The Dominator : a dark mafia romance

Chapter 7

Two Days Later…

Negotiations were done, and if I’d really meant the things I’d agreed to, I’d be feeling like I’d been fucked up the ass right now.

Of course, there had been a lot of back and forth as I had to make it look genuine. Now all was done and I had to wait for Castillo’s men to come back to the table to tell us if Juan Carlos would accept our latest counteroffer, which was so close to his last offer that he couldn’t possibly refuse it.

We’d tried to make our negotiations sound more like a reason to move forward due to mutually beneficial business ventures that could benefit both sides much more than it being about getting my girl back.

I was like a caged predator on the edge and if it weren’t for Dare, I’d have lost my shit by now. He dealt with our translator who dealt with the Castillo translator and they showed me a live feed of her in a kid’s bedroom on the bed looking at the ceiling with a lost and distraught look on her face. The feed was open, so I kept checking it on my phone. I was assured she hadn’t been touched.

I speak a bit of Spanish, enough, but I just don’t have the fucking patience right now, not when I want to rip anyone associated with Castillo apart.

There were ten of us in the room and countless outside all with guns and I want blood. I want it to fucking rain blood on this shithole. And as soon as I get her out of here, there will be a storm coming. Why the hell were we even involved in this business down here? Pop and I needed to have a talk about this.

I bolted awake. I wasn’t alone. The bedroom lights were still on as they had been the whole time I’d been here. A man was standing over me, the Mexican man with the ponytail who’d been driving the car that took me.

I didn’t know how long I’d been here. There were no windows and the lights were always on, but I guessed it’d been at least three days judging by how many times food had been brought in. Too much time alone with my thoughts, with my fears, with my regrets. All that’d happened was that a few times that Flora lady brought food and water. She didn’t talk to me, just came and left.

I don’t think I could ever survive a lengthy stay in solitary confinement. Being locked in this room with nothing to do was awful. But I’d tolerated it as best as I could because I didn’t know what would happen once I left this room.

“On your knees,” he growled at me.

I stared at him, frozen. He grabbed my hair and pulled me off the bed with it until I was on my knees on the floor.

“Ferrano says no one fucks you or the deal’s off but he didn’t say you couldn’t suck me off.” He unzipped his jeans. Oh fuck no.

He was forcing his thing into my mouth, hanging onto a handful of material at the back of my dress. I choked and sputtered so he slapped me across the head and when he hit, he hit so hard I saw a kaleidoscope of colors. He pushed his dick into my mouth again and I just gagged and then tears were streaming out of my eyes. It was disgusting, he stank like old cheese and sweat and tasted nasty. I couldn’t stop gagging. He didn’t care; he just kept pumping in over and over around my gagging.

“Bite me, Puta, I’ll knock your teeth out,” he grunted, and then I heard a scuffle behind him and hollering as his grip loosened on me. I heard a bang, a gunshot.

He fell beside me. Earl had shot him in the back of the head. Earl had a look of ferocity on his face. He helped me up and put me on the bed and then disappeared into the bathroom. I stared at the man on the floor in the puddle of almost black blood and his vacant eyes. His penis was still hanging out of his pants. Earl came back with a wet cloth and started wiping my face.

“That should never have happened, honey, I’m sorry,” he said, then walked me to the bathroom and turned the tap on. I splashed water on my face and scooped a handful of water and spit it out and then repeated it two or three times. The taste in my mouth was vile, beyond vile. I couldn’t stop shaking.

I looked at him with a hurt and betrayed look on my face. This guy had been assigned by Tommy to keep me safe. It was a joke, of course, because I hadn’t been safe since I’d been given to Tommy, but this whole thing had just been so ugly and so, so confusing.

From the other morning when Tommy had been tender with me to the incident with his sister and seeing her babies in the car, to running, calling my father, Tommy finding me and being so angry, and then all of this.

I wanted…I didn’t know what I wanted. I felt like I was on the verge of a complete breakdown.

“Let’s go,” Earl said.

I looked at him beseechingly.

“You’re going home.”

Relief flooded through me. Home?

“To Tommy,” he clarified.

He must’ve seen the look of hope on my face. I knew my expression dropped. Was home with him? I hated what he’d put me through so far, but I hated myself, too, because my actions, my running away had probably made it easy for Earl to kidnap me.

As we headed for the front door, I saw Juan Carlos again. He was in a robe, smoking a cigar. He walked up to us and nodded at Earl. “You hand her off to Ricky and his crew and stay. We don’t want the Ferrano boys to see you. Athena, your fiancé has been told if he ever gets tired of you to send you back to me.” He winked. I just stared at him blankly.

Earl walked me outside and put me in the back of an old cargo van. I sat on the dirty, carpeted floor and a different, tall Mexican guy tied my hands and feet and put duct tape over my mouth.

“I’m sorry. Good luck,” Earl said softly to me and then shut the van doors.

This bad guy had a guilty conscience. I was grateful that he’d at least stopped that filthy pig from finishing with me but he’d been the one who helped bring me here.

Two guys sat in the back with me with gun holsters on them and there were two in the front. The only one I recognized was the slim Black guy who’d done the first aid on Earl’s shoulder. I sat and trembled. I couldn’t make my body stop.

One of the guys answered a phone, spoke in Spanish, then looked back and said, “Change of plans. You been sold, bitch!” Then he said something else in Spanish and they all started laughing hysterically.

Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no!

Was Earl lying, or had someone double-crossed someone? Where was I going? What would happen to me?

* * *

The van drove for what felt like a long time, maybe an hour, but I don’t know if I had a realistic concept of time, only the concept of horror. I felt like I was rapidly falling apart at the seams, stitch by stitch, and there may not be much thread left.

Abruptly, the van screeched to a halt and the two in the front got out. The two in the back sat and kept their gazes focused on me. A long time seemed to pass when finally, the back door opened and I was yanked out, dropped carelessly on the road, and then the men jumped back into the van and squealed away.

For at least a minute or two I just lay there in the dust, in the dark, totally freaking out, immobile because I was still bound and gagged. Then I saw headlights coming at me, heard brakes squeal, and heard multiple sets of feet running. I squinted at the high beams in my face.

Oh no, what next? Who had I gotten sold to?

I was scooped up into the air in strong arms. I knew that scent. It was leather, it was musk, a bit of sweat, some stale coffee, but it was Tommy. When it hit me, at that second it was the best scent I’d ever smelled in my life.

My heart leapt forward with jubilation but then at the same instant I felt fear prickle like spikes through my scalp. How mad was he going to be at me for this?

And then I was in the back seat of a car; I was on his lap and he was breathing hard, getting my hands untied, getting my feet untied, and then he got the tape off my mouth. It was dark and we weren’t alone in the car, which was now speeding away. There were three heads in the front bench seat and just us in the back.

I felt barely more than catatonic. I had my bottom lip in my mouth, reeling from the sting of the tape being pulled off. My feet and hands were numb from having been tied too long and too tight.

“Are you hurt?” he breathed, examining me in the near darkness of the car with just the tiny interior light on. I shook my head no but at the sight of his eyes, the concern on his face, the reality of where I was and what I was in the middle of, a giant sob tore out of me.

He pulled me tight against his chest and rocked back and forth, one hand on my head, the other flat against the center of my back. I put my arms around his torso and held tight, feeling him pull me tighter, feeling his mouth on my head. He said nothing but he kept rocking back and forth with me, kissing my head over and over, squeezing me reassuringly. He said nothing, I said nothing. I had a feeling that there would be plenty to say when we were alone.

A while later, I don’t know how much later, the car stopped and I jolted awake. I had fallen asleep against him, feeling like his scent and his arms were a warm blanket around me. He carried me, cradled in his arms in through a gate, and then up a walkway to a large light-colored house with all the outside lights on. Once inside, the interior’s light was blinding. I squinted and shielded my eyes. He said something softly to his brother who’d been in the car with us, shut the door and then he climbed a narrow staircase with me. A moment later he kicked a slightly ajar dark stained wooden door open and then swept his foot backwards once we were in to shut it. He turned around and locked a deadbolt and put me down on a bed. He was standing over me, looking down at me for a moment, his expression unreadable to me.

My dam burst and the tears fell like Niagara Falls. He flicked the light switch off, sat, grabbed me, pulled me up onto his lap, and rocked me some more in the dark. He held me tight, almost too tight. After a few minutes or an hour, I wasn’t sure, he let go. He got up to his feet. I clambered up to my knees on the bed and threw my arms around him and held on tight, not wanting him to leave me alone, not wanting someone to swoop in and take me, not wanting his sweetness to change to anger.

He kissed the top of my head and whispered, “I’m gonna run a bath. Just a minute, okay?”

I let go of him and just sat on the edge of the bed.

He went to an adjoining bathroom and turned the water on. He was back a moment later and reaching for my hand. I stood up and followed him into the bathroom. I saw my reflection in the mirror. My hair was a tangled mess, my eyes were bloodshot, and my black and white checkered dress with the red collar and red belt was filthy and ruined. I had no shoes on my dirty feet. Tommy looked rough, too. He was wearing a pair of khaki cargo pants and a white button up shirt, but he was filthy dirty. He looked exhausted. His face was prickly and unshaven. He looked down at me and started to undo the zipper on the back of my dress. I let the material fall to my feet, got out of my underthings, and got into the big antique-looking claw foot tub and wrapped my arms around my legs, putting my cheek on my knee.

He shed his clothing, including two guns plus a knife and leg holster and piled it all on the floor beside the tub. He got in behind me and started to massage my shoulders. I started ugly-crying big time. He soaped my back up with a giant sudsy sponge and then passed the sponge to me and I resumed the rest of the soaping up in the front, still crying.

He reached around and tenderly cupped my chin, then tilted my chin up to pour a cup of water over my hair and massaged my scalp, lathering my hair. He lathered it up with a strawberry-scented shampoo and it felt so good I thought I might just fall asleep. Then he rinsed my hair several times with the cup and then lathered himself up hair to toes, rinsed, leaned forward, pulled the plug out and let it drain.

I went to get up but he pulled my back against his front and kissed my temple and kept me there while it drained. Then he leaned over and turned the taps back on to refill it with clean water. He reached over to a shelf beside the tub and poured some lavender scented foam bath in. He pulled me back against his chest and leaned back in the water against the back of the tub. By this time, I had stopped with the tears, but still had the shudders.

He let the tub fill and then we soaked for a while, not talking; I was just listening to the sizzle of the bubbles on our skin and the sound of crickets and frogs outside.

I started to feel like I was sinking into sleep against him but then he nudged me to let him out. I leaned forward. “We’re both washed clean, okay?” he said.

I looked back over my shoulder at him. By the look on his face I think he saw this as monumental, almost like a baptism, for both of us. I nodded slowly. He looked like he hadn’t slept in days. My heart ached, thinking about him coming to get me, about him saving me.

I pulled the plug and watched the bubbles and water go down the drain while he dried himself off and then put a fluffy white towel around his waist.

“Hungry, thirsty?” he asked.

I shook my head.

He left the room and I got out, dried off, and then went to the sink. I found a box of new toothbrushes under the sink, along with toothpaste and mouthwash. The tears came back and I cried softly as I washed my mouth out. I wondered if I’d ever forget that horrible man’s taste for the rest of my life. Just thinking about it made bile rise and I started retching and then vomiting in the sink. I knew it was loud, so loud that if Tommy was in the bedroom still, he’d be listening to this. It was like my stomach was trying to turn itself inside out.

When it finally stopped, I brushed my teeth and rinsed with mouthwash again and again and again, until my mouth was burning from all of it. I spent…I don’t know how long… rinsing, gagging, coughing, rinsing, spitting, gagging and choking some more. I towel dried my hair for a few minutes before my arms started to ache and then I stepped out into the bedroom. It was dark but I could see that Tommy was in the bed on his usual side, facing my direction. I sat on the edge, dropped the towel and climbed in beside him. He sat up and pulled a clean-smelling t-shirt over my head, then once my arms were in the holes, he passed me an opened bottle of water and said, “Drink.”

I drank about half of it and then put the bottle down on the table beside the bed. He immediately pulled me to his chest and held me tight. I felt his hands in my hair and his lips on my forehead. I touched his cheek and it felt wet. Was it from the bath? I felt a drip hit my finger. Oh my God…he was shedding tears for me.

I started to cry again and he held me tighter, “What did they do to you, baby? Tell me. Then you’ll never have to talk about it again.” His voice sounded a bit strangled.

There were no tears left in my burning eyes and my throat hurt from all the sobbing and throwing up. He waited, rubbing his hand up and down my back and then he squeezed my shoulder reassuringly.

After what felt like forever, I finally gained enough composure to speak. “The guy who drove the car from your house, he forced himself into my... my...m-mouth. Earl shot him for it before the guy could f-finish.” I felt him tense up but he didn’t say anything. He just squeezed me tighter. “It happened just before they drove me to you. That’s the only…the only thing,” I finished off.

“No one, no one will ever, ever again…” he started and it sounded like he was saying it through gritted teeth. But he didn’t finish; he just pulled me even tighter against him.

I fell asleep on top of him, our bodies pressed together, and for the first time he wasn’t hard, wasn’t plotting one of his games to get inside of me. Rescuing me, cradling me, washing the filth off me, holding me while I cried, and shedding tears for me – that got him inside of me in a different way.

* * *

When I woke, I jackknifed up, out of breath. Then I realized where I was.

Well, I didn’t know where I was, exactly, but he was still beside me, so I settled down.

He was lying there looking at me. He pulled me to him and his mouth touched the top of my head. He looked exhausted, like he still hadn’t even slept. He still looked rough, too, with the shiner I’d given him, bruised lip, and the scratches still on his face.

I settled my head against his chest and closed my eyes, trying to tell my heart to settle down. The sun was up and the room was filled with light. I looked around. It was a pretty bedroom with a white ruffled lace bedspread on the white wicker framed double bed. The white room kind of went with last night’s whole baptismal theme. The only splash of color was a vase of fresh pink, yellow, and orange daisy-like flowers on the wicker dresser and a big green empty rucksack beside a black suitcase opened and sitting on a big, wicker rocking chair. I could see it was filled with my clothes and his clothes. I closed my eyes and focused on the steadiness of his heartbeat, feeling strange, feeling cared for.

“You should sleep a bit longer. We got in really late,” he said, smoothing my hair behind my ear.

I nodded, thinking he was right, because those days in that basement I think I only slept twenty winks at a time, but a few minutes later it was probably obvious that I wasn’t falling back to sleep.

I was lying on him, staring off into space. He pulled away, but took my hand in his and pulled it toward him and kissed each knuckle. Then he leaned over a little and took a phone off the nightstand and dialed a number.

“Hey,” he greeted. “Need breakfast. Can you have her put it outside the door? Tell her to knock when she brings it, but no disturbing us. Ask my brother what time the flight is.” He held the phone for a minute and then said, “Right” before hanging up.

I went to move away, thinking he was getting up, but his grip tightened and he didn’t let me go. He buried his nose into my hair and squeezed me. We stayed there for another few minutes just holding one another until a noise outside the door and then a brief knocking on the door startled me. I think I must’ve jumped two feet at the noise.

He got up, walked to the suitcase in his underwear, got into a clean pair of army green cargos, and then stepped into the hall. I got up with the duvet wrapped around me and leaned over the suitcase and pulled out some underwear, a bra, a pair of jean shorts, and a t-shirt that had been packed for me. I glanced in the top flap of the suitcase and there was a toiletry bag with some of my makeup, hairbrush, deodorant, razor, manicure tool kit, and my own toothbrush. There were two other changes of clothes and two pairs of shoes --- a pair of my sneakers and my leather flip flops packed in the suitcase.

I took an armful of things into the bathroom to get dressed and try to make myself presentable. As I passed the door, my eyes landed on his guns and knife on the nightstand.

He came back in with a covered breakfast-in-bed tray.

I got dressed, brushed my hair, brushed my teeth, and washed my face.

When I got back out, he was sitting on the bed tapping away at his phone screen. I sat down. He wandered into the bathroom and came back out wearing the khaki t-shirt I’d slept in. He looked at me warmly. “Eat something, baby.”

I smiled a little and nodded. I lifted the tray’s lid and there was an assortment of fruit, muffins, pastries, bagels, with little butter, cream cheese, and jam pots. There was also a carafe of coffee, milk, sugar, and a jug of orange juice. My stomach rumbled loudly.

“Coffee?” I asked him.

“Yeah, please.”

I remembered he took cream, no sugar, due to Sarah’s sugar weaning. Me? I was having 3 sugars today. There were things in life that were far more evil than sugar.

I passed him a cup, my hand trembling a little. I moved the suitcase onto the floor, sat on the wicker chair and looked out the window. We were in a woodsy area, so really, the only thing to look at was the trees.

“I’m putting you on a plane in a few hours with Dare,” he said, not looking up at me. “I’ll be taking care of a few things and then I’ll be home later tonight or maybe tomorrow.”

“Okay,” I said.

Then he looked up and while I was still looking out the window, I could feel that he was watching me. He watched me for a long time. I didn’t look in his eyes because I was afraid of what I’d see. I knew in my gut that he was sticking around for revenge reasons.

He cleared his throat. “I need to go downstairs and organize a few things. You okay for a bit?”

I nodded, glancing in his direction and then back at the floor. I felt scrutinized, uncomfortable. There was this intensity coming off him that was making my heart race.

“You’ll eat?”

I nodded again.

He leaned over and kissed me softly on the lips and then he leaned down and got into his boots, rolled up his pant leg, and then grabbed the holster and fastened it and I turned away so I didn’t have to watch him arming himself. When I looked back in his direction, he was putting a gun into the back of his waistband and then he left the room. I felt like I was going to cry again, but I didn’t. I was sort of surprised he’d kissed me like that, maybe feeling like my mouth was an unclean place because of what I’d told him last night. I felt my heart tug at the idea that I was wrong.

Why did he rescue me? Why didn’t he just leave me here? And why was the fact that he’d kissed me so touching to me?

Anger didn’t begin to describe what was inside me pacing and biding time until I could unleash it.

Wrath, rage, fury? They might come close if they were each multiplied a hundred thousand times.

Things were in motion that would bring the Castillo cartel to their knees. Juan Carlos Castillo would be torn limb from limb, and I would personally piss on the bones of Earl Johnson. My heart felt coal black right now and if it hadn’t been for the fact that she needed me more last night, I’d have already gone off to take care of it.

Listening to her in that bathroom throwing up, brushing her teeth, throwing up again, sobbing, it went on for so long and listening to her fall apart like that, it broke me like I couldn’t ever remember being broken before. I felt so fucking helpless then. I never wanted to feel that way again. Ever.

Now I needed to get her home and I needed to get this done so that I could get the rage out of my head. That rage had never felt so strong in my life, and I hoped I could channel it into ridding this earth of the scum that were responsible for taking her from me and for putting her through that. And then I could go home and start my life with her and take advantage of the clean slate it felt like she was giving me.

What had happened to her here had upgraded me from villain to hero in her eyes and when I got home, I was making her my wife and taking this opportunity, fucked up as it was, to build a real relationship with her.

That t-shirt smelled like her. I’d given it to her last night and then worn it deliberately today. It was comforting to me to have her scent on my body, knowing what I was going to do next.

I was having Dare bring her home because I needed her the fuck out of Mexico and right now, he was the only one I trusted to keep her safe. He and I had shared a few glances that told me he now knew how important protecting her was to me. When I got home, I’d re-vet employees to determine who would be in the inner circle for keeping her safe. I’d also find out the truth about why Pop had given her to me and I’d make that lowlife father of hers pay whatever penance I deemed necessary.

Yeah, I knew it was fucked up that I’d punish him for the very reason I was lucky enough to own her but that’s just how I felt about it.

I wasn’t kidding myself, thinking that the darkness inside of me that wanted her submission, her fear, was gone. But right now, I had a different place to channel that need, that hunger. I’d figure the rest out later.

I ate a surprisingly decent amount of food and then I waited for him to come back. I fell asleep and a while later woke up to his lips on my forehead. My hands came up and rested on his chest.

“Hi,” I said.

His eyes crinkled and he smiled a little.

“Time to go,” he said and then kissed me on the mouth quickly and began digging through the suitcase. He looked angry and stressed. I felt the desire to do something about it, so I could see warmth in his eyes again. I just didn’t know what to do to bring it back.

I got up off the bed, grabbed my toiletries from the bathroom and put them in the suitcase, and then proceed to get into my sneakers. He was doing something on his phone one-handed while pulling some of his things out of the suitcase and into a big barrel rucksack, then he tied it up.

I gave him a sad look.

“Just one more day, then I’ll be home,” he muttered.

I picked up his silver cross necklace, which was lying beside the vase on the dresser, “Do you want me to fasten this?”

He winced at it. “No, take that home.”

I put it in my toiletries bag, then I tied my hair up in the elastic that was on my wrist, thankful that there was one in my things that had been packed for me, probably by Sarah Martinez.

He put his hands on my shoulders and his touch almost brought me to tears again. I didn’t know why. I held the tears back.

“My brother is taking you home,” he said, “I trust him 100% to keep you safe. You need to let him protect you.”

The intense way he looked at me was his way of asking me not to try to run again. I nodded, eyes on his.

“Come back safely,” I said and his eyes warmed.

He kissed me slow, soft, and sweet, taking my hips into his hands. He gave them a little squeeze and then wrapped his arms around me tight, holding me for a few minutes against him, lifting me a few inches off the floor. I melted into him, not wanting him to let me go.

When he finally did, he caressed my cheek with the ridge of his thumb and looked deep into my eyes for a beat, heat and intensity and some emotion I couldn’t name lighting them, before backing up and picking up the suitcase and the rucksack.

I followed him out of the room, down the stairs, and out the front door to where Dario was waiting in a car with two local-looking men standing outside with machine guns slung over their shoulders. Two more men sat inside the car. They looked more Italian than Mexican. Maybe they were from home.

One stepped out of the back seat and Tommy ushered me in and stepped back. The man got back in beside me. I buckled my seatbelt. I saw Tommy’s brother standing beside him and they said a few words I didn’t hear and exchanged glances that I’d imagine had something to do with Tommy telling Dario to get home safely with me and Dario telling Tommy to clean house but carefully. They hugged briefly and I heard the trunk slam, then Dario opened the back door and signaled for the guy to get into the front so he could sit beside me.

As the car drove away, I looked back and Tommy wore a hard, angry, steely look as he watched us leave. But then he caught me looking and gave me a thin smile. I smiled back, hoping that he’d make it home and hoping that what I’d seen from him in the past twelve hours had not been a mirage. I didn’t want to hope that he got his revenge, but I did. I didn’t dwell on it for long, but the idea of him fighting back was a little bit satisfying. I knew it wasn’t going to be all about me, probably more about holding a position of power and proving that he was stronger than those who took me to get to him, but it was still a little bit satisfying and I suspected from the way he’d handled me in the past twelve or so hours that revenge would be at least a little bit about what was done to me.

The ride was thankfully uneventful, and it wasn’t long before we were boarding a small jet on a private-looking airfield. Dario offered me a drink and a blanket and pillow. He told me I could lay down on one of the sofas and sleep if I was tired.

For the next while, I just sort of stared off into space, going over the past few days’ events in my head. I caught him looking at me a few times. I didn’t know if it was curiosity, compassion, or what it was that was in his eyes, but I didn’t feel uncomfortable around him today. I felt safe and it was a welcome feeling.

There were other men on the plane with us, but they stayed to the opposite end of the sitting area, talking amongst themselves quietly. At one point I looked up and saw that they were watching a zombie slasher type movie and that Mexican actor was in it. He looked so much like that horrible man and I felt the tears well up again and I turned over and faced the back of the sofa so I couldn’t see the TV.

“You okay?” Dario leaned over me. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s okay, I’m okay.”

“You sure?”

“It’s stupid.”

“What’s stupid?”

“There’s an actor on that movie they’re watching that looks like one of the guys and the guy… hurt me.”

Dario’s face went ice cold. “Turn that fuckin’ shit off!” he hollered at the guys, making me jump.

He touched my shoulder, “Sorry, it’s okay.”

He backed away to his seat and then stared out the window with his mouth in a tight line.

“I’m acting like a baby,” I said and wiped the tears away.

He reminded me a bit of Tommy right then. He wasn’t as tall and had fair hair and bluish gray eyes, but his facial features were quite similar, at least the angry ones as I was now noticing. His jaw tightened and he stared out the window.

I closed my eyes, deciding to try to nap until we landed.

I woke up to him tapping my arm gently.

“We’re here,” he said, then he grabbed my suitcase and ushered me off the plane and into a waiting SUV. He signaled to the driver to get out.

The driver got out and got into a black SUV parked behind it. It was just me and Dario in this vehicle.

After we left the airport he said, “I wanted a minute to talk to you.”

I looked at him expectantly, but a little frightened because I had a feeling he was about to berate me for taking off on Tommy, for starting the chain of events that led to Mexico. I decided to cut him off at the pass.

“Thank you for being so nice to me under the circumstances.”

“The circumstances?” He looked at me strangely.

“You know, since all this happened because I took off. You might not believe this, but I hope and pray nothing happens to your brother because of it, because of me. I also wanted to tell you both, I didn’t get a chance to mention it to Tommy, but they told me that if I didn’t cooperate, they could easily take your pregnant sister. Maybe she needs someone to watch, needs some security.”

His jaw clenched. Then he furrowed his brows and shook his head. “Don’t do that. This isn’t your fault. Our family is under threat of some sort almost all the time. We go on living as normal because we need to in order to stay sane but believe this: this would’ve happened anyway, even if you hadn’t taken off from my sister. Earl was part of the plan and Tommy trusted him. He was Tommy’s number one for security for you, so was the perfect person for the enemy to get to flip. Either he was planning this for a long time or that plan went into motion because he was allowed to be so close to you and it would’ve been pulled off sooner or later. The minute word got around that Tommy was getting married, that trigger got pulled. We’ve got extra security, don’t you worry. And I didn’t plan to talk to you about this part, but don’t worry about my brother getting hurt; my brother is indestructible. Trust me, he’ll be back tonight or tomorrow at the latest. He’ll hurry back for you. I wanted to talk to you about his feelings for you.”

I looked down at my hands.

“I know you were forced into the engagement. I also know that for some reason my brother fell head over heels almost instantly. I’m not saying ‘for some reason’ because I don’t think you’re a catch, you’re a beautiful girl, but this isn’t Tommy. He has access to an unlimited supply of beautiful girls who want him, who’d give their eye teeth to be engaged to him, knowing full well who he is and wanting the lifestyle that comes with it. I’m telling you he’s different with you. I know my brother might not seem like the relationship type, and looking at the damage you did to his face I don’t think you took too well to your situation.” He laughed. “He will never live that down by the way, thank you.”

I grimaced.

“Sorry, very inappropriate. My point is that I know my brother can be a hard ass, but I hope you’ll give things a chance with him because I think you could be good for him. Real good.”

We were pulling into the driveway of Tommy’s house already. The gate opened to let us in and when we stopped, I saw the SUV behind us. There were four guards stationed at the gates.

“Thank you,” I said. “I’m, uh, hopeful. Things feel different.”

“Good. He is different. I’ve never seen him that affected by something. All he wanted was to get you out of there. We wouldn’t normally negotiate in a situation like that,” he added and looked at me with seriousness in his eyes.

I nodded, the gravity sinking in even deeper as he confirmed what I already suspected, that Tommy normally wouldn’t have negotiated with kidnappers. If Tommy had just seen me as ‘property’ maybe I wouldn’t have been deemed worthy enough to have made it out of there. He could’ve replaced me easily. I’d been thinking a lot about that.

“He did not stop until he got you out of there. He barely ate or slept and was hell on wheels until he got you back. Tommy has a short fuse; he needs to work on that. I hope…I hope he does. For you. Try to be patient. You should know he’ll kill for you. I wouldn’t normally say this to anybody but given the situation I think I can tell you this and maybe it’ll give you some insight into who my brother is. He’s killing for you right now, Tia; I’m sure of it. If this were my father instead of Tommy, Pop would’ve sent someone to do it for him. But my brother? Tommy will do it himself.”

I shook my head. “I know it was probably a direct hit to his pride to have his so-called fiancée–”

Dario cut me off. “Uh uh. Nope. This was more about you than about pride. I’m telling you, you’re not so-called. He’s all in.”

One of the guys who’d been in Mexico with us was at the car door, trying to get Dario’s attention.

“One sec,” he said, and got out and spoke to the guy. Then he rolled his eyes and motioned for me to get out, an amused look on his face. “The Calvary has come,” he said.

I didn’t know what he meant.

“My sisters and Pop’s wife. They’re here. Before we go in, Tommy doesn’t want you discussing things with them. They know a little, that you and Tommy had a fight, that you messed up his face, that you took off, and that you were kidnapped, but they don’t know other details. Okay? He also doesn’t want you to attempt to contact anyone by phone or to leave the safety of the house until he’s home and he’s had a chance to prep you. All right?”

My eyes widened. Sisters, rules, craziness. I wished I could just go up and hide out in the bedroom and watch some brainless TV and decompress.

“Come, you’ll be fine. They just want to dote on you.”

* * *

The four women were in the family room, but spilled out into the hallway to greet me. There was Sarah, Tessa, and two others. One looked a lot like Tessa but about six or more months pregnant, and the other looked around their age, too and she had long dark hair, was model tall and very beautiful. They were all very attractive. The pregnant one pulled me into an embrace.

“I’m Luciana. They call me Luc, I’m glad you’re safe.”

“Nice to meet you,” I said.

The dark-haired one leaned over and air kissed both of my cheeks. “I’m Lisa, I guess I’ll be your mother-in-law soon?”

They all cackled like it was the funniest thing they’d ever heard.

“Monster-in-law more like!” said Tessa, who was approaching me warily. She’d stepped out of the embrace of one of the guys that’d been in Mexico with us. Clearly, he was her husband. I eyed her apologetically and was about to speak. She shh’d me and pulled me into a hug and whispered, “Forget about it. Glad you’re okay.”

“Let the poor girl in, guys,” Dario told them. “Give her some space.”

“Get outta here, you!” Luciana shoved at him. “Go home. We’ve got this.”

“Nope, got orders to stay here until Tommy is back. James, you can head out.”

James was Tessa’s husband. He was dressed in a dark suit, a tall, dark, good-looking guy. He kissed Tessa on the lips briefly and whispered something in her ear. She nodded and he left.

The girls bodily pulled me into the kitchen where Sarah was putting a plate of sandwiches on the table. She put the plate down and then took me into her arms like I was her long-lost child. “Look at you, Chiquita! Are you okay? We’re so glad you’re safe.”

I gave her a little smile. “I’m okay.”

Luciana sat down on a chair and picked up a sandwich, “So you were kidnapped and taken to Mexico? That must’ve been awful.”

“Shh,” Lisa said. “Leave it.”

“Yes, leave it,” Tessa added. “She’s been through enough in the past few days. Let the girl relax.”

Dario reached over and took a sandwich and then got a drink out of the fridge. “Drink, Tia?”

“Thanks, just water,” I answered.

They all started to babble about things like food, about the size of Luc’s stomach, about the weather, about the latest episode of the Bachelorette on TV. It was noisy, it was hectic, it was nice. It reminded me of Rose and Cal’s.

I wondered how they were. I wondered about my dad, too. Had Tommy followed him to the mall and then had someone hold him back? Had Tommy found me before my dad even got there? I still wanted to hear that explanation from my father about all of this. I’d talk to Tommy about contacting my dad when he was back.

For the next few hours I listened to the girls giggle and watched them eat the plate of sandwiches, then devour a fruit tray, and then eat a giant bag of pretzels. Sarah was right in there laughing and hooting and howling and Dario sat on the counter and shook his head mostly.

I realized that no one had asked where Tommy was. Did they know he was taking care of business? Were they here to keep me company and pass the time so I wouldn’t be pacing the floors wondering if he was okay?

Was he okay? What would happen to me if he wasn’t?

Tessa leaned over and patted my shoulder and illustrated some mind-reading skills.

“He’ll be fine. That brother of ours is tougher than nails. Trust me! He’s tougher than Pop, even, and Pop is one tough motherfucker.”

The others were all nodding. This is exactly what they were doing. They were rallying together during a crisis. All of a sudden, Sarah held her cell phone in front of Lisa and Lisa squirmed. “That’s disgusting!”

Sarah almost tipped her chair over, laughing so hard. I glanced over and realized she was still fixated on the picture of all the old men in the Speedo bathing suits.

“Ah c’mon Lisa, we all know that’s what you’re into,” Dario said and everyone including Lisa started to laugh uncontrollably.

I laughed too because it was pretty funny that they were all here laughing at the expense of Lisa’s husband, the girls’ and Dario’s father, a powerful mobster.

My back was to the entrance to the kitchen at this point and suddenly the room hushed. I saw everyone looking stone-faced past me. I looked back and Mr. Ferrano was in the doorway. He was in a black suit and looked solemn.

They all had a horrified look on their faces, like he was here with bad news.

Oh no. My belly dipped and not in a good way.

“What’s so fuckin’ funny?” he broke the tension. “Share. I like jokes.”

Everyone except me howled with laughter. Sarah fell off her chair this time and Lisa fell, too, trying to help Sarah up. Dario was sitting on the counter but doubled over holding his gut, and when Luc piped up with, “I think I just peed a little” the fits of laughter roared louder.

Mr. Ferrano walked over to the coffee maker and stared at it, then looked down at Sarah who was still on the floor tangled up with Lisa.

“Guess I’ll get myself a coffee. Would you like a coffee, Sarah?” His eyebrows perked up at her. He didn’t look like those old guys, but math said he had to have about twenty plus years on Lisa.

“Everyone wants coffee! Except Luciana. You can make her a hot chocolate.” Sarah beamed at him.

“What’s up, Pop?” Dario asked.

“I’ll make the espresso and then we’ll chat for a minute, son. I just came to pick up Lisa, mostly, and to check on Athena. You okay?”

He looked at me and his face was kind, seemed genuine. He seemed different from how he was when I met him that first day. My thoughts flickered to him and my mother. I nodded, chewing my cheek.

“Good,” he said. “When that boy gets home you do me a favor, okay?”

“What’s that?” I asked.

“You give his right eye a pop for me too, ah? I think it

needs to match!” He punched the air with a mean hook.

Everyone started to laugh, except me again. I didn’t know what the heck to make of this bunch and their quirky sense of humor. Everyone clearly thinks it’s pretty awesome that I gave Tommy a black eye. Everyone here wants me to feel welcome, too, it seems. Now I understand what Tommy meant by the whole “Ferrano family experience” comment. I can’t imagine how nuts it is with all the kids and the spouses together with all these guys during something celebratory rather than a stressful situation like this.

Mr. Ferrano brewed espresso for everyone except me and Luc. He made her a hot chocolate with whipped cream on it and then he made me a cappuccino with a heart pattern on it and smiled at me as he put the cup down. It looked like it came from a fancy café.

“Thank you, Mr. Ferrano,” I said.

“Call me Pop.” He winked, then signaled Dario to follow him into the other room.

I looked down at the cup and got lost in thought. I noticed the room was quiet, so I looked up from the heart shaped foam in my cup to see all eyes on me. I felt uncomfortable for a beat and then the girls all started chatting again and suddenly Luc grabbed my hand and placed it on her belly and I felt her baby kicking.

“This better be the boy!” she said. “I have twin girls in the terrible twos and my first wish is there’s just one in here.” She pointed to her big round belly. “My second wish is that it be a boy so that I can say I’ve done my wifely duty and then the doctor can tie my tubes.”

Tessa piped up, “I guarantee it’s another girl. I can feel it.”

“Oh, shut up!” Luc answered and pretended to smack at her sister, “If this is another girl, I’ll do this one more time, just one. If it’s another girl then I’m done, heirs or no heirs.”

All three of them look alike, a bit like Tommy but blonde and a little different. They must take after their mother a bit because I can see that Tommy definitely takes after his father. Lisa is a pretty girl and a little older than me, but I can see how she’s attracted to him. He’s handsome and holds his age well. She fits with these girls perfectly. They seem like they’re all best friends. I idly hope that I can one day feel carefree again. Right now that feels a little far from possible.

* * *

An hour later I was yawning, and Tessa took it as a cue to get everyone out. Dario and Mr. Ferrano were still somewhere else in the house. Tessa told them I needed my rest and that it was after midnight. Sarah went off to find the guys.

A few minutes later they came back in and Mr. Ferrano hugged each girl, including Sarah and then stood in front of my spot on a kitchen chair and held his arms open. It was weird and uncomfortable, but I stood and let him embrace me. I’m sure I looked shell-shocked.

Tessa hugged me and told me that in a few weeks they were having a baby shower for Luc and that she’d get me the details. Lisa hugged me and told me that dinner is always at their house on Sundays and that we’re expected every week. Luc hugged me and told me it was nice to meet me and said she’d get my digits from Tommy and text me about getting together in a few days after I’m rested. They all marched out of the place in single file and that left me, Sarah, and Dario in the kitchen.

I headed to the doorway. “I think I’m going to head to bed,” I said and Dario nodded at me.

“I’ll be close by if you need anything.”

“Thank you,” I said, then added, “Goodnight, Sarah.”

She smiled at me. “Sleep well, Chiquita. Welcome home.”

I’m sure I frowned at her in response. Home?

* * *

I fell asleep on the bed without even changing my clothes, but only slept an hour or two and then I was wide awake. I got a drink of whiskey from the bar, thinking it might settle my nerves and make me sleepy, but it did just what it did last time – gross me out and burn my throat.

I washed up for bed and changed into a pair of pajamas, then I stared at the ceiling for what felt like hours, pondering my situation, the recent course of events, my life in general. When I finally closed my eyes again, I knew one thing for sure, I was a survivor and determined to survive all of this.

I was kidnapped and men got shot at and died. I didn’t know if I’d ever get out of that situation. Hah. My kidnapper saved me from other kidnappers. But he got me out and he took care of me that night the way I could only imagine in my wildest fantasies that a knight in shining armor would. I decided that if I’m stuck here paying a debt for someone else and if I have no choice in the matter, I’m at least going to try to find a way to be happy.

Last night I didn’t know if I was going to make it out of that basement in Mexico, and then I didn’t know what’d happen to me when that driver told me I’d been sold, but now I was back near home, safe and warm, and I’d seen potential in Tommy Ferrano. I decided that I didn’t want to just let life flutter away because I’m a victim of a parent’s mistake.

Tommy Ferrano has issues, it’s obvious. He’s dominating and angry and he can be cruel. He wasn’t nice to me the first week. He played some seriously messed up head games and he violated me repeatedly. He’s about to be promoted to be the head of a crime family – the same crime family that threatened my father and that took me prisoner.

But he’s also shown that he has potential. I like his family and they seem close. I could see myself becoming good friends with the girls and Dario doesn’t scare me so much anymore. He’d been really nice to me today. Maybe I’m just a na?ve nineteen-year-old girl, but Tommy seems to care about me and maybe I can nurture that potential so that with me he’s always the guy from the beach, the guy who rescued me. Maybe in time I can forgive him for what he’s done, overlook who he is. Maybe I can stay on his good side, make him always be more of the ice cream parlor guy when he’s with me.

Yeah, and maybe I’m an idiot. I don’t know how dark it’ll get. I don’t know what he’s doing down there. I only know that the threats he made in the car just before I was kidnapped scared me beyond any fear I’d ever had in my whole life. I fell back to sleep feeling very conflicted.

I jolted awake again before night was over, but this time it was because I’d had a horrible nightmare. I was back in the pink canopy bed and the man forcing me to give him the blowjob was Tommy. He’d been mean and horrible, manhandling me like that other guy did.

But, then I saw my dad, thinking he came to rescue me. He had a gun. But Dad didn’t shoot him, Tommy said, ‘Take her, I’m done with her,’ then Dad shot me and told me, while I watched my blood leaking everywhere, that I was too much trouble, that I’d weighed him down after Mom died and that’s why he’d tried to get rid of me. After several unsuccessful attempts he was going to get rid of me for good.

When I woke, it was four o’clock in the morning. Would this night ever end?

I got up to get a drink and the bar fridge had no water in it, so I put on a robe and decided to head to the kitchen. When I got to the bottom of the stairs, I heard a loud voice in the kitchen. I stopped on the bottom step. It was Dario’s voice.

“We need to just wait. No, damn it! Don’t! Just circle and keep coming back.”

I stepped off the stairs and walked into the kitchen. He looked up at me and then said, “Call me in 30 minutes with an update. Or sooner if there’s any change.” He ended the call. “You all right?”

I nodded. “I’m just thirsty.” I got a bottle of water from the fridge. “Is Tommy okay?”

Dario waved his hand at me, saying, “Of course,” but I could see the stress on his face.

“I’m going to try to go back to sleep,” I said.

He nodded, not looking me in the eyes.

* * *

Surprisingly, I did fall back asleep, but was awake around 9:15. I got up and took a shower and when I came back into the bedroom just in a towel I froze because I noticed Dario was asleep on the couch here in this room. He was asleep in a t-shirt and track pants, the first time I’d seen him not in a suit. He was quite built, a lot like Tommy. I didn’t let my eyes linger on him for long, not wanting to look like a creep watching him while he slept. Clearly, he took his job of protecting me seriously if he was sleeping here instead of one of the bazillion guest rooms.

I rushed into the closet to find some clothes and got dressed in there. When I came out, he wasn’t on the couch any longer. I went downstairs and looked out the window and I saw three men mulling about outside. I got a coffee and sat at the kitchen table with yesterday’s newspaper to kill time.

Sarah came in from the back hallway, a laundry basket filled with folded towels on her hip and ear buds in her ears. She was singing a pop song. She smiled when she spotted me and pulled a bud out.

“Breakfast?”

I shook my head, “Not yet. Thanks. I’ll just get myself something when I’m ready.”

She smiled and wagged her finger at me. “Don’t put me out of a job, Chiquita!” She headed out of the kitchen and upstairs, I presumed.

I decided to wander around. I saw it lacked a homey feeling. It was decorated sort of man cave’ish like the master bedroom with leather and dark wood and drab-colored or neutral walls without family pictures or art on the walls. There weren’t any mementoes; it was sort of sterile. I opened a door in the hall off the kitchen and found two other bedrooms. One was sort of utilitarian with a single bed, nightstand with a lamp and then a table with four chairs and a coffee maker, fridge, sink, and stove so I assumed it was for the guards. There was a patio door in that room that led to the backyard. The other room I didn’t venture into as it was obviously Sarah’s room.

It was large and had a warm vibe, decorated with cream and burgundy furnishings and dark cherry wood. The dresser was filled with framed photos and she also had a sitting area with a coffee table fanned with books and magazines.

I found my way outside, deciding to get some fresh air. I spotted a guard in the yard, but he left the area when I went out. Good that they were trying to be as inconspicuous as possible, but it was so obvious that the place was under lockdown and that everyone was on edge. I sat at the pool’s edge and dangled my feet in, staring out at the forest beyond the pool.

I heard a voice in the kitchen, so I strained to listen. Dario was on the phone again.

“I don’t give a fucking shit!” he yelled. “Find him!”

He stormed out onto the patio, an unlit cigarette in his mouth, putting his phone into his pocket (he was already dressed in a fresh suit) and then he lit it as he spotted me. His expression dropped and he inhaled deeply, as if the smoke was cleansing him.

“Mornin’,” he finally said, gruffly. He looked like he hadn’t slept much either.

“Morning,” I replied and then looked back out to the forest. I didn’t want to ask as it was obvious that Tommy was missing.

* * *

That day felt like a long one; my gut was raw all day. I’d sat outside a while and then went into the kitchen and forced myself to swallow down a piece of buttered toast. I wandered back upstairs and looked around at the bedrooms, which all looked sort of the same, like hotel rooms. I found my way back to the master bedroom and tried to take a nap, but I didn’t sleep. I felt that sick almost over-caffeinated feeling you feel when your body is tired but your brain is in overdrive.

I wondered how Rose was doing, how everyone was faring while wondering if I was okay. I wanted to reach out to them but there wasn’t a phone in this bedroom. The cordless phone base still sat empty. Dario’s words about not making calls rang in my ears, but as it got later in the day, I decided that I just had to make that call and at least tell her not to stress, that I was fine. I found a cordless in the family room and tucked it into the back of my shorts and pulled my sweater over it and then went back up to the master bedroom. I’d managed this feat without drawing any attention as Dario wasn’t in sight, Tommy’s office door was closed, and all the guards seemed to be outside. Sarah was busy cooking something in the kitchen.

I dialed Rose’s cell phone and got her voicemail. I was relieved to get her voicemail on one hand because that’d mean that I wouldn’t have to answer questions, but on the other hand it made me sad because it wouldn’t tell me if she was okay or not.

I left a message. “Rose, it’s Tia. I just want you to know I’m fine. Everything is okay. I hope everyone is okay there. Please know I love all of you and I’ll be in touch again soon. Please don’t worry and please just leave things be – I don’t want anyone at risk. Don’t worry about me, okay? Things are actually somewhat better so don’t stress. Love you guys. Bye.”

I hung up and then I hit the redial button and then the erase key. I then went down to return the smuggled phone to the family room. I got caught red-handed by Dario who walked into the family room just as I deposited the phone into the cradle.

“Tia, what the hell?”

I felt the color drain from my face. “I just left a voicemail for my foster mom to tell her I was fine. I don’t want them meddling and putting themselves in danger and thought if I just left a message to tell her I’m fine she would back off.”

He pinched the bridge of his nose, looking so much like his brother that I felt a stab of fear in my gut.

He shook his head. “No more, okay? I can’t deal right now.” He left the room. I followed him into Tommy’s office.

“What’s going on?”

He shook his head and reached for a phone charger plugged into a power bar under Tommy’s desk and plugged his cell in. “Don’t worry about anything. It’s all good.”

“I call bullshit,” I said, folding my arms across my chest.

He rolled his eyes. “All right, we can’t find him. We’re looking. I’m torn between going myself and staying. He wants you safe so I’m staying like he wants and trying to organize things from here is frustrating.”

“What about Earl and Juan Carlos?”

“He dealt with both of them; we know that for a fact,” Dario said.

I tried to ignore the cold pit in my gut. “Then where could he be?”

“Exactly.”

I sat down behind the big desk. I saw a photo in a frame of him, his father, and his siblings, their kids, and spouses, all around a Christmas tree. There was a small wedding photo of who must’ve been his Mom with his father, by the looks of it, and beside that photo was the engagement ring he’d given me. I’d left it in Tessa’s car, so she must’ve returned it to him.

I leaned over and picked it up and looked at it sparkling in the light.

Dario was in the doorway now. “I’ve gotta go outside and talk to someone. Stay out of trouble, please?”

“I will,” I told him as I put the ring back down. I stared at the picture of Tommy and his family around the Christmas tree. They were all smiling and looking happy, except him. He looked like he was forcing a smile for the camera, his eyes dark and broody. He looked like Gangster Tommy in the photo, not Ice Cream Parlor Tommy.

I stared at the wedding photo of the young and pretty dark-haired woman in the white dress and veil standing beside the happy-looking youthful Thomas Ferrano, Sr. I wondered if he was a criminal back then or if something changed him to become that way. I wondered what might’ve happened to Tommy to make him swing back and forth like a pendulum between good guy and bad guy. If he made it back could I find a way to keep it swinging in one direction versus the other or would that be totally out of my control?

* * *

Sarah couldn’t talk me into more than a few bites of food for dinner. I just wasn’t hungry. I knew I hadn’t eaten much the past few days but, how could I? I went to bed early, zoning out in front of the television and feeling myself drift before it was even completely dark outside.

* * *

The next day dragged, too. Dario was miserable. I heard him snapping at Sarah and at one of the guards. I hid out in the bedroom almost all day, trying to watch TV, read a book Sarah loaned me. I helped Sarah cook dinner. I tried to keep busy, but I didn’t know what to think.

If Tommy was gone, what’d happen to me? If he was gone, how would I feel? I didn’t know how I felt about him. I felt numb about him, confused about him. I cried myself to sleep that night because I couldn’t cope. I couldn’t cope with the worry, the stress, the fear of the unknown, the flashes in my mind of him being sweet to me.

* * *

“What’s this?” I heard in the dark. “Unauthorized sleepwear?”

I jackknifed straight up to sitting. Tommy was on his knees on the bed leaning over me, partly illuminated by the fact that the bathroom light was on.

“You’re here,” I breathed and his lips were on my jaw and then my lips. He took my face in his hands and kissed me long and deep. I put my arms around his neck and he kissed me again and then backed up and then off the bed,

“I need a shower badly, baby. I’ll be back in five. Get naked.”

He backed up and threw his t-shirt over his head onto the floor and was undoing his pants as he headed to the bathroom and closed the door.

I sat there in the dark, heart thumping loudly, and a moment later, without putting any thought into it, I padded to the bathroom, which was already filled with steam.

I took off my pajamas and opened the shower door, stepping in behind him. I guess I had an inkling of how I was feeling after all.

She was here, in the shower with me, voluntarily, happy to see me, her arms around me. I flinched at first as she’d come in so quietly it startled me when I felt her reach around and put both of her arms around my waist. She put her cheek on my back and squeezed.

Seeing her sleeping in my bed when I got home gave me the oddest, most possessive, but yet happy feeling, like the first time I’d come in and found her sleeping in my shirt, but multiple-fold after all that had happened.

Now she’d come to me in the shower. She gave my back a soft kiss. I put my hands on the wall to brace myself because I was a little overwhelmed at that. Then I felt her soaping up my back. I closed my eyes and absorbed it, all of it.

I was never so tired in my life, but I just had to be inside of her, so I turned her around, got her front up against the wet shower wall and drove inside of her so fast and so hard that I saw a flash of shock in her eyes as I spun her and heard her gasp in surprise as I entered her. The sharp intake of breath was just enough to give me a little tiny bit of that rush I wanted, that I needed.

I wanted to take care of him the way he’d taken care of me the other night, because I could see he was exhausted and filthy and I didn’t know if he was traumatized, too.

But now he was trying to consume me; it really felt like that. He was driving into me hard and kissing the back of my neck, holding my hair off to the side. The harder he pushed and grunted, the tighter he pulled at my hair and it wasn’t easy to stay upright in the wet shower. I almost lost my footing and then he caught me and gently took me down to kneeling on the floor of the shower and he got back inside of me from behind and held onto a breast with one hand as he drove in over and over and then reached around and rubbed his middle two fingers around and around my clit.

It was hard on the knees and all I could do was brace my hands against the slippery wall, reaching up to hang onto the built-in soap dish. But, I still went off quickly, feeling that awesome ripple throughout my body.

Barely a moment later, he finished. For a moment we were both on the floor of the shower. He turned me around and then pulled me onto his lap and just held onto me. He was trembling.

I wrapped my arms around him and put my cheek on his head and we stayed sitting on the shower floor like that for a long time before he stopped shaking and pulled us both to standing. He reached up and soaped up his body and I shampooed his hair, up on my tiptoes watching him with his eyes closed and his lips parted as my fingers massaged his scalp. Then, after he got under the water and rinsed off, he grabbed me by the hips and pulled me against him and held me for another few minutes under the shower stream. After what felt like forever, he turned the tap off. We left the shower stall and wrapped ourselves in towels and then he took me by the hand and led me to bed.

I felt like I was too wet to be in bed, but had no choice, really, because he pulled me tight against himself, and I think he fell asleep three seconds after his head hit the pillow. We slept under the blankets still wrapped in wet towels, with sopping wet hair, wrapped around one another.