Linked

by Barbara Huffert

  Guy actually chuckled. “Knock it off, Barry. Sorry, Carla, I was thinking of what Tori would say if she’d heard that. See, she’s decided that guys have some sort of pact to divert blame from the guy who loves the girl who’s furious with whatever stupid thing he’s just done by making it sound like it’s their doing instead of his. Barry, thanks and you do have a very tiny point but let’s face it, I screwed up beyond belief and probably just lost the only woman I’ll ever love. I’m sorry I wrecked things for you too but I’ll do what I can to fix that.”

  “Good, and while you’re at it you can fix the rest too,” Carla commanded. “You damn well better fix this and fast or Aunt Diana’s going to kill all of us, literally. Personally, I don’t want that to happen and I doubt you do either. I’d much rather live and hear whatever tidbit Tori decides to share next so get your ass out there and do it.”

  Barry started to laugh. “You heard her, Guy. My wife wants to watch Tori make you squirm again so get a move on.”

  Guy stopped with his hand on the doorknob. “I can fix this, right? If I follow my heart and keep showing Tori how much I really do love her, I will be able to fix this.”

  “Sure you will.” Barry let go of Carla to hug his distraught friend. “I have faith in you even if you don’t at the moment.”

  “Thanks, Barry.” Guy looked defeated. “I’ll call you tomorrow.”

  Guy let Tori fume until they got to her cottage. Before she had a chance to move away from his truck, he stopped her by kneeling in front of her.

  “I screwed up royally, Tori. It was wrong to force you to let me declare my feelings in front of people before you’ve accepted them yourself. Yes, everything I said was God’s honest truth and yes, Barry and Carla are the very best of friends but none of that matters. I hurt you by being unable to control my need to share how much I love you and nothing I do now can erase that. I don’t know how to tell you how sorry I am. And I have no idea how to make this up to you but I will do anything if you’ll just give me the chance to try.”

  Tori closed her eyes and sighed deeply. “Yeah. Okay. Fine. Whatever. It’s snowing. I’m cold. You’re going to be frozen to the spot if you don’t get up and then what good will you do me? You’re forgiven. Can we please go inside now?”

  Guy stood and held out his hand. Tori glanced at it and shot him a look of total disbelief as she pushed past him on her way to the house. Once she hung up her coat, she left him standing in the living room without saying another word.

  * * * * *

  Hours later, Tori fought to get out of the dream that she was trapped in. She had been telling herself to scream so she would wake up and put an end to it for the night but she couldn’t. She knew she was tangled in the covers in her own bed and not really tied up as it seemed but she still couldn’t wake up. For the first time in all the years she’d been having these nightmares, she couldn’t do anything to break free of the hold it had on her. She knew she was seeing something that had happened earlier and she reminded herself that she could stop it by moving but nothing made any difference. No matter how often she told herself to wake up she couldn’t make her body cooperate and she remained stuck in a dream that made absolutely no sense.

  “Wake up, Tori,” Guy’s voice finally penetrated her mind. “Come on, tiger, time for you to wake up now. Tori! Can you hear me? Please try, Tori. You have to listen to me. I need you to wake up and open your eyes and talk to me.” She felt his hand on her shoulders, squeezing gently.

  Tori’s mind latched on to Guy’s voice and used it to pull herself from whatever was holding her. Suddenly, she was in his arms, gasping for breath as she whimpered with no memory of finally being able to move.

  “Guy,” she panted. “Oh my God, Guy.”

  “I’m here, Tori. It’s okay now. I’m here and I’m not going to let you go.”

  Tori let him rock her in his arms until she felt less shaky. She noticed that he sounded honestly frightened and wondered why.

  “Hey.” Tori loosened the death grip she had on his arms. “I think I’m awake now.”

  Guy held her away from him to look at her. “Christ, you had me scared.”

  “Why? What happened?”

  “I heard you thrashing around so I came over to wait for you to scream but you didn’t. You were battling the covers and whimpering but neither made you wake up tonight.”

  “How long?”

  “Forty-five minutes that I’m sure of. More if I didn’t hear you right away.”

  “It wouldn’t stop. I knew I was dreaming and I told myself to wake up. I tried to move or scream so I would but I couldn’t. It just kept seeing the same thing, over and over again. I thought I was trapped and didn’t know how to get you to save me.”

  “Damn, I shouldn’t have waited so long. I should have woken you sooner. I should have known.”

  “How? How, Guy? Tell me how you would ever know that tonight’s dream was completely different from all the others and that I needed you to wake me up because I couldn’t scream like I do every other night.”

  “You’re right. I couldn’t have known but it doesn’t stop me from thinking I should have anyway. You needed me and I should have known that.”

  “Okay, if that’s true then I should have been able to reach for you somehow. I should have been able to tell you I needed you in the first place. If you should be able to sense me then I should be able to make you aware that something’s changed so you need to act differently. It works both ways. I know it does but I don’t know how I know. I can’t give you a reason, I just know it.”

  “I believe you,” Guy stated seriously. “And, for the same unknown reason, I know you’re right. Too bad we don’t also know how we make it work but there are a lot of other things about why this is happening to you that I don’t understand. I wish more than anything I had all the answers for you but I just don’t. Hell, I’d settle for having one of them at the moment.”

  Tori pulled away and kneeled in front of him. Her expression was fierce as she clamped onto his shoulders. “Listen to me, Guy. Listen very carefully. You are doing so much for me already. More than I ever expected from anyone. More than I ever thought was possible, so do not—I repeat, do not—start thinking you should be doing even more or you’ll be letting me down. I know it’s hard for an Alpha male, protector of the meek like you to accept that you don’t always get to have all the answers and that what you’re already doing is exactly what’s needed but this time you’re going to have to do just that. You have to because right now I need you to be the strong man who lets me hold on to him when I need to remind myself that I trust him to keep me safe. If you have doubts then I’ll lose it completely and panic in ways no one has thought of yet.”

  Guy yanked her firmly to his chest and surrounded her with his arms. “You are absolutely, positively, without question the most perfect woman in the world. Thank you.”

  “I think what you meant to say was completely self-centered and incredibly selfish but you’re welcome anyway. I’m sorry I lost it earlier. I shouldn’t have been such a bitch to Barry and Carla just because I was overwhelmed when you said all that stuff in front of them.”

  “And I’m sorry I put us all in that position in the first place. I want to tell the whole world how much I love you and I forget that you’re not ready for that yet. Don’t take my stupidity out on them, Tor, please. They didn’t have any idea of what I was going to say. Hell, I didn’t plan to get into it like that either.”

  “No? So this was another one of those things I make you do just by being around me?”

  “You could say that.”

  “I just did. But what about you? Are you going to say that and make me responsible for the disaster tonight?”

  “Yes and no.” He tightened his arms. “Yes, being with you obliterates any trace of common sense I ever thought I had so I said what I was thinking without considering the ramifications. No, you are not in any way responsible for my failure to maintain even the slighte
st bit of control when I’m with you. As I said before, you are perfect and I’m an out-of-control fool who gets so stupid around you that I can’t remember any of the manners my mother taught me and can’t stop digging the hole I’m in even deeper. I know I shouldn’t ask this but, since you already know I’m an idiotic jerk of an asshole, I will anyway. Can you help me get out of here before I’m in too deep I never see daylight again?”

  “Shut up, Guy. I need overbearing Alpha now, remember? Not humble but charming little boy trying to grovel his way back into my good graces.”

  “All right. I’ll put the groveling on hold again and demand that you tell me about your dream instead. Alpha enough for you?”

  Tori nodded. “It wasn’t even scary.”

  “Tell me,” Guy urged when she didn’t continue.

  “Can we get under the covers first?” Tori asked when she realized she was cold.

  Guy quickly straightened the bed and stretched out on his back with Tori snugly against him. “Better?”

  “Mm, thanks.” She took a deep breath. “It was so weird. It was like I was walking with them. I knew they were there but I couldn’t see them. And I couldn’t hear anything. Not the things that should have been there. We were in a grocery store and there were lots of other people but there wasn’t any sound. Sort of like watching a muted TV. People’s lips were moving like they were talking but I couldn’t hear what they were saying.

  “At first, it seemed like we were just wandering up and down the aisles. They put a few things in the cart but I think it was so they would fit in. They would stop and pick things up, like they were reading the labels or trying to choose between brands but again I don’t think we were really shopping. We did that for a while but then we started following one woman and her little girl. Most of the time we were behind them and all I could see were their backs but a few times, we went past them. I tried to look at their faces but they wouldn’t let me. They didn’t touch me or anything but I know they stopped me somehow. At the checkout we got in the line next to theirs so we’d be leaving at the same time. We let them get ahead of us at the door and followed them into the parking lot but not all the way to their car. I tried to see it but they made me go the other way so I couldn’t. It stopped then so I didn’t see their car either.

  “Then we were back at the beginning and it was the same, like someone rewound a movie and started watching it all over again. I tried telling myself to wake up, that I was dreaming the third time we started following the woman. I could hear myself and I knew what I was saying and I understood why I had to move but I couldn’t do anything differently from the first two times. I couldn’t change anything no matter how hard I tried or how loudly I told myself that I had to. There wasn’t anything scary about any of it but I was terrified. I told myself to warn the woman that something awful would happen if she didn’t get her daughter out of there right away but I couldn’t make myself talk to her.”

  “I think you just learned how they choose their victims,” Guy stated when Tori was calmer. “I don’t understand why you didn’t hear anything when they must listen until they hear something that draws them to a particular individual.”

  “I hate this. I can’t stand being there but not being able to do a damn thing to help that poor little girl. That’s who they’re after, just her, not her mom. How can I know that when I didn’t hear them talking about it?”

  “No clue.” He sounded as frustrated as Tori did. “Try to concentrate on the store for a minute. Did you notice any of those displays they have sometimes that feature regional specialties? When they picked things up, did you see a store brand?”

  Tori stared blankly for a long time. “No.” She frowned, shaking her head. “One of their arms was always in the way of anything that wasn’t brand name. They didn’t let me see anything that could identify where we were, not even the bags or the checkout people. They made me go along and watch them pick out that girl and intentionally kept me from being able to figure out anything else. That’s why there wasn’t any sound. So I wouldn’t hear anything that might tell me where we were. I must be missing something but I just can’t see it.”

  “Let it go, Tor. Don’t torture yourself over something that isn’t there. Think about what you told me. They only let you see what they wanted you to see. You can replay it in your mind forever but you won’t find anything because there isn’t anything for you to find. I’m right. You know I’m right.”

  “But I don’t want you to be.”

  “Neither do I but that doesn’t change things.”

  “No.” Tori wiggled until she was propped on Guy’s chest, facing him. “Why are they doing this when they said they were coming for me? Why didn’t they just come here? If they want me like they said they do, why are they still messing around instead of finding me so they can do what they want with me?”

  “Again, I have no idea. I don’t understand either, not that it helps. I almost wish they would show up so I could make it clear that they will never have you because you’re mine and no one takes what’s mine.”

  Tori blinked at him. “Wow. You sound really scary when you’re being possessive.”

  “Good because I felt scary when I said that. I would be very scary if they were here now. But none of it would be directed at you. No matter how scary I may seem, Tori, none of it will ever be meant for you.”

  “I know that, Guy. Jeez, would you give me some credit here? I admit I’m not at all knowledgeable when it comes to the way people work but even I know I don’t need to be afraid of you. Well, not physically afraid anyway. Alpha males don’t turn on the person they’re in the middle of protecting unless they discover that person was lying about needing to be protected in the first place. If they discover they were being set up, yeah, then they might attack whoever they were guarding but not otherwise. Well, um, they might but not how we’re talking about it.”

  “Oh, really? Tell me, if you would be so kind, when might it be the appropriate time for an Alpha male to attack his charge?”

  Tori realized the corner she backed herself into and groaned. “Any chance you’ll let me off the hook?”

  “Nope.” Guy slid a hand under her top and caressed her back as he grinned at her.

  “Didn’t think so. Not when I did this to myself like that.”

  “Sure did,” Guy agreed.

  “No use stalling. Okay. Fine. I’ll say it even though we both know you already know the answer to that one. The only appropriate time that I can think of for an Alpha male to attack someone he’s protecting without them doing something to make him feel threatened is when they’re having sex. There. Are you satisfied?”

  His laugh made her last words clear. Guy shifted his hips. “What do you think?”

  “Well, duh. Set myself up again.” She rolled her eyes. “No way am I answering that one so stop looking at me like that.”

  “Aw, tiger. Don’t spoil the fun when it’s just starting to get interesting.”

  “Interesting, hmm?” Tori asked softly, blushing as she gazed at him with her eyes wide open.

  “Why do I feel like things just shifted and I no longer know where they’re headed?”

  “Perhaps there isn’t enough blood left in your head for you to think with.”

  “Oh Christ. Am I in trouble, Tori?”

  “Maybe. Maybe not. You’ll have to wait and see. If you do what I’m about to suggest, you’ll be just fine. If you don’t…” She raised her eyebrows and let the rest of her sentence hang.

  “Ah. I think it’s time for your suggestion now since I hate not knowing where I stand like this.”

  “I really should make you wait, after the way you tortured me earlier but since I know it was unintentional I won’t.”

  “Thank you,” Guy stated.

  “You’re welcome.” She held his eyes. “Here’s what I was thinking but maybe I should clarify something first.”

  “Whatever is best for you.”

  “So nice of you to ag
ree. I’ve been wondering why we haven’t had sex since the night I handcuffed you. I’m pretty certain it isn’t because you don’t want to…”

  “I do.”

  “I know but that means there must be some other reason. I was confused because you haven’t stopped pawing me or slobbering on me but I think I figured it out. I think we haven’t had sex because you’re waiting for me to let you know I want to.”

  “That’s correct. I may paw and slobber, as you put it but I’m not about to force myself on you even if you do keep me perpetually hard.”

  “Do you think I’m a tease?”

  “Hell no! Christ, Tori. You toss out a suggestive comment now and then when I manage to get you to flirt with me but you haven’t done anything that would classify you as a tease.”

  “What about what I said about the handcuffs tonight?”

  “You didn’t say anything that I didn’t deserve or challenge you into saying. Your spicy response to my loaded statement was great. I love that you felt comfortable enough at that particular moment to say it. Of course it would have been better if I had teased you in return but we already know that.”

  “You really don’t mind?”

  “No. Not at all. I would have mentioned it to Barry eventually and I know he would have told Carla. They are close friends and I’m not embarrassed that they know I let you cuff me and have your way with me. I’m not ashamed to admit that I enjoy being intimate with you. I wasn’t planning on sharing details but I had no intention of hiding our physical relationship from my best friend.”

  “Okay.”

  “Okay?”

  “Yeah. Okay. As in I’m not ashamed of us either.”

  “Thank God.”

  “In fact, I’m so not ashamed that I’m about to suggest it’s time for more. Hear that, Guy? I’m letting you know that I want to have sex again. With you. Now. Interested?”

  “Hell yes!” Guy exclaimed.

  For a minute, neither moved. They watched each other with smiles on their faces, both holding their breath in anticipation. The laughter that followed was simultaneous.