Witness Protection (The Witness Series) (5 page)

He looks glorious, standing half naked. He has a pair of boxers
on that
are slung low on his hips, showing off a very beautiful V. His abs
are
tight and firm, moving as he breathes and his chest is golden, hairless and hard. I turn my eyes away, forcing myself to look away. I go back to my cleaning and listen as Ryder kisses his little
sandwiches
goodbye.

“Goodbye master, when will we see you again?”

“I’ll call.”

“Bye Nate.” They both say.

“Later.”

“Bye Ariana.”

“Later
sandwiches
.”

Nate snorts his cereal and roars with laughter, the girls stare
stupidly
at me
.

“Good
God
, I haven’t laughed so much for years. You are a good thing miss Ari.”
Nate pants through laughter.

I grin and walk over, picking up my own bowl of cereal. “Maybe I am.”

“You are going to give my boy here a mental breakdown.”

Ryder walks in
and mixes some sort of smoothie with berries, powder and eggs.
Grosse.
He is completely ignoring Nate and I,
temperamental
man he is.

“
Mr.
D
ominant
need
his nutrients back?” I say in a cooing voice.

He turns and stares at me,
then
walks forward until my back is pressed against the benc
h. I can feel his hard erection
pressing into my stomach. Oh, my. My eyes widen and the sheer size and length of it. He grins and presses me back harder.

“Watch your mouth, my offer still stands and I am happy to close it for you.”

“I…” Oh well great, I am speechless.

“You want to know how many times I can fuck in one
night?
Why I need that smoothie?
”

“Not really.” I say, putting my hands on his chest and shoving him back.

“Five, give or take.”

“Well good for you, do you want a gold star?”

Nate laughs again and I hear it follow me as I walk outside with my cereal. I sit on the front chair and stare out at the pool in front of the apartment. It looks refreshing, and boy would I like a swim in it. Nate comes out and sits beside me, munching on his crunchy nut.

“Nate, crunchy nut?
Really?”

“It’s good.”

“It is kind of good.”

“
Checking out the pool sweetheart?”

I sigh. “It looks kind of good.”

“Go have a swim.”

“Won’t it be unsafe?”

“Look, a serial killer might be after you but they don’t take cheap shots. He would have a plan, a
goal,
he won’t just take you out.”

“In that case!”

I stand and pull off my shirt, stripping down to my black bra and panties. Nate whistles and I give him a grin over my shoulder.

“Hot bod girl!”

I see Ryder walk out and gape, just as I dive into the water. Oh, yes, the cool bliss. I let it soothe my restless body and I moan in satisfaction. After ten minutes or so, I climb out and walk towards the two men sitting and chatting on the
porch. Ryder’s gaze very slowly
travels up and down my body. Noticing the tattoo on my thigh, he grips my leg and turns me.

“Nice tatt, even better body.”

I meet his gaze. “Thanks.”

“You would have to be the tiniest woman I ever met.”

“I don’t have all that junk in my trunk like your
Barbie’s
, so sue me!”

“I never said it was a bad thing. Heck, you would make one hell of a sub. I could wrap myself around your body and be completely in control.”

“I might be small GI Joe but I’m not easy and there will be no wrapping of this sub.”

He grins, and it is a beautiful sight. He has perfectly straight teeth, a perfectly straight nose and the dark hint of stubble on his chin.

“How tall are you, little
sandwich
?”

I can’t help but grin at that comment.

“Five two, so what.”

“Oh, baby, you just made me hard.”

“Ryder!” Nate snaps, “Leave the poor girl alone.”

“Size?”

“Excuse me?” I gape.

“What size are you?”

“None of your business.”

“I am guessing a four, six maybe?”

Damn the man was spot on.

“All that shows is you have had way
to
many pairs of panties in your hands.”

He laughs and leans back. “So I have.”

“If you are finished assessing me, can I go and put some clothes on?”

“Innocent, aren’t you?”

I give him a glare. “What?”

“You are an innocent.”

“If you are
referring
to my virginity, no, I am not.”

“Ah, so she has been fucked.
How many times?”

“What?”

“RYDER!” Nate snaps, shoving his buddy.

“Once if you must know, not that it is any of your damned business but it was a bad experience and it won’t be happen
ing again. Y
our l
ittle fantasies of subs and dom
s and whatever else you think yo
u want form me, you can shove
right where the sun don’t shine. I will never let a man talk me into pulling down my
boundaries
again!” I yell, storming inside.

This is going to be a long, long few weeks, months or however long it takes to catch that freak and I don’t know how I am going to deal with it, when GI Joe is in my face twenty four seven. Lord
give
me strength.

CHAPTER
3

Two weeks pass and
it has been event free.
I have grown close to Nate, and Ryder spends most of his time out, choosing to fuck his little subs at their homes instead of his own. How caring.
Nate
comes into my room one morning as I
am
twirling my hair around my hands and tying it up in a loose bun. I smile
at him.

“Hey Nate.”

Hi face tells me right away something is wrong.

“What is it?”

“They found another one.”

I pale. “When…”

“This morning, early.
Strung up
on a
tree in central park.”

“
T
hat close
?”
I stammer.

“Yeah,
that close
. Vicky
Eleanor
,
eighteen ,blonde
, snuck out and he got her.”

“How long did he have her?”

“Two days.”

“He is close Nate, too close.”

He sits beside me and takes my hand. “Hey, if he knew you were here he would have pounced. He is close but I don’t think he has located you.”

The front door bell rings and we both stand and rush out. Ryder is at the door already, dressed in his uniform. His
eyes meet mine for a moment before
he opens the d
oor. It is
James Clancy
.

“Can I come in?”

“Yeah.”

Ryder shove
s the door open and James Clancy
steps in.

“Ari, Nate, sorry to call in.”

“What is it?”

“The body was found this morning as you know, there was something else.”

“Something else?”
I stammer.

He hands Ryder a note, I can see it has blood on it and my stomach turns. Ryder grips it harshly and curses. Nate snatches the note from his hand and scans in.

“Well fuck.”

“W-w-what does it say?” I ask.

He hands me the note and I read over the few lines.

Your turn is coming, my brown haired beauty.

I turn and run to the room, making it just in time. The contents of my stomach come roaring up and into the toilet. Tears stream down my face. He has found me, he
knows
where I am. Fear grips my heart, causing my body to seize and stiffen.

“Hey.”

Ryder dr
ops down beside me, he and I always seem tense
, so it
surprises
me he came in.

“He found me. He found me.”

“H
e is trying to scare you.”

“He
knows
my hair is dark!”

“And he obviously doesn’t know where you are because he would have had that note delivered. It is possible he thought your hair was dark. It was a very light brown and in the dark, that could have been seen wrong.”

“Y-y-you think?”

“Yeah, I think. Come on.”

He helps me to my feet and I flush the toilet. When I have brushed my teeth, twice, we walk back out.

“You ok?” Nate asks.

“She is fine. Tell us what you know James.”

“I was just telling Nate, I think it is a trick to scare her out. It could be possible he thought she had dark hair because it was dark.”

“I just told her that.” Ryder informs him.

“I think he is playing, if he knew she was here he would have done something to the house, or left something.”

“So, if by chance he has seen her on the street, how do we avoid it again?”

“Keep her away from
overcrowded
areas.”

“What?” I cry. “I have no life as it is.”

“If he saw you, he could see you again and follow you. It is your
life on the line.” James Clancy
snaps.

I grip my head, it hurts. “I want to go for a walk.”

“No.” Nate says.

“Look, I will take her. I will make sure there is no one around, quiet place. Let her get out.” Ryder says.

“Your choice Ryder.”
James
Clancy
mutters clearly not happy with the offer
.

“Come on, put this on.”

He ha
nds me a bike helmet, it has a closed in face.

“You are taking me on the bike?”

“
It’s
safest,
your face is entirely covered before we even get out. Chances are no one will spot you.”

“Ok.”

I pull the helmet
on,
Ryder grips his bike key and turns to Nate.

“I won’t be long, call work,
tell
them an hour.”

“Fine.”

I follow Ryder down to the garage and he gets on his bike. I hesitate.

“Trust me will you?” He sighs.

I slide on and wrap my arms around his firm waist. It is nice, I can’t deny that.

“Ready?” He yells as he turns the bike on.

“Yes.”

He presses a button and the garage opens, he zooms out quickly. When we are on the road, I feel slightly at ease. He zips down a few quiet streets until he pulls up at
quiet park
at the end of a cul de sac. It is quiet, hidden by thick trees and no-one is around. I slip off the bike and pull the helmet off. Ryder shoves a pair of sunnies at me, and I pull them on. He then fastens a hat on my head. He
surprises
me by taking my hand and we walk until we stop at some swings. I sit on one, he sits on the other.

“Better?” He asks.

He is wearing black sunnies, and he looks so beautifully sexy.

“Thanks yeah.”

“We won’t let anyone near you.”

I look over at him. “I know.”

He nods and stares out
into the distance
.

“Ryder?”

“Hmmmm?”

“Do you have a problem with me?”

He turns. “No, I don’t.”

“Why are you always so harsh towards me?”

“Ari, I am not the only one being harsh. You haven’t let up about my preferences or the way I am with women since you met me.”

“I guess…I don’t mean to sound rude you know. It was hard for me to be put in a house with people I didn’t know.”

“I know that, and you need to know I am not usually a social person. It takes a while for m
e to get used to
new people, it wasn’t just awkward for you when James put you in our house.”