Rated: NC-17
ERASE & REWIND...VERSION 2, PART 4 "BLACK AND WHITE"
She spent several hours with a meek looking man working on a composite sketch of Ryder, his posture made all the more humble by Esteridge 'screening' him before allowing him to come within twenty feet of her door.
After the intensive round of questioning they subjected the man to even she was considering confessing to being Ryder in disguise. She had to hand it to her hunky Lieutenant, the man was damned good at his job.
Since she needed something to keep her occupied until the doctors said she could leave anyway she figured she could at least make sure they had a good image to go on. Her deeply descriptive vocabulary had finally become useful for something.
By the time it was finished and the artist turned the page to show her his work she knew it was as close to a photo as they could get, the way her heart lept to her throat just from looking at it told her it was his absolute likeness.
Esteridge had taken it and memorized every line of the face staring back at him, nodding and handing it to one of the "state-ees" or "leather-legs" (as Alisha kept referring to his men), telling them to get fliers made up and to circulate it to the press with a 'do not approach or try to apprehend, armed and extremely dangerous, notify police immediately' warning.
Once the artist left she sat in silence, staring out her window at the sky feeling completely useless as the room around her buzzed with activity. Since their Lieutenant seemed dead set that he wasn't leaving the witness alone after the initial fiasco the men had resigned themselves to set up her hospital room as their headquarters, much to the chagrin of the doctors and nurses.
All those people around her but she still felt completely alone.
She got the oddest sitting-duck sensation, like none of it would make a difference, like she was merely waiting for Ryder to decide what would happen next.
Her mind kept wandering back to her dream of him whenever she was left to silence, and while she would never...ever...say it aloud, something was stirring inside of her when she pictured his face.
She felt this strange sense of sympathy for him forming in the pit of her stomach and it disturbed the hell out of her. The way he looked at her like she was supposed to be his savior...his kindred spirit...was all at once terrifying and intriguing.
The brutal honesty of it was that she found herself becoming steadily more drawn to...more aroused by Ryder, and that scared her worse than the thought of him killing her.
The knowledge that at any moment he could come for her, no matter what stood in his way...the dream of him pinning her down in her bed...the twisted adoration that she found in his eyes...it was all growing on her.
On some level, however deep-seated and well hidden it was, she was rationalizing handing herself over to him freely. Surely it would spare a lot of lives...
She'd overheard Esteridge quietly going over what Ryder had said in their phone conversation and it gnawed at her insides. Ryder had irrevocably bound himself to her and the revelation of what the officer he'd killed had "allegedly" been up to severely blurred the lines between attacker and protector.
Flashes of his face twisted in the agonized pleasure that her touches inflicted on him plagued her like a waking dream. She could still hear his moans, taste his lips; it was like some dangerously addictive poison. The more she told herself to stop thinking about it the more vivid her recollections became. She could feel his stubble against her face, his callused hands wandering over her flesh trembling in ecstasy...hear his ragged breathing...
A hand on her shoulder caused her to jump and she turned to find those devastating blue eyes staring down at her, filled with such sympathy and understanding. She gave him a weak smile, her mind in an uproar at the sight of him.
Esteridge...God, sweet and warm Esteridge...
He was just so completely and utterly...good. The embodiment of what was right in the world, chivalrous and kind, a man who stood up for what was right and offered his unconditional support in her darkest hour. She was falling for him, and damned hard, too.
And how could she not? Just a touch of his hand and she felt like nothing could ever harm her...but she knew that was a naive hope. He was smart as a whip and well equipped to handle threats, but he wasn't bulletproof. He was still a man, soft and warm and wholly breakable should he choose to stand between her and the one who now claimed her as their own.
Pain tore through her heart at the idea of him suffering or losing his life to try and protect her from what was, in his mind, evil...black and white, plain and simple. Her chest ached that it now felt much more complicated than that for her.
If she went right then and found Ryder, helped him in whatever way he was seeking then nothing would happen to this brutally handsome man who had taken such an interest in her. Esteridge would feel betrayed, and rightfully so, but at least he would be alive to feel it.
The thought immediately invoked a tidal wave of guilt as she stared up into those crystal blue eyes. How could she find herself deserving of Esteridge's affections when she was having such feelings and thoughts regarding Ryder? The things she was considering went against everything he stood for. Her stomach twisted in disgust for herself and she turned away from him and back toward the window, not wanting him to see her face, not wanting to see his.
Esteridge watched the steady current of emotion that had been swirling behind the mask of her face and knew she had a hell of a lot on her plate. Not like he had any illusions going into this that it would be easy, it's what he got for falling for a girl just entering post traumatic stress, hell maybe even a touch of Stockholm syndrome.
He sighed as she turned away from him, staying in that tormented silence she kept falling into. If they were alone he could say so much to make her feel better, hold her and tell her that all of the thoughts swirling in her head were normal, but since Ryder's unannounced visit things had been chaotic.
He'd tried to suggest that she contact her family but she had refused, saying that it would be far too difficult to explain and she'd rather wait until it was over so they wouldn't worry for her. She'd added with a distant smile that they'd likely have a plane full of men resembling a pro football team land within a few hours and she doubted the police would appreciate their presence, choosing not to voice the fact that she didn't want them coming because she didn't want them to die.
She'd had to give her statement of everything that had happened from the hours leading up to her encounter with Ryder until Esteridge had found her, and then had to reiterate over and over to the stone-faced man interviewing her that no, she hadn't seen or spoken to Ryder when he'd been at the hospital.
Esteridge had thought he was doing her a favor by asking his second to take her statement, figuring she wouldn't want to lay out the graphic details for him...and he had to admit he wasn't sure if he could stand hearing her describe the violent attack while staring up at him with those tear-filled blue and yellow eyes of hers.
But Sergeant Brooks gave her the creeps to say the very least. He was eyeing her skeptically, as if every word that came from her mouth was a lie. His distrust for her stoked the flames of her own distrust of police in general and after he had left and Esteridge had caught a few moments alone with her she'd tried to voice her concerns to him.
"I don't like him..." She whispered, her eyes pleading with him to back her up on this.
Esteridge's brow furrowed. "Darling, I've known Sergeant Brooks for close to twenty years...he's a good man." He began in a reassuring tone and watched her jaw flex in frustration. He let out a sigh, chalking her suspicions up to uneasiness around strange men as a result of the attack. "You don't have to worry about him, sug'. That was the only part of this you'll have to deal with him for." He stole a kiss and while it made her stomach flip flop it did very little to quell her concerns.
"Fine...but I still don't trust him." She said in aggravation and he wished desperately that he had more time to distract her from the foul mood she was rapidly declining into.
The doctors came in soon after, saying that while she still had a long road to recovery she no longer needed to stay at the hospital. Alisha smirked knowingly that her arm could have been hanging off at that point and they still would have tried to rush her out the door. The police presence had completely disrupted the hospital and it was difficult to run an emergency room when every arriving patient needed to be screened by an officer before being allowed entry.
She felt like hell, knew she looked like hell and seeing her hardened expression Esteridge had reminded her that her belongings were at the station and she could get a real shower once they arrived. She smiled at that, the first one he'd seen from her all day as they made their way out to another state owned SUV that had been brought for his use.
He helped her into the passenger side knowing that, despite her insistence that she was fine, her entire body was still aching terribly. She wasn't taking her pain meds now that they couldn't put a direct line into her without her approval, and short of him forcing the pills down her throat he couldn't get her to budge on the subject. She told everyone that it didn't hurt that bad but he got the feeling she just didn't want to risk being caught off guard in a drug induced stupor. Not that he blamed her, the meds they'd been pumping into her at the hospital had been the reason she'd slept through Ryder's last visit.
He closed the door behind her, but as he made his way around the front to get in on the driver's side she saw her new friend Sergeant Brooks intercept him and rope him into a conversation.
She rolled her eyes and leaned back in her seat, glaring in response to every suspicious look the bastard cast in her direction. Whatever they were talking about was pissing Esteridge off, she could tell by the coloring in his face despite his relaxed expression, the way the muscle of his jaw twitched. She had a pretty good idea of what was being said and shook her head.
A tap on the window made her jump and she turned to see one of the younger officers opening her door.
"Excuse me, ma'am. Dispatch is putting through a call, said it's your father." He said as he handed her a cell phone and she sighed and thanked him, allowing him to close the door while she mapped out how the hell she was supposed to explain all this.
She cleared her throat, bringing the phone to her ear and offering a sweet, "Hey, Daddy..."
"Now that was even sexier than I could have hoped for..." Ryder's voice breathed and her heart dropped. "Say it one more time for me?"
Her eyes frantically tried to catch Esteridge's but he was distracted by that asshole Sergeant. She turned to the side, hoping to be able to flag down one of the other officers but the second she reached for the door handle Ryder continued.
"Ah ah ah...I wouldn't...I've got your friends in uniform in my scope riiiiggghtt now and one wrong move is going to cost somebody their life."
Her bottom lip trembled at the thought, her eyes wandering out to Esteridge fearfully.
"Now don't get cute with me and start asking questions for the police, we both know this is a recorded line but I wanted to talk to you anyway. I just had to ask...do you miss me yet?" He breathed and she could hear the smile in his voice.
She gritted her teeth that he already knew she was thinking about him more than she should be.
"Not as much as you're missing me." She said softly, hoping to distract him from aiming at the unsuspecting police surrounding her.
Ryder laughed and moaned into the phone. "Mmm, but that wasn't a no..." He growled and she tried to pretend it wasn't turning her on.
Despite herself her eyes closed and she pressed the phone a little closer to her ear.
"Oh, you know you look so fucking sexy like that..." He purred and she smiled knowing that he'd changed from aiming at the officers to watching her through his scope. She wasn't the least bit fearful that he would decide to shoot her, he was enjoying himself far too much. "Moan for me...like you did against the car..." He said and she squeezed her thighs together hearing his breathing quickening.
"What do I get out of it?" She teased and he laughed, loving that she was playing along with him.
"I let your new friend Esteridge live...for now..." He said in a dangerous tone and she refused to let her fear reach her face at hearing those words, knowing without a doubt that he was watching for a reaction.
"And the rest, too...I'm not going to play with you unless you let them all drive away safely." She reclined the seat a little, scooting up further so that wherever he was he'd be able to see her thighs and the way her hand was tracing over them provocatively.
By the way he breathed raggedly into the phone she knew it had worked. "Have it your way..." He said gruffly. "But what about that Sergeant? We don't like him, do we?" He asked and her jaw dropped open slightly.
"He's innocent..." She said softly and Ryder smiled.
"But I'm right, we don't like him...I see the way he's eyeing you...it would take just a tiny bit of pressure from this finger and he'd stop giving you those looks..." He whispered into her ear and she didn't say a word, unsure which path would save the man's life. "Alright, we'll get to him later, then. Mmm...now do it for me..." He pleaded and she smiled for him.
"I'm going to turn my face, you tell me when I'm looking at you..." She whispered and his face twisted in that agonized pleasure again as he pressed the phone harder against his ear.
"Right there...hey, sexy..." He whispered back.
So he was on the roof of the building across the street, she assumed the state-ees hadn't considered he'd resort to sniper rifles and hadn't secured the rooftops.
"Mmm...so are you gonna get off to me, Ryder?" She purred and his body trembled listening to her voice.
Her question caught him off guard, making him think about it for a second. He didn't know what he intended to gain from this, in all honesty. He'd just needed to hear her to hold him over a little while longer.
"Are you watching me, John?" She whispered and he growled in response. "Then just pretend that you're down here with me...cuz that's what I'm gonna do..."
He watched with labored breathing as her hands ran over her body, up through her hair, her head rolling to the side as she moaned and sighed his name. His entire body was sweating as he shook with need, if he wanted to he could pick off every one of those cops and catch her, drag her into the back of that SUV by her hair and...
God he was already close to cumming and she wasn't even there with him. His body was starving for more of the sensations she'd given him days earlier, needs that she'd awaken in him were now coursing through his veins like liquid fire.
She was increasing the pitch and volume of her moans for him, carrying him over the edge...
Movement caught his eye and he grudgingly zoomed out enough to see Esteridge and that idiot Sergeant approaching the vehicle.
"Lock the doors..." He choked out, his body tensing as he slid his hand down the front of his pants, stroking his throbbing hard-on and listening to the 'click' on her end of the line as she did what she was told. He had earned it, after all, it was only fair in his mind. If he was going to let them live than she had to keep her end of the deal. Esteridge and Brooks' voices were close now, and she slowed her moans to gauge where they were. "Fucking ignore them." John spat angrily and she knew he was right there.
"Cum for me, baby...I want to hear it...come on...close your eyes and give it to me..." She urged, moaning as if she was about to lose control right along with him. "Remember how you had me pinned? How I was begging you to fuck me? Cum, baby...that's it...come on..."
He growled into the phone and she damned near really did slip into her own orgasm at the sound. It was the most honest vocalization of ecstasy she'd ever heard come from a man, he wasn't trying to sound sexy or in control, he was letting go completely and she couldn't help the way her body trembled as a choppy moan escaped her lips, it wasn't even done for his benefit.
She sat up straight, smoothing her skirt and holding the phone to her ear, listening to his breathing as he worked through aftershocks and praying that he'd hurry up...
Nope, not fast enough.
Esteridge tried the door handle, leaning down and looking at her in confusion when he found it locked. She looked at him with stricken eyes and shook her head, showing him the cell phone.
"Mmm...that was delicious..." She purred for Ryder as he panted and moaned in her ear, watching as the younger officer who had brought her the phone was grilled by Esteridge. He shot her a look that told her he knew who she was talking to and grabbed a radio, undoubtedly calling dispatch to have them replay the conversation for him. It made her slightly nauseous to think he was about to hear her having phone sex with Ryder, but she had to make sure this ended according to their agreement.
"Did that feel good, baby?" She asked, and judging by the way Esteridge's eyes were suddenly scanning the rooftops she knew he was listening to the beginning of the phone call.
"It's gonna feel so much better when I get a hold of you..." He purred back, now completely decided that he would have her before the end.
"Are you gonna be a good boy and let us drive out of here? I want a shower and they're taking forever as it is...I won't be able to get one if you start shooting people..." She teased and he laughed.
"You kept your end...mmm...and damned well, too...so I'll keep mine...but tell them I said to get out of there quick before I change my mind...that ought to hurry them up considerably." He said, watching her through the scope and biting his lip. It would be so easy to do it, to just take them out one by one and be alone with her.
"Goodbye, Ryder..." She said softly and his brows drew together painfully, his eyes saddening that the game was over for now.
"I'll see you in your dreams..." He breathed and she gritted her teeth knowing he was right as she hung up the phone.
She immediately unlocked the doors and raced out toward Esteridge, the look on his face as she approached plainly telling her that he was listening to the heated part of the conversation. "We have to go, right now. He said he's not going to shoot anyone and I don't want to stick around long enough for him to decide against it."
He was still staring at her though, a mix of shock and pain in his features. Her heart ached at what he must think of her in that moment but she had to get them out of there. "Esteridge?!" She said a bit shrilly and he nodded, keeping the phone to his ear as he started toward the SUV. "Everybody get driving - now!" She yelled, unsure of why they weren't moving until she realized they were waiting for Esteridge to give the order.
A warning shot rang out, clear and true, echoing off the buildings and it instantly snapped him back to reality, he grabbed her and screamed for everyone to get out of there, leading her to the vehicle and glaring up toward the rooftops defiantly before driving away.