The Billionaire’s Valiant Rescue (9 page)

“Don’t take it personally, Jack,” quipped Jacques, pointing at the slogan.

“Don’t worry. I don’t. Contrary to some, I work hard for my money.”

I rolled my eyes at the quaint conceit, but decided not to get embroiled in a political discussion when on the verge of finally discovering my identity.

“You recognize any of this?” spoke Jack in my rear.

I took in the room searchingly, but nothing stirred. I shook my head.

“Let’s go upstairs,” suggested Jacques. “We have reason to believe that’s where you were actually held.”

My heart skipped a beat at these words, and I followed Jacques to what was left of the staircase.

He pointed to a hole in one of the stairs. “Be careful. The wood is not very strong.”

The banister had been torn away, perhaps to be used as firewood, and the staircase resembled the mouth of a prizefighter after having received a knockout punch, but we managed to make it upstairs in one piece. Off the landing to the right, Jacques stepped into a small room covered in darkness. Flipping on a flashlight, he gave me a single nod, then stepped aside to let me pass.

The moment I entered the room, it was as if the world tilted on its axis.

My eyes darting from the ragged mattress on the floor to the table holding a single copy of the Bible, I felt a wave of nausea and fear knock into my chest. Tears sprang to my eyes as I gulped for air.

“Mel. Melanie! What’s wrong?”

I feebly reached out a hand to Jack, who took it anxiously.
 

“I-I’ve been here before,” I heaved. I pointed at the Holy Book on the table. “That’s mine. T-that’s my Bible.”

Both Jacques and Jack sprang forward. Opening the book to its first page, Jack stared down at its contents for a full second before slowly turning to me.

“Valerie Lorgnasse. Your name... is Valerie Lorgnasse.”

A jolt went through Melanie the moment Jack mentioned the name.

“V-Valerie?” she said, eyes wide.

Her face had turned so pale Jack thought she might collapse at any moment so he quickly joined her where she stood swaying on her legs.

“That’s what it says right here... Valerie.” Jacques pointed to the title page of the Bible, where in a clear scrawl the name was written. The hand seemed almost childish, as if written at the age of twelve, which might well be possible.

“We’re finally getting somewhere, Mel— I mean Valerie.”

She nodded quickly, her lower lip quivering, a deep frown etched on her pale brow. Jack wanted to hold her and kiss her and make it well, but with Jacques present he restrained himself.

The policeman eyed Valerie intently. “Do you remember,
Mademoiselle
Lorgnasse? Do you remember what happened to you?”

Valerie closed her eyes as if pained by the question, and the groove between her brows deepened. Finally, she shook her head. “Vague... images. And sounds. Color, as well, but nothing concrete. Nothing to tell me who I am, really.” She finally opened her eyes and fixed her gaze on Jack, almost helpless. “It’s not coming back. It’s... still a blur.”

He held her close, then, and she clung to him. “Don’t exert yourself. The strain of the past couple of days... You’ve had a lot to deal with. Just let it go. Maybe it will come back when you least expect it. Maybe you’ll wake up one morning and have full recollection.”

Jacques had taken out his cell and stood conferring with a colleague. When he finally hung up, he looked grave. “We have a problem. There’s no record of a Valerie Lorgnasse having an official residence anywhere in Paris.”

“Didn’t you think you might be from the South, Valerie? Perhaps you need to widen your parameters, Jacques. Include the whole of France.”

His friend’s mustache appeared to droop even more at these words.

“Then we have an even bigger problem. But this time one of abundance. An abundance of Valerie Lorgnasses. My colleague counted at least a hundred, and he didn’t even allow the search to be completed.”

“And still no missing persons report, huh?”

“None.”

Jack had led Valerie to a rickety chair next to the table. She looked forlorn. “So we’re still no closer to a solution.”

It was a statement, not a question, and both Jack and his policeman friend couldn’t but agree with her assessment. They were still groping in the dark.

Valerie picked the Bible up from the table and leafed through it. “At least I know my name.” She traced her finger across the letters. “Valerie Lorgnasse.”

“A very pretty name, if you’ll permit me,
Mademoiselle
Lorgnasse.”

She smiled wearily and let the Bible fall open on an earmarked page. A passage had been highlighted with magic marker, and she read it before sharing it with Jack and the policeman. “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.” She laid down the Bible, and added softly, “I hope so, too.”

Jack didn’t meet her eyes, but instead turned to the policeman. “What do you suggest?”

“We could always transmit a missing persons report ourselves. Perhaps Valerie’s family will come forward.”

“What could be the reason they haven’t already contacted the police themselves?”

Jacques drew him aside, and whispered, “It’s very well possible the kidnappers have warned her family not to contact the police. In that case they’re anxiously awaiting any communication from the kidnappers, not knowing Valerie already managed to escape.”

Jack watched as Valerie sat paging through her Bible with trembling fingers. Her haunting beauty once again shook him. He longed so much to hold her, to be there for her not as a friend, but as a lover. To stir those lips once again and not stop when his mind told him to.

“Do it,” he said. “Put out the report. Perhaps when the family sees the broadcast, they’ll overcome their fear and get in touch. They could even do so anonymously, so as not to alarm the kidnappers.”

“I’ll get on it straightaway. Oh, and Jack?”

“Mh?”

Jacques put a hand on his shoulder. “I’ll help you hope.”

“Hope? Hope what?”

“Hope that she’s not yet married to someone else.”

Jack sighed. “That obvious, huh?”

Jacques grinned, though it was hard to notice beneath his mustache. “Abundantly.”

“Just... Don’t tell my dad. He’ll never let me live it down. You know how he is.”

“I know all too well, my friend. Don’t worry. My lips are sealed.”

On the drive back to the house, Jack told Valerie about the policeman’s plan. She immediately agreed. The idea that her kidnappers had warned her parents not to contact the authorities had also occurred to her, and it had lifted her spirits considerably.

“Who knows how scared they are. Perhaps they’re sitting by the phone now, anxiously awaiting news from the kidnappers.”

“I think there’s a very good chance they are. Which means you’re not alone, Valerie. There are people out there who care for you a very great deal.”

“And we’ll find them,” added Jacques.

“Thank you. You don’t know how much this means to me.”

Jacques smiled through the rearview mirror. “I think I have a pretty good idea,
Mademoiselle
Lorgnasse.”

They’d arrived back at the house, and Jack led the way into the kitchen, his favorite part of the place. At one time, the house had been his boyhood home, and he could still distinctly remember his mother baking cinnamon cookies for him and his brother on the stove.

Though his mom and dad hadn’t lived here for years, he would always remember those days with great fondness.

After opening the back door so Rufus could prance about in the yard, he sat Valerie down at the kitchen table, and set to work preparing her a cup of hot cocoa.

“You have a great place here, Jack.” She looked around the kitchen with an expression of appreciation. “A real home.”

He picked two cups from the cupboard over the sink, and set them on the counter, waiting for the milk to boil. “It was. I grew up in this house. Back when Dad was a mere millionaire.”

She grinned. “Before he really made his fortune, huh? You know, I would like to meet your family once.”

His heart leaped with unexpected joy at these words. He would love nothing more than to introduce Valerie to his family. “Perhaps one day you will. When all this is behind us.”

She gave him the sweetest smile. It lit up the room the way he remembered his mother’s smile to light up his life. “I would like that very much. If they’re anything like you, I know I will love them.”

He looked up at this. Love. The word hung between them as it had before. He did love her, he now knew. He didn’t know when it had happened or how, but at some point over the last couple of days, he’d fallen for this wonderful young woman. And the closer they came to discovering her true identity, the more he feared he might lose her again very soon.

He merely smiled, and poured hot milk into two oversized cups, stirred in his own secret cocoa-and-sugar mix, and carried them to the table.

“I’m sure they’ll love you too, Valerie,” he said as they both took a sip from their cups. They locked eyes over the steaming mugs, and he thought he detected a twinkle of amusement in hers.

“You know? You’re a pretty great guy. For a billionaire.”

“Can you keep a secret?”

“Try me.”

“Actually it’s my father who’s the billionaire in the family. Me and my brother? We’re merely multi-millionaires.”

Her lips curled up into a delectable smile. “Well, that explains a lot.”

She leaned forward, and over the smell of hot cocoa, their lips met. The sweetness of the drink mixed with the scent of her, and soon all caution was thrown to the wind and as their tongues danced their intoxicating tango, he was dizzy with desire for this woman who hadn’t merely stolen his heart, but his whole being, mind, body and soul.

The hot chocolate was all but forgotten as I rose to my feet, Jack’s lips on mine. The sweetness of our kiss quickly dissolved into a hot rage of passion as he cleared away the cups with a swift motion of his arm. Walking round, he hoisted me up onto the table, then pressed me into him as his mouth took mine once again.

All thought of possible husbands was forgotten as we gave way to the yearning that had been burning deep within our souls.

I clung to him, raking my fingers through his hair as he grasped my buttocks and pulled me into him, my legs enveloping his waist.

I couldn’t wait any longer. I needed to feel him on me, so I ripped open my shirt, revealing my naked flesh. With practiced ease, he slipped my bra down, revealing my twin mounds of softness, and when his mouth took first one, then the other, I cried out in suppressed agony. Finally. Finally Jack Carter would be mine and I would be his.

He sucked hard at my soft bud, swelling in his mouth, and as I shifted on the table, he yanked down my jeans, leaving me with only slip and bra for him to devour.

When he abruptly released me, I whimpered at the loss of contact, but he merely stood back, eyes dark with burning lust, as he quickly stripped off his own shirt and jeans.

I watched the growing bulge in his boxers, and when he closed in on me again, I released his burgeoning manhood into my hands. His cock swung free from its constraints, and before I knew what was happening, my fingers curled around it, and his bulging glans was revealed to me in all its shimmering glory.

To feel his hot power throbbing underneath my fingers had me squirming with desire, but Jack took his sweet time.

His eyes never leaving mine, he lowered himself until his face was level with my soft mound. And when he placed his lips on my center through the delicate fabric of my panties, I moaned with anticipation. He quickly slipped my crotch aside, and I yelped out when his lips swallowed mine, his tongue penetrating my soft, wet flesh and spearing me for the first time.

“Oh, Jack,” I moaned, bunching his soft curly hair and pushing him closer to my center.

He licked his way into me and it didn’t take long for my lower body to spasm in an uncontrollable wave of pleasure. I pulled him up, and my gaze drifted to his lips, still wet with my juices. And when our tongues met, I could feel the broad tip of his cock push into me, seeking entrance into my divinity. I spread my legs wide and leaned back on the table, his mouth on my left tit as he clawed gently at the other, squeezing my nip between his fingers.

And then he was inside me, pushing deeper, conquering me with his hot rod. I arched up against him as he plunged into me with all the pent-up lust we’d both been harboring for days now.

In three easy strokes he was all the way inside, sliding deeper and deeper along the steaming hot walls of my cunt until he was buried all the way up to his balls, my wet velvety cunt screaming with pure delight.

“I’ve wanted this for so long, Valerie,” he grunted as he rolled into me over and over again, his buttocks clenching and unclenching as he drove his pile deeper between my dripping folds.

“I’ve wanted this as much as you did, Jack,” I breathed. “It was pure agony not to be with you all this time. I’ve been yours from the moment you saved my life. Yours to take. Yours to fuck. Yours to do with as you please.”

“Oh, God,” he croaked, and pushed so deeply into me I thought my slender body wouldn’t be able to take it. But it did. It took Jack’s enormous length and demanded more.

“Oh, fuck me, Jack. Fuck me senseless. Never stop fucking me.”

With an animal grunt, he grabbed my buttocks and lifted me off the table, then up against the fridge, while he kept pounding into me, hoisting me up and spearing me onto his towering girth. He was filling me up completely, and still I wanted more. His mouth crashed on mine, and our tongues met, our fluids freely mingling, the sweet nectar of Jack mixing with my own as he kept rocking up and into me with such abandon that before long I cried out once again, the tremors of climax raging through my body.