by S. J. Bishop
What had happened?
Had someone done her harm?
The thought filled me with such rage that I actually started to shake.
“Who did this to you?” I demanded, my arms tight around her. I felt like I would never let her go. All I wanted to do was keep her safe – to prevent something like this from ever happening again.
“I…” She bit the inside of her lip. I could tell by the way she avoided my gaze that she was hiding something.
“It was him, wasn’t it?”
She shook her head.
“Don’t lie to me, Stacey.” I forced her to look at me. “Why are you protecting that scumbag?”
Her eyes grew watery. “He’s the father of my child… he used to be good… but then he started…” Her voice broke, choked up with the explanation. “He started falling in with the wrong crowd… started taking something… I don’t know what, but it changed him… he’s not the same man anymore.” She touched her cheek. “He never would’ve hit me before…”
I clenched my jaw at her words. “He’s going to pay for this,” I growled. “Oh, I’m going to make him regret the day he was born.” I got up from the bed in a fury, pacing back and forth with my rage. “He’s dead.”
Without another word, I ran out of the apartment, only one thing on my mind.
16
Stacey
Oh no he didn’t.
As quick as I could, I scooped Missy up and ran out the door after him. I couldn’t let him go after Emil. He would get himself killed, and then I’d never be able to forgive myself.
Luckily, he was just starting his car when I got to the parking lot. I sprinted forward, opened the passenger door, and jumped in.
He stared at me like I had completely lost my mind. Maybe he was right. This was insane.
“What are you doing?”
“I can’t let you go after him.”
He ground his teeth, his grip tightening around the wheel. “If I don’t do something about this now, he’s never going to stop tormenting you. I can’t stand seeing you live in constant fear because of that man. Something needs to be done.” He took my hand in his. “Please… let me do this. Trust me.”
I shook my head. “You can’t.”
He was silent for a moment, staring into my eyes. “Stacey… I can handle him. I can make sure he’s punished for everything he has done.”
“Ned… I don’t want you to get hurt.” I squeezed his hand, praying that he would listen to reason. “I can’t lose you too…”
“You won’t. There’s no way I can lose to a coward like him.” His voice shook, and his fingers trembled. Clearly, this had really upset him. Did he care that much about me?
“Well, I’m not leaving this car.”
“Stacey, please.”
“Unless you want to physically kick me out, I’m staying.” I narrowed my eyes in his direction. “Now, I could be wrong, but I don’t think you’d do that.”
He sighed. “Fine. But you aren’t to leave the car at all, got it?”
I nodded.
He looked at me a moment longer before finally pulling out of the parking lot. With ease, he weaved through the traffic, breaking the speed limit.
“Where are we going?” I dared to ask.
“We’re going to drive the rodent out of his hole.”
“What do you mean?”
“I found out where he likes to hide,” Ned explained. “The Old Whiskey.”
My eyes widened. That’s where I had seen Emil the other day. To think, I had been so desperate to see him that I had actually chased him through the busy sidewalks. Now I prayed I would never have to see him again. I guess that prayer was not going to be answered.
I still couldn’t wrap my mind around how much he had changed. He was a totally different person now.
“What are you going to do?” I asked, finding the silence suffocating.
“Teach him a lesson.”
I frowned. “I wish you would just let this go… You really don’t know what he’s capable of. I don’t want you to get hurt because of me.”
“Trust me. I’m stronger than I look.” He flashed me a confident smile. “There’s nothing to worry about.”
Still, I worried. I worried a lot.
When we eventually pulled up to the pub, it felt like my heart would burst out of my chest. Before Ned could get out of the car, I grabbed his wrist, pulling him back. “Wait.”
He looked at me, his brows furrowed with confusion. “What is it?”
Without thinking about it, I leaned forward and kissed him. As soon as our lips collided, a deep, smoldering heat emerged. It wrapped around my body like a blanket that quelled my anxiety. With my free hand, I wrapped my fingers around his hair, pulling him even closer as the kiss intensified. My lungs burned for air, but I ignored them, hungrily kissing the man I had been slowly falling in love with.
Between us, Missy gurgled happily.
Finally, we pulled away, breathing heavily. “Please come back…” I whispered.
He nodded and, without another word, walked away, disappearing into the pub’s back door.
A sense of dread was slowly taking over me, threatening to consume me.
I didn’t like this – not one bit.
After about fifteen minutes of waiting, I was about to get out of the car and see what was going on.
Just then, the doors burst open.
Out came Ned, followed by Emil and a few of his goons. They looked livid.
Emil threw a punch that clipped Ned in the jaw, throwing him into a nearby wall. I flinched, holding Missy a little bit tighter.
The other men started ganging up on him.
There had to be something I could do, but my body had turned to stone, incapable of movement. So I watched in horror as they threw their punches, some missing and others meeting their mark.
But suddenly, Ned seemed to be overcome by a wave of newfound energy. He tackled the largest guy of the group into the wall. A line of blood followed his descent to the ground.
Emil pointed at Ned with a shaking finger.
Two more goons stepped forward. Ned stood his ground, his hair a mess and his face covered in blood.
Abruptly, I was struck by an idea. Quickly, I jumped into the driver’s seat, put the car into gear, and stepped on the gas. I braced Missy against my body as I flew toward Emil and his henchmen.
With a great thud, they crashed onto the hood before falling to the ground. I reversed quickly, pulling up beside Ned.
He got in.
“Drive!”
I didn’t need to be told twice. I peeled out, leaving my ex-boyfriend in my wake.
A sense of adrenaline washed over me. Oh, that had felt so good. I laughed, the nervous tension bubbling out of my mouth. “I can’t believe I just did that!”
“Now’s not the time to celebrate,” Ned advised. He reached over and grabbed Missy. “We need to go somewhere safe. We’ve only succeeded in pissing them off. They’re just going to come after us.” He looked at me, his blue eyes full of pain. “We aren’t safe.”
17
Ned
Stop here,” I said, pointing to the side of the road.
“What?”
“Stop here. I can drive. I know where to go. Besides, you’re shaking, and Missy needs you.”
She continued to drive for a while longer before she finally pulled over.
I got out, opened the door for her, and helped her into the passenger side. Once she was settled, Missy in her arms, I leaned forward, giving her a quick peck on the lips. “Hey, I don’t want you to worry, okay? Everything is going to be okay. I’m going to keep you and Missy safe. I promise.” We were forehead to forehead, staring into each other’s eyes.
She nodded.
“Do you trust me?”
Again, she nodded.
“Good.” I smiled and kissed her one more time, unable to resist. Now that I had gotten a taste of her, I couldn’t have enough.
&n
bsp; Finally, I managed to pull away and got behind the wheel. Quietly, we drove for some time.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“A safe house.”
She tilted her head in question.
“I guess now is as good a time as any to tell you about my job.”
“Oh?”
“I work for VanGuard,” I started. “It’s a special organization that works with ex-Navy Seals.”
“Wait… you were a Navy Seal?” Her eyes widened in bewilderment.
“I know. Shocking, isn’t it?”
She blushed. “That’s not what I meant…”
“It’s fine. I get it a lot. I work in the tech department, so many people think I’m just a tech guy, but I can actually hold my own pretty well in a fight.”
“Yeah, I saw that… You tackled that guy as if he weighed nothing.”
I chuckled. “Anyway, we’re a sort of task force that handles any highly-classified missions involving terrorists, organized crime, you name it.”
“So, what, you’re like the FBI?”
“Something like that.”
“I had no idea…”
“Of course not. We tend to keep quiet about it.”
“So why are you telling me now?” she asked.
“Because I want you to know that I’ll do whatever it takes to keep you safe. There are certain benefits to working at VanGuard, one of them being bodyguard protection. I can make sure you’re being protected at all times. That way, Emil will never lay a finger on you again.”
She shook her head. “I don’t want a bodyguard… I just want you.”
My heart quickened at her words, but I managed to keep my composure. “But in any case, it would be smart for us to hide out in one of the safehouses for the time being. They’re more or less built to withstand World War III and are pretty well hidden.”
“He won’t find us there?”
“Not a chance in hell.”
Soon, we arrived at the safehouse. It was stowed away in the middle of the woods. I drove as far as I could before we had to make the rest of the trek on foot.
“So… this is it? It looks like a cottage…” Stacey said, clearly unimpressed.
“No. The safehouse is underneath. This is just a decoy,” I explained, walking over to a nearby bush. I shoved my hand into the foliage until I found what I was looking for. Ah. There we go. I grabbed the lever and pulled on it.
Stepping back, the bush slid to the side, revealing a door.
“Wow… it’s like something out of a movie.”
I chuckled. “I guess so.” Using an authenticator on my phone, I generated the 14-digit code and entered it into the keypad.
Ding!
And with that, it opened. With Stacey’s hand in mine, I guided her into the cellar. Once we were off the stairs, I clapped my hands.
Light flooded from above, illuminating the small but tidy space.
It wasn’t much, but it was exactly what you needed to survive. A bed. Plenty of food. Running water.
“So… how long do we need to stay down here?”
“At least a few nights. I’ll have to make some calls, colleagues who can gauge the situation and advise us on how to proceed.”
“I see… Do you know if there’s any baby stuff…? I didn’t have time to grab any when I followed you out of the apartment.”
I nodded, rummaging through the boxes. The safe houses were stocked with just about anything anyone could need, from insulin to penicillin. Of course, we had taken into account that children might, at some point, find refuge in the safe house, so there were plenty of juices, dried fruit, and formula.
“Ah. Here…” I pulled out the box labeled ‘baby.’ “Take whatever you need.”
She looked at it in surprise. “Wow… you guys really are prepared.”
“It’s our job.”
As she fed Missy, I searched for the First-Aid kit. I knew that if I didn’t tend to my injuries, they would quickly get infected. This place was safe, yes, but it certainly wasn’t sterile.
It took a while to find, hidden behind a stack of winter clothing.
Stacey walked up to me, having put Missy to sleep in a small cot. “What are you doing?”
“Thought I would bandage myself up.”
“Here. Let me help.” She took the first-aid kit from my hand.
“Are you sure?”
“After everything you did for me? It’s the least I could do.”
“Oh, I never did thank you for what you did,” I said as I sat down on the ground, making it easier for her to tend to my injuries.
“What do you mean?”
“Running Emil over.”
“Oh…” She blushed. “That. I still can’t believe I actually did it.”
“It was quick thinking.” I smiled. “We might not be here now if it wasn’t for you.”
“Oh, please… you did most of the work.”
“Still, it was pretty brave of you. Most people would never dare to try something like it,” I insisted.
“Maybe.” She cleaned out my cuts with a bit of antiseptic, making me flinch. “Sorry.”
“It’s alright,” I said, looking up at her. “I trust you.”
Our eyes locked, and in that moment, it felt like the world had stopped.
Deep down, I knew that one way or another, we would make it out of this.
Together.
18
Stacey
Once I was done bandaging him, I put away the first-aid kit. Together, we sat down on the edge of the bed. Neither one of us said a word. The air around us grew thick with awkwardness, but there was something else as well. Electricity buzzed in the air like those few moments before a thunderstorm rolled in.
Out of the corner of my eye, I dared to look at him. He was looking at me too. Inch by inch, we turned to face each other until we were gazing deeply into each other’s eyes. Like a couple of magnets, we gravitated together until our lips collided.
My heart shuddered with joy as his arms wrapped around me, holding me tight against his body.
I shimmied forward, practically sitting on his lap as the kiss intensified, our passion growing. I knew, in that moment, that I’d no longer be able to hold back. Everything had been building to this point. I couldn’t deny it any longer.
I loved him.
His embrace tightened as we fell back onto the mattress. Naturally, his hands rested on my hips, his fingers squeezing my flesh. “Stac –”
I cut him off by kissing him once more. This wasn’t a time for words; it was a time for action. So when our tongues started their erotic dance, I tugged on the hem of his shirt, pulling it upward.
He didn’t resist and instead helped me take it off, breaking the kiss only long enough to get it up and over his head. I tossed it to the side before my fingers ran along his skin, enjoying his muscular physique. I lingered on his abdomen because something felt out of place. I looked down to see a large scar running across his stomach.
Before I could ask him about it, he turned the tables, pinning me to the mattress, lust burning in his eyes.
My heart surged. He wanted me.
A fire swept through my body as he tore off my clothes, taking control of the situation, his actions confident and dominant.
I loved it.
Soon, he leaned down, his lips trailing along the side of my neck. I shivered with joy, shuddering as he nibbled on the flesh of my collarbone.
I arched my back, my hips rising to meet his.
Ned didn’t hesitate to slip his hand underneath my ass, grabbing it hard.
My legs wrapped around his waist, my ankles locking around him. At this point, I felt like I’d never be able to let him go. He had driven me to such a sexual frenzy that I felt like I’d never be able to come down.
Fuck.
And that’s exactly what we did.
Effortlessly, he played my body like a violin. He knew exactly where to touch and tease me, winding me up like a to
y. I was naked, save for my panties that were already soaked through. I had never been this wet in my entire life. It was like a dam had broken, releasing the flood that had lain dormant inside of me.
With a devious look on his face, he hooked his thumbs into the waistband of my panties, tugging on them. The fabric dug into my skin, driving me wild. I squirmed underneath him, my hips swaying from side to side, silently begging for mercy.
But Ned wasn’t done playing with me. Not yet, anyway.
He tugged on them a little harder before he leaned down and kissed my legs, starting from my ankles and going all the way up to my thighs. Once there, he spread me wide, his blue eyes sparkling with mischief. Then, with a flick of his wrist, he snapped my panties right off my body, tossing them to the ground.
Well, I guess I wouldn’t need those anymore…
Before I could really fathom what was happening, his fingers entered my wet folds.
I bit my lip to keep back my screams.
He smirked, hooking his two fingers inside of me, moving them back and forth, and finding my love button with ease. He targeted it, threatening to bring me to the brink of insanity.
My body writhed under his touch as my breathing became hot and heavy.
I didn’t know how much more of this I could take. I needed him badly. So very badly.
“Please… Ned…” I begged.
He responded by shoving another one of his fingers inside of my tight little pussy, stretching me out. “How badly do you want it?” he asked, his voice soft and seductive.
I melted like putty under his touch. “So bad…”
He grinned, and without an ounce of hesitation, he pulled down his pants, revealing a monster-sized cock, already standing at attention between his legs.
Lust flared inside of me like nothing else before. I imagined myself wrapping my lips around his girth, bobbing my head back and forth. I wanted nothing more than to show this man intense, unforgettable pleasure.
But before I could make my move, he pinned me down, growled, and plunged deep inside of me.