Pinch Me

Chapter Thirty

Manasota Key had a split personality. For years, Charlotte County commissioners let developers run rampant on the southern end, while on the north end Sarasota County stymied them. Therefore, when you reached the green and white sign reading Now Entering Sarasota County, the demarcation line was obvious by the sudden lack of condos, beach houses, and trailer parks, replaced by greenbelts of mangrove and oak trees native to the island. There were still houses built there that had no business being on a barrier island, but at least it was more pleasant to the eye and you could kid yourself that the developers weren’t running the show.

Steve’s rental house sat nestled in a thick tangle of mangroves, oaks, and palm trees on the Intracoastal side of the key, with a Gulf beach right-of-way access across the road. A two-story stilt house, with a screen porch circling it, it sat almost completely hidden from the road by trees.

It was completely furnished but empty of food. A deputy stayed behind with Laura while Rob went out for provisions.

Doogie wasted no time exploring the new territory. He proudly brought Laura a desiccated lizard he’d found that had gotten trapped inside. He presented her with the mummified reptile, his otter tail wagging so hard his whole body wiggled with glee.

“Out. Give it.” He spit it into her hand and she praised him, wasting no time throwing it away and washing her hands.

Rob finally returned and the deputies left, promising to return after dark.

“What’d you get, Sir?” Laura tried to peek inside the bags but he gently slapped her hand away.

“Don’t worry about it. You’ll find out later.” He wouldn’t let her help him put up the groceries, so she sulked into the den and set up her laptop to catch up with her email. Rob made frequent checks of the property with Doogie, and at one point he returned and found her curled up on the couch with one of her old journals.

“How are you doing?”

“I’m up to my senior year of college.”

He tried to read over her shoulder but the handwriting made him dizzy. “You’re going to go blind reading that.”

She looked up at him. “I’m used to it, remember?”

“Good point.” He left her alone.

I can’t believe it’s almost over. I made it through. One of the girls in my BizAd class laughed when I said I was going to take over Dad’s shop. I’m sure she thinks it’s funny, never lead anywhere. She’s the kind of person who has visions of a corner office and corporate Jag. She wasn’t laughing so hard when I casually mentioned the two freelance writing contracts I’d already snagged will probably pay me more in the next six months than she’ll make in the next year—if she manages to get a job that entails more than asking if you’d like fries with that. Graduates are a dime a dozen. Good solid careers are rarer than perfect emeralds. She’ll learn that soon enough.

I have to admit that I felt a little smug. Most of what my classmates learned, I was raised on. Balance sheets, employee management—been there, done that. I did learn stuff, but some of it was applicable to larger businesses. Still nice to know.

I’m glad Dad insisted I stay with it. I know I can make money with my writing, and that’s a dream I’m dearly grateful for. The shop is security. I don’t resent taking it over like some might. Why should I open my own business when I’m doing what I’m happy doing? Some people would say I’m not living up to my fullest potential. Screw that. I’m happy, I pay my bills, and I enjoy going to work every day. How many people are that lucky? Not very damn many.

Even back then she had determination and spirit, direction, foresight, self-confidence. That was the person she wanted to know—to be—again. She didn’t feel anything like her now.

Rob finished cooking and brought out delicious pork chops and risotto.

“Are you some sort of gourmet chef or something, Sir?”

He laughed. “No, but sometimes we’ve got a lot of time on our hands at the station. Firemen are notoriously good cooks.”

“The guys must love you.”

“Yeah, John Baker’s been standing in for me, and everyone said they need stock in Mylanta.”

A knock on the door startled Laura. Doogie barked, sounding the alarm.

“Too late, dingbat,” Rob chastised the dog. “The Visigoths have already arrived.” He peeked through the side window and opened the door. It was a deputy. “Want some chow?”

“No, thanks. Just wanted to let you know we’re down there.”

They spent the evening in companionable silence, watching TV. For once, Laura didn’t want to talk. She just wanted to absorb all she’d read and focus on the newly-recovered memories. She started yawning around eleven.

“Time to turn in.” She looked at Rob, wanting him to suggest something, anything.

He brushed the hair away from her forehead and stroked her cheek. She started to speak and he gently touched his finger to her lips, silencing her. He took the remote control and turned the TV off, changing the stereo to a soft rock station.

He stood and made a “wait” motion to her and disappeared into the bedroom. A moment later he returned and stood in front of her, holding her play collar. He buckled it around her neck before offering his hand.

She let him take her into his arms. They swayed in time with the music and he made no move to kiss her, content to stare into her eyes.

Dropping her head to his chest she closed her eyes, feeling safe and warm and cherished. It finally hit her she didn’t have to have all of her memories back to enjoy life with him.

He kissed the top of her head, burying his face in her hair as they danced. The song changed and he stepped back, taking her hand and leading her down the hall. In the bedroom, several candles bathed the room with their dancing glow. She smiled and folded back into his arms as they danced at the foot of the bed for several tantalizingly long minutes.

The passion rose in her and she kissed him harder, running her hands down his back until she could pull his shirt free and trail her fingers along his smooth skin. She pulled him against her and could feel from his stiff cock how ready he was, but when she tried to unfasten his shorts he wouldn’t be rushed and stepped away.

He had her lie on the bed and gave her a back rub, fully clothed. After working up to her shoulders he slowly teased her shirt up, kissing her bared skin as he exposed it.

Laura shivered, wondering if it had always been this good, or just especially so this time. There was no fear or trepidation in her now as a warm flood of familiar sensations washed over her. This was different than their sadistic playtime. This was vanilla lovin’, and it was every bit as good as the kinky stuff.

She rolled over, pulling her shirt the rest of the way off. He sat up and removed his and lay down next to her, his skin hot to the touch. She traced gentle circles on his chest and then reached up and grabbed him by the neck, pulling him down on top of her. His cock was pressed hard against her and his breath quickened. She wrapped her legs around him, wanting him inside her.

Rob eased her shorts off and kissed her just below the navel. She trembled with anticipation and softly begged him not to stop as he slowly worked his way south, until he was licking and sucking on her clit. He pushed her legs apart and settled in, slowly thrusting into her pussy with two fingers as he worked her swollen nub with his tongue. It didn’t take him long to get her over the edge and make her cry out with pleasure as her orgasm vibrated through her.

He sat up and peeled his shorts off. She reached for him and he paused, getting a condom from the nightstand.

She helped him roll it onto his stiff cock. Then he slowly entered her, enjoying every second. They moved together in a slow, passionate rhythm, until she was soon crying out again from yet another orgasm.

This felt like sweet perfection. He quickened his pace while she matched him thrust for thrust, until she felt his cock harden inside her, swelling, throbbing as he filled the condom. Only then did they collapse together, spent, happy, exhausted.

He went to clean up. When he returned to bed he took her into his arms. “Do you have any idea how much I love you, baby girl?”

She yelped and jumped closer to him. Doogie, his tail wagging with happy doggy joy, had goosed her with his wet nose.

He also had something in his mouth.

“Damn,” Rob yelled. “Leave it! Drop it!” Rob jumped over her and chased the Lab out of the bedroom. She was about to follow when she heard Rob catch him.

“Give it. Give it!” He must have, and a moment later she heard the guest toilet flush, Rob washing his hands before returning to the bedroom.

“Let’s try this again.” He slipped under the covers with her.

Her curiosity would not be denied. “What did he have, Sir?”

Even in the dimming candlelight she saw his face redden.

“Come on, Sir. Tell me.”

He finally told her and she roared with laughter while Doogie crept back into the bedroom.

“He fished it out of the damn garbage. I told you we never used those things, except for anal and on toys,” he muttered.

She snuggled into his arms, still chortling every few minutes, quietly talking and asking him questions about things she was starting to remember. Pretty soon her breathing slowed and deepened, and when he looked she was asleep, wearing a contented smile.

He carefully extricated himself and put out the candles. Before extinguishing the last one he glared at Doogie. “You’re just mad because I’m the one who suggested it was time you got snipped, aren’t you?”

Doogie’s tail thumped once.

Tuesday morning, Rob awoke before Laura. She didn’t stir from her peaceful sleep when he got out of bed. Kissing her on the forehead, he grabbed a pair of shorts and leashed Doogie for his morning walk. He didn’t have to work this morning, but would go in that night.

At least there’d be deputies at the house to keep an eye on Laura for him.

He met one of the deputies on his way down the stairs. “Hi, Rob, I was just coming up to tell you we were leaving. We’ll be back around dark.”

“Any problems last night?”

“No. I haven’t heard back yet if they got anyone at your house or the condo, though.”

“Okay, thanks.”

He let Doogie explore the yard for a few minutes. It was around seven-thirty he thought, but he hadn’t checked the clock. Boats cruised past in the ICW, and he smelled the tangy Gulf air. It wasn’t just muggy. You could wring the mist out with your bare hands. Once the sea breezes picked up later in the day and the sun rose, the key would dry out.

Doogie reluctantly followed Rob up the stairs. Laura still slept. He made coffee and turned on the TV, sitting on the couch to watch. She stumbled out of the bedroom a few minutes later wearing his T-shirt, her collar, and nothing else. With the deputies standing guard, he’d relaxed the naked rule a little.

“Do you want coffee?” he asked.

She shook her head and crawled into his lap, her head on his shoulder. “I just want to go back to sleep, Sir. I had the most wonderful dreams.”

He smiled and kissed the top of her head. “I think my dream’s finally coming true.”

“There are still big holes in my memory. I think a lot of it is starting to come back, though. I can remember a lot from when I was a kid, Mom and Dad and Bill, stuff like that. I remember things from a few years ago. Like our first date.”

Rob groaned. “You would have to remember that fiasco, wouldn’t you?”

What started out a journey to a formal Chamber of Commerce dinner banquet ended with Rob in the back of an ambulance, performing CPR on an accident victim—who later died. Two cars collided head-on in front of them on their way to the banquet, and Rob immediately jumped out to help. Laura followed the ambulance to the hospital, driving Rob’s Explorer. By the time Rob finished filling out paperwork and they gave their statements to the trooper, it was too late to make the banquet. They drove through Checkers and parked at the fishing pier by the Tom Adams bridge.

“Despite everything that happened that night,” she said, “if nothing else, it showed me what a dedicated, compassionate person you are. You didn’t have to do what you did. You could have stood back as soon as the crew arrived on scene and we wouldn’t have missed the dinner. But you cared, and you stayed, and you tried your best to save that man.” She kissed him. “I think I fell in love with you that night, Sir.”

He hugged her. “You amaze me.”

“Why?”

“Most people find it hard to live with people who work the kind of hours and shifts I do.”

“Yeah, but I love all the time you’re home.” She rolled over and unfastened his shorts. His cock hardened at the attention.

“We’d better go into the bedroom.” He made her stand and led her down the hall.

With everything going on, all he wanted was to make love to her, to show her with his body everything in his heart beyond the kink, beyond their dynamic.

Just the pure love.

He rolled her on top of him and buried his face in the juncture of her thighs, enjoying the sweet taste of her juices. He flicked at her clit with his tongue, happy to know the old techniques still had the same effect on her even without all her memories. When she found his cock and took it into her mouth, he moaned loudly against her flesh, enjoying her echoing moan around his cock.

He reached up and wrapped his hands around her ass, holding tight and digging his fingers in when she tried to wiggle away until she gave in. Alternating fucking her with his tongue and licking and sucking on her clit, he kept her coming, every gasping moan filling his heart until he was satisfied he’d pleasured her enough.

He rolled her off him and pulled her up the bed. “Don’t you ever try to make me stop making you come,” he teased. “I’ll stop when I’m damn good and ready.”

She laughed. “Yes, Sir.”

He grabbed a condom, rolled it onto his cock, and knelt between her legs. Then he lifted her ankles, resting them on his shoulders and leaning forward, pinning her. Sliding his cock inside her, he paused and reached up to grab her wrists and hold them over her head.

Okay, so maybe a little kink.

He smiled down at her. “Look at me, baby girl.” The blue flecks in her eyes looked dark as she focused on him.

“Who do you belong to?”

Her voice sounded tiny, subspacey. “You, Sir.”

He slowly thrust, knowing today he wouldn’t be able to hold out very long after the way she’d been sucking on his cock. “Yes, you do. Whose good girl are you?”

She writhed beneath him, happy. “Yours, Sir.”

“Such a very good girl.” He started thrusting, his release catching him by surprise with only a few thrusts. His cock pulsed, throbbing, exploding as his balls emptied into the condom. After a few moments he rolled to his side, enjoying the feel of her stretching out next to him.

“Let’s take a nap, sweetheart.”

She draped her body over his. “Yes, Sir.”

A few hours later they showered and leashed Doogie for a long walk down to a convenience store.

Laura’s stomach growled. “What do you want to eat? I don’t know about you, but I’m getting pretty hungry.”

“I’m going to make you one of my world-famous omelets.”

“World-famous?”

“Okay, well, maybe not world-famous, and not as good as Shay’s, but the guys at the station like them.” They picked up a newspaper and returned to the house. Laura wasn’t worried about the shop. Tuesday mornings were always pretty slow.

Rob fired up the stove while Laura checked her email. She scrolled through her messages when she spotted one with the subject Getting Closer.

“Rob!”

He ran in and looked over her shoulder. Reaching around her, he clicked to open the message.

You are running out of time, Laura.

It was sent late the night before.

Laura made a strange sound and Rob turned to her. Pale and trembling, she bolted for the bathroom. He followed her, holding her shoulders and pulling her hair away from her face while she was sick, then helping her clean up. Her tears flowed and he held her there, sitting on the bathroom floor, while she sobbed.

“Why can’t he leave me alone? Why does he want to ruin my life? Who the hell is he?”

“I don’t know, honey, but he’s going to be one sorry bastard if I get my hands on him.”

Det. Thomas probably broke several speed laws to make it there as fast as he did. This time he came armed with FDLE agent Bruce Hutchins, also working on the case. At his advice they left the computer alone after opening the message. Hutchins sat down at the computer and got to work. They left him to his business and went to the kitchen. Laura’s appetite had deserted her, but Rob coaxed her into eating a few bites anyway.

Thomas sounded as frustrated as they were. “Laura, have you remembered anything about the attack?”

She shook her head. “I don’t remember anything from a couple of months up until the attack. That’s still mostly a complete blank. There’s little stuff coming back from before that, and some big chunks from several years ago, but nothing that would be any help.”

“This guy has to be someone who knows you or had some sort of contact with you. He’s got your email address for crying out loud.”

“That doesn’t mean anything,” Rob interrupted. “Her email address is usually listed in the tag at the end of her articles, and it’s listed on the shop’s web site. It wouldn’t be hard for someone with even a little computer knowledge to find that out.”

“I’ve got it,” Hutchins called.

They returned to the living room and looked over his shoulder. He had set up his own laptop and was running a program on it. “I fingered the IP of the email message. Originated from a server in New Mexico.”

Laura blinked. “New Mexico?”

He nodded. “That doesn’t mean anything. He could have logged into it from somewhere else. What I have to do now is contact the server and have them run traces on their end.”

Det. Thomas turned to Laura. “Do you know anyone who has this kind of computer experience? Anyone at all you can think of?”

She sat down and concentrated, finally shaking her head. “No one I know of.” She snorted. “Not that that means anything.”

The agent finished his work and packed up his computer. “Whoever he is, he’s using the same code name.”

Upon getting the emailed threats, Laura had been too distraught to think, much less analyze them. “What’s he calling himself?”

“MedicineMan.”

“Did anything happen last night at either place?” Rob asked.

Thomas shook his head. “Nothing. All quiet.”

“That’s a pretty strange coincidence, don’t you think?” Rob noted. “We disappear, and all of a sudden she gets another message.”

Thomas didn’t say anything at first. It was obvious to Laura the detective was reluctant to say anything in front of her.

Laura stared at them. “Are you two saying that this guy’s been watching me all this time?”

“We think that’s a possibility, yes. It’s one we’ve strongly considered for a while now.”

“And you think this confirms it?”

Thomas nodded.

She stood and went to the window. “This is bullshit. First this freak tries to kill me, and now he’s stalking me. I can’t live my life like this. I don’t want to be in fear for the rest of my life, and I refuse to run.”

Anger rapidly displaced her fear. “Who the fuck does this asshole think he is?”