Tied up With Love

by Amelia Thorne

  Ethan immediately rounded on Izzy, clearly furious. ‘What the hell do you think you were doing?’

  Tears smarted her eyes as the pain in her nose registered. ‘I was trying to stop him hitting you, since you didn’t seem willing to stop him yourself.’

  He pinched her nose gently just under the bridge, and taking her hand he led her over to the sofa. ‘Sit here, hold your nose, I’ll be back in a sec.’

  Realising her nose was bleeding, she resumed Ethan’s position on her nose and tilted her head back to stop the blood.

  Ethan came back from the kitchen with a wet cloth and an ice pack, he sat on the office chair and wheeled it in front of her, his strong thighs either side of her legs. She jolted slightly when he leaned forward and with his fingers at the back of her neck he tilted her head forward. Goosebumps exploded over her body and her gut clenched as the fingers stayed there, massaging the back of her neck.

  ‘You’re not supposed to tilt your head back with a nosebleed, the blood can make you choke.’ He took over holding her nose again.

  She looked at him, those unwavering azure eyes stared unblinking back at her.

  ‘Why weren’t you defending yourself?’ Izzy asked, thickly.

  ‘Because the man has lost his wife and I know what the pain of that feels like.’

  Izzy swallowed the pain she felt for him.

  ‘But why would he be hitting you?’

  ‘Because in his eyes, I’m the one that stole her from him.’

  She frowned in confusion, then picked up the ice pack from his lap and held it over his eye, where a bruise was quickly forming.

  ‘He’s Miranda’s husband.’

  ‘Oh. The way you made it sound, I thought his wife had died.’

  ‘I know it’s different but when you lose the woman you love it hurts like hell whether they’re still alive or not. In fact I think it hurts more when your wife doesn’t love you anymore, as opposed to being taken from you prematurely.’ His voice cracked.

  Izzy frowned slightly. It sounded like he was speaking from experience and not just generally. ‘It’s hardly your fault though.’

  ‘I’m the reason she left him, whether I encouraged it or not. And you shouldn’t have got involved. I’m big enough and ugly enough to look after myself. The last thing I want is for you to get hurt.’

  God she was falling for this man. There was very little she could do to stop herself – despite the fact that he was a grumpy sod, with little or no respect for women – little comments like that just made her fall even harder. Were all the women he was with like that, was he the sort that left behind a trail of broken hearts? Or did the women he was involved with know that it was just sex and were just glad to get a piece of him because he was that good in bed? His strong fingers continued their gentle massage of the back of her scalp and she looked down at his strong thighs bracketing hers. If he offered her one night of hot, meaningless sex, would she take it? She looked back up into his eyes and knew she would and she hated herself a little for succumbing to him like that.

  ‘Do you still miss Charlie?’

  He stilled and then nodded.

  ‘Yes. When it first happened I swore I’d never fall in love again.’

  Her heart stuttered as he stared at her longingly. Was he considering breaking that rule for her?

  ‘And now?’ Her voice was barely a croak.

  He released her nose and wiped the dried blood away with the wet cloth. He swept a stray hair from her face and the ferocity of his feelings for her suddenly slammed into her like a punch to the gut. In a sudden rush, she leaned forward to kiss him as he leaned forward too, his hands going straight to her hips. But as her lips were just about to meet his, he leapt back, his face clouding with anger.

  He stood up, staring down at her. ‘And now is no different.’

  He walked out, slamming the door shut behind him.

  Izzy sighed. She remembered what Tia had said about putting up with all his crap to find the beautiful person hidden underneath. Was it really worth it? He had to choose to take a risk with her and his heart. She couldn’t make that decision on her own. And being the only one fighting for them was exhausting.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Ethan didn’t show for work the next morning. Kyle had a dentist appointment, she knew that but Jim didn’t show either. They had a pick up at eleven so it was slightly worrying that no one had turned up.

  So when Gizmo sauntered in, still smiling at the world, she nearly hugged him.

  ‘Giz, no one else is here, we will have to pick up Mrs Gillespie ourselves. I’ll drive, you do the grab and then we’ll swap so I can run through the formalities with her.’

  Gizmo nodded. She looked down at her attire, it wasn’t really kidnap uniform. Gizmo seemed to read her mind. ‘I have a spare black t-shirt in the back of the van. It’ll be huge on you but it’s clean, I promise.’

  Izzy smiled at his thoughtfulness. ‘That will be perfect.’

  Gizmo went to get it and she slipped on her trainers, grabbed a balaclava from the back of the door and then ran out to meet him. This kidnap had to go smoothly if Mrs Gillespie was going to write a piece on them for her magazine. This was a rescue role play too, so she was keen to see how that played out.

  Driving the van was a lot of fun, it was big and she felt like she towered over all the other cars.

  Gizmo’s phone rang on the dashboard and Izzy answered it and put it on loudspeaker so Gizmo could talk.

  ‘Giz, where are you?’ Ethan’s voice came through the phone.

  ‘Just on the way to do a pick up, boss.’

  Izzy smiled that Gizmo called his own brother boss.

  ‘Look, you don’t need to worry but Tia passed out when I popped by this morning. I’ve called the doctor and they’re on their way but they didn’t seem too worried, especially since she came round within a few seconds and has laughed the whole thing off. But maybe you should come home just in case. Who’s with you, they can do the pick up.’

  ‘Izzy’s here. There’s no sign of Kyle and Jim. Izzy’s driving and I’m doing the grab.’

  There was silence from Ethan as he digested this.

  Izzy could tell Ethan was concerned about Tia even though it didn’t seem anything to be too worried about. Her brother’s wife passed out regularly throughout her first pregnancy.

  ‘Ethan,’ she alerted him to her presence in the conversation. ‘If Gizmo can drop me and Mrs Gillespie off at the house after the pick up, I can handle the tying up and the handover to Steve then Giz can come straight to you. I can get a taxi back to the office afterwards.’

  ‘Fine,’ Ethan snapped, he’d clearly still not forgiven her for the almost kiss that had happened between them the day before. ‘So there’s no one at the office now?’

  ‘No I erm…’

  ‘I’m expecting an important phone call and there’s no one there to take it.’

  Izzy resisted the urge to blame Jim for not actually bothering turning up which resulted in Izzy going on the pick up in the first place, but Ethan knew that.

  ‘The doctors just arrived and Tia’s sister’s here so I’m on my way back to the office now. I’ll handle it. I expect you back in fifteen minutes. I need to talk to you.’

  With that the phone went dead.

  Whatever he wanted to say, it wasn’t going to be good.

  Mrs Gillespie was waiting on the roadside, looking very keen to get into the van as Izzy pulled up. She yanked on her balaclava and slid into the back as Gizmo bundled Mrs Gillespie into one of the seats and took up the driving seat.

  ‘We’re from KMW, do exactly as you’re told and you won’t get hurt, put your hands out,’ Izzy reeled off the patter that she had heard a few times from the boys. Mrs Gillespie giggled from underneath the cotton bag and held out her hands for Izzy to tie up.

  They arrived at the house a few minutes later and Izzy hauled Mrs Gillespie up by her arms and frog marched her into the house and down the stairs into t
he basement.

  ‘Sit down,’ Izzy ordered and directed her into a chair, then pulled the bag from her head.

  Mrs Gillespie did as she was told. ‘Is Steve already here?’ she whispered.

  ‘I believe he is upstairs. His car is here, so he’s here somewhere,’ Izzy whispered back. She understood that sometimes the women would need this extra confirmation that everything was going as they would expect it.

  ‘He’s been working out this last week, he’s so excited about rescuing me.’

  Suddenly Izzy remembered Steve and Gizmo talking discreetly after their meeting, about Steve wanting to punch someone and paying Gizmo extra money to do that. A slice of panic shot through her at the sound of footsteps charging down the steps. She was still wearing a balaclava, he wouldn’t see her, but surely he would tell she wasn’t Gizmo.

  Steve reached the bottom of the stairs looking furious, adrenaline clearly coursing through his body. She held out her hands to stop him, but as he raised his fist the last thing she heard was, ‘Get your hands off my wife.’ Then everything went black.

  *

  Ethan pushed open the door to the house and Kyle moved ahead of him towards the top of the basement stairs. Where was she? He’d taken a detour on the way to the office to pick up Kyle but she still hadn’t been there when he arrived. Furious, he’d got straight back in the car and driven to the house. He followed Kyle down the stairs.

  ‘I swear, I’ll be glad to see the back of her when her six weeks are up, she’s been nothing but a complete pain in the arse since we first met.’

  ‘That’s not very fair, I think she’s been brilliant,’ Kyle said.

  ‘We don’t need her. My life would be so much less complicated if she’d just piss off to Australia now. In fact…’ His eyes glanced over Kyle’s shoulder at Izzy lying sprawled out on the floor, not moving, and the bottom crashed out of his world. ‘Get out my way.’

  He ran across the room towards her but before he’d even got there she stirred slightly and groaned. She was alive, thank god.

  ‘Izzy, what happened, are you ok?’

  She tried, unsuccessfully to sit up so he helped her, leaning her against the wall. He pulled the balaclava from her head and was sickened to see the huge bruise across her eye. She had evidently been punched. She rubbed the back of her head and checked her fingers to see if there was any blood. There didn’t appear to be any, but it could have dried out.

  ‘Did Steve do this to you?’

  She nodded.

  He stood up and looked at Kyle. ‘Get him down here now, I don’t care if he’s in the middle of screwing his wife, you get him down here this very second.’

  ‘No, please, it doesn’t matter, it was a mistake,’ Izzy mumbled but Kyle had already gone.

  Ethan knelt down next to her again. ‘Are you ok?’

  He touched her face but to his surprise she slapped his hand away.

  ‘Don’t touch me.’

  ‘What?’ He was surprised by the sudden venom in her eyes.

  ‘I heard you. The first words I heard when I came round were how you’d be glad to see the back of me when my six weeks are up, that you wish I’d piss off to Australia now. Well fuck you Ethan. After everything I’ve done for you, you ungrateful shit.’

  She struggled to her feet.

  ‘Izzy wait, I didn’t mean…’

  ‘Well you can stick your job up your arse, I don’t want it, and I don’t want you.’

  She blundered past him, staggered towards the stairs, fell ungracefully up the first one, crawled up the next few and pulled herself to her feet to wobble precariously up the last few to the door.

  Shit. He immediately ran after her. He reached the door as he heard some thumps and moans upstairs – Kyle was no doubt dragging Steve from his bed. Izzy had already made it outside.

  ‘Izzy, I’m sorry.’ He grabbed her arm and pulled her back and was horrified to see she was crying. She fell against him, her eyes rolled back in her head and as he caught her she fell limp in his arms.

  *

  Izzy woke in darkness and was immediately aware that she wasn’t alone. She sat up in panic.

  ‘You’re ok, you’re safe,’ Ethan said, from somewhere nearby. A small lamp was switched on, illuminating the whole room in a muted yellowy glow. She was lying in a large white bed, in a predominantly white room. Ethan was sitting in a chair near the window. ‘How you feeling?’

  ‘Better. Not groggy anymore.’ She was also feeling embarrassed that Ethan had seen her cry and that then she’d passed out… but physically she certainly felt better than she had before.

  ‘Good.’ He got up and came towards her.

  ‘Where am I?’

  ‘My house, my room.’

  There was something incredibly intimate about him bringing her here and not back to her own house like he’d done when she was ill.

  ‘What happened to Steve?’

  ‘Well after Kyle had punched him in the face he managed to explain that he had some kind of deal with Gizmo. He was very apologetic. You passed out before I properly had a chance to apologise so let me say it now…’

  ‘There’s no need, really, I’ll pack up my things tomorrow and go…’

  ‘Be quiet for a moment will you. You’ve done an amazing job in such a short amount of time, “Kidnap my wife” was a business before but now it’s a success, and that’s mainly down to you.’

  ‘But…’

  ‘The reason I said it would be less complicated for me if you weren’t here is every single time I see you I want to kiss you, touch you and to make love to you.’

  Izzy stared at him in shock. This had suddenly progressed from a few hot kisses to something else entirely. But there was no point in denying that she wanted that too.

  ‘It’s driving me insane, you’re all I can think of, all of the time. I can’t concentrate at work, I can’t hold a conversation, I can’t sleep because you invade every thought, every single fucking breath.’

  There was something so endearing about him laying out his vulnerabilities like this.

  ‘But I don’t understand why you’re holding back, you know I like you too.’

  ‘I meant what I said before, you deserve so much better than me.’

  ‘Isn’t that my choice?’

  ‘It’s not that simple. If I sleep with you, everything changes. I don’t do relationships or girlfriends. I do one night stands. Meaningless women that I fuck. You would be different. I already care about you and it scares the hell out of me.’

  ‘Because of Charlie?’

  He stared at her. ‘I’m never letting anyone get close enough to hurt me again…’

  Oh god, her heart bled for him.

  ‘…But this thing between us isn’t going to go away,’ Ethan said.

  ‘What are you suggesting, one quick fuck to get each other out of our systems?’

  ‘I don’t want that with you. I never did. And that’s why I’ve been pushing you away because I wanted so much more than that.’ He stood up and sat next to her on the bed, leaning against the headboard and deliberately not looking at her. ‘I can’t do a relationship, not again. But we don’t need any labels or commitments. We can be together without that.’

  ‘I’m not sharing you with any other women.’

  He looked at her. ‘There have been no other women since I met you, another reason why I’m so frustrated. I’m not sharing you with any other men either.’

  ‘Sounds like we have a deal.’ She frowned at what she had just agreed to. Friends with benefits. Except they weren’t even friends.

  He reached down to hold her hand. ‘Let me take you out for dinner tonight. Then we can come back here…’ he trailed a finger down her cheek and she shuddered at his touch, her eyes snapping up to meet his. His blue eyes darkened as he stared at her.

  She leaned forward to kiss him and he took her mouth hard with his own, cupping her neck and pulling her towards him. The kiss was so urgent, his tongue sliding into
her mouth, tasting, savouring, devouring. He knew every move to make, the exact amount of pressure to apply, sucking, nibbling at her lips whilst his hands gently massaged the back of her scalp. He let out a little moan of need, and desire slammed through her. She leaned forward and straddled him, not breaking her lips from his.

  His hands moved to her hips, holding her tighter against him. He toyed with the hem of the t-shirt she was wearing for a second and then yanked it over her head. He swore when he saw that she was wearing her shirt underneath.

  ‘Press studs,’ Izzy breathed and he smiled as he yanked the shirt apart, immediately filling his hands with her breasts. He groaned again as he kissed her hard, rolling forward so she was flat on her back underneath him.

  He tore and pulled at her clothes so they came off very quickly and she hurriedly dispensed with all of his. Naked, he braced himself over her and she knew, with the hunger and lust in his eyes, that it was going to be over very quickly. He frowned slightly then lowered himself to her carefully, kissing her sweetly, softly.

  The feel of his skin against hers was like velvet and she ran her fingers down his back, relishing the feel of his hard muscles. He cupped her face in his hands, disarming her with his sudden gentleness as he kissed around the bruise, then trailed slow, soft kisses down her neck, across her shoulder. Where was the ferocity, the hard, urgent sex she expected from him? Oh god, if he made love to her, she would be lost. There would be no going back.

  ‘Ethan, please,’ she shifted her hips against him, but he ignored her.

  Slowly his mouth kissed lower and with a sudden jolt of panic she remembered her scars – she covered her stomach with her hands but as he reached them, he pulled her hands to one side, trailing his hot mouth across her stomach almost as if he didn’t even see them.

  ‘So beautiful,’ he whispered, his warm breath making her heart leap.

  His mouth reached her most sensitive area and she gasped as he kissed, licked and sucked in places she hadn’t been touched in years, until she was writhing underneath him, wave after wave of sheer pleasure rolling through her.

  As the feelings subsided, and her heart started to return to normal, she was vaguely aware of him sliding on a condom. She propped herself up on her elbows to look at him and felt her mouth go dry with sudden nerves. He leaned over her, kissing her, shifting her legs apart as he settled himself between them. He didn’t take his mouth off hers as he slid slowly inside her. She moaned against him, feeling him fill her and he pulled his mouth away to look at her.