Total pages in book: 196
Estimated words: 180438 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 902(@200wpm)___ 722(@250wpm)___ 601(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 180438 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 902(@200wpm)___ 722(@250wpm)___ 601(@300wpm)
“But she has no money and no one.”
“And whose fault is that? Have you forgotten what she caused us? I haven’t, and I never will. She got off easy because there were days when I gave serious thought to putting a hit out on her and the rest of them.”
“Ryder, don’t say that not even in jest.”
“Who’s joking?”
I slapped his chest, and the mood changed that quick. There was a sudden charge in the air as he pushed my hips apart with his and lowered himself down on top of me. Our lips came together softly as he slid into me, and it felt like coming home.
I forgot about Janie and whatever else we had on the table as he started moving inside me again. Nothing feels better than going back for seconds when I’m still wet and hot from the first. My body was still inflamed, a simmer burning just beneath the surface that ignited with the slightest touch of his hands on my breasts as he fondled them into hard peaks.
I felt wild and abandoned as he thrust into me deeper and deeper, as if his hunger for me knew no end. Part of me still couldn’t believe that we were here like this again in this lifetime, and I wondered how long it would take before I let myself fully believe.
Part of me wanted to hold back, and the heart of me wanted to let go and live again the way I haven’t in a very long time. Each time we come together like this, I’m reminded once again of how empty I was without him. Call me selfish, but when we’re together, with him buried inside me, I don’t care about anything else.
***
*Janie*
I seem to be losing time again. I remember walking from the car or being carried after those two guys closed the garage doors behind us, and that’s it. Now I woke in a room upstairs in the house where I never made it the night before. Someone had brought a bed, one that I’d never seen before, and there were curtains at the window.
Wait, was that whole thing just a dream? I shook my head as I sat up and placed my feet on the floor. My head was spinning, and my mouth tasted foul like something had died in it. I knew it was the after-effects of whatever drug I’d taken and reached for my bag to look for more. None!
My clothes were a mess, and it was only then that I remembered I had no clothes. I’d left L.A. with everything I had on me at the time, which wasn’t much. The thought hit me that right now, I had even less than I went into my marriage with. That wasn’t right, it couldn’t be.
I tried shaking my head to erase the cobwebs, but for some insane reason, everything seemed super clear. On the one hand, I could feel the lingering effects of the drugs in the lethargy in my limbs, but my mind had chosen now to be clear as a bell.
Fear, fear mixed with nausea, climbed up my throat and threatened to choke me. I tried to rush from the bed as the need to throw up hit me hard in the gut, but my legs refused to take direction from my brain and moved at a snail’s pace, causing me to puke all over myself.
By the time I made it to the bathroom, there was nothing left to throw up because there wasn’t much in my stomach to begin with. It was only after I’d splashed some water on my face that I realized two things: the lights and the water were still on; at least, that was something. I have no idea what happens with foreclosures, but I was pretty sure those were two of the first things to go.
When I made my way back to the bedroom, I noticed the bags in the corner. Someone had left me clothes. I snarled at the cheap plastic bags they were in and suffered the indignity of pulling out the sweats and tees from Walmart, of all places. Of all the injustices I’d faced in the last few days, this had to be the worst.
There was no one here, that’s what I told myself as I dragged off my soiled clothing and exchanged them for the less-than-stellar offerings. A nice hot shower would be good right about now, but I don’t think I had the strength to stand that long, and with the way my life was going these days, I was afraid I might drown.
As I pulled the oversized shirt over my head, I thought I heard a noise coming from downstairs. My heart started thudding like a drum against my chest as I tried moving as quietly as possible towards the already open door. I swear, I never have a rational thought unless I’m two sheets to the wind.