Make Me Stay (14 page)

Fuck!
I squealed to myself as another branch broke. “Hello? Who the hell’s out there?” I said into the darkness. I could see a light off in the distance, a large lantern in someone’s hand maybe? “Kane? Nate?” I asked taking a cautious step toward the light.

“It’s me, it’s Nate.”

Relief washed over me.
Thank god, it isn’t an axe murderer.

My eyes still fuzzy, and my head still sloshing around, I smiled as Nate came closer. I reached out for his outstretched hand, thankful that he was going to take me back to the camp fire and the guys. Yanking me closer to him, he crashed his face down on mine, forcing a kiss on me. I pulled my head back and tried to back away from him, but he had dropped the lantern and was using both hands to hold me to him.

“Nate, what the fuck? Get off me!” I yelled, while still struggling in his arms.

My adrenalin kicked in as I realized that this wasn’t good.
This isn’t right
. He was being rough and forceful. I tried pushing back again, hitting his chest, but he kept coming at me.

More dizziness set in and I found my legs becoming weaker.
What the hell is going on?
Panic stricken, I hit him harder and yelled.

“You’ve been stringing me along for over four months, Caroline. You’re not getting away tonight.”

He let me go a little, as I swayed even more.
Has he drugged me? That’s got to be it
. There was no other explanation for why I felt the way I did.

This fucker drugged my beers.

“Nate--don’t touch--me,” I slurred, while holding my hand up to keep him back.

I told my body to run, to run like hell, but it wasn’t listening. I fell to my knees, my hands pressed into the forest floor. With whatever strength I had, I turned my head to watch him unfold a blanket down next to the lantern.

No, this can’t be happening. He can’t do this. He’s a cop--he’s a cop. No one is going to believe me.
Dread filled me as I realized that I was about to be raped, and I couldn’t do a damn thing about it.

He grabbed my arms and pulled me back to my feet. My body was limp. I had little, if any, control.

“Don’t do this,” I begged.

“Oh, Caroline,” he said, stroking my face with his hand. He let his fingers comb though my long hair.

I turned my face from his and closed my eyes.
Out of sight, out of mind, that’s the only way I’m going to get through this.

His strong hand grabbed my chin, forcefully turning my face to his. “Open your eyes!” His enraged words scared the living shit out of me, so I opened my eyes quickly. “There you are. What is it that he calls you?...oh, right, Kitty,” he said, touching my face again. “Well, you’re not his kitty anymore.” There was an evil sneer to his voice that made my toes curl.

“Why are you doing this? If you’re trying to get back at Kane, it’s not going to work,” I pleaded again.

“Don’t you fucking say his name! After tonight, I don’t even want you to look at him. You’re mine, and this isn’t my first rodeo, Caroline. Nothing you say is going to change what’s about to happen right over there on that nice blanket.”

I had made a fatal mistake, thinking that spending my time with a cop, the supposedly good guy, would be safer than going down that road I was so terrified about with Kane. I was wrong, so wrong.

Nate dragged me over to the blanket. My weakened body lay on the fabric next to the lantern. I turned my head so I wouldn’t have to look at him. I stared straight into the light, even though it hurt my eyes to do so. I tried to take myself to another place, a safe place. I had changed out of the dress I had on and was in a tube top cover all, which came to my mid thighs when I stood. My bikini was still on under it. I sensed him kneeling by my feet, his hands ran up the length of my legs, spreading them as he moved up my body. He settled himself between my weak legs. His hands moved the cover up, exposing my midriff.

Sucking in a breath, I felt a tear roll down the side of my face and fall into my ear. His lips touched my belly button and I trembled when his hand cupped my breasts. I closed my eyes, praying that it would just end, that I’d pass out and not have to live every waking moment of it. Lost in my head, I squeezed my eye tighter. I heard a rustling noise coming closer. I turned my groggy gaze the opposite way, and it was as if I was seeing my guardian angel coming to rescue me from the devil himself. Kane was running--running right for us.

CHAPTER 24

Kane

It had been over thirty minutes since Kitty had stalked off, and twenty since Nate had left. I stood up from my chair. The brunette on my lap, didn’t look happy, but I didn’t give a fuck. Something was up with Caroline. She was acting drunk, but I knew she hadn’t had enough to make her almost fall into the fire.

“I’ll be back,” I said to no one in particular.

I headed down the beach in the direction that Kitty had walked. When her foot prints made a sharp left back up to the line of trees, I assumed that she walked in and got lost. I pulled my cell phone out and turned on the light so I could see. A few steps in, I heard her voice, faint, but I heard her. I walked in the direction of where I thought the voice was coming from, until I saw a light. I stopped and turned mine off so I could follow it more easily but, the closer I got, the more pissed off I became.

I came up on them and nearly went axe murder on Nate fucking Rodgers. Kitty was laying on a blanket, her head turned to me, a tear rolling down her cheek, and she was shaking.

“Kane,” I heard her say weakly.

Nate’s head lifted from her stomach. Leaning over her, he slapped her across the face.

“I said don’t fucking say his name.”

“Fuck you,” I heard her say.

Good girl, Kitty
.

“Kane,” she yelled again as I ran to her.

I plowed into Nate, taking him off guard. We rolled together, me landing on top of him, I punched him in the face. He got his wits about him and pushed me off. We both stood, ready for a fight.

I took a chance and looked at Caroline, still unmoving on the blanket. Nate being well trained took that opportunity to punch me.
Fuck that hurt!

“What the fuck are you doing, Nate?” I asked, while I figured out my next move.

“Just trying to get what I deserve, one way or another,” he said, wiping the blood from his lip.

That’s it! Over the line, I’m fucking furious now.
I charged him again, hitting him over and over again. He fell to the ground, but I kept hitting him. “Don’t you fucking touch my woman again, you hear me, you mother fucker!” I yelled, grabbing his shirt and slamming his head into the ground over and over again.

“She doesn’t care about you, you idiot,” he said through a frighteningly psychotic chuckle.

“The fuck, she doesn’t. Whose name was she just yelling? You’re a sick fuck, Rodgers,” I spat, punching his face again.

“Kane, please,” I heard her say from a few feet away.

I slammed his head down onto the ground again, which was enough to get him to pass the fuck out. I wiped my nose. Blood covered the top of my hand so I wiped in on the back of my shirt.

I knelt down next to her, “Kitty, are you okay?” I asked in a hurry. I didn’t want to touch her, if she was hurt. I didn’t want to make it worse. So my hands levitated over her face and body.

“Kane, please, get me out of here. Please,” she begged through a sob.

“Yeah, I’ll get you out of here. Come here.”

I got her to sit up, wrapped her in my arms like I had that first night she arrived, and I carried her away from Nate fucking Rodgers. I walked her back to the beach, her head resting on my shoulder, her arms were so tight around my neck, I found myself having to take deep breaths. Her body was still shaking in my arms.

“I was wrong, I was so wrong. Kane, I’m so sorry,” she said, as she griped my shirt tighter in her hands.

“Shh, it’s okay. You have nothing to be sorry about. I’m going to get you back home, get you into your bed. It’s all going to be--”

Her head shot up from my chest, she looked at me panic stricken. “I don’t want to go home. Please don’t take me home. Take me anywhere but home. Kane, I can’t--I--please.” She was trembling as she spoke.

I stopped walking and set her feet on the sand. Her arms still wrapped around my neck, she wouldn’t let go.

“Okay, okay, I’ll take you somewhere else, I’ll take care you. Do you trust me?” I asked, pulling her arms from around my neck, so I could look into her beautiful eyes.
Fuck, she is even beautiful when she cries
.

“Yes, I do, I trust you, Kane. Get me out of here, please.”

Nodding down at her, I scooped her back up in my arms. I avoided the area where everyone was still sitting around the fire having a good time. I opened the passenger’s side door and set her down, but she wouldn’t let go.

“Kitty, you gotta let go. I’ll be right back,” I said, pealing her arms from my neck. I ran around the truck and got in. She instantly took my hand as I laid it on the console between us. Gripping it for dear life, she didn’t let go the whole way home, my home.

I parked my truck and got out, after tearing my hand from hers. I came around to her side and opened the door. I expected her to walk, but she hopped into my arms again. I wasn’t going to complain. I set her down on the porch while I took my keys out and unlocked the door. Shoving it open, I lifted her up again, walked in, and slammed the door behind us. I headed straight for the stairs, got into my room, and closed the door behind me. I placed her in my unmade bed and cursed myself for not taking the time to make it that morning.

I stood from the bed and watched as she curled up into a ball on my pillow. I pulled the covers up and tucked her in. I went to the bathroom, tugging my shirt off as I did. I washed my face and hands, checked out the nice cut on my cheek, and then exited. I still had my swim-trunks on, so I lost those for a pair of clean boxers. I walked back to bed. When I reached to grab a pillow, a hand tightly gripped my wrist.

Caroline turned to me, fear still etched on her face. “Where are you going?” she asked though a shaky voice.

“I’m not going anywhere. Just getting a pillow. This floor is harder than you think. I don’t want a stiff neck tomorrow when we play.” I smiled down at her, pleased that she gave me one back.

“I don’t want you to sleep on the floor.”

“Well, I’m not sleeping standing up, so...”

“Lay with me? I--I don’t want to feel alone, if that makes any sense.” She bit her lip and gripped my hand tighter.

I sure as hell wasn’t going to say no. I knew I wasn’t going to be able to contain my dick. That fucker had a mind of its own, but I also didn’t want to seem like a horn dog after what had just happened.
What the fuck had just happened?
It was only then that I was able to think, rationalize. The girl that I had all these feelings for was almost raped tonight, by a cop! I was getting angrier, the more I thought about it. I couldn’t believe that fucker was touching her. He fucking slapped her. If he wasn’t fucked up enough tonight, when the guys found out, he was going to wish he had never laid a hand on our Kitty.

How are we going to deal with this? Who do I tell?
Would they even believe a guy who spent his days fixing houses and nights banging anything that walked, and a girl who worked at a bar who had a tendency to flirt, over a fucking cop. I had heard him say that that wasn’t his first rodeo. That fucker had done this to other women.
He had a little sister. How could he even consider?
I felt my jaw get tight. I wanted to jump back in my truck and finish him for touching Caroline, and any other woman he might have hurt. I knew the guys would help me bury the body--

“Will you hold me?” she asked, bringing me back to my room and the gorgeous girl who was lying in my bed.

“Yeah, Kitty, I’ll hold you, but I might not be able to let go,” I added, letting the thought of murder slip away.

She smiled up at me and I could swear to fucking God, my heart melted.

“I don’t want you to,” she said, tugging me to her.

She moved over and I climbed in next to her. We moved to the middle of the bed, sharing one pillow. We didn’t need any more than that. She conformed to my body and I to hers. I snaked my arm around her, resting it on her stomach, she placed hers over mine lovingly. I didn’t care that her hair was tickling my face, or the fact that she butted up against my junk. I didn’t care, because she was in my arms, and her warm body, finally relaxed into mine.

I woke up, feeling cold in the dark. Reaching out, I felt the space in front of me, searching for her. It was empty. I sat up, and looked around my room for the girl who had stolen my heart without me seeing it coming. A light was glowing from the bathroom, and then I heard the water running. I relaxed back in bed, the anxiety of not knowing where she was faded as I stared at the light coming from under the bathroom door. Her shadow blocked it a few times. I then heard the familiar closing of my shower door.
Kitty, was naked and in my shower, right now
. I wanted to strip down and join her, but I didn’t, after what had just happened, or almost happened. I was just glad to be, kind of in the same room. I sat in bed, picturing what was going on behind the closed door. It took a millisecond before the sheet rose from my lap. Clearly my dick wasn’t as sympathetic as the rest of me.

CHAPTER 25

Caroline

I stood under the scolding water. Steam poured up and out of the shower. I pressed my body against the cool tile. I was still in shock, my mind racing. I remembered what happened, but then I didn’t. It was like my mind was protecting me from itself.

I could remember lying on the ground, the itchy fabric of the blanket, the sticks under it pricking my skin. I remembered seeing Nate at my feet, his hands going up my legs. I could remember turning my head, my eyes full of tears that finally spilled over as my head rested on its side. I remembered blinking them away, trying to get my mind to think of anything other than what was currently happening. My brain took me to my bedroom, the first night I got here. It took me to the part when Kane had laid me down in my bed, his trembling hand caressing my face. When I opened my eyes back up, I thought I was still dreaming, because I could see him off in the distance.