more.
“Clear!” I heard Z yell, which made me relax. Whoever was in there was subdued.
“Your dad?” I asked, walking into the living room, trying to find something to cover her naked body with. Finding a throw blanket on the back of the couch, I sat in the chair wrapping the blanket around her.
“Deke ... Gary is Jake, my dad’s stepson … my stepbrother.” The entire scene she had just went through came pouring out of her as she talked into my chest, and I didn’t know how to feel about her father, but I sure as fuck wanted to kill this Jake dude.
“It’s okay, baby.” I rubbed her head slowly as a shit ton of police came in and out of the house. The paramedics came in with a gurney.
“Is Dad okay?” she asked, hearing the commotion. She tried to get up and see better, but I pulled her tight to me. None of these assholes I work with were gonna see her naked.
“I don’t know yet. Z hasn’t come out,” I answered, using the most soothing voice I could muster when fury was ripping through me.
As if on cue, Z came strolling out of the hallway toward us. “Is Dad okay?” Vann asked as she sat up, flashing Z her bra. She immediately wrapped the blanket around her to cover.
“They’re gonna take him in for tests, but he seems to be okay. The other one …” His voice trailed off. “Remind me never to get in a fight with you.” He smiled, which I was not in the mood for.
“Z what the fuck is going on?” I barked.
“Your girl here kicked his ass.” He smiled, shaking his head. “He’s alive … barely. The paramedics will be bringing him out first because you did such a bang up job on him.”
“What?” I asked. Vann left this part of the story out.
“Let’s just say if the dude wants to have sex, it’s gonna be really hard when his balls are detached and his dick is bleeding. Not to mention all the air he lost when your girl wrapped a rope around his throat and tied it to the bed.”
I squeezed Vann. Strong and brave. Damn.
Z continued, “I’ve gotta hear the whole story start to finish and get a statement together, but first I’ve got meds coming in to look at you. Are you okay?”
“I think,” Vann whispered.
“Do you hurt anywhere?” Z’s voice was laced with concern.
“My wrists and ankles are sore.” Vann held out her arm. Her wrists were rubbed raw with spots of blood coming through the skin, her ankles the same way.
My blood was boiling. “I’m going in there with him before they take him away,” I ordered.
Z shook his head. “No. You’re not. You’re gonna stay with your girl while she tells me her story, but we are gonna go find a different room than this one since they’re bringing them this way.”
I growled. “After what this fucker did to Vann, he deserves to die.”
Vann curled back into my arms; she clung to my shirt pulling me closer to her. I knew Z was right, but I just didn’t like it.
Vann
These last two weeks had been hell. I’d had to relentlessly talk to the cops and answer all of their questions … repeating the same answers over and over again.
Jake was currently being held without bail at the county jail awaiting trial. He, of course, survived. It seems that all the bad ones usually do. Cops say I’d have to testify against him and my father.
My father … he made bail. He was currently at home with Julie and Sydney. I knew that Z and Deke were keeping a really close eye on him by doing drive-bys. He’d made no attempts to contact me nor I to him.
Grams had been by my side and having her around had been wonderful. I felt stronger every time I was in her presence. Even though she told me that I was the strong one, I didn’t quite feel that way.
Sawyer, Kinsley, and Z had been hounding me nonstop. I loved them, don’t get me wrong, but checking on me every five minutes when Deke wasn’t around, was driving me a bit nuts. I knew they were worried, but it wasn’t like I was gonna kill myself or something. Was this shit bad? Hell yeah. But that didn’t mean I was gonna end it.
I had too much to live for.
This brought me to Deke, who had been treating me like a damn porcelain doll, as if I was gonna break any moment and collapse into a big pile of shit. He hadn’t made love to me once since it happened. I didn’t want to think this … but I didn’t think he wanted to touch me. I was dirty. I’d let another man touch me when I was his. I’d even touched another guy’s dick and I know he was repulsed.
I hadn’t gotten much more than a passionate kiss from him since he found me. And a man like Deke must’ve been getting it somewhere ‘cause he wasn’t gonna hold off. That thought made my stomach roll. If he’d been with someone else, while he lay in my bed every night, it would send me over the edge.
“Vann?” Deke’s voice cut through my wayward thoughts.
“Yeah,” I said, laying on my bed flipping through the channels on the television.
“You wanna do something tonight?” he asked.
“Like?”
“Go out. Have fun. It’s been a while.”
I glared up at him. “It’s been two weeks. A lot of things have happened in that time.” I couldn’t help the snippiness in my tone, but damn it, if he didn’t want me, he could go find one of his whores and I’d learn to deal.
“What’s that mean?” he asked, crossing the room.
“It means you haven’t touched me since it happened, and we both know you can’t go that long without getting off,” I snarled.
“You think I’ve been fucking around on you?” The shock in his voice was very evident.
“Well, you’re not fucking me, so who’s it been?” I asked, not looking at him but staring at the flashing channels on the TV.
Deke grabbed the remote out of my hand, throwing it to the floor. As it skidded across the room, he asked, “You wanna know who’ve I’ve been fucking?” He lay on top of me. No, I didn’t want to know. The thought of it make my stomach lurch.
“I’ve been fucking my hand.” My eyes widened. “Yeah. You heard me. My hand. Jacking off in the shower. Why, you ask?” His face came so close we were now nose to nose. He continued, “Because that fucker hurt you and …” He paused. “… I don’t know what to do.”
“You forgot?” I asked, smirking.
“No, smart ass, I don’t want to hurt you. I’m so fucking pissed at myself because I wasn’t with you when you left your dad’s. I’m pissed at what he did to you. I’m pissed at what you had to do to get away.” My entire body stiffened.
“You’re mad I touched him,” I whispered, trying to turn my head away from him. His hand reached up and cupped my jaw, holding me to meet his stare.
“I’m mad you had to touch him. I know you didn’t want to, Vann. It didn’t give you pleasure. You did if for survival. I’m mad that the whole situation happened.”
“I’m sorry.” My voice was quiet. I knew this might happen. I knew that if he really knew the lengths I went through to get away, he might not be able to get over it.
“No. Don’t you dare apologize. You went through shit. It wasn’t your fault. I … just don’t know how to do this.” His eyes closed for a brief moment then I was staring back into those baby blues.
“Here, let me help you.” I reached up, pulling his head down to mine as I kissed him slowly, sweeping my tongue throughout his mouth. I ran my fingers through his soft hair and felt content … happy. I began to get more aggressive with my kissing, wrapping my arms around him and trying my damnedest to roll him over.
He gave in and flipped us, letting me straddle him. Pulling his shirt off, I traced his beautiful, hard pectoral muscles and rubbed his nipples with my fingertips. Leaning down, I began to kiss down his body, making a special
