by M. L. Smith
“Yes. They are heading to St Lucia.”
“Lovely! They are made for each other and I bet that we hear the patter of tiny feet in no time!” I told him grinning.
“I hope so, Jenny!” Dad replied.
“Zack, I want to lay some flowers on Frankie’s grave. Do you want to come?”
“Do you mind if I just hang around here? I feel so sick!” he grimaced.
Dad piped up, “There is some rugby on the box if you want to join me, Zack.”
“Bye for now, Zack” I told him, quickly kissing his cheek.
I walked down to the peaceful graveyard after picking some wild flowers from the farm. The fresh air felt very good.
My eyes filled with tears as I read her inscription once again.
‘Loving memories of a wonderful daughter, sister and friend. Francesca Barker. Born 30th January 1983 – Died 14th March 2003. Sadly missed and never forgotten.’
I sat down on the grass in front of the worn grave. There were some dead flowers that I removed. I didn’t get a chance to visit last time we were here.
My eyes started to fill up with big tears as I thought about all the good times we shared. It was always me, Katie and Frankie. There was never any of that three is a crowd thing, we all just rubbed along famously. I missed her so much.
As I transported my memory back to happier times, I was aware of someone else walking into the graveyard. I didn’t even have to turn around to know that it was Zack.
My body was always acutely aware when he was near to me. It was like he sent off a mysterious sexy pheromone that I could pick up instantly.
“Hi, baby. Are you okay?” he said, stroking my hair.
His voice sounded like a mixture of melted chocolate and really hot sex. He turned me on just by talking.
“I’m fine, thanks. Thanks for coming down here. I know you feel like crap!”
I smiled over at him and my heart skipped a beat as I gazed into his lovely face.
Would I ever tire of him? Nope.
Would he ever tire of me? God, I hoped not.
“That Prosecco is some evil shit but I couldn’t let you be here on your own. Tell me about Frankie.”
He sat down next to me. His strong arm came around my shoulder and I leaned into his body.
“Frankie was the life and soul of the party. She had crazy light brown hair that was a mass of messy curls. She complained about it all the time but it was beautiful, just like her. Her eyes were a gorgeous emerald green that caught the light. When she walked into a room, it literally lit up. She was in love with a boy from school. They were so good together and they would have got married and had the happy ever after. When she found out she had a brain tumour, she said she would fight it tooth and nail, but it was too much for her.” I sniffed as tears flowed down my cheeks.
“Don’t cry, she wouldn’t have wanted that.”
“We did everything together with Katie as well. We were inseparable.”
“Was she ill for a long time?”
He kissed my forehead as I cuddled closer to him.
“About a year, but it felt longer. She said her goodbyes and wrote me a letter. I look at it from time to time and it’s crispy with my dried tears.”
We sat for quite a while lost in our thoughts and black clouds started to form in the heavy sky. The air felt dense and muggy.
“We had better get back. It’s going to chuck it down.”
Heading up the lane back towards the house, we walked hand in hand in comfortable silence. This was one of the things I loved about him, we were in tune with each other and the silences never seemed awkward. A loud clap of thunder made me jump.
“Captain America, there’s a storm a brewing!” I laughed as we broke into a run up the road.
The heavens opened and we got soaked through to our underwear. My dress clung to all my curves in an erotic fashion. I looked over at his hard nipples sticking through his t-shirt.
Obviously it made me really horny.
My libido was off the hook with him!
I took one look at him and I saw that he was feeling the same.
My mouth twisted into a wry smile as our eyes met. We stopped walking and turned to face each other. He gently stepped closer and grasped my breasts. Zack slowly unbuttoned my dress and slipped his hands inside my bra. His warm wet hands glided over me deliciously. Gently pulling my bra down, he kissed my breasts and licked the nipples sucking and nibbling as desire enveloped me. His tongue lashed over and over and it sent a hot flush straight between my legs.
Luckily there wasn’t a soul around as I clasped him close to my soaking wet body.
“You look hot, all wet like that!” he whispered.
“So do you, gorgeous.”
He pulled back from me as we stood looking deeply into each other’s eyes. The warm late summer rain was running down his stunning face and his sapphire blue eyes blazed with unspoken passion. Our hair was clinging to our wet faces.
Zack stepped closer and took me into his arms. His hot tongue slid into my mouth, dominating me, owning me, possessing me, claiming me.
My hands touched his sculptured chest and I let them greedily roam all over him, teasing his hard nipples. He moaned deeply into my hair. I slid my hands down his back and groped his arse. His growing erection dug into my hip.
Unzipping his jeans, I pushed my hand in and grasped him possessively. I cupped his heavy sac in my hands and squeezed gently. He groaned with his eyes closed.
Commando! Again!
“Do you have an aversion to underwear, Mr Cole?” I breathed, nibbling his earlobe.
“Yes, Miss Black. Do you fancy a bit of al fresco, baby?” he smirked.
“Hell yes!” I laughed as we disappeared into the woods and out of sight.
Chapter Fifty Nine
We travelled back on Monday morning after enjoying an extra day with my parents.
The next day Ross texted me that my weapon was ready. I quickly made my way to the station.
He beckoned me into his untidy office.
“Any news on the evidence I collected? It must be through by now, Sir.”
“There was a problem. They seem to have misplaced it. As soon as they locate it, they will get back in touch with me. Heads will roll if they can’t find it,” he muttered.
“Bloody hell, Sir. I hope they find it!” I grumbled.
After signing reams of paperwork for my weapon, I returned to the house to concoct my plan to pay David Simms a visit.
When I got back to the house, I found Zack hastily packing some clothes and shoving them into an overnight case.
“Where are you off to?” I asked him, puzzled.
“Oh, I have a really early meeting in London to tie up a few loose ends and it’s easier if I stay overnight. You don’t mind, do you?” he replied, looking flustered.
“No, it’s fine. I will enjoy spending time with Scarlett and Jasper. Hurry back though, gorgeous,” I told him, kissing him.
“Please could you drop me at the station?”
“Yes, no problem.”
I loved the way that he travelled on public transport even though with his vast wealth he had no need to. From what I could gather, his parents had put their children through college and university by working every hour but still amassed huge debts.
Zack came from humble but happy beginnings in New Orleans that he didn’t want to forget.
“Let’s go, JB.”
My plan to confront David would have to keep.
Well, he wasn’t going anywhere that I knew of.
We jumped into the Audi and I took off at speed. I suddenly realised that I had never driven him anywhere. Zack looked pale as I navigated the narrow country lanes.
“Where did you learn to drive? Formula One?”
He grimaced as he clung on for dear life.
“Ha! Very funny I have done my advanced driving course and I have been rally driving several times!” I laughed, going even faster.
&n
bsp; “I was going to let you take the DB9 for a spin but I have changed my mind!”
“That’s not fair. I will do lots of rude things to you if you let me, Mr Cole,” I told him licking my lips.
I ran my left hand slowly up his leg.
“Don’t do that!” he laughed, grabbing his crotch.
“Tomorrow then, Zachary. I will just have to use Vinnie the vibrator tonight, but I do find him a bit lacking in the size department. You do have the most beautiful Johnson in the world,” I told him, arching an eyebrow.
“Thank you, I will make it worth the wait. I promise you that, Jennifer,” he told me.
A hot flush swept through me as I glanced over at him. His scorching gaze burned into me.
“Well, you do always make good on your promises and you have never ever let me down!” I whispered huskily.
“I wouldn’t dream of it. I take everything I do in life very seriously,” he told me with a wicked glint in his eyes.
“You said the same thing to me once before!”
“I know I did, baby!” he told me as he gently caressed the back of my hand.
“Well, here’s your stop, gorgeous.”
“Thank fuck we made it!” Zack muttered as we pulled up to the station.
He grabbed his case out of the boot and I walked up to the platform with him. We only had a few minutes to spare.
Zack pulled me into his warm embrace and kissed me softly. His hands weaved into my hair. I wrapped mine around his neck. I would miss him even though it was only for a night. I thought back to when we were apart after I kissed John.
It had almost finished me off.
“Bye, baby. See you tomorrow. I love you,” he said as he got onto the train.
“Bye, Zack. I love you too.”
He took his seat and gave me a quick wave before he put his sexy glasses on and opened his briefcase.
I had the strangest feeling that something bad was going to happen. Trying to shrug it off, I left the train station.
I headed back to the house and found Scarlett studying in her room. Jasper was nowhere to be seen.
“Have you seen Jasper?”
“I think he went for a walk in the woods with Amy,” she replied, not looking up from her book.
I was guessing that this roughly translated to he was off misbehaving!
“Okay, shall we have a Chinese or Indian takeaway tonight? Whatever you fancy, Scarlett.”
“Ooh, Chinese, please. I will be down soon.”
Scarlett came into the kitchen and we chose a meal for four as Jasper would eat anything we couldn’t manage.
He would also retain his slim build and washboard abs.
“I am just going to see if I can find Jasper. I won’t be long.”
I decided to have a look in the stables and check the horses. I still missed Billy about the place. I gave them all a kiss and a pat and I spent a bit more time with Puzzle, letting him nuzzle into me. He was such a sweet horse and I had grown very fond of him.
There was still no sign of Jasper so I headed back to the house.
The food was delivered and Scarlett and I were about to tuck in when Jasper sloped in. He must have smelt the food.
I served out a plate for Jasper as Gatsby mooched around, waiting for some food to fall onto the floor.
“Are there any bottles of lager going, Jennifer?” he asked quietly.
“Go on then, there are some in the fridge, get me one, please Jasper. Has Amy gone home?”
“Err, yes,” he mumbled, putting his head down.
“Jasper’s in love!” Scarlett said in a singsong voice.
“Shut up, Scarlett, I am not, no way!” he snapped.
“The gentleman doth protest too much, methinks!”
“Whatever Lady Macbeth!” he shouted in Scarlett’s face.
“It’s Hamlet actually Jasper!”
“Oh pardon me, Scarlett. ‘Look like the innocent flower, but be the serpent under it.’ Lady Macbeth, scene V. Quite fitting for you, don’t you think?”
Scarlett’s mouth hung open as he stalked out of the kitchen.
I do so love an intellectual argument!
I abandoned my food and followed him into the games room. He ignored me and busied himself setting up the snooker table. I walked over to the cue stand and grabbed one.
“Shall I break, Jasper?”
“If you like,” he muttered.
I took my shot and waited for him. His head hung down and his eyes were red and puffy.
“You okay, Jasper?”
“Not really.”
“Want to talk about it?”
“No.”
He took his shot and we continued the game in an awkward uncomfortable silence.
“Amy dumped me!” he suddenly blurted out as I was just about to take a tricky shot.
“Jasper, I’m so sorry,” I told him putting my arm around his shoulder.
“She said she only went out with me because my Dad’s loaded!”
“Well, it’s her loss, Jasper. You are far too good for her the gold-digging bitch!”
His blotchy face broke into a broad smile.
“Well, I don’t know about you, Jasper, but I am bloody starving. Let’s eat!”
Chapter Sixty
After Scarlett and Jasper had made their peace, I headed upstairs and crawled into Zack’s cold, lonely, empty bed.
I shut my eyes and tried to switch off my thoughts about the case and my overwhelming guilt that I felt by keeping such a monumental secret from Zack.
How could I be so happy and so sad at the same time?
My phone beeped with a text message.
‘Missing you, JB, I wish you were here. Goodnight. Love you Z xxxx’
I smiled at the message and sent one back.
‘I miss you too. This bed is too big without you :( Goodnight. Love you J xxxx’
I snuggled into the covers and tried to go to sleep but a morbid feeling settled over my tired body. I shook my head, trying to get rid of the knot of tension in my stomach.
After a while, I drifted off to sleep after I had rolled over to Zack’s side of the bed to get some of his heavenly scent on my body.
I could feel someone’s breath on my face softly tickling me. It must be Zack. I wondered what time it was. I must have slept in.
Opening my eyes, I turned to squint at the clock. The display read 2.35am.
I hadn’t slept in.
Looking up, I saw bloodshot brown eyes staring at me. A gloved hand clamped over my mouth before I got the chance to scream.
I thrashed around wildly in the bed and quickly realised that I was pinned to the bed by the person lying on top of me. All I could see were the brown eyes as the rest of their face was covered with some sort of mask.
What the fuck was going on? Was I dreaming or having some sort of nightmare?
“Jennifer, you need to stop poking around in things that don’t fucking concern you. Understood?” my attacker said in a low voice that dripped pure evil.
I managed to nod yes as the body sat up and straddled on top of me. A gloved hand pulled the covers down to reveal my naked form. I stiffened and tried to struggle again. My head trashed from side to side. His eyes narrowed as he pushed me further into the bed.
Oh my god! He was going to rape me!
I started to scream but he still had a hand clamped across my mouth. He climbed off me and pulled the covers back fully, looking at me from head to toe. A knife glinted and shone in the soft moonlight as he pressed it up against my jawline.
“Well, Zack is one lucky son of a bitch getting you in his bed!” he whispered.
I cringed back into the bed, completely terrified of what he was going to do. My body became rigid with fear and my hair stood on end. I now knew what victims of crime felt like. I could never understand why they didn’t struggle more but I realised now that your survival instinct kicked in.
Blood rushed to my ears and my heart pounded as his gloved hand tou
ched my cheek and ran across my right breast circling the nipple. He ran a finger over my tattoo. The hand started to travel between my legs. Tears rolled down my face as I felt the knife digging sharply into my jaw. My throat was dry with fear and revulsion.
Suddenly the door flew open and Jasper was standing there clutching a cricket bat.
“Don’t touch her!” he shouted.
He bravely ran over and took a wide swing at my unknown assailant but he ducked and ran over to the window. Jasper took another swing and made contact with his body.
“Ah, you little fucker!” he screamed, clutching his side in obvious pain.
The intruder opened the window and jumped out. I heard him curse loudly before he crunched over the gravel to make his escape. Jasper ran over to the window and looked out.
“You fucking pervert! My Dad will kill you!” Jasper screamed at him.
I pulled the covers up to my neck and started to cry. My whole body shook as nausea washed over me.
“He has run off down the garden and he’s limping. Jennifer, are you okay? Did he hurt you?” he asked softly.
“No, but I think he was going to. Thank you, Jasper, for coming in and saving me,” I told him numbly.
“I will go and make you a cup of tea then we will ring the police.”
He pulled me into his arms and dried my tears. I clutched the covers to me and I clung onto him as immense relief washed over me. Scarlett appeared at the door.
“What’s been going on? I heard shouting!” she cried, running into the room.
“Someone broke in and threatened Jennifer but I scared him off!”
“Jennifer, are you okay?” she asked, coming over to hug me.
“I will be fine. Thanks so much, you two.”
“I will get that tea for you now, Jennifer.”
Jasper disappeared downstairs as I slipped my dressing gown on. I couldn’t seem to stop shaking.
“I might just go downstairs. I won’t be able to go back to sleep now. You go back to bed, sweetheart,” I told her, kissing her cheek.
“I want to stay with you, Jennifer.”
“Thanks but I will be fine, Scarlett, honestly, go back to bed.”
She hugged me again and disappeared into the hallway.