“Hey trouble,” I said as she threw her arms around my neck and hugged me tightly. “What are you doing here?”
“School finished up early for the holidays,” she replied, releasing me from her embrace.
“The holidays?” I asked, drawing a complete blank for a split second. Then it hit me. “Wow, I totally forgot next week was Thanksgiving.”
“You are working too hard, Olly,” she said, linking her arm with mine as we walked side by side towards the kitchen.
“Oliver,” my mom said with a warm smile as I walked through the kitchen door. “I wasn’t expecting to see you this evening.”
“I thought I would drop by and say hi,” I said walking over and giving her a kiss on the cheek. “Plus, I was hoping to talk to Dad too.”
“Is everything alright, Son?” My dad asked as he sat his paper down and removed his glasses.
“I need to run something by you,” I said, giving him a look to tell him, what I had to say was really not good.
“We can go into the den,” my dad said, standing up. He gave my mom a look, and I knew he was making sure that was okay with her.
“Dinner will be about twenty minutes,” she said with a smile and he gave her one in return before he walked around and kissed her.
I loved the relationship my parents had. They loved each other more than anything in this world, and they weren’t afraid to let people see that.
I followed my dad into the den, pulling the door closed behind us. I turned and watched as he walked behind the small bar he had built in the corner.
“You want a beer?” He asked as he turned and looked at me.
“No thanks,” I shook my head. “I need to keep a clear head.”
“Okay,” he said watching me closely. “So, what’s happened?”
“You remember my friend that works in for the Behavioural Unit in Quantico?” I asked as I slipped on to a stool in front of the bar.
“Greg Sennett, isn’t it?” He asked.
“Yeah,” I replied. I told him about my conversation with Greg and about what he told me to look for. I also told him about Seth, the scratch marks and about my concerns. He listened to every word I had to say before he offered me his opinion.
“So, you really think Seth could be the guy you’re looking for?” he asked me before taking a long slip from his bottle of beer.
“I really hope I am wrong,” I sighed. “Seth and I have been friends since the academy. I just can’t believe he would do these things to any girl.”
“Oliver, the one thing you and I both know is, the friends and loved ones of people like this guy always say they had no idea,” Dad said as he walked around the bar. “How many times have we heard a wife, or a friend say that we were wrong, that the person they knew would never do the things we were accusing them of?”
“I know,” I sighed. He was right. Just because I didn’t want to believe it, didn’t mean I wasn’t on the right track. “I showed Scarlet a photo of Seth. To see if it would jog her memory…”
“Oliver, you know you can’t influence her…” Dad quickly interrupted me.
“I didn’t,” I replied, sighing. “We ended up talking about Clea.”
“Oh,” he said, and I knew he didn’t know what to say.
“I told her everything,” I shrugged, and I thought of her face when she asked me to leave. “I told her the truth and it hurt her.”
“I’m sorry, Son,” Dad said but before he could say another word, Mom called out that dinner was ready.
Dad and I walked into the kitchen, where Mom and Caitlin were serving dinner.
I sat in the seat next to my little sister and listened to her talk non-stop about college and her friends, and much to Dad’s horror, boys.
It felt good to be home in the house with my family. For five minutes, life felt good, normal even. I watched Caitlin as she talked endlessly and I thought about the girls, most were not that much older than Caitlin. I didn’t even want to think about Caitlin going through what all those girls had before they died.
I thought of Scarlet. I regretted how I left things that evening with her. I wished I had handled things differently, but more than that, I wish I hadn’t walked away.
I looked up and my dad gave me a knowing smile then looked at the clock. It was almost ten o’clock. I knew it was his way of telling me to go and sort things with Scarlet before it was too late.
Ten minutes later I was saying my goodbyes before I quickly headed to my car. I needed to talk to Scarlet. I couldn’t leave things as they were.
On the drive to the hospital, I ran through what I was going to say to Scarlet over and over again, each time it felt less and less like I was doing the right thing.
When I reached the hospital, I hurried inside before I changed my mind about going back to talk to her.
As I walked down the corridor, I was surprised to see Dean standing outside Scarlet’s room, talking to the officer posted outside.
“Oliver,” he said when he turned and saw me walking towards them. I could see he was surprised to see me back there.
“Dean, what are you doing here?” I asked, pinning him with a glare.
“I lost my phone,” he replied, holding up his phone “I just came back to see if I dropped it here. I got lucky.”
“Well then,” I said looking from him to the officer on duty. “You have no further reason to be here. This is not a place for socializing.”
I didn’t wait for a response, instead, I turned to the door and took a deep breath before I slowly opened it.
As I stepped inside, I knew this could go either way.
Chapter 13
Scarlet
I heard a soft knock on the door, so I pulled myself up in the bed and quickly wiped the tears from my face. Since Oliver left, I was completely inconsolable.
I knew he meant what he said, and I wanted to believe him so much, but his fiancée was killed, shot in the head just like I was. How could I not feel there was a connection to how he feels about me?
That thought broke my heart. I loved him, I hadn’t realised how much until he walked out the door, but I needed to know he loved me for me and not because of this horrible thing that happened in his life. I would rather let him go now, than let it go further and have my heart broken in the end.
Even though that’s what my head was telling me, my heart was screaming something completely different. Either way, I needed to pull myself together.
I took a deep breath and took a second before I replied to whoever was at the door.
“Come in,” I said, not really wanting to have to talk to anyone right at that moment, but I knew being here in the hospital, that wasn’t going to happen. I really couldn’t wait to get the hell out of this place. It was a couple of moments before the door slowly opened and Oliver walked in.
The moment I saw him, the tears began again, and I quickly covered my face with my hands. I didn’t want him to see me cry.
“Please don’t cry,” Oliver said as he threw his jacket on the chair in the corner and hurried towards the bed. Sitting down next to me, he pulled my hands away from my face. He then took hold of my chin and tilted my face up, so I was looking into his eyes. He smiled as he softly brushed the tears from my face. “I am sorry I made you cry. That was the last thing I wanted to do.”
I stared up into his face, and that’s when I knew, it didn’t matter what he said. I loved him. In a few short weeks, he had become my world.
He smiled at me again, as he slipped his arms around me and drew me into his embrace.
“I’m sorry for telling you to leave,” I whispered, as I buried my face into his chest. “I have no one in this world but you, and I am so scared I am going to lose you. I am just so afraid of having my heart broken.”
“I am going nowhere,” he whispered as he held me closer and kissed the top of my head. “I love you, Scarlet.”
“I love you too,” I replied lifting my head and looking up at him. He gave me a big smile before he c
laimed my lips with his. I could feel the want in his kiss. He pushed me back on the bed and kissed me harder as his body covered mine. My whole body reacted to his. I wanted him. I wanted him so much, it scared me. Breathlessly, he pulled his lips from mine and looked down into my eyes.
“Do you have any idea how much I want you right now?” he gasped as if he was reading my mind.
“Then take me,” I whispered as my heart hammered rapidly in my chest.
“Oh God, I want to,” he groaned as he pressed his mouth to my neck and softly kissed it. “There is nothing I want more.”
He moved and I could feel his erection against my groin and my heart raced faster. Instinctively I tilted my hips up to him, and as my body rubbed against his, he groaned loudly before his mouth claimed mine.
His hand slowly slid up my side and cupped my breast. I could barely breathe as he softly teased my erect nipple with the pad of his thumb.
“Scarlet,” he breathed against my breath. “You are beautiful.”
I closed my eyes and allowed my body to go to wherever he was taking me. His hand slowly slipped back down my side, until it reached the waistband of my pyjamas.
Hooking his fingers inside the waistband, he hesitated. He let out a sharp, frustrated breath then leaned up and looked down into my face.
“This is not how I want our first time to be,” he said, looking straight into my eyes. “I want it to be special.”
“It is special,” I smiled as I reached up and tenderly touched his face. “It’s you and me. When or where doesn’t matter to me. As long as we are together, that’s all the special I need.”
He stared at me for a moment and I held my breath. Suddenly, he climbed up off the bed and walked to the door. My heart almost stopped, for a moment I thought he was leaving again, but instead he locked the door and closed the blind. He turned back to me and smiled before he returned to the bed. He kicked off his shoes before he climbed up on to the bed next to me. Slowly he leaned down and pressed his lips to mine, His kiss was slow, soft and just perfect.
Feeling brave, I reached for the top button on his shirt and unfastened it, then the next one and the next. Once it was open, I pushed it from his shoulders. His body was as perfect as I imagined it would be.
Sliding my hands up his broad, muscled chest and over his broad shoulders, I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him closer to me.
Suddenly, Oliver could hold back no more. His kiss deepened and I could feel his cock straining against me. He abruptly pulled his mouth from mine, then he kneeled up on the bed and reached for the waistband of my pyjamas once more. Holding my eyes with his, he slid the bottoms down my legs and discarded them on the floor as I pulled the top half over my head.
His eyes swept over my naked body, as I held my breath. His eyes then met mine once again and there was a look I had never seen before. It was almost like his eyes were on fire and burning into my soul.
He reached for the buttons of his trousers and with one sharp tug, he pulled them open. As he pushed down his trousers and freed his, impressively rock-hard cock, I thought that my heart was going to burst free from my chest.
I was both scared and excited. I had no memory of ever having sex before. For all I knew, this could have been my first time. In a way it was because there was nothing in my head to compare it to. Nothing in my head to prepare me for what was about to happen.
Oliver made short work of his trousers. He slipped between my legs and covered me with his body once again.
“Are you sure you want this?” He asked looking deep into my eyes.
“Yes,” was all I could say, as my head was spinning with so many thoughts. The main one being, I am going to make love to Oliver.
I could feel the smooth head of his cock brush against me and it sent a shiver running through my whole body. With one thrust, he filled me completely, as I cried out in pleasure. He stilled as his eyes searched mine. I just smiled at him as I leaned up and kissed him softly.
That was all he needed. He slipped his arms around me and held me so close, we had almost become one. He slowly moved his hips, each thrust pushing deeper and deeper into me.
“Oliver,” I moaned as he kissed along my jawline. Each kiss was soft and sent shivers through my body. When he finally reached my mouth. I laced my fingers through his hair and pulled him too me. He kissed me harder and with so much passion, he almost consumed me.
His breathing became ragged as he pushed into me over and over again, never once missing a beat, or even slowing down. I closed my eyes as I could feel a tingle in the pit of my stomach. The feeling was one of sheer pleasure, one I never wanted to end.
For this moment in time, nothing else in the world mattered except Oliver and me.
His speed increased as my breathing became short and shallow. I wrapped my legs around him and drew him in deeper to me. The result was mind blowing.
“Oh God,” I cried, trying my best not to scream out, I was acutely aware there was still an officer posted outside the door.
I could feel Oliver tremble and I knew he was coming undone. That sent a thrill through my body and pushed me over the edge. I buried my face in Oliver’s neck to try muffle the sound of my cries of pleasure as my orgasm thundered through my body.
“Oh fuck, Scarlet. YES,” Oliver growled, and he came hard inside me. His whole body shook before he collapsed on to me, both of our bodies hot and sweating as we gasped for breath.
Finally, Oliver lifted his head and looked down at me, giving me a shy smile.
“I can’t believe we just did that,” I giggled nervously.
“I knew you were going to be trouble,” he laughed and kissed me quickly. “You have trouble written all over you.”
“Well if that’s how you feel,” I replied pretending to pout. Oliver laughed but grabbed my hands and pinned them above my head. He leaned down and kissed me hard. Then I could feel him smile against my lips.
“What you don’t know is,” he whispered, his lips barely an inch from mine. “I am trouble too, and now that I have had you, there is no going back. You belong to me, Scarlet. Never forget that.”
“I won’t,” I breathed before he claimed my mouth once again.
I woke with a start because of a sudden noise, but I had no idea where the noise came from. Suddenly, I remembered where we were, and that Oliver and I were naked. I looked at the clock on the wall and when I saw it was almost seven, I sprung up in the bed.
I shook Oliver, but before he woke, there was a knock on the door, and I realised that’s what had woken me. This time it woke Oliver too.
“Olly,” a voice whispered through the door. Oliver jumped up and grabbed his clothes from the floor and began to get dressed in double time. He then picked my pyjamas up from the floor and threw them to me. He hurried towards the door, hopping as he tried to get his shoes on. When he reached the door, he looked back at me to make sure I was at least covered. I just laughed, most likely from nerves.
“Cute,” he said and rolled his eyes before he turned back to the door. He unlocked it and opened it just a crack.
“Hi, Matt,” he said, and I figured he was talking to the officer on duty.
“Hey, Olly,” the officer said, and I giggled again when I could hear the nerves in his voice. “I just thought you would want to know; they are beginning their rounds.”
“Thanks for the heads up, Matt,” Oliver replied before he closed the door. He turned back to face me and leaned against the door with a big grin on his face. I covered my mouth with my hand but couldn’t hold back the laughter.
“You are no help,” he laughed as he hurried back towards me and kissed me.
“You have to go now, don’t you?” I said and I was surprised that the thought of him leaving me, now made me feel sad.
“I wish I didn’t have to,” he replied as he sat on the edge of my bed and took my hand. “But I will be back later, and I will also arrange to have tomorrow off. I want to make sure you get settled in a
t my folks. Also, I was kind of hoping you would go on a date with me.”
“A date?” I repeated, surprised by his request.
“Oh, nothing too crazy,” he laughed. “It will be your first day out of hospital so I will hold off on the bungee jumping. I just want to spend some time alone with you. No interruptions.”
“I see,” I replied, and I knew I was blushing.
“Oh, I don’t mean…” Oliver said quickly as it was his turn to go a little red. “I just want to spend time with you, away from all of this. I want to do normal things.”
“I would love that,” I said giving him a genuine smile.
“You know you are so beautiful when you smile,” he said as he reached up and softly brushed my face. “I plan on making you smile every day for the rest of your life.”
He kissed me once more before he stood up and slipped on his jacket.
“I will see you later,” he said before he hurried out the door, and the whirlwind that is Oliver Caldwell was gone.
I lay back in the bed and smiled. For the first time since all this began, the fact that I didn’t have a past no longer mattered. I had a future, and it was called Oliver.
Chapter 14
Oliver
When I arrived at the hospital, I found Scarlet sitting on the chair in her room staring out the window. She was dressed in the jeans and baby pink top Caitlin helped me pick out for her. She had her hair down, and I knew she was hiding the small dressing that was at the side of her head.
Today she was finally leaving hospital. I knew she was nervous, but seeing her sitting there lost in her thoughts, I suddenly realised just how terrified she was. I guess I understood why she was so nervous. She had been living in a bubble for the last few weeks, with limited contact with anyone from the outside world.
“Hi there,” I said as upbeat as I could. “Are you ready to break out of this place?”
“Doctor Bellamy is just sorting the paperwork and my follow up appointments,” she said and smiled at me, but the sadness in her eyes worried me.
I kneeled down in front of her and took her hands.
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