Survival Games (22 page)

While the shower
was running, Marian came with their lunch.

“You were
watching?” Jessica asked.

“I’m surprised he
can move after the beating my brother gave him.” Marian nodded.

Jessica shrugged
and stepped back as Marian put the tray on the floor.

Marian looked
toward the bathroom. “I’ve never seen him so accommodating,” she said looking
back at Jessica.

Jessica looked
toward the bathroom as Marian closed the door. She reached down, picked up the
tray and headed over to Tom, taking a seat next to him.

“What did you mean
we were both wrong?”

Jessica took a
deep breath. “I know this is so cliché, but there is a fine line between love
and hate.” She took a bite of food. “No matter how I feel about Ty, I can’t
give him what he wants. It isn’t right.” She paused. “If I were to admit to
wanting him…” she hesitated and looked at Tom. “Then I would have no power over
him.”

Tom leaned back
and absorbed that but it did nothing to alleviate the feeling of being a third
wheel around the two of them. “What about me?”

Jessica laughed. “I’m
sorry. I don’t mean to laugh. It’s just that you’ve been my fantasy since I
first saw you on TV. My kids teased me relentlessly because I once said you
were my eye candy.” She blushed and looked over at him. “And you are just as
sweet in person.”

Heat tingled in
his cheeks and he smiled. “Eye candy, yeah, okay, thanks.” He rolled his eyes.
Just
what I wanted to hear.

A dimple appeared
in her crimson cheek. “Sorry, but you are.”

“And that
translates to what?” He took a bite of the sandwich enjoying seeing her squirm
a little. He smiled in her direction.

“You already know
what it means.”

He feigned innocence,
raised his eyebrows, and cocked his head.

She waved her hand
at him. “Even all sweaty and such, you are one fine looking man.”

He laughed. “And?”

“And any woman in
her right mind would want you.” She took a sip of water, blushing and glancing
away from him.

He chuckled, satisfied
with the answer. His wife used to tease him about the way his fans stared at
him, both female and male, but in his mind, he was just an average guy who
happened to land a terrific role in a popular series.
Eye candy, who would
have thought.

*
* * *

Jessica saved more
than half the plate for Ty and handed it to him when he came limping out of the
bathroom. “Thanks,” he said and inhaled the food. Sighing, he leaned back
against the wall and studied her. “Aren’t you the least bit sore?”

Jessica shook her
head. “Perhaps it was the three to four hour run you had me doing daily.” She
tilted her head as if to say
So There
.

“Ha-ha,” Ty
replied.

“Have to admit,
you got rhythm,” she said.

“Nothing compared
to your moves. I still can’t believe you can dance like that.” He pointed to
where she taught him the routine.

“You’ve seen me
dance before,” Jessica said.

Ty smiled. “Yes.
That’s what started this whole mess.”

Anger flashed in
her eyes. “No, Ty, this mess started when you yanked me out of my life in that
parking lot.” She flopped onto the bed with her back to him.

Ty went to say
something and closed his mouth.

Tom took advantage
of the situation and moved next to where she lay and gently ran his hand
through her hair. It was the kind of thing his wife used to like when she
wasn’t feeling well. She always said it relaxed her and if anyone needed to
relax, it was Jessica. Her hair was silky and damp on his fingers and his
shower could wait.

Jessica looked
over at him for a second then rolled back. “Don’t stop,” she said when he
pulled his hand away.

He sent a smug
smile in Ty’s direction and continued combing her hair with his fingers.

“Son of a…” Ty
whispered and looked away, keeping his temper in check.

* *
* *

Jessica felt the
tension melt away under Tom’s gentle combing. For the first time since she woke
in this hellhole, she felt safe. Like he was appointed her guardian angel and
nothing could hurt her while he was here. She knew how false that sense of
security was, especially in this place, but she was grateful just the same. And
with the continued strokes of his fingers, she drifted off.

The next morning,
Jessica continued the exercise regimen alternating between Tae Bo and the hip-hop
routine she taught them the day before.

“Come on, I can’t
move like this today,” Ty groaned

“Do it!” She
pointed at the floor, unimpressed by his whining.

* *
* *

Tom kept his mouth
shut, his muscles and joints screamed with each and every move she asked of
him. His personal trainer was demanding, but this was beyond anything he put
him through. While he would like nothing more than to collapse on the concrete,
he pushed harder, trying to get the rhythm, the same natural ease that Ty had,
even though he knew it was impossible.

She let them stop
for the day when Marian brought lunch. The food never tasted so good and he
wolfed down his plate, watching Jessica split her lunch with Ty. A small pebble
of guilt edged into his stomach and he looked at the crumbs on his plate. He
was the only one in the room getting a decent meal. He set the plate aside and
stretched on the cool floor, regulating his breathing and ignoring the cramping
in his muscles.

Ty followed his
lead and both their heads swiveled in her direction when she stood.

“Wus,” she aimed
the comment toward Ty, but her eyes flicked to him for a moment and then she
turned, disappearing into the bathroom.

Neither of them
spoke and Tom sighed, his hatred toward Ty alive in his skin, but it didn’t
seem as acute as that first day. He still had reservations every time he left
Ty and Jessica in the room alone, but he learned quickly that she was serious
about not giving in to his advances.

When she came out,
Tom stood and headed to take a shower.

* *
* *

“You still haven’t
gotten up?” She laughed.

Ty slowly pulled
himself into a sitting position, wincing. His lower back and hips felt like
Frank took the brass knuckles to them again and he met her amused gaze. “You’re
gonna kill us, y’know.”

“It’s a matter of
survival,” she said and leaned close. “He is going to come back, Ty. I want us
all to be ready and maybe we can get out of this alive.” She lay back on the
floor, keeping eye contact.

Ty felt the sudden
rush of lust and had to resist the urge to take her right then and there. He
wanted her so damn much and he took a deep breath. “I hope you’re right.” And
while hope played a big part of his existence right now, it wasn’t placed on
his life. That was something he planned on sacrificing.

No, his hope
centered on her living, her surviving and getting out of this place.

He was still staring
at her when Tom came out of the bathroom.

They exchanged a
nod and Ty went to rinse the sweat off his aching body.

* *
* *

Tom stretched out
on his side next to Jessica, propping himself up on his elbow. He brushed the
hair out of her face and smiled.

“You didn’t do
that bad today,” Jessica said and he laughed. “Really.”

“I don’t have
natural ability like he does.” He glanced up as the shower turned on and then
slowly grazed her with his eyes. “Or like you do.”

“You’re not that
bad.”

He chuckled and placed
his hand on her stomach. Her warmth radiated through the shirt and he sighed,
meeting her questioning stare. The crease between her eyes deepened and she
shot her gaze to his hand and back.

He didn’t say
anything but on impulse, he leaned in to kiss her.

She stopped him,
putting her hand on his chest and shaking her head. “Tom, your wife just died.”

“But I didn’t.” Her
hand dropped and he kissed her very softly on the cheek and pulled away. “Thank
you,” he said quietly.

Her hand touched
the spot his lips had and she stared at him with wide eyes. “For what?”

“For making me
forget where I am even if it was only for a moment.”

“You shouldn’t be
thanking me, Tom. You’re here because of me.”

He didn’t say
anything right away thinking about the video Frank had played for them. “You
didn’t know they would act on what you said,” he finally replied. “And besides,
you referred to a character in a television show. Not me.”

“Don’t you wish…” she
started and trailed off. She looked over at him with a silly smile.

He knew where she
was headed, he played the infamous Clark Kent in the show
Metropolis
. Superman
before the cape and tights, and now that she mentioned it, he did wish it were
more than fiction. “Wish I was Superman? Hell yeah.” He smiled back. “That
would come in real handy right about now. We would be out of here so fast his
head would spin.” He motioned toward the bathroom.

Her smile faded
and she followed his gaze. “I wouldn’t let you leave him behind,” she said. “He
thinks he has to die to save me.”

He didn’t want to
discuss Ty Aris at the moment. He wanted this suspension of their situation to
last a little longer. “What’s your favorite episode?” he asked, changing the
subject completely.

Jessica chewed on
her lower lip and the blush heightened in her cheeks. “I don’t know. I guess I
like the episodes where Clark is exposed to red kryptonite the best.”

It figures.
He
grinned. “Ah, you like bad boys.” He teased and tickled her side.

She turned crimson
and pulled away laughing.

Jessica made them
work just as hard every day for the next several weeks. Each day they lay on
the floor, exhausted as she cleaned up and emerged revived by the workout.

“What is she, the
fucking Energizer Bunny?” Ty mumbled after seven weeks of her boot camp.

“She’s a sadistic
version of the Energizer Bunny.” Tom agreed. “Better than any personal trainer
I’ve ever had.”

Ty chuckled and
glanced at Tom. “I’m sure she’s a hell of a lot better to look at too.”

Tom smiled and
nodded. Seven weeks had diminished his hatred to what he would categorize as
dislike. Ty wasn’t all that bad, he was quiet most of the time and had a wicked
sense of humor when he talked, which wasn’t much. He was more content to sit on
the sidelines and watch Jessica rattle on about her family or let him babble
about working on a television show. But every now and then, he interjected
comments almost like he was reminding them he was in the room. But Tom knew
damn well Jessica never forgot his presence. Even when they spoke, her eyes
drifted to wherever he was like a magnet to steel.

Ty stood and
started toward the bathroom.

“Don’t even think
about it,” Tom said jumping to his feet. He had done this same routine for
seven weeks at various times, putting himself between Ty and wherever Jessica
was.

Ty sighed and
looked at Tom. “Don’t you ever stop?”

Tom shook his
head. “Afraid not.” He had a bigger reason to stop him now than he did in the
beginning. Ever since the eye-candy conversation, he had taken notice of her
more and more. Her funky sense of humor, her drive, her grace, her faith in
people all combined with her raw sexuality was intoxicating. He asked her once
about her husband and she said very little, just that they had been together
for twenty years and that he was a good man and a great father. No admission of
love, of missing him like she did her kids and he wondered if they got out of
here, would she run back to the life she had? He hoped not because after seven
weeks of being locked in the same room with her, he had fallen in love.

Ty backed off. Instead,
he stretched out on the floor again, and Tom joined him, waiting for Jessica to
return.

Ty spoke first. “She’s
your miracle.”

Tom’s brow
furrowed. “What do you mean?”

Ty looked at him. “Don’t
fuck it up.”

“Fuck what up?” His
heart hammered in his chest. Did he know?

Ty stared at him
and tilted his head knowingly. He returned his gaze to the ceiling. “You know
what I’m talking about. I’ve seen the way you look at her.” He turned back
toward Tom. “Don’t try to bullshit me either.”

Tom glanced toward
the bathroom and then back offering a slight nod.

“She’ll get you
out of here,” he said quietly and took a deep breath. “She,
she
will be
your miracle.”

Tom was quiet
digesting the babble Ty was feeding him. He couldn’t see how what he was saying
was true but he knew one thing, if they got out of here, he would still protect
her from Ty. Regardless of the way the bastard felt about her. “You really love
her?”

Ty nodded. “Enough
to die for her. So you’d better damn well get her out of here while that happens.
Understand?”

Jesus. What
melodramatic crap is that?
“How? How is she going to get me out of here?”

Ty looked toward
the bathroom and shook his head. “I don’t know but you’ll know when it
happens.”

She walked out and
both pairs of eyes drank her in, wanting her to be theirs.

Ty hopped to his
feet and went to clean up, leaving Tom alone with Jessica. She smiled at him
and sat down. “What’s up?”

Tom listened for
the shower and looked down at his hands. “You’re amazing.”

Jessica laughed.

“I’m serious,” Tom
said locking eyes with her. “Most people would have given up under the
circumstances.”

“I’ve got kids,” she
pointed out. “The thought of seeing them again is what drives me.” She offered
him a smile. “If I didn’t have my angels, I’m not sure I could do this day
after day.”

It was Tom’s turn
to smile. “Sure you would and that’s why I love you.”

* *
* *

His words left her
speechless, along with the sincerity in his blue eyes. He meant it and a sweet
sensation gripped her stomach, like butterfly wings riding along the lining and
she reached over, caressing his face, his beard soft against her fingers.

He closed the
distance, his hands sliding into her hair and his palms holding her cheeks. His
kiss melted her, and the butterflies became heated syrup, warming through to
her soul. He kissed her slowly, seductively rolling his tongue with hers,
exploring the depths of her mouth, his sweetness overpowering.

Ty
.
Oh
my god. Ty.

She yanked away
from Tom’s lips, her eyes darting toward the bathroom and her heart fluttered
with panic. The shower was still running and she exhaled, glancing back at Tom.

Tom rolled on his
back, his eyes scrunched closed and his lips tight, like he knew what
interrupted the kiss. He opened his impossibly blue eyes and stared at the
ceiling.

“I’m not sure it’s
such a good thing for you to care about me.”

“Why’s that?” Tom
sat up again, his eyes a little cooler and his jaw tight.

She looked toward
the now quiet bathroom. “If Ty knew, he’d kill you,” she whispered.

Tom laughed. “Ty
knows.”

Her eyes snapped
back to Tom and he stood crossing to the bathroom just as Ty stepped out.

* *
* *

“We need a break,
Jess,” Ty said the following morning and for once Tom nodded in agreement. “You
are more than welcome to work out, but I’m sitting this one out,” Ty called
after her as she went to change.

She came out in a
little red dress with a flare skirt. It reminded Ty of the dress she wore the
first time she danced. Jessica began to move gracefully around the room
showcasing her ability to execute a perfect ballet pirouette. He sat up
straighter, riveted, and the time bomb in his head exploded.

He stood and felt
the grip on his wrist. Tearing his eyes from her, he met Tom’s glare. The Boy
Scout was shaking his head no.

Seven weeks had
passed since Frank left him on the floor for dead. Seven weeks was long enough
to heal and he knew it. He was running out of time and he had to do something. He
glanced at the monitor remembering the videos Frank played that first day back
from Vancouver. When he returned his gaze to her, he knew what he had to do. Acting
quickly before he lost his nerve, Ty balled his fist and slammed it into Tom’s
temple, knocking him out cold.

Jessica’s eyes
went wide and she froze mid-twirl. “What are you doing?”

He said nothing
and swept her off her feet bringing her to the mattress and ripping her
underwear off. She struggled under his weight and he unzipped his pants,
pushing her legs apart even as she cried “No!” And it wasn’t the same seductive
protest she insisted on in the beginning, this was a cry for help, a cry that
blasted his heart to a thousand tiny pieces.

He grasped her
wrists and pinned them to the mattress and with one thrust, he buried his hips
to hers, regardless of her wishes. Feeling both the passion that burned any time
he was near her mixed with a level of self-loathing he never thought he’d
experience, he ignored her pleas. Instead, he lined her neck with kisses and
closed his eyes, remembering her the night he left for Vancouver. The night she
broke down every defense he had. It didn’t take long, playing the memory
instead of this brutality and he released with the force of a volcano, her name
rolling off his tongue, and her sweet smiling face still lining the back of his
eyelids.

He collapsed on
her, burying his face in the nook of her neck, her sobs breaking through his
fantasy and he glanced at his reflection in the mirror, hating himself for what
he just did. He deserved whatever painful death awaited.

He rolled off her,
stood and zipped up his pants, crossing to the other side of the room and
taking a seat on the concrete floor. He kept his face neutral under the flurry
of feelings assaulting him.

Jessica pushed the
dress down around her, silently sobbing. She rolled on her side, wrapped the
sheet around herself and curled into a ball.

He didn’t want to
see her cry. He didn’t want to see what his brilliant plan did to her. Ty put
his head on his knees.

* *
* *

Tom stirred on the
floor, his eyes fluttering open and falling on Jessica curled in a ball on the
mattress. He scanned the room, the scan stopped abruptly a few feet from the
mattress. Her torn underwear lay crumpled on the concrete. His eye was swollen
almost shut where Ty had hit him but he was coherent enough to understand what
happened while he was unconscious. Fury filled him and he shot into a sitting
position, his sight became hazy and he swayed, dizzy and nauseous from more
than just the concussion.

“Son of a bitch.” He
crawled to Jessica and put his shaking arms around her, pulling her into the
safety of his lap. Sobs ripped from her, muffled against his chest and her
entire frame trembled fueling his rage.

This time he could
do something about it.

“Son of a bitch,” he
growled louder glaring at Ty and peeling Jessica from his arms. He stood,
ignoring the small plea of don’t coming from her lips and stormed across the
room.

Ty stood up and he
swung, his punch connecting with Ty’s nose, the feel of it satisfying and he
drew back a second time. The second punch hit him doubling him over. Tom
grabbed Ty in a headlock and dragged him across the room, throwing him to the
floor when he got to his destination. He reached down, grabbed one of the
shackles on the floor, and clamped it around Ty’s ankle before he could react. Ty
was on his feet moments after and threw a punch, but Tom ducked and sent an
upper cut into Ty’s jaw, sending him back against the wall.

Tom glowered and
stepped out of Ty’s reach. In a rare display of crudeness, he growled, “Mother
fucker” at Ty and spun back toward Jessica. He sat down and wrapped his arms
around her. “He won’t hurt you again,” he stated, watching as Ty sat slowly on
the ground looking at the chain around his ankle.

“I need to feel
clean,” Jessica whispered. “Can he reach in there?”

“Yes,” Tom
answered. He thought Ty would be able to reach at least the sink, maybe not the
shower.

Jessica put her
head against his chest. “I don’t want to be alone where he can reach me,” she
whispered and then looked up at him, the tears still sparkling in her eyes.

He nodded and
helped her up, leading her past Ty and into the bathroom. He stood in the
doorway with his back to her as she undressed and showered. He could hear her
sob from time to time, but remained standing guard until she said okay.

He turned to look
at her; she had one of their shirts on.

“There was nothing
else to wear,” she said, wiping the continuous stream of tears with the
sleeves.

“No problem,” Tom
said even though it was anything but. The blue button down shirt reached her
mid-thigh and she looked sexy as hell without trying. He put the toilet lid
down and took a seat while she brushed her hair.

“I can’t seem to
stop crying,” she said.

He reached for
her, pulling her into a strong hug. “I’m sorry.” His strong voice quivered and
he blinked back the sudden mist that blurred his vision.

“Why are you
sorry?” she sniffled and pulled away.

He met her gaze. “I
wasn’t… I couldn’t…” He hung his head, unable to articulate his failure.

Jessica tilted his
head back up so she could see his eyes. “That was not your fault.”

Tom uttered a soft
laugh, looking away from her. “If…”

Her hand stopped
the rest of the words, covering his lips while she adamantly shook her head. “Please
don’t.” She shifted her gaze and moved her fingers to the bruise capturing his
right eye.

He winced.

Jessica grabbed a
washcloth and rinsed it with cool water, folding it and placing it on the
swelling purple skin.

Cool relief
flooded the hot burn of the bruise and he covered her hand with his, closing
his eyes and sighing. Only when she removed the cloth did he open his eyes,
meeting her concerned gaze. She leaned forward, tenderly kissing the sore
flesh. Instantly, a tingling sensation overtook him, localized to the bruise
and the surrounding skin, like he had a shot of Novocain and it was just now
wearing off.

She took a shaky
step back, swaying just before her eyes rolled back in her head. He caught her
as she collapsed in a dead faint.

“Shit!”

Tom laid her down
gently on the hard floor, tapping her cheeks. Her eyes fluttered open and she
stared at him, blinking rapidly.

“You okay?” He
swallowed, staring at her open eyes. Eyes that had drastically changed in the
last few minutes—taking on the qualities of a stormy sky instead of the
blue-lavender they had been. Now swirling patterns of lavender, blue, green and
gray swirled in her irises, a brewing storm, beautiful but dangerous and a
chill caught him off guard, rattling through the bones in his spine.

“Yeah.” She
studied his face, reaching up and stroking where she had just a few minutes
before and this time he didn’t wince.

He raised his
eyebrows and helped her into a sitting position before turning to the mirror. “No
way,” he whispered. The bruise was completely gone. His eyes swiveled back to
her and his mouth dropped.

Tom reached out
and put his hand on her face, her stormy eyes looking back at him. “How?”

“I don’t know.”

Tom looked back in
the mirror and took a deep breath. Ty’s words came back to him.
‘She’s your
miracle
.’ He looked back at her. “Fair enough,” he said and led her back
into the other room.