Witness

  “No one is after me here! Trust me. I’ve kept an eye out. There is no one here who even cares where I am.” I sighed as I tried to run through my average day. Sitting on the edge of my bed, I recounted everyone for him. “Mark, my boss, but that's only because he makes my schedule and needs me to cover for other girls sometimes. Sheriff Aaron, but that’s sort of his job, right? You know, know what everyone is up to and what they are doing. The girls at the dinner. Those are the only people I see on a normal basis. I suppose if you include the patrons of the diner… hell, but then that’d be the whole town.”

  “Exactly,” he said with a tight smile.

  “Shit,” I breathed the word out, barely audible. I jumped up off the mattress. “Wait, where will you be staying? What if they send someone else? How long did they give you to off me? What if this unknown person has also been given the green light? Explain to me again why I shouldn’t be packing my shit and disappearing in the middle of the night.”

  I was pacing and frantically running my hands over my head. A new thought occurred to me.

  “How do I know I can trust you? How do I know you won’t kill me the first time I turn my back on you?” This was such a fucking mess. I should’ve shot him when I had my gun on him and ran right then. Instead, I fell for his explanation, and now I was more paranoid than ever.

  Eric was there, wrapping his arms around me, drawing me close until we were chest to chest, or face to chest, since he was so much taller than me.

  “Breathe. Take a couple of deep breaths,” he suggested, running a hand up and down my back. Once I released air slowly through my nose, he smiled softly at me. “There you go.”

  Suddenly, my heart was racing for a totally different reason. All the adrenaline rushing through my body was looking for a release, and being wrapped in a strong, capable man’s arms had my body tuning into things I hadn’t noticed before.

  How comforting it was to be wrapped in such a large, hard body that could easily hurt, yet was tenderly rubbing my back. Hard, deadly eyes that had become clear and soothing. A tender smile that only enhanced how handsome he was. Suddenly, I wasn’t panicking at all, but was focused entirely on the man comforting me.

  Something about how he was holding me, looking at me, made me lean in and seal my lips over his. It was a bad idea. A very bad idea, but I couldn’t seem to make myself stop. If he was going to kill me, he might as well get it over with.

  However, instead of pulling back or pushing me away, he groaned softly and yanked me flush against him as his hands held firmly onto my hips.

  What started as a soft press of lips became a long, chaste kiss. I could feel how tense he was, but I could also feel the hard, swollen flesh in his pants nudging my abdomen through his jeans.

  Eric pulled back and looked right into my eyes for a drawn-out moment before kissing me again. This time, his hand slipped into my hair, holding my head to his as he devoured me. His tongue demanded entry by gliding across my lips, and I granted it. Our tongues clashed as his hips ground into mine.

  His free hand slipped under my shirt to slide up my bare back until he found my bra strap, which he unclasped easily, then followed it around until he could push the cup out of the way. His fingertips teased my distended nipples, causing me to moan and arch into him.

  I closed my eyes and enjoyed the warmth building between my thighs. It’d been so long since anyone had touched me in such a way. So long since I’d let my walls down for even a fraction of a second. I didn’t completely believe what he’d told me; however, I found that I simply didn’t care. I’d been struggling with my life and was so tired of having to be on all the time. All I wanted was to be able to hand over the responsibility of looking over my shoulder for just a few moments while I relieved some stress.

  My hands dropped to Eric’s waist, and I traced the top of his jeans until I found the button. Flicking it open, I started to drop to my knees, but Eric used his grip on my breast to keep me from going anywhere.

  “No.” The single word came out as a rough growl.

  Before I could question him, his hands were on my ass, lifting me off the floor. My legs wound around his narrow hips as he carried me to the bed. None too gently, he dropped me on the mattress before quickly yanking his shirt over his head, and then finished releasing his engorged cock.

  I licked my lips, zeroing in on the beautiful specimen in front of me. I wanted to feel all of that in my mouth, sliding all the way to the back of my throat so I could gag on it, while his hands held me still so he could fuck it even deeper.

  “What are you thinking about, beautiful?” Eric asked as his hand roamed up and down his shaft slowly.

  “How much I want to suck on your dick,” I answered without thinking to filter or hold back. It was past the time to play coy and shy. I was turned on and didn’t want to play any stupid games.

  “What’s stopping you?” He smirked at me, still stroking himself.

  I moved to kneel on the bed, then bent forward to take him between my lips as I pushed my ass out behind me, curving my back and using one hand for support against the mattress.

  “Fuck, that’s hot,” he groaned, running a hand down my back as far as he could reach before moving it back up to fist in my hair.

  I sucked him down as deep as I could and then slid off him to look up at him.

  “Fuck my mouth,” I said before flicking my tongue over the tip of his cock.

  His other hand joined the first one in my hair, and then he held me in place, using his hips to thrust into my mouth.

  Hearing his groans and feeling the strength he was withholding had me getting wet and moving side to side on my knees, trying to find a way to get some friction against my aching clit.

  “Stop wiggling,” he demanded, and I stopped my desperate movements. His palm came down on my ass, making sure I knew he was serious, or that’s what I assumed it meant. I wasn’t into being slapped, so I would try to avoid more.

  His hands started pulling my head forward as his hips thrust, shoving his dick deeper than he’d been going before, and I gagged around him, but he didn’t stop. He pulled back then slammed back in, and I gagged again.

  “Every time you gag, it makes it get so fucking tight around the head,” he said, letting me know why he kept doing it when obviously it wasn’t comfortable for him to be doing it. I wanted his whole length in my mouth, every inch, but he was so long, I couldn’t do it without gagging, so I didn’t mind at all.

  Just when he started getting a little rougher than I was comfortable with, he roughly jerked from my mouth and shoved me back on the bed. His hands clawed at my pants until they were finally gone, and he immediately dove for my pussy, not bothering to take my panties off, but simply pushing them aside.

  “Oh!” I nearly screamed when his tongue rapidly flicked against my clit over and over. Two fingers were shoved into me, and I arched up off the bed as pleasure sparked through every inch of my body. I felt like I was on fire. My orgasm ran full speed toward the edge, and I needed it to arrive before he decided to stop his delectable torture. Then his fingers curled upward and bumped against my g-spot, and I was gone.

  White hot ecstasy rushed through me as I dug my fingers into his scalp and bucked against his face.

  I hadn’t even started to come down before he was over me and pressing into me. My legs spread open even wider as I welcomed him as deep as he could go, then they wrapped around him, keeping him from going anywhere but in and out of me.

  Running my nails up and down his back, I couldn’t help but keep making little noises of pleasure. His muscles were flexing under my fingers, and it was sexy as hell, while I could feel his ass and thighs working to move his hard length in a slow, teasing rhythm.

  “Fuck, you are so tight,” Eric moaned softly against the side of my head. After a few thrusts, he pushed up onto his arms so he could look down at me, or even farther down to where our bodies were connected. “And wet.”

  “Yeah,” I breathed out the wo
rd while trying to use my legs to encourage him to move faster. I wanted to be fucked hard, not this slow, love-making type sex. When he didn’t take the hint, I dug my nails into his ass and forced him deeper. I whispered, “Harder. Faster. Deeper.”

  “Demanding little thing, aren’t you?” he said with a smile as he pulled out almost to the tip then slammed back in. “Want it hard and fast? I’ll give it to you hard and fast. I just didn’t think you could take it.”

  “Oh, I can take it. Now fuck me,” I demanded.

  He winked and smiled before seriousness fell over his face and he focused on putting everything into fucking me hard enough to slide me up the bed with each thrust.

  I cried out every time he filled me and whimpered with every withdrawal until I was screaming as a second orgasm washed through me, and my nails raked down his back.

  “Fuck… Yeah…” Eric moaned, his thrusts becoming erratic before he abruptly pulled out and started roughly jerking at his length until white spurts shot from the end, leaving him sucking air in big, heaving gulps. “Too close.”

  “Close? Excuse me?” I said as reality crept back in. I’d just fucked a stranger without a condom. How fucking stupid am I? Jumping from the bed, I ran to the bathroom in time to get sick in the toilet. God only knew what the man had, and I’d happily exposed myself. Not to mention that I wasn’t on birth control and if he hadn’t pulled out I could’ve been really screwed.

  Leaning back against the wall next to the toilet, I repeatedly slammed my head against the wall. I could still get pregnant from preejaculate. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Just what I needed. To worry about a child when I was on the run. I’d always be on the run. There would be no children in my future because they’d never be safe, and I refused to do that to a child.

  Eric had said that Michele was still looking. Hell, he very likely was the one who would kill me. Maybe I did want to be pregnant. He wouldn’t kill someone carrying his child, would he? Did I really want to find out? No. I’d really rather not find out any more about the man who was stupid enough to forget a condom. Who knew how many other times he’d “forgotten.”

  “You okay?” Eric asked, walking into the bathroom with his pants still on, but he’d tucked himself away at least.

  Yep, that’s right. I was so desperate to get laid, I didn’t even get him naked. What a fucking mess.

  “No. I’m not fine,” I snarled at him as I flushed the toilet again and pushed to my feet. Moving past him, I went in search of clothing so I wasn’t in just my shirt and unhooked bra. After pulling on a pair of yoga pants sans panties, I quickly pulled my bra straps through my shirt and tossed the bra toward my dresser uncaring of whether it actually made it. I turned to face Eric and put my hands on my hips, ready to deal with him. “You need to leave.”

  “I’m not going anywhere. I already told you all this,” he said, crossing his arms like he could tell it wasn’t going to be an easy conversation. “Someone is after you.”

  “So what? You can sleep outside my house for all I care, but you are most definitely not staying here. And what just happened won’t ever happen again. Mark my words.” I glared at him.

  He didn’t seem affected at all by my anger, which just pissed me off more. After a minute, he sighed and sat on the edge of the bed. I couldn’t help but remember what we’d just done there, even if I wished it had never occurred.

  “Sorry I didn’t use a condom. I was just as caught up in everything as you were. I don’t remember hearing you asking me to use one. I’m clean, so you won’t get anything from me. Now take a deep breath and relax. We need to go through who is suspect in the town.” He brushed off all my unvoiced concerns and got back to what he’d initially showed up for.

  “Just like that, huh?” I shook my head in anger. “What was that, just a stress reliever? Now back to business?”

  I shouldn’t be so upset. I had thought of it as a good stress reliever, too, but I couldn’t get over the fact he hadn’t even paused to use a condom. I shouldn’t have had to remind him. Wasn’t that the guy's job to remember?

  He groaned and ran a hand through his hair, staring at the ceiling for a few breaths before looking back at me.

  “It wasn’t just a quick fuck to let off steam, okay? I’ve been watching you for a couple of months and have wanted to do that since I first laid eyes on you. You initiated it — I just went with it. It was fun, and I want to do it again, but we need to find out who is trying to sell you out so I can take my time next time.” He stood and walked to me. “I know everything there is to know about you on paper, but I want to spend the time to get to know the real woman. The woman that can’t be captured in words and pictures. However, I can’t focus when I know a killer could be right around the corner. I need to protect you if I even want a chance to know the real you.”

  As I tried to comprehend what he was telling me, rapid, loud blasts preceding glass shattering somewhere in the front of the house rent the air. Before I could fully understand what was happening, I was being pushed to the ground, a heavy weight crashing on down on my back.

  “What the…” I gasped out.

  “That was gunfire,” he whispered before rolling off me. “Stay down.”

  Like I was going to run into the room just torn apart by bullets! I wasn’t new to this life. I crouched and duck-walked to the nightstand to retrieve my weapon. I hadn’t had my house shot up before, but I’d dealt with assholes who liked to shoot at me before.

  All the fear of being found that had haunted me was gone, only to be replaced with a courage I didn’t know I had. I crept over to the window and peered around the curtain. There was nothing to be seen, but that didn’t mean that the shadows of the night didn’t hide the person behind the unexpected destruction of my living room.

  “Get away from there,” Eric barked.

  I glared at him and dropped the curtain.

  “Shut up. I’m not completely stupid, you know,” I answered with a sneer as I moved toward the door, still keeping low. Without waiting for him to follow or speak again, I walked in a crouch down the hallway with my gun at the ready.

  “I beg to differ,” Eric growled quietly behind me as he stayed close.

  “Fuck off. I’m not letting anyone just blow up my house and not go looking for who did it. Isn’t that what you said we needed to do anyway?” I hissed.

  “Not like this. I meant for you to tell me and then I would go looking,” Eric sighed.

  “Too bad, buddy. This is how I do things.” I paused at the corner and listened. No sounds. Creeping around the corner, I looked at the mess. Glass was everywhere; my front window was completely gone. Bullets had torn holes into the drywall on the opposite side of the room, but everything else appeared to be in exactly the same place I’d left it.

  I watched in shock as Eric rushed the broken window and jumped over the ledge before disappearing into the darkness outside. And I was the stupid one? I didn’t know what I was going to do next, but I didn’t plan on just running outside, that was for sure.

  Still staying low, I made my way to the kitchen to check it out. Again, nothing was disturbed. Just as I was making my way back into the living room, Eric jumped back in the room.

  “It’s clear.” he said standing to his full height. “There is no one around.”

  I stood and cringed at the pain that shot up my back. Damn, getting old sucked.

  “No sign of who did it?” I asked before heading to grab a broom so I could clean up the glass.

  “Nothing,” Eric said, disappointment clear in his tone. He carefully stepped around the mess then started using his hand to sweep the tiny shards from the furniture.

  Once everything was cleaned up, I was exhausted and just wanted the night to be over, but I doubted it would be. I couldn’t simply go to sleep with no window.

  “Where are the cops?” I asked after a moment of staring at the gaping hole.

  “I don’t know. This is your town; shouldn’t you know?” he retorted.

&n
bsp; “Maybe no one heard and called the cops,” I offered with a shrug.

  “I doubt anyone within a mile didn’t hear the report of the gunshots. Not to mention the breaking of glass.”

  “Well, fuck. I don’t know then.”

  “Doesn’t matter. You are coming to stay with me tonight. We’ll get the window replaced tomorrow,” he said, then headed back toward my room.

  “Oh, I am?” I asked, aghast. Who the hell did he think he was, telling me where I was going?

  “Fine. Stay here and let the attacker come back and finish the job they started,” he said, pulling on his shirt then his shoes.

  “They obviously weren’t trying to hurt me. Who sits in a dark living room in the middle of the night? They had to be just trying to prove some point or something stupid,” I said with a shake of my head. Who understood why the mafia did half the shit they did? They were always trying to make statements that were pointless. At least, that’s how it’d been when I was with Michele.