Three Fur All

Chapter Five

October stared at the dark brown pool of ice cream in the bowl. Her appetite had vanished after Mika slammed his fist into the wall. The look in his eye had been alien to the kind one he had given her only moments before. After the explosion, he had set the crutches inside the room. Her mind played over the kiss they had shared. It was soft and filled with a need she hadn’t understood, and he had seemed so sincere. Then the other woman had come in. It sounded like they used to be together. I don’t need to be in the middle of that. Hell, I don’t need to be in the middle of anything. I just want to get better and go home. But I can hardly even walk, so I’m not going anywhere anytime soon.

The thought depressed her. She was at the mercy of the two men who had taken her into their home. They wanted to know where she had been kept. Could she find that place again? Nothing in her wanted to return to that cellar. However, there were others down there. If she could save them, then that was something.

“Knock, knock.”

Elliot stood in the doorway with a cardboard tray in one hand and a large bag in the other. His silver hair made him look older than he really was.

Whatever his age, he was drop-dead gorgeous. She had to keep from drooling when he sauntered into the room and sat on the chair next to the bed.

“Sorry about getting back so late. I was at a meeting. I hope you don’t mind. I see Mika brought you some ice cream. I told him to go shopping.

You aren’t hungry?”

Her stomach gurgled at the smell of the food he had brought. From the aroma, she could tell it was greasy and everything that she needed to help her feel normal again. “I’m not a big chocolate fan. I didn’t want to hurt his feelings.”

He nodded and glanced at the bags on the floor. “I take it Dawn stopped by. I hope you don’t mind. I asked her to bring over some of her sister’s things.”

“No, it’s great as long as her sister doesn’t mind.” 23



A half smile worked on his face, but the pain in his eyes told a different story. “Dominique passed away a couple of years ago. We were going to be married.”

She placed a hand on his knee. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize.” Elliot glanced down at her hand, which she quickly snatched away. He shook his head and unloaded the contents of the fast-food bag. There was two of everything, so it appeared he was going to eat with her. October took the burger, unwrapped it, and then took a large bite out of it. The meat was juicy and had everything on it: cheese, bacon, lettuce, onions, tomatoes, mayonnaise, and ketchup, with a pickle too. She licked her lips from the dribble of ketchup that got caught on the corner of her mouth. Her host chuckled and handed her a napkin.

“I take it you’re enjoying it?”

“Oh God, yes. Right now it’s better than sex. Not that I’d rather a cheeseburger over sex but I . . . um . . .” Her cheeks burned when she realized she had talked herself into a corner. October studied her onion rings.


When she glanced back at Elliot, he was trying hard not to laugh. October burst into giggles too. “Sorry. It’s been kinda stressful these past few days.

What’s the date anyway?”

“That’s okay. I knew what you meant. It’s Monday, September twelfth.

What was the last date you remember?”

The burger sat on her lap as the dates went through her mind. Her fingers went numb. It was hard for her to breathe at the revelation. The smell of the food suddenly turned her stomach sick. The spinning in her head began again. Small tremors ran along her nerves, and the room was closing in on her. Elliot grabbed her food and set it on the nightstand. The next thing she knew, she was in his arms with him rubbing her back. That sensation of him moving his hands over her spine helped anchor her in her body. It took a few minutes until she could focus again.

“I was gone for a month. Oh God! All that time.”

“Shh . . . it’s okay. You made it out alive. Don’t let it get you down.”

“But the others. They’re still down there.”

“How many more?” Elliot asked her.

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October pushed away from him and saw his intense stare. “Three or four. I don’t know. The only reason I got away was because he was distracted with another girl and his partner wasn’t there.”

“Tell me what happened.”

Images of her captor morphing his shape brought fear, but it was his eyes she was always going to see. Demon eyes that could peer into her soul and know the very things she was thinking. I’ll never get those out of my head no matter how old I get. No matter how much I try to forget. Those yellow eyes will haunt my nightmares. She turned back to Elliot and tried to remember where it had all started.

“A friend of mine set me up with this guy. I went to this café, and he never showed up. I waited a while, until it was dark. Then I left. I was heading to my car when someone hit me over the head. The next thing I knew, I was locked up in some underground cell. There was a mattress to sleep on and a bucket. He left me fruit and fresh water, but nothing else.

There were more girls when I started. Seven, I think. We would tell each other our names and talk while he was gone.”

“You mentioned he had a partner.”

She nodded. “Yeah. I only saw him a handful of times. He turned on the power once when his partner was gone. He took one of the girls and brought her to the main room. I don’t know what he did with her, but her cries haunt my dreams. His partner came back, and they had a screaming match. It was pure luck I was able to get the pin loose on the chains that held me. They were so rusted. My abductor came in and said I was next. He went to a girl down the hall. I used that chance to open the door and wait. My kidnapper was distracted. I snuck out, and then I stopped. One minute he was there, and the next, in his place was a wolf. I know it sounds crazy, but I swear it.

When I ran out of the cellar, it was a not a man on my heels, but a wolf.

Didn’t you hit an animal?”

He took her hand and squeezed it. She searched his face, but it remained blank. “I believe that you suffered a great shock after your ordeal. Your mind is still processing that. You ran in front of our car, and, yes, we did hit 25



something, but it wasn’t a wolf. It was a large elk. Damnedest thing. I think it did more damage to us than we did to it.”

October wrenched her hand away. “I know what I saw. What was behind me was not an elk! It was a wolf. My kidnapper turned from a man into a-a monster. I’m not imagining it.”

She grabbed her cheeseburger and tore into it again. After a few minutes of silence, she glanced back at Elliot. He was eating too, but she could see the wheels working in his head from the tightness of his concentration.

There’s something he’s not telling me.

“Did Mika happen to tell you where he was going?”

“No. And I honestly don’t care.”

“What happened? Did he get into another fight with Dawn? They used to have a thing, until he lost his temper one night and hurt her.”

“You mean he beat her up?” It wouldn’t surprise me since he hit the wall and looked like he was going to come after me. And I let him kiss me. What an ass.

Elliot sighed. “Not exactly. Mika isn’t a violent man, but he’s been under a lot of stress lately. Don’t pay any attention to him. Dawn and he have been going back and forth for years. She presses his buttons, and then he pushes them back. I’ve learned to ignore it. You should too, considering you’re going to be here for a couple of weeks until you can walk on your ankle.”

“What happens after it heals?”

He put down his burger and took a sip of his drink. “I figured I’d talk to you about that later. We were hoping you could lead us back to where you were held captive. After that, we find the guy, turn him over to the authorities, and then you get to go back to your life. We’ll drop you off, and that’s it.”

She nodded. “Didn’t you call the cops about finding me? Why are you so intent on going after this guy?”

“We contacted the local sheriff and told them we had hit an elk and totaled my car.”

The color drained from her face. “But you didn’t tell them about me? So I’m your prisoner until you catch this guy?”

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“No. No. You misunderstand. You are our guest. When you’re better, we’ll make sure you get back to your place. We didn’t want to involve the outside authorities because this guy’s one of our own.”

“So is this some kind of Native American tribal thing?” Elliot gave her a half smile, but that didn’t reveal what was going through his mind. His answers had only supplied her with more questions.

“Something like that. Don’t worry about it. Really. I’ll go shopping in the morning for food. Just write down what you want, and I’ll pick it up.

Dominique used to take care of that sort of thing. She—” More pain burned in his eyes, and his skin paled. A faraway look came to his eye.

“What happened to her?”

“There was an accident, and she didn’t make it.”

“Is that one reason why Mika and Dawn fight, because he was involved with the accident that killed your fiancée?”

“No. That was my fault. If you’ll excuse me, it’s been a long night.” Elliot gathered the rest of his meal and her bowl of ice cream and left the room, closing the door behind him.

October mulled over everything she had learned. It was obvious they were both nursing some pretty deep hurts. Somehow they were connected to her kidnapper. She was the evidence they needed to hunt him down. Are they bounty hunters? Why haven’t they called in the outside authorities? Why didn’t they tell them about me? Something was going on, and she was going to get to the bottom of it.

The next morning, she woke up and her stomach hurt from eating so much. A shower was running somewhere in the house. She slid onto the floor and examined the bags that Dawn had brought to her. Inside were three pairs of jeans, some T-shirts, and a dress. There were a pair of sneakers and some flats. In the plastic bag were some toiletries and other personal items. At the bottom of the bag was a package of panties, but no bra.

Grateful for the clothes, she slipped into the jeans and found they were a size too big. The T-shirt was okay, but it was tight across the chest. Apparently Dominique had had a smaller chest than October, and she considered herself average. Oh well, it’s clothes, and they fit.


27



She glanced at her swollen ankle and poked it with her finger. Pain grated along her leg. The marks on her skin had turned to a dark purple. At least she was healing. She didn’t bother with the socks or shoes and crawled her way over to the crutches and used those to help her stand. When she was on her feet, she tried the crutches and found after a few tries she was able to walk with them, although it was slow going.

October opened the door and decided it was time to inspect the house instead of the room she had been staring at for the past two days. When she walked down the hall, she noticed it was all wood paneling. The living room was something she expected to see in a man’s house that had no woman’s touch to it. A fireplace was along the back wall. A leather sofa sat along the other wall. In every corner, mounted to the wall, were surround sound speakers. On the wall above the fireplace was a forty-six-inch plasma television that made her imagine the movie watching she could do in here. In the other corner was a stereo with even more speakers attached to it. In the dining room, a sliding glass door revealed a deck that looked out onto the forest below. The house had been built on the side of a mountain. She hobbled over to open the door and walked out onto the deck. Stairs led down to the lawn below. A few wisps of smoke wound along the trees until they mixed with the mist that hung over the forest. The air was crisp. Fall was her favorite season. The smell of the leaves and the thought of hot apple cider always turned her on when she thought of fall. It reminded her of when she had been a kid back in Massachusetts and the large piles of leaves she would jump into. Her mother was always furious with her for scattering them once again. Autumn always held more possibilities for her. The joy that filled her knowing she was going to live to see another season choked her up. Was her life ever going to be normal again?

“You’re up.”

She glanced back and saw Elliot in the doorway with a plateful of pancakes. She licked her lips. “Yeah. I couldn’t stay in the bedroom anymore.

I hope it’s okay that I came out here.”

28



“It’s fine. You have the run of the house while you’re here. I made some breakfast. I hope you don’t mind pancakes, and I have real maple syrup.” Elliot wagged his eyebrows at her.

October went back inside and sat at the table while he set the flapjacks between the two of them. Then he brought out some orange juice and the syrup. She scooped some up, and they ate in silence.

Finally, Elliot took their plates and set them in the sink, but he came back to sit down with her.

“Those were great. Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. I did some shopping this morning. I heard from Mika.

He said he was going to be spending some time at his shop and probably wouldn’t be around much. I have to run some errands in town. Do you mind staying here? Anything that you need?”

“Nothing. Thanks. I don’t mind. Maybe you can show me which remote goes to what.”

“Glad to.” Elliot helped her up, and she became very aware of his warm body and that she had no bra on.

She inhaled his scent and noticed he smelled like the syrup he had used on the pancakes. I wonder if he tastes like maple too. Need to get my head out of the gutter. First I kiss his roommate, and then I want to make out with him. I don’t even know these guys.

“Is there something wrong?” Elliot asked.

Shame peppered her cheeks from the heat of where her thoughts were leading. Being against his hard body, she could easily slide her hands over his stomach to feel his six-pack, and lower to cup his cock. If she weren’t hurt, it would be easy to climb on top of him and ride him all night long.

“No, nothing. Sorry.” She snuggled up to him and barely reached the top of his chest. Elliot was over six feet tall, and she was five-eight. She slipped her hand around his back, feeling the hard muscles there. He sat her down on the couch. October couldn’t help but lean up and brush her lips across his. He stiffened, but didn’t pull back right away.

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He was going to say something, when she answered first. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that. I-I just wanted to say thanks for breakfast and letting me stay here. I was aiming for your cheek and—”

“Don’t worry about it.”

She touched her lips and nodded. Elliot showed her the remote and then turned the television on for her. He left the room, and she flipped through the stations, trying to decide on something to watch. What she really wanted was to kiss Elliot again. October craved to cuddle up to him. Elliot seemed frozen in time. The hurt that hung around him was also reflected in the house. His heart was closed off, and she wondered if he was ever going to be free of the phantom in his soul.

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