Ryder leaned over her, kissing her, with his hands immersed into her hair. She wished he would just finish up, but he took his time caressing the curve of her neck with his lips over and over again. For the last couple weeks she had been walking around on her tiptoes, trying not to set off the anger she had seen him display. Their conversations were forced and every part of her cringed when he held out his arms for her, despite how good they felt. She would go to him, trying to soothe him, gently loving him; hoping her love would reach him. At night, she would read him chapters from her romance novels, showing how couples could work through problems, and she mentioned a marriage conflict seminar she saw an advertisement for in the newspaper.
He had not shown interest in either. Was any of it working?
He stopped kissing her. Must be time for her shirt to come off. She raised her arms in the air, to make it easier for him. When she didn’t feel him touch her, she put do
The next morning, Chloe showed up at their apartment with her dark tresses pulled back into a tight pony tail, which contrasted with the form-fitting blue jeans and light pink cashmere sweater she wore. Alecia showed her to the kitchen, where she gathered the plates filled with the remnants of the pancakes she had made earlier. Trina sat at the table, fumbling with a napkin, her blue eyes wavering, probably remembering last night. The breakfast had been strained with Ryder not saying a word, but chewing his food slowly and scrolling through the news on his iPad while she and her sister chit-chatted about random topics, which at the moment she couldn’t recall. After he left for work, Alecia reached for a cup, thinking to pour Chloe some of the hazelnut brew in the coffeepot. Chloe laid a hand on her arm. “Ally, how are you?” Alecia stilled and turned to look at her sister-in-law, noticing the lightness in her eyes. “I’m fine,” she said.
Alecia walked into the hotel room, dropping the few bags of books on the counter. She glanced at the clock. She had a few hours to curl up and read before Ryder came back to the hotel – if he came back. Seattle wasn’t that exciting when there was no one around. She flipped on the TV and watched the news, hoping for more information about the case her husband was so immersed in. The Hendrix' firm was fighting for a pharmaceutical company wanting the town council to give it land for a large plant that would bring many jobs to the area. It was a simple matter, except for the fact the land belonged to 20 families who had been living there their whole lives. Alecia finally began to understand the reality of what Ryder meant when he talked about his father's plans, his father and council was slowly, gradually uprooting all the humans from their lands and forcing them into the suburbs The case was making headlines because a top law firm from Cal
Taylor rolled over and grabbed her phone, looking at the screen. It was Alecia. She looked at Chloe's sleeping form under the sheets, and got out of the bed. Chloe told her Ryder had been more tense lately and yesterday he had demanded Alecia come home. Something must have happened. She walked into the living room, closing the door behind her, and answered the phone. “Hello, Alecia,” she said. Alecia broke down into sobs, mumbling out broken sentences. “Calm down,” Taylor whispered. “You’re making no sense.” Alecia took a deep breath. “He made me stand naked in the middle of the room while he watched a game.” Taylor gasped. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. Through fragments of sentences, Taylor pieced together what happened. She ran a hand through her hair. Mr. Hendrix had done something like that before to his wife while they watched from around a corner. Her childhood friend was his father. Ther
Ryder walked into the Seattle office of Hendrix Attorney at Law and took a step back. His father sat at his desk, tapping the end of a pen in a smooth rhythm. Ryder closed the door behind him, and stood with his hands folded in front of his waist. His father wanted something, but what could it be? He traced his mind, trying to figure out if he had left anything undone, but nothing stuck out. “Hello, sir.”His father leaned back in the chair and put his hands behind his head. “Do you know who Greg McCannon is?”“He’s a reporter covering the case.”“What else do you know about him?”Ryder shrugged his shoulders. “Nothing. He just calls us all the time wanting info.”Mr. Hendrix sat up and folded his hands on the desk. “He’s got some damaging information on us.”Ryder sat in the chair opposite of his father; he couldn’t move his gaze from him. “How?”“It will be taken care of. Go to the hotel and spend the day with your wife. The council will bring the information.
He was everything a girl could want, rich, influential, and handsome, but as the muscles of his back rose and fell with each deep breath, she saw nothing but power. Alecia pushed his arm off of her and slipped out of the bed. She stood in front of the mirror in the bathroom, staring at the girl she had become and not recognizing herself. Dark circles remained under her eyes; her skin blanched. Did Ryder still find her beautiful? To her, she looked dead. “You’re only twenty-one and your life has been lived,” she whispered. Ryder walked into the bathroom and ran some fingers across her back. She flinched and turned to him as he took off his black pajama pants and got in the shower. “Alecia, it’s Saturday get in here with me.” She tapped her fingers on the counter. He had always spoken to her like that, but now it held a different meaning. How could she have been so blind? Was she just too enamored with him to realize how he treated her? She slipped off
Alecia's eyes popped open and she stared at the ceiling as her stomach rumbled. She could gag at this moment. She pressed a hand to her stomach. What was wrong with her? Pushing herself from the bed, she stood and made her way to the kitchen to start a pot of coffee.She picked up a roll, but her stomach turned with just the thought. She pushed her hand hard against her stomach, but as she listened to the coffee drip into the pot, the aroma of the hazelnut entered her nostrils and something pushed up through her. She covered her mouth, and ran to the bathroom sweeping past Ryder. She threw open the lid of the toilet, and let everything in her stomach come out. Ryder bent down next to her and held her hair back.When it was all out, she took the cup of water Ryder handed her. She sipped the drink, swished her mouth, and spit into the toilet. She placed a hand on her head. “My head is hot, I must have a cold,” she said. She went to the guest bedroom and lay d
Ryder sat at his desk, filling out documents that listed assets, fudging details to make the company look more profitable than it was. He looked at the clock. Almost 10. Soon he would be home, and he would pull Alecia into his arms and cherish the sweet strawberry smell of her hair. As he signed his father’s name to the document, he thought of buying Alecia some tulips since he hadn’t bought her any in a while. Hopefully, they’d put a smile on her face. It had been so long since he’d seen one. Something nudged in him - a feeling akin to regret, but he pushed it away. If he got distracted, he wouldn’t be able to accomplish what his father demanded of him. And nothing was more distracting than guilt.The door flew open. Sose rushed from behind it. A chill swept over Ryder as he took in the man's werewolf appearance, and his bared claws. What was going on? The man looked like a rage boiled in his eyes.“It's time. Let’s go.”He jumped to his feet - his body s
Alecia's eyes flew wide open as she grasped her stomach. She tried to catch her breath, but she couldn’t as a sharpness grew in her. What was happening? “Ryder,” she pushed out when the pain subsided just a little. “Alecia.” Ryder leaned over her. “What’s wrong?” He placed his hand on her stomach. She rolled over on her side pressing the gown in between her legs. Another pain ripped through her. “The baby,” she shouted. “What baby?” Ryder rolled her back over and grabbed her hand. He pulled his hand away from her, a darkness covered it. “You’re pregnant.” Ryder sprang from the bed and ran to the living room coming back in a couple minutes. He swept her into his arms, running down the stairs of the apartment to the bottom floor. Alecia clenched his shirt, digging her fingers into his skin each time she felt a cramp. Once in the car, he drove through the streets to the nearest hospital. The fading lights of the street sped past them in the oppos
There is no more innocence in her eyes. Ryder ran a finger down Alecia's pale cheek, feeling dampness- evidence of her tears. His hand trailed to the bandages over her wrist, covering the ten stitches it took to close up the wound. A deep sob formed in his throat before a few tears slipped out. He pushed a fist into his eye, trying to push the pain away, but it only grew. What had he done? He had destroyed her.He turned from where she lay on the bed, covered in his black silk sheets, and walked into the hallway as a voice as soft as the wind beckoned to him. Leave, it called. Whenever he stopped to listen to it, it vanished like a ghost exposed to light. He walked outside of his Manhattan penthouse to the balcony, and placed his hands on the rail of the deck - the cool dry air floated around him - feeling like an omen. From this view he could gaze at the tall skyscrapers that pierced into the night sky, as if trying to prove their dominance. Car lights shined lik
Alecia woke up from sleep, somehow, all the memories came rushing back. It was never a dream. Their had really been a man who grabbed her, and Ryder had injected something into her -- something that had made her lose the baby. The tears that filled her eyes now we're tears of hopelessness. She would never be happy again, never be free. Never be the girl she used to be. She remembered all that had happened in the few days after Ryder kidnapped her from her family. They had wanted her to testify in court that Ryder hadn't had someone killed, someone she knew he had killed. To prepare her, or maybe to frighten her into telling the lies they wanted her to tell, they had slit the throat of a man before her very eyes. After that, she was nothing, felt nothing but sadness and utter hopelessness. She got up and walked to the bathroomAlecia stared at the mirror in the bathroom, into her lifeless blue eyes. She had be
Alecia laid her head on Ryder's bare chest and caressed the soft skin of his rippling abs. They had just made love, a new promise, a new life together and perhaps a new life would form in her womb. She scratched her face as something tickled her. Ryder's lips ran along her neck, sending tingles through her. Every part of her filled with the intense pleasure only he could produce in her. Something pressed against her skin, making her eyes pop opened.She quickly sat up. At her side sat Ryder with her father’s shotgun on his lap. His face void of all emotion except for the darkness in his eyes.“Daddy,” she screamed out.“Don’t wake him.”She looked at her sister who hadn’t even moved. She turned back to him. “What have you done?”“They’re just sleeping.”“You drugged them.” Ryder smirked.A rattling feeling spread through her as he stood and place
Ryder held the pen over the document. She was not in her hometown, but her parents were, so where could she be? It had been two weeks and his men hadn’t been able to find one clue of the girl. He shook his head and turned to the document in front of him. He needed to keep reading this briefing report, making sure every detail aligned with their case. He should go to her hometown and force the details from her parents, but his father said to wait until they knew where she was. Wait and catch her off guard. Ryde looked up when his phone beeped. He pressed the intercom button.“Yes, Jacky.”“There is a Mr. Sose here to see you.”“Send him in,” Ryder said. He looked up as the door opened, and Jacky showed Sose in. Sullivan glared at her until she quickly slipped behind the door and shut it. He really could scare people with just a glance. Sose walked over to the desk, and dropped a brown envelope onto it. Ryder picked it up.
Ryder walked into his father’s office, sat down in front of his desk and glared at him. He didn’t want this conversation, but best to get it over with. His father would help him get her back and then make her stay. He had done it once before with his mother. Now, Ryder understood the anger that had pushed his father to reclaim his wife. His mother should have stayed. All she had to do was listen. Just like Alecia should have.His father leaned back into his seat – his white dress shirt stretched with his movements. His eyes narrowed contrasting with the full smile. “So she left you. I told you to have the council keep an eye on her,” his father said. “But you wanted no one looking at your wife, but you.” His father’s lips curved in a smirk. He was mocking him.Ryder folded his hands in his lap. He wouldn’t respond to his mockery, letting him see how each word fueled the heat boiling in him.“Did she wip
The soft clanging of bells filled her ears, making her eyes pop open. Ryder reached over her and pressed it off - his skin sliding over her bare body. A yawn escaped from her lips. She had barely slept last night. She rolled over on her side and focused on the wall - with her eyes trailing the lavender border at the top. This would be her last morning here. Ryder breathed deeply as he struggled to wake himself up. Last night was another late one.He pushed himself up and rolled out of the bed. “I should be used to this,” he said.She smiled and brushed his bangs out of his face. Best to keep up appearances.Their eyes connected and Alecia's heart jumped. His eyes glittered in the early morning light, making him look like a youth. Like the boy she had fallen in love with. Would a part of her always love him? He kissed her head, sending the familiar tremors through her before leaving to wash up.She laid out his clothes, and made
Alecia listened to Ryder walk around the room as he got ready for work. She slipped further under the sheets, blackness filling her vision. When the alarm went off this morning she couldn’t bear the thought of getting up and putting on the pot of coffee. The face was still ingrained in her mind. The sheets were pulled down just below her eyes. Ryder leaned over her. He half-smiled and bent to give her a kiss. “My sister will be by later.” She nodded before he pulled the sheets back above her face, shielding her from the outside world. When she heard the bedroom door close, she rolled over and cried, letting the tears pour forth. She couldn’t get the face out of her mind no matter how much she tried. “I can’t live like this,” she whispered. “I want to die.” Sitting up from the bed, she let the sheets fall. The ache that spread through her was intense. She bit on the sheets as she rocked back in forth, but the pressure wouldn’t releas
Alecia eyes popped open. Her hands flew to her mouth. All she could see was the face, a strong face, which neither smiled nor grinned, but looked at her as if it was complacent. She removed her hands and bit down on the tips of her fingers. The man held her down as Ryder pierced her skin with something. She took a deep breath, trying to calm her irregular quick breaths, but her heart would not stop pounding the blood through her, making her gasp. It must have been a dream. Just a dream.She tried to roll over and look at her husband, but he was right behind her, his arms wrapped around her in a firm hold. He would never physically hurt her. Doubt crept through her. She reached for his hands and tried to lift his arms; however, they grasped her tightly, and would not budge. She looked at the wall. The face filled her mind. “Ryder, wake up.” Ryder sat up, and leaned over her face. “Are you okay?”“Let go of me.”
Ryder carried a half-dazed Alecia into the apartment with her family behind him. Taking her to their bedroom, he lay down next to her and caressed the hair out of her face. She still hadn’t said a word to him. Not one. He kissed her cheek and wrapped her into his arms. She rolled over and faced the wall. A deep ache grew in him. What had he done to her? Loosen up. That was what he needed to do. “Please roll back over,” he said as he placed a firm hand on her hip. She shook her head. “We’ll have more.” “Please leave me, I beg you." She whispered. “Do you want Trina?” “No one.” He kissed her cheek before he got up and left. He walked out the door and inched it closed. He could not look at her family, so he concentrated on the floor. “She wants to be alone.” No one responded so he locked himself in the guest room, burying his face into the pillow as he let his tears fall. All he wanted was Alecia back; to lov