Laurie Salzer - A Kiss Before Dawn

by Laurie Salzer

  “If you recall, we left some unfinished business last time we saw each other. Interrupted business, you might say. I decided to track you down and finish things my way.” Sky’s icy gaze cut through what remained of the fog in Chris’s mind.

  A chill of fear crept up Chris’s spine. Sky’s pupils looked dilated under heavy lids, and she held her body tightly, apparently ready to spring into deadly action. Chris had no doubt she must be high on some drug cocktail. Holding a four-inch switchblade in her right hand, Sky waved the weapon through the air to punctuate her words.

  “You were in la-la land for about an hour, lover.” Sky wiped her nose on her wrist. “I’ve always loved your body, you know.” A wicked smile played on her lips. “I got impatient while I was waiting for you to wake up so I had to occupy myself.”

  Chris shuddered as Sky leered at her.

  “Oops, I do believe I left a few marks,” Sky said with a titter.

  The welts on her skin were not from the knife, Chris realized. They were crescent shaped, the marks of Sky’s teeth. Strangely, neither the welts nor the cuts hurt. Horrified, she remembered something Sky had told her.

  “What did you give me?” Chris asked, her voice raspy. She was still struggling to come to grips with what had happened, and she had to swallow hard as another wave of nausea rose up her throat.

  “Oh, my own little recipe. A little coke, a little valium, a little something else.” Sky laughed suddenly, the sound low and venomous. “Hmm, I guess I could tell you, now that I think about it. You won’t be around to tell anybody, anyway.”

  Chris felt her face paling as the meaning of Sky’s gloating words became clear: she was here to kill her. “You don’t have to do this, Sky.” She couldn’t understand why she was so numb. It must be the drugs Sky gave her.

  “I’ll show you what I need to do.” Sky swiftly bent over, grabbed the hair on Chris’s forehead, and roughly pushed her head back. In the same movement, she pressed the point of the knife under Chris’s chin.

  Chris felt her flesh part as razor sharp steel met her skin.

  Sky’s unblinking green eyes met Chris’s. For a moment she said nothing, and then she used the blade tip to draw a shallow, burning line down Chris’s neck.

  Chris winced and held her breath until the pain subsided a bit. Shit! Felt that.

  “You weren’t any fun just sitting there, lover.” Sky straightened up. “I tried fucking you, but you just sat there, completely out of it. I may have gotten a little rough down there, too.” She pointed with the knife and shrugged. She walked to the refrigerator and opened the door to grab a bottle of beer.

  Chris glanced down at her lap. Her vision had cleared enough that she could see bloody smears between her thighs. Acid welled in her throat. She swallowed hard to keep from vomiting. Oh, dear God, she cut me down there? Why can’t I feel anything?

  Raising her head, Chris looked up at the ceiling, trying to recall anything after she’d entered the barn. She squeezed her eyes shut a moment. The dogs were still in the house—no help, but at least they were safe. The thought eased Chris’s fear somewhat. She knew Mary Jo would take care of the dogs if Sky succeeded in doing what she promised. How long was I out? Dear God, please don’t let Mary Jo see this.

  She blinked back tears. Mary Jo. She would never see her again. A single tear escaped and trickled down her cheek. Pain from the salty drop burned the cut on her neck, rousing her. No. Stay strong, Martel. It’s the only way you’re going to get out of this alive.

  Chris glanced at her desk while Sky’s back was turned. If she could somehow get free and call 911… but the desktop was bare. Papers, her laptop, and the office phone with the cord ripped from the wall, were scattered on the floor. In the middle of the clutter, she saw the remnants of her cell phone. Sky must have found the phone while tying her up and smashed it.

  Sky popped the cap on the bottle and sat on the desk close to Chris. She took a long pull of the beer, swallowed, and stared at her coldly. “You are quite the princess, Breeze. I didn’t realize you were such a rich bitch until I started looking around here. No wonder you never brought me home with you. You wanted to keep this all to yourself, didn’t you?”

  “You’ve been here before?” Chris tried not to surrender to the darkness creeping at the edges of her vision. She closed her eyes and then opened them bit by bit.

  “Yeah. I always called. If you didn’t answer, I’d come over.”

  With rising dread, Chris recalled the phone calls she’d answered, only to hear the distinct click of a hang up. “That was you.”

  “Yup. My cousin put it all together for me, your real name, where you lived.” Sky put the beer bottle on the desk. She stood up and began to pace. “You know, all you had to do was want me for your own, and all this could’ve been avoided.” She stopped behind Chris, leaned over, and whispered in her ear, “I wanted you for myself from the very first time I fucked you.”

  Chris felt the flat of the cold blade slide down her cheek. She dared not breathe, let alone move. She crushed her rising panic. Maybe she could reason with the woman. “Sky, you were always good to me. I never wanted to hurt you.”

  “Oh, but you did hurt me, Breeze.” Turning the blade, Sky cut a shallow line down Chris’s cheek, causing Chris to gasp. “You see, I thought you were the hottest dyke around, beautiful even. Then I heard you were fucking somebody else.” She snorted in disgust and waved the bloody knife around. “The bitch probably thought you were beautiful, too.”

  Chris refused to give Sky the satisfaction of seeing her pain and fear. Whatever drugs Sky had given her were wearing off fast. Her cheek stung like a bitch. She felt blood running down her neck and pooling between her breasts.

  “Open your eyes, cunt!” Sky screamed and slapped Chris hard across her wounded cheek. “You’re going to watch me. I’m going to cut you so bad your fuck-toy won’t even recognize you when I’m done.”

  Sky’s stinging slap made Chris tear up again. She blinked, but a few tears escaped and rolled down her face. While Sky ranted, she tried to move her hands and was profoundly relieved when she could move them a little.

  As more feeling returned to her hands and arms, Chris realized she was secured with baling twine. She might be able to flex her wrists enough to tighten the knots, effectively loosening the twine to slip her hands free. Unfortunately, at this point she didn’t have the strength. She needed to buy some time.

  “Sky, what do you want? Money? I have a lot.” Chris kept her voice steady with an effort, too stubborn to beg or plead. “Just tell me what you want, and we can work this out.”

  Sky’s flat stare stole the rest of Chris’s words from her lips. Sky strode over to her and, without hesitation, used the knife to make a deep cut across her belly.

  No longer numb, Chris screamed in pain and horror as her flesh gave way, blood streaming from the wound. Something bulged from the cut. Her terrified mind supposed it was a section of her intestines. Sickened, she looked aside, and her tears flowed freely.

  Sky turned away, picked up the beer bottle, and took a swallow.

  Oh, my God. She is going to kill me! Desperation lent her strength. Chris flexed the strong muscles in her arm and twisted her wrists against the twine. Did she just feel the knot tighten? She discreetly wiggled her hands and hoped Sky wouldn’t go behind her.

  Yes! The binding was looser. Knowing this was the only way she might get out of the situation alive, Chris ignored the pain and continued to work the twine as subtly as possible as Sky finished the beer and carelessly tossed the bottle on the floor.

  Chris increased pressure against the knot as Sky retrieved another beer from the refrigerator. Twisting her wrists a little, she worked the twine almost, but not quite, over the widest part of her hand. A bit more and she’d be free.

  Sky returned to her, the beer bottle at her mouth as she walked. She stopped and cocked her head. Chris wondered if she was deciding where to use the knife next.

  She met Sky’s g
aze and willed her to keep looking at her so she wouldn’t notice anything suspicious.

  “You know, Breeze, you always make me wet when you look at me with those baby blues.” Sky straddled Chris’s legs and sat down on her lap. Chris froze as Sky put the knife to her neck again and said huskily, “Kiss me. Kiss me like you mean it, Breeze.” She leaned in and roughly kissed Chris, bruising her lips.

  Sky’s tongue forced its way into her mouth. The bitter flavor of beer reinforced Chris’s fear and disgust, but she had no choice except to kiss Sky back despite her feeling of violation. How could this be happening? How? When she was the happiest she’d ever been in her life?

  Fresh tears coursed down Chris’s cheeks. She tasted salt on her lips when Sky broke away. Her captor didn’t seem to notice.

  “Oh, lover, that was nice. I knew it would be like that to kiss you. Waiting made it that much better.” Sky stood up from Chris’s lap. “But now you made me horny. Now that you’re awake, how about we fuck for old time’s sake before I finish what I came here to do?” Grabbing Chris’s shirt at the shoulders, she yanked her out of the chair.

  Chris moaned with the effort. Her stomach was on fire, and she felt a fresh stream of blood pouring down her thighs. Standing made her head spin. She unconsciously leaned against Sky for support. Her legs felt like jelly and threatened to give way.

  Rolling her eyes at Chris’s unsteadiness, Sky impatiently tried to move her toward the cot, but Chris’s jeans had fallen to pool around her ankles. Chris caught Sky’s frustration, but she didn’t try to help.

  Sky reached down and pulled Chris’s jeans and boxers up to her knees. Holding the garments in place, she shoved Chris toward the cot.

  Chris struggled to remain conscious. Deep inside, she suspected if she passed out Sky would probably kill her at once.

  When her knees hit the side of the cot, she managed to twist her body enough to fall on her side. Landing on her hands would make escape impossible, and if she went facedown on the cot, the pain from the open abdominal wound would probably make her lose consciousness.

  Sky lay down next to Chris, and her expression softened. “I’ve wanted you like this for so long, Breeze.” She caressed Chris’s cheek.

  Chris needed to hide her revulsion. She kept her eyes tightly closed as Sky’s hand traveled down to her breast. Bile burned in her throat when she felt Sky lean closer to suck on her nipple.

  Try as she might, Chris could not escape what was happening to her. She wished her mind would take her to a different place and time, when Mary Jo was making love to her, making her laugh, making her happy. She had only started to live when Mary Jo walked into her life. That place became increasingly elusive, impossible to find with the pain Sky was inflicting on her.

  Chris opened her eyes. “Sky, love, if you untie me, I’ll be able to touch you, too.” She hoped Sky would fall for it. If she could just get her hands free…

  Sky had been lazily playing with Chris’s nipple. Now she glanced up, her eyes soft and dreamy, as if she weren’t aware of her surroundings or what she was doing. Chris wasn’t sure she even heard her.

  Getting off the cot, Sky began to undress. When she was completely naked, she said, “If I untie you, will you make love to me?”

  “Yes,” Chris said shakily, hoping to convey an arousal she didn’t feel.

  Sky cut the baling twine from Chris’s wrists, oblivious to the looseness of the binding. “Don’t try anything. I wouldn’t want to have to kill you sooner than I wanted to.”

  Chris didn’t dare react when she felt the blade carelessly slice her wrist. Her mind raced as she tried to come up with a plan. She had to buy herself time to find a way out, but she couldn’t risk leading Sky to the house where Mary Jo might be waiting unawares. To get the time she needed to think, she’d have to have sex with Sky.

  Her hands free at last, her arm muscles stiff and screaming, she flexed her fingers to regain some feeling. She glanced at the new wound on her wrist to be sure Sky hadn’t cut anything deeper than skin.

  Sky retracted the switchblade. Holding the weapon in her right hand as a silent warning, she resumed her place next to Chris. “Breeze, baby, make love to me.”

  Hoping she didn’t reveal her loathing, Chris touched Sky’s breast.

  Moaning deeply, Sky took Chris’s hand and forced it between her legs. “Do it. Touch me. Make me come like I did for you all those times.”

  Having no choice, Chris moved her fingers over Sky’s clit. Although she had never touched the woman intimately in the past, she wasn’t really surprised to feel the stub of a piercing. Thankfully, in a few minutes that seemed to stretch into hours, she brought Sky to orgasm. Sky’s primal grunts and moans filled the office as she bucked wildly, riding Chris’s hand, then she took a deep breath, and suddenly relaxed.

  Chris looked at Sky’s face. Her eyes were closed, her breathing even. Incredibly, Sky had fallen asleep, or passed out, from the combination of alcohol and whatever drugs she’d taken.

  Hope flared inside Chris. She ignored the pain and pushed herself up with great care to a sitting position. As soon as her feet touched the floor, dizziness blurred her vision and made her head swim. She was on the verge of blacking out. Fighting through it, she breathed deeply, once, twice. When she could see more clearly, she put her hand over her belly to support her wound. Her nausea increased as she felt the bulge beneath her palm.

  She stood up as carefully as possible. She could feel blood running—from her head, between her fingers, down her thighs, and from the countless nicks Sky had inflicted on her.

  Although weak from blood loss, she made herself move. Her first thought was to kick off her pants, but her boots made it impossible to do it quickly. A slight moan escaped her lips as she bent over to pull her pants up. Daring to let go of her wounded stomach, she fastened her jeans as quickly as she could, taking care to keep them below the cut. Her slippery, bloody fingers made it near impossible to grab hold of the zipper tab.

  As she stood somewhat hunched over, gasping for breath, Chris looked behind her to the wall where the emergency trigger button was mounted. It was located just inches from where Sky lay. Regrettably, she couldn’t risk moving past her assailant and accidentally waking her up. There would be no escape if Sky caught her so close.

  Chris moved as quietly as she could to the door. She glanced back to make sure Sky was still asleep and opened it. She staggered out of the office and couldn’t decide where to go. She had no idea what time it was, and she wasn’t sure whether Mary Jo was home or not. She didn’t want to put the woman she loved in danger.

  A scream exploded from the office. “You bitch!”

  Chris reacted in panic and ran unsteadily down the aisle toward the foaling stalls, supporting herself with her free hand on the wall. Every wound burned and bled anew with the exertion.

  She wiped the sweat from her eyes with a bloody hand that left wetness on her face. She forced herself to take deep breaths in an effort to stay conscious. When she reached the stall where Top Hat stood munching hay, she opened the door, went inside, and collapsed under the mare’s hayrack.

  The horse snorted and showed the whites of her eyes. She paced around her stall on the verge of panic at the scent of Chris’s blood.

  “Shh. It’s okay, girl. It’s only me,” Chris whispered.

  Top Hat stopped and came close. She pawed at the straw, and her ears twitched, which Chris read as confusion. The big mare nuzzled Chris then backed against the wall with her ears pricked and tossed her head.

  Chris closed her eyes and offered up a silent prayer to the gods. She pressed her hand firmly against her abdomen. Fresh blood was still seeping through her fingers, and she felt increasingly light-headed.

  For a few minutes, she heard nothing. She leaned her head against the wall and closed her eyes. Had Sky left, believing that having escaped, Chris would call for help? Panic filled her at the thought of Sky going up to her house, finding the dogs…

  She he
ard a soft step, followed by quiet laughter. Sky. She’d lost.

  When the stall door slid open, Chris struggled to get to her feet, determined she wasn’t going to go down without a fight. Then everything went black.

  * * *

  Mary Jo’s drive to Albany was uneventful, the traffic minimal until she reached the city, but she was able to find the Capitol courthouse without incident. Locating a parking spot turned out to be a bit of a challenge, but the parking goddess was with her and she finally found a spot within a block of the courthouse.

  In the courtroom, she wasn’t surprised when the defendant pleaded not guilty to animal abuse. Her time on the stand was influential, and a sympathetic judge with a heavy gavel handed down a stiff fine as well as a sentence of ninety days in jail. In addition, the defendant had to remain under monthly supervision by the Humane Society to ensure he could never own another animal.

  By the time the hearing adjourned, Mary Jo was starving. She opted to visit the courthouse cafeteria for a quick bite to eat before hitting the road.

  Like all commercial cafeterias, ready-made food was displayed in grab cases, or she could stand in a long line and wait for a special order. She chose a pre-prepared salami sub, a bag of chips, and a bottle of water. After paying at the register, she turned to look for a place to sit. Suddenly she heard her name called. Glancing in the direction of the voice, she was pleasantly surprised.

  “Dad!” She picked up her pace and went over to where her father sat eating macaroni and cheese. A can of Dr. Pepper was open in front of him.

  He stood up and waited until Mary Jo put her tray on the table before giving her a big hug and kiss on the cheek.

  “What are you doing here?” Mary Jo asked as they both sat.

  “I had to meet a client here for a consult. More interesting would be the question of what you’re doing here?”

  “I was the expert witness for an animal abuse case.” Mary Jo took a bite of her sandwich.