Zara's Second Chance [One More Time] (Siren Publishing Allure)

by Mya Larose

  The back of his neck started to tingle. It was a sign that something wasn’t right about this situation.

  “Please, call me Yasemin. We meant to meet today for a coffee, but she hasn’t shown up or contacted me. I thought she forgot about our meeting and that she was with you. I have done my research on you, Mr. Adames. However, that’s not why I’m phoning you.”

  He could tell that Yasemin was on the verge of a panic attack. She talked fast and her breathing became erratic. He himself began to have suspicions that something had happened to Zara. As Yasemin mentioned earlier, Zara wouldn’t let anybody stand there without attempting to contact them.

  He grabbed a clean pair of jeans and a T-shirt as he tried to hold his mobile between his ear and shoulder.

  “Now, Yasemin! I want you to calm down and start to breathe slowly. I’m on my way to your sister’s flat right now. I’m getting dressed now. Okay?” He tried his best to smooth her worries about her sister, as well as his own.

  “Please! I’m making my way to her flat, too. I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.” He could hear her whimper.

  Suddenly he heard the most horrible scream a human being could emit. He knew without doubt whom the voice belonged to. He could feel his blood flow so fast through his veins. His heart pumped at an unusual speed. He leaped into action, his army experience kicking in.

  He threw his mobile phone on the floor and sprinted toward the door barefooted. He almost wrenched the door off its hinges. He skipped into a halt in the corridor. He turned his head in slow motion toward the human forms on the floor by the elevator.

  When he saw his beautiful Zara trying to claw at the man’s hand on her throat, he completely lost it. His adrenaline pumped through his body like a steam train. There and then, his brain went completely dead. His body acted without his mental capacities.

  The struggling couple didn’t hear him approach, and he positioned himself calmly behind the man. He grabbed a handful of his hair to yank his head back and punched him in his face as hard as he could.

  He heard the distinctive crunch of broken bone, and blood poured out of the bastard. The man let Zara’s throat go, but he was still on top of her. He sat on her midsection and nursed his nose.

  “What the fuck would you go and break my fucking nose for, you bastard?” he croaked. He kept his head up. “If you wanted some of that plump pussy, you could’ve asked, you know? You didn’t need to get violent.” He started to get up.

  Still holding his bloody nose, he patted pockets like he searched something for his nose. “Mate, I think you broke my nose!” he declared casually.

  The man completely lost him. The bastard was out of his fucking mind. He talked to him like he was his friend. From the side of his vision, he could see Zara try to roll onto her hands and knees, but her body shook so hard that she collapsed back. The love of his life was hurt. Only God knew what else this fucking bastard did to her. All hell broke loose. His focus was on the man. His mind and body asked for a kill.

  “You fucking piece of shit,” he raged as he dived on the man.

  He punched him in the face several times like a madman. He attempted to avoid the punches from his opponent, and he hunched over and began to aim for his kidneys. He wanted to bring the bastard to his knees. He couldn’t think about anything else. The bastard had hurt his love.

  He kept his punches altered between his face and his sides like a maniac until the bastard crumbled on the floor.

  Peter clenched his fists and teeth and breathed through his nose. By the look of his left hand, he knew he had dislodged a couple of bones. His knuckles were pushed back. With the adrenaline flowing through his body, he couldn’t feel the pain. He looked over the limp body that lay by his feet.

  “Peter,” Zara cried agonizingly. “Tell me you’re all right, please. I couldn’t bear it if you got hurt. Peter?”

  He stood over the bastard. Her distressed call seemed to wake him from the trance he was in.

  He quickly made his way toward his love.

  “Zara!” He tried to cup her cheek in his raw and bloody hands. He leaned his forehead against hers. “Oh, sweetheart! What has he done to you?” he asked with a shaky voice, his throat dry.

  He didn’t want to think about the worst. However, she shook her head and kept her grip on him.

  “He just grabbed me,” she replied with a hushed and shaky voice. Her little body began to quiver again. “Oh, Peter! I thought I was going to die. And I thought about my sister and us. I thought, I wasn’t going to see you again,” she cried and babbled. She nestled her face in the crook of his neck.

  He rocked her like a baby. “Hush now, sweetheart.” He tried to grab her by the arms to push her a little bit away from him as he looked into her beautiful eyes. “Listen to me. I’m going to go back to my flat to grab a couple of things and I’ll be back. Will you be okay, sweetheart?”

  Zara whimpered, but nodded her head in affirmation. His chest swelled with pride. His Zara was a strong woman. He knew then that they would get through this together.

  He swiftly stood up and made his way back to his flat. He wiped his bloodied hands on his jeans and tried to slow his erratic breathing as he grabbed a rope along with his mobile phone.

  When Peter came back, the scene in front of him was like one from the movies. The man’s body lay on his back on the floor with a pool of blood around his head. Oh, he knew the bastard wasn’t dead, but he’d made sure he wished he were. Peter ground his teeth with the pain he felt now. He quickly tied the man’s hands and feet, in case he wanted to make a run for it.

  Zara was bundled in the corner of the wall, and she hugged her knees. She angrily wiped the tears that streamed down her beautiful face. Her doe-like eyes were rimmed with black from her mascara.

  He heard the ding of the elevator. Someone was coming up. Without losing his time, he flattened himself against the wall close to the door. He looked at Zara and with his finger against his lips, he gestured to her to be silent.

  Like in a slow-motion movie, the doors of the elevator opened and a high heel along with a long leg appeared first, followed by blonde hair. He could feel his blood pumping up again, as he watched Claire taking in the scene in front of her.

  Claire didn’t see him as she stepped beside the man on the floor. With a snort, she kicked him. “Thank God I came back! Fucking bastard. You couldn’t do a simple job. Could you?”

  Suddenly, she turned her head toward Zara. Claire shook her head in wonder. “And she’s still alive! Pray tell me, how the fuck you made such a mess. Well! Never mind. I just have to finish the job, then.”

  As soon as she took her first step toward Zara, Peter silently came behind her and wrapped tightly his forearm around her neck. He flushed her hard against him.

  “Well, well, well! What do we have here?” he said through his clenching teeth.

  “Peter? Oh, my God, Peter! What happen in here? I came to see you, honey.” She was clawing at his arm. “I didn’t kill the man. I swear!” Then, she pointed a finger to Zara. “That crazy woman must have done it. You can let me go now, Peter!”

  Still, he wasn’t moving. “Hurry up, Peter! We have to call the police and have her arrested before she runs away.” Claire carried on her innocent act.

  With a sad shake of his head, he realized what kind of dangerous person she was. All this could have been avoided if he had balls to stop the charade at the beginning.

  “Nice try, Claire! Oh, I called the police and they are coming, trust me. Not for Zara but for you and your sidekick here,” he said calmly while he tied her hands behind her back before she started to thrash around like a possessed woman.

  “Untie me, Peter! You are making a huge mistake. I love you, honey! We can run away and let her take the whole blame. Come on, Peter, please.”

  He turned her around to face him. “Not going to happen, Claire. A woman like you doesn’t have feelings, let alone the ability to love someone. You are a self-centered and selfish person.
You tried to kill an innocent person for your own satisfaction.” He shook his head sadly.

  She tried to headbutt him. “I am going to kill you, you fucking bastard. I have done everything for you and I. We could have been so happy together, but no, that wasn’t enough for you. You had to go and fuck this fat whore. What does she have that I don’t?”

  Grabbing her head between his hands, he said, “I love her!” His answer fuelled her rage.

  She started to scream. His only solution to shut her up was to give her the backhand. He never lifted his hand to any woman but this one was utterly crazy as she dropped into his arms. Well! It did work. He laid her gently next to the other man.

  Wiping off as much of the blood from himself as he could, he went to Zara and gently knelt in front of her. He immediately caught her when she threw herself into his harms with a desperate cry. He wrapped his arms around her trembling body protectively.

  “Sweetheart, it’s going to be all right now. I’m here, they won’t hurt anymore,” he tried to say quietly.

  Her body trembled violently. Abruptly, she wrenched herself from his arms and vomited her guts out.

  She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “I’m sorry, Peter,” she said. Her face was tearstained.

  The hurt he saw in her beautiful eyes ignited the rage he felt toward the bastards that lay a couple of feet away. Her chin started to wobble again.

  “Hush now, sweetheart,” he whispered.

  “He said…he said…he was going to rape me and kill me…” she said with a wobbly voice, and sniffed at the same time.

  He could see that it was very hard for her to talk about. Therefore, he kept quiet and caressed her hair enticing her to carry on.

  “He said that he was sent by someone…” She sniffled and pointed to Claire. “That woman! Her name is Claire Snowly? No, that wasn’t it, Snowty…oh God, Peter, I can’t remember.” She clung to him.

  “Claire Snowdy,” he hissed through his teeth.

  She lifted her head. “That’s it! Is she your ex?” She looked him in the eye.

  Caressing her beautiful face, he tried to hide the destructive fury he felt toward Claire. Peter believed that because of him, his beautiful Zara could’ve been killed today. He couldn’t forgive himself for such mistakes he’d made in the past. But how could he have known that the bitch was crazy?

  With a ding, the elevator doors opened. What now? Peter was on his guard again. He pushed Zara behind him tried to shield her from whatever came their way, when a young tall woman appeared. He watched her eyes get bigger and bigger when she assessed the scene in front of her, from the side of the elevator, where there was a pool of blood, to the bodies lying on the floor, and then to he and Zara bundled together.

  Chapter 15

  She was wrapped in her favorite knitted blanket and hugged her favorite hot mug of coffee. They were back at Peter’s apartment. Her sister sat with her on the couch. She threw her arm around her shoulders and held a well-used tissue in her other hand. She could hear her sniffling slightly. Poor baby. She had always been a soft soul.

  Everything was like a blur for Zara when she looked around her. It seemed that she was in a backstage studio. She looked over the scene that unfolded before her.

  It turned out that the person who wanted her dead stalked Peter. Out of jealousy, the crazy woman hired an assassin to have her out of the picture. She shook her head in amazement. That is one crazy woman. The police officers came and went through the door. Some held notepads, and took her and Peter’s statements, and the other officers…well, she really didn’t know or care what the rest of the officers were doing. They took the Snowdy woman and Blake in handcuffs.

  She was checked over by the medics while Peter hovered over her. She had bruises on her torso and her throat felt tender because the fucker had her in an arm lock. Then the medic asked her the fateful question. Had she been raped? Her response was “No.”

  She opened her eyes and turned her head toward Yasemin. She couldn’t believe her eyes. Her beautiful and well-groomed sister was in a bad state. Her makeup was smeared. Her eyes were all puffed up.

  Zara shouldered her sister as she tried to comfort her. “Hey! Everything’s going to be fine, sweetie. The bastards are under arrest,” she said.

  She could see her chin wobble. Zara knew that her sister always held her emotions with a tight fist, but her comforting words seemed to unleash a flood of tears.

  “How can you be so calm?” she cried. “Oh, Zara! I almost lost you today. I’m sorry for the hurtful words I said to you. I was thinking about myself, as usual. I love you so much, Zara, and if you want to date every human being on the planet, I’ll be behind you a hundred percent.”

  She opened her arms to nestle Yasemin against her chest. “Now, now. Nothing you say will hurt me, love. I know you love me as much as I love you. To the contrary, you’re not an egoist but a caring soul. Come here, love,” she said, and hugged her as tight as she could. “Thank you for bringing me my blanket and mug over.”

  Still holding tightly onto Zara, she said, “You’re welcome.”

  While she caressed her sister’s hair, Zara caught Peter’s worried look at her. She gave him a tiny smile to reassure him that she was all right. Peter was her savior, hero, and the passion of her life.

  When she lay on the floor and the killer tried to strangle her, her last thoughts went to Peter. Then, like a dark angel, he had appeared behind the man and everything just went so fast that she could hardly recall the details of what exactly happened.

  He was about to come toward them when the police intercepted him. She watched him nod his head when the police officer asked him a question. Then he made his way back to them. Hunching down, he gently put his bandaged hand on her knee and looked into her eyes.

  Yasemin dislodged herself from her. “I’m going to make some coffee and call Lara,” she declared.

  Zara silently thanked Yasemin for her discretion. She then locked her eyes with Peter’s. What she saw in his beautiful eyes gave her strength to be strong. She could easily read his emotions on his face. There was anger and sadness, as well as pride. She took hold gently of his injured hand and leaned over to kiss it.

  “They are all leaving, sweetheart. Would you like me to take you back to your place? On the other hand, you could stay here, with me.” She could feel his breath on her temple.

  She lifted her head. “I would like to stay with you, Peter,” she replied with a trembling voice. “Thank you for saving me. Oh, Peter! Look at your hand. You’re hurt, I’m so sorry,” she cried softly as she looked down at their interlocked hands.

  This strong and beautiful man was hurt because he tried to save her. Her heart swelled with adoration, admiration, and love for him.

  “Look at me!” he ordered. Suddenly, he grabbed her face with his hands. He winced slightly. “I love you, you silly woman.” He wiped her tears away with his thumbs. “I would’ve given my life. Do you hear me? My life!”

  “Oh, Peter! I love you, too. It took me to be in this situation to get my head out of my ass,” she said as she giggled and sobbed at the same time.

  He rose swiftly from his position as he sat down beside her, and tapped lightly on his knee. She looked around her. The flat was empty—no more strange faces that came and went, no more persistent questions about her ordeal. She just wanted to forget it and move on.

  “Zara, I’m going over to your flat to wait for Lara there,” Yasemin said from the entrance door and looked at them fondly.

  “Okay, love. Tell her I’ll see her tomorrow. Okay?” She blew her a kiss. “Oh, Yasemin?”

  “Yes!”

  “Thank you for being here with me, love. I love you.”

  Her silence was more explicit than words. Then Yasemin slowly closed the door behind her, but not before she saw the tears in her eyes.

  As she closed her eyes, she tightened her hold on her blanket and took a deep breath. She smelled his scent. It was so soothing. When
she turned her head to him, he still wanted her to sit down on his lap. Crazy man. She felt a rush of heat flowing through her veins.

  She shook her head. “But, Peter, you’re hurt.”

  “Please, Zara. I just want to hold you for a minute. I need it so badly. I need to touch you, to smell you, and I want to feel your sexy little body against me.”

  She obeyed him and settled down gently on his knees. Wrapping her arm round his neck, she snuggled against him. She took a deep breath of his male scent as she laid her head on his shoulder. She absorbed the warmth of his strong body against hers.

  “Oh, Zara. You feel so good, all warm and soft, sweetheart,” he groaned. “I thought I lost you for good. Never again,” he tightened his hold on her, his emotions radiating from him like a heat wave.

  She tried to pull away slightly from him. She wanted to see his beautiful face to comfort him. However, when she lifted her head from his shoulder and faced him, Peter roughly captured her mouth for a deep kiss. It surprised her as her body reacted quickly. She moaned as his warm, firm lips licked and enticed hers. He drank from her lips like a stranded man in need of water. She felt her pussy weep in response.

  Her fingers brushed across the soft hairs of his temple and threaded her finger through them, then grabbed a fistful and returned his kisses. She drilled her tongue in his mouth, demanding and searching for the sweetness she knew was there for her.

  With a muffled noise, he moaned, “Hmmm.”

  Lifting her head to catch her breath, she asked, “What’s wrong?”

  His breathing was as rapid as hers, and his lips shone from her kiss. He looked very flushed. She felt very proud of herself. She, Zara Miller, could bring such a strong and sexy man to this state.

  He suddenly yanked her away. “Pull the condom out from my front pocket, now. I’m sorry, sweetheart. It’s going to be a fast ride. I can’t wait, but I promise to take my time for the second round,” he ordered breathlessly.