NEARLY Trilogy

by Ashley, Devon

  “Or rather, stay home and work on finding Thea.”

  He pulled into a spot and shut off the engine. “I already have people looking. Hell, I had them looking long before Thea was taken.” My eyes perked open. “Don’t look so surprised,” he said. “He’s my enemy now, too. But I can’t make him magically appear out of thin air and we can’t stay cooped up forever.” Giving me a strong look, he added, “Now come on,” before exiting and shutting his door.

  Reluctantly, I did the same and grabbed my bag. “I hope you’re still with me,” I said quietly, knowing full well no one could really offer any assurances.

  Because really, I had a bad feeling about this.

  Ten minutes later we had climbed to the second deck and made our way through the endless sea of people. Zander sat down and leaned back comfortably. I guess I could’ve kept standing. It seemed about half the people were standing, half the people were sitting and half were donned in various soccer inspired jerseys.

  I decided to sit, but I couldn’t allow myself to be as comfortable as he was. As I scanned the crowd looking for familiar faces I knew I’d never see, Zander whistled and cheered along with the crowd. Shaking my head slightly in confusion, I asked, “You’re seriously here to watch a game?”

  His piercing hazel eyes cut towards mine. “It’s Manchester United!” He said that like it was self-explanative, but I didn’t have a clue what that meant.

  I rubbed beneath my eyes and up my cheekbones, shaking my head. It was hard to believe that this was anything other than another calculated move. I’d never witnessed him to be the kind of man who went with the flow or casually enjoyed a miscellaneous activity.

  Not ten seconds after I allowed myself to lean back in my seat, my stomach made its complaints known. “I’m hungry.”

  Zander nodded his head, his eyes remaining on the play happening down on the field. At the moment I couldn’t see the game with the jumping people in front of me, most of who seemed to be college age. Not that I cared. I knew nothing about soccer, domestic or international.

  “It’s almost halftime,” he said. “We’ll grab something then.”

  I blew out my breath and settled back, trying to get comfortable. I just felt weird. Out of place. The movement of fans slowly became blurry as my mind drifted toward thoughts of Nick. Thoughts of Thea. I worried for her, but I tried not to dwell, knowing that would only upset me.

  Before I knew it Zander was rubbing my forearm, waking me from the dark recesses of my mind. A lot of the people around us were heading toward the aisles, making their way upward for halftime. I rose and followed the mass. Somewhere in the thicket, Zander grabbed my hand and began pulling. Almost lifelessly, I followed his wake, being bumped left and right by the growing number of patrons.

  My senses kicked in the moment I caught the gaze of the janitor standing in front of the family restroom. His eyes hardly focused on me, too intent on the man pulling me forward. My feet deadened, slowing my pace. At the same time Zander’s grip on my hand tightened to the point of hurting. He swung me in front of him, then wrapped both arms around me. It was surely a playful bear hug to the casual observer – a simple public display of affection that wouldn’t bat an eye amongst a crowd full of young adults doing the exact same thing. And at that point, the only one truly in the path who could see my face was the janitor, who unlocked the door to the family restroom for us, even though the sign said it was out of order.

  The survivalist within me wanted to scream, but my mind stomped out the flame. I put myself here. A willing victim. Deep down I knew this could happen. Sure, I could scream and run – he’d probably even let me. But doing that meant terminating our agreement and saying goodbye to Thea, because it was doubtful the authorities would ever find her. They hadn’t even known Friggs existed. In a sick twist of fate, I was pretty sure Zander was our only salvation. Only he could navigate the black market world she was lost in.

  So I stopped fighting and let him guide me into the restroom. Once he felt my resistance wane, Zander let me go, closing and locking the door behind us. He grabbed a black duffel off the floor and began rummaging through it.

  “How many?” he asked with his all too familiar don’t fuck with me tone.

  “How many what?” I asked dumbly.

  His movement was so swift I instinctively rushed backward. Not more than two seconds passed before he had my back pinned to the wall, one hand fisting the belt over my hip, the other gripping the back of my neck, fingertips pressing firmly behind my ears. My heart immediately began skipping irregularly, and his eyes locked possessively hard onto mine. Quietly, firmly, he said, “This is the part where you better be honest. Because if you’re not, I’m out. Right here, right now.” He gave that a moment to sink in before repeating, “Now, how many GPS trackers are on you right now?”

  “Two,” I whispered. I swallowed, then added, “My phone and in the heel of my shoe.”

  His eyes continued to stare me down, and it made me wonder if I had a tell. If I did, he probably learned it long ago.

  He released me and dug through the bag once more. Air found its way back into my lungs again. He pulled out an all too familiar contraption that I recognized from all my research as a wand that searched for GPS frequencies. He waved it over my head, down my arms, all the way to my feet. My right foot pinged. Then he dumped the contents of my purse and checked it piece by piece. My phone pinged, but so did the bag itself.

  I gasped and widened my eyes when he ripped it open to examine a chip, then shot me a look. “I didn’t know,” I blurted. “They must’ve done it when I wasn’t looking.”

  His look of annoyance didn’t fade, nor did his tone as he dumped everything out of the duffel and began throwing everything of mine into it.

  “Strip,” he commanded, tossing a new set of everything onto the floor in front of me. Shirt, jeans, sneakers. My head was slow to force my body to obey. He pulled his own shirt off and replaced it with a new one. Apparently he was getting a whole new wardrobe too, and my eyes immediately darted to the shoes he wore that might’ve been the ones that were tagged.

  “You have two choices,” he said, kicking off his shoes and unbuttoning his jeans to trade them out. “In five minutes I’m officially moving on. With or without you. You can either ditch everything you brought with you and come and stay with me as we try to find Friggs or, you can quit here. You’ll never see me again and probably never see your sister again either. Your choice.”

  He was now wearing new blue jeans and a Manchester United jersey. He adjusted the University of Oregon baseball cap now covering his blond locks. As he began stuffing his old clothes into the duffel, he added, “But know this. If you come with me, there will be rules. You’ll still have your freedom, you can still contact your family. But we’ll be off the grid. No one gets to know where we are and you only use the devices I give you to make contact.”

  He turned back to face me, all ready to go. “So what’s it going to be? Decide quickly, because in thirty seconds I’m gone.”

  It only took five of those seconds to shake myself of the stupor. I refused my mind the time to think it over, knowing it would only screw me over. And seriously, hadn’t I already put myself in this position for Thea anyway? Like I was going to back out now.

  I rapidly stepped out of my shoes and kicked them in his direction. He added them to the duffel as I traded everything else out. I wasn’t even fazed by nudity with him anymore.

  Once all my clothes were in the bag and my hair looped through the baseball cap I was now wearing, he opened the door and guided me out, his arm around my shoulders. “Keep your head down.” He briefly nodded at the janitor, who immediately pushed his cart into the private restroom and threw our duffel into his trash bin. If there weren’t physical eyes on us at the moment, no one would ever know we were heading off in the opposite direction of our trackers.

  And I feared that was the case, which only solidified when he used a key card to access the freight eleva
tor that took us to the ground level. It opened up to a reserved section, where various company vehicles were parked. Not a soul was around when we climbed into the back of a linen van, and no one would ever suspect the driver with boy-next-door looks as he easily drove us away from the stadium in the evening light.

  As of this moment, I was off the grid. Completely on my own.

  Soft kisses made a trail down my neck as a hand snaked its way down my side. I moaned myself awake, enjoying every little nibble, every little squeeze. “Baby,” I mumbled encouragingly, my head still heavy with sleep. Even when I opened my eyes I couldn’t see him in the dark. But my hands didn’t need the light to find his head.

  He knew what I liked, and in just the few weeks I’d known him, he’d proven to be the most amazing lover. Strong. Considerate. Passionate. I was going to have to suck it up and introduce this one to my family, age difference be damned.

  I wasn’t sure how long he’d been working me before I finally woke up, but already my nerves were firing, vibrating tickles traveling up my body in waves. I sucked in a quick breath when he suddenly pushed inside me. Because apparently I wasn’t wearing any type of clothing. I didn’t even know where I was, other than the fact that I was in a bed somewhere. His place? Mine? Hell if I knew…or seemed to care once our bodies began to move.

  My hands slid roughly around him, my body aching to be touched even more. Fingers pressed, nails scratched. My kisses deepened, first on his mouth, then against the spot on his neck that always lit a fire. Matteo moaned sensually and quickened our pace. I loved how playfully rough he could be with me at times. Just like when he abruptly stopped to flip me around and yank me onto his lap. His right hand slipped around and slithered its way upward, just as his left wrapped possessively around my waist.

  I was giddy with anticipation, knowing exactly what was about to happen. I elongated my neck over his shoulder just as his fingers splayed across it and began to squeeze. I couldn’t clarify exactly what always happened, just that every time he did it, this unexplainable sensation rushed through my body. My core tightened, my body sang. Even my lungs didn’t seem to care, as if it could feed off the sensations as what air remained burned away.

  Matteo released his grip just long enough for a shot of air to sweep through. It was thick, hot and smothered with the scent of sex. I gulped as much as he would allow. His hands became rougher as he started the motion between us again. I moved with him freely, my neck still draped over his shoulder. His grip tautened. My moans became more raspy, air fighting to squeeze its way through his restricted access. My hand moved to grasp his forearm, but not in an effort to remove it.

  Air seeped away, but I didn’t care. I’d never known how fucking amazing sex could be this way. Had someone ever asked me if I’d be willing to try, I would’ve told them fuck no, you perv. But Matteo never asked. He just reached up and did it out of nowhere one night. I was somewhat ashamed to admit the excitement was immediate. I felt so inexperienced around him sometimes. But I’d come to trust him in a sexual manner, so I’d learned to just go with the flow when he tried something new. No matter how scary it seemed.

  Which was what was happening right now since Matteo hadn’t allowed me to accept another breath.

  My lungs began to burn for real now. Instinctively, my body struggled as it panicked that air might never return. All the while completely turned on. He’d never pushed me this far before, never denied me air to the point I began seeing spots. Funny I could know given the darkness. But I didn’t have to see them to know they were there. Both my hands slapped at his forearm, trying to yank it down without success. My lower body was flooded with spasms of a different variety, completely unaware that my upper body found my current situation anything but euphoric and orgasmic.

  Matteo’s grip tightened instead of loosened. My body slapped louder and faster against him, his groans increasing as he reached the cusp of his climax. I might’ve been there myself but all I could focus on was the increasing pressure within my head and the searing pain exploding throughout the nerves inside my lungs.

  My head flamed hot as fire, my thoughts so painful they began to disintegrate into nothingness as the spots grew so large they completely took over my lack of vision.

  After several hours of driving and minimal talking, Zander pulled off of the two lane highway onto an unmarked dirt-paved road. We were now in a four-door silver Mercedes, which we switched to a few miles outside of Autzen stadium. I knew we headed north out of Eugene and then east somewhere in Washington, but I didn’t recognize any of the small town names as we passed them.

  “Where are we?” I asked, glancing at the GPS map on the console, noticing we were somewhere on the outskirts of Eatonville. What the hell was out here?

  “One of my homes,” he replied. “Our home,” he added, cutting a brief glance my way. “At least until we find what we’re looking for. Or they find us.”

  I turned to look at him, his dark form cast light blue from the dash. “Can they do that?”

  “The longer we search and the more people I have to engage will increase the likelihood of him catching wind.”

  Awesome.

  Lights began to wink between the trees. As the road curved, the house became somewhat visible amongst the blackened forest. A two-story log, sleek and masculine, with beautiful large glass windows to enjoy the view.

  And probably fucking shatterproof. Why was I not surprised that another one of his homes were lost in the forest?

  I sighed as he parked the car out front, then stood outside staring up at my current reality. The air was cold, crisp and reminded me of Christmas trees. My feet were a little reluctant to move forward, even when he silently stared at me from the open doorway. His head motioned for me to enter, and apparently, it was all my head needed to comply.

  The log theme continued on the inside. Rich, chestnut-colored wood was everywhere in various blends – the walls, floors, even the ceiling – accompanied by splashes of natural stone. The kitchen had a lot of stainless steel. The only thing that kept it from masculine-overkill were the soft touches of light shaded upholstery and the lack of added wooden décor. And like I expected of one of Zander’s real homes, it was sleek and high tech.

  He locked the door behind us, setting the alarm. When I turned to eye him for it, he said, “Simply precaution.” I cocked my brows at him. As he passed by, he said, “The code is 8256, should you need it.”

  Zander continued on down the hall that passed the stairs made of split logs that led to the loft. Suspicion got the best of me and I tried the code on the door. Sure enough, the alarm disengaged. When I unlocked the door, it swung open without any problem. A slow breeze cooled my skin, and I closed and re-secured the door. I meandered through the large living room, noting that the windows were the kind you could open, not thick singular pieces of glass that were unbreakable. I was half tempted to open one, but figured the alarm would probably go off. And I realized I didn’t need to test it. This home was nothing like the ones he kept prisoners in. From the door to the windows to the lack of locking mechanisms on the inner doors. And from what I could see, there were no metal loops protruding from the ceilings or floors that could be used to tie me down.

  I was actually free to move about, which was a whole new kind of prison for me. Probably with a whole new set of rules.

  I thought Zander had taken off for the master, but the short hallway only led to a powder room, then to a large study, with double French doors that led to the deck that wrapped around the backside of the house. He was leaning over, hands flat against the desk, watching a laptop do something, but his eyes lifted to acknowledge my entrance.

  “I need to call Nick.”

  “It’s three in the morning.”

  “No way he’s asleep,” I argued firmly. “And no way he’ll sleep until he knows something.”

  “Forgive me, but since he’s the only one not taking any risks here, I’m not inclined to care that his sleep schedule might be fuc
ked up for a few days.”

  I stared at him silently for a moment, but his attention had returned to the computer.

  “You promised I’d be allowed contact. If you’re already reneging on this, what’s to stop you from doing the same about my freedom?”

  He rubbed his eyes while he sighed and the urge to yawn overcame me. He walked around the desk to lean his backside against it. “I’m not defaulting on our agreement. But making contact requires a lot of protection on our part to keep our location secret. It’s imperative. Regardless of who you trust, let me remind you how easily I obtained information from the authorities to locate you the first time. Friggs can just as easily do that. We want to find him, not the other way around. No one can know where we are. No one. Not even your family. So when you do contact them, defenses must be put into place. Now I’ve already had someone come in and set us up for that, but I’m too tired to check his work tonight. I trust no one. Ever. So you can call Nick, but not until tomorrow, once I’ve checked the security behind it.”

  I hated to admit it, but I knew he was right. Still, it didn’t keep me from giving him a disgruntled look before leaving the room.

  Back in the living room, the only other thing I saw on the first floor was the kitchen and dining nook. I wasn’t hungry or thirsty, so I had no interest in checking it out. My attention locked on the stairs and soon my feet were following the silent command to ascend. The loft was open space, all dedicated to the master suite. The entire back wall was one large triangular piece of glass broken into several sections from floor to ceiling – which I had to admit was pretty impressive. As was the spectacular view of trees shooting up higher than the house.

  Two lounging chaises sat before the window looking out, a small double-tiered table between them with a lamp up top and several books stacked below. The king-sized bed was so ominously center stage that it was hard to focus on anything else in the loft, including the wall of built-in wardrobe cabinetry on the left hand side. Off to the right was the entrance to the master bath, which I was even more scared of. My skin shivered the moment I remembered the last time Zander cornered me in the shower…and the way I let him take me there.