I felt her shuffle on the bed. When I opened my eyes, she had removed her panties and straddled me. She held my cock at her entrance and smiled before she slowly lowered. My fingers dug into her hips as she rode me. She moved so slow at first. She placed her hands on my chest, as her desire grew and her need to come increased, she clawed down my stomach. I welcomed the sting as her nails drew blood. It was a different pain to the dull ache of the previous months. For the first time in a while, I felt alive.
She rode me hard; I raised my hips to meet her downward movement, thrusting into her. The sounds of our bodies colliding, the moans of pleasure, filled the room. Sweat beaded on her upper lip, her hair stuck to her forehead. The room was hot, sticky, and humid, it smelled of her arousal. I spiralled out of control; my mind was lost in a myriad of sensations. Blood pumped so fast around my body I could hear it rush past my ears to feed my brain. My heart hammered in my chest. I heard her cry out as she reached her orgasm; at that point I let go as well. My balls tightened, my stomach knotted as I pumped my cum into her. It felt never-ending.
I rolled her to her back and with my cum coating her pussy, I pushed two fingers inside her. It wasn’t Lily I saw, it wasn’t Lily I smelled or felt; it was Sierra. It was Sierra’s pussy that clenched around my fingers as I stroked. It was Sierra’s voice I heard call out my name, moan with pleasure. It was Sierra’s hands that gripped my hair as I lowered my head and took a nipple into my mouth.
It was my wife’s body I explored and reclaimed. I mumbled Sierra’s name, over and over. I might have even told her I loved her. I was lost; my mind was totally fucked. I’d willingly thrown myself over that abyss and into darkness. I was surrounded by sound, by hot flesh, by intoxicating scent. My eyes wouldn’t focus. When I looked up at her, she smiled, she knew she had lost me to my wife and she didn’t care.
She grabbed my face and pulled me toward her. She bit down on my lip then ran her tongue over it, licking away the blood she’d drawn. She moaned as she tasted me.
My head swam as I positioned myself over her, white noise drowned out any further sound as I pushed into her. She scraped her nails up my back, breaking my skin as I fucked her until her hands came to rest on my head. She gripped my hair, pulling hard as I bit down on her shoulder.
“Sierra!” I cried out when I came and tears coursed down my cheeks.
“I’m here, baby, I’m here.”
I wasn’t sure if I was dreaming, still intoxicated from her scent, or simply fucked up when I heard a voice.
“What the fuck?”
I couldn’t open my eyes at first, my eyelids felt heavy and stuck together.
“Gabe, for fuck’s sake, man. Open your eyes,” I heard.
Zachary. It was my brother’s voice I heard. But then I heard another.
“Jesus! Is he okay?”
I moaned. My head pounded and my body ached.
“Gabe, come on, man. Open your eyes.”
The sunlight hurt my eyes as I dragged my body into a sitting position. I looked around the room.
“Where is she?” I said, my voice was croaky. “What the fuck happened?”
“She’s gone. Fuck, Gabe. Taylor is missing.”
I blinked; it took a few seconds for that information to sink in. I threw back the bed sheet and winced as I climbed from the bed, pausing to sit on the edge as a wave of nausea rolled over me.
“Gabe, what happened last night?”
My vision came into focus. Zachary had been sitting beside me on the bed. Thomas was running around collecting clothes and throwing them beside me.
“We've been trying to call you. I’ve been at your folks’. Taylor is missing, Gabe,” Thomas said.
“Fuck. Why didn’t someone come and get me?” I stood, ignoring the pounding in my head.
“Because I’ve been at your folks’,” he said again.
I pulled a t-shirt over my head, hopped from one foot to the other trying to get my jeans on and shoved my bare feet in my sneakers. I grabbed the phone from my nightstand. I swallowed down the panic and bile that rose to my throat.
“Tell me what happened?” I said as we rushed down the stairs. I paused at the bottom causing Thomas to collide into me.
“My gun,” I said.
I ran to the kitchen, remembering that was the last place I had it. It was gone.
“Fuck!” I screamed the word out loud.
Sitting on the table though, where the gun should have been was a key. No fob, just a single silver-colored door key. I grabbed it; somehow knowing the exact lock it would open.
Thomas watched as I inserted it in the lock and twisted, it was a key to my front door. Lily had swapped a key for my gun.
“Shit,” he said.
“Get in the car, Gabe,” Zach said. There was no time to worry about the key.
Outside stood three police cars, their lights were blazing. Neighbors stood on their lawns, watching as if the fucking Easter parade was in town. I slammed the door behind me and raced for the first car. Thomas climbed behind the wheel and Zachary threw himself in the back just as Thomas sped off.
“I got a call, a half hour ago. Your dad had been trying to call you. Taylor is missing from her bed. I’ve organized a search party to check the ranch. She could have just got up early and gone for a walk.”
“My daughter, my five-year-old daughter, wouldn’t get up and go for a fucking walk!”
“Where’s Lily?” Zach asked.
“I don’t know, she was in bed.”
Thomas looked over to me. “Please, tell me you didn’t…”
“Just fucking drive, okay? Zach, what do you know?”
“You cannot believe one word that woman told you, Gabe. She is evil. Oh, Lord. If I’d known she was here, I would have gotten here faster. Why on earth did you not tell me?”
“How do you know now?”
“Sister Anna is dead, Gabe. I’m sorry. Her body was found a couple of days ago. I saw your text message. I had no idea they’d got to you so fast.”
I turned in my seat. “Who? What the fuck is going on?”
Thomas cornered so fast I lost my balance and had to reach out for the dash to steady myself.
“Who killed her?” Acid burned my throat and again I had to swallow down the bile.
“Lily, her friends, I don’t know yet.”
“It couldn’t have been Lily, she was with me.”
“You called in state police yet?” I asked Thomas. He nodded.
“And the feds are involved. This is all out of my hands now. I expect we’ll be hauled over the coals at some point,” he said.
“The FBI has been investigating this from the beginning, Gabriel. I have been assisting them,” Zach said.
“That’s bullshit. She’s been at my house, she hasn’t been in hiding.”
“She’s been hiding very well. Lily isn’t her name.”
I felt like a bow had shot a fucking large arrow straight through me. “Come again?”
“I’m not sure she’s even Sierra’s full sister. Sure they look alike, all those kids do because they share some of the same parents. They were brought up in a cult, Gabe. It’s the cult that the FBI is investigating. They all look the same because of inbreeding. Incest, child abuse, you name it, it’s going on.”
“Pull over, quick,” I said.
Thomas swerved to the side of the road; I’d just managed to get my door open before heaving my guts all over the pavement. I retched until there was nothing left but acid that burned my throat and coated my mouth. Sweat dripped from my brow.
“Here,” I heard, as a bottle of water was placed in my hand.
I took a mouthful, swished it around before spitting it out.
“Go,” I said. I drained the bottle in just a few gulps. The thirst I felt wasn’t satisfied with just the one bottle though.
I clung to the door handle as we bounced, at high speed, up the unpaved driveway toward the ranch. I could see police cars, neighbors’ trucks and a group of peo
ple ahead of me. Before we’d come to a halt, I was out and sprinting across to the house. I barged through the door, calling out Taylor’s name.
Mom was sitting at the kitchen table, sobbing. Dad was standing to her side, with one arm around her shoulder, his other hand holding a phone to his ear.
“He’s here. I’ll call you back,” he said.
“Where is she?” I said.
“We don’t know. Oh God, Gabriel. I went to get her up, thinking she’d overslept and she was gone. I didn’t want for that to happen,” Mom replied.
“Where’s Lily?” I said.
“Lily?”
“Lily is missing as well, Mrs. M,” Thomas said.
“You don’t think…”
“We don’t know what to think, right now,” he said.
For a moment the only sound was the crackle of Thomas’ radio.
“I don’t know what’s happening,” I said.
“Sit,” Zachary said, placing his hand on my shoulder.
“I’ll sit when I’ve found my daughter.”
“There is close to fifty people searching right now, Gabe. They’ve had a half hour head start on you. There are dogs, if she’s on this ranch, they’ll find her,” Thomas said.
“And you think me sitting here is going to happen?”
“You sitting here and telling us all you know certainly will,” a voice said.
None of us had noticed the two men walk into the house.
“FBI,” one said.
I’d expected the FBI to be wearing black suits, dark glasses, and shiny shoes. I hadn’t expected two guys, one in jeans and a shirt, the other in cream-colored pants and a t-shirt. They both did, however, have dark glasses pushed up on their heads.
“Agents Midley and Romney,” Zachary said by way of an introduction.
“When my daughter is found, I’ll sit and talk,” I said.
“If your daughter was taken by the Divinus Pueri, your information will help us locate her, sooner rather than later.”
“Divinus what?” Dad said.
“It’s a cult, Dad. It’s where Lily, although that isn’t her name, came from,” Zach said.
“Holy Fuck,” I said. “Fuck! Fuck!”
“What?” Thomas asked.
“They think she’s one of them, don’t they?” I said.
“Who? Who’s one of them?” Mom asked.
“Taylor,” I said.
My mom paled, her body shook as she slumped into a chair. “What have we done?” she said. I looked at her, not understanding.
“Possibly, in which case she’s safe.” I wasn’t sure whether that was Midley or Romney that answered.
“Safe! My daughter is with those fucking nut jobs and you think she’s safe?” I shouted. “She took my gun,” I said, lowering my voice.
“Lily?” Midley or Romney asked.
“Yes, fucking Lily. What is her fucking name, anyway? And which one are you?”
“Midley. Her name is Rachiel, with an I,” he said.
Why the fuck did we need to know the spelling of her name?
“Someone better tell me what the fuck is going on here,” Dad said, surprising me with his cuss word. He never swore in front of Mom normally.
The kitchen was filled with too many people, all talking without making sense. Mom was crying, Zachary sat beside her and wrapped her in his arms. Thomas was talking on his cell, Dad was pacing, and the feds were as cool as ice. I was a mess; my head thumped as if I’d woken with a hangover, but knew I hadn’t. My body ached as if I’d woken from a deep sleep.
“Gabe?” Somewhere, and it felt like in the distance, I heard my name being called.
I felt arms lift me from the floor. Had I fainted? Do guys faint? My head was swimming.
“We need a medic,” I heard.
I shook my head. “Drink, I’m thirsty,” I said.
I was helped to a chair, where I kept my eyes closed and my head resting on my folded arms. A wave of nausea rushed over me. When that nausea settled, I looked up; a glass of water had been placed in front of me. I drained it in one.
“I think we need to get you to the hospital,” Thomas said.
“No way. I’m fine.”
“Do you think she drugged you?” he asked.
“No. Just give me a minute.”
I didn’t get that minute. The rush of footsteps across the porch had us all standing to our feet.
“They found her,” a man I didn’t recognize said. He was breathless as if he’d run some distance.
“Where?” I asked.
“In the woods. She’s okay, I think,” he said.
I pushed past him and ran. I stopped at the edge of the woodland that surrounded the ranch, not sure where to go.
“This way,” he said as he ran past me, followed by Thomas.
My lungs burned at the exertion, yet they shouldn’t have. I was more than fit enough to sprint the distance I’d already covered. I could hear voices and dogs barking. As the trees thinned slightly, I saw a crowd. I pushed through them to see my daughter looking scared.
“Baby,” I said as I scooped her up.
“I’m sorry, Daddy,” she said as she started to cry.
“It’s okay, it’s okay.” I held her in my arms as I ran back to the house.
I pushed past the crowd that had formed on the porch and headed straight to the living room, kicking the door shut behind me. It was a cool room, calm. I placed her on the sofa and knelt in front of her.
“What happened, baby girl?” I said gently.
Before she could answer the door creaked. I looked over to see Thomas. I nodded, signaling that he could come in. He knelt beside me.
“She wanted to see the foal, that’s all. We went to play, and when I turned around, she was gone. I got lost, I’m sorry, Daddy.”
“Who wanted to see the foal?”
“Lily.”
“Start at the beginning. Grandma said she went to get you up but you were gone.”
“I dressed myself, I thought I was being good.” She hiccupped through her sentence.
“You were, baby, you were. Now, tell me, when did you see Lily?”
“I came downstairs, I didn’t see Grandma but I wanted to check on the foal. She was near the paddock. We played for a while. I showed her the foal. We were just playing.”
Taylor started to cry. “Hey, it’s okay. So you played in the woods and she left you?” Thomas asked.
Taylor nodded. “She said it was okay, you were coming to play with us, as well. But when I turned around she was gone. Am I in trouble?” she asked, her voice had lowered to a whisper.
“No, you sure scared us though. You know you can’t run off, ever, without Grandma or Grandpa knowing,” I said.
“I miss Mommy, I want to go home,” she whispered.
I pulled her into my arms and rocked her as she cried. “I know you do, baby girl, I know you do.”
A half hour later the living room door opened again and Mom walked in. I guessed the waiting crowd was anxious for news.
“She was playing with Lily, but then Lily ran off, and Taylor got lost in the woods,” I said. I watched Mom’s brow furrow.
“Lily?” she said. I shook my head gently, hoping she’d understand to not push.
“I’m sorry, Grandma. I just wanted to see the foal.”
“You know what I have baking? Cherry pie,” Mom said.
“Can I have some?” Taylor asked, her earlier tears having dried up once she believed she wasn’t in trouble.
“You sure can, want to get some now?” Mom held out her hand.
I stood, allowing Taylor to take her hand. “I’m sure Daddy needs to speak to his friends.” I understood then what she was doing.
When she was out of the room, I punched the sofa. “Fucking bitch,” I said.
“You need to tell me what happened yesterday and last night,” Thomas said.
“I fucked her, three, four times. I don’t know. We went for a drive, she told me
a shit ton of stuff. And then when we got home, I fucked her.”
My voice broke and finally I cried. I’d suppressed those tears for so long, but everything came crashing down around me. The guilt wrapped itself around me so tight I felt like I couldn’t breathe.
“She got to my daughter. That was her telling me how fucking easy it had been,” I said.
“We don’t know that,” he said.
“I fucking fell for her bullshit last night. I felt sorry for her; I started to believe her. Oh, she’s fucking good, all right. She had me, hook, line, and fucking sinker.”
I don’t think I’d cussed as much as I had the past few hours. “I need a smoke.”
I brushed the tears from my cheeks and stood.
Taylor was sitting at the kitchen table eating cherry pie, as if nothing had happened. She was chatting to Midley, I guessed he’d gotten what he needed from her but I was pissed. No one questioned my daughter without me around. He glanced up when he saw me.
“Can I have a word?” I said.
He followed me, as did Thomas, Zachary, and Romney to the front porch. I spun around so quick it took him by surprise, and he instinctively reached for the gun he had holstered at his waist.
“Don’t you fucking question my daughter without me being there. She’s five-years-old,” I said.
He raised his palm to calm me. “I didn’t, Gabriel. I was sitting there when your mother brought her in. We talked about pie and horses, nothing more. I’m more than aware of what I can and can’t do. And believe me, this investigation is way too important for me to fuck it up by interviewing a minor. Besides, she isn’t a credible witness, so we wouldn’t interview her anyway.”
I slumped into Dad’s chair. “Someone better tell me what the fuck is going on. Lily was here earlier. She took Taylor into the woods, to play!”
Chairs were pulled up, a circle formed and everyone sat. Dad joined us.
“I should be with Taylor,” I said, looking up at him.
“You should be right here, she’s okay. Still a little shaken but your momma’s taking good care of her.”
I didn’t give the response that sprang to my mind. Taylor should never have been able to leave the house unnoticed.
“We have a full report from the sheriff. I guess I don’t need to tell you how you could have hampered our investigation, do I?” Romney said.
Gabriel: A thriller (Standalone within the Divinus Pueri series) Page 13