ARRESTED: A Stepbrother Cop Romance (15 page)

20

ALLYSON

The room isn’t dark anymore. I glance around quickly,
taking in how close my surroundings are and how sparse. Wooden walls and no
pictures make it feel very functional, like a cabin out somewhere remote that’s
only used for weekends. My heart sinks as I imagine the dark forest that might
surround me, outside the walls of my prison.

"So you're awake," Drew whispers in my ear.
His hot, moist breath makes me recoil.

"Nnnooo," I moan against the gag. It has
become sodden in my mouth.

The curtains are still drawn but they're not thick.
Now that I can see I'm pretty sure Drew has fixed cardboard over the windows to
block out the sun. I look around again, trying to get my bearings. The door is
in the far corner, distant enough that I mentally calculate my chances of
reaching it are small. I’m still restrained and not able to go anywhere, but
that doesn’t stop the eternally hopeful fragment of me from considering my
escape anyway.

I know Drew’s watching me look around but I don’t give
a fuck. This could be my only chance to find something that might help me.
There’s a lamp on a low table next to me; something I could pick up and swing
at him if I ever manage to get my hands free. There’s a vase of dried flowers
on another chest nearer the door. I look at the window again, covered by floral
curtains, and wonder who the hell owns this place. It looks like it’s been
decorated by someone’s grandma.

Drew is sitting on the edge of the bed and he strokes
my arm, down the length of it in a long leisurely way, setting the nerve
endings off and making me shiver. In the dark the fear was overwhelming.
Without sight, I felt totally powerless. In the light, I’m hit more with a
sense of revulsion. Drew grins at my reaction and trails his finger back up my
arm, enjoying the torment and control, maybe delusional about why my body is
reacting the way it is. Does he think I’m aroused?

"You have such a beautiful body," he says
reverently. "Such lovely flawless skin to mark."

His fingers trail down to my wrists and he pauses, a finger
gently running around above the bindings. "What's this?" he asks,
running a finger over the spot where Cory's cuffs bruised my skin.

I groan again and attempt to talk around the gag in my
mouth but everything I say comes up muffled. Angrily he yanks the gag off. I
gasp and suck in deep breaths. Though I could breathe through my nose, it’s
such a relief to be able to draw in big gulps of air.

"What the fuck is this?" he asks again,
jabbing at the sore spot on my wrist and making me wince.

"What's what?"

"Don’t try to play innocent with me, Allyson.
Answer the damn question."

"You want to know how I got bruises on my
wrists?” I say, my voice incredulous. “Why the fuck do you care?"

"I care because I know I didn’t fucking cause
them,” he spits out viciously. “If someone else has been putting their hands on
you, I want to know about it."

"You don’t have any right to know anything about
me anymore, Drew."

He raises a hand and I cringe, closing my eyes
reflexively.

He's going to hit me.

Seconds pass and nothing happens. When I look up he’s
not poised above me like I feared but rubbing his hand through his hair like
he’s frustrated. Then suddenly, he springs off the bed and paces across the
room shooting angry glances at me. I tug at my hands and try to get some more
flex so I can turn onto my side but there’s no give and my wrists pinch
painfully. I gasp, clenching my hands into fists and rotating my wrists to try
and loosen the ties. Drew watches all this and comes back to sit on the edge of
the bed again. He rubs my arm, gently touches the bruises on my wrists and the
binds as though he feels bad for the pain I’m in. I wonder if I might be
getting through to him by showing him my discomfort.

"Tell me how you got them.”

He’s trying to sound reasonable but I know what he’s
doing. His eyes glint and a muscle in his jaw twitches, all tells that he’s
holding down his anger. All my hopes that I might have a chance at convincing
him to let me go fall away.

I laugh; an alien sound under the circumstances. Fear
has given way to anger and anger to something else. Raging righteousness. I
feel unhinged, desperate and reckless.

He wants to know and it’s the one thing that I know
will drive him nuts with jealousy and maybe even push him far enough for him to
make a mistake. I know this might be the most stupid thing I have ever done but
I’m too far gone to think clearly.

"Cory, the cop,” I say, smiling wickedly. “You
saw him at the party. He cuffed me, arms behind my back so I was totally
helpless. He had the power to do whatever he wanted to me and he fucked me
better than you ever have. I don't belong to you, Drew. I never did. You were
just a way to pass the time.”

I pause waiting for Drew to take it all in, watching
his reaction warily.

His face contorts and turns red. In his lap his fist
clenches. He’s angry but not like I expected. When he turns from me I realize
that he doesn’t know how to react. I talked back and he didn’t expect it. He
expected me to be submissive and scared, but as I look at the pathetic piece of
shit that has me strapped to this bed against my will, I’m raging.

“You think I was saving myself for you? You think that
what we did together was just for you? You’re fucking deluded, Drew. You’re
sick.”

“You’re sick,” he shouts. “You’re the sick piece of
shit who told me to tie you up and torment you. You’re the one who likes to
play twisted sex games.” He takes a deep breath, and leans over me, face changing
from angry to calm. Calm scares me more than anger. His eyes glint in the low
light of the room. His lips form a thin line across his face. He grabs my
wrists, holding them tight enough to make the bruises throb with fresh pain.

"I'm going to show you who owns you, bitch."

He releases my wrists and caresses my arm, moving
slowly, pausing at the swell of my breast to brush the side. Then he continues
caressing me with the tip of a finger, lingering over my ass, caressing down my
legs. I want to pull away from his touch but the ropes around my feet are still
as tight as ever.

"I know what you want,” he whispers. “You want to
be taken against your will, just the way we pretended before."

I struggle against the bonds again, more desperate
than ever to break free. I have no doubts that Drew will follow through with
his threat and all I can think about is getting out of there. Away from him.

I scream at the top of my lungs. "Help me.
Somebody help me!" I don’t know if there is anyone out there who might
hear my cries but I don’t care. I shout again. “HELP, I need HELP.” I struggle,
bucking on the bed as much as I can. I scream again and jerk and buck some more
as Drew reaches over me to cover my mouth with his hand.

I hear a bang below us. Drew's head jerks in the
direction of the door. He’s not expecting the sound, that is pretty obvious. My
initial fear that he had an accomplice in another part of the cabin dissipates
and we both freeze, me out of sheer hopefulness that I might be freed and Drew,
it seems, in total panic. There’s another bang and the sound of heavy shoes on
the wooden stairs. I’m hoping so badly that it’s someone coming to rescue me.

Drew springs off the bed, swearing under his breath.
He stands facing the door, frozen as though he doesn’t know what to do next. He
looks to the window, as though contemplating if he could escape that way. But
he doesn’t make a move to either exit, just starts to undo my bindings.

"Tell them that you were here because you wanted
to be," he says. "I promise I’ll remove the photos from the websites
I posted them on."

I say nothing as he hurriedly unties my feet and then
my wrists. His fingers fumble with the knots as he glances at the door then
back to my wrists. I’ve pulled them so tight with all my struggling that he
can't get them off. He swears under his breath and I can't help it. I laugh.
He’s so fucking pathetic. What kind of man kidnaps a woman, then begs her to
get him off the hook? He’s deluded!

Finally, he manages to get the rope around my wrists
undone. "I promise to try to undo the damage I've done."

I pull back my hand and slap him hard across the face.
It’s a reflex reaction and the hardest that I have ever hit anything in my
life. I scramble to my feet, rushing toward the door to flee the torrent of
anger I know that slap will bring.

Before I can reach the door he grabs me from behind
and pulls me back against his body. He’s breathing hard.

The door bursts open and suddenly Cory is standing
there with another officer. I’ve never been so happy to see anyone. The relief
and fear mingle together and then I’m crying and crying, gasping for them to
help me.

Drew pulls me backward, hand at my throat and I watch
Cory’s face, his cold hard expression, waiting for his reaction.

They stare at each other, as Cory takes another step
into the room, his gun drawn and pointing directly at us.

I grip Drew’s hand, trying to pull it from my where
it’s restricting my breathing.

"Let her go and we can all go home in one
piece," Cory says so calmly I wonder how on earth he manages it. How can
someone keep their head in a situation like this? If our roles were reversed,
I’d be shouting the air blue.

He levels the gun at Drew's head and I wince, hating
that I’m in the line of fire. I want to close my eyes and shut it all out. I
want to be anywhere in the world but where I am right now. I want to fight my
way out of Drew’s clutches and throw myself into Cory’s arms.

Drew tries to maneuver me in front of him in such a
way that Cory won't have a clear shot. Not without hitting me.

More tense seconds pass and I sob again, not able to
control myself. The fear is too intensely coiled inside me. I’ve been terrified
for too many hours.

I don’t know what makes Drew decide that things have
gone far enough, but I feel his surrender.

“Don’t shoot,” he says. “I’ll let her go, but don’t
shoot. I’m giving myself up.”

He releases me and immediately raises his hands in the
air. I rush forward towards Cory who grabs me with his free arm and pushes me
behind his large frame. I cower, my whole body shivering while Cory keeps his
gun trained on Drew. The other officer walks forward, pulling out his
handcuffs. Once the cuffs are on he nods at Cory.

"I’ll take him."

Another officer enters the room and grabs Drew around
the upper arm leading him out.

Officer Jameson starts calling it in. Cory puts his
arm around me and guides me out through the door. I glance around at the place
I’d been held captive, not really taking in any of what is happening to me.
It’s a holiday cabin. I remember Drew mentioning his parents had a holiday
getaway that we might be able to use someday.

Looks like he kept his promise.

I feel woozy. Shocked. My knees go to jelly, but just
as I think I’m going to fall, Cory scoops me up and holds me against him.

I feel like I’m in a dream; as though I’m looking
through someone else’s eyes or walking in a stranger’s shoes. The edges of my
vision are misty like the faded edges of an old photograph. I only realize that
I’m crying when I feel the wetness on Cory’s shirt against my face.

“It’s okay,” he croons, lifting me higher so that I’m
closer to him. “Everything’s going to be okay. I’ve got you, baby. I’ve got
you.”

There’s a hitch in his voice that makes me hold onto
him even tighter. Despite his calm exterior, I feel his concern. The beat of
his heart against my ear is frantic and he’s holding onto me too tightly, but I
don’t care that his fingers are digging into my flesh. All I want is to stay in
his arms, knowing that he’ll keep me safe.

We get to the bottom of the stairs and I can see Drew
being led away. Officer Jameson and Cory wait for a squad car that I can see
heading up the hill toward the front of the property. Jameson opens the rear
door and Cory sets me inside, pausing to look me over.

“Are you hurt anywhere?” he asks, taking hold of my
hand and looking at my wrists. His hand seems to tremble as he takes in the
damage to my skin. My feet are still bare and the welts around my ankles have
bled in streaks.

“Fuck,” Cory says. “Get the first aid kit.” Jameson
heads to the trunk while Cory takes my face in his hands and strokes away my
tears. “You’re safe,” he says firmly. I don’t register it at first. His eyes
are almost alight they are burning so fiercely. “Did you hear me?”

I nod watching his eyes searching my face, looking for
more injuries maybe or a sign that I’m hearing him. That I’m lucid.

“You’re safe, okay?” he says again. “He’s gone,
Allyson. He won’t be able to hurt you again.”

This time, I nod because I’ve heard him.

He came for me.

He realized I was missing and he found me.

I reach out to cup his face and whisper “Thank you.”