Breaking Free

by LeAnn Ashers

  “Let’s go inside,” I whisper, and he walks with me in his arms into my house. He kicks the door closed, and we are down on the couch with me in his lap.

  “Clothes off,” he breathes and pushes me up. I take off my clothes while he rids himself of his. Then I push him down onto the couch and straddle him. I sit completely still, looking deep into his eyes before I grab his dick and place it at my entrance, sliding down onto him slowly without breaking eye contact.

  He hands go to my hips and he kisses me. I close my eyes and deepen the kiss while I slide up and down. I gasp into his mouth, while his hands tighten on my hips, helping me move. We continue to kiss through our joined orgasm. His hand moves up and down my back as I shake from coming, his breaths labored.

  Looking at the clock, I see its eight o’ clock. I need to bring the horses inside of the barn for the night. “I need to take care of the horses.”

  “I will go do that. Go start a bath.” Dave lifts me onto the couch beside him and stands up. He slips his jeans on, his butt cheeks flexing with the movement. He heads outside, while I walk butt naked upstairs to my bathroom. It has a large jacuzzi tub that I had installed a few years ago so I can relax, drink wine, and read some books. My daughter is an author, but I don’t read her books, because I promised her I wouldn’t.

  I turn on the water and grab a hair tie off the back of the sink to put my hair into a bun then slip into the water, even though the tub is barely filled. I lay back and rest my head on the bath pillow. Then I close my eyes and let the steam relax me.

  When I hear the bathroom door creak open, I look up. Dave has walked in and is stripping out of his clothes. I can’t help but stare at him.

  “You like what you see?” Dave winks and walks over to the tub. I scoot up to turn off the water and he can get in behind me His heat hits my back, and his legs go on either side of me. I lean back with my back to his front. The water is now up to my breasts.

  I lay my head back, and he rests his chin at the top. His arms wrap around me too, making me feel surrounded by him. Why do I feel like crying right now? My throat thickens at the impending tears.

  I feel like this, because I have feelings for this man and I thought that would never happen. I feel protected and worshiped, his touching showing so much more than words.

  “What’s wrong?” he asks. He must sense something is happening with me.

  “I feel so many emotions right now,” I confess and grab his hand, intertwining our fingers.

  “Like?”

  “I feel happy, with you. I never thought I would ever have that.”

  “Me either.” He kisses the top of my head, and I sink farther into the bathtub. I hear a bottle open and crank my neck up to see what he is doing. He has my bath poof in one hand and my body wash in the other.

  “What are you doing?” I ask him and sit up, turning around.

  “Washing you.” He puts soap onto the poof then places the poof on my shoulder and slowly moves it down to my elbow. Then he lifts my arm so he can drag it down all the way to my hand. He brings it under my arm and to my ribs, over my breasts, under my neck, my other arm until he enters the water, down my stomach until he reaches my pussy. I hold my breath as he washes me, just like I hold back my emotions by biting my lip. “Why are you doing this?” I ask him.

  “I want to take care of you. The way you deserve,” he tells me as he sets the poof onto the side of the bathtub.

  “What did I do to deserve someone like you?” I breathe out and move closer to him. I wrap my arms around his neck and rest my head on his shoulder. His hands go to my back.

  “I ask myself the same thing. You are mine now, forever.”

  I still at his words, but then I feel a burst of happiness. I want nothing more than to be with this man forever.

  Sitting up, I grab a washcloth off the counter beside the tub. I grab his body wash and put some into the washcloth.

  “Let me take care of you as you did me. You deserve to be taken care of just as me.” His eyes soften at my words. I lean forward and place a chaste kiss on his lips before I drag the soapy washcloth down his chest, his eyes staying on me the whole time.

  “Let’s go to bed.” Dave takes the cloth from me and sets it down onto the counter. After he stands up and grabs my hand, pulling me up with, he finds a towel and dries me off slowly. When he’s done, I take it from him and dry him off the same.

  I walk into my bedroom with him right behind me, pull back the blanket, and climb into bed. Dave slides in beside me and lies on his back, so I can rest my head on his chest, my arm around his waist, my leg over one of his.

  He kisses the top of my head and pulls the blanket up over me.

  “Goodnight, darlin’.”

  “Goodnight, honey.”

  Chapter Six

  At the sound of a truck thundering up my driveway, I peek out the side of the barn. Dave left thirty minutes ago. Did he forget something? He was going out to get some steaks for supper tomorrow night.

  The truck stops and Marcus steps out. What? How? Why? I push inside of the barn and grab my phone to call Dave. I have a funny feeling about this.

  He picks up on the second ring, while I duck behind the wall, trying to hide.

  “Evelyn?”

  “Marcus is here.” I can hear the fear in my voice.

  “I’m coming, baby,” he tells me, and I want to sag with relief.

  “Why are you hiding?” I slowly look up to see Marcus standing in front of me.

  Dave

  “Why are you hiding?” I hear Marcus’ voice through the phone, and my heart drops out of my chest. Then there’s a beep, telling me she hung up. I am twenty minutes out. The guys are ten minutes out.

  I dial Daniel’s number. He answers quickly. “Daniel.”

  “Daniel, I need you to go to Evelyn’s house. I am twenty minutes out. A man obsessed with her just showed up. You guys are closer.”

  “On it, man.”

  I hear multiple doors shut and know they’re on their way. I feel slightly better, but I won’t be calm until that fucker pays for coming around and scaring her.

  “Hurry,” I tell him, furious. Then I hang up and speed all the way to get to my Evelyn.

  Evelyn

  “Marcus, why are you here?” My heart thunders in my chest at the confrontation. What he said to me in the parking lot of the bar has changed my opinion about this man and set off warning bells in my head. I never had a good feeling around him in the first place, because he wouldn’t take no for an answer.

  “To see you.” He grins and moves closer to me. I move farther away into the hallway so as not to be backed up into the corner anymore.

  “Why?” I ask him and move back another step.

  “Because I want you,” he says simply as he keeps moving closer to me. My skin crawls at seeing him staring at me with lust.

  “I am with Dave,” I tell him in the hopes it will give him reason to leave me alone.

  His eyes narrow. I gulp and back up some more.

  “Why? When I repeatedly asked you to date me, you never gave us a chance!” he yells at me, his face turning red with anger, his finger jutting in my direction with every word.

  “Marcus, I don’t have feelings for you like that,” I tell him softly and hope he understands.

  He takes a couple of angry steps toward me until we are only a foot apart. My breath comes out in a whoosh as my body freezes and fear shoots through me.

  “Please leave, Marcus,” I beg him and look into his eyes.

  “I am not leaving. You will be MINE!” he roars in my face. My head turns to the side, but he is in my face. I clench my eyes together. My whole body is now shaking with fear.

  “I would back away from the lady if you knew what was best for you.”

  Marcus spins around, giving me the chance to back away a couple of feet. Five guys are standing at the entrance of the barn. These are Dave’s friends. The two that were out of town must be back. I almost fall to th
e ground in relief.

  “What the fuck are you going to do about it?” Marcus taunts and points a finger at them.

  “You don’t want to know, man. I can take out a fuck like you with one arm tied behind my back.”

  Marcus looks at each of the men before he turns around and glares at me with pure rage. My eyes widen.

  “This is far from over.” He stomps past me and out the other side of the barn.

  I watch him leave then look at the men who came to my rescue as I let out a huge breath and lean against the wall.

  “You okay?” One of the guys asks, and I nod. “Yeah, I’m fine. Thank you for coming to my rescue.”

  The biggest one of them moves forward, closer to me. “What did he want?”

  I step closer to them. “Apparently, he can’t take no for an answer. He’s never done this before, but now he found out I’m with Dave. Dave knocked him out, if you couldn’t tell by the bruising.”

  All five of them grin at that, and I smile back. They are all handsome. “Dinner will be done any minute if you want to stay.”

  “Sure,” one of them says, while the others nod.

  I walk out of the barn and hear another truck coming down the driveway. Looking up, I see it’s Dave. He slams on the breaks and jumps out. Fury is all over his face until he sees me. His expression shows relief, as does him hanging his head as he grabs the side of the truck. I take off running toward him and collide with his body. My legs go around his waist, and I lay my head on his shoulder. Dave squeezes me tightly, like he is trying to brand me to him.

  “You okay?” he asks, and I nod. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

  “He didn’t hurt you?” he asks, but this time his voice is hard.

  “He didn’t touch me, just scared me.” I raise up and kiss him on the mouth. He sets me down onto the ground, where I turn around to face his friends. All of them are standing close, watching us with a huge smile on their face.

  “Let’s go eat.” I return their smile and wave them toward the house, where I set up the food on the dining room table so they can serve themselves.

  They introduce themselves to me. Sloan, Daniel, Mike, Lucas, , and Jonah. You can see by how they act around each other that they have been friends for a long time. They are all towering giants of muscles.

  “You know, I have a friend,” I tell them on a smile. Michelle is forty, a single mom like me, and is a nurse. Her kids are younger than mine, her youngest a boy of ten and her oldest a sixteen-year-old girl.

  “I might invite her over for dinner. You guys can join us if you want.” I can see her with Daniel; she is happy-go-lucky, while he is more laid back, but with intensity. She needs an intense, protective man like that in her life.

  “This was delicious. If Dave hadn’t already snapped you up, I would have kidnapped you after my first bite of that lasagna.” Sloan teases, and my eyes widen at the word kidnapped. I look over at Dave. He is staring angrily at Sloan.

  “Don’t say shit like that,” Dave tells Sloan and smacks him on the shoulder.

  “Dave. I have that information you wanted.” Mike hands Dave a piece of paper. Dave looks at me pointedly, and I realize he hunted down my parents. I nod. I want to see them. It’s time to put them at ease after all these years.

  Dave hands me the paper, and I open it. They are alive and are still living in the same place. I smile at Dave.

  “We are going to head out, guys. Thank you for the food, Evelyn,” Jonah thanks me. The other guys nod before they all walk out and leave me and Dave sitting here.

  “Want to go see my parents with me tomorrow?”

  “Of course I will go with you.” He kisses me on the forehead, and I lay my head on his shoulder.

  “Go pack, baby. I will clean all of this.”

  “Thank you.” I smile at him and push my chair out. “I’ll put your stuff in my suitcase too.”

  He nods and starts stacking the plates then carries them into the kitchen. I walk up the stairs, the nerves of what I am about to do setting in. I’m about to see my parenets for the first time in many, many years.

  I didn’t want him to follow me to my parents or find them. I had already been gone for years and didn’t want to bring them more heartbreak by telling them about everything that happened to me. I had also been emotionally drained and had locked all of my emotions away.

  Walking into my bedroom, I go straight to my closet and drag my suitcase out. I unzip it and place it on the ground. Then I grab some shirts off the clothes rack, flannels, jeans, and some shorts. Where we are going, dressing up isn’t necessary.

  I spot Dave’s duffel and drag it over then take out some jeans, boxers, shirts, and some flannels like mine. I will pack all the other essentials in the morning, since we’ll be needing them.

  “Hey, babe. I booked us a flight. The guys said they’d be taking care of the horses.” Dave pops around the corner.

  “Thank you.” I stand up and walk over to him to wrap my arms around his waist. I am going to see my mother and my father tomorrow. I am scared, and my heart hurts from putting them through so much pain for so many years.

  “It will all be okay. I will be here with you every step of the way.” He kisses the top of my head, and when I look up at him, he seals his lips with mine. For the next couple of hours, he takes my mind off of everything.

  Chapter Seven

  The next evening

  Dave and I stop at the entrance to my parents’ driveway. I bite my lip, trying to keep the tears from falling. My anxiety is off the charts right now.

  “You ready?”

  I look over at Dave. He is smiling at my softly, but his face is determined. He will be my rock through this. With him I know everything will be okay.

  “Yeah.” I nod and unbuckle my seat belt. He pulls into the driveway and my house comes into view, the white southern home that looks the same as it always did, the red slanted-roof barn close by.

  I see someone standing on the porch, and as we pull closer, I realize it’s my dad. He is straining to see who is in the car.

  I hide my face in my hands and start to sob, the pain of everything hitting me like a freight train. Dave pulls to a stop, while I sit crying.

  “Baby, I will come to you.”

  I nod and dry my eyes. My father is standing at the bottom of the steps, looking far from his age. He is still tall, brawny, and built like a line backer, but his stomach has a pudge now. Mom’s cooking must have finallly gotten to him.

  My door pops open, and I look up at Dave. He nods, reaching his hand inside, and I put my hand in his, so he can help me out of my seat, his body blocking me from my dad’s eyes. I let out a deep breath and move into view of my father.

  His expression turns to absolute shock, pain, and relief. He collapses down onto the porch and whispers, “Lyn?” His eyes are filling with tears; it’s the first time I have ever seeen him cry.

  “Its me, Daddy,” I say and move closer.

  “My baby.” He lets out a sob and covers his face with his hands, crying into them.

  “Daddy, I am so sorry.” I start crying myself and run to him. He opens his arms, and then I am surrounded by him. My dad, my protector, the man who taught me how to ride a horse, how to drive, how to throw a right hook, how to fish.

  My strong daddy is shaking with emotions, and I did that. I did that, but I also felt like I didn’t have a choice. The man who had kidnapped me was crazy, but I had also been missing years, had been out of touch with the outside world. I couldn’t let my parents see the shell of the person I had become.

  “Lyn?” I look up from my dad’s chest and see my mom standing there with her hand covering her mouth.

  My dad stands with me in his arms. “Mommy,” I whisper, and she starts crying. She runs to us, and Dad wraps both of us in a tight hug. The pain I have felt from not seeing my parents is gone, but the sadness from knowing they’ve been hurting for so long is even worse now. Still, I feel like I can breathe now fully for the first time i
n almost thirty years.

  “Baby, where have you been?” Mom whispers and kisses the top of my head like I am still a child. I smile and wipe my tears. My father still hasn’t let me go.

  “That’s a long story.”

  “You tell it over supper.” She wraps a firm arm around my forearm and starts to drag me into the house.

  “Dave, come on,” I yell, and my mother lets me go and turns around to look at Dave. She smiles at him, her face showing her wrinkles. She is just as beautiful as I remember.

  “Thank you for bringing her to me.” She walks over and hugs him. When she lets him go, she takes my hand again, dragging me to the house. Once in, she leads me to the dining room table. My dad sits down directly beside me, not letting go of my hand, as if he were afraid I will run off.

  “I can’t believe you are here,” Dad whispers and hugs me to him again, pulling me half off the chair. He lets me go and stares at me. I look over at Dave, who is staring at us both, his face full of emotions.

  “Baby, where have you been?” Dad asks, his face tortured.

  “I didn’t have a choice.” My heart is breaking, because I caused them such pain.

  “All right, let’s eat.” Mom sets a long tray down onto the table with four plates and a pitcher of sweet tea and glasses.

  I grab mine and Dave’s plate. I slide his over and mine in front of me.

  “Lynn, where have you been? We have traveled looking for you, hired PIs. Did everything.” My mom asks. Her face is showing her heartbreak.

  I start at the beginning. Dave eventually scoots over to me and holds my hand, showing his support, being there for me, giving me that strength. If I fall, he will be there to catch me.

  “Lynn.” My mom chokes out when I’m done, and I look at my dad. He is facing the other direction, away from me, his jaw set, his hand fisted, showing his emotion.

  “But I have two amazing kids,” I voice the last part.