The Morning After

Hi friends,

Well, no one brought me flats or jeans. That’s okay though because it isn’t like you can get to me anyway. I would kill for a venti cup of blonde roast coffee right now. Okay, not kill. People dying in my presence is what got me into this mess.

In other news, I’ve managed to kinda sorta get myself kidnapped. I say “kinda” because it wasn’t like I had much of a choice really. Go with the scarred guy who says he has a way to fix my problem or stick around and let the mob slice and dice me up? He’s kinda cute under all of his gruffness. Don’t tell him I called him cute, okay? He gets grumpy.

–

Terry was awakened the next morning by a loud buzzing. She would’ve said it was like nothing had happened the night before except for the terrible hangover headache.

The sunlight streaming through her window was blinding.

“Fuck,” she moaned as she threw an arm over her face. “Turn off.”

Even through her shielded eyes, Terry felt the shift as the sunlight diminished. It also grew a little cooler in her room. She wasn’t sure when nature started listening to her, but she’d take it.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

She rolled back over, thinking she had at least another forty-five minutes before she had to get up and get dressed for work.

It was just as she was about to try to doze back off when she realized someone had replied. Her eyes popped open.

“Terry French, I’m going to need you to come with me.”

She squeezed her eyes shut and tried to stay as still as she could. Coaching herself to slow her breathing, she hoped he’d just… get bored and leave.

His heavy sigh said he didn’t believe her act.

“I know you’re awake, Ms. French. I don’t want to use force, but I will if I have to.”

He sounded surly, which made her less keen to go with him and she hadn’t even seen him.

Terry had a moment in her mind where she believed she was a svelte, Charlize Theron-esque woman. Limber, quick, and agile. In reality, she had not been to the gym in over a year, loved cake, and couldn’t quite reach her toes. She wasn’t fat, but she was embarrassingly out of shape.

That distorted reality didn’t prevent her from grabbing her sheet and executing what she believed in her mind was a perfect barrel roll off the bed and onto her floor. Reality was she managed to hit her shoulder on her way to the ground and bash her head on the floor.

Momentarily stunned, she lay on her messy floor, tangled in both her blankets and a pair of leggings she’d discarded at some point. Okay, she definitely wasn’t the graceful Charlize Theron type.

“Are you okay?”

The gruff voice was above her again. Terry opened her eyes to find a man dressed in black jeans and a brown leather jacket. His dark hair was nearly too long for his face, almost to the point where a ponytail holder was necessary. There was no way to determine his height with her spiraled out on the floor, but with the way he towered over her, she guessed he was taller than her five foot ten inch height.

Terry would’ve said he was handsome, if pressed and not distressed, but for the huge scar that ran from his eyebrow down his cheek to the corner of his lip. One of his bright blue eyes was cloudy, which means whatever cut him took his vision with it.

Right then he just looked mean and extremely aggravated with her.

“Uh… I’d be better if you weren’t in my apartment right now.”

That served to make him look far angrier. Terry made an undignified meeping sound and tried to roll away from him to her open bedroom door. It wasn’t until she’d rolled all the way to the door and stood that she realized her sheet had been left behind her.

He was between her and the door in a heartbeat.

Terry was now stark naked, in danger, with a strange man in her house. She grabbed a ridiculously tiny shirt off her floor and held it across her thighs. Thank the lord for small breasts that were easy to cover with one arm.

“You are in danger and I need you to come with me.”

She scanned her room, wondering what she could use to defend herself. She didn’t miss the way his eyes eat up her naked body.

“Listen, I need you to get dressed and come with me right now before they get here.”

Terry was already shaking his head through his words.

“No, thank you. I don’t know who ‘they’ are or who you are quite frankly. I need you to leave so I can get dressed and go to work.”

He heaved the exasperated sigh of a man who had used up all his patience. She watched him pinch the bridge of his nose, close his eyes, and grit his teeth. Terry spotted one of her girthier dildos, grabbed for it and made a run at him.

She was grace, she was strong, she was felled by too much crap on her floor. She’d no sooner made a go at him the she tripped over something and went straight into his arms.

Slamming onto his chest knocked the breath out of her for a moment. Terry was wrapped in arms that tightened to steel bands around her waist. Pressed chest to chest with him, she was suddenly a lot more aware of her body than before.

“I don’t have time for this.”

Terry wasn’t sure exactly what he didn’t have time for, but his cock seemed to think he had plenty of time for something.

She was contemplating their closeness when he hefted her up over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and turned to exit the room. The shock of it rendered her immobile. That seemed to be the story of her life over the last twenty-four hours. If she wasn’t in a compromising position, she was somewhere with her ass hanging out.

“Hey! I didn’t say I’d go with you and you still haven’t told me who the fuck you are. Put me down, asshole.”

“My name is Mac and I’m trying to keep your crazy ass alive.”

He brought a hand down on her bare ass, drawing a yelp from her. The spot throbbed and so did her cunt. Not the time, she reminded it. They were rapidly moving down the hall and toward her front door.

“I’m naked here. Can you at least get me some clothes before you kidnap me, asshole?”

Terry felt his grunt through her stomach. The reminder that she was very much still hungover decided to make its presence felt. With a vengeance.

“I think I’m going to be sick.”

“Oh for Christ sake.”

The contents of her stomach where making a rapid trip up her throat. She clapped a hand over her mouth to prevent its exit.

He sat her down in the kitchen, where she promptly vomited in the sink. To his credit, he held her hair back. When she’d emptied her stomach and leaned on the counter like a dying fish, he brought her a glass of water. Terry took it gratefully, thanking him as he rinsed the sink out.

“Put this on.”

He pressed her wrinkled dress from last night into her hand. She held it out.

“I need a bra.”

His growl made her whole body tingle. Down girl, she coached mentally.

“Put the dress on or I’m carrying you out naked.”

The look in his eyes, eyes that made a slow trek down her naked body, told her he wasn’t joking. Terry placed the glass on the counter with a clank and shimmied back into her dress. She was a poster child for the walk of shame.

“Can I bring anything else?”

He spotted her purse on the counter. Fished through it, tossed out her cellphone, and then handed it to her.

“Let’s go.” His tone was one that warned her not to argue.

Terry figured she’d have a better chance of getting away from him if she left than trying anything now.

They left her apartment and he led her to a beat up Dodge truck about a block away. Right when they got into the vehicle, Terry watched out of the windshield as three black SUVs pulled into the complex lot.

“Cut it close.” He murmured as he threw the truck in gear and pulled away from the curb.

A bunch of guys that looked a lot like the thug last night at the party, thick neck included, filed out and up the steps near her apartment. Terry knew they were coming for her.

“What’s going on?”

She wasn’t even going to pretend she wasn’t scared. It was beyond evident in her voice now.

“What’s going on is you were witness to the hit of one of the most powerful men in the city. Your boss wants you before the police get to you.”

Mac looked grim again. Terry clenched her purse close to her chest as what happened last night really sank in.

“Are you the police?”

There was a long pause that didn’t give her much confidence.

“No, I’m just someone sent to protect you. You’re the only person who can help put the man behind bars.”

“I can protect myself.”

She was blustering out of fear, but she needed to say it. She was a bad ass though, right? She killed her own spiders even when she wanted to just burn the whole apartment down.

They had only gone a few blocks when he pulled over into a deserted parking lot. Mac turned to her, his lips pursed as he looked her over. Her nerves wound tight under his intense stare. She didn’t know what he saw, but he turned away and restarted the truck. They were back on the road before he started talking again.

“These guys aren’t interested in having a quick conversation with you, Terry. They want to hurt you and if you don’t cooperate, they wouldn’t hesitate to take you apart piece by piece. They’ll make sure to take anyone you love out also.”

Well that drove the point home like a sharp knife through a loaf of bread.

“Well, okay…” Terry stared unseeing out of the window for a minute.

His hand landed on her thigh, it was a friendly touch meant to reassure her. Surprisingly it was comforting.

“I’ll keep you safe, I promise. I just need you to trust me. Can you do that?”

What choice did she have? It was Mac, the random guy who had just kidnapped her or the SUV full of thugs. Seemed like an easy enough decision.

What could be worse than this?