I swear the entire world fell away. It was just him and me in this room. My mind started to go down the same road his thoughts were just moments before. Him and me in bed together, sweaty and panting. Or even better him, his brother and I all together.
My core clenched, I could feel my panties getting wet as heat flooded my body. I couldn’t help the little squirm I did, desire flared in Colter’s eyes as he watched me like a hawk with his prey.
I snapped out of my fantasy when Britt snapped her fingers in front of my face. Shaking my head, I smiled sheepishly and blushed, ducking my head to try and hide. Colter gave me a knowing smile with a wink.
That man was the very devil with his handsome looks and sexy winks. My mind wanted to derail again on my fantasy but I reeled it back in.
“So, uh, what were you going to give me?” I asked quietly, trying to get this conversation back on track but it's so hard when my body was screaming at me to jump his bones. Right here, right now, just like it did for his brother. This shit has got to stop.
Colter shook his head as if to clear it, I fought not to smirk at him. “Oh! Right, uh. Here, I just finished this and it was really good, I just thought you would like it from the other one that you had.” I smirked as Colter was blushing and babbling slightly. Not so fun when the shoe is on the other foot, is it buddy?
I held out my hand, “Okay. Let’s see it.”
Colter thrusts the book into my hand and I looked at the cover. It’s pretty with a lot of blue water, some islands and a dark haired woman walking into the water. The Heart of Andros, by Jade Oliver. I have never read one by her, so I flipped it over to read the back.
“Huh...a time travelling reverse harem. Now that’s interesting… Wait.” My head snapped up and I narrowed my eyes at Colter, “You read romance novels? Specifically reverse harems? So you knew what they were the whole time!”
Colter rubbed the back of his neck, “I read anything I can get my grubby hands on actually. And I firmly believe all guys should read at least one romance novel in their lives. Since most are written by women, it shows how most women want to be treated by us men.” He shrugged and stared into my eyes. “Plus I never said I didn’t know what they were, you both just assumed and jumped into an explanation. I didn’t want to deny Brittany the chance to educate someone on the wonders of reverse harems.” He winked at Britt; I could tell she forgave him by her smile.
Be still my beating heart! A guy who might actually have a clue on how to treat a woman? Oh, he’s dangerous.
I contained my swoon and latched onto that last thought. He was dangerous, a guy like him could easily get a girl to fall for him and then break her heart. Why else would he be single? I frowned realizing I didn’t actually know if he’s single or not.
Colter seemed to sense my shift in mood because he made a hasty exit after that. I watched him as he made his way to the stairs, he really did have a nice ass. But I just got out of one relationship; I never was one of those girls who jumped straight into another. I was seriously reconsidering that policy though, damn those brothers were hot as hell.
I turned back to Britt, she was frowning at me breaking off bits of her sandwich and chewing them slowly.
“What?” I snapped at her, my emotions and brain in turmoil. Immediately I winced and shook my head, sighing, “I’m sorry Britt, I shouldn’t have snapped at you.”
Britt reached across the table laying her cold hand on mine. “Girl, it’s okay. I understand. But can I give you some advice, sweets?”
I shrugged looking down at my half finished soup and sandwich. I’m no longer hungry, I waved Emily over and asked her if she could box it up to go. I’ll finish it later tonight for dinner, that way I won't have to cook and dirty dishes before I leave tomorrow morning. Sounded like a good plan to me.
“Lexi, I know you haven’t ever jumped into bed with another man as soon as you kicked one to the curb.” Damn, she always could read my mind. If I didn't know better, I would say she was a damn witch.
“I don’t always kick them Brit. Sometimes they kick me.” I gave a small laugh.
Truth was I had always kicked them to the curb. When things got to real, or to heavy I ran. Roxy used to admonish me for it all the time. Telling me I would never settle down and have a family if I kept going that way. I would laugh and tell her I wasn’t ready to settle down. Now at 28 I was having second thoughts. I did want a family someday, but things had always seemed off in my past relationships. I had always felt like my soul was still searching for something. Grams always I should follow my instincts and they wouldn’t lead me wrong. They haven’t yet either, I may have ignored them from time to time. When I did, shit happened that I probably could have avoided.
Like Roxy’s death.
My gut had been telling me for weeks that something wasn’t right, that she needed help whether she wanted it or not. I didn’t listen, telling myself I was just being paranoid. I’ve wished every day since her death that I could go back in time and listen to my instincts telling me to save my sister.
I’m wrenched out of my thoughts by Britt waving her hand in front of my face and practically yelling “Hello! Earth to Lexi!” at me.
I chuckled at her antics, “Sorry. I got lost for a minute there.”
“So I saw. Want to share with the class?” Her voice was dry, I could tell she was vexed with me.
“Not really.” I shook my head.
“Okay, fine, since you weren’t listening to my advice, let me ask you a question.”
“Ookay.” I drew the word out not liking were this was going. Britt's questions tended to make me really think and look at things. I didn’t like to do that most of the time. I tended to overthink and when I overthink I get into some sort of trouble. But her question surprises me.
“What was your Grams 5 rules to a successful and happy life again?”
“Uh. What?”
“Just answer the question, Lex.”
I sat back in my chair with my arms folded. “Okay, I’ll play along.” I held up my hand and ticked them off on my fingers. “One, find something you love to do, one that preferably pays the bills. Two, find a guy or guys you love to screw, make sure they are good in bed. Three, always work hard. Four, stay dedicated, no matter who tells you to drop it. And five, always do what feels right and make sure justice prevails, stand up for what you believe in.”
Britt was nodding her head and looking at me with one of her eyebrows raised. After a minute of this I threw my hands into the air, “So what? What does that have to do with my inability to jump into bed with another guy right after I kicked the last one to the curb?”
“How can you not see?” I just shook my head at her in confusion. What the hell did she want me to see with grams rules?
“1, did you like the job you had? Fuck no. Two, did you love fucking Christian? No, you did not, I just found that out. Three and four you have in spades so I’m not even asking about those. But five, what do you feel is right for you right now, here in this moment? Is it to wallow in self-pity and become a nun till the next semi-decent guy comes along into your life after a respectable amount of time? Or is five telling you to get back in the saddle with one or both of those hotties and find out what you want?”
I had no answer for her last question so I didn’t even bother answering her. I’m saved by Emily bringing my to-go boxes back over to the table. I laid down some bills and stood up shaking my head at Britt, I seemed to be doing a lot of that lately. “That is what this weekend is about Britt. For me to clear my head and find out where I want to go from here and what that all entails.”
Britt stood up and gave me a hug, “I know, sweets. Go find yourself out there. And call me Sunday when you get back okay?”
“I will. I’m not going as far as Christian wanted. I’ll only be a half hour to 45 minutes outside of town.” I told her as I gathered up my books and food.
She nodded, as we turned around to go back downstairs. I froze when I saw Christian sit
ting at one of the inside tables glaring at Britt and me. I didn’t know if he heard where I was going, but I hoped not. It would be just like him to show up while I was out there. Ever since Tuesday at the cafe I no longer felt safe around him.
I quickly grabbed Britt’s’ arm and we hustled downstairs where I had Eric ring me up for the books and paid before Britt could say anything. I gave her a backwards wave as I walked home. I hated driving, and preferred to walk whenever I could. It wasn't that I didn't like to be behind the wheel, I did. Feeling the wind blow through my hair when the windows were down, blaring my music and just enjoying the ride. It was all the other cars on the road that pissed me off. Most of them didn't know how to drive, cutting you off, getting right up on your ass if you weren’t going fast enough for them. That was what I hated, as it always ruined the nice relaxing drive I had planned.
I looked around suddenly feeling like someone was watching me. Seeing no one even looking at me, I tried to shake the feeling off but it persisted. I sped up to walk the last two blocks to my house practically running by the time I hit my front porch. Once I got inside I quickly shut the door and locked it. That feeling had stayed with me all the way home.
Now you really are being paranoid, Lexi. Who the hell would be watching you?
I turned on some music and settled down to read for a bit. I was already packed and ready to go. All I had to do was load up the car in the morning and head out. I was excited to be able to go explore again, I hadn’t been hiking in a long time. This was my chance to rediscover myself. I had lost myself somewhere after Roxy’s death. She would be so pissed at me for it too.
Not able to concentrate on the book I was trying to read I got up to make myself a cup of peppermint tea. As I was walking past the front door on my way to the kitchen I saw a shadow quickly dart out of the way. Frowning I crept closer to investigate. Just like you see in those horror movies I was the dumb bimbo going to investigate the weird noise or shadow. Why I don’t know, but this was my house and I needed to make sure there was no one there.
I quickly flipped on the porch light and saw...nothing. Shaking my head and laughing at myself, I decided I was being paranoid. It was obvious I needed a break, “Maybe I’ll just take my tea into the bath with me and then go to bed.” My voice seemed to echo around me in the empty house.
Six
Friday dawned bright and clear. It was already 50 degrees out so I dressed in a pair of comfortable jeans and a t-shirt with a red sweater over it. The weather people had said that it would get to 68 degrees by mid-morning and wouldn’t rain until Saturday night. After grabbing a quick breakfast and a thermos of coffee, I was on my way to the woods.
While driving with Brit a month ago, on our way to Boston, I had seen a really nice set of woods that I wanted to explore. It didn't have any ‘no trespassing’ signs that I could see and didn't look to be part of a state park. As far as I could tell it was unclaimed, which sounded weird to me as I thought every piece of land on this planet was owned by someone. Be it private or government. But perhaps it was owned by someone who didn’t care if people hiked there. Or a rich man owned it just for the sake of owning it. Either way, I was excited to explore the woods and see what wonders I could find.
I found a two-track road that led into the forest, furthering my assumption that someone owned it but didn’t care if people were on it. Or maybe they hunt on it, it is hunting season...I better make sure I have my orange hat and vest on. I drove a little ways in and parked my car. Getting all of my stuff out of the trunk, I made a GPS location tag of where my car was on my handheld GPS unit. Locking my car I looked around trying to decide which way I wanted to go.
I decided to head straight out from my car, northeast, and head deeper into the forest. I dug my camera out of my bag before I started so I could take pictures of anything I saw. A few hours into my hike the feeling of being watched returned. Chills ran up and down my spine as I stopped and looked around. I saw nothing out of the ordinary, all I saw was the massively towering trees with their bursting colors all dabbled with sunlight. I forgot about the feeling of being watched and quickly grabbed my camera taking a couple of pictures before I lost the right light.
Leexxx
A twig snapped off to my right, I quickly spun around on a gasp. “Who’s there?”
I didn’t see anything out of place no matter how hard I looked. I took a couple steps towards the sound before stopping myself. I really wasn’t one of those girls who would go investigate weird sounds. I hated when they did that in the movies, usually it was the dumb blonde. I was not a dumb blond. Last night was a fluke.
I looked around one more time, still not seeing anything I shrugged my shoulders and continued on the way I was going.
Pulling out my water and taking a drink I noticed it was quiet. Too quiet for the woods. There was no sound of birds chirping, leaves rustling in the slight breeze or insects making themselves known.
It was the kind of quiet it gets when there is a predator around. My heart rate spiked as fear slithered through my system. I wasn’t alone out here; I could feel it like the hot breath of a lover on my neck. All the hair stood up on my body warning of danger, not knowing what was in these woods, be it wolf or mountain lion, I moved slowly and with purpose. I didn't want to full outrun no matter how much my body was screaming at me too. Running would have made me look like prey, and I was anything but prey. Slowly sliding my hunting knife out of its sheath on my hip I glanced around me, I didn't want to be caught unawares if anything should jump out.
Lexxxiiiii
There it was again...my name on the breeze. The first time it happened I ignored it, thinking I was losing my mind. The voice had sounded like Roxy’s. Now It sounded a lot like Britt’s voice.
Walking slowly I called out, my voice wavering slightly, “Britt? If you’re trying to prank me I will smack you! This isn’t funny.” I peered around trying to spot her purple hair. I still didn’t see anything.
Slowly with every step I took the forest came alive again, the feeling of being watched slowly disappeared as well. I braced myself against a tree, my body sagging in relief and just breathe.
A hoarse laugh escaped my mouth; I shook my head at myself. I felt like such an idiot, getting worked up over nothing. It must have been a curious predator, but since I hadn't run and didn't make any sudden movements that could be considered as a threat it had lost interest in me. The voice had to be the wind through the trees, or better yet and more plausible, my mind was playing tricks on me. First with last night and now this?
I chuckled at my stupidity for thinking I was being followed by someone, “No one even knows where you are, so how could they follow you?” I said allowed just to hear my own voice. Pushing off the tree, I continued on.
I settled into a rhythm after that, by the time I heard the trickling of water that sounded like a stream, the sun was starting it’s descent. I knew I should stop and make camp before it got too dark, but the sound of water drew me closer. It was getting louder the closer I walked, more like a raging river than a stream. Soon I burst out of the trees and gasped, stopping in my tracks. I’m standing on the edge of a small cliff some eighty feet in the air. Over to my right is a waterfall gushing over the cliff, the sound like a small roar. It was breathtaking, with the setting sun, the water lit up with pinks, purples and reds. I dropped my pack and start moving around taking all sorts of shots. It was magnificent. I could see for miles; the other side was level with the river down below. It felt like I was walking on clouds, or the treetops at least.
Lexxxxiiiii
I spun around nearly losing my balance, there was my name again. I have to be going crazy. There is no way in hell Roxy’s voice is here, it has to be in my head. I shook my head to clear it and turned back to look at the waterfall one more time before I have to set up camp. I couldn’t set up my tent in the dark but I was reluctant to leave the view.
Hearing crashing through the woods, I spun just in time to see a masked
man coming at me with a knife raised. I gave a short scream trying to duck out of the way of his slashing arm. But the knife caught me and sliced into my shoulder. Landing heavily on my side on the ground, I quickly rolled over to my back and grabbed my camera again. Just before the man fell on me I snapped a picture with the flash on, blinding him momentarily. He shouted and pressed his hands to his eyes staggering backwards.
I was panting and sweat already coated my body as I scuttled backwards, trying to put enough distance between us so I could get up and run. I stood and turned, knowing I’m being an idiot, you don’t run from a fight unless you know they won’t be coming after you girl, Grans voice is screaming at me. I stopped and hesitated, once again reaching for my knife on my hip, a searing pain exploded across my back and I cried out. Black creeped in at the edges of my vision as I fell to the ground face first. I fought to stay conscious through the agony in my body.
My world spun drunkenly as the guy flipped me over onto my back, I tried not to puke on him. More than likely I would end up drowning in my own vomit. Like Roxy.
The man sneered down at me, I could only see his mouth and eyes through the slits in the ski mask. Even though the light wasn’t the best I knew that mouth and those eyes perfectly.
“Christian?” My voice came out in a pathetic whine instead of the accusatory tone I wanted. I wiggled and tried to push him off of me, “This isn’t fucking funny. What the hell are you doing?” The dirt was grinding itself into the cut on my back as I tried desperately to get away.
His eyes lit up in sick enjoyment as he ripped my shirt. I let out a whimper and tried again to get him off of me, it was no use, he was bigger and stronger than me.
Terror danced through my veins; I was like a trapped animal. He punched me in the face, snapping my head to the side. The pain helped me to clear my head, this was not the Christian I knew. He had lost his mind. I don’t think he’s playing around. I have to get the fuck out of here!
Roxy’s voice shouted in my head, Damnit Lex, fucking fight! Kick this assholes ass!
Lexi's Justice Page 6