Just to be Left Alone

by Ginny Lynn

  “Call me after you hear whether the detective has it taken care of. I won’t be able to sleep a wink without some type of comfort on that issue. Tell Conrad that if the idiot does show up that we all get a small piece of him.”

  “I’m going to get Conrad set up on the couch and will call you as soon as we’ve heard something from Montrose.”

  We said our goodbyes and I looked over at Conrad who was sitting quietly on the couch.

  “Just show me where everything is kept and you can get ready for bed while I fix up the couch.”

  I took him to the linen closet and he took his pick of blankets before I walked into my bedroom to retrieve a pillow for him. He was right behind me as I turned away from the bed toward the door.

  “I like your bedroom. How’s the bed?” He asked mischievously.

  “Check it out, just don’t jump on it since I can’t afford a new one,” I said with a small smile.

  Just thinking of him bouncing on my bed like a child was enough to break some of the tension in my shoulders.

  “I’d rather jump on you while you’re in the bed, but that can wait a little longer.”

  He had that lusty look in his eyes. I grabbed the blankets from him and headed back to the front room. I heard him laughing softly as he walked behind me.

  I made up the couch without looking his way, but when I finished he grabbed my hands and turned me toward him.

  He gently pulled me up into his body. We were matched chest to chest and thigh to thigh. I could feel the heat exuding from his body and the butterflies were rampant in my mid-section. I hadn’t felt anything this intense in quite a while. I don’t know how long we stood there like that. I definitely noticed when he started lowering his head to mine.

  Just as he was a single breath away he said, “If I don’t kiss you right now, I just might implode.”

  The next thing I knew, his soft lips were on mine and I was completely lost. My arms crept up his chest and snaked around his neck before I had realized that I was moving. That must’ve been the reaction he wanted because he let out a low moan from his chest before tightening his arms around me. I liked the feelings I was experiencing so I stood firmly on my tiptoes to increase the pressure on our lips.

  I opened my mouth to him and felt his tongue slowly slide against my bottom lip. I don’t know who moaned next, but it was like a green light on the race track. I got more butterflies as he deepened the kiss and after several long, intense moments his lips moved down my cheek.

  He made a brief stop at my left ear before moving further across the sensitive skin of my neck. He kept sliding down until he reached the hollow of my neck and my head was straining to allow him more access. My hands were clenched at his shoulders from the feelings raging inside me. I hadn’t known how sensitive my neck was until he drew a maddening path to my collarbone.

  He bent me backward for more room to explore my skin. My breath was uneven as he traced the line of my v-neck shirt and into the hollow between my breasts. Slowly his tongue crept back up the center of my chest, over my chin and slid into my parted lips. This kiss was as tender as the first one. It almost made me cry. I felt shaky as he slowly released my mouth and pressed his forehead to mine. I tried to even out my shaky breath and noticed him smiling at me.

  “I’m glad to know I have affected you too,” he said with a husky little laugh.

  “You have no idea,” I whispered back at him as I bit on my bottom lip.

  “Maybe one day you can try to give me some of those ideas and we’ll see were it leads us,” he suggested as he traced my spine with his fingertips.

  “Maybe I will,” I said with more confidence than I thought possible

  “Just not tonight,” he countered.

  “No, not tonight. Just definitely one day in the near future.”

  It was his turn to draw in a shaky breath as he straightened up with his arms still around me. Just as the world came back to me my cell phone rang. Conrad grabbed it up before handing it to me.

  “It’s Detective Montrose,” he said after recognizing the number on the display.

  I took the phone from him.

  “Hello, Detective, did you get to Jason?”

  “No. I’ve been to his place and he wasn’t there.”

  I felt immediately deflated while he continued.

  “He’s been here to get the mail and the grass has been cut. Sadly, the neighbors haven’t seen him in a couple of days. They said they’d call me as soon as he shows up. Ms. Malone, try not to worry too much because that’s exactly how he wants you to react. We’ll get him soon I know it. And please call me if he contacts you again.”

  I got off the phone feeling as vulnerable as I did in the restaurant. Conrad took the phone out of my hand and asked me what had been said. I repeated what was said and knew Conrad’s reaction would be stronger than mine. I heard him curse before he pulled me into his arms again. I gratefully leaned into him while I tried to soothe my spirit.

  “Don’t worry, honey. I won’t let him hurt you again.”

  “I know. You can’t protect me every minute of the day,” I whispered into his neck.

  “Why don’t we watch television or get out a movie to distract us from all of this negativity?” He suggested as he kissed the top of my head.

  “It’s okay. We both need to get some sleep,” I answered with false bravado.

  “Okay, but if you can’t sleep I want you to let me know.”

  “Thank you, for everything.”

  “What are boyfriends for?” he said as he held up my face.

  With a lump in my throat I asked, “Is that what you are, my boyfriend?”

  “Sure. Why not? Have you gotten any better offers? I’d hate to have another fight on my hands.” He smiled as his thumb traced my chin.

  “I don’t have any other crazy ex-boyfriends that I know of.”

  He winked at me. “Good. I saw how Parker looked at you that night at the bar. I asked him about you. He said you wouldn’t take him up on any of his hints and threw him at Chastity instead. I’m surprised that you didn’t go out with him. He seems to be an okay guy, unless you know something devious about him.”

  “I wasn’t interested, so I passed him to my sexy man-eating friend,” I added as I laughed.

  He leaned against my bedroom door and we gazed into each others eyes. There was a special pull between us and I knew he would kiss me. The fact was that I didn’t know very much about him, even if it felt as if we were meant for each other. I didn’t understand it. I just knew. That’s more than I’d ever felt for any other man and that seemed to be good enough for my heart.

  “I feel like I’ve known you forever.”

  “Me, too. How can that be?” I asked.

  I slid my hands up his chest, feeling his heart race.

  “The only thing that I know is that I’m not going to argue with fate. She can be nasty at times,” he said while rolling his eyes.

  “I know what you mean. We need to get better acquainted if we’re doomed to be together,” I mocked him.

  “We’ll start tomorrow when I take you to dinner after work, how about that?”

  “We can come here for dinner. I’ll grill you some steaks and you can toss a salad.”

  I stood on tiptoe to be closer to his full lips.

  “How about simple sandwiches that we can make from things at the store? I can go by the grocery store behind my work so we can spend more time talking than cooking,” he suggested.

  “I like that idea. We can grill steaks some other day.”

  “Well, now that that’s settled. Gimme a kiss, gorgeous,” he growled and I giggled.

  I stretched up to him and softly traced his mouth with mine. His hands gripped my hips as I kept placing butterfly kisses to each centimeter of his mouth. He drew in a deep breath as he put me up against the wall for a lazy kiss.

  I gasped as he slid his fingers up my ribcage. He took advantage of my open mouth and slid his tongue inside. His fin
gers stopped just under the curve of my breasts as he devoured my mouth. My hands were pinned against his chest and I felt myself digging my fingernails into the front of his shirt. He finally lifted his lips from mine and his eyes stayed closed.

  “You better get some sleep, honey. You have another full day ahead of you tomorrow and I need to go take a dive in a cold pool.”

  I knew what he meant and felt him against my stomach.

  “Okay, but only because you say so.”

  I nuzzled his nose with mine.

  “I say so and I also say to have pleasant dreams. Now go get in the bed before I pillage you.”

  He gently pushed me into my room.

  “Alright, just know that they’ll only be pleasant if you’re in them. Let me know if you need anything out there.”

  I pulled nightclothes out of my drawer.

  “I think I can manage.”

  He walked away and I could here him sink down on the couch.

  After changing into my satin camisole and boxers, I settled into bed with a purring cat at my waist. I tried to concentrate on relaxing thoughts, until I realized I kept going back to thinking of the handsome man on my couch. I let my mind wonder and fell asleep to a very different ending to the scene just moments ago in the doorway.

  Chapter Seven

  I heard a noise at my door and opened my eyes to see a shadow moving across my room. I called out to Conrad. When he didn’t answer I got up to see where he was. Within two feet of the door the shadow was upon me. I realized with horror that it was Jason, not Conrad. He slunk toward me. I backed up until I hit the foot of the bed. I could see his face in the moonlight. He had the same insane grin that he had at the restaurant the night this all started.

  “What are you doing here and where is Conrad?” I asked him in a state of panic.

  “He’s asleep on the couch like a good little boy. I’m here to finish where we left off, before you met him. Now come over here and give me a kiss.”

  I stood my ground.

  “No, I don’t want you here. I have a restraining order in place that states you have to stay away from me. If you leave right now, then I won’t call the police.”

  My voice didn’t sound as harsh as I had hoped it would. With the footboard against my calves, I knew I had nowhere else to go to get away from him. I had a fleeting thought of dodging to the right and locking myself in the bathroom, except that I didn’t think I could get that far. He saw where I was looking and laughed while shaking his head.

  “You’re not going to get away that easily. I would just break the door down. I wouldn’t want our first time to be on a cold, hard tile floor.”

  I was yanked against him. He was holding my hands down by my sides. He bent his head to kiss me. In revulsion, I turned my head to the side as far as possible. Instead of stopping, he just growled before licking the side of my neck. He laughed harder when I made a futile attempt at pushing him further away.

  His tongue felt so slimy against my skin that I shuttered. His tongue continued to run along my skin as it made its way to my chin. I shoved my knee into him with as much force as I could muster. Thankfully, he fell to his knees. I ran toward the bathroom. He lunged at me before I made it half way across the room and grabbed my legs. I hit the floor hard enough to knock the breath out of me.

  I felt him dragging me under his body. I tried to dig my nails into the carpet. It was useless. I felt him slam into me with a bone jarring thud. His mouth was on mine in a bruising kiss. He yanked my hands over my head with one of his. My face was lodged between my arms and I felt him squeeze my legs together.

  “You can’t do this, Jason. I don’t want you,” I said from smothered lips.

  “Yes, I can. You are mine and I intend to have you, no matter what.”

  I tried to scream. He smashed his mouth back on mine and tried to slide his tongue through my gritted teeth. I felt as if I would gag when his tongue started running over my teeth. I thought that maybe if I went limp he’d lose interest. I was wrong. He became more aggressive.

  “Now you understand. There’s no way to fight what we have. Just give in and let it all go,” he whispered.

  Tears slid down my cheeks as he bent his head to lick the hollow between my breasts. I didn’t know what else to do. I managed a hysterical scream when he sat up on my stomach and tore at my camisole straps. I screamed for him to stop.

  He grabbed my shoulders and shook me as he kept chanting over and over again, “You’re mine, and you’ll always be mine”.

  Then I woke up with Conrad gently shaking my shoulders.

  “Honey, please wake up. It’s only a dream, a bad dream.”

  I blinked to see Conrad staring at me with dark, concerned eyes.

  “Oh God, I dreamt Jason was here and no matter what I did he just kept coming after me. He wouldn’t leave me alone.”

  I leaned into Conrad’s chest and he started rocking me.

  “It’s okay. It was only a dream. He isn’t going to hurt you. He’s not here. I have no intention of letting him anywhere near you again. Just try to calm down.”

  I started crying and I could feel his chest getting wet. Tears were running down toward his stomach. I noticed he was sitting there with only his underwear on. It took a little while for the tears to subside.

  When they did he asked me, “Do you need anything?”

  “I just need you to hold me.”

  When I started breathing normal and his skin was dry, he leaned down to kiss my forehead. I looked up to see the frown on his forehead. I reached up to trace the lines between his eyes.

  “Here, lay back and relax. I’ll stay right here while you go back to sleep.”

  I nodded as he settled me back into my pillows, stretching out beside me. His hand came to lie over mine against my stomach. He whispered nonsense into my ear. I finally dozed off, in the warm cocoon of his arms.

  * * * *

  I woke up and looked at the clock. It was 5:20. I felt a weight on my chest and noticed Conrad’s hand there. Moving my head, I looked over at his sleeping figure on top of the covers. His lashes were lying against his tanned skin and his hair was tousled against the pillow. It felt right that he was here like this. He must’ve felt me move because he opened his eyes and smiled up at me.

  “Good morning,” he said lazily.

  “Hi. You stayed with me all night.”

  “Yeah, I saw you sleeping so soundly that I couldn’t bring myself to disturb you.”

  “I appreciate it. I’m sure you have things to do before you have to go to work. Let me at least fix you some breakfast.”

  I started to get up, to only have him stop me.

  “No, you have another hour before your alarm so stay in bed. I’ll grab something on my way to work and check in with you after I get there. Just lay back down. I’ll be out of here within the next few minutes.”

  “I really don’t mind. It’s the least I can do after you slept here all night.”

  ”No, it’s all right. I’ll be fine,” he assured me as he fit the covers back over me.

  “Okay, I won’t argue with you this early in the morning. I just want you to know that I feel like you’re trying to run away from me.”

  “I’m not doing this to get away from you. Far from it. You don’t owe me anything, but I do have to get to work. ”

  He was uncomfortable and this was rushing things. I hardly knew this man, even if I wanted him to stay with me a little longer. I needed to back up and give him the distance that he seemed to need. I had to remember our agreement to not move too fast while in this predicament with Jason.

  He gave me a chaste kiss before leaving the room. I fell asleep before he even let himself out.

  I woke back up at six forty-five and forced open my eyes. It seemed as if I had just talked to Conrad. I made up the bed and headed toward the shower as I hummed. I had plenty of time to get ready and even had enough time to get my favorite coffee on my way to the warehouse.

  I go
t to work before anyone else. I had already made regular coffee for the crew when I heard the door swing open.

  “Wow, did we wake up on the right side of someone’s bed this morning?” Parker asked when he saw my smile.

  “Yes, except it was in my own bed, thank you.”

  I kept telling myself to be less anxious about Conrad leaving so quickly. It was too soon to analyze our relationship.

  “Well, it’s nice to see you sparkling this early in the morning. Did someone get you this way?”

  I smiled and ignored him as I went to the conference room to make some calls.

  By the time I made my calls and drank half of my coffee, I heard the crew come in the door. I headed off in search of Parker after I started a second pot of coffee. I found him in my office with his feet on my desk. I sat down across from him and stared sternly at his feet. He quickly slid them back to the floor, while the disgruntled look stayed on his face. I patiently waited as he finished his call.

  “Yes, I understand and I’ll call you back this afternoon.”

  He hung up and slumped further in the chair.

  “I’m guessing that was bad news. Go ahead and throw it at me while I’m still in a good mood.”

  I kept sipping my coffee, refusing for him to take away my pleasant morning.

  “We don’t have the equipment to bring the new dock parts in plus our permit didn’t go through,” he said as he rubbed his face with both hands.

  “Why do we need a permit?”

  “We’re making structural changes on an old building, so we have to get everything approved. When the improvements are made it’ll be inspected to make sure we followed code. That includes the support that was damaged. Before you ask, the other problem is that the driver hauling our supplies had to take a few personal days off.”

  He leaned back in my chair and started rocking, he looked quite perplexed.

  “Can we get someone else to deliver the supplies?”

  “Because of the size of the door, frame, metal plate and the equipment to install it, we need a tractor trailer to deliver it all. The only one they have in service is owned by the driver and goes home with him. I have been told that he hurt his back and has to be in bed for a few days. We either have to wait for him to get better or find another company to deliver the same goods. Either way, we only have one day of work left before needing those supplies to be on the dock,” he said without taking a single breath.