Nothing to Fear

by Claire Boston

  “In the bedside drawer.”

  She grinned and pulled one out. When she turned back he was lying on the bed. She hesitated.

  “You should be on top.” He took her hand. “You’ll be in control that way.”

  She swallowed the lump in her throat at his thoughtfulness even through the passion. She slowly straddled him, the sensation of skin against skin divine.

  He kissed her, and the desire flooded her again as his hand squeezed her butt. She moaned. She wanted him inside her.

  He took the condom from her, rolled it on and then tugged her forward so she was lying on his chest. He kissed her slowly, his hands running over her body, finding her sweet spot again.

  “Take as long as you need,” he murmured. He nibbled her neck, caressed her breast and her nerves disappeared. This was right, he was right and all she wanted was him inside her. She took hold of him and shifted so he was where she needed him.

  The first bit of pressure had her tensing and he kissed her again, his hands making languorous motions along her skin, relaxing her. She kissed him back and slowly pressed into him. They moaned together as he filled her.

  This. This is what it was meant to be like.

  Ryan shifted slightly to suck her breast and the sensation rocked her core. She wanted more.

  His thumb found her clitoris and she moved against him, needing to experience everything. Wonderful, glorious sensations built inside of her, all competing with which was the best. Her breath came in short gasps and she moved faster and faster, a slave to the pleasure, and then suddenly she exploded with Ryan right along with her.

  “Wow,” Hannah breathed as her brain slowly came back online.

  “I’ll say.” Ryan stared at her for a moment before kissing her softly. “How are you feeling?”

  So many emotions swirled inside of her, she wasn’t sure which one to voice aloud. “Fantastic,” she finally said. She didn’t want to move, she wanted to bask in the sensation of being pleasured. She’d just had sex. Lovely, wonderful, delicious sex. She wanted to jump up and down in joy, pop a champagne bottle and toast her newfound freedom. She closed her eyes to savour the moment for a little longer and then climbed off and collapsed on the bed next to him.

  Ryan shifted, cleaned up and then pulled her against him so her head rested against his chest.

  She snuggled in, inhaling his scent as another emotion took hold. Gratitude. He had freed her from her fear and she finally understood how good sex could be. Tears welled up inside her and a lump lodged in her throat. How had she got so lucky? Ryan was better in real life than he’d ever been in her fantasies. He was so kind and patient and damn sexy. She loved him.

  She squeezed her eyes closed as panic washed through her.

  Was that the good sex talking? Was she so overwhelmed that she was confusing pleasure with love?

  Ryan ran a lazy hand down her side and kissed her hair. The rush of love came again.

  She didn’t dare look at him, not until she got the tears blurring her vision under control. Her body shook with the effort and Ryan tilted her head so he could see her. She squeezed her eyes shut.

  “Hey, what’s wrong?”

  She shook her head. “Nothing,” she whispered. Everything was so damn right, but she couldn’t voice that.

  “Then why are you crying? Did I hurt you?”

  “No!” She swallowed hard. “It’s dumb.”

  “You could never be dumb.” Ryan squeezed her hand.

  “I, uh, never knew it could be like that,” she finally said. She took a deep breath. “I feel free.”

  He smiled and kissed her. “You’re an amazing woman, Hannah. Thank you for trusting me.” He ran a hand gently along her cheek.

  “Thank you for, you know …” She glanced down at his penis.

  He laughed. “You’re more than welcome.”

  His laugh was so joyous it broke through her tears. She wiped her eyes and was suddenly self-conscious. What did one do after great sex?

  She ran a hand along his chest, loving that she could.

  “Will you stay the night?” Ryan asked, his voice loud in the silence.

  Her face warmed. “OK.”

  “Good.” He absently ran his hand along her side. “I promised I’d take Felix to the beach tomorrow morning. Do you want to come with us?”

  She did. A lot. “Sure, if Felix doesn’t mind.”

  “He won’t. He likes you and Joe, almost as much as I like you.”

  She wasn’t sure what he meant by that.

  “And that’s a lot,” he continued and kissed her.

  Her chest tingled. It might not be love, but she could hardly expect it after so short a time. She was happy with him liking her a lot.

  They could take it from there.

  Chapter 20

  Hannah woke in the morning when the phone rang. It wasn’t hers, and as she tried to move she found she was wedged between two bodies: Ryan and Joe. She chuckled. Before they’d gone to sleep the previous night, she’d checked on her dog and left the door open so she could hear him during the night. He’d obviously decided to join them.

  Ryan slid out of bed, giving her space to move, and padded naked into the kitchen to answer the phone. He had a delicious body, maybe there would be time to explore it some more before they left. She sat up as Ryan’s tone changed. Was something wrong with Felix? Suddenly concerned, she got to her feet as Ryan came in, his expression unreadable.

  “What happened?”

  “We know who your stalker is,” he said.

  Her heart leapt. “Who?”

  “Your brother Marko. He’s Shirley’s new boyfriend. She saw his picture on the Twitter feed and called it in. He’s gone to the shop to get some milk and we want to be there when he gets back.”

  She sank back on to the bed, her legs weak with relief. But why would Marko do this to her? She hadn’t seen him in almost two decades – it made no sense. And poor Shirley, she’d been so excited about her new man. Had Marko been using her?

  “I have to call Lynette and ask if she can have Felix for a bit longer.”

  “She can’t,” Hannah said. “She’s going on a cruise with the family today.” Lynette had been looking forward to it all week. “But I’ll pick him up. We can go to the beach.”

  He smiled. “Thanks, but I don’t want you alone until we catch Marko.”

  “Then I’ll call Kit and ask if we can come out and visit her calves,” she said. “Or if she’s busy, I’ll treat him to something at Mai’s bakery.”

  “All right, that would be great.” Ryan was already pulling on his uniform. He did look damn good in it.

  She dressed hurriedly and calling to Joe, they walked out of the cabin together. She climbed into her car. “I’ll have a quick shower at my shed and then pick Felix up,” she said. “Do you want to tell Lynette I’m on my way?”

  “Will do.” He kissed her again and Hannah was reluctant to leave, but they both had places they needed to be. “I’ll call you when Marko’s in custody.”

  “Thanks.” She wanted to sing and dance, her whole body lighter than it had felt in weeks. It was almost over. Another hour and Marko would be caught and she could get back to her normal life. She could focus on her cabins and her relationship with Ryan and Felix.

  The sun was already strong, the bright light reflecting off her shed as she drove up. After Marko was behind bars they could take Felix to the beach and then get an ice cream in town.

  She grinned. Things were finally going right.

  Hannah filled up Joe’s water bowl, fed him breakfast and then she showered. Ten minutes later she was back at her car, holding the door open for Joe to jump inside. As she shut the passenger door there was a crunch behind her.

  She whirled around and froze, her heart pounding in her chest. A large man with brown hair and thick-set muscles was walking towards her. He didn’t look a lot like the boy she remembered, but it couldn’t be anyone else.

  And he didn’t look
happy.

  She lunged for the front door handle, managed to get it open a crack before Marko slammed it shut and pushed her away from the car. “Not so fast.”

  Stumbling, she managed to catch herself before she crashed into the table.

  His smile was malicious. “It’s been a while, Hannah.”

  “Marko,” she gasped, backing away from him, then she took one slow, calming breath. She wouldn’t let her fear take over. “Aren’t you supposed to be getting milk?”

  He laughed. “I knew the bitch would see the photo sooner or later. Still, she served her purpose telling me everything about you.”

  Hannah winced. Shirley was going to be devastated to discover she’d been used.

  Joe barked wildly, scratching at the window of the car. Her front window was open a crack, but it wasn’t enough for him to get out.

  Marko glanced over. “That damn dog of yours doesn’t know when to die.”

  Anger shoved the fear out of the way. “You poisoned him.”

  “I sure did. You never went anywhere without him. Kind of hard to get close to you.”

  “What the hell do you want, Marko?” Hannah demanded. “I haven’t seen you in almost twenty years.”

  He chuckled, a low, unpleasant sound. “What I’ve always wanted. You and your whore mother out of our lives.” He slid a switch blade out of his pocket and flicked it open. “One down, one to go.”

  Terror clutched her lungs. She was alone and Marko stood between her and both the shed and the car.

  There was no point screaming, no one around to hear her, not now that Ryan had headed to town to catch the man in front of her.

  Ryan.

  He’d know something was wrong when she didn’t pick up Felix. Lynette was sure to call him, because she had to be in Albany for her cruise. So she needed to delay, try to talk her way out of this. “I don’t understand why you hate me so much.” She kept moving backwards and he followed, only a couple of metres away, the blade glistening in the sun.

  Marko kept his eyes on her, his face hardened into a sneer of hate. “You destroyed my family,” he said. “Dad was perfectly happy until your skanky mother seduced him away. He left us for you.” His voice shook a little as he spoke.

  He was hung up about something that had happened twenty-seven years ago. It was crazy. Fear raced along her skin. “I had nothing to do with that.” She kept her voice calm. “I wasn’t even born.”

  “He loved you more than he loved us – you got to be with him all the time and we only got weekends.” His whine had every nerve in Hannah’s body on high alert.

  “That was almost twenty years ago,” she said. “Mothers always got custody.”

  “If it wasn’t for you, my parents wouldn’t have split,” Marko snarled. “But that wasn’t enough, you had to send him to jail. Well your plan didn’t work, I visited him every week,” he said. “Kept our relationship strong.”

  If she couldn’t keep him distracted long enough for Ryan to return, her best chance for help was the beach, where someone might be fishing or surfing.

  “That’s good. I’m glad.” If she agreed with him, maybe he wouldn’t be so upset.

  “He used to ask about you, ask if we’d seen you.” He sneered. “You didn’t love him like we did. You never visited. That hurt him.”

  “I didn’t know he was allowed visitors.”

  “You’re such a dumb bitch.” His contempt was clear. He continued towards her, the knife held low in his hand. “I thought he’d forgotten about you,” Marko said. “But the first thing he said when he was free was he wanted to find you. Find the stupid little fat princess who never bothered to visit him, who hadn’t cared to call, who had destroyed our family – he wanted to see you.” His voice was full of disgust and outrage. “I thought I’d talked him out of it, but then Phillip told me he’d been sending you gifts.” He was shaking. “Phillip made him stop, and I knew then I had to get rid of you.”

  It was her father sending her the gifts? Her hand went to her throat. No, he couldn’t have been responsible for them all.

  Her phone vibrated in her pocket and she jumped as the clear notes of her ringtone broke the morning air. Her hand went to her pocket and Marko yelled, “Don’t even think about it!”

  She lifted her hand away. It had to be Lynette or Ryan. She needed to stall a little bit longer. “Marko, you don’t need to do anything. I don’t want to see him,” she assured him, hoping he would believe her.

  He frowned. “Why not?”

  “He killed my mother.”

  “You ungrateful bitch.” His face went a dark shade of red. “Turning on him when he did nothing wrong. I’m going to make you scream before I kill you.”

  Hannah’s blood turned to ice and her pulse raced. “Marko, you don’t want to become a killer. They’ll throw you into prison.”

  He laughed. “They say the first one’s the hardest, so you should be a piece of cake.”

  Hannah glanced around for a weapon of some sort and his words sank in. She whipped her head back to stare at him. “What?”

  His grin was malicious. “Your mother bled so much I could have painted a mural.”

  She lost her breath as if he’d punched her. “What?” He hadn’t been there. Surely, someone would have told her if he’d seen what had happened.

  He chuckled. “I killed your mother.” There was glee in his eyes and Hannah wanted to be sick.

  She shook her head, not wanting to believe it. “Dad did. I saw him with a knife in his hand, standing over Mum.”

  “He took it from me.” He suddenly looked sad. “Dad wasn’t supposed to be there. He had a Christmas party, but he came back early, before I could clean up. I was going to make it look like a robbery gone wrong.”

  Horror stormed in her stomach. “You were fourteen.”

  “I would have done it sooner if I’d had the opportunity. I figured with her out of the picture, Dad would come back to us.”

  Her brain whirled. It didn’t make sense. “Why didn’t Dad say something?”

  “I said it was an accident. He didn’t want me to go to jail, and he helped me clean up, put me to bed before calling the ambulance.”

  She stood there, shaking her head, not quite able to process what he was saying. Marko lunged and she scrambled back, the knife grazing her arm. Pain shot through her as she turned and ran.

  Marko roared and she was two steps along the path when she realised she was heading up to the lookout.

  Shit. She’d be trapped.

  Her phone rang again and she dug it out, pressed answer on Ryan’s call. “Help! I’m at the lookout. Marko’s here!” She shoved it back in her pocket, hoping he’d heard. At the top, she spotted the stick Joe had found the last time they were there. She swept it up and whirled around, swinging it at Marko. He dodged her attack, keeping his distance, grinning. “This place is perfect. I can make it look like an accident.”

  She jolted. He was right. If he pushed her off the cliff her chances of survival were slim.

  “The cops won’t believe it’s an accident,” she said. “You threatened me in your notes and they can tie you to those gifts with your fingerprints.” The cut on her arm was bleeding and she held it against her clothes, hoping it would stop.

  “The most they can pin me to is a couple of pranks I was playing on my kid sister.” His smile was slimy.

  He couldn’t be so delusional. “You poisoned my dog! You sent a note to say I was next.”

  He held up his hands in a gesture of surrender. “There’s no evidence,” he said sweetly.

  His reasoning was weak. “I’m meant to be in town now,” Hannah said. “They’ll question why I came here instead.”

  “Bitches are flighty,” he said. “You changed your mind.”

  She wasn’t going to die, not when she’d just started living again. She’d met an amazing man, who had an equally wonderful son, and she wanted to be with them.

  She glanced behind her as she backed closer to
the edge. Should she jump? If she was lucky she’d hit the right place and maybe swim under the swell past the rocks. The waves smashed against the cliff, the spray almost reaching her.

  No, she had a better chance fighting Marko.

  Determination settled over her like a cloak. She assessed Marko. He was bigger and stronger than her and he had a knife. He wasn’t afraid to kill. But he had weak spots – eyes, throat and groin.

  She was at the edge of the cliff and the ground here was loose. It was time. She brought the stick up to her shoulder like a baseball player on the pitch.

  Marko laughed. “What are you going to do with that?”

  She didn’t answer, just swung it wildly, hoping to move him back. He dodged left, giving her a slim gap between himself and the path back down.

  In the distance a police siren was getting louder. Marko glanced over his shoulder and Hannah lunged, swinging the stick as hard as she could. It hit him in the head and cracked in two. Marko stumbled back and roared, the knife flying out of his hand.

  Hannah ran, half a stick in her hand as she dashed past him. The path was right in front of her, she’d made it.

  Marko seized her shirt, but she pulled free, stumbling. He charged towards her and the force of his blow knocked her down. Pain speared through her as she hit the ground. She gasped for breath and rolled over the sharp rocks. He towered above her, his body blocking out the sun.

  Groin.

  Hannah kicked him squarely between the legs. Rage crossed his face and he bellowed as he bent in half.

  She scrambled to her feet, too late to stop Marko from scooping up the knife he’d dropped. She ran, but she wasn’t fast enough.

  This time he grabbed her and pulled her close so she was chest to chest with him, the sharp blade of the knife pressing into her stomach.

  “You bitch,” Marko snarled. He backhanded Hannah and the sting made her eyes water, made it hard for her to see. She lashed out, trying to gouge his eyes as he brought the knife up under her chin.

  Hannah’s pulse pounded in her head as the knife dug sharply against her throat.

  “Your mother was much quieter than you,” Marko commented.