She finally manages to bring her ragged breathing to a slower pace, getting control of it and looking at me with wide eyes before she sniffs once more. The panic is just under the surface of a loose lid, but she’s so strong that she can hold it in long enough to speak.
“When you left, Jake, he... he got... different. He changed.”
“Changed how?”
“He got aggressive,” she says, and her voice cracks as she does. She puts her hands over her face and loses it for a few moments. I stroke her arms and rub her shoulders, shushing her softly to try to relax her. It seems to work, and soon, she has her bearings again. “He wanted me to... he made a pass at me as soon as you were gone.”
My eyes widen, and I feel utter shock working its way through my body. Jake? The Jake I know, the one who was my best friend growing up? That... that can’t be right, can it? I brush the hair out of Crystal’s face and stroke it before taking her hands again and nodding softly.
“Take your time. Slow breaths.”
“I don’t know what I did to bring it on,” she says, shuddering. “I always thought he was just a friend, but he... he started talking like he wanted me. I-I think he has for a long time.”
The pit in my stomach is growing with every passing second. I can barely believe what I’m hearing, but this is Crystal— I’d believe anything she says.
I’ve suspected for a long time that Jake has at the very least noticed Crystal. We were teenagers back then, teenagers notice just about everyone at that age. But now?
“What did he say?”
“He said he’d been watching me,” she says with a shiver, her face cringing in embarrassment and disgust. “He... he wanted me to feel the same way about him. But I-I didn’t, I don’t, I mean-”
“I understand,” I say, nodding, but my brow is furrowed. “You two never had anything?”
“No! I’ve been alone since… I mean, you were…” she struggles with the words, shaking her head with wide eyes. “I never thought... oh God,” she groans, sobbing again for a moment. My heart is shattering along with hers. I never in a million years would have thought that Jake would be anything but a perfect gentleman, but seeing Crystal here in ruins because of something that happened... I’m starting to see it unfolding in my head all to clearly.
“Did he hurt you?” I ask urgently, and I start checking her hands and arms over for signs of a struggle, already dreading the worse.
“I tried to tell him no, but he got angry,” she says, voice cracking again. “I had no idea what to do, I... I was so scared. I’ve never seen him like this. I got hints of it every now and then, but I thought... I thought he was harmless!”
“This isn’t your fault, Crystal,” I say. “Tell me what happened.”
“He... he touched me.”
I already didn’t have any doubts about what Crystal is saying, as horrific as it is, but those three words stir something deep within me: rage. Fury swells up in me like a storm, anger and indignation all at once. My mouth falls open as anger boils just under the surface.
“What?!”
Crystal nods, trying hard to keep herself from falling apart again.
“He tried to force himself on me, and I... I didn’t know what to do, I just grabbed the knife and waved it at him, and he backed off. He left me alone for a minute, and I heard the door close, and I didn’t want Kota to see me all messed up, and I was so shocked I couldn’t move, and- and- and-”
“And he took Kota?” I finish for her with wide, horrified eyes. Crystal’s face goes red again, and she nods before sobbing into my shoulder.
I wrap my arms around her as everything clicks in my head, and I realize I have the full story, as much as it horrifies me. Jake has desired Crystal in a much worse way than I ever imagined. Just like those looters who swung a bat at us, the storm brings evil out in weak people, so Jake tried to take advantage of Crystal’s vulnerable situation. When she fought back, he snapped and struck back at her in her most vulnerable point imaginable.
The memories I have of Jake, the man I thought I knew, it all melts away in that instant, faster than a wisp of smoke dissipating.
Jake is not the man I knew.
He hurt Crystal. He might hurt Dakota, a mere child.
He isn’t my friend. He’s a monster.
“How long ago?” I ask suddenly, my training kicking into gear. I look at her squarely, and she thinks for a moment before sniffing.
“I-I don’t know, I haven’t been able to keep track of time. Not long? Oh God, the storm! We have to go get her!”
She tries to stand up and race to the door right then and there, but I hold her back.
“Wait,” I urge her, even as she struggles against me. “Crystal, the storm is too strong, I can’t let you just rush out there! Do you know where he went?”
“His house is just down from here, but water was flooding everything, he- he could be anywhere!”
“He can’t have gone far,” I say, making my way to the window. “He’s probably at his house. If we hurry, we can-”
I trail off as a familiar noise reaches my ears, and my heart starts to sink.
“What?” Crystal asks anxiously, taking a step toward me and following my gaze to the ceiling.
Up overhead, I can hear a horrible sound coming from the skies. It sounds like a distant howling growing stronger and louder by the second. Soon, it melts into the sound of a train approaching, roaring over us and swallowing the whole house.
“It’s a tornado!”
Crystal
Every nerve in my body is pinging, sending emergency signals back to my brain, begging to know what the hell I am supposed to do now. It’s like my whole heart is swollen with pain, aching with dull agony with every beat. It’s hard to breathe. My throat feels thick and dry, like I must have somehow swallowed a handful of cotton balls.
The thoughts ricocheting through my head like little marbles in a pinball game are not coherent. They aren’t helpful. It’s just a cacophony of warning bells, ringing so loudly and so persistently that the rumbling din of the hurricane can’t even compete. Distantly, somewhere in the fog, I can make out Duncan’s voice. Deep, growling, deliberate. Begging me to snap out of it. Trying desperately to reach for me in the fog, but unable to grasp hold of me completely.
I feel like I’m not even made of flesh and bone anymore. I am a wisp, reduced to nothingness by shock and terror. I don’t feel like a regular person. Maybe that’s why Duncan can’t reach me and pull me back out of the ominous mist settling in around my panicked thoughts. Not anymore. Not now that a significant piece of my heart has been swept away into the rushing waters of the flood, no doubt dragged along by an evil man with evil intentions. My baby girl. My angel. My tiny best friend. My bright white light in the darkest hour. My little flame.
“Gone. Just like that,” I can hear my lips murmuring, even though I still can’t feel a damn thing beyond the numbness and the dull pain. “I am a bad mother. I always thought I was doing a pretty damn good job of handling all this on my own.”
Duncan’s huge hands land on my shoulders, gripping them softly as he gives me a gentle shake. “You are not a bad mother. You’re a brilliant caretaker,” he assures me in a low growl. But I am wholly unconvinced.
I go on, “In fact, I was so confident in my own abilities as a caretaker that I made a living out of it. I opened a damn daycare in my home, Duncan. I told other parents that I could totally handle it. There was enough of my energy and strength to go around. But I guess I was wrong. All along, I was a bad mother. An unfit guardian. This is all my fault and now it’s my baby girl who’s going to pay for it.”
“No, Crystal. That’s not going to happen. Your daughter is going to be just fine. We’re going to find her and bring her home and everything will be alright. I promise you that,” he insists, reaching up to cup my cheek. I lean into his warm touch as a tear rolls down my cheek to streak over his fingers. I shake my head slightly.
“It’s imposs
ible. He—he took her, Duncan. Right out of my home. Right out from under my nose. How could I have been so stupid? How could I have been so selfish? I should have ran to her, right after he… he…” I sob, my shoulders shaking as my legs go weak beneath me. I feel like I could crumple to the ground at any second now. I know Duncan will hold me up, even though the last thing I deserve right now is his kindness. I’m a wretched failure of a human being, and no amount of tenderness will convince me otherwise.
“Crystal, you are many things, but you are not and have never been selfish. And you’re not stupid, either. I remember the kind of grades you made in high school. You made the rest of us look like dunces,” Duncan jokes gently, gazing hard into my eyes. I can tell he’s trying to lighten my mood and distract me from the pain streaking through my body like a thousand tiny knives, but there’s no way. It breaks my heart just that little pinch more to realize just how identical the green of his gaze is to Dakota’s. She has her father’s eyes. God, I miss them. What if I never get the chance to look into my daughter’s eyes again?
What if Duncan never gets that chance, either? I have kept her hidden from him all these years, selfishly guarding her from him. And for what? To give him a better chance at the life he dreamed of? To keep her all to myself? I feel like a fool for ever thinking I could manage all of this by myself. Clearly, I cannot, because this never would have happened if I was a good parent. I’m not good enough.
And now that asshole is going to do god only knows what with my angel.
Suddenly, a burst of energy pierces through the darkness shrouding around me and propels me away, out of Duncan’s soothing grasp, out of the house. I can’t be in here anymore, listening to the clock tick on the wall and the rain patter on the roof. I can’t be here surrounded by Dakota’s toys, her tiny clothes, the framed photographs of her as a baby smiling toothlessly for the camera. I can’t stand here, drowning in memories and heartache.
With a violent thrust, I shove myself back away from Duncan and dart to the front door. I fling it open and go bolting out into the heavy rain, falling so hard that it’s nearly sideways in the gusty wind. I look around frantically, as though somehow Jake and Kota will appear through the dense rain and the darkness. The yard is flooding all the way up to my knees now. I shiver as the rain soaks through my clothes, causing goosebumps to pop up on my skin. Dizzy, disoriented, but utterly determined, I turn toward Jake’s house.
It’s on a bigger lot than mine, with a large yard and driveway. His car, the silver four-door that’s usually parked in the drive, is missing. That must be how he got away with her so fast. And yet, I still feel compelled to run to his house, shatter my fist through a window, and search the house for them just in case. What if the car is gone so that I’m deceived into thinking they’re not home? Just like the door opening and shutting so quickly after I fought him off! Maybe it’s all on purpose to confuse me! My thoughts are maddeningly incoherent, and my body is so numb that when I try to start wading across my yard toward Jake’s, I can hardly force my legs to lift up and down. But I have to. I have to get there. I have to find my baby…
Just as I’m about to stumble and fall face-forward into the water with a great splash, I feel two powerful hands grip my arms and yank me backward. I’m pulled back against a hard, muscular chest, and the two arms wrap around my body, dragging me through the flood waters. I realize with a jolt that it’s Duncan trying to bring me back to my house. He doesn’t want me to go looking for Kota. He won’t let me. I start trying to fight back, kicking and writhing in his arms, screaming out for my daughter even though the heavy rain and howling wind are loud enough to fully drown out any human cry.
“No! Let me go! I have to save her! Please, let me find my baby!” I scream, but Duncan is stronger than me. Much stronger. He all but carries me back into the house, kicking and screaming. I’m trembling all over, whether from the panic or the cold rain I can’t really tell.
Duncan pulls me into the house and slams the door closed. As soon as he loosens his grip on me for a second, I crumple to the floor, drawing my knees up to my chest and burying my face in my arms while I shiver and sob. Duncan kneels down next to me and wraps his arms around me, kissing the top of my soaking wet head and stroking my dripping hair.
“We will find her, Crystal. But not like this. Not now. The tornado is too close. We have to keep safe so we can save her,” he murmurs, close to my ear.
But my mind is miles away by now, churning through memories. “I lost her once before,” I mumble, still not looking up. “I found out for the first time what it feels like to be missing a part of your very soul. It was… it was years ago. She was barely two years old, just getting the hang of running around without me to help her. She never wanted my help anyway. She was— she is so stubborn. So independent,” I whisper, taking a big breath. I go on.
“We went to this big shopping mall out of town. Two floors with an escalator and everything. We went up together, hand-in-hand. She was determined to walk. Didn’t want to be carried. Dakota wanted to be a big girl. Who was I to tell her no? We got to the top floor and it was so crowded. People everywhere. There was one of those stupid mall pageants going on. Little girls dressed up in frilly dresses and red lipstick everywhere. Dakota… she was distracted. And confused. This aggressive pageant mom with huge blonde hair bumped into us, causing her own little daughter to fall down and start crying. Even though it was her own fault, that lady started picking a fight with me. She was shoving me around, shouting about how I need to watch myself. In the chaos, Dakota disappeared. I managed to get away from that pageant lady and I was so terrified, screaming out for my daughter. I was only twenty. Everyone thought I was just some teen causing trouble. They kept shushing me. I was interrupting the pageant ceremony. But I didn’t care. I was terrified. My baby was missing. I had never known fear like that before,” I admit, tears streaming down my face.
“What happened?” Duncan asks gently.
I finally look up at him, my lip trembling. “I found her. Turns out, she got scared of the crowd and went wandering away. Ended up on the down escalator. Can you imagine? Just a tiny two-year-old alone on the escalator in a crowded mall? Well, I took off after her. I caught up and carried her out of that mall and we’ve never been back there since. I thought that was the worst fear I’d ever experience. I thought that was the peak. But I was wrong. God, I was so wrong.”
I collapse into sobs again just as there’s an even louder whirring sound overhead. The whole house is violently shaking, dishes crashing out of cabinets in my kitchen, pictures falling off the shelves in my living room. Duncan gets a grim, resigned look on his face and scoops me up into his arms.
We reach the bathroom and he closes the door, the lights all flickering and flashing with frantic energy. He lays out a couple towels on the floor and then pulls me down with him so that we’re lying side by side. As the tornado whirls louder and louder, Duncan tugs me close and embraces me, kissing my cheek, my neck, my shoulders while his hands stroke my wet hair.
“Come on, let’s take off these wet clothes. You’re shivering,” he whispers. I dutifully let him strip off my shirt, shorts, bra, and panties. I kick off my soaked tennis shoes and socks, lying there utterly naked. There’s a small part of my brain that knows I should probably feel self-conscious, naked in front of this glorious man I haven’t seen in four years. But then again, he’s the only man who has ever seen me this way. He’s the only one I’ve ever slept with.
To comfort me, Duncan caresses me all over, his hands running over my stomach, my filled-out hips and ass, my thick thighs. He touches me with the exact same reverence and admiration he did four years ago. The tornado sounds louder and louder, almost deafening. I tremble, so overwhelmed with sorrow and fear. But Duncan is determined to distract me, to ease me through the pain. I feel his hands slide over my breasts, not groping crudely the way Jake did, but sensually. I know it’s for my pleasure more than his own. And when he slides a hand down between my sh
ivering thighs, I don’t stop him. I need whatever it is he’s offering. I need it like a plant needs sunlight.
So I open, unfolding and blooming for him like a rose. I wiggle closer to him, feeling his hard cock straining against my ass through the damp fabric of his jeans. I rub up against him, egging him on, reveling in the sensation of his hard length pressing into me. His hand slips down between my legs, cupping my mound first with his large, warm hand. I can feel myself getting wetter by the second, already exhilarated with fear and panic, which is such close kin to arousal. The adrenaline pumping through my veins makes every stroke of his fingers around my clit feel amplified by a million degrees. Every touch makes me shudder and sigh. Duncan kisses the back of my neck while he manipulates my clit, then slowly slides two fingers inside of me, hooking them at the ends to expertly stroke my g-spot deep within.
“Oh my God,” I moan, arching back against him. My thighs tremble and my body stiffens up as he slides his digits in and out of my slick pussy, pleasuring me and distracting me while the tornado spins overhead, screaming louder than a freight train. My moans and whimpers are almost swallowed up completely by the stormy din, but Duncan can feel it when I come, my pussy pulsing and clenching around his fingers. A rush of powerful endorphins surges through my body and I feel, for a few moments, sweet relief.
There’s the distraction I need to get through this dark hour.
And I want more.
Luckily, Duncan is on the exact same page. He moves out from behind me, pushing me to lie flat on my back as he scoots down to kneel between my legs. He pushes my thighs wide open and dips down to breathe in my fragrant sex. I prop myself up on my elbows to watch wide-eyed as he bends to lap up my sweet juices, devouring my clit and over-sensitive folds with his sensual lips. His tongue flicks over my clit as he licks up and down, making me shiver and go weak. My elbow gives out and I fall back, arching and thrusting my hips involuntarily, bucking against his face as he eats me out. He moans with appreciation, tasting me deeply, sending delicious vibrations up through my body.
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