by E. C. Towers
“What's the point of sunning if you're just going to cover up?” Jacob remarked.
He hadn't planned on asking that question, but he didn't know what else to say to get her attention. Linda sat up and snatched off her sunglasses.
“What in the hell..? Who are you?! Who let you in!?”
Linda got up and backed away from the strange man who was suddenly standing over her. She got a good look at him and recognized his face.
"Wait. Are you the guy from the internet cafe? You followed me back here?"
Linda made a quick dash to the guesthouse, but he had managed to grab her wrist before she could even take two steps. He was quick and strong, and when she turned around to look at him, she realized why. He was young, very young. He couldn't have been more than 22 years old.
“Listen, I don't want this to get out of hand. I don't want to hurt you. I just want to know if you have any information about Tim.”
His question slapped what little composure she had remaining.
“Tim who?” she feigned ignorance.
He began to wonder if this whole thing was just a bad idea.
“You know Tim. He worked at Edges, remember?”
“No, I don't remember.”
This time, Jacob knew she was lying. How could she have not remembered Tim? She was at Edges all the time, and even invited Tim on to her boat? What did this woman think she was pulling? Now he was determined to get the truth.
“Don't act like you don't know who he is,” Jacob he whispered calmly, holding on to her wrist firmly as she struggled and tried to pull away from him.
Her breasts practically bounced out of her top as she twisted and tried to yank her arm away from him. Jacob found himself getting hard.
Linda noticed his dick pressed against his flimsy shorts and chuckled.
“Don't you dare think about it, Junior,” she laughed at the thought, but before she could finish what she was going to say, he pushed her back to the guesthouse and forced her inside, locking the door behind him. He pushed her against the wall and pinned her there with his body so she couldn't make a run for it.
“I know you know where Tim is, and you are going to tell me now.” Jacob attempted to sound tough, but the excited tremble in his voice gave him away.
He was extremely aroused, being against her half-naked body like this and couldn’t stop from grinding his hard cock against her. He bit his lip, trying not to whimper as he felt the swell of her ass press against his dick. Jacob breathed in the fresh coconut fragrance from the crick of her neck when all of a sudden he felt a blinding pain in his nether region. Jacob swallowed a scream and grabbed his balls that Linda had donkey kicked back into his body. She grabbed him by his shirt and easily threw him inside her room. Jacob was still hunched over in pain, attempting to sit on the bed but she kept pulling him into her walk-in closet and threw him on the floor by his shirt again.
“What the fuck?” he groaned in agony as the dull pain in his crotch radiated through his body.
He was curled up in a ball on the floor of the closet, trying to recover.
Linda left the closet for a brief second and came back holding a pair of scissors and some duct tape. She knelt down next to him and grabbed his arms. At first he tried to resist but was easily overtaken by her as he was still reeling from the extreme pain in his genitals. Jacob felt masking tape circle around both his wrists at least nine times. There was no way he was getting out of this.
Linda kept going and nearly wrapped his hands with duct tape before stopping. She kneeled down in front of him and put her face next to his face.
“If you don't give me a reason to put duct tape in your mouth, then I won't. But if you do, I'll tape your whole head up.
“What the hell are you planning to do?!” he yelled at her.
“So you want your mouth taped?
Jacob bit his lip and repeated himself slowly and quietly.
“What are you going to do with me now?”
She stared at him, not knowing how to answer his questions.
“I know you know what happened to Tim,” Jacob said.
“I don't know Tim. There were a lot of guys who worked at Edges. Do you think I was on a first-name basis with all of them? I don't know what the hell is going on with you or Tim, but what I do know is that you've broken into a criminal's house. You're in deep shit if he catches you on his property."
Linda walked out of the closet to get her head together and try to figure out what her next move should be. Locking him up in her closet was the only thing she could think of to do. What did this guy know about Tim? How did he connect her to Tim's disappearance? She definitely couldn't let him go just yet, so she decided to leave him there and wait for Derek to come home. Linda fully realized that she might be putting that young man's life in jeopardy by telling Derek, but she didn't know what else to do while Derek certainly would. Hopefully, she could convince him not to kill the poor bastard.
Linda didn't know what she was listening for because Derek came home at all hours of the night, and most of the time, she was already asleep. He likely would not come home at all, but just as the sun set and she began to worry, Linda heard the squeak of the gate as it opened. She wrapped her robe around her, cinched it closed and opened her door.
She saw a shadow by the main house and called out, “Hey, Derek. Wait up.”
Linda jogged over to meet up with him and realized it wasn't him.
It was Dalila.
“Derek's not here, yet,” she said with a bored tone of voice.
“Oh, okay. I just wanted to talk to him about maybe taking my yacht out,” Linda explained.
“Okay,” Dalila responded, looking at her oddly. “You don't have to explain to me… I didn't ask, and I don't care. I'll let Derek know you're looking for him, though.” She spun around and started toward her front door before Linda grabbed her arm.
It was tiny and smooth, so it surprised her when Dalila yanked her arm from her grip with such force that it made her stumble forward, nearly falling on top of her.
“I am willing to go, Dalila. Right now. But you told me to stay, and I'm staying. So if you want it to be that way, you need to quit being a giant bitch to me."
Linda gave her directions like she was a tween in need of discipline.
Dalila stared at her, softening a little. She was acting like a bitch. Linda was only doing what she had asked her to do, and she clearly needed to make up her mind. Did she want Linda to go or stay? As much as Dalila hated to admit it, she wanted Linda to stay. Their contact was limited, but she took comfort in the fact that she wasn't alone in this big house, that there was somebody there and wasn't alone, even if it was Derek's nearly mythical ex-girlfriend. She sighed in consent, but instead of apologizing she asked Linda inside for a drink.
“Come on in. I think we should talk.”
Linda rolled her eyes impatiently. She needed to talk to Derek about what to do with the guy and wasn't exactly prepared to have a heart to heart with Dalila.
“Listen, I would love to but ….”
“Yeah, I know. It's a little late to have a heart to heart.”
It was like the woman had read her mind, and it unnerved her a little.
“How about we postpone it until tomorrow? When Derek gets home, I'll let him know you're looking for him.” Linda thanked her and accepted the invitation and promise.
She walked back to the guesthouse and returned to the closet. Linda couldn't wait any longer to talk to this guy. The curiosity was killing her. Who was he? She had so many questions. She just couldn't wait for Derek, even though he would probably know best on how to squeeze information out of him. Linda opened the door to the closet and peeked inside. He was asleep. She slipped in and closed the door behind her. The darkness blinded her temporarily, and she stood there until her eyes got used to it.
“Let me go, please.”
Linda jumped at the sound of his voice.
“I want you to answer some questi
ons,” she tried to say as calmly as she could. Her heart was beating a mile a minute.
“And you'll let me go?” he asked.
“Well, it depends on what you tell me.”
“Forget it. I answer your questions, and you let me out. Otherwise, I'm not answering shit."
He was trying to sound tough again, and it made Linda laugh out loud.
“I don't think that you've thought this through. You answer my questions and maybe you'll get out. Or…”
She saw that he was squirming.
“If you try to come after me in any way right now, I'll kick your balls again, so hard they'll come out of your mouth.”
The wiggling stopped.
“As I was saying, you answer questions, and I may let you out. You don't answer questions, and you're never getting out."
“You can't keep me in here forever,” Jacob said, losing his tough-guy tone. She didn't answer either way and remained silent, confident she had won the battle of wills between them.
“Fine,” he said. “But can we at least turn the light on?”
Linda fumbled for the light and clicked it on. The light temporarily blinded both of them as they squinted to get acclimated. As Jacob's eyes became accustomed to the light, he saw that Linda was closer to him than he had thought. Her cheeks were flushed red, either from the sun or dragging him into her closet.
She settled herself on the floor, facing him and tried not to be mesmerized by his rugged good looks as she asked him the first question.
“Who are you?”
“I'm Jacob,” he answered.
She cleared her throat and repeated herself, “Who are you?”
“I'm Jacob. I'm Tim's friend.”
It didn't surprise her that a man in his mid-thirties who still lived with his mother would befriend a guy that looked like he had barely met the age requirement to sit for his driver's license exam. In the meantime, she was trying hard to ignore how turned on she was by him. Linda had felt a moment of electricity between them in the internet café. Now that she was up close and could see the light sprinkle of freckles across his nose and the short stubble of beard at the edge of his jawline, the sexual energy between them was palatable. She observed a bead of sweat come down from his temple to make its way slowly down to his chest, where it hit the edge of his already damp t-shirt. Linda looked away, flushed with arousal.
“Why are you here?” she asked after she took a minute to compose herself.
“Because I think you know why Tim's missing.”
“I don't know why Tim is missing,” she curtly replied.
“You're lying. You said that a little too fast.”
Jacob was more than confident in his assumption that Linda was in some way responsible for Tim's disappearance. She stared at him, and his smug look only served to drive her wild. She ignored his accusations, and before she could stop herself, Linda kissed him suddenly, almost angrily.
Jacob was stunned as Linda chose to answer him with a passionate kiss. His shock soon faded away as her tongue explored his mouth. Luscious lips wrapped around his, wet and warm, he longed to wrap his arms around her, but he was still duct taped together. His animal lust for her and the restraints that prevented him from being able to devour Linda made his cock painfully hard.
Linda kissed and ran her tongue down his strong jawline to his neck, where she lightly bit him. He groaned with ecstasy and grunted in frustration at being unable to rip her clothes off of her like he wanted to.
She couldn't believe what she was doing. What was she doing? This guy was after her about Tim, and here she was on top of him like a desperate cougar. Linda gasped as the logical side of her brain dumped a bucket of cold reality all over her. She didn't even know this guy. Worse, he had somehow found a connection between her and Tim's disappearance.
She backed up away from him, and it practically pained her. He looked even sexier, disheveled and aroused. Jacob was still in a daze as she walked to the opposite side of her walk-in closet.
“What? What happened?”
He ached for her, savoring the memory of her lips on his, still freshly damp from her kisses.
She shook her head. What had happened? Was she this hard up? This man could've been here to kill her. But something in his eyes told her he wasn't a killer. This guy was nothing to be afraid of. A dangerous assumption, but she was fairly confident that he meant no harm. The energy he projected, even when he was challenging her about “his friend Tim,” was curiosity and excitement, like a little kid at a zoo. He wanted to be near her, to relish in her. The thirst in his eyes was something she wanted to satisfy. She was ashamed to be romanced by the thought of the man's lust and awe for her. Barely a man. He wore a plain white t-shirt that was just a smidge too tight with sleeves a bit too small. It was a little bit above half way to his bicep. Right at the upward swell of the muscle. Every time he pulled against the grip of the duct tape, it would quiver and flex. It was enticing beyond words. She just had to. His young body felt so light, so young and fresh.
“Please, let's...” Jacob stopped short.
He wanted her to come back to him so badly; he was at a loss for words. Probably because all the blood had rushed to his member and was now straining against his shorts so rigidly, it almost hurt. Let's what? Keep making out? He just wanted to her come near him again.
“No. No,” Linda said, more to herself than him. “This can't happen. It can't.”
She closed her eyes so she could deliver this ultimatum without having to look at his beautiful face and intense eyes, so filled with longing.
“We can't do this until you tell me why you're here, how you know Tim and how you know me.”
“Okay, fine. Yes. I'll tell you everything.” Jacob was disgusted at himself at how easily he had caved, and how he wasn't even sorry about it.
9
The Closet
Dalila sat on the couch and polished off her third Moscow mule. Her eyes were glassy, both from drinking too much and from crying. Linda had turned her down for a drink, and now she worried that she would leave soon. She had made a complete 180-degree turn around in how she felt about the woman. At first she couldn't wait for her to leave, and now the opposite had happened. She wanted her to stay, needed her to; maybe she could help her with Derek.
She was going to have to force the issue and invite her again. Dalila needed company tonight, so she decided to pay Linda a visit at the guesthouse and maybe persuade her to have a drink tonight. As she got closer, she heard voices.
Dalila paused with her hand inches away from the door, getting ready to knock before stopping herself. Those were voices she had heard. Now that she was closer to the door, it had gotten louder. She pressed her ear against the door and caught snippets of the conversation. Dalila surmised that Linda wasn't FaceTiming with someone. The other voice leaking out of the room sounded like it was being made from the back bedroom. She heard Linda speaking to a man. Dalila didn't recognize it as being Derek's voice, so who could it be?
Finally, her curiosity got the best of her, and she turned the doorknob, anticipating that it would be locked, and was pleasantly surprised when it turned easily in her hand. Dalila stepped inside slowly and tiptoed towards the master bedroom, following the voices that now sounded urgent and serious. Once she got to the bedroom, she saw that no one was in there; the voices were coming from the closet.
She tried the knob of the closet again, but this time swung the door open quickly to find Linda and a half-dressed young man, both of whom looked up her in confusion.
Jacob saw the door open a little too late to react to it. Not that there was any place to go, but he would have at least attempted to hide behind the rack of clothes behind him. As it were, there was no time to hide or even warn Linda as their conversation came to an abrupt halt.
Dalila stood there, confused at what her eyes were seeing in front of her. Linda, in a partly opened robe that exposed the skimpy bathing suit she was wearing underneath sitting across f
rom a red-headed young man with his hands duct taped behind his back.
“What the hell is going on here?” she asked in disbelief, trying to make sense of the scene before her.
"Listen, Dalila, this is why I was looking for Derek,” Linda began to explain.
“This?” Dalila gestured to Jacob. “Like it's a thing you found on the street. This is a man, Linda. What the hell is he doing in your closet?”
She began to wonder if she was into some over-the-top, kinky shit. Derek did mention Linda's voyeuristic fetishes, but perhaps over the years it had evolved into something kinkier.
“Dalila, listen, I don't know him. He followed me here to the house.”
Dalila gave him a hard stare.
“You broke into my house?”
Jacob just stared at the woman who stood at the threshold of the door. She was petite, but her presence was that of a raging bull who's eyes were laser pointed at him.
“I didn't break in. I just followed Linda inside,” Jacob fumbled his words, genuinely scared that she would go after him.
“You were not invited, so you broke in. Don't get technical with me, bastard.”
Dalila was still confused. The scene in front of her seemed off from their story. There was a different atmosphere here, a kind of intimacy surrounded the room.
“Did you guys have sex?” she asked, deciding to ask what she thought she already knew.
“You know what? Don't answer that. We'll just wait for Derek to handle him.”
Dalila backed up and closed the door only to feel it push back open by Linda.
“I didn't have sex with him. Look, I'm as confused as you are; I was just in there asking him questions. Supposedly, he's Tim's friend.”
Linda was still trying to compose herself after what just happened between her and Jacob.
“Does he know?” Dalila whispered as the ladies moved away from the room, signaling to Linda to move to the living room.
“I don't know. I don't think so. He's asking me if I know what happened to him. I was just going to start asking him about it, but you walked in."