“Who are you?” Richard asked as though he’d only just realised Anderson was there. His tone was sharp and dangerous and I frowned, confused with his hostility.
Anderson’s usual cruel smirk surfaced and he lifted an eyebrow, amusement lighting his dark features. “The man currently providing Kloe’s orgasms. And you are?”
I opened my mouth to say something but the shock of Anderson’s declaration took the words from me and all I could do was stare in stunned silence.
“What the hell?” Richard growled, his furious eyes turning to me. “Is… are you fucking this guy?”
“Jesus Christ,” I finally managed, glaring at both men who seemed fine with fighting over me. “Just stop!”
“Answer me, Kloe!”
My eyes widened with Richard’s tone and I winced when his fingers wrapped tightly around my wrist. His grasp was bruising but it was the anger in his eyes that surprised me. I’d never seen this side to him. He was usually passive and quiet, and he had become a good friend. But that was all we were – friends. However, the possessive look in his eyes told me he’d moved past that stage of our relationship.
“I suggest you let her go,” Anderson growled. “Right now!” I hadn’t heard that animalistic snarl for four years and it was still as aggressive and feral as I remembered.
Richard scoffed but wisely released his hold on me. Glancing at Dave, he closed his eyes for a brief moment then turned back to me. “Phone the police and report it. Don’t bury him until they’ve been out.”
I nodded, my heart clenching with the thought of what the police would do to Dave.
“And I told you before, lock your bloody door!”
Nodding again, I watched him go. I couldn’t understand his sudden change in character; it was so unlike him. I hadn’t realised he had feelings for me and now everything had become complicated.
“You fucking him?” Anderson asked, his stern stare locked on to me.
Rolling my eyes, I blew out a breath. What the hell was wrong with both of them? “No. Not that it has anything to do with you.”
His chuckle was humourless and I caught the bitterness in it. “Hmm. For the moment I’ll allow you to carry on believing that.”
I squinted at him in puzzlement, his strange statement not making any sense.
“As the poncy twat said, phone the police and lock your door after me.”
I was too tired to argue and I slumped into a heap beside Dave, my fingers digging into his soft fur. My heart broke, the images of what that bastard had done to him making my stomach roll. Had he been in pain? Had they tormented him first? And had he been crying for me, for me to save him?
“What am I gonna do without him, Anderson?” The words came out choked and hushed. I didn’t think he had heard me until I felt him move behind me and his thick, strong arms enveloped me.
His face buried into the top of my head when my weeping became uncontrollable, my body shaking with heart-wrenching grief. His embrace grew more forceful, his strength giving me the comfort I needed.
“It’ll be okay, Kloe.”
“No.” I shook my head. “It won’t. He won’t stop.”
He turned me gently so I was facing him. Wiping at my tears with his thumbs he placed a soft kiss to my forehead. It was like he’d never been out of my life, our relationship sliding back into the overfriendly zone it had been in before I left.
“He will stop. I’ll make sure of it.”
“How? How will you do that? I don’t even know who’s doing this.”
He didn’t answer my question, instead dropping another kiss into my hair before he stood up. Turning to Red, he gave her a short nod. “Stay, girl.”
“What? I can’t… you can’t…”
“She’ll protect you,” he said firmly, his strict expression smothering my argument before it left my lips. “I’ll be back tomorrow.”
I couldn’t do anything but stare at him as he stepped out of the front door, but he turned back to me. “Lock the damn door, Kloe.”
“Yes, sir,” I mumbled.
His lips twitched but then he was gone, the door closing behind him and his knuckles softly rapping on it to remind me.
Getting up, I turned the key and slid the chain on. Red was by my side, her nose nuzzling into my hand, her instinct to comfort me making my heartbeat that bit better.
My phone buzzed, alerting me to a text.
Unknown number: Did you lock the door?
Chuckling, I smiled, entering Anderson’s number in to my contacts.
Me: Yes! Sir!
Anderson: Good, now phone the police. And go to bed! Keep Red with you.
Me: YES!
Anderson: …Sir!
Me: Yes. SIR!
The small skip in my heart concerned me but I pushed it aside and refused to concentrate on it. Anderson’s sudden appearance in my life concerned me too. Four years was a long time, and although I had thought about him often, I hadn’t been prepared for the overwhelming emotions that had rippled through me when I saw him standing on my path.
The darkness that had lived inside him all those years ago was still there, swirling in the depths of those predatory green eyes. But he was so different now, everything about him confident and fearless. That frightened young man who had captured my heart was long gone. A hard and ruthless arrogance now consumed his previous gentle, nervous character. I wondered how his treatment had gone after I left. Had his therapy been successful? Had he managed to come to terms with his past?
I prayed that he had, but I had seen the same hatred and rage in his eyes that had been there when I first met him.
I knew it wasn’t easy to move on from the terrors of your past, that even when you thought your soul was beginning to heal the nightmares crept back in and reminded you life was never that easy.
Anderson deserved a peaceful soul, the horrors he had been through making my heart hurt for him.
But like before, I couldn’t afford to let him into my life now. Our closeness had cost me everything last time, had nearly cost him everything, and now I was even more of a danger to his vulnerability.
Yet something told me he wasn’t going to make it that simple. That no matter how much I pushed him away he was going to push back harder. But I couldn’t risk him. Whoever was doing this to me would also look to him if he shoved his way into my heart. They’d taken Dave, they’d taken Trudy, my best friend, and I couldn’t, wouldn’t, jeopardise Anderson’s chance to live life again.
SWEAT COVERED EVERY INCH OF me and I rolled over again, desperate to find a cool spot on the cotton sheet. Sleep refused to give me peace, my mind full of her and obliterating any hope of a restful night.
She was still as beautiful, my memory of her not doing her any justice at all. The deep chestnut waves of her glossy hair now dropped below her shoulders and the piercing blue of her eyes still made something invisible inside my chest squeeze hard.
Her tits were full, and the softness around her hips made my cock hard. She still unconsciously sucked on that plump bottom lip, but it was her smile that made me catch a breath every time she gave me even a tiny glimpse of it.