Amaya

A warm, wet mouth suckled on her breast, waking her slowly as pleasure unfurled through her body. Amaya reached up and ran her hands over a set of muscled shoulders, trailed her fingers up a broad neck, then clutched the back of a man’s head and held it to her chest. His talented mouth drew her nipple in deeper, the suction increasing until it pulled a moan of pure desire from her.

She wrapped her legs around his trim waist beneath the covers, shifting her hips until his erection pressed between her legs. With her eyes still closed she caressed the back of his head, her fingertips tingling as she brushed over the short hair, her body beginning to throb with need. Hazy thoughts drifted through her mind and her toes curled as he gently bit at the side of her breast.

As he slowly kissed his way up her body, she luxuriated in the feeling of being touched with such love. His lips were gentle, butterfly wing soft as he tasted her neck, leaving her skin tingling everywhere he touched. She knew the sun was up because she could see the glow beyond her closed eyelids, but she wasn’t ready to see yet. No, she wanted to absorb every bit of the glorious sensations he was bringing to life within her.

His lips touched hers and he gave her deliciously slow kiss. Running her nails down his neck, she then wrapped her arms around him and rubbed her pelvis against his. The blunt head of his erection raked over her clit, and her body arched in response. She whimpered and he grew slightly more aggressive, rolling those magnificent hips of his, the thick columns of his thighs spreading her legs wide. Thank goodness she did yoga, because Paul was a lot of man for any woman to have between her legs.

With their lips still sealed, he palmed her breast and began to pinch, then tug at her nipple. Each pull sent a bolt of lightning straight to her clit, and the wetness seeping out of her allowed Paul’s thick shaft to rub easily between her labia. In return, she rocked her hips until she caught his rhythm, their bodies moving together like they were fucking, even if he was only teasing her. Digging her nails into his back, and her feet against his thighs, she tried to move enough for him to slide inside of her, but he pulled away.

Frustrated, she opened her eyes to the erotic sight of a very aroused Paul staring down at her with fire in his eyes. “Tell me what you want.”

“I want you inside of me,” she said instantly, not ashamed of her needs in the least. “Please.”

Tilting his head to the side, he gave her a smile which caused sparkles of desire to tingle through her. “How can I say no when my fiancée asks so nicely?”

“You’re going to be my husband.”

“And you’re going to be my wife.” He took her left hand in his and held it up to her face. “Did you even notice this?”

Everything was forgotten as she stared at the lovely pear-shaped diamond engagement ring on her left ring finger. “Oh my God.”

“I hope you like it.”

“I—where did you get this?”

“I’ve had it for a couple weeks.”

“A couple weeks?”

“Yep.”

“But we hadn’t even been intimate yet. You barely knew me.”

“Baby, I had no doubt things would be spectacular once we were ‘intimate’ together, but I didn’t need to fuck you to know that I wanted you and Peyton in my life. Permanently. You two make me happier than I even knew was possible. Besides, by that point I’d already had my fingers inside of you, so I knew how tight you were. How good your pussy feels. How perfectly it grips me tight and sucks me in.” His voice had turned guttural by the end, and with a smooth lift then lowering of his hips, he filled her. “Ah, fuck yeah. That’s so good.”

She could only moan in agreement as he rode her hard and deep, their bodies rubbing together, his pelvis grinding against her clit.

“That’s it,” he groaned when she began to roll her hips into his. “Fuck the cum out of me.”

Lifting her hips, she rubbed her body harder against his, sweat breaking out on their skin as they writhed together. She loved having sex with him like this, as much of their bodies touching as possible, his lips against her neck while he gripped her hips and began to really pound her into the mattress. The muscles of her lower belly tightened and tightened until she was stiff beneath him, her head thrown back and jaw clenched. Everything was so hot inside of her, and the promise of her climax hovered just out of reach.

Paul must have felt it because he leaned back, the rough hair on his chest brushing her hyper-sensitive nipples. “Do it, Amaya. I wanna see you cum.”

Moving his angle just a little higher, his erection raked over her g-spot as he snapped his hips and she shattered. Pulsing waves of pleasure crashed over her, unbearably intense at first then softening to the most delicious pulses of joy. Her whole body went limp. Paul wrapped his arm around her waist, lifting her as he threw his head back. The man was absolutely magnificent, all solid muscle and rough looks, a beast who loved her as much as she loved him.

Her perfect man in an imperfect world.

“Amaya,” he moaned as he shivered. “Amaya...”

She held him close, caressing his head as he clutched her, his hips pulsing as he moaned again, the sound making her pussy flutter in something like an orgasm aftershock.

They lay there, panting, until Paul’s stomach gurgled so loud they both startled.

Laughing, she poked him in the ribs. “Hungry?”

“Woman, keeping you satisfied works up an appetite. I’m going to need to start training harder to keep up.”

“Ha ha,” she gave him a gentle shove and he pulled out of her, a small stream of his seed trickling out.

As was his habit, Paul went into the bathroom to clean up and brought back a warm washcloth for her. At first she’d found it odd, but she rather liked the way he tended to her like this. It was sure better than doing the awkward walk to the bathroom with his cum dripping out of her. He stared between her legs after he was done, the intensity of his gaze making her squirm.

“Did you know,” he said in an absent voice, “that the moment you start to get aroused, your pussy gets darker?”

Wiggling away from him, she crawled off the bed. “Paul, TMI.”

“How can it be TMI? It’s your body.”

“Boundaries, Paul, boundaries. There are somethings I don’t need to know, that’s one of them.”

He came up behind her, still nude and now sporting a semi-hard cock as he grinned. “But you have such a pretty pussy. How can I not talk about it? It’s so sexy, and the way your labia reminds me of the petals of an orchid.”

Grabbing a pair of his boxers out of his top drawer, she pulled them on then rolled the band down a couple times so they would stay up. “Oh my God, are you serious. Just stop, right now.”

He tried to grab a feel as she pulled one of his t-shirts on, but she batted his hands away.

Laughing, he got dressed as well, throwing on a pair of red athletic shorts but forgoing the shirt. Not that she minded. Watching his body move, the way his muscles shifted like granite slabs beneath his skin, never failed to fascinate her. She took a step closer and the sparkle of her ring distracted her. Bemused, she stared down at her finger. Engaged. She was really engaged.

To a man who knew about her past, about Peyton, and still loved them both.

To Paul’s surprise she threw herself across the room at him. “I love you so much.”

“I love you too, but what brought this on?”

“You don’t look at me any differently.”

“What?”

“After...well after last night I worried that maybe you’d look differently at me today. Not consciously, but I was afraid it would change things between us.”

“I’ll keep telling you this until it sinks in. I love you. Forever. This, us, only thing that could take me from your side is death.”

A chill raced up her spine and she pressed her fingers over his lips. “Enough talk about that. I’m starving, keeping up with my insatiable fiancé has made me hungry enough to eat a horse.”

“I’ve got something you can eat right here.” He waggled his eyebrows at her with a teasing leer while grabbing his crotch.

Shaking her head, she grabbed his hand and dragged him out of the bedroom. “We’ll save that for dessert.”

Later that evening, Amaya looked up from doing dishes as Paul jiggled his keys. “I’m going to go pick Peyton up.”

“You sure you don’t want me to go with you?”

“Nah, I’m good. I have to stop over at Toby’s place to water his plants and take care of some shit first.”

Rinsing off a plate, she watched Paul check his wallet before sliding it into his back pocket. “When is he getting back from his business trip?”

“Next week. He’s really looking forward to meeting you.”

A little twinge of nerves flickered through her belly. “I feel like I already know him from as much as your Mom’s talked about him.”

“Hey, if I’m the ‘asshole’, and my mom calls Dean ‘the dick’, what does she call Toby?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” she said with a grin.

“Awww, that’s no fun.”

Striding across the kitchen, he gave her a gentle peck on the lips before turning to leave. “Want me to grab ice cream on the way back?”

“Not if you want Peyton to sleep tonight.”

“Good point. Love ya, honey.”

She turned away so he couldn’t see the tears in her eyes. “Love you, too.”

As he strode down the stairs and out the front door she braced her wet hands on the side of the sink, the tears flowing freely. But these weren’t ones of sadness. No, she was crying because her heart was just so full of love, so full of emotions, her body didn’t know what to do. Sniffling, she grabbed a paper towel and cleaned herself up the best she could. Peyton would be home soon and she didn’t want her daughter to know she’d been crying.

She finished up the dishes, then began to wipe down the table when a familiar tune rang through the air. Darn, it was Paul’s phone. He must have forgotten it.

The ringing stopped and she continued to clean, but then the house phone began to ring. At first, she’d felt weird about answering it when Paul wasn’t around, but she’d gotten over it and now enjoyed talking with whoever called. All of Paul’s friends and family liked her, and it was nice to have so many people to chat with. He’d brought so much love into her life, in so many ways, and her whole chest glowed with warmth.

After picking up the nearest phone, she said, “Hello?”

“Amaya,” Dean said in a rush. “Where’s Paul?”

“He went to pick up Peyton, why?”

“I don’t have time to explain. I’ll be there in five minutes. I want you to lock the doors, close the curtains, set the alarm, and don’t let anyone in!”

“Oh my God, Dean, what the hell is going on?”

“Just do it!” he yelled before he hung up, the sound of tires squealing in the background.

For a long moment she just stood there, the phone pressed to her ear, the dial tone beeping. Her mind just seemed to...pause, but her body wasn’t quite as calm. Her heart sped up, then began to race, and a burn seemed to inch from her feet up to her head, even as ice felt like it was sliding along her spine. Faintly, from somewhere above her, came a gentle thump. It could have been any of a million noises—the house creaked and groaned in the strong winds coming off the lake—but it could also be danger.

Creeping over to the stairs, phone still clutched in hand, she took the first step and froze when a board creaked nearby. The lights were off on this level, the only source of illumination coming from behind her. She took another step, and another, until a flash of movement caught her eye. A scream started to burn in her lungs, but it cut off as Elvis sauntered up to the top of the stairs then paused. He stared at her, his eyes reflecting the light in an odd way, then proceeded to clean himself.

Relief coursed through her and she sagged against the stairs, the carpet covering the steps rough against her cheek.

After taking a few deep breaths, she pushed herself up and raced down to the first floor. Paul always locked the doors when he left, even though they were in the middle of nowhere, and she let out a sigh of relief when she found the deadbolt turned on the thick steel door. The lower level was built to withstand flooding and big storms, and she felt some of her panic recede when she noticed Paul had also set the alarms.

That left the second floor with its decks.

As she raced back up the steps, she debated turning on the lights or not, then decided she felt better with them on. Grabbing the remote off the mantle, she pressed the button to bring down the storm shutters. While the aluminum shutters had been designed to protect the glass from flying debris, it also added a layer of protection to the vulnerable glass. As the shutters slid shut with a click, she let out a sigh of relief.

As she went through the third level to double check everything, her fear gnawed at her until she was sprinting from room to room.

The phone in her hand rang while she was inspecting an empty guest room and she screamed and dropped it like it had turned into a snake. Feeling like a fool, she grabbed the phone and fumbled with it before answering. “Hello?”

“Amaya?” Kelly’s frantic voice came through the phone. “Are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine. What’s going on? Dean just called and told me to lock all the doors.”

Kelly ignored her question. “Is Paul with you?”

“No, he’s going to pick up Peyton from his cousin’s house. She was there for a sleepover. Kelly, what the hell is going on?”

“We have reason to suspect your stalker knows where you are.”

“What? How?”

“Videos of your confrontation with Paul’s ex-wife, then the announcement of your engagement, is all over social media.”

“Oh my God, I can’t believe Thea posted video of me!”

“It wasn’t Thea. The videos were posted by a bunch of different people that were at the reunion. Since Paul is still well known, the media picked up on it and wrote a few different articles about your engagement. Unfortunately, they used your name and it was easy to figure out where you were from the big ‘Green Haven High School Reunion’ banners in the background.”

“I can’t...Kelly, what do we do?”

“Don’t panic. It’s been less than twenty-four hours since the videos started to go up, so hopefully he didn’t see anything. We’re going to get you someplace safe.”

The thought of being chased from her home, again, by her stalker made her at once angry and sad. “Fuck...just—fuck.”

“I know, honey, and I’m so sorry. We’ve got descriptions of your stalker out to all the local police in Michigan, as well as at the airport and train station. Even if he drove all night, he still wouldn’t be in Michigan, so we think you’re safe. We’re just being extra cautious. Now take a deep breath. Agent Marquez is on his way and Dean will stay with you until he arrives. You said Paul’s picking up Peyton from his cousin’s house? I tried calling him, but he didn’t pick up.”

“He forgot his cell phone.”

“I’ll have Dean get ahold of him.” Kelly muttered something that Amaya couldn’t make out, then said in a clear voice, “When I hang up, I want you to go start packing your bags.”

Amaya couldn’t help the choked sob that managed to escape.

“I know, sweetheart, I know. This sucks.” Kelly said in a soothing voice. “We’re going to catch this guy, soon. I can feel it.”

“Why?” Why does this keep happening to me?”

“I wish I had an answer for that, for why bad things happen to anyone, but I don’t. Things will get better, Amaya, you’ll see. Now I need to let you go so I can try to get ahold of Paul, okay?”

“Okay.”

“And I know the timing is terrible, but congratulations on your engagement. He’s a good man, Amaya.”

“Thank you.”

After they hung up, Amaya stared at the neatly made queen size bed in the guest room, her eyes tracing the navy and silver patterns in the quilt on the bed. It was a nice room, good sized, with a Jack and Jill bathroom that connected to Peyton’s room. Moving on auto-pilot, she went into Peyton’s room and stood in the middle of it, tears burning her eyes. A whimsical mural of a group of mermaids playing baseball beneath the waves took up the far wall, painted by a cousin of Paul’s. Next to that stood a child-sized desk loaded with coloring books, blank paper, and boxes of crayons and markers. A half-finished drawing sat on the table and Amaya walked over to the little desk, running her fingers over the bright figures decorating the paper.

A chiming noise echoed through the house and broke through the fog clouding her mind.

Moving quickly, she raced down the sets of stairs to the main floor and looked through the peephole before opening it.

Dean, dressed in his uniform, stood on the other side. As soon as the heavy door swung open, he came in, his dark brown eyes scanning her from head to toe.

“You okay?”

Shutting and locking the door behind him, she nodded. “I’m okay. Well, as okay as I can be.”

Her voice broke and he placed his hand on her shoulder. “It’s going to be allright, I promise.”

“Kelly said she told you what’s going on?”

“Yes. I left messages for Paul to call me as soon as he can.”

“Good...good.”

Dean gave her a brief, tight hug. “Come on. We need to get your bags packed before Agent Marquez gets here.”

She allowed Dean to lead her upstairs as he spoke to someone on the phone, letting them know that he’d arrived and she was all right.

“Need me to help you pack?” he asked as they reached the second floor.

“No, I’ve got it.” She ran a hand through her hair, tucking it behind her ear. “Do you know where we’re going?”

“I’m not sure. I only briefly talked to Agent Marquez.”

“Okay.” She just stood there, staring at him blankly, totally overwhelmed.

“Amaya,” he said gently before placing his hands on her shoulders. “We’ll get through this.”

“I don’t want to leave,” she blurted out, those stupid tears burning her eyes again. “I like it here. Peyton likes it here. I don’t want to have to run away again.”

“It won’t be for long. We’re going to catch this guy, and he won’t bother you anymore.”

Unable to respond without breaking down in sobs, she nodded.

“Get started with your packing. I’ll make some coffee and bring it up to you.”

“Okay,” she said again, looking at him but not really seeing him as her worry plucked at her nerves.

“The timing sucks, but I want you to know that I’m glad you’re putting my brother out of his misery.”

That caught her attention. “What?”

“Poor bastard is helplessly head over heels for you. If you’d turned down his marriage proposal, I’m afraid he might have drowned himself in the lake.” His teasing grin fell away as he said, “In all seriousness, I couldn’t ask for a better sister-in-law and niece. Welcome to the family, sweetheart. No matter how fucked up things are, I’m glad you’re here. Bulldog’s been a different man since he came into your life, and after all the shit he’s been through, I’m glad to see he finally has a good woman in his life.”

Scrubbing her cheeks, she gave him a wobbly smile. “Stop, you’re going to make me cry.”

“Sorry, sorry. No more mushy stuff.”

His cell phone rang, and he glanced down at the screen. “I need to take this. Go pack, and pack one for Paul as well.”

“He’s coming with us?”

“You think he’d let you out of his sight for a moment?”

Warmth chased back some of the cold as relief filled her. She wouldn’t have to leave Paul behind. Dean turned his back on her as he answered the call, his voice low and clipped as he talked to whoever was on the other line. Taking a deep breath, she went upstairs to Amaya’s room first and quickly filled a couple suitcases for her daughter. She had to remind herself that they were going to come back, that they were just leaving temporarily, but oh how she wanted to take pictures of Peyton’s room with her phone so she could have the memories of what had been one of the best times in their life.

They’d begun to build a wonderful life here, a family, and she hated her stalker for taking this away from them.

Her things were split between her room and Paul’s, so she had to dart up and down the stairs as she packed her bags. Not knowing how long they’d be gone, or where they were going, she dithered with what exactly to bring with them. Dean stopped in to check on her, then went to make another call while they waited for Paul. He was still out of contact, but Dean had called Toby’s neighbor. They said Paul had just left his brother’s house, so she expected him to get to Peyton soon.

She was zipping up her dark green suitcase when her phone rang with an unfamiliar number. Thinking it was a junk call she let it go to voicemail, but she was in the bathroom when it rang again...and again. Apprehension tingled along her spine, but she shoved the unease away and answered as the phone rang for a fourth time.

“Hello?”

“Amaya,” a man said in a rough voice. “Don’t hang up. If you do, I’ll kill Peyton. Are you alone?”

All the strength ran out of her legs as she fell to the floor. “What?”

“Are you alone!” he yelled loud enough that it hurt her ear.

“Yes, yes, I’m alone.”

“Good, now listen very carefully. I have your daughter. If you ever want to see her again, you need to get out of the house and come down to the beach. Alone. You bring that cop with you and you will never, ever see your little girl again. Once you reach the beach, you’ll see a boat in the water. Swim out to it.”

“But—”

The word had barely left her mouth when in the background she heard the distinct sound of Peyton crying, followed by her begging for her mommy.

“Please,” Amaya gripped her phone so tight her fingers went numb. “Oh God, lease don’t hurt her. She’s just a baby.”

“You have ten minutes to get here. If you’re not here, I’ll leave with Peyton and you will never see her again. Don’t fuck with me, Mary. I see one hint of that cop, and you’ll regret it.”

He hung up and she clutched her stomach, so nauseous for a moment she thought she might throw up on herself.

Mary. He called her Mary. He had Peyton and he’d called her Mary.

That’s all her mind could keep repeating as she began to shake.

She had to get out of there.

Had to rescue her daughter.

After shoving her feet into a pair of sneakers, Amaya ran her finger tip over the biometric lock on the gun safe Paul had in his closet. For a moment, she stared at the handguns inside, then grabbed the 9mm. Memories of Paul taking her to the gun range, of his big body surrounding hers as he taught her to shoot, flooded her. After making sure the safety was on, she slid the gun into the waistband at the back of her jean shorts, then threw one of Paul’s worn flannels on over her t-shirt.

She could practically hear the clock inside of her head ticking the seconds away—seconds that could mean the difference between life and death for Peyton.

Grabbing one of the smaller bags, she hauled it down the stairs, thankful Dean was still on the phone.

He glanced up as she walked past, wheeling the suitcase behind her. “Need a hand with that?”

“Yeah. Can you go up to Peyton’s room and grab the bags I have packed up there? Just bring them down to the car.”

“Sure.”

Part of her hoped he would see that something was wrong, but she’d been a mess when he’d arrived, so the sight of her distraught didn’t seem to raise any alarm bells with him.

Giving him a strained smile, she waited until he was out of sight, then bolted down the stairs as quietly as she could.

The security beep of the front door opening echoed through the house, and she prayed Dean wouldn’t think anything of it.

Leaving the suitcase at the door, she turned and sprinted through the yard, her shoes hitting the planks of the walkway leading to the beach with a solid thud as she ran as fast as she could.

Despite the almost full moon, it was dark out. She had no idea how she was supposed to find where Peyton was, but she kept running until she hit the sandy dunes.

At the end of the walkway, she saw it—a boat bobbing just offshore with its lights off.

It was impossible to see who or what was on the boat, but the memory of Peyton’s pleading cry for her mommy galvanized her into action.

Slipping off her shoes on the stairs, she set them over to the side and hoped that someone would find them. Inwardly she cursed herself for not leaving some kind of trail, or somehow alerting Dean that something was wrong, but it was too late now. The only thing that mattered was Peyton. Every second she wasted was a moment in which her stalker could be hurting her daughter. The sand and rocks were rough beneath her feet as she sprinted over the moonlight beach, but she barely felt it.

Her poor baby must be terrified and the fear inside of Amaya was a monster, stealing all thought and reason as she plunged into the icy cold waves.

Thankfully, the water wasn’t too rough, but she was out of breath by the time she reached the back of the boat. There was a name stenciled across the back ‘Danny’s Delight’ along with the location ‘Green Haven.’ It wasn’t a huge boat, but it was big enough that it had a below deck living space. There wasn’t anyone onboard that she could see, and she hesitated for a moment, her hands gripping the ladder that would take her up to the platform on the back of the boat.

Moving slowly, she climbed the ladder and dragged her tired, cold, and wet body onto the platform, trying to spot Peyton.

As she climbed over the back edge of the boat and onto the cushions of the couch that made up the rear portion of the living space, a man’s voice said, “Mary.”

She froze, half tempted to leap back into the water, but instead she turned to face the man who’d become her own personal nightmare.

Moving out of the dark living quarters of the boat, the disturbingly normal looking stranger approached her with a smile. He was in his late thirties with thinning hair and a slight paunch, the kind of guy who would blend into a crowd. Dressed in khaki shorts and a blue polo shirt, his teeth gleamed against his tan as he came closer. The gun in his hand pointed straight at her heart.

“Where’s Peyton?”

He tossed something at her. “Put those zipties on.”

“I want to see my daughter.”

A scream tore from her and she dropped to the deck as he fired the gun, the bang so loud it echoed over the water. “Put them the fuck on!”

Her ears rang from the blast and she knew that as soon as she put those zip ties on she’d be helpless, so she tried to stall him. “Who are you? What do you want? Where’s Peyton? I want to see my daughter you bastard!”

The boat rocked with the waves as he closed the distance between them, then smacked her across the face with the butt of his gun. The pain was intense and instant, bright white lights flashing behind her eyes. Crying out, she clutched her throbbing cheek, the heat of her blood mixing with the cold lake water dripping from her hair. A moment later, the copper taste filled her mouth and she shook as she tried to feel how bad the damage was.

Squatting down next to her, he pressed the gun to her temple. “I’m going to finish what the Master started.”