I Dream of Spiders

by Keating, Elle

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Griffin

  I’m on my third cup of coffee when Trent walks through the front door. I know my best friend is beat after working the night shift, so I grab another mug from the cabinet to my right. I add some cream and sugar and hand him the cup. He accepts it but doesn’t take a sip. He simply sets the cup on the kitchen counter, smiles, and starts patting himself on the back.

  I want to tell Trent to wipe that shit-eating grin off his face, but I don’t. Because I too am smiling like a fool right now. I have never been so happy, so comfortable in my own skin. When I woke up this morning with Clare in my arms, sleeping soundly, I felt at peace…finally. Clare knows everything, what happened with Miranda, why I was so messed up, and she wants me anyway. She wants to be with me.

  “So, I take it you apologized to her?” Trent asks.

  “Yes, right after I told Clare that I had no idea what I was doing.”

  Trent chuckles. “Good move,” he says, taking a sip of coffee. Trent leans against the kitchen counter and looks over at me. His playful smirk disappears. “It’s nice to see my friend again. It’s been awhile. “

  I take a deep breath and let it out. I want to tell him how good it feels not to wake up hating the world and the crappy hand I was dealt. I want to tell him how sorry I am for treating him like shit. Because Trent never gave up on me, even when I was behaving like a moody bastard. Instead, I give the guy a smile and say, “Thanks, man.”

  He just gives me a nod, but he knows what I’m thinking. He’s the loyal brother who will always be there for me, the man who will help me protect Clare. He’s the brother I never had. “So, where’s your girl?” Trent asks.

  “In bed,” I say, fighting back a smile. I’m not at all surprised that Clare is still asleep. We spent most of the night making love. On occasion we would drift off to sleep, only to wake up ravenous and wanting more. And that’s why I’m on my third cup of coffee. I’m due in at work soon and I need the caffeine.

  I really don’t want to go to work and leave Clare. Not when I finally got my shit together. But for appearances’ sake, it’s best I stick to my schedule. Clare’s memory is almost restored. We just need a little more time. Soon she will remember everything and then we will know who these traffickers are. Until then, round-the-clock supervision must remain in place.

  “I’m going to hit the shower while you’re still here.” Trent finishes his coffee and briefly glances over my shoulder before he looks at me again. “And then later, if her Highness emerges from her bedroom that is, we’ll continue our research,” Trent says.

  A gasp from behind me makes me turn around. Clare is standing in the hallway with her brow raised and her hands on her hips. “Her Highness is ready to tackle whatever you can throw at her this morning, thank you very much.”

  Trent laughs the moment Clare narrows her eyes. Yesterday, I would have flipped my lid over their banter, but today things are different. Because I let go of my past and my need to know why. Why Miranda did what she did. Why Colin hated me so much. Why me.

  “Then I will make sure my shower is quick, your Grace. Wouldn’t want to keep you waiting.” Trent winks at me and makes his way to the bedroom, but not before Clare calls him a smartass.

  The second Trent’s bedroom door closes Clare asks, “How much time do we have until you have to leave?”

  Clare’s smile is gone and her gaze has drifted to the bulge in my pants. Standing there in a tank top and cotton shorts while she licks her lips, I fucking lose it. I rush over to her, grab her hand, and practically drag her into the spare bedroom. I slam the door behind me and pounce on my little vixen. We are a mess of limbs and fumbling fingers as we tear off each other’s clothes. The next thing I know, I’m spreading her legs open with my knees and thrusting inside her. “Is this what you wanted, baby? Why you were looking at me like you were?”

  “Ye…Yesss,” she stammers. Her eyes roll and I quicken the pace. I know she’s fighting to keep quiet, to not let Trent know that she’s being fucked senseless right now, because last night when we had the house to ourselves her screams could have woken the dead. Maybe she cares what Trent thinks, but I don’t. I want to hear her moans and whimpers. I want to hear her cry out and tell me to give it to her harder. I swivel my hips and then drive into her again. Her nails claw my back and I smile. She’s close and so am I. I pull out and look at her, at her flushed cheeks, how she is panting for me. I swing her legs over my shoulders, grip my cock and push into her again. This time she doesn’t hold back and she lets out a groan that has my balls screaming.

  “You’re mine, baby. Mine to pleasure…mine to love.” Clare’s eyes shoot open and time seems to stand still. I know what I just said and I don’t regret the words that naturally slipped past my lips. Because I mean them. I do love her. It doesn’t matter that we’ve only known each other for a short time, there’s not a doubt in my mind that we belong together, that I am hers. I slip her legs off my shoulders and lie on top of her. My cock finds her wet entrance but I stay painfully still.

  “You love me?” she asks, her eyes filling up.

  Before those tears can spill over I slowly enter her, one inch at a time. When I’m fully inside her I take her face in my hands and say, “With all that I am.” My hips start to move and I rock into her. “I love you, Clare.”

  Her legs lock around me, drawing me closer. Small but determined fingers are fisting my hair as I gaze into her eyes. My heart swells as I watch her lips part and a tear makes its way down her cheek. I kiss that salty tear away and am just about to catch another when I hear her say, “I love you, Griffin.”

  I didn’t tell her that I loved her to hear those words in return. I just wanted her to know how I feel, but now that I know she loves me too, I can’t stop myself and I kiss her like I need her in order to breathe. I swallow her whimpers and short quick breaths as I drive into her. Three fierce thrusts and I’m coming inside her. I feel her clench around me, fisting my shaft, and she cries out. Her body is shaking as waves of pleasure ripple through her. She’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. And she is mine.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Clare

  “Earth to Clare, come in, Clare,” Trent says.

  It’s the third time Trent has had to pull me away from my scandalous thoughts and bring me back to reality, which right now is the breakfast bar in his kitchen. My face heats as I glance over at him. He has stopped typing on his computer and is looking at me with a goofy grin. I’m pretty sure he heard Griffin and me making love this morning. I wasn’t exactly quiet and neither was Griffin. I forgot about Trent, how thin the walls may be, the moment Griffin slid into me.

  I love you, Clare.

  I can’t stop thinking about how he looked at me when he uttered those words, the love I saw in his eyes. It’s why I’m absolutely useless right now. “Sorry, I’m just a little distracted.”

  Trent chuckles but doesn’t ask me why my mind is a pile of mush. I clear my throat and help myself to a bottle of water from the fridge. I need to focus and get myself under control. I’m just about to go sit my ass back down and research until I have a serious case of computer head when I hear Trent’s phone ring. Trent looks at his phone, frowns, and then takes the call. Within seconds, I see his typical easy-going smile morph into something that makes my stomach sink. He’s now off his stool and pacing the room. “I’ll be right there,” he says.

  “Trent…” He is on the move so I follow him. I watch him enter his bedroom and jam his feet into his sneakers. A second later, he is pulling a hoodie over his head.

  “The ER just got a call that my sister was in a car accident. They don’t know how bad it is, but she’s being transported to the hospital as we speak. I need to get to her.”

  “Oh my God! Of course!” I say. It’s while my head is spinning over this horrific news that my eyes land on Trent’s wallet and keys. I grab them off his bureau and shove them into his hands. “Go! Go!”

&nbs
p; Trent shakes his head and again starts pacing. I have no idea why he’s still here. “You need to come with me, Clare. I can’t leave you here alone.”

  “No, I’ll be fine, Trent. I have Griffin’s gun.” Trent looks at me and I can’t believe what I’m seeing. He looks torn. His sister may be seriously injured or worse, yet here he remains. His loyalty to Griffin is unbelievable. “It’s safer if I’m not seen in public, Trent. You know that. Now go. I’ll call Griffin and let him know to come here.” Trent scratches his forehead as he wars with himself. I grab his hand and plead with him to leave. Finally, I’m rewarded with a quick nod.

  I am at his heels as he makes his way to the front door. I watch him leave, only to see him open the door again, peek his head back inside and tell me to lock the door and go to the basement until Griffin gets here. I nod and he leaves. I do as I’m told and I secure the deadbolt. My hands are shaking as I back away from the door.

  Please let Trent’s sister be okay. Please.

  I’ve only known Trent for a week, but in that short time I’ve really started to care for him like a brother. I can’t imagine how he’s feeling right now. My breathing has quickened and I feel like I’m on the verge of a panic attack, which isn’t good. I need to focus. Griffin. I need him. I’m searching for my phone when I hear a flurry of knocks at the front door. The sound makes me jump and I go to the door. The knocking stops only to be replaced with a voice that sounds desperate and afraid. “Trent, it’s Dad! Carol was taken to the hospital. Open up…please!”

  I quickly open the door, fully prepared to come face-to-face with Trent’s distraught father. The door is only open a few inches when the person on the other side pushes through and nearly knocks me off my feet. It’s while I’m steadying myself that I realize my mistake.

  I stare into Brady Sullivan’s cold dead eyes and I go to scream. But he’s too quick and he has me pinned to the ground in seconds. A moment later, I feel a sting and my arm goes numb. The room starts to spin and I’m pretty sure I’m drooling because my tongue feels ten times its normal size and I have lost the ability to speak. I’m grateful that I’m losing my sense of touch as I watch this disgusting piece of filth stroke my hair. I hear him shush me, soothe me like a child.

  My eyes flutter shut, but I can still hear the sick motherfucker’s voice as a vision and the toxin in my system take me under…

  “No. I’ll take her punishment. Just don’t hurt her anymore!” I screamed.

  Spider Tattoo’s arm froze mid-strike. “How I wish I could accommodate your request. But you know we can’t do that. You must remain untouched, princess.” He drew his hand back and hit Tia again and again. I cried into the metal bars that separated us. When he finally stopped, I saw the bulge in his pants and I knew what was going to happen next. Those two monsters lowered her limp body onto the floor and positioned her so her bare stomach pressed against the rough concrete. She didn’t move. She couldn’t even cry anymore. But that didn’t stop them. Each took a turn. After they finished they left her there, lying naked and bleeding on the floor. They exited her cell and locked the door behind them.

  “You fucking animals! When I get out of here…”

  “You’ll what, princess? What would you do if you somehow escaped?” Spider Tattoo asked with a disgusting smile. Goatee laughed while he adjusted himself. “Would you go get help? Bring the police to our door?”

  Because I was so dehydrated I hadn’t enough saliva to spit in his face. I was just about to tell him that I wouldn’t go to the police because I had planned on killing them myself when he reached through the bars and grabbed me by my neck. His thumb pressed against my windpipe as he mashed my face against the bars.

  “No one is going to help you, sweetheart. Not even the police. You want to know why?” His lips grazed my forehead and he took a deep breath, as if he was breathing me in. “Because he’s one of them.”

  • • •

  Chief Brady Sullivan

  I check the time on my cell phone. Any second now. Three, two…Trent emerges from his home looking disheveled and panicked. Obviously, the hospital has contacted him. Trent closes the door behind him and locks it, only to turn around, jam his key into the lock and reopen the front door. He peeks his head through the twelve-inch gap and I watch his lips move.

  Who is he talking to? Not Griffin McGuire. He is either at the hospital or out in the field on a call. I continue to stare at the front door and then I see a glimpse of brown hair and a feminine hand grip the edge of the door. A second later, Trent closes the door. I am in the middle of catching my breath when Trent takes off running in the direction of the hospital.

  Bree is in there. My Bree.

  Go get her. You know you want her. You need her. You’ve always needed her.

  My Uncle Tony’s voice is so loud this time. I don’t want him telling me what I already know. Maybe in the beginning I did, when I was fourteen and struggling with the feelings I was having. But not now.

  At fourteen, I was confused. Restless. I knew my hormones were out of control, but something else was causing me to need more. Need. Need. This something had always been there, lying beneath the surface, waiting for the right time to come out and play. I thought I had kept it hidden. I thought I was careful. But my uncle knew. He sensed it. Just months after my sister and I moved in with him I figured out exactly how he knew.

  He was just like me. But my Uncle Tony had evolved…

  A faint noise had awoken me. I checked on Bree and found her sound asleep. Sleeping like an angel in her bed. I followed the noise to the basement door. I tried the knob, expecting it to be locked. Because it always was. But this time it turned and the door swung open. I could hear some muffled cries and then a low moan. I shut the door behind me and crept down the stairs.

  “Don’t be scared, son. We’ve been waiting for you.” My uncle came into view along with a woman strapped to a mattress on the floor. Her hands were tied to a post behind her head. Her ankles were also bound with rope and secured to posts on the sides of the mattress, ensuring that she remained spread-eagled. My eyes drifted to my uncle. He was wearing dark jeans and nothing else. His bare chest glistened with sweat as he looked down at the flogger in his hand. My heart hammered in my chest and my blood pounded in my ears…and in my pants. I ached to hold that flogger, feel the leather against my fingers.

  I stared at the woman and took in her tears, the makeup running down her cheeks, the red welts scattered across her stomach, tits, and thighs. I stepped closer to get a look at the space between her legs. She was bare there, no hair, like some women I had seen on cable television.

  “She’s in pain,” I said.

  Uncle Tony tapped the flogger gently against his palm and peered at me. “So much pain, Brady. And so very beautiful.”

  I had to agree with him. I may have never met this woman before, but I couldn’t imagine her looking more beautiful than she was right now.

  “But she’s mine, son. And I don’t share.” Uncle Tony walked over and hit the woman. Once, twice, so many times I lost count. And then it was over. While the woman choked back her sobs my uncle removed his jeans, dropped to his knees and stared at her, almost lovingly. “I may not share, but you may watch and learn.” My uncle shoved his dick inside the woman and she screamed. “You will find the one whose pain you crave,” he said between pants.

  I didn’t need to search for my one. I already knew her. What she would sound like, what her whimpers and gasps would do to me. I knew her so well. Better than anyone. And now I would know her deepest, most innocent pain.

  Bree.

  I wait until Trent is out of sight and make my way up the front steps. My hands shake and I curse the display of weakness.

  You are in control. At all times. You inflict pain. You bathe in it. And then you fuck her until she’s broken…ruined.

  I clench my fists together, refusing to allow my uncle’s words to taunt me anymore, and I bang on Trent’s door.

  Chapter Twenty-Eigh
t

  Griffin

  Thank God I had those three cups of coffee this morning, because unlike yesterday I haven’t stopped moving. A motorcycle accident consumed most of the morning. Luckily, the guy on the bike had been wearing a helmet when he lost control and skidded into a guardrail. But he didn’t walk away unscathed. He definitely had a concussion and two broken legs. After the man was transported to the hospital, another call came in from the quarry. One worker fell to his death, while another sustained a spinal injury after he himself plunged thirty feet into a pit of gravel. I didn’t have a moment to breathe, much less call in and check on Clare.

  “Hey, I’m going to grab some lunch in the caf, wanna come?”

  I’m starving, but I don’t want to waste my break eating. I need to talk to my girl, hear her voice. It’s only been a matter of hours, but I can’t believe how much I miss her. Trent would have a field day if he knew how much I ache to be with Clare right now. Probably call me a fucking pussy, get back at me for all those times I messed with him for being afraid of mice. I look at my partner and say, “Nah. I’m good. You go ahead. I’ll catch up with you in thirty.”

  Leo Brown, the paramedic I’d been riding around with all day, nods and heads into the hospital. Leo is one of four paramedics working for Quarry General. He’s a little talkative for my taste, but he seems like a good guy. Ron Girard, my partner from yesterday, suddenly pulls into the hospital parking lot. The ambulance’s lights aren’t flashing and the siren isn’t blaring, but I head over anyway to see if he needs help.

  Ron steps out and shakes my hand.