They were silent for a few minutes. Harper was already fast asleep because it was past her bedtime already and Derek realized that he should probably leave so that Ava could get some sleep as well."I should probably be leaving now," Derek said, getting up and stretching luxuriously. One day, in the near future, he hoped he wouldn’t have to leave Ava and Harper at the end of the day anymore, but for now, he would do whatever it was that made Ava comfortable and happy.Ava stared at his rippling muscles as he stretched, remembering all too vividly how hard and silky they used to feel under her hands. Damn! This was becoming even more difficult to bear.Shaking herself, she got up with him, so that she could walk him to the door, even though he had come here so many times that there was no need for that anymore and he could see himself out.With each day that passed, she fell more and more in love with Derek. As for him, she couldn’t tell how he felt because he acted the way he normall
Derek’s lips were just as delicious as Ava remembered them to be all those years ago when she last kissed him. She didn’t think she could ever get enough of them.At first, only their lips were touching, and Derek kept his hands to himself, still trying to give her the option of pulling away if that was what she wanted, but when Ava moaned into his mouth, he lost all control.He grabbed her suddenly by the waist, causing her to gasp into his mouth in surprise, and pulled her hard against his body. It was the hottest thing that Ava had ever encountered, and it caused her nether regions to throb almost unbearably.The kiss began to get more and more intense, until Derek groaned into her mouth, pushed her away, and looked at her with desire-filled eyes. She could tell he was about to apologize for kissing her, so she raised a finger to his lips to shush him. She had to stand on tiptoe to do that."Don't apologize, Derek ... unless you didn't want to kiss me.""Are you kidding, Ava? Kissi
Finally, he decided to have mercy on her and took the nipple in his mouth, sucking it gently, until she was writhing in his arms. Then he did the same for the other nipple.He alternated between the both of them, bringing her immense pleasure in a way that no other man had ever brought her.He did that for a while, and then he moved with her toward the closest wall in the room and made her lean against it. Then he squatted in front of her, and went to town with his head between her legs, working wonders with his oh-so-talented tongue.At this point, Ava was certain that she was going to go crazy. Never in her life had she been this turned on, and she had to cum right at that moment, no matter what.It seemed that Derek knew exactly what she wanted, because he began to expertly lap up her clit in that way he knew she loved, as though it was the last food on earth and he was a starving man.Ava moaned through it all, chanting his name over and over, and grabbing onto his head and shoulde
Ava unsuccessfully tried to tamp down the feeling of disappointment that engulfed her when she saw the empty space beside her.Why did Derek leave without telling her? With how intimate they were the previous night, she had been hoping that they would spend the morning together.After all, it wasn’t like he had to go to work today, or even any day if he didn’t want to, for that matter.It occurred to her that he could be with Harper, after all, Ava had woken up late. So she got out of bed, put on her robe, and padded out in search of him.Her whole body ached, but in a pleasurable way, and thinking about how the night went made her want to relive everything again.Derek wasn’t in the living room with Harper, however, and a quick check of Harper’s bedroom showed that the little girl was still fast asleep and alone.Ava checked around for a note but didn’t find any either. A quick look outside showed that Derek's car was no longer parked in her driveway, meaning he had indeed left.For
"I know, and I'm sorry for immediately assuming the worst. It’s just … you know … this is going to take some time to adjust to … um, well I …” Ava trailed off, her cheeks turning pink in embarrassment, especially because Derek looked a little hurt, but was trying to hide it.She couldn’t help how she felt though, and she knew that it was going to take a while and a lot of convincing before she was able to trust Derek on matters like this.Her heart was always on guard, and anticipating that his behavior could change at any time. That way, if it finally did, she would be prepared.“That’s okay. Of course, I understand. It’s not a problem at all. Anyway, away with you. Harper and I are going to prepare breakfast, and we need some space to ourselves, so you have to leave. You can go sit in front of the television with a glass of wine in your hand or something.” Derek told her, grabbing a bottle of wine and a glass and leading her out of the kitchen.Ava was only too happy to go. She sat
"Victoria didn't deserve that. Hell, no one deserves such a thing. I should have tried harder to get her to leave him, and things wouldn't have escalated the way they did. As a matter of fact, I still feel terribly guilty even after all these years because I didn't take her as seriously as I should have taken her that night. I figured it was just one of their regular quarrels, not knowing that it was far more serious and a matter of life and death this time around." Derek finished, his gaze far away."I'm sorry to say this, Derek, but I believe you have a savior complex. You know, it ...""Ouch!""Well, it's the truth. You did it for years with your sister, but the truth is that you can't save everyone. From this story you just told me, you tried your best to ask Victoria to leave Steve, and that even caused Steve to hate you. You shouldn't be carrying all this guilt around with you. You can't save someone who doesn't want to be saved. It sounds harsh, but it's the truth. If there's a
"Oh? What's that?" Ava asked, feigning ignorance."I'm asking what you think about us getting back together. It's probably too soon to ask again, but I just wanted to remind you to think about it. I can't imagine anything better than you, Harper, and I living together as one happy family." Derek told her, meaning every single word."I think it's still too soon. You promised to give me time to think about it." Ava replied uneasily. She didn't want to make a costly mistake by moving too fast, which was what moving in with him so soon was going to be."You're right, I did. How about the house I gave to you and Harper? Perhaps you could move in there? It's in a really secure neighborhood ... more secure than this one, that's for sure. At least, let's compromise on that, if nothing else." Derek told her.He could tell that she was uncomfortable with his first question, which was why he changed the topic.The last thing he needed was for her to feel pressured into getting back togeth
Steve was a huge mess. There was no other way to put it. On the outside, he wore a smile for his fans and went about his business every day as though everything was perfect.However, everything was far from perfect, and for the past few days now, he had been a sniveling, slobbering, and terrified mess on the inside. He wasn't usually the type to believe in Karma, but he had abruptly changed his mind in the past few days because his past had come back to haunt him and if care wasn’t taken, he would watch everything he had struggled to build over the years crumble into dust.Apparently, the phrase 'karma is a dish best served cold' was true as hell, because it had taken her all this while, but Karma had eventually gotten around to knocking on his door.He came back to himself and realized that he had simply stood under the shower for hours, while he thought about the best way to get out of the predicament in which he currently found himself, while the water ran cold.Unfortunately, no
“It was by sheer luck, if not, they never would have found you on time, and what would have happened then does not bear thinking about. Apparently, they managed to arrest the guy that Amanda initially hired to do all this sometime yesterday.Once the asshole realized that there was no chance in hell that he would get out of this and that he was well and truly done for, he began to sing like a canary. He led the police right to the house, and the rest, as they say, is history. I'm so thankful we got there on time.” Damien said.“Yeah, me too. It’s still hard to believe that Amanda could be filled with so much hate in her heart and that she was willing to go to such lengths to harm Derek, me, and even our child who has done nothing to her.”“I was surprised as well. I always knew that she was a mean person, but I never imagined that she was downright evil. I'm glad you followed through on your instinct.”“Me too. So is Amanda still …” Ava asked, unable to finish the question.“Unfortuna
Mother and daughter hugged each other for what felt like decades, and when they finally pulled apart, Ava's arm was hurting where she had been shot."I'm so sorry, baby. No one will ever hurt you again, I promise. Not when I'm alive." Ava said, ruffling Harper's hair, and wincing when she saw where the area on her head that had been shaved because of an injury there."The bad woman hit me with a gun. She shot Uncle Steve with the gun. Uncle Steve wanted to run away with me and Gracie, Mom." Harper explained, noting that Ava's eyes were on the wound.Ava gulped and averted her gaze immediately, unable to imagine the horror that Harper and Gracie had been through. Little children like them should never have to see someone murdered in cold blood.Seeing such a thing messed with even grownups like her, not to talk of children.The girls were going to need loads of therapy. Once again, Ava damned Amanda and Denise to hell and back in her mind. Suddenly, she realized the implications o
Ava had grabbed Denise because she wanted to use her as a human shield, and her plan worked pretty well, as it was all that saved her from what would have been certain death.The bullets that Amanda had just fired hit Denise point blank and in rapid succession. She died quickly, although the other two women didn’t know it yet.Ava felt Denise’s body jerk with the force of the shots at the same time that she saw Amanda crumple to the ground as though in slow motion.That was confusing, and Ava stared at her in surprise, unable to fathom what had just happened.She glanced down at Denise, whom she still held, and who was clearly very dead, and let go of her body immediately, feeling extremely sickened.She needed to focus on not getting killed, which was what Amanda was bent on doing to her.Amanda was trying to get back up, but before she could manage to do that, someone tackled her, and hit the gun out of her hand,Within moments, policemen swarmed the room, and Ava collapsed in relie
Denise and Ava stared warily at each other after Amanda left the room, and a few seconds later, Ava decided to try to reason with the other woman, even though she wasn’t sure that Denise was going to listen to her. “Denise, please, let us go. I promise not to press charges against you. You must know from all indications that there’s no way the both of you are going to get out of this unscathed. It doesn’t matter what Amanda says now. I can see in your eyes that you know it.” Ava tried to get to Denise. It was all she could do not to rush straight at Denise and grab Harper, who was whimpering in fear and trying not to move so that the knife would not nick her, away from the woman. She could see the fear and indecision in Denise’s face. Apparently, she was wise to realize what Amanda clearly failed to realize, which was that Ava was right and there was no way she and Amanda going to get out of this without being apprehended by the police. “Shut up!” Denise muttered. “Think abou
Ava didn’t wait to see what would happen next. She rushed straight at Amanda, faintly aware that her arm was hurting weirdly, but her adrenaline was too great for her to think anything of the pain right then. She had taken self-defense classes several times in the past, and although it had been a long time since she took them, those classes came in handy at that moment. Her life, as well as those of Harper and the other little girl, Gracie, depended on her. She couldn't let them down. She began to try to wrestle the gun away from Amanda, who struggled fiercely with her. As they struggled with the gun, it kept discharging, but by some miracle, neither of them was hit. Finally, the gun was out of bullets, and Amanda let go of it while yelling for Denise to come at the same time. Ava wasn’t done with her, though. She thought of poor Harper and her friend who were somewhere in that house, scared to death and definitely not in the best shape. She thought about Derek, who had been throug
Adrenaline pumped through Ava’s entire body, and utter rage filled her entire being. She was right! She had been right all along. These evil women were the ones who had abducted her daughter and another innocent child. She would have called for help, but there was no service on her phone, and she could only hope that Damien and the police would be somehow able to find her and soon too, before something bad happened to her or the girls. Had it been she had thought things through earlier, she would have gotten a car tracker before coming on this solo adventure. Unfortunately, never in her wildest dreams had she imagined what the night would bring, and so she had failed to take this necessary precaution. One moment, she was standing outside the house in fear, and the next moment, she found herself beside the door. Without caring what was waiting on the other side of the door, she threw herself against it as hard as she could. She thought fleetingly of the poor soul that was growing in
Ava didn’t go back home after driving away from Denise’s place. Instead, she parked her car the next block away from Denise’s house in a spot where her car would not easily be detected.Then she waited for what felt like an eternity for Denise to leave her house because she had every intention of following the woman to wherever it was that she was going.Her phone was blowing up with calls from Damien, who had left her several messages, asking her not to do anything drastic that could cause Denise to have the power to get her arrested or something.She ignored the messages and continued to wait. After a while, she saw a car, which she recognized as one of Amanda’s cars, come from the opposite direction and drive towards Denise’s house.Ava’s heart immediately began to beat really fast. Amanda was picking Denise up? Where the hell were both of them headed by that time of the night? Several minutes later, the car appeared again and drove off into the night.Ava let a few minutes pass, a
Ava sat in her idling car outside Denise’s house, her nerves failing her now that she was here.What was she thinking, sneaking out of her house like a thief in the night and coming here to the house of her sworn enemy?She just couldn't continue to sit at home, wringing her hands and crying while waiting for something positive to happen.She wasn’t sure what to do now that she was here, but she had to do something.Taking a deep breath, she took her phone and texted Damien to tell him where she was, just in case somehow, her hunch was right.If it was, then it would be incredibly dangerous and foolhardy to just walk into Denise’s waiting arms without telling anyone where she was.Even though it was only a little past eight in the evening, the streets were deserted, and there was no one around.Ava was about to open her car door and get out of the car when the lights in Denise’s house went off. Apparently, she was preparing to go to sleep.Ava sat still for a few minutes, wondering wh
It had been several days since Amanda and Denise paid their so-called courtesy call to Ava at her house … a move that Denise thought was incredibly stupid and dangerous.After all, the three women weren't friends and all of their acquaintances knew that, so it was surely going to look weird and suspicious that Denise and Amanda decided to visit Ava.Unfortunately, once Amanda put her mind to something, especially in recent times, it was practically impossible to change her mind, and so Denise had no choice but to go along with whatever she wanted, even if she thought it was foolhardy.“I’ve got a bad feeling, Amanda,” Denise said.“About what?” Amanda, who was in a terribly foul mood asked.It was now common knowledge that Derek had not only survived the gunshots but had also gone on to regain consciousness. Ever since this news broke out, Amanda had been unconsolable and had even taken out her frustration on Derek’s daughter, whom she still held captive.“I don’t know … I’ve got a ba