A Forbidden Storm (4 page)

Ch5

Jessica’s confidence fled.
 
She stopped in her tracks, and Joel had to give her a push to get her moving. Martin sat in the corner at a table under an umbrella.
 
He grinned at the couple. “I was just about to order dinner.
 
Have a seat.”
 
His look was one of quiet amusement and easy confidence.

Joel looked at Martin with surprise.
 
“I thought you had left.”

Martin ignored Joel; he only had eyes for Jessica even as he addressed her husband’s question.
 
“Catherine left.
 
I decided to stay,” he said.
 
“She had to work back in the States, but I’m not going to cut my vacation short for that bullshit.”

“That’s great Martin.
 
You can tell us about all the best spots on the island.”
 
Joel ignored Martin’s comment about Catherine.

“There are some beautiful things on the island I haven’t checked out yet.”
 
Martin looked at Jessica and a swarm of butterflies which had been sitting undetected in her stomach began to bounce around her insides.
 
A guilty look towards Joel told her that her husband had missed the double-entendre.

“Sit.
 
Join me.
 
The food here is excellent.”

Martin insisted on ordering for the couple.
 
“I’ve been here a week already.
 
I know the menu.”
 
Joel got the Jamaican jerk chicken while Jessica, after much cajoling, settled on a salad.
 

Joel’s food was spicy.
 
After the first bite he wasn’t sure he would be up for the job.
 
Martin goaded him on.
 
“Stick with it.
 
It grows on you.
 
It’s the best you’ll ever have, buddy.
 
Let me order you a beer to go with it.
 
That’s all you’re missing.”

Martin leaned over to examine Jess’s salad.
 
She felt his hand on her leg just above her knee and her ears and cheeks grew hot.
 
She glared at him but was quiet.
 
Inside Jessica screamed for Martin to stop, but for some reason she was loathe to cause a scene.
 
What the fuck is he doing?
 
Joel, preoccupied with his food, was unaware of what was occurring across the table.

Martin’s hand was rough and worn, like a laborer’s.
 
He traced small circles on the Jessica’s thigh with his fingertips and she felt shivers crawl along her back like a curious insect.
 
The young wife sat in stunned silence.
 
What should I do?
 
Should I slap him?
 
While her husband ravaged his chicken dinner, Jess’s salad remained untouched.

For twenty minutes they sat at the table.
 
Jessica was silent while her husband made small talk with the neighbor.
 
Martin would leave her alone for several minutes then she would feel his touch again.
 
His hand would be bold one minute, and platonic and innocent the next.
 
Riding a wave of indecision, Jessica grasped for some way to satisfactorily handle the situation while a nagging realization poked at her skull.
 
Why don’t you say something to him Jessica?
 
Because you’re flattered, that’s why.
 
It’s exciting.
 
You’re not sure you want him to stop.

Jessica’s stared at the salad and toyed with her fork.
 
She felt goose bumps on her back as the sun set and the temperature dropped.
 
Martin’s hand was warm and insistent.
 
Put an end to this.
 
She looked at the man seated beside her as he charmed her husband with stories of his various travels.
 
His charisma was palpable.
 
Jessica wanted to reach out and brush away the lock of hair that had fallen over his right eyebrow.
 
He grinned at her and dragged his fingernails across the top of her thigh.

Joel was sweating from the effects of the spicy chicken.
 
 
“You need a drink, bud,” said Martin and he waved over the waiter.
 
“Get my buddy here a daiquiri.
 
Make him a strong one.”
 
His hand moved further up Jessica’s leg as he smiled at Joel across the table.
 
“Unless, of course, you’d prefer something a little more masculine.
 
I’m a Black-Label man myself.”
 

Joel shook his head.
 
“A daiquiri is fine.
 
I’m not really a whisky drinker –can’t stand the taste.”

“Oh really, Joel?
 
I thought of you as a hard liquor guy.”
 
Jessica detected a cruel mocking tone in the older man’s voice, but Joel seemed to miss it.
 
“We’ll do a shot, instead.
 
I need to train you to drink if you’re going to be my best pal.
 
Right, buddy?”
 
Martin gestured to the waiter again. “We’ll have a couple
flatliners
.
 
Actually make that four
flatliners
–we’re on vacation.”
 
Jessica blushed as the waiter took note of Martin’s hand in her lap.

Martin smiled warmly at Jessica’s husband.
 
“You’re going to love this, buddy.”
 
It was clear to Jessica that Martin was manipulating Joel to some end and the thought scared her.
 
Jess grew alarmed and a sense of fear began to seep into her consciousness.

She pushed the older man’s hand away from her thigh.
 
Jess cleared her throat.
 
“Joel, the last thing you need is a shot of alcohol.
 
You need to stop.”
 
She turned to Martin.
 
“And YOU need to stop.”
 
She was fuming but Martin just smiled at her.

“He’s a big boy, Jessica,” said Martin.
 
“Joel’s old enough to decide whether he wants a drink.
 
Aren’t you buddy?”
 
His hand returned to Jess’s leg.
 
She turned to give him her fiercest look, but undeterred he slid it higher.
 
Jessica pushed the hand away and shuffled her chair away from Martin.
 
His face betrayed no emotion beyond mild amusement.

Joel grabbed a shot off the tray when the waiter returned.
 
He had no inkling about what was going on with his wife and their dinner host.
 
“I can handle my alcohol,” Joel said.
 
It’s our vacation, babe.
 
No nagging on our vacation.”
 
He gulped the drink and smiled proudly while Martin motioned for him to drink another.
 

Joel gulped the second shot of alcohol and Jessica pushed her chair back to stand.
 
Her voice was shaking.
 
“I’m leaving.
 
Joel, you should too.
 
And I’m not a nag.”
 
She walked slowly back towards their room.
 
She felt short of breath and she wanted to sit and gather herself.
 
Jessica knew that Martin was watching her, though, and she couldn’t let him know that he had affected her so viscerally.

When she reached the door she glanced back at her husband still visible in the fading twilight.
 
Come after me Joel.
 
Get away from that man.
Joel was laughing, unmoved by her exit.

The older man continued to hold court and Jessica watched her husband leaning forward, enthralled by Martin’s story.
 
Jessica wanted to return to the table and grab Joel by the arm.
 
The men were silhouettes framed by the rising moon behind them but Jessica noticed something about their postures.
 
As Martin gestured towards her husband Jessica was reminded of a snake preparing to devour a mouse.

Ch6

Jessica had changed into her nightgown and was watching television when she heard a single rap at the door.
 
She opened it hoping for her husband’s return but was greeted by both Martin and Joel.
 
Her husband slumped like a rag doll on the older man’s shoulder.
 
Joel pointed into the room and muttered something unintelligible before dropping his hand limply.

“Put him on the bed,” she said.
 
She looked down at her bare feet, unwilling to meet the gaze of the man carrying her husband.

Martin deposited Joel on the queen-sized mattress before turning to admire Jessica.
 
His eyes were piercing as he looked at her in her nightclothes and she turned away from him.
 
Why did she always blush when he looked at her?
 
Where is your backbone, Jessica?

 
“Is that silk?” Martin asked.
 
I like it, Jessica.”

“I didn’t wear it for you.”

“You could take it off.”
 
He smiled and she felt a shiver.

“I think you should leave.”
 
She looked at Joel lying prone on the bed.
 
He was dead to the world.

“Well, show me to the door then.”
 
His voice was like that of an adult talking to a child but his expression was wolf-like.

Jessica strode to the exit and opened it wide.
 
Martin looked her up and down, openly admiring her figure.
 
Jessica felt exposed, but she managed to clench her jaw and point out the door into the dark.
 
He grinned and took her by the waist.

The kiss surprised her.
 
Martin pulled her hips toward him as he kissed her -hard.
 
Jessica put her hands on his shoulders but could not bring herself to push him away.
 
He bit her bottom lip and placed both hands on her ass, caressing her.
 
Jessica could feel the butterflies again and her strength evaporated.
 
When she felt his tongue, she opened her mouth to receive the assault.
 
He twisted her arm behind her back and she moaned into him.
 
The vice-like grip of his fingers on her wrist was terrifying and exciting.
 
Martin pulled her closer and forced his knee between her legs.
 
Jessica gasped and was overcome by arousal.

The kiss lasted several minutes and by the time he pulled away Jessica thought that he could hear her blood pumping.
 
The pounding in her ears was a ceremonial drum.
 
Martin smiled at the shaken wife.
 
She tugged at his shirt to help her balance until she gained her footing.
 
The floor was buckling beneath her feet.

Martin turned her by the hips and ushered her out the door ahead of him.
 
After a few steps, she hesitated and he bumped into her.
 
She could feel his hardness press against her behind.
 
The night seemed to close in on her.
 
He wrapped his arms around her midsection and kissed her neck.
 
His hand explored her diaphragm and landed on her breast where he brushed his thumb across her hardening nipple.
 
He held her there as if to gauge its shape and weight, and when he exhaled his approval, the heat of his breath scurried like a living thing down her back.
 
Martin pressed against her backside and she became flush as she felt his hard cock.

A distant siren was sounding and Jessica couldn’t be sure whether it was real or if it was inside her head.

She pulled away.
 
Wrong.
 
This is wrong.
 
Jessica squirmed out of Martin’s touch and turned back towards the room.

“Come on, Jessica.
 
He’s not waking up.
 
Come with me.”

“I’m on my honeymoon for Christ’s sake.
 
I’m not going to do this.”
 
She jerked her hand free and stepped away from the older man.
 
It took all her will to disengage from his touch.

She ran the ten feet back to her room and closed the door.
 
Jess fumbled with the lock while she tried to steady her shaking fingers.
 
Her equilibrium seemed off and she sank to the floor.

Jessica could feel Martin on the other side of the door, waiting.
 
It was as if his body was radiating an energy that only she could sense.
 
Her need to touch him was almost overwhelming and Jessica was frightened by the strength of the urge.
 
She felt vulnerable and aroused and she could think of little else but the taste of his lips and the feel of his hands touching her body.
 
It was too much to take.
 
She needed more.

Jessica opened the door fully expecting to see Martin waiting where she had left him.
 
She whispered “Where are you?” as she crept back into the night.
 
The only answer was the sound of surf in the distance and she jogged down the path away from the open door.
 
A bird took off from a branch on her right, and Jessica flinched, startled.
 
“Martin,” she called –louder this time- but there was no reply.
 
She peered into the distance hoping to spot a human form moving through the black, but she was alone.

Jessica lay awake for several hours until, when sleep finally came, she was visited by unsettling dreams.
 
She was standing in a cobblestone square near a quiet fountain.
 
Horns were blaring in the distance and a group of children shuffled towards her in a curious and menacing half-step gate.
 
One of the children threw a stone and it struck Jessica in the temple, causing her to fall to her knees.
 
The children pointed at Jessica as they stepped closer.
 
She cowered in fear at the base of the fountain.

A girl, about 10 years old, leaned over her.
 
The girl was wearing a filthy nightgown, her face and hair were caked with dirt, and her eyes were red.
 
Jessica turned away from the child, shaking with fear.
 
The girl whispered some phrase in a strange guttural language and Jessica could smell the child’s breath, which was putrid and inhuman.
 
When the children’s chattering stopped, Jessica looked up at the girl who had moved uncomfortably close.
 
She pinched the flesh on Jessica’s arm and all the children laughed when Jessica screamed out.
 
An ugly bruise formed instantly.
 
The girl began to speak again in a soft and wheezy tone like a dying person with failing lungs.
 
Jessica was terrified as she realized what the girl was saying.
 
The child’s eyes were filled with hate and venom and her voice was raspy, “You’re a whore.”

Later in the night Jessica had a different dream, no less disturbing.
 
She was on a large bed at the center of a cavernous room.
 
The room was lit by several torches and an impossibly huge man stood at the foot of the bed pulling off his ragged clothing.
 
The giant’s body was covered in hair and he grinned at Jessica with undisguised lust.
 
The brute forced Jessica’s legs apart as he crawled onto the bed.
 
She tried to scream but he covered her mouth with his dirty hand.
 
When he smiled his teeth were long and sharp.

The huge man placed his hand on her ankle and moved it upwards over her calf.
 
His palm was rough and worn and her skin tingled where it had been.
 
As his hand slid up her inner thigh, Jessica sobbed in fear or wanting and she was unsure which.
 
He placed his knee between her legs and pushed it into her pubic area.
 
Jessica’s body betrayed her and she began rocking against him despite her revulsion.
 
She whimpered as she desperately chased sexual release.

The man positioned the ugly head of his huge cock against her opening, and Jessica’s body continued to react of its own accord.
 
She spread her legs to accept the brute and even reached out to pull him deeper inside her.
 
Jessica wanted to scream for the man to leave, but her mind and her body were uncoupled.
 
 
She tried to stop her hand from reaching up to stroke the man’s cheek.
 
He leaned down to kiss her.
 
Jessica watched as if she were outside her body as she returned the kiss.
 
Her mind screamed “get away”, but her body moved like that of a receptive lover.
 
The beast-like man began to thrust into her and the waves of pleasure were overwhelming.
 
Jess looked at his terrible face as an unwanted orgasm was forced upon her.
 
Behind an unkempt beard the creature possessed the unmistakable brown eyes of Martin Timmons.