Ripped Page 4

  And then I looked at my bed, which wasn’t made. And I looked at Austin. And I remembered how we used to have sex in that bed, and I used to think he liked it.

  How I used to like it.

  What kind of pathetic person doesn’t realize that she’s having sex with a gay guy? I twisted my hands together. “Austin, thanks for my phone and all, but the truth is, I’m actually feeling a little tired.”

  “Of course you are.” He tugged up the covers on my bed. “Maybe you should lie down for a little bit.” He reached out and stroked my hair affectionately. “You want me to stay?”

  “No, that’s okay.”

  “It’s not a problem,” he said. “I’m here for you, no matter what. Whatever you need.”

  What I needed was for him to go. But I didn’t know how to say that without being rude. And Austin was actually kind of fragile, that was the thing. It was worse now that his family had told him that he was the spawn of Satan and that they were praying for him to see the light and come back to Jesus and pussy. His foundation was gone. So any little thing made him crumple.

  I sat down on the bed and buried my face in my hands.

  He sat down next to me and rubbed my back. “It’s going to be okay, Shell. I’m sure they’ll find Starling soon.”

  I had an urge to turn around and throw myself into his arms. It would be so nice to be close to him again. But it would also be strange, and it would just end up hurting even worse. I was beginning to feel like I might start crying.

  And that made me feel guilty too, because I should have been crying about the fact that my sister was missing, not that my fiance had turned out to be a homosexual. But that was me, I guessed. I was always a little bit too selfish, especially when it came to Starling.

  Hell, it was all my fault that she’d joined a harem in the first place.

  I just never thought it would all get so out of hand.

  She never used to be this way. When we were kids, Starling was the golden child. She was older than me by a year, and she did everything perfectly. She got straight As. She was the student-body president of her sophomore class. She won Homecoming Queen. She was captain of the flag team and she was a National Merit Scholar.

  And then a video of her having sex with her boyfriend got put on the Internet.

  Everyone in the school saw it.

  She was never the same after that.

  Her grades plummeted. She dropped out of all her extra-curriculars. She decided to go to a community college, and then she dropped out after two semesters but didn’t tell anyone.

  She started working in some upscale gentleman’s burlesque club, which was just a nice way of saying strip club.

  That was how she found out about the job with the prince. She actually auditioned for the privilege of being his personal whore. That was how Starling seemed to think now. She didn’t think she was worth anything other than being sexy. I hated that, and I wanted to help her.

  I was never going to stop trying to help her, because it was all I could do to make up for what happened to her, anyway.

  “She’s got to be out there somewhere,” said Austin. “Maybe she just found another prince or something. I mean, didn’t she just disappear when she first left to be with that Larbi guy?”

  “No, she told us she had won an exchange program, and that she’d be studying abroad for a month,” I said. The gig with Larbi had been short-term to begin with, but Starling had apparently made such an impression on him that he’d extended her contract indefinitely, and he took her all around the world with him. She had been back in the states for only a few weeks, and I thought it would be my chance to get through to her.

  But it turned out that it was only going to be her chance to be kidnapped and… and…

  God, what was happening to her?

  I did start crying then. I loved my sister, even if it didn’t seem like it sometimes. And my parents… Oh, holy hell, my father was probably flipping his lid right now. Starling had come out on national TV— “Did you see the news reports with Starling?” I asked Austin.

  “Yeah, that’s why I was worried.”

  “Did she admit that she was in a harem?” I said.

  “She called herself Larbi’s girlfriend,” he said.

  “Oh,” I said. “Good. So my parents—”

  “Well, then all the commentators starting speculating that she was actually just part of Larbi’s harem,” said Austin.

  “Oh,” I said in a different voice.

  “You want to call your mom?” he said, and there was a hitch in his voice, because he couldn’t call his own mom anymore.

  I looked down at my phone. “Not really, but I probably should.” I sighed.

  My phone vibrated in my hand.

  I jumped.

  Austin laughed. “Steady there. Just a text notification.”

  “I know that.” I was irritated with him for pointing out that I was nervous. I stood up, unlocking my phone.

  It was a text message from a number I didn’t recognize. I opened it.

  Come to Kingsley Park alone. Tell no one. No police. Or your sister dies.

  I swallowed hard.

  “What is it?” said Austin.

  I opened my mouth to answer.

  Tell no one. Or your sister dies.

  “Nothing,” I said. “It’s just an update that needs downloaded.”

  He nodded slowly. “Did that upset you, because you look—”

  “You know what, Austin? You’re the one that’s upsetting me.” My voice was thick. I needed to get rid of him so that I could go and save Starling. I had to go alone. Sure, the whole thing sounded like a trap, and it was probably really stupid not to go to the police, but if I got Starling killed, I couldn’t live with myself. That simply wasn’t an option.

  “Me?” He looked hurt. “What did I do?”

  “You’re here. I’ve told you only eighteen trillion times that I need space, and it’s like you’re deaf.”

  “But… I brought back your phone. Starling’s missing… Shell, we’re best friends.”

  I shook my head at him, tears filling my eyes. “No. We’re not. You are the man who broke my heart, and every time I see you, it just brings it all back.”

  He got up off the bed. “I never meant to hurt you—”

  “I know that, but you still did,” I said.

  He absorbed this.

  I fiddled with my phone, turning it over end to end. “I want you to go,” I whispered.

  His jaw twitched. Then he nodded, once, and turned to the door. He walked out, his shoulders bowed, and he didn’t say another word.

  I collapsed on the bed. Holy hell, what had I done to him? Austin didn’t have anyone. I shouldn’t have hurt him that way.

  Then I looked back at the text message. I had to do it. I couldn’t let Starling die.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Cade

  I got lucky, and I found her in about the tenth window I looked into. It was a bedroom, the curtains opened wide and light filtering out everywhere. I could see everything in the room, from her rust-colored comforter to her open closet, clothes spilling out onto the floor. The room was a little messy.

  I liked that.

  I didn’t like incredible order, like living in a museum.

  However, the room had also obviously been decorated by someone with an eye for it. It was artfully minimalistic, just a few candles and knick-knacks. On the wall were framed cartoon-style drawings of people.

  What was that about?

  But I stopped thinking about her drawings when the guy came into the room.

  Huh.

  I thought she didn’t have a boyfriend.

  Eh, what the hell was I doing?

  I was a fucking peeping Tom, that’s what.

  I felt a wave of shame run through me. I wasn’t generally this kind of guy, pathetically taking his pleasure by watching girls through their windows. And to be fair, I hadn’t started looking for her in the hope she’d take off
her clothes in front of an open window or anything like that.

  I guessed if that happened, it wouldn’t be the worst thing on earth.

  But I simply wanted to see her again. I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to her.

  However, it was becoming clear that she was in a relationship, not that it mattered, because there was no future for us anyway. Watching her through the window like this was obscene, and I needed to pack up and go.

  But.

  I didn’t.

  I just watched the guy, watching how the two of them were sitting on the bed together, but noting that they weren’t touching. The guy seemed to want to touch her several times. He reached out and then pulled back.

  Well, that was interesting.

  Maybe I was wrong. Maybe they weren’t a couple after all.

  Not that I cared.

  I was leaving any second now.

  Except it wasn’t me that left. It was the guy. He got up off the bed and stared at her like a puppy that had been kicked.

  Oh, they were having an argument. I could see it now in her posture. She was tense. She was yelling.

  He left, skulking out of the room.

  She sat down on the bed, burying her hands in her hair.

  Then she studied her phone for several seconds.

  Tossing it on the bed, she got up and went to her closet. She pulled her shirt over her head.

  I winced a little, but I didn’t look away. She was wearing a nude, cotton bra. Nothing fancy. Still, I liked that it made her look practically naked. I liked that I could see her small waist and the individual slope of each of her breasts.

  She tugged a t-shirt over her head, something dark and high-collared. She shed her pants as well. But she pulled on a pair of yoga pants so quickly I hardly had the chance to see more than a hint of her panties.

  It was enough to make me hard.

  I considered doing it. Stroking myself off in the car, watching her, even if it would hurt my pride.

  But she was pulling her hair into a tight ponytail and leaving her bedroom.

  Was she going to work out? Take a jog?

  I waited, and, sure enough, a few minutes later, she emerged out of the front of the building. She started down the sidewalk, but she wasn’t jogging, just walking at a good clip.

  She disappeared around the corner.

  I started the car and followed her.

  But she crossed the street and entered a parking garage.

  I debated following her in there.

  It was getting dark outside, and I didn’t think I’d be able to tell which car was hers if she came out. Then a car pulled out of the garage, and I saw that an overhead light shone directly into the windshield, illuminating the driver as they waited for the gate to lift.

  Good. I wouldn’t need to follow her inside then. I’d simply wait.

  Where was she going? Maybe she was driving to a park to take a jog or something. If so, I was going to feel ridiculous.

  What are you going to do, Cade? I taunted myself. Follow her down the trail and watch her jiggly bits go up and down while she’s running?

  My cock throbbed at the visual. The truth was that it had been a day of high adrenaline and tension with very little release. Rubbing one out was probably inevitable at this point. I didn’t see myself managing to go through the ritual of buying a girl drinks and pretending to care about her job and friends just to get into her pants.

  If I had any sense, I’d head home and masturbate in bed, in front of my TV, and afterward, maybe I’d pick up some take-out. I was in the mood for Thai, maybe. No, Chinese.

  Shell’s car appeared behind the gate.

  It opened.

  She pulled out.

  I waited for a few seconds, putting some distance between us, and then I pulled out behind her.

  So, I didn’t have any sense. Since when was that news?

  * * *

  Shell

  I arrived at Kingsley Park, and it was deserted. I’d never been here at this time of night, but I knew it had a bad reputation as a place where gangs dumped bodies or people went to get meth. Not that I knew anyone who did meth or anything. But, you know, I heard things. The text message hadn’t been specific about where I should go or what I should do, so I just got out of my car and peered around me, waiting for someone to say something.

  After an agonizingly long five minutes, I decided to text back the number that had gotten in touch with me.

  Here, I typed. Now what?

  I stared at my phone, waiting for it to vibrate and come alive with a response.

  Instead, I heard the sounds of sirens in the distance, of cars zooming by on the nearby highway.

  I clutched the phone tighter.

  I didn’t know if I could handle another five minutes in this place. I was fairly sure that I was going to be assaulted by some gang member who was hiding behind some of the trees, all of which looked pretty scraggly, I had to admit. The gang member would have to be fairly thin.

  And then something moved at the periphery of my vision, and I turned, my heart racing.

  The man who’d texted me, he was here.

  Had to be.

  And sure enough, there was a shadowy figure approaching me. He was tall, with broad shoulders and a tapered waist. He moved with liquid grace, like a panther on the hunt in the darkness, and I felt something quicken within me.

  Wait a second.

  I knew this person.

  “Ripper?” I said. “You stole my sister?”

  He stepped closer. “Stole your…? What are you doing out here alone? It’s not safe, you know. If you want, I could tell you about at least six other parks that are much better places to take a jog. Not that you seem to be jogging.”

  “I can’t believe you took her,” I said. “Why would you want to hurt Starling? Is someone paying you to kill her? And I thought you had some kind of code.” I was feeling furious, and it wiped away any fear that I probably should have been experiencing. Ripper was obviously a pretty dangerous man, but I wasn’t afraid of him. I supposed I had a healthy… respect for him. I realized that he could be violent if he wanted. But I had a certainty, a sort of subconscious knowledge that he wouldn’t hurt me. Still, I found what he’d done utterly repulsive.

  “I’m not going to kill your sister.” He was right next to me now, his body towering over me. “What are you going on about?”

  “After everything, after you let me go, then you just up and do this. Is it some kind of game for you?”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He took me by the shoulders.

  The touch went through me like a jolt. My body suddenly felt warm and weak. I struggled to gather my thoughts.

  “Focus,” he said, but he seemed affected by our touching as well. His voice had gone softer, lower. “What are you doing out here?”

  “I got a text,” I said, looking into his eyes. His light blue eyes, blue as the early morning sky. “I…” I bit my lip. What was it about this man? He was so hulking and imposing and raw. I felt myself unraveling every time I was close to him. And we were close now. Oh, so close.

  His hands were warm and firm around my shoulders. He cocked his head to one side and his lips parted.

  I leaned in, moving nearer to him. My voice was barely audible. “If you didn’t send the text, then who did?”

  He shook his head. “What did it say?”

  “It said to come alone and not to tell anyone or Starling would… would…” I needed to break away from him. I was getting lost in his eyes and my sister was in danger, and I wasn’t even sure if I could trust that he wasn’t the person who had sent me that text.

  Of course, he didn’t think that I even had my cell phone, so…

  His hand moved to my cheek, just the barest of brushes against my jaw. “It isn’t safe here, love,” he murmured.

  I shut my eyes. “I have to save Starling. I can’t let her down. Not again.” But my words sounded far away, breathy and tinged with desi
re.

  His fingers moved higher, to caress my eyebrow.

  I parted my lips.

  And he kissed me.

  I sighed, my hands going to his shoulders, his hulking frame. He was firm and solid. I felt my body start to get loose and pliant.

  His mouth was hot, his tongue searing me, claiming me. He made a noise in the back of his throat, something guttural.

  I clutched him, molding my body against his.

  He moved us, and I stumbled backwards two steps. We collided with my car. He pressed me into the cold metal, his hand threading into my hair, cupping the back of my head.

  I ran my hands over his back, over the firmness of him. I let my hands settle on his narrow hips, and I yanked them against me.

  He drove his pelvis against mine. His tongue assaulted mine, all the while holding my head in place so that I couldn’t stop him. I was at his mercy as he kissed me senseless.

  I didn’t want the kiss to end. It had been so long since I’d been good and kissed like this. Actually, I’d never experienced a kiss quite like this. He was like a force of nature, like the gusting wind, and he was holding it all back behind the thinnest of veneers. I wanted him to let go, to give in and take me hard and hot and harsh. I wanted all of him, all of this bundled-up passion and intensity.

  I didn’t think anyone had ever felt that for me before.

  His other hand traveled down my shoulder, over my arm.

  Shivers went through me in its wake.

  He traced my waist, my hip.

  I sighed against his mouth.

  From somewhere close by, someone cleared his throat.

  At first, neither of us reacted. It was too strange, too alien to what we were feeling, and besides, no one else was there but us anyway.

  The sound came again, louder and more pointed this time. Someone—a male someone—was clearing his throat.

  Slowly, Ripper broke the kiss, but he continued to hold onto me.

  We both turned our heads in the direction of the noise.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Cade

  I really didn’t want to be interrupted at that moment. I was about two seconds from getting to second base, for one thing, and my whole body was thrumming with it, with wanting her and touching her and losing myself in her.