by Kade, Teagan
Challenge accepted.
He moves surprisingly fast for someone so age-challenged. By the time I’ve opened my mouth to try for a comeback, he’s already on me, fists flying.
Lucky for me, I’m not as slow as you might expect either.
It’s an easy mistake to make, looking at me. A fair assumption to assume that anyone burdened with so much mass must be slow. Years of fighting fires have trained that out of me, though.
I step under his first swing, taking the opportunity to close the gap between us. His second catches me in the ribs, but I hardly feel it with the adrenaline crashing through me.
To his credit, he manages to backpedal in time to save him from a truly devastating left hook.
But he’s not fast enough to miss the right.
My fist crashes into his temple at full speed, my knuckles meeting his skull with an audible crack. He sways under the pressure but rights himself enough to try for another blow of his own.
I block it easily, sending another right hook towards his exposed head. Someone should really teach this guy about the merits of a good defense.
He can’t keep his feet this time. He falls with a crash, his back meeting Beth’s floor before he can so much as try to stabilize. I don’t give him a second to recover. I’m on him before he even knows he’s fallen.
Still with some fight left, he wriggles like a hooked fish, his legs kicking spasmodically, arms flying up in a too-late attempt to block.
It does nothing to slow me, to calm me. My fury has reached a violent peak, and only the sensation of my fists repeatedly crashing into him seems to sate it.
Fucking piece of shit.
He’s unconscious in a matter of moments, limbs falling limply to his side. Some part of me, some primal, animal core, urges me to continue, to beat him until he can no longer breathe, yet alone touch Beth.
It’s only the thought of her name that stays my hand.
Beth.
I whirl around, finding her where I left her, her swollen eyes looking at me with a mix of shock and gratitude. I’m beside her in a flash, kneeling on the scorched carpet where her feet now rest.
“Fuck, are you okay?”
She nods, tears rolling down her reddened face. I can’t tell if they’re from fear or the sting of gasoline, but the sight of them gets me furious all over again.
“Are you sure? Did he hurt you?”
She struggles for a moment before answering, her lips trembling around the words.
“No,” she finally answers. “I’m okay, really. Everything’s just a bit blurry.”
I reach up to her. She closes her eyes as I run my thumbs gently across them.
“It’ll be okay. We’ll get you loose and then rinse them, okay?”
She nods again, turning slightly to show me her binds. My fingers make quick work of the rudimentary knots, freeing her in a moment.
She groans as she pulls her arms back around, looking confusedly at the rope burns at her wrists.
“My arm’s a little sore, but I don’t think it’s dislocated.”
“Good. We’ll call Officer Brady and have him bring an ambulance to get you checked out, just in case.”
“Officer Brady?” I can hear the tinge of fear in her voice.
“It’s going be okay, Beth.” I try to sound confident even though doubt stirs in my head.
I stand and walk back to Travis’ unconscious form, rope still clenched in my hand. “Can you get to the bathroom?”
“Yeah, it’s already getting better.”
“Okay, why don’t you go rinse your eyes? I’m going tie this fucker up in case he comes to.”
“Okay.”
She stands shakily. I move to go to her, but she raises a hand to still me.
“Really, I’m okay.”
Her steps become surer as she crosses to me, not stopping until she hovers before Travis.
Then, as she tends to do, she surprises me entirely.
“Motherfucker!” she spits, pulling back her foot to place a solid kick into his ribs. “Fucking asshole!” Another, harder kick.
I can’t help but smile as she turns towards the hall, muttering as she goes on about “rotten-toothed pricks.”
Beth has emerged from the bathroom by the time Officer Brady arrives, still looking a puffy around the eyes but claiming her vision is fine.
I take her word for it, though my now-familiar worry for her won’t quite seem to recede.
Brady crosses the threshold with a look of shock, his eyes quickly roving from the scorched carpet to the unconscious man currently hogtied across from it.
“Someone want to tell me what the hell is going on here? ’Cause this is one hell of a weird swingers’ party.”
I see the look of utter defeat that crosses Beth’s face, the resigned slump of her shoulders. She opens her mouth to speak, but I beat her to the punch.
“Yes. Thank you for coming, Officer. I can tell you exactly what happened.”
He gestures for me to continue as Beth turns a stunned expression my way.
“I was just leaving Beth’s earlier when I noticed this guy approaching. Given what she’s been through lately, I was immediately suspicious. After debating in my car a minute, I decided to look through the window, if nothing else to assure myself everything was alright.”
“And?”
“And it wasn’t. This asshole had her bound and was dumping gas in the living room, obviously crazed.” I point to the burnt carpet for emphasis. “I broke through the door and managed to stop the fire before it spread. We got into an altercation, and I knocked him out. After freeing Beth, I figured it’d be safest to hog-tie him up until you got here. The guy’s clearly out of his mind.”
Brady runs a hand through his hair, sighing, before crossing to the damaged rug. He kneels a long moment beside it, hand reaching out to dab at the gas before raising it to his nose.
Given his silence, I choose to continue. “Now, I’m not a police officer, but judging from what just happened, I’d say it’s pretty clear we’ve found the asshole who started the first fire.”
The silence is deafening, broken only by a nearly inaudible gasp from Beth’s direction.
I don’t turn, instead keeping my eyes solely focused on the cop I’m currently lying to.
I know I’ve shocked her. Hell, I’ve just shocked myself. But what can I say? When you know, you know. It might have taken me a minute and a poorly timed storm-out, but I now know Beth is worth it. I won’t let be ripped away from me, not now.
Beth is worth it. The risk, the lie—she’s worth everything.
I need her. Only her.
A sigh. “This is un-God-damn-believable,” Officer Brady finally says, standing to face me. My heart jumps into my throat, strangling me from within. “Thank God you decided to check. This could have ended badly, very badly.”
It’s all I can do not to collapse in relief. “Yes, absolutely, thank God.”
“I’m glad you’re all right, miss,” he says, turning to Beth. “And so far as the first fire is concerned, I’ll need to look over a few things, but I’m inclined to agree with the word of your friend here. This seems pretty straightforward.”
“Yes,” she chokes out, “absolutely.”
He gives her a small smile. “I’m sorry we’ve had to put you through so much; just following protocol. But rest assured we’ll get this animal off the streets and far away from anyone, especially yourself.”
“Thank you,” she answers him, but her eyes pull towards me in a way that speaks volumes.
A groan sounds from the floor. We all turn to see Travis begin to squirm.
“Ugh,” he mutters, his words muffled by the carpet, “whutdafuck happened?”
“I should get him out of here,” Officer Brady says, exhaling. “I’ll need the two of you to come down to the station tomorrow for official statements. For tonight, try and get some rest, yeah?”
“We will, Officer,” Beth says. “Thank you again.”
We stand side by side, silently watching as a still bound Travis is led from the house, his slurred speech hinting strongly at a concussion. The thought gives me great pleasure.
“Rot in hell,” Beth says, the door closing behind him before we’re blissfully, wonderfully alone.
“My place?” I offer, sniffing at the air.
“After you,” she smiles.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
ELISABETH
Travis—This may have been my first time meeting the guy, but something tells me it’s also going to be my last. He’ll be going away for a long time. I can’t imagine the police take too kindly to attempted murder these days.
I can’t believe this ordeal is finally over. I mean, I’ll still have to make a statement, sure, but as for the insurance fraud charge? I’m pretty sure I’m in the clear given Derek was there to save the day and corroborate my story. The word of a distinguished firefighter will be enough.
Not only am I pretty much guaranteed to be off the hook for the original fire, but I think this will be a good opportunity for my mother and I to finally get closer.
Maybe.
Her tricking me into committing insurance fraud isn’t exactly the best precursor to a healthy mother-daughter relationship, but hey, everyone’s got to start somewhere, right?
Right now, though, all I can focus on is the fact that I’m safe and that Derek is the sole reason things are working out. It pains me to think of him putting himself in that position because of my actions, but I likely wouldn’t be standing here if it weren’t for him.
I turn to face him. As soon as my gaze meets his, I nearly collapse from all the stress, the events of these past few days finally catching up to me.
“Woah, woah!”
Before I know it I’m in Derek’s arms as he catches me from falling. I allow myself to relax into his touch.
“I’m so sorry, Derek,” I murmur against him, my hands gripping his shirt, “and thank you. I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t—”
He cuts me off with a kiss, tilting my chin up with his finger as his lips capture mine. I sigh into his kiss. My hands find their way into his hair, deepening our embrace as I tug and rake my hands through it.
He breaks our kiss and presses his forehead to mine with a grin on his face. His hand is on my cheek, his thumb playfully tugging at my bottom lip.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper again. “This is all my fault. You could get into so much trouble. I don’t want that.”
“I don’t either, Beth,” he croons with a smile, “but you don’t have to worry about that. It’s over. Travis is going to go down for this shit, and my girl’s safe and sound.”
Oh, God. Who knew that two simple words could send someone into a reeling, breathless mess? But there it is.
My girl.
“Your girl, huh?” I tease, prodding him in the chest.
He rolls his eyes and kisses me again. I feel the sting of tears in my eyes, my emotions and adrenaline still running high from what happened with Travis earlier.
“Look, Derek, I know what kind of position it put you in to be there for me tonight. I just want you to know I really appreciate it. I really, really appreciate you.”
I bring my hands to his chest and lay my head against him, the piney scent of his cologne filling my senses as I sigh and relax.
“I know we haven’t known each other very long, but I feel connected to you, you know? Maybe it’s the fire, maybe it’s all this bullshit with Travis, maybe it’s all of it, but I do know I couldn’t have gotten through it without you. Wouldn’t want to, either.”
I take a breath and will the tears away when I feel their familiar sting, an apology spilling from my lips as quickly as I can without letting the flood gates open in full.
“And I’m sorry I lied to you. It wasn’t fair to put you out like that. I should have just been honest. It’s not right.”
“Hey, hey,” he soothes, tucking a stray piece of hair behind my ear, “I’m glad I was here, and don’t worry about it. You were doing what you thought you had to do to help your family. You did what you thought was right. I’m sorry I stormed out of here in a huff. I needed a minute to process things.”
He looks down at me, gazing into my eyes, as if he’s trying to hold back from saying something he shouldn’t. When he finally speaks again, his voice is low and barely above a whisper, almost like he thinks the words will have more connotations the louder they are.
“I needed to process what happened with the fire… and what happened with you. You make me feel different, Beth.”
Different? What does that even mean? Is that a good thing?
Though, if it’s anything like the way he makes me feel, different should be listed under ‘fan-fucking-tastic’ in the dictionary.
He must sense my apprehension and my nerves, because he smiles and kisses me again, this time softer. It’s as if he’s trying to find the words and our kiss is what’s going to reveal them.
“Yeah, different. Good different. I dunno. I haven’t felt like this about a woman before. Usually I get bored after a few dates. I lose interest and find some reason to blow them off. But with you, it’s… it’s, like I said, different. I want to know everything about you and be there for you when you need it, regardless of what the situation is. Thick or thin.”
I smile up at him gratefully.
He smirks, his voice low and teasing as it tickles my ear. “Though, maybe next time, insurance fraud and setting your house on fire shouldn’t be your first solution to a problem, yeah?”
I laugh and nod along with him, smiling with a playful roll of my eyes.
Even in the worst of situations, he makes me feel like nothing can go wrong, like everything is just as it should be. I’ve been through hell these past few days, and through all of that I’ve had one person be a constant: Derek.
Sure, we may not know each other that well, and sure, maybe the circumstances in which we met weren’t ideal, but I don’t care. I want him, he wants me, and that’s all that matters.
Maybe it’s the leftover adrenaline. Maybe it’s because I’m looking up at him just like I did the first time I met him as he carried me out of here, or maybe it’s a bit of both, but all I can think of right now is how much I want him.
No, how much I need him.
I kiss him then, harder this time and more insistent. At first, I’m unsure when his lips touch mine, as he seems apprehensive, but all of that disappears with a groan. His hands run down my arms onto my back.
I lean into his touch and sigh into his kiss, my hands fumbling and unfastening the buttons on the front of his shirt.
He chuckles and I note the rumble of his voice against my lips. His hands are over mine, ripping the shirt open and tossing what’s left onto the floor.
I look up at him. He shrugs with a smirk.
“I didn’t really like that shirt anyway.”
I giggle, and he smiles, practically lighting up the whole room. His lips are back on mine, and his hand is up my shirt, the other grabbing my ass and pulling me into him.
Suddenly, he stops and pulls away, lips parted and pupils blown wide as he looks down at me with hungry, urgent eyes.
For a split second I’m afraid I’ve said or done something to make him change his mind, the sudden lack of touch between us feeling so unfamiliar. Maybe he has second thoughts and he only said what he said in the heat of the moment. Maybe now he realizes how silly it all sounds.
I open my mouth to ask him what’s wrong, but my words come out as a soft squeak when he picks me up. Instinctively, I wrap my legs around his waist.
With my arms around his neck for support, I lean in and kiss him again, smirking against his lips as I feel him press me up against the wall, rolling his hips into mine.
His cock presses out through his jeans, hard and ready. I moan softly, reaching down between us to stroke him through the coarse fabric.
Before I know it, he’s pulled me from the
wall and carrying me to the bed.
He sets me down on the bed and sighs, pressing his weight onto me with another roll of his hips, this time more demanding, harder. His hands are in my hair, his lips are exploring my neck, sucking and biting at my pulse point, soothing it with soft kisses as he explores further down.
I raise my arms over my head. He catches my cue, pulling my shirt off and unlatching my bra with feverish want. I giggle and laugh when he smirks at me, but giggles soon turn to sighs and moans, his lips taking my nipple into his mouth and sucking, swirling his tongue around pebbled flesh.
“Please,” I whisper, my hands raking along his back. “Please, Derek. I want you.”
He responds with a growl against my skin, sitting up long enough to slide my pants down over my hips and toss them aside, doing the same with his own.
Then his lips are on mine again, and although there’s passion, it’s slower. He takes his time, hands caressing my face and neck, trailing his fingertips along my side until they reach my hips, wrapping one of my legs around him.
I lit up inside, dim, dormant parts of my body showing life for the first time in years.
He slips a hand between us. A moan escapes my lips as he circles my clit. I push myself against him, desperate for his touch.
“Fuck,” I hiss. “Please, Derek.”
He stills for a moment and looks me in the eye, the head of his cock teasing my wetness, rubbing circles around the sensitive bundle of nerves that’s sending fireworks of pleasure through me.
I whimper and whine, rolling my hips and raking my hands down the skin of his bare back in a desperate plea for him to stop teasing. He takes the hint.
In one deep thrust, he’s inside of me. A loose moan escapes my lips, the euphoric feeling of being absolutely and completely filled almost sending me over the edge.
He curses, his teeth finding my shoulder, softly gnawing and grating against my skin as he slowly pulls out and thrusts back in again with a groan. He picks up the pace and his lips find my neck again, surely leaving marks I’ll look at fondly in the mirror tomorrow.
I don’t care. I want him to mark me, to make me his own.
Fuck, he feels good. I open my mouth to tell him, but all that comes out is a broken whimper, the overwhelming sensation of his thick cock thrusting in and out rendering me utterly and completely speechless.