RidingtheWaves (21 page)

“Like I haven’t done enough of that already,” she mumbled.

“I’m sorry. I never expected you to get caught up in this
mess.”

It wasn’t directly his fault—she knew that, and he was doing
everything possible to protect her, but she’d drifted into a really bad mood.

She sighed, grabbed the door handle and opened the door. The
dome light turned on, casting a dim hue inside the vehicle. “Come on, let’s get
this over with. I’m really tired.”

“Annalee?”

She glanced over her shoulder. He’d leaned against the
driver’s door, his huge shoulders blocking the window. His gaze displayed an
enormous amount of regret, and his jaw twitched. He appeared just as scared as
she felt. Every bit of obscurity fled from her body. “Yes?”

“Maybe if I would’ve listened—”

“Don’t.” She leaned over the console and placed an index
finger over his mouth. “It’s not your fault.” She inched closer and took his
face in her palms. “It was already too late. The only way you could’ve
prevented it is if you hadn’t come back into my life at all.” She kissed his
lips. “I’m glad you did. I’d rather live in fear of Rashand than not have you.”

He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her onto his lap.
Just that morning he’d said goodbye at the airport after having made love to
her all night long. It should’ve been enough to last a lifetime, but she wanted
him now. The way his warm breath fluttered through her hair, the manner in which
he gently caressed her back and his groin pressing against her hip ignited
sparks in her blood.

“Baby, you don’t understand,” he said, nuzzling his face in
her hair, “how scared I was when Sterns told me Rashand’s in Ohio. God, I
prayed I’d get to you before he did.”

“Shhh. No more Rashand talk.” She slid her hand between them
and rubbed Brent’s penis through his jeans. It hardened instantly beneath her
touch. “Let’s get our room, Brent. I desperately need you.”

She drifted back into the passenger seat and grabbed the
food. When he appeared outside her door, she climbed out of the SUV. Tucking
her beneath his arm, he led her inside the office.

“Good evening,” an elderly gentleman said from behind a
long, beige counter.

“Hi. I need two rooms. Side by side if possible,” Brent
replied. “My brother will be arriving shortly.”

Were
side-by-side
rooms a good idea with the amount
of noise she’d planned on making? Hopefully a soundproof wall separated them.

The man looked over his shoulder at a rack of numbered keys.
“Six and seven are available. That’ll be fifty-two dollars for both for one
night.”

Annalee focused on Brent’s huge hand as he reached inside
his pants pocket and pulled out a wad of cash. A thrill of excitement raced
along her spine while watching his thick fingers flip through the money and lay
a fifty-dollar bill and two singles on the counter.

The man slid a book toward Brent then removed the keys from
their hooks and laid them down. “Please sign the corresponding numbers to the
rooms.”

While he signed the registration, Annalee slipped her
fingers inside his back pocket for a quick feel of his exquisite ass. His
muscular butt cheeks flexed. Wow. She couldn’t wait to get him alone.

“Thanks.” Brent glanced at the clock, grabbed the keys then
escorted her to the door. He stopped, removed his cell phone from inside his
coat and dialed a number. “Hey, bro, we’re at the Center Motel on Hilliard.
We’ll be in room six. I already have the key to your room.”

He hung up and walked her outside. Big, fluffy snowflakes
fluttered from the sky to the ground, but a heavy wind gust quickly blew them
away. She snuggled closer to Brent, stuffing her hands inside her coat pockets.

No sooner had they entered the room and he turned on the
light than she pushed him to a corner chair and shoved him into the seat. After
dropping her coat to the floor, she kicked off her boots and wiggled out of her
slacks and panties. Then she unhooked his pants, tugged them to his thighs and
straddled his lap.

“Slow down, baby,” he said, laying his hands on her thighs.

“I can’t.” Her pussy was already drenched, and she shared
the wetness by rubbing herself up and down the underside of his cock. “I told
you I needed you now, and that was ten minutes ago.” The satin-smooth skin
massaged her clit. It swelled on contact, becoming more sensitive with each
scrumptious stroke. “Give me a condom. Hurry.”

Despite the aching passion consuming her blood, he smirked
while he leisurely reached for his pants, removed the wallet from the back
pocket, unfolded it and held it open so she could help herself. Which she did
quickly.

After rolling it into place, she took hold of his penis,
came up on her knees and positioned the head at her opening. Painstakingly
slow, she lowered herself onto the shaft. Doing it that way gave every internal
nerve time to rejoice in the pleasant intrusion. And it felt so damn good she
bit her lip to stifle a moan. Ah, she’d died and gone to heaven. Tingles raced
up her spine while delicious prickles ran rampant through her veins.

When she’d taken it all, she settled her ass on his thighs.
“Brent, look at me.” After his narrowed gaze locked on her eyes, she placed her
hands on his cheeks.

She wiped his cocky grin away with a soft kiss. Then she
raised her hips and kissed him again, squeezing his cock with her vaginal
walls. On the descent, he jutted upward and slammed into her. Whoa, the
shocking awakening nearly threw her into a climax.

The sensation weakened as he stilled, drifting through her
body like a gentle wave. And then she gave in and rode with it. Leisurely at
first. Then hard. Then fast as sensation and instinct took over.

Grinding her cunt into his groin, she plastered her mouth to
his in desperation, clutching fists full of hair on the backside of his head.
As the pressure built to an unbearable level in her womb and branched to her
chest, she released his lips and suckled the thick vein throbbing in his neck.
She increased speed on his slippery cock, straining and reaching for the
breaking point. It lingered at the tips of her fingers, but she couldn’t grasp
it.

And he knew.

And she’d realized he’d kept her in that state of pain on
purpose, because, other than one lone thrust, he hadn’t moved. And she felt his
eyes on her while she struggled to the top for the magical blow that would free
the pressure and shatter her insides to pieces.

“Talk to me, Annalee.”

“Ahhh, fuck me,” she begged. “I can’t do it alone.”

He grabbed her hips and plunged deep. Deeper than she could
take him while in control. And it felt so fucking magnificent, her mind spun,
body quivered and the climax exploded in a vibrant burst of tingly spasms
rushing throughout her body. Her tummy jerked and her pussy clenched his cock.
And it held tight as he kept ramming in and out, in and out, driving her insane
until he finally succumbed and came inside the condom.

She lay snuggled against his cold leather, breathing heavily
and holding him tight while his heartbeat thumped against her breast. She
reveled in the security of his arms until the room’s cool air seeped into her
bare skin.

The food was probably ice cold, and after peeling herself
from his body, she grabbed her purse, panties and pants off the floor. Despite
having goose bumps on top of goose bumps, she waited for Brent to dress and
turn up the heat before she walked into the bathroom to clean up. Having one
sole pair of panties, she couldn’t afford slopping them up with her escaping
body fluids.

She turned on the bathtub faucets, waited for the water to
heat then pushed the shower button. Steam filled the small room and hazed the
mirror. After she flipped on the exhaust fan switch she removed her socks,
blouse and bra, knotted her hair in a bun to keep it off her shoulders then
climbed into the hot spray. The relaxing massage from the pulsating beads was
the next best thing to sex. She sighed, unwrapped the bar soap and swiftly
washed her body, saving some hot water for Brent.

She dried off, pulled on her socks then stepped into her
underclothes, blouse and pants. She’d undress again before she climbed into
bed. As it stood, it was just too cold to wander around half nude. Besides, she
didn’t know how soon Brody would arrive to pick up his key.

After wiping the haze off the mirror with a hand towel, she
slung her purse over her shoulder, opened the door and stepped into the room.
Then froze.
Oh God! No!
Brent lay facedown on the floor beside the bed.
Blood trailed from a gash above his eye to the underside of his chin.

Oh no. No.

Had he slipped and fallen?

Had someone broken into the room?

Was he dead?

She dropped the purse, flew to his side and fell to her
knees. “Brent? Brent?” Carefully, she lifted his head onto her lap. “Oh God,
talk to me. Please?” Tears rolled from her eyes as she stroked his cheek with
her palm.

No. No. No. He couldn’t be dead. He couldn’t be. Because she
loved him. And he loved her. And they were meant to be together forever. He’d
proved it by coming back. After a four-year separation. No. No more
separations.

Was he breathing? She tried staring at his chest but she
couldn’t see beyond the tears blurring her vision.

Oh God! Oh God!
“Brent!” Just as she lowered her
cheek to his nose to feel for breaths, someone slapped a hand over her mouth
from behind and yanked her backward. Brent’s head dropped off her lap and hit
the floor with a thud. She struggled to gain footing but was back-slammed into
a stiff chest.

“Make more sound, I kill you,” a foreign voice warned,
dragging her toward the door.

He flashed a knife in her face. Her eyes bulged. Her heart
boomed from her chest to her neck to her ears and skull.
This can’t be
happening. Dear God, please. This can’t be happening.

It’s
him
. The sadist. The torturer. The cold-blooded
murderer.

“Understand?” he asked, holding her firmly against his body.

She nodded. Despite his thick accent, she understood every
word. Her breasts heaved as she breathed heavily through her nostrils. Each
loud exhale drowned the thumping of her painful heartbeat. For the first time
in her life, it hurt being alive.

“Mmm, you worth fortune,” he said, grinding his crotch into
her rear end. “Men pay lots to fuck firm ass.”

Sweat broke along her forehead and her heartbeat rumbled
louder and faster.
Sexual slavery
. He intended to sell her on the black
market? She’d rather die.

“Move.”

Move?
Where? How? What did he want her to do?

He removed his hand from her mouth and wrapped an arm around
her neck, tugging her backward. Her foot slipped and she stumbled, but he
caught her by a squeeze to her throat. Despite her arms hanging free at her
sides, she refused to use them for fear of the knife.

The door barged open.

Brody! Please be Brody.
Please.

Her heart vaulted. Then a string of foreign language
assaulted her ears.
Two? There were two of them?

She tried to scream but the arm tightened, cutting off her
air. As she was dragged toward the open doorway, she dug her feet into the
floor.

I can’t breathe.

Dear God, I can’t breathe.

She gasped, fighting for breath. Tears filled her eyes. She
squeezed her lids shut, dug her nails into his forearm and pried. But he was
too strong—his arm wouldn’t budge, proving he wouldn’t hesitate to kill her.
Thick muscles dug beneath her chin and into her throat. Then finally his arm
slackened just enough to let in a trail of air.

Gasping and coughing, she sucked in every ounce she could.

Her knees were weak and wobbling, but she willed herself not
to collapse. She had to do something. Whether it provoked him to murder her
with his bare hands or the knife, she refused to be abducted without giving a
fight. With all her strength, she plowed her elbow into Rashand’s gut. He
grunted and buckled. She flew out of his grasp, spun and kicked him in the
face. Blood poured from his nostrils and the corner of his mouth as he flailed
backward into the other guy, knocking him halfway outside.

She dove for her purse. “Brody, where are you? Oh, God,
where are you?”

Her hands shook as she poured the contents on the floor. She
grabbed her cell phone, woke it up and opened the dialer pad.

Just as she depressed the number nine, Rashand stood upright
and took a step forward. She scooted across the floor on her ass to Brent,
darting her gaze between him and Rashand. If they wanted him, they’d have to
kill her first.

The moment Rashand peered over his shoulder at his
accomplice she stuffed the phone inside her sock then used her body to
barricade Brent’s head. But she had nothing to brace herself against when both
men ambled across the room, closing in on her.

“Get away from me,” she screamed at the top of her lungs.
Brody.
Someone help me.
“You fucking cowards, get away from me.”

She punched and kicked to deflect their hands as they
reached forward and each grabbed her by an arm. Neither flinched from the quick
blows of her feet to their legs as they tugged her off the floor.

“Bitch,” Rashand seethed. “You will beg me to die.”

Her blood turned to ice.

She thrashed her body back and forth, trying to knock them
off balance, but they twisted her arms. The grinding pain in her shoulders hurt
so badly, she stilled to relieve the strain. When the twisting ceased, she
kicked at their shins.

A hard fist punched into her stomach, knocking the wind out
of her. As she fell forward, limp and gasping for air, something wet was placed
over her mouth and nose. A nauseating stench infiltrated her brain. The room
faded to gray, spun in dizzying circles then fell to black.