Chapter 14 Dreamcatcher #4
Tommy grabbed the back of Nicki’s head and pushed his mouth into hers, kissing her passionately.
Nicki winced and tried to press away from him but his grip only tightened and he kissed her harder.
Nicki moaned angrily but Tommy only squeezed into her mouth, holding his assault longer.
The slap across his face helped release her from his grip.
He pulled back.
She slapped him across the face again with all her might, this time his face turned to the side.
Nicki breathed quickly, eyes wide and stunned.
Tommy remained with his face to the side, trying to mask the indulgence of kissing her mixed with the confirmation of her loyalty.
He tried his best to let the prickly sting on his cheek suppress his smile as he too caught his breath.
“How could you?!” Nicki shouted. “How dare you?!” she shouted louder.
She hit him now, and pushed his chest.
Her hair nearly cut him in the face from her hurricane twirl and she sprinted away from him toward the house that kept seeming too far away to ever reach.
The wolf caught her in an instant and pulled her back into him.
“I’m sorry, Nicki, I’m sorry, I just needed to be sure.”
“Sure of what, Tommy? Don’t touch me!”
“I’m sorry!” he shouted.
“You know, I was going to leave our conversation between us. Because you are entitled to your feelings. But this? You think I’m not going to tell Tyler about this?”
She twisted out of his grip again.
“No! Wait, Nicki, please!”
Just then, they both heard the same sound that made them stop cold. Car doors. Multiple car doors, slamming shut.
The faint grumbling of men’s voices carried by the changing of the wind.
“Oh my God,” Nicki whispered, putting her hands over her cheeks.
Tommy’s eyes filled with dread. He couldn’t speak, just pierced into Nicki’s worried eyes, staring back into his.
She threw her arms around him and placed a single kiss on his cheek, the last bit of empathy to offer him before his—hopefully only metaphoric—execution.
“Hey!” he whispered, before she turned away again. “No matter what happens, I’m glad you found me.”
She gave him a final look of pity and turned around to sprint around the house toward the front driveway.
Nicki ran and ran until her heart almost gave out from the anticipation of seeing Tyler. Silently praying that he will forgive her with every beat of her bare feet over the dirt.
She wiped her wet face with her hands, likely only making it dirtier.
She threw the lavender twig tangled in her hair away as she turned the corner.
She stopped to catch her breath.
There they were. Six hulking men, in front of two black rented SUVs.
Vinnie and Luca stretching from the long trip.
Jake excitedly getting use out of his Louisiana cowboy hat.
Trevor shooing away several flies and already not vibing with the country air.
Tico doing recon on the house.
And Tyler. Black T-shirt, black pants, and a look on his face that was unreadable.
Nicki ran. Faster than she thought she could. Straight into the Tyler statue displaying a disappointed face.
She jumped onto him with everything she had.
He caught her, wrapping his arms around her waist. His displeased facial expression didn’t match his tight grip. He squeezed her so tight that it almost hurt.
She kissed his cheek more times than she could count.
“My love, I’m so happy you are here!” she exclaimed, tightening her legs around his waist.
He looked up at her, trying with all his might to maintain his straight face.
“I’m so sorry, my darling, I’m sorry. But I found him,” she whispered into his ear.
Tyler released her gently onto the ground. He looked down at her.
“You broke me.”
“That’s not true, because you are unbreakable,” Nicki countered.
Tyler leaned down and kissed her lips, making her moan from missing him so much.
“I’m going to deal with you later. Where is he?” Tyler asked.
“He’s behind the house, in the field. He is terrified you will kill him.”
“That’s because I will,” Tyler said.
“No! No, you won’t! But… you should know…that…”
“What? What did he do now?” Tyler demanded.
“Ummm, he kissed me. Just now, before you came. I slapped him. Twice. Really hard. That’s it.”
Tyler’s mouth hinted at a smile for the first time since his arrival.
He nodded his head.
“Anything else?” he asked.
She shook her head.
Tyler’s hand cupped Nicki’s chin and he leaned down to kiss her again, hard.
“Like I said, I’ll deal with you later.”
Tyler brushed past Nicki and headed toward the back of the house. The sun was lowering, reducing its heat.
Nicki looked back at the crew, hanging out by the trucks.
She waved them over and they greeted her happily.
“Good to see you safe, honey; you gave us quite the scare,” Jake said, putting his arm around her.
“Yeah, Houdini, over here!” Vinnie teased, giving her a high five.
“Yeah, how did you do that, Nick?” Luca asked.
“Guys, come on, one of us had to do it!” Nicki said.
“Yeah, let’s just hope he doesn’t kill him,” Tico offered.
The crew walked around to the back of the house.
The horse looked up at the arrival of the new guests shuffling into the soon-to-be gladiator arena.
Tommy was not there.