Chapter 12
Heather dipped her toes into the frigid water then pulled them back again and shivered. “I don’t know how you do that.” She said to Marshall who had his feet dangling in the water apparently not feeling the cold at all.
“Mind over matter, my love.” He said, then pulled his feet out quickly and shivered, then laughed. “That water is cold.”
Heather laughed and leaned over to kiss him, but she was stopped by one of the children yelling her name. After they’d eaten lunch the group had voted to stay right where they were and build a fort in the forest, and there’d been a long discussion about staging a battle when they were finished. Heather and Marshall had readily agreed, deciding that it would be much easier to keep the group together in one spot.
“Michael, what’s the matter?” Heather asked, when the child got to her.
“We saw a bear in the forest. It was so cool.” He explained, jumping up and down. “It was a great big one too. Lauren says that it’s good to see bears, that it means that the forest is healthy. I can’t wait to tell her.”
Heather was immediately alarmed, a bear could be very dangerous and although most of the kids with them that day knew to stay away, she couldn’t help but ask, “You didn’t try to get close to it, did you?”
Michael was silent for too long so she asked, “Did you kids get close to that bear?”
“Well no, but Tyler decided to follow it and Chloe went with him. I don’t think I was supposed to tell you but….” It took Michael so long to say the words that Heather wanted to shake him.”
“Oh, my God. Marshall, they followed a bear.” She said when the words had finally sunk in. “We have to go after them.”
She jumped to her feet forgetting that she’d taken off her shoes, then cursed when she stepped on a rock. It felt like it took forever to get their shoes on, but when they were finally on their feet, Marshall held her back for a second.
“Slow down. Michael which way did they go?”
“That way.” Michael said, pointing to a game trail that led away from the river.
“Have they been gone long?” Marshall asked, tying to be as patient as he could.
Michael shrugged his shoulders, “I don’t think so.”
“Okay here’s what I want you to do. I want you to go to my pack and get the satellite radio and call the village. Tell them what’s happened and ask them to send help.” Then he called the rest of the kids over to where they were standing. “I want the rest of you to stay right here. No one moves, no one goes anywhere. Do you understand me?” His voice was harsh but he didn’t care.
One of the older kids stepped up, “I’m sorry we should have stopped them but they were too fast. We’ll do better this time.”
As they left the clearing, they could hear the children singing, a survival technique they all loved. When help came from the village they’d be able to find them quickly thanks to the kid’s voices, and Marshall hoped that Tyler and Chloe would hear the singing and come back. But when they’d gone almost a mile from the clearing the voices began to fade until only a faint sound could be heard when the breeze was blowing right and Marshall began to worry.
“We should have found them by now.” Heather said, so close to tears it was hard to talk.
“They can’t have gotten much further.” He said, pulling her behind him through the trees when the game trail suddenly disappeared.
Simone stood looking down at the shivering children huddled on the cold floor of the cave trying to feel a little sympathy for them, but just couldn’t. She should be thankful for them for making it so easy for her, but couldn’t drum up that emotion either. After all, if Chloe had never showed up, Marshall would still be putty in her hand. Instead, she was camped out in a damp cave with two sniveling brats and her very ineffectual boyfriend and for that she wasn’t the least bit thankful.
But it was time to make the phone call that would change her life for the better. The sun had just sunk behind the horizon and she knew that the search party would be heading back to the village. Wishing for what felt like the millionth time that Marshall hadn’t made this so difficult she stepped out of the cave and turned on her cell phone relieved when four bars appeared on the screen. It was time to let Marshall know where his darling daughter was and get the reward she so richly deserved.
After hours of searching with no sign of the kids, everyone had gone back to the village to regroup and come up with a plan. Samuel, the village’s best tracker, had led them to the main trail by following the trail the kids had left, but once there couldn’t find any more clues to where they’d gone. But everyone was in agreement that two kids on their own following a bear couldn’t have gotten that far, so several people had set off down the trail hoping to find them even in the dark.
Marshall and Heather were just about to go into the men’s lodge when his phone beeped. Hoping that someone had found the children, he clicked on the call without even looking to see who it was, then grimaced when he heard the voice on the other end.
“Hi, Marshall. It’s Simone. I just thought I’d call and see how you are.” She purred into the phone, giving him goosebumps.
“I don’t have time to talk to you just now Simone.” He said, then started to hang up.
“I know, I guess you must be busy trying to find Chloe and her little friend.” Simone said, unable to stifle a little laugh.
“What? How do you know about that?” Marshall asked, suddenly suspicious of Simone.
“Oh, you mean how did I know that they wandered off this afternoon? It might be because I found them and rescued them. Poor little things, they were so scared and so happy to see me.” She said, triumph in her voice.
“Simone if you’ve hurt them I’ll kill you.” Marshall said, his temper getting the better of him.
“Oh, I wouldn’t dream of hurting the little dears, I couldn’t collect the reward money then, could I?” She asked, sweetly.
“Reward money?” Marshall growled.
“Yes, I just assumed you’d be happy to pay me, oh what is the word for it? I know a finder’s fee. I think a million dollars sounds about right don’t you. After all, your darling little girl must be worth at least that, I’ll throw the other kid in for free.” Simone’s voice had gotten hard, “I think it’s the least you could do since you led me on for so long.”
It was after midnight but Heather couldn’t sleep, instead she was pacing back and forth in the little cabin, having already tried to go to bed and failed. Every time she closed her eyes all she could see was Chloe and Tyler shivering somewhere in the dark, with that awful woman looming over them. It made little difference to her that everyone was sure that Simone hadn’t taken the children far, or that people were already out looking or her.
“Come back to bed. You need to get some sleep.” Marshall said, patting the empty side of the bed.
“I can’t sleep when I know that Tyler and Chloe are out there somewhere probably scared to death.” She said, walking to the window and parting the curtains, hoping she’d see them walking down the street.
“Okay, don’t sleep, but at least try to rest. By tomorrow morning the men will be back with the money, thank goodness Seth is stupid enough to have that much cash lying around, and then we’ll have them back. Simone may be a bad person, but she won’t hurt them, she doesn’t have what it takes to hurt a child.”
Heather desperately wanted to believe him, needed to believe him. “I hope you’re right.” She said, perching on the edge of the bed.
Marshall scooted over and began to rub her shoulders, “Your neck and shoulders are so tight I’m surprised you don’t have a headache.” He said, pulling her back onto the bed and making her roll over on her stomach.
When she resisted, he said, “Lie still and let me rub your back, maybe it will relax you a little.” Then he inched the shirt she’d put on for bed, up and over her head.
Heather closed her eyes, blocking the mental picture of the kids and concentrated on the way his hands felt on her skin. As he massaged the tight muscles, she began to relax, the muscles of her back and neck loosening. As he worked his way down her back, straddling her legs, she began to feel stirrings of desire, but pushed them away sure that now was not the time for that.
But her body had other ideas as did Marshall’s, his erection pressed between her legs, told her that. “Marshall, now’s not the time.” She said, then laughed when his lips found a sensitive spot on her ribs.
“I don’t know, now might be the perfect time. We can’t do anything tonight but wait, give yourself a break Heather, let me take the worry away if only for a little while.” Marshall said, rolling her onto her back. “Let me hold you, let me make love to you, together we can face anything.”
Heather sighed, what little resistance fading as his hands gently brushed over her breasts, then down her stomach to hover over her mons. “Make love to me.” She said, then pulled him down and kissed him, willing to forget if only for a little while.
Marshall stretched out next to her, exploring her mouth with his tongue until she began to shift restlessly on the bed, then slid his hand down between her legs and gently pushed them open. When his fingers slid between her folds she was already deliciously wet and ready for him, but he knew what she needed wasn’t a quick release but sustained pleasure that would exhaust her and let her sleep.
Rubbing her clit, he released her mouth and trailed kisses down her neck and breasts, stopping there briefly to tease and lick her nipples until they were hard little pebbles. Passion filled the room as he continued down her stomach, making her giggle twice when his lips brushed against her ribs, then gasp when his finger slid inside her to stroke her.
When his mouth reached her hips, he kissed each one, then slid between her legs, pushing them open further. Heather had long ago forgotten about anything but the pleasure Marshall was giving her and her moans and whimpers were evidence of just how wonderful he was making her feel. When his tongue finally slid across her swollen nub, her hips came up off the bed and he had to grab them to hold her still. Hands fisted into the sheet, Heather was helpless under his ministrations, his tongue and finger working together to make that hard knot of pleasure deep inside her spread to every nerve in her body.
When her orgasm came flooding over her, she grabbed his head between her legs and held on, her body rocking and bucking with the power of her satisfaction. She cried his name over and over, thinking that the pleasure would never stop, that he’d started something that had no end. But the pleasure began to fade, leaving her feeling strangely unsatisfied and empty.
“Marshall, I need you inside me.” She pleaded, as he slowly trailed kisses back up her body, found her mouth and silenced her whimpers of need.
Marshall had driven himself almost to the point of desperation, his body so tense with need that Heather’s word were almost his undoing, but he managed to keep himself under control just long enough to flip her onto her hands and knees. Kneeling between her legs, he grabbed her hips and entered her in one long hard thrust, relieved to finally be inside her, he paused relishing the way her body clamped around him.
He’d planned to do this slowly, but his need was too great for what he’d had in mind, instead he thrust his hips over and over, burying himself deeper and deeper insider her. With each thrust Heather cried out, her body responding to his by releasing a gush of moisture that flooded them both and made Marshall growl in the back of his throat.
Before she knew what was happening, he’d flipped her over on her back and thrust into her with enough force that it drove her up on the bed. A new thrill of pleasure washed over her, as that thrust was followed by another equal hard one, she dug her nails into Marshall’s back, marveling that something almost violent could feel so wonderful. Head thrown back, she braced herself against the headboard and opened her legs further, allowing Marshall to penetrate her deeper than he ever had before.
After another hard thrust of his hips, he grabbed her legs and forced her feet down onto the bed, then used his thumb to stroke her clit. His eyes locked on hers, he stroked her until the pressure inside her began expand through her body, reaching every nerve and every muscle until her body was no long under her control. Her hips thrusting up to meet his, she burst just as Marshall released himself inside her, his cock spasming deep inside her only making her pleasure that much more intense.
Exhausted and sated, she fell asleep in Marshall’s arms his stomach pressed up against her back, the worry still there but muted by the endorphins that swam in her blood. Just before she fell asleep, he leaned up and whispered, “I love you Heather. I promise everything will be fine.”
Heather got off her four-wheeler knees shaking, Simone had led them on a wild goose chase through the forest for most of the day. When Marshall had called her to tell her that he had the money, she’d instructed them to follow the trail out of town and look for a radio on a stump. The radio wasn’t that hard to find, but for the next three hours, she’d led them from one trail to another until Heather was sure that she’d never find her way back to the village.
But when they’d stopped this time, Simone had been standing on the far side of the clearing, the man she’d seen her with at the theatre behind her with Tyler and Chloe. She wanted to run to them, to grab them up and get them to safety, but she knew that she’d never get that far and the last things she wanted to do was get one of them hurt, so she grabbed the bag out of the back of the four-wheeler.
A million dollars was a lot heavier than she’d expected, and as she took a few tentative steps her legs threatened to give out, but then she heard an owl hooting in the forest behind her and knew what she had to do. Taking a deep breath and gathering her strength, she began walking straight toward Simone, hoping that the woman wouldn’t bolt with the kids when she saw that Marshall wasn’t there.
When she got close enough she yelled, “I’ve got your reward money Simone, let the kids go.”
“Where’s Marshall? He was supposed to be here.” Simone yelled back.
“You never said that and he didn’t want to see you.” Heather said, hoping that Simone would take the bait. “Don’t you get it, you couldn’t keep him. If you ask me you played this all wrong, he would have married you if you’d managed to keep it together a little longer. Now I’ll be the one enjoying all that money, not you. But then again I guess a million dollars is a lot of money to someone like you.”
Heather could see the anger rising in Simone with each sentence she uttered, the plan was working perfectly so she kept pushing. “Here’s you million, hope you can make it last. I’ll be thinking of you when I’m living in luxury.” She said, throwing the bag with the money in it down on the ground between them.
Simone looked from her to the money, then ran over and grabbed the bag. “If you have the stomach to put up with that idiot then more power to you. I’m just fine with a million, it’ll get me where I want to go.” Simone said, then waved her arm at Marco who released the kids who came running across the clearing and into Heather’s arms.
“Tell Marshall I said goodbye and good luck.” Simone said, waving to Heather, then jumping on a four-wheeler and starting it up.
Before she could even get out of the clearing, men came pouring out of the forest. Screaming at Marco she tried to drive through them but they dodged her and pulled her off the four-wheeler and onto the ground. Marshall who had been watching the whole thing unfold from the trees ran to Heather and the children, picked them all up in his arms and spun them around.
“You did great.” He said to Heather then knelt down in front of the kids. “Are you two alright?”
“That lady was mean, she seemed nice at first but then she wouldn’t take us home.” Chloe said, then added, “I’m glad to see you.”
Marshall turned to Tyler who said, “We’re fine, but I really want to go home.”
“I guess we’d better figure out where home is.” Marshall said, standing up and looking into Heather’s eyes.
“I think home is where ever we’re together.” Heather said, then added, “I love you Marshall.”
“I love you too Heather.” Marshall said, then pulled her into his arms and kissed.
“Gross.” Tyler yelled.