At that moment the forest rangers and police joined the crowd of searchers who had come with Julia and Joel to rescue me from my kidnapper.
“Are you Emily?” asked a man in a state trooper uniform.
“Yes sir.”
“Are you hurt?”
“No sir.”
“Is this man holding you against your will?”
“No sir.”
“Do you know how scared your family was?”
“I can guess. I’m sorry. I wasn’t really thinking straight, I just came out here to sort a few things out and I was scared that if I told anyone where I was going that someone would either talk me out of it or come after me and try to drag me home. I guess I should have found some way to tell my parents I was safe and not to worry. I’m really sorry. If it means anything, we were just on our way to tell everyone what was going on.”
“You need to make a full statement so we can officially end this search. And your parents are with the officers back at the search’s start point, they’ll want to talk to you.”
“I need to press charges as well,” I said. “Someone has been circulating a pornographic video of me and I didn’t give anyone permission to film me, or to post any videos of me anywhere.”
The officer’s eyes went wide. “Well, uh, yeah, we can take your statement for that too.”
“Emily, don’t do this! You don’t want to press charges.” Joel scrambled to his feet and then scrambled back away from Ryker. “What about me? He punched me? Isn’t that assault?”
The officer looked at each of us in turn, put two and two together, and looked at Joel. “Son, you can try to press charges but it looks like you got no more than you deserved.” He waved over another officer and pointed at Joel. “Hold on to him, I’ll need to question him when we get back to the city.”
“Yes sir.”
“Officer, if you could have everyone disperse, the crowd is making me nervous and they aren’t really needed anymore, are they?”
The officer nodded and turned away from us. “Everybody please make your way back to the search camps to collect your things and then make your way to the base camp. Flag down the boats to move everyone back up river more quickly.”
“Boat?” I squeaked.
“You had people very worried, Emily,” the officer said. “Come on, I’ll get you two to the base camp and your parents.”
Ryker and I grabbed the packs and followed the officer to the river bank. Sure enough there was a boat waiting for us. When we arrived upriver, my mom was rushing over before I was even on dry land again.
“Emily, we were so worried about you,” she said, wrapping her arms around me.
“I’m sorry Mom, I should have left a note or something. I’m fine, I promise.”
“I’m not fine!” She started sobbing.
My father joined us and put a hand on his wife’s shoulder. “We’ll drive you home,” he said. “They took your car back to the city already.”
“Actually, could you drive us to a ranch nearby?”
“Us?”
For the first time they seemed to actually see Riker hovering behind me. I suppose they originally dismissed him as one of the searchers, but he hadn’t dispersed like the others had. Now they stared at him.
“Who are you?” my father said.
“My name’s Ryker, I rescued Emily from the river.”
“Well then we thank you for that.” My dad turned to me. “Emily, what’s going on here? Why did you come out here?”
“I’m sorry, I just needed some time to sort out what I wanted from my life and I’ve finally decided.”
“So you’ll go back to school in the fall?”
“No Dad, I’m sorry. I’m not going to school.”
“You’re not moving in with Joel, are you?” my mom said.
“No, never, not a chance in hell.”
“Oh good, he’s a nice young man but I’m not ready for you to leave home just yet. Silly, isn’t it. You’re a grown woman an all …”
“Mom, I’m moving in with Ryker.”
“What?! You’ve known him all of a week, maybe less, and you think you’re moving in with him? This isn’t a fairy tale, Emily, you don’t meet a prince and fall in love at first sight and live happily ever after.”
“So what am I supposed to do?” I stepped out of my mom’s embrace. “Go home, marry Joel, the sick bastard who videotaped me having sex with him and posted it online? Have a bunch of rich perverted boys and rich spoiled girls? Spend my days getting my nails and my hair done and gossiping with other rich useless women?”
My mom’s mouth hung open, my dad said, “We don’t want you to do something that makes you unhappy …”
“But you don’t want me to be happy either. Mom’s right, I’m a grown woman. If you won’t drive us to the ranch someone will. We’ll be by this evening to collect my things. I’m doing this because it’s the right thing for me, and for the first time in years I’m sure of what I want.”
My parents stared at each other for a long moment and then my mother looked down and away. My father sighed. “I’m sorry sweetie. You’re on your own.” He wrapped an arm around my mother’s shoulders and led her away.
“I guess we have even more in common now,” I said as Ryker stepped up beside me.
“I’m sorry, Emily. I didn’t want this to happen.”
Our next stop was the state trooper who had fetched his supervisor and a police officer from the city and a park ranger. They all listened and took notes as I told them about the kayaking, falling in the river, and Ryker rescuing me. I told them about Ryker leading me back and how he was a perfect gentlemen the whole time. I left out his gruff attitude and the fact that we made out under the stars though. I told them about coming out here to talk to him and do some soul searching, about getting lost and Ryker finding me, and about spending the last few days at his cabin getting to know him and his lifestyle. I apologized over and over again for worrying everyone and dragging them all out here to look for me. I swore up and down that Ryker had not kidnapped me or held me against my will or raped me. When they were satisfied with my story they all left, except the police from the city.
“We were told you wanted to make a statement against Joel Williams,” he said. “Something about spreading pornography?”
I nodded. “While we were out here, the night before we went kayaking, he wanted to have sex outside. I willingly, if grudgingly, agreed to the sex. Later, like a few hours ago, I found out that his friend Buddy who was camping with us recorded us having sex together with a night vision camera. The video was, according to Buddy’s girlfriend Julia, uploaded to a private site where Joel and his friends could watch it. I didn’t give permission for him to record us, or to post it. I don’t want that video online.”
“Nothing ever dies on the internet,” the officer said, “But we’ll do our best. We’ll talk to Joel, Buddy, and Julia and get their statements as well. Will you be available to testify if this goes to court?”
I looked at Ryker who stepped up and said, “She’ll be living with me, out here. Best way to get a hold of me is to leave a message with one of the ranchers. I’ll give you all the information.”
“Thank-you. I’ll be in touch.”
“Oh, wait, is there someone who can give us a ride?”
“I can.” We turned to see Julia coming over with a bag over her shoulder. “I’ll give you a lift, wherever you want to go.”
I smiled. “Thanks Julia.”
The ranch wasn’t far by car but it probably would have taken us the rest of the day to hike it. We were all quiet, except for Ryker’s directions, until we pulled into the driveway. Julia put the car in park and said, “Thanks for pressing charges, I wasn’t brave enough but now …” She took a deep breath. “I’m leaving too, I’m going to school out of state next fall.”
“Goodbye Julia, thanks for telling me the truth, and for the ride.”
“Yeah, goodbye.”
We got
out and she drove away. I stared after her until Ryker said, “Are you going to miss her?”
“She was nice enough but we weren’t really friends. The only thing we had in common was that our boyfriends were friends, and now I’m not dating Joel and she’s not dating Buddy.” I shrugged. “So what’s next?”
As if in answer a door banged open and a man in jeans and a filthy shirt jogged down the side steps of the house. “Ryker, I didn’t expect you back so soon, you just left a few days ago. And since when do you come in the front yard?”
“Since things got a little complicated. Jeremy, this is Emily.”
“I’d shake but I’m filthy. I heard about you, you’re the one they were searching for.”
“That’s me,” I said.
Ryker set the packs down. “Some smoked meat, and some coyote pelts for Justin. I had some damn good hunting on the way back to the cabin.”
“I’ll say. I’ll run inside and grab some cash.”
“And your truck keys,” Ryker said. “We have to run to the city for a few things.”
“Why didn’t that … whoever that was, drive you back?”
“Because she lives in the city and didn’t want to make the trip back here to drop us off again.”
“Us, huh?” He stared at me for a moment. “You sure you want to live in the bush? You look pretty soft to me.”
“Oh, she’s stubborn, and a survivor,” Ryker said. “She’ll do fine.”
“Then let me get the cash and the keys and get you two on your way. I’ll have my wife air the camper, you two can stay here overnight tonight before hiking back to the cabin.”
“Thanks.”
We drove back to the city and stopped at the bank where I withdrew, in cash, my entire life savings. The cashier was surprised, especially since there was several thousand dollars there, but I didn’t want to have to borrow a truck every time we needed cash. There was a bank in the small ranching town, but it was a different bank and there would have been some pretty hefty fees to withdraw through them.
“We’ll put it in the bank in town,” Ryker said. “Then it’s just a hike away.”
“Then let’s go get my clothes next,” I said, the stack of bills tucked away at the bottom of my purse.
The clothes were harder. My parents had beat us back to the city and they wouldn’t let Ryker in the house. Of course, once I was inside my mother followed me everywhere, begging me to stay, to attend school, to reconsider throwing my life away for some stranger. I packed everything into garbage bags, even the stuff that would be useless where I was going. I was sure I could sell what I didn’t need.
When I was packed my mom stood in the doorway and said, “You’re not going. You can’t. I won’t let you.”
My father came over and gently led her away. “We don’t have to like it, we don’t have to approve, but we can’t hold her here against her will. Let her go, dear.”
My mom broke down crying again and I moved quickly, shuttling all the bags out onto the step where Ryker grabbed them and hauled them to the truck.
After a quick shopping trip for food and some outdoor gear for me, including new hiking boots, proper rain gear, and heavy work gloves, we were headed out of the city again. As we drove I could see Ryker relaxing. I put a hand on his thigh.
“We don’t have to go back there.”
“Oh, we’ll have to go back. Your legal case, remember?”
“Joel’s young and rich and white. Do you really think it will go to court?”
“I sure as hell hope so. Remember, Julia was victimized too.”
“Well, if it does, you don’t have to come with me.”
“I’m not letting you face that bastard alone.”
“Thanks.”
There was only one last stop, this one at the bank in town. The manager was more than happy to open an account for me, even if it was very close to closing time when we walked in with over five grand in crisp, bank-issued, hundreds.
With all of our errands taken care of for the day we drove back to the ranch.
CHAPTER 4
Jeremy and his wife Katy had dinner waiting for us, stew and biscuits and steamed veggies and salad followed by pie and ice cream. I was going to miss ice cream. Then Katy gave me a tour of the house and the property while Jeremy and Ryker talked about animal populations and other manly wilderness details. It was all beautiful but I was tired and so I was very happy when Ryker rescued me from my hostess and started leading me out to the trailer.
“We have to leave very early tomorrow,” Ryker said. “We really should turn in.”
“You’ll never get all those bags down to the cabin,” Katy said. “Why don’t you leave the stuff you want to sell. I’ll post it online and show it off around town and next time Ryker comes up with meat and hides I’ll hand over what I’ve made for you.”
“Would you? Oh, that would be amazing. I’m selling most of it, actually, I’m not going to need pretty dresses anymore.”
“I hope you kept a few for those hot, lazy, summer evenings,” Katy said.
“I hadn’t thought of that.”
“So much for turning in early,” Ryker muttered. “I’ll bring the bags in from the truck.”
I had planned on taking jeans, sweats, and shirts that I could work in, but Katy made me pack my leggings too.
“They make excellent long underwear,” she explained. “The winters aren’t too long here but they get cold.” She also took a look at the sweaters I had and shook her head. “I’ve got some that were going to the thrift shop, I’ll throw them in your bag. You need something with better insulation.”
She also added two long skirts and two summer dresses to the keep pile.
“Ryker’s not going to be happy that the keep pile got bigger,” I said. “We have to carry all of this and the food too.”
“Jeremy can follow you down on the quad if needs be. Trust me, you need those dresses. It gets muggy, especially down by the river. You’ll be thankful for a breeze on your legs. Come fall Ryker will take you into town for winter gear, can’t get any now so there’s no use.”
“Thank-you so much. I thought I was ready for this.”
“You’ll do fine, we’re here if you need anything.”
I went outside but Ryker wasn’t waiting on the deck or anywhere in the yard that I could see. I didn’t want to disturb the easy peace of the evening by shouting for him so I went out to the trailer. He was there, already tucked into the bed, his back to me.
“Hey,” I said softly, “Are you asleep?”
There was no answer so I stripped off my clothes and crawled into bed with him, turning off the lamp as I went. I wrapped an arm over him and nuzzled the back of his neck. There was still no sign that he was awake so I kissed his shoulder.
My hand drifted over his chest and down over his stomach, tracing the lines of his muscles and enjoying the feel of him under my hand. He was breathing deep and even and wasn’t moving but as my hand drift low over his stomach again I brushed the head of his rigid cock.
I smiled and kissed his shoulder and ran my hand down his leg. “It’s too bad you’re asleep,” I said softly. “I guess I’ll just take the edge off by myself.”
I pulled my hand away from him and tucked it between my legs, pressing up against his back so he would feel every movement of my hand. I rubbed my fingers against the soft folds of skin between my legs. When he didn’t react I added an over-the-top moan.
He rolled over so suddenly that he almost dumped us both on the floor of the trailer. I squealed as he grabbed me and pulled me on top of him.
“You little brat!” He grabbed my ass with both hands and pressed me against his erection.
I laughed. “Why were you pretending to be asleep anyways?”
“I wasn’t sure when you’d be back so I went to bed.”
“Well, I’m back, and you seem to be in a good mood.”
“Do I now?”
“Well, you feel like you’re in a good mo
od anyways. Or did you want me to let you sleep?”
He ground against me, his erection pressing into my stomach, and he growled like bear. I laughed.
“Okay, okay, no sleeping.”
There was a dark glint in his eyes that made me shiver when he said, “Oh, you’ll want to sleep when I’m done with you.”
“When you’re done with me? Maybe I’ll put you to sleep instead.”
I slid down his body, trailing kisses as I went. I nibbled at his hips making him moan. He grabbed a handful of my hair and I froze but he didn’t try to move me or direct me, he just tightened his fist and then relaxed it again, his hand resting lightly on my head.
I ran my tongue up the length of his cock and then I swirled it around the head a few times. I continued licking him, little licks, slow and teasing, until his hand fisted again and he groaned. “Brat,” he muttered between gasping breaths.
I went slowly, taking the head of his cock in my mouth, and sliding down. He squirmed and groaned and panted. I stopped halfway down the length of his cock and moved back up. I played around the head some more, licking the precum off the tip.
“Emily, please, god, you’re being a tease.”
“I don’t want to rush,” I said sweetly, running a tight hand down and up his cock. “Your cock is so big and yummy I want to take my time and enjoy it.”
“Emily …”
I took him in my mouth again and sucked hard before inching down the length of him again. This time I went as deep as I could and held him there. I sucked and moaned and he grabbed my hair with both hands this time.
“Wow, oh wow, oh Emily, yes.”
I started bobbing up and down on his cock, working my tongue along the underside as I went. He kept making happy desperate noises and his hands stayed fisted in my hair but never once did he try to push me further.
I guess the Joel’s words from the video were burned into his mind too.
“Emily, you have to stop. I’m going to come if you don’t stop.”
I sat up. “That’s not such a bad thing you know.”
“Another time, I’m not done with you.”
He rolled me over and I said, “You’re not going to try to eat me out here, are you? The bed’s too short!”
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