Long Ride (Riding with Honor) (14 page)

“Do you want me to take a look at it?  Is the bullet still in there or did it go through?”
she asked.

“No… I think it went all the way through
,” Greg ground out after Brian removed his gag.

After a few minutes she said
, “You know you are welcome here, Greg, and I hate to ask when you’re obviously injured but… Brian and I need to talk.  Would it be too much to ask for you to get a hotel?  I can help you patch your shoulder before you go… I’ll even pay for the hotel room.  Do you mind?”

She watched Brian’s response to her request and seeing his body relax even more she again prayed that Greg would go along with her plan.  After
Greg stared at her for several minutes he said, “No, I don’t mind but if you have a first aid kit I could use to patch myself up when I get to the hotel I would appreciate it.”

“Thank you and sorry he shot you… it was a simple misunderstanding.  He was expecting me not you… you surprised him
,” she lied. 
Thank God!
  Greg appeared to have caught on to her game and was playing along.

“Yea, it hurts like a son of a bitch but I think it mostly just grazed the skin
.  So once I clean it and patch up the scratch it should be fine,” Greg said, giving her a pointed look.  Then he looked at Brian. “I expect you to be on the up and up about this… no fighting.”

“I have turned over a new leaf and I am prepared to show your sister that… prove myself to her
,” Brian replied.

She watched as Greg carefully managed to get to his feet and didn’t miss the look of pain that crossed his face as he finally straightened to his full height.

“Let me get that first aid kit for you,” she offered and headed to the bathroom.

Becca
found the first aid kit and managed to slide her cell phone into the box underneath a couple of pre-packaged bandages after making sure it was on silent. 

She hadn’t missed Greg’s
cell phone and service weapon lying on one of the kitchen counters and didn’t want to risk making Brian suspicious by asking him for it.  After closing the box back up she went back out to where Greg and Brian stood staring at each other. 

She handed the first aid box to Greg
. “Everything’s in there that you should need,” she said, giving Greg a pointed look.

“Thanks
, sis,” Greg said and then walked to the front door.

Would he really let Greg go…
just like that?
 

Surprisingly
, Brian held the front door open and Greg went outside being careful not to jar his damaged shoulder.  Once Greg had descended the steps, Brian closed and locked the door. 
Great!
  Now there was no way for help to get in or for her to get out without first unlocking a door.

The pain in his shoulder felt like he was being branded with a hot iron.  Placing the first aid kit in between his legs
, Greg managed to open the door to the car even though every movement brought on a fresh round of excruciating pain. 

Once he managed to get in the car he decided it was better to drive away from the house before calling for
backup.  He hated leaving Becca behind alone with Brian but one of them had to get out and see about getting help.

He managed to make it to the end of the street and well out of sight of the house before pulling over and opening the first aid kit.  Becca had put something in
there she thought would help and he was impressed when he found her cell phone buried at the bottom.  Brian had confiscated his own cell phone and his service weapon after shooting him on the stairway.

He noticed a missed call which he had to view in order to then place his own call.  Richard Long’s name
and number appeared on the screen.  It hadn’t been more than ten minutes since the call had come in and he was thankful the phone was silenced or else Brian might have heard it.  He hit the button to call the number back.

“I hope it’s not too late… I’d love to see you
,” Dickie answered.

“Dickie, this is Greg Sanders… Becca’s ex-husband
, Brian, just broke in her house and has her… he shot me but I got out.  I’m ok for now but she needs help.  I am going to call the police,” Greg ground out.

“I’m less than ten minutes away… I will come in by way of the beach and see if I can get in and get her while the police distract him.  Is there a good way in?” Dickie asked
in an all business tone.

“He has all the doors and win
dows locked but I have a key…” he replied. “I’m in a rental car at the end of the street.”

“Fine… just wait there for me.  Does the key work for both the front and back door?” Dickie asked
.

“There are two keys actually… one for the front and one for the back
,” Greg replied. “Just get here… I hate her being in there at his mercy.”

“Your sister is tougher than she thinks she is but I’ll be there in no time.  Call the police now.  I’m hanging up
,” Dickie replied.

After Dickie hung up
Greg called 9-1-1 and explained who he was and the situation Becca was in.  He was still on the line with dispatch when two sheriff’s cruisers turned onto the street.  His heart pounded in his chest when Dickie pulled up a few minutes later. 

Dickie got out of his car and
walked over to where he sat and held his hand out.  Greg pulled the keys out of his pocket and showed him the two keys to the house.

“I’m not sure if there is much you can do… the local
sheriff’s office is here and probably already in position,” he said.

“
I can slip into places undetected even with guards looking right at me.  I’ll get her back, don’t you worry.  Now you go get that shoulder looked at immediately, I’ll take it from here,” Dickie said. 

Then he grabbed
the keys from Greg’s hand, headed through a side yard and disappeared into the night like he’d never been there.

“That bastard called the cops!” Brian yelled angrily
after looking through the blinds toward the end of the street as though expecting Greg to return. “Did you tell him to call the police, Becca?  You lying bitch!”

He grabbed her brutally by the back of her neck and
dragged her out of the kitchen chair, pulling her along to the front window.  He moved the curtains back and upon seeing two police cars pull into the driveway he shook her violently yelling curse words. 

Then as one of the deputies stepped out of
a cruiser, Brian shoved her to the ground.  Busting out the window with butt of the gun, he began firing at the officer.

“They are going to have to take me out… until death do us part… right
, babe?” Brian said, never even looking at her.

He looked out the window for several minutes before finally grabbing her arm and forcing her back toward the family room and away from the front of the house.  He was mumbling to himself and cursing as her whole life
passed before her eyes.  This was what it was like when your number was up… memories, some good and some bad, flowed through her mind like a song.

She could accept her fate peacefully or she could go out fighting.  Always she had cowered where Brian was concerned… but that was before Dickie had helped her find her
real
backbone… introduced her to the woman she was always meant to be.  As they entered the family room she yanked forcefully away from him.  He was on her before she got two steps away.  Grabbing her by the front of her neck this time, he slammed her up against the wall.

“I don’t think so
, Becca,” he hissed.

A movement at the backdoor
in the direction she was forced to look drew her attention.  Brian was facing away from the door and didn’t notice.  She wasn’t sure if she was really seeing Dickie or if this was the last image granted to a soul about to die.  Either way it was a beautiful sight because she didn’t want to die alone.

Dickie stopped inside the door and made a motion with his hands… the moves he had shown her.  Forcing her eyes back to Brian’s
stare which was now glazed over as though he was in some sort of trance, she made a fist with her right hand except for her index and middle fingers.  She could do this… she could fight back… she could
survive
. 

Balling her left hand into a tight fist she struck hard with her
first two fingers just like Dickie had shown her.  She hit the bastard with everything she had and just as Dickie had described he actually dropped the gun, grabbed his throat and bent forward slightly.  She followed through with a punch to his neck and then rather than kicking him she shoved him hard with both hands and he stumbled backwards and fell onto his back gasping for air.

In a move worthy of an action movie, Dickie made it across the room and grabbed up the gun
from off the floor and then back to where Brian lay still gasping for air.  Dickie placed the boot of his right foot on Brian’s neck, pointed the gun at his head and then chambered a bullet.  Satisfied that everything was under his control, he smirked at Brian.

“You’re not so tough now are ya?  I think you had this ass whooping coming for a while and she’s just the woman to do it.  As much as I’d love to hold you down and let her really kick the shit out of you… I think she’d rather turn you into the nice officer outside you took a pot shot at
,” Dickie said, moving his foot around on Brian’s throat causing him to gag and gasp even worse. 

“You had your chance with her and what did you do?  You broke her spirit!  She’s since got it back and I’ve got to tell you… I
like
all that passion in her.  A woman who gives in to your every demand is nothing but a well-trained pet.  I prefer a little sass and a whole lot of fire… and she has that in spades so I think I’ll keep her.  So if you ever make it out of prison may I suggest that you remember that… because if you try something like this again… I’ll do more than let her kick your ass… I’ll let her
kill
you,” Dickie finished.

Dickie’s eyes finally moved from Brian’s face to her and she could only look at him for a few seconds before turning to head to the front door.

“Yell that you are coming out before you open that door, Becca,” Dickie warned as she walked toward the entrance.

As soon as a couple of
deputies came in the house, Dickie released Brian.  Then he held the gun by the barrel out to one of the officers and held his other arm up in the air as though surrendering.  A deputy approached him and took the weapon from him and said, “Detective Sanders outside vouched for you.”

T
hen Dickie turned and opened his arms to Becca.  She ran to him and he held her to him just as tightly as she held on to him.

“I did it… I listened to my fear… I protected
myself
and I survived,” she whispered against his shoulder.

One of the
deputies radioed that he had the suspect in custody and suddenly the house was invaded by police officers.  They were followed by a couple of paramedics who gave Brian some air as he was still choking and coughing from where she’d hit him.

“Your brother is
en-route to the hospital, ma’am.  He is going to be just fine so you don’t need to worry.  As soon as we can get your statement… one of us will be happy to drive you over to see him,” said one of the officers.

“I’ll take her to the hospital when we’re all done here
,” Dickie said.

The
officer nodded his thanks and went back to a group of deputies who were talking about the shots that Brian had taken at them.  Dickie stayed right by her side and called Chuck on his cell phone.

After explaining what had just happened he listened for a minute before saying
, “If Carla could go sit with him until we can get finished up here… that would be great.”

He listened some more and then said
, “No… we each have to give a statement and then we’ll be heading to the hospital anyways… she’s fine.”  He finished up the call and then pulled her back into his arms.

“Damn it feels good to have you in my arms
again,” he whispered into her hair.

It took more than an hour for her and Dickie to give their statements after Brian was put into a police cruiser and taken downtown.  When the last
deputy left, Dickie found a piece of drywall in the garage and managed to cover the broken window with it. 

Then turning to her he said “You ready to go check on Greg?”  She nodded and Dickie pulled out his
cell phone and dialed a number.

“Hey man… you doing ok?  Becca and I are getting ready to head that way
,” he said. “One of the cops said you refused treatment until you knew she was safe… did you miss the part about getting your shoulder looked at
immediately?
”

After a pause he said
, “Actually your sister put a bigger hurt on him than I did.” 

He smiled at her and then laughed
, “She kicked
his
ass this time!  Are you sure?  We don’t mind… and it will put her mind at ease to see that you are okay.” 

After another pause he held the cell phone out to her and said
, “Greg wants to talk to you.”

Taking the cell phone from Dickie who was smiling, she put it up to her ear.

“Hey sis… I am fine.  The bullet went all the way through and didn’t hit any major arteries but it did knick one of the bones in my shoulder.  They took some x-rays and said it’s the cleanest gunshot wound they’ve seen in a while, but they are going to do minor surgery in about a half an hour to see the extent of the damage to the nerves and the bone.  I’ll already be knocked out and under the knife by the time you could get here.  Carla Johnson is here with me now so I’m not alone… you should get some rest and then come see me in the morning when I’m out of surgery and in recovery,” Greg said.

“I’m so sorry
, Greg… I should have listened to you all those years ago and pressed charges against him.  I really didn’t think he would ever take things this far… especially after all this time,” she said choking back tears. “I always thought that if I stayed I could help him deal with his anger and issues and the violence would stop.  I guess I just thought after that last time he would realize how out of control he was and take a few steps back and finally get some help or something.”

“You can’t change other people
, Becca, you can only change how you deal with them,” Greg replied. “It sounds like you’ve finally done that for yourself and I salute you for taking your life back from that bastard.  Now get some rest… I’ll see you on the other side of this surgery.”

“Ok… if you’re sure you don’t need me.  I’ll be there first thing in the morning though
,” she said and then ended the call.

She turned back to Dickie and handed him the cell phone and felt tears once again threaten.  This man who stood staring at her with the most amazing blue eyes had helped her take her life back.  He hadn’t stepped in and saved her… he had simply supported her in taking back control for herself. 

If a relationship was supposed to be a partnership filled with teamwork, she couldn’t ask for a better teammate than him.  Even more than his amazing looks, his support made her want him with a desperation she’d never thought possible.

“What is it
, darlin’?  You know when you look at me like that it sets me on fire,” he said softly.

How could she explain all the thoughts and feelings she got just from simply looking at him.  She had never felt like this before and had little to no experience with talking about those feelings.  She approached him and
, standing on her tip toes, she kissed him with all the desperation threatening to leak out of her eyes. 

Winding her arms around his thick neck
, she pulled him even closer to her and let the heated passion take over.

“Oh no you don’t
, precious, I refuse to let you rush me this time.  I’ve missed the hell out of you these past couple of weeks and I fully intend for this to last a little longer than it normally does with you.  I want to explore you,” he whispered against her mouth as he pulled back from her kiss. “I would never hurt you so this time I don’t want you using your fears to hurry things along… to get it over with as quickly as possible.”

Though part of her pushed him to fulfillment quickly simply because of her desperate desire for him, he was right that she feared anything that would stretch the process out past the actual act itself.  She could kiss him and allow him to touch her a little bit but her fears only allowed him so far. 

How had he known that part of her feared his touch, feared giving him the control to do with her as he wished, even though she didn’t fear the man?  Somehow it felt like he’d known it from the beginning.  He had been trying to alleviate her fears by seeming to submit to her.

“I’d like you to tie me up, order me around, and then have your wicked little way with me.”
 

His words and constant offers to allow her to have her way with him suddenly meant something more.

“It’s hard for me… the only time he was ever truly loving toward me was after he had done something equally hateful.  He used sex as a way to apologize… and sometimes to punish… and for years I accepted it even though it was hard sometimes for my body to respond to him when my heart still hurt from his words or actions,” she said.

“I know that but I want him out of your heart.  I want to be able to touch you and know that you feel
me
… not some bad memory of
him
.  He’s had enough time with you… it’s my turn and I swear if you let me I will take care of your heart so that the passion you feel is the only thing in your soul… no fear… no regret… no doubts,” he replied.

He continued to look her in the eye as he bent down and kissed her while touching the corner of her mouth with his fingers.  His mouth lingered on her lips as his fingers trailed down her cheek to her neck. 

As his long fingers wrapped around the side of her neck he gently pressed her head back, exposing more of her throat for his mouth to enjoy.

“Your skin tastes like the sweetest sin and you smell like heaven
,” he said against the side of her neck as he slid his hands to gently cup her arms.  His mouth continued the assault on the skin of her throat and shoulder as he slowly forced her to back up against the wall behind where she stood.

Sliding his hand back up to cup her neck again and position her head where he wanted it
, he whispered, “I’m not controlling you, Becca… you are controlling me.  I’m a slave to the pleasure you bring me.  Let me share that feeling with you.”

His fingers began unbuttoning her blouse
.  His mouth followed them.  Kissing and sucking each new patch of skin his deft fingers exposed.  His touch was gentle and charged with electricity that sent shock waves of pleasure out to every area of her body, forcing her to lean her head back against the wall and her eyes to close. 

He moved away from her and pulled on her unbuttoned shirt to free it from where it was tucked into her pants
.  Then he pushed it down her arms, making sure his hands touched as much skin as possible on the descent. 

“Open your eyes
, Becca, and watch what I do to you.  Your eyes tell me what you can’t and I want to see you enjoying my touch,” he said as he reached behind her and unhooked her bra.  Like with the blouse, he guided it down her arms with his amazing hands.

This was similar to the first time they had been together
, but this time she allowed his perusal of her body to continue rather than taking control and forcing him to finish with her.  His gaze left her eyes and traveled down to her mouth which he kissed before dropping to his knees in front of her. 

She reached up to cover her breasts with her hands
.  He gently removed them and placed her flattened palms to the wall on either side of her legs.  Then his gaze traveled up to meet her eyes.  She tried to hide her nervousness from him but after a few seconds of staring at her, the sexiest grin spread across his mouth and he winked at her.

Lord God
… how was she supposed to watch him when he looked at her like that?  The nervousness was quickly replaced with an anxious heat as she tried to anticipate his touch or what he would do to her. 

Leaning forward
, he placed an open mouthed kiss on her waist and then rubbed his mouth against her skin, tickling her with his moustache.  Then he looked up and grinned at her again.

“Nah… that’s not it... you like the way I look and you’re wondering how much this moustache of mine would tickle in certain places.  That’s why you can’t ignore me.”

He removed her shoes and pushed them away.  Then reaching up he unfastened her pants so they hung open.  He held her gaze as he leaned forward and licked along the band of her panties.  She had to look away from him both because of the heat in his eyes and the passion his breath was building in her.  As he slowly pulled her pants down her thighs and legs he nudged her to step out of them while whispering, “Becca…”

Her breathing was coming in shuddering gasps as she forced her eyes back to his.  He ran his hands slowly up the outside of her legs until he grasped her panties and pulled them down and off as well. 

Standing completely naked against the wall of her living room with him on his knees before her she realized he was again attempting to seem submissive to her… allowing her to feel like she was in control because of his physical position.

He ran his palm up her stomach, applying enough pressure that he was holding her against the wall with one of his massive forearms
.  His exploration stopped when his fingers rested in between her breasts.  He moved even closer to her and then ran his other hand around her thigh.  Gripping the back of her leg he pulled it up and draped it over his broad shoulder.  His eyes never left hers as he leaned forward and put his mouth on her.

The feel of his mouth on her
there
made her legs useless.  If not for his strong arm and hand holding her up she would have slid down the wall into a puddle.  Anytime that her eyes would pull away from him he would release her and whisper her name against the heated core of her. 

After the second time she forced herself to watch him giving her such pleasure without looking away
.  The combination of his heated breath and the sensation of his mustache when he spoke against her were just too much. 

Watching him only
excited her more.  Very shortly she felt the first waves of extreme pleasure overtake her. He continued until, unable to bear another second, she reached out and pulled at his hair.

Releasing her
, he got to his feet and she heard him unfasten his own pants and push them down his legs.  Then he was kissing her with the kind of passion and fire that normally came from her as he fumbled with his wallet and then with a condom.  His kisses picked up urgency as he lifted her up and wrapped her legs around his waist.

“Take me with you
, Becca,” he whispered against her mouth.  He lifted her away from himself and then reached between them to guide himself into her. 

As he ground into her he whispered over and over
, “I love you, Becca.”

Her heart was listening and responding in turn
, along with her body.  Pleasure took control of them both as first she broke apart and he then followed, burying his face against her neck as he cried out her name. She wrapped her arms around his head and neck and held him to her and said, “I love you too… I missed you terribly.”