by J C Gordon
The pleasure Caleb had all but ripped from her body had been the most mind-blowing experience of her life. Her one time with her ex-boyfriend had been painful, made her feel dirty, and used, but she didn’t feel that with Caleb. He had pushed her to orgasm after orgasm, before he’d taken his own pleasure from her. It had been hot and wild and so incredibly erotic.
Groaning again, she jumped up from the rug looking for her clothes. She found them where Caleb had left them the night before, folded neatly on the sofa. She dressed hastily feeling less exposed once she had done so. What was she supposed to do now? What did women do in these circumstances? Should she wait for Caleb to wake up or should she just leave? She didn’t even know if she wanted to see Caleb again.
She muttered a curse under her breath and looked for her purse. It was on the sofa too, so she quickly grabbed it and dug out her cell phone. It was just after six am and she knew Millie would kill her, but she phoned her friend anyway.
“What!” Millie yelled down the phone, her voice thick with sleep and irritation.
“Millie, it’s me,” Rhianna whispered. “I need you to come get me.”
“Annie?” her friend said incredulously. “Honey, what’s wrong? Where are you? Has something happened to you?” Her tone was immediately concerned.
“I’m fine, Mills,” Rhianna said reassuringly. “I just need a lift home. I kind of went out last night to a club and did something a bit stupid. I’m now at some guy’s house and I need to get home now.” Total silence greeted her and for a moment she thought her friend had gone back to sleep.
“Have you lost your fucking mind?” Millie gasped in shock, now sounding fully awake and also very angry. “You said you’d taken a sleeping pill. You lied to me! How did you know this guy wasn’t some kind of raving lunatic?”
Rhianna sighed. “Can we dissect my behaviour later, Mills?” she asked patiently. She knew her friend was right and that her anger was justified. She had done an incredibly stupid thing, so out of character for her. Moreover, she had never once lied to Millie. She knew that would hurt her friend deeply because they were all each other had now.
“I’m at the big white mansion on Forrester Road. Will you please come and get me?”
“I’ll be there in twenty,” her friend answered, and the phone disconnected.
Grabbing her jacket, which she found on the hall table, Rhianna slipped quietly out of the house and headed down the long driveway to await her friend.
CHAPTER three
“Just exactly what did you think you were doing?” Millicent Cooper demanded as Rhianna pulled open the passenger door of her run down Ford Fiesta and climbed in.
She sighed loudly as she turned to look at her irate friend. Millie’s black curls were in wild disarray around her head and it was obvious she had only run her fingers through them rather than brushed her hair. Her cobalt blue eyes were sparkling with anger and disbelief at Rhianna’s reckless behaviour.
Even rumpled and still wearing her pyjamas, Millie looked stunning. She had a classical beauty that invariably drove men wild and generated lots of date offers, which she normally refused. She was much taller than Rhianna, standing at five feet seven inches with a generously curved body, which suited her height perfectly. She wasn’t heavy in any fashion, just curvy in all the right places.
“Can we just go, Mills?” Rhianna said quietly, glancing nervously at the white mansion, half-expecting to see Caleb appear in the doorway.
“Fine,” her friend grumbled, “but don’t think for one minute this conversation is over. I can’t believe you lied to me last night. If you wanted to go out then you should have told me. You know I would have gone with you.”
She paused for breath and then started again. “Annie, I know things are tough for you right now,” her voice faltered, and she swallowed to contain her emotions. “But you’re not behaving naturally. This…this…Christ, I’m picking you up from a total stranger’s bed!”
“Rug,” Rhianna corrected her, staring out the side window as they drove down the forest road.
“What?” Millie asked perplexed, her rant cut off by her friend’s interjection.
“We didn’t use a bed; we fucked on a rug before an open fire.”
Millie sucked in a deep breath, worry shivering through her at the lifeless note in Rhianna’s voice and the coarse way she spoke about herself. Annie didn’t talk like that; she very seldom cursed and it was usually the milder imprecations she used when she did.
“Annie, talk to me. Please. I’m worried about you. I don’t mean to yell but I can’t think of any other way to get through to you right now.”
“Maybe I don’t want you to.” The flat answer that came back broke Millie’s heart and she wished for the thousandth time she could think of a way to reach her friend.
Her failure made her angry again, and her voice was sharp when she next spoke. “I don’t ever want to hear you talk about yourself like that again, Annie,” she said through clenched teeth. “You’re not some promiscuous slut who has sex at the drop of a hat. Don’t denigrate yourself that way. You’re obviously not acting as you normally would at the moment.”
Rhianna let her friend’s angry words wash over her as she leaned back against the car seat and closed her eyes. She knew everything her friend was saying was true. She had done a very foolish thing going home with Caleb last night but that didn’t mean she’d lost her moral compass. Thankfully, he hadn’t turned out to be a weird axe murderer but the possibility had been there.
Taking risks wasn’t her speciality. Millie was the one who was more outgoing, more adventurous, and more spontaneous. She knew her friend’s anger was based out of concern for her, so she didn’t take it personally. All she wanted to do was go home and have a nice long shower before she had to start dealing with reality again.
Millie had stopped ranting by the time they got home and was giving her the silent treatment as they walked upstairs to their apartment. Her shoulders were rigid with disapproval as she marched up the stairs in front of her and Rhianna couldn’t help but smile slightly. She could almost see the steam coming out of Millie’s ears she was so mad.
She waited for her friend to unlock the apartment door and then brushed swiftly passed her, heading into her room and locking the door behind her before Millie had enough time to register her intent. She heard her friend banging loudly on the door as she headed into her en-suite bathroom and started the shower.
“Open this door,” Millie yelled. “Don’t think you can hide in there from me, girl! You and I have a conversation to finish and I’m not going away until we do!”
“I’m having a shower,” Rhianna yelled back. “I’ll be out in a bit!” She closed the bathroom door and stripped quickly, stepping under the hot spray so she couldn’t hear Millie any more. She stayed in the shower for a long time, gently soaping her aching body.
She had light bruises on her hips and deep love bites on the curve of her breasts. She hadn’t even been aware of Caleb being so rough with her last night. The deep ache between her legs actually felt deliciously pleasant as well as tender. He had been so big and full inside her. She was still wet from his seed and she suddenly stifled a gasp. He’d come inside her, and she wasn’t taking any contraception. Even worse, he might have some disease she didn’t know about.
She groaned loudly, and rested her head against the cool tiles as the hot water sprayed over her back. Reckless wasn’t the word for how she’d behaved last night. Downright irresponsible summed it up so much better. Crap, she’d have to go to the doctor for a prescription for the morning after pill. Her cheeks flushed scarlet at just the thought.
All because she had gone home with a man she didn’t even know. A man who made it more than plain he didn’t want to know her either. All he had wanted was sex and she had quite happily given it to him. Okay, so it was the best sex she’d ever had, but it still didn’t make what she did any more palatable.
She was vaguely aware her hand was st
ill between her legs and she felt a little shiver of pleasure course through her as she remembered Caleb pushing into her body. She moaned softly as she remembered how it felt to have Caleb thrusting hard and fast into her aching body. She had wanted him so badly, needed to feel him taking her forcefully. He was an extremely virile man, and he almost seemed to read her mind as he took his pleasure from her whilst giving her the most incredible pleasure in return.
She had just wanted to feel, and he had made her feel so alive she had soared through the sky on a wave of pure bliss. The ice around her heart suddenly cracked under the memory, as Millie’s words resounded in her ears, and the smell of the trees returned from when they’d driven through the final place Rafe had walked.
A deep shudder wracked her body as his smiling face quickly came to mind. Sweet, gentle, loving Rafe. He was big brother, mother and father to her all rolled into one, and now he was gone. She would never see his deep brown eyes sparkle with humour again. Never watch the lazy smile curl over his wide lips. Never complain when he ruffled her auburn curls as if she was still six years old.
Rhianna turned the water off as a deep well of pain built up inside her. She grabbed a towel as the first deep sob wracked her body and she sank down onto the cold tiled floor, the towel clutched to her chest.
Rafe was gone. He was never coming back.
In a blink of an eye, her perfect life had turned upside down by a simple knock on the door. A knock that had shattered her so completely, she didn’t know if she would ever be able to rebuild herself again.
The sounds that ripped from her throat resembled an animal in deep pain as she rocked on the bathroom floor, the ice wall she’d constructed so perfectly, crumbling completely within her. With no defences to protect her, she threw her head back and wailed out her anguish.
She was vaguely aware of Millie screaming loudly and banging on her bedroom door, her voice no longer angry, instead frantic with worry, but she couldn’t drag herself up from the floor. She threw her head back again, and screamed her agony into the air, her tears flowing wildly down her face.
Not Rafe! Not her gentle, big brother whose only goal in life had been to make sure she was safe and cared for. He didn’t deserve this. He deserved so much better in life than to die at the hands of some feral animal, alone, screaming in an agony that matched the one she was going through right now.
A loud crashing sound echoed into the bathroom, but she paid it no mind. She sobbed loudly, rocking in anguish as she felt Millie wrapping her arms around her and holding her tightly.
“I’m here, Annie,” her friend whispered tearfully, stroking her wet hair and rocking with her. “You just let it all out, honey. I’ve got you.”
Rhianna didn’t know how long she sobbed and railed against the total injustice of losing Rafe. It must have been a long time, because her voice was hoarse by the time she was finished, and she had no more tears left, just a deep ache where her heart was.
Millie’s face was streaked with tears too, her own grief coming out at the loss of the hulking man who had been as much of a big brother to her as Rhianna was her sister at heart. Getting the phone call this morning had shocked her and worried her so badly she’d yelled at Rhianna and forced her more into herself instead of opening up to her. The haunting wails coming from the bathroom had terrified her and ripped at her very soul. She’d never heard anyone in so much pain before.
When her friend’s sobs subsided, Millie helped her to her feet, grabbing her bathrobe, and helping her into it.
“Sorry, Mills,” her friend said numbly, her face a mask of grief.
“You’ve nothing to be sorry for, honey,” Millie answered gently. “It’s me who should be apologising.” She led her into the bedroom and Rhianna gasped in shock as she stared at the ruin that had formally been her bedroom door. Lying on the floor was a large sledgehammer.
“Like I said, I should be the one apologising,” Millie said sheepishly. “I kind of killed your bedroom door, hon.”
Rhianna felt a bubble of laughter escape her as she stared at the ruins with wide eyes. “Rafe to the rescue again,” she smiled sadly, looking at the large sledgehammer which belonged to her brother.
Millie’s smile echoed hers. “Good old Rafe, always there when you need him.” she sighed softly.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do without him, Millie,” Rhianna said tearfully sinking down onto her bed. “He’s taken care of me all my life. He’s always been there to pick me up when I fall.”
“I know, honey. I’m kind of trying to figure out what I’ll do without him too,” Millie sighed sitting beside her and putting an arm around her shoulder. “He had such a big, kind heart. Didn’t think twice about adopting me as his little sister too when we became friends. It’s a bloody tragedy that someone so kind and gentle gets taken from this world when there are so many evil bastards out there.”
Rhianna sat quietly, staring blankly ahead as she tried to get a grip of her erratic emotions. So this was what grief felt like. She didn’t like it one bit. It was white-hot pain and terrible cramps in her stomach. It was her heart slowly shattering into a million pieces never to be the same again once it put itself back together.
“I’m sorry if I scared you by staying out last night,” she finally said quietly. “I just couldn’t face dealing with it, Mills. I just wanted to pretend it hadn’t happened. Just for a little longer. I know it was stupid and reckless. I promise I’ll never do anything like it again.”
Her friend sighed and scooted under the covers, pulling her with her and cuddling into her back. “You have marks on your skin,” she commented. “The man you were with last night, he didn’t hurt you?”
Rhianna shook her head. “No, he didn’t hurt me,” she answered with a deep sigh. “It was actually pretty incredible if I’m honest about it.”
She went silent, staring at her bedroom wall with unseeing eyes. “Do you think I’m so terribly bad, Mills? Am I some kind of heartless person because I took pleasure in sex last night when I’ve just lost Rafe?”
Millie hugged her tightly, hearing the deep pain in her voice. “You couldn’t be bad or heartless if you tried, honey,” she whispered softly. “It’s not uncommon for people to seek some kind of affirmation of life when they lose someone they loved so much. Don’t feel bad for needing the comfort of a man last night. Rafe wouldn’t want you to ever feel guilty for being alive, Annie.”
She held her friend tightly as she began to weep again, more softly this time, the raw animalistic pain now spent, replaced by a deep aching sadness. She whispered comfortingly to her, stroking her auburn curls gently until she finally cried herself to sleep.
~~~~~
The scent of coffee on the air was prevalent, and it brought a smile to his face. It was hard not to be happy when he was in the company of the two most precious people in his world, Annie and Millie, his baby sister and her lifelong best friend.
Millie was grumbling and giving him dirty looks for having woken her up so early, but he knew she didn’t truly mind. Annie was face deep in the mocha he’d greeted her at the door with, the chocolaty coffee concoction a sure fire way to earn her forgiveness for the early hour.
The need to see them before he headed off on his camping trip had been overwhelming. He wasn’t used to being out of contact with them for any length of time despite the fact they didn’t live with him anymore. He guessed he would never get used to not having his Annie living in his home. He’d been her primary guardian since their parents had died when she was only three and he had just turned eighteen.
His happiness was complete, his love for the two extraordinary women in his world absolute…but something was tugging at him, something was pulling him away from the warmth and contentment, something dark and insidious, something wild and feral.
NO! He wanted to stay with them. He didn’t want to leave! He tried to cry out, he tried to call their names, but they were fading before his eyes, and they didn’t appear to notice
he was disappearing….Annie, come back! Millie, can you hear me?
A low, deep growl was the only answer, an agonising burst of pain along every joint in his body the only thing he could feel. They were gone and so was he, in his place a feral animal howling and growling. Blood! Kill! Blood…Kill…
~~~~~
The moment passed, how long it had taken to pass he didn’t know, but he was more himself - at least he thought he was. It was night now, and the scent of the wilderness was all around him. He was camping; one of his favourite activities and one he’d had to give up when it was clear Annie and Millie were not the camping kind of girls.
He hadn’t minded really, he knew he would one day go back to communing with nature when the girls grew up. He had always loved nature and animals, he had been about to go to university to study to be a Vet when his parents had died and he’d been left to care for Annie instead. Again, it was a sacrifice that he had never regretted having to make. He wouldn’t trade his time with Annie for anything in the world, his baby sister who was more like a daughter to him than a sibling.
Now he was in the trees, listening to the sound of the nocturnal animals around him. Something was off though, something didn’t feel right. He swung his flashlight around in a wide arc, hearing a noise behind him as he did.
A prickle against the back of his neck was all the warning he received. He started to turn just as the animal at his back sprang with a feral snarl sounding through the cool night air. Insane yellow eyes were all that registered before sharp teeth sank into the muscles of the forearm he’d raised instinctually to protect himself.
He felt shock rock through his body, followed by pain so sharp he thought he would pass out instantly from the sheer intensity of it. Fear swiftly followed the other sensations. He was being attacked by a wild animal, and the brief glance he’d had of its eyes told him the wolf was feral.