“Are you guys finished?” Harper asks.
“We are now,” Vance says, fighting not to smile. Vance gets up and moves out from behind his drum set. “Melina let you in?”
Harper smiles and nods.
Tripp, Ryder, and Vance leave the room as Harper walks in and shuts the door behind her. Dayne moves back to the folding chair that he had been sitting in. He slips his guitar off and sets it on its stand before sitting down. Harper sits on his lap sideways.
“You’re really good,” Harper says with a small smile.
“Thanks.”
“It’s really sexy watching you play.” Harper licks her lips.
Dayne’s eyes zero in on her full, luscious lips. “Thanks, again.” He chuckles, still staring at her mouth.
“You’re welcome,” she murmurs as she studies his face. She tucks his hair behind his ear. “I'm not your ex-wife, Dayne,” she says softly.
Dayne cups her face and runs his thumb across her bottom lip. “I know, Harper,” he rasps as he watches his finger slide along her lip.
“I won't let you push me away,” Harper whispers.
Dayne's eyes lift to meet hers. “And I guarantee that there will be times when I try to,” he says sadly.
Harper nods. “I know, and I'm ready.”
Dayne smiles and shakes his head. “I think you've lost your mind.”
Harper simpers then shrugs. “Maybe,” she murmurs then leans down and kisses him on the lips. “That doesn’t hurt, does it?” she whispers against his lips.
Dayne answers by shaking his head no. He then skims his hand up her bare thigh, her silky smooth skin making him hard at the reminder of how she feels when her naked body is against his. He watches as her eyes fill with desire and lust. Dayne slips his hand under her dress to curve around her hip and down her rear end. She has on a thong, so he is able to give her bare cheek a squeeze and a little smack. Harper’s breath hitches.
Harper snakes her arms around Dayne's neck and kisses him. He lifts her up and turns her so she is now straddling his lap. Their kiss continues and gets heated and needy, even if tongues can't be involved. Dayne has Harper's dress hiked up past her hips so that he can cup her ass, and then grinds himself against her.
“I need to be inside you,” Dayne breathes against her lips as he struggles to undo his jeans and push them down his legs.
Once Dayne is able to free himself, he moves Harper's thong to the side and enters her. They both moan as Harper starts working her hips with Dayne's help. She laces her fingers into his hair and holds his forehead against hers, her mouth hovering over his as they pant.
“Harper,” Dayne moans. “God, you feel so good.”
Harper bends her head down and starts kissing Dayne's neck. He tilts his head back to give her better access. He curses when she licks a line up his neck to his ear, where she nibbles on his earlobe, sending a shock wave through his body.
Dayne slips a hand down between their bodies where his thumb finds her clit. Harper cries out. He shoves his hand into Harper's hair, grabs the back of her head, and pulls her into a hard kiss. They both come together seconds later. Harper sags against Dayne, her forehead on his shoulder. No more words are spoken. As soon as they recover and clean up, they head downstairs to join everyone in the living room to watch a movie, as if what just happened upstairs was just an everyday, natural occurrence.
Chapter 18
“So, how do I look?” Vance asks, making Melina and Anna turn to look at him.
Melina thinks that she’s gonna melt. Vance looks so hot and sexy. He’s standing in the doorway to the living room in his new police uniform. Vance decided to go back to being a street cop. He had a heart to heart with the Chief and requested to return to his old job. He didn’t care that it was somewhat of a demotion. He was miserable as a detective. Plus, everything with Damien has been quiet since Tripp screamed at him on the phone. That was a couple of weeks ago. Today is Vance's first shift back on the street.
“Holy hotness,” Melina says in awe.
“Yeah, when women say that they love a man in uniform, they're talking about you,” Anna says.
Melina and Vance laugh.
“Aw, shit, look what we’ve got here,” Ryder teases and makes a circle around Vance, looking him over. “Van's back in his cop uni; never thought I'd see the day.”
“Your ass looks big in those pants,” Dayne says as he walks by and into the living room.
Everyone laughs, including Vance. “Ya know, I expect Ryder to look at my ass, not you, Dayne,” Vance shoots back.
Dayne lets out a bark of laughter while Ryder gives Vance a shove. Melina smiles. Their lives are slowly getting back to normal and it isn't all down and depressing anymore. Things are finally starting to pick back up. The guys have been playing music again, and they’re back to joking and teasing each other. Everyone is smiling, and it’s really nice.
Even though things have been good, none of them is fooled. They all still believe that Damien will try again, but they have no way of knowing when. Tripp has become extremely focused on finding Damien - another reason Vance feels okay about stepping away - and even called on a couple of his old Navy Seal friends to help in the search.
Vance glances at his watch then walks over to Melina. Leaning down, he gives her a soft kiss. “I gotta go, I'll see you later,” he murmurs against her lips.
“You'll let me undress you, right?” Melina purrs, her hand snaking up this thigh.
“Woman, I'll even let you handcuff me later,” Vance growls and kisses her again.
“Damn, do you really have to go?” Melina moans.
“Yeah, how ‘bout you don't fuck in front of us?” Dayne drawls from where he’s sitting in the recliner.
Vance flips him the bird as he straightens up. Dayne chuckles. Melina watches her gorgeous boyfriend in his sexy uniform as he says bye to Ryder then looks back over his shoulder at her. He gives her one of his most dazzling smiles. He’s so excited to be back patrolling the streets. He mouths an “I love you,” winks at her, and then walks out the front door.
Melina is woken up by the sound of movement in the room. She lifts her head and peers through the darkness to see a male figure moving toward the bed, and it definitely isn't Vance or any of the other guys. Melina's heart freezes along with her breath.
“That's right, Melina, you should be scared,” the man says then lunges at her.
Melina's scream is muffled by the man's hand as he pounces on her. She fights with all she has, but the guy is too strong. He pins her arms above her head with one hand and straddles her waist, his other hand still over her mouth. He leans down so that his face hovers right above hers. That's when Melina realizes that she’s in deep shit. The guy sounds and looks just like Tripp. He must be Damien.
“Hmm, figure out who I am, did you? Right, so if I were you, I'd remain quiet; otherwise, as soon as your pretty boyfriend walks in the door, he's dead,” Damien sneers.
Damien removes his hand from her mouth and smoothes it down her neck and chest to cover her breast, which is only covered by a tank top. When he squeezes her breast, Melina wants to throw up. He bends his face down and nuzzles her neck as his hand moves lower, skimming over her belly to slip into her underwear. When his fingers slip inside of her, Melina wants to die. There is no doubt in her mind that she is about to be raped.
Melina starts to buck her hips, trying her best to get Damien off her, but he is too strong. She then tries to scream behind his hand, but it just comes out muffled. If she could just make enough noise to wake up one of the guys she may have a chance to escape the hell that she knows she’s about to endure. But it’s no use.
“Oh, baby. I cannot wait to tell Vance how I fucked his girlfriend,” Damien moans against her neck.
“Please don't,” Melina whimpers behind his hand.
“You be quiet. Say one more word and I’ll make you watch as I cut Vance's balls off and make him eat them,” Damien snaps, his tone suggesting that
he would actually do what he’s saying.
Melina clamps her mouth shut and squeezes her eyes closed. This is a nightmare that she prays she'll wake up from. Damien removes his fingers from inside of her then flips her over. He pulls her up to her knees by her hips. Melina starts crying silently, praying for a miracle. Damien then nudges her knees wide with his own.
“Oh, fuck yeah,” Damien groans from behind her.
Melina gags when she feels him move her underwear to the side and rubs himself against her. Damien then shoves himself inside of her and Melina can't stop the devastated sob that comes out her mouth. Damien moans and starts pounding into her, harder than she and Vance have ever done. Melina has to swallow back the bile that comes up her throat.
Melina thanks god that he’s quick. He finishes inside of her and she swears that if she gets out of this alive, she'll have to scrub herself raw to ever feel clean again. Once he tucks himself back into his pants, he grabs her by her arm and drags her out of the bed.
“Vance will be home any minute and I want to surprise him,” Damien says, amusement in his tone. This guy is completely sick and twisted.
Damien checks the hall to make sure nobody heard them, and then strides from the room, his hand firmly latched onto Melina's upper arm. She struggles to keep up, stumbling a couple of times because her legs have gone numb. Damien brings her down into the kitchen and ties her to one of the chairs. He turns her so that she faces the garage door, where Vance will be coming in.
“One word and I’ll kill you all,” he threatens her again. Melina just whimpers.
Melina's heart drops to her stomach when she hears the sound of the garage door opening and closing, then drops again to her feet with a car door slamming. Melina is so focused on the door that she isn't watching what Damien is doing. The door opens and Vance's body fills the doorway. Vance's eyes land on her then snap up to look behind her. That's when Melina hears the gunshot. She screams as she watches blood spurt from Vance's shoulder, right above his vest, and just under his clavicle, on the left side. The momentum of the bullet spins Vance around and he lands on his knees with his back to them.
Melina struggles against her bindings as she cries and screams Vance's name. Vance lets out a pain-filled yell through clenched teeth and puts his hand over his wound. Damien just chuckles evilly behind Melina.
“Oh, that was too easy.” Damien laughs.
Melina can hear everyone upstairs moving around and talking. She knows they'll be coming down the stairs any minute to see what’s going on. Vance turns his head to look at Damien. Melina blanches when she sees the look on Vance's face; he’s going to kill Damien. Even if he has to die in the process, he’s going to kill him. Vance gets to his feet and stares at Damien with a blank face.
“Oooh, we’ve got a tough guy here, do we? Well guess what, mister tough guy? I just fucked your girlfriend. I fucked her good and hard,” Damien gloats.
Vance pales as his eyes meet Melina's.
Melina nods as a sob escapes her. Vance's face turns into a mask of rage. “You just made a huge mistake. I'm gonna kill you, you motherfucker!” Vance bellows.
As soon as Vance takes a step toward them, Damien puts the gun to Melina's head. Vance stops dead, his expression changing from pure hatred and rage to blinding fear in a second. He swallows hard and meets Melina's gaze.
“How about you unholster your weapon and slide it over to me,” Damien snarls. “And if you so much as twitch the wrong way, I'm gonna blow her pretty little head apart.”
As Vance does as he’s told, Dayne, Ryder, and Xander skid into the kitchen. Damien quickly picks up Vance's gun and points it at them. Melina watches Ryder tug Xander behind him, and Xander’s not happy about that. She then watches Xander as he inches his way out from behind Ryder.
“Don't any of you fuckers move,” Damien snaps. “Where's my brother?”
“He didn't stay here tonight,” Dayne answers.
Damien smiles. “Oh, nice. You guys are as good as dead without Tripp here to protect you. How well does that vest protect you, Vance?”
Vance doesn't answer. He just glares at Damien. Damien then swings his arm around and shoots Vance three times in the chest with his own gun. Melina screams again. Vance slams back into the door to the garage then slides down to the floor, landing on his ass. Xander is screaming and fighting to get past Ryder and Dayne so that he can get to his brother. Vance's face is twisted in pain and he seems to be having trouble breathing.
“Damn, the vest worked.” Damien pouts.
“Damien, come on man, what are you doing? This is ridiculous,” Dayne says calmly.
“I'm going to make Vance feel the pain I've felt my whole life. He took my brother from me, and now he's going to pay for it.”
“Tripp doesn't want anything to do with you now; especially after everything you've done, Damien,” Vance grunts from the floor.
Another shot rings out and Vance screams through clenched teeth. Melina can't believe this is happening. She looks over Vance to see where he’s been hit this time. His right thigh. His pants now have a hole in them and blood is starting to soak through them. Vance’s face is as white as a sheet. Melina feels sick to her stomach. She can't stand to see Vance in so much pain.
“Stop! Stop hurting him,” Melina pleads.
Damien pushes the gun harder against her head. “You shut your mouth. Or this time, I'll fuck you in front of Vance.”
“This time?” Ryder snaps.
Damien laughs. “Oh yeah, we already went at it upstairs. She’s a tight piece of…”
“You motherfucker! I'll kill you!” Xander screams and lunges for Damien, but Ryder and Dayne hold him back.
“You know, I think I'm going to have to tie the rest of you up,” Damien murmurs. “On second thought, I’m gonna have pansy boy do it for me,” he says looking at Xander.
“No fucking way, you crazy piece of shit!” Xander spits.
Damien laughs. “Maybe you enjoyed watching what I did to your butt buddy. Tie them up, faggot, or I’ll disembowel your precious brother like I did that fucking homo,” he seethes.
Melina lets out a small whimper in the corner. Along with everything else going on around her, she is hearing that Bryan was disemboweled for the first time. Vance kept that from her when he told her that Bryan didn’t make it.
Xander has no fight left in him and practically has to beg Ryder and Dayne to get into the other chairs around the table. With his gun trained on Xander, and Vance’s gun that he took trained on Melina, Damien supervises as Xander uses duct tape to bind them to the chairs. Damien then has Xander sit in one of the remaining chairs. He shoves one of the guns into the waistband of his jeans then proceeds to tie Xander up in the same fashion, his one gun still pointed at Melina.
Melina can’t watch, so she keeps her eyes focused on Vance. He looks a little gray. His eyes are closed and his head is back against the door. His breathing is ragged and there is now blood on the floor under his leg that was shot.
Once Damien is finished securing Xander, he moves over to Vance. He pulls out a pocketknife and slices Vance's bulletproof vest off. Vance opens his eyes and looks at Melina. He’s going to try something. Melina shakes her head slightly and pleads with her eyes for him to just stay put. Damien then cuts off Vance's shirt. The bullet wound by his clavicle oozes blood that rolls in little rivers down his chest and abs.
Damien takes off Vance's belt and boots then cuts off his pants. Vance's thigh is covered in blood and a small pool is forming under it. It is then that Vance makes a move, punching Damien in the face. Damien stumbles back giving Vance an opportunity to gain the upper hand. He tackles Damien and they start rolling around on the floor, fighting over the knife.
Vance is on top and finally rips the knife free from Damien’s grasp when he freezes. “Make one more move and I will gut you like a fish,” Damien snarls.
An anguished cry fills the kitchen and it takes a moment for Melina to realize that it’s her. Dam
ien pushes Vance up off him by a different knife sticking out of the right side of Vance's lower abdomen. Damien apparently had a second knife on him and somehow got it out while he and Vance were fighting. Damien pulls the knife out as Vance falls back to the floor. The stab wound is in the lower right side of his abdomen. It’s maybe about two inches wide, but the blade is at least five inches long, and could’ve done some serious damage.
Melina screams Vance's name repeatedly as she struggles to get free. Damien climbs on top of Vance, straddling his hips. He bends over Vance, putting his knife against Vance's throat. Blood wells up under the blade.
“I think I might slowly drain you dry. But first, I'll make you watch as I fuck your girlfriend again,” Damien grunts, his face right in Vance's.
“Try it fucker,” Vance bites out.
Damien laughs. “You really want me to hurt your girlfriend, don't you? Or you just don't give a shit about her like you claim to.”
Vance then spits in Damien's face. Dayne and Ryder curse softly. Vance is really pushing it. What the hell is he thinking? Damien wipes the spit out of his face and turns his enraged face toward Melina.
“Your boyfriend just sealed your fate, Melina,” Damien says with a flat tone.
Damien pushes up to his feet, grabs Vance by his hair, and pulls him to his feet. He stumbles as Damien pulls him into the living room. Melina can't see what’s being done, but she can hear the duct tape being used.
“Melina, everything's gonna be okay, Tripp’s on his way. I called him when I heard the first gunshot,” Ryder whispers to her.
“Does Vance know?” Melina asks quietly.
Dayne shakes his head. “No, he's just lost his goddamn mind.”
“Just try to stall as much as possible,” Ryder says quietly.
Melina nods just as Damien walks back into the kitchen. He unties her and yanks her up to her feet by her arm. Then he drags her into the living room and tosses her onto the couch. Melina sees that Vance is now duct taped to the recliner, the seat swiveled around to face the couch. His head hangs forward and he’s covered in blood.
Destiny Disrupted (There's Always Tomorrow Book 1) Page 20