Episode 10: Dive Right In

Episode 10: Dive Right In
by Toni Walker

Trent Hardgrove had been Zan's friend since he came to town with his father who took over the job of police commissioner. It was easy to get to know her back then. She lived only two houses away. Plus, when Mona, Zan's mother, began having strange mental episodes his father wouldn't talk about, Zan started spending much more time with him. He was quite a bit older than she was, but the age difference hardly mattered now.


The night wind swirled beating at them as he pulled Zan from the SUV. She didn't struggle against him as he thought she might. Her head rested on his shoulder as he carried her inside. She completely trusted him, even in sleep, and he found that thought extremely comforting. Her hair tickled his neck when she nuzzled closer to his throat .


He breathed a controlled sigh. "Relax, Hardgrove," he told to himself. "Just remember, she's your friend. Nothing more."


"Yeah, right," the cynical part of his brain declared. His inner voice wouldn't let him deny what he really knew to be true. But that didn't mean he had to voice that feeling to Zan.
Trent laid her on the couch once he managed to get inside the small house he owned outside of town. He noticed she wasn't sleeping very deeply, so he moved her with extra care so as not to startle her awake.


He wished he knew what happened at Infrared tonight. Whatever it was; it was haunting her.
It was colder than he realized in the living room, so Trent went outside and gathered a few of the logs he'd cut this summer. He stacked them inside the fireplace. It took a while to set the logs ablaze, but he didn't have anywhere else he wanted to be. He would glance at her from time to time, looking at her face, making sure she was okay. A half a hour had passed when he finally got the kindling to set fire to the larger logs.


He sat on the couch next to her feet and laid his head back against the cushions. She murmured in her sleep, but it was nothing he could understand.


"Don't worry, Zan. You're with me. You're safe." Trent rubbed her calf through the cover trying to lend a sense of comfort to herself... and to himself. Only a few minutes passed before he too was asleep.

***

Tucker MacLeod approached Parker and the crowd of people gathered around him. They were fawning over a woman who was definitely passed out.


"What's going on?" he asked. Rena St. Clair was by his side, but kept on walking toward the bar when he stopped.


"Your partner is an insensitive prick. That's what's going on." Leo Sutherland lambasted Parker, but it wasn't something Tucker was used to. It took a moment for the woman's face to register in his memory banks.


"Is that Samantha Ashton? What is she doing here? I thought she was hiding out in the mountains somewhere on the outskirts of Park Ridge."


"Obviously, the commissioner and Parker here, think that she could be of use to them. Not realizing that she is still completely traumatized by her experiences the first time." Leo took charge, something that was unlike him. "Can we get some water over here... and maybe a blanket?"


Samantha Ashton stirred and sat perfectly upright in the chair. "No, that's all right. I'm fine."
"Sure you are. That's why you did that swan dive into my arms earlier. People who are fine do that all the time."


Leo helped her as she tried to stand and wobbled a bit. Tucker merely regarded her as the others fawned over her.


"I'm not changing my mind, Parker. I know what this psycho is like. I don't know if I could go through that again." Sam flipped the long blond bangs out of her face and marched back out the door she had entered through.


"Quite a performance," Tucker said. "Is that how you get all your ex-partners to come back to work... you deceive them? How could you have thought she would react any other way?"


"This sicko is after her sister. I thought she could put her personal feelings aside and ...." Parker tried to explain himself but he knew no one standing around would see it the way he did.


"Maybe you can do that, Parker, but the rest of us, we have hearts and souls. We bleed when we're cut and recoil when we're nearly killed. Buy a clue, Barnett. You screwed up big time with Sam." Leo grabbed the purse that fell to the floor when Sam fainted, then hurried out behind her shouting, "I'm outta here."


Avery Ashton picked the perfect moment to approach the two men. "What's wrong with you? You look like you've seen a ghost."


"A ghost from his past, maybe." Tucker nodded to Avery and walked off to find Rena. There was no telling what sort of trouble she could get herself into after as many drinks as she had consumed.


Avery brushed off the thought of anyone else taking up Parker's time. After all, he was supposed to be safeguarding her. "I've been feeling a little neglected tonight. You've been off God knows where and Tucker has been chasing Rena around the club. Have you forgotten that I'm the one being targeted here?"


"No, I haven't forgotten, Avery. How could I? You remind me constantly." Parker motioned for the two other operatives to come forward the escort Avery back to the car. "I need to make a phone call. I'll be out in a minute."


"Get your hands off me, you big lug. If anyone is going to touch me, it's certainly not going to be you!" Avery tossed her perfectly styled hair over her shoulder and proceeded out of the club with the two guards following closely behind.

***

Casanova observed as Avery fought her guards at every turn. It would be easy to get her alone. It would be even easier to slit her throat. But he didn't want to go the easy way. He much preferred the scenic route. It would give him much more pleasure that way.
He hoped she was a screamer.

***

It was after one when Trent stirred, his mind still fuzzy from sleep. His back was cramping from falling asleep sitting up, but that wasn't want had his immediate attention. Zan had moved in her sleep and was now leaning against him. Her hand snaked across his chest making every nerve ending jump to alert. He tried to push her away, but the more he tried, the more she rubbed against him. Soon her mouth joined her hand sending feather-light kisses up his chest.


If she was trying to test his strength of will, he might be found failing tonight. He could still she was still asleep. Zan was known for her sudden midnight strolls down the street. He never realized what other things she might do in her sleep.


"Zan," he groaned when her hand inched toward his waistband. "Honey, wake up."
Her mouth trailed up his chin and captured his mouth silencing his pleas. It was during the open-mouthed kiss that Trent gave in. He had wanted to kiss her so many times over the years, yet stopped himself for one reason or another. Now he couldn't deny it any longer. He pulled her onto his lap and returned the kiss.


When he opened his eyes to look at her, he realized Zan's eyes were open as well. She hadn't been asleep at all!


"Zan, what are we doing?" his breathing was heavy, his chest heaving for oxygen.
"Make love to me, Trent."


She didn't have to whisper another word. His mouth zeroed in on hers. He picked her up and took her to his bedroom. They didn't make it too the bed. He mashed her into the wall pressing himself against her, showing her how much he wanted her. Her sigh and moan was all he needed to hear. She pulled at his clothes and hers were disappearing just as quickly until they were both naked and lying on the bed. Thigh to thigh. Stomach to stomach. Mouth to mouth.


He had been ready the first moment she kissed him. When she straddled him, he thought he would lose it right there. God, how he had dreamed of this. He entered her slick body over and over bringing her to climax after climax before he surrendered himself.


What Trent didn't realize was that he was actually still lying on the couch. He didn't realize that he was still dreaming, yet this time, he was acting out his dream with Zan an all too willing participant. Neither realized that they had truly made love. Both were asleep the entire time.
They were entwined on the couch naked as the day they were born. They spooned together, fitting each other's body like a well used glove. He instinctively covered their sweat soaked bodies and they fell into a much deeper and more contented sleep.


Tomorrow the realization would hit them. Tomorrow they would have to decide if what happened tonight in there sleep was something they wanted to experience fully lucid and in blazing reality.

***

It was nearly two when Casanova came out of hiding and into the light of the full moon. He could see Avery through the window. She wasn't nearly as haughty in sleep as she was awake. The French doors were unlocked and he easily let himself in. Avery had no reason to be frightened. She knew that no one was truly after her.


But she had a hard reality to face. He was back and he was going to show her about pleasure.
One hand inched up her thigh as he held the knife in the other. He knew no one would come and bother him. He had put strong doses of a sleeping agent into the protector's coffee tonight. They all had partaken of the drink. And they all would sleep while he had his fun.


He gripped her throat with a gloved hand and squeezed. She awakened to a shocking reality. His face was covered by a mask, one of a villain, someone along the lines of Snidely Whiplash with a curling mustache. She couldn't see who he really was. That would ruin the surprise he wanted to save for later... because there would indeed be a later.


"Wake up, precious." His voice was hard and raspy and unlike anything she had heard before. "Wake up and learn about real pleasure." Casanova pressed the blade to her throat nicking the white column. A trickle of blood dripped down her neck.


She screamed and he only laughed. "They won't hear you precious. I made sure of that." He ripped the nightgown from her body and ran the tip of his knife down the center of her chest leaving a thing, red line. She thrashed on the bed. It only excited him more.


This was only the beginning. They had all night.


Then tomorrow, he would return to his real love... Samantha.