Chapter 21
Maggie released Luke’s hand as he drove them up to the indoor shooting range and parked.
It stood on a hill facing the mountains, a short, long gray building away from town.
He picked up a small black case from the trunk and came around to her side of the car.
Taking his offered hand, she stood and looked around.
“The scenery here is beautiful.” Rolling green mountains as far as the eye could see, the ones in the distance turning increasingly blue the further away they were.
“I’ve always thought so.” Luke mused. He led her through the double door, where a man stood behind a glass case displaying various guns and even fancy knives.
She gulped. She’d never been in a place like this before.
Sean always did his marksmanship practice at the precinct.
He’d never let her handle his gun, either.
After Luke talked to the man behind the counter and got them passes to the back, she followed him to a solid metal door. “Won’t you get in trouble for letting me fire your weapon?”
“Nah, sweetheart. I’m expected to practice, especially when I’m on leave. No one will care.”
“Really?”
He paused, his hand on the door handle. “Sweetheart, if Ross found out my girl had a stalker, and I hadn’t let her practice on my weapon, he’d smack me in the head and give me the shittiest assignments for a year.
” He grinned at the shock on her face. “His girlfriend had a stalker when they got together and it’s a kind of sore spot for him. ”
“Oh.” She took the hard ear protection, and safety glasses he handed her and followed him inside. He found them an aisle and laid the case on the table there, spinning a combination lock and popping the lid open.
“First rule of gun safety is to treat all guns as if they’re loaded. Which I’m going to do here.” He demonstrated how to load the magazine, how to insert it into the gun, and then pressed it into her hands.
“Keep it pointed downrange, there you go. We’re just going to focus on the functions of actually shooting so you can get a feel for it. This gun might have more recoil than you want, and we can shop around if that’s the case. But for now, this’ll do.”
Maggie nodded, nausea turning her stomach. “I’m not sure this is such a great idea.”
“Why’s that?”
“I don’t know if I can do this for real, Luke. Shooting the paper at the far wall is one thing, but a person?” Her hands shook so bad she was worried that the gun would fall to the floor.
“Chances are you’ll never need to know any of this, sweetheart.” He murmured into her ear, the protective sound barriers no match for his velvety baritone. “But if it comes down to it, you should know how to protect yourself.” His hand smoothed over her shoulder, soothing her.
He was right. She knew he was right. Maggie closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then let it out slowly.
She’d gotten away from Sean on her first try. Most survivors tried seven times to get away from their abuser. Firing a gun should be easy.
Luke showed her how to plant her feet, how to hold the gun with both hands.
“Don’t take the safety off unless you know you’re going to shoot.
” He had her flick the little safety lever off, then on, several times.
“Okay, now pull the slider back.” He took her hand off the gun and laid it on top, using her hand to slide the top portion back and then letting it spring forward again.
“You just loaded a bullet into the chamber from the magazine.”
Maggie nodded as the butterflies in her stomach did the Riverdance.
“Now, lay your finger along the barrel. Bend your elbows slightly. Line up your front sight with your target…”
She squinted one eye shut and lined the little bump at the end of the barrel up with the crosshairs on the paper target.
“…and squeeze the trigger.”
An explosion erupted from the gun, the pushback taking Maggie by surprise even with the stance Luke had shown her. She found herself leaning back against his chest, panting as though she’d run a mile.
“There’s the recoil.” He helped her upright once more. “Can you try again?”
She looked back and up at him as the adrenaline pumped through her veins. “Hell yes.”
An hour later, her hands were too tired to hold the gun, much less reload the magazine.
Luke was grinning at her as he put the gun back in its case and they returned to the counter to turn in their protective equipment.
She hadn’t hit the bull’s eye at all, but she’d gotten the bullets in the paper, and that’s what he said he wanted to see.
“The point is to buy you time to get away, not just to kill someone. Although if they’re attacking you, they’re fair game. ”
The knuckles on her thumbs were raw from the recoil, but she felt ten feet tall. Let Sean come for her. She wasn’t afraid of him anymore.
When they got back to Luke’s car, she let him put the case in the trunk before she leaped into his arms.
He laughed. “What’s this for?”
“Thank you,” she said, wrapping her legs around his waist as he leaned his forehead against hers.
“You’re welcome? Thank you for agreeing to it.”
“You were right. I needed this.” She attached her mouth to his, exploring the inside with her ravenous tongue. He gripped her ass, and she hoped he left bruises.
He broke the kiss on a moan, “Baby, does shooting make you horny?”
“No,” she said, hopping down but still leaning against him. “Men that believe in me apparently make me horny.”
“I better work on my stamina then, ‘cause I believe in you a whole helluva lot, sweetheart.” He took her mouth again, one hand leaving her ass to thread through her hair and hold her to him.
A wolf whistle from another car in the lot broke them apart.
His eyes burned into hers. “Get in the car, Mags.”
The commanding tone in his voice thrilled her, and she hurried to do as he said. He turned the key in the ignition and peeled out as she got her seatbelt clicked.
He drove down the highway for a mile, then pulled off on an access road.
“Where are you going?”
“Can’t wait to get back to the Haven.” He drove around the winding road then pulled off once they couldn’t see the highway anymore.
He unbuckled his seatbelt and turned the car off. Sliding his seat all the way back, he patted his thighs. “Your throne.”
She ripped the seatbelt from the holder and crawled across the console to straddle him.
Dominating his mouth once more, she followed him down when he reclined his seat so they were laying down.
But she needed more, His hands were on her back, rucking up her shirt.
She sat up and pulled one of his hands around to her breasts.
This man. This man was looking up at her like she was a goddess.
His eyes glazed over as she lifted her shirt and popped her boobs out of her bra, letting the cups prop them up like a shelf.
He stared at her in wonder while he thumbed her tight nipples, the hard peaks in need of his mouth.
In fact… she leaned over, and let them dangle right in front of his mouth, fruit ripe for the taking. And take he did.
Every pull of his mouth on her nipples went straight to her clit, and soon she was a moaning, wet mess in her panties, grinding away on his bulge. Between gasps, she asked him, “Condom?” He nodded, still with her tit in his mouth, then shoved his hand under his ass and pulled out his wallet.
Then they had to wrestle out of their clothes, Luke had it easy, all he had to do was open his fly and pull his cock out, but Maggie had to wriggle around and get one leg out of her jeans.
“I need more skirts.”
“Not going to argue with you.” He slid her panties to the side and thrust two fingers in her channel. “Fuck, you’re dripping.”
“Fuck me.” Still holding the fabric away from her entrance, Luke helped her mount him.
She slid down, feeling the delicious stretch in a whole new way.
The tight quarters made it difficult for her to move, so Luke grabbed her hips and thrust upwards, making her buck and clutch at his shoulders.
He moaned as he sucked on her breasts once more, switching back and forth between them like a kid in a candy store.
Between his size, and the angle, and the extra stimulation on her nipples, Maggie didn’t last long before she was clenching around him, milking him for all she was worth. He followed her a moment later, the veins on his neck standing out as he squeezed his eyes shut through his climax.
She lay down on his chest as their breathing slowed. He kissed her forehead, her eyes, her nose.
The sounds of the highway filtered through the trees, and Maggie sat up, setting her bra and shirt to rights. “We should get going.”
“Yeah,” he croaked, helping her get back to her seat. He opened the glove box and used some takeout napkins to wipe the sweat off their faces, then wrapped the condom in them and shoved it deep into the garbage bag hanging off his gearshift.
When they were all set, before he turned the car over, he leaned over and pulled her mouth to his. Maggie gripped his shoulder, not wanting to let go. Her heart was in so much trouble. But she found she didn’t care.
Luke knew her secret now. And he still wanted her. He still cared.
And the most dangerous thing of all was the hope that started to burn in her chest.
Saturday afternoon, Luke got the call he’d been dreading. Thankfully, Gabe had said they planned to make their move in the evening, so he had time to get Maggie home. He hadn’t wanted her to go anywhere without him, but this was important. And now he had to tell her what he was doing.
“What’s wrong?” she’d asked when he’d gotten the call.
He told her on the drive back to the Haven, about Aaron and the drugs, and that the sheriff had agreed to let him be a part of the raid.
Apparently, there was a big meeting with a lot of the dealers and the main guy, that Gabe suspected was the chief of police’s nephew, scheduled for tonight at the trailer.