I'm really sorry everyone. But I'm back, and hopefully you are all still hanging in with me. Reviews?
I did as Gunner instructed. I rented a room in a very dodgy hotel. They never asked for I.D, instead they asked if I was going to pay by the hour, or for the whole night. I got my room key, an actual key, not a card. I prayed this room wasn't as filthy as it was in my mind. I opened the door and sighed. It was. The carpet was stained, the bed was haphazardly made. It reeked. But I needed to clear my head, and I didn't need a five star room to do that.
A few hours later-
I was sitting in a small chair, the cleanest in the whole room when I heard a vehicle pull up outside. It happened a few times already, but each time my heart began to hammer painfully in my chest. I put my hand over the gun and waited. Nothing. I relaxed and took another drink of the Pepsi I had bought at the pop machine down the hall.
If I was being truthful with myself, which at this point, there was no reason to lie. I was heartbroken. Barney had used me, got what he wanted and then decided I wasn't worth the fight. Another tear fell down my cheek. No, pull it together, you've had your heart broken before. Just start picking up the pieces again. If I had it my way, I would be home, in my bathtub, drowning out my sorrow with some wine and my iPod. But here I was, hiding in a dumpy hotel and drinking Pepsi.
I heard another vehicle pull up, and I tensed instantly. I listened as the engine was cut, as a door opened and closed. I could hear heavy boots on the cement. The feet stopped in front of my door.
My heart began hammering in my chest. I slid the gun into my lap and waited. A gentle knock sounded through my room.
"Little hen, it's me," I heard Gunner's voice come through the wood. I sighed and got up. I opened the door and stood back so he could come in. His arms were laden with bags, one of which I could smell food wafting out of.
"This is some shit hole Avie," he admonished me, looking around.
"You said cheap and no questions asked."
"That I did," he replied and set the bags down on the small table. "Come on, dig in before it gets any colder."
We sat at the small table, eating the Chinese take out in silence. I sighed and Gunner looked over at me.
"If it makes you feel any better, Barney is losing his fucking mind right now," he offered, and then took another bite.
"No, it doesn't," I said, setting my fork down.
"He's going to find us little hen," Gunner said as he slurped down a noodle. "Probably before the night is out."
"I don't think I'm ready to face him yet," I replied, playing with a piece of broccoli in my box.
"He'll probably shoot me," he grinned. "And then drag you out by your hair, like a caveman."
That made me smile.
"I knew I could one out of you," Gunner smiled cockily. My phone began buzzing again. I looked at the screen. It was Tool. For the seventh time.
"It's Tool," I informed him.
"You should answer it, least let him know your okay," Gunner mumbled out around a mouthful of food.
I nodded and then hit the answer button.
"Hello?"
"Baby girl, you scared us, walking out like that," Tool's worry carried through the phone.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to worry anyone," I began. "I just needed some time to think."
"Think about what sweetheart?" he asked. I sighed.
"I heard what you and Barney were yelling about."
I heard Tool sigh.
"That wasn't nothing Avie, just Barney being an idiot."
"He's sick of me Tool. Of always having to protect me, I heard him, so did everyone else. He thinks I'm.."
A noise outside the door stopped me mid sentence. Gunner pulled his gun and put a finger to his lips.
"Avie, sweetheart?" I heard Tool call in my ear.
Just then the door flew open and I screamed. Four men in black poured into the room, Gunner grabbed the first one as I raised the gun and fired at one moving closer to me.
"Run little hen!" Gunner screamed, but I stayed put. The first man I shot was down, the bullet went through his stomach, leaving a large hole. Another man charged at me, and my shot went wide. We went over, taking the table and everything with it. The man quickly straddled me, and a sharp slap to the side of my face forced a painful yell from my mouth and momentarily stunned me. I realized I was still holding my cellphone, so I used it to hit the man on top of me a few times.
"Get off of her!" Gunner roared, and I felt the man being pulled off of me. I got on all fours, scouring the floor for the revolver. I found it a few moments later.
"Gunner!" I yelled and held it out to him. He grabbed it from my outstretched hand and then turned and shot the one he just tossed. I got to my feet a little shakily, jumping when Gunner fired another round. And then another. He walked around the room, putting a bullet in the head of each of the four men.
I was staring at Gunner, who was sporting a nasty gash on his forehead. It hit me then. This was my fault. If I had stayed in the garage like I was told, Gunner would not be hurt, these men would not be dead.
"Nuh uh little hen. Don't you start crying on me," Gunner said with a wide grin.
"But..."
"What?"
"It's all my fault," I whispered, tears filling my eyes.
"No it ain't. It's that asshole Valentine's fault. He sent these maggots here."
"If I hadn't have left the garage," but Gunner cut me off.
"Then they would have come to the garage. More people could have gotten hurt."
I let out a breath of air, trying to take it all in. To absorb it.
"Let me see that," Gunner said as he gently grabbed my chin to turn my face. I didn't even feel the pain until he mentioned it.
"You've had worse," he nodded.
"I've been shot, shoved, slapped. This has been a long night," I sighed. Gunner tipped his head back and laughed.
"Are you guys alright!?" a man called from the doorway, startling me. Gunner just raised his gun up and pointed it at the man. He turned tail and bolted.
"We gotta go little hen," he said as he lowered the gun. "You drive, my head hurts."
I drove to the garage, and the second I turned the doors came up. I barley had the truck in park when the door was ripped open and Barney was in the cab with me. He held me to him as if he thought I might disappear.
"I'm sorry," I whispered. He didn't say anything, just leaned back to look at me.
"You hurt?" he asked, after several silent, tense seconds.
"No, I'm fine."
"Good, get out of the truck," and he was gone. The anger in his voice made the wetness come back to my eyes. He really did mean all the things he said. And to top it all off, I got one of his friends hurt.
Tool was at my side the second I slid out of the truck. He pulled me to him for a hug, which I gratefully returned.
"Looking a little worse for wear sweetheart," Tool smiled sadly.
"Barely nicked me," I smiled, a little lopsidedly as my right bottom lip had a split in it.
"That slap had some kick to it," Gunner chuckled as he moved next to me. "Surprised you still have all your teeth."
I rolled my eyes at him, which made him laugh.
"You two look like shit warmed over," Lee said as he walked over to us.
"It was fun," Gunner grinned. "I'll take little hen as my partner any day."
I just shook my head. If I had it my way, I would never be in a situation like that again. It used to be so overwhelming, and now it was...normal. I somehow found a way to compartmentalize it all, push it away and be outside the situation.
"Avolene?"
I snapped my head up to see who was speaking to me. It was Barney.
"I'm sorry, what?"
"Do you need anything?" he asked, his dark eyes boring into mine.
"I'm fine, thank you."
It was strange, we were both acting and everyone around us knew it. I wasn't sure where we stood, what Barney and I were anymore. He continued to look and me and I looked anywhere, everywhere to avoid his eyes.
"Let's give the love birds a couple of minutes," Tool announced, shooing everyone away from us.
We were alone and he still didn't speak, so I did.
"I overheard what you and Tool were arguing about. I didn't know what to do, so I left. I'm sorry my lack of foresight got Gunner hurt."
I finally got the courage to look up into his eyes. They were blurry.
"This the you leaving me speech?" he asked, swallowing hard.
I was shocked and confused. He himself said not more than a couple of hours ago that I didn't belong with him, that I was a victim.
"I thought it's what you wanted..." I replied quietly.
He moved forward quickly and took my face in his hands.
"I want you,"he growled out, before putting his lips over mine. I kissed him back, throwing my hands around his neck and pulling him closer.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," I whispered when we came apart.
"I didn't mean any of that shit," he murmured back, our faces resting against one another.
"I love you," I breathed.
"I love you too."
"Well hell yeah, let me get in on this!" Hale boomed, coming up to the side and hugging us.
"Get off," Barney laughed.
"There is so much love in this room..." Hale pretended he had tears in his eyes and blinked rapidly. I was laughing as Hale released us.
"That's better. No more bullshit from you two," Lee pointed his finger at us.
"Amen to that brother," Tool smiled.
Everything seemed to slide right back to normal, like the last couple of hours didn't happen. I sat on the couch next to Gunner, who eventually fell asleep. I yawned and quickly covered my mouth.
"Come on honey," Tool smiled down at me from under his cowboy hat. "I got a spare bed upstairs you can crash in."
"Thanks," I took his outstretched hand and let him lead me over to an elevator. He shut the cage and we went up slowly.
"You okay?" Tool asked as soon as we left the lift.
"Yeah, a little embarrassed, but I'll live," I flushed slightly when I said this.
"Embarrassed? What have you got to be embarrassed for?"
"For running out and making a scene like some drama queen," I shook my head. In hindsight, my actions were so immature, so stupid.
"Nobody here thinks you're a drama queen Avie. You heard Barney say some terrible shit, you were upset. You needed time for you. We all get that," he replied, opening a door and gesturing me inside.
"This is it."
I looked around. It was very spartan. There was a queen bed, a nightstand and a door that I assumed was a closet. But there was a lot of space, and my mind began running over different ways this room could look.
"No," Tool said, looking at me.
"What?"
"I know that look, and no. You ain't redecorating it."
I smiled now.
"Your bag is on the other side of the bed, see you in the morning sweetheart," he nodded. Then pulled me forward and kissed my forehead.
It was hot up here, even with the air conditioner running. So I decided to sleep in a tank top and my underwear. I pulled out Jane Eyre and began to read under the glow of the bedside lamp. My eyelids were getting heavy, but I continued on with Jane, lamenting with her as she continued to fall in love with her employer, Mr. Rochester.
So absorbed in her world was I, that I didn't hear the door open, nor register that Barney had spoken to me. Only when I felt the bed dip in did I startle out of my trance.
"Barney!" I gasped, when I looked over to see him settling under the sheet next to me. "When did you get here?"
"A few minutes ago," he rumbled.
"I'm sorry, Jane Eyre," was all I said. He looked at me and then over to my book.
"Must be good, you didn't hear me knock, or come in," he smiled.
"My favorite," I smiled sheepishly.
"What's it about?"
"It's about a Governess, Jane Eyre, who falls in love with her employer, Mr. Rochester."
Barney was kissing up my bare arm as I spoke.
"So a romance novel?"
"Yes and no," I replied. He was still kissing my skin, which was making it hard to concentrate. "You see Jane has had a rough life, she was abused by her aunts and cousins as a child, repressed during her educational years. And when you finally think she's going to get her happy ending with Mr. Rochester, we discover that he is already married. This breaks Jane's heart and she runs from Mr. Rochester. She ends up with some cousins of hers, all the while pinning away for him..."
Barney's hand was now slowly running up and down the inside of my thigh. It was to much for me. I unceremoniously dropped Jane Eyre and straddled a surprised Barney. I caught his lips with mine and ground myself against him.
He bounced back quickly. His hands ran over my back before catching the bottom of my tank top and pulling it over my head. My lips found his once again, kissing like we had been separated for months instead of hours. He flipped us over, so I was on my back. He sucked and licked my nipples, drawing small mewing noises from me. He ran his calloused hands down my sides until he reached the top of my panties. With a little help from me, he slid them down my legs and cast them off somewhere in the room. I was unaware until that moment that Barney was clad only in his tight boxer briefs. He tugged them off and we were finally, blissfully, naked against one another. This was not like our first couple of times. We were not in a rush, frantic with desire to have one another. This was slow, hot, passionate. Barney slowly slid himself into me, groaning as he did so. I gasped, the sensation of him filling me at such an agonizingly slow pace was almost enough to push me off the edge. Once we was in as far as he could be, he laid on top of me and slowly, so slowly, began to rock in and out of me.
Our fingers intertwined above my head as he moved a little faster, pushed a little harder.
"Barney!" I gasped when he released one of my hands to dip between us and rub at my clit. This spurned him on, and he moved faster now, rubbed harder. I could feel that familiar tightening, the heat becoming almost to much to bear. My hands moved to his back, to run my nails down him all the way to his ass. He let out a deep moan, and from the look on his face, he was doing his best to hold back, to let me cum first.
"Harder Barney," I begged, knowing it was how he liked it. His dark eyes locked with mine for a moment before he started pounding into me with savage delight. I held his eye contract as long as I could, but the new stimulation was enough to force me over the edge. I tipped my head back, letting his name fall off my lips as he continued to drag it out, sending wave after wave of pleasure rushing through me.
"Over baby," Barney instructed me as he grabbed my hips and helped turn me. He lifted my ass up and spread my legs, getting between them quickly. He slid in easily and began to work toward his own end. I mumbled his name into the pillow, as his thrusts went wild and irregular. He let out a shout and slowly pulled himself out of me. I rolled onto my side and Barney copied me. We lay there, looking at one another.
"I'm gonna stop this guy," Barney rumbled as he gently reached out a hand and touched my injured lip.
"You mean murder," I replied. His hand froze and he looked at me.
"You got a problem with that?"
I grabbed the hand that was frozen by my mouth and placed a kiss on his palm.
"Not at all, kill that mother fucker."