Saving Her Read online

  “Shit. I should have left a long time ago.”

  “You still can.”

  “He’ll find me. Mark isn’t going to be here alone. I’m shocked you found him quick enough.”

  “You can come with me.”

  “Come with you?”

  She’d stopped pacing and was staring at him like he had just morphed into a space creature.

  “I can hide you on the way out and take you to my house. That way, I can pay off your hospital bills for you without any problems rising. And trust me, it’ll be safer than wherever you think you want to run to.”

  “That’s a stupid plan,” Hannah argued.

  “Is it? Or is the only way to get you out of here?”

  Hannah sighed.

  “Fuck.”

  ****

  Hannah didn’t raise her head until he told her to. Then she walked quickly, rapidly getting out of the car and walking into the house before closing the door. She took a pause to look around his house. It looked like he was the only person living here and from first glance, the place was too big for one man.

  The living room had two doors, the other leading out back to the other side of the compound. There was an arrangement of couches, a rug, a beautiful marble center table and a 55’ T.V. facing them. Those occupied the left side of the room which had a door that led into the house. Straight from the entrance door, one was facing a counter with a shelf of drinks behind it. There were two stools in front of the counter.

  “You’re not doing bad, Dr. Kane.”

  “Call me Steven. You’re in my house now, as a friend, not as a patient.”

  She couldn’t see his face because he was behind but she could tell that he was smiling. He placed a hand on her shoulder and started to move forward with her.

  “Let’s get you comfortable,” he replied.

  He walked into the left side of the sitting room, so that Hannah noticed how his white walls rhymed with the different colors of his home accouterments. They walked into a corridor.

  “The kitchen is first,” he said, using his head to point to the first room they met as they walked down the corridor. It was on the right.

  “Visitor’s room,” he said, tapping another door by the left.

  “Isn’t that where …”

  “No,” Steven replied with a shake of the head. “If you’re there, where will any visitor sleep when they come visiting?”

  “I don’t intend to stay very long, Steven. I can’t put you in trouble.”

  “Judging by your levels of apprehension, I’ll say I’m already in trouble. Your room.”

  They had gotten to the end of the corridor, and it branched into two smaller corridors leading directly to two different rooms. There was also a locked door straight down the corridor. Steven led her into the room by the right and opened it gently.

  “This is a room I’ve never had the need to use.”

  Hannah said nothing. For a room he never used, there was an impressive paucity of dust.

  “How come it’s so clean?” she said as she walked to the dressing cupboard and ran her finger along the dresser top.

  “I hire a cleaner to fix the entire house once every week.”

  “So you don’t clean yourself?”

  “Only the places I use frequently, like my bedroom, the living room and the kitchen.”

  “You cook?”

  “To the barest minimum.”

  Hannah smiled. Mark could cook a storm. It was a wonder how a man as evil as Mark was able to perform wonders in the kitchen and someone as nice as Steven, obviously didn’t see it as his job to cook what he ate.

  “I’ll just drop your stuff and let you have some space.”

  “I don’t have any stuff,” Hannah replied, taking the small bag from him.

  Steven nodded and took backwards steps before looking down at his watch.

  “We’re lucky our movement synced with my lunch break, but those forty five minutes are almost up and I’ve got to get back to the clinic. Don’t leave.”

  Hannah smiled sadly and nodded. Steven looked placated.

  “You’re free to go anywhere you want to go to within the house. I’ll be back before you even realize it.”

  “I doubt that,” Hannah responded.

  “Well, give or take a few hours.”

  He didn’t wait for her response before leaving the room and closing the door gently behind him. Hannah sat for a few minutes, trying to gauge if she was doing the right thing, or if she knew what she was doing at all.

  Mark can’t find me here, not yet.

  Those few days she had before Mark could find her were enough for her to plot a better plan and make a good run for it.

  I’m sorry, Steven but I will have to leave, not just now.

  Hannah got to her feet and walked out of the room, back into the living room. She just needed to close the door before going back for a refreshing bath. She had just gotten to the door and was turning the key when there was a loud knock on the door.

  “Open up,” a female voice shouted.

  Hannah looked through the peephole and saw a tall brunette in tight fitting jeans and a white crop top. Deciding a woman as ordinary looking as this could have nothing to do with Mark, she unlocked the door and opened it.

  “Hello, Steven isn’t home.”

  “Yeah, I know. But who are you?” the woman asked, squinting and staring so accusingly Hannah felt like a student caught copying during a test.

  “I’m …”

  She paused and had a rethink about giving people her real name. She didn’t know who was who and regardless, it made little sense for her to just give her name to a complete stranger.

  “I’m Penny.”

  “I’m Bell, Steve’s girlfriend,” the woman said, finally pushing past Hannah to walk into the house.

  Oh! But Steven said he’s got no girlfriend.

  The woman walked to the counter and turned around before resting her back on it.

  “Steve left you here and went back to work?” the woman asked.

  Hannah nodded.

  Something about the arrangement displeased the woman because she frowned deeply and eyed Hannah with malice. She looked around the room as if looking for any signs of the infestation that Hannah was so she could blot it out. Satisfied she saw no signs of encroachment upon her property, she walked to Hannah, choosing to stand less than three feet away from her face.

  “Where do you sleep?”

  “The …”

  “The visitor’s room?”

  Hannah nodded. This information seemed to placate her who gave Hannah another scornful look before walking out of the house, making sure to brush Hannah’s shoulder as she walked out.

  “Nice choice of girlfriend, Steven. She’s a charmer,” Hannah said as she closed the door behind the woman.

  Chapter Four

  I Know Pain.

  Hannah was about to bite into the peanut butter sandwich she had just made when the knock on the door caused her to stand up. She walked to the door and looked through the peephole, smiling softly before opening the door.

  “Hey,” Steven said, before walking in with a small bag.

  It was already night and he looked tired.

  “Hi, you came a bit later than I thought you would,” she said as she went back to sit in front of the T.V.

  Steven followed her, falling in beside her so their bodies touched.

  “Stressful day,” he answered.

  “When isn’t it ever?”

  He didn’t give a reply and seemed to be engrossed in the documentary Hannah had been watching on National Geographic until he suddenly rested his head on the cushion and closed his eyes. He was tired, Hannah observed.

  I really should wait for him to freshen up before asking him about his less than respectful girlfriend.

  “So how was your day? Did you miss me?” he asked, his voice groggy and slow.

  “Your girlfriend paid a visit.”

  He didn’t r
eact, not for the first few seconds. Hannah was about to repeat the statement when he finally raised his head from the couch rest and rubbed his forehead with his fingers.

  This isn’t the normal reaction a person has when he’s told his girlfriend visited.

  “It was Bell, wasn’t it?”

  “Yes, it was. Have you got any other?”

  “I’ve not even got one.”

  “But you knew it was Bell I was talking about,” Hannah contested.

  “Because only Bell would make such a claim. She’s been trying to have me for months now.”

  Hannah rolled her eyes and tried to focus on the T.V again but it was a futile effort. Even the peanut butter sandwich didn’t taste right.

  “That’s a very lofty claim to make, Mr. In Demand.”

  Steven hissed and raised his back from the couch, before finally letting his eyes fall on Hannah.

  “Mr. In Demand? Really?”

  “You told me you didn’t have a girlfriend and on the first day, I’d not even stayed thirty minutes before your girlfriend came stomping into the house to let me know who ruled the roost.”

  “I don’t have a girlfriend,” he said, his voice rising to a shout.

  Hannah didn’t care. She could shout back.

  “Well if you don’t, someone didn’t get the memo because she couldn’t have passed her message any clearer if she painted the walls with her name when she came visiting.”

  “Damn Bell.”

  Steven grabbed his bag and got to his feet before walking out of the living room into the corridor that led to his room. Hannah watched him go.

  Her breath didn’t return till she heard his door slam shut. Her heart beat in an irregular frenzy behind her ears and she could virtually hear her blood run at top speed through her veins.

  Why was she getting so aggressive? Steven did not owe her any explanations as to his relationship status. He was her savior, not her boyfriend.

  She remembered the scornful look on the woman’s face when the woman was about to walk out and felt another burst of anger. But who was she angry at? Was it Steven for telling her he had no girlfriend or the woman for claiming she was Steven’s girlfriend?

  Hannah didn’t understand why she was feeling like this. She picked her sandwich and took another bite but it didn’t taste like PB and J. Hannah picked the plate and took it into the kitchen, dumping the sandwich in the trash. She walked back to the living room but found she had no interest in whatever was being shown on the T.V.

  I shouldn’t have come on strong to him that way. It does look like he is saying the truth.

  Asides from the claim, Hannah saw no other point that indicated that the woman was anything more than a neighbor.

  “I should probably go apologize to him,” Hannah soliloquized.

  She shook her head and picked up the remote control, tuning the T.V. to another channel in the hope that there would be a program engaging enough to catch her attention. After fifteen minutes of changing channels and grumbling protests, she knew what she had to do. She dropped the remote control and walked to his room, before knocking the door softly.

  “Come on in,” came the reply from inside.

  Hannah opened the door and took a step into his room. It had the same white walls as the rest of the house but was more luxuriously furnished than most other places. The bed had high carved frames and a sea blue furry blanket. There was a small brown stool beside it. The room had a T.V. smaller than the one in the living room but there looked to be a gaming capsule connected to this. There was one two-sitter couch facing the T.V. and two leather skinned stools beside it. Steven was standing in front of his mirror, wearing nothing but a pair of tight fitting briefs.

  Hannah fought to control her breaths as she saw him. She saw the chiseled form of his back muscles, the slightly arrow form from his chest to his waist and the way his arm muscles stuck out tightly. He was backing her. She glimpsed the tight cups of his ass in the briefs and chose not to look there anymore, lest she lost her train of thoughts.

  He is much fitter than I had expected, and much sexier.

  She saw his eyes peering back to her through the mirror and saw the displeasure still in them. He hadn’t liked what had happened that was sure.

  “I came to ask what you’d like to eat,” she found herself saying.

  Really, Hannah. Are you so averse to apologizing?

  One of his brows rose. And something like a smile crept into his face, or was it a grimace?

  “I’ll eat anything I can, except maybe PB and Js.”

  “You don’t like them.”

  “No, not just in the mood. We could order some Chinese.”

  “Alright, lets.”

  There was a pause in which Hannah thought up the proper arrangement of words with which to apologize without sounding too at fault.

  “I guess she’s not your girlfriend then.”

  This time he smiled, really smiled, before shaking his head.

  “No. Her coming her to make such a claim is within the reaches of her character. I’ll handle her but not now. I’m too tired.”

  “Yeah, I noticed.”

  “You did,” he said, bending to pick something on his dresser.

  Hannah couldn’t but stare at the tight lift of his ass. When he stood up, he had his phone to his ear and made a quick call to the Chinese place. Then he dropped the call and turned around. When Hannah saw his chest, she almost ran back.

  ****

  Steven looked from her gaping mouth and wide staring eyes to his body. He looked again and it was then he noticed she was staring at his chest, at the long white scars that ran all over them.

  “Oh, these,” he said, smiling and running his finger along one that ran from his shoulder to his hip. “These are a long story, a very long story.”

  Hannah walked to him and pulled him into the bed, before sitting beside him.

  “We’ve got time,” she told him.

  “I would love to tell you but I think you owe me a story of your own. Tell me yours and I’ll tell you mine.”

  She sighed and started to pull away but he grabbed her hand, holding her close to him.

  “I deserve to know, Hannah.”

  She nodded with closed eyes. She didn’t open them even when she started to speak.

  “I met Mark four years ago while I was still in California.”

  “California?” Steven asked.

  ‘The University of California, I was still in college then, preparing to become a big shot lawyer.”

  Steven made sure not to look dismayed.

  “That was the plan up until my father died. When dad died, I had no other sponsor, no way to pay for my fees and no scholarship to help with the burden. Law is demanding and the jobs I kept finding cost me too much time. I was already struggling to get good grades, I couldn’t afford any more drops. I spoke to a friend and she introduced me to Mark.”

  “To sell drugs?”

  “At first I was just a mule, just a courier for the drugs, but Mark is smart and he noticed how smart I was too. He started to make me stay with him, to make and sell the drugs with him. I started to make money but I couldn’t make my grades.”

  She waited, looking into his eyes as if expecting him to say something. Steven had nothing to say.

  “I couldn’t cope and kept failing. I started to suffer depression so I turned to the drugs for escape.”

  “Which one?”

  “Any one, Mark had a whole pharmacy. I was a junkie looking for a high so I never keyed into any one. I just took anything that made the sadness go away.”

  Steven sighed and took both of her hands in his. Her eyes met his now, and didn’t look away.

  “I think the fact that I didn’t stick to one might have helped me. When I chose to stop, to stay away from drugs, I suffered withdrawal symptoms but not crazy intense ones like I’ve seen other guys suffer.”

  “You don’t take them anymore, do you?” Steven asked, moving his hands to
her waist.

  She shook his head, before moving her eyes down to his chest. Her palms moved to his chest, running gently on it so she felt every etched scar.

  “How?” she asked, before raising her head to his.

  “Pain,” Steven replied, his voice shaking as her touch brought back memories he’d thought he would never ponder over anymore.

  Her eyes quivered and widened so much, Steven could swear she understood what he had just said. She brought her lips close to his, letting them touch just a bit.

  “I know pain,” she replied before pressing her mouth to his.

  His hands tightened around her waist, pulling her to him as their lips quivered and snuggled against themselves. Her upper lip slid between his lips so that her tender sucking pulled his mouth apart. Her mouth opened even more, deepening their kiss. It reached deep into him, breaking the chains of desire so his member thickened in his underwear and a lusty moan rose from his throat. Her hands held his face, choosing to cup his smooth chin while her head turned to the side, changing the angle so her mouth fit more snugly with his.

  The need to commune with her had him rolling out his tongue so it lashed against hers and they both danced against each other. Her hands ran down to his chest, swiping up and down against his rigid nipples still they were tight and turgid. An elongated moan came from somewhere before she pulled away to kiss his chin and neck.

  “Your clothes,” Steven growled as he tugged at the hem of her T-shirt.

  Hannah stepped back just enough for him to pull it off her head so his fingers dropped to the button and zip of her jean trousers. He stared at the milky cream of her breasts, juggling in the hardly competent pink bras that held them back. He swallowed, feeling the desire rise again till he tasted it at the back of his throat. He dipped in, pushing his face in the middle of her bust so that he was kissing the tender white skin. His hands had unbuckled her pants and quickly unhooked her bra.

  Hannah got to her feet, letting the bra fall off naturally before pulling down her pants. She left the cotton panties but Steven pulled her to him, and slowly inched the panties down to reveal her slightly hairy pussy. Steven kissed her belly, feeling her tremble in his grip as his fingers curved around her ass cheeks. He squeezed them and let his kisses dip south, stopping just an inch away from the rise of her clit. He moved one finger to her crotch, following the wet trail till it got to her splayed petals. He pushed the finger in, smiling when she grabbed his shoulders tight. He twisted the finger, feeling her insides tremble against him before drawing it out again.