Use Me Page 12

  “You ready, baby?”

  She moaned her response as I used my cock to circle her clit.

  I took that as my greenlight and guided myself into her. Ashtyn threw her head back, exposing her neck and while I thrust into her, I sucked and licked her skin. She moaned again, this time louder.

  “Shh unless you want someone walking by to hear us.”

  “Feels. Good,” she panted.

  “Yeah, baby.” While sex always felt good, especially with Ashtyn, there was something about thinking that at any moment someone could walk in and hear us. It only fueled my drive which caused me to thrust harder over and over, Ashtyn’s back sliding up and down the wall.

  Then it happened.

  I didn’t hear the door open, but I heard the females talking.

  “I hope the food’s good this year. Last year the chicken I got was dry.”

  Another woman replied, “I know. I hate that.”

  Ashtyn looked at me, her eyes wide. I smiled and placed my hand over her mouth. I didn’t slow down as I pumped into her until she moaned deep in her throat. I followed behind her with a low groan of my own and then kissed her until I heard the door close and no more voices in the room.

  After cleaning up, we walked back into the ballroom and found my mother. She was still talking to Barbara as if they’d been best friends since kindergarten. For all I knew, they were best friends now. My mother had a way of making everyone feel like friends or family. She could also sell ice to an Eskimo. I was certain I got my personality from her, and that was why I was comfortable in front of the camera.

  “There you two are. I found our tables, and since we weren’t all sitting together, I switched Ashtyn with someone. I hope that’s okay?”

  I chuckled. “Yeah, Mom, it is.”

  “I also heard dessert is cupcakes from that baking challenge show on TV: Cupcake Battle.”

  “I love that show!” Ashtyn exclaimed. “I bet the cupcakes are delicious.”

  I smirked. I’d never look at a real cupcake the same now.

  Dinner was served during the awards ceremony. Ashtyn and I each won an Emmy, and pictures were captured on our phones and by the hired photographers. Now, every time I looked at my Emmy for this year, I’d think about the restroom and this night.

  It was a fantastic night.

  We walked my mother back to her room. My father was snoring logs, so we whispered and hugged our goodbyes. Then Ashtyn and I grabbed an Uber and headed home.

  “Want to display our Emmys over your fireplace?” I asked in the backseat of some stranger’s car.

  “You want to keep it at my place?”

  “I want to put it out in the open so we can brag to our friends how awesome we are.”

  “If I recall, this isn’t your first one.”

  I shook my head. “Nope, but it’s the first time my girlfriend won one in the same year. It can be like bookends or … mantel ends.” Whatever the hell mantel ends were. Hers could go on the right, and mine could go on the left.

  “You’re silly, but okay. Whatever. Does this mean we’re staying at my place tonight?”

  “Sure. Just let me run home and get my phone charger and change so I’m not doing the walk of shame in a tux tomorrow.”

  Ashtyn laughed. “Walk of shame, huh?”

  “You know what I mean.”

  “Okay. I’ll get the shower ready.” She smirked.

  I groaned. “I’ll be quick.”

  A moment later, the car pulled up to Ashtyn’s building. She took my Emmy from me, and we got out on opposite sides of the car. The car drove off, and as I started to walk across the street, I called out, “Leave the door open and wait in the shower for me.”

  “Just go!” Ashtyn shooed me away as she laughed and turned to walk into her building.

  As I was rushing into my condo to change, a thought occurred to me. I called Ashtyn.

  “Hello?”

  “Hey! Want to go to Garfield Park tomorrow?”

  “To the conservatory?”

  “Yeah. We both have tomorrow off. It can be our first official date.” I heard a faint knock in the background as I made my way to my bedroom to change.

  “Sure. I haven’t been in years.”

  “I’ll just grab a change of clothes too, and we can do breakfast beforehand.”

  “Did you send me flowers?”

  I stopped dead in my tracks and scrunched my eyebrows at her question. “No, why?”

  “There’s someone here holding up flowers.”

  A weird feeling went through my body. The only way to describe it was a sinking feeling in my stomach. “This late?”

  “It’s probably Jose. He sometimes brings up packages if he’s on break and misses me when I walk through the door. Hold on.”

  “Why—” I started to say but stopped when I heard Ashtyn speak again.

  “Philip, what are you doing here?”

  “Who’s Philip?” I asked, but she didn’t respond.

  “Ashtyn, Ashtyn, Ashtyn, did you think you’d get away from me that easily?”

  “Ashtyn!” I yelled.

  She didn’t respond again. All I could hear was the wrestling of what I assumed was the phone.

  My feet started to move on their own as I listened. I was running down my hall toward the elevator as fast as my feet could go. I wasn’t sure if I’d even closed my door. I pressed the damn button over and over, but it wasn’t coming fast enough. My heart was beating to the point I thought it would jump out of my chest, wanting to run across the street and beat me to Ashtyn’s. I took the stairs, needing to hurry—needing to save my girl.

  With every step I took, I could hear Ashtyn screaming for the person to let her go.

  I opened the door like an idiot.

  Before he’d knocked, I only had enough time to take my coat off and put the Emmys on my mantle. It was as though he was waiting down the hall to make his move—make sure I was alone.

  The moment the flowers were pulled away, and I saw that it was Philip, my nerves were on high alert. How did he know where I lived? And how did he get past Jose? But when I arrived home Jose wasn’t at his desk. Was he on break? Went to the restroom?

  “Philip, what are you doing here?”

  “Ashtyn, Ashtyn, Ashtyn, did you think you’d get away from me that easily?”

  Before I could close the door or run, Philip threw the bouquet of red roses and stepped inside. The phone slipped from my hand, and I felt as though my lifeline had fallen with it. I had no idea if Rhys was still on the other end, or if he even knew Philip was here and moving toward me. I’d never told Rhys Philip’s name, and even if he did hear me ask Philip why he was here, it didn’t mean that Rhys was on his way to help me.

  Everything was happening in slow motion.

  I took a step back. Philip took a step forward. I took another step back. Philip took another step forward. His steps were slow, calculated, as though he didn’t want to scare me. I was starting to panic deep inside, praying Rhys would barge through the door and save the day.

  “What do you want?” I whispered, looking into his brown eyes. My pulse was beating so hard that it was echoing in my ears. My body started to shake as I kept taking slow steps backward. I didn’t want to turn and run because I knew he’d catch me. Plus, there was nowhere to go.

  “Isn’t it obvious?” He licked his lips. “I want you.”

  “So you thought drugging me was the way?”

  “Is that why you left dinner? You saw me put the Rohypnol in your wine?”

  I nodded.

  Philip huffed as though he’d just realized his mistake. “I should have waited longer. Then you’d be at my place right now.”

  “I would?” I kept retreating backward in the direction of my kitchen hoping I could make it and I could grab a knife. I wasn’t sure what I would do when I had it in my hand, but I’d at least feel as though I had the upper hand and not the other way around.

  “Yeah, but instead, you’re st
ill fucking Rhys Cole, and we can’t have that.” He pulled at his hair as though he was frustrated.

  “Wha—what?” Had he been watching me? Was he sick enough that he’d somehow had a bird’s eye view of what Rhys and I did in the bedroom? Or was he only speculating because he’d seen me with Rhys before he came up to my door?

  He grinned. “I know more than you think. You ran from me and straight into his bed. How do you think that makes me feel, Ashtyn?”

  “Why do you think that?” I asked, even though it was true.

  “You didn’t go home.”

  “That doesn’t mean I went to Rhys’s.”

  He snorted. “You think I’m that stupid?”

  “I—I don’t know. We don’t know each other.”

  “I know you. I also know your dad used to be a cop and your brother is currently a detective. You have another brother who became a doctor. Oh, and let’s not forget your mother—”

  “Stop!” I took another step back. “Why are you doing this? If you wouldn’t have tried to drug me then I would have stayed, and who knows what would have happened.”

  “I know what would have happened, Ashtyn. I’ve seen you with him.”

  “You’ve … seen me with him?”

  “Judy’s, walking to your place, walking to his. In your place. Even out on Navy Pier.”

  “You’re following me?” I could feel my palms starting to sweat. Hearing that Philip was stalking me confirmed my suspicions. Then a part of what he said struck me deeper: in your place.

  “Of course. I had to wait for the perfect time to make you mine.”

  “I’ll never be yours!”

  “You are!” he roared.

  I was a few feet away from the kitchen, ready to make my move, when Philip grabbed me by the arm, spun me around and placed something over my nose and mouth. Just as everything was going dark, I heard Rhys call out for me from the doorway.

  But it was too late.

  By the time I made it across the street, I’d already dialed 911 and told them what I’d heard. I wanted to stay on the phone with Ashtyn, to listen as I ran, but calling for help was more important. The operator wanted me to stay on the line with them too, but I knew I’d need my hands free.

  Jose was nowhere in sight as I waited for the elevator, thinking to myself that I was buying a fucking house because the wait for the damn thing to descend was taking years. There was no way I’d make it up fifteen flights of stairs running in less time either. It didn’t matter that there were two elevators because each one was taking forever to come down—or at least that was what it felt like as I pictured Ashtyn fighting for her life.

  “Fuck!” I groaned, stabbing the fucking button as though the more I pushed it, the faster one of the cars would come down.

  “Is something wrong Mr. Cole?”

  I looked over to see Jose standing beside me. “Did you let a man walk in here with flowers for Ashtyn?”

  Jose scrunched his dark eyebrows. “No, but I just got back from my dinner break. Why, is there a problem? Flowers usually don’t—”

  “Yes, there’s a fucking problem!” I hissed, cutting his rambling off. “Ashtyn is getting attacked right now, and I’m down here talking to you about fucking flowers while I wait for the fucking elevator to hurry the fuck up!”

  His black eyes became huge. “She’s getting attacked?”

  “Yes!” I roared just as the elevator dinged. “Call the fucking police!”

  I didn’t care that I’d already done it. Maybe they’d hurry if more than one person called. I didn’t know. What I did know was I was going to beat the ever-loving shit out of this guy. It wasn’t only because he could be hurting Ashtyn—or worse. It was because when I was a kid and Corey pushed me around, I’d go home and lift weights. I never wanted to be in the position where I couldn’t defend myself again. And now, I had my woman to protect.

  Just as the doors started to close, I saw another man walk up. Usually, I’d do the polite thing and hold the door. Not tonight, man.

  The elevator felt as though it was crawling toward the sky. The seconds felt like hours before the car finally stopped on her floor. When it did, I exited the doors before they opened fully and ran down the hall, praying to myself that I’d made it in time.

  “Ashtyn!” I yelled, crossing over the threshold. I ran past the roses on the ground and toward the man in front of me. “Let her fucking go!”

  He turned, Ashtyn’s limp body pressed against his front as he held her up with a cloth pressed against her nose and mouth. Was she dead? Did he fucking kill her? Was I not fast enough to save her?

  I couldn’t believe that this was happening.

  “I knew you’d show up.” He reached behind his back with his free arm and pulled a black Glock.

  I stopped in my tracks and held up my hands as he pointed the handgun at me. I had every intention of being the hero. I wanted to run in and save the day, be Ashtyn’s savior. That was until I was standing with the barrel of a gun pointed at me. “What the fuck are you doing? Let her go!” I yelled though I knew he wouldn’t because no bad guy did that.

  “I can’t do that,” he growled. “You have what I want.”

  I realized then that Ashtyn wasn’t dead. It was clear he wanted to be with Ashtyn, and if he killed her, then neither one of us could be with her. What I needed him to do was drop Ashtyn. Sure she’d have some bruises, but then I could charge at him and hopefully grab the gun.

  “Fine. Just let her go. She’s a forgiving person. I’m sure you two will be happy together.”

  “Then leave.”

  “I can’t do that. At least let me know she’s okay.”

  “She’s fine,” he hissed. “Ten or so minutes after I remove this cloth from her face, she’ll wake. It’s only a little ether to knock her out so I could get her home.”

  “Just take the cloth off. Let me stay with her until she wakes up so I can say my goodbyes.” I thought I faintly heard sirens. I never understood why police did that. That was how they got in foot chases with criminals. It was like they needed to announce their presence when, in reality, they should make a stealth attack.

  “She left me without saying goodbye the other night. You don’t get the pleasure either.”

  “How are you going to get past me?” The way he was holding her, there was no way he could move forward. He’d need to drag her behind him or carry her, and that would give me the chance to make my move.

  “Well, I’m going to shoot you then leave like I’d planned.”

  “Then do it!” The moment those three words left my mouth, I realized I was standing in front of a man who was pointing a gun at me, and I wasn’t scared. All I cared about was Ashtyn because I loved her. I didn’t know when it happened, but I knew I’d do anything for her and that included taking a bullet.

  Philip started to smirk as though he would gladly shoot me, but then his head twitched to the side slightly. “You called the police?”

  “Of course I called the cops.”

  He brought his arm up higher, and I knew deep in my gut that he was seconds away from pulling the trigger. They say that when you’re about to die, your life flashes before your eyes, but what flashed before mine was the night I met Ashtyn. Meeting her had turned my shitty night into the best night of my life. I’d met the person I wanted to bring coffee to in bed.

  There was a flash of our silly date on the booze cruise in the middle of the day, and then a flash of us going down to have hot bathroom sex. And then there was one of me telling my mother that I was going to propose to Ashtyn. It didn’t matter that it had never happened. It still flashed because that was what I wanted for my life. I didn’t care that we’d just met two months ago, or that we’d just started dating. She was the one who made my world complete. Being with her made everything in my life whole. She made me happy.

  “Drop your weapon!”

  I turned to see the guy I hadn’t held the elevator for move into Ashtyn’s condo, a gun raised at
Philip.

  “Well, this is turning into quite the family affair.” Philip chuckled.

  I stared at the man dressed in jeans and a black coat, my arms still raised in defense. Family affair?

  “I said, drop your fucking weapon!”

  “Not gonna happen,” Philip replied. “If I do, then you’ll definitely have the upper hand because I know you won’t shoot your sister.”

  Sister? Well, this was an awkward first meeting.

  “Get behind me, Rhys.”

  I moved behind Ashtyn’s brother. I’d never met her brother, but given what Ashtyn had told me, he’d watched my broadcasts before. I had no idea why he had a gun though, but using him as a shield was in my best interest. The sirens were getting closer now, and I just wanted the cops here already. The longer this was taking, the more I feared it wouldn’t end the way we wanted.

  “All you need to do is drop the gun, and no one gets hurt.”

  “No—”

  I jumped at a loud pop. Philip stared at us, a hole now in the center of his forehead. Slowly, crimson blood started to trickle out of his head. Ashtyn’s brother had shot him. He fucking shot him in the head!

  Philip fell back with Ashtyn in his arms, and then she rolled as his arms loosened around her, the cloth falling away from her face. I stood in shock, still wondering how her brother had the guts to shoot Philip. Ashtyn’s brother moved, kicked the gun away from Philip’s lifeless body, and then picked Ashtyn up and placed her on the couch.

  “Are you okay?”

  I blinked.

  “Rhys.”

  I blinked again, this time realizing I was staring at Philip with my mouth hanging open. “You—you shot him.”

  “Of course. He had a gun pointed at us, and my fucking sister’s unconscious.”

  I snapped out of it and rushed to Ashtyn. Her brother was checking what I assumed was her pulse on her neck. “But you killed him.” I didn’t know why it shocked me because I’m pretty certain I would have killed the bastard too. Maybe it was seeing a man lose his life in front of my eyes that stunned me.