Witness Protection (The Witness Series) (22 page)

I see the legs before the arms, the bare feet that slip either side of me a
nd into the cool water in front
of me. The arms come next, wrapping around my waist and crushing me back to a chest I am oh so familiar with. I want to scream, to shove and punch him but most of all, I just want to feel ok again. I want to live without fear, without pain and being with Ryder takes that away, for a moment at least. I grip his arms and cry until the tears burn my eyes.

“Oh baby.” He whispers into my hair.

“W-w-w-why Ryder?”

“I am sorry. I only found out about Jasmine right after you came along. I was confused, I didn’t know if I wanted to be a dad. I wanted to keep it under wraps, keep it on the low down so I could just process it. Then you and I got closer and you tested everything inside me, I never thought…never thought I would feel anything after my heart break with Janelle and then you…

“You lied.” I whisper hoarsely.

“I didn’t tell you about Nate being involved with me and Janelle because I didn’t know how. He didn’t like it and was
ashamed
of himself, we…it was a mistake that didn’t need to be relived.”

“Did you like it, was it something you wanted?”

“Look, I won’t lie. At the time, I thought it was kind of hot, watching Nate fuck her while…yeah anyway…but when I saw her with those two other men, I got a clear view of what it was and I was horrified. I said no more, she wasn’t willing to give it up.”

“I…am not enough for you.” I croak, shuddering.

He kisses my hair. “You are the most beautiful, incredible thing that has happened to me for so
God
damned long. I have never been so…distraught.”

“Yes you have.”

He shakes his head behind me. “No, I haven’
t
. The thing is
,
I care about you more than I cared about my own wife. I am in love with you Maya, and I don’t want it to change. Please baby, don’t walk away. I will wait forever, I will wait.”

I hiccup and spin around, getting a good look at him. His eyes are glassy and red, emotion swirls through them. I grip his face and I kiss him, I know I shouldn’t, right now I should be slapping him but I need him, more than anything in the world, I need him. He groans and opens his mouth, letting my tongue slide in and dance with his.

“We can’t…here.” He breathes.

“Yes, we can.”

I slip my shirt off,
then
my pants and I slowly slide into the cool water. His eyes widen, and he follows without argument. His eyes scan me as he pulls off his shirt and tu
rns to kick off his pants. His body ripples under the moonlight, and I can truly see how perfect he is. We match, Ryder and I, we are both damaged, both just needing a little love.

“
I had…all these things planned out for us
tonight
and…”
He says quietly but I cut him off.

“What?”

“Huh?”

“What did you have planned out?”

He looks sheepishly at me. “It doesn’t matter now.”

“Tell me, Ryder.”

“I had roses,
wine,
chocolate…I was going to make love to you, without the dominance, just me and you. I was going to tell you I love you, tell you that you have become my world, my soul, my l
ife.
”

I tremble again. “Make love to me now.”

He slides in the water and gently pushes me up to the side of the pool. Glancing around to make sure it’s clear, he lifts my leg and wraps it around his waist. His skin is cool, and his body is firm and hard. He kisses
me with raw emotion, our moans tangling together to express
our
feeling in a way we can’t. When he slides into me, I whimper.

“Gentle, just gentle baby.”
He murmurs into my ear.

He slides his hips out, and then slowly pushes them back in. I become lost in the moment, lost in the feeling of his body surrounding mine, lost in the feeling of his heart thumping against my breast, lost in the feeling of his hair tangle through my fingers, lost in the feeling of his
moans vibrating against my neck, lost in the feeling of the
intense
love soaring through my veins.

“Oh, Ryder.”
I whisper, as my body tenses for release.

We are moving slowly together, thrusting with a gentle, passionate pace. The emotion is high and we are gripping each other like we can never let go, like we never want to let go, like this could be our last breath. He is tense, his muscles a tangled mess as he moves, his chest heaving with pants.

“Ryder, Ryder.”

“Oh, baby, sorry, so sorry.”

I whimper my release as I shatter around him, for a moment, I am sure I actually black out. I feel like my world closes off from me for a moment, like everything stops.
Ryder’s
soft, strangled moan brings me back as he shudders into me with a tormented cry. I stroke his face, his hair, his cheeks as we come down from our emotional high. He lifts me from the pool and wraps me in his shirt, hugging me close to his chest as he pulls and does up his jeans.

“Please, forgive me.”

“I need time, just time.”

“Anything, just don’t run. I need you, I know that isn’t enough but I need you, I have never need
ed
someone in my life the way I need you.”

For me to see the usually tough and rugged Ryder so broken, breaks apart my wall. I hold him close and breathe in his scent, which is now masked by the chlorine from the pool. He stands a moment later and pulls himself together.

“I am going to get some towels.”

I nod weakly. He stares painfully at me,
then
turns to walk inside. I feel vibrations in my pocket
a moment later
and pull out my phone. The number is unknown but I answer it anyway.

“Maya, well well, we finally get to speak.”

The voice is rusty and almost shaky.

“Who is this?”

“Did you get all my presents? I hope so. We don’t have long to talk, I just wanted you to know the time is up, I want to play now.”

“Go to hell!”

“See, I plan to but before I go, I am taking you down with me.”

“I will call the cops, you won’t get anywhere near me.”

“Y
ou aren’t going to do that, know why? I have something of yours.”

I flinch. He is lying, baiting me.

“You are lying.”

“Am I? Why don’t you say hello to sissy.”

“Maya, help me please.” Sandy’s voice comes across the phone dazed and trembling.

“Sandy? Sandy?”

“I have her Maya, and if you want her alive, you trade.
Her for you.”

“Done.”
I cry, without hesitation.

“Out front, now.”

He clicks the phone shut and I stand, pulling on my clothes and glancing at the apartment. I punch in Ryder’s number and quickly text him.

He has Sandy. I had to go. I am sorry.

I turn then, and I run. I have minutes, seconds even before Ryder is out that door and after me. Maybe he will stay close enough that he will track us, but I won’t let him stop me, that
is
my baby sister and my life. Nothing will stop me. If I die, I die
,
but I won’t leave her alone. I step out front and see a large white van. Trembling, I step forward and a man steps out, covered entirely by a mask.

“Good girl.”

It is all I hear, because seconds later he plunges a needle into my neck and I pass out.
I don’t know how long I am out, all I know is when I wake,
I
am disorientated. I am sore, aching even and it is dark, so dark I can’t see. I shift and
groan,
what the hell, my leg is sore and thro
bbing. I am not sure why. I go to stand but
my ribs scream at me,
Jesus
. I blink, but I can’t see a damned thing. I do however, hear a whimper beside me.

“Sandy?”

“I…my name
is
Amy.”

“Amy
, just hang on a minute.”

My hands are tied, but that is the only part of me I can’t use, what in idiot only tying my hands.
Unless that was part of his plan?
I stand with a strangled cry and begin feeling about for something to get this rope off; I find a fence line, barbed wire, thank
God
. I rub my rope over furiously, it must take me a good two hours and my wrists are bleeding and battered by the time the rope snaps but I don’t care, my focus is getting out of here. I call out to Amy and follow her voice back, I feel her leaning against a tree,
I grip a soft face and she winces. I pat her body, and feel she is badly beaten.

“Amy, are you ok?”

“I…no.”

“What happened, what did he do?”

“I…he fucked me with a knife.”

It takes every control inside me not to lean over and throw up. He fucked her, with a knife? Her voice is damage
d
, worn out and dead. She is hanging by a thread.

“Are you bleeding heavily, can you tell me?”

“Y-y-yes.”

“And you are naked?”

“Y-y-yes.”

“Can you tell me where we are?”

“Wildlife…reserve.”

“What?”

“He is going to let the animals…kill us.”

I do lean over and vomit now, hurling until my stomach heaves
furiously
but nothing comes out.

“He
..has
your sister.”

“Where is she?” I croak.

“Here too, I don’t know where.”

“Where are the owners of this place?”

“I don’t know. It is a big…p-property. They j-j-just let animals roam under protection.”

Bloody hell, bloody fucking hell.

“It’s going to be ok, we will be fine.”

“I don’t feel strong, I don’t feel…fine.”

I pull off my shirt and groan as I shift towards her.

“Can you tell me where you are bleeding most?”

“Be…between my legs.”

I swallow back my tears as I press my shirt between her legs and secure it.

“Keep your legs as tightly closed as you can, do you hear me?”

“Y-y-yes.”

I feel the ground around us, it is soft and squishy. Rain has been in the past few days, I don’t know where the hell we are or if we are surrounded by savage animals but I need a plan. I move in agony, feeling like I
have been bashed black and blue, but I struggle forward. I scramble about trying to find something, anything. I feel a tree, low enough
to climb
but possibly high enough to protect Amy from danger.

“Amy?” I whisper.

“Y-y-yes.”

“Can you move?”

“I…don’t know.”

“I want to get you up this tree, I know you can’t see and it’s dangerous but it might just save your life.”

“O-ok.”

I help her to her feet and she wails in pain, son of a bitch is going to pay for this, he is going to pay. I help her to the tree and shove her up, she cries loudly as
s
he forces her body up.

“As high as you can go Amy, as high as you can go.”

I don’t know how high the tree is, or how far she has gotten up but she has to be safer there then on the ground. When she wh
ispers that she is ok, I begin
feeling around again. I need something, a weapon, a stick or a rock.
I find a heavy round
rock
and clutch it in my hands
. My leg is aching beyond belief and my ribs throb but I am the only one who has a chance of getting us out of this.

I hear a whimper, and my ears prick to life. Sandy? “SANDY?”

Another whimper.
I run in the direction of it until I come slamming into a body, I scream and leap back only to realize that body is female and hanging upside down. I feel tears prick my eyes but I smother them in. I touch and realize it is my baby sister and she is gagged but her throat is
intact
, thank
God
.

“Baby, I got you, I am here.”

I undo her gag and she whimpers.
“Maya.”

“We will get out of here, are you hurt?”

“Y-y-yes, my tummy, slashed.”

Fuck, fuck, I will kill him, kill him slowly.

“
It’s
ok baby, I am going to get you down.”

I spend the
remainder
of the night trying to find my way around and trying hard to find something sharp enough to cut Sandy’s ropes. I can’t see the knots to untie them. When first light comes in, I hear a rumbling sound and realize a truck is coming. I hobble back to my spot by
the tree and put my head down, g
ripping the boulder in my hand.