Protected by the HERO (3 page)

We ended up ordering takeout from a cheap but good Chinese place I knew of up the street. The rest of the evening was spent watching Christmas movies via Netflix on my laptop as I didn’t have a TV.

Mike insisted that I pick out all the films. And, he watched all of them, even the stupid made for TV holiday specials without complaint. Though he did often offer his own commentary.

“I don’t get it,” he said during one (even I had to admit) particularly inane one about Santa’s daughter for some reason having to fly her dad’s sleigh on Christmas eve, “Santa comes from Saint Nicholas, right?”

“Yeah,” I answered.

“And he was supposed to be celibate, right? I mean he was a Catholic Bishop,” he said.

“I guess he was,” I said, trying and failing to keep my mind on the film in front of me. This was particularly difficult because Mike had moved his chair so close to mine at the table that we were practically touching. I could feel the heat coming off of his arm.

“So, if he wasn’t supposed to have a family,” Mike continued slowly, “why is he always married in all these Christmas specials.”

“I don’t know,” I said honestly, “I guess they’re trying to make him more relatable.”

“He’s a guy who lives with elves, owns a pack of flying reindeer and flies around the world in one night,” Mike answered, “how relatable can he be? Even with a wife!”

I giggled at that before answering.

“Well, I guess, for the purposes of a romantic comedy movie,” I said, “Santa has to have kids so that those kids can fall in love with normal people. Otherwise, you couldn’t make romances that involved Santa Claus.”

“And that would be such a loss for the world,” Mike said sarcastically, I gave him a light slap on the arm before giggling again.

We stayed like that through the rest of the movie. Mike making silly comments and asking logical questions, me pretending to be annoyed by it. Me finding little excuses to touch his arm or hand for a second and feeling slightly ashamed of myself afterward.

Finally, at midnight, we mutually agreed that it was time for bed.

After I put on my PJs, brushed my teeth and washed my face in the bathroom, I came out to see Mike still in his day clothes sitting at the table with his laptop out. A focused look on his face.

“I thought we said no more worrying tonight,” I told him, walking towards the chair where he was sitting.

“I’m just looking at a few things,” he said without looking at me. “You can go to bed, ‘Brina. I’ll go to sleep in a bit.”

“Where are you going to sleep?” I asked. There was only one bed and while it was a Queen, big enough for both of us, I wasn’t sure it would be a good idea to have Mike sleep next to me. If I felt the heat from his body from beneath the covers, I was not sure that I would be able to control myself.

“I’ve got a sleeping bag and a pillow in my duffle,” he answered, “I’ll sleep on the floor next to the door. If anyone tries to get in again, they’ll have to step over me to do it.”

“Ok then,” I answered feeling both relieved and disappointed. “Goodnight.”

“‘Night,” he answered distractedly, still looking at his laptop with his brow furrowed.

As I climbed into bed, I snuck an interested peek at his screen.

What met my gaze was a picture of a large man with a shaved head, several long tattoos on his neck and sharp, beetle black eyes.

Something about the picture made me shudder even before I squinted to read the words underneath.

When I did, my heart began beating quickly in my chest.

James McBride

2450 Riverside

New York, NY

I knew that address. I knew where that street was on the other side of Washington Heights.

I swallowed, slowly sank down onto my pillow and forced my eyes closed.

All the same, I wondered how on earth I could expect myself to get to sleep when I knew that this madman, this crazed stalker, was sitting in his own apartment not two blocks away from me.

*****

He’d found me. Just like I feared he would. Mike lay on the floor in a pool of blood, dead. I whimpered softly as I looked into McBride’s black eyes. He was crawling towards me on the bed. I could feel his putrid breath on my face. He moved his hands with long nails like claws to my throat. I opened my mouth and screamed—

“Sabrina! Sabrina, wake up!”

My eyes shot open and as soon as I saw the male figure above me I began to wriggle and struggle to get away.

“‘Brina! It’s ok! It’s just me,” Mike said trying to hold onto my shoulders so that I would not wriggle off the bed.

I took two deep breaths as my eyes adjusted to the dark room. Finally, I realized that the eyes looking back at me were deep blue, not black. And they held concern, not malice.

“Sorry,” I said quietly, feeling embarrassed.

“It’s okay,” Mike said taking his hands from my shoulders and sitting on the bed. “Bad dream?”

I nodded.

“Do you want to tell me about it?” he asked.

I shook my head ‘no’.

“It’s stupid,” I said.

“It’s not stupid to have a few nightmares after what you’ve been through,” Mike said.

I nodded and I slowly pushed myself up onto my pillow. Mike stayed seated at the edge of the bed watching me intently.

“You were dead,” I said after several moment’s silence, “he...McBride...he came in and killed you and then he came after me.”

I was both startled and ashamed to feel two tears run down my cheeks as I spoke. Mike moved his hand to my face and gently wiped them away with his thumb.

“Hey,” he said, “that’s not going to happen, okay? I’m not going to let anyone hurt you. You believe that, right?”

I nodded, slowly, not daring to take my eyes off his. His hand, which still lingered on my cheek was beginning to chase the nightmare from my mind.

“Do you think you can go back to sleep?” he asked.

I hesitated. I was less scared now than I had been upon first waking, but I knew I didn’t want Mike to go back to the cold, hard floor.

“I don’t know,” I answered. “I could try.”

Slowly, he removed his hand from my cheek and made as though to get up from the bed. I felt an empty, disappointed ache fill my stomach before I saw him hesitate.

He looked down at the floor, seemed to bite his lip then turned back to me.

“Would you...would you feel better if I stayed with you in the bed for a little bit?” he asked. “I mean, just until you fall asleep,” he added hastily.

My pulse was pounding in my ears as I answered.

“Yeah,” I said, “I...I think that would make me feel better.”

“Ok,” he said.

Somewhat awkwardly, he moved to the other side of the bed and moved under the covers. A moment later, to my surprise, I felt his large, muscular arms move around my middle.

He moved so close to me that I could feel his body pressed against mine.

“I’m here ‘Brina,” he whispered. “You’re safe.”

I knew I would not be able to sleep now. Though for an entirely different reason.

Mike’s warm body, the feel of his arms wrapped around me and the thought of his face nuzzled into my hair caused an overwhelming pool of desire to flood through me. And I knew this time, I would be powerless to stop it.

I moved my free hand to Mike’s arm and began stroking it softly, gently. I felt his body tense at my touch and, for a moment, I was afraid I’d gone too far. I was afraid he would pull away from me and insist on going back to the floor.

The moment passed, however, and I felt him relax into my touch.

The next thing I felt was the gentle press of his warm lips on my neck. Then on my shoulder. His hands moved from my middle and caressed my side all the way down to my leg.

I heaved a sigh as I felt him grow firmer against my body.

“God, Sabrina,” he whispered into my ear, “you’re so beautiful.”

I felt him place another kiss on my jaw line. At that point, I lost control completely.

I turned around in his arms and kissed him desperately. He returned the kiss with twice as much passion. It was not long before I felt the covers being thrown off of me.

His mouth still tantalizingly exploring mine, he pushed me onto my back. When I felt myself hit the pillow, the kiss broke.

Mike looked down at me, his eyes still pooled with desire, but I could sense a certain hesitation.

I didn’t have the patience to wait any longer. I couldn’t just lie there wishing he would make a decision. So, I made one for us.

I pulled myself up from the pillow and moved my hands to the edge of his tight, white t-shirt. I began to pull it up, wanting to reveal his perfect, tanned abs. But, before I could, he grabbed my wrist and stopped me. I looked up at him.

“Sabrina,” he managed breathing heavily, “are you...are you sure you want to do this?”

I smiled at him and rolled my eyes before moving to my knees and taking his head in my hands. I moved my lips to his ear.

“I’ve wanted this,” I whispered, “for a long, long time.”

I heard him gasp before grabbing my hair forcefully, almost painfully and pressing his lips back to mine.

Soon he moved his hand to press against my breasts through the night shirt I had on. Kneading them almost desperately.

His other hand traveled its way down my long night shirt and moved between my legs.

I gasped and pulled away from Mike’s mouth when I felt his fingers touch me there...just there. The place between my thighs where I felt my desire building like a dam about to burst.

I saw him smirk in satisfaction out of the corner of my eye before he moved his lips to my ear lobe and nibbled gently. My eyelids flew closed and I let out another involuntary moan.

“Well, this is a fucking fantastic coincidence, Sabrina,” he whispered into my ear with a slight chuckle, “because, as it turns out, I’ve wanted you for a long time too.”

I couldn’t take it any more. I wanted, I needed to feel his warm, firm body against mine. With a frustrated groan, I move my hands again to his shirt and, this time, wasted no time in freeing his torso.

I was slightly disappointed when he had to move his hand from its delicious space between my legs to get the shirt off, but, I was rewarded when he returned the favor.

“Tit for tat, that’s what I always say,” he said lifting my night shirt over my head.

“That’s funny,” I said with a slight giggle, “I’ve never heard you say...oh, god!”

His hand had returned between my thighs, this time, he dipped into my underwear.

“And I’ve never heard you moan like that,” he said. He removed his hand briefly and moved them to my hips. Before I knew it, he had shoved my panties off my legs and onto the floor.

I was now very much aware of being fully naked before him.

Slowly, much too slowly,he began to remove his own boxers. Now clearly tented by his very erect member.

“I’ve got a feeling we’re going to learn a lot about each other tonight,” he said before bending down and forcing another fierce, desperate kiss on my mouth.

There were no more words after that. No more objections, no more fears and no more worrying. Just me and Mike. The two of us finally proving just how much we desired each other.

A while later, I’m not sure how long exactly, we both flopped back down onto the pillows. I couldn’t contain the wide smile that had spread over my face. I turned to Mike and was thrilled to see the same goofy grin mirrored in his features.

Several moments passed before he turned to me and pulled me into him.

“Do you think you can go to sleep now?” he asked.

“Depends,” I answered. “Will you still be here when I wake up?”

“Of course I will,” he said. I smiled.

“Then, yeah. I think I can sleep.”

I felt him sigh as I laid my head on his chest and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

When I woke up, several hours later, Mike’s warm chest had been replaced by my own cold mattress.

Confused, I opened my eyes to see Mike’s side of the bed clean and made up. Mike was not in it.

*****

Immediately, I sat up. My heart began beating a furious rhythm in my chest. He’d said that he would still be there. He promised he wouldn’t leave me. What if someone had broken in? What if McBride had come back?

It was a few moments before I heard sounds coming from the bathroom. Slowly, cautiously, I put my feet on the floor.

There was more rumbling from the bathroom. As though things were being moved around. I sat frozen on the bed in a panic.

I told myself to calm down, told myself that it was probably just Mike. There was nothing to worry about. All the same, I gasped with the bathroom door flung open.

“Oh, good, you’re up,” Mike said. I breathed a sigh of relief as he stepped out of the doorway to the bathroom.

“I...what time is it?” I asked trying to hide my fright which now felt extremely stupid.