Save Me From the Dark (23 page)

With caution, we open it carefully. When we finally get it all the way open, I find a portable DVD player inside. We exchange a look as Gary pulls out his phone and begins recording as I open it and hit play.

“Hello Bella,” a female voice sneers.

It’s hard to make out who it was exactly because of all the background noise. There is honking cars I think. Whatever it is, it’s very distracting. Maybe that’s their plan to keep their voice from being recognized.

“Yes, I know who you are. It didn’t take long. Anyone following you long enough can see your face.”

A lighting change allows us to get a glimpse of the person behind the camera. It’s not long enough to really nail who it is.

“We’ll have to look at that later,” I say to Gary not taking my eyes away from the screen.

“You think you’re so smart to have landed Ace Jergens, well think again. There is one thing you need to know. You’ll both be dead soon. First, we’ll make Ace watch as we torture you. Make you scream. Make you bleed. But we won’t kill you yet. No, then we’ll make you watch us do the same, but so much more to your beloved Ace. Then we’ll kill him and leave you alive for a little while knowing you were the one that caused his death.”

There’s a loud noise in the background followed by a blip in the video. The person must have paused it or something. Next thing to fill the screen is a picture of whoever this was standing at my door.

“You’re safe nowhere you stupid whore. I’ll find you and you’ll be mine.”

The video goes blank. We both continue to stare at the DVD player unable to believe what we’ve just seen. A shiver runs down my spine. Fear of losing her laces through me.

“Are they after her because of me? Or are they just solely hell bent on her?”

It’s really questions that I’m running through my head as my brain replays the video. It isn’t questions I intended to get an answer to because there’s not enough here, but Gary answers anyway.

“It appears they are hell bent on her, but who really knows. The video is really vague. But I’ll get Stevens and Pool on it right away. Maybe they can give us some more clues. In the meantime, she doesn’t leave our sights.”

Nodding my head, Gary takes the DVD player from me breaking me from my trance. He looks at me and I know what he’s thinking.

“I don’t know. She’s already ready to run from me. This would just push her further away. What should I do?”

He snorts. “I don’t know son. It seems either way we’re screwed here.”

Standing there for a moment longer, I sigh. I’ve gave her enough space.

“I’m going in to check on Bella. She’s had enough space.”

Gary nods his head. “I’ll be by to check on you guys a little later.”

Nodding, I turn and walk inside. My heart hangs heavy in my chest. I know that if I don’t tell her and she finds out then she’ll leave me. At the same time, if I do tell her, she’ll leave me. It’s a damned if I do, damned if I don’t kind of scenario.

Walking into the bedroom expecting to find her in the bathroom, but there she lays. So beautiful, so incredible, and so mine. I can’t let her push me away. There’s no way my life would be bearable without her.

After removing my clothes down to my boxers, I gently climb on the bed. Lying on my side next to her, I watch her sleep. Her slow even breaths, the soft whimpers as whatever she dreams about affects her, I lose my heart to her all over again.

“Don’t push me away, baby. Let me be here for you, next to you, through it all. Please don’t let him win.”

Her lip starts to quiver and a tear falls from her eye. Reaching out, I carefully wipe it from her nose. Jumping slightly, she starts to talk.

“I can’t let you go. It’d kill me,” she whispers as she opens her eyes.

“But you’ve shut me out completely,” I reply.

“I’m sorry,” her lip quivers again. “Please don’t give up on me yet. I’m…”

My eyes widen. “I’m not giving up on you.”

“You’re not?”

“Hell no,” I shout. “You are stuck with me forever no matter what craziness we cross.”

“I thought seeing how… you know when he… I thought…”

Cupping her face gently in my hand, I kiss her nose. “Did I want to rip him to shreds right there? Hell yes I did, but the thought of leaving you never crossed my mind. Never baby.”

Swallowing, she looks at me as her eyes blur with tears. “When I left, I wanted to get everything behind me before it dragged you down with me. Every time, every single time I got to the end of the driveway, or the bar he hung out at, I couldn’t go in. I couldn’t face him. So, because I’m a chicken, I brought it all to your front door.”

Chuckling softly, I kiss her lips lightly. “Baby, the only thing you brought to me is love. Everything else will eventually disappear. When it does, it will be nothing but love and happiness for us both. So, please stop worrying. However, I do need to ask you a favor though.”

She takes a deep breath. “Anything for you.”

“I want to be able to punch him, even if it’s only one time. Please,” I fake beg.

It does what I want it to and she starts laughing.

“Ah, there’s my favorite sound,” I smile as I run the backs of my fingers down her cheek.

“I love you, Ace.”

We stare into each other’s eyes for a moment never breaking contact. It’s as if we are conveying everything with just her hand on my chest, mine on her face, and our eyes.

“I love you, my beautiful Bella.”

Leaning in, I claim her mouth as I’ve been longing to do since her father showed up. Her hand runs up my chest to rest gently on my cheek. Pulling her closer to me, Bella tangles her legs in mine.

Before I even realize it, she moves her hand in my boxers and begins to play with my constant erection it seems. Moaning into her mouth, I run my hand down to her ass quickly finding the bare skin.

Breaking the kiss, “Oh fuck, we need to stop,” I breathe.

“No. Please don’t stop.”

“Baby, I have to. I want you so damn bad…”

“I want you too. All of you. All of it. Please don’t stop this time,” she pleads breathlessly.

Unable to do anything but stare at her, I watch as she sits up and removes her robe, tossing it aside. There before me is a vision that will never be forgotten.

“Damn,” I breathe right before I lean up and kiss her.

Lowering her back to the bed, I lay over her. She removes my boxers as we continue to kiss. Lacing our fingers together, I hold them on the sides of her head as I push into her.

Bella’s hands tighten on mine for a moment, but she never stops kissing me. After a few moments, I begin to move. Her legs wrap around mine. Letting one hand go, I run mine down her and over her leg, holding it as I continue to push into her.

Moaning loudly, Bella breaks our kiss and I lick and suck at her hardened peaks.

“Oh shit,” she pants out.

Her heels begin to dig into the backs of my thighs. Picking up my pace, I fall over the edge at the same time her nails dig into my back.

When the last spasm leaves my body, I collapse down on her. She wraps me in her arms and legs.

“I love you so much,” I mutter into her neck.

“Not as much as I love you,” she whispers.

Rolling us over, I pull the covers over us and cuddle her to me. This was definitely a moment I will not forget.

Soon we are both falling asleep.

Bella

Waking, I feel sore. It hurt to move. Blankets lay over me and I realize in one shift that I’m still naked. Doubt and worry fill my head.
Would he leave me now? Was I any good?

His arms tighten around me and I look up into his gorgeous blues. “Have a good nap, my love?”

“I did. My best naps have been with you.”

“My best moments have been with you. You are my world, Bella. If you think that you’re going back to that school or near him again. You’re wrong. I’ve been thinking since I woke up. You can switch the last of your schooling to homeschooling and be with me. I can protect you.”

My mouth drops open in shock. “You don’t want me to leave?”

His brows furrow in confusion. “No, why would you think that?”

“Well, because… I thought that because… I…” My head drops down embarrassed.

Lifting my head up, he makes me look in his eyes. The love I see in his eyes is enough to make me gasp out ‘wow’. No one, but Ace, has ever looked at me that way.

“If you are talking about making love earlier, please don’t taint it with regret because I don’t. That was by far the best moment in my life so far. I’d never regret it for a single second.”

All I can do is nod my head. His words leave me speechless. Sitting up, I worry my bottom lip as I try to figure out how to put my thoughts into words.

“Hey,” he whispers pulling me closer to him. “What’s wrong?”

“Do you know what it’s like to go from what I have to this? Do you know how scary it is? I know that what I feel for you is love because of the way I feel when I’m near you. But then I’m alone and all the dark starts creeping back in around me. That love that I feel for you is hard to hang on to when you face the pain I face. When I close my eyes, I want to only see you, but I can’t. Instead he comes in with the bat, belt, school book, whip, or just his fists. My happy place is you, even before I knew you were you. But it’s hard to see that as truth when my reality is so bleak. I’m trying Ace,” I look up at him, tears shimmering in my eyes.

“I’m trying to believe in this, in us, but I can’t help but think that it’s too good to be true. That this is all really a dream. That really I’m lying unconscious on my floor after another beating. At any moment, I worry that you’ll see how messed up and broken I am. Realize that it’s too much to handle and move on. How am I supposed to move on from this?”

Ace trails his fingers down my cheek, softly kisses my forehead then meets my eyes again.

“First, this is not a dream. Second, you’re not broken or messed up. You’re beautiful and perfect the way you are. There’s nothing to move on from. I’m going nowhere. So, if you move on, I’m coming with you,” he laughs.

Resting my head against his shoulder, I take a deep breath. So often I let the fear win, I’m tired of letting it control my life. Maybe it was time to take hold of the reigns and live for me.

“Okay,” I breathe.

He pulls back looking at me. “Okay, what?”

“Okay, I’ll finish out school through homeschooling. But I’ll need to go into the school to talk to them.”

“Okay, fine, but I’m taking you.”

“Okay,” I agree just as my stomach growls loudly.

He laughs. “Let’s get dressed and go downstairs and eat.”

Nodding my head, I slide out of bed and stop. “Um, where are my clothes.”

He turns, looking at me. “Damn, I wish we didn’t have to get dressed. You are so unbelievably sexy.” Shaking his head, he turns back to the closet and starts going through clothes. “We’ll go shopping tomorrow or something whenever you want. Does that sound okay?”

He walks out with some sweat pants and a t-shirt, handing them to me. Slipping into them, I can’t help my eyes following his nakedness back into the closet. His ass is perfectly rounded. That man loves me and I can’t figure out why.

“Bella? Is that okay?”

“Oh, uh, yeah. Um, didn’t you say you had some kind of interview thing soon? Are you not going now because of me? If that’s the reason then…”

Ace comes out of the closet dressed as he walks up to me. “Because I’m not leaving your side. We are going to deal with your dad together and then we can, you can, finally start living. Besides Christmas is in a couple days, what kind of boyfriend would I be if we didn’t celebrate it at home?”

“You don’t have to take on all that,” I whisper.

“I know, but I want to. Gary has connections. We’ll have him out of our lives in a hurry. I have no doubt about that.”

He leads me downstairs. Just as we walk past the front door, it flies open with Gary’s wide frame bursting through the doorway. He walks right up to me and holds me in his arms.

“I’ve gave you long enough,” he says as he hugs me. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” I smile uncomfortably.

It’s one thing to get a hug from Ace, but to receive one from Gary is… weird. He finally releases me and Ace starts talking to him about getting me some clothes and going to Saldotna with them.

Walking away, I let them talk about the itinerary. Stepping out on the balcony, I take in a deep breath as the chill of the night sends a shiver through my body. The hair on the back of my neck stands on end. Looking around, the buildings seem so close. It wouldn’t take much to reach over and touch the next building. The stars are bright and flicker like fireflies against the black sky. Lightning lights the skies off in the distance.

Though the skies are clearing, there is something in the air. Something bad. The feeling almost makes me nauseous.

Ace’s arms circle around me, making me jump. “It’s cold out here.”

“Mmm, not anymore,” I say as I snuggle into his hold.

“Gary went to get food and you some clothes,” he says as he starts to sway to the music playing inside.

Barely able to make the lyrics out to Bryan Adams’
Everything I do
, I smile up at him. He continues to sway us back and forth and he rests his head on my shoulder, humming softly. My heart melts. Our eyes meet and time disappears. Lowering his head, we kiss. It’s a kiss unlike any other kiss. The electricity in the air from us sparks the minute our lips touch. It is like we truly become one.

Resting his forehead against mine, he starts to lightly sing the song. Tears burn the backs of my eyes, my lip trembles and before I can stop it, the words spill from my mouth.

“Please don’t hurt me.”

“Never, my queen. My heart is yours and yours alone. My soul holds your essence so deep within it that there’s no taking you out without taking me with you. You own me and I’ll prove that every single day for the rest of our lives.”

This time I kiss him, turning in his arms, I wrap mine around his neck and hold him tightly against me. Before either of us know what is happening, the kiss turns into so much more. My pants fall down around my ankles and he’s lifting me onto the ledge.

My arms tighten around him, scared I’ll fall. In one single thrust he’s pushing into me and all thoughts of where we are evaporates. All that matters is us right now.

Moaning loudly, my head falls back. The cold air hits my sensitive skin as he raises my shirt to taste my breasts. The mixture of the warmth and the cold is incredible. Digging my heels into his ass, I push him deeper into me. His hands grip my hips tightly as his thrusts continue at a punishing rhythm.

My toes curl as the first wave starts to work its way through my body. Every muscle pulsating with each jerk passing through it. His mouth seals over mine just as I start to cry out his name. His growl into my mouth and his erratic, short thrusts span the duration of his release, pushing mine further. The grip I have on him is just short of dear life.

“Oh fuck, baby…” he pants.

“That was incredible,” I breathe.

Leaning back, he smiles his breathtaking smile. “You stole my line,” he teases with a wink. “Have I ever told you how much I love you?”

“I always love hearing it,” I shiver.

Lowering me down to the ground, he grabs my sweats and helps me back into them, pulling his up afterward. We sit out on the balcony talking until Gary comes with supper. It is nice to sit and enjoy a night rather than fear what will come next. Thanks to Ace, Gary, Dawn, Jarrett, and Hansen, I’m enjoying life.