by P. G. Van
“I want a red one.”
“Sure, cherry red or Ferrari red?” He mocked.
“Oh, you know my choice… Ferrari!” She laughed walking into the bar pulling her hoodie closer around her neck.
Chapter 15
Amy sat at the bar waiting for someone to bring her a water bottle. She didn’t want the fries; she wanted to get water for Sid. She felt guilty about making him carry her most of the way through the tunnel.
“Can I buy you a drink, sweetheart,” a male voice slurred behind her.
She turned to look at a big man in his thirties reeking alcohol. “I’m fine, thank you.”
“You waitin’ for your date?”
She turned away from him and gestured the bartender, and the guy held up one finger asking her to wait. She wasn’t intimidated when a couple of the guy’s friends came to stand right behind her and started talking about her like she wasn’t even there.
They were wasted, and she knew it wasn’t worth it. She knew it was time to leave when they started betting on her bra size, and luckily the bartender put the water bottle in front of her. She dropped a few dollars on the bar and turned to leave. She knew the men were standing behind her but didn’t realize they were blocking her path.
“You guys have a good night.” She tried to sound polite as she brushed past them. It was noisy, and she was thankful she didn’t have to hear them talking about her private parts.
She stepped out of the bar area and into a hallway leading to the back of the bar, but she knew Sid would be to the side where the cars were parked. She took two steps to her left before she felt a sheer force push her against a door. In spite of her state of shock, she did not fail to recognize the stench she had breathed in a few minutes ago.
A large rough palm covered her mouth even before she could scream from the shock. She was being walked out of the building hidden in a triangle of big drunk men. Her feet dragged, and her eyes searched for another human as they carried her to the parking lot.
“She’s a tough one. It’ll be a lot of fun when she fights,” one of the men spat. Her lips were crushed with the pressure preventing her from biting her captor’s hand. She watched in horror as they approached a van with plumbing graphics on it.
“I want a go around in the van with her,” the guy behind her growled digging his hardness into her. She was so furious at herself for walking into the bar. All she could think about was everything people she loved did for her for twenty years, and she was being abducted by a bunch of drunken plumbers.
She gathered energy, refusing to give up and stretched her legs forward so her feet landed on the side of the van. She pushed off the side making the man remove his hand from over her mouth. Sid’s name barely made it out of her mouth before a rough palm slapped across her face. She swore she heard her jaw crack as the pain shot through her body making her feeble.
She was screaming in her mind, but she knew she was inaudible. When her body slammed against the metal floor of the van, she sat up refusing to give up. She kicked and clawed the man who tried to hold her down, but he was a lot stronger than her, and she watched in horror as one of the men started to walk around the van to hold her down from the other side.
Moments passed as she braced herself for the other door to open while one of the perpetrators held her down and the other held her legs.
“Jack, open the door. This bitch is too strong.”
The other door opened flooding light onto her face, and seconds later, she was free. She watched as the two men who had held her groaned in pain and collapsed away from the van.
Her eyes caught the anger in his eyes, the weapon in his hand that smoked from being fired multiple times and all she could do was breathe. She was rendered useless with shock and didn’t hear what he was saying the first few seconds.
“Baby, say something.” He pulled her out of the van and carried her limp body toward a pick-up truck.
“Amy, are you hurt?” She heard him but could not respond. Her mind was consumed with the pain, the pain of being assaulted emotionally for years. The people of the region who were forced into slavery within the rogue organization needed to be rescued.
“Sid, where did you find that gun?” she whispered as he set her on the back seat.”
“We need to get out of here.” He shut the door before she could say anything else and climbed into the driver’s seat.
“Sid, I dropped the water bottle in the bar. I’m sorry.” Her weak voice made it to his ears making him want to go back and kick those motherfuckers in their balls.
“Amy, I need you to close your eyes and sleep.”
She murmured “I love you, Sid” before a darkness enveloped her with the throbbing pain in her jaw threating to take her down.
*****
Amy woke up to the feeling of weightlessness but was soon reassured with the familiar scent and warmth. Her body ached and went cold at the thought of the last thing she could remember before she lost herself to the darkness.
“Sid…”
“Sweetheart, go back to sleep.”
“Why is this happening? Why do people get killed because of me? I hate it… I hate myself.”
He hushed her carrying her up a flight of stairs in the darkness. Her arm was around his neck, her fingertips digging into his shoulder as tears ran down her cheeks.
“Amy, go back to sleep.”
“Daren… he would have been alive if it weren’t for me. Your mom… you wouldn’t have had to go to that hellhole if your mom was alive.” She sobbed uncontrollably, and the first bead of moisture he felt on his chest through his t-shirt burned him deep inside.
“You will save more lives, baby.”
“My mom, dad, and Aaron, they are in danger because of me.” Her voice was weak as he laid her on the bed and slid in next to her hoping to help her go back to sleep, but it didn’t seem to work.
“Why is my life any more precious than everyone else’s life? I am just like any other person, and I want to go back to being Amy.” She started to hiccup.
Sid knew she was close to having an anxiety attack from everything she had to process in one day plus the added trauma at the bar. He got off the bed and pulled her off the bed and into his arms. She continued to sob as he carried her toward the bathroom. He sat her down on the edge of the bathtub and turned on the faucet. He dampened a towel and started to gently wipe her face.
She couldn’t see through the haze in her eyes but could smell fresh scents and heard the water running. “Where are we?”
“It’s safe here. Can I give you a bath?” His voice reached her inner depths waking up deeper emotions.
“Sid, don’t be so nice to me. You should hate me for what I put you through.”
“I’m done hating everything and everyone. It’s all good, baby.” He sat next to her pulling her to his side. She was the reason for the calm that kept him sane through the events of the day.
“No, Sid. This is bad. People who don’t know me died because of me. Those men at the bar were animals, but they didn’t deserve to die like that.”
“They are injured, baby, I didn’t shoot to kill.” His voice was gruff and held remorse.
Amy was shocked and relieved at the same time. It would have been so much easier for Sid to kill the men for what they were about to do to her. However, for him to just injure them was a ray of hope that he wasn’t entirely damaged by his experiences as a teenager.
“Thank you, Sid. I know I would have killed them if I had a chance, but I am the one to blame. I was the stupid one who walked into the bar full of drunken men and after all the lives lost because of me and the sacrifices… My biggest fear was I was protected for so many years and then to be abducted by a bunch of drunk men… What if they raped and killed me? What would have happened to all those people in Edenridge?”
“Amy, you are the reason I didn’t kill the men. It was hard not to end their lives the moment I saw them hold you down, but I know… I know how you feel about everything happenin
g right now, and the being stupid part, you are as stupid as I am in love, and I’m just glad I’m that guy.” He kissed her cheek.
“I love you, Sid.”
“I love you, too, sweetheart. I want you to take a bath and go to sleep.”
“Will you give me a bath and make love to me before you put me to bed?” She buried her face into his chest.
Sid reached for the hem of her t-shirt without saying another word. The light from the street shed enough light for her to see him as he planted gentle kisses on her chest like he had to worship every inch of her skin. His lips trailed up slowly to hers to gently peck on them.
Amy knew it was going to be different from all the other times they had been intimate. She was starting to get a taste of being loved, worshiped, and felt his desire to express his emotions without saying a word.
Sid had never felt close to anyone. But now, he felt so close to her, it was scary and was hard to imagine another moment without her. He took in the sweetness of her lips and caressed them with his making her tremble. Their lips slid over one another as he stroked her face with his hands. She angled her head hungrily inviting him, but he slowed down the kiss further by nibbling on her lower lip making her hot on the inside.
Amy moved her lips away from his to run her tongue along his jawline and delicately sunk her teeth into his earlobe making him groan.
“You like that?” she rasped.
“I like everything about you. You’re the only one I’ll ever want.”
His voice was gruff, but it touched her deep inside. She felt him deep inside even before he was inside her. It was a connection she felt deeper in her heart and felt the promise in his words touch her soul.
“Take me, Sid. Show me how much you love me.”
He growled sucking in her lips one last time before taking her into his arms, walking them to the bed, his mouth never leaving hers. Her back crashed onto the cool sheets, and she felt the thick rod on her belly as he came down heavy on her.
Amy expected Sid to rip off her pants the second their bodies hit the mattress, but she was surprised when he held her to him without moving for a long moment. She knew he was turned on as he gently rubbed his jean-clad hardness over her crotch like he was slowing it down, slowing it down to magnify the sensual state. He pulled her closer like he wanted to feel her heartbeat against his chest, the depths of her breath, and the connectivity between their pulses.
He gently ran his fingertips along her high-strung body feeling the movement and enticements of every single nerve responding to his touch. The moan she let out and the way her body arched while her nails dug into his skin, gave him a surge of pleasure knowing she was ready for him to please her.
Sid ran his hand past the waistband of her jeans and deep into her darkness on the hunt for his nectar. He found the moisture warm and oozing and couldn’t wait for his virility to take a dip and stay there forever.
He pulled her jeans slowly kissing every inch of the skin he exposed until her jeans were gathered at her ankles.
“Sid, I can’t wait,” she pleaded.
“Baby, patience, we have all the time in the world.”
Amy knew he was right, every move, every gesture was different. It was like he was letting his intuition guide his every step without letting his raw need take over, and she felt the difference. His lovemaking was like an ecstatic adventure of a lifetime, and all their hot acts of intimacy did not stand a chance.
She took a deep breath when he raised his body off her to push his shorts down, and when he entered, it was like fireworks went off behind her eyelids. There was no thrusting or pounding, and the rhythm with which he rode her emphasized the soulfulness of the act. She felt him in places he wasn’t even touching as if he set fire to her nerve endings, and the new sensations were building up to a climax like she had never experienced before.
Amy was lost in the sea of thrills and rode the waves of pleasure as he moved in and out of her and opened her eyes when he commanded her to look at him.
“I want you to come with me, baby, and I want to look into your eyes when you come.”
She bit her lip unable to contain her need to let go and let her sensations burst, but she knew he was moments behind her. She looked deep into his eyes looking at her like she was the most precious thing in the world.
She called out his name in a faint whisper when they finally came and experienced the emotional vibrations of a shared orgasm and the purity of the moment.
Her body was trembling with uncontainable thrills as he fell to her side pulling her onto him. She squeezed in closer into a cozy position enjoying the sound of her breath match his.
“You are a good lover.” She took the back of his hand to her lips.
“I give wicked baths, too,” he nibbled the back of her neck.
“I want one and will take one…” She turned to face him and let their lips crash, and she came over and over again just from the feel of his lips on hers.
Chapter 16
A cool breeze tickled Amy out of her slumber, and she immediately became aware of the warmth that swaddled her body. She looked around the airy room and wondered where he had brought her the previous night.
She had passed out from the trauma after the incident outside the bar and woke up only when Sid was carrying her indoors. The anxiety, fear, and the guilt of putting her family in danger consumed her, but her night with Sid alleviated some of her fear or the doubt with everything she had to process in a day. The level of confidence she got when she was with him gave her the power to embrace the reality of the situation. She wasn’t ready to accept her true identity and didn’t feel the compassion for the people in the region ruled by the Barkha Group; but after only minutes of feeling helpless and restrained, she was ready to do what it took to free the innocent people even if she couldn’t accept the title.
She slipped out from under his arm and went toward the door that appeared to be the bathroom door. She wasn’t sure where she was, but she didn’t care. She knew her family was safe and didn’t have a thread of fear with Sid only a few feet away from her. She stepped into the bathroom, and her skin tingled at the memory of his touch blazing on her skin the night before while soothing and stroking her senses. She looked at herself in the mirror and couldn’t believe the flush rushing to her cheeks.
She was in Sid’s oversized t-shirt, her hair was a mess, and there were traces of darkness around her eyes from the mascara she had put on more than a day ago. Her body felt like a giant bag of slush, but she realized she couldn’t stop smiling at her image with pure joy brightening her face.
She splashed her face with water to wipe off traces of the lingering makeup and stepped out into the bedroom. Sid was fast asleep, and she didn’t want to wake him. It had been days since Sid had slept, and she stepped toward the window to peek outside.
An expanse of greenery spread in front of her and beautiful townhomes circled it. All the houses around the park seemed similar making her wonder if she was at a gated community in a suburb of San Francisco since the homes looked newer than the homes she had seen in San Francisco.
She flattened her palms on the cool glass and took in the scene in front of her as the sun started to rise. An elderly couple walked a baby in the stroller, and a few dedicated runners circled the park. She took a deep breath feeling the need to get in a run, but she knew better. She turned to take a look at Sid and whistled gently to see if it would wake him up.
When he didn’t move a muscle, she turned back to enjoy the view and decided to wait until he woke. She spotted a cute dog before she saw the owner. The golden retriever had the shiniest coat she had seen on a dog, and the way it moved was a clear indicator of the health of the pet. The owner proudly threw what looked like a stick only to have his loyal friend proudly bring it back to him. She watched the pet owner play with the dog, and she watched from a higher level smiling.
The man repeated the throw a few times and finally decided to throw the stick up in the a
ir and encouraged the dog to jump and catch it mid air. He laughed so loud she could hear him through the double pane glass, and he looked up while facing her, and she froze in her spot.
“Sid,” she called out making him jump out of his sleep.
“Baby, are you okay?”
“Sid… that’s him, that’s the guy I drove to the hospital that night.” She pointed at the man who continued to play with his dog.
Sid rubbed his eye, shaking off his sleep. “Are you sure?”
“That’s him! I remember the way he laughed when I told him the answer to the riddle.”
Sid wasn’t listening to her. He walked back to the bed and dug his fingers into his pillow case pulling out a walkie- talkie and a gun.
“That’s where you put your gun?” She seemed shocked he had the gun inches away from him.
“John… come in,” he barked.
“Sir,” a crackled voice came through the speaker.
“What’s your location?”
“Twenty feet from the main door, sir.” A calm voice that didn’t seem rattled by Sid’s agitated voice responded.
“I need you to run a facial recognition on the man playing with the dog. No action, I repeat. Only recognition.”
“Roger that, sir.”
“Sid, I want to get closer to him to confirm it’s him before you do anything.”
“No way I’m letting you out of my sight.”
“Sid, think about it. There is no point going after a guy if he was just the hired help.”
“What do you mean?” A cocky eyebrow rose suspiciously.
“If the guy was a messenger of some sort who was transporting that memory card with the data, he is of no use to us to get to the rebel group,” she reasoned.
“Why does it matter? We can pick him up anyway and find out what he knows.”
“No, if he is a nobody and just hired help, you don’t want to alert the group that you are on to them, you watch him as you watched me.” She winked.
“If he is part of the rebel group, someone important, he will know who you are… it’s dangerous.”