Chapter 32
Serena
The doctor cleared me to go home after two days.
At least one good thing came out of being in the hospital. I finally got my cast taken off.
After taking the best shower I have had in what feels like months, I am brushing my hair when Isaac steps into the room.
He closes the door softly behind him and steps up behind me, taking the brush from my hand. My head leans back when he begins raking the bristles through my hair. Slow, delicate strokes through each strand sending shivers through my body.
Pure bliss.
Isaac sets the brush down on the hospital bed and runs his fingers through my hair. The moan that escapes my lips is almost feral.
His fingers drag lightly against my scalp, sending goosebumps down my arm and across my body. Heat blooms low between my legs, my body and pussy reacting instantly to his simple touch.
Down girl. You are literally recovering from almost dying.
He surprises me when he separates my hair into three sections and starts weaving them together into a french braid. A man who knows how to properly wash and braid hair?
Isaac is a mystery that I’m not sure I will ever solve.
But I look forward to trying. I look forward to the time we now have together.
When he reaches the bottom of the braid, I hand him a hairband and he ties it off. He leans over, kissing my neck and shoulder and rests his hands on my hips. I turn around and wrap my arms around his neck, looking up at him.
His warm brown eyes gaze back down at me. They are lighter than they were before, now that he has gotten some sleep. Every night since I woke up, he has slept next to me, the hospital bed barely big enough to hold both of us.
My eyes fall to his lips and then back up. “I’d like to go home now.” Home.
Our home.
Maybe Jules can take over my old house, because I don’t think I will be going back any time soon. I am sure she would love to move out of that tiny apartment and have the space.
Although, I’m not so sure how she would feel about the history of the place. I guess the only way to know is to ask her.
“Whatever you like, Mi Vida.” He turns me around and smacks my ass, prompting me to grab my bag. I giggle, hitting his chest playfully as I walk by.
Jules told me that he stayed by my side the entire time I was unconscious. Besides the first night. Of course, my curiosity gets the better of me, and I wonder where he was instead. But then I decide it doesn’t matter.
The fact that he stayed at all is enough for me.
On the other hand… she said he was gone until the afternoon of the next day. It strikes me as kind of odd that he would stay away for so long.
I shake my head.
It is none of my business what he was doing. And if I don’t stop, I’m going to end up spiraling and imagining all sorts of crazy scenarios.
Speaking of which, I want to know why the fuck Savannah lost her shit and beat me in the first place. I know we didn’t have the best interaction the last time we were together, but I didn’t think it warranted trying to kill me. The bitch is straight up crazy.
She reminds me of the pick me girls from my school. I know she lied about sleeping with Isaac. A pathetic attempt to make herself the center of his attention. Which would never happen.
Unfortunately, I did let her get under my skin and she almost succeeded in splitting the two of us up.
If it weren’t for Isaac coming after me, I don’t even know if we would be together right now. Maybe I wouldn’t have even been in the hospital. Is she really demented enough to kill another girl over a man she hasn’t even had a relationship with?
Apparently.
God, she makes my blood boil. The more I think about it, the angrier I get. The fucking audacity she has to come after me like that.
She doesn’t even know me.
But because I had the attention of the man she wanted, she decided that was enough to come after me. To violate my space. My place of work. Just to keep alive some insane fantasy she has about Isaac.
Who in their right mind does that?
What I wouldn’t do to give her a taste of her own medicine. I’m not normally a vengeful or spiteful person, but the thought of giving her a good hit to the face excites me more than it should.
I think Isaac and Jules are rubbing off on me a little.
The elevator dings when it reaches the floor with the parking garage, and the doors slide open. Isaac’s car comes into view a few spaces away. He steps out first, scanning the area before turning back toward me, holding his hand out expectantly.
But the second I look out at the dark concrete space stretching in front of us, my body locks up and my legs refuse to move.
My hands shake by my side, and my chest tightens. The walls of the elevator begin to close in on me. Backing away, I’m met with the hard resistance of the wall, and slide down to my ass, pulling my legs into my chest.
Isaac drops the bag and rushes inside. He stoops down to my level, but I don’t see him. I feel his muscled arms behind my back and underneath my legs as he picks me up before taking me out of the elevator, grabbing the bag with his foot and bringing it to his hand.
“I know you’re scared right now, but the faster we get out of here, the better you will feel.”
His voice is low and steady against my head as he pulls me in tighter to his chest. The rhythmic thump of his heartbeat beneath my ear pulls my focus. Grounding me, loosening the panic clawing at my chest little by little with every beat.
My fingers tighten in the fabric of his shirt, his heat surrounding me and shielding me from the cold air and memories threatening to drag me under.
I hate that my body is betraying me like this. Over a stupid fucking parking garage.
I wasn’t expecting to have such a visceral reaction when we reached the bottom of the elevator shaft. But that’s the thing about PTSD, you never know when it’s going to hit you. It could be the simplest object or word that triggers you and sets you off.
That’s what’s so hard about it. Not knowing. The loss of control over your own body and emotions.
Being betrayed by your own mind is one of the hardest things to overcome.
But wrapped in Isaac's arms, I feel safe. Breathing feels easier, knowing that nothing can touch me while he is holding me this close.
We get to the car, and Isaac buckles me into the passenger seat. He quickly jogs around the front and tosses the bag into the backseat from the front driver side. Shutting the door, he starts the car and we are on our way home before I have the chance to think anymore about it.
The familiar smell of the woods fills the car, and the house comes into view. Gravel crunches underneath the tires as we slow to a stop in the driveway.
I can’t wait to crawl into bed. To feel that small moment of bliss you get the first night you sleep in your own bed after a long vacation. The hospital bed is hard and uncomfortable. Not to mention the sterile smell that is constantly around you.
It’s unnerving to say the least.
My thoughts go back to the bed upstairs and the soft, pillowy comforter calling my name. And then my mind wanders to our last time we spent in bed together. His lips on mine. His fingers tracing up and down my back.
His cock inside my pussy.
Wetness gathers between my legs, and I clench my thighs together to relieve the ache that has started there. I never had a high sex drive before being with Isaac.
Honestly, I could go days without it and be just fine. Even when I was with Tyler. The only time that it would really get to me was when we went weeks without being intimate.
And intimacy to me means more than just fucking. It’s the small moments in between. The soft smiles. Looking at the other person, only to see that they’re already looking at you.
Cuddling on the couch and watching your favorite show or movie together. The intentional touches throughout the day without the expectation of having sex.
But when you go weeks without it, the sexual tension tends to build. At that point, I’d have to just take care of it myself.
But with Isaac? He has made my body crave it. All he has to do is look at me and my pussy clenches. He has shown me that it’s okay to love sex. That I don’t have to be ashamed anymore. That my desires are normal and he is more than happy to fulfill them.
And boy does he.
He doesn’t even give me a chance to open my door before he opens it for me. I’m still a little sore, so it takes me a minute to get out of the car and up the steps into the house.
Once we are inside, he puts the bag on the stairs and leads me to the kitchen. Reluctantly I follow. Slightly disappointed that he didn’t bring me straight upstairs.
He turns on the electric tea kettle and removes a mug from the cupboard next to the fridge. “There’s something I need to take care of in the basement. But first, we are going to go upstairs.” He nods toward the stairs and pours the boiling water into the mug with a tea bag.
I sit at the island and take the cup of tea, wrapping my hands around the mug to warm them. “Is everything okay? Anything I can help with?”
He smiles and leans against the counter. “You’re in no shape to help me with anything right now Mi Vida.”
“Well, perhaps I can just come down and keep you company.” The thought of being by myself right now terrifies me.
He shakes his head. “I’m sorry Serena, but this is something that I’d rather you not bother yourself with.” With that, he kisses my forehead and leads me out of the kitchen, guiding me up the stairs by my arm.
Setting the cup of tea on the end table, I turn and fist Isaac’s shirt, pulling him down to the bed with me. I groan inwardly at the pain. He unravels my hands, and places them in my lap.
“You need your rest, Mi Vida.” The pained look of restraint on his face is very unconvincing.
“What I need is for you to fuck me. What I need , is you.”
The look in his eyes tells me that he wants to, but he won’t.
Instead, he gently pushes me back, lifting the comforter and tucking it in around me. “I won’t be long Little Firecracker. When I’m done, I will come back and give you what you need.” Kissing me tenderly, he gives me one last look before leaving the room, shutting the door behind him.
The room is quiet.
Not even the sound of the rain outside is enough to distract me. Sitting up, I pull out my phone and send Jules a text, letting her know that we made it home. She sends me back a kissing face emoji and I shake my head.
I lean over and place my phone on the end table, grabbing my cup of tea before sitting up against the headboard. The sound of my nails tapping against the ceramic bounces off the walls.
Boredom and curiosity eat at me. I want to know what he’s doing down there that’s so mysterious he doesn’t want me involved. And what is so much more enticing than fucking me.
Before I know it, my better judgement leaves and I’m walking down the cold basement steps.
Basements have always creeped me out.
Growing up, I always said I would never have a basement in my house. Too many opportunities for ghosts to haunt me. Not to mention the number of times I’ve read about serial killers and their fondness for them.
Hello, have you heard of John Wayne Gacy?
Who knows what kind of fucked up shit the previous owner had lying underneath.
I’m sure Isaac will have a perfectly normal basement. He’s probably just working on some project with his manly tools. Like a normal person.
Right?
I reach the end of the stairs and approach a door. Hesitating, I reconsider going in further. What if I don’t like what I find?
It’s not until I hear the screams come from the other side of the door, that I begin to regret my decision to come down here. Maybe he’s just watching a movie in his man cave.
No. Let’s be real.
He is not going to choose a movie over tying me up and making me choke on his cock. So, most definitely not watching a movie, and most likely not working on a home project like a normal man.
I know better than that.
I know he’s a killer. And yet… I’m not afraid.
I am confident he would never hurt me. So whomever he has on the other side of that door, probably deserves to be there. Hopefully. Even though I know he’s killed before, I don’t yet know how far he’s willing to go.
Or how far I’m willing to look past it.
I grab the handle and take a deep breath before pushing it open. On the other side of the door is another long hallway. There’s a small bathroom on the right-hand side, and room to the left with only a single desk and computer in the middle.
A glow from behind the door grabs my attention. I step inside to get a closer look and realize that it is a wall full of screens. They are surveillance videos. Most of them are of the house and property around us.
Something catches my eye on another screen.
It is split in half and on one side my name is displayed on the top. The other half has Tyler’s name in the same place. Under my name is a red blinking dot on a map that reads home .
He’s been tracking me?! Well that explains how he knew I was at the clinic that night.
A strange mix of emotions twist inside me. It's controlling, possessive and wrong. And yet...
If he hadn't been watching me, would he have found me in time? Would I even still be alive right now?
The fact that he cared enough to watch over me without my knowledge confuses me. It's thoughtful in the most fucked up way possible, and I don't know whether I want to scream at him, or wrap my legs around him and show him how thankful I am.
I do know that he will be removing that tracker first thing tomorrow. I’ll be sure of it.
I exit the room and continue down the long hallway. This feels like it’s bigger than the width of the house. Finally reaching the end of the corridor, I am met with yet another door.
How many different doors does this place have?
The screams are louder than before, and I hear Isaac’s muffled voice on the other side. Whoever he is in there with, starts talking, but is cut off by Isaac and the sound of metal scraping against the floor.
This is it Serena, it’s now or never.
I take another deep breath and like before, push open the door.
My breath hitches when I see who it is.