Page 71 of Like Fathers, Like Son
IT WAS SO FRUSTRATING that I couldn’t get back to sleep for ages after Blaze left the room. The idea of watching the sunrise with him had been tempting, but I was exhausted, and in the end I figured I’d aim for more sleep.
I lay there for ages, staring at the ceiling, wondering if I’d have been happier on the beach with him, doing something so romantic that even the idea of it kind of made my chest hurt.
Romantic?Blaze?Could anything with Blaze involve romance, or would it always involve pain, and fear, and degradation? He didn’t want to be cruel to me, but he’d admitted that he struggled to be any other way.
My willingness to be with him last night had shown us both that he had it in him to be gentle and sweet, but what if that got boring for him? Was it as good for him when it wasn’t coupled with hurting me, or betraying my trust?
See, thoughts like that were making sleep impossible, and so it was only as I was finally drifting off to sleep that I heard the door, and realised Blaze was returning. I stayed relaxed, until I felt his hand press over my eyes as a needle slid into my neck.
What was he doing? How could he do this, after everything we’d shared!Blaze, why?Everything faded to black, even as I felt him drag the covers back once more.
42
Blaze
Iwasfeelingprettygood by the time I headed back up to our room. See, I was no longer worried that Anneka would hate me for taking her back to the house, because I knew I could make it nicer for her.
We could live there as a real couple, without her being my prisoner, and then she’d have no reason to try and run again, would she? She’d know she was trusted to come back to me, because first and foremost, that baby in her womb connected us in a way nothing else ever could.
Did I want my ring on her finger, my name branded on her, and her never further away than right beside me? Of course I fucking did, but there was no way she’d willingly agree to that. Hell, maybe the only way I’d be able to achieve that would be to kidnap her again for real.
I pushed the door open and closed it gently, before I turned to make my way quietly to the bed. I didn’t want to wake her, because she’d pointed out how important rest was for her right now.
I don’t know how the fuck I made it halfway across the room, before I realised what I was seeing. The room was empty, and she was gone. The bedding was dragged half off the bed, like she’d gone in a hurry. I checked around for her things, but the important part was her car keys.
They were gone from the bedside table. I ran back outside and sure enough her car was gone, and even worse? My bike was on its side, and there was something stabbed through the back tyre, disabling it so I couldn’t follow her.
Fuck! I ran back into the hotel, stopping at reception.
“My girlfriend, Anneka from room 42, did she leave?”
The receptionist wasn’t the same one from last night, but she checked something on her screen.
“She hasn’t checked out yet, no.”
“That’s not what I fucking asked! Did. She. Leave?”
Now she just looked afraid of me, but then I was leaning close over that insignificant counter, and looming over her as she sat in her chair.
“Please, sir, don’t yell at me. I don’t know anything, I’ve been here literally for five minutes.”
Fuck. I ran back up to our room, and looked at it through new eyes. Would Anneka really leave the bedding draped across the floor like that? Would she leave her things? Would she just disappear like that?
I cast panicked eyes around, finally spotting my phone on the floor almost under the bed, and grabbed it.
I pulled up the tracking on her car, and saw that it was showing as still parked outside. Fuck, the tracker was found? I opened up the next app, and thank god, there was her car, heading into town from here. Where the fuck was she going?
I phoned back down to reception, as my mind whirled with panicked imagined scenarios, where her running from me was actually the best case scenario.
“Yes?”
“I’m calling from room 42, I need to know if anyone was given access to this room.”
“Yes, two keys were issued, one on arrival and one when someone arrived yesterday… wait… another one was issued an hour ago.”
“You gave some other fucker a key?”
“No! I told you, I haven’t been on shift long. We don’t randomly give keys out though, not with… not with… it’s just not what we do.”
