by Jill Sanders
Blaine and Jamie were still on the sofa, holding one another.
“Emily.” Jamie jumped up and rushed to hug her when she noticed them. “Thank you,” she said holding onto her. “Your dad is amazing.”
Emily nodded in agreement as tears burned her eyes.
Chapter 18
The following day, Rafe was so busy in surgery he didn’t have time to think about Jamie and the case.
He was looking forward to having the entire weekend off and spending some time with Emily. She had classes Saturday morning, and was working Saturday afternoon for a few hours, but all-day Sunday they were both free. He was really looking forward to their first official date. He’d been so busy, he hadn’t planned anything yet, which made him feel like a loser.
He’d wined and dined several of his exes, yet somehow, none of what he’d planned for the other women in his past seemed remotely acceptable for Emily.
Most of the women he’d dated hadn’t been both working and attending school full time, so they had been thrilled at spending a date rushing around from club to club.
Emily was different. He doubted she’d want to spend time hopping between night spots. What he knew she would appreciate much more was some downtime. During his first break, he pulled out his cell phone and started plotting out their time together.
He shadowed Dr. Adams and Dr. Woods and felt that Dr. Woods had a better style and better bedside manner than Dr. Adams.
Not that the man was rude or bad at his job. It was just that he was younger and gave off the appearance that he would rather be anywhere other than where he was.
Rafe was determined never to act as if he’d rather be in private practice, which he was sure Dr. Adams did.
By the time he clocked out, showered, and dressed in his own clothes, it was just past eleven that evening. He’d gotten a few text messages from Emily and Blaine but hadn’t responded to either yet.
Rereading Emily’s message about how Jamie’s meeting with the cops had gone, he dialed her as he headed out to his bike.
“Hi,” she answered on the second ring.
“Hi.” He stopped midstep and just took in how it made him feel, hearing her cheerful voice.
“How was today?” she asked.
“Great, we removed a gall bladder.” Then he realized what he’d said and sighed. “I mean, not good for the patient, but…”
She chuckled. “I know what you meant.”
“It’s exciting to watch and participate in surgeries I’ve studied for years.” He started walking again. “How did Jamie’s meeting go?”
“She says it went well. But my father threw a bunch of legal jargon—Jamie’s words, not mine—at the police. She’s been promised they won’t pursue legal action against her, and she’s been awarded immunity by the prosecutor. They hope to have more details on the bodies found at the property. They’re up to ten right now. Some are estimated to have been there for longer than two years. I’m getting that information from the news, not Jamie,” she added, then whispered, “We’re trying to keep her from focusing too much on the news.”
“That’s good.” He slipped his bag over his shoulders and sat on the bike with his helmet in his lap.
“Blaine took her out tonight. He promised it was to someplace quiet and relaxing.”
“Can I come over?” he asked, needing to see her again. He hadn’t stayed long after eating last night since he knew he had another early morning.
“Yes,” she agreed, and he could hear her smiling over the phone.
“I’ll be there in fifteen.” Thirteen minutes later, he knocked on her apartment door.
When she opened it, it was as if a wave of lust crashed over him. Something so strong it forced him to move. Before he knew it, he was kissing her. Her body crushed against his as he took what he needed from her.
Thankfully, she met him with her own urgency. Her nails scraped his skin as she pulled off his shirt and tugged down his jeans.
They fumbled with clothes and vaguely he thought about trying to make it to her room, but instead, pinned her up against the front door and took her fast and hard there.
He’d never felt such an urgency before. The need to be inside her, to consume her, to feel her wrap around him completely. It was as if he knew their time was the most precious thing in his life. Like breathing, he had to be with her. To feel her convulse around him, to release everything she was just for him.
“I didn’t plan this,” he said into her hair when they were both panting against one another’s skin.
“I did.” She laughed against his shoulder. “Well, I figured we’d at least make it to my room.” She glanced around.
He laughed and then hoisted her up in his arms and carried her down the hallway.
“When Jamie comes back, she’s going to see our clothes everywhere…” she started.
“It’s not like we haven’t seen her clothes strewed all over before,” he added, shutting her door with his foot.
She felt so good in his arms, he was determined to do it as often as he could.
“This is nice,” he said, looking down at her.
“I like it myself.” She ran her finger down his jaw and traced his dimple, and he felt himself grow hard again.
“Now you’ve done it,” he said in a low tone just before he kissed her again. This time, he intended to go slow and enjoy every minute with her.
As the kiss turned deeper and he felt her body start to vibrate, he moved further into her room and let her naked body slide down his. Feeling her nipples slide against his, he released a low moan.
“My god,” she said when her feet finally touched the ground.
“Yes,” he agreed as he cupped her sex. She threw her head back with pleasure. “There it is,” he said, moving his hands slightly until her nails dug into his shoulders. “Hold on to me,” he urged.
“Rafe,” she gasped as he leaned down and gently pulled one of her nipples into his mouth. He nudged her gently and had her spreading out on the bed. Then, quickly, he turned her around until she was on her hands and knees in front of him. His mouth traveled down her shoulder as he hovered over her while he used his fingers to spread her wider.
Her back arched and he about lost himself at the view of her ass in the air. “Babe,” he groaned, and leaned down to nibble on the soft skin. She laughed and jerked forward, but he held her still and then licked the spot until she was moaning his name.
“Rafe, please,” she begged, and jerked back towards him.
Slipping on another condom, he nudged her further onto the bed until he was positioned outside of her sweetness. When he slid home, he was sure he was completely destroyed for any other. The way she moved, the sweet scent of her sex, the taste of her—nothing would ever compare to her. To this moment.
When they fell with each other to the bed, he figured that if the place was on fire, he would happily watch it burn around him.
“It’s a good thing I don’t have to be up until eight,” she said next to him.
“Hm,” he agreed. Then he realized he could sleep in and smiled. “I have the whole weekend.”
“I hate you,” she replied, causing him to chuckle.
“Hey, I earned it.”
“Yes, you did.” She rolled over to look down at him.
“Jamie’s staying at your place tonight,” she added with a smile.
“I brought extra clothes.” He smiled up at her and brushed a strand of her hair away from her face.
“Good, because I wasn’t done with you yet.” She leaned in and kissed him.
“God, how can you do that to me?” he said after he felt his body building again.
“Magical powers.” She straddled his hips as she continued to run her mouth over him.
“More like education on how to revive the dead.” He hissed when she wrapped her hand around his length, and his eyes crossed with pleasure.
“Like that?” she asked as she licked his nipple.
“Witch.
” He leaned back and let her take control of him. It was impossible to pin down why, but letting her take the reins was almost as powerful as him taking what he wanted from her. Somehow, he ended up enjoying her enjoyment more than his own.
When she slid down on him, he was positive that every time he was with her would be better than the last.
Watching her long hair fall around her shoulders as she moved over him, as she arched back and took what she wanted, he felt his heart slip from his chest and knew that he had lost it forever. There was no going back now. Rafe Turner was in love. Now all he had to do was figure out how he was going to tell Emily about it.
It wasn’t hard to drift off with her wrapped around him. He heard her wake and wished that it was Sunday and they could spend the entire day in bed with one another.
Instead, he got up while she showered and made an egg and bacon breakfast sandwich for her. When she stepped out of the bedroom, he was sitting at their bar waiting for her.
“I know you only have a few minutes…”
She walked over and kissed him. “I have fifteen,” she said after glancing at her watch. “This is perfect.” She sipped her orange juice.
“I have planned a few things for tomorrow, but since it’s your first day off in weeks, I want to run them by you first.”
“I’m up for whatever,” she said after taking a bite of her sandwich.
His eyebrows rose. “So, you’re okay with bull riding?”
She laughed. “Okay, run them by me.”
“Beach day. I figured we’d head down to the Keys. I know this guy who has a boat. We can spend the day getting lost in the Keys, fishing? Or we can head north…”
“Boating sounds fun.” She glanced at him sideways. “Can you pilot a boat?”
He thought about it. “Blaine showed me all there is to know.” He nodded.
“Then it’s settled.” She stood up and kissed him. “I’ll see you later. I have to get to school.” She glanced at her watch. “I’m meeting Jamie in about ten minutes.” She kissed him again. “Enjoy your day off.”
“I’ll try,” he said, following her out after setting their dishes in the sink. “I may sleep the rest of it and dream of you and what we did last night.” He pulled her back into his arms for one more kiss before letting her get into her car.
He took his time driving back to his apartment. The sky was almost eerily dark, and he knew that they were due for some rain that day. He wondered if the weather was going to hold for their trip tomorrow. He was pretty confident piloting Blaine’s boat in nice weather but had never tried it in rain or worse.
He knew they could get some strong storms along the coast and worried about running into something he couldn’t handle.
But he figured he had plenty of time today to finalize their plans and chart out the rest of the trip. He could even come up with a clever way of telling Emily how he felt. After all, it would be his first time telling someone and he wanted to make it count.
Parking beside Blaine’s car, he carried his bag upstairs, a little excited at what the day would hold. Seeing Blaine on the phone, he tossed his things into his own room and waited.
“What?” he asked when Blaine hung up and cursed.
“That was Roger, the TA in Jamie and Emily’s first class. I ran into him yesterday and asked him to let me know if Jamie skipped any classes.” He was talking as he punched Jamie’s phone number on his cell. “She’s not answering.” He glanced up at Rafe.
Rafe pulled out his phone and noticed he had a voicemail from Emily.
Hitting speaker, they both listened as Emily screamed in the phone and yelled out the words kidnapped and Jamie before the phone went dead.
“That was five minutes ago,” he said. His hands shook as he hit redial, only to have a stranger answer her phone in a calm voice.
“Who is this?” Rafe asked.
“Corey,” the guy answered easily.
“Where is Emily?”
“Who?” The guy almost laughed.
“The woman who owns this phone.” He almost yelled it.
“Oh, I found it lying in the parking lot,” the guy answered.
“Where?” Rafe asked.
“Just outside the Miller building at UM.”
“Don’t move. We’ll be right there,” Rafe said moving towards the door.
“Dude, I’m going to be late for class,” Corey said in return.
“If you move a muscle…” He tried to think of some sort of threat to get the guy to stay put. “I’m a TA at the college. I’ll hunt you down and personally make sure you flunk all of your classes.” Rafe hung up without waiting for an answer as he ran towards their front door, Blaine not far behind him. “You’re driving,” he said to Blaine as they ran down their stairs.
They made it to the campus in under ten minutes, sometimes hitting close to one hundred miles per hour, but Rafe trusted Blaine behind the wheel.
There was a skinny kid standing in the parking lot, looking worried when they pulled up in front of them.
“Where?” Rafe asked, not even introducing himself.
“Right here.” The kid pointed to the ground and shoved Emily’s phone in Rafe’s hands and then turned to rush off.
“Shit.” Rafe glanced around.
“Shit.” Blaine agreed.
Rafe spotted Emily’s car and rushed over to see the driver door hanging wide open. Her purse and bag were still inside, sending his heart racing even further.
“Jamie’s car?” Rafe asked, turning in circles to look for any clues.
“Here.” Blaine motioned to the car sitting next to Emily’s. “Her purse and school bag are gone.”
Rafe had tried numerous times to call Jamie’s cell while Blaine drove, but each time it had gone directly to voicemail.
“We have to call the police,” Blaine said, pulling out his phone.
The sinking feeling in Rafe’s stomach doubled just thinking about losing Emily. He hadn’t even had a chance to tell her how he felt about her. He silently promised himself that, if he was just given one more chance, if he could find her alive and well, that he’d make it all up to her.
Chapter 19
Emily felt her head spinning and reached up to touch where the pain was.
“Don’t touch it,” Jamie whispered. It was so dark, but Emily instantly relaxed knowing her friend was there for her. Had she drunk too much and fallen down? For some reason, she just couldn’t remember how she had gotten there or even where there was.
“Jamie?” She started to move, but her friend held her still.
“No, shhh, he needs to think we’re knocked out still,” Jamie said right next to Emily’s ear.
Then finally it registered. The sound of a car, the smell of gasoline, oil, the feeling of the small space in the trunk of a car.
The side of her head was hurting so bad, and she could tell that she had a bump already growing there.
“What…” Then the memory of seeing a man struggling with Jamie in the parking lot surfaced, and Emily’s entire body tensed. “Are you hurt?” She started feeling for her friend.
“I’m okay,” Jamie said next to her ear. “He tried to break off the trunk’s emergency release, but I used my shoe and I think I can get it open. The next time the car slows down, we can jump out.” Her friend pushed her hands away from her, so she reached up and touched the side of her own head. Her fingers came away wet, signaling that she was bleeding. “Get ready.”
“Oh my god.” She tried to keep the sob from sounding too loud. After all, Jamie was right. They couldn’t let their kidnapper know that they were awake and what they were planning.
“We have to run, after,” Jamie said. “No matter what happens, run as far and as fast as you can.”
Emily felt the car slowing and sensed Jamie tensing beside her. “I love you,” her friend whispered. “No matter what happens, I love you.” Suddenly, Jamie jerked her arm and the trunk of the car popped open.
Jamie’s hand
s shoved her from the back as she pushed Emily from the moving vehicle.
As if in slow motion, Emily watched the dark sky above her twirl. She registered the rain washing over her body, just before the sting of pavement bit into her skin. She must have rolled several times, but honestly, she couldn’t remember anything but hearing a loud buzzing sound in her ears as her body shook with the impact.
When she finally felt herself come to a stop, she dared to open her eyes. For a moment, she had forgotten where she was and what was going on again. Then like a flash of lightning, everything was back.
Pulling herself up on her arms, she prepared to run, only to have her leg buckle underneath her.
Glancing down at her leg, she had to blink a few times for her brain to finally register that the large white thing sticking out of her jeans was a bone. When her foggy brain registered that it was her bone, she sat back down on the pavement and tried to remember what to do next. All her training had fled her mind. There was no pain. Not yet, but she knew it would come.
Then she remembered Jamie and glanced up in time to see the car speed off and the taillights disappearing in the distance.
“Jamie,” she cried out, desperately looking around for her friend, hoping that somehow, she had managed to jump out as well.
But Emily was alone, sitting in the middle of the road as the rain washed over her. She didn’t even know where she was or how she was going to get out of the center of the road. Could she crawl? How was she going to be found? Looking up and down the road, she could see a few headlights and knew instantly that she was in trouble when one started heading directly towards her.
Would they see her in time? She started to drag herself out of the center of the road and cried out as the pain finally caught up with her.
Closing her eyes, she lay in the road, breathing hard as she waited for the approaching car’s wheels to slam into her.
When the new pain never came, she glanced over and watched as a woman rushed from the car in the rain, towards her.
“Help,” she whispered. “He has Jamie,” she told the woman, just before everything went dark.