9

Vivienne

Cloud nine.

That’s what I have to be experiencing. A feeling of something bigger than joy, but feeling complete for the first time in my life.

And it’s all because of him.

Fire Chief and sexpert Wade Walker.

Mine.

I spent the better part of the morning in bed with him. The sex was phenomenal, and the parts in between are indescribable. I’ve never felt this open with another person, ready to bare myself completely and spill all my secrets.

I discovered things about him I didn’t expect. He’s a third-generation firefighter. His father died fifteen years ago in a car accident. His mother is a retired teacher who moved to Florida with her sister. And he has no siblings.

When he dropped me off in the early afternoon, he kissed me as if our lives depended on it. His tongue invaded my mouth with precision and power, much like he’d invaded my pussy this morning.

I hadn’t planned on things happening between us, but I woke up dreaming about him and needing to know what he felt like, what he looked like, and what he tasted like. If I had to sum it up in one word, I would choose ‘heaven.’ Because it truly was an out-of-this world experience.

He sent me inside with instructions to pack a bag, because I would be once again staying at his place. This time, however, I’m driving myself there, and since he has to be at the station early tomorrow morning, it makes sense to have my own way of getting home.

We’ve spent the day texting when we could, but for the last two hours I haven’t had a moment to check my phone. The study session was intense, and more kids came than we’d anticipated, so it lasted longer, too.

But now the last of my students walk out the door, and I make my way around the front desk, keys in hand to lock up for the night. My stomach flutters, and warmth floods my body because I’m so close to being wrapped in his arms again.

Before I reach the door, it suddenly pushes open, and a dark figures steps inside. My steps falter as the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end and my eyes connect with the figure. It’s a man, and at first, I don’t recognize him. Until he sneers.

“Jeffery,” I gasp, clutching my keys to my chest. “Where have you been? We’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

“You fucking bitch,” he growls, a little spittle falling from his lips. He looks like a deranged mess, wearing the same clothes I saw him in yesterday, only now they are rumpled and dirty. Nothing like the normal clean freak I’ve come to barely tolerate. His eyes are dark. Menacing. Filled with hate. And they’re focused on me. “You think because you have your precious master’s degree you can come into my territory and take over?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” I grimace, feeling the anger roll off him in waves. He stalks forward, and I move backward, trying to keep distance between us. Whatever he’s about tonight, it’s not good. Is he mad over the show or what happened?

“Don’t lie!” he yells, stepping quicker to close the distance. I turn, trying to make it to the office, but I’m not fast enough. He reaches out, grasps my hair, yanks me backward, and I slam down onto my ass. I cry out as pain rips through my body, blinding me to anything else. “You called him. You told him it was me. You wanted him to fire me. You wanted my job. And now, you’re going to pay for being such a meddlesome bitch.”

He wraps his hands tighter into my hair, pulling me in the direction he wants me to go, leaving me no choice but to comply.

“Please,” I sob, trying to push through the pain and regain my wits. If I want any chance of surviving, I need to get control of myself, and if possible, the situation. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Really.”

“I don’t like liars, Viv, especially fat little cows who don’t know their place in the world.” He opens the door and pulls me outside. I spot his car parked on the street and try to pull away, but he yanks harder. “But that’s okay, because you’ll know your place after tonight.”

I can’t let him get to his car, because if he does, I know I’ll never see the light of day again. When I throw my body down like dead weight, he falters in his step. He turns, eyes wide with disbelief, and stares down at me.

“Get up!” he yells, but I don’t move. He can pull and tug my hair all he wants, but I refuse to move from my spot on the ground. He pulls his foot back and swings it forward, kicking me in the side. It isn’t too hard, but it gives me a small taste of what’s in store for me next, because he doesn’t like that I’m refusing to move. “Get the fuck up, lazy cow.”

I turn my head and spit on him. “Fuck you!”

“You disgusting whore. You’re going to regret doing that.” He pulls his leg back again, this time swinging it forward harder. When it connects, it knocks the air from my lungs, leaving me breathless. He kicks me again. And again. But I don’t move.

“I’d rather you killed me right here, right now, than move another inch,” I choke the words out before he lands another blow. He lets go of my hair, but only because he knows I’m in no shape to run. Even if I could get up, he’d likely knock me back down.

I close my eyes, surrendering myself to fate. If I die tonight, at least I was able to experience what real love is.

Love?

No, that’s not what I meant.

I don’t love Wade.

Do I?

The sound of flesh hitting flesh pulls me out of my thoughts, and I brace myself for another onslaught of pain. Only it never comes.

Cracking an eye open, I don’t see Jeffery. A flash of movement to my left catches my eye, and I see Wade sitting on top of an unmoving Jeffery, pounding away at his face.

“Wade!” I shout trying to stop him, but he doesn’t hear me. It’s almost like he’s in another world. The rage in his face is frightening. “Stop, Wade, stop! You’re going to kill him!”

I roll, grimacing from the pain in my ribs. I’m pretty sure nothing’s broken, but I will be feeling the effects of Jeffery’s attack for the next few weeks. Somehow, I make my way to my feet and find myself hovering over Wade. I reach out to touch his shoulder, freezing him mid-swing. His steel-colored eyes seek mine, filling with relief the moment her realizes it’s me.

He lifts his body off the unconscious man who was about to kill me and tucks me into his side. Wade’s knuckles and shirt are a bloody mess, but I don’t care. I’m just happy to see him.

The sound of sirens growing closer with each passing breath freezes my blood.

“Is he dead?” I ask as I stare down at Jeffery. I nudge the man with my foot, and he groans in agony.

“No, he isn’t dead, but he’s not going to be bothering you any time soon.” Wade walks me back toward the door of the center just as the first police cruiser pulls into the parking lot.

“When did you call the police?” I frown, searching my memory for some sign Jeffery and I weren’t alone.

“Right before I slammed him to the ground.” He bends over and picks up his broken phone. “I just rounded the corner when I saw him kick you over and over. I don’t remember calling, exactly. Everything happened pretty quickly.” He watches the officer, waiting for him to recognize him. I see the moment he does; so does Wade. He moves toward the officer, but not before ordering me to stay put. “Wait right here.”

I listen, mostly because the struggle to breathe is real and I’m not too thrilled about having the shit kicked out of me.

After a few moments, the ambulance pulls in and Wade directs them over to me. He says something to the officer, then jogs back to me.

“How are you feeling?” he asks as the paramedic runs his hands over my ribs.

“Like someone kicked the shit out of me,” I hiss, rolling my eyes at his ridiculous question.

“We need to get her to the hospital for a few X-rays,” one paramedic says, his green eyes gentle on me. He’s almost as tall as Wade, but not nearly as good looking. His strong jaw and dark hair give him a hard look, but the way he looks at me and touches me tells me he knows how to handle a woman. This one has player written all over his face.

“Tristan, you keep eyeing my woman like that, and you’ll be the one needing an X-ray,” Wade growls, his steel eyes hard as stone on the man in front of me.

“Didn’t know she was already spoken for.” Tristan smirks, but he doesn’t take his eyes off me. “You sure you want to tie yourself to this fuddy-duddy? Let me take you out and show you how a real man does it.”

Wade takes a step toward him, but he’s been in enough fights tonight. I can take care of myself, especially when it comes to egotistical assholes like Tristan. I hold up a hand, stopping him. Surprisingly enough, he listens.

“I bet all the girls fall for that line.” I smile, letting Tristan think I’m on the hook.

“I’m off in a few hours. Give me your number, and I’ll stop on by. Give you a more thorough examination.” His eyes narrow on me, and I can hear the excitement in his voice.

“Oh, honey, you couldn’t handle me. Besides, you’re nothing like a real man,” I murmur, lowering my voice. “A real man doesn’t hit on a lady, especially after her man warns him off. A real man doesn’t need to whip out his dick to prove he’s the better choice. A real man can handle a woman like me. You’re just a little boy playing games, using his looks to fool a girl.” I lean in, ready to finish him off entirely. “Now, step the fuck away before I let Wade follow through on his threat.”

Tristan opens his mouth to say something more, but when I cock an eyebrow, he shuts it. Packing up his bag in I’m sure what is record time, he averts his eyes and moves on to Jeffery.

Wade sits down beside me and wraps an arm around my shoulder. His body quakes with a soft laugh. “Damn, babe, you think you could have left him with any dignity?”

“I’ve been dealing with cocky assholes like him my whole life. Believe me when I tell you, he needed to hear that,” I tell him with a smile. Tristan did need to hear my words; it’ll probably do him some good. He needs to learn that he can’t keep going through life like this, disrespecting women and himself.

“Well, you’ll never have to worry again, because I’m all man, baby, and I’m yours.” He kisses me firmly, careful not to add pressure to my ribs. When he pulls away too soon, I whine a little. “There’s more of that coming, I promise. But we need to get shit wrapped up here and get you checked out.”

I nod, realizing the scene around us has changed quickly in the last few minutes. The area is taped off and at least half a dozen police vehicles are parked around us. Tristan and his partner work on Jeffery, lifting him onto the gurney. I hear him groan from my spot across the way.

“Wait, how did you know to come here?”

“It got late, and I wanted to surprise you.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really.” He kisses my head, and it takes everything in me not to think about what could’ve happened had he not wanted to surprise me. “Randy’s going to need your statement before they let us go. If Monica is working the ER tonight, I’ll ask her to wrap your ribs. She’s the best with injuries like this.”

Monica? The thought of someone who’s been with Wade coming anywhere near me makes my stomach sour.

“Please, Wade, I know we live in a small town, but I really don’t want to be checked out by your ex-girlfriend,” I assure him, hating the green monster growing inside of me.

“Babe, Monica’s my mother’s best friend. She runs the nursing staff at the hospital,” he chokes out, trying not to laugh. “I didn’t live the life of a monk before I met you, but I don’t have a lot of ex-girlfriends hanging around. I’ve never been the kind of man to hook up with a woman for the hell of it.”

“Okay,” I murmur, thinking about the night at the bar and when he told me about the pull he felt toward me. I knew right away it wasn’t only on a physical level, because I felt it, too.

Randy, the officer Wade spoke with earlier, approaches us. “Ms. Campbell, I need to ask you a few questions before I can let you leave. You can come down to the station tomorrow and make a formal statement.”

“Sure,” I respond and begin answering his questions.

Another officer approaches, this one carrying a box. I look between the two, Randy and the other officer, and bite my bottom lip. What is it with this town? Are all emergency services filled with hot guys?

The three men around me burst into laughter, and I realize my tendency to speak my inner thoughts out loud has struck again.

Fuck, I curse, blushing from head to toe. They ignore what I’ve said, though, turning the topic back to the scene at hand.

“What you got there, JJ?” Wade asks, and the officer looks down at the box in his hands.

“You’re not going to believe this.” When he tips the box toward us, I throw my hand over my mouth. Two hand guns, duct tape, and a roll of black trash bags are thrown in with a mountain of photos. Photos of me out in public, in the privacy of my bedroom, even one of Wade kissing me senseless two days ago at the bar. Photos of me, taken by someone from afar, someone watching me. Someone stalking me. Proof that Jeffery was never in his right mind.

“Seems like you came along at the right time, Wade.” Randy looks over at him, his voice filled with concern. “He had plans from the looks of it.”

“You’re kidding me?” My stomach rolls. Jeffery was stalking me?

“I’m afraid not.” Randy shakes his head. “When he recovers, he’s going away for a long time.”

“I don’t understand. I thought he hated me.” Nothing is making sense to me. Jeffery never let on about any of this. I’m nothing like the floozies he brought into the gallery to impress.

“He felt threatened by you,” Wade offers, but it still doesn’t make sense. Why would he be threatened by me? “You’re about to receive a degree that trumps his own accomplishments, and it makes you more qualified to do his job.”

“But I don’t want his job,” I exclaim. Everything Wade says makes sense, but Jeffery didn’t know what I’d planned on doing after graduation. If he’d ever bothered to ask, then he’d have known I wasn’t a threat.

“It doesn’t matter. In his mind, you were the competition. After what you told us, the gallery owner must’ve reached him finally and sacked him. He came after you because, logically, you’d be the one to take his position.”

I shake my head and fight the pain in my side as I take a deep breath. Whether it makes sense or not logically, this all feels too fucked up to be real.