I20 stretched before them as she closed her eyes and went to sleep as the car droned on down the road, the rising sun creating a myriad of colors in the car.
Chapter 5
“I think you deserve the whole story, Sarah. My brother is in serious trouble. He took something from a group of people that want it back very badly. They searched his house, his car, his office, even his locker at the country club. They couldn’t find it because he had sent it to me by FedEx. I haven’t opened it so I have no clue what it is. It’s in the car, so you know it isn’t very big. I hate to think how they got the information from him but they called me and told me if they don’t have it back by midnight tonight, at the place of their choosing, they would kill him. They told me the package would never make it past airport security, so I couldn’t take a plane. Unfortunately, my profession left my car in pieces recently, so the only thing I could think of was to steal a car. Yours was the one I picked. I never expected to find a beautiful girl asleep in the back seat.
The sudden outpouring of his problem shocked Sarah. This story was unbelievable, yet she believed it. “What if someone reports me missing? My father has a lot of influence. If I’m reported missing, he could probably get the Texas Rangers involved and I’m not talking about the baseball team. What if you had stolen someone else’s car and they had reported it stolen? You wouldn’t be any help if you’re locked up. Why not just rent a car?”
“Okay, okay. What I did was stupid. I have someone that can smooth things over if something happens to me. It wouldn’t help Jim though. I couldn’t think straight. I was desperate. Your car had the keys in it so it was a golden opportunity. With a rental car, they would have to see my driver’s license and all that. It just wouldn’t have worked. This is going to work thanks to you.”
“Look, when you get back, and you are going to get back, you’ll find your firm and your friends will think you have been working for a federal agency that needs to stay under the radar. Your firm will be well compensated for your inconvenience. You’ll be a hero or heroine.”
“What an inconvenience,” Sara said and blushed prettily at the thought.
“You need to forget all of that. It should never have happened.”
“Like you have, I guess.”
“Yes, like I have. I have too much on my mind to think otherwise.”
“Do you want me to drive for a while?”
“No, I’m good.”
Sarah had visited most of the area they were in with her parents, before college. If they weren’t going to Albuquerque or Phoenix, it could be Flagstaff, but that might be stretching it a bit based on what he said earlier about around 300 miles. Based on that distance and their speed and the limited number of stops they had made, they must be close.
Just after sunset, Mark pulled into a national chain motel. It was a suites motel and appeared relatively new, a stark contrast to the motel last night. Mark checked in and they went to the room.
“I saw a Penney’s as we were coming in. It will be nice to get some clean clothes for a change.”
“That does sound nice.”
“Look. Here’s the deal. The drop-off is at midnight. Once I make it, I will come back with your car. If you want, you can fly back and I’ll have your car transported back.”
“Let me go with you. I’ll behave.”
He looked at her strangely. “No, having my brother in danger is bad enough. There’s no way I’m putting you in danger too. You stay here and I’ll be back. Nobody knows someone is with me. Let’s keep it that way.”
Sarah gave in to an impulse. She sat beside him, put her arms around his neck and said, “For good luck,” she said as she pulled him down to kiss. The kiss deepened and lasted for at least two minutes. Mark really wanted to take it to the next level at this point, but he knew he had to go to make the appointment on time.
As he walked through the door, Sarah, said, “Mark! Please be careful. And call me Sarah.” Mark turned and flashed his best smile and said, “I’ll see you soon, Sarah.”
Sarah stood at the window and watched the tail lights of her car as the car turned right out of the driveway, taking Mark to whatever fate destiny had in store for him.
* * *
Mark drove carefully, observing the speed limit. He didn’t want to get pulled over this late in the game. It would make him late for the appointment. He entered the on-ramp to I20 and drove west for two exits, and left the interstate and turned left at the first intersection.
Closely watching the odometer and comparing the miles driven from the exit off I20, he drove 19.2 miles and stopped in front of an old service station that looked as if it had been closed for years. There was a dark sedan pulled in beside the service station. Mark blinked the lights three times, as directed and then exited the vehicle with a small box in his hands.
He was met by someone from the other car. “Well, it’s good to see you took us seriously. Now give me the box.”
“Not until I see Jim.”
The man turned, “Bring him out,” he called. Two people exited the car in the shadows. One of the two had his hands tied behind him.
“Jim, are you okay?” Mark called out.
“Yes, and it’s really good to see you Mark. I was afraid you might not come this time.”
Mark handed the box to the man and said, “There you are, Mick. Unopened and undisturbed.”
“Yeah, well, I’ll just check to make sure. He opened the package and looked inside. He turned and said, “Let him go. Walk slowly in this direction,” he said.
The man walked slowly past, his hands still tied behind him. Mark took a small knife from his pocket and cut his brother loose. “Let’s get out of here he said to his brother. They got into the car and headed back in the direction Mark had come. In his rear mirror, Mark closely but never saw any tail lights from the car that had been in the shadow of the old service station walls. He didn’t think he was being followed but he increased his speed and was back on I20 headed east in twenty minutes. Now he could relax.
Chapter 6
Sarah waited for the return of Mark Benton. She sat in the chair beneath the floor lamp. She retrieved her iPad from the bag she always carried with her. She used it to access the legal data bases when she was away from the office and needed to do some work.
She turned it on and saw the hotel had Wi-Fi for its guests, but she needed a password. That was no problem because she also had 4g service.
There was no work she had to do so she idly surfed the internet. She keyed Mark Benton into the Google search bar and it returned hundreds of names. She added Illinois to the search argument and it still returned quite a few names. She scrolled through them but could find nothing that might indicate her Mark Benton. “My Mark Benton, she thought to herself. I barely know the man even though we’ve kissed and slept in the same bed. Nothing happened. I wish it had, I might feel better now.”
After an hour and a half, she turned the lamp out and looked out across the parking lot, hoping to see her car. No, she was hoping to see him. “My God! I really care for the man. I care what happens to my kidnapper. Oh, shit. What am I going to do? What am I doing? I’ve lost my everloving mind.”
Sarah went to the bed and slid beneath the covers and soon drifted off to sleep. Sometime later she began to dream. Of Mark. He kissed her. He called her name. Startled, she sat up in bed. It was no dream. He was back. He was kissing her. “I’ve wanted to waken you with a kiss since the first time I saw you asleep.
Standing, she leaped into his arms. “I’ve been worried about you. It took so long. I was afraid something might have gone wrong. Did it? Go wrong, I mean?”
“No, everything went well. Jim was released and I took him to the airport. He is safe and on his way home now.
Now that is passed, we’ve got to decide what to do about you.”
“I have a suggestion.”
“What?”
“Make love to me. I want you to make love to me. Here. Now.”
>
She was dressed in the same shirt and pants she had worn for several days, he was dressed in the same shirt and trousers he had worn. He took her in his arms and kissed her gently. He kissed her nose, her cheeks and her neck. When he kissed her ear, she giggled and said, “That tickles.”
He unbuttoned her blouse and removed it. He unsnapped her bra and let it fall to the floor. Next, he unbuttoned her slacks and as they slid to the floor, he slid her panties down and she stepped out of them,
She unbuttoned his shirt and removed it. He had not put his undershirt back on. She unbuckled his belt and unbuttoned his trousers and let them fall. He also had not put his shorts back on. The symbol of his manhood sprang forth, rigid and hard.
They fell back onto the bed, side by side. He kissed her lips. They instantly parted allowing him entry. As his tongue touched hers, a rush of excitement coursed through her body. Through the sensitive skin on her breasts, she could feel the hairs on his chest. Her nipples became firm.
His hand slid to her neck and caused her to shiver. She was not cold though. When his mouth touched her breast, tingles and shocks hit her inner core and it the lubricating fluids. She gasped audibly when he took the nipple into his mouth and suckled it. It was almost more than she could stand. The hand slid down, traced the rim of her navel, then further where it encountered the silky hair that guarded the entrance to her source of femininity. He inserted a finger and moved it around. Another finger, probing, searching, finding…her magic button. She exploded beneath him. She spasmed against him. She arched her back thrusting against him. Wanting more. Needing more.
“Now. Please now. I want all of you now.”
He took the head of his manhood and teased her at the entrance. Again, she went over the edge. He slid in just past the entrance and she thrust upwards as he thrust downward. A soft “Ahhhhh’ escaped her lips as they moved together. He could feel her tense, approaching the cliff again. “Wait for me. Wait for me Sarah. It won’t be long.”
“You had better hurry then,” she panted. She locked her legs around his hip and moved. She didn’t have to wait any longer he was there. The sweetness that was a joint climax embraced them.
Afterward, they lay in each other’s arms and fell asleep. Sometime in the night, they made love again.
They ordered a room service breakfast. After they ate, Mark asked Sarah to make a list of things she needed along with the sizes. To the list, he added the things he needed. He went into the living room area and picked up the phone and asked for the manager. After a brief conversation, he disconnected the phone.
There was a knock at the door. A young woman came into the room. Mark gave her the list and a credit card. She returned ninety minutes later with several bags. Mark took the bags and gave her a sizable tip and thanked her.
Sarah was in the shower luxuriating in the steaming spray when the shower door opened and Mark stepped into the mist. He found her and they washed each other’s back… and other things.
After they were dressed, they talked. Mark would take Sarah to the airport so she could get back home and to work. He would arrange for her car to be transported, cleaned and serviced and delivered to her.
They agreed on the plan. Sarah was disappointed there was no mention of a future with the two of them together. He drove her to the airport and left her at the entrance to the terminal. He had made prepaid reservations for her flight to Houston. With a gentle kiss, he told her goodbye and thanks. He got back in her car and drove off as she entered the terminal, wondering if she would ever see him or her car again.
Chapter 7
On the flight back to Houston, Sarah closed her eyes and let her mind roam through the memories of the previous days. She had been kidnapped, albeit accidentally. She had ridden hundreds of miles cross country with her kidnapper, spent three nights and four days with him. At some time during the last two days of that time, she had come to care for Mark Benton. He became important to her and she had helped him in his successful quest to save his brother.
The last night had been spent in bed with her kidnapper, though she no longer regarded him as such, arms wrapped around each other, making love with a passion she had never known.
Then they went their separate ways, he in her car and she in a Southwest Airlines jet. What type of madness was this?
* * *
Today was her first day back at work. She had rented a car at Houston’s William P. Hobby airport since her car had not made it back to Houston yet. Would it make it back to her? Would Mark Benton just keep going with it? How long should she wait before contacting the police and her insurance agent?
Sitting at her desk, daydreaming when she should have been prioritizing the things she had been assigned to research, and she was jolted from her reverie by the jangling of her phone. It was the secretary of one of the senior partners.
“Mr Williams would like to see you in his office, Ms’ Kirkpatrick,” the primly efficient secretary said. Sarah didn’t know her name, even though she was with the firm when Sarah had been hired.
“Thank you. I’ll be right there.” In her 18 months with the firm, she had never been called to a senior partner’s office. It was with some amount of trepidation she approached the hallowed ground that was the partner’s office area.
The partner, Horton Williams was wearing a smile as she entered. He greeted her pleasantly and asked her to please take a seat. She sat in one of the two chairs directly in front of his massive, intimidating desk. “Ms Kirkpatrick, I’ve been getting sterling reports on your work from Bill. You are to be congratulated on your hard work and dedication to the firm. I don’t know of many junior associates that would willingly give up their weekend and work the entire time.”
“What is he talking about,” Sarah wondered to herself. “Work the entire weekend? I wouldn’t call what I was doing hard work.” At the recollection, a thin smile played across her lips.
“I received a call from our client this morning. He was so impressed with your efforts; he wants you permanently assigned to his account. We can’t have an account as important as this be serviced by a junior associate, so as of this morning, you are a senior associate. Congratulations Ms Kirkpatrick on an outstanding performance!
Now, as to your new assignment, Agent Benton will be able to tell you more about what you will be doing.”
With that, he stood, excused himself and left the room and pulled the door closed behind him.
As he left, Sarah turned to see an impressively dressed Mark Benton standing inside the doorway.
Smiling, he moved forward, took her hand and bent to kiss it. The touch of his lips sent jolts of electricity flashing through her body.
“Well, Ms. Kirkpatrick, are you up for another adventure?”
“Indeed I am,” she replies, “But… only if you call me Sarah.” She moved into his arms and tilted her face to be kissed.
About The Author
Gabrielle de Sautelle lives in a suburb northwest of Houston. She lives with her husband of 12 years, their two toy poodles and Empress, her independent cat.
Gabby began writing in April, 2013. Kidnapped Love is her first work of fiction.
Visit Gabrielle’s website Kidnapped Love
Gabby’s best friend is author, mentor and editor Susan Leigh Carlton.
Susan hs published several books. Among them are:
Cakes From Mamaw's Kitchen
Pies From Mamaw's Kitchen
She also published Diabetes: You Can Live With It Or Die From It
Susan recently published her first romance novel Loving An Airborne Ranger
Her Second Romance novel was Loving A Firefighter
Visit Susan’s website Susan Leigh Carlton's E-books
Visit with Susan on Facebook Susan Leigh Carlton on Facebook
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