“Their buzzer is broken,” he mumbled, looking past me.
“That’s a shame. Guess you’ll have to go call them to come get you. I’m not letting you in. Matt.”
Suddenly, the man’s demeanor changed.
He chuckled nervously but then looked me straight in the eyes. There was nothing there, nothing but a black void. He wasn’t just crazy like Katy thought. This was a man possessed. My considerable size advantage and the fact I had a badge would mean nothing to him. He was like the cyborg in that movie that was programmed to kill one specific woman. It wouldn’t stop until she was dead. I hated to admit it, but I was scared of this man. He was a man with nothing to lose.
Before I could say another word, he turned, kicked the other door open, and raced out into the night. I didn’t bother to follow him. A guy like that would know just what to do if I put my hands on him. Not only would I lose my badge, I’d be sent to jail and he’d make damn sure the other inmates knew I was ex-cop.
I pulled out my phone. My hands were shaking. Once I got to my car, I climbed in and locked the doors. Better safe than sorry.
“Nate. I gotta talk to you.”
Chapter Thirteen
Katy
“Take the day off. I understand,” Cindy assured me. I hated to call in sick, but I had to make plans. Truthfully, I was terrified to step outside. My little apartment that I had such high hopes for had become my prison cell. The warden was a lunatic who was frantically searching for the keys to this cell. Once he got in, it would be my death sentence. I knew it.
“Thanks, Cindy. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
“Let’s make sure of that. I know you’ve got a humdinger of a load on your plate. You just let me know if you change your mind about a little home protection.”
“I will.” When I hung up the phone, I contemplated calling Cindy back and begging her to bring me that pistol. But I shook the idea out of my head. I could just imagine being so torqued up that I accidentally shot myself in the foot while putting a bullet through the best part of Zac on accident.
I flopped back down on my sleeping bag and hoisted my computer onto my lap. I decided Oregon might be too small of a state for me. Washington might be better. Maybe even Utah.
My eyes filled with tears as I searched for apartments and jobs. There were not many places looking for someone with a degree in library sciences. I suppose I could ask Cindy to put some feelers out. But that would be a loose end and a way for someone to find me. That had to be what happened in Portland. Some brainless do-gooder told Matt that I requested a transfer.
“Sure. You can find Katy in West Linn now. Not sure why, but I’m sure she’ll be glad to see you.” Ugh.
I jumped when the phone rang.
“Katy, it’s me, Zac.”
“Hi.” I rubbed my eyes and sniffed.
“How are you holding up?”
“As well as can be expected,” I replied dully. I wanted to be happy to hear from him. But I couldn’t. If I let my heart open up any more to him, I’d really be screwed because I knew I was going to have to leave.
“Look, I’ve got a plan.”
“Zac, I already told you my plan,” I replied sadly.
“That is plan B, okay? If my plan doesn’t work, then we go to plan B. But when you hear plan A, you’re going to want to go with it. Plan A all the way.”
“Are you drunk?”
“Nope.”
I smiled. It felt good to smile.
“Now, listen carefully to me. Do exactly what I tell you.”
“Zac. I know you’re trying to help but…”
“Not trying, Katy. I am helping. Believe me. You are going to be so happy if you’ll just do as I say. Can you do that? I know it’s hard to concentrate because I’m so handsome. But can you try?”
I rolled my eyes and clicked my tongue. How could he make me feel all those warm tingles at a time like this?
“Yes.”
“I love it when you say yes to me. Now, here’s what I want you to do.”
Zac told me there was a spare key to his apartment attached to a pipe in the stairwell. I was to throw a few things in a bag and let myself quietly into his apartment and wait for him until he got home.
“What good is that going to do?”
“You’ll have to wait until I get there. I should be back around seven. So watch some television. Read a book. Take a bath. No, wait. Take the bath when I get there.”
I laughed again.
“Do you trust me, Katy?”
He sounded so worried. If I were to say no now, I think it would have crushed him.
“Yes, Zac. I trust you.”
“Then do as I’m asking. I promise you’ll be safe.”
After I hung up, I did as Zac instructed. I grabbed a couple of books I was in the middle of reading, a clean pair of panties and a bra, my sweats and gym shoes. I thought it would be best to leave the heels at home in case I had to take off running.
Now came the hard part. Opening my front door.
I looked out the peephole. The panoramic view of the hallway showed nothing more than an empty hallway. I pressed my ear to the wood and held my breath. I didn’t hear anything.
Carefully I unlocked my door and slipped my overnight bag over my shoulder. I looked down the hallway both ways, then carefully shut the door. I felt the doorknob lock behind me.
Without wasting any time, I slipped into the stairwell and found the key where Zac said it would be. Clutching it tightly, I ran to his apartment just as the elevator was engaged.
I didn’t know who called it or what floor it was going to. I didn’t care. A layer of sweat coated my body. Zac’s key was slick in my hand that shook nervously. Finally, I slipped the key in the lock and turned. The door wouldn’t open.
“Dead bolt,” I hissed.
The elevator had passed the second floor.
I slipped the key into the lock and turned it one way. It didn’t budge. Should I run back to my apartment?
Now it was past the third floor.
“Come on,” I spat. I pulled the key out and slipped it back into the slot. I gently pulled the doorknob to me while I turned the key. The dead bolt finally slid into place.
The elevator clanged past the fourth floor just as I got the key in the doorknob. I twisted it hard, heard the click, and forced the door open. Just as I was about to heave a sigh of relief, I couldn’t get the key out of the knob. The elevator was quickly inching up to my floor. My hands were slick with sweat. I couldn’t get a grip on the tiny piece of metal. Just as I was sure Matt Beabe was going to catch me and leap off the elevator with a knife or a gun or a baseball bat or some other weapon of destruction, the elevator stalled.
“Son of a bitch!” I heard a woman yell. “This damn thing!”
The woman yelling was obviously familiar with the temperamental lift. I heard it clank and clang as it went back down a couple of floors. Calmly, I withdrew the key from the lock and closed the door. Once inside Zac’s apartment, I snapped all the locks in place and collapsed on the couch.
Maybe it wasn’t the right thing to do, but I did a little snooping around. In the kitchen, Zac had tons of apples and bananas and a dozen different juices including carrot juice and some green concoction that looked very unappetizing.
“Too bad he doesn’t have some random hamburgers or cheese fries lying around.”
I wandered into the bathroom and took a peek in the medicine cabinet. There was nothing of any real interest to see there. However, I did notice a box of unopened condoms and couldn’t help but wonder when they were purchased.
“You’re not the only woman in the world, Katy.” I closed the cabinet feeling a little jealous of any mystery women in Zac’s life. “Zac has a history just like you do. Minus the lunatic stalker.”
With a deep breath, I went back into the front room and flopped on the couch. On the coffee table were several files and a banker’s box next to it with the name Tanney, Melissa HB26-986 Novembe
r 2012. I flipped open the first file only to see a picture of a pretty woman with blue skin and lips. Her eyes were open but unseeing. She had bruises on her neck. Quickly, I closed the file. I had done enough snooping.
Just then it dawned on me that I didn’t see Zac’s bed.
“He can’t possibly sleep on the floor.” I stood from the sofa. “Yup. Hide-a-bed.”
With a couple of good tugs, I finally got the thing unfolded. After sleeping on the floor in a sleeping bag in my own apartment, the lumpy mattress of a hide-a-bed was like a luxurious spa treatment for my body.
But I didn’t want to just take over Zac’s things. I noticed he had a few dishes in the sink, so I washed those and put them away. There was laundry that looked like it needed to be folded, so I did that, too. In the freezer was some ground beef and in the cupboard was a can of tomatoes.
It didn’t turn out like the chili I usually make, but after improvising with a few spices he had around I can’t say it turned out too bad. The apartment was cozy, and I lit the scented candle he had on the coffee table.
By the time I was finished, I needed that bath he suggested. Wouldn’t you know it? The big brute had bubble bath.
While I soaked in the tub, letting all the bubbles soothe my nerves, I couldn’t help but feel a thousand times better than I had just a few hours ago. Maybe it’s because I was in hiding. Or maybe it was because I was at Zac’s place. I couldn’t say. But I let myself relax.
Just as I was slipping into one of Zac’s T-shirts, I heard the key in the lock on the door. When Zac came in carrying a bag of groceries and some flowers, I was afraid I had done something wrong. He just shut the door and stared at me.
“Zac? Are you all right?”
“I’m fine. Perfect, in fact.”
Chapter Fourteen
Zac
When I saw Katy standing there wearing my favorite Chicago Bears T-shirt, I nearly passed out. She looked incredible. I wanted to take her right there.
“I made you something to eat.” She pointed to the kitchen. “It isn’t much, but I didn’t think it tasted too bad.”
Oh, my God. She answers the door in my T-shirt and cooked dinner? This was too good to be true.
“Thanks.” That was all I could think to say.
“Are you sure you’re all right?” She took a step closer to me.
“I’m fine, Katy. Really.” I smiled. “I’m starving. Let’s eat.”
We sat down together like we had the other night. Katy brought me a bowl of her makeshift chili and pulled down a box of crackers I didn’t realize I had. I watched her as she tugged on the hem of my shirt as if the thin material could somehow cover her curves. Thank God it couldn’t.
I took a spoonful.
“This is good.”
“You think?” She smiled happily. “I hope you weren’t saving the ground beef for anything special. I just sort of made myself at home.”
"I'm glad you did," I said in between another heaping spoonful. I tried to look at her face and keep my eyes from drifting down to her thighs and legs. It was nearly impossible. I just wanted to stare.
“How did it go at work today?” she asked nervously.
“It was busy. Like usual. No blood on my shirt this time.” I sounded like such a nerd. “I’ve got a cold case that I’m working on. I’ll have to do work on my computer tonight, so it might be a long one. You can sleep on the bed. If I get any sleep at all, I’ll sleep on the floor.”
I watched her nod her head and smile.
After dinner, she insisted on cleaning up. It was maddening to watch her walk back and forth. When she was finished, she picked up a book from her bag, curled up in the corner of my bed, and started to read.
“Zac?”
“Yes?” I rubbed my eyes. I’d been staring at my files on the cold case while checking some old newspaper write-ups on the murder for hours.
“How long do you think I’ll need to stay here?”
I swallowed.
“I didn’t want to bring up Matt Beabe. I thought you could use a break. But since you brought it up, I’ll tell you that I’ve got a couple friends of mine in the department looking into his background for me.”
“What does that mean?”
“It doesn’t mean anything right now.”
“Sort of the less I know the better?” She smirked sadly.
“Yeah. It’s kind of like that.” I looked at her face, but my eyes fell on her breasts. She had no bra on, I could tell. Just that thin fabric was stretched across them.
“I don’t want you to do anything that gets you in trouble.”
“You don’t have to worry. It’s all on the up-and-up.” I winked. But she had tears in her eyes. “Hey, what’s the crying for?” I whispered.
“I’ve got so many feelings going on at the same time.” She chortled. “I don’t know which one I should let out first.”
I nodded. I was drawing a blank, too. There was nothing going on in my brain because every drop of blood surged to my groin. Tonight I’d have to take that cold shower I’d been postponing for so long.
“Zac?”
“Yes, Katy?”
“Will you sit with me for a while?”
I didn't say anything but got up from the table and walked over to her. I kicked off my shoes and scooted next to her on the bed. It felt good to stretch out my body. She scooted next to me. Her feet were tucked beneath her, and her bare knees were against my thighs. I reached out, and she fit perfectly into the crook of my arm.
“Are you comfortable?” she asked.
“Yes,” I lied. Sure I was okay sitting there. I loved my pull-out sofa. But to have her oozing out of my Bears shirt, pushing her breasts into my side, and leaning her head on my chest, I was ready to split the front of my pants. I excused myself and went into the bathroom where I had some protection in my medicine cabinet.
“Just in case,” I muttered. “No promises. But just in case.”
When I came back and sat down next to her, I was terrified she recognized my arousal. It seemed so blatantly obvious.
As if she were reading my mind and was enjoying it, she pushed herself even closer to me.
“Katy.”
“Yes?” She looked up at me. Her eyes were on fire like she had a fever.
“If you scoot any closer to me, I’m going to be forced to make love to you.”
“Is that so?” she purred as she leaned into me.
I slipped my arm around her waist and pulled her to me. Her lips were right there. I could feel her breath against my neck. If she were any other girl, I would have thrown her down on my bed and with her red hair in one hand and her plump behind in the other, I would have ridden her hard.
But this was Katy. I couldn’t do that. I didn’t want to do that. I wanted her to give herself to me.
“All you have to do is say so.”
“So.”
I grinned at her joke. It broke the tension. I was thankful for that. I was glad she was feeling playful. When her lips touched mine, I was careful not to rush. I focused on every kiss, every flick of her tongue and mine. When I nibbled her ear, I let my breath send shivers down her spine.
Her body was still except her hand that clutched at my shirt as I kissed down her neck. I couldn’t help but notice her breathing was becoming quicker. Mine was, too.
“Zac, make love to me. Please.”
Her voice was so soft. But I could tell she meant what she said. She wanted me to satisfy her.
“I will,” I whispered back. “But not yet. I want to taste you. All of you.”
“I can’t wait,” she panted.
“Yes, you can.” I smiled and hoisted her on my lap. I slid my hands around her hips and guided her gently. I knew she could feel my excitement. The hardness pushed through the thin material of her panties, teasing her.
Surprisingly, she reached down to help me pull off my shirt. I was happy to do so. I worked out enough to be toned. I could tell by her eyes that she was please
d with what she saw. When her eyes snapped up to mine, I could tell she was having fun.
Reaching down, she grabbed the bottom of my Bears shirt and slowly started to pull it up. I was hypnotized. I watched as she exposed the top of her white, lacy panties, her belly button, her ribs, and finally her breasts. They were perfection. I kissed and licked and teased them playfully, my hands full of her.
She leaned down, and as she kissed me, I felt her body against mine. It was warm and inviting like a soft blanket.
“Oh, God,” she panted. “I’ve never done anything like this.”
“Do you want me to stop?”
“No. Don’t stop.” She kissed me passionately, slipping her hand into my hair.
I slipped my arms around her tightly and rolled her over on her back.
Nestling between her thighs, I slowly let her feel the length of my bulge before unzipping my pants and prepared to love her.
When I did she gasped. Her cheeks flushed red with embarrassment, but I eased down on top of her and kissed her gently.
“Are you all right?” I soothed. “You don’t have to if you’re not ready.”
Without saying anything, Katy scooted out of her panties. There was the beautiful mound I had devoured the other night. I had to taste it again.
She willingly spread her legs for me, closing her eyes and kneading her breasts like before. But I wouldn’t let her get too far ahead of me. I kissed her and came close to her bud but wouldn’t reach it. On purpose, I made her whimper with pleasure and eagerness as I became harder and harder with each sound she made.
Finally, I couldn’t take it any longer. I came up only to slowly lower myself into her. She cried out in that way that only sheer ecstasy can make a woman cry out. Slowly I began to slide in and out. It was easy. It was so easy. She was still for a moment as she savored every inch. But after a few strokes, she began to move with me.
Her legs were splayed beautifully. She stretched her arms over her head, letting me have a full view of her. I could barely believe it myself. I was nowhere good enough to fuck this woman. Yet she wanted me. Me. Just a cop from the city who was grouchy when he didn’t get enough sleep and drank carrot juice every day. She wanted me to accept her gift because she trusted me with it.
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