Manhunt (8 page)

Michael’s eyes flashed to hers. Anger. Regret. Rage. It was the same old argument, and she was tired of it. She rolled her eyes and stood up, slightly amused at the way he practically ran for the restroom the moment she reached for the zipper on her dress. She changed quickly into her pajamas—an old t-shirt from a concert they’d gone to a few years back and cut-off sweatpants.

Michael didn’t come back out until Nikki was curled up into a ball on the far side of the bed, her back to him. He walked around and squatted down to look at her tear-stained face as she pretended to be asleep. After a moment, he stood and walked to the other side of the bed. She heard the rustling of clothes, followed by an extended silence. Just when she couldn’t stand it anymore and was about to open her eyes, he slid under the covers. He curled his body around her back, draping his arm around her waist and pulling her back against his chest. “I’m sorry,” he whispered in her ear before kissing her cheek.

“I love you, Michael.” She surprised him by rolling over in his arms and opening her eyes. She placed her hand on his cheek. He leaned into it before he could stop himself. “I can deal with losing my mother. I can’t deal with losing you. Please, Michael. I love you.”

Something in Michael changed in that moment. She was startled by the urgency in his movements as he kissed her forcefully, pushing her into the pillows below her as he laid her flat and settled his body on top of hers. He pushed his tongue into her mouth. She moaned around it as his kisses grew more urgent and more passionate. She wrapped her arms tight around him, constantly worrying that he would pull away again, change his mind, but he didn’t.

His hand tugged desperately at her t-shirt, raising it just enough to find her soft breast, a slight sheen of sweat already forming on it, making it slick as he caressed her. His thumb grazed over her nipple and he smiled against her lips as it hardened and pebbled from his touch. He squeezed her breast slightly. He broke the kiss long enough to sit her up and pull the shirt over her head. Her hair was still curly and stiff from the hairspray. His fingers caught in it when he tried to run them through it.

“I love you, Nicole. Never forget that, okay? I love you so much. I always have.”

She responded by jerking forward and crashing her lips against his own once more. This time she took control, pulling him with her as she laid back down.

Michael groaned when her breasts came into contact with his bare chest. His hands began exploring in earnest, one tweaking her nipple while the other caressed her stomach, feeling her muscles spasm beneath him before traveling over her shorts to cup her center. She bucked her hips against his hand, spurring him forward. He began tracing circles with his fingertips, and Nikki was helpless to do anything outside of whimpers and mews. He seemed to know instinctually just how to make her feel good.

“Please, Michael…” she whispered before licking the shell of his ear and blowing a breath against it. Michael pulled his hand away and pushed his hips against hers, thrusting experimentally through their clothes. Nikki arched her back and met his thrusts, the friction slowly making her lose her mind. “Please” was the only coherent word she could muster.

Nikki ran her hand down his back, tracing his spine until she reached the waistband of his shorts. She hooked her thumbs underneath and pushed downwards to show him what she wanted.

“Nikki… I don’t think…”

“Good. Don’t think,” she interrupted.

He conceded, raising his hips and removing his boxers, quickly lowering himself back onto her. It happened too fast for her to get a look at him, but she could feel him better now with only one layer of clothing between them.

“Oh God,” she moaned as she grinded herself against him. Michael kissed her lips sweetly once more before blazing a trail of kisses along her jaw and down her collarbone.

“So beautiful,” he murmured before taking one of her nipples into his mouth, licking and sucking so gently. Every caress, every touch, every kiss made her skin feel aflame until she was writhing against him, mindless of anything except the pleasure bubbling beneath the surface.

Michael’s hand found its way beneath her shorts, and finding no other barrier there, began caressing her sex. Her folds were embarrassingly warm and wet, her center swollen and pulsing. He pressed his thumb against one particular spot and Nikki shuddered from the sensation. He pulled himself away from her breasts to watch her face as he slid his middle finger into her for the first time. Her mouth opened in a silent ‘o’ and her eyes squeezed shut.

“Are you okay?” he whispered.

“So good, oh… So good,” she whispered back.

He bent down and kissed her softly as he began to thrust his finger inside her, brushing her hair out of her face with his free hand. She began breathing quickly through her mouth as he picked up the pace a bit, curling his fingers around as he did, exploring.

Nikki let go of his shoulders, reaching down to push her own shorts down. Michael moved out of the way to help her, never removing his hand from her core. He smiled as he saw her completely naked for the first time. He watched as his finger began thrusting into her once again. Slowly, he added his index finger as well. Nikki moaned as her body stretched to accommodate him and felt herself become even wetter.

Michael bent down to kiss her once more as he slowly removed his fingers. She was disappointed at the loss until she felt him place himself at her entrance.

“Nikki, are you sure?”

“I’ve never been more sure of anything, Michael. I want it to be you. Always. Please.” She grabbed his hips and pulled him towards her own for emphasis.

“I love you,” he told her again as he pushed forward, throwing his head back as his tip was engulfed by her heat. He flopped his head forward, resting his forehead on her shoulder, haphazardly kissing and licking the hollow of her throat as he slowly pushed himself inside of her. He paused when he reached her barrier, pulling up to look at her eyes in a silent question, as though reluctantly offering her one last chance to back down. He grinned at her as she nodded her head, and thrust the rest of the way in.

Nikki’s head flew backwards, her back arched in pain. He wrapped his arms around her waist and held her tightly to him. A traitor tear rolled down her cheek as she whimpered and shuttered from the pain. “I love you,” he whispered over and over.

After several moments, she felt her muscles relax. Her fingers loosened from the death grip on his shoulder blades and made their way to his face, holding his cheeks as she turned his head so she could kiss him.

“I’m okay now,” she whispered soothingly, knowing that it probably hurt him worse than it did her. “I love you, I’m okay.”

Michael raised his head to look at her, tears welling in his eyes. She smiled up at him and kissed him again.

“Really. I’m all right now, the pain subsided. Please don’t stop,” she pleaded.

He nodded his head and began to move in slow, languid strokes. She felt so good, so full, so complete with him inside her this way. He lifted his chest and they both looked down to where they were joined. They were one. It pushed her over the edge, and with one swift thrust, Michael came with her.

He held Nikki tight as he removed himself, rolling over onto his back and pulling her against his side. She could feel the wetness against the inside of her thighs as she threw one leg over his and curled against him, but couldn’t bring herself to care. She was in his arms, and all was right with the world. Nikki planted her forehead in the crook of his neck, her favorite place in the whole world. Michael kissed the top of her head, then leaned his head onto hers.

“I love you, Sunshine,” he whispered to her once more as they both drifted off to sleep, surrounded by a peace and tranquility they had never known before.

*******

Nikki woke up, a smile on her face as her hands searched blindly in the dark for Michael. Something was off, she realized. He was on top of the covers, his arms not around her. He had on clothes. She opened her eyes dreamily and frowned as she took in her surroundings. This was not a swanky Atlantic City hotel. The soreness in her body had nothing to do with post-coital bliss. And the older version of Michael who met her eyes was not smiling. She scowled at him as she turned and sat up, involuntarily screaming in pain as she did.

Michael shot up like a flash, running around to kneel between her knees, unceremoniously pushing up her shirt to check her ribs. He ignored her as she tried to swat his hands away, not wanting him to see the reaction her body was having to his proximity, a direct result of the dream she’d just had, she was certain. Michael pressed gently in several places, gauging her reaction. She winced and bit her lip, jumping in pain on the last push.

“Owww!” Nikki suddenly felt a bit woozy and swayed.

Michael saw and held her as she lowered herself back down onto the bed. He put his hand on her forehead for a moment, then shifted to her wrist to take her pulse before placing her hand on her stomach. He took out a bottled water from the mini-fridge and handed it to her with a couple of aspirins.

“I think you might have an infection,” he told her. “I’m going to get you some medicine. I have to make a call. I need you to be very quiet, understand?”

Nikki threw her arm over her eyes and nodded beneath it. Michael took the yellow pages from underneath the Gideon’s Bible in the nightstand and looked up a local pharmacy. He pulled out her fake driver’s license and took a deep breath before dialing the number.

“Hello, this is Dr. Aaron Brennan. I am calling in a couple of prescriptions for a patient of mine, Julie Burns…” Michael rattled off a few numbers and after a short conversation, had generic Keflex and Tylenol Three waiting for them.

“Nikki, you need to get dressed. I need you to go with me to get the prescriptions.” Nikki moaned but didn’t move. “I know you’re uncomfortable, but they won’t let me pick it up for you. You need to come with me to sign for it.” He grabbed her hands and slowly pulled her into a sitting position. Wordlessly, he helped her get dressed, brushed her hair for her, and helped her get into the car.

“Nikki, when we go inside, don’t speak any more than necessary, understand?”

The conversation at the fast food joint the day before had been risky. Nikki nodded weakly at him, but didn’t speak. She was hot and nauseous and in enormous pain. Serious conversations were the furthest thing from her mind. The woman behind the counter was sympathetic to Nikki’s obvious discomfort, and hurried to retrieve their order. She questioned Nikki on the change in her hair from the picture on her license, and Nikki mumbled something about wanting to try something different. The woman smiled at her and handed her the two tall, white paper bags. Michael paid the $20 for them and thanked her.

Back at the motel, Michael arranged to stay the week so Nikki could rest and heal. For the next several days, he cared for her while she battled against the infection, bringing her fluids, wiping cool cloths on her face, anything he could think of to lessen her suffering while they waited for the antibiotics to kick in. Her head wound had healed nicely and the abrasions on her knuckles were almost gone. Both would result in minimal scarring, which he said pleased him, but he was worried about her ribs. If the infection didn’t subside or her symptoms got worse, he was going to have to take her to the hospital, a possibility he was strongly hoping against.

On the third day, her fever finally broke. She even sat up and ate one of the danishes from the motel lobby and drank some tea while she watched an old movie. Michael was starting to relax, thinking the worst was behind them. He mentioned he might take Nikki to a park for a while, let her get some fresh air. They were both getting cabin fever. Nikki started flipping the channels, pausing on a news program to check the weather while Michael looked out the window, then quickly dropped the curtain.

“Have you seen this man? His name is Michael Brennan and he has been identified by Federal authorities as a suspect in the shooting death of Sebastian Cross and the disappearance of Nicole Wright. He is considered armed and dangerous. Anyone with information regarding their whereabouts should call the Federal Crimestoppers Alert line at 888-555-1234. Coming up next on News at 11...”

Nikki turned to stare at him, her jaw agape and her hand covering her mouth in terror. She was mentally begging him to deny it, but he didn’t.

Instead, Michael turned off the television, stuffed the prescription bottles in his pocket and looked back out the window. He then pulled Nikki up a little too forcefully and wrapped his arm around her waist as he dragged her to the door. She dug her heels into the carpet.

“No, no, no, no, no…” she sobbed uncontrollably as she tried unsuccessfully to fight him. She was still so weak. “Please say you didn’t…”

“Let’s go.”