by Em Pitts
We stopped inches apart. If I breathed deep enough my chest would touch his. I stared up into his eyes as he glared down into mine. He wasn't fooling anyone though. I still saw the hurt. It spoke to some part of me and all I wanted to do at that moment was take it away.
"Fuck. Off." He growled from clenched teeth, surprising me by using my own language. Aw, he has been listening. Not the time, be mean and scary Tessa!
"Or. What." I growled back. The ground was still rumbling around us and we stood in the middle of the waves glowering at each other. I took that deep breath in and felt my chest brush against him a moment before his body stiffened. Silence hit like the eye of a storm. Then the dam burst.
It didn't matter who moved first. We crashed together in a flurry of teeth and lips. Arms banded around me, caging us impossibly close and I bit his lip in retribution. His tongue swiped in my mouth and destroyed any of my working brain cells at that moment. We fought for dominance, we fought for our anger and pain, and nothing ever tasted as delicious.
He growled as I yanked his hair. My lips moved towards his neck and I felt a delectable pull at the base of my hair tilting my head back just as my teeth nipped him.
I dropped back to my heels not realizing I had been stretching upwards to reach him. He followed me back down and attacked my lips again. So, fucking good. I was practically purring as my back hit the wall and hands roughly grabbed my ass lifting me up.
A loud knock rang out from the door and we both froze with our lips still touching. My wide-eyed stare mirrored Ollie's and neither of us moved an inch. I wasn't sure if we were even breathing at that moment. I was about to tell him to ignore it when the knock sounded again.
"Ollie, Eliza is here. When you're ready we can let them in." Raynor's voice rang out in the quiet.
Ollie's hands yanked away from me and he stumbled back. A bucket of ice water couldn't have doused me faster than his look of terror. He went to move towards the door, and I jumped forward grabbing onto his arm stopping him. He was as stiff as a statue and refused to look at me. I get that he clearly regretted whatever just happened, but I wasn't about to be an asshole about it.
"You're a mess," I spoke quietly, not knowing if Raynor was still at the door. My hands went to smooth his hair from where I yanked it and he stepped back again. He fixed his hair and went to the door. "Shirt," I called out and watched him smooth and tuck in the shirt that was pulled during our frenzy.
He stepped out the door without a backward glance and I debated following him or just staying in here. It was going to be humiliating facing him after that rejection, but it was bound to happen eventually. I pulled my big girl pants up metaphorically and smoothed out my own appearance finding my bonnet tossed on the floor near one of the beds. Time to go face everyone and find out what is going on with Eliza and Aska. Shit, Aska.
I just made out with her boyfriend in the room next to her. Maybe I misread their situation? I didn’t misread his expression afterward though. Was he terrified I would tell her? It didn't matter, because it was not happening again.
Fuck, what if she sends her travel companion to take care of me? Then I deserve it for touching a taken man. No, it would be both our faults. So at least Ollie would be stabbed with me. That's comforting, right? Breathing deep a few times, I stepped through the door.
19
Eliza was huddled into Nick's side and Aska was smiling and kneeling in front of her. I didn't look at anyone else, scared to see what Ollie looked like. Scared that the others heard us in there. Eliza’s eyes shot to mine when the door closed behind me.
"I'm not leaving Cindy." I didn’t realize she was talking to me until I saw the others look to me as well.
“Who?” And why was I supposed to know who she was talking about when I have only met her once?
"My doll." Eliza kept holding onto Nick's leg as she stared me down to fix this problem. Problem was, I didn't know what was going on because the buffoons I surrounded myself with didn't tell me.
"Cindy is at the chandler’s shop." I shrugged. I know Walter kept it for her when she visited.
"I'm not leaving without her." She said again looking towards Nick now.
"There are plenty of other toys you can play with." He spoke gently. "There's even some here that you can pick to take with you." He pointed out the items in the corner with the hoop.
"I want Cindy." She demanded with a stomp of her foot.
I was staggered by the girl’s strong reaction. She seemed to just accept that she couldn't have Cindy whenever she left the chandlers before. Why is she demanding the doll now? She broke away from Nick and ran up to me clinging to my skirts.
"You have to get Cindy." Her lip was wobbling and I was scared that tears would be pouring down at any moment. I leaned down and grabbed her under her arms, carrying her to the table to sit.
"Okay," I whispered and pet her hair then looked questioningly at Nick. "Why can't we get Cindy?" I heard the hiccup from Eliza as I sat her down.
I removed the bonnet and started working my fingers through her hair to calm her. It worked on me just recently. Nick ran his hands through his hair in exasperation.
"We didn't know she was talking about a doll. I thought she was talking about a person and we couldn't take her." He admitted. "It's too risky to get it now though. If they haven't already, the alarm will be sounded soon." Alarm?
"What if we make a new Cindy?" Aska spoke gently from beside Eliza. I didn't even realize she moved.
"It won't be Cindy!" The little girl cried.
"Eliza," I cooed as I knelt to her unoccupied side. "Have you seen a doll made by Bridget before?" she shook her head and miserably repeated her previous statement. "I don't want to replace Cindy," I assured her and waited for her to look at me. The tears on her face were breaking my heart. "She likes you better than me, remember?" I got a sad little head nod. It was progress. "Have you seen the way Bridget makes a doll?" I asked her again.
"Yes. She made one that my father threw away." I clenched my jaw in anger for a moment.
When I meet Mr. Smith, I'm going to kick his balls in. Or not, if I'm getting a death penalty for it. I'll get one of the guys to keep his balls in.
"Well, how would you like it if she gave Cindy a new dress?" I asked remembering the Chandler’s words. "I can bring Cindy to you and she will look like a princess. Just like you. We just have to give Bridget time to make the dress first." I smiled.
"It will be Cindy? You won't change her?" She looked hopefully at me. This poor child who only wants to keep her doll.
"I won't change her," I promised. Eliza threw her arms around me and hugged me tightly.
"Are you ready to go?" Aska asked and I felt Eliza nod her head against me. I loosened my arms and waited for her to release me.
She looked unsure as she took Aska's hand and followed her to leave. Ollie was with Aska and her companion as they walked through the doorway. I saw Eliza reach out and touch the parted water in awe before the door was fully reformed.
"What is going on?" I demanded as I whirled around to meet the guys.
A sheepish expression took over Isaake's face and Nick cringed. "Ollie is going to be pissed," Raynor spoke without answering my question.
"I don't care about what Ollie is feeling right now." I gritted out. Especially since minutes before he was feeling on my ass. "Explain to me why there is a little girl here going away with Aska, and why there would be an alarm raised making it unsafe to get her doll, and why she was crying as if she would never see it again."
The others did not look in an explaining mood. They didn't have to though, because the pieces were clicking together in my head. Children missing. Kidnapped. Everyone around the guys was asking about Eliza. They planned this.
"You kidnapped her?" I whispered unbelievingly. "You just took a child from her home. Why?" I demanded. "Is this some sort of power play?"
I backed up disgusted with them. Disgusted with me. I didn't question why she was here. I trusted
them and just went along with everything. There are always warning signs for crazy people, right? Like a fucking secret bunker and visitors that they didn't want me to know about. I just helped them take that child.
"It's not what you think." Isaake held his hands up trying to stop me from running. Jokes on him, I'm trapped here. I couldn't even dig myself free without drowning in the process.
"Where did you take her? Where are you taking all of them?" If they are hurting them, so help me, I'll fight here and now until one or all of us die.
"She's going back with the tribe. Stop judging without knowing what's going on and sit your ass down." Raynor spoke up seating himself at the table. I stayed pressed against the wall and kept inching over towards the lit torch.
"She's safe." Nick's raspy voice was soothing in a familiar way now, and I hated that. "All of them are safe. They are safer with Aska then they ever were at home." That had me pausing my movements.
Is he saying they were saving the children from being victims? Or maybe I was just looking for the good in this situation, because I was afraid I fucked up and trusted the wrong people. Isaake jumped on my indecision.
"It's true. We only take the children who need it and we always give them the choice."
"Then why was Eliza so devastated?" I pointed out thinking about how uncomfortable she seemed and how heartbroken she was... over her doll.
"Because we left Cindy." Isaake echoed what my mind was already telling me. "We didn't know, or we would have got her at the same time. Now we can bring her the doll later."
The familiar rumbling of the earth caused my heart to skip as Ollie walked inside to the chaos he left behind. He looked at me huddled against the wall, at Nick and Isaake trying to talk me down, and finally at Raynor sitting at the table not bothering to do anything to help the situation. Ollie's head shook in agitation as he went to the cabinet and started searching around.
"She's fine." he mocked in the silence. "She can hang out in the sleeping area." He continued rambling. The clanking of things moving around filled the space. "Why the fuck don't we keep alcohol in here?" He demanded out.
"Because of the children," Isaake responded without looking away from me.
Ollie stood up with a huff and started towards the giant bedroom. "I'm done with this night." He called out as he scratched his beard.
"You can stay here tonight, and we'll explain everything. Just give us a chance to listen." Isaake begged of me. Nick looked encouraging and Raynor looked like nothing was bothering him, even as I heard his knuckles crack from under the table.
"She's not staying here," Ollie growled out with the door half open.
"We need time to explain." Nick protested.
"I need to be at my house," Raynor spoke up drawing the guys attention to him. "I'm supposed to switch with Hector tonight, remember? None of us can leave if you go pass out with the door sealed shut."
Ollie's knuckles turned white from the grip he had on the doorknob. Finally, he shut the door and faced the room. "Let's go." He strode to the entrance and looked to Nick. Nick gave him a nod before the wall started rumbling. Ollie's gaze pinned me to my spot. "We are dropping off Raynor and you are going back to the tavern." He demanded. I nodded in agreement. Why would I argue about getting away from them right now?
I tried to stay behind everyone as we were leaving, but Raynor took up the rear squashing that plan. Everyone was silent. Ollie was brooding, I was freaking out, Nick and Isaake looked worried, and Raynor...I glanced back and couldn't tell what he was thinking. His fingers were red from the gripping he was doing though, giving away that he wasn't as collected as he seemed either.
I found out their secret. It was a big secret too. Kidnapping children from their village and giving them to the Native American tribe nearby. Why?
"Maybe we should just walk it off tonight," Isaake suggested from in front of me.
"We need to get Raynor home." Ollie cut him off.
"You need to let us explain things," Nick argued back. "Let her stay with us. We can sleep at Raynor's house." Ollie was already shaking his head before Nick finished his statement.
I was torn between being okay with that idea and vehemently denying it. My guilt at having played a part in Eliza's abduction was making me want to hear the men out. If I was being honest with myself, I would admit that I just really wanted them to be innocent too. I wanted these guys to be the good guys. The ones I could count on. My guys.
I didn't want to be stupid either, I needed to think logically. They just took a child away from the only home she has known, and she wasn't the first child. She may not be the last either. Oh, my god. I need to stop them.
No, I need to hear them out first. Maybe Eliza really was being abused? I can't tell which idea was coming from the devil on my shoulder and which one was the angel speaking. My thoughts were too jumbled and my heart hurt at the betrayal, even if they didn't mean to betray me by turning out to be the bad guys. Or good guys. Fuck, this is too much.
The ground was almost opened as I came out of my inner struggle. Nick and Isaake looked like they weren't going to follow Ollie. I jumped when Raynor pushed on my lower back to get me to move. "I've got to be home quick anyway. Figure it out when we get there." His deep voice snapped the other two into entering the tunnel. I reluctantly did too. If they were going to hurt me it would have already been done, right?
I didn't even get the chance to enjoy the rush of flying through the dark. It was a longer journey then I had taken before, but still only took minutes as compared to the hour it would have taken to walk.
The tunnel opened at the front of Raynor's home. Déjà vu struck me for a moment as I remembered the men popping up out of the ground in front of Ollie's home. I thought they were demons and tried to run away. It wasn’t much different right now.
"I'm going to go." I stammered out stepping around the closing hole and backing away to leave.
"Yes, you should," Ollie stated.
"No, wait," Isaake spoke at the same time.
"Please, just hear us out." Nick pleaded. For once he wasn't trying to laugh off the problems around him. He was serious. "We listened to you when you thought you were crazy for traveling back in time." He tried to reason.
"Accidentally jumping through time is not the same as planning and organizing kidnappings!" I grated out.
"Quiet!" Ollie spoke over us. "We don't know when Hector will be coming. Get inside if you insist on having this conversation." He walked through the door not waiting on us to follow him. Okay, Ollie was pissed. Duly noted.
Raynor's hand was on my back again leading me to the house. I kept forgetting he was there with how quiet he was being. Curiosity and guilt finally won inside me and I didn't fight to leave. I chose to listen. For now. I might be fighting soon, depending on what was said.
I was led into the living area and all the men were standing around the empty couch. "Not going to make chairs for everyone?" I directed to Ollie. He shot me a look that I ignored.
His glare wasn't as effective when I knew what was on the other side of it. Delicious tastes and stolen touches. I shook my head to get rid of the images. He might be the bad guy Tessa.
I went to sit in the middle and let them stand around me. Raynor sat beside me opting out of the standing line. Or maybe he was making sure he was close enough to keep me from bolting.
Silence. Complete silence. Awkward staring at each other in the silence. Maybe it's a guy thing, where you can't say what you're thinking? I cleared my throat to begin and saw a look of panic on Isaake's face. What did he think I was about to do?
"So, you said that it wasn't what I thought?" I started. "That you were helping the children?" Please be true. Nick and Isaake both nodded enthusiastically.
"We only take the children who need to have a safer place. We give them something better." Nick was quick to respond.
"They always get the choice too. We ask them and only take the ones who say yes." Isaake pointed out.
&
nbsp; "What do you do with the ones who don't want to go?" I thought about them trying to silence the children for knowing who was behind the kidnappings and clenched my hands.
"We would let them go," Isaake reassured. "If they wanted to stay, then they stay."
"How many have you let stay?"
"None of the kids have refused the offer before," Nick admitted.
"If they change their minds?" I thought about Eliza not wanting to leave her doll.
"We check in on them often. All the kids are safe, Tess. None of them have even mentioned returning home." Isaake replied, calming now that I was listening.
I looked each man in his eyes to see the sincerity of what I was being told. Ollie kept his arms crossed and Raynor continued his silence during my inspection. All the men had open expressions and I felt like they were speaking the truth. I wanted it to be the truth.
"I want to see them. The kids. I want to see that they are okay."
Nick looked relieved and Isaake smiled like I was accepting their crazy. I guess I was. Ollie's shoulders relaxed as well, and I realized he was worried about me too. He was probably worried I could have told someone else their secret, but I wanted him to be relieved for a different reason.
Raynor's hand rested on my leg surprising me. "You've got to give Eliza her doll anyway. You may as well meet the others." His deep voice was relieved too. It felt like everyone was taking a breath. "We can take you after the trials?" He seemed to be asking the question. I was proven right when Ollie nodded to him.
"Why did you take me with you tonight, if there was a chance I could find out about this?" I questioned looking at the men.
It didn't make sense. This secret save-the-children operation was obviously important to them and had been going on for a while. Why risk it on some woman who just didn't want to be alone tonight? Nick looked away and I saw his cheeks turn red. Ollie spoke up taking my attention from him.