Seduced in the Dark (48 page)

“I can’t deal with it, okay? I –” his words
sounded stuck in his throat.

“Okay,” I whispered and held him in my arms
for just a few more seconds.

“We have to go,” he said.

Slowly, we reclaimed our bodies from one
another. Tears stung the backs of my eyes, but I wouldn’t let them
free. Caleb needed me strong and I was determined to give him
everything he needed.

Silently, we went about prioritizing. Caleb
pulled up his pants with a grimace and started barricading the
door. I made myself useful by finding a bag and tossing in anything
I thought we might need: the gun, clothes, a first-aid kit I found
in the bathroom. It wasn’t much, but it was something.

Caleb walked into the bathroom and turned
the shower on. I didn’t think we had time for it, but I knew better
than to ask questions. With shaking hands, he removed his pants and
stepped beneath the water. Blood and dirt quickly coated
everything.

I thought about stepping in, but one look at
Caleb and I knew he needed time alone. The water was steaming hot,
clouding the bathroom. I turned on the fan, but remained an
otherwise unobtrusive presence. At one point, I heard him sob, but
I remained on the floor, keeping silent vigil.

He’d been in the shower less than ten
minutes before he turned the temperature down and stepped out. He
silently grabbed a towel and walked out into the bedroom. My shower
didn’t last nearly as long, but by the time I stepped into the
room, Caleb was more like himself.

“Time to go, Livvie,” he said and gave me a
smile. It was feigned, but I appreciated the effort. I tried to
make my smile more convincing.

The house felt empty,
eerily
empty.
No Felipe. No Celia. No Rafiq. Caleb offered no answers and I asked
no questions.

It was hot outside, even early in the
morning. I realized it had been a long time since I’d walked
outside, beneath a glaring sun. I was wearing clothes. I was…free.
My steps faltered as the realization hit me. FREE!

“The truck isn’t far, keep moving,” Caleb
said numbly.

I could feel myself getting choked up,
excited laughter bubbled out of me, “Where are we going?” I said
with joyful tears in my eyes.

“Please don’t ask. Just come with me.”

I looked at him, the pain on his face
palpable. This was not the time to argue with him. Whatever he was
doing, it was a very big deal. It would change everything between
us, but he’d asked me to come with him, and when the man you love
asks you to go with him – you go.

We walked for less than a mile, but I
marveled at the sheer size of Felipe’s estate. Whatever he was
into, it was certainly profitable. Finally, we found the old truck
we had arrived in. I was surprised it started right up.

Caleb hadn’t said much and though he seemed
in much better control of himself, I knew whatever had happened
still weighed heavily on him. I reached for his hand across the
seat and to my surprise, he not only held my hand, but squeezed it.
As we left Felipe’s house, I stared at the gravel road in the side
view mirror. It was really happening. We were leaving – together. I
wiped tears from my eyes for nearly twenty minutes.

We traveled for several hours before I
forced Caleb to break his silence. “I’m hungry, Caleb.” I looked at
him and rubbed my stomach.

“We can get some food and water when we stop
for gas. I want to keep moving for now,” he said. His eyes never
left the road, but his thumb moved back and forth over my hand.

“Okay,” I said. “Will we…be driving long?
You know, before we get wherever we’re going?”

Caleb squeezed my hand and closed his eyes
for a second, “We’ll be on the road for about sixteen hours, maybe
less. We can stop for the night once we’re close.”

I didn’t like his tone. It was too…sad and
distant. “Where are we –?”

“Kitten!” he admonished. He shook his head,
“I mean…Livvie. Please. Stop.”

Anxiety churned in my stomach. I didn’t like
this at all. I squeezed his hand, “You don’t have to call me Livvie
if you don’t want to, Caleb. To be honest, it’s kinda scaring me.
You’re
scaring me.”

Caleb’s face seemed to crack for a second
and I caught a glimpse of his sadness before he relaxed his
features. “Don’t be scared, Kitten. Everything’s going to be fine,
I promise. You won’t ever have to be scared of me again.”

“What do you mean, Caleb?” I whispered.

“It means I’ll take care of you,” he
said.

“We’ll take care of each other. I’m stronger
now, Caleb. Whatever happens…whatever
happened
, we can
handle it together. Okay?”

He was quiet for a long time before he
replied. “Okay.”

“I love you,” I said.

Silence.

We didn’t make any unnecessary stops. We
went to the bathroom and picked up food whenever we needed gas.
Getting Caleb to talk was a bit of a chore, but he seemed very
interested in my life before we met. I avoided talking about my
family – my brothers and sisters, my mom. I knew I’d never see any
of them again and thinking about it hurt too much to talk about. I
had Caleb now and he needed me.

I talked about my favorite books and movies.
I mentioned my dream of writing a book I would later adapt into a
screenplay and direct myself. I was going to be a triple threat.
Caleb smiled and said he’d love to read anything I wrote. I
suddenly felt a lot more optimistic about mine and Caleb’s future,
but I kept seeing signs for Laredo, Texas.

“What’s in Texas?” I asked.

“Besides cowboys?” Caleb said. I glared at
him. “I have business there, Kitten. Okay?” He was suddenly very
serious again.

“Okay,” I relented.

We’d been driving for close to ten hours
when fatigue finally caught up with Caleb. He could barely keep his
eyes open and I convinced him we needed to stop because I didn’t
know how to drive. Caleb laughed at me, but pulled into a motel for
the night. The place wasn’t much to look at, and quite honestly,
the people in the parking lot were scary. This was definitely not a
tourist destination.

“They’re probably going to steal the truck.
You know that, right?” I said.

Caleb shrugged, “I’ll steal another one in
the morning.” I laughed; Caleb didn’t.

I wanted to make love, but Caleb had fallen
asleep while I was in the shower. I didn’t have the heart to wake
him. In the middle of the night, he reached for me. I barely knew
what was happening before I felt his mouth on my sore pussy. I
propped myself up on my elbows and watched him lick me until I came
on his tongue.

By the time he entered me, I had forgotten
about how sore I was. I was too full of Caleb’s cock to care. I
moaned my pleasure to the rafters, uncaring if anyone heard me.
Caleb didn’t seem to care either as he came inside me with a yell.
There was a fleeting thought about protection, but then all I
thought about was Caleb and the tiny thrusts he was making into my
pussy as he rode out the aftershocks of his pleasure.

After we managed to clean up, we slept with
the windows open. I slept in his arms, safe, secure, and content
beyond belief. I didn’t care where we were going, as long as he was
with me.

Chapter
Twenty-Five

Day 1

I had just finished buttoning my shirt when
it happened. There was a loud bang and something hit me in the
face. I reached up to touch my cheek. My breath left me in the span
of a heartbeat. Caleb was on top of me, shouting, but I couldn’t
hear what he was saying. I couldn’t seem to hear
anything
.

My head hurt. I’d smacked it on the ground
when Caleb tackled me. Debris was flying everywhere.

“Livvie!” Caleb yelled and shook me. It
penetrated the silence in my head.

BOOM!
Another torrent of debris flew
toward us. Caleb lay on top of me, shielding my face with his arms
as he tucked his head near my shoulder.

Someone was fucking shooting at us. My eyes
cut to the door and I could see large gaping holes where wood used
to be.

We rolled behind the bed. My entire body was
shaking and I had no idea what was going on. Caleb was shoving me
and I cried out in pain.

“Get in the tub!” He shouted. He shoved me
again.

I managed to get on my hands and knees. I
crawled the few feet to the bathroom and scrambled into the tub. I
realized Caleb wasn’t with me.

“Caleb!” I screamed. The bathroom door
slammed shut. I was too scared to move.

“
He’s going to die out there, you stupid
bitch! Do something!”
Ruthless Me, screamed.

I couldn’t move. I couldn’t, fucking, move.
My entire world was moving in slow motion and there was nothing I
could do to speed it back up. I felt something wet on my face. My
hand came away bloody when I touched it.

“Caleb!” I screamed again.

A loud bang rattled the bathroom door and I
threw myself back in the tub. I couldn’t stop screaming or
crying.

“
You fucking coward, Livvie! I’ll never
forgive you,”
Ruthless said.

I slapped my hands over my ears, willing the
voice to go away. I could still hear her screaming, begging me to
do something. I could hear yelling just outside the door; a
struggle. The door shook repeatedly as something was slammed
against it.

“
Help him!”

“What do you want me to do?!” I screamed out
loud.

“Stay down!” I heard Caleb yell.

“
Help him!”

Hearing Caleb’s voice, knowing he was
fighting to stay alive only a few feet away seemed to clear some of
my panic.

“
The gun, Livvie. The gun. Where is
it?”
Ruthless said.

I took several deep breaths, frantic
breaths, as I tried to remember. Where was the gun? Where was the
gun? In the bag!

“
Good, Livvie. Where’s the bag?”

I sobbed loudly, “I don’t know.”

A string of loud and angry shouting came
through the door. I didn’t understand it, but I knew it was Arabic.
They’d come for us. Rafiq was here to kill us.

“
The bag!” Ruthless screamed.

Images. They flashed through my mind’s eye
in rapid succession: I brought the bag in. I set it down on the
table. Caleb picked it up and took it into the bathroom. He needed
a butterfly stitch for his head. It was in there when I
showered.

I looked around the bathroom, but I didn’t
see it.

It was there when I went to bed. Caleb and I
had sex and after, he wanted clean underwear. Next to the bed on
Caleb’s side.

“
Get there, Livvie. Get to the gun,”
Ruthless said.

I shook my head back and forth as I sobbed.
I didn’t know what was out there. If I opened the door…

“
They already know you’re in here! You’re
going to die.
Caleb
is going to die. Please!”

I scrambled out of the tub. The bathroom was
tiny, my foot still touched the edge of the tub as I put my hand
against the door. I could still hear Caleb fighting someone on the
other side.

“I’m coming out!” I screamed.

“No!” Caleb yelled and there was a loud
crash.

I gripped the handle of the door and pulled
it open. The clothing rack was directly across from the bathroom,
creating a little square alcove to the side of the bedroom. I could
see Caleb on the floor, grappling with someone.

“Run, Livvie!”

I stood up and tried to run past them and
get on the bed. A hand reached out and grabbed my ankle. I fell,
face first onto the floor, but the pain didn’t register. I kicked
with my legs, blind to what or whom I was hitting. The hand let
go.

I looked back and saw blood. Caleb’s head
was down. There was a loud, panicked scream and the person under
Caleb pulled at his hair to wrench him backward. Caleb’s mouth
opened on a scream and blood came spurting out.

The screams continued, one after the
other.

I froze. The screaming. I couldn’t take the
screaming.

Caleb’s body was suddenly thrown toward the
alcove. I didn’t recognize our attacker. His face gushed with blood
and a flap of skin hung from his cheek.

I screamed.

The man was still screaming as he threw
himself on top of Caleb. He was beating his head into the
floor.

I forced myself to move. I scrambled toward
the bed, frantically running my hands underneath and feeling for
the bag. It was there! I pulled it out and dumped it out on the
floor. The gun came toppling out and I gripped it. It went off. I
hit myself in the face with the back of my hand.

“Livvie!” Caleb yelled. The sound was a wet
gurgle.

I regrouped quickly and held the gun in both
hands. I pulled the hammer back and my hands trembled as I pointed
it at the man on top of Caleb. “Get off him! Now!”

He turned to look at me, the flap of skin on
his face just hanging there as blood gushed out, one heavy spurt
after another. He rushed me and I squeezed the trigger. The force
toppled me. My vision blurred for a couple of seconds. I scrambled
backward on my hands, searching for the gun behind me.

I’d shot him. Our attacker lay on the
ground, his body twitching and shuddering. His hands clawed at his
chest. There was blood everywhere.

“What did I do?!” I screamed.

“What did I do?!”

“What did I do?!”

“
Caleb, Livvie! Focus. Focus on Caleb.
Where’s Caleb?”
Ruthless said.

Somehow, I registered the situation. I
looked toward the bathroom. Caleb wasn’t moving.
No. No, no, no,
no, no!
I saw red. Nothing but red! I found the gun and picked
it back up. I crawled over and put the barrel on our attacker’s
chest. He tried to fight me while I pulled back the hammer, but he
was weak, and my rage made me strong. I screamed as I pulled the
trigger and blood sprayed my face, neck, and body. When I opened my
eyes, I stared directly into his wide open chest.