Chapter 11 Adam
ADAM
I heard a loud bang and sat straight up in bed, clutching Rex to my chest. My heart was racing, and I couldn't figure out if I'd actually heard something or just dreamed it.
My hand instinctively reached for Ellis, but he wasn’t there. His side of the bed didn’t look rumpled at all.
"Daddy?" A sense of dread filled my tummy as I heard raised voices coming from outside. One of them was Ellis, and he sounded pissed.
Then the other person spoke and I gasped in fear. It was Derek.
I scrambled out of bed and ran to the window to see what was going on. When I looked outside, my blood turned to ice.
Ellis was standing in the yard holding his flamethrower, and it was pointed at Derek, who had a gun aimed at Ellis.
A gun.
My worst possible nightmares were all coming true in the back yard. I couldn't move or even suck in a full breath. All I could do was stare as my tormentor threatened to take away everything I loved.
"He's mine!" Derek was shouting at Ellis and waving his gun around. "Adam is mine!"
The fuck I am!
Before I could even grab my phone to call the police, Derek's arm swung out toward Ellis and he fired. I almost passed out when I thought Ellis was hurt, but then he squeezed the trigger on his flamethrower, and a jet of fire shot across the yard. It hit Derek's arm and forced him to drop the gun.
Derek started screaming with his shirt on fire as he dropped to the ground.
I didn't think about what I was doing. I just ran out of the bedroom until I was pushing through the back door. The cool dirt was almost soothing under my bare feet as I sprinted across the grass.
"Adam, no!" Ellis turned toward me and raised his arms to shield me. "It's not safe out here!"
Derek was rolling on the ground, trying to put out the fire, and his gun was lying a few feet away in the grass, so I knew he couldn’t hurt me or Ellis.
Despite all he’d done to torment us, I grabbed the garden hose from the side of the house and turned it on full blast. Water immediately sprayed everywhere as I aimed it at Derek.
The flames went out with a hiss, but the damage had been done. Derek lay gasping for air, with red patches covering most of his exposed skin.
I dropped the hose and picked up the gun with trembling hands. It was heavier than I expected, but I pointed it at Derek anyway. "Don't you dare fucking move."
He looked up at me through tears of pain. "Adam, please. I just wanted to talk to you."
"You brought a gun." I was shaking so hard I could barely hold the weapon steady, but I found the strength when I needed to keep my Daddy safe too. "You were gonna kill him."
Derek tried to sit up but winced in pain and collapsed back. "I wasn't. I swear. I just needed you to listen."
"You shot at him!" Tears were streaming down my face as my adrenaline started to drain. "You could have killed Ellis!"
"Adam." Ellis's voice was soft and gentle as he moved to my side. "Baby, the police are already on their way. Gimme the gun."
I couldn't stop staring at the man who'd made my life hell for so long. The man who tried to take away the only person who ever truly loved me.
"Adam, look at me." Ellis's hand touched my arm to get my focused attention. "Let me take it."
I didn’t move more than a simple nod to let him take the gun from my hands. My whole body was shaking, and I felt slightly dizzy. “Are you okay?”
“I am.” Ellis put the gun far away from Derek, then pulled me against his chest. "And you're okay too. We're both okay."
"You could have died." Once my guard dropped and I let the first tear fall, I couldn't stop the rest. "He could have killed you."
"But he didn't." Ellis held me tight and spoke softly in my ear. "I'm right here, baby. I'm safe."
The sirens got loud a moment before red and blue lights flooded the yard. Three police cars pulled up in front of the house, and a team of officers poured into the backyard with their guns drawn. "Hands where we can see them!"
Derek raised his good arm, whimpering in pain. "I need an ambulance."
"It's pulling in now." One of the officers kneeled beside Derek and put handcuffs on his uninjured arm and connected it to his belt. "You're under arrest for trespassing, assault with a deadly weapon, and attempted murder."
An ambulance pulled up, followed by a fire truck. Paramedics rushed over to Derek and examined his burns. The firefighters checked the yard to make sure there weren't any lingering hot spots from the flamethrower.
Everything felt surreal. Like I was watching it happen to someone else. The only part that felt a million percent real was watching Derek get loaded onto a stretcher.
"Is he going to jail?" I asked the officer who was getting into the car with Derek.
"After he's treated for his injuries, yes." She made notes on a pad. "With the charges he's facing, he won't be getting out anytime soon."
Relief hit me so hard my knees buckled, but Ellis caught me. He always caught me.
"Let's sit down," he murmured, guiding me to the back steps.
We sat together while the officers collected evidence and took our statements. By the time they were done, the ambulance had already left with Derek, and I could barely keep my eyes open.
It was over. It was really over.
"I was so scared," I finally whispered to Ellis when we were alone.
"Me too." He pulled me closer and kissed the side of my head. "When I saw him with that gun, all I could think about was keeping him away from you."
"You could have been killed."
"So could you." He turned to me with glassy eyes. "If he'd gotten into the house while I was gone…"
I shuddered at the thought. "But he didn't."
"No. He didn't." Ellis kissed my forehead and squeezed me even tighter. "And he never will because he’s going to prison. You’re finally free of him."
I'd been living in fear for so long that I didn't know how to exist without it. "What do we do now?"
"We get cleaned up and go to sleep." He stood up and pulled me to my feet. "Tomorrow, we start fresh."
We went straight to the shower to wash off all the dirt and smoke embedded in our skin and clothes. And as always, Ellis took care of me like I was his most precious treasure.
My whole body felt warm and fuzzy under his loving touch. "I love you."
"I love you too." He kissed my mouth with slow and intentional movements. "So much."
"Thank you for protecting me tonight. And all the other times."
"Always." He reached for my cock and started to stroke it. "I'll always protect you."
“I know.” But our nightmare was finally over, so he didn’t need to protect me anymore. Now he could just take care of me like a Daddy, and I could love him like his boy.