by Lucy Wild
Traffic lightened as the truck headed out of the centre and into the suburbs and I followed, glancing around me at all the other quiet houses, the low fences, the neat lawns. What secrets were hidden behind those doors? Was everyone like me? How many of them were hiding things? I’d learned long ago that no one is what they appear on the surface. Everyone has darkness lurking inside them. I’m only different in that I admit it to myself, I don’t lie and pretend to be all good and pure and all that bullshit.
I’m good at hiding it though. Very good. That’s why I’ve been able to settle into this life for so long, stay out of trouble. That’s why I was able to have a perfectly civil conversation with the removal men when we arrived. None of them knew what I had planned. None of them knew that I’d chosen this house for a reason, a reason that had a lot to do with the cellar under the kitchen, a cellar ready to use.
I had barely stepped out of the car when I saw her. The bright sun meant she was almost entirely in shadow but when I glanced up at the house next door, I saw movement in the upstairs window. A young girl, no more than eighteen. A smile flickered across my lips. Just what I wanted to see. She would give me just what I needed.
I headed inside, pausing on the doorstep to look up again. She was still there. She was watching me. This was going to be easy. Once I was in, I began sending boxes to one room and then another before leaving the men in overalls to get on with their job. I had other things to think about.
Some people might have been excited to be in their new house for the first time but there was something far more exciting for me to mull over. The girl next door.
I headed upstairs and checked in each room, nodding to the man making his way back down for the next box. From the back bedroom, I could see into next door’s garden and there she was, catching my eye and keeping it.
The sight of her took my breath away. Laid on her back with her eyes closed, wearing only a bikini. I was hard in an instant. I stood and stared at her, my eyes moving down her body, taking in the swell of her chest, those flawless tits trapped in stretched fabric that would come off so easily if it was grabbed. One twist of my hand and it would be gone. Then the v between her legs, the triangle of cloth protecting the place my cock yearned to be. It had been only a few seconds of looking at her body but already I wanted her, I needed her, I had to take her. She would be mine. She would be safe from a world that might hurt her. I’d protect her. I’d only hurt her if she deserved it. If she asked for it.
“Where do you want this lot?”
I looked back over my shoulder and there was one of the removals men holding an armful of shirts. “The box split,” he said, a slightly sheepish expression on his face.
“Through there,” I replied. “And be more careful with the rest.”
When he was gone I walked back downstairs, heading into the back garden. I wouldn’t be disturbed out there. I crossed the dying lawn to the fence, leaning over it and taking a closer look at her. She really was beautiful. So innocent she had no idea of the risk of sunbathing in so little with me next door. She had no idea what I was already planning for her, punishment for flaunting her body like that. She looked as if she was asleep but there was only one way to find out.
“Good afternoon,” I said and she bolted upright as if she’d suffered an electric shock.
“Hi,” she said, smiling so sweetly it made my cock throb with need. “Hi. I’m Annabelle. Bella.”
“Good afternoon Annabelle Bella.”
That made her laugh and it was an infectious giggle that warmed my entire being.
“Just Bella.”
“Enjoying the sunshine just Bella?”
“Yep.” She looked like she was going to say something else but then she just froze like a child asked a particularly difficult question by a terrifying teacher. It was something I was used to. A lot of women did that when I looked at them. It was amusing to watch her struggle with herself. I let it last for a few more seconds before ending her torture.
“I’m Jack, Jack Rutherford.”
I held out my hand over the fence and she got up, walking across towards me. Christ, that body. It was lucky she couldn’t see how hard I was, the fence hiding the bulge in my trousers as I let my eyes trail down her and then back up to her eyes in time for her to take my hand. The feel of her skin made every nerve inside me stand on edge, rigid and ready to spring, like electricity had passed between us in that touch. Her skin was so soft, warmed by the sun, with a weak grip in her handshake, a grip that told me she’d submit easily. Perfectly. She wouldn’t fight me. I was almost disappointed by how easy this was going to be.
“Hi Jack,” she said, looking down at my hand, waiting for silent permission to let go. I gripped her fingers for a few more seconds before letting her hand slip free.
“Live with your parents, Bella?”
“No,” her eyes narrowed as she answered. “It’s my house.” She sounded slightly annoyed, a tone of voice that would earn her a spanking if she was under my roof. No one spoke to me without showing respect.
A voice called me from the house. I swore under my breath as they shouted, “Where do you want these, Mr Rutherford?”
“Would you excuse me, Bella?” I asked. “I won’t keep you from your sunbathing any longer.”
“I should really be getting on anyway,” she said. “My book won’t write itself. It was nice to meet you, Mr Rutherford.”
She turned and walked away and I didn’t move until she was inside her house, I couldn’t tear my eyes from that ass of hers as she sashayed, her hips swaying across the lawn to her door. Only when she was out of sight did I twist my head round towards the removals man. It might have looked as if I was paying attention to what he was asking me but my mind was still fixed on her. The image of her in her bikini tormented me. It was the way she’d walked away from me, teasing me, begging me to take her. I would, soon.
THREE
BELLA
I was halfway through my workout when Claudia rang. I paused long enough to answer and say, “I’ll ring you back,” as I panted down the phone.
“Are you having sex?” she replied. “You sound like you’re having sex.”
“No!” I squawked. “How likely is that?”
“It’s not often I get someone breathing so heavily down the phone.”
“I’m in the middle of my squats.”
“I bet you are.”
“I’m going now.” I hung up before she could say anything else and got back to it. I’d eaten most of a tub of chocolate fudge ice cream for supper the night before and I was regretting it, hence the workout being more intense than usual. I’d binged on the ice cream whilst binging on season three of my favourite show. I’d say what show but it’s too embarrassing to admit. I hadn’t planned to eat so much but my mind had wandered as I stared at the TV, my focus shifting to my neighbour. I’d found myself wondering what he was up to. Was he unpacking over there? On the phone to his wife? Wishing his kids a good night?
Maybe he’d done all those things. Maybe he was in the shower, stripped naked, water running down his rippling chest, trickling down to his…
That was how I ended up eating so much ice cream and watching TV for so long. It meant I had extra calories that needed burning. I ended my session with half an hour on the exercise bike in the corner of my bedroom, looking out into the garden and definitely not hoping he’d appear in his kitchen and look up at me. His window was directly across and down from mine and if he went in there to make himself a coffee, he’d see the svelte gym bunny hard at work, sweating up a storm. He’d seen me from that window last night, the memory of that was enough to make me blush and pedal faster to distract myself. I still couldn’t believe what I’d done.
I rang Claudia back when my alarm beeped the end of my thirty minutes. I leaned over the handlebar, letting my breath return to normal as I waited for her to answer. “Finished being fucked?” she asked as soon as the call connected.
“I am fucked,” I
gasped. “Just not in that way.”
She laughed. “So, are you coming out to play tonight?”
“If you’re buying the drinks.”
“Sod that. We’ll get the men to buy the drinks. You bring that booty of yours.”
“You’re just jealous because at least I have an ass.”
“Yeah, well, my tits are bigger than yours.”
“No they’re not.”
“They will be in a couple of weeks.”
“Wow, you’re actually going through with it then?” I asked, glancing down at my chest. What would my boobs look like pumped full of silicone?
“Uh huh. I’ll be pneumatically enhanced in time for the beach. What about you?”
“What about me?”
“You can’t tell me you’ve never thought about it.”
“Nope.”
“Bullshit.”
“I haven’t, genuinely.”
“Don’t you want them a bit bigger?”
“They’re thirty four double D, that’s big enough for anyone. If they keep growing, I won’t be able to walk by the time I’m thirty.”
“Some men won’t look at anything below an F cup.”
“Yeah, well some men looked pretty happy when they saw mine last night.”
“I knew it!” she screamed. “You did get fucked.”
“I didn’t.”
“Then what are you talking about? What guy saw your puppies?”
“My new neighbour.” I blushed again as I remembered last night.
“You’ve got a new neighbour?”
“I have and he’s fucking sexy.”
“And you showed him your tits? Was this before or after he’d unpacked?”
“It wasn’t like that.”
She growled. “Stop teasing and tell me what happened. I’m your best friend, I have a right to know.”
“It’s nothing really. I was getting ready for bed and I hadn’t shut the curtains.”
“You don’t shut your curtains at night?”
“No one’s lived next door for ages. I just forgot.” It was a lie but she didn’t know that. She didn’t need to know that I’d seen him in the kitchen before I began to undress, that I’d deliberately stood by the window, slipping off my top and hoping he’d look up and see me.
“So what happened?”
“He saw me.”
“He saw your what?”
“He saw me topless.”
“You should be careful Bella. What if he’s a rapist or something?”
“Don’t worry. He couldn’t have looked more shocked if he’d tried. He just turned away. I don’t think he’s going to come over and ravish me.”
“I wouldn’t mind being ravished.”
“Me neither.” We descended into a fit of giggles, my laughter stopping abruptly when I heard a noise downstairs. “Hang on,” I said, listening hard.
“What? What is it? Has he come to spank you for teasing him?”
“I don’t know. I’ll call you back.” I hung up, keeping the phone in my hand as I went downstairs. It had sounded like someone was in the house. I walked into the living room, ready to ring the police if there was any more noise. Had I locked the back door? I wasn’t sure. I gave it a rattle and it remained firmly in place. The front door was the same. A creak of a floorboard behind me. I spun round but there was nothing. Tiptoeing to the cupboard under the stairs, I grabbed the lamp from the table next to it, yanking the door open, ready to smash the head in of whoever might be hiding from me. The only thing in there was the vacuum cleaner. It looked accusingly up at me but I ignored the glare that said you should try using me from time to time.
Shaking my head, I turned back to the stairs, nearly jumping out of my skin when the alarm on my phone went off. Shit, I was going to be late for work if I didn’t get a move on. I still had to shower and have breakfast. I felt on edge as I walked back upstairs but there was no sign of anyone in my room or the spare room. Finally satisfied that I was alone I headed into the bathroom and stripped out of my work out gear. I hit play on my phone and left the music filling the air as I glanced at my face in the mirror. No spots. That wasn’t something I could say every day.
I climbed into the shower and spun the dial, letting the hot water cascade down onto me, humming along to the song. I ran my fingers through my hair. My eyes were closed when it happened.
The shower curtain was wrenched to the side and I was grabbed. Before I even had a chance to scream, a hand was over my mouth. I lost my balance on the wet surface under my feet, stumbling and falling to one side. I caught a single blurred glance at a shadowy figure behind me, water dripping in my eyes and stopping me from seeing properly. The hand clamped on my face shifted just enough for a cloth to be crammed in between my lips. It tasted of chemicals and I did my best to spit it out as a bag was shoved over my head.
All the time that was happening, I was lashing out, clawing with my nails, doing my best to break free from the insanely strong grip of whoever had grabbed me. A drawstring on the bag over my head was tugged tight and I found myself fighting for breath, half choked as I was dragged out of the bathroom onto the landing. I was thrown to the floor, landing with a heavy thud. I twisted to crawl away but whoever it was leapt on me, wrapping something cold and plastic round my wrists. There was a clicking sound and then my hands were stuck together. No amount of pulling could separate my arms.
The same was done to my thrashing ankles. They were tied in plastic something that clicked tighter until I was trussed up and unable to fight. Ten seconds ago I’d been humming in the shower. The song hadn’t even finished. Now I was bound in two places, unable to see, barely able to breathe, being dragged naked down the stairs into the hallway, my skin stinging from where the carpet rubbed along it. It was all I could do to breathe, my nostrils pressed against the bag, bile rising up inside me as the pain of the blow wracked my body.
I was still fighting to catch any kind of breath when I was moved again. I had no idea what was happening at the time but afterwards I was able to work out what he’d done. He took me through the door in the kitchen that led into my garage. Then he bundled me into the boot of my own car. As the boot slammed shut and I was left alone in a silent darkness, any hope that I had vanished. I was being kidnapped from my own house and no one would know where I was.
In the muffled coffin-like prison I was trapped inside, I could do nothing but rock my feet to thud against the side of the boot over and over until I fell onto my back, exhausted, in pain, terrified beyond belief. I was so scared I couldn’t even cry. But as the engine of the car rumbled into life, tears began to fall of their own accord, soaking the cloth of the bag. With a shuddering motion, the car began to move, driving out of the garage and onto the street, leaving my house, my phone, my hope, all far behind me.
FOUR
JACK
I arrived at work just after half eight. I liked to get there early, it gave me a chance to get settled before everyone else arrived. The car park was pretty much empty and I was able to get my usual spot, overshadowed by the tall trees that covered one corner of the perimeter. That meant the car wouldn’t be baking hot when I came back out at the end of the day, something well worth doing as the weather wasn’t showing any sign of breaking.
I was making coffee when the rest of them began to arrive. A small loan company isn’t the most exciting place to work but it suited my purposes perfectly. I blended in. That was what mattered. For five years, I’d blended in, forgetting my old life. Until it came back to me in a single phone call that had set everything in motion. I nodded to colleagues as they passed by. I got myself settled in at my desk and then made the first call of the day.
“Hello, you’ve been specially selected as eligible for our exclusive introductory interest rate. Have you considered a personal loan recently for any purpose?”
“Fuck off mate,” the gruff voice on the other end said, the line disconnecting a moment later. That happened a lot. If they knew the truth
about me, they might not have been so abrasive. But that was the nature of blending in, no one knew who you really were, what you could do.
That was why I took it when Simon mocked me in the canteen during lunch. “Have a look at those,” he was saying when I walked in, brandishing his girly magazine for everyone to see. “Don’t get many of those in a biscuit tin, do you?”
His sniggering face turned and caught my eye. I tried to look away but it was too late. He’d spotted me. “What do you reckon, Jack?” he asked, flashing the page in my direction.
“Put it away,” I said. “No one’s interested.”
“Just because you’re that way inclined doesn’t mean we all are,” he replied, nudging Gary next to him. “Right, Gaz?”
Gary grunted noncommittally.
“Ever seen a pair that big in real life, Jack? Actually, I’ll make it easier. Ever seen a pair in real life?”
I managed a weak smile before passing by and heading for the back of the queue. “Hi Jack,” Sarah said as she joined the queue behind me. “How’d the move go?”
“Not too bad,” I replied. “How’s your morning?”
“Made two sales.”
“Hey, that’s great, puts you top of the leader board, doesn’t it?”
“For now. Sorry I had to knock you off the top spot.”
“Don’t worry about it. As long as I still get paid, that’s all that matters.”
She smiled. “Listen, Jack, I was supposed to be going to this jazz thing next week but Amelia’s cancelled on me. I wondered if maybe, you fancied coming along?”
“I’d love to,” I replied. “But I’m a bit busy at the moment.”
Her face fell. “Are you ever going to say yes?”
“What? What do you mean?”
“I’ve been asking you out for three months now. If you’re not interested, you should just say so.”
I tried to let her down gently. She wasn’t a bad person. She’d probably make a decent partner to someone one day. But not to me. I couldn’t picture her tied down, my hand whipping down on her ass. My thoughts went back to the cellar, to who was waiting for me when I got home. “It’s not like that, Sarah.” I lowered my voice, leaning conspiratorially towards her. “I’ve been applying for other jobs, down south. I can’t get into a relationship right now.”