Rose In Bloom (24 page)

Brandon

Adrenaline surges through my body as I pull my vehicle into the warehouse. Glancing at the time, I smile. About right now, I’m sure they are rushing to find her, but there is no way they will. I’ve been too smart for all of them. Shutting off the engine, I walk back over and pull the rusty rollup door down behind me, sliding the metal bolt in place to secure it. Now we are all alone. Finally.

Opening up the back door of the vehicle, I ease inside and begin wrapping her tightly in the thick blanket. With all of the broken windows and concrete, this place stays freezing during the cooler months of the year. I don’t want her to get too cold before I can get her upstairs. Gently, I lift her out of the backseat and adjust the blanket around her. When I shift my arm, her face falls limply to my chest and I feel my heart soar. Finally, she’s mine now and I’ll never let her go.

This building is so damn old that you’d probably not believe it even had this lift in it. I admit it looks like a metal death trap, but it still works well. The pulleys on the elevator loudly screech as we begin moving up to the next floor. Panicked, I look down to check on her. The last thing I need is for her to wake up before I have her in the room. Nothing I’ve done so far seems to rouse her from her slumber. I’m beginning to wonder if I gave her a bit too much of the chloroform. I’m used to dosing big men with it, and it’s been quite a while since I’d used it on anyone near her size.

Pushing back the lift door, I steady her in my arms before walking down the platform to the loft. Soft music plays in the background and scented candles flicker from when I had been here earlier today. I’d wanted everything to be nice and calm for when she wakes up, even though I’m sure she isn’t going to be happy at first about the arrangement here. She’ll come around eventually.

Approaching the large bed, I honestly find it hard to let go of her. There is so much to finish before she wakes, so I know I don’t have a choice but to lay her down. Brushing away her long curls, I study her face. There, just below her right eye, is a scar that I know wasn’t there a year ago. My fist clenches, thinking about whether Thorne lost his temper and hurt her. Only one person touches her and that’s me. I’ll gladly put a bullet in him, but not before I make him fall to his knees.

“I’m doing all of this for you… for us. Soon you will see. Soon you will remember,” I whisper before kissing her lips.
Fuck!
She tastes even sweeter than I remember.

My eyes are pulled downward to the way that short dress is pulled up above her knees. Even though it would be so easy, I fight the temptation. Placing my hand under her calf, I slide down the zipper of the boot and repeat the same thing on the other. As hot as those shoes are on her, those sharp heels can be vicious if she tries to kick me with them. Taking my index finger, I slowly trail up her delicate skin, closing my eyes when I reach the area just at her thighs. Everything in me wants to spread them wide and feast on what is in between, but I have to stop myself. I have to wait. I won’t take her before it’s time.

The delicate skin on her cheeks is bright red, indicating she is reacting to the medicine. I rush to the bathroom to run some water in a metal basin. Soaking a washcloth, I quickly place it on her head. It doesn’t seem to be cooling her off quickly enough, so I reach down to unclasp the silver buckles on the front of her red coat. The moment the second buckle pops free and the material falls open, everything ceases to matter. I can’t believe what I’m seeing. Her stomach.
This fucking whore is pregnant with that cocksucker’s kid!
Here I’ve been locked away in that rat hole for almost a year, and she’s let another man have what’s mine!

I react before I know it, pulling out my knife, and placing it to her neck. Furiously, I press the blade harder into her skin and smile at the bright red drop of blood that forms. Like a feral animal, I watch it drip down her neck. So simple… so fucking easy, but I can’t do it. Pulling at my hair, I battle with the voices inside my head that scream for me to finish her now. Deep down, I love her too much to kill her. I can’t believe I’m saying this! She cheated on me! Disgusted at myself, I trail the sharp knife down, slicing the three buttons on the front of her dress and exposing those fucking luscious tits of hers. Licking my lips, I again fight the urge to take her. I’m not putting my cock in her body until that devil spawn is out.

Throwing my patience out the front door, I decide it’s time she wakes up. She’s going to face what she’s done. I’m done being nice. Reaching over, I grab the basin full of cold water and sling its contents into her face. She fights and struggles for a bit, coughing and gasping for air as she claws her way up off the bed. I won’t lie. I love seeing the look of sheer panic in her eyes. I’ll love it even more in just a bit when she begs me to stop. The cunt is going to pay dearly for betraying me this way. The first mention of Sebastian out of her mouth is not going to end well for her, that’s a promise.

Looking down at the knife in my hands, she surprises me by remaining calm and collected. The look of terror is now gone and it looks like something else is there.
Can I be wrong in what I see?
She’s looking at me as if she is happy… like she cares. And then, just when I thought I couldn’t be more shocked, she utters the words I thought I’d never hear.

“Thank goodness you came for me.”

Skylar

Everything is dark and then suddenly I feel cold daggers slice into my face. The water is sucked into my lungs, causing me to lose my breath. Bolting upwards, I begin gasping for air and begging my memory to be wrong. When my eyes lock into Brandon’s, I know I’m living the nightmare. Seeing the sharp blade in his hands, I feel the fear surge through me. Breaking his stare, I look around the room as I struggle to calm my breathing. I have to be smart about this. I can’t let him see me freak out. I’ve been in these shoes before with him. Brandon is irrational and psychotic and would not hesitate to kill me. I’ve fought him before and it only fed his rage. Now I have to think about how to keep the baby safe at all costs. Obviously, he’s gone through a lot of trouble to do this for me, so I’ll play on that. Sebastian will see that I’m missing and come for me. Right now, I just have to hold on and play along a bit to buy some time. It sickens me what I’m going to have to do, but it’s the only way to stay alive. Moving my hands through my wet hair, I switch into survival mode.

“Thank goodness you came for me.” I say, keeping my voice even.

Show no fear, Skylar. He can smell it. Relax.

He tilts his head, but doesn’t answer me. It’s like I’ve caught him completely off guard with my words. Swallowing the huge lump in my throat, I look around the room again.

Use this place to coax him along! You can do this!

“Did you do all of this for me?” I ask, smiling.

His brows furrow for a moment, but then relax. I hope he is fucking buying this routine because it’s making me sick.

“Yes. I did. Do you like it?” he asks, his voice softer.

“It’s beautiful, Brandon. The flowers, the candles… it’s perfect.” I swallow the bile in my throat.

“I wanted a special place for us. It isn’t where I want us to be permanently, but for now it will do,” he says.

I can sense some of the anger returning in his voice.
Think Skylar! Think!

Taking a chance, I move off the bed. He watches every step I make through the loft like a hawk would. Open and spacious, he’d thought out every last detail to make this a home. A tall wooden bookshelf catches my eyes. He has lined it with books and puzzles. Does he plan on me being here that long?

Shaking his head, I watch him slap his face. It’s like he’s fighting with himself.

“You think you are going to distract me, but I’m smarter than that. I know you are pregnant, you lying bitch!”

Think Skylar! Think!

“The baby isn’t important, Brandon. You’re what’s important.”

“I’m important?!” He screams. “You let that son of a bitch shove his dick inside you. You let him fill you up with his seed. Now look at you! You’re fat and disgusting! You’re nothing but a whore!” He chunks a large lamp in my direction, barely missing me.

“I did this for us! You don’t understand!” I scream, desperate to make him calm down.

“What? For us? Are you kidding me? Explain just how the fuck having another man’s kid is for us?”

“I always knew you were smart enough to get out of jail. I’d just hoped you still felt something for me when you did. You do still feel something for me. Don’t you, Brandon?”

“Y-yes. Of course I do. I never stopped feeling for you. Every goddamn day in that prison I thought about you,” he says.

You’ve got him Skylar, now work on him.

“I hate you had to go to jail in the first place. You’d just caught me off guard that night. You scared me. Sebastian was just jealous and made a big deal about it.”

“I don’t blame you. I blame Thorne for all of this. He had to butt in and interrupt our fun,” he says, moving towards me. His hand gently touches my face, his finger slides across my lips. “You are so fucking beautiful.” He breathes across my mouth, and I fight the urge to slap him. I have to get his guard down. I have to make him trust me.

Pushing me against the cold concrete wall, he kisses me hard. Without warning, I feel my throat burn from the tight grip he places on my throat. Firmly pressing his weight against me, I’m powerless to fight him.

“Do you have any idea how much I love you? And you go and fuck him? I ought to end you now!”

He’s going to kill me.

“Don’t cry… I’m sorry. You do love me, don’t you?” he says, wrapping his arms around me. The smell of him makes my stomach heave. I won’t ever be able to erase the memory of that smell away.

“Yes… yes, I do love you, Brandon.” I lie with a raspy voice from his earlier attack.

“It’s why I did this,” I say, rubbing my stomach.

“I don’t understand how that fits in.”

“Don’t you see? I married him. I’m having his kid! I hold the power to his money. I hold the power to everything with him. He’s got no clue what I’m up to.”

“You mean you did all of this for me?”

“Yes, I did everything for you, for us. I don’t care about him or this kid.” I lie. God, I hate myself for saying all of this.

“You mean you don’t love him? I’ve watched you for weeks now. You were all over each other.”

“NO! I have to make it look convincing. Every time he touches me, I only think of you.”

He moves in front of me, cupping my face.

“You don’t know how long I’ve waited to hear you say that.” His hand trails up to cup my breast. “I want you,” he whispers against my skin as he kisses my neck.

I feel like I’m going to vomit.

“Not now. We have to think of another plan,” I say, trying to distract him.

“A plan can wait. I need to be inside of you,” he says, inching up my dress.

Oh, God! Think! This is backfiring. THINK!

“You don’t want my body right now. Look at me. I’m disgusting. You don’t want in me while this is inside of me.”

“Fuck!” he roars, biting at my skin.

I can feel his hardness pressing into me. I’d rather die before I let him take me. My skin is crawling from the horror of his touch.

“Be patient. I promise to make it worth your while,” I say, smiling.

“You’re right. We have all the time in the world now. I can’t wait to make your husband pay.”

Please, Sebastian, hurry!