Keep Me Safe: A Small Town Suspenseful Love Story (Port James Book 1)

by Alyssa Coolen

  I’m gonna die, I thought to myself as pain coursed through my body. I’m gonna die like this, alone.

  I crawled across the living room floor, every muscle in my body aching from being thrown around like a rag doll. He was behind me, watching me pathetically try to stand with a knife gleaming in one hand.

  “Please,” I said, hauling myself up on my knees and gripping the corner of the table. The pain in my ribs was excruciating and I couldn’t help but cry out. “Please don’t kill me.”

  The man was big and broad as he loomed over me. He was threatening. Invasive. Violating. All I could hear was his harsh breath as he panted with his head cocked to the side, staring at me.

  It was every horror film I ever watched. It was every bump in the night and every jump scare. It was every fear I ever had all rolled into one and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do to stop it.

  So I did the only thing I could do; I screamed. Loud. I screamed until I thought my throat would bleed and my lungs were burning.

  Then, the door opened, light filtered into the apartment and everything went black.

  I sat up straight, drenched in sweat and shaking. I fought to get my bearings as I looked around, clutching a soft black sheet to my naked chest and remembering where I was.

  Packing a bag,

  The drive to Knox’s.

  Knox giving me orgasm after orgasm until I was too tired to think.

  “That damn nightmare,” I said to myself and pulled the sheet off. I was literally soaked in sweat couldn’t stop shaking. Peeking over my shoulder I saw that Knox was still asleep, one arm thrown over his eyes and the other draped across his flat stomach. Sound asleep and nightmare free.

  Bastard.

  Careful as not to wake him, I gently got out of bed and slipped into the bathroom. The glass enclosed shower beckoned me and I spent a few minutes trying to figure out how to use all the different nozzles, feeling like an idiot all the while. I finally figured out how to control the temperature without feeling like my skin was being burned off and let the water cascade over my body, washing away the sweat and that awful nightmare. I ran my fingers through my hair and replayed the events of last night, wondering what it was I had done to allow my stalker to find me.

  I wanted to believe it was the article in the PJT. But it just didn’t make sense. It didn’t make sense that someone who was stalking me in New York would read an article based in a small town a state away. Could Caleb really have just asked me to do the interview because he wanted to get closer to me? It was possible, yes. But if he was my stalker, then why change his MO from what he did in New York?

  None of it made sense and all of it left my head spinning as I soaped up, holding the bottle to my nose and inhaling. It all smelled like Knox. Spicy and clean and mine. He’d been a rock last night, rubbing my back and holding my hand, not letting me out of his sight. Oddly enough, he didn’t make me feel suffocated or stifled. I felt safe with him. Protected. Believing him when he told me he would let anything or anyone hurt me.

  The shower door opened and I jumped, dropping the bottle to the ground as Knox reached out, immediately shaking his head. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to sneak up on you, beautiful.”

  My chin quivered and I shook my head, feeling like I was losing my mind. “I know. I’m sorry… I…” shook my head not knowing what to say.

  He pulled me against him and held me close, rubbing a hand up and down my back as he blocked the spray with his wide shoulders. We stood like that, leaning against each other, my arms wrapped around his waist while he tangled his fingers in my wet hair.

  “Do you think I’m gonna go crazy?” I finally asked.

  “Absolutely not,” he said and reached around me, grabbing a bottle of shampoo and squeezing a generous amount into his palm. He rubbed both hands together and then lathered up my hair, massaging my scalp.

  “I think I love you.”

  “Didn’t we already establish this? I love you, Abbs. So much.”

  I shook my head and then began shampooing his hair, laughing as he had to bend down in order for me to get the top of his head. I spoke as I pushed his hair into a soapy mohawk. “No, I mean really love you. Like the kind of love your mom talks about.”

  “Ah, yes, I really love talking about my mother while I’m naked in a shower with a beautiful woman.”

  I arched a brow. “And just how many beautiful women have been in this shower, hm?”

  He laughed and stepped under the spray, running his hands through his dark hair and slicking it back. I watched as his biceps flexed, water trailing down his washboard stomach and lower. “Only one that matters,” he finally said.

  Good answer. “I mean,” I finally said as we switched spots with me now standing under the spray and rinsing my hair. “I really love you. Your mom told me she thinks everyone has a person and you’re mine. I love you, yeah. I’ve always loved you. But you’re my person, Knox, and it took me a long time to realize it. I… I won’t lose you again and that’s why I’m not going back to New York.”

  His eyes froze on my face. “You’re not going back? Your whole life is in New York, Abby, I’d never ask you to-”

  “My whole life is here. With you. With my family. All of this has made me realize how short life is and it can be taken away at any second. You know what I thought about when I got attacked? I thought about how much life I had left in me and how it was all about to get cut short. I’d never have babies or a family and I-”

  Knox crashed his mouth against mine, his fingers gripping my jaw roughly. He kissed me with an urgency I’d never seen in him, his tongue sliding against mine as he pushed me against the wall. I kissed him back just as desperately, clinging to him like a lifeline. “I love you,” I said against his mouth. “I’m not leaving again.”

  “You want to know a secret?” he whispered against my mouth. “I wasn’t going to let you leave again.”

  I laughed, but the sound was cut short as he kissed me again, holding me flush against his wet body. His hard cock pressed against my stomach and I couldn’t help but reach down, stroking him slowly while he groaned and grunted in response.

  Knox pressed his forehead against mine, looking down as my small hand stroked him languidly from base to tip. “Faster,” he groaned, his hands reaching around me to cup and squeeze my buttocks.

  I obliged, moving my hand just a fraction faster, teasing him the way he always teased me. Giving him what he wanted, but just barely.

  “Oh, that’s the game you want to play?” he asked with an arched brow, his tone dark.

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I responded and stood up on tiptoe to kiss him.

  Knox was too quick, though, and pulled back, grabbing me by the wrist and spinning me around so that I was facing the shower wall. He placed both of my hands on the wall and leaned down, covering my back with his front.

  “Be a good girl, arch your back, and stick that pretty ass out for me.”

  I shivered and obeyed him, leaning forward so that my breasts were pressed against the wall. Knox took a step back, sliding his hands down my back and over my ass, squeezing the flesh before slipping one hand between my legs.

  “Wet for me already?” he asked, his fingers sliding between my lower lips.

  “I’m always wet for you,” I said breathlessly, completely unashamed.

  He growled and slipped two fingers inside me, pushing deep so that I cried out. I barely had time to adjust before he added a third and I tried to straighten up, feeling filled. “Knox!”

  His free hand cracked down hard against my ass and I cried out, clenching around his fingers.

  “Do you like it when I get a little rough with you, Abbs?” he asked and then chuckled. As if he was testing me, he slapped my ass again, this time a bit harder. Once again, I clenched around him and moaned, pressing my ass back. “You do. You fucking love the way I own this pussy don’t you?”

  I nodded my head and pulled myself off his
fingers before pushing back onto them again, fucking his hand like I was desperate for him.

  “Please,” I begged, out of breath and needing more. I needed him to fill me up, needed to know that he was just as urgent as me. “Knox, fuck me. Need you now.”

  He groaned and pulled his hand away, a wanton cry leaving my mouth as he kicked my legs farther apart. I felt him scoop my hair off my shoulders and wrap it around his fist as he kissed and sucked my shoulder, lining himself up at my entrance. I didn’t have time to breath before he was thrusting himself in to the hilt, a hoarse cry leaving my mouth as he tugged my head back, pain pricking my scalp deliciously.

  Knox didn’t give me time to adjust. He didn’t give me a second to breathe.

  He just took me.

  He fucked me.

  He set a breakneck speed, slamming into me again and again. The only sounds were my moans and our skin slapping together. It felt like a race to the finish, Knox grunting every time he went a little deeper, just enough to give me a twinge of pain.

  “Come,” he growled and released my hair, reaching around to grip me by my neck. His fingers squeezed my jaw roughly and he turned my head, our eyes meeting. “Right now, Abby. Come all over my fucking cock, baby. Do it.”

  He was taunting me, daring me to lose control. But I’d already lost it because I was so fucking wrapped up in him, drowning in Hurricane Fitzgerald.

  “Fuck,” I cried out, my mouth falling open as my eyes squeezed shut. My orgasm hit me like a tidal wave, my knees buckling so that Knox was holding me up, thrusting sloppily as he found his own release. He held himself deep as he came inside me and I cried out shakily, overwhelmed and way too sensitive.

  “I love you,” I said with tears in my eyes, delirious. “I love you, I love you, I love you.”

  Knox groaned, giving one final thrust before pulling out and turning me around, cupping my face in his hands. We were both out of breath, our chests heaving as he looked me in the eye and whispered, “I love you more.”

  Chapter 18

  Caleb didn’t have a solid alibi.

  That was all I could think about as I got ready for the anniversary party. Caleb didn’t have a solid alibi and that meant there was a chance he could be my stalker and I was absolutely floored. I’d been so sure that it wasn’t him and, if I was being honest, there was still something in the back of my mind telling me it wasn’t him. I couldn’t put my finger on it but none of it felt right. In all the scenarios where I imagined my stalker being caught I thought I’d have a feeling that it was over.

  I didn’t feel like any of this was over. Not even close.

  I sighed as I stared at myself in Knox’s bathroom mirror. I was getting much too comfortable staying with him, leaving my makeup strewn across the large counter in the bathroom and hanging clothes in his closet. I’d only been there for three days but it was as if I moved in. The routine was easy, waking up next to him felt great and going to sleep next to him every night felt right. It felt like things should always be that way and that was dangerous. We’d only just started a brand new relationship and I didn’t want to do anything to jeopardize that, jeopardize us.

  I smoothed my hands down the red dress I was wearing. Flaring out at my waist and falling to the top of my knee, it was a cross between classic and modern with a gold zipper up the back. My hair was down, straightened and falling just below my shoulders and my makeup was done. I tried not to acknowledge the fact that my hands were shaking and my heart was pounding.

  Knox knocked on the bathroom door and when I didn’t answer him he opened it, poking his head in. “Beautiful, are you- wow,” he opened the door completely and looked me up and down before giving a low whistle. “How am I supposed to let you leave this house unfucked?”

  I gave a small laugh and shook my head. I was tempted to ask him the same thing. My boyfriend - I was still getting used to calling him that - looked downright edible. Black slacks, a dark blue dress shirt and a black tie had him looking like he just stepped out of a GQ ad. His hair, usually messy, was gelled back and he was clean shaven. Knox Fitzgerald, all grown up and all mine.

  “You okay?” he asked and touched my cheek lightly.

  I shrugged my shoulders and smoothed my hands down the front of my dress again. “I’m okay, just nervous about the party.”

  “Liar.”

  “Knox.”

  “Abbs.”

  I huffed and walked out of the bathroom and into the bedroom, slipping into a pair of black pumps that cost way too much money. “I just… I don’t know. Something doesn’t feel right about all of this. I… I don’t think it was Caleb.”

  He nodded his head and listened intently before coming to stand in front of me, rubbing his hands up and down my arms. “Listen, I know you’re freaked out and I know all of this has thrown you for a loop. But let’s just give it some time and see if anything resonates later on, okay?”

  I nodded my head and opened my mouth to speak but he beat me to it. “I know it won’t be that easy, which is why I talked to my buddy Alex. Alex Ruiz, you remember him? Okay, well he’s originally from New York and he has some friends in the city who own a few flower shops. He said he’d try to get in touch with them and see if they’d look around, try to find something that could connect Caleb to all of this.”

  I had to admit that the thought of Knox and Alex trying to give me some peace of mind made me feel better. It meant a lot that he was going to such lengths to make me feel safe and protected, and I prayed that Alex’s friends would find something. But the police had spent months searching and found nothing, so I couldn’t get my hopes up.

  “Thank you,” I said and leaned up to kiss him.

  He slipped a hand around my waist and drifted lower, squeezing my ass. “Let’s get out of here, yeah? Or else I can’t promise I’ll keep my hands to myself.”

  The party was a hit. Half the town was there, the alcohol was flowing and the music was loud. Simone, always the life of the party, had a glass of champagne in her hand as she and Logan danced around the large room, both of them laughing. I looked over at Robbie and saw that his eyes were glued to Simone as she danced around the room in a blue wrap dress.

  “You outdid yourself,” my dad said and sidled up next to me at the bar. I sat with a glass of whiskey in my hand. “Whiskey? You really are an Ashford,” he laughed.

  I laughed, too, but I had a feeling it didn’t sound authentic because his face turned serious. “Abbigail, I want you to know something. I know I haven’t always been present as a father. I haven’t been there the way I should have been, but I will do whatever it takes to protect you. You know that, honey, don’t you?”

  I nodded my head. “I know, dad.”

  “You’re my little girl,” he said and put a hand against his heart before reaching out and pinching my cheek the way Robbie did. “You kids are the best thing that ever happened to me.”

  Tears pricked my eyes and I hopped down from my bar stool and leaned into him. “I love you.”

  “I love you, Abby.”

  “You know what I think?”

  He took a sip of his drink. “What’s that?”

  I pointed towards where my mother was schmoozing the guests. “I think you should ask mom to dance.”

  He threw his head back and laughed before nodding and disappearing into the crowd. I watched as he grabbed his wife of thirty five years and dragged her to the center of the room while she had the audacity to look bashful. I knew my mother, knew she was loving every second of having everyone’s eyes on her. My dad pulled her closer to him and whispered something in her ear as he tucked her against him, the both of them swaying to the music and smiling. Happy and blissed out after surviving thirty five years of marriage.

  “Boys,” I said as I approached my brothers. “I’d say this is a damn success.”

  “I’d have to agree,” Logan nodded,

  “That makes three of us,” Robbie agreed.

  We stood there and surveyed the room. E
veryone seemed to be overflowing with happiness and there was romance in the air. We did good, really good.

  “So, a little birdie told us you’re here to stay,” Logan said and slipped an arm around my shoulders.

  “I’m going to kill Knox,” I growled. “I wanted to tell you guys. I was going to say something at Simone’s place the other night but I was just out of sorts with everything that happened.”

  “Leave him alone,” he admonished. “He’s excited. We all are, kid. We don’t want you going anywhere.”

  “Yeah,” Robbie piped in. “We need you here. You’re the glue. You hold all of us together. Don’t be too hard on Fitz, okay? He’s just happy to have you back.”

  Never in a million years did I think I would hear my brothers come to Knox’s defense, but there we were. They were actually defending the actions of someone they both hated less than a month ago. Then again, I never thought we’d be standing in the middle of the same room with our parents and be civil with each other, but there we were. A family. A united front.

  “You guys are stuck with me,” I laughed and hooked an arm through Robbie’s.

  “Good,” they said at the same time and then Logan leaned down and said quietly, “As for the other shit, you’ll get through it. You wanna know how I know?”

  “How?”

  “You’re an Ashford.”

  I leaned my head on his shoulder and the three of us stood there for a moment and watched our parents as they danced and smiled and laughed. There were no arguments and there was no stress. All love.

  I found Knox a little while later outside with a few friends, laughing with a beer in his hand. Walking up behind him, his buddy gave a low whistle and nodded in my direction. He turned and flashed me a wide grin, reaching out and tucking me under his arm.

  “Boys,” he nodded at his friends. I noticed a few of them. Alex Ruiz and Beckett McAdams - yes, the same Beckett McAdams whose locker I ran into after the janitor closet incident. “I need to go dance with my girl before she gets mad and leaves with someone else.”