“You have such a beautiful body,” he says reverently. “Such lovely flawless skin to mark.”
His fingers trail down to my wrists and he pauses, a finger gently running around above the bindings. “What’s this?” he asks, running a finger over the spot where Cory’s cuffs bruised my skin.
I groan again and attempt to talk around the gag in my mouth but everything I say comes up muffled. Angrily he yanks the gag off. I gasp and suck in deep breaths. Though I could breathe through my nose, it’s such a relief to be able to draw in big gulps of air.
“What the fuck is this?” he asks again, jabbing at the sore spot on my wrist and making me wince.
“What’s what?”
“Don’t try to play innocent with me, Allyson. Answer the damn question.”
“You want to know how I got bruises on my wrists?” I say, my voice incredulous. “Why the fuck do you care?”
“I care because I know I didn’t fucking cause them,” he spits out viciously. “If someone else has been putting their hands on you, I want to know about it.”
“You don’t have any right to know anything about me anymore, Drew.”
He raises a hand and I cringe, closing my eyes reflexively.
He’s going to hit me.
Seconds pass and nothing happens. When I look up he’s not poised above me like I feared but rubbing his hand through his hair like he’s frustrated. Then suddenly, he springs off the bed and paces across the room shooting angry glances at me. I tug at my hands and try to get some more flex so I can turn onto my side but there’s no give and my wrists pinch painfully. I gasp, clenching my hands into fists and rotating my wrists to try and loosen the ties. Drew watches all this and comes back to sit on the edge of the bed again. He rubs my arm, gently touches the bruises on my wrists and the binds as though he feels bad for the pain I’m in. I wonder if I might be getting through to him by showing him my discomfort.
“Tell me how you got them.”
He’s trying to sound reasonable but I know what he’s doing. His eyes glint and a muscle in his jaw twitches, all tells that he’s holding down his anger. All my hopes that I might have a chance at convincing him to let me go fall away.
I laugh; an alien sound under the circumstances. Fear has given way to anger and anger to something else. Raging righteousness. I feel unhinged, desperate and reckless.
He wants to know and it’s the one thing that I know will drive him nuts with jealousy and maybe even push him far enough for him to make a mistake. I know this might be the most stupid thing I have ever done but I’m too far gone to think clearly.
“Cory, the cop,” I say, smiling wickedly. “You saw him at the party. He cuffed me, arms behind my back so I was totally helpless. He had the power to do whatever he wanted to me and he fucked me better than you ever have. I don’t belong to you, Drew. I never did. You were just a way to pass the time.”
I pause waiting for Drew to take it all in, watching his reaction warily.
His face contorts and turns red. In his lap his fist clenches. He’s angry but not like I expected. When he turns from me I realize that he doesn’t know how to react. I talked back and he didn’t expect it. He expected me to be submissive and scared, but as I look at the pathetic piece of shit that has me strapped to this bed against my will, I’m raging.
“You think I was saving myself for you? You think that what we did together was just for you? You’re fucking deluded, Drew. You’re sick.”
“You’re sick,” he shouts. “You’re the sick piece of shit who told me to tie you up and torment you. You’re the one who likes to play twisted sex games.” He takes a deep breath, and leans over me, face changing from angry to calm. Calm scares me more than anger. His eyes glint in the low light of the room. His lips form a thin line across his face. He grabs my wrists, holding them tight enough to make the bruises throb with fresh pain.
“I’m going to show you who owns you, bitch.”
He releases my wrists and caresses my arm, moving slowly, pausing at the swell of my breast to brush the side. Then he continues caressing me with the tip of a finger, lingering over my ass, caressing down my legs. I want to pull away from his touch but the ropes around my feet are still as tight as ever.
“I know what you want,” he whispers. “You want to be taken against your will, just the way we pretended before.”
I struggle against the bonds again, more desperate than ever to break free. I have no doubts that Drew will follow through with his threat and all I can think about is getting out of there. Away from him.
I scream at the top of my lungs. “Help me. Somebody help me!” I don’t know if there is anyone out there who might hear my cries but I don’t care. I shout again. “HELP, I need HELP.” I struggle, bucking on the bed as much as I can. I scream again and jerk and buck some more as Drew reaches over me to cover my mouth with his hand.
I hear a bang below us. Drew’s head jerks in the direction of the door. He’s not expecting the sound, that is pretty obvious. My initial fear that he had an accomplice in another part of the cabin dissipates and we both freeze, me out of sheer hopefulness that I might be freed and Drew, it seems, in total panic. There’s another bang and the sound of heavy shoes on the wooden stairs. I’m hoping so badly that it’s someone coming to rescue me.
Drew springs off the bed, swearing under his breath. He stands facing the door, frozen as though he doesn’t know what to do next. He looks to the window, as though contemplating if he could escape that way. But he doesn’t make a move to either exit, just starts to undo my bindings.
“Tell them that you were here because you wanted to be,” he says. “I promise I’ll remove the photos from the websites I posted them on.”
I say nothing as he hurriedly unties my feet and then my wrists. His fingers fumble with the knots as he glances at the door then back to my wrists. I’ve pulled them so tight with all my struggling that he can’t get them off. He swears under his breath and I can’t help it. I laugh. He’s so fucking pathetic. What kind of man kidnaps a woman, then begs her to get him off the hook? He’s deluded!
Finally, he manages to get the rope around my wrists undone. “I promise to try to undo the damage I’ve done.”
I pull back my hand and slap him hard across the face. It’s a reflex reaction and the hardest that I have ever hit anything in my life. I scramble to my feet, rushing toward the door to flee the torrent of anger I know that slap will bring.
Before I can reach the door he grabs me from behind and pulls me back against his body. He’s breathing hard.
The door bursts open and suddenly Cory is standing there with another officer. I’ve never been so happy to see anyone. The relief and fear mingle together and then I’m crying and crying, gasping for them to help me.
Drew pulls me backward, hand at my throat and I watch Cory’s face, his cold hard expression, waiting for his reaction.
They stare at each other, as Cory takes another step into the room, his gun drawn and pointing directly at us.
I grip Drew’s hand, trying to pull it from my where it’s restricting my breathing.
“Let her go and we can all go home in one piece,” Cory says so calmly I wonder how on earth he manages it. How can someone keep their head in a situation like this? If our roles were reversed, I’d be shouting the air blue.
He levels the gun at Drew’s head and I wince, hating that I’m in the line of fire. I want to close my eyes and shut it all out. I want to be anywhere in the world but where I am right now. I want to fight my way out of Drew’s clutches and throw myself into Cory’s arms.
Drew tries to maneuver me in front of him in such a way that Cory won’t have a clear shot. Not without hitting me.
More tense seconds pass and I sob again, not able to control myself. The fear is too intensely coiled inside me. I’ve been terrified for too many hours.
I don’t know what makes Drew decide that things have gone far enough, but I feel his surrender.
&nb
sp; “Don’t shoot,” he says. “I’ll let her go, but don’t shoot. I’m giving myself up.”
He releases me and immediately raises his hands in the air. I rush forward towards Cory who grabs me with his free arm and pushes me behind his large frame. I cower, my whole body shivering while Cory keeps his gun trained on Drew. The other officer walks forward, pulling out his handcuffs. Once the cuffs are on he nods at Cory.
“I’ll take him.”
Another officer enters the room and grabs Drew around the upper arm leading him out.
Officer Jameson starts calling it in. Cory puts his arm around me and guides me out through the door. I glance around at the place I’d been held captive, not really taking in any of what is happening to me. It’s a holiday cabin. I remember Drew mentioning his parents had a holiday getaway that we might be able to use someday.
Looks like he kept his promise.
I feel woozy. Shocked. My knees go to jelly, but just as I think I’m going to fall, Cory scoops me up and holds me against him.
I feel like I’m in a dream; as though I’m looking through someone else’s eyes or walking in a stranger’s shoes. The edges of my vision are misty like the faded edges of an old photograph. I only realize that I’m crying when I feel the wetness on Cory’s shirt against my face.
“It’s okay,” he croons, lifting me higher so that I’m closer to him. “Everything’s going to be okay. I’ve got you, baby. I’ve got you.”
There’s a hitch in his voice that makes me hold onto him even tighter. Despite his calm exterior, I feel his concern. The beat of his heart against my ear is frantic and he’s holding onto me too tightly, but I don’t care that his fingers are digging into my flesh. All I want is to stay in his arms, knowing that he’ll keep me safe.
We get to the bottom of the stairs and I can see Drew being led away. Officer Jameson and Cory wait for a squad car that I can see heading up the hill toward the front of the property. Jameson opens the rear door and Cory sets me inside, pausing to look me over.
“Are you hurt anywhere?” he asks, taking hold of my hand and looking at my wrists. His hand seems to tremble as he takes in the damage to my skin. My feet are still bare and the welts around my ankles have bled in streaks.
“Fuck,” Cory says. “Get the first aid kit.” Jameson heads to the trunk while Cory takes my face in his hands and strokes away my tears. “You’re safe,” he says firmly. I don’t register it at first. His eyes are almost alight they are burning so fiercely. “Did you hear me?”
I nod watching his eyes searching my face, looking for more injuries maybe or a sign that I’m hearing him. That I’m lucid.
“You’re safe, okay?” he says again. “He’s gone, Allyson. He won’t be able to hurt you again.”
This time, I nod because I’ve heard him.
He came for me.
He realized I was missing and he found me.
I reach out to cup his face and whisper “Thank you.”
And that’s all I remember from that day.
21
CORY
I’m standing at the front of the church beside my dad waiting for the wedding ceremony to start. I haven’t seen Allyson for two months, basically since the day we found her in that remote cabin.
It’s not that I haven’t wanted to see her. She took a break from college and left the dorm, moving back in with her mom. I stopped by once to check in on her but she’d been sleeping and I made excuses to her mom and left.
I keep up with how she is through my dad. She hasn’t called me and I’ve taken that as a sign that she doesn’t want to be in contact with me. I can’t blame her. Everything was so fucked up and I knew she’d need time to feel better, work through everything that happened. She didn’t need me there reminding her of what she’d gone through.
I glance around the church, my focus settling on the small congregation of family and friends gathered in the front pews to watch my dad get hitched again. I smile at my aunt Joyce and uncle Bob. They’ve gone all out, with Bob’s tie matching Joyce’s dress. They smile back and Bob gives us a thumbs up.
My dad shifts from foot to foot. I study his face, his body language. “Are you nervous? Getting cold feet?”
He laughs. “Not at all. What about you?”
Surprised, I raise an eyebrow at him. “What do you mean?”
He laughs again and leans over conspiratorially. “You think I haven’t noticed you moping around the house since what happened to Allyson? You like her?”
The man is a cop. I shouldn’t be surprised he’s put two and two together and made four. I’ve felt off since saving Allyson. Off because I haven’t seen her. I have no first-hand knowledge about how she’s dealing with everything. I have the bits and pieces my father has told me but I’d been careful not to be obvious. At least I thought I’d been careful.
I shake my head and sigh but I know my father isn’t buying my denial. “How is she?”
“She’s better,” he says. “You’ll see for yourself in a moment.”
My father turns his attention to the back of the church waiting for his bride-to-be. I do the same and moments later Allyson steps through the doors of the church and proceeds down the aisle. The relief I feel to see her looking so amazing after all she’s been through is overwhelming. She looks gorgeous and I can’t stop staring at her as she walks down the aisle in short, punctuating steps. Her glossy brown hair tumbles in waves over her shoulders, brushing the satiny material of the pink dress she’s wearing. Two bridesmaids follow behind Allyson. Her mother follows behind the women, all the ladies beaming smiles at the guests on each side. But I only have eyes for Allyson.
As the women get closer to the front of the church, Allyson beams. She’s staring right at me, her lips curled into the most genuine smile I’ve ever seen on her face. There’s a light in her eyes that was missing the last time I saw her. She’s put on weight too, making her luscious curves more pronounced than they had been. She looks good; healthy. My heart soars with hope. Maybe she’s really getting better.
I find myself wanting to feel those curves against me but I push the thought aside. I’m at my father’s wedding for crying out loud. It’s not really the place to be having lustful thoughts about the maid of honor. We’re in church for heaven’s sake, but with the slight sway of her hips as she walks my mouth goes dry.
I smile back at her and hope I’ll get a chance later to hold her close and find out how she’s been doing these past few months.
The bridal party finally reaches the front of the church and Allyson’s mom takes her place beside my dad. Allyson, the bridesmaids, the groomsmen and I stand off to the side, Allyson taking her mom’s bouquet of flowers from her.
I barely hear the pastor performing the ceremony. I’m vaguely aware of him talking. Then my dad and Allyson’s mom are talking, saying their vows I suppose, but I’m not totally sure because I’m totally focused on Allyson. I’m trying to work out why she looks so different and I think it must be because she looks really, genuinely happy. Not the faking she’d been doing before for everyone else’s benefit. The smile never leaves her face as she watches her mother get married to my dad.
“And now the rings,” the pastor says.
My dad clears his throat and nudges me. I look around to see everyone in the church staring. Allyson’s eyes are wide, questioning. My dad is frowning.
“The ring, right.”
I pull it out and hand it to him. He slips it on his bride’s finger and I block everything out again. I watch Allyson give her mother a ring. The pastor says something else. My dad leans in and kisses his new bride and the church erupts with applause.
My eyes are still on Allyson. She claps awkwardly because she’s still holding her mother’s bouquet. Then she hands over the flowers, kisses her mom on the cheek, and the newly married couple make their way down the aisle to the back of the church.
Now that the ceremony is done everyone will be heading over to the reception. I drove to the c
hurch with my dad but he’ll be traveling with his new bride. I turn to Allyson and offer my arm. She grins and puts her arm around mine. We make our way to the back of the church and out the doors to the waiting limo. The rest of the bridal party follows behind us and makes their way to a limo parked in front of the one I’ll share with Allyson.
Though I’m happy there are two cars, I’m nervous about being alone with her. The limo driver opens the door, making sure we’re both safely inside before closing us in. The huge space doesn’t feel big enough with the awkwardness hanging in the air. I’m not sure what to say to her. Though she smiled at me in the church, her gaze is downcast now, as she takes a sudden interest in her shoes.
I glance out the window, not knowing how to approach the situation at all. The beaming smile she’d worn for the ceremony is gone. Her lips are pursed together as if she’s deep in thought.
“Sorry I haven’t been in touch,” she whispers.
I lean forward, focusing my gaze on her beautiful face. The sparkle in her eyes lingers just under the surface and I suspect it will be a while before it comes back completely.
“That’s okay. I understand.”
And I do understand. But I’m still a little hurt. I could have helped her through it all.
“Thanks for saying that. I hoped you would understand. I needed some time to get myself back.”
“I get it. You don’t have to explain.”
“Thank you for coming for me,” she says. Her eyes sweep over my face and her lips turn up in the barest hint of a smile.
“I will always come for you,” I say and then blush at how cheesy and superhero-ish that sounds. “I mean, I’ll always be there for you, Allyson, no matter how big or small the problem.”
She blushes and tucks a stray lock of hair behind her ear. “I’m sorry that I lied to you. Seduced you. I understand why you feel uncomfortable around me. I’m happy to be friends. We are stepbrother and stepsister now, after all. It’ll be awkward if we can’t be friendly at family functions.”
ARRESTED: A Stepbrother Cop Romance Page 14