31 Days of Autumn (18 page)

‘Fuck, I can’t wait to be buried inside you,
you’re so hot and wet,’ he groaned, lowering his head to take my other nipple
into his mouth. He licked and bit it, his fingers working furiously as tears of
bliss started to roll down my cheeks. My orgasm was within reach, I could feel
it growing inside me, preparing to ravage my body and mind.

‘Yes, yes … yes,’ I cried, closing my eyes and
thrashing my head back and forth as I tried to delay it. I never wanted this
feeling to stop.

‘Eyes on me, Ellie,’ Dan demanded, his tone low
and gruff with need. I forced them open, fighting against the heaviness of my
lids and desire that clouded my eyes. ‘Come for me, baby, let me hear how much
you need me, because
fuck
, do I need you right now.’

I fragmented into millions of tiny pieces of
bliss as I climaxed, stars filling my eyes, volcanic lava heating my core as
surges of electrical energy tore up my spine and ignited all of the pleasure
receptors in my brain. I felt completely weightless as no part of my body was
left untouched by such a primal release. At some stage, I felt myself sink back
onto the duvet and pillows as I fought to regain my breath and my vision,
tremors still running through me, my body twitching in response.

‘Shit,’ I moaned, completely dazed. I heard Dan
chuckle, then the sound of him sucking and a distinct pop, as he removed his
fingers from his mouth.

‘Now it’s my turn. Christ, I can’t wait to sink
into you,’ Dan sighed as he positioned himself above me, my legs widening to
accommodate him.

‘Dada.’

‘No,’ Dan groaned, closing his eyes as
frustration marred his forehead. ‘Not now.’

‘Dada, Dada, Dadadadadada,’ Eva chanted over
the baby monitor. I giggled in my euphoric state. After an orgasm like that, I
could wait a while for my next one, but poor Dan was straining at the leash.

‘I don’t suppose there’s any chance of her
falling back to sleep on her own?’ he asked, desperation in his tone as he
looked down at me. I shook my head with a smile.

‘You know she only goes back down if you go to
her. You’re very in demand with the women in your life tonight.’

‘It’s a good job I bloody love her,’ he
muttered, leaping off the bed to go in search of his discarded boxers. ‘Don’t
you move a muscle, I want you just like that when I return.’

‘Trust me, I’m going nowhere,’ I sighed, full
of contentment. I watched him disappear towards her room and closed my eyes as
I listened to him talking to her. Life was so good right now, I’d never been
happier. Eva would be walking soon and we’d be starting a whole new phase of
our lives, again. All of our bad luck was behind us, there was nothing but
happiness on the horizon. That thought filled my body with a warm glow as I
stretched my limbs and tried not to give in to the strong need to fall asleep.
My man was in as much need of a release as I’d been. The desire to please him,
to feel him inside me again, forced me to fight my tiredness.

One glimpse of him finally striding back into the
bedroom again, with purpose, had me wide awake. My husband was simply
irresistible.

Sunday 6
^th
September

Damien
Daniels

I rapped the steering wheel with my fingers as I
observed the abandoned army barracks from a distance. This was it, the moment
I’d been working towards. Inside, waiting for me, were four of the most highly
skilled operatives for hire that money could buy. I’d only had dealings over
the phone with the leader of the team, Alfa. There was no way I was giving them
my real name, he knew me as Damien and that’s how it was going to stay, so I
couldn’t really object that they all went by code names, too. Alfa’s team
consisted, rather unoriginally, of Bravo, Charlie and Delta. Why did they
always start at the beginning of the alphabet? What if they were up against
another team who did the same? When someone yelled “Bravo,” no one would know
who the fuck was being spoken to. If I was head of a team, I’d start at the
bottom, Whisky, X-ray, Yankee, Zulu. I took a deep breath, checked I wasn’t
being followed, and headed towards the rusty open gates. As I drove, I passed
some of the outer buildings, which were covered in graffiti and had more broken
windows than not. My instructions were to drive to the courtyard, park up, and
head to building G.

I cut the engine and got out of the car,
activating the remote locking. I was about to start walking when I was suddenly
grabbed from behind. Arms slid up under mine and shot around the back of my neck,
rendering me incapable of fighting back.

‘Don’t make a fucking sound unless I tell you
to,’ someone hissed in my ear. ‘I could snap your neck like a twig. Even if you
were able to get out of this hold, you have a sniper on the roof opposite
aiming for your heart. Understood?’

What the fuck was this? I wasn’t Damien Scott
from bloody
Strike Back
, I was just plain old Damien Daniels. I gulped
and nodded, flicking my eyes down to my chest. I tried not to hyperventilate as
I saw the round red laser dot flickering on my chest. Shit, he wasn’t joking.
What the hell was this? I had to pay an extremely large fee up front, was this
what they did? Off the client without even carrying out the job?

‘What’s the code word?’ the gruff voice asked
in my ear.

‘P … payday,’ I stuttered, in sudden and
desperate need of the toilet. I suddenly knew where the phrase scared shitless
came from, as I was about to brick it.

‘Wrong. Take the shot Bravo, this isn’t
Damien.’

‘No,’ I cried at the top of my voice, my legs
buckling below me. ‘Check, check my pocket for my driving licence, it’s me, I
promise it’s me. Don’t kill me.’ I heard a deep laugh behind me, and I lurched
against the car, my legs giving out on me, as my captor let me go.

‘Just messing with you, Damien,’ he grinned,
slapping the side of my arm. ‘Nothing like a bit of humour to break the ice, is
there?’

I opened my mouth to tell him I didn’t find
anything remotely funny, but no words came out for a moment as I tried to
gather my scattered wits. I was no less scared right now looking up at this
guy. He was dressed in black combat gear, wearing a balaclava so all I could
see were his dark brown eyes, bushy eyebrows, and thin lips.  ‘He could have
fucking shot me,’ I finally bit.

‘Bravo? Nah, he’s a shit shot. He’s the tech
guy, I’m surveillance, and Charlie’s the sniper, close combat, and wetwork
specialist.’

‘For swimming across the loch?’ I asked, as I
tugged on my sweater and slid my body up the car, using it to support me in an
upright position. My eyes opened wide in surprise as he guffawed with laughter.

‘He’s skilled at underwater manoeuvres alright,
but I meant killing at close range, assassination. Spilling blood, wetwork,’ he
clarified, sliding a finger across his throat after I still looked up at him
blankly. I felt my face colour up with embarrassment.

‘So if I’d got the password wrong, Bravo
wouldn’t have shot me?’

‘No, Bravo’s in the building with Alfa, but
Charlie, who’s up there on the roof, would have. Come on, let’s get inside.’

I looked up at the roof of building G to see a
guy standing up and quickly dismantling what looked like a rifle. Jesus fucking
Christ. He wasn’t joking. These guys meant business. ‘You’re Delta then?’ I
asked as I found my feet and followed him as he strode towards the building in
question.

‘Yep.’

‘What do you specialise in again?’

‘Surveillance and tracking. You really ought to
drop that red striped blind in the bathroom when you wank in the shower,
Damien,’ he chuckled. I coughed as I choked. Fuck! They’d been watching me
already?

‘You know where I’m living?’

‘We’ve been watching you, and the Davenports,
for a month. You think we’d take on a job like this without checking out the
client and the target first? Alfa only accepts a booking once we’ve scoped out
the job. You should have left the surveillance to me, you looked pretty damn
uncomfortable in that tent watching the house every day.’

He opened a sturdy metal door and gestured for
me to head inside. I was still shaken from my earlier experience, but the
knowledge that they were obviously thorough reassured me somewhat. I’d had no
idea I was being watched for all of that time. I blinked as I tried to adjust
to the darkness of the room I’d just entered. It seemed that all of the windows
had been boarded up. It smelled dank and musty in here, and the only light came
from a number of lanterns strategically placed around the large space. I could
make out a set of four put up beds topped with sleeping bags, all lined up in a
row. There was also a foldaway table with a small camping stove and a canteen
of water near it, with boxes piled up below. Delta ushered me forwards, towards
a couple more tables in the centre of the room. I nearly stumbled as I saw two
guys standing there with their arms folded across their chests, watching us
approach. Christ, if I thought Delta had scared me, these guys were fucking
beasts. I worked out every day, I considered myself to be in great shape, but
these guys … they’d put Vin Diesel to shame. The largest one nodded, so I
nodded back, thinking he was greeting me. Instead, Delta slapped some kind of
duct tape over my mouth and before I knew what was happening, he was stripping
me with the assistance of one of the other two.

‘A necessary precaution. We need to make sure
you’re not recording any of this,’ stated who I could only presume was Alfa,
given he just stood and watched. It wasn’t like I had a damn choice, I was no
match for fighting off these guys. I cupped my groin as I finally stood there
naked and humiliated.

‘We’re good,’ announced one of the guys, making
me wince as he ripped the duct tape, and possibly the top layer of my skin, off
my mouth.

‘Car’s clean as well, boss,’ came a voice from
behind me as I heard the door open and close.

‘Damien, I’m Alfa. Get dressed, take a seat,
and let’s get down to business,’ the largest one stated, confirming my
suspicions that he was the leader. He flicked his head towards one of the
collapsible metal benches positioned in front of the tables. I nodded and did
as I was told, scanning each of the guys who were now facing me. All of them
were dressed the same and all wearing balaclavas. ‘You’ve met Delta, this is
Bravo and Charlie. You won’t get to see our faces yet, for obvious reasons, but
we have our initials stitched into our bulletproof vests, in case you can’t
work out who is who.’

‘Ok,’ I replied, cringing to hear my voice was
almost a whisper. These men were seriously intimidating. ‘Ok,’ I repeated as
loudly and confidently as I could.

‘Ground rules first. You don’t come here again
unless you’re asked. From this moment on, I’m calling the shots. You do what I
say, when I say it, no hesitation. That goes for orders from any of my team.
Any problems with that and we walk away. Our deposit’s non-refundable. Clear?’

‘Clear,’ I agreed. Like I was going to quit
now, when I was so close. ‘I have all of the information I’ve gathered over the
last two years in my car. Shall I get it?’

‘No need. We’ve done our own. Taking the kid up
here isn’t impossible, but it’s not going to be easy. Delta’s tried to hack
into their telecommunications, but given the place is owned by who it is, the
firewalls he’s encountered are beyond even his expertise, so that’s something
we need to work on. We’ve ascertained that the target is due to start reception
school in Domartie on Monday. From what we’ve seen, it’s likely the mother will
go with him each day, accompanied by the female and male bodyguards. That’s
likely to be our best shot, either ambushing the vehicle en-route, or hitting
them outside the school. The disadvantage is the getaway. There are fewer
streets or roads to get lost on and avoid them tracking us once we’ve snatched
him. London would be better.’

‘He has an appointment with his Paediatrician
next Friday in London, they’ve booked the helicopter to take them down Thursday
night,’ I confirmed.

‘How do you know that?’ Alfa demanded. ‘We
don’t even have access to that information.’

‘You think I’ve spent two years planning for
this for nothing?’ I shot back. He may be in charge, but it was my fucking
operation. My payday. ‘I’ve got my own sources and they’re reliable. Can you
set this up in less than a week?’

‘As long as we can confirm your intel, yes,’ he
nodded. ‘We have a base set up ready for when we have him. Bravo has the audio-visual
equipment primed to send the ransom video. Once you get the funds, it’s simply
a case of transferring our share, then we off the kid and go our separate ways.
Job done.’

‘Off him?’ I felt my eyes widen in horror.
‘You’re planning on killing him?’

‘I thought that’s what you wanted. You said you
weren’t giving him back.’

‘I’m not. I want to teach them a fucking
lesson, but killing is out of the question. I was going to keep him, bring him
up as my own. He’s young enough that he’ll soon forget his life before.’

‘Keep him? Are you off your fucking rocker?’
laughed Charlie. ‘You want as much distance from this as possible once it’s
done. Slitting his throat and leaving him behind is the only option. You take
him, one day someone will realise who he is and you’re finished.’

‘No one’s slitting anyone’s throats, not least
a fucking kid,’ I yelled, knocking over the bench as I shot up, furious. ‘You
touch one fucking hair on his head and the deal is off. No kidnap and no
fucking money. I want a guarantee that you won’t hurt him.’

‘You realise that we don’t actually need you
for this job anymore?’ scoffed Charlie, giving me a menacing look. ‘We could
kill you right now, grab the kid, and just claim the ransom ourselves.’

‘You need me because I have an untraceable bank
account set up for the funds,’ I stated as confidently as I could, given
Charlie’s statement was quite possibly true.

‘What makes you think we don’t have one
already,’ asked Alfa.

‘Seeing as though you’ve known exactly where I
was for the last month, and you’ve not already made a move on me or the kid,
I’m assuming I’d already be dead if you didn’t need me,’ I replied, holding his
gaze, hoping that I was right. ‘No one harms him.’

‘Why the fuck do you care so much about him?’
laughed Charlie, shaking his head.

‘I don’t, I care about what he could become.
He’s the son of one of the greatest IT minds in the world right now. If he has even
half of his father’s talent, I could make a fortune off him and I can’t do that
if he’s bloody dead!’ I shot back.

‘Give the guy his due, he has a point,’ nodded
Delta, giving me an admiring look.

‘Oliver Davenport
won’t
be killed,’ I
repeated. ‘I want each of your words right now.’

‘Fine, fucking soft pansy,’ muttered Charlie. I
looked at each of them in turn, waiting for their responses, and let out a
discreet breath of relief when they agreed. In another ten or fifteen years,
with technology continuing to develop, who knew what that kid could be capable
of?

We all took seats around the table as Delta
flicked through the papers on the desk and pulled out a map of the area
surrounding the Paediatrician’s office and they started to plan. I asked where
we were going to take Oliver once we had him and was told that they’d paid cash
to hire a cottage in the middle of a forest not far from Snowdonia. It was off
the beaten track and had an old World War II bunker next to it. That would be ideal
to keep Oliver in, undetectable if any hikers happened to be passing by. It
sounded perfect.

I made a point of closing all of the curtains
in the house, including lowering the bathroom blind, as soon as I got in.
Knowing they’d been watching me for a bloody month was creepy. I took a shower,
but I was too wired to masturbate. I wanted to cross another item off my list.
I was so close now, I could almost taste victory. I wrapped a towel around my
waist and hurried down to the dining room, opened the door, and pulled out my
pad. Flipping the lid off the black marker, I slowly ran it through item eight,
savouring the words disappearing from view. I popped the lid back on the marker
and straightened up, looking down at the pad.