Blood Sport (9 page)

My heart melted. That was so typical of Jake. “That’s lovely. Did you check his ID?”

“Yep. Checked his driver’s licence. All in order. His face matches his photo.”

“Describe him.”

“Oh geez, I dunno. Blond wavy kind of hair, tall, brown skin, yellowy kind of eyes, muscled. Good-looking. A friendly bloke. And real nice too – he had a coffee for me.”

I smiled. “That’s my Jakey. You can let him in.”

I sped up the drying and dressing processes, keen to spend some time alone with Jake. This was such a sweet and unexpected surprise.
He’d probably felt guilty about deserting me when the Super arrived
, I thought, climbing into my pyjamas and bed socks and fastening my knife around my thigh. I brushed my teeth quickly and ran the comb through my hair.

“Jakey, what a wonderful –” I said as I opened the door. The rest of my words died in my mouth.

It wasn’t Jake sitting on the bed grinning delightedly at me. It was Red. And he had a bunch of beautiful flowers in one hand and in the other his gun, pointing straight at me.

Chapter 5

“Don’t,” he warned as I made a run for the door. “I
will
shoot you again if I have to. And don’t try to yell either, or I’ll shoot both of those useless pigs when they come in to investigate.”

I stood still, not moving a muscle. I didn’t shout because I didn’t want to risk Sarah’s and Jack’s lives. I had no doubt that he would shoot them if I did. I’d been a fool to think I could rely on other people to protect me.

“I brought you some flowers.” He held the bouquet up for a second for me to appreciate, then threw it on the floor and kicked it out of the way.

“How thoughtful of you,” I said, emotionless.

“I stole them from another patient, of course.”

“Of course. I wouldn’t expect you to waste any money on me.”

“I might, Tessie,” he replied, pretending to be hurt by my words. “But unfortunately, I’m totally skint. Being on the run is exciting, but I’m forced to depend on other people to support me. And Sharnee’s real angry with me at the moment, so she’s cut off my money supply.” His face twisted in sudden rage. “Fucking bitch! She’ll pay for that later.”

“Why is she angry with you?” I asked, curious despite my current ominous situation.

“She found out from her mother that Chantelle is about to have another one of my kids.” Made sense – Chantelle, Jake’s wife, already had one kid with Red and the last time I’d seen her she’d looked pregnant again. “Chantelle forgot to tell her.”

It was surreal standing there with him, facing off, having a conversation about his complicated and promiscuous private life.

“You could have told Sharnee yourself.”

“It’s not my business if bitches get knocked up. They should be more careful,” he dismissed. “Just like I won’t care if you get knocked up either.” He considered me for a beat, his snake-like yellow eyes contemplative, before laughing aggressively. “Although I love the idea of you having my kid. A little Bycraft growing up in the Fuller family. How fucking funny would that be? The little shit would remind you of me forever.”

“I’d never have a kid by you,” I spat out, then shrugged with feigned indifference. “Anyway, I won’t be alive after you’ve finished with me, so it’s not going to be an issue.”

He pulled a sad face. “It doesn’t have to be like that, Tessie. We could be good friends. Close friends. We could even have a
relationship
.” He sniggered at his own joke.

“Over my dead body.”

“Probably,” he agreed regretfully.

“How did you manage to get in here?” I was trying to keep him talking for as long as possible, either hoping to distract him so I could find an opportunity to attack him. Or even better, maybe one of my colleagues would poke their head in the room to check on me in the meantime.

He laughed again, pleased with himself. “I knew I’d shot you, so I’ve been watching the hospital all afternoon. Saw Jakey leave and guessed he was off to work. Saw that bitch top cop and that walking mountain come and go. Then I saw that stupid cop boyfriend of yours leaving as well and knew my chance had come. God, it was too easy. I waited until that ugly chick who’s supposed to be guarding you went to get something to eat and approached the young one, all matey with him. I gave him a coffee and he nearly wet himself with gratitude. After that, he barely glanced at my ID before letting me in.”

“You forged Jake’s driver’s licence?”

“When I first went on the run I stuck my photo on a colour copy of Jakey’s licence and laminated it myself. I thought it might come in handy one day to pretend to be him. And it sure has, because here we are together again.” He patted the bed next to him. “Come and sit over here with me, lovely.”

“No thanks. I’m fine over here.”

“I wasn’t really asking, Tessie. I was telling you.” He patted the bed again. “I want to play with you a little.”

“I don’t want to be played with.”

“You don’t have a choice. It’s come over here or I’ll shoot you. You decide.”

Was it better for me to go over to him or for him to come to me?
Deciding that there were more possible weapons to work with around the bed, I slowly walked over and sat down as far away from him as possible, making sure I sat on the side that obscured my knife from his view and hopefully his memory.

“Now that wasn’t so hard, was it?” he smiled and scooted over closer to me. “Not like
this
, which is very hard.” He snatched up my hand and forced it onto his crotch. I recoiled immediately, pulling my hand back and slapping him across his face.

He slapped me back twice as hard and took a handful of my hair, yanking on it viciously, making me gasp in pain, my cheek stinging.

“Play nicely,” he cautioned. He held me by the hair and moved forward, looking down searchingly into my eyes. “Jakey’s always saying you’re the most beautiful woman he’s ever met. And you know what, he’s right. You’re the most beautiful bitch I’ve ever met too. God knows I’ve fucked a lot of whores in my life, but never one as hot as you.”

“I’m not a whore,” I insisted, trying to move away from him. He jerked on my hair harder and laughed.

“I know you’re not. But I’m going to turn you into one, lovely. I’m going to fuck you everywhere. And you’re going to love it. You’re going to beg me for more.”

He kissed my neck and I tried hard not to flinch at his touch, forcing myself to relax, to centre, to think of what I would do next. I made myself become tender, gentle, feminine, even as I decided that I was going to kill him the first chance I had.

“You smell so good and your skin’s so soft. I don’t want to bruise it,” he murmured, his face nuzzling my neck.

“You don’t have to, Red. Not if I play nicely,” I whispered. He looked up at me, suspicious. I licked my dry lips. His eyes were entranced by the motion. “I don’t want to die. Please. I have Dad to think about. He needs me.” I knew he wouldn’t believe any other excuse for me playing along with him.

He stared into my eyes, his eyebrows knitting faintly. “But
I
need you too.” He leaned down to kiss my neck again, his lips trailing across my throat, not able to suppress a low groan of some intense emotion. Lust? “God Tessie, I can’t stop thinking about you, burning for you. Day and night. Night and day. All the fucking time. You’re driving me insane.” His lips gently grazed my collarbone.

I compliantly moved my neck to allow him better access, all the while battling the waves of repulsion swamping me at his touch.

“It’s been like this ever since you and Jakey got together. I never thought you’d ever fuck a Bycraft and now that’s all I can think about.” A series of kisses across my collarbone and back up my neck tickled my skin. “Jakey’s been a pussy chaser since he grew pubes, but I swear that the man hasn’t even sniffed at another pussy since he’s tasted yours. You have to be something special if you’ve kept Jakey happy for so long. I want some of that. No, fuck it! I want
all
of that.”

He slipped his arms around me and pulled me up tight against him, crushing me, hurting my injured arm. I bit my bottom lip so that I wouldn’t cry out. He continued speaking in a low voice, his breath warm on my ear.

“I figure the only way to get you out of my head is to fuck you, over and over, whatever it takes – ten times, a hundred times, a million times. Until I don’t want you anymore. Until I’m sick of you, bored of you. And then I’ll kill you and that will be that. I’ll be free of you forever. And I can live again without
you
always in my mind. Even if I end up in jail for the rest of my life, I won’t care because I’ll finally be free of
you
.”

For obvious reasons, I wasn’t happy about any part of that plan except the Red-in-jail ending. “Please don’t kill me.”

“You’ll have to do everything I want.”

“I will. I promise.” I made my eyes as big and innocent as I could. “If you let me live. Please. For my father.” I hoped I wasn’t laying it on too thick.

“
Everything
I want, Tessie
.
”

“I promise.”

“That’s what all the other whores said too, until it started to hurt. Then they struggled and screamed. That made me angry and I had to hurt them some more.”

“I’m tougher than them.” I kept up constant, intense eye contact with him and even dared to reach up my hand to stroke his neck. I made sure I stroked the side that had the scar I’d given him, so as my fingers ran over his jagged skin, I reminded myself that I was a survivor.

“Tessie,” he growled, his breathing growing heavier. Something in my favour – he genuinely desired me. “I’ve dreamed forever of you being nice to me.”

“You’ve never asked me to be nice to you before, Red. You’ve always been so rough and violent.”

He leaned forward and kissed me on the lips, surprisingly gentle. I responded and even met his tongue with my own when he pushed it into my mouth. His tight grip on me loosened and became more caressing. He pulled away and gazed at me again, his eyes softer and pupils wide with longing.

“Was that playing nicely enough?” I whispered, eyes locked on his, a submissive hint in my voice.

“Oh God, yes. It’s a good start,” he whispered back, inhaling raggedly.

He kissed me again, pushing me backwards on the bed, moving on top of me and pressing his lips down on mine. One of his hands was still tangled in my hair, the other slid under my pyjama top to fondle my breast. But as he was still clutching the gun, it was an awkward movement. I had to make him forget himself enough to put the gun down, so I wrapped my arms around his neck, arching myself closer up against him.

When he disengaged again, I said breathlessly, “Red, you can’t ever tell Jakey about this. Please. He would be so angry. Not just with me, but with you too.”

That little touch made him relax. He loved Jake and knew that I did too, but couldn’t help liking the thought of getting one up on his perfect brother. And if that meant sleeping with his girlfriend, then all to Red’s benefit. After all, he’d slept with all his other brothers’ girlfriends.

“Go lock the door, Tessie. We have business together tonight and then you’re going to leave here with me.”

“Are you going to kill me, Red?” I wasn’t quite faking the crack in my voice as I asked.

“I haven’t decided yet. It depends on how much you satisfy me. I might keep you with me forever.”

“Yes, Red,” I said obediently and padded over to the door, pretending to lock it, but actually double-clicking to lock and then unlock it again. I thought about opening the door and running, but he sat on the bed, his gun trained on me the entire time and I couldn’t be sure I’d be fast enough to avoid being killed. I returned to the bed, standing in front of him as he sat on the edge. He pulled me in close so I was standing between his legs, his little gun pointing at my chest.

“Take your clothes off,” he ordered, his voice husky with desire. “I’m going around the world with you tonight, lovely. Starting and ending with your mouth. I want to build up a nice load for you to swallow.” His free hand fumbled for the zip on his jeans. “Get on your knees. You need to have your first taste of me.”

“Yes, Red.” I reached my arms down as if I was about to grab the bottom edge of my pyjama top to pull it over my head, but instead I pulled out my knife. In a quick, smooth movement, I struck his arm upwards forcing the gun to go flying out of his grasp onto the floor where it clattered loudly and slashed out at him with my knife, cutting him lightly on his upper left arm.

“
Help!
” I yelled at the top of my lungs. “He has a gun!”

There was no response from the outside cops.

“
Bitch!
I knew I shouldn’t trust you,” he screamed, rolling over the bed to retrieve the gun. I skidded around the bed in my socks, scrambling to reach it first.

“
Help!
I need some help!” I yelled again.

Still no response. What the hell were they doing out there?

We lunged for the gun at the same time. I pushed him away with my palm in his face, stretching my left hand towards the gun. Just as my fingertips touched it, he kicked it over near the door, out of both our reach. I gripped his upper arms to stop him heading for it, but my socks were slippery on the floor. He clutched my arms and bulldozed me, his face set with naked anger, driving me backwards against my will.