Framed

by Amber Lynn Natusch

  “Are you okay, Jay?” I asked softly.

  “I'm going to be,” he said, looking up at me from amongst the rubble, “Thanks, Ruby.”

  “You're welcome, Jay,” I said, giving him my kindest eyes. He was a good guy; he didn't deserve what that evening had unleashed upon him.

  The nameless brother who'd come to Jay's aid from the beginning helped him out of the apartment slowly. I watched them struggle past, and I prayed that Jay was going to pull through unharmed. I also worried that Scarlet's observation about Sophie being murdered was true. Peyta was still learning how to cope with her abilities and being forced to use them on someone so brutally injured seemed a steep learning curve.

  I started to leave without saying anything, walking toward the PC guarding the door.

  “Ruby, wait,” Sean called after me. The guy by the door put himself between me and the exit. “Relax, Jon...I just need to see her wounds before she goes. Ruby, let me see your face.”

  I turned my chin up to him, catching the light with my face. He winced at the gash over my right eye, which I thought was from the accident. He sucked in hard when he saw the grated mess on my back from where Jer had struck me with his nightmare creation. It was numbed by adrenaline at that point.

  “This might hurt a bit,” he said before placing his hands heavily on the wounds. They felt warm at first, before they got blindingly hot.

  “Ouch!” I shouted, pulling away from him. He looked disgruntled with me, but let it be.

  “That should work well enough for now. Scarlet healed the worst of the damage.”

  “Glad to see she did something right tonight,” I said sarcastically.

  “She did a lot of things right tonight, Ruby. Don't sell her short on that,” he said with a weighty tone. I smiled in response while Scarlet rumbled with approval.

  “OK then...if we're all done here, I need to get back to the accident scene I bolted from earlier. Fingers crossed that I won't end up getting arrested.”

  “Accident?” he asked curiously. “That was your car I saw interestingly double parked outside of the club.”

  “If by 'interestingly double parked' you mean embedded into the side of a line of cars, then yes, it was interestingly double parked. I don't know if there's much car left at all now.”

  “Don't doubt the power of the Audi's steel reinforced frame. It's a life saver.”

  “So it would seem. I guess I'll go find out how she's doing—poor girl.”

  “Don't bother. Jon will take care of the authorities," he said, throwing a set of keys at me. “The BMW is downstairs. Take it home. I'll get it from you once you replace the TT.” He paused briefly, his expression faltering for a split second. “I think you’ll find a key on there that unlocks your apartment.” Before I could reply, he removed a cell phone from his coat pocket and tossed it to me. “So I can reach you if necessary,” he said sternly, “and go straight home. I don’t want you driving around anymore than need be. You might have a concussion, and you can barely drive at the best of times.”

  I wasn’t surprised about the key—it actually cleared up a few matters. However, I did want to refute his claim about my driving, but, since my car was the one gnarled up a few blocks away and his was in pristine condition downstairs, I kept my mouth shut and headed for the exit. Smiling down at the keys, I felt like a kid on Christmas day. I'd only been in the car once before, but it was an amazing piece of machinery, even more so than mine. I smiled a thank you at him as I crossed through the apartment threshold, and was already part way down the hall before he called after me.

  “Get even one scratch on it, and I'll kill you,” he said, wearing the smile I loved to hate. I didn’t need to see him to know it was plastered across his face; I could hear it in his voice.

  “You'd kill me for less,” I retorted as I made my way out to my new ride. Things may have hit rock bottom, but they were starting to look up, rapidly.

  19

  I roared down the highway at speeds that would have made an autobahn enthusiast sweat. The odds were looking good for a BMW to be replacing my car if they all drove like that one.

  I got home in record time, which wasn't exactly surprising given my lead foot tendencies. My body revolted as I got out of the car and schlepped my way to the apartment, which I easily unlocked thanks to the spare key in Sean’s set. My neck, though better, was throbbing terribly and oozing slightly, judging by the dewy texture of the skin around it. My forehead wasn't nearly as bad, but it didn't feel all that fantastic either. I needed to do a quick patch up of both, but it was late and I was both mentally and physically exhausted. All I wanted to do was head straight to bed and sleep off yet another drama filled evening, courtesy of all the men in my life. Unfortunately, a little voice in the back of my head told me that, once again, that wasn't going to be the case.

  Don't think I've forgotten, Ruby.

  “Aw, fuck,” I groaned as I turned the knob to enter the apartment. I was super relieved not to see any sign of Cooper anywhere. “Looks like Cooper is off the menu too. Maybe we should just wait till next month when we can—”

  Like opening the Hoover Dam, Scarlet flooded me with the feeling of need she had, and likely had for the past four days. I choked on it, gasping like a fish out of water, and my attempts to fill my lungs were to no avail. My entire body shook, like the low level tremor addicts have when they're a little overdue for a fix. I crashed into the wall to steady myself, my outstretched arm stiff but shaky against it. I bent down slowly to the floor, pressing my back to the wall in hopes that a solid object may stifle the convulsing. Tucking my knees up tightly to my chest, I buried my tear-stained face against them. Air was coming, but it was painfully slow, and the sensation that coursed through my body left me rethinking my views on death; it was starting to look better and better every minute.

  You can make this go away...

  “I...can't...move...,” I told her through gritted teeth. “There's nobody...to...screw here...anyway.”

  Then let's go out and find someone, shall we?

  “Can't go...out...like this.”

  Well, I can't very well take it away, Ruby. It's the only leverage I have on you. You're a resourceful girl—figure it out.

  I was in a no win situation. Getting out of my deal was clearly not an option any more than finding some random at a bar and having a one night stand was. I was going to have to call for reinforcements, and I was not happy about it. Once I managed to get Sean’s phone out of my pocket, I dialed an SOS text. If my message was clear, help would be on the way soon—I hoped.

  Scarlet was silent, but I knew she was gloating. She was about to get what she wanted and couldn't have been more pleased about it, though she had the good sense to keep it to herself. My phone beeped to let me know a return text had just come in. It read, “be there in five”.

  By that point the sweat was rolling off of me so profusely that my shirt and pants clung to me in the most uncomfortable way, and there were drips on the floor from my forehead. My back stung as the sweat dripped into my wound that was still raw. I wondered how my life had gotten to this point.

  As I awaited his arrival, I mindlessly shook, sweat, and occasionally cried; this wasn't how I wanted it to be. I didn't want to have to screw anybody ever again, and I loathed Scarlet for making me. I prayed for a day that I would get to leverage unpleasant things against her and see how she liked it. I doubted I ever would; how could someone like me ever have a hold over someone like that? Part of me or not, we were not equals. I may have been slightly more in charge, but she had all the power and I knew it. It made me rich with fury and envy.

  When the door opened, I was met with a look of overwhelming concern.

  “What's wrong?” Cooper asked, making his way over to me. “Your text barely made any sense, and why are you using Sean’s phone anyway? Where’s—”

  “You have to, Cooper,” I whimpered, cutting off his interrogation. My shaking had escalated to a violent level in his prese
nce—the symptoms got exponentially worse the second I saw him. “It hurts so much.”

  “Have to what? Do you need to go to the hospital?” he asked, reaching out to touch my head wound.

  “Don't!” I screamed, and he stepped back quickly, unsure of what he'd done wrong.

  “I'm sorry, Ruby, I don't understand what's going on. What hurts? What do I have to do?”

  As tears sprang from my eyes, I told him what he had to do; what we had to do and why. He couldn't keep the look of pity off of his face as he plopped down near me, being careful not to touch any part of me.

  “Aw, Ruby...not like this,” he sighed softly, looking forlorn.

  “We have to,” I sniveled, my sobs coming harder and faster. “It's killing me...I can't take much more.”

  Sensing my desperation, he caved.

  “Okay, Ruby," he said, looking unhappy but resigned. "I'll make it go away.”

  I half expected Scarlet to do a giddy backflip in my mind, but she said nothing. She didn't try to push to the front either, like she had when Cooper and I had our drunken encounter. I wondered if that was still yet to come.

  “You know I'm going to have to actually touch you to have sex with you, right?” he asked, with a tiny smile in his voice. I looked up to see him standing, grinning down at me with his hand reached out to take mine. Though nervous, I extended mine up to him, expecting contact to make matters worse yet, but it didn't. Touching him soothed the irritation, making it more of a buzzing sensation than a burning, shaking fit.

  “So...where to?” he asked awkwardly.

  “Your room,” I replied, with a far steadier voice than moments before. “I don't want to do this in mine."

  My reservations were plain on my face, but I oddly felt sorry for Cooper in that moment. He knew my history. He knew that I'd been struggling as I attempted to come to terms with what had happened to me in Utah, or at least acknowledge it at all. What we were about to do was sure to mentally unravel me, and he was going to play a part in it. I knew he wouldn't want the role, but he wouldn't want anyone else to have it either. It was a catch twenty-two for him.

  “The bachelor suite it is then,” he said, interlacing his hand in mine before guiding me down the hall, pulling me gently behind him. Leading me into his room, he gently sat me down on the bed. When he released my hand to remove his shirt, the pain struck me like a two by four to the head, accompanied by the epileptic-like tremors.

  “I'm sorry!” he shouted as he grabbed my shoulders. “How are we going to do this, Ruby? I can't even let you go for a second?”

  We looked at each other the way awkward teenagers in the movies did before their first time. It may not have been for either of us, but that uncertainty was there nonetheless. I inelegantly scooted myself back further onto the bed bringing him along with me, and started to ease myself onto my back as he held my shoulders, climbing on top of me—never letting go.

  If getting into position was the easy part, the removal of necessary clothing was not. We groped each other like we were playing body part twister, trying to ensure contact at all times: right hand-boob, left hand-undoing pants, right hand-ass, left hand-pulling off shirt. It was comically uncomfortable, both of us nervously laughing at the other one's fumbles and stumbles. By the time we were both naked enough to proceed, the mood had lightened sufficiently.

  “I think I preferred our foreplay from the other night a little more than this,” he said jokingly, though I was quite certain that somewhere underneath his comedic facade he was serious. “It had a tad more heat to it, don't you think?”

  I laughed.

  “I'm equally sweaty...does that help?”

  “Not really. I'm a bit afraid I'm going to fall off of you. It's going to be like having sex with a slip and slide,” he said, chuckling a bit before going silent for a brief moment. “I really didn't want it to be this way, Ruby. You know that, right?”

  “I know, Cooper,” I said seriously, before a smile broke across my face. “You didn't really want it at all.”

  His eyes flashed golden, showing his wolf momentarily as he let out a warning growl.

  “I know very well what I do and don't want,” he informed me, his voice low and grumbly. He slowly dropped his head into the base of my neck and nipped me like he had a few nights before. I bent my head to the side and let him do it; his low growl sounded his approval.

  My sweating started up again, but in an entirely different way. Having him that close to me with his wolf around made my core temperature rise. Scarlet seemed to like Cooper far more than she ever let on.

  He sat up slowly, straddling my knees. He was naked, except for his black boxer-briefs, which he was in the process of strategically removing. My eyes were glued to his, burning amber in the dimly lit room. Once he accomplished his goal, he laid back down, lightly pressing his body to mine. My breath caught quickly in my throat and his eyes glowed with delight.

  “Ready?” he asked, sounding a little more breathy than I expected.

  I couldn't speak. I bobbed my head up and down with two slow passes. My anxiety was still there, and I tried to focus on what was happening in his room—not what had happened in that dungeon in Utah.

  "Stop me if you need to," he whispered in my ear, nuzzling it gently. "I never want to hurt you."

  Without further warning, he pushed into me slow and deep.

  Scarlet bayed resoundingly in my head.

  And we came instantly.

  20

  “So where's your car?” Cooper asked, hanging his head low over a cup of coffee. “I didn't see it last night when I got home.”

  “Yeah...about that,” I started, not really wanting to delve into the shenanigans of the previous evening. Discussing the car, however, was a great distraction from talking about whatever else had happened that night. “I left it in Boston.”

  “You left it in Boston?” he asked dubiously.

  “Yep,” I said, pouring myself a mug full of wake-up.

  “So how did you get home?”

  “Sean lent me his BMW,” I said casually, like that sort of thing happened all the time.

  “So he has the TT?”

  “Not exactly.”

  “Why do I feel like I'm not going to like the story behind this once you finally get around to sharing it with me?”

  “The TT had a little accident last night. I don't know where, or how badly injured she is,” I explained. “I'm going to have to call Sean to find out.”

  Cooper looked at me silently. It was clear that he wasn't going to drag the story out of me—the forced arch of his eyebrow said as much. It was the look Sean gave me when he was tired of playing games; I didn't like seeing it on Cooper. I sighed dramatically, shrugging and dropping my shoulders in the most exaggerated fashion.

  “I went all Twisted Metal on a line of parked cars with it last night. I didn't stick around to see the damage.”

  “You drove the Audi into numerous parked cars and then ran off? Are you officially on the lam now?” he asked with a hint of mocking. “Why in God's name would you do that?”

  “Oh, I don't know, maybe I thought, 'Hey, I really don't like this car or my personal freedom, so why don't I crash it, then flee the scene of the crime?' That'll be a sure fire way to get arrested, which really would be the crowning glory to the past few weeks I've had. Actually, jail is probably the safest and most uneventful place I could land myself.”

  “OK, Sarcasmo, you can take it down a notch,” he replied, looking irritated. “Tell me why you crashed.”

  “I had another vision," I sighed, taking a big sip of coffee. "They're apparently a tad inconvenient while driving.”

  “Jesus, Ruby, you could have killed someone,” he cried, his volume rising. “You could have killed yourself.”

  “Don't you think I know that? It's not like I have control over these things, Coop. Besides, I wasn't hurt that badly.”

  He looked me up and down slowly, assessing every part of my anatomy visible
to the naked eye, which after the previous night, wasn't much at all. Things were surprisingly comfortable between us, but I felt less anxious with my body fully covered.

  “Yeah, you don't look very hurt at all. Interesting...,” he said, trailing off. “I wonder how you managed that.”

  His eyebrow was in full effect again, and I started to squirm under his scrutiny. I flipped through the images of the previous night trying to figure out how best to explain exactly what had happened so as to bring about as few questions as possible.

  Before I got too far into the process, my home phone started ringing. Coop and I looked at each other astonished; I don't think he'd actually ever heard it make a sound in the months he'd been staying with me. Nobody ever called it.

  Thinking it had to have been a telemarketer or wrong number, I ignored it and let the machine get it. When it started ringing immediately after the machine clicked off, I jumped off my seat to answer.

  “This is Ruby.”

  “Why aren't you answering the phone I gave you? I've been trying to reach you all morning,” Sean grouched, before taking a calming breath. “So you got home all right? I take it the BMW is fully intact and there were no more visions to speak of?”

  “I'm fine, Sean,” I sighed into the phone. Cooper put his coffee down. His expression was even more interested than it had been just moments before. “Your car is fine. Any word on how mine is doing?”

  “Good.”

  “My car is good?”

  “No, it's good that you got home safely. I suppose it's also good that my car did too,” he clarified. “I don't think that 'good' is an appropriate description for the condition of the TT.”

  “What would be an appropriate description, Sean?” I asked with nervous irritation in my voice.

  “'Totaled' I believe was the term used.”

  “Totaled!” I shouted into the receiver.

  “Yes,” he replied coolly. “I sent a couple of the boys over to deal with the situation you left. Apparently, you're lucky to be alive. It would seem that your vision caused you to stiffen your body up and floor the gas petal. The police said you must have been going over one hundred miles per hour when you finally hit the cars. If I'd known ahead of time that things had been that severe, I'd never have let you drive yourself home.”