Chapter Sixteen
K eira woke early the next morning to a large warm hand sliding up and down her thigh and a mouth licking and sucking the sensitive skin on her neck.
Daniel chuckled. “Are you awake now, Baby?”
Her small hands gripped his shoulders, and she arched her neck to give him access to the sensitive spot she loved for him to touch. “Mmmm.”
Daniel chuckled. “That’s good.” His lips found the spot right behind her ear, licking it and nibbling on her earlobe.
A flood of moisture slid from her. “Oh, God. Daniel, please.”
“Please, what, Baby?”
Keira trembled. “I want you inside me.”
Daniel slid his hand down under her panties and speared his finger through her sopping cunt lips before pushing up into her. “Spread your legs farther apart.”
Keira’s head thrashed on her pillow as his fingers became bolder. “That’s not what I meant. I need you to make love to me,” she pleaded.
Daniel sucked on one of her hard nipples through her t-shirt. He pushed his finger deeper and curved it up to press on the sensitive spot inside her, and she thought she’d fly apart with just that touch.
He smiled when a moan tore out of her. “Are you sure this isn’t what you meant?”
Her nails dug into his shoulders. “Yes, no, I mean ... I don’t know,” she said a little desperately.
Daniel moved down her body, bunching up her t-shirt around her neck and latching onto one of her nipples, dragging a moan from her. She was getting more desperate as the seconds passed. He nudged her legs apart with his shoulder, making a spot for himself.
“Daniel, what are you doing?”
“I’ve wanted to taste you for weeks.” He used his thumbs to part the lips of her sex. He slid his tongue from the bottom of her slit to the top where the little bundle of nerves stood at attention. One finger slid into her before pulling out and pushing two in, all the while lapping up the copious amounts of cream that slid from her body. She felt the desperate need to come and then he bit down on her clit before sucking it into his mouth while his fingers plunged faster into her wet swollen sheath. Her moans grew louder and more frantic, and then she shattered. Her whole body shuddered as one whimper after another poured from her mouth.
She watched as Daniel stood and threw off his underwear before grabbing a condom and rolling it on. He pushed her legs apart to make room for himself before plunging into her in one strong thrust. Intense feelings swept through her, taking her breath, and any thoughts she might have had drifted away as she concentrated on how good they felt together and making it last as long as possible.
After the tide of passion ended, both lay drained, exhausted but satisfied in a tangle of blankets.
Daniel kissed her. “How are you?”
“Good.”
He smiled. “We’d better get going.”
She looked at the clock and nodded. If they didn’t hurry, they would both be late.
An hour later, Keira put her car in “park” and let her eyes scan the area in back of the building, making sure Scott wasn’t loitering around before getting out of the car.
She had thought more than once that Scott might be the one stalking her, and once again, she had no evidence. But she still put him at the top of her list. He was the only person in town she could think of who made her uncomfortable and creeped her out.
Keira sighed. The shop was quiet for the first time that day giving her a chance to catch her breath. The morning had flown past. Between customers, receiving supplies, and trying to stock the shelves, lunchtime arrived before she knew it.
“Vicki, I’m going to get us some lunch from Frankie’s. What do you want?”
“I’ll take the soup and grilled cheese special.”
Keira looked up from her purse. “That does sound good, maybe I’ll try it, too.”
“Hey, Keira, we haven’t had a chance to talk this morning.” Vicki walked toward her. Her brows pinched with concern. “Is something going on that I could help with?”
Keira paused, swiped any emotion from her face, and took a quiet breath before raising her gaze to Vicki’s. “Why would you ask that?”
“Because every day that passes, you look more tired and a little more stressed. Is it the shop?”
“No, it’s not the shop.”
“Daniel?” Vicki asked.
“No, I’m just missing my sister, and it’s always a lot to deal with when you move to a new town.” Keira looked down again, afraid Vicki would see through her lie.
Vicki looked skeptical. “Are you sure that’s it? It even looks like you’ve lost weight. I understand if you don’t want to talk to me, but maybe you should call Layla.”
Keira grabbed her purse and shook her head. “Absolutely not. I’m fine, I promise. But I promise to tell you if I need help, okay?”
Vicki crossed her arms over her chest. “All right, I’ll leave it alone for now.”
“Good. But thank you for worrying about me. It’s nice to know someone cares.” Keira hugged her quickly before walking out the back door.
Keira leaned against the door and breathed a sigh of relief. She wanted so badly to confide in someone, but was afraid they wouldn’t believe her either or think she was being ridiculous.
As she approached her car, her stomach tightened in fear as she caught sight of the piece of paper on the dashboard with, “I’m watching you,” written boldly in black marker. Then she noticed the unlocked car door .
A fine trembling started at her hands and moved slowly down her body until it felt like she might shatter. Three little words caused this wave of bundled panic. The only thought going through her fear-filled body was, he can get to me anywhere.
Terror raced through her. Her house had been locked, and she knew she had locked the car when she got here. How did he get into a locked car? She knew there were ways to unlock cars, but she hadn’t known it would be so easy.
Keira unsteadily put the paper in her purse. A sense of helplessness raced through her before a slight feeling of anger took hold. She was not going to stand by and let this happen. Before she picked up lunch, she was stopping by the police department. She knew they couldn’t do anything, but at least she’d have it all on record. Taking that step calmed something in her, giving her back some of the control her stalker was trying to steal from her.
Keira’s heart stuttered with anxiety as she walked into the lobby of the police department. Her eyes widened at all the activity, smells, and sounds. Everywhere she looked, some kind of drama played out.
“Can I help you?”
Keira jerked at the gravelly voice behind her. Her eyes lifted until she could focus on the man’s face standing next to her. “Y-yes, thank you, I would like to report a stalking?”
The cop looked her over. His cop eyes seemed to see into the heart of people, and it made her uncomfortable.
“Let me get you someone. Go sit over there?”
She released a relieved sigh. One more step forward , she thought. “Thank you.”
Keira walked on shaky legs to a bench against the wall, sitting down carefully because wads of gum and what looked like different kinds of fluid were smeared on the wooden, beat-up benches.
For several minutes, she watched cops, in uniform and not. Some people, she guessed, were in trouble because of the heightened levels of emotion and desperation on their faces.
The building itself felt cold to her. Inside and out. From the white cracked linoleum to the faded grey walls. Everywhere she looked, everything looked rough and worn. She gasped when two uniformed policemen came through the doors, dragging a man screaming obscenities at them. No matter how hard the man struggled, the officers had total control over him. It amazed her that neither man seemed to care.
“Ma’am?”
She was so caught up in the drama she at first didn’t hear the cop standing next to her.
“Ma’am?”
Keira jumped to her feet, startled. “I’m sorry.”
“Someone told me you wanted to report a stalking?”
Keira clutched her purse in her arms. “Yes.”
His eyes narrowed on her. “Follow me, and we’ll see what we can do.”
He took her up a flight of steps and then into a small room with a scarred table and two chairs. The grey stone wall had nothing to give the room any warmth.
The cop grabbed a pad of paper and a pen. He gave her a long look. “Okay, now. What’s your name?”
“Keira Walker.” She didn’t understand when he grunted.
“And who is being stalked?”
“I am.”
He wrote something down.
She stiffened when he looked up at her and then back down to the pad of paper as he scribbled away.
“Tell me why you think you’re being stalked?”
A fine tremble started at her feet and worked its way up. “For a few weeks, I have felt like someone was watching me. Things have been moved in my home or taken. I changed the locks and had new ones put on, and he still got in. Yesterday, I got home and my washer was on. A pair of m-my panties were being washed. A pair that had been in my drawer that morning. When I went into my bedroom, all of my bras and panties were folded neatly on top of my dresser, and the bedspread was folded back. I know it sounds crazy, but it’s happening.” Keira stopped, took a deep breath, and waited for him to say something.
“So, you’re saying that someone is moving your stuff around, folding and washing your panties, and you feel them watching you?”
Her midsection started to painfully twist, and nervous sweat broke out along her body. He was making fun of her. Her throat constricted against the cry that wanted to escape. Keira tightened her grip on her purse and nodded.
“Is there anything else?” he asked.
“Yes.” Keira lifted her chin and kept her gaze on his, pulled the piece of paper from her purse, and slid it across the table to him. “This was in my car, my locked car. I just found it a few minutes ago.”
The cop unfolded the paper, looked at it for a brief minute, and stuck it under the pad of paper. “Anything else?”
Keira looked at him for a long moment. She wanted to cry out at him, but she was afraid if she started crying, it would be hard for her to stop.
The cop leaned back in his chair, his eyes drilled into hers. “I’ll file a police report and look into it, but I have to warn you, if this is all you have, I can’t do anything for you.”
“That’s it? That’s all you’re going to say or do?”
“What exactly do you want me to do?”
Keira’s lips tightened, and she blinked back the tears that burned under her eyelids and swallowed several times. “So, I pretty much wasted our time?”
The cop shrugged. “Does Daniel know you’re here?”
Keira’s eyes widened, and she jerked back as if he’d hit her. “I’m ... sorry. What? How...?”
“Daniel is a friend of mine. He called last night and asked if there were other cases involving stalking or anything related. I guessed about you and him together because your last name was the same as your sister’s, and I had heard you and Daniel were dating.”
“And I’m assuming there aren’t other stalking cases you have right now?” Keira’s heart dropped.
“No, ma’am, there aren’t.” The cop sighed. “Listen, Daniel’s ex-girlfriend did the same thing to him, in fact, she was the last woman in town that complained of being stalked, and it was the only stalking case we’d ever had, so we’re going to be a little skeptical that pretty much the same thing is happening to you. Maybe a bid for attention?”
Keira stared at him, shocked, then stood and held onto the back of the chair to steady herself. “I see. I’m sorry I wasted your time.” She turned and walked to the door.
“Wait. The report will get done. I’ll have a patrol car drive by the shop and your house a few times a day.”
She saw him flinch when she turned back. She knew she looked like she was barely holding herself together.
She shook her head. “Don’t bother. Though I’m wondering what you all will think when he ends up hurting me.” She shrugged and walked off before he could answer her.
She walked out of the building, barely holding it together. She needed to stay calm. She raised her face up to the hot sun and let it warm the inside of her while she took several deep breaths to steady herself.
Keira needed to pick up the food for Vicki and return to the shop. Later, she would have plenty of time to think.
****
C onner dialed his phone . “Daniel?”
“Yeah, what’s up?”
“She was here.”
“Who? Keira?” Daniel asked.
“Yes.”
There was a moment of silence. “What did she say?”
“She told me everything. All the missing and moved stuff, the underwear in the washer, feeling watched, and the note on the car.”
“What note?”
“She found a note a bit ago. All it said was ‘I’m watching you.’”
“Dammit.”
“It was typed. She could have very easily done it herself, Daniel.”
“I don’t believe that.”
“Remember, Tammy did some of the same things.”
Daniel thrust his fingers through his hair. “Dammit, I know. It just goes against everything I know about her. She’s not clingy or highly emotional. But then again, Tammy wasn’t in the beginning either.” He sat back in his office chair. “What are you going to do?”
“I just told her there was no evidence, but I would file a report and have patrol go by the shop and her house. Frankly, that’s all I can do.”
“How was she?”
“Sad and angry. She told me not to bother and walked out.”
“Shit. Does she know I talked to you?”
“Yes, I told her. I hope that was okay?”
“It’s fine. I don’t think it’s going to make a difference either way.”
“Hey, man, I’ve got to go. Call me later if you need me.”
“Yeah. Thanks, Conner.”
Conner sat back in his chair. Dammit. He had the biggest urge to bring her back and protect her. He now understood why Daniel stayed with her. She was one of the most beautiful women he’d ever met. Even shaky and sad, he couldn’t get over how pretty and tiny she was. Right now, she looked so fragile, except when you looked in her eyes, you found a deep kind of despair that only strong people could deal with and still function.
He would do the best he could with what he had and hopefully find something that would help her.