by Cara North
“Take your shorts off, Charlie.” Ayden stopped everything and lay back on the seat again. The truck wasn’t the ideal place to do any of this, but they were there now and no way in hell was he turning back. He briefly thought of just getting out all together, but then the July mosquitoes would really eat them both alive. “Now lay back.”
“I don’t see how this is going to work.” Charlie obeyed and tried to lie back on the seat.
“On me silly.” Ayden laughed. “We are both way too tall to attempt that, darlin’.”
“Oh.” Charlie smiled then readjusted herself. Straddling him backward she laid back against him with her back to his chest, her head next to his. Ayden’s fingers slid between her legs finding her already slick folds swollen and ready. His other hand settled on the left breast and tugged at her nipple rolling his fingers over it. “Oohh.”
“You’re so wet, Charlie.” Ayden lightly touched her, just as she had done to him. The scent of their heat filled the truck. His nostrils flared as he inhaled at her neck. He had to stop playing with her nipple and grab her hands, securing them in one of his. “I bet you taste so good.”
“Stop torturing me, Ayden.” Charlie lifted her hips in an attempt to sit on his cock again, but he still wouldn’t let her.
“I want you to come for me, Charlie. I want to dip my fingers in like so…”
“Let me ride you, Ayden.” Charlie whimpered as he slid a finger deep inside her.
“And I want to stroke your clit like this…” Ayden circled her clit with his thumb.
“Ayden, please.”
“Please what, darlin’?” Ayden nibbled on her shoulder and neck placing little love bites up to her ear.
“Fuck me,” she whispered.
“Mmmm. I don’t think I heard you.” Ayden curled his toes at the words. Hell yes he heard her, and that’s exactly what he wanted to do.
“I want you to fuck me, Ayden. I swear I want you to let me sit on that huge cock of yours, and I want you to pound into me until I scream…”
Charlie got what she wanted immediately, and so did he. Ayden wanted her to share a fantasy and up until now, he had let her take the lead. She wanted him to tell her what he wanted, so instead he made her tell him what she wanted.
With one fluid move, Ayden had her impaled. With his hands on her hips, he lifted into her over and over again pulling her down to meet his thrusts and pushing her up as he pulled back. The angle made for deep penetration, and Charlie felt the mix of pleasure and pain as he slammed into her womb. “God you feel good.”
“I love… Mmmm… love the way your pussy feels wrapped around my cock.” Ayden felt her clenching down from within. “That’s it, baby. Come for me, Charlie. I want to feel you come.”
Charlie came with a violent scream. Her hips gyrated and pushed back onto him milking him of his own orgasm as he burst inside her. She slowed and lay back against his sweaty chest breathing hard and fast. “I love when you come like that.”
“Mmmm.” Charlie adjusted her legs so they draped over his. She squeezed him from inside.
“I could probably work another one out for you if you’d like.” Ayden stroked over her clit with his finger. Her legs jumped and her breath caught.
“No. I can’t take another one right now.” Charlie pulled his hand away and then wrapped his arms around her. “I don’t think I’ve ever felt like that before.”
“Like what?” Ayden relaxed. It was the only time in his life he really relaxed, when she touched him, or after they had mind blowing sex.
“Free.” Charlie closed her eyes. “I’ve never been free in my life.”
Shit! “How’s that?” Ayden feared her next words. If Charlie wanted freedom, then marriage could be jumping the gun a bit.
“Well, since I was a kid, I have been performing, no freedom in that. Then Preston came into my life, killed my sister, and I was hidden for six months. And when I had the chance to be free after that, I went right back to the stage. I’ve never been anything other than a performer.” Charlie yawned. “Your folks asked me what I wanted to be. I didn’t know what to tell them. But today, just now, I think I know.”
“And what’s that?” Ayden kissed her temple. He relished moments like this. Just the two of them, joined together, not a care in the world.
“A therapist.”
“Not a sex therapist?” Ayden squeezed her letting her know he was just teasing.
“No. A regular one.” Charlie bit her lip. “Do you think I’m smart enough for something like that?”
“Hell yes.” Ayden sat them both up in one move. “You can be anything you want to be, Charlie. My only question is where does that put me?”
“What do you mean?”
“Will you leave me to go to school? What about a family? Do you see yourself having kids in the next few years?” Ayden lifted her from his lap. “I want at least one kid before I turn forty. I’m not as young as you are.”
Charlie watched him dress in a rough manner. She slowly began putting her own clothes back on. Of course she wanted to be with Ayden and have a family, but he brought up a good point, when? His age theory made more sense now, but she didn’t see why she couldn’t have both. Women do both all the time.
“Are you asking or telling me?” Charlie crossed her arms. She shouldn’t have to choose.
“I’m telling you I want kids before I turn forty. I’m asking you if you think you’ll be ready to have one by then.” What he was doing was playing all of his cards in one hand, and he knew it. The answer to this question could destroy all his plans, but it was necessary to know what she wanted. Freedom generally didn’t include a husband and kids.
“I don’t know. I imagined I would be married before I started having kids, and I had wanted to spend time just me and you before that.” Charlie shrugged. He was talking as if she would be having his kids, so she responded with her plans as well. “I don’t even know if you love me, Ayden. How can I possibly answer that without setting myself up?”
“You don’t… I can’t believe you just said that.” Ayden was offended. No, he hadn’t outright said the words, but damn how could she not know he felt it. He started the truck and pulled out of the secluded spot.
“What is the…?” Charlie started to ask what the problem was but got cut off.
“What the fuck?” Ayden turned to see the vehicle behind him. “Charlie, put your seatbelt on.”
Charlie frantically plugged the belt together and held on. “Ayden, what’s happening?”
“Hold on, baby.” Ayden braced for the impact, and the truck went sliding back toward the lake and over the short cliff. He could hear her scream next to him. A loud terrifying sound that in a million years he would remember. Who had done this? Why?
The airbags deployed as the front of his truck impacted with the water. The vinyl covering hit Charlie directly in the forehead, and she passed out. Ayden didn’t know if it was from the airbag or the shock. She passed out whenever she panicked. At any rate, it made things more difficult. He unbuckled her seatbelt, pulled her close to him with one hand and unbuckled his own with the other. The water was filling up fast because the truck was heavy.
The automatic windows were stuck. Opening the door would be near impossible with the water pressure against it. Ayden shifted them both to the other side of the truck and busted the window with his feet. The water spilled in.
Ayden took a deep breath as the front of the cab submerged. He moved through the window pulling Charlie out. She was still passed out and no doubt would drown if he didn’t get her above water soon. Ayden took a deep breath reaching the surface and pulled Charlie above water. He had no idea what was awaiting them, but he had no choice.
“Give her to me.” A woman dressed in black with a black mask stood on the bank. “Hurry, she needs air.”
Ayden wasn’t stupid, and he wasn’t handing Charlie over to anyone willingly. He looked around to see if there was another option for land in hopes, he could pull
out of the water elsewhere. No such luck. “Get back!”
“I’ll help you.”
“Get back!” he demanded as he carried her out of the water. The woman looked vaguely familiar to him. “If you want to help, call 911.”
Ayden laid Charlie on the ground and began the steps of first aid. Look, listen, and feel. He gave two breaths, and she responded vomiting water as he turned her. She was breathing. She was okay. That’s when he felt it.
Charlie awoke coughing and vomiting water. Ayden was over her; then he was falling into her. She reached for him trying to figure out what was going on. Then a woman threw down the board and snatched her by the arm.
“Come with me or I will kill him now.” She wielded a hand gun at his head.
“He’s hurt. You have to help him,” Charlie pleaded.
“No, you have to help him. You come with me now, he lives. You say one more word, I kill him.”
The woman in black stood just as tall as Charlie. She pulled off the mask revealing chestnut brown hair and fierce blue eyes. Charlie nodded and followed her down the bank to another truck. She knew this was it, what she had run from. She didn’t know it was a woman; it made no sense. Preston was a man. He had taken the girls, raped them, and then made it look like a suicide. He had also shaved them bald, keeping their hair as a trophy.
The woman opened the driver side door. “Get in and slide over, Charlie.”
“Who are you?” Charlie felt the panic rising. She had to stay awake, conscious at least until they were away from Ayden.
“Of course you don’t know me. I’m sure he’s never mentioned me, has he?” Her blue gaze burned into Charlie. “You, you think you’re smart. I tried to get him back to Vegas and you ran away.”
“Are you a showgirl?” Charlie asked quietly. The woman was very pretty though she oozed of homicidal maniac at the moment. She started the truck, and Charlie glanced at the door. No handle, no lock, she was trapped. The woman started up the truck and peeled out.
“Ha! That’s funny, fucking hilarious actually.” She peered at Charlie then back to the road. “You figure he’d realize how good we’d be together. We work so well together. I kept up with your ass the last ten years.”
“I don’t understand.” Charlie’s mind was twisting with the situation. Everything she had learned she was putting it to use trying not to panic.
“Shouldn’t you be passed out by now, angel? I mean really, this is a stressful situation. You don’t know me, and if you did, you would have known I could never hurt Ayden. I love him. I have for years. And you, every fucking year all he wanted to know about was you.” Jana Mason looked at her rival in disgust. Charlie had left Vegas, and she had no idea where she went. Then Tom called and invited her to Ayden’s birthday party. When she explained her situation, he laughed and told her Charlie was safe, with Ayden. “So you see when I learned you were with him, naturally I had to do something.”
“What are you going to do to me?” Charlie took a breath and mustered some courage.
“You know exactly what I’m going to do.” Jana pulled up the driveway and parked inside a garage. “This is his house. Did he tell you that? That lake you were parked at, it’s on his property. If all goes as planned, he’ll come here to call for help.”
“He saw you. He knows you did this. He won’t fall in love with you.” Charlie pleaded with the woman.
“Once you’re out of the picture, he’ll have no choice. As far as he knows, some woman was there. Now I’m here, trying to help you. He didn’t trust me. Of course he hasn’t seen me in years, but when he gets here, he’ll find me trying to save you.” Jana smiled. “Too bad for you it will be too late. Now get out and don’t try anything. I’m a trained agent not a bimbo like you.”
“Of course you are.” Charlie realized she had to stall for time if she was going to live through the night. “You know I bet if you had told him, things may have been different.”
“I did tell him.” Jana snarled. “We slept together once, just once. He wouldn’t even stay the night. I obviously don’t have to tell you what that man is capable of.” Charlie felt sick. Ayden had been intimate with this woman, and this woman was going to kill her because of it. Charlie walked as Jana held the gun in her ribs. She started up the stairs. “When?”
“When what?” Jana asked.
“When did you sleep with him?” Charlie whispered. The question may get her killed immediately, but at this rate, she was going to die anyways.
“Four years ago at a conference, he was his normal grim self that night. I told him the last I had seen of you was with your new man, and you seemed happy.” Jana swallowed hard. “Then I made an offer. He didn’t refuse. You know how cautious he is. I would have liked to of conceived that night, but of course he insisted we use a condom.”
“Did you kill the others?” Charlie still spoke low and soft. A threat was building all around them, and she could feel it.
“Others?” Jana snorted. “No. An old friend of ours made me a deal.”
“But you said you were trying to lure him back to Vegas.” Charlie didn’t want to walk up one more step.
“Yeah with you stupid. You’re the only one I want to kill.” Jana poked her in the ribs with the nine millimeter once again.
“And she’s the one I’ve been waiting for, Jana. Good work.” Preston Bates Jr. stood at the top of the stairs. “My angel.”
“How, how did you get here?” Jana stepped back two steps pulling Charlie with her. “You’re supposed to be in Vegas.”
“Well, I’m not. And thanks to you I’m right where I want to be.” Preston took two steps down toward them.
Charlie was in between two people who wanted to kill her. Her heart rate was up; the tension was growing. Everything began spinning and blurring. Then it all went black.
* * *
Ayden pushed to his feet. He could have sworn a woman knocked him out. He grabbed the back of his neck rubbing the spot. He took in the scene around him. Here he was on his own property and someone had pushed his truck into the lake. Someone who assumed he would get out, and apparently that someone only wanted Charlie. Two sets of footprints led to tire tracks. Large wheels, the same truck.
Staggering a bit Ayden headed toward his home. He often came there without telling anyone. It was the only solitude he had. The truck tires were leading the same direction. That he wasn’t expecting. As he regained his strength and equilibrium, he began running toward the house. Three miles in twenty-two minutes, he was getting old and slow. In his younger days, he could have made it in eighteen minutes flat. Now here he was, at the edge of his driveway.
A vehicle made its way up the drive behind him. He turned and ran back to it.
“Joshua.” Ayden reached into the window and turned out the truck lights. “You have to help me.”
“Fuck, Ayden, what the hell’s going on?” Joshua went on full alert. Evelyn unbuckled her seat belt and slid closer.
“I don’t know. I got rammed into the lake. I pulled her out; then she took her. I know she’s in there. Call Tom. Get help. But don’t come up this driveway.” Ayden looked at Evelyn. He didn’t want his baby sister involved in whatever was going on in that house.
“I’m coming with you.” Evelyn went to get out of the truck.
“The hell you are.” Joshua grabbed her by the arm. “I know you’re itching to fight, but you have our child to think of. You call Tom, take the truck down the road, and wait for us. Anyone else comes out…”
“Fine. You go with him.” Evelyn opened the cell phone and made the call while Joshua got out of the truck.
Ayden was already on his way back up the drive. Evelyn put the truck in reverse and headed back to the end of the road. Joshua took the hand gun, but no matter, her baby was in the back. Nothing like a crossbow, she brought it just to take Joshua out and let him play with it. Now she got to do what she used to do best. Wait for the bad guy.
Joshua crept low and slowly behind Ayden. Dam
n he wasn’t expecting this night to turn out like this. When Ayden slipped him the key, he was prepared to spend a nice quiet night with his wife. Now, here he was following the Wolf, who for the first time ever seemed shaken. Joshua understood the situation all too well. He was a mess when Evelyn was at risk. Whoever was in that house had better hope Charlie was okay.
* * *
Charlie awoke with a slice across her wrist. “Oww.”
“Lie still, angel.” Preston Bates Jr. smoothed a hand over her bald head. “I waited years for this. Jana was so kind to lead me right to you. She had been to see my dad a few times. I was so proud of my little girl, but when she told me she was after you, well, you, angel, are all mine.” Preston set her arm into the water, and Charlie watched the blood slowly mix.
“He did this to Michael?” Charlie accepted her fate. Her only regret, that she had doubted Ayden’s love. She would die, and he would think she didn’t know.
“Yes. Unlike Michael, you are pure. I didn’t seed you. My father would break out and kill me if I touched the angel, his angel. Besides, Jana was awake.” Preston reached for the other arm. “It takes a while to bleed to death this way. I could make it easier, cut long ways here.” He pointed to her wrist and slid his soft finger up her arm. Preston was such a soft feminine man. No woman would suspect him.
“You said she was your little girl?” Charlie kept him talking hoping to prolong his next cut. Preston Sr. cared about his victims, or so he had claimed. Maybe she could delay him, maybe talk him out of it.
“They were all my little girls, just like my father’s, but you, Charlie, are his angel.” Preston Jr. sighed. “You came to me in a dream and told me I would be saved. You know my dad is a changed man. He won’t see me anymore because of what I do. He said killing angels was a sin! Can you believe that?”
“Couldn’t I save you alive?” Charlie felt the tears streaming down her cheek.
“What’s that?” Preston shifted his attention to the door and the noise.
Charlie closed her eyes and silently prayed.