Nick spent most of Thursday at the beach with Celeste. It was his private beach of course, but he did persuade her to put on her bathing suit and get in the water with him. Then he took her out for a bit on his boat. The therapist had told him to just act normal, so he was. And for the most part, so did Celeste, except for that little thing called talking.
But nighttime was a different story. She still made him sleep in the room with her, often times waking him up with nightmares. Tears would be streaming down her face, and she’d be clinging to him so tightly he couldn’t even move. But on a happier note, she was smiling a little bit.
Finally, when the sun was beginning to set off the coast, Nick pulled Celeste back into the house with him and sent her off to shower. Then he too grabbed some clothes and jumped into the shower.
Celeste was out before Nick. She dressed and combed through her hair. Then she padded barefoot into his kitchen and pulled open the fridge. Her stomach was making little rumbling sounds, begging for food. Nick had said he would whip them something up, but she just wanted a little snack to tide herself over with until then.
Grabbing the bag of seedless grapes out of the fruit drawer, she pushed it shut and closed the fridge. Just as she was turning to make her way over to the bar, hands roughly grabbed her. One wrapped around her waist, pulling her tightly against a body, while the other clamped forcefully over her mouth and nose.
Celeste dropped the bag, sending loose grapes tumbling and rolling all over the floor. She reached out and tried to twist out of the grasp. Her hands came up and started to scratch at the arms, but she froze when the coldness of a blade was pressed against her throat.
“Little bitch!” A voice rasped out. She was suddenly slammed into the wall, the body pressed tightly up against her, and the blade still at her throat. “You little whore!”
Celeste winced as she felt the blade scrape the skin of her neck. She closed her eyes tight and bit her bottom lip. “You think you’re safe staying here with your big, bad boyfriend.” Then she was being pulled back and slammed into the wall again. “Well, you’re not!” The knife knicked her skin and she could feel a small trickle of blood ooze down her throat.
“Noooo.” She whimpered as a hand snaked around her waist and slid up under her shirt. She tried to squirm, and was rewarded with another knick to her throat.
“Either hold still or suffer the consequences.” The man laughed. He slid his hand up under her bra, the length of his body pressing tightly against her. He fondled her breast. “I just want you to know that you’re not safe.” His hot breath hit her ear. “You’re never safe. See how easily I got to you?”
The only thing that was keeping Celeste from falling to the ground, was his body. She swallowed as tears filled her eyes, that sickening nauseating feeling rising in her throat.
“You’re a bitch.” He rasped out again. “If your man wasn’t up in that shower right now, I’d take you here on this floor.” His hand continued to stroke her. “You’re one hell of a fuck!” He moved the knife and traced her cheek. “So hot and wet. Damn!” The knife moved to her lips, running lightly over them.
Celeste quivered as he stuck the tip of the knife into her mouth. She squeezed her eyes tighter, trying her best to block his voice out. She wanted it out of her head, out, out, out!
He pulled the knife out of her mouth, and traced her cheek again. “I’d love to cut you out of those clothes.” His hand slowly slid out of her bra, and down her stomach. He reached her pants and pushed his fingers under them. “Then I’d fuck you till you were raw.” His fingers brushed between her legs, over her underwear. “Mmmm, nice and wet you would be.”
Suddenly he was pulling his hand out. “Now, you just remember.” He pressed the knife against her throat again. “You keep this whole thing between the two of us…..or I’ll come back, and I know you won’t like what I’d do.” He drew a line across her creamy skin, leaving a thin trail of red. “That clear?”
In utter fear, Celeste nodded.
The guy released her, but still kept his body pressed against hers. “Good.” Then he slammed her once more into the wall, and was gone.
Once released, Celeste’s legs gave out and she sank to the floor. She rolled onto her side and drew her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them. She buried her face into her knees as the hot tears finally fell from her eyes.
And that’s the way Nick found her.
“Celeste, what did AJ want?” Nick called as he ran a hand through his damp hair and entered the kitchen.
He stopped when he spotted her lying on the floor in a ball, her shoulders shaking. His eyes took in the grapes that had scattered across the floor. “Celeste?” Immediately he was at her side.
He sank down next to her and pulled her up against him. “Honey?” He rubbed her back.
She kept her face buried in her knees, her sobs continuing, her body shaking.
Nick frowned. What was going on? He’d been coming down the stairs when he’d heard the front door close. Going into the living room, he’d peeked out the window and seen AJ’s silver BMW screeching out of the driveway. Now he found Celeste balled up on the kitchen floor, crying. Not to mention the grapes that had spilled.
It was then that he spotted the slight red stains on the collar of her shirt. With another frown, he carefully forced her head to the side. Dried blood smeared her neck, having seeped out of three different small cuts. Thin cuts that could only either come from paper, or a knife.
Nick felt like he’d been hit in the stomach. Someone had been in his house, threatening and hurting Celeste. AJ. The name rang out in his head. It had been AJ. His brother, his bandmate, his friend.
With an angry growl, he released Celeste and stood up. Anger and fury were pulsating through Nick’s veins. He clenched his fists. He had been right the whole time. From the get go. He gritted his teeth his eyes flashing. He wanted to hurt someone. Nick couldn’t believe that AJ had lied like that. But of course he would. He didn’t want to get caught.
And this would explain Celeste’s reaction the other day when AJ and the other guys stopped by. She had heard his voice. Nick’s eyes grew wide. Of course. He smacked his forehead with the palm of his hand. While she hadn’t seen her attacker, she had heard him. And she would be able to recognize his voice. Which she had when AJ had talked.
Nick bit his lip, holding back the scream that wanted to erupt from his body. The last thing he needed was to scare Celeste more. Taking deep breaths to stay calm, he reached down and scooped her up into his arms. He was going to go put her in bed, call someone to come stay with her, then go and pay AJ a nice little visit.