Long, Lonely Nights (6 page)

Tina’s mouth flew open. He knew she had been out there. That meant he knew she watched him. She was mortified. She lashed out at him.

“You’ve been watching me!”

“You’ve been watching me. I don’t think you can talk.”

She acted without thinking and reached out to slap him. He grabbed her hands and pulled her into him. Her hands ended up on his chest. His muscles flexed, and suddenly he turned her around, shoving her against the wall.

He raised her hands above her head and covered her mouth with his. The kiss was demanding. He licked her lips then nipped them until she opened her mouth to his. He pressed his body against hers. She felt his cock, hard and long against her abdomen.

She whimpered and returned his kiss for about thirty seconds. Then she came to her senses and struggled. He immediately let her go. Her hand went to her lips. They felt swollen from the assault.

“You can’t expect me to not be attracted to you when you get off watching me,” he said. “Call the police and file that report.”

He turned on his heel and left her still touching her lips with her fingers. She came to her senses and picked up the phone to call the police. She would have to think about the kiss later, when she could think about it in private.

The police took a good twenty minutes to arrive, but she told the dispatcher it wasn’t an emergency, so she couldn’t say anything. She told them about the footprints and the ladder. They looked at both and took notes. They told her to keep her doors locked and to call if she needed them. Again, they suggested a roommate. She didn’t want a roommate. She wanted them to catch whoever was trying to scare her.

Tina double checked all her locks on the doors and set the alarm as soon as the police left. She didn’t want to spend all her time locked inside her house. She wanted to be able to come and go and work outside without worry someone was watching her, waiting for an opportunity to break in and attack her.

What if it was the man who had assaulted her last year? The thought chilled her. He’d said she was his. Would he come back for her?

* * * *

Logan cursed, calling himself all kinds of a bastard for what he had done—kissing her for God’s sake. That had been the stupidest thing he’d ever done. He had done a lot of dumb things as a teenager. This was by far the worst. She had been startled at first, then responsive as hell. When she’d struggled, he knew she was upset, probably more at herself than at him.

What had gotten into him? She’d launched herself at him, ready to attack. He didn’t think. He reacted. Logan had wanted her for a long time now. Kissing her would only make it worse. He’d never be able to get her out of his system now that he had tasted her sweet lips. The fact that she had responded sealed his fate.

She’s was off limits, he reminded himself.

Remembering how her body felt pressed against his had his cock growing hard all over again. She’d pressed back against him before she’d come to her senses. Logan needed something to take his mind off her. Finishing mowing the grass then maybe a cold shower and a colder beer would be good starts. He walked outside and heard the police talking with Tina. Without looking that way, Logan started his lawnmower and went about cutting the grass. But his mind drifted.

Why would someone watch her? There were only two reasons, and neither one of them set well with him. The first reason was that they planned to attack her and rape her. The second was a secret admirer who was fixated on her. That would go with the flower on her doorstep.

Logan didn’t like either possibility. He would have to keep a watch on her. He took that cold shower he needed, and settled down to drink another beer. Maybe he would grill out tomorrow and invite Riley over. That should keep his mind off of her and his body out of the back yard in his boxers. Not that he expected her to sit on her balcony at night anymore. He would mourn that. He had enjoyed it. What’s more, she had enjoyed it.

Then there was the problem of an intruder at her place. It worried him. She had the best security she could get, but that might not be enough.

He decided to give her his phone numbers. She could call him if she heard anything instead of the police. They would get tired of her calling for every little noise and then not take her seriously when someone did break in, because the police would. He was certain of that.

No one would go to as much trouble as this guy did without plans. Logan would interrupt those though.

He didn’t even think twice. Once the police were gone, he walked back over to her house and knocked on her door. She didn’t answer at first. After the third time, she came to the door and called out.

“Who is it?”

“Logan. Let me in for a second.”

“What do you want?” she asked.

“Just let me the hell in. I’m not going to touch you.”

He huffed out a breath in exasperation. You’d think he had done more than kissed her. He sure as hell wanted to.

He heard the locks click, and then the door opened. She glared at him from behind the door.

“Give me your cell phone,” he grumbled.

“Why?”

“I’m going to program my numbers in it so you can call me if you hear anything. I can get over here faster than the police.”

“Thanks, but I’ll be fine.” She started to close the door again.

Logan put his foot in the door to prevent it.

“Just give me the damn cell phone. There’s no need for you to sit over here scared to death when I can check it out faster than the police will.”

She stared at him for a few seconds then nodded and opened the door wider to let him in. She walked over to the kitchen counter, fiddled in her purse, then handed him her phone. Logan quickly programmed both his house phone and cell phone into hers. He handed it back.

“Keep that by your bed at night. If you can, memorize my numbers so you can call me when you aren’t near your cell.”

“Why are you doing this? Why should you care if I’m scared or not? You obviously don’t like me very much.”

He could hear the anger in her voice. More than likely, most of that was fear talking and not really anger. He drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly.

“I care, and I like you fine. I should think that was obvious earlier.”

“Lusting after someone isn’t the same as liking them.” She crossed her arms over her chest. It only raised her breasts higher.

He had to jerk his eyes away before she noticed. However, it must not have been quick enough because she dropped her hands down to her sides and glared at him. He shrugged.

“Look, I’m home most all the time. Call me if something worries you. I’ll come and check it out.” Logan turned on his heels and walked out the door before he did something stupid, like kiss her again.

Chapter Four

“Are you sure you don’t want to stay with me for a few days?” Jenna stood in Tina’s kitchen leaning against the counter.

“Yes, I’m sure. Thanks, but I still have to come back sometime. It won’t make a difference one way or another.” She continued cutting up potatoes for potato salad.

They were going to have a late lunch and cook BBQ chicken with potato salad and baked beans

“Honey, you’ve already been through a rough time. You don’t need to worry about this. It will bring back the nightmares.” She sighed and shook her head. “You’re still having them anyway, aren’t you?”

“Sometimes. Not often though.” She squirmed under Jenna’s searching eyes.

“Maybe you should go back to your counselor until this is all over,” Jenna said

After her near rape, she went to a counselor for several months to work out the fear and anger. She had nightmares every night and couldn’t sleep half the time. She was afraid to go to sleep.

Since they hadn’t caught the guy, she was afraid he would come back to finish what he had started. Despite the added locks and home security system, it took months for her to rest easy again. The more time that went by, the safer she felt. Surly he wouldn’t come back after all this time.

She could remember every detail as if it were yesterday. It had been a Saturday night. She and Jenna had gone out to dinner, then on to a club to dance. They’d had a great time. She had dropped Jenna off afterwards since they had gone in her car.

Tina was the designated driver for the night. They took turns.

She unlocked her door and kicked her shoes off. She didn’t bother picking them up. She would do that in the morning once she got up.

She dropped her purse on the table by the door along with her keys. Nothing had felt out of the ordinary to her. She climbed the stairs in her stocking feet without bothering to turn on the lights. Once inside her bedroom, Tina had unzipped her dress and pulled it off, laying it over the back of her chair. She walked into the bathroom in her underwear and turned on the shower. After adjusting the water temp, she slipped out of her camisole, then her bra and panties. She sat on the bed to roll off her stockings after slipping off the garter. She remembered thinking she heard something, but she shrugged it off as her imagination and finished taking off her hose.

The shower felt wonderful after being drenched in sweat from dancing most of the night. They’d danced most every dance, sometimes with guys and sometimes with each other. She bathed quickly. She grabbed her towel and dried off. Tying it around her, she walked out into the bedroom into a nightmare.

He stood there in a mask and black clothes holding a knife. She remembered freezing in shear surprise, then horror. Maybe if she hadn’t frozen she could have gotten away, but those few seconds cost her. Trying to hold on to the towel cost her.

She ran for the door, but he was faster and grabbed her by the hair. He swung her around. She hit the wall hard. It knocked the breath out of her. He had the knife against her throat in an instant.

“Don’t make a sound, or I’ll cut your throat. Do you understand me?”

She nodded her head as much as the knife would allow it. She could smell him. He used Old Spice after-shave and needed to brush his teeth. He had a raspy, high-pitched voice that grated on her nerves.

She should have struggled more while she had the chance, but the knife at her throat frightened her to immobility.

He jerked her over to the bed where he had her stockings tied to the bedposts. He ripped the towel from her hands and ordered her to sit, then lie back on the bed. As soon as the knife left her neck, she screamed and tried to roll off the bed.

He was on her in an instant. The knife was back at her throat. This time it cut. She felt the trickle of blood along her neck. She panicked then and passed out.

When she came to, her hands were tied by the wrists to the bedpost with her stockings. He had stuffed something into her mouth. She found out later, it had been her panties. She fought to breath, to pull free of her bindings. He stood over her and laughed. Then, he climbed up on the bed and bent down to whisper in her ear.

“You’re mine, all mine. I’ll make sure everyone knows it, too.”

He took the knife and ran it down her face and along her neck before circling her breasts with it. Then he cut her abdomen. Not deep, just enough to bring blood to the surface.

She screamed into the cloth in her mouth, but no one could hear her. He laughed again and laid the knife on the pillow beside her head. He sat up and undid his pants. She struggled to kick out at him, but he was between her legs, and she couldn’t get her legs up high enough.

He actually put on a condom. He didn’t plan on getting caught. She remembered thinking, ‘He’s going to rape me. I can’t do anything about it. He’s going to do it.’

When he rolled her up on her shoulders she remembered the tears trailing down her face. He started to push at her when the sirens started. He cursed and pulled back. He hurriedly zipped his pants and jumped off the bed. The intruder grabbed his knife and leaned in to whisper in her ear.