Eleven #3
“Baby, the Reids wanna come over and see you, if that’d be okay.”
“Why don’t I go to the hospital tomorrow and see Caleb, and I’ll see them at the same time?”
“You tired?”
I nodded and went back to looking out the window. When Dane brought me a cup of oolong, I thanked him and put it on my nightstand before I stretched out on my bed. I didn’t remember falling asleep.
It was dark when I woke up, and when I called for Sam, there was no answer.
The kitchen light was on, and that was where I found a note from him.
He had just run out to pick up dinner. He would be right back.
Since he always wrote down the time on his notes, after I checked the display on the microwave, I realized he’d been gone maybe ten minutes.
It explained the fire blazing away in the living room.
I heard a weird ring, and I realized it was my new phone that I was certain Dane had set-up for me, probably before he handed it off.
He was good with all manner of gadgets. I would need to put all my downloads from my computer into it as soon as possible. A generic ringtone was just not me.
“Hello?”
“Jory?” I couldn’t tell if it was a woman or a man.
“Yeah. Who’s this?”
“You’re so lucky, Jory. How many lives do you have?”
“I’m sorry, who is this?” The voice sounded odd, not anyone I knew, but almost distorted.
“Jory, if it wasn’t for you, I’d have what I want.”
I felt the hair stand up on the back of my neck, and a chill raced through my body.
“Jo…ry,” came the singsong voice. “I’m going to kiss you when you’re cold.”
I hung up, threw the phone on the couch, and stared at it. When Sam walked into the apartment minutes later carrying a large brown bag, I was sitting next to the fireplace, my knees pulled up to my chest, my arms wrapped around my legs.
“Hey.” He smiled at me. “You’re up. Are you hungry, ’cause I went and got your… J? You all right?”
I shook my head, pointed at my phone. “Someone called.”
“Who?”
“I think the guy. The guy called.”
“The kidnapper called?” he asked calmly as he walked to the couch and picked up my phone.
I nodded.
“What’d he say?” he asked as he used my phone to call out.
I stared at him a minute, waiting for him to yell.
“J?” he prodded gently.
“Um, he asked me how many lives I had, and he told me that if it wasn’t for me, he’d have everything he wanted. He said he’d kiss me when I was cold.”
He nodded. “Is that it?”
“Yeah.” I shivered even though the heat from the fire was warm on my back.
“Okay.” He sounded very clinical as he started speaking into my phone. “I need a trace on this number right now. See who called it in the last five minutes and then have Hefron or Moore call me back on my phone. Yep. Okay.”
I closed my eyes and put my face down on my knees.
The idea that the guy could just call me, that he knew my number…
it was just so creepy. I heard Sam barking orders at people and fumbling around in the kitchen before he started yelling.
For some reason his anger and volume were comforting, and when I heard him swearing, I didn’t scold him like usual.
I just sat still and silent, listening to the crackling of the fire when the room finally fell silent.
“Hey.”
I lifted my head to look up into his face.
He pointed at the front door. “That’s locked, I’m here, I have a gun, and you know, besides that, I’m a really strong guy.”
I had no idea where this was going.
“So you know when I’m here, you’re safe, right?”
“I know.”
“Good.” He dropped to his knees in front of me. “So come here and kiss me.”
I unwrapped myself and reached for him as he pulled me to my knees in front of him, his hands all over me, tugging my T-shirt off over my head before he eased me down onto the rug in front of the fire.
My sweats were next to go, and the briefs underneath.
I lay there naked, staring up at him as his eyes swept over me.
“Stay,” he said before he got up and left me there, vulnerable and cold, despite the fire. And I wondered if it was a test to see if I’d move. Did I trust what he’d said? Did I trust that there was no reason for even a sliver of fear to touch me as long as he was there?
I heard him and turned to look, and he was back, wrapped up in one of the blankets off the bed.
I smiled wide. “What’re you doing?”
“I’m here for you,” he said softly as he crouched over me, opening the blanket to reveal both the lube from the nightstand and the fact that he was completely naked.
“I see.” I grinned lazily. “Something you want?”
“Yes, baby…there’s something I want.”
“Whatzat?”
He leaned over and gathered me in his arms, and the contact with his warm, sleek skin made me gasp. I wrapped my legs around his waist and moved around under him until I was where I wanted to be.
“I’m thinkin’ maybe there’s somethin’ you want too, J,” he said softly, his hands on me, drawing me into his arms, his lips on my throat.
I arched my back, lifting for him, and begged him to just make everything else disappear. And he was magic, so it did.