by J. C. Cliff
I walk past the kitchen and into a small living and dining room combo, which has enough seating to sit six people comfortably on a large sofa and matching chairs. To my right is a large dining room table, and straight ahead I spot two doors, one on either side of the room.
Travis walks past me and opens one of the doors on the right, revealing two sets of bunk beds. They line either side of the wall, and as I look around the room, I note this isn’t military style at all. It’s like one of those nice RV campers, and it all appears brand new and clean. Even the color scheme matches. “C’mon, let me give you the grand tour.” He opens another door just past the end of the bunk beds, and a full bathroom comes into view.
“Oh, my gosh. How do you even get water and electricity out here, especially being this far into the woods?”
“We have well water, a septic tank, and a generator,” he states simply. I notice another door inside the bathroom, and I wonder how far this thing goes on for.
“What’s behind that door?” I ask, pointing ahead of me.
“Washer, dryer, water heater, and other mechanical things.”
I’m dumbfounded. Who knew these things truly existed outside of sci-fi movies? As Travis leads me out of the bunk bed area, we go back through the living room, and in through the other door, which reveals another bedroom. This room is bigger, sporting a full size bed with night stands on either side. He points across the bedroom to another access beyond and tells me, “Over there is where the generator is kept, and some of our recon equipment.” Then he points behind him, past the sofa to the other side of the room. “There’s one more bedroom just like this one behind the kitchen wall.”
Yes, I called this one correctly; Alice in Wonderland and all her doors are written all over the walls.
I’m simply flabbergasted. “Wow, you guys went big, didn’t you? Three bedrooms and it looks as if you can sleep up to eight people.”
“I always say, ‘Go big or go home.’” He then lifts a brow and a small smile comes out to play on his lips. “Everything here is self-stable, but we only keep the bare necessities out here right now. Too many bugs and such that can get into things,” he teases while poking at my ribs. I squeal and pull away from him. I shiver at the thought of seeing those crazy roaches on steroids.
“Remind me to pack a ton of hairspray if I ever have to stay here.” My comment has me thinking of another question: Why would I ever need to be here? I tilt my head to the side, looking at Travis with questioning eyes. “So why are you showing me this hideout?” I ask in a wary tone.
“Because I want you to know where this place is, should anything happen to me, this is where you need to run to in order to stay safe.” My eyes bolt open wide at his remark.
I shake my head in bafflement. “Travis, I couldn’t leave you behind if something were to happen to you.”
He grabs both of my shoulders and gently shakes them, stressing just how serious he is. “Yes...yes, you can, Jules.” His eyes are intense and his face is stern as he continues, “If something happens to me, this is where you run to.” His tone brooks no argument as he continues, “Behind the door in the bedroom, where I showed you the recon equipment is kept, I’ve got a database of phone numbers listed in order of whom you need to call should you be put in such a position. There’s a phone and a computer in there, with detailed instructions on what to do.”
His voice fades in and out; I’m too overstimulated and inundated with information. The reality of the situation is beginning to hit home. It’s now that I realize what I’m into is way bigger than he’s letting on, and if he’s willing to sacrifice so much for me to this degree, I’m willing to sacrifice for him. Suddenly, I’m seeing him in a brand new light. He’s really sticking his neck out for me. I decide to nod, agreeing with him to do as he says. He’s truly trying to protect me from something very evil, and if he feels it’s better to keep me in the dark for another day, another week, or however long, it’s not going to kill me not to know right this instant what it is.
However, I have my own plan formulating in my mind. I’m now certain I wouldn’t leave him if my life depended on it, not after today. I stay silent and resolve myself not to argue with him, because he’s the type of man who has a hard time taking no for an answer. I’ll let him think what he wants.
He’s worked so hard to prove himself to me time and again, and this final act of chivalry just confirms how much he does care about me. He has gone to extreme lengths, dedicating all of his time and energy into nurturing not only me, but our relationship, all the while looking out for our safety. I’m seeing with crystal clear vision now what this man is coming to mean to me. If his life were ever threatened, I’d be damned if I’d let anything happen to him. I believe I would even kill to protect him.
~Nick~
There is no way to describe this fierce outrage boiling inside my body. Hot-blooded savagery courses through my veins and my ability to reason is hanging on by a mere thread. I just found out my men hit another dead end today in their quest to find Julianna. It’s been almost two fucking weeks since Travis absconded with my woman and vanished into thin air without a trace. My exasperation grows tenfold for each day that goes by in which I don’t have her, and the fact that he took a handful of Blyss with him when he took her, tells me he’s been fucking her. The mere thought has me losing my last ounce of composure. I’m no longer seeing red and I’m past the tunnel vision phase of anger. Instead, I’m a ballistic missile that is seeking to destroy and detonate on impact any target that is unfortunate to be in my path.
My nostrils flare in anger as I use the strength of my forearm to reach across my desk and swipe away every single piece of paper off the desk’s surface with ferocity. Stacks of paper fly off in one fell swoop. Folders and papers haphazardly travel through the air and then float down over the room like confetti at a Mardi Gras parade.
“Where the fuck are they?” I shout at the top of my lungs. My turbulent breathing has my chest rising and falling as I scan the room looking for something still intact, because the next item still standing in my line of vision is going to be the next casualty of my wrath. I wrap my fingers around the neck of a heavy, decorative lamp that sits on the corner of my desk, and I yank it upward with a quick jerk. The power cord pops out of the electrical socket with a loud snap as I wind up my arm. The metal lamp sails across the room and slams into the wall with a loud crash, taking down with it a large picture frame. Glass shatters and rains down while pieces of drywall disperse everywhere, but the release of my physical anger does zilch to curb my rage.
I stalk toward Justin with my hands balled into tight fists, ready to drop the son-of-a-bitch with one punch. I mostly blame him for this fiasco anyway, so I feel justified in using him as my punching bag. Justin holds his hands out in front of him, both of his palms facing out toward me as if the gesture can stop me from killing him. He quickly shakes his head back and forth, trying desperately to ward me off.
“Nick, just hold up,” he pleads as he takes a step backward. “We’re still working on it…we haven’t exhausted all the possibilities. We still have a few more irons in the fire,” he quickly blurts out, trying to placate me with more false assurances that will only lead to more dead ends, and I’ve run out of patience.
“You just said they are unfindable,” I snarl. “Which one is it?”
Justin is a big man and he can be hair-raising fearsome when he needs to be, but he’s no Travis. Travis would never show an inkling of fear, nor would he contemplate for a mere second as to whether or not he should cower from my rampage. Travis doesn’t have a back-down button, he only moves forward with stealthy measures. Even though I’m in charge, Travis was the only one here who was considered to be my equal in power, and intelligence. Thinking of the fucker, who stole my woman, gets me worked up all over again. Justin notices my change in body movements, and he ducks just in time as I take a swing at him, and miss.
“Nick, dammit! Stop!” Justin blurts out, using hi
s hands and arms to block my punches. “Me being your punching bag doesn’t help anyone.” He trips over the back of a toppled chair, barely having time to regain his footing before I slug him square in the gut with an upper punch. “Oomph…” is the only sound he can muster as the breath of air I stole from his lungs has knocked the wind out of him. He stumbles backward, his body colliding against the wall.
“You never know, a little incentive never hurts anyone,” I say, nearing him again.
Drawing in a labored breath, he clutches his stomach as he speaks with urgent gasps, assuring me, “I’ve got an army of men out in the field and a shit load of geeks on the computers…all of them working around the clock. We’re not giving up…”
“Damn right you’re not giving up,” I interject with ire. “The second I see anyone slacking, they will find themselves six-feet under.” I step into his space and slam him back up against the wall, pinning him against his throat. The veins in my neck are about to explode. I can feel my blood pulsing thick with venomous rage. I’m sure my face is beet red right now, because I can feel the flushing heat in my cheeks. “You hesitated, didn’t you?!” I grind out through clenched teeth, accusing him with a sneer. “You saw the live camera feed before Travis took the video streaming down…and you saw what he did to Chris in the camera room, didn’t you? You didn’t call for back up either, thinking you could take him down yourself, because your ego was too big.”
With the death grip I have on Justin, he can barely shake his head no. His voice is strained from the pressure against his larynx as he croaks out, “I swear, I didn’t see it, Nick. When I was making my rounds that night, he caught me off guard. I swear…I was surprised…to see Travis here at that hour in the morning. It was at the last second I noticed he…” Justin fights for another breath before he continues in a hoarse voice, “I noticed…he had a Taser, and when I saw he was pointing it at me, I barely dodged it when he fired.”
“Case in point, Justin, it was just a fucking Taser!” I roar in his face. “You had a real gun yet you hesitated to use it.”
He closes his eyes for a brief moment, sucking in some much needed air into his restricted lungs. “I didn’t expect Travis to turn against us. I thought maybe there was a security breech in process, like Julianna’s father coming in with a rescue force,” he rasps in a whisper.
I burst out in laughter, right in the boy’s face, and his eyes bolt open wide in confusion. He can’t decide if I’m truly laughing, or if I’ve finally gone mad.
“As if I’m afraid of the old man and his cronies. That’s something we will never have to concern ourselves with.” I take a step back letting him go, and he doubles over, holding onto his knees for stability while he wheezes.
“I want that…that company on the line,” I demand, waving my hand around in the air, trying like hell to remember their name so I can tell Justin what to do next. I’m so pissed I can’t think straight; I’m all turned around, not to mention I haven’t slept worth shit since I found out Julianna was taken. I’m worn down and running on fumes which doesn’t help my mood.
“I’m on it, Nick. I’ll have them on the line in two seconds,” Justin blurts out on a winded breath. Doubled over, he quickly leaves the room with a slight stagger as he goes to make the phone call.
I turn around and walk toward my desk with my fingers threaded through my hair, digging my fingers deep into my scalp as I try to relieve the building pressure of more stress bubbling itself to the surface. I cannot believe how long I waited to have her and all the painstaking planning involved to get this far, only to have her ripped from my grasp within the blink of an eye.
When I reach my desk, I pound my fists down on the wooden surface and expel an angered roar. I would rip the phone out of the wall right now but I need the damn thing. I look around the room, looking for something else to destroy, but it looks as if nothing has survived within thirty-feet of me. A Kansas style tornado had ripped through every inch of my office sideways and nothing has gone unscathed, except of course for my computer and phone.
I close my eyes and try to focus on getting my breathing under control. As I do, I run scenarios through my mind of what I could’ve done differently to prevent this. I should have taken more precautions in my security. Hell, hindsight is twenty-twenty when one has the opportunity to look back. One thing is for sure, I would have listened closer to my gut instincts and watched Travis like a hawk.
I knew it…I just fucking knew there was something going on with him and his feelings for Julianna, but he was too damn good at schooling his features for me to get a good read on him. He sure as Hell had me convinced there was nothing going on between them. When I confronted him the day of her birthday party, he implicitly swore up and down he was merely doing his job, and she meant nothing to him.
Then there was the party I took her to. Everything went so smoothly up until Jared’s phone call, interrupting the fantasy she had me believing. Then everything started taking a nose dive, plummeting in a downward spiral, quickly turning to shit. I was totally blindsided by the turn of the events that night, and I truly didn’t plan on having to teach her a lesson in submission for our first time between the sheets. I wanted to make slow and passionate love to her, and I wanted her to enjoy it every bit as much. By her not having to worry about all the virginal pangs that come with first times, I thought it would be more memorable for her. I laugh aloud in the empty room, like a crazy man. Yes, it was definitely a memorable first time for her.
I would’ve even taken a little mercy on her, had she not tried to lie to me regarding her true feelings toward me. I would’ve even understood her disdain for me, but she had to open up her mouth and pull out the Travis card at the end of her little punishment. Whether she meant it or not, the mere fact she used Travis’ name and not her previous fiancés’ propelled me directly into a blind rage.
After the ‘battle of the wills’ ensued and I dealt out her due punishment, she finally submitted to me; I could feel it. She was mine in body and soul. I loved the way she clung to me afterward as if I was her next breath, and the way she lay her head on my chest while softly caressing me with her fingertips. Her soft voice of genuine remorse over her negative behavior, and her willingness and desire to give our relationship a whole-hearted effort, were all the signs of her breaking down and giving me her heart.
As my memory plays on rewind, I can still smell the light fragrance of her long beautiful hair as she laid across my chest that night. My breathing eases a fraction as I think of her being in my arms, wrapped around me, wanting me, and needing me to take care of her. I can still taste the blinding passionate kisses we shared. God, I miss her.
Something told me to stay with her that night, but I couldn’t. I wouldn’t have been able to bear hearing her every little whimper or moan that would proceed from her lips throughout the night in pain. I was too distraught and I felt like a real bastard for losing my cool. I’ve always been in control of my dominance over women. Yeah, sure, I can get pissed off at the toss of a hat, but I had never lost it like that before. I was even more of an asshole by not giving her any pain medication, but I really needed the reality of her situation to hit home. I needed her to realize I was her home and our relationship was a permanent one.
I truly scared the living shit out of myself that evening for not being more aware of my blind rage, and for not being able to contain my emotions. I had been seriously hard on her petite body and I knew I over did it, but not until after the fact. When I laid her out on the bed before me, only then did it register what I had done, and to the severity of how badly I had whipped her. I despised myself for it too, so much so I made a promise to myself that very night as I laid in bed holding her battered body.
I vowed to never take action against her in anger ever again, and I would hang up the whips and hard core paraphernalia shit for at least a year. I would even go so far as to say I would never touch them again if that’s what she desired. If I could have her back right now, I w
ould do everything so differently. My gut twists with guilt and remorse for what I’ve done, and I close my eyes wishing her back so I can start making it all up to her. Once I get her back, I will most definitely treat her like the princess she is. I will be the warmth she needs to feel, and I won’t hold back my affections.
A long and low-pitched whistle sounds out behind me, startling me from my deep reflection. I turn around and see Jared rocking back on his heels, the expression on his face is one of pure marvel, mingled with fascination from the spectacle I’ve made of my office. He raises both brows in astonishment while he slowly shakes his head in a continual back and forth motion of disbelief that I could even make such a mess.
I point my finger at him in protest. “Don’t start,” I threaten. “Do not provoke me.”
Immediately, he holds up his hands in surrender. “I wasn’t going to say a word. I was simply admiring your handiwork.” Jared then enters the room carefully, side stepping piles of broken glass, and miscellaneous debris. He has to take a big step over the coffee pot which has been broken in two. Stopping in front of me, he looks up from the maze on the floor he just took, and cautiously comments, “Justin sent me in here to run interference. Apparently, you had another altercation with him.”
“Just a minor one this time,” I state calmly. Jared holds his tongue. I know he wants to tell me to take it easy on Justin, but he won’t. He knows not to interfere with how I handle my men.
“Well, he sent me in here to tell you he had to leave a message for the president of the company, but his receptionist assured Justin he’d get back with you pronto.” He cocks his head to the side, a small smirk playing on his lips. “Seems as if the entire company has had no choice but to get to know you on a first name basis, and succumbing to your every demand at the drop of a hat.”