Cuffing Her

by Emily Bishop

  “He’s just hiding. He becomes better at it each time he does it.”

  “There’s one more thing.”

  He stops walking and turns to me. “What?”

  “Zombie’s missing, too.”

  “What?”

  Just then, Lucy calls out, “Sabrina!”

  “Yes?” I turn to her. “One of his backpacks is missing and some clothes and his piggy bank.”

  “Shit,” I say at the same time Randall says, “Fuck.”

  He continues walking, faster this time. Reaching his office, he pushes the doors open and heads to a computer. I look over his shoulder, watching as he looks at the footage from the security camera at the gate.

  Suddenly, he stops the video, a frame showing Zombie and David with his backpack and cap on frozen on the screen.

  “No,” I gasp, clamping a hand over my mouth.

  God, no.

  “This was two hours ago,” Randall says. “He can’t be far. I’ll call the police. You go with Harry and start searching for David. After I change, I’ll search for him, too.”

  I nod, running out the door as Randall picks up the phone, my heart thudding in my chest.

  Please, let David be safe.

  ***

  “Where are you, David?” I whisper as I lean forward in the passenger seat of the Benz, my hands folded and clasped to my mouth.

  For the past hour, Harry and I have driven around Bel Air, looking for him. Randall has gone to Houston, and Tess has checked on all of David’s friends from school. Still, we have no clue where he is.

  Where can he be hiding?

  “Don’t worry,” Harry says, sensing my fear. “I’m sure we’ll find him, Mrs. Brewster.”

  “Please call me Sabrina,” I tell him. “I sure hope we find him, Harry, because if we don’t, I don’t know how I’ll be able to live with myself.

  This is my fault, all my fault. If I hadn’t agreed to marry Randall, if I hadn’t accepted his offer of protection, this wouldn’t have happened.

  I stayed because I wanted to be safe and now, David is the one who’s left the house. David is the one in danger.

  What if Vince finds him first? What if Vince has somehow found out that he’s Randall’s son and decides to take him, to hurt him to get back at me, to punish me?

  I shake my head. I mustn’t think of that. If I keep imagining David hurt, I’ll go crazy.

  Now I know how mothers feel when their children are in danger.

  I run my hands through my hair, clutching my nape. How on Earth do mothers stay sane through times like this?

  He may not be my son, but he is my responsibility. He was under my care.

  Oh, God, please don’t let anything bad have happened to him.

  “He’s with Zombie, so he’ll be fine,” Harry reminds me.

  It’s good that Zombie is with him so he isn’t so scared or lonely, but Zombie isn’t always reliable. What if he ran off and David followed him and got into trouble?

  Suddenly, though, I see a child sitting on the sidewalk, playing drums with a stranger, a black Labrador beside him. My heart stops.

  We found him.

  “Harry, it’s David!” I point out ecstatically. “Tell Randall we found him! We found him!”

  Aftermath

  Randall

  We found him.

  When Sabrina woke me up and first told me that David was missing, I thought I was having a nightmare. And for a moment back there when we were searching, I was afraid we would never find him, that I’d lost him forever.

  Now, thank goodness, he’s right in front of me again, eating his fries and his burger.

  After Sabrina and Harry told me they found him, I went to get him then decided to spend some time with him. Now, we’re having lunch, and I’ve decided it’s time to talk to him about my marriage to Sabrina.

  “David, you have to understand that my marriage to Sabrina wasn’t planned,” I tell him, touching his shoulder. “And we definitely didn’t do it to make you sad. We did it because it was the best thing to do for all of us.”

  “How is it the best for me?” David asks, pouting as he grabs a potato wedge from the basket. “I didn’t want this. And now, I’m left out again.”

  “You’re not left out, and you haven’t lost anything. You gained something.”

  “You mean a mother? I don’t want Sabrina to be my mother.”

  “Then let her be your friend. Play that video game with her and give her the chance to be your friend.”

  “Why should I?” David takes a bite from his burger. “She doesn’t care about me. All she cares about is you.”

  “Do you really think that’s true?” I ask my son. “In the past week, hasn’t Sabrina been knocking at your bedroom door trying to talk to you? And when she found you earlier, wasn’t she almost crying tears of joy? Didn’t she hug you tight?”

  “If she cared about me, she would have asked me first if she could marry you,” David says.

  Now there’s something. Maybe things would have been better if Sabrina was the one who had told him about the marriage. She gave that job to me because she was afraid David would end up getting mad at her, but it made no difference. David is still mad.

  “Would you have said yes?” I ask curiously.

  David shrugs, taking another bite of his burger.

  “What if I told you that this marriage was more of an agreement?”

  He gives me a confused look.

  “What if I told you that we married so that I could protect Sabrina because there’s a bad guy who wants to get her?”

  “What bad guy?”

  “Someone Sabrina met in the past. She trusted him, but he did bad things to her.”

  “What bad things?” David reaches for his glass of juice.

  “Bad things,” I repeat. “Things that could have happened again, and I didn’t want them to. Sabrina’s our friend, right?”

  “So you married her because she’s your friend?”

  I shrug. “That’s one way of looking at it.”

  “And she married you back because you’re her friend, too?”

  “Yes. And so she can continue watching over you.”

  David says nothing.

  I reach for his hand. “We keep her safe, and she takes care of us. That’s the way it is.”

  “Is that why you married my mother, too? Because she was your friend?”

  I pause, not expecting the question.

  David has barely asked about his mother before.

  “Yes, she was my friend, too,” I answer truthfully.

  “I see.” David eats another potato wedge.

  “Do you? Do you understand now, David?”

  “A bit.”

  “So you’re not mad at me anymore?”

  “You’re my Dad. I can’t stay mad at you.”

  That’s good to hear.

  “What about Sabrina? Can you let her be your friend? Can you give her another chance?”

  David shrugs. “I’ll think about it.”

  “Okay.”

  It’s not quite the answer I’m hoping for but I’ll take it. At least, David doesn’t seem mad anymore.

  “And one more thing,” I say to him. “Do you promise me that you’ll never run away again?”

  He looks at me.

  “Promise me,” I urge.

  “Fine. I promise.”

  “Good.” I ruffle his hair.

  Things may not be okay yet, but this is a vast improvement. I can’t wait to tell Sabrina.

  ***

  “I can’t do this anymore,” Sabrina says moments after I walk in through the door of our bedroom, finding her sitting on a chair near the window, her hands on her head.

  As I approach her, I see the bunched-up wads of Kleenex in the trash can and I frown.

  She’s been crying this whole time?

  “Hey.” I kneel in front of her. “What’s wrong?”

  “You know what’s wrong,” she mumbles, grabbing anoth
er wad of Kleenex to blow her nose.

  “No, I don’t.” I reach for her hand. “Nothing’s wrong. David is home now. He fell asleep in the car on the way home, and now he’s sleeping in his bed, safe and sound. I’ve talked to him, too, and he said he’ll think about giving you another chance.” I squeeze her hand. “See? Everything’s fine.”

  “It’s not fine.” Sabrina pulls her hand away as she stands up. “David could have been lost out there. He could have been hurt. He could have been hit by a car. Someone could have kidnapped him. Vince could have kidnapped him and hurt him. Vince could have killed him!”

  I stand. “Well, that didn’t happen. And it’s not going to happen.”

  “It’s all my fault.” Sabrina paces, apparently not having heard what I said. “I shouldn’t have married you. I shouldn’t have taken advantage of your kindness.”

  “You didn’t do any such thing.”

  “I should have just left. If I had, none of this would have happened. If I ran away, David would not have run away.”

  “Well, I was the one who stopped you,” I remind her. “So sue me.”

  “I should have just refused your offer.” She drops her hands to her side as she stops walking. “I shouldn’t have dragged you into this mess.”

  “You didn’t drag anyone, Sabrina.”

  “It’s all my fault,” she says again.

  She isn’t listening again, running her hands through her hair exasperatedly.

  I shake my head, my hands on my hips. “None of this is your fault.”

  “I should never have come here in the first place. I should have known there was no way for me to run away from Vince or hide from him.”

  I frown. “There is a way, okay? You’re safe now.”

  “But at what cost? Look at what happened to David.”

  “Nothing happened to David.”

  “But what if something did?” She looks at me, her eyes brimming with tears. “I would never have been able to forgive myself if something had happened to him.”

  I sigh. “And I’m telling you nothing happened to him so you should stop beating yourself up over this. There’s no reason for you to.”

  Why on Earth can’t she see that? Why isn’t she listening to me?

  She shakes her head. “I’m selfish. A part of me wanted to stay, wanted you to stop me, even though it meant putting you and David in danger.”

  “Sabrina…”

  “I don’t deserve your kindness, Randall. I don’t deserve your protection.”

  Now I’m the one who’s frustrated.

  “Why not?” I grab her by the shoulders. “Why don’t you deserve kindness or happiness? What did you do, huh?”

  “I was a fool,” she tells me. “I was a big fool. I was blinded by his promises. I was consumed by following my dreams.”

  “And what’s wrong with that, huh?” I shake her. “Nothing’s wrong with wanting to follow your dreams. And so what if you put your faith in the wrong person? What if you were a fool? That doesn’t give anyone the right to hurt you. That doesn’t give anyone the right to take away your chance at happiness.”

  “But I’ll only take away your happiness.” Sabrina starts sobbing. “I almost did today. Next time, it might happen for real.”

  “It won’t.” My eyes track her every tiny movement, and I ache to do something to calm her.

  “I have to leave. You have to let me go. I’m not worth all this. I’m not—”

  I can’t take it anymore. I place my hands on her cheeks and press my mouth to hers, robbing her of breath and the rest of her sentence. I didn’t mean to do it like this, so suddenly after she’s been crying, and there’s a certain hardness to my mouth, like the kind of kiss you’d see in a play. I just had to shut her up because I couldn’t stand her beating herself up anymore, wallowing in self-pity and resentment. It’s too painful.

  Maybe with this, I can put some sense into her. That is what I tell myself. Maybe with this, I can make her realize that everything is all right. Maybe with this…

  My thoughts come to a stop as her lips gently respond to the pressure of mine. It’s only a feeble attempt at first but I feel it. I feel every thread of electricity spark to life. I feel it in every nerve of my body.

  Sabrina wants me.

  Maybe she just wants you to comfort her, some little part of myself says. Maybe she just wants you to help her forget the pain.

  I don’t care! If she wants me, she can have me.

  She can have all of me.

  The kiss completely changes. It evolves into a monster that we’re both fighting—but we are also that same monster. It’s half-her and half-me and we’re both shitty fighters. Her fingernails sink into the flesh of my neck and we move together to the wall, her following my lead flawlessly. We could be the same body right now. Her mouth is my mouth. Is she throbbing in unison with me, too?

  The power of the heat raging beneath my skin surprises me. I’ve been keeping it tamped down to regulation levels for so long…

  My hands slither up her arms and take her wrists, pinning them on either side of her head. Her breasts protrude against my chest and my head swims. My manhood throbs. Her copper hair is all messy, jagged wisps and her lips are swollen and pink. I’ve never seen her more womanly than she is right now. I’ve never seen a woman more womanly than Sabrina is right now.

  “I don’t want Vince to start anything with you,” she whimpers up to me, eyes swimming in crystal clear fear.

  “I’m not scared of him,” I breathe against her ear. I’m completely sincere in that. I wonder if she can feel me pulsing between her legs. I want her to feel safe with me. I’ve never felt stronger than I do right now, humming with adrenaline. I’d die for her, but Vince better be a supervillain if he thinks he can kill me.

  “We shouldn’t be doing this,” Sabrina whispers back.

  I take both her wrists in one grip and slide my now free hand between her legs. I can feel her wetness through her clothes.

  “It doesn’t feel like you want to stop.”

  She shudders as my finger lazily tracks across the wet spot on her crotch. I see it. I see her eyes flutter up into the back of her head for a second, and then they close entirely and she arches against me. She’s helping the friction. She bites her lower lip and let her throat fall open, enticing me. All I can smell is her hair, her skin, her breath. I’m in a new world… with so much to explore.

  I tuck my fingers into her waistband and slip her shorts to the floor. Her panties are so drenched that I can see the cotton darken with saturation, and an exquisite rush of blood travels to my cock, straightening him into a rod of pure steel. She wasn’t just wet. Her snatch was practically sobbing for me.

  “I’ve had dreams about this,” I confess quietly, stripping her soaked cotton panties to the floor as well. She takes two delicate steps out and I brace her hips in both hands, peering up at her in near penance. She gazes back down at me and gulps.

  “Me too,” she says.

  “I want to consummate this marriage,” I growl up at her, hands flowing back to cup her ass.

  “Vince will kill you,” she assures me in a tiny voice, even as I’m dragging her closer, pushing my mouth against her slit. I want to feel her every inch. “He was obsessed with my virginity.” My tongue slides between her labia and parts the silken, rosy folds. The ridge of her clitoris is against my tongue like a little fucking candy and I flick at it with my tongue.

  Sabrina’s voice stalls, but then it lurches trembling forward again. Her knees buckle and her fingernails plant themselves into the muscles lining my shoulder. I love being her pillar and the one making her weak all at the same time. “He was obsessed with staying the only man I’d ever been with,” she finishes, breathless and shaky.

  I press her sex harder to my mouth, using my palms on her ass for leverage. She is so sweet in here, I want to eat her just to taste her. I roll my tongue and fan it and harden it, listening to the rhythms of her gasps and her groans. Sab
rina bucks on my chin and I slide one hand down from her ass and into her tight little pussy. I have to feel it. I can’t stop. I have to fill her now. We tip past the point of no return and I tell her, “I’m going to erase every inch of him from your body, Sabrina.” I pump two fingers into her tiny hole and relish how her muscles twist and suck at me. She’s so hungry. How could this little animal have been hiding inside our mild-mannered nanny for so long? “I’m going to fill you now,” I promise her, standing. “I’m going to make you my wife.”

  Sabrina’s cunt tightens around my fingers at the words and I idly continue to pump her as she attempts to speak, but nothing is making it out. Just a series of little cries and groans.

  I scoop her up and carry her to the bed, tossing her gently onto her back. I go to my own pants and unbuckle them, letting the zipper come open. My cock comes swinging out heavily and Sabrina yips, springing up onto her knees from her back.

  “Nope,” she lightly declines my cock, damn near floating in the air, leaking for her. “I guess we’re just never going to have sex. Too big! Sorry! I always promised myself I’d—”

  “Take off your shirt,” I command, gripping my erection in one hand. For me, the games are over. I’m going to have tunnel vision until I’m seeing spots from this orgasm boiling in my prick right now. Sabrina blinks up at me… then slowly moves her hands to the straps of her tank top.

  She slides one strap down and gulps, gazing up at me with curiosity and chagrin. I stroke myself down at the mere sight of her naked shoulder. I want to bite that shoulder while I plunge into her from behind.

  “Say please,” she commands suddenly, and I exhale hard. She does want to play. She’s probably never had control over a man like this—especially a man of my size—and her face betrays how invigorating it is.

  “Please,” I say.

  Sabrina smiles and slides her tank top completely down on the left side. Her breast is full and perky and her nipple is a hard little spear. I want it in my mouth and she cups her breast, squeezing it gently for me. I stroke myself down. She knows she has me completely in her thrall.

  “The other one, too,” I plead. After that, I’m going to beg her to spread her legs for me. I want to eat her out forever, but I don’t think my dick can take it. I felt the way her pussy sucked at my two little fingers. I can only imagine how tightly it would squeeze my whole throbbing cock.