The House

Note to readers: Everyone on this story is over 18.

This is a story with nonconsent themes. If you don’t like nonconsent but choose to read anyway, please rate based on writing style, character development etc and not get to the end and say ‘I don’t like noncon’ and rate it low.

I do not condone noncon or rape, it is a work of fiction.

Enjoy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Driving into the old neighborhood made me feel uneasy as I looked around. I looked at the GPS again and it said I was going the right way, but most of these houses looked abandoned.

Great Grandma Irene had been what my grandmother had called a black widow. She married a man, moved into his house with him, he suddenly died of ‘natural causes’ apparently and she had a new house and all of his money. She did it fourteen times. She never sold the houses, she rented them out as she moved around the country, using the rent money to add to her very hefty bank accounts. My grandmother had inherited all of the houses and the income they brought in. When she passed, she willed one house to each of her grandchildren, me included. All the others went to her grandchildren from her second husband. I’d left it pretty much alone, letting the renters stay and not worrying about the property two states away. Two years back they had moved out and I’d been informed that it needed work before I could try and rent it again.

I had sort of forgotten about it until very recently when it was almost all I had left. I was home for the summer after I’d graduated college, putting out applications. My internship and guaranteed job had fallen through, company cutbacks. I’d opted not to sign a lease until I was sure I had a job and moved back into my old bedroom at home. I’d planned on living there maybe a month at most, but fall had come and I still hadn’t found a job. No one wanted to hire me for what I was worth, what I needed to pay back my student loans. The economy was in a weird place, with jobs to be had everywhere but entry level white collar. I’d felt like I could be picky, take my time and find the right one for me. The months had come and gone and I had gotten nowhere at all. My mom didn’t mind, she was glad to have me at home, but I was getting frustrated.

I had gone out with some old friends to a new bar that was having a ‘Witches Night Out’ ladies night with all kinds of themed drinks.

When I finally ordered an Uber and went home, it was too late. The house, my mother in it, was completely burned to the ground. The firefighters were trying to put it out for two days. I’d stayed with a friend for a week, in shock, trying to make arrangements. An electrical fire that started by the dryer directly under my mom’s bedroom.

I had nothing at all, just my old bike that was in the driveway and hadn’t been burned and the old house two states away. I had my bank account and my inheritance, but the insurance money would be tied up for a while.

Mostly I was just lost and stunned, and now I was in an unknown place with no one I knew. I only hoped that this house was livable, at least until I could figure things out. I needed a place to regroup and start over, feeling like I had to leave my past behind. Get out from under it.

The GPS shifted and I looked down where I had my phone mounted to my bike. Next turn.

I finally saw a single person as I made the turn, an older man who scowled at me on the motorcycle as I rolled through.

The house was old. Ancient. It was Victorian, like the others all along the street and this neighborhood, but it was bigger than most of them. It was also in better shape, most of the others abandoned and derelict. At least from the outside. Pulling into the drive, I pulled off my helmet and sat for a moment just looking up at the house. It was already getting late and the sun was setting. I knew I had to go in and make sure there were lights, but I had a bit of a feeling of foreboding as I looked up at it, then around at the abandoned houses that surrounded it. I wasn’t sure I really felt safe here, in this neighborhood. Maybe I should go and get a hotel room until tomorrow?

I would go in and look around, make sure the lights were on, then go back into the town and find a hotel.

That decided, I got off my bike and went up the stairs to the porch and looked around before I slid the key in the lock.

The first thing that assaulted me was the smell. Old and musty, it somehow smelled of pot, very strongly. The second thing was how incredibly cold it was inside. Was the air conditioner on? Did this place HAVE an air conditioner as old as it was? I was assuming I would need window units.

Hugging myself, I started looking around. The hardwood floors were scuffed and needed refinishing badly. There were spots on the wall where pictures had hung while someone smoked in the house, but the ceiling looked solid. No cracks. No separation or settling and tilting in the floors. I was surprised at that one.

The kitchen had dated appliances and there were things in the fridge I was afraid to even look at, but the fridge and freezer were cold. The stove also seemed to work, clicking four times before the flame caught. The large walk in pantry smelled kinda gross, despite having nothing at all in it.

The rooms downstairs were all empty except for the kitchen. The living room, the parlor, the library, the dining room. In the library there was a lot of melted candle wax on the shelves where they had used candles with no holders. There were also drink rings and something that was brown and still sticky somehow.

The upstairs was mostly empty too, dark brown stains in the porcelain tubs and sinks. One bedroom had a full size box springs with no mattress. Another had a twin mattress against the wall. I dragged it to the box springs and tossed it on it, I didn’t really know why. They didn’t match, but I didn’t care. Looking in the closets, I looked at the old wire hangers and a few old price tags on the floors. The third story looked like it had never been lived in at all, or even visited. The dust was heavy in every room, the windows swelled shut. There were no water stains or leaks anywhere and I wondered what the damage was that it couldn’t be rented out again. Finding the attic door, I tried to open it, but it was locked. The house keys had no key for it, so I went to the kitchen and looked through the drawers. Nothing but a broken spatula and a spoon that looked like it had been used for drugs.

I sighed and turned a circle, then wandered the house again looking more closely at everything. I would have to go out tomorrow and look at the outside, it was completely dark outside now. Turning off all the lights, I went upstairs to the room with the bed and sat down on it, trying to think. I turned on my phone and started looking through pictures, mostly of me and my mom. Selfies we had taken while cooking mostly, cooking was something we had always done together.

Curling up, I lay there missing her, flipping through pictures.

Bright light made me wince as I lifted my head and looked at the window.

It was morning? I had fracking SLEPT here? Gross! I sat up, looking down at the mattress in horror. At least it looked clean and not stained up, but still. I’d had no intention on falling asleep!

Still, I got up with a sigh and began trying to open windows. Most were swollen and painted shut, but I managed to get a few open to try and air the place out.

I had to call an Uber to go to the store, my bike wouldn’t hold all the things I needed. I parked my bike in the old shed next to the house and locked it.

“Nice place,” the Uber driver offered and I didn’t know if she was being sarcastic or not, so I said nothing. I wasn’t up for conversation this morning. I got several things I needed, including bedsheets and a blanket for the bed that was there. I would order one to be delivered later, but for now it would work with clean sheets.

I also got paint and painting supplies, picking colors on a whim. I didn’t want boring colors, I wanted something that would cheer me up and add vibrancy to my life. I would paint the rooms, then add furniture to match after I got internet working for me. That reminded me, I got a laptop too. Food was last on my list and I got take out as well. I wasn’t going to keep any food there until I got a new fridge put in and the old one hauled away.

Once I got back, I looked around outside again and noticed all the overgrown bushes and things in the backyard. It was a huge backyard, the old wrought iron fence along the back hardly showing through the vines and bushes. I guessed the fence ran along the sides too, but I couldn’t see it for the overgrowth.

There was an air conditioner that had been added to the house much later, but it was fairly old. Old enough that it would need replacing before next summer.

The furnace in the mudroom off the kitchen looked newer, and so did the hot water heater. The stubs for the washer and dryer looked like they would need to be cleaned thoroughly before I got a washer and dryer.

Still, overall, I couldn’t see offhand why it hadn’t been rentable anymore. It seemed fine, very sturdy and intact.

I was curious enough that I looked up the old tennant, the one who had been there last and called him.

“Who’s this?” a man demanded breathlessly.

“Hi, my name is Sunny Anderson, I…”

“I’m not interested, sorry!”

“Wait! I’m not a telemarketer! I own the house you used to live in?”

“Ok? So what do ya need?”

“I just had some questions is all. Do you know why the rental place dropped it as a listing?”

“Something about doors being locked and windows that couldn’t be opened. I think there was mold in the basement maybe too.”

“The basement?” I asked, confused.

“Yeah. Uhh, have you seen the place?”

“Yes, I’m standing in it now.”

“Ok, so you know that pantry in the kitchen? The back wall, the shallow shelves? They swing out and there’s a door behind them. It’s locked up tight, same as the attic door, but there’s a bad smell comes up like there’s a sewage leak down there. We could never get down there and I didn’t want to rip the door off its hinges. Same with the attic. Just sort of wasn’t worth it, ya know? I had a buddy that… well, I can be honest, right, been a couple years. I had a bunch of roommates while I lived there. One of them could pick locks and he couldn’t get in the attic. Said it was painted shut. The basement door was swollen shut, all wet and bloated, ya know? And it smelled awful when we opened the pantry shelf, so we kept it shut. Ignored it. We didn’t wanna have someone come in and look and get evicted because there was something bad down there. We tested it for things like bad mold and carbon monoxide and there wasn’t any, so we just ignored it. None of us could afford to get a new place and we liked where we were at.”

“Thank you for all the information,” I told him, speaking up before he could go on.

“Yeah, cool, no problem. Hey, you gonna fix it and rent it out again?”

“I don’t really know my plans yet, I just came to look it over. See what needed fixing.”

“Oh, hey. I have a buddy that paints and does odd jobs. You need help? He can do a lot of stuff and he’s hard up for cash right now.”

“If I need help, I have your number. I’ll call, ok?”

“Yeah, no problem. He’ll be glad to hear it, he’s been looking for something. He’s reliable. And clean and all that. Hey, do you need someone for pot? I know a guy for that too. Or, you know, anything else.”

“Thanks, but not right now,” I told him. “I’ll let you know. Thanks again, I’ll call if I need anything,” I told him, then hung up before he could say anything else.

Awesome.

I went to the pantry and found the catch, then pulled the shallow shelves open. There was a door behind it, no knob and the smell that hit me made me gag immediately. Covering my nose with my shirt, I tested the door to see if it had any give at all. It didn’t. It was definitely moist though, and swollen shut completely. And the smell was more than I could handle! Quickly, I shut the shelf, then hurried out and shut the pantry door too. The smell was sticking with me, so I hurried out back and tried to breath in fresh air.

I was going to have to take a sawzall to the door and see what was down there and that was going to suck. I was going to need a really good mask, and probably some hip waders too if the smell was any clue. It smelled like dead animal soup down there in various stages of rot.

Circling around, I went in the front door, afraid the smell was still in the kitchen. Instead of hanging out downstairs, I went up and made the bed while I called to get internet turned on. I didn’t want to wait four days for it, but the two other places were longer waits, so I settled.

Instead, I busied my days painting the rooms and ordering furniture to be delivered as I finished each room. Bedroom first.

I ignored the other rooms upstairs, knowing I didn’t need to mess with them yet. Maybe I could get roommates? People to help pay the bills, even if I didn’t need it. Maybe I could just stay home and cook. Bake. Sell things I made. I liked that idea and imagined turning the dining room into a bakery, remodeling it a bit. Renting the four extra rooms upstairs and even the four in the third story.

That reminded me, I’d have to sawzall the attic open too, see what was up there. Probably animals like squirrels and birds and dead things.

Maybe I would have someone come in and clean that out. I hoped the basement wasn’t going to be a complete dealbreaker, not after all this work. I should have seen to it first, made sure the wood down there was rotting and the whole house going to cave in any moment. Wouldn’t that be a kick in the ass?

That decided, I went up to look over the attic door again, see if I could just take it off its hinges or if I would have to cut it open.

Starting to reach for the handle to try it again, the door creaked open several inches, the knob stopping at my extended hand.

I froze in shock for a split second, then screamed like a girl and ran down the stairs, completely freaked out. I was outside on the lawn, hands on my knees breathing hard when I realized how incredibly stupid I was being. I had opened up the house, aired it out. There was wind moving and the house was probably settling more than it had in years. It had just settled enough and the crossbreeze was strong enough that it had opened the door.

Steeling myself, I crept back inside and listened. Hearing nothing, I crept up to the second floor and listened, then to the third as I peeked around to look at the door. It was still open, but more now. Wide open. I could see the stairs that led up and the light coming down the stairs was sunlight from the windows up there in the dormer windows.

I stared for a long moment, listening again, then inched closer, trying to see up the stairs. All I could see was a wall since the stairs ran up an outside wall. The ended at the space right before the wall and you had to turn to look into the attic.

I looked at the door, then went back down to my room and came back with a can of paint, setting it between the door and the jamb so the door couldn’t close while I was up there. Taking the steps one at a time, I went up slowly, listening as I did. I heard no rustling, no animals, nothing but silence. When I got up high enough to peek over the ledge, all I could see were trunks and boxes and old furniture like wardrobes. I made it to the top and looked around, a little confused. There was no dust up here, it was like the room had been hermetically sealed. The things up here were incredibly old, a century at least, most of them. The furniture, the books, the clothes, the trunks, everything. It was… sort of amazing! Easing through the piles, there was a sort of walkway to get through things and nothing was stacked over any of the windows. I could see just fine, even though the windows were a bit dirty and you couldn’t really see through them. There were so many old things! I was excited to start going through them!

I knew it had to wait though. This room was fine, I needed to get the basement sorted.

Leaving the attic, I left a paint stir stick between the door and jamb so it couldn’t close all the way. I didn’t want it to lock again!

I debated then on calling an Uber or just using my big backpack. I opted for the big backpack, knowing I was only getting a couple of things. The sawzall wasn’t huge, but the package the large industrial mask came in was large enough that I had to take it out of the packaging to fit it. I would come back if I needed hip waders, but I wasn’t going to waste the money until I knew.

Getting back, it was starting to get dark, but I knew it wouldn’t matter. There were no windows in the basement, the flashlight would be all the light there was anyway.

Gearing up with the mask and plugging in the sawzall, I went into the pantry and pulled the shelf open, then stared.

The basement door was swung out, wide open.

What were the fucking chances of that? Both stuck doors opening today?

Today. It was October 31st, Halloween.

Panicking slightly, I backed up, then had to go out to the living room and rip the mask off. I was feeling claustrophobic and anxious. Terror was trying to climb up my throat as I shook my head.

It was a coincidence. That was all. It was nothing. Just the open windows drying out the door so the swelling went down. There was no handle holding it shut, so why WOULDN’T it open with the air current moving through? There was a logical explanation.

Then why was I too afraid to even go look?

I made myself move closer, walk back to the kitchen. Looking in the pantry, I realized I smelled nothing at all. The door to the basement was wide open and there was no smell. Maybe it was the door? Being wet and bloated and swollen? It had dried out and so had the smell?

Inching closer, I looked down the stairs and shone the flashlight down. There was no standing water, the floor wasn’t wet at all. It did look dirty, though.

“Hello?” I yelled. “If there’s anything down there, you need to get out now! I’m coming down! Go away possums! Racoons! Whatever else found a way in!” I yelled loudly.

There was no sound, it was just quiet.

Maybe I should wait. Get something to test the air.

Was I feeling dizzy? Tired? I seemed to be fine, but what if there was something that I didn’t feel until it was too late?

Why was I being such a baby about this? I was a grown ass woman.

Making myself take that first step, I eased down the stairs slowly, shining the flashlight around as I could see more and more of the basement.

It was… a bit anticlimactic.

An old furnace, ancient even, that was no longer hooked up. Tables with really old tools, piles of boards and wood. Shelves with old jars and tin cans. A refrigerator that looked like one of the first ones ever made, huge and bulky with a single handle, laying on it’s back. Racks that looked like clothes had been hung on them to dry. A cot that was old and looked like it would tear like paper if you touched it. A huge pile of coal next to the furnace.

It was… pretty basic and boring. The tools looked kind of cool and I was betting I could get a lot for them with the great shape they were in.

Moving along the shelves, I looked at the old tins with ancient name brands and logos. The refrigerator was huge, waist high to me even on it’s back. Grabbing the handle, I pulled it out to unseal it, then lifted the door to peek in.

For a moment, I didn’t understand what I was seeing and when I did, I dropped the door and screamed, running up the stairs in horror.

Making it to the porch, I scrabbled for my phone and dialed 911.

“911, what is your emergency?”

“There’s a body! There’s a body in my house! A dead body in my basement! Oh god! Oh god!”

The woman talked me through it, trying to settle me down and answer her questions, but I was hysterical and sobbing.

When the police arrived, I refused to go down with them and show them, or even go into the house.

They came out and one was on the radio, talking to someone. “…definite human remains, skeletal and well preserved. I’d say at least 50 years old, maybe more…”

He went on, but he was getting in his patrol car and sound cut off as he closed the door. The other officer came to me to ask me what happened, how I found it.

I haltingly told him, then asked him if he would go back in and bring me my keys to my bike. I did NOT want to go back in there.”

He got them for me, but told me I couldn’t leave until the coroner arrived and the other specialists. I had to stay until the remains were removed.

I shook my head. “There’s a dead body in my house,” I whispered.

“Ma’am,” the officer told me soothingly. “That body has been there a very long time and it looks accidental. Those old fridges like that, you can’t get out from the inside. That man probably got in to play a prank or do something else, then never got out. It happened a long long time ago. Before you were born, probably before your parents were even born. Body in a fridge like that would be well preserved. There is absolutely nothing to worry about. I’m sure nothing bad has happened here. It was just an accident decades old. Zero reason to be afraid.”

“I don’t want to stay here,” I told him, hugging myself and looking at the house again.

“I’ll be right here with you until you can leave, ma’am, you have my word. I’m Officer Decklan, my partner is Officer Gilliland. Don’t make a Gilligan reference, he’s super uptight about it,” he smiled, trying to lighten the mood. “Is Sunny your real name?”

“Yeah,” I whispered, looking around. “I need to sit down.”

“Sure, of course. Let’s go down here to the steps to the sidewalk. There you go. You cold? I have a blanket in the cruiser if you want it.”

I nodded, I was freezing.

“Sit tight,” he told me, going and getting in the trunk. He pulled out a blanket from a sealed bag, then came back and wrapped it around my shoulders. “You need anything else? Coffee?”

“You have coffee in your trunk?” I asked numbly.

He grinned. “No, but I totally have a rookie I can call in to bring some out. He’d probably be happy to just to get to see what was going on.”

“You really don’t think he’d mind?”

“Not at all. Cream and sugar?”

“Black,” I whispered, huddling under the blankets.

The rookie was indeed excited to be there. He was allowed to go in and go down and look at the remains as the coroner and other people were removing them. He came out, grinning. “Frasier said the body is turn of the century! The clothes alone date to 1890’s, but the remains might’ve been wearing older clothes. The fridge is late 1910’s he said. How old is this house?”

“1800’s easy,” an older officer spoke up, looking up at the house. “See that detailing there? And those spindles? The gingerbread, it’s called by some. The tooling used wasn’t an electric lathe, see…” he sighed, then shook his head. “Nevermind. None of you little shits actually care.”

“I care!” the rookie said quickly. “When do you think it was built?”

“Late 1800’s. Probably 1870 or 80. See that house there that’s different from these other smaller victorians? That was a carriage house, for horse drawn carriages. That one back behind is the servants house. Some places had live-in servants, others didn’t like them in the same house and had a servant house. The rest of these houses were built a lot later, after the land around this one was sold off. Build shoddier too,” the man grumbled, looking around at the houses lit up by the lights of the vehicles. The older cop turned to me. “You want to know about this place, go to the library on Medford. Not the big one downtown, the little one. She has the old maps and the old census records and all the old papers and histories on the older houses like this one.”

I nodded, but I had no intention on looking it up. I wasn’t sure on the timeline, but I had an inkling who that man might be. My great grandmother’s first husband. That was a huge reason I was afraid to stay here, what if he wanted revenge on her family? I didn’t actually believe in ghosts, but it seemed like a stupid chance to take after everything that had happened today and it coincidentally being halloween. There was healthy skepticism and there was stupidity.

I would come in of a day and finish fixing it up, but I was staying at a hotel until it was done and I was renting it out again. Then I would find a cute little place and try my hand at a bakery. Mom would have loved that.

I had to sit there for a long while, waiting for them to look over the scene, remove all of the remains, take my statement. Officer Decklan stayed through all of it, talking to me and smiling and joking, trying to ease my mind.

“Deck,” a large officer gruffed, walking up. “Weren’t you off shift two hours ago?”

“Yeah, don’t worry, I’ll backlog my clock out,” Officer Decklan called.

The large officer looked at me, looking me over, then snorted and shook his head. “See that you do,” he called, walking away.

That was the moment I realized Officer Decklan was flirting with me and not just being nice. I glanced at him again, both horrified that he was flirting right now and curious. He was handsome in a very clean cut militaristic way. His grin was crooked, his teeth not perfect and that was a bit endearing considering how perfect the rest of his face was. He also had a scar over his left eye that ran from his forehead, across his eyebrow and down to the corner of his eye. It didn’t detract from him, it made him more interesting and less intimidating as far as his hotness level. He was cute, and that threw me too. Usually the guys that flirted with me were a lot older and sort of skeezebags. They liked shorter, slighter girls and wanted them to roleplay for them. This man wasn’t that type, and he was looking at me like a woman with definite interest. I looked down again, my face heating. I wasn’t in a place for dating. But maybe for a fun fling? Something to distract me and get my mind off of things? Make me feel better if only for a night?

I started talking to him a bit more, letting him distract me and flirt with me. I even offered him smiles and his grin made his face light up.

The large officer came over. “We have everything we need, ma’am, you can go back in if you want. All of the remains are gone and I made sure my boys cleaned up after themselves.”

“Thank you sir, but I’m not staying. Umm… do you think someone would mind locking the place up? My bike is in the garage so I don’t need back in there.”

“If that’s what you need,” the large man nodded, sounding confused. He went back to the house to lock it up.

“It’s awful cold for a bike,” Officer Decklan said quickly as soon as the man was gone. “I could give you a ride to wherever you’re going.”

“It’s ok, I’ll want my bike to get around tomorrow. I’m just going to a hotel. Do you know where there’s a hotel around here?”

“A hotel? You sure? I… I know I probably shouldn’t offer, but I have an extra bedroom? And I can go in and get your clothes and stuff for you?”

“Umm… I don’t actually have a change of clothes, I was going to the laundry mat tomorrow. I don’t have much by way of clothes right now. Umm… I’m here because my house burned down with all my stuff. This house is what I have to work with and I’ve been focused on making it live-in ready.”

“Explains the paint smell,” he smiled. “That settles it. I’m giving you a ride and you’re staying the night at my place. In the morning, breakfast at Denny’s and a bit of retail therapy. Whad’ya say?”

“You don’t have to work tomorrow?”

“This is my Friday night. My name is… and no jokes please, Dash.”

“Dash? Like the punctuation?”

“Short for Dashiel. It’s a family name.”

“That’s not so bad,” I shrugged.

“Maybe for someone named Sunny,” he grinned. “I bet you’re used to the comments too.”

I glanced at him, blushing. “Actually, you’d be the first,” I told him, feeling a little insulted. “Usually people like my name, those who bother to learn it.”

“I didn’t mean offense! I just meant it’s unusual too.”

“My mom named me,” I told him, thinking about my mom. “She said when she was pregnant, I would get really active and I just wouldn’t quit moving. Middle of the night I was doing somersaults and my ‘Jane Fonda’ as she called it. She started singing to me, but the only song that ever worked was ‘You are my sunshine’. I would always go still through the entire song and if she sang it long enough, I would fall asleep and she could sleep too. So she named me Sunny.”

“That’s sweet. Sorry if you thought I meant offense. I catch hell from the guys all the time. It’s such an old fashioned name and it fell out of circulation completely. Now people only know it from that cartoon movie.”

“I think it’s cool.”

“So, ride back to my place?”

“Don’t you have to go clock out?”

“I was going to get you settled into the extra room first so you could get some sleep. C’mon,” he smiled, standing and offering me a hand. I let him help me up and lead me to the cruiser. His partner was in the passenger seat, sleeping and didn’t wake up until Dash got in the front and slammed the door.

The man jerked and sat up, looking around. “Fuck. Finally man. Dude, I get ALL the fucking wingman points tonight, you owe me. You at least get her number?”

Dash chuckled and pulled away as I sat in the back wide eyed.

“Is that a yes or a no? You ask her out? She say yes? She must’ve, you’re too goddamn giddy. Fuck. It’s fucking late, man. Fucking speak, dude, did she say yes or not?”

“I didn’t ask her out,” Dash laughed.

“Did you get her number at least?!?”

“Nope.”

“Dude, what the fuck? All that time wasted? I guess you know where she fucking lives and you can check in on her. How fucking messed up was that? Finding a fucking body while cleaning house? She’s fucking cute, though. If you like short and waify. Exactly your type. Why do you like the short chicks so much, man?”

“They always have bigger personalities and adorable tempers. Plus, I just think it’s sexy as hell. And yeah, she’s cute.”

“So why didn’t you get her number? You didn’t think she’d be up for fucking yet? Playing it slow and being all understanding and all that shit?”

Dash laughed again, amused greatly by his friend shoving his foot deeper down his throat. “It never came up. You could try being a bit more understanding and nice yourself you know. Might make it past two dates if you were.”

“Whatever, girls love assholes and they love men in uniform. What’s the point of more than two dates anyway as long as they put out? Fuck I’m tired. Where the fuck are you going?”

“My place.”

“We have to clock out and do paperwork asshat.”

“I’m dropping her off first,” Dash grinned. “Tucking her into the extra bedroom at my place.” He motioned his head back and the other guy finally turned around and looked at me, his look incredulous.

“Jesus fucking christ, asshole, you could’a said something!”

“What was the fun in that?”

“Do you know what the Captain will do if he knows you brought her to your house?!?”

“He won’t find out. Don’t worry about it man, this is my call. Even so, I think he’d understand, she’s had a shitty day and a hotel all alone will not help.”

The man looked back at me again, looking embarrassed. “Sorry,” he grumbled. “Derreck.”

“Sunny,” I offered softly.

“Cute,” he answered, turning a little more in his seat. “Really though, if I’d known you were here I wouldn’t have said all that.”

I shrugged. “I’ve heard worse. My best friends were all hockey players, I don’t think anyone could say anything that would shock me anymore or offend me. They sort of made me immune.”

“I can see that. Not a lot of hockey around here?”

“I’m from up north. Came here to see the house I’d inherited and clean it up a bit.”

“Sorry about that. Bet that sucked. Still, you don’t have to be afraid to stay there, you know. That corpse has been there for decades and never bothered no one. People die every day, it’s nothing to be afraid of.”

“I’m sure you understand if it spooked me a bit and I wanted to spend tonight of all nights away.”

“Oh, right. Halloween. You know that’s just superstitious nonsense, right?”

“I know that, and logically it makes sense. Logic doesn’t help much when I’m all alone in a huge old mansion where I just found a body in the basement that might be related to me. Your mind can get the better of you in those cases, no matter how logical it all sounds in the daylight.”

“Related?” Dash asked. “You never mentioned that he might be related?”

“Well… the house has been in my family for a long time. It was my great grandmothers, then my grandmothers and now mine.”

“That will change the paperwork a bit and if it’s alright we’d like to get a sample of your DNA? To see if it’s a match?”

“Sure,” I shrugged.

“So, we’re gonna go ahead and go into the station and get that done right away so the Captain doesn’t know I fucked up,” he laughed, turning at the next street. “I should have thought to ask if it might be a relation. I guess I just thought, you know, young as you are you just came into the house buying and selling. Not a lot of people inherit a house that old through family that long ago, you know? So many lose it to taxes or whatever, especially a place like that. Historical societies usually try and put pressure on owners as well to have those houses declared and put on a registry.”

I shrugged. “No one has contacted me and I’ve owned it since my Gramma passed a few years back. I let the tenants stay until they moved out and it’s been empty since the last renters moved out. That’s why I’m here.”

“That’s what you said, your house burned down where you were?”

“Yeah.”

“You had no family close?” Derrick asked.

“My mom was in the house when it burned down,” I told him softly.

“Shit!” Dash winced. “I’m so sorry! Geez, you’re really having a shit month! I feel like a shitheel now!”

I shrugged and decided to be completely open and blunt so he didn’t get the wrong idea. “Don’t feel bad, sometimes even women need to just forget about shit for a while and just have a good fuck to feel something else, even for a night.”

Derrick’s eyebrows shot up as he looked at Dash and Dash’s mouth opened slightly as he turned the rearview mirror to look at me.

I gave him an unapologetic smile and shrugged. “That is what you were wanting, right? A quick fling? A fun night with an easy target?”

Derrick laughed, shaking his head. “Oh, Darlin’ if that’s what you want you have the wrong guy! Why don’t you come home with me instead? Dash there’ll have a ring on your finger in a week. He’s a hopeless romantic and wants the family life.”

“Shut up Derrick,” Dash scowled. “If she only wants a night of fun, I can do that too.”

“Bullshit,” Derrick laughed. “You never would have turned on the charm if you didn’t want more! Darlin’, this one is not for you! You’d chew him up and spit him out and he’d be pining and moping for a month! Over one night!” he guffawed.

“Maybe you should take me to a hotel,” I told Dash, looking out the window and refusing to be embarrassed.

“No, it’s fine. We don’t have to sleep together or date for you to stay the night in a comfortable, warm bed that doesn’t have bedbugs or gross DNA everywhere. And he’s just being a dick. I’m up for whatever you need.”

“He says that, but he’s hoping he does you so right you never wanna leave his place!” Derrick wheezed, still laughing.

“Maybe he will,” I told Derrick, wanting to shut him up. “Or maybe I’ll do him so right he won’t allow me to get out of bed for a week, or out of the house until I swear to say yes to him. You never know. As much as I love to give oral, he may not be coherent for a few days anyway, I’ll be able to slip out while he’s passed out from exhaustion.”

“Fuuuuuck,” Derrick laughed. “I HATE you!” he told Dash, who was blushing furiously.

I could see right away, Dash was not my type. So incredibly shy about that sort of thing and if Derrick was right, he was too emotional and clingy. I was only in for a night of fun, not a relationship. Still, I didn’t have to make him uncomfortable in front of his friend.

“I’m just teasing,” I told Derrick, though I wasn’t at all. “About all I’m up for is a long shower before I pass out. If Dash has a t-shirt I can throw on after a shower?”

“Yeah, of course,” Dash answered quickly. “Ok, this will be a fairly quick in and out here. We only need to swab your cheek and fix the paperwork, then we’re good. Ok?”

“Got it,” I nodded, feeling a lot more calm now. Dash was a sweet prude, he wasn’t going to put the hard moves on me or pressure me. Not that that would have bothered me, I had no problems saying no when I wanted to, but I usually didn’t want to. I liked to be told what to do and bossed around and controlled. It was hot as hell for a guy to handle me roughly and use a little force.

I’d never really been in a long term relationship, but I’d had sexual partners that lasted a long while. Friends with benefits, so to speak, and one enemy with benefits. We hated each other, but we loved to fuck. He was rough with me and loved to punish me and force me to do things and I reveled in it. It was an understanding we had, no feelings, just fucking. The day he came up to me in the dining hall and put an arm around me, kissing my neck in public, I ended it. I was good with benefits, but not with more, especially not with him. He really was an asshole, so when he came at me with PDA and softness, I moved on quickly. Fun flings, no commitment. It made things easier.

The DNA swab was easy, it was harder to sit and wait on Dash to finish his paperwork. I was half falling asleep at the chair next to the desk where he was working.

“You’re here late,” a woman called, moving close.

“Yeah, the body over in old town just wrapped up.”

“You stayed for all of it?”

“Yeah. You’re overnights now?”

“Only for two weeks while Donovan is on paternity leave. Why, miss me?” she teased with a bright smile.

I glanced at her, then Dash. She had it bad for him and he was trying hard to pretend he didn’t know it. “Always miss you when you’re gone, Lisa! Who else can put Derrick in his place like you do? It’s always fun to watch.”

“This is your Friday, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. Saturday now,” he laughed.

“You probably won’t be up when I get off work then. If you are, I’m going to head to Denny’s on my way home, have breakfast. You should meet me there.”

“I have plans,” he told her quickly. “A date.”

“In the morning?” she asked, confused and a little offended like she thought he was lying.

“Yeah,” he nodded, still focusing on his work. “Breakfast and a bit of shopping.”

“Retail therapy,” I corrected. “And we are NOT getting up that early. By the time I’m done with you, we’ll probably still be up, but we’ll be sleeping past noon after.”

The woman went still, looking at me in surprise. Dash didn’t look up as he focused on his paperwork. “Ladies choice,” he shrugged, though he was blushing. “If you’d rather, I can just make you breakfast in bed?”

“Mmm, pancakes and strawberries?”

He laughed. “We’d have to go out for that, I can make scrambled eggs or scrambled eggs.”

“Tough choice,” I smiled, then looked at the woman. “Hello. I’m Sunny, Dash’s girlfriend.”

“Oh… I didn’t know he was seeing anyone. Umm, Lisa. Nice to meet you.”

“You know Dash, he’s not one to kiss and tell or talk about his personal life. He was out late and had to swing by and pick me up, my bike broke down.”

“Like… motorcycle?”

“Yeah. You ride?”

“No…”

“I love it. Dash worries about me, but I’ve been riding since I was 7. Dirtbike racing and it just evolved into a passion. Dash likes to think that he grounds me, tames my wild side. The yin to my yang, you know? I think he might be right, but don’t let on that I like him so much. We have to keep them on their toes, don’t we?”

“Yeah,” she smiled with fake cheer.

“Not that he needs to be kept on his toes, not this one. He’s just a big teddy bear and a sweetheart. His mama raised him right. I guess I lucked out, but then, so did he. I’m a catch,” I grinned, reaching over and putting my hand on his knee as he worked. His face was bright red now.

“That’s really super to hear,” she smiled. “Really. I hope you have fun tomorrow. Umm, see you later I guess, Dash.”

“Later!” he called professionally. After she was gone, he cut his eyes at me. “What was that?” he asked quietly.

“You wanted her to leave you alone,” I shrugged, looking around again. “Now she will.”

“So that show was for my benefit and not just you being a little jealous and catty?” he asked, trying to talk a little smack, but ruining it by turning red to his ears.

“No. I saw she was making you uncomfortable and you’re too nice to say no or let her down easily. When you went with the date thing, I took it and ran with it. She won’t bother you again.”

“Thanks. Not even a little jealous?”

“Not even a smidge. You’re doing me a solid, I did you one.”

“You really ride since you were 7?”

“Yup.”

“That seems… unlikely.”

“Because I’m a girl?”

“Because you don’t look like you could fit on a bike,” he snorted.

“They have custom made ones,” I grinned. “It’s little, like me.”

“Like one of those clown bikes?”

“No making fun or no BJ for you.”

He gaped at me, looking poleaxed, then he scowled. “I don’t want one,” he growled, going back to his paperwork.

“No? You’re the one guy in the world who doesn’t like BJ’s?”

“I don’t.”

“Do you like sex?”

“It’s fine.”

“Fine?!?” I asked incredulously.

He looked around quickly, dusking down slightly. “As soon as I sign these, I’m done and we can go.”

I sat back, looking him over. “Does it bother you that I’m direct about sex?” I asked him.

He looked around quickly again, looking horrified. “No,” he whispered, signing the last page with a flourish and standing. “You ready?”

“It DOES bother you,” I laughed, following him out to an underground parking lot.

“I just don’t talk about it in public,” he hissed, still looking around. Unlocking a truck, he held the door open for me and I giggled as I climbed in.

He got in on his side and looked me over before starting it. “I’m not a prude, Sunny,” he told me suddenly. “But I’m not… into casual sex either. Or blowjobs,” he grumbled, starting the truck and pulling away.

“So what ARE you into?”

“You wanna find out?” he asked as he pulled onto the street. “I can take you to my place and put you in the guest room to sleep, or I can take you and put you in my bed where you won’t be sleeping any time soon,” he told me, giving me a level look as we sat at a light. “If you come to my room, there’s no backing out. No saying no or changing your mind.”

“Interesting,” I smiled, squirming with excitement. “Is this a one time thing, or an open offer?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, can I go to the guest bed tonight and sleep, then choose your bed tomorrow?”

“We can say my bed is an open invitation, but the rules stand. I lock that door, you’re mine till I say you aren’t. Period.”

Thrills shot through me from head to toe as I sucked in a breath. “Sounds like a plan, then. No ideas on what to expect?” I asked.

“None.”

“And… is this invitation completely open? If I show up next week or next month?”

“We’ll see,” he answered cryptically.

“We’ll see?” I asked curiously.

“On whether you can handle it or not.”

Now I was very curious and very excited. Almost enough to stay up, but I was exhausted. Tomorrow would have to be soon enough.

His place was very monochromatic minimalist, but the extra room had a comfy little twin bed. I took a very short shower before falling into the bed, exhausted both mentally and physically.

He ended up waking me up in the morning, shaking my foot gently. “Hey, you gonna wake up today?”

I blinked at him, then lifted my head and looked at the window and the dark curtains. There was light coming through the narrow slit and from the sides. “Time is it?” I mumbled.

“Two PM.”

“Shit,” I sighed, letting my head fall back to the pillow.

“Get dressed and I’ll take you to breakfast.”

I sighed and rolled out of bed. “Not even ten more minutes?” I asked, yawning.

“Not a morning person?”

“Nope.”

He chuckled. “We’ll get you some coffee too. C’mon.”

“What happened to the locked bedroom?”

“I decided I was pretty sure you weren’t up for that yet. Let’s at least have food first and talk a little.”

“Mmph,” I grumped, looking around sleepily. “That bed is comfy as hell. Better than what I’ve been sleeping on. I think I could sleep till tomorrow.”

“Probably, you went through quite an ordeal. You’ve been going through quite an ordeal. C’mon, let’s go do something fun for a day, let’s go.”

“Sleeping is fun,” I mumbled, looking at the pillow longingly.

He laughed and came around, taking my hands and pulling me up to stand.

I sat right back down to lean down and pick up my jeans, pulling them on as I sat there. Pulling off his t-shirt, I changed into my own shirt.

“Not shy at all, are ya?” he asked, looking at the wall and blushing.

“Not so much. And I’ve got nothing to be ashamed of.”

“Free thinker, very open of you.”

“Mmm. You prefer I try and be more modest?”

“No. Never change who you are. I will adjust or I won’t, we’ll see.”

I smiled, liking that answer. I let him take me to lunch, then when he pulled into a shopping center, I was confused. “Let’s get you some clothes,” he smiled, hopping out of his truck.

“I can get my own clothes,” I told him a little irritably as I came around to meet him. “I just haven’t yet… I’ve been focusing on other things because… replacing all my clothes makes me think about what happened.”

“Ahh. Well, this will make it easier! I can distract you and give you the thumbs up and thumbs down as you try things on.”

“Ok, but… not huge on shopping. I don’t try things on, I know my size and I’m not picky.”

“Oh, if you’re not picky then I get to pick your outfits?”

“Not if you try to dress me like I’m going to church.”

He laughed and shook his head.

“Wait… you don’t go to church, do you?” I asked in pretend mock horror, though I really was a bit soured by the idea.

“Not since I was old enough to start staying home by myself,” he smiled. “That a thing for you?”

“An anti thing. Religion is about making money and scaring people into submission and giving up their money to the church. God is a hoax, a con to separate fools and their money and make people obey.”

“Tell me how you really feel,” he teased, opening the door for me.

He did show me a few clothes, none of them too prudish, most of them like what I was wearing. The underclothes he picked out weren’t prudish at all.

“No thongs,” I smiled, “Or those. The cut doesn’t like my ass and it rides in. I prefer boyshorts.”

“I saw that,” he smirked. “They like your ass a lot.”

I laughed then, shaking my head. “Now you can tease and be flirty about it?”

“I’m trying to loosen up a bit,” he smiled with an embarrassed shrug. “I was just… raised differently. I know it’s nothing to be ashamed of or embarrassed about, but I was always taught not to talk about it or be open about it. It’s a behind closed doors thing.”

“Yeah, my mom was pretty open too. She taught me not to be ashamed of myself and to embrace what I liked without fear.”

“Sounds like a good way to be. So you never really said what you went to school for, just that you graduated college a few months ago?”

“Yeah. I have a degree, but I’m not sure it’s what I want to do anymore. I was kind of thinking about doing something else.”

“Like what?”

“My mom and I loved to bake together, it was our thing. We always cooked together and had fun with it. I kind of want to have a little bakery.”

“That sounds amazing, and super sweet. Your mom would love that I bet, you doing what you love and not just something boring you’re expected to do.”

“I like engineering just fine, but… my focus has completely shifted. Things that used to be important aren’t anymore.”

“I can see that,” he told me softly, stepping close to put a hand on my shoulder and rub my neck lightly with his thumb.

The commiseration made me tear up after I’d been holding it together for so long. He pulled me into a hug and rubbed my back gently as I tried to get control of myself.

“Now that I know you can cook,” he said lightly, “maybe I’ll get the stuff and you can make dinner tonight,” he teased.

“I’ll get the stuff,” I sniffled. “And it will be a surprise.”

“If you want,” he shrugged, smiling now.

I liked that he tried to be a gentleman and kept offering to pay, but didn’t push it when I said no. He respected boundaries. He wasn’t hung up on gender roles and being the ‘man’ and he didn’t have that toxic sort of feel to him.

Picking out clothes took longer than I wanted it to with him offering up suggestions and laughing when I shot him down, then looking overly pleased when I didn’t. He was starting to nail my style by the end and I was sure that was what he was most proud of. Grocery shopping took less time since I knew what I wanted to make and he said nothing as we got in his truck. I had been sure he was going to ask what I was making, but he never did. He was going to let it be a surprise. That made me happy too, that he wasn’t pushy in that way either. He was go with the flow.

“Ok, this is amazing,” he sighed happily, halfway through the meal and I could tell he was being genuine. “So much better than take out and fast food! Better than fancy restaurants even! If you bake as well as you cook, you’ll be very successful.”

I gave him a smile, glad to hear that he liked it. As he helped me clean up, I realized how late it was and that he hadn’t mentioned it all day long and I hadn’t thought about it. He expected me to stay the night again and it hadn’t even occurred to me not to. It had been a nice day and he’d been fun to be around and that warmed me to him a little bit.

I was incredibly curious about the locked door, though. What was his thing?

“Netflix and chill?” he asked with a teasing grin as he tossed the towel over the drainer to dry.

I laughed and shook my head. “If you wanna watch a movie, we can.”

“Here or my bedroom all snugged up?” he asked, and I could hear the deeper question in his tone. I also knew he was just asking me to come and sleep in his bed with him and nothing more.

“Bedroom sounds fine,” I agreed, then went to the bathroom and showered and changed before joining him. He was laying half propped on his pillows with sleep pants on and nothing else and I had to look twice. The man was ripped and his skin looked warm and soft and inviting. Climbing into the bed, I didn’t hesitate in moving close and cuddling up to him as he scrolled through movies.

To my shock, and maybe a bit of disappointment, he didn’t try anything at all through the movie, or after as it turned it off and laid down next to me. When he pulled me in close, I thought maybe, but he just sighed happily and fell asleep.

Who the hell was this guy? I didn’t ponder it for long, it felt good to be held, safe even. I hadn’t had comforting like this in a very long time, if ever. I passed out completely until he got up in the morning. He tried to be easy and not wake me, but I was a light sleeper most of the time and I woke right up.

He paused in getting up and grinned down at me. “Hey beautiful! Goodmorning!”

“Ugh! You’re a morning person!”

He laughed and got up and I watched him walk to the bathroom. He was definitely hot. When he came out, I sat up and looked him over and his eyes sparkled. “C’mon. Let’s go have breakfast.”

I tried not to show my disappointment. What guy didn’t like sex?

“I have to get back to the house today and work on it. Try and finish it so I can rent it out again.”

“You think you’ll find tenants? In that neighborhood? Maybe if you bought up and started flipping ALL of those houses, but the people you’d get right now, you probably wouldn’t want.”

I sighed, realizing he was right. “Maybe I’ll just sell it.”

“Again, you wouldn’t get near what it’s worth, the neighborhood is too bad now.”

“Ugh!”

“Want me to come help you? Not super handy but I can roll a paint roller with the best of them. You’d have to buy me lunch and promise to come back here tonight and be my teddy bear again.”

I smiled and realized what he was doing. He was trying to get me to fall for him, being a gentleman and not laying a hand on me since I related that to a non-relationship. He was going to establish a relationship first, then go for the sex. Clever.

“I think maybe you should just drop me off,” I told him with a forced smile. “I can take it from here. Thanks for the nice day and letting me sleep over.”

“Whoa now, wait a minute! What’s up? Who says no to free help painting?!?”

“It’s not free,” I told him, shaking my head. “Derrick is right. You’re too wholesome and you want more than I want to give. A fling, some fun sex, that was all I was looking for. You very obviously want a lot more than that.”

“I only wanted to see if we were compatible,” he smiled. “I think we are. The Yin to my Yang and all that.”

“Look… I don’t do relationships. I don’t get attached.”

He came and took my hand as he sat next to me on the bed. “Tell me what’s wrong, Sunny. Why are you so jaded? Did someone hurt you?”

I laughed, rolling my eyes. “No one hurt me, I just don’t want a relationship! I’ve never wanted a relationship and that’s ok! I’ve never had one! That’s ok too! I like my alone time and not having to worry or stress about anyone else, being able to do what I want when I want. Love has never been my jam, and that’s ok. I don’t need to fit into some social norm to be a valuable person.”

“Of course you don’t! But what if someday you find the right guy and fall in love?”

“Or, I can love myself and do what makes me happy. I don’t need someone else in my life to make me complete, Dash. I’m perfect as I am, I’m happy single. I like sex and I’m not ashamed to admit that and if you wanna fuck, I’m down… but I’m not going to fall in love with you. I don’t do that.”

He let out a sigh, looking me over with hurt plain on his features. “What’s so wrong with love?”

“Like I said, it’s never been my thing. I learned to love myself and be happy without anyone else in my life. All I’ve ever seen my whole life is how miserable love and relationships make people. No thanks.”

“They can make people happy too,” he told me, almost petulantly. “That’s fine, if that’s not what you want,” he half growled, standing up and going to the bedroom door. Locking it loudly, he turned back to me, his expression dark. “Take the shirt off. Now.”

My eyebrows went high as a thrill shot through me. Expectation and need spurred me to move quickly, pulling my shirt off and even my panties without him asking.

“Sit right there and don’t move until I tell you you can,” he snarled, moving around to the other side of the bed. Kneeling, he reached under the bed, then pulled something out. Something large and rattley. I was curious, but I didn’t move from my spot as he started pulling open drawers on that side of the bed.

Finally, he stood and went and turned off the light. Seconds later, his hands jerked me off the bed and I gasped, but it was with anticipation, even as he laid me on a cold, leather, padded surface. One at a time, he attached leather cuffs to my hands, then my feet until I was spread eagle on the low mat. I was trembling with excitement.

“Remember,” he growled. “You don’t get to say no.”

A small spike of fear surged in me, but I knew he wasn’t going to hurt me. Not more than I wanted him to. His hand on my face did surprise me as he forced my mouth open wide. Shoving a ball gag in, he secured it but not so tight that it hurt.

I felt him move lower, down to my feet, then he adjusted something and lifted my feet high in the air, lifting my ass off the mat. I was wide eyed in the dark, excitement pulsing through me. The cold lube that he squirted all over my pussy and ass, and then inside of both made me whimper. When the vibrator touched my Clit, I let out a shocked cry of ecstasy. He held it there while he began working a long, thick, phallus into my ass. I only moaned, even though it was larger than I had ever taken there before. There was pain, but the pleasure was more.

He kept pushing and working it in until it was deep enough it was starting to make me uncomfortable. It finally tapered down and he stopped. The dildo he shoved into my pussy he was a lot more rough with, ramming it in several times before shoving hard on it and holding it there. Lowering my feet back down, he held both in place until I was all the way down, then he moved something to hold them both in place. He moved the vibrator off my clit and turned it off and I heard him toss it aside. Instead, he lowered something, solid but not hard, angling it so it was pressing hard on my clit. When he flipped a switch and this thing came to like, I let out a scream of pure bliss as the hard vibrations yanked me out of myself. It was too much! Much too much! Being filled completely and the vibration, it was overwhelming and I cried out again into the gag, this time wanting it to stop, even as I came around both dildos, squirting everywhere.

His hand on my breast made me pant and shake my head, trying to beg him to make it stop. Instead, he attached something to my nipple, something that made a hard sucking feeling that felt amazing. He did the same to the other and all I could do was moan incoherently.

His hands left me and I whimpered, my mind getting sucked into the torturous bliss. I saw his bedroom door open, then his silhouette as he passed through and closed it, leaving me alone in the dark with the machine.

I screamed again and again around the gag, then came again as I bucked against the device.

I had no idea how many times I came that day, so tired and sore and out of my mind with stimulation. I was crying, begging him to come back, but he was gone for hours. I was finally going numb as I shook my head, sobbing.

When the door opened and the light came on, I was yelping in relief around the gag. He came around and looked me over, his eyes shining in amusement. “A squirter, I see,” he grinned, looking at the mess all around the pad. “Very nice. You ready to come off?”

I nodded, sobbing desperately.

Kneeling, he switched off the vibrating sybian machine and rocked it back on its hinge. Standing, he used a pulley to lift my legs in the air, but not as far as he had that morning. He knelt again and began easing the dlidos out, smirking at me the whole time. He uncuffed my feet, then my hands before removing the ball gag and putting a bottle of water to my lips as he held me up. “Do you know what the most fun thing about this machine is?” he asked softly. “Just now you think you hate it, but soon, you’ll want it again and then again and again. It’s maddening pleasure and so addictive. Finish your water, you aren’t done,” he smirked.

I could hardly move, none of my muscles wanted to work at all. I wanted to tell him we were absolutely done and I wanted to go home, but I was also too tired and sore to imagine trying to leave.

“There now,” he spoke gently after I finished all the water. Lifting me, he laid me on the bed, then pulled his clothes off. I stared at his hard cock, long and beautiful like he was. “Before you get to go anywhere or do anything, shower, eat, anything at all, you are going to suck my cock until I cum and you will swallow all of it. Do you understand?” he asked, laying back beside me on the bed.

I stared at him wide eyed.

His smirk was sexy as hell. “Take your time, Sunny. I know it takes a minute to recover.”

“I thought you didn’t like blow jobs,” I managed, my voice hoarse from screaming.

“I only like them my way,” he shrugged. “And most girls have no idea how to give a good BJ. I’m going to teach you.”

I cocked my head, giving him a smirk this time. “I need more water first,” I told him.

He handed me another bottle of water, his look almost predatory. I could see the amusement and playfulness behind the look, the look that told me he was playing a game with me. He was still trying to win me over. He had read me and was pretty sure he knew what I liked and was going for it all out. He’d turned his little pleasure machine into an almost torture device for me, leaving me on it all day instead of just the 20-30 minutes he used to please his partners. That was his way, pleasing. Seeing a girl get what she likes, and he knew what I liked. What would make me come back around for more.

Finishing the water, I tossed him the empty bottle. When he caught it, I attacked his cock, going at it all out with every trick I’d been taught, right up to licking his asshole and sliding a finger in to press gently.

“Nnnn, Fuck Sunny!” he groaned in shock. “Holy shit! Fuck, don’t stop!” he panted, his hands going to my head.

As I thought, he didn’t really like blowjobs, he just knew I wanted to give him one. Show off my talents and make him crazy. He was completely into it though, loving it. He’d been serious when he said girls didn’t know how to give blowjobs and he was too self conscious to tell them how to do it. That would make them think they were doing it wrong and they would get upset. He’d never hurt anyone’s feelings like that.

He really was trying hard to make me look twice.

“Fuck, Sunny! Shit that’s so fucking good! Oh, Jesus, baby! I’m gonna cum!”

I moaned around his cock and he groaned again, his head falling back just before he came into my mouth. I sucked and pulled and swallowed all of it, then kissed his balls and sucked gently as I eased my finger out of his ass.

“Jesus, Sunny!” he panted. “What the fuck? Where the fuck did you learn that?”

“My partners had no problems teaching me,” I told him lightly, kissing his thigh before sitting up. “Still hate blowjobs?”

“Fuck no! Shit! I may never fucking recover, Sunny, you don’t get to just walk away now! I won’t let you! No girl is ever going to measure up again!”

I laughed wickedly, then got up and staggered to the bathroom to take a shower. He joined me after a moment, looking down at me with wide eyes.

“I mean it, Sunny,” he told me softly. “You aren’t going anywhere. I want you to give me a shot.”

“You can’t kidnap me,” I teased. “It’s against the law. I’d have to have you arrest yourself.”

“Joking aside,” he said quickly.

“I’m going back to my place in the morning,” I told him softly. “We’ll see about maybe going out again. You have my number and you know where I live,” I smiled.

“You’re lying to me,” he mumbled softly, looking in my eyes. “You really hate the thought of love. Why?”

“Because it sucks. It just hurts people. I’ve seen it again and again and I will have no part of it.”

“But it’s beautiful! It’s beautiful between two people who are right for each other! And even if it doesn’t work out, it’s still worth it, Sunny. There’s still good memories and good feelings and happy moments.”

“And broken hearts and crying for days and never being good enough! I saw it again and again! My mom tried SO hard to find love and they just came and went. Using her and dumping her, usually because of me. They were nice at first, trying to get in my good graces and be a ‘father figure’ right up until they weren’t. Then it was all about using her and living there until all of her savings ran out, then leaving her brokenhearted and broke. People suck. Love sucks.”

“That was never love!”

“It was for her!” I yelled angrily. “I had to deal with the fallout of a woman who gave her heart wholly and wore her heart on her sleeve. She was so desperate to be loved, she let anyone into her heart, just hoping he would be the one! They broke her every time and she would be more of a husk of her former self every time. She taught me to love myself and be happy without anyone, but she never was! For her it was misery and sadness and constant heartache and rejection and never feeling good enough! I want NO part of that! None!”

“I’m not like those men! You can’t hold every man responsible for what a few did to your mother!”

“Dozens! ALL of them, Dash! Dozens of them! And they didn’t just leave her, they left me too! I finally stoped letting them in, but it fucking SUCKS, Dash. I believe that you aren’t like them, I can see it in you, but that doesn’t change how I feel. Respect that.”

“I do, Sunny, but respect that I have really strong feelings for you and I want a chance! A real date this Friday.”

“We JUST met!”

And it was an instant connection! And we’ve hit it off great and I really like you! I like everything about you!”

“Except that I don’t date or do love and relationships.”

“It’s a little unfair, to yourself and to those who develop feelings for you.”

“I say up front it’s a no go for me. I’m not having this debate, Dash. I said no, respect it. I want to go home now. I’m calling an Uber.”

“I’ll take you!” he growled angrily, getting out of the shwer and grabbing a towel.

When I went out, he was yanking his clothes on with a scowl. He wouldn’t look at me as I got dressed, or as we went out to his truck. It was pouring rain, but I didn’t care. I stared out the window as he pulled away from his house.

Halfway there, he spoke again. “I thought you didn’t want to stay there? You were afraid of being where a dead body was found?”

“I was spooked the other night, but I’m not anymore. It was juvenile to ever be afraid at all. I think I was just overwhelmed with everything that had happened in the past few weeks. I’ll be fine.”

“You could just stay another night. It’s late. Dark. It’ll be darker when we get there.”

“I’m not afraid of the dark.”

“Then stay because you want to. You want to sleep in my arms again, like last night. You loved it.”

“I’m not going to encourage you, Dash, or give you false hope. Let it go.”

“Then come back and let me tie you down again.”

“No.”

He huffed, but went quiet.

When we pulled into my driveway, he killed his engine and got out.

“I don’t need an escort or a walk to my door,” I told him, hopping down and grabbing my things. “Thanks for letting me stay and the fun. Bye Dash.”

He glowered and followed me anyway.

I turned at the door, ready to speak again, but he cut me off. “I’m going to do a walkthrough. Make sure no vagrants came in, there are lots around here.”

“The house was untouched for two years after my tenants moved out, no one came in here. Why would they come now?”

“Things to steal now.”

I sighed, but let him come in with me. I flipped on the lights, then stopped in the hall and stared into the living room.

It had been painted completely. The dining room, library and kitchen too, and the shelves in the library had been cleaned and stained. There was a couch in the living room and a recliner.

This was where he’d been all day and he came in because he wanted me to see what he’d done.

“You shouldn’t have done this,” I scowled. “Thanks, but it changes nothing.”

“I wanted to do it,” he growled. “Go upstairs.”

I sighed and went up the stairs, looking around as I did. The hallway was painted and the bedrooms too. He’d had to’ve had help doing all of this. I went into my bedroom and there was furniture and a new bed. A queen bed with bedding that matched the paint I’d put in here.

“You need to get all of this out of here, I don’t want it.”

“No. Derrick told all the boys about what happened and they all wanted to help. This is all used furniture, but it’s good. The only thing new is the bedding and curtains.”

“Tell them thanks.”

“The washer and dryer are used too, so is the fridge and stove. Things people had in garages and storage and basements.”

“It’s all too much. You need to tell them to come get it all.”

“No. They wanted to do it and it’s here. Even Lisa helped. Just accept it.”

I sighed and turned away from him. “Thanks. Tell them thanks. Goodnight, Dash.”

“I could stay… keep you company on your first night back.”

“Goodnight, Dash. Be safe going home and maybe I’ll see you around someday.”

He huffed again, but left, slamming the front door as he did.

I went down and locked it, then looked out the window. He was sitting in his truck, gripping the wheel and looking down. I felt a little bad, but not really. He needed to take no for an answer. He sat there for several minutes, then got out of his truck and started towards the house militantly. Stopping just before the porch steps, he paused, his hands in fists at his sides. He turned and started pacing the sidewalk, his mouth moving like he was practicing what to say.

I sighed and went out to the mudroom and to the shed. Starting my bike, I opened the door and pulled away, never even looking his direction.

I only circled several blocks away and came back to my house, but he was gone. Parking and closing the shed, I went back inside and locked all the doors before going up to my room and laying down. Immediately, I opened my laptop and curled up, my body still incredibly sore. I was asleep before I found a show to watch.

When morning came, I looked around again, looking at all the new appliances. I knew I had to go shopping again, but I really didn’t feel up to it. I ached from head to toe and didn’t want to go anywhere or do anything.

Instead, I got on my laptop and found the closest store that delivered. That was more my speed today and I realized now it would be a need. I couldn’t shop with only my bike. With that in mind, I started looking for furniture stores that delivered, then went to the dining room and looked around. I wanted to see what it would take to retrofit it with a baking kitchen and space.

I took measurements, then went back to sit in the living room and draw it out. Ugh. The couch had a definite cigarette smoke smell. The chair was better, but the padding was worn.

I would get new furniture for the living room later, it wasn’t a priority right now. I drew up my plans for the baking kitchen, then looked it over and redrew it, then redrew it again. I looked at all three plans, trying to decide what I liked best and what the best layout would be.

A creaking came from the kitchen and I looked up, a little alarmed and listened. What was that? Another creak, like a footstep on the wooden floors.

“Who’s there? I have a gun!” I yelled loudly.

I needed to get a gun.

Silence.

Slowly, I stood and moved so I could see through the dining room and into the door to the kitchen. I tiptoed to the door slowly, still watching, then through the dining room.

No one was in the kitchen and I couldn’t see anyone in the library either. Moving more confidently now, but still quietly, I went down the hall and looked in every room, then went back to the kitchen and checked in the mudroom. The door was still locked, nothing looked out of place.

I went to the pantry and opened the door. The shelf was open and so was the basement door. Had the police left it open? I closed the door, then closed the shelf and when I did, it made the same creaking sound that I had heard from the living room.

It had just opened. Was someone down there? I reached up and latched it, then shut the pantry door and latched it too.

Maybe I needed to get out after all, go find a place to eat lunch. A good greasy spoon that was local.

It felt good to head off on my bike, even if it was too cold for it. My jacket cut most of the wind and my helmet kept my face from freezing. I may need to get a car.

Driving around, I found a likely place. The parking lot was full and that usually meant the food was good. I had to sit at the long bar, but I didn’t mind that so much. I did glare at the man next to me who smirked when I had to climb up on the stool like a kid.

The food was as amazing as I hoped it would be and I ate slowly, wanting a reason to hang out and not go home for a while. Three cups of coffee later, I sighed and decided I had occupied the stool long enough.

It was even colder on the ride home and when I turned onto my street, my stomach fell. There was a police car out front and Dash was on my porch, knocking.

I pulled into my driveway and he turned to watch me, his hands on his hips as I put my bike in the shed and shut it.

“You need something?” I asked, coming around and up the porch.

“I was coming to check on you. Follow up. They ran the DNA and you aren’t related to the victim. Something else… that body had been embalmed. They think it was dug up and moved, put in that fridge after he died. The fridge is newer than the body, he was dead years before he was put in it.”

“Why would someone do that?”

“They think it’s the son of the first owner, the man who had this place built. Simon Alexander. They think maybe him and the wife went mad with grief and dug him up and put him down there. He died of natural causes, not in the house. Smallpox in the hospital. He was only 26.”

“That’s sad I guess. Thanks for letting me know. Have a good evening, Dash,” I nodded, then unlocked my door.

“Sunny…”

“Did you have more information about the body?”

“Can we talk?”

“It seems to me you are on duty and you should probably be working.”

“I have my radio if we’re called to something,” he scowled. “Stop being cold, please.”

“I have nothing else to say to you, Dash! I said no!”

“Let me come over after my shift,” he asked, anguish in his face and voice. “We can talk. I’ll bring chinese.”

“Jesus, Dash, get a fucking clue!” I yelled angrily. “I said no, I mean it! Don’t come here again or I’ll call your boss and tell him you’re harassing me!” Slamming the door shut in his face, I locked it, then stormed away.

Shit! Why the hell wouldn’t he take no for an answer? Why did I have to be mean before he would quit? I hoped he quit.

Ugh! It was so frustrating!

Going to the kitchen, I put tea on to boil, then paced. Making myself think of something else, I went back to my plans and focused on them, going to the dining room and moving around to see what the best layout was.

As I stood looking around at the outlets, I heard a creak again and froze. I’d latched that shelf, I know I had. And the pantry door. If someone was down there, they shouldn’t have been able to get out.

Shit.

Maybe I should call Dash to come back and look? Would he read into it if I did?

I had an idea. Calling his number, I waited, but he answered immediately.

“Sunny? Is everything ok?”

“Can I talk to Derrick please?”

“What?”

“Your partner? Derrick?”

“Why? Sunny, I won’t…”

“Just, please? It’s important.”

“Y’ello,” Derrick spoke into the phone.

“Take it off speaker,” I told Dash irritably.

I heard Derrick laugh, then talk into the phone. “What’s up, Sunny?”

“Hey… I hear something in the basement and the door keeps opening after I lock it. I don’t want to look, but I don’t want Dash to come back in here either.”

“Understood. You want me to come or send over another unit?”

“You are fine, just make sure Dash stays in the car.”

“Understood. We’re on our way.”

Immediately, Dash spoke into the phone. “Sunny? What’s wrong? Why are we coming there? Is someone there?”

“You aren’t coming, Derrick is,” I snapped, then hung up.

Immediately, my phone rang and it was Dash. I rejected the call.

A few seconds later, my phone rang again with a different local number. Probably Derrick. With a sigh, I answered it. “If this is Dash, I WILL file a restraining order. Hang up.”

“Sunny, you have to talk to me, you called us to come back! It’s my job!”

“I called Derrick to come back, not you.”

“We’re partners, we work together.”

“Not on this. Do NOT call me again, Dash. I’m not joking around and I don’t make idle threats.”

I hung up again, then paced outside on the porch, waiting. When they got there, Dash got out of the car too.

“Come up here, I dare you,” I yelled.

“Man, just stay in the car for now, I’ll call you if I need you. Let her cool down,” Derrick told him, moving around to come up my walk. “Hey Sunny. You want me to go in and look around while you stay out here?”

“I’ll come with,” I told him, with a final scowl over my shoulder at Dash, who was leaning against the cruiser with his arms crossed now. He was glaring for all he was worth.

Going in, I stayed behind Derrick. “The door opened earlier and I just shut it and locked it, both of them. The the pantry door too and latched it. I’m pretty sure I heard it open again and there was no way I was opening the pantry door if someone had gone down there and come back up.”

“Understood,” he answered, putting his hand on his gun as he reached up and unlatched the pantry door. When he opened it, the shelf door and the basement door were both open.

“That’s like it was earlier! I locked it! I hooked the latch!”

“This is the police!” Derrick called down the stairs. “If you’re down there, call out and lay down on the ground with your hands behind your head. I’d hate to have to shoot you!”

Silence.

Derrick looked back at me, then sighed and hit his radio. “Decklan, I need backup.”

“On my way.”

I sighed, but said nothing. He knew what he was doing and what he needed.

Dash didn’t even look at me as he came in and stood to the side behind Derrick. “Situation?”

“Someone opened the door from the inside, and the outer door was locked. She thinks someone might be down there.”

“Are you sure you locked it?” Dash asked, giving me a petulant look. “It’s not the wind and your imagination?”

“I wouldn’t have called if I wasn’t sure,” I spit at him. “I didn’t want you back here, but I’m not stupid either. That door was locked and the other door was shut!”

“I’m going down, stay close,” Derrick sighed.

Dash turned his attention back to Derrick and stayed close with his hand on his weapon as well.

“I’m coming down! If anyone’s down here, call out and lay on the floor with your hands behind your head!” Derrick yelled again.

He got to the bottom and looked around, Dash right behind him. Both of them moved deeper in and I eased down until I could bend enough to see through the railing. They were looking everywhere, but the basement seemed empty.

“No one here,” Derrick called, turning to face me.

“Thanks for coming to look.”

“Maybe the lock is bad on the shelf.”

“No, it’s a gate hook, it was hooked, I made sure of it.”

“You sure you didn’t open it and call us back here for attention?” Dash asked, coming back to the stairs and coming up. “False claims and wasting our time is a waste of the taxpayers money.”

“Says the man who came to my door on duty to talk about a date,” I shot back angrily. “I didn’t set it up, I heard it open while I was working in the dining room. Same as this morning in the living room when they both opened. The shelf door creaks and it’s a unique sound.”

“Well, maybe you can replace the basement door and put a lock on it. And a new lock on the shelf,” Derrick offered.

“I can come by after my shift and put a new lock on the shelf,” Dash told Derrick. “I’ll pick one up on lunch.”

“No,” I shot back quickly. “I’ll do it, I’m not helpless. I do want to know though, what are the gun laws in this state? What do I need to do to get a gun?”

“Take a C&C class,” Derrick told me. “Fill out the application and wait for a background check.”

“C&C?”

“Conceal and carry,” Dash offered. “I can get you a list of local classes, take you in. It’s getting too cold for a bike.”

“I’ll manage,” I told him coldly. “I just wanted to know what I needed to do. Thank you, Darrick, for coming and looking. And if you helped paint, thanks for that too. I appreciate it.”

“No problem,” he smiled. “Need anything else, just call. You have my number now too.”

“Thanks. Sorry to have troubled you over nothing.”

“No, it’s understandable after what happened. Have a good evening.”

Dash said nothing, just scowled at me as I shut the door. Pushy jerk. I should have just gone to a hotel as soon as Derrick told me that Dash was the relationship type.

Maybe I should fuck Derrick and Dash would let it go. Derrick wasn’t hot like Dash, but he wasn’t ugly either. He also struck me as a taker and not a giver and someone who thought sex was him getting off and that was it. Not my type.

A knock on my door made me angry as hell as I stormed to it and yanked it open. The grocery delivery man looked at me in alam.

“Sorry,” I mumbled, “I thought you were someone else. Come on in.”

He pulled in his cart and unloaded groceries in the kitchen, looking around. “This place is huge,” he offered. “You live here by yourself?”

“For now, I’m thinking about renting it out after I get it fixed up.”

“Like, roommates, or to one person and you move out?”

“Not sure yet, but probably roommates. I was thinking about renovating the dining room to work out of.”

“I’m looking for a place. I don’t smoke and I don’t have a pet. My girl and I just split and I’ve been in a hotel for almost a week now waiting for something to pop up on Craigslist.”

“Umm…”

“You can do a background check and I’ll pay a deposit and all that. And I’d never be late on rent, I have a full time job and I’m an artist. I sell my art pretty easily on my website, but I’m not like, you know, big time or anything. An amatuer with amatuer prices. Just something I like to do. I can leave my name and info.”

“Sure. I’ll think about it and give you a call whatever I decide.”

“I know another dude looking too. His roommates now suck and he never gets enough sleep. They keep eating his food too, and using his stuff and never help pay for more. You know, like laundry soap and stuff. He has a full time job and a part time job, he’s hardly ever home. He’s a good guy. I mean, you know, if you have room. This place seems huge.”

“It is, there are several bedrooms, but not many bathrooms. Sharing with a lot of people might be frustrating.”

“Yeah, I can see how that would be an issue. This place is really cool though, I like the colors you got going on. Not the same old tan and white and beige. Here, this is my number, my name is Riley Watkins. My friend is Kevin Coleman and if you call me, I can send him your way. If you want.”

“Thank you, Riley, I will call once I decide.”

“Cool. And hey, I don’t care if everything isn’t completely finished yet. Hell, I’d even help! This place is really freaking cool.”

“Thanks. I have your number and I’ll let you know. Thanks for the delivery.”

“Oh, yeah, sure. See you later I hope!”

He left and I stood looking down at the slip of paper for a moment. Did I want roommates? The income would be nice, but did I want to deal with it? Riley seemed like a nice kid, but he also talked a lot and I wasn’t sure I could deal with someone always in my personal space. Still, it might be nice to have someone around to help deter vagrants and people who might be looking to break in. This neighborhood was run down and abandoned. A couple of someones would be even better, especially if they were only home at night. I wouldn’t mind that so much. I could put them on the third floor and let them share the bathroom and if I got a third, I could put them on the second floor and share a bathroom with them. Three would be enough income to supplement so I didn’t have to keep digging into savings and if I could change two of the smaller rooms into bathrooms, I could probably have a couple more, especially on the third story where I wouldn’t have to hear them and deal with them as much.

A cool touch ran across the back of my neck and I hunched and spun around, then tried to swipe at whatever bug it must have been. What the hell? That thing had to have been huge to put that much weight behind its touch! I couldn’t find it, looking around frantically. Goosebumps came up all over my arms and I felt a chill from head to toe.

Hy heart was hammering in my chest, then I heard it. The creek of the shelf door opening again.

What.

The.

Fuck.

I was a little pissed now, but I knew what to do. Going out to the shed, I found a longish 4×4 that was in a wood pile and lugged it in. I opened the pantry, slammed the shelf door closed, then shoved the 4×4 against it. The wooden plank was longer than the pantry door, so I had to lift it up high, then close the door quickly and let it fall in place to edge the shelf closed. The fucker wouldn’t swing open now!

Angrily, I went back to the dining room and pinned up the layout I had decided on, then went up to my room and got out my laptop to look up how much it would all cost to redo that room. I also looked into adding a couple of bathrooms and was surprised at how much it was for an older house like this where they would have to redo a lot of the plumbing. Still, I would prefer to have at least two more bathrooms, one on each floor, especially if I was going to let the rooms upstairs. I would keep the living room for my business and make the parlor open to the renters to have as a living room. The library I would have as my office…

I started wondering then about the houses around me and how much they would cost. How much to buy the land and demolish most of them, maybe even make this a bed and breakfast with gardens and a little bakery.

I liked that idea a lot and the houses and land around here would probably go pretty cheap. Once I got the insurance money, it would be easy to snap them all up and tear the houses down. Maybe not the carriage house and servants house. I could restore them and make it a real experience.

I liked that idea a lot.

I would need to hire people to help with all of that…

My bedroom door swung open and I sat up, actually expecting to see Dash walk in.

There was no one there, my door had just swung open…

Gettin up, I went to it and closed it again, making sure the mechanism caught. I tugged to be certain, then turned the old lock under it just to be sure. I went back to my bed and continued my research, writing everything down and the order in which I wanted to do everything. It was actually a little exciting to make all of these plans! I was going to have to research old Victorian era decor and try and get it as close as I could with modern day furniture. There was no way I was buying antiques to put in here! I remembered then, all the antiques upstairs in the attic. Once the attic was cleared out, that would be an amazing space.

I thought of Riley then, and how he liked to paint. It was so open with all those windows, it would be perfect for an artist!

I spent the entire next day cleaning up the third story and painting the rooms, then looking on Craigslist for furniture for them. I didn’t want to get new furniture for a bunch of kids out of highschool who really just wanted to live anywhere but home. I reached out to several of the people, then went and rented a small uhaul truck to pick everything up. After, I went to the salvation army and thrift stores to see what they had as far as furniture. By the end of the day, I had the entire parlor full of furniture and I was incredibly happy about my productive day. I was going to need help to get it all up the stairs, but I was pretty sure I’d be able to find people to help me. Craigslist had been full of handymen and people looking for a side hustle and a day of work. It had also been full of people needing roommates and places to rent. I felt like I was going to be able to be pretty choosy and I liked that idea too.

That evening, I called Riley and told him I’d like to go ahead and run the background check and he was very excited about it. I also told him I’d like him to come in for an interview, his friend too, and I would need to run a background check on him too. It would be a month to month lease for the first six months for a trial period, then go from there. That would be enough time for me to know if I could deal with other people in the house, especially while renovating.

When my door swung open again, I gaped at it incredulously. I had shut it and locked it! What the actual hell?

A could touch brushed across my shoulders, moving my hair and I squealed and looked around in a panic. There was nothing there! Jumping up, I swiped at my hair and shoulders, praying there wasn’t a huge spider on me. I found nothing and the goosebumps came again, up and down my arms as I shivered.

As I went to the door, I peeked into the hall, then started to close it. As I did, I heard loud creeks downstairs like footsteps coming down the hall.

Tiptoe running back to my bed, I snatched up my phone and pulled up Dash’s number, then held my finger poised over the call button as I peeked down the stairs. I would have time to get to my room and lock the door if anyone appeared at the bottom of the stairs.

The footsteps stopped.

I waited, hardly breathing as I stared down the steps. Finally, I spoke. “I called the police! They’re on their way! I have a gun!”

I really needed to get a gun.

There was no sound from below at all.

Moving slightly, I went to the top of the stairs so I could see more of the hall.

Nothing.

I stepped down to see more and more, but there was no one in the hall.

Halfway down, I heard it. The creak of the shelf door opening.

No. Fucking. Way.

With a whimper of terror, I ran up to my room and slammed the door, locking it behind me. I hit the call button and paced.

“Sunny?”

“Someone is fucking with me! Someone is coming in my house and fucking with me!”

“Calm down, what’s wrong? I’m at the station doing paperwork, I can be there in a few minutes. Are you safe? Do I need to send a unit over?”

“I don’t know! I don’t know! I put a huge plank of wood in front of the door to wedge it shut, but it just opened again! Someone had to have moved it! And I heard footsteps coming down the hall downstairs! And my bedroom door opened even though I had it locked! It did it last night too!”

“Calm down, where are you now?”

“In my room with the door locked.”

“Do you have anything to wedge against it? Can you slide the dresser in front of it?”

“It’s too heavy!”

“Derrick, finish my paperwork, I’ll sign it tomorrow. I need to go! Sunny, I’m on my way, I’ll be right there. Is the front door unlocked?”

“No!”

“Ok, I’m going to stay on the phone with you and I’ll tell you when I get there. Don’t leave your room until I get to the door, ok? I’m in my truck and on my way, alright?”

“Who’s doing this? Why?”

“It could be anyone, Sunny. Someone might have been staying there, squatting. They might be trying to get you to leave or something. Or it might be some local kids playing pranks. I’m at the light on Shawnee and 27th. Do you hear anything?”

“No, but I’m not listening, I’m talking on the phone.”

Ok, I want you to sit on your bed and wait for me, ok? I’ll be there soon. If someone is messing with you, maybe you shouldn’t stay there tonight.”

“I’m not letting someone run me off! I need to get a gun!”

“We’ll take care of that first thing in the morning. Tonight you should probably stay somewhere else. Or have someone stay with you. I can stay, I’ll sleep on the couch downstairs. I’m halfway there, baby, just sit tight a little longer. Fuck! I’m being pulled over. Hold on babe, I need to make a call. I’ll call you right back!”

He hung up and I sat there, frozen as I listened. Was someone messing with me? Kids? A squatter? I thought about those movies with secret tunnels in the walls in old houses like this and tried to imagine where they might be if a place like this had them.

I was going over this place with a fine tooth comb tomorrow!

How much longer was he going to be?

God, I hoped this wasn’t another false alarm. Would whoever it was hide? Run off? I would look like an idiot. Like I was trying to get attention and get Dash back here.

I freaking hated this.

Finally, my phone rang.

“Hello?”

“Hey baby, I’m here, I’m out front. I have two uni’s with me, they followed after I called it in. Can you let us in? Do you feel safe coming out and coming down or do you want me to break the window and unlock it from the porch?”

“I’ll try and come down,” I told him, going to my door and listening.

When I heard nothing, I unlocked it quietly, then yanked my door open and ran downstairs as fast as I could to the door and flipped the lock. Dash opened the door before I could even reach for the knob and pulled me outside as the two police officers in uniform went in.

“Are you alright? Did you see anything?”

“No, I just heard it!”

“They will do a full sweep,” he promised. “Come on, let’s go to my truck where it’s warm and safe, ok?”

I let him lead me to his truck and even pick me up and put me in, getting in after me and pulling me into a hug, holding me and rubbing my arm as he watched the front door. He said nothing as we waited, just held me and watched.

When the two officers finally came out, he jumped out of his truck and helped me down.

“We didn’t find anything, back door was secure, -=no windows broken.”

“Was the basement door open?” I asked quickly. “In the pantry?”

“Yeah, it was open, but we looked in the basement, there was nothing down there. Ma’am, these old houses creak and settle and groan. Sometimes it can really sound like footsteps or someone moving around, when really it’s old pipes and air vents and wood settling as the house shifts.”

“That won’t open a door that’s wedged shut with a 4×4! There’s no way it could have been opened without someone moving that!”

“Ma’am there was no 4×4 in the pantry, or on the other side of the pantry door. We saw nothing like that.”

I went cold, then ran to the shed and yanked open the door.

It was laying on top of the pile.

“That one! That one right there! I used it to wedge it shut and someone put it back here where I got it from!”

“Is it possible you just thought about doing it and forgot?”

“No! It was heavy and I dragged it through the mudroom and to the pantry! I picked it because it was big and heavy!”

“We’ll take a walk around the outside of the house,” the other officer spoke up.

As soon as they left, Dash turned to me. “You’re coming home with me tonight. We can go in and pack you a bag, come on.”

“I’m not letting them run me out of my home!”

“Then I’m staying here!”

I wanted to argue, but I was actually relieved. He could sleep on the couch. I already felt so much safer just thinking of him sleeping downstairs.

When I didn’t immediately say no, he relaxed slightly and moved closer to me. “Everything will be fine, Sunny. I won’t let anyone bother you.”

“Nothing around back, no sign that anyone has been back there or through there. It’s kind of a jungle back there though, there could be a fucking school bus in those bushes and trees and we wouldn’t see it.”

“Thanks guys, I appreciate it,” Dash called to them. “I have it from here, I’ll be staying here tonight.”

“No problem Decklan, see you at the station. Slow the fuck down,” the older one called as they walked back to their patrol car.

Dash led me inside and shut and locked the door, then led me up to my room. When he shut and locked that from the inside, I gave him a level look.

“You said couch.”

“There’s plenty of room in that bed and you’ll be safer with me close. Maybe I’ll hear what you’ve been hearing and I can investigate it more quickly than if you have to call down to me.”

“Dash…”

“I’ll stay on my side and I won’t bother you. I… what is all this? Are you planning on doing all of this? Are these rental agreements? Are you going to rent out rooms?”

“None of your business! Put those down and don’t mess with my laptop!” I scolded, hurrying to gather up my lists and sketches and printouts and shut my laptop.

“Sunny, you realize tenants that would want to live around here would probably be unsavory…”

“Let me worry about that, it’s none of your business. I think you should probably go.”

“Don’t be that way, I’m just trying to look out for you. Sorry I got in your business. I thought you wanted to bake?”

“I do! And I will. Just… don’t worry about it,” I grumbled, piling all my papers on the nightstand and curling up on the bed with my laptop. I turned it away from him and opened it and he stood on the other side of the bed with his arms crossed.

“What?” I demanded.

“Not even gonna offer me a t-shirt to sleep in?”

I burst out laughing, I couldn’t help myself.

He grinned and pulled his shirt off, then his pants. When he was down to his boxers, he got in the bed and huddled under the blankets. “It’s freaking cold in here, do you have the heat on?”

“Not yet, I didn’t wanna try and heat this whole house. I was gonna get one of those safe space heaters maybe.”

“Maybe?”

“Yeah, maybe. Maybe find a way to close off the rooms not being used. I’m working, leave me alone and go to sleep.”

“Can I have a glass of water?”

I giggled again. “There’s food and water in the kitchen.”

“I need to go to the bathroom.”

“Stop!” I laughed, kicking at him. “Let me get this done.”

“I had a nightmare.”

“I’m going to give you a nightmare! Stop being a nuisance!”

He sighed, then rolled closer and threw an arm over my lap, laying his head on my thigh.

“I can’t type over the top of your head.”

“So put it up.”

“I’m not going to change my routine or what I want to do,” I told him flatly.

He got my tone quickly and pulled back enough to give me room to use my laptop, cuddling into my hip instead. “It really is cold in here,” he grumbled, squeezing me closer.

“Tough titty.”

“Bathroom remodeling?”

“Mind your business or go sleep on the couch.”

“You aren’t very grateful to someone doing you a favor.”

“You’re FORCING the ‘favor’ onto me! I tried to say no and I tried to make you sleep down there like you originally offered. You don’t get to complain when I want to finish what I’m doing and you don’t get to pester me until I stop and pay attention to you.”

“I could make you pay attention,” he murmured, lifting his head and gently biting my nipple through my t-shirt.

“And I could elbow you in the face if you do that again,” I huffed, twisting away from him. “Seriously, back the fuck off!”

“Jesus, Sunny! This is why you’re doing all of this, so why act like it’s not what you want?”

“Doing all of what?” I demanded angrily, kicking the blankets off and getting up.

“Pretending someone’s in your house, opening doors and walking around. You want to get me back here, that’s why you called me and not the police. It’s all just to get attention and get me here! Are you just toying with me? Seeing how miserable you can make me, keeping me on a string?”

“I’m not faking anything! I know what I heard and someone moved that plank! The doors ARE opening on their own, even when I have them locked! Someone is fucking with me! Probably you so that I feel scared and need someone to come here and check it out!”

“Oh, now you accuse me? You fake all of this and then try and say I’m doing it! I was at the fucking station when you called, remember?”

“That doesn’t mean you don’t have someone doing it for you!”

“Bullshit! You’re making it all up for attention! I’m here, you got what you wanted, now quit torturing me!”

“I told you to leave! I do NOT want you here, Dash! I called because there was someone in my house! I don’t care if you believe me, I just know who I’m NOT calling next time! I’ll just get a gun and let you assholes sort it out after I shoot him! And fuck you for not believing me! I’ll be sure and put that in my statement when the day does come that the guy is caught, asshole. Get out! Get out of my room, out of my house!”