Wounded Birds (The Grayson Series Book 1) (36 page)

“You bitch,” I scream out and quickly scramble back up and stare at her with rage. I’m going to kick some ass.

“Lady, you have no idea the torch I’ve been carrying over my shoulders because of you,” Melinda retorts. “My anger for you stems deeper than you just killing Alden. You leaving my Danny left a bitter taste in my mouth. He cried so hard when he went to visit his mother who adopted him at the cemetery the day you left him. I so wanted to give him a hug, but how could I when he had no idea who I was. At least, not until Alden reunited us.” She swings her gun in my face, chuckling. “After I kill you, I’m going to call your boy toy and have him come out to the barn. I want to see his face when he sees your lifeless body on the ground. Then I’ll kill him.”

Hell no! “
You stay the hell away from Michael
,” I explode, my body trembling, breathing hard-and-fast. The blood in my veins begins to burn through my system. I’ve had enough with Danny, his twin, and crazy, fucked-up mother. I am not going to let this bitch take me down.

I shove the pain aside and let my adrenaline kick into an all-new level high. I launch one swift kick to her throat. I spin around and with my other leg and land a forceful impact to her gut. I grab her arm and flip her down onto the hay-covered ground.

I jump over her, glaring at her with disgust. Images of the hell she and Alden have put Michael and me through come surfacing out with pure hate. I start swinging my fists into her face, and blood spurts out through her nose and mouth. I can’t stop hitting her. The bitch’s desperate screams continue to echo in the barn, but I hold no mercy.

“You bitch,” she screams out, waving the revolver in my face, her finger close to the trigger. I smack her arm away, and it fires.

I flip her over and grip her wrist into a tight twist as Danny used to do to me and pull the handgun out of her hand, hurling it across the barn.

She makes a quick move, spins, springs up, and swings her foot in my direction. She misses; the little bitch and I roll away from her. I stand up and kick her hard, propelling her against the stall door.

She scrambles up, regaining her balance, and runs toward me, swinging her leg in the air and delivering a powerful blow to my rib cage that sends me flying into the tack room. Shit, she’s strong.

The barn doors spilt open with an explosive sound. “Ariana!” Oh, thank God. Michael comes bursting in. His eyes are wide, filled with fear and fury, and a thunderous growl erupts from his chest.

Jacob — Trent and Josh follow, bolting in like lightning —.

Michael snatches a hold of me, pulling me out of harm’s way.

“No,” I snap. “I want this bitch to pay,” I say through heaving breaths, pushing away from Michael, but he only tightens his grip around me.

“Ariana, stop it,” he orders.

“No,” I yell back in his face, pushing against his torso to break free from his hold.

“Jesus, Ariana, you’re bleeding,” Michael hisses out, his eyes wide with anger.

I’m fixated on the scene that’s unfolding before me as I watch Jacob run for Melinda. She punches him in the mouth and kicks him in the stomach, causing him to smack into one of the stall doors. He grunts out in pain, and the same pain penetrates into my gut. I go to move to help him, and Michael tugs me back into him with a firm hold.

Trent and Josh rush in and slam her from behind the knees, sending her flying onto her back and smacking onto the hard ground with a loud thump.

She releases a bloodcurdling scream, causing the horses to grow restless and push into the doors of their stalls.

Maria darts in like a missile. “Mother of God,” she exclaims. “I called the police and the ambulances after the men came soaring in here,” she rushes out in one breath. “Ariana, are you okay?” Maria asks. I don’t answer. I’m beyond angry and a numbing sensation begins to wash over me.

The sounds of sirens reverberate outside, and the police come bursting in with their guns drawn. “Freeze,” one of the officers yells out.

Everyone freezes except Trent, who walks over to the officer with his hands in the air, holding out his ID. I glare at Melinda as she lye’s curled up in the corner, on a mound of hay saturated in her own blood, moaning in pain.

The medics come rushing in and attend to Melinda. I watch them wheel her out on a stretcher, sobbing out in pain. I want to spit on her, the stupid bitch.

“Do you have another ambulance? Ariana needs to be checked out, and I don’t want her anywhere near that demented woman,” Michael spews out to one of the medics.

“Yes, sir, outside. Follow me.” He gestures and escorts us out.

Michael holds me by the elbow to steady me. We step out of the barn. I wince from the colorful, blinding lights flashing from the patrol cars and ambulances and the mass of activity.

“Michael, God, how is she?” Jacob chokes out, his mouth tainted with blood.

“I don’t know, Dad.”

“She needs to get to the hospital,” Josh orders, brushing his fingers through my hair, examining my face. His eyes narrow and frowns.

I’m numb all over. A soft light appears before me, inviting me into a warm embrace of a solitary confinement.

“How is she?” Trent asks, brushing his hand over my arm, a touch I can’t even feel

“Not well,” Josh replies.

“You’re not going to believe who that woman is,” Trent retorts. “She’s Danny and Alden’s biological mother, Georgia Harris A.K.A. Melinda Candles, Ariana’s cleaning lady. I recognized her from a photo someone showed me when I went to her hometown.”

“Holy shit,” Jacob and Michael say in unison.

“So that explains how everything was planted in Ariana’s apartment. Who would have suspected?” Michael responds, his expression stoic.

I find myself sitting in the ambulance with my head leaning against the cold wall and Michael is trying to convince me to lie down. “I don’t want to,” I say, disconnecting myself from the world.

Michael releases a breath. “Okay,” he whispers, with a sullen look over his face so pale.

I wrap my arms around myself, shivering from the cold or plain shock. We arrive at the hospital. I’m poked and probed, CT scanned, pricked with needles, and I feel nothing. I’m sucked into my own peaceful little place, where no harm will come to me.

“Has she said anything?” Jacob asks.

“No,” Michael snaps.

I’m fine Michael. I’m just resting. Please let me rest for a while. With everything that’s happened in the past month, my brain has finally shut down. I’m emotionally displaced. I’m feeling no pain or fear in my confined shelter. I’ll be back, Michael.

“Son, she’ll come through. I promise you. I know what’s going through your mind. This isn’t anything like Tania. All her tests came back negative, she just has bruised ribs, a tiny gash over her forehead, and bruises over her back that will heal.”

I hear them conversing with each other from my happy place. I’m just incapable of communicating. I like where I am, so quiet and serene.

“Josh, be honest with me, why won’t she respond? Her eyes are open, but she seems so distant, so empty, talk to me, please. I need some answers. This is driving me crazy,” Michael pleads.

“Michael, relax, she’s gone through one trauma after another and is withdrawing from everything and everyone around her,” Josh explains. “We can take her home now. I’ll keep a close watch on her.”

Chapter 34

The Nightmares

Sweat begins to penetrate through my skin, my breathing becomes shallow and rapid when I find myself trapped in a cold, desolate room where the walls are painted black. Just one piece of furniture sits as the centerpiece, a lonely bed. Soft, silk scarves and colorful ropes adorn the bedpost.

I gasp, and squeeze my eyes shut, my heart ready to explode, as the all-too-familiar voice pierces my soul, like acid eating away at my flesh.

“Come here, baby doll,” the low, raspy accent whispers out, sending my heart racing.

“No!” I yell out at the terrorizing voice. Oh, God, this can’t be happening. Please God, don’t let this be real, don’t let this be real.

I snap open my eyes and my heart skids to a stop as I stare at my reflection from the only mirror nailed to the wall. I stand by the bed wearing a long, silk white gown, wrapped in pink and purple ropes, my hands tied to a long, steel bar attached to the ceiling. I cry out for help, screaming for Michael as Danny approaches me as if he were a predator, hunting for his prey. His hand grips a thick, black belt, with a huge silver buckle. I whimper, tensing my muscles, my heart pounding hard against my chest as he gets closer. I can’t hear anything except for the sound of my blood thrusting through my veins, I can’t breathe, I can’t move. This is it, God, my final hours. I’m going to die in the hands of this sadistic, inhumane bastard.

There are no windows, but one door that leads to my freedom, and it’s chained and bolted shut. I scream for help and choke on my words when I feel his breath just inches from my face, his eyes gleaming with pure evil and rage. I swallow hard, my body trembling. I know what’s coming. I brace myself for the unbearable pain.

He swings the end of the belt, cutting into my skin. He hits me repeatedly until I let out a bloodcurdling scream. “Stop! Please stop. Just kill me, please kill me already!”

“Ariana!”

I wince when a pair of hands touches my face. I snap my head away. “Ariana!”

My arms tied and suspended in the air. I cringe and cry out in pain as the metal buckle bites through the gown and my skin, cutting deep into the bone. I hold my breath to fight the painful sting burning my flesh. Blood begins to ooze from the open slices trickling down my back. “Stop, please just stop!” I try to lift my legs to kick him, but they, too, are tied and secured to the floor.

“Ariana, Ariana.” I hear my name repeatedly and my body is shaking uncontrollable and it won’t stop.

“Michael,” I squeal, crying out to him. I can no longer hold back the tears, and they begin to pour down my face with each welt across my back. I’m stuck in this graveyard, this black hellhole. “Help me, Michael.” I scream out, pleading, my body convulsing.

“I’m here, Ariana. It’s me, Michael. Ariana, wake up, please it’s a bad dream.”

I gasp with joy. Yes, Michael, he’s here to rescue me. “Oh, Michael, help me, help me,” I cry out, choking on my own tears.

“Ariana, wake up, sweetheart. It’s a dream.” The touch of Michael’s hands over my face, gently caressing me, brings some comfort. Oh, what a sweet sensation.

My eyes burst open, and I take a huge gulp of air into my deflated lungs, my blood still pulsing within my veins and echoing in my ears. I’m drenched in sweat, my hair plastered to my head and face. I find myself enveloped in Michael’s arms. A flood of relief rushes through me.

“Oh, God, Michael, it was awful,” I cry out, desperately clinging to him, shaking violently. He rocks me into his chest, soothing my inner soul as well as my heart and mind. How long can I go on like this? The recurring nightmares that I’ve been having are only getting worse and are destroying me. I need help. I need help.

“I need help,” I plead to Michael, wheezing and sobbing hysterically in his arms.

Michael bolts up. “Josh! Josh! Get in here!” He explodes out with fury. I know this is tearing him apart.

Josh rushes into the room almost colliding with the bed, his breathing harsh. “What’s wrong?” he cries out with alarm, panting. He stands over me and gazes at me with his warm, caring eyes. “Another nightmare, Ariana?” he says, his expression despondent.

“Yes,” I mumble and burst into tears again. “I don’t want to sleep anymore. I can’t. Please help me get rid of these nightmares. He keeps coming back, and the pain is so excruciating. I feel the burn in my sleep.” I continue to convulse in Michael’s embrace. He rocks me, his arms wrapped tight against me. I feel his strength seeping beneath my nightgown giving me a safe and secure feeling.

“Josh, please help her,” Michael begs.

Josh nods. “If I give you a sedative and lower the dose every week, will you agree to see a therapist?”

I nod frantically. “Yes, please anything, please, I’m so tired, so exhausted. The pain, the torture, is real.” I stop for a moment to catch my breath, and bile begins to creep up my throat. “Oh God, my stomach is not doing so well. I need to get up.”

Michael stands me up, and I run for the bathroom. I just make it to the toilet, and my stomach ejects everything that’s inside of me. Michael takes a hold of my hair and holds it back. A cool cloth is gently pressed over my face, and I turn to see it’s Josh. I’m startled when a deep voice erupts into the room.

“Where’s my daughter-in-law?” Jacob yells.

Trent is right behind him, cursing, “What the hell happened? It’s two in the morning.”

“We’re in the bathroom, Dad,” Josh hollers.

“What in the world is going on?” Jacob asks, sounding breathless.

“Ariana had another nightmare,” Michael explains.

“Josh, you’re a doctor. Why can’t you give her something?” He explodes.

“Relax, Dad, I am, but she has to consult with a therapist. I’ll be calling Dr. Rachel Cambria. She’s the best in the city.”

“I’m getting an earlier flight back to New York today to get her the help she needs,” Michael expresses to his father.

“Good, not that I want you to leave. I love having my family here, but I want my daughter-in-law well.”

I stop vomiting, and the quivering in my body begins to abate.

I start giggling for no reason. I stand up with Michael’s help. I grab hold of Jacob’s arm and pull him to the sink so I can brush my teeth. I don’t want him to leave.

I turn to him and give him the biggest bear hug I can muster. His deep, hoarse laughter work its way out from his chest, vibrating against me.

I stare up into his eyes filled with concern. “I love you . . . I know this is coming out of left field. If it’s okay with Michael, and of course you, I’d like to have our wedding here.”

A big grin builds across his face, flashing those gorgeous pearly whites. His eyes watery and one crystal drop streams down his cheek. His strong, powerful arms embrace me with a slight squeeze.

He inhales deeper and pulls me away to face me. “Darlin’, I love you too. I would do anything for you. It would be an honor to have you and Michael’s wedding here,” he chokes out. He turns to the men. “You boys get her home and get her all the help she needs. If anything happens to her, I’m coming to hunt you down, each and every one of you. You hear?” He exclaims with a stern tone, his eyes hard.

“Yes, sir,” they say in unison, standing at attention, looking serious.

***

The past couple of weeks was difficult, to put it lightly. It had nothing to do with my recurring nightmares. Josh had handled that with the sedatives he prescribed for me. It was my two-hour sessions with my therapist, Dr. Cambria, every night after work. I don’t even know how I got through the first week without breaking down, feeling guilty and ashamed of myself.

Each time I walked into her office my stomach would turn into one big knot. I hated discussing the past, but I have to admit, though, the more I spoke of my demons; strips of the painful memories began to dissipate.

Michael was a bundle of nerves, yet he was my solid rock. He came to my first appointment and held my hand during my session with the doctor. His face went taut as he heard how my marriage to Danny began.

I had a few moments when I thought I was going to lose my fingers. He squeezed them so tight the blood circulation stopped at my wrist. After an hour of numbness, I finally regained sensation back to my hand.

Josh was true to his word and kept lowering my dose of medication, but instead of once a week, he decided every four days.

After the Thanksgiving break, I returned to work, showing off my beautiful ring to Blake, Joanne, Jonathan, Sean, and the rest of my co-workers. They both received a smack from me because Michael had confided in them about his proposal, and they never once hinted his plans to me.

At Joanne’s request, we went gown shopping. We haven’t even set a date, and she has me out looking for gowns. At least I can relax as to where the wedding will be held—on the 4C Ranch, secluded within the heavenly forest God created.

It is already the eighteenth of December, and I told Michael I wasn’t going to take a sedative, which helped me sleep through the night. He went frantic and all caveman on me, calling Josh in haste. Josh agreed with me, at least to try it for one night.

Michael wasn’t happy. He argued with me, saying I’ve only been on them for few weeks. He had no choice except to go along with the plan.

“Are you sure you’re ready to do this?” Michael asks, looking for reassurance.

“Yes, Michael, please. I don’t want to become dependent on these. I have to try. You’ll be here with me, won’t you?” I ask.

“Well, of course, Ariana, where the hell else would I be but by your side?”

“Yes, what was I thinking?” I say and kiss him.

***

I’m lying on the comforter, swaying to the music “Someone Like You” by Van Morrison. I let out a screech when Michael grasps my ankles and pulls me down, leaving my butt at the edge of the bed. He stands over me, bare-chested, looking all Neanderthal, and smiles. “I have the perfect sedative to help you sleep tonight,” he rasps out with a devious expression on his face.

I catch the gleam in his eyes as his mind swirls with his mischievous thoughts, and I’m getting excited. My heart rushes over to her treadmill to warm up, flashing a huge grin across her face. My insides go Jell-O waiting anxiously for the erotic sensation to explode.

“Do tell,” I whisper.

His eyes grow dark and seductive. “I’ll show you,” he answers and removes my panties and tank top. I gasp with excitement, and already the juices are flowing out with anticipation.

He spreads my legs apart, standing between them, and his hands begin to touch my breasts gently. He bends down and pulls one nipple into his warm, inviting mouth, making me jump from the arousing pleasure. His other hand slides down my chest and over my abdomen, and two of his long, thick fingers slip into the wet folds of my sex.

“Michael.” I gasp, and scream out his name, feeling the heat and tension rise in my body. He muffles my mouth with his lips.

His fingers continue to slither in and out, side to side, in a circular motion, driving me into paradise. I wrap my arms around him, begging and pleading for him to enter.

He pulls back, and I whimper. His mouth swipes over my lower lip and his tongue slowly licks its way down my neck, tasting and kissing. From there, he finds his way down to my abdomen, making me quiver with just the touch of his lips against my flesh. His mouth reaches my sex, and he slicks his tongue over my pink folds, sending me practically over the edge as he licks and nips, covering every area as his fingers continue to penetrate deep inside me, working their magic as his thumb massages my clit making me all wet and crazier. He moans against me, which adds to the sexual explosion I’m about to have.

I jerk my hips up from the erotic sensation that shoots up from my groin through my body, leaving my heart to palpitate. “Ahhh! God, Michael,” I cry out. My head thrashes side to side, and I feel drunk and drugged from his tantalizing tongue and fingers as he sinks them deeper inside of me.

I push my hips against his mouth, feeling his lips sucking my clit and fingers sliding in and out, over and over as the tension starts to build higher than it ever has. I let out one last scream before the orgasm of all orgasms takes over my mind, body, and soul.

Michael climbs over me and sucks my tongue into his moist mouth while his fingers continue to enter me, feeling the shivers coursing through me in violent waves. I wrap my legs and arms around his muscular frame like a snake waiting for the last shudder to abate.

He rests his head against my neck, kissing and sucking my skin.

“God, Michael. You’re . . . amazing. I don’t think I could ever compete with that,” I whisper into his ear, still reeling from the orgasm.

He chuckles and slowly lifts his head up. I gaze into his eyes, which are burning with pure hunger. “I’m not done with you, future Mrs. Grayson.” His eyes radiate with a never-ending want.

I gasp as the moisture between my legs increases. I bite my lower lip, anticipating his next move. “I want to please you,” I whisper. I’ll do anything for this man.

“You will, Ariana, don’t you worry. Remember what I said about wanting your pretty little virgin ass for myself?” He expresses with lust-filled eyes.