by Susana Mohel
It’s been a while since the whole Cassandra affair, the dust has settled and we haven’t seen her since she left with her husband. Thank God.
However, Joel says the demented bitch keeps trying to make contact with him, but assures me he’s having nothing to do with her. As far as he’s concerned, the door has been firmly shut on that chapter in his life, and it won’t be re-opening. At least she hasn’t appeared here at the house because if she did, I wouldn’t be held responsible for my actions.
Our relationship is better than ever. The last few days Joel has spent all his spare time with me, and he’s really trying to make me fall in love with him again, despite the fact that’s not necessary, since I’m already head over heels in love.
Yesterday, while I was finishing up some paperwork, he came into the office a little earlier than usual.
From his still damp hair, I could tell that Joel had already showered, changed into some dark jeans and a black button-down shirt, and now looked edibly handsome. As in, I could lick him all over.
“Wow, Mr. Sadger, where are you off to?”
“Out on a date with my wife.”
His answer, his arms around me, his lips ghosting down my neck sent chills down my spine.
I wanted to squeal in delight, but more than that, I wanted to play his little game…
“What are you doing here flirting with me then?”
He chuckled, “Well, I’m waiting for her. She’s about to go upstairs and get ready, because tonight I want her wearing a skirt and high heels to show of her sexy legs.”
“Guess she’d better go get ready then,” I laughed.
“Don’t forget the high heels,” he grabbed me to whisper in my ear, before smacking my butt as I ran upstairs.
Not wanting to spend a second longer than necessary getting ready, I quickly picked out a navy-blue dress and nude high heel sandals. If my husband requested high heels, his wish was my command.
During our amble along the famous San Antonio river walk, we held hands and chatted about all kinds of things, including college and what options were open to me.
“Why don’t you set up an appointment with a college counselor. I could drive you over there, and maybe we could find a spot to have lunch nearby,” he suggested.
“Are you actually giving in about this, Mr. Caveman?” I asked, raising my eyebrows in surprise.
“I’m thinking about it,” he said, taking my hand and kissing it on the back. “Depends how persuasive you can be,” he smiled wickedly.
“Oh, so that’s your game, is it?” I rolled my eyes, pretending to be miffed, but already very turned on.
“Can’t blame a man for making the most of any opportunity to get down and dirty with his gorgeous, sexy wife, can you?” he smirked.
“Guess not,” I laughed, shaking my head.
It turned out that my husband took his game very seriously, and wasn’t going to go easy on me.
At the restaurant, Joel asked for us to be seated in a dark corner on a terrace in front of the river. As we looked at the menu, Joel’s hand was on my thigh, slowly wandering up and down. Every now and then he let his finger slip right up to the edge of my panties, just lightly skimming over the very place I desperately need his touch.
For fuck’s sake, what’s the male equivalent of a prick tease? A pussy tease?
Thanks to Joel, I couldn’t concentrate on anything, I couldn’t even read the fucking menu. Our date had turned into pure erotic torture for me.
By the time we finished our meal, which I barely tasted, I was more than ready to leave. I was desperately craving him, to the point where I wanted him to throw me over his shoulder and take me home. Yet he seemed so calm, so relaxed, while I was practically dying with need right there in the fucking restaurant.
After our meal, we walked along the cobblestone sidewalk, and as we were about to go up the steps to cross the stone bridge, Joel pulled me to him and kissed me long and hard.
As the world around us disappeared, the only thing I could think of was his hands in my hair, his erection pressing into my belly, his tongue dancing with mine.
“Get a room!” somebody shouted, followed by wolf whistles.
We smiled, resting our foreheads together, our lips barely separated.
“Just marry the girl,” a man called out.
“I already did,” my husband shouted back, earning us more claps and whistles.
“Smart guy,” the man yelled.
“I’m trying to be,” my husband whispered to me.
“Let’s just go home,” I pleaded. Joel didn’t argue, he just took my hand and hurriedly led us back to his truck.
“Fuck, I can’t wait. We’re not going to make it back home,” Joel groaned, resting his head against wheel once we were sat in his truck.
“What are you talking about? What’s the problem?” I asked worriedly.
He said nothing, he just placed my hand on the huge protrusion fighting against the fabric of his denim pants. So it turned out he wasn’t as unaffected as he’d made out. He was just as desperately turned on as I was.
“We need to find a room… now!”
Fifteen minutes later, he was slamming the door of a hotel room behind us. We tore our clothes off as he forced me up against the wooden door, while I wrapped my legs around his waist and clung to him. We were barely inside the room before we were both naked and fucking like animals. No tenderness, just pure, unadulterated raw passion. And I loved every fucking second of it.
So. Fucking. Good.
Despite our passionate session, I couldn’t sleep. Joel was lying on his stomach sleeping, and I was very tempted to wake him, but he’d been working so hard these last few days that I let him be. At least for a while.
I walked to the window to distract myself with the gorgeous view; thinking about having a real honeymoon, and how nice it would be to stay in a luxurious room looking out onto beautiful scenery...
“Babe, what are you doing?” Joel asked, coming closer to me, pressing his hard, strong—and naked—body against mine.
“Thinking...” I sighed
“About?”
“About this room, and the beautiful view we’ve wasted because we were too focused on each other to pay attention to anything else. I was thinking how nice it would be to escape for a couple of days, just you and me.”
“Well, baby, we still have the rest of the night to enjoy the room,” he murmured, kissing my shoulder, while his hands slid lower and lower, touching me between my thighs, finding me wet and ready for him.
Forcing my legs apart as he stood behind me, he slid his thick long erection inside me, while I braced myself against the cold window glass.
“Whatever you want from me, you can have it, baby. Just keep those gorgeous legs of yours open for me and enjoy the view.”
But I couldn’t concentrate on anything outside our little bubble; I just wanted to embrace the feeling.
The feeling of my husband making love to me.
Why is it so warm here? I’m getting bothered just thinking about our little tryst yesterday… Phew, I need to open the window.
“Tara, where are you?” Joel calls out as he walks through the door.
“In the kitchen,” I shout back.
“Are you ok?” he frowns, looking at my flushed face.
“I’m fine… Just recalling our antics yesterday.”
A smug look crosses his face.
“Ah, my poor baby, we had fun, didn’t we? I promise to take care of you later,” he winks. “But right now, I have a surprise for you.”
“Oh? What kind of surprise?”
“You’d best come out to the barn, take a look at what’s just arrived. You want to see?”
“Yes! Of course I do.”
I quickly switch off the oven and take my husband’s outstretched hand to follow him out of the house.
We walk the short distance to the barn hand in hand, where a truck with two large containers is being unloaded. Connor’
s directing the operation, but doesn’t notice us as he’s totally focused on what he’s doing. Reliable, dependable Connor. This friend of my husband I most certainly do approve of. He’s already an integral part of the Redlands family as far as I’m concerned.
“Joel!” I squeal, “This is fantastic!”
We stand in the corner of the barn to watch as they bring in the equipment we’ve brought in to implement the new cattle feed program for the ranch. It’s an ambitious project, affordable thanks largely to the income brought in from renting out parcels of our land. We’re both confident this is the way forward, and that the investment will pay off in time. Joel’s talked about little else for weeks, so much so that I think I’m already an expert, but I don’t mind, I’m just so thrilled to finally see some progress at Redlands, after so many years of the ranch stagnating and failing.
Joel has also accepted that it makes a lot of sense for me to study accountancy at college. It’s something I’m interested in for one thing, but it’ll also be beneficial for the ranch, because once I’ve gained my qualifications, Joel won’t have to worry about coping with that side of things on top of everything else he does. It’ll give me a sense of purpose, allowing me to take on an important, valuable role, as we work together, as part of the same team.
“Are you happy?” he asks, turning to look at me and smiling.
“Very,” I smile back.
“Watch out, Mr. Sadger!” someone yells in the distance.
Then we’re suddenly plunged into chaos.
ღ
There are moments in life that flash by so fast you barely register them. Others pass by in slow motion, trapping you in a nightmare.
Unfortunately, I’m experiencing the latter right now. I don’t know how it’s happened, but one minute we’re in the corner of the barn happily examining all our new equipment, the next we’re trapped in an inferno, as the hay bales around us burst into flames. The fire instantly spreads to the rest of the wooden structure, until it feels as if we’re standing in the middle of the seventh circle of hell, surrounded by smoke and flames.
Joel pushes me down to the floor, covering my body with his, as the building starts to collapse around us. The fire is spreading incredibly fast, but I guess that’s because everything is tinder dry.
“Are you ok?” he shouts to make himself heard over the roar of the fire and debris crashing down around us.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I shout back, coughing as I inhale some smoke.
“We’ve got to get out of here. Keep down and follow me.”
Joel starts crawling along on his hands and knees, and I follow right behind. I look around but when all I can see is fire whichever way I look, I start to panic.
“Keep calm, Tara. We’re going to get out of here,” Joel calls over his shoulder, sensing my fear.
My throat itches, and my eyes burn from the acrid smoke. Isn’t that what kills you rather than the flames? Why did that unhelpful thought have to pop into my head right now?
“Keep following, we’re nearly there,” Joel encourages me as he glances over his shoulder, until finally I see a gleam of daylight cutting through the smoke, highlighting our escape route.
“Joel! That way! Over there!” I scream, thankful our ordeal is nearly over as I hear voices yelling—maybe it’s Connor giving orders?
As we both clamber to stand up, I’m suddenly yanked backward. A large hand covers my mouth preventing me from crying out, while a gun is pressed against my temple. I’m clamped back against the chest of a man who, out of the corner of my eye, I see is wearing a black balaclava mask.
When Joel turns around to check if I’m still following him, a deep male voice barks out a warning.
“If you don’t want me to shoot your wife’s brains out, just do as I say.”
To my horror, Joel is taken away at gun point. I scream as he’s held down and punched senseless by more masked thugs, before being handcuffed and dragged away. Then I start choking as my mouth and nose are covered by a cloth and everything becomes a blur. I can’t breathe, I’m choking, suffocating, so I struggle and kick.
“Just because the boss wants you alive,” the guy holding me grouses when I manage to kick him in the shins. “Doesn’t mean I can’t teach you a little respect.”
He punches me in the jaw, and I taste the metallic tang of blood. I’ve barely recovered from the first punch when he lands another blow, then another, until I’m barely conscious, but I fight to stay alert, desperate to locate Joel, scared because I can’t see him anywhere.
“Come on, stop wasting time. They’re waiting for us,” the other stranger growls. “The boss wants us back as soon as possible.”
The boss?
Who the hell is he talking about?
I’m dragged out to a van behind the barn that’s definitely seen better days and thrown in the back.
“Just fucking shut up, bitch,” my kidnapper grunts when I moan as he tightly binds my hands and ankles.
Then Joel is also dragged into the back of the van, almost unconscious. Seeing him so broken, his poor blood-stained face so beaten up, I start to lose hope, because I can’t see how we’re going to get out of this alive.
Faith over fear… that seems the only way out for us.
Who would do this to us, and why?
After a seemingly endless drive, the van finally comes to a halt. I’m pulled out of the vehicle, and dragged towards what appears to be a long-abandoned log cabin that’s falling to pieces.
My captor produces a razor-sharp knife from his pocket, grinning as he slices through the thick ropes to release my feet, but leaves my hands still bound. I wish I could see his face, but he’s still wearing his mask. I try to kick him, but he grabs me by the hair and yanks my head back.
“Walk,” he orders, giving me a hard shove from behind.
“You’ve got them?” Someone asks from inside the cabin.
“Of course. Like I told you, we’re the best in the business,” the guy boasts as he pushes me inside, while his buddies drag Joel in too. “Time to hand you over, princess. Make sure lover boy doesn’t give us any more trouble,” he calls out to one of his gang.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Joel collapse unconscious onto the muddy floor, after one of the gang deal him a nasty blow to back of his head with the butt of his gun.
The final blow.
Hope vanishes as realization dawns.
The fire was just a ruse, a distraction, to cover up our abduction.
I’m dragged to the far side of the room then forced to kneel and face the corner. Fear expands in my chest, the band of tension growing tighter with each heartbeat until I can barely breathe.
“The rest of the money, as agreed. Now.” A terse command is issued as a gun is held at my temple again.
A heavy bag lands on floor beside me, which I assume contains the rest of his payment.
“It’s all there. You can leave now. I’ll take it from here.”
That voice…?
The men depart, their mission accomplished, the sacrificial lamb delivered. I’m left alone with the boss, whoever he is, while Joel lies unconscious on the floor, my hands still tied, so I guess you could say things aren’t looking too good right now, especially as I catch sight of a gun out of the corner of my eye. I also catch a glimpse of a tall, blondish man dressed in a suit. It looks like... no, it can’t be.
If only this were a dream, but I’m living this terrible nightmare in real time, right here, right now.
I turn my head to look at my stepfather.
“Oscar.” I wish I was mistaken, but it’s him all right, with a stupid, arrogant, victorious smile plastered all over on his face.
Finally, I see him for what he is.
An evil psychopath.
Joel tried to tell me, to warn me that Oscar wasn’t what he seemed, but I didn’t want to hear it. I accused him of not listening to me, when all along I should’ve been listening to him.
“How long have you
been playing these twisted games, Oscar?”
“Oh, years, my dear. Long before your father died.”
“Were… were… you involved in his death?” I ask in a trembling voice. “Did you kill my father?”
“I planned to,” he admits. “But the stupid bastard got into that fight all by himself, so by a stroke of luck he saved me the bother. Apparently, he liked to sneak off to trashy bars to find himself some female company from time to time, since he and Monique were married in name only by that stage.”
“I don’t believe you, you’re a fucking liar,” I yell.
“I really don’t care whether you believe me or not,” he smiles coldly. “But it happens to be the truth.”
“So, after he died, you went after my mom?”
“I didn’t need to. Your stupid, naïve mother had already become deeply involved and totally besotted with me long before Rhett died. Have you never wondered why she was in such a hurry for us to marry after his death?”
“What are you implying?”
“You know how to subtract and add, right? Do the math. Camille was already on her way.”
“You bastard,” I grit out.
He just laughs at me.
“Call me whatever you want, but everything’s finally coming together. And very shortly,” he says, raising his gun to my head, “You and your good for nothing cowboy husband will both be joining your father.”
“Leave Joel out of this, he has nothing to do with it,” I shout.
“Of course he does, you stupid girl! I tried to stop you, but since you went ahead and married him, he has to go too or he’ll inherit everything.”
“So, that incident with Joel’s truck...”
“Yes, that was most irritating. Neither of you were supposed to come out of it alive, yet somehow you did. A convenient ‘accident’ would’ve been my preferred method of disposing of you both, since it would’ve saved me all this bother and expense.”
“What exactly is it that you want, Oscar?” I demand.