my arms around her, pulling her back against my chest. She leans her head back against my shoulder and my hands instinctively roam to her full breasts. But she stops me, placing my hands against her stomach.

“We need to go, Gabe. Chuck is waiting.”

And she steps from my grasp and heads back to the bedroom.

I decide this time, not to follow. My boots and socks are out here, so I sit down on the sofa and tug them on. I can tell she has distanced herself from me, but I realize she’s right. If we are going to work together, we need to keep our feelings out of this.

A few minutes later she comes out, fresh faced and dressed in khaki pants and a gauzy blouse. Simple, but elegant. A low heel boot tops it off. As she grabs her sweater and scarf out of the coat closet, I grab my jacket as well. She hasn’t spoken, and neither have I. Maybe things are better left unsaid at this point.

“Are you hungry?” I ask as we walk out the door.

“A little. We can stop at the deli on the way, they serve bagels and other things in the mornings.”

Funny, I had no idea. I typically skip breakfast and.........before I can finish that thought, she is out the door heading towards the elevator. I trudge behind her, following her like a lost puppy again. I realize then that I’ll follow her anywhere. She takes her phone and presses a button, placing it to her ear. “Beth, it’s Doctor DeCarlo. I need you to cancel all of my appointments today and tomorrow. Something’s come up and I’ll be out of the office. Take a few days’ vacation, I’ll see you on Wednesday.” She tells what must be her receptionist, or assistant.

As the
doors open into the lobby, her heels clicking on the marble floor, we head outside.

The temperature has dropped a bit since yesterday, and the wind is a bit stronger. Her hair flows frantically in the wind and she struggles to get it behind her ears. She reaches in to her bag and pulls out a hair tie, quickly wrapping it up and securing it behind her head. I admire the column of her neck and her creamy skin. Jesus, Gabe. You need to snap out of this and get back to the task at hand. There is no way you are going to be able to focus on this case if you keep getting a hard on over this woman.

After grabbing a bagel and coffee, we make our way to the station. We walk in companionable silence, just making small talk and not paying attention to our surroundings.

Which, as a cop, is a bad idea.

Suddenly a guy comes around the corner and slams right into Sydney, knocking her down.

Her coffee goes flying and the contents of her purse scatter across the sidewalk, including her gun. She lands in a
thunk and immediately jumps for her gun, “WHAT THE FUCK!” She screams out.

But the guy who
plowed into her kept going, no apologies or anything. I look back and see the guy, black sweatshirt with the hood pulled over his head, hands in his pockets. I start to go after him, but Sydney gets up, brushing the dirt and grime from the concrete off of her pants.

“Mother fucker.” She says. “That’s the third time in two
days some asshole has bumped into me. These rude fuckers need to watch where they’re going.” She stands up chuckling.

“What did you say?”

She looks at me in confusion, a questioning look in her eyes.

“Did you say that’s the third time that’s happened
?”

She nods, still looking confused.

“What? It’s New York, Gabe. People get bumped into all the time, what’s the issue?”

I stand back and try and focus on t
he asshole that just slammed into her and then walked the hell off. Shaking my head, I decide not to worry Syd with it right now. “Nothing, I guess.

Just.....people need to be nicer I guess.”

Sure, lame I know. But I suddenly have a gut feeling, and my gut is usually right.