Moth to a Flame Page 13

  Not wanting to waste any more time, I eased myself down onto his hardness, gasping at the pleasure of this position. Slowly, I rode him with deliberate movements, focusing on the way he felt. His hands had made their way to my ass and he gripped both sides, trying to hasten my pace.

  When I sped up, he moved his hands to my breasts and started rubbing them hurriedly. This position was causing my orgasm to rapidly sneak up on me.

  “Cale, I’m almost there!” I shouted down at him, pulling at my hair in anticipation.

  “Me too, baby,” he panted out.

  His body tensed underneath me, and his hot contents spilled into me, causing my body to splinter into an earth-shattering orgasm. After screaming out his name, I collapsed onto his chest, enjoying the quivers that were shaking my body. His powerful arms wrapped around my back as he held me as tight as he could.

  Still joined, I finally spoke what I’d never wanted to say aloud into his chest. “Three years ago, I was a happy, popular cheerleader at the University of Texas in Austin in my senior year. Being president of my sorority was my proudest achievement. I had big dreams of making it big in the finance world. One day, I went to a typical party with my best friend and ended up leaving alone. I walked alone that night in the dark.” I shuddered at the thought of the next series of memories.

  Cale kissed my head and waited for me to continue.

  “The next thing I knew, I was waking up in a car driving down the highway. Cale, I’d been abducted.” His entire body tensed at my statement, but he remained still and quiet. “Realizing that my eerily silent kidnapper was taking me somewhere to do God knows what to me, I panicked. He reeked of alcohol. My mouth was taped shut and I had a bag over my head. I couldn’t move my hands because they were taped together behind my back.”

  I let a tear roll down onto his chest while he rubbed my back. “In a moment of bravery, I reached out with my leg and kicked the steering wheel, causing us to crash. I was able to escape because he had hit his head pretty badly and was bleeding all over.”

  This time, his body froze and I swear it actually turned cold.

  “I managed to run back to the dorm, pack a bag, and ended up here.” I sighed, relieved to finally get the story off my chest. “I’ve been scared ever since that he’ll find me, thus the three locks on my door and fear of dating.”

  Cale sat up quickly with me on top of him. My legs were unmoving on either side of him. And even though he was no longer hard, he still was inside me.

  “Lia, when did this happen?” he questioned very seriously, like he might be sick to his stomach.

  “November fourth, 2010.”

  His face paled and he stuttered his next statement. “Please, for the love of God, tell me that you did not have blond hair then.”

  It was my turn to go ghost white.

  OH GOD. PLEASE no.

  “Yes,” she replied with a shaky voice.

  “Fuck,” I groaned, completely defeated.

  She tensed up with a worried look on her face.

  This is un-fucking-believable.

  Shit!

  I couldn’t believe the words that were about to come out of my mouth.

  “Lia, I am about to tell you something, and please, if you love me right here in this moment, do not freak the fuck out. That same night, I left my house drunk as a skunk,” I began.

  She stared at me, openmouthed like a statue.

  “I completely blacked out that night, having no recollection of where I’d been or what I’d done, but, Lia, I was in an accident. I injured my head so badly I was in a coma for twelve days. I nearly died,” I explained. Then I braced myself for the next words. “Lia, I was your abductor.”

  It all made sense. The memory was gone, but the angel’s face was etched into my brain—thus the need for my tattoo. Her eyes darted down to my tattoo and then back to me.

  Time stood still as realization came over her. A tear slipped out of the corner of her eye and she slapped my face with surprising force.

  “Don’t FUCKING touch me, you ANIMAL!” she screamed, jumping off me and running naked from the room.

  “Lia!” I shouted after her, leaping from the bed.

  She’d already snatched her bag and run into the bathroom, locking the door behind her. This was so fucking bad.

  I threw on some jeans and a shirt, quickly following after her. Banging on the door I pleaded with her, “Lia, please listen to me.”

  She was wailing on the other side of the door.

  “I don’t know how I became that person that night, but, Lia, I am NOT that person anymore! You have to believe how much I fucking love you,” I begged her through the door.

  “You RUINED my life!” she screamed back at me through her sobs.

  “Lia, please come out. I want to talk to you. Please. You have to forgive me for what I did. I can’t live without you.” I was shakily fighting tears of my own. This was so fucking wrong. “Please, Lia. I love you,” I begged some more.

  The door flung open. Lia had hastily pulled her hair into a bun and was completely dressed. Her green eyes were blazing with fury, hurt, shock. “I fucking HATE you,” she snarled as she shoved past me. I grabbed her arm in an effort to stop her which caused her to spin around and smack me hard against the cheek once again. Quickly, I released her. “Don’t FUCKING touch me EVER AGAIN!” she shrieked before stalking out of the room, bag in hand.

  I was hot on her heels as she bolted into the kitchen, snatching up her purse and keys. “Lia, please don’t leave. Please. God, please, Lia.”

  She ignored me and headed for the door.

  Knowing this might be the last time I’d ever see her again, I hauled her to me and kissed her with all the passion and love I could convey. She hesitated for a second before coming to her senses, shoving me away.

  Calmly, she seethed, “Do that again and I’ll mace the shit out of you.”

  Turning on her heels, she ran out the front door and out of my life.

  ONCE I MADE it to the safety of my car, I yanked my phone from my purse and dialed Mom.

  “Hey, sweetie. How are you?” she chirped into the phone.

  “Mom!” I wailed.

  “Honey? What’s wrong?”

  “I need you. Where are you? Can I come to you?” I cried into the phone.

  “Get to the airport, honey,” she spoke calmly. “I’ll have a ticket to New York waiting for you.”

  As I drove toward my house to pack a bag, I called Pops. It took everything in me to calm my voice.

  “Hey, Lia. What’s up? Everything okay?” he questioned when he answered, knowing I never called on a Saturday.

  “Um, yeah. My mom is actually in the States right now. I thought I’d fly to New York to see her. I know this is short notice, but do you think I could schedule my vacation for next week?” I asked, hoping he’d say yes since my mom was already getting me a ticket.

  “Of course, hon. Anj and I can handle things while you’re gone. I know you miss her. Is Cale going with you?”

  I cringed at his name, tears welling in my eyes. “No,” I whispered.

  His silence let me know that he knew I was upset about something. Probably assuming I was upset from a breakup, he sighed. “Lia, take care. I’ll see you when you get back. Tell Cathy and Rich I said hello.”

  After hanging up with Pops, I checked my phone to see who had texted me while I’d been talking to him.

  Mom: Sweetie, the flight leaves in four hours Central time. Take your time and grab some breakfast. I’ll be waiting at the airport when you get here. I can’t wait to see you, baby girl.

  I smiled at my mom’s text as I parked. I hadn’t been alone at my house in ages. It stood there looking neglected. Once I got inside, I took in my surroundings. Yesterday, I hadn’t even noticed that Cale had cleaned up the glass and remnants of the fire. My heart burned in pain at the thought of him.

  I quickly packed a bag for the week and hopped into the shower. There was no way I could make it a
ll the way to New York with his scent on me. It was too conflicting. The hate I had for him was intense, but a part of me still loved him.

  What a shitty weekend.

  After getting ready, I locked up and went back to my car, throwing my things in and stepping inside. When my phone chimed, I cringed. And just as I feared, there was a text from Cale.

  Cale: Lia, please talk to me. I am not that person anymore. You have to believe me. Please, let’s try to talk this out.

  Ignoring his text, I drove to the airport, which gave me too much time to think about everything.

  How could this have even happened?

  It was impossibly ridiculous to think that the one man who’d been my savior throughout this whole ordeal and had pulled me out of my self-imposed terror was the one person who’d started it. Fresh tears filled my eyes as I forced thoughts of Cale from my mind.

  After going through the rigorous motions of security at the airport, I found my gate and sat down to wait for my flight. My mom would comfort me and tell me how I was going to survive this. I was going to tell her everything from the abduction, the attempted rape, and now the horrific situation with Cale. Moms were good at that sort of thing. If anything, she’d hold me while I cried. God, I missed her.

  The flight was long, with a layover in Atlanta for a bit, but I finally made it off the plane in New York and breathed a sigh of relief as I pushed through the throng of people at JFK International. Since I’d only brought carry-on, I bypassed baggage claim and set out to look for my mom, who was picking me up out front. Once outside, I heard her calling for me in the car bay near a cab. Seeing her, I sprinted to her, throwing myself into her arms.

  She gathered me in for a hug, “Oh, sweetie, everything’s okay. We’re together now.” Her voice was soothing as I cried into her hair.

  We finally broke apart and she took a moment to study my tear-stained face before tossing my bags into the cab.

  I might have been a fighter like my dad, but I definitely looked like my mom. She was very pretty for her age and had the same brown hair. She and Rich were health food nuts, which kept them looking trim. Because of their jobs, they had to dress nice as well. My mom was definitely a knockout.

  After tossing my bags into the trunk, I got into the back of the cab with her. She pulled me close and held me in an embrace all the way to the hotel.

  This. I definitely needed.

  SHE WASN’T ANSWERING my texts and I was worried as hell. Lia was in no shape to have this bomb dropped on her because she was still so fragile from last night. As I relived our fight earlier, I wished I had just kept my mouth shut. We’d be happy together right now had I not bared my revelation to her. But that wasn’t right and I couldn’t live with myself if it meant lying to her.

  I’d driven by her house, Anj’s, and the bank. I was running out of places to look for her.

  Where the hell did she go?

  Finally, feeling as if I had no more options, I called Ben’s cell.

  “Mr. Reeves, what can I do for you this Saturday afternoon?” he inquired with twinge of annoyance in his voice.

  “Have you talked to Lia? Is she with you? I really need to speak with her,” I rushed.

  He huffed through the phone. “Dammit, Cale. What have you done? I spoke to her earlier and she took an impromptu vacation to see her mom in New York. Now, as much as that girl misses her momma, I have a feeling it had more to do with you. She doesn’t even as much as look at a guy the entire time I know her, but when you come rolling into town, suddenly she’s hopping on your white horse and riding off into the sunset. I told you not to hurt her. Fix it, Cale,” he threatened.

  “FUCK!” I boomed into the phone. “New York? When will she be back? I promise you I will win her back. She just has to listen to me. I fucking love her.”

  “Love’s a strong word, Cale. If you mean it and if she ever felt the same about you, she’ll find her way back. You’re going to have to work hard for her though. Lia is a one of a kind, but she won’t put up with bullshit,” he sighed.

  “Thanks, Ben,” I replied, hanging up the phone.

  Damn it all to hell. Lia had left me here in Texas with my heart broken.

  I spent the rest of the day lying in bed, thinking about everything that had happened. God, I already missed her and it hadn’t even been a full day yet. There had to be a way to fix this. She had to give me a chance to convince her that everything could still work out. The real psycho was in jail after last night.

  Thinking about what Sam had almost done to Lia had me grabbing the bedside lamp off the table and heaving it. It crashed against the wall, smashing to pieces. As much as I wanted to solely blame him, I couldn’t help but point back at myself. I’d fucking kidnapped a woman.

  Am I even any better than Sam?

  What would I have done to her had she not crashed the car and escaped?

  I was a fucking monster. I shuddered at the empty memories of my blackout. In a way, I was thankful I didn’t have to relive it. The thought of having hurt Lia absolutely killed me. She was my everything. I wished I would have died in that crash.

  I stood up and paced the room. Since I hadn’t died and had royally fucked up my future with Lia, I needed to figure out a solution. There was no way in hell I was going to let her just walk away from us. Crazy pasts or not, we were perfect together.

  Deciding that calling my dad might be a good start, I phoned him.

  When he answered, I mumbled, “Dad, I fucked up.”

  “What the hell, Cale? What’s wrong?” he demanded with concern in his voice.

  “She left me, Dad,” I uttered shakily into the phone.

  “Wow. That’s hard to believe. You guys seemed really into each other,” he muttered in disbelief.

  “Dad, I fucking love her. I can’t lose her. But I fucked up. Badly.”

  His voice grew hard when he asked the next question. “Did you hurt her? Did you put your motherfucking hands on her?”

  “Wait, what? Hell no. Well, not exactly…” I didn’t know how to explain our story.

  His voice was cold. “Explain it to me then, Cale.”

  “Dad, do you remember the accident? You even said you helped get me out of hot water legally.”

  “Yeah,” he huffed but waited for me to proceed.

  “That night, I was so drunk. I was actually driving to try and reconcile with you. Anyway, I blacked out while driving down the highway. I have no idea where I went or what I did. Well, apparently, I thought it was a great idea to abduct a woman. Not just any woman, Dad. I abducted Lia. When we crashed, she was able to escape.” My stomach turned just thinking about what I did to the love of my life.

  “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” he roared into the phone in disbelief. “There’s no way. I absolutely don’t believe you could have done this.”

  “Dad! I have a fucking angel tattooed on my arm! She was that angel!” I cried out, delivering the final blow.

  “Shit, Cale!”

  “What do I do, Dad? How do I fix this?” I pleaded for an answer.

  “Cale,” he sighed, “it’s done. I’m not really sure how a woman can come back from something like that. We’ll get you the best lawyer around. You don’t have to worry about your reputation as a builder. I do believe it would be in your best interest to move back to Austin though. Things could get nasty in Jonestown for you.” He was the dad I remembered, trying his best to control the situation and fix it.

  “Dad, you don’t get it. I don’t want to protect my reputation. I just fucking want Lia back!” I shouted.

  “You sound like stalker. You better just move on and forget about her. With what you’ve done, you’ll never be able to convince her to come back to you. You will seem like the crazy person you were that night. I’m sorry, son, but there’s no other way.” His voice was stern—resolute.

  “I can’t accept that. I’m going to her in New York. Maybe she’s calmed down enough to talk to me,” I stubbornly told him.


  “I seriously think that’s a terrible idea, Cale.”

  I ignored his last statement. “Dad, has your friend looked into Sam Vickerson yet? He was taken to jail last night, but I want to make sure the fucker never gets out, so any information I can provide to the police will be helpful.”

  “I’ll contact him, son. I’ll let you know what I find out,” he assured me and hung up the phone.

  This has to be the worst fucking day of my life.

  WHEN WE FINALLY arrived at the hotel, I smiled, realizing that it was located near some of the best places to shop in town. My mother was just like me when it came to shopping—we were slightly addicted. The apple didn’t fall far from the tree in our case.

  After the cab pulled up to the curb and we grabbed my bags, we made our way into the swanky hotel.

  Mom led me to the elevator and stroked my hair lovingly as we rode up to my floor which was just one floor up from theirs. When the doors opened, I followed her down the hallway to my room. She unlocked the door and ushered me inside. Once I dumped my bags, she called room service for some coffee. I unzipped my bag and located my pajamas. Today was one of those days. Not long after I curled up on the sofa, room service arrived and my mom handed me a steaming cup of coffee.

  “Okay, baby girl. Spill,” she instructed, taking a sip from her cup.

  “Oh, Mom. Where do I even begin?” I questioned with annoying tears filling my eyes again.

  “You start from the beginning. Just tell me all of it. We’ll sort through your pain, I promise.” She reached a hand over and stroked my hair again.

  I sighed before beginning. “So you remember how you got a call one day out of the blue with my random news of moving to another town?”

  She nodded. “I never really thought it was random, but you seemed to feel strongly enough about it that I never pressed on.”