Mercy's Angels Box Set (38 page)

My eyes fluttered open. My body heavy and lethargic as I took in my unfamiliar surroundings. It was dark, the shadows in the room were causing my heart to pound heavily. Charlie’s apartment, I remembered with a relieved sigh. I licked my lips, my mouth felt sandy and dry. I needed a drink like the desert needed rain. I started to get up and found that my body refused to cooperate, my limbs were frozen. Panic and uncertainty filled my veins as I tried to move again. It was then that I noticed the dark figure looming over me at the foot of the bed. All I could see of the figure were the whites of those dark, angry eyes. He had found me! Charlie! I tried to scream, but nothing more than a weak whimper escaped my lips. I felt the bed dip as the frightening figure knelt on the mattress.

“Hi, sweetheart, I told you we would finish this,” he purred. I tried to scream again, but no sound would come. What the hell had he done to me? Had I been drugged? Where was Charlie? My eyes darted around the room looking for him. “It’s just you and me, sweetheart.” His hand found my leg, his palm was rough on my skin.

“No,” I barely managed to breathe through my lips, but inside the frozen cocoon of my body, I was fighting with a fury unlike any other.

“Yes, sweetheart, it’s time to finish this.” He crept up my body and tears escaped the corners of my eyes, my breathing became rapid and out of control. His hands continued to explore my body, though they missed the tenderness of a lover—they were hard and aggressive, taking something I was not willing to give him.

“Noooooo!” I screamed, my voice finally returning. As my scream pierced the quiet night, I sat upright in bed, kicking with manic fury trying to back away from my attacker.  Suddenly Charlie’s apartment was no longer in darkness, the large room was bright. I was alone in the bed and at the realization, my back slammed painfully against the headboard.

“Rebecca?” Charlie’s voice came from the doorway. His eyes looked wild and worried.

I searched for the intruder only to find he wasn’t here. A nightmare, another fucking nightmare!  A sob broke from my chest as I launched myself from the bed and ran straight into Charlie’s arms. I hit him hard but he didn’t budge as I wrapped myself around him, trying desperately to find the safety only he seemed able to bring.

“Shhhh, settle down, baby, deep breaths,” Charlie murmured as he walked us back towards the bed. I shook my head furiously, I didn’t want to be there, not so soon after the nightmare.

“N...Not the b...b...bed,” I stammered. He moved us to the living area instead and sat with my legs wrapped around his hips, my arms tight around his neck. I began taking big gulping breaths, trying to rein in the panic. Charlie held me tight until I finally began to settle, and even once I had calmed down, he still didn’t let me go.

“You scared me,” he quietly confessed, which caused another stupid tear to fall.

“I’m sorry.”

He shushed me and held me close. “This nightmare was different, wasn’t it?” I nodded. “How?”

It took a while before I was brave enough to recollect the vivid imagery of the nightmare. “I couldn’t move, I couldn’t fight. He was here, in the apartment, and I didn’t know where you were and I couldn’t speak so I couldn’t call out for you. He touched me and I couldn’t do a fucking thing about it.” 

Charlie was quiet for the longest time. My heart began to slow to a steady rhythm and Charlie eventually moved, lying back with me still wrapped around his body.

“Am I too heavy?” I whispered. Charlie’s chest rose and fell with a quiet chuckle.

“No, Betty Boop, you are no heavier than a very warm and pretty blanket. Are you comfortable?” I nodded. We laid like that for the longest time, me sprawled over Charlie, his fingers stroking my hair and down my back.

“I hate this,” I finally said, the fear replaced with anger. “I can’t get rid of that memory, it’s like I’m trapped and can’t move forward. I’m stuck with this stupid fear.” Charlie shifted to his side and just like that we were face to face. He pushed my hair away from my face, as if he wanted nothing obstructing his view of my puffy eyes, red nose and blotchy skin.

“Then we replace that memory with a better memory.” His words seemed like a logical solution. I arched an eyebrow, skeptical. Did he really believe it would be so easy? “Someone took something from you, they took control from you and forced you to give a part of yourself that you weren’t offering. You need to take that control back.” I wasn’t sold on his idea, but I was definitely intrigued.

“How?” I finally whispered. Charlie licked his lips and I couldn’t help but zero in on them. Remembering how he kissed me the previous day with such possession, my central loving station was instantly throbbing.

“Do you want to kiss me?” he murmured, a cheeky grin on his way too adorable face. My eyes darted back to his, and ordinarily a snappy retort would have been followed, but I was too curious to let my quip fly. And I really did want to kiss him. “You’re in charge here, Betty Boop, if you want it, take it.” I adored his nickname for me though I would never tell him that. Somehow I think he already knew. He wanted me to take charge, to make the first move. I had never been that girl, the forward one. In life, yes, I was independent, successful and I didn’t get that way being all meek and mild. But when it came to men, relationships, the bedroom, I preferred a man who took charge of me. Fuck it, Rebecca Donovan didn’t back down from a challenge. Closing the breath of space that separated us, I pressed my lips against his. The kiss was chaste, no tongue, I explored the soft, subtle tenderness that was Charlie Cole. When I pulled away, I couldn’t pull my gaze away from those damn lips—I was ravenous for them. “More?” he asked, his voice low and rough. My answer was to lean in and kiss him again, this time slipping my tongue inside his mouth to gently caress his. I needed more though, this was too gentle, too restrained. What I needed was for Charlie to take control. Again I pulled away and sighed in frustration. I was so confused. A man had forced himself on me, so it made sense that I needed to be in charge of this situation, but I found myself needing more. Something I couldn’t reach or claim on my own. Charlie groaned and the next thing I knew he was pinning me down and kissing the living daylights out of me. And I loved it. My leg automatically hooked around his waist and he slid one big hand down to hold it in place while he continued to devour me. This kiss was the something more that I needed. This kiss was something other than raw need pulling at us. This kiss was Charlie marking me, owning me, and it didn’t for one moment frighten me. Only the need to take a breath finally separated us. Charlie lowered his body a little until his chest was pressed against mine. This position, closed in like this, made my body become rigid immediately. Charlie’s eyes pinned mine with a look that demanded that I stay focused on him, which I did. As I relaxed again, little by little, my hands moved from the vice like grip on his biceps, to leisurely explore his body. I felt Charlie’s sharp intake of breath and couldn’t miss the hardening under his shorts, but I kept my eyes on him, reminding myself that I was safe, I was cherished and this could end the moment I wanted it to.

“I don’t understand this,” I finally whispered. Charlie pulled away a little so he could see me better. “You and me. I don’t understand what we are, or aren’t. Friends? Friends with benefits? I mean, I know Charlie Cole doesn’t date or do monogamy, but I do and I’m prone to moments of insecurities and insane jealousy, which I can’t help and wouldn’t if I could—I don’t like to share. I don’t know what you want from me, Charlie, but if my little jealousy issue is going to cause problems, then I think we should stop now, before things go any further.”  I knew I was rambling, it was something I did when I was anxious.

Charlie grinned. “I guess I should make myself perfectly clear then. You’re not sure what this is? It’s us, you and me, Rebecca and Charlie, Betty Boop, and Caveman Cole. Friends? Always, but this is more, Rebecca. And you should know, I don’t like to share what’s mine, so monogamy has just become my new best friend. The fact that you have a jealous streak makes me ridiculously happy, I like to know that I’m yours. You should also know that only boys make their woman jealous of other women. A real man makes other women jealous of his woman. I intend to make every other woman on the face of this earth insanely jealous of you.” I think I stopped breathing like some cliché book damsel and I smiled.

“So, we’re, like, boyfriend and girlfriend?” I asked with a smirk. Charlie laughed and it was the most breathtaking sound I’ve ever heard.

“Hell no, that sounds like we’re back in high school. I prefer to think of us as soul mates that just lost their way for a moment.”

Holy shit, Charlie Cole was romantic. I sighed, and Charlie’s grin turned a little too cocky. I shoved at his chest.

“Don’t go getting all smug, Cole, it takes more than sweet words to win my heart. You haven’t even taken me on a single date.”

“That sounds like a challenge,” Charlie murmured.

“Move,” I shoved at his chest again, and this time he rolled away, straight off the couch, landing with a loud thump on the floor. “Holy shit, are you okay?” I gasped.

Charlie laughed. “I think I bruised my butt, wanna kiss it and make it better?” His eyes sparkled mischievously and I grabbed the closest cushion and struck him over the head with it.

“You will never see me kissing your ass, Cole,” I growled, hiding the small smile that only this idiot is capable of pulling from me, following a horrifying nightmare.

The chilling sound of breaking glass from somewhere close by caught our attention. We both sat for a moment stunned, before hearing more glass shattering, quickly followed by the recognizable sound of squealing tires. Charlie raced for the front of the apartment and pushed the curtains aside.

“Fuck!” He spun around and grabbed his jeans. “We gotta move, Betty Boop.”  He pulled his shorts down and I was caught in shock at the sudden urgency in which he was moving, and the fact that his beautiful body was on full display in front of me.  It was quickly hidden behind frayed, worn denim as he pulled his jeans up. Charlie grabbed his phone and held it between his shoulder and ear as he moved with fast efficiency around the room, throwing things into a backpack. Finally he noticed my paralyzed state and pulled the phone away. “You need to move that adorable little ass of yours, babe. Fire.”

Fire was apparently the magic word because suddenly I was moving, grabbing my bag that hadn’t been unpacked. I pulled on my sneakers and raced towards the door.

“Wait!” Charlie screamed, running across the room and all but pushed me aside. He pressed me back against the wall and opened the door slowly, too damn slowly for a situation as serious as a fire. His cell was back between his shoulder and ear.

“Dillon, we got a situation at Carter’s—a hot one.” He was quiet for a moment as he peered down the stairwell that led to the back of Carter Constructions’ office. I wanted to push him down those damn steps, not at all keen to hang around a room that sat directly above a fire. “I’ve already called them. Call Jax and get here fast. A car beat it out of here pretty fucking quickly, but I don’t know if anyone stayed behind to watch the show.” The call ended with a grunt. He shoved the phone in the back pocket of his jeans and turned to face me. “Do exactly as I say and stay glued to me, got it?” he ordered.

The urgency of the situation had me ignoring the fact that he didn’t say please. Charlie grabbed my wrist and pulled me behind him, slowly descending the stairs. I could see the angry, flickering orange flames through a small high window that looked into the office below Charlie’s apartment, and they made me want to move faster. Charlie’s cautiously slow pace was quickly pushing me toward the point of panic. Finally we hit the ground and the heat coming from the building was licking at my skin. I wanted to move away, far away, but Charlie kept us close as his sharp eyes looked around the small parking lot, watching the dark shadows that stretched to the large buildings around back that housed lumber. Charlie pulled my arm and we edged our way around the office, heading toward the dark empty street out front. The sound of distant sirens immediately calmed my panic as Charlie continued to drag me cautiously to the front of the building. When we were at a safe distance on the opposite side of the road, I could see that the flames had already made it to Charlie’s apartment above the office. This was a large industrial park, the warehouses and factories around us were quiet and empty this time of night. Charlie’s eyes continued to comb our surroundings while my eyes were morbidly fixed on the destructive flames before us. The low rumbling sound, of what I assumed was a muscle car, caught my attention and I tensed up. Charlie must have noticed because he pulled me closer to his side. “Dillon,” he said without further explanation. I didn’t know much about cars, but as it pulled to an abrupt stop, I could tell you the exact make and model of this one—it was my dream car. It was a fully restored, glossy black 1969 Chevrolet Chevelle with chrome trim, chrome wheels, and dual exhaust. It was an American made beauty that was sexy as hell.  He climbed from the car and I knew immediately that he was carrying a gun, which caused me to physically tremble. Guns, weapons and violence weren’t my thing. Hell, this life I was suddenly cast into wasn’t my thing.

“I think they’re long gone,” said Charlie as Dillon approached. As the sound of sirens filled the quiet industrial neighborhood, I noticed Dillon discreetly tuck his weapon into the back of his jeans, under his shirt.

“I’ve got a license for it, I just don’t want to cause unnecessary panic,” Dillon explained at my nervous glance. A small explosion from within the building caused me to jump, and Charlie pulled me further away from the flames as two fire trucks pulled directly in front of us.