Hey all :)
I wrote this about a year ago. I am always writing, so these stories just accumulate on my laptop. Because my recent works are slowed by plot-driven motives, I may release other things, such as this, for general reading.
As for this one, consider it an introductory chapter. I have a plotline in mind, but I can't say when the rest will spill to the screen.
Thanks for reading, commenting or voting.
***
Tessa bundled her apron into her locker and slammed the door with a tired exhale.
"That guy from this morning's back." Sara poked her head around the lockers edge. "Check him out."
"I'm fucking exhausted, Sara."
Moving into public view, Sara spoke discreetly from the corner of her mouth. "Well, since neither of us are getting laid, I thought you might appreciate the sight of a fine man. He's a babe."
Tessa pulled a face. 'Babe' made her think 'college pretty-boy'; not the glowering mountain of muscle staring their direction. "I see his type all the time. On the news for 'most wanted'."
"I bet he's wanted." Sara licked her lips as admired the man's chiselled jaw, athletic physique and steady grey eyes that gave her shivers when they turned her way. "I sure want him."
Tessa rolled her eyes. "Go for it. See you tomorrow."
Sara grinned. "Bye, girl." She paused to watch her colleague depart, wondering why an educated, rich chick chose to work at a low-end establishment.
Tessa was a mystery. They knew she was 24, single, lived alone and had more than enough money to be blissfully unemployed. Her financial status seemed to add a spark of resentment rather than happiness. She didn't talk about her family, and no one asked. Someone from her economics class who also happened to work at the diner managed to determine she was an orphan, and she never talked about it.
Tessa's parents were butchered when she was four. All she remembered of the event were vague unpleasantries of sheer terror, screaming and the smell of blood. The maniac who committed the offence wanted her alive, but she managed to hide until the beast gave up and she was subsequently whisked away into a life of humble secrecy.
Having to come to terms with such bewildering grief as an infant, this arrangement suited her. As Tessa grew into a woman she strived not to dwell on past horrors; there was no appeal in being pitied. The past was the past. She left it behind.
With long, dark-blonde hair and pale green eyes, Tessa was uniquely pretty, but not a stunner. She was tall with a slender, lanky build and tendency to hunch from pure laziness.
At that time of night, her posture was perfectly straight with an alertness that came with caution. But no one accosted her, and she reached her car and drove home without incident.
Tessa's apartment was tastefully decorated, with a large, open-plan setting and lots of natural light during the day. At night, the curtains were drawn and after dinner she lit several large candles to illuminate the living area in a pale-white glow.
Stepping from the bathroom wrapped in a fluffy towel, her dreamy sigh dissolved into a choking gasp when she saw the man on her white lounge.
It's him.
She immediately recognised those broad shoulders, now tensed to give chase, the grey eyes fixed piercingly on her startled face. Though respectably dressed in a pale-green shirt, black blazer and blue jeans, there was nothing civil about the man.
Perhaps his shining black hair was tidily short, but he still looked, as she first assessed, like a well-dressed criminal. The fact he was handsome made him no less threatening, and his intense expression did little to alleviate her concerns. It wasn't so much his features, but the wildness in his eyes.
"What do you want?" Tessa managed an icy drawl, inwardly reminding herself not to panic despite having every reason to freak out. Squashing all signs of fear, she haughtily raised her chin as though finding a strange man on her couch post-shower was an everyday occurrence.
"You." The man leaned forward slightly. "You have three minutes to pack. Go."
"You're in the wrong apartment." Tessa maintained her cool façade, hoping it was all a mistake. She'd heard of girls with strange fantasies, who employed men to carry them out in seemingly spontaneous attacks. The man seemed frighteningly genuine, but then again, he could be a very good actor. "I wasn't expecting you. But I do expect you to leave."
"Giving orders comes naturally, doesn't it?"
He stood and Tessa's heart quivered with good reason. He'd appeared deceivingly shorter sitting at the diner and on her couch, but the man was enormous on his feet; she had no chance against him.
"I am trying to be polite," she bit out, glaring with attitude that was mere surface value.
"Pack. Now." He pointed to her bedroom. "Or I'll pack for you, and you won't like it."
"I didn't book a holiday."
The man's grin chilled to the bone; his eyes lethally bright. "Are you sure you want to be like this?"
"I don't want to go anywhere with you!" Tessa said with shrill honesty; her voice cracked with fear as the tough exterior quickly unravelled.
Her fright, or visible weakness, seemed to appease the man, as his ferocity was softened by a smile and he crossed his arms. "Relax, Tessa. I'm not here to hurt you. I'm here for your safety."
"The only danger I perceive is standing in my living room."
He chuckled; the derisive sound grated on Tessa's ears.
"Red!" she declared, feeling extremely stupid when the man narrowed his eyes with amused disbelief.
"Is that a fucking safe word?"
Oh, God. This is real.
"I thought..." she muttered, cheeks pink with humiliation as the man threw back his head with a rough laugh.
"That's a first," he grinned, his smile sexy despite the circumstances. Again, he pointed to the bedroom. "Humour me, Tessa. Pack. We're in a hurry."
"Am I in danger?"
"Not with me. We'll chat on the way."
Tessa didn't know how to fight fully-clothed, let alone in nothing but a towel. It was fucking unfair she was being harassed by the same man her lustful colleague would welcome with spread legs. If he weren't obviously dangerous, she might have suggested he go back to the diner to fuck Sara.
"I think you're mistaken," she tried again.
"You're Tessa Evans, right?"
"Yeah?" she warily confirmed, wondering how that could mean anything.
The man snorted. "Evans. Right." Muscled arm taut with impatience, he pointed to her bedroom. "Pack."
"Is it money you want? I can pay you."
Still pointing, the man's eyes flared warningly.
"Alright." Tessa took two easy steps the direction of his unwavering finger, then fled for the front door.
There was a brief sound at her back, and Tessa couldn't resist a terrified backward glance to see if he'd gained on her. But he wasn't behind; she barrelled into his solid chest, like smacking into an unmovable wall.
"H-How?" she huffed, pointlessly struggling.
"Enough!" he growled, catching both her wrists in one giant hand.
"HEL-!" Tessa screamed; the sound cut off by the man's mouth, their faces a hairsbreadth apart. His teeth warningly pinched her lower lip, as though he might rip it clear of her face. She was right, he was wild as a rabid dog.
"Calm. The fuck. Down." His words sharply reverberated into her mouth, across her anxiously twitching tongue.
Tessa stared into terrifying eyes. They were grey at first glance, but now they looked like flashing ice, with tones of yellow she clearly hallucinated from pure terror. She had never been so afraid in her life. How could Sara think this guy was hot? He was dangerous. He was nuts.
You thought he was hot, when you poured his coffee.
The moment he released her mouth, Tessa angrily shook her head to dispel all thoughts of attraction. The fact she was terrified for her safety, being attacked by a stranger in her home and now finding the man compelling in a sexual way was downright backward. Then again, she was a virgin. Maybe it was a normal biological chemistry, despite a very abnormal situation.
"I don't want to hurt you." Despite the threatening hold on her, he seemed sincere. There was nothing lecherous about him, zero response to her stark nudity.
Jett stared into petrified, light-green eyes and sensed she was done fighting. He managed to conceal his reaction to her nudity, so long as she didn't feel the enormous hard-on that swelled to life the second that he laid hands on her. The response surprised him; sure, the girl was enticingly naked. But there was something else about her...
Don't even think it.
Tessa was his job, and he always got a job done. No hot piece of ass was going to tarnish his track record. It was the reason he was chosen -- he was reliable. He was an asset.
Tessa Evans.
Jett wanted to laugh. She said it like she believed it; like she was surprised someone had come for her. No discreet education and quiet upbringing could ever hide who she was. It didn't matter her guardians gladly chose to be beaten to death rather than reveal her whereabouts. The past always caught up, even if it took him almost a year of strenuous searching. His client paid well.
Admittedly, Jett was shocked to find her working at a diner to the point a second visit was necessary to determine he had the right girl. Watching her from afar, she seemed so normal. Up close, she was perfectly nice. The way she interacted with her colleagues, her
inferiors,
was outright down-to-Earth. He wondered what her game was.
Jett shook his head. Tessa was a job. He wasn't going to wonder anything about her.
"P-Please, don't!" Tessa begged, as she was dragged naked to her bedroom and roughly shoved onto the bed. Curling up and waiting for his immense bulk to crush her, she dared open her eyes to see him yanking clothes from her cupboard.
"It's a three-day journey, depending on who comes after you," he grunted, crushing an ironed black jumpsuit into her favourite beige duffle bag.
Tessa fearfully swallowed. "Why would anyone come after me?"
The man turned on her, his lip curled with contempt. "You gonna play dumb the whole way?"
