My Two Alphas, page 5
part #1 of Alphas Series
“I bet you say that to all the girls”, I said, with a nervous giggle, trying to lighten the mood.
Instead, Bram put his hand on my lower back and pulled us closer together so that our faces were only a breath apart, our bodies almost fused together.
“Never before, Diane. There’s never been a girl like you before, and I’ve never bitten anyone before, that might not make a lot of sense to you now, but later it will. Go to sleep now, I’m exhausted and you must be too, we’ll talk after we’ve had a rest”.
I dozed off, listening to Bram whisper to me, feeling his arm and leg thrown over me, feeling safe and protected, and for the first time in my life, completely satisfied.
Four
Unfortunately, we didn’t get to talk, or have more wild sex, or do much at all. I was awakened from my slumber by the insistent tone of my phone, and I staggered out of bed to find my bag and rummage through it, looking for the insistent piece of plastic, glass and metal.
“Hello”, I intoned sleepily, and a little grumpily.
“Diane”, came the tinny and shrill voice on the other end, “Where are you? Why haven’t you been responding to the mass text we sent out?”
“What? What text? Is this Mr Stephens?” My grogginess was starting to clear, and I looked over at Bram, seeing him watching me, his head propped up on one hand.
“Yes, of course it is!” Came the voice over my phone, more than a little angry now. “It’s two thirty, and everyone else is back at work. Where are you? Have you been sleeping?”
“Ah no”, I looked wildly at Bram, hoping for inspiration, then said the first thing that came to me. “Well, maybe a little. I was reading in the library and I think I might have dozed off. I’ll be there shortly”.
I pressed the end button before Mr Stephens could say anything further, then raced around, gathering my clothes and possessions. I hurriedly pulled on my clothes, and pulled my brush out of my bag, running it through my hair. I grimaced at Bram.
“I’m sorry, but I need this job, and he’s impossible on the best of days. Today has just pushed his buttons a little bit more than usual”.
I looked at Bram, lying completely uncaring about his nudity, while I was fully dressed. He beckoned at me to come over for a kiss, his gesture could so easily have seemed arrogant, but it wasn’t. I crawled onto the bed and leaned over him, dipping my head to lightly brush against his lips. When his hand went around the back of my neck to try to pull me down, I resisted. Bram let me go with a laugh, and it was obvious that he chose to let me pull away, in our short time together I had become all too aware of his strength. If he had wanted to make me stay, I couldn’t have got away, but his hand gently lifted from the back of my neck. I stared down at him, not knowing what to say before I left, this day was so far outside of my experience. Bram made it easy for me. He smiled.
“I want to see you again, but I can’t make it tonight. Can I call you tomorrow?”
I stared at him for a moment, wondering if he really meant it, he must have picked up on my concerns as he sat up and took my hands.
“I mean it, Diane, I’m not just spouting platitudes so you’ll go, and never hear from me again. If I could see you, or call you tonight, I would, but I can’t. I’ve got family commitments that I can’t get out of. I won’t even be able to call you, but I’ll call you tomorrow, I promise. Besides, you’ve got my number programmed into your phone, so you know how to contact me”.
I smiled and stepped back from the bed.
“Ok, Bram, I don’t want to seem needy, but I just want you to know that today was unusual for me. I don’t go in for one night stands, or one day stands even. I don’t know what I should be doing right now, I don’t know how to behave after spending the afternoon in a hotel room with a virtual stranger having sex, you know? So before I do or say the wrong thing, I’m just going to leave”.
I fled from the room, hearing Bram’s amused chuckle behind me. I smiled all the way down to the ground floor in the elevator, and as I hurried back to work. I felt really good about the last few hours, and not just because of the amazing orgasms. I thought that Bram and I had a real connection, and that today was just the start of something, not the end.
Of course, by the end of the next day, I was seriously doubting both my sanity and my ability to judge someone’s character. After being the last person to get back to work, and getting thoroughly chewed out by Mr Stephens, I settled in to the rest of the afternoon, barely able to concentrate on my job. I could barely wipe the smile from my face, and surprisingly, I think it helped me get through the afternoon’s difficult calls. Because we had been offline for so long, people had been unable to get through, so when they finally did, most of them were quite irate. I think they must have heard the smile in my voice, as my callers seemed to calm down, so the afternoon passed more quickly than I would have thought, even though I’m not sure that I was saying the right things. Of course Mr Stephens made me stay late to make up the time because I had been late back, and so I missed my train home and had to catch a later one, but I didn’t mind. It was the middle of summer, so it would still be light when I had to walk through the station car park. Even if it had been night, tonight was the night of the supermoon, all the newspapers had been full of it, so there should have been more light out tonight than usual. Apparently astronomers were looking forward to a “triple treat” – as well as being a blue moon, which apparently only meant there were two full moons in a month, so that wasn’t really special – it was a supermoon and a lunar eclipse. The supermoon meant that the moon appeared larger than normal, so would be reflecting more light than normal. Of course, it was a moot point, as I got home before night fell. I watched the late news, unable to settle down and go to bed early that night, then on a whim decided to go outside to watch the eclipse and see if I could get any photos on my phone. Of course my phone wasn’t up to the job, but I was awed by the eclipse. The moon was actually a reddish orange and I gazed up at it in wonder. Today had truly been an unusual day, I thought to myself, before nodding at those of my neighbours who were also staring up at the sky, and going inside to bed.
The next day I got ready for work, and headed off to the train station, almost humming with anticipation. I couldn’t help myself, I looked around for Bram, although I had no reason to expect him to be on the train, he had never said he would. I did notice a couple of very attractive men that I had never seen before, and as the train pulled in and I headed towards a seat, I pondered at the vagaries of fate. Yesterday I had met the most attractive man I had ever seen, and today there seemed to be more very good looking men catching my train. I smiled as the thought occurred to me that maybe there was something in the water around here, and the reason I had never stumbled across so many good looking men before was because I must have lived in a very average part of town! As I took my seat, I realised that the men were sitting in the pair of seats directly in front of where I sat, and as I caught the glance of one of the men, he winked at me before glancing down at his book, or phone, or whatever it was that he was paying attention to. I looked down at my book, smiling to myself, and thinking that maybe it was my newfound confidence shining out.
When I arrived at work, I flounced in, smiling at everyone and switching on my computer, actually looking forward to the morning. I hoped that Bram would call me at lunch time, we hadn’t actually organised a time for him to call, and it would be terrible if he called when I was on a work call. I looked up as Mr Stephens approached.
“Diane, I’m heading to my office now, you can bring my coffee there”.
“Actually, Mr Stephens, I can’t get your coffee today. I’ve got to get my stats up this month, so as soon as I log in, I’m on the phones”.
“Diane! I’m not asking again – “
I stood up, surprised at how calm the new me was feeling.
“Well, you didn’t actually ask me the first time. You told me. Now, if you check my job description, you might notice that it doesn’t say anywhere that I will get you coffee. Come to think of it, you never ask any of the male staff to get coffee, only me or one of the other women, is there any reason for that? Now, if you don’t mind, I have work to do”.
I sat down and ignored him, hearing a few gasps, and a few snickers around the office. Mr Stephens huffed a bit and then stormed off. I knew that he would find some way to make me pay for my boldness, but I didn’t care. It was time to look for a new job. A bold and assertive woman, like the one I was yesterday, wouldn’t waste her days working in this place, she would find something that utilised her skills, and paid her for them. She wouldn’t waste away answering phones and making coffee for a pompous twit like Mr Stephens.
By the end of the day, my boldness was fast disappearing. Bram hadn’t called. Worse still, when I had tried calling him, the calls had gone straight through to voicemail. I tried to convince myself that there must be a legitimate reason, but that nasty little voice was starting to whisper in my ear again. Maybe I had imagined that there was something special about Bram. Maybe I had just been deluding myself. Maybe he just wanted to get laid. I alternated between telling myself that what I had done yesterday was liberating, that I had needed to do something for me, to move past the hurt and betrayal left by my marriage to John, and telling myself that I had no idea how to pick a good man from a rotten one.
I was so wrapped up in my self pity that I obviously wasn’t watching where I was going. Hurrying through the train doors, I cannoned into a hard body that was slowly moving along the platform. I dropped my bag and the contents spilled all over the ground.
“My apologies”, said the man, turning and bending to help me gather things and passing them back to me to stuff back into my bag.
“No, I wasn’t looking where I was going, it was my fault. Thanks”, I said as he handed me the notebook and pen I still preferred over the note function on my phone. I looked around, making sure there was nothing else, then stood up, finally looking towards the man. I took a step backwards as I realised it was the man from this morning.
“Whoa, careful”, he said, holding out a hand to grab my arm and stop me from falling back onto the track as the train moved off.
I nodded my thanks, and scurried off, feeling disconcerted by seeing the man twice in one day when I was sure I had never seen him before. As I unlocked my car, I looked over my shoulder, not seeing the man anywhere. I pulled out of the car park, breathing a sigh of relief when no-one followed me out. Chiding myself for over-reacting to what had to be an extraordinary, but legitimate, coincidence, I drove home, checking my mirrors regularly, not feeling confident until my car was in the garage and the garage door was securely down behind me.
I sat on the couch and turned the phone over and over in my hands. It had been a long and trying day, I had been waiting for the call from Bram that never came, and when I had screwed up the courage to call him, he hadn’t answered. What had happened at the station had been foolish, a simple accident that I had blown up out of all proportion in my mind, and I needed to calm down. I decided to go to bed early, as I hadn’t slept well the night before, but first, there was something I had to try.
I took a deep breath, tried Bram’s number again, and tapped the phone against my forehead as his voicemail recording invited me to leave a message. Thumbing the end key, I flicked the phone onto my couch, and headed off to bed.
Five
There was no warning. One minute I was asleep, oblivious to the world around me, the next minute there was a large hand clamped over my mouth, and a large body pinning me to the mattress. I tried to struggle, but the weight of the person made it impossible. I stopped struggling, trying to listen, then realised that there was someone else in the room. Tears started falling from my eyes as I started to fear what was going to happen to me. Then the voice quietly spoke, and I stilled as its familiarity registered. It sounded like the man from the train.
“We don’t want to hurt you, Diane Fleming, so don’t struggle, or you will hurt yourself. We only want you for a hostage, so come along without a fuss”.
I shook my head as much as was possible, not understanding what they were saying. I didn’t have any money, why would I be a good hostage?
“If you promise not to scream, I’ll move my hand, but if you even make a sound, you’ll regret it, do you understand?”
He relaxed his hold enough for me to nod, and after a pause, he removed his hand.
“You’ve got the wrong person, why would you think I’ll be a good hostage? I don’t have any money. You must have the wrong house”. Even as I said it, I remembered that they had used my name.
“You have no idea how valuable you are, Diane Fleming. This has nothing to do with money. It’s time to go. We can do this the easy way, or the hard way, your choice”.
“What? Where are we going? What do you mean the hard way or the easy way?”
“Stop stalling, woman. Where we’re going is no concern of yours. If you come quietly, we will blindfold you, and you get an easy, comfortable ride. If you struggle, well, you won’t be comfortable”.
I must have hesitated too long, as with a muffled curse, a rag was shoved in my mouth and a pair of hands tied a cloth around my head to hold the gag in. It must have been the second person doing it, as the first man just remained on top of me, holding me in place with his weight. I tried to push him off, but he grabbed both of my hands and held them in one of his large ones, while his companion tied my wrists together. He moved off me then, whipping back the bed covers, and as quickly as I tried to sit up, he turned and sat on my chest, leaning forward to tie my knees and ankles. I sent up a silent prayer of thanks that I didn’t sleep nude, or he would have seen a lot more than I would have been comfortable with. Once he was done, he moved off me again and stood me upright while his companion dropped another cloth over my eyes. I felt like a mummy at this point, barely able to move. If I had hoped that my immobility would work in my favour, I was wrong. One of the men just lifted me like I weighed nothing and tossed me over his shoulder. I had no idea what the time was, although I knew it was dark out, but I was clinging to the hope that one of my neighbours would see me being carried out and call the police.
The men had obviously taken that into account, as instead of passing out the front, I sensed that they went out into my tiny back yard. I didn’t hear their feet on the driveway, but felt that they were sinking into the soft grass. I groaned in frustration at how easy this was going to be. My house was in the latest stage of the subdivision, and there was just paddock at the back. The plan was to construct one fence along the property line of the rear boundaries of all the houses on my side of the street, and we were trying to co-ordinate with the developer. The fencer was due on Monday, but today was only Thursday, or maybe it was Friday morning now, so my kidnappers could just walk across the paddock with me, and unless a neighbour happened to be looking out of their back windows, they wouldn’t see. Of course, paddocks didn’t have street lighting, so once we were a few metres from the houses, it would be unlikely that anyone would see us. I sobbed as I worried about what was going to happen to me, and was shocked when at the end of the walk, the man who was carrying me put me down gently, guiding me into the back of a car, and urging me to lay down before covering me with a blanket. I had expected to be thrown roughly into a car boot, and I puzzled over the last few minutes. Apart from the fear they had caused me to feel, they hadn’t actually hurt me, they had actually been quite gentle. This seemed to me very odd for kidnappers, and again I puzzled over why me. They had seemed to target me specifically, and had assured me that I was valuable. I couldn’t imagine why.
We travelled for a long time. It was difficult to be sure how long, because my senses were confused by being trussed up, gagged, blindfolded and covered with a blanket, but after what seemed like a long time, but might have only been half an hour, the car slowed, pulled to the side, and stopped, with the engine still running. I heard one of the front doors open and close, then the back door near my head opened.
“Lift your head”, came the man’s voice. I didn’t comply at first as I was still feeling confused and groggy, and wasn’t willing to co-operate. My head was gently tapped.
“Lift your head up, I can make you a bit more comfortable now, but I can’t do it if you’re taking up the whole back seat”.
I allowed the man to help me to a half sitting position, then wished I hadn’t when he sat on the seat next to me and closed the door. The car started moving again, and he pulled the blanket from my head and loosened the gag. I opened my mouth and tongued the cloth until it fell, and then I heard the sound of a cap being opened on a plastic bottle.
“Here, I’ve put a straw in it, I’ll hold it so you can rinse your mouth”.
“What is it?” I mumbled, my mouth still dry.
“Just water”, he laughed softly.
I hesitated. My mouth was dry and felt disgusting after having that cloth shoved in it for so long, but I was worried the water was drugged. My thoughts must have shown on my face because the bottle was suddenly under my nose.
“Smell it. It’s just water. If we wanted to drug you, why didn’t we do it earlier? But if you don’t want it, I can just put the cap back on”.
The bottle moved away from under my nose, but I knew that I needed it. What he said made sense, and as far as I could tell, it just smelled like water.
“No, wait”, I said, “Can I have a sip please?”
I opened my lips a little and he put the straw in my mouth. It was a strangely intimate gesture, but as I sipped the water gratefully, I didn’t feel worried. The man had been laying on top of me in my bed, and despite the sexual position, he hadn’t tried anything. During the entire time they had bound me and carried me to the car, there hadn’t been any wandering hands. Whatever they had planned for me, I doubted it was sex. I sipped some water, swilled it around my mouth, then swallowed it. I pulled my head back so the straw fell away, then spoke.
