Secrets (A Standalone Novel) (A Suspense Romance) (16 page)

I don’t know how long I slept but when I woke up I
went downstairs to find Chris making breakfast and all the other guys were
gone. The house was very
quiet
,
especially since the guys had left and it was only Chris and
I
. When I had first arrived I didn’t think it
was a working bed and breakfast, but as I watched Chris in the kitchen I
thought that perhaps it was an operating business. The feeling that we were
lovers on a secluded vacation to this old bed and breakfast was wonderful. I
smiled as I took in the scene of Chris cooking and the beautiful summer day
through the windows.

“Good
morning,
beautiful,” Chris said as he flipped pancakes.

He had on only a pair of jeans and they fit every
muscular curve he had. I could stand and look at the muscles of his stomach
forever. He didn’t have a
six-pack
;
instead it was more like an
eight-pack
.
Each group of muscles genetically perfect and like they
had
been drawn
onto
his body
by an artist.

“Morning Chris,” I said as I sat at the table.

I continued to watch him work the kitchen like he knew
exactly what he was doing. It was sexy as hell to see a man who knew his way
around the kitchen. His hands worked quickly from one task to the next as he
mixed the pancake batter, cut up strawberries and poured orange juice. He was
certainly very good with his hands that I knew from experience.

“Did you sleep well?” Chris asked.

“God yes, I felt like I slept for a week,” I said.

Chris brought over a couple plates full of food and
then some orange juice. We both sat there and ate in silence. I couldn’t
remember how long it had been since I had eaten. Maybe two days before when I
was at Rebecca and Robert’s house? I shoveled in the pancakes and strawberries
like a prisoner who had been denied food for weeks. It surprised me how
comfortable I felt with Chris and his new beard. It looked good on him now that
he was all cleaned up. I think he might have trimmed it at some point while I
was asleep also. The curves of his beard matched perfectly with the edges of
his chiseled jawline.

He sat there eating his food and every now and then
glanced at me and smiled. It was a reassuring smile that I needed so very much.
I still didn’t know what was going on and although I was freaked out about it
on the inside, I did try not to worry too much about it. I was there with Chris
now; nothing could go wrong with him there. I saw the wound on his shoulder
from the
gunshot
he had taken a few weeks
before. It was all healed now with a raised red
scar
that had formed. My fingers traced over the scar and I looked up at him. The
horror of that night was very fresh in my brain and I doubted I would forget
about it any time soon.

“Does it still hurt?” I asked.

“
No,
it’s
better.”

“Should I call Rebecca and Robert? I know they must be
getting freaked out.”

“I called Sheriff Thomson and told him you were with
me, he’ll let them know.”

Chris handled things very efficiently. The fact that
he knew who Sheriff Thomson was, that impressed me a great deal. Chris was a
smart man and seemed to think things through about ten steps ahead of everyone
else. I couldn’t even imagine being able to think about steps that were so far
ahead of the moment I was in.

“Okay, that’s good. I just didn’t want them to worry.
How long are we going to stay here?”

“Well, I would like it if you stayed here, but I have
to go back to work for a little bit.” Panic struck my whole body as I thought
about being left alone in the house. I knew we were far away from where the men
had hurt Chris, but I didn’t like the thought of being left without any
protection.

“Will Gunner be with me? Or one of the other guys?”

“No, they need to come with me on this mission. You
will be alright. No one knows we are here except the owners of the property.”

“I won’t be
safe,
”
I said as my voice cracked.

“You will be safe. I wouldn’t leave you here if I
didn’t think you would be alright.”

I felt my breath get faster as I started to panic. I
couldn’t be left alone; there was just no way that I would be alright.

“I’ll just come with you. Where are you going?”

“Babe, you can’t come with me. I’m going to be down in
Chicago messing up some pretty bad guys. You need to stay here.”

Panic filled my body and I felt my breath getting
faster and faster. The color left my face and I felt my face drain of all the
color. I was left with a pale face and felt like I was about to pass out. The
room was closing in on me and I felt extremely dizzy.

“I can’t stay alone,” I said as my hands shook.

Chris grabbed both of my hands and held them firm in
his own. He looked at me in the eyes and I felt he was there with me. He didn’t
condemn me for being scared, instead he understood and that helped me calm
down.

“I’ll give you a gun. Would you like that?”
 
I thought about it for a moment. I had never
shot a gun before, but the idea of having one around did make me feel a little
better.

“Will you show me how to use it?”

“Of course, after breakfast we can go out back and I
will show you. But I should only be gone for a day or two, you will be just
fine. I promise.”

I couldn’t eat another bite of my breakfast and
instead waited for him to eat so he could show me how to shoot the gun. It made
me feel much better to think I would at least be able to protect myself if I
had to
; I
just hoped I wouldn’t have to do it. I
had never been around guns and didn’t’ feel comfortable at all with the idea of
having to shoot one. But it was much better to be able to shoot the bad guys
than to let them shoot me.

The cold metal of his gun felt sexy in my hands. I
held the heavy gun and tried to point it at the target Chris had set up for me
on the other end of the yard. The weight of the gun made it difficult to keep
my hands outstretched though. My muscles just were not use to having to work
that hard.

I relaxed my arms and the gun pointed toward the
ground. It was silver and I really didn’t know what type of gun it was. It was
flat on the sides and had a slip of bullets that slid into the bottom of the
gun. I wanted to know how to shoot it. I wanted to feel safe when Chris was
gone and feel like I could protect myself if I had to. Chris came over and
showed me how to put the safety back on the gun.

“Anytime it is not in use you have to have the safety
on. This is essential. Do not forget it.”

The serious nature of his voice told me that it indeed
was essential and I would do my best to not forget about it. I hated guns and
never in my life would I have thought I would want to learn how to shoot one.
But there were a lot of things in my life that had changed in the previous
weeks, so shooting a gun wasn’t all that surprising.

It was a novelty to have a gun in my hand, but I
didn’t like the responsibility that would come if I shot the gun. It would mean
I could potential take someone’s life. Obviously I would only do that if it was
someone who tried to take my life. But I didn’t have a lot of confidence in my
abilities and I still felt like the possibility of hurting someone who was
innocent was always there. That was a really big deal and not something I took
lightly. I doubted I would ever be able to actually shoot the gun off. But it
did make me feel better to know how to use it, just in case.

We remained in the backyard for a couple hours and I
tried over and over to shoot the gun and hit the target, without any luck. It
was just too hard to hold the gun up and aim. I needed much more practice. I
probably also needed to work out a little more. My life consisted of working on
my old house and taking pictures. I didn’t go to the gym and I certainly didn’t
spend any time lifting weights or working out in the traditional sense. Of
course, I got exercise when I walked around and took pictures as well as all
the things I did around my house as I remodeled it. But that hadn’t exactly provided
me with
a large amount of
muscles.

“I’m never going to be able to shoot this thing,” I
said out of frustration.

“Trust
me, at
the moment you need to shoot this thing you will know how to shoot it.” He
grabbed the gun from me, put the safety on it, and sat it on the table. Then he
pulled me to him and let his lips
crush
down onto mine. He felt like home. When his arms wrapped around
me,
it felt like exactly where I was supposed
to be.

I hesitated to even think it, but I felt more
comfortable with Chris than I ever had with Michael. Perhaps it was because I
was older and more comfortable with myself. Or maybe we were just a better fit,
but for whatever reason; I really felt like myself when I was around Chris. I
felt like I could be the best person I wanted to be and he would be right there
beside me.

It wasn’t just the strength of his arms and his
muscles that made me feel safe, it was him. It was Chris and the way he totally
and utterly devoted himself to me when I was there with him. He wanted me to
feel safe; he wanted me to feel like I could handle being left alone for a
couple days. I could tell that he care about me and genuinely wanted me to be
safe. That feeling was intense and drew me closer to him.

Our mouths continued to play as we explored the depths
of each other. His strong hands moved lightly up and down my body and sent
shivers of delight throughout my skin.
God,
it felt so good to have his hands on my body. His fingers moved under my shirt
and I wiggled with delight as they touched my bare back. They moved up and down
my back and he pulled me in close to him. The intensity of his touch made me
weak in the knees. Even after being together for several weeks, his touch was
still so intense that I got wet right away. I wanted him, I always wanted him.
Even when I was angry with him, I wanted him. There was no way around it.

I let my own hands move under his shirt and felt the
goose bumps on his back. It made me happy to see that my touch also affected
him the way his affected me. He was a quiet man and kept his feelings to
himself, but his body reaction was always something he couldn’t control when he
was around me. I liked that. I liked being able to see his body react to my
body. It was so inspiring. When his body reacted to mine, it made me want more.
I wanted to see what else I could do to his body.

He must have thought the same
thing
because he unbuckled my shorts and let them fall to the
ground. We were out in the
backyard
still
and I looked around to make sure there was no one nearby. The bed and breakfast
was
far into the countryside and there
wasn’t a house for several miles. Only occasionally would a car drive by the
road in front of the house. I didn’t know why I was so afraid of someone seeing
us, there was obviously no one around for miles and miles.

Then he moved my pink lace panties to the ground. His
hand gently caressed my ass and he turned me around to face the picnic table.
He pressed my head down toward the table and I felt him pull his cock out of
his jeans after he lowered them to his knees. My as lay bare and exposed to the
daylight of the warm summer day. I lay there in anticipation as his fingers
played with me to ensure I was properly excited and ready for him. The
excitement of the moment built up inside of me. I had never been outside like
this when I had sex. It was intense and full of anticipation.

His cock entered me and I let out a breath of
excitement. I took another deep breath and felt him as he filled me up. His
body fit perfectly with mine and we moved in time with each other. Each thrust made
him harder and each thrust got me more and more excited. I had never had sex
outside and the cool breeze against my body set every nerve on edge. My nipples
hardened with the feel of the
hard wood
of the picnic table underneath them. It was rough and old and in total contrast
to my smooth skin. My body relished all the new feelings as we moved together
toward a climax.

Each new thrust more intense than the last. I felt my
knees get weak and I was glad there was a table
under
me to hold me up. There was no way I could have
stood
of
my own free will at that moment. My leg strength was not there and I
had nothing in reserve to keep me from tumbling to the ground.

Chris held my hips with his hands and I felt his
release and he exploded inside of me. He then reached around and moved his
thumb against my clit in a pulsing motion and continued to thrust inside of me.
His cock stayed hard until I finally exploded with my own orgasm. It was
intense and different than any I had had before. This time I felt a satisfaction
that moved throughout my entire body. I felt released from tensions I didn’t
even know I had.

“Well that was fun,” I said as Chris turned me toward
him and kissed me.

I still didn’t feel comfortable with him leaving me
there. But I knew that he wouldn’t do anything that was going to put me in
danger. So if he felt I could be safe, then I had to trust that I would be
safe.