Chapter 15

Dash

God, she felt good. At that moment I couldn’t think of anything that felt better than her pussy. She straddled me as I slowly pushed my way into her. She seemed even tighter than she was earlier, which made the effort so much more difficult. As soon as she was firmly seated on me, with my cock lodged up inside her sweet pussy, I let it rest there for a moment.

Her face was flushed with passion and I could tell there was some discomfort, so I let her stretch to fit. Within moments, she looked up at me with an endearing smile and started to ride my rod up and down as I felt the friction between us build.

Knowing her ankle was bad, I lifted her up and down on me so as not to cause her any pain. I loved watching her face glaze with ecstasy, she looked like an angel. I leaned in and claimed her mouth, diving my tongue to meet hers and taste her deliciousness.

Unable to keep myself from fucking her hard, I rolled her onto her back and pulled her legs up to my chest.

“Are you ready?” I asked, my tone hot and throaty.

“Yes,” she squealed as she arched her body to meet mine.

That was all the permission I needed. I pressed into her deeply and let my hips rocket to the moon. She panted loudly in staccato breaths that built up into a scream of delight as I felt her hot juices coat my cock. That was my call to duty, a few more deep pumps and I came buried deep into her womb. My cock jettisoned a few times then quaked as every last drop of my seed planted deep within her body.

It was hard to focus; I was seeing so many stars as my vision blurred with the intensity of my orgasm. At first, she didn’t say anything either, we just lay there together panting.

When our bodies had settled, she drifted her hand up under my shirt, which I hadn’t even removed. I’d been so ravenous for her I just lobbed off my pants like a high school jock behind the bleachers and did her wild style, no grace or decorum, just unbridled fuckery from a reclusive mountain man.

The thought of myself becoming that man again filled me with dread. Her hand had moved down to my wilting member and stroked it lovingly.

“Thank you,” she breathed into my shoulder.

I kissed her sweet warm cheek, “No, thank you.”

We stayed on the couch and cuddled for a while, both of us lost in our thoughts. Her hands continued their loving exploration as I simply held her and fended off my feelings.

As soon as we were able, I took her to the bathroom for a quick shower. I held her in my arms and let the warm water cascade over our bodies. We both dressed in warm clothes as the temperature inside the cabin was dropping fast.

The solar panels were catching some energy, but not enough to keep the house and the water warm. We’d have to start braving it a bit more. When we returned to the living room what little of the sun there was that day started to set. I put more logs on the fire and we both cuddled on the couch, her with her book and me with my work.

I was doing some reading research but planned to work on some theories I had for an adaptation of a drug I’d already created a few years ago. I was thinking of ways to kill cancer cells without harming healthy cells. We did well with the cancer blocker and it was working with some cancers, but I was dying to widen the range. In fact, I was obsessed with it.

The rest of the evening, therefore, was quiet. We were both tired from two intense lovemaking sessions and a harrowing round of Zombie gameplay. It felt nice to sit by the fire and just enjoy one another’s company.

I made us a light soup and we shared some nice wine for dinner and around ten o’clock she looked tired, so I took her to bed. She fell asleep the moment her head hit the pillow. I sat there for a while and just watched her sleep.

She was much more comfortable than she was the night before. She slept deeply and barely moved. I hadn’t known her long enough to love her, nor did I know anything about her as per my wishes, but I was so drawn to her. I was playing a dangerous game, but at the moment I didn’t care. At that moment I was happy.

I switched off the light and let Imogen sleep. I made sure to close the door, so I could talk to my sister. I wasn’t going to be able to tell her what happened, and she could never know about my guest, but talking to her would relieve some of the horrible tension that was building within me. Tension I hadn’t felt for a very long time.

I’d resolved myself to living here and being in hiding. Guilt over my wife’s death and the awful position I’d put my sister in held me captive, it was easy to punish myself with solitude. I rationalized it was the right thing to do for my children; deprive them of a father to keep them safe and I figured if I solely focused on finding a cure for cancer, my life would be worth something.

Imogen was changing that. She made me want to live again and that was something I didn’t have the right to desire.

As soon as I sat down at my desk to start work, my FaceTime rang with my sister Gloria nighttime call. I’d turned off my FaceTime last night, which was our usual chat night and texted her after Imogen fell asleep, offering my apologies for falling asleep too early; again, more lies. I couldn’t avoid Gloria tonight though, I had to answer.

When her bright beautiful face filled my screen, my heart felt good. It was nice to see her and hear her voice. It felt like it’d been years since I talked to her. These last two days with Imogen seemed like an eternity of anxiety, as it was terrifying and dangerous having another person in my world, and blissfully intoxicating to be in Imogen’s company.

“Hey, big bro,” Gloria started. “Are you doing okay in the storm?”

“Much better than expected,” I kept my face stoic, but my heart understood knew the depth of the statement.

“It’s bad here, so it must be just horrible on the mountain. Wish we could be there to cheer you up.” She already was cheering me up.

I offered a gracious smile. “I’m doing okay, but it’s pretty dark and lonely. I have enough power and provisions to last through, which is all I’d worry about. Can’t wait for the sun to come back.” I made idle chatter in an attempt to seem like nothing had changed but the weather.

“The roads and schools are closed. The storm is predicted to last a few more days at least, with a second front coming in tomorrow night. Everyone is acting like it’s the end of the world. People can be such drama queens, you know.”

I laughed, she was right. “People do freak over storms, but they can be dangerous, so not totally unwarranted.” I teased her. “They’re going to have to dig their cars out eventually, which usually causes people to grumble more.”

“I guess,” she blew it off.

A storm didn’t scare her; she’d been through so much worse in her life. Being twenty-two and raising two kids without notice or practice, just diving in and doing her best. She was running a company she didn’t know much about, managing a lifestyle that was beyond her years and doing a great job even though it wasn’t really a life she wanted. That weighed on me heavily at times, she was living my life for me at the expense of her own.

“So,” she began with a chipper tone, which worried me as she often prefaced bad news with good in this way, “I wanted to give you the updates for the week. DJ and Ally are doing great. DJ made a new friend at soccer and we had him and his family over for dinner. It was nice to see DJ happy with a buddy. Ally’s play was amazing. She’s really quite the little actress. I think we should get her into acting classes as she really enjoys performing. It makes her happy and it’s hard to find things that make her happy these days. She likes getting lost in stories. She’s a lot like you that way, up in her head all the time. I worry about her.” I could tell from the intensity in her voice that Gloria was stressed.

Ally was so little when her mom died, and I disappeared. She often thought of us as fairies or ghosts, because it was hard to recall us as real people. I knew that Gloria was doing her best to keep our memory alive but she couldn’t just shut Ally away from the world so she could love a mom and dad she didn’t remember. She and DJ had to move on and find new meaning in their lives, without loving parents to guide them.

“I’ll pay for whatever she needs. Let’s get her into some acting classes at the theater and into anything that will take her mind off her worries.”

“Thanks, I think it will help a lot. Okay, so believe it or not, that was the good news,” her voice dropped down a note and I could tell, there was a whole lot of bad news coming.

“Okay,” I responded.

“Mark has been falling farther into the drug world. His company is neck and neck with ours on the stock exchange, but there are rumors he’s pressuring doctors to use Halo with their patients. Their deals feel really shady. Some of Rainseed’s reps at the big hospitals are saying doctors are almost being forced to use a generic version of Mark’s pain suppressor, which is just Halo veiled as a generic. They are seeing a lot of addiction in patients, but doctors aren’t cutting back because Mark’s company has made some sort of shady deal with them, where they profit if they prescribe it.

The Halo epidemic is getting out of control and Mark’s company has approached Rainseed again for a takeover. I don’t know how much more of this I can take. I trust your executives and the board members, but they might be making deals behind our backs. I just don’t think it’s safe to trust anyone.” She was nearly in tears.

“Just tell the partners to resist a sale of anything, block Mark and his people, and don’t authorize anything at all that looks suspicious. Send me all the documents they run by you. By law, Mark’s company is not supposed to be doing any business with Rainseed whatsoever. They were named as persons of interest in our deaths and while Mark was cleared, he has a restraining order.” I was livid, I wanted to kill that man for continuing to hurt patients and mess with my company.

“It isn’t Mark. I think he’s planted people inside Rainseed. I can’t be sure, but it feels like we not only have spies within the ranks but people who are trying to drum up support for a merger of the two companies.” Her voice was shaking.

I was so angry I could have put my fists through the metal wall. How could I put my little sister in such a horrible position? The poor kid was a marketing manager, she didn’t have the chops for deceitful people set on destroying me, my work, and my memory.

“Keep physical records of everything and send anything suspicious to the authorities, they need to be involved. Don’t do this alone, Gloria.” I tried to encourage her, but the truth was, she was doing it all alone.

“I’m struggling to do this without you, Dash. I need someone here who knows what Mark is capable of. He might be able to get away with this because I can’t stop him if I don’t know who I can trust. It’s just me and I have to make sure the kids are safe. I just feel sometimes you’d be better off alive, fighting them face-to-face with the help of law-enforcement, than hiding in a cabin sending me formulas I don’t understand. I mean, you’ll find your cure, I know you will, but maybe at the risk of everything you love. If Mark and the cartel grow strong enough they can come right for us. We really need a hero.” She was near tears.

She was right. I would be of much better use to the world alive and fighting, but it was such a horrible risk.

“Just keep yourself and the kids safe, Gloria. Let me worry about the company. You just keep smiling like nothing is getting to you and don’t sign anything until I see it. Our company is not for sale. No one can come in and overtake us, we’re doing fine. Just relax.” It was true no one could overtake us, but there was a very good chance they could betray us; however, I couldn’t let her know it was a possibility. She already feared it, so I had to alleviate those fears even if it was with false assurances.

“Okay, it’s just…” she went on to protest but I interrupted her.

“I promise, I’ll figure it out, you just lock everything up tight and make sure you have security with you at all times and leave the rest up to me. I’ll keep you safe,” I promised.

“I’m not worried about our safety, I’m worried about the company you gave your life for.” Now she was crying.

“I’m okay, we’re going to be fine. It’s late. Get some rest and we can discuss it tomorrow over text. I have a formula I’ve been working on. I want you to send it to the lab when you get it. As soon as I crack this, our company will be untouchable. Just give this all a little more time and you’ll see, the good guys will win.” I wasn’t great at rallying, but I was doing my best.

“I hope so,” she seemed a little more at ease.

“I should let you go so no one traces our call. I love you, sis. Don’t worry, we will figure this all out.” I blew her a kiss and she caught it just like we did when we were goofy little kids without a care in the world.

I switched off and sat there for a moment, shell-shocked.

So, Mark was being sneaky and possibly planting people in my company. I’d draft a letter to HR, that Gloria would sign as her own and have them do a check on all our employees using their social security numbers. If any of them had associations with Mark’s company or anything suspicious show up, I’d instruct for HR to question them. I had to finish my formula and get my drug tested and out on the market. If word got out that our company had found a breakthrough, we’d be in the spotlight again and Mark wouldn’t risk anything dangerous. He’d already gotten too close once before. I just had to send the drug to trials, but I needed to amend part of the formula first. I was so close. It was awful not being in the lab, working. Gloria would submit the formulas as mine claiming she’d finally been able to break into the encrypted part of my computer. It was a stretch, but people at the company were so used to Gloria running it, they would probably buy the story with some speculation.

Working always helped me when I was worried, so I set to work to figure out the last string of the formula I needed to try. The drug I’d created using protein strands that inhibited some forms of cancer. My aim was to inhibit them all, so I set to work and let my mind fix on science, which was a much-needed break from my immediate reality.