by Anna Lewis
As the hot pool spread over my body, and the orgasm screamed right through me, I felt lost, consumed, taken over. The waves of pleasure violently rocked my body, and I was breathless, too hot and dizzy to even think about anything else.
Once we were both done, and we were lying next to each other holding on tightly, I could feel myself slipping away from him, eventually waking up.
“Come for me,” I begged pointlessly. “Please don’t leave me here.”
“I’m on my way,” he promised and I really had to force myself to trust him as my reality became something more unpleasant all over again…
***
Aaron
I was stood in a dark sketchy alleyway, my heart pounding painfully against my chest, while I waited for the unknown. Rick was hiding in the background to protect me, but I knew for a fact that I could be dead before he got to me. If whoever this was wanted me dead, then I would be in a heartbeat.
But that was a risk that I was willing to take for Chantelle. I had to, there was no one else around to do so, leaving me with no choice.
I hopped from foot to foot, praying that this would be over quickly. I needed this to be over now, I needed my life back. I couldn’t be dealing with this kind of craziness for too much longer, otherwise I’d surely end up doing something stupid, something I would regret.
I heard a sultry, silky voice say, “Well hello there Aaron.” I span around in shock. That voice… I knew it from somewhere. In fact it would haunt me to the end of time. I couldn’t even believe that I was hearing it again. I never thought I would, so it was a massive shock.
“Shelley?” I gasped, drinking in her long blonde hair, those piercing green eyes, and that figure that was to die for. She had been my first love when I was only eighteen years old. She was so sexy, and older, which had led me to make some very stupid decisions; decisions that had not only lost me a lot of money, but a lot of friends too.
She should have been a warning to me, but unfortunately it took me longer than I should have. It took a few more women before I closed my heart off. Until Chantelle anyway.
Shelley was gorgeous, and she hadn’t lost a thing with age. It was easy to see why I’d fallen for her, but I now knew about the ugliness inside and that put me right off her. I didn’t even want to be looking at her right now.
“What do you want Shelley?” I asked warily. I hadn’t seen her for many years, so why had she come for me now? It didn’t make any sense. I’d been with other women after her, so it couldn’t just be jealously.
Then again, I knew how messed up she was, so the fact that she had Chantelle somewhere filled me with a horrible sense of dread. She could be doing anything to her, just to get back at me and that wasn’t cool.
“What have you done with her? What do you want from me?” I said.
She stalked over to me in the highest heels, looking like the cat that had the cream. There was a smirk on her face, one that I recognized very well. It was the look she’d given me when I caught her in bed with a business associate – one that had a lot more money than me.
“It isn’t you,” she’d smirked at me. “It’s just that he’s so much… more.”
Of course, my associate had taken it as more of a man, better in bed, but I knew what she meant. He had more money than me. That was all she cared about.
“Oh Aaron, you’re always so suspicious,” she sneered at me. “You’ve always been that way. Why can’t you ever just trust me?”
She was breathing on my neck now, causing me to flinch with disgust. I hated her very being and I didn’t want her anywhere near me, but instinct told me that I had to stay still, to let her think that she was in control before I worked out what my next move would be.
“Shelley, just tell me what is going on,” I insisted, trying to sound firm. “I can’t stand this. I need you to just tell me the truth.”
“Oh fine,” she huffed, pouting pathetically. “I have her. You already know that.”
“Okay, so what do you want?” I snapped, knowing that there would only be one answer – what she always wanted. Money. “How much?”
“Oh this isn’t just about money,” she replied sharply. “Although of course I do need some cash from you.”
“Why? What have you gotten yourself involved in this time?” I said, shaking my head. She was never going to grow up at this rate, she would always be a mess.
“I need to get Jon away from Chantelle,” she replied sharply.
My mind reeled, who the hell was Jon and why did Shelley want Chantelle away from her? Suddenly her words on that fateful night came back to haunt me.
“My ex was a horrible man, and I guess it’s only fair that you know I’m still suffering the after-effects of that. I don’t want… I don’t want something to happen between us, only for my past to come back to haunt me.”
“Her ex?” I asked. “You’re with Chantelle’s ex?” Suddenly the world became a much smaller place. I was sort of with Chantelle, Shelley was with Jon… that was absolutely insane! What were the odds?
“We’ve been together on and off for years,” she said, sounding defensive now. “Now he wants only me… or at least he will when she’s out of the picture.”
Ah okay, it was starting to make some kind of twisted sense now. Shelley had always been a jealous person and I could imagine this as some sort of crazy plot on her behalf – getting back at both of us in one fell swoop.
“Right okay,” I nodded firmly. “So you want some money to get away from here.”
“Ten million,” she said proudly.
“Really?” I asked. “You need that much?”
“You know me,” she sighed happily. “I have expensive tastes.”
“Okay,” I nodded, not really wanting to give this bitch any more money, but needing to get Chantelle back all the same. “I’ll give you the money, but that’s it. I won’t give you more than one lot.”
“You really think that you’re in control here?” she asked, completely bewildered. “Can you not see that I’m in charge?”
I sighed deeply, shaking my head in disappointment. She really wanted to play this game, so I was going to have to let her. “Okay fine, you’re in charge.” I was just saying it, hoping that we could get the hell out of here and I could speak to the police afterwards, get it all sorted out. “So what is it that you need from me? How can I get Chantelle away from you and Jon?”
“I need you,” she whispered, seductively running her hands up and down my body. “If you fuck me right here in this alleyway, and hand me a check of ten million dollars, then you will never see my face again.”
Oh God, I started to panic. I didn’t want to be involved in any of this, but did I have to have sex with Shelley just to save Chantelle? It was almost unthinkable. Could I just close my eyes and do this to get what I wanted?
Could I?
I spotted Rick out of the corner of my eye, and he was rapidly shaking his head at me.
“Don’t do this,” he mouthed. “Get out now.”
My heart raced, my mind reeled, and decisions flickered through my mind. If I left now was I condemning Chantelle to death?
This was the hardest thing that I’d ever had to do in my entire life.
“No,” I stood back and replied firmly. “I won’t. I will not have sex with you.”
“What about the money?” She pleaded, starting to look like the pathetic child that I knew deep down she was.
“No,” I shook my head firmly. “You’ll not be getting one penny from me.” Then I turned and I walked away. She started screaming out from behind me, telling me that Chantelle was never going to see the light of day again, but I forced myself to block that out and keep on walking.
I would find another way to solve this, somehow. I had to.
“Are you okay?” Rick hissed into my ear as he left my side. “You did the right thing back there – if you had given in there would be no end to it. She would have given you the runaround forever.
; I nodded, agreeing with him, but inside I was a mess. I could not help but think that I would never see my Charlotte again.
Book 3: Loving You
Aaron has tried hard save Chantelle from her kidnapper, but he’s not much closer to rescuing her. How is he possibly going to tell her that he loves her and that she’s the one for him, if he can’t save her from her kidnapper?
He’s never met anyone like her, and after their one steamy exciting night of passion, he isn’t ready to give her up, but can he do?
***
Chantelle
I still couldn’t believe that Shelley had kidnapped me and locked me up in a basement like a crazy person. What was her problem? It was absolutely insane for her to lock me up like this!
She was dating my ex now, and she wanted me out of the way, which was crazy because I didn’t want him anyway. Jon Richards had made my life a living hell for years – slowly transforming from emotional abuse to physical, until I escaped. I hadn’t heard anything from him for months, but just as I had started to move on, this happened.
At first I thought that he was behind all of this because he’d always made it clear that he didn’t want me ever to be with someone else, and I’d finally allowed the gorgeous billionaire Aaron – who wouldn’t quit me however difficult I made I for him – to take me out on a date, and even to bed.
But it seemed that I was wrong. It seemed that the crazy woman who had always been sleeping with Jon behind my back wanted to hurt me in the worst way possible. But somehow she’d managed to get hold of Aaron, and she was going to get whatever it was that she wanted from him – money, it seemed – and then I would be freed.
I knew that Aaron could afford it, but I was determined to pay him back whatever he had to shell out for my freedom, somehow. If he still wanted me after this, that is. There was a chance that he wouldn’t after all that I’d put him through.
Even thinking that he might not want me anymore cut deep into my chest, so I forced it to one side and I focused on what was happening right now. I was going through so much that I could only pick one thing at a time to focus on before I went insane.
I paced as I waited anxiously for Shelley to come back to me, hopefully with Aaron by her side to free me, but it felt like it was taking forever. She had left me without any restrictions, but as there was no window in this place and the door was locked with some heavy furniture pushed up against it on the other side, I couldn’t get out however much I wanted to.
I was okay though. I didn’t feel as desperate and needy this time because I knew that help was on its way. Everything would be okay in the end, I just had to be patient about it.
But the wait was killing me. It felt like I’d been here forever just waiting for the moment to arrive, and I could barely stand waiting another second longer.
Eventually, a light started to stream into the room, and I threw my hand across my face, trying to disguise myself. After not sleeping or washing or even eating for days, I was terrified of the mess I was in and I really didn’t want Aaron to see me like that.
It was a silly thought considering my situation, but I couldn’t stop it from crossing my mind.
“He fucking doesn’t want you,” Shelley hissed at me, practically spitting in my direction as she tumbled frantically down the stairs. “I gave him the terms and Aaron said no.”
He did?
“What?” I gasped in total shock. Sure we’d only had one night together, but I felt like there had been so much more to us than that. And even if not, how could he just leave me in grave danger?
Maybe he wasn’t the man that I thought he was after all…
My heart shattered into a million pieces as I pictured Aaron cruelly telling Shelley to leave me in this mess.
“He’s always been such a dickhead,” she snapped, bringing me from my thoughts.
Always?
What the hell was that supposed to mean?
“Do… do you know Aaron?” I asked, feeling really weird about even asking. How was it possible that this woman knew both of the men in my life?
“Of course I know him,” she waved her dismissively at me. “I took his virginity for crying out loud.”
What? This just kept getting weirder and weirder. I shook my head, trying to knock some sense into myself, but it wasn’t helping at all.
“You… you slept with him?” I didn’t want to ask, I wanted to be cool and calm about the whole thing, but this was just a mess.
“I slept with him, took his money and broke his heart,” she laughed manically, as if that was something to be proud of. I remembered him telling me that he had been hurt before, and it seemed like I was staring her in the face.
“So… where do we go from here?” I asked nervously. If Aaron wasn’t playing ball, and she wasn’t going to get the money that she so desperately needed to get Jon away from me, then what next?
“What the fuck do you mean?” she replied, the rage pouring out from her voice.
“Well, I mean… can I go?” There was no harm in asking, surely.
“Fuck you,” she screamed. Then I felt a hard slap around my face, one that stung so badly I couldn’t even think. It made my head shake and my ears buzz, and by the time I started to return to normal, she was nowhere to be found.
All I could glean from that was that Aaron had left me in an even more dangerous situation than before. Now Shelley had nothing to lose, which left me with the possibility of being killed all over again.
My hope crashed into the ground, and I sank into despair.
***
Aaron
As I walked away from what seemed like the only way to free Chantelle I felt really guilty, but I didn’t want to sleep with Shelley for anything. I just couldn’t do it. I wouldn’t. The ten million dollars that she’d asked for was bad enough, but when she started trying to seduce me it just made me feel sick.
And when my private investigator, Rick Heath – a man who really knew what he was talking about – indicated to me that I shouldn’t, then I knew it was time to walk away. He was right when he said that the ten million would never be enough for Shelley and that she would always want more from me, but it still didn’t sit quite right with me.
I was trying not to focus too hard on that part, instead I was concentrating all of my energies on coming up with a new plan, a better one to free Chantelle, and the more I thought about it, the easier it became.
Shelley had made a huge mistake in revealing her identity to me. She forgot how obsessed I was with her back then, how I made it my business to know everything about her so that I could be the best boyfriend in the whole damn world. Unluckily – or luckily in this case – I still had most of that information, which meant I had the upper hand, and it was unlikely that she was even aware of it. I doubted that she had remembered all of our whispered conversations in bed when she revealed some of her biggest secrets to me, but I had.
For a start, I knew exactly where she had Chantelle. She had her at her grandmother’s home, the place she’d always told me was her sanctuary. I remembered her discussing the amazing attic where she’d spent most of her summers while her parents were too busy with their career’s for her, and I also recalled her telling me about the spooky basement which she was convinced was haunted.
Her grandmother passed away a few years before we got together, leaving Shelley the house, but she couldn’t bear to live in it and she couldn’t bear to sell it either.
It was empty and abandoned, and it was where she was holding Chantelle. I was certain of it. The more I thought about it, the more sense it made.
“Rick?” I asked into the phone, chewing anxiously on my nails. “I know where she is.”
“And what do you want to do about that?” he enquired without even missing a beat. This man might have been expensive, but he was totally worth it. He was up for anything that I needed him to do, which was perfect in this horrible and bizarre situation.
“I want to go and get her.” He knew that o
f course, he just wanted me to confirm it.
“Okay, but we need to be smart about this. You need to know that your ex might be expecting you now.” There he was with that level head all over again. It was likely that he’d done more to save Chantelle’s life than me! “She might even be planning for this exact situation now.”
“So what do you suggest?” I said. I tugged painfully on the ends of my hair, feeling that annoying frustration build up inside of me again. Every second was torturous.
“I say we go there to wherever you think she is… I’m guessing it’s somewhere in the middle of nowhere?”
“Yes,” I nodded enthusiastically, glad that he was understanding this so well – I knew it had to be a little out of the ordinary, even for him in his line of work. “Of course.”
“Okay, so we watch her. Track her movements, see what it is that she’s up to, see what times she leaves your girl alone, then we call the police and we go in and get her.”
“The police?” I said. I didn’t want to involve them if possible – I knew that they weren’t taking too kindly to me taking things into my own hands.
“Yes, we need this crazy chick locked up before she can do anything else like this. Do you really want to be watching over your shoulder forever?”
“No,” I admitted dejectedly. “Okay, so are you ready to go today?”
“I’ll pick you up in an hour.”
As I grabbed my belongings and I got packed up, my heart was racing with anticipation. I felt like this truly was my one and only shot to outsmart Shelley and to get Chantelle back. If this failed then she would know that I was well and truly after her, and this little game that she was playing could end up with Chantelle dead.
***
Chantelle
I didn’t see Shelley for a few days after she told me that Aaron refused to pay my ransom, and I started to believe that her intention was to just leave me here to die. I’d served my purpose – or not, since it hadn’t gotten her what she wanted – so to keep me away from Jon, she was just going to leave me to starve. To die.