Seducing the Professor (18 page)

“You really think I am that stupid to believe you?  No darling, never fear … you and I … we are going to get to know one another pretty well over the next few weeks.”

Her eyes widened and he laughed.

“Yes.  I have no intention of doing this quickly.  I am going to savor every day of his suffering.  Every morning after you serviced me, he will receive a video clip.  He is going to share every moment we spend together, little darling.”

“You are totally demented!”

“No.  What I am is determined.  I have waited for four years for this.  Believe me, he will suffer as I have!”

Alexandra watched him leave with fear gripping her heart. 

I have to get out of here! 

She looked around the room, but knew there was no way she would be able to do anything while being handcuffed to the bedpost.  She sat up straight and dropped her feet to the floor.  She yanked on the bedpost, but it was sturdy and she would not be able to get loose, except if she had the damn key to the cuffs.

Billy, the young man that accidently shot her brought her lunch and placed the plate and soda on the side table.  She looked at him, thinking he might be her best opportunity to get out
of there.

“Billy, do you know what your Boss intend
s to do with me?”

“He is only going to keep you until the ransom is paid.”

“No, he is going to keep me here for weeks and rape me every day.  He wants to punish Shuttle and he is going to hurt me to do it.”

Billy went pale and shook his head.

“That is not what he told us.  None of us would do anything that would hurt a female.  You are mistaken.  He would never do something like that.”

He took his gun out and waved her back on the bed. She lifted
her legs back on the bed and watched him unlock the handcuffs and quickly snapped them back in place with her hands in front of her.

“Toilet break, Miss.  Now be quick.  I have work to do.  In the bathroom there was nothing that could aid in her escape, not even a window
and she felt like screaming.

“Hurry up, Miss!”

She was quickly cuffed to the bedpost again and he disappeared through the door, locking it behind him.  She ate the food, knowing she had to keep her strength up, then sat back against the headboard listlessly.

Two days later, she was beside herself.  The waiting was worse than knowing when something was bound to happen.  She only ever saw Billy that fed her and took her to the bathroom.  At least she was allowed to shower once a day.  He brought her some magazines, but the boredom drove her crazy.

She just settled
back on the bed after she had dinner and a shower when the door opened and Anthony Brown walked back in, armed with a video recorder.  Alexandra started to hyperventilate.  Billy was not even anywhere near to hear her screams so she knew she was on her own.

“Good evening. Did you miss me?”

“Go to hell!”

“Ah, so much passion!  I am really going to enjoy our special evenings together.  Not that it is intended for you to enjoy, but I will reach the ultimate pleasure.”

“You do know this is not going to get you what you’re after?”

“Oh, little darling.  I know it is going to get me what I am after.  Now, there, all set up and ready to go.  Just switch on the recording … there!”

He pulled a ski mask over his head and turned to her and she scuttled as far away from him as the handcuffs would allow.  He laughed and reached over and yanked her back with hard hands around her waist.  She struggled and screamed.  He just laughed harder.  The next moment he ripped her shirt open and she felt fear nearly choking her.

He sat looking at her for a while, taking in her white lace bra covering her full breasts, heaving with every breath. His smile turned feral.

“Now I can see why you are so enamored with her, Shuttle.  These tits of hers are truly beautiful.”

He reached out and took one breast in his hand and kneaded it.  Alexandra bucked and tried to turn her body away from him, but his hand squeezed like a clamp around her breast and she screamed in pain.  She spit in his face and he backhanded her so
powerfully her head slammed against the headboard so hard she passed out.

Anthony cursed, but looked toward the camera, smiling wickedly.  He pushed her bra down and her breasts popped out.  He stroked her nipples and bent down to lick each of them.  He
looked back at the camera.

“Pity, I really wanted to start my association with your little lady tonight.  But see, I like her fieriness and I want her conscious when I use her delectable body
.  I will feed on her passionate struggles … so I guess, I’ll have to wait.”

He pulled her bra back in place and walked back to the camera.  He grinned into it. “Till next time, Shuttle!”

He switched the camera off and removed the ski mask from his head, looking at the woman on the bed.  She really was a very beautiful woman.  Just a pity she was not the one he wanted.  He took the video camera and the stand and left the room.

Paul just sat down with Slade an
d
James Vernon at the police station when his cell phone beeped.  He wiped his finger to unlock the screen and opened the message.  His heart clamped when he noticed it was a video clip and he cursed violently.

Slade and James looked up and notice the vicious rage in his eyes.  He stared at his phone, but could not bring himself to open the clip.

“What is it, Cuz?”

“It is a video clip.”

Slade gasped and repeated Paul’s curse.  He had hoped the threat was just that, a threat and that the bastard would not touch Alexandra.  If he did … he was a dead man.  Paul would rip him apart with his bare hands.

“Let me look at it, Paul.” 

James held out his hand and he handed him the phone.  He quickly opened the clip and Alexandra’s scream and the bastard’s laughter echoed through the room.  Paul dropped his head in his hands and he could not breathe.  The recording stopped, the sound too soft for Paul and Slade to hear what the demented man said at the end.

“He did not rape her.”

“Why did she scream?  Give me my phone!”

“No Paul, I think it best if you don’t see this.”

“Give me my damn phone!”

James handed it over and looked at Slade, who got up and went to stand behind him to look at the clip.  The further the clip played, the tighter Paul’s body became.  By the time Brown uttered the last word, he was as rigid as a statue,
and his face sculptured rage.  His beautiful Angel.  To be so violently abused … and all because of him.  Her fear and his hands and tongue on her breasts shuddered through his heart.  All because of him!

“I am going to find her.  The next clip … I am
not waiting for a next clip!  We go to him and we go to him today!  Do you hear me James?  No one tells her about this clip, is that clear?  She will never know that he touched her!”

James looked at Slade, who also glared at him in full concurrence with his cousin.  He sighed and nodded.

“What happened with the visit Gloria intended?”

“He was apparently on a trip out of town.”

Paul searched for her number on his phone and sat waiting for her to answer.  She did after the third ring and answered excitedly.

“I just saw him this morning!  He did not want to believe me at first, but then I was honest with him and told him why I left all those years ago.  About my insecurities.”

“And?”

“We are going to try again.  He said he just had something he needed to
set right.  He must have been referring to Alexandra!”

“Is he at his Ranch?”

“Yes.  He is meeting with some buyers at the moment and we have a dinner date for tonight.”

“Thank you Gloria.”

“I am going to his Ranch and no one is going to stop me.”

No one would have dared, he was just
that livid.  Slade and James went with and soon they were on their way.  Paul noticed him standing with some people outside one of the stables and he drove there and was out of the SUV before it even rocked to a halt.  Anthony at first did not realize who it was and then paled when he recognized the man charging him. He did not even try and evade him.  He came to the realization that Paul knew he was the one that had his woman.  He cursed. If only Gloria came to see him a day earlier, then he would not have gone to the woman and sent him that damn video clip.

Paul nearly yanked him off his feet with his hand around his throat.  He struggled as his airflow was cut off immediately.  His snarl was low and soft.

“Where is she?”

“I … c … argh!”

“Paul, ease up, Cuz.  He can’t breathe.  Think of Alexa.”

Paul eased his hold slightly and allowed him to draw deep breaths.  He pointed to the south.

“She is in the foreman’s cabin, just over that hill.  She was well looked after.  Nothing happened.”

“Nothing?  You seem to
have a very short memory, you bastard!  You touched her … you goddamned hurt her!”

Paul could not contain himself and his fists plundered the man in front of him.  It took both Slade and James to pull him of
f Anthony. By the time they did, his face was a bloodied mess.             

He stood
back, breathing hard.

“You better lock that bastard up! 
I fully intend to lay charges against him.”

The other FBI agents arrived at that point and Paul took off with a screech of tires in a southerly direction.  He found the foreman’s cabin easily enough and got out, heading to the front door immediately.  He did not even break his stride when t
hree men came around the corner.  He walked up to them and rammed into them with his body and fists.  The two older men were out cold within the second fist against their chins.

The youngster ran onto the porch and pleaded.

“Please sir!  We did not know what he intended with her, otherwise we would never have taken her!  Here … the keys!”

He threw the keys at Paul who deftly caught them, but he kept stalking closer to the cringing youngster.  He reached out and slapped him.  He spun full circle and fell over a chair.  He lay stupefied and started crying.

Paul ignored him and walked to the door.  Not bothering with the keys he lifted his leg and kicked the door open.  It crashed to the inside and Alexandra screamed.  His eyes found her shivering against the headboard, still with her torn shirt hanging open around her. When she saw him she started to cry hysterically.  Her sobs tearing through her frame so hard she shuddered.

His jaw was rigid when he unlocked the cuffs and then lifted her in his arms. Hers wrapped around his neck and she gripped him so tightly he battled to breathe.  He did not stop until he got to his
SUV before he lowered her to the ground yanked her tight against him, burying his face in her neck.  Her sobs still racking her body.

“I am so sorry, Angel!”

“Why … did it … take you … so … long … to find … me?”  She stuttered through her tears.

“We did not know at first who took you and then we could not find him.  He was out of town and we only realized he was back when I received that video ….”

Her cries turned even more hysterical and he got into the backseat with her on his lap.

“
Shh … Angel!  Please … you …”

“WHAT DID HE DO?  Please tell me!  What did
he DO TO ME?”

Paul felt the tears and his own despair run down his cheeks and he held her so tight as if he could draw her pain into him.

“Nothing, he did nothing!”

“Don’t lie to me!”

“I swear, Angel!  He did not rape you!  If he did, he would not only be half dead right now, he would be dead!”

Slade arrived with one of the police officers and Paul asked him to drive them home.  He slammed the door shut after one look at the hysterical woman in Paul’s arms and drove them home.

“Please phone Doc Barnes.  Ask him to come out to the farm.  I am not taking her anywhere else.”

He kept soothing Alexandra and neither
their grips eased on the other all the way home.  Doc Barnes arrived the same time they did and Paul carried her to their room.  He laid her down on the bed, but she refused to let him go.  Her arms tightened around his neck.

“Easy, Angel
.  We’re at home. No one is ever going to hurt you again.  I promise.  Please lie down and let Doc Barnes …”

“No.”

Paul picked her up and sat on the bed with her on his lap.

“Doc, you will have to work like this.”

He nodded and talked to her soothingly all the time he was examining her. He gave her an injection to calm her down and started to put his things in his bag.

“I want you to do an internal examination, Doctor Barnes, please.”  Her voice was soft, but insistent.  Paul closed his eyes.

“Angel, I swear he did not …”

“How do you know?  He could have done
anything after he switched that camera off!”

“What would an inte
rnal examination tell you, Doc?”

“Whether she was hurt and if he did not use a condom there would still be traces of
semen in her vagina.”

“And if he used one?”

“I’ll take a sample and have it tested.  We will be able to tell if there were any activity in the past seventy two hours.”

Paul looked down at her.  She looked at him, her eyes bluer than he has ever seen them.

“Are you sure, Angel?”

She nodded and
he made to get up, but she shook her head and gripped him tighter.

“Angel …”

“Paul, sit back against the headboard and let her lie between your legs and hold her.  I will be able to do it like that.”

He moved into place and his arms tightened when she whimpered when he started the
examination.  He worked quickly and efficiently.  He drew samples from her and locked his case close.

“No sign
of any swelling or semen, so at least you can relax about that, Alexa.  I will let you have the results soon.  I’ll send it in as a priority.”

“Angel, I want to draw you a bath, let go for a
mome …”

She shook her head and would not let him go.  He cursed himself so many times since he found her, he had nothing left to call him.  He rose from the bed and carried her to the bathroom.  He sat on the edge of the bathtub and drew a hot bubble bath.  He started to undress her and the
n himself, which was not easy as she would not let go of his neck.  He never thought to see the strong, confident woman so defenseless and brittle.

The thought
and insecurity of the possibility of having been raped just as destructive as being actually raped.

He got
into the bath with her on his lap.  He soothed the water over her and she laid her head on his shoulder.  He kissed her forehead and stroked her back and her hip soothingly.  Eventually he felt her relax and he started to wash her hair and then her body.  She allowed him to lift her from the bath and she stood silently while he dried himself and then her.  He lifted her in his arms and sat on the round ottoman in the bathroom to dry her hair with her hairdryer. She seemed more relaxed and he carried her to the bed and got in with her.