I Need You Too: Stand Alone Novel, Contemporary-Erotic-Suspenseful Romance, Psychological Thriller

by Cynthia P. O'Neill

  “Do I have your attention?” He asked as he pulled back and plunged in again.

  I nodded. “Yes, sir.”

  He started circling with his hips, causing minor movements to send my center fluttering. “You have my word that I’ll never blindfold you, but I may ask for your trust by you closing your eyes. I’ll give you the same courtesy, but I’ll never be blindfolded again. Understood?”

  I could easily agree to that. “Yes, sir.” So far this wasn’t so bad.

  I tried to pull my hands down so I could slip them around his neck. He stilled inside me, grabbing ahold of my hands and pushing them up. “I want your hands and arms to remain where they are above your head. I’m not tying you to the bed, because I want you to know that you can get out of these if you really wanted to.”

  He leaned to the side, putting most of his weight on one arm while the other pushed a few strands of hair away from the side of my face. “I love you and want to care for you.” His hand traveled up to touch the inside of my wrist. “These scars were made from him, not me. I’ll never bind you with rope, handcuffs, or anything that could cause damage to your perfect skin. How someone could do this so callously is beyond me?”

  My panic began to subside, and I felt myself relax.

  His eyes were warm, his hands tender caresses to my skin, as he asked, “Can you trust me?”

  I didn’t have to think long about my answer. “You’re the first man I’ve been able to trust since my divorce. The only one I’d trust with my soul.”

  His eyes sparkled as he leaned down and kissed me gently, “I trust you with mine as well. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have let you go ballistic on my ass with that flogger.” He quirked a lopsided smile that melted my heart. At that moment, I didn’t know where this crazy ride we were on was leading, but I knew I wanted it to be with him.

  I felt remorseful about earlier. “I can’t express how sorry I am about…”

  His finger came up to silence me as he shook his head. “It’s done. It’s over with. We’ll never make mention of it again. Tonight is all about you. I want your complete surrender to me. I want to keep your arms bound and your eyes focused on mine. I want you to know that I’m the one in charge. It’s my face you’ll associate with pleasure, pulling every possible orgasm out of this body that I can, leaving you spent and craving more. What do you say, love?”

  “Yes, my love. Yes, Sir.”

  His lips crushed mine as his hands circled underneath my shoulders, pulling me onto him even harder. He’d finally released my lips, leaning over me saying, “Eyes on me, darling. I want you to know how perfect we are together. I’m the one bringing you this pleasure and no one else. Your mine, Marjorie! Say it, love.”

  The love and intensity in his eyes held me captive. I felt our souls and body connect on a level I’d never encountered. I couldn’t tell where either of us began or ended. The sensations building inside of me were different than before. His movements were sweet and gentle, yet claiming all at once.

  “Your mine now, Marjorie. Come for me, love. Be one with me, now.” His words were a beacon of light to me, freeing me from the dark confines of my past, knowing that with him I could finally open myself up to new things and allow him to guide me. I knew with Ethan, I’d be safe.

  I cried as my muscles locked down on him, sending electrical waves of current throughout my entire body. His lips sealed over mine, absorbing my cries of passion while he pumped into me one last time. Feeling the intensity of his release, I wrapped my legs tightly around his waist not wanting him to separate from me.

  Fireworks continued to go off behind my eyes, for what seemed like an eternity. Our breath was nearly spent. He finally broke off our kiss and collapsed into my neck. “My god, I love you, woman. I’m addicted to every part of you.”

  I felt my body relax onto the sheets, not caring anymore that my wrists were bound together and over my head. All I felt was utter peace and tranquility. I let out a ragged breath, “I love you too. I’m completely captivated by your mind, body, and soul.”

  The last thing I remember is him shifting us up in bed, untying my wrists and massaging them before pulling the covers up over us. He kissed me tenderly on my temple as he whispered, “We need our sleep, darling. Tomorrow’s going to be a long day. Hopefully, we’ll have some answers.”

  I’D DREAMT ALL NIGHT that we were through with the nightmare, that the team had caught the person responsible or had proven James was the leader behind it. My dreams turned out to be fantasy.

  Sophia and Ivan had done some profiling in their previous work. As Derrick explained it, they were able to get into the minds of the criminals and try to figure out what made them tick, what brought on their outbursts, and what their weaknesses were. It scared me to know they had this kind of knowledge, yet at the same time I was reassured to know they lived right above us. I still didn’t know what kind of work they did for the government. All we were told was, “It’s classified.”

  They’d first believed that James was playing everyone, having hired a woman to throw everyone off track. But an investigation of his phone records and in talking with him revealed that a woman was pulling the strings, but whom?

  The agreement amongst everyone was that whoever this woman was she had a connection to my past or present. Why she picked on me was a mystery and what the connection was to James was still to be seen.

  The notes and attempts on my life were increasing. A call had been made to the insurance agency, supposedly by me, checking to ensure the policy was intact. Thankfully, the notes on the file directed the caller to the manager of the company who’d been informed of this attempt to defraud their business. He reassured the person that the paperwork had cleared and the policy was now active. Of course it wasn’t. The manager had tried to keep her on the line long enough to get a trace on the phone she was using, but it turned out to be another burner phone. By the time the security team scoured the area, the phone was found in a trash can without any prints.

  What caught Ethan and I off guard was James’s phone records. “He’d been receiving calls and texts on a weekly/bi-weekly basis for the duration of your marriage and even now. Once he views them, they are deleted from his phone, but he claims to have no memory of them.” Derrick stated as he rubbed his temples with his hands, obviously feeling a headache coming on. His tension regarding these issues was palpable.

  He looked over to Ivan and asked him to continue, citing he was more knowledgeable on the subject.

  “In our past, we came across people who seemed to be working and functioning in life normally, but one specific word and their disposition would do a one-eighty. They’d go from being a happy person to a cold-blooded killer.”

  I tensed at the words but quickly calmed as I felt Ethan’s arms surround me, his body pressing firmly against my side, acting as my lifeline in this sea of confusion. “So what are you saying, Ivan?” He’d asked before I could.

  Derrick chimed in, “When James heard about these messages, he asked us to check into them. He had no recollection of them and nothing appeared on his phone. We were able to get our techs to secure copies of the records from the phone company and to retrieve a hidden backup we’d placed in his phone when we’d originally relocated him to Utah. Rick thought it was overkill at the time, but I’m glad we opted for that.”

  He handed over some paperwork containing dates, times, and text of voicemails that had one or two words listed, words that didn’t make any sense. Ethan and I stared at the sheet trying to figure out what they meant, when Ivan spoke up. “The information looks like gibberish but, to someone who has seen things in action, those are trigger words. Someone is reaffirming their hold on James, keeping his mind under their control. He has no memory of it, but has confirmed lost periods of time.”

  “So what does this mean?” I shrugged and looked between Ivan, Sophia, Derrick, and Rick. “Where do we go from here?”

  Derrick reached for the papers, returning them to his stack. �
��James has agreed to meet with the specialist that Ivan and Sophia have worked with in the past. From what I understand, he’s worked miracles to deprogram people’s minds. Granted, James is skeptical, so we’ve agreed to record the entire process as proof that we’re not trying to mess with him or screw him over.”

  His eyes looked up into mine with seriousness, “Your ex is scared shitless that someone’s trying to kill him. While some of our team was out there, we managed to discover a life insurance policy he’d purchased on himself in excess of $10 million dollars, similar to yours. He names some charity foundation, out of the Cayman Islands, as the beneficiary.

  “When we asked about it, he had no clue what we were talking about. We showed him a copy of his policy, along with the video of him talking in detail with the agent, but he has no recollection of that meeting. We believe he has been brain washed, for lack of a better term.”

  I felt a chill run down my spine, wondering who’d have the power to do such a thing. “So, the trigger words?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

  Everyone nodded while Ivan explained. “If he’s been programmed to think and act a certain way, the trigger words will activate that section of his brain and put him in a bit of a fog. He’ll have no memory of what he’s done or why, only that he has to comply with the demands of the programmer.” He rubbed the back of his neck and quirked his mouth, looking deep in thought for a moment. “I guess, speaking in terms that everyone will understand, is to think of it like a computer. If you want to run a program, or even a virus, you trigger it with a command. It will continue to run until you tell it not to. When you give the new command, it shuts down and the computer returns to normal.”

  I shook my head, feeling nauseous from all the information. “So what do we do?”

  “The culprit is lying low for now, hasn’t sent any new notes, or made any more attempts at our duplicate. I think they’ve figured out you’re in hiding but haven’t determined where. We need to get both of you back into a routine while keeping you under surveillance 24/7. We’ll load you with GPS tracking devices in a variety of forms so we never lose sight of your location. We don’t think Ethan is a target, feeling he was just caught up in the wrong place at the wrong time with the poisoning, but we don’t want to take any chances.”

  “So we just go about our lives hoping that an opportunity presents itself for this person to take action against Marjorie?” Ethan’s words were furious and flying out of his mouth at rapid speed. “I won’t let her succumb to whatever bitch is doing this. Speaking of which, did you ever find out anything about those three who gave her and Gianna trouble throughout school?”

  Derrick was quick to put his hands up in a surrender fashion. “Calm down, man. We don’t like this any more than you do, but it’s the only way we can get this to end. It may end quickly or it may carry on for some time. We just don’t know. But everyone, including the family, agrees this is the only way. If we had some inkling as to who’s pulling the strings, we’d pursue that avenue first rather than expose either of you to potential risk.”

  I listened with baited breath for the information about the women in question.

  “Our efforts have been concentrated on James for the moment, trying to prove or disprove that he’s the connection to Marjorie’s stalker. We figured if we could find the link there and trace it back, we’d have the woman responsible. Unfortunately, whoever she is, she’s more cunning than we first believed. Tanner and Rick have been working non-stop trying to locate these women. Since people move around and names can change due to marriage, it’s been a little harder to locate these ladies. But we’ll find them and investigate their timelines to see if anything matches up.” Derrick reassured.

  My heart was hammering a mile a minute. In one respect, I was happy to hear that I was no longer under a house arrest status, but I didn’t relish the idea of always looking over my shoulder. I still couldn’t fathom the idea of one of my former friends being vindictive enough to want my death. Hell, I didn’t even know if any of them lived in the area. “I need some answers. Will I be limited to the locations I can go? Will there be someone following my every move? Can I go back to my apartment or should I stay here?”

  The last question had Ethan squeezing me tight and growling, causing everyone to laugh under their breath at his caveman behavior. “I don’t know about the rest, but you’re staying with me!”

  Rick took this one. “We’ll be the ones to pick you up and drop you off at any location you go to. We’ll remain in sight until we know you are secure, and then we’ll blend into the shadows to give you your privacy. We’re okay with you being at work, Kent and Carol’s office, any of your family’s houses, and even the club. Anything outside of that is a no-go. We’ll be the ones running your errands and getting any items you need elsewhere. There’ll be no take-out food and no visits to the gym unless Ivan or Sophia join you.”

  He looked over at Ethan, before adding. “We now understand, from Kent, you want to go into the club during off-hours for additional training.” He seemed to blush at the idea while averting his eyes from me. “We’ve upgraded the security systems at all the Prescott, Bradford, and Lombardi homes, as well as the Bradford’s psychiatry practice, the club, and work utilizing Titan’s most advanced systems. There’s no place you can go that we won’t have a clear view of you.”

  Ethan looked puzzled. “The club is completely watched?”

  I turned to him and nodded. “Because of the type of club it is, there’s a certain level of risk for those participating. The members and employees go through a high level of screening to gain access to the club, along with having to sign non-disclosure agreements to ensure everyone’s privacy. There are DM’s, or Dungeon Masters, who walk around and monitor the play areas to ensure nothing gets to out of line.”

  I looked up to see if he was following what I was saying. “You have to understand that while none of our family is into pain, we do have a few sadists and masochists who belong to the club. That’s their kink, but they still have to adhere to our club’s policies.”

  “How about the private rooms? Are they watched too? Isn’t that a violation of privacy?” He questioned.

  “My family has the motto that anything can and will go wrong. We are overly precautious when it comes to the issues of BDSM. A person can be in the wrong frame of mind and start to go ballistic on their submissive. Case in point, me and my ex.” He flinched but nodded in agreement.

  “If nothing goes wrong, the discs are recorded over within a week’s time and any evidence of the encounter is destroyed.” I grabbed his hand, squeezing it in mine, “This is only a safety to avoid opening ourselves up to potential lawsuits. It also allows us to review records if someone files a grievance against another member. We have visual and audio proof versus a he said, she said situation.”

  “Okay, I admit, that’s a smart move, but when your family is using the club, are they recorded too?” I could see how embarrassed he was to ask that, especially in front of everyone.

  I had to smile at him still being such a newbie to all this. “It’s okay to talk freely amongst everyone here in this room, Ethan. All of us, with the exception of you, have participated in the club at one point of time or another.”

  His eyes went wide with my admission. He looked around the room and everyone nodded. “Thanks to the popularization of this lifestyle in romance books, more and more people are giving it a try. For some it’s an overly romanticized notion, while for others they discover a new sense of purpose and release from daily life.”

  I went on to finally answer his initial question. “The family has a couple rooms they can request at any time. We’re the only ones given remotes to the video equipment, so we can turn it on or off. We are the only ones to have this option, no one else in the club can. As a safety, since many of the offspring were single at the time and wanting to test the waters, a panic button was added. In the event something goes wrong or if one of us feels out of control, we can
instantly trigger the video feed to kick in and cause a warning bell to sound in the control booth. We’ve never had to use this feature, but it’s nice to know its there, just in case.”

  His eyes widened in horror, when I realized I hadn’t explained about the booth. “We have security for the club that monitors the video feed. They can see all aspects of every room, including the dance floor, bar, and entrance, as well as the outside perimeter and parking lot. We want to make sure no one is followed out of the club and that everyone gets home safely.”

  He ran his fingers through his hair. “I was wondering how all that worked. I’m kind of anxious to see the set up, if your family will let me. You know the computer side of me is fascinated by all this, but part of me feels it’s a little big brother-ish. I understand the need, but it’s a bit creepy.”

  We all laughed and I admitted, “You get used to it. We even go to extreme measures to ensure that we don’t run into specific family members on the nights we attend the club. For my sister and me, we know that nothing will go down in public, so we’re okay with being at the club on the same nights. Dane and Rafe feel the same way, so we’re all good. But we’ll never attend when our parents are there. About the only people we feel comfortable with are Kent and Carol and maybe Master Marshall and his wife.”

  He laughed for a moment, digesting all the information. “I can understand that. You wouldn’t want to see your parents junk or have that image burned into your heads forever.”

  I couldn’t help but laugh. Ethan was full of surprise comments, but it helped break the tension in the room.

  After a couple more hours of discussion, we agreed that we’d resume regular work tomorrow. We looked at the calendar and called Kent, Marshall, and Dane to coordinate schedules. We had at least two weeks marked out on the calendar with hopes that there’d be no interruptions to our lives. I’d resume my role at work, the person playing my duplicate would take on her normal appearance at work as my co-worker; however, she would continue to portray me at nighttime within the apartment, even leaving the shades open so anyone watching the place would believe I’m back at home. They’d see me enter the building, but wouldn’t see me go into my condo.