Hearts Afire [Companionship Inc., Book II]

by Velvet Veers

  "Actually, no.” Suddenly, Erica didn't feel afraid anymore. These kidnappers weren't dangerous. They were pathetic.

  "We're actor wannabes. We're going to put a screen up and pantomime behind it. Tell us what you think. We consider ourselves masters of illusion, men morphing into women, women morphing into men. It's taken us five years to write the script."

  They turned down the lights in the motel room, setting up a strobe behind the screen. Then they set up a dinner table, complete with wine and flowers, turned the music on, and they were in Florence, Italy.

  "I've missed you so much, darling. Where have you been?"

  "Looking for you, sweetheart, all my life."

  The two leaned in toward each other, kissing. She saw two silhouettes dancing together in a moonlit background. Then they were on the floor rolling around in a heated ball. The man raised the woman's dress and she saw the silhouette of a rear, humping up and down amidst screams and groans.

  Then the man screamed, “Rachel, Rachel, I want it to be you under me. Oh God, Rachel, I want to come all over you.” His voice broke. “I'm so sorry, baby. I can't give it to you much as I'd like.” Then the person dissolved in a puddle behind the screen, sobbing uncontrollably.

  Now it all made sense to Erica. The woman who'd kidnapped her looked a lot like Richard's sister-in-law. Apparently, the man was in love with Rachel, but couldn't make love to her, so he'd made this other woman dress up like her.

  Sirens screamed from outside the motel. A booming voice on a megaphone said, “You're surrounded. This is the police. All of you come out now with your hands up and no one will be hurt. You have sixty seconds. One ... two ... three..."

  Her kidnappers straightened their clothes and grabbed their guns. The woman seized a handful of Erica's hair and stuck the gun at her temple. “We're going to walk out of here slow and easy."

  Erica was the second one out of the hotel room. She heard a pop and the man in front of her fell. Instinctively, she looked down to see what had happened and another pop sounded, and the woman behind her fell. When she realized what had happened—shots were being fired and the kidnappers were the targets—men in black descended on her, running toward her from every direction.

  One of them grabbed her by the arm. “Erica, we're S.W.A.T. We'll have you safely home in a few minutes."

  CHAPTER 7

  Never had she been so happy to see Charlie and Richard. She ran to Charlie first, hugging and kissing him repeatedly. Then she hugged Richard, long and hard. In fact, she had to tear herself away from him. She finally felt safe—and happy. Tears streamed down her face. Finally she managed a question. “Who were they?"

  "I don't know yet. The police are supposed to call me with the information as soon as they know."

  "Momma, why are you crying?” Charlie asked. “Where have you been that made you so sad?"

  Richard leaned into Erica, whispering in her ear, caressing it with his warm breath, causing a shudder of awareness to flow down her body. “I didn't tell Charlie where you were, Erica. I didn't want to frighten him."

  Erica's heart swelled in gratitude—and love—for Richard. She loved him for protecting her and Charlie. No one but Erica had ever protected Charlie. She wiped her tears away and answered Charlie's question. “Nowhere important. My head just hurts."

  "Maybe you should take an aspirin and come watch Mrs. Doubtfire with me. It's really funny, Momma."

  "Sure, baby. I'd love to watch it with you.” She took him out of the wheelchair and laid him on her lap and they watched television for a while until she dozed off. She was in her twilight sleep when she felt Richard lift a sound asleep Charlie from her lap and take him back to his room.

  Then he came back for Erica, picking her up and taking her to her designated room on the other side of the house. She felt the bed press down before a cool body slid in beside her.

  Now wide-awake, she sprang up to a sitting position. In the near pitch dark, she heard Richard's low, playful laugh. He pulled her down toward him and he whispered in the dark. “It's just me, sweet Erica. Here to provide, protect and ... what's that other “p” word? Propagate—that's it. What do you say? You up for it, my lady?"

  "Propagate—such a big, serious, committed word for such a short time to have ... well ... known each other."

  "Well, honey, time is elastic—relative, according to Einstein. I feel like I've known you ten seconds,"—he kissed her deeply, slowly savoring her mouth with the sensual strokes of his tongue—"and a thousand years."

  His tongue grazed her ear, sending frissons of delight up and down her spine. Like a sexual smorgasbord, he had a different effect on her body and emotions every time he spoke; every time he touched her. It was hard to put her finger on it, but he always left her with a feeling of basic trust, a foundation, a feeling of certainty topped with perpetual surprise. She never knew what to expect from him, but she always knew he'd be there for her with whatever she needed. A life full of such sweet and unexpected surprises.

  Erica suddenly felt the need to be the aggressor and take control. She wanted to devour this person, to consume every inch of him. She felt confident and safe in his arms. Safe enough to act on her fantasy of being the seductress.

  She whispered in his ear. “Could you put some music on, darling. I have a surprise for you."

  "Oh, yeah,” Richard answered.

  A few minutes later, slow, sexy piano music filled the room from the built-in stereo speakers. Richard turned on a low-light lamp, undressed and propped himself in bed, watching and waiting.

  Erica stole into the adjoining bathroom, quickly stripping to her lacy French bra and matching black panties. She grabbed a robe from the hanger on the bathroom door and threw it over her, tying the belt. She strutted slowly out of the room parading in front of Richard with runway model turns. She untied the belt of the robe, letting the robe open, and slide off her shoulders. She stood square in front of Richard, loving the look of admiration on his face as he looked her up and down.

  He scooted down in his bed, propping himself up on an elbow. “My God, Erica, you're so beautiful."

  She smiled, looking seductively down at him. She could swear she saw tears forming in his eyes. Her heart filled with emotion. Erica had never felt this intensity, this strength, this certainty, with a man.

  "Tell me what you want, Richard. This night is for you."

  "I want you to ravish me, Erica."

  Erica pulled the comforter back and, spreading his legs, crawled between them, taking his hot penis in her hand. While he watched, she stuck out her tongue and rolled it extravagantly around the head. She ran her tongue down his shaft and licked over the bottom and back up the other side.

  Flicking her tongue back and forth over the tip of his penis, she rolled his testicles in her hand, pulling them down while stretching them out. Slowly and carefully, she drew her mouth down over the head of his cock, up and down, each time taking it deeper and deeper into her throat. She wanted to swallow him, to drink him in, to make him a deeper part of her core being.

  * * * *

  With every stroke, Richard felt like he might explode. But he wasn't ready to go yet. He wanted her to make love to him all night. Erica. So sure, so solid, so perfect for him, so right. He felt home for the first time in his life.

  Never again would he have to worry about performing. Sex was not about performing anymore—it was about sharing. He'd never really been able to let go and feel a part of sex. He'd always focused on either getting his rocks off or pleasing someone else. Now he just enjoyed the absence of all concerns, all barriers, as his body and soul blended with someone else's. This was beauty, the essence of life, and for all these years, he'd missed the mark. With Erica, he'd hit the bull's eye.

  Erica nibbled the head of his penis lightly with her teeth. Her mouth felt hot and wet as she sucked on him. “Erica, I don't want to come like this. I want to come inside of you ... as deep as I can get."

  She raised her head and moved
her body to cover his, guiding his penis inside her hot, wet pussy, and he groaned as it closed around him, tight and throbbing, her muscles tensing and releasing with practiced skill. She moved against him with force, his penis hitting the back of her canal. He felt like his erection grew with each of her thrusts.

  "Oh, Richard, baby, I hope you're close because you're about to send me over the top. Here I go, baby. Yes! Yes! Yessssss!!!!"

  Erica's head arched back just as Richard pushed up one final time, spilling his seed deep within her, his penis jerking with each stream.

  She collapsed on top of him, her body slick and sweaty. Richard stroked her back. “Erica, I love you. I want you with me for the rest of our lives."

  Erica sat up, tears streaming down her face. “You know, Richard, before now, I've never believed in soul mates—until you. Now I know. I don't know how it happens, and I don't know why, but it's part of the magic of the universe. And I so believe in magic—since you. It takes life out of the monotony. Suddenly everything seems bright, beautiful and powerful. I feel like I can do anything now—with you."

  Richard smiled and kissed her on the forehead. “The law of alchemy—two disparate elements combine to form a new product, something new and exciting, for a different purpose.

  Richard looked over at Erica. She'd fallen asleep in his arms. He kissed her lips softly and whispered, “Sweet dreams, my darling.” Then he left for his room.

  * * * *

  "Rise and shine, Momma.” Charlie shook Erica's shoulders.

  Erica yawned and stretched, taking a few seconds to get her bearings. “I'm sorry. I didn't hear you calling for me this morning. You're already dressed?"

  "Richard got me up and dressed this morning because we have a surprise for you. Hurry and get dressed, Momma."

  She could tell Charlie was excited about something. “What's the surprise?"

  "Richard is taking us to the zoo today! Lions and tigers and bears, Momma. Lions and tigers and bears!"

  * * * *

  The phone rang and it was Dustin. “Hey, man, you aren't going to believe this."

  "At this point, I'd believe anything."

  "They found out who the kidnappers were—

  Rachel's husband, Carlton, and a male accomplice."

  "But Erica said it was a man and a woman."

  "Yeah, well she should've looked a little closer. A wig and woman's clothes can be deceiving. They're both men, but one's a cross-dresser. Apparently, Rachel knew Carlton had been seeing this other guy, and she was unhappy with their marriage. Even if she would never divorce him, she would make sure he never got his hands on any of the money."

  "Carlton is gay? I bet that put Rachel in orbit. This is rich.” He laughed heartily for the first time in a long while. Suddenly, everything clicked into place like a massive jigsaw puzzle. What was truly important was that he'd found his special woman.

  As he hung up the receiver, Erica walked into the kitchen, dressed in red and looking sexy as hell. Still laughing, he told her who the kidnappers were.

  Richard grabbed her hand and began pushing Charlie's wheelchair. “Baby, we need to give you a crash course in human anatomy. We'll start working on it right after we get back from the zoo."

  Velvet Veers

  Velvet Veers divides her time between homes in Texas, Louisiana, and Minnesota. She has been writing for ten years, has published three books under different pen names, and written two screenplays, one of which has been optioned by a major independent film production company. She has contracted three separate trilogies of e-novellas for Amber Quill Press's “Amber Heat” imprint: Companionship, Inc., Virtual Fantasy, Inc., and Road Warriors, Inc. A new title will appear each month, beginning in June 2003!

  Velvet has undergraduate degrees in business and psychology and a master degree in counseling. She loves to read, run, ride Gold-Wing motorcycles, snow ski, travel and write. She has six children, three dogs and two cats.

  She loves to hear from her readers, so please visit her web site at: www.velvetveers.com

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