My Captor, My Love Read online

  My Captor, My Love

  Leah Matheny

  This is a fictional story. Names, organizations and characters are either the product of the author's imagination or used fictitiously.

  Copyright © 2009 by Leah Matheny

  All rights reserved.

  To my sister-in-heart, Tammy, I thank her wholeheartedly for all her time and advice. And along with my husband, who captured my heart, I'm eternally grateful for their encouragement that gave me the confidence to complete and move forward with my dream.

  Chapter 1

  I was grumbling when I got to work.

  "What's up, Dani?"

  "Hey, Karen," I sighed. "You know sweating puts me in a bad mood." I'd lived away from the beach for nine years and still couldn't get used to the damn heat spells. "How it doesn't bother you, I'll never know," I shook my head. "Between the heat, working for jerks, and no nookie or vacation forEVER, I'm gonna crack up," I said, leaning my head on her shoulder with exaggerated despair. I just started my shift and was still flushed from rushing through traffic and running in from the garage.

  "Here, do you want me to wipe your droplets of sweat away with my soft, luxuriant hair?" She held her long, chestnut braid out to me.

  "Nut." I tried not to smile as I stood back up.

  "So, jerks, huh?" Karen smiled and patted my back. "You must be talking about the illustrious Dr. Jacobs. Still after you?"

  I looked around to make sure no one could hear. "Yeah," I shuddered and rolled my eyes. He wasn't very subtle, but he never did anything when anyone else was around. Karen was the only person I'd told about the pig.

  "Listen, sugar, scoot into that empty room over there and take a few minutes to cool down. Everything's calm on the floor right now." She gave me a little shove in that direction.

  "Oh, thank you, fairy godmother," I said, then quickly looked up and down the hall before slipping into the room. I stood tall and stretched my arms over my head before bending over to touch my toes; it felt good to just hand there and feel the muscles in my back pull.

  "What's wrong, princess, lose a patient under the bed?"

  Startled, I whipped around and tried not to look guilty or embarrassed. Dr. Jacobs moved in close and gently took a hold of the stray hairs that had worked loose from my braid. I jerked my head away. At one time I would have welcomed his touch. I'd dreamed of running my fingers through his perfectly coiffed, dark blonde hair and rubbing up against his lanky, six foot body. Maybe it was the white coat and his air of assurance.

  "Princess, you have the sexiest shade of red hair I've ever seen. I just love all the gold in there. I bet you spend a pretty penny at the beauty shop."

  I swatted his hand away. "Dr. Jacobs. One, no, I didn't lose a patient. Two, I've told you not to call me that. Three…" He was shaking his head as he moved closer. His pale blue eyes bored into my chest. "Number three, you…you can't do this…you're married."

  "I don't mean anything bad by it. Why are you so upset? If I was going to be insulting, I would've said that I'd love to see that hair strewn across a pillow. Come on, call me tom. Admit it. I know you want me. I've seen you staring." He began to reach for me with his long fingers.

  I backed away and put my hands out to stop him. "I what!" I could feel a blush rise on my face; he knew. "Maybe…once, but it doesn't…whatever. I don't care what you think about the past, I do not want you now."

  "Come on give me that gorgeous smile of yours…don't raise that haughty eyebrow at me, I know you still want me, and since you lost all that weight, baby, well…" Tom grabbed my hand and tried to kiss my fingers, but I yanked my hand back. He kept pushing his advantage, backing me further into the room with his eyes focused on my chest again.

  I was shaking my head. "I…all right, maybe I was attracted to you once, but…not now." He backed me up to one of the beds. With nowhere else to go, I tried to stop him by putting my hands up and pushing on his shoulders. It didn't work. When I took a deep breath, my chest accidently touched his and his smile became a leer.

  "Yes, you are." He started to push me back on the bed. I knew my eyes were huge as I shook my head. I pursed my lips to say, "No."

  "Ahh, see? You're ready for my kisses. Princess…your eyes, they're such a beautiful, deep green and those black lashes…mmm, porcelain skin…perfect. No freckles, or are they hiding?" He lunged, putting an arm on each side of me, and tried to kiss me as I was leaning back. I reached out and slapped him as hard as I could. He grabbed both my wrists and pulled me up against him. "You bitch, do you think you can get away with that? I could have you fired."

  "I'll sue for sexual harassment." I was shaking with fear and anger.

  He looked like he could strangle me. He pushed me away from him. "No you won't, no one would believe you. I've never had a complaint. Plus, I just married the Manager of Medical Staff. Nancy's gorgeous, no one would think I'd want someone else." He took a deep breath and seemed to calm down. "All right, ice princess, have it your way." He gave me a contempt-filled look, scanning me from hair to shoes and up again. "Maybe you're not ready for a real man. Well, I have no use for a little girl." He turned to walk out of the room; then he stopped and turned around. "If you want to keep your job, you better be smart about what you say and do."

  I wanted to yell after him that I was a woman of twenty-seven and not a little girl. But that wouldn't have been the smartest move, so I quietly watched the door close behind him and sat on the bed. I wiped tears of anger that threatened to drop. Damn him. I have to get outta here. Mammoth. Gotta call TamTam.

  Karen came in, looked at me and rushed over. "Oh, sugar, what did Dr. SOB do? I'll go with you to file a complaint."

  "No, there's really only my word against his. Who'd believe me?" I turned to look at her and grabbed her shoulders. "I do have one huge favor to ask you."

  "Sure, just name it."

  "I have to get outta here. I know we're a little short staffed, but I'm way past due a vacation. I need two weeks as soon as possible."

  "You leave everything to me. Go ahead and leave right now, I'll say you went home sick," Karen smiled and gave me a big hug. "Get out of here, go someplace exciting and find yourself a man…or two. And then I'll get some dog shit from my neighbor's yard and put it behind Jacob's tire so he drives over it," she said, winking. "One big shit deserves another I always say."

  I laughed. "Right…you do that. I'm gonna go to Mammoth with TamTam. I wish you could go too." We knew there was no way they would let us both off. "But as far as men are concerned, I'm a little peeved at them right now." I stood up and walked to the door. "Cool, cool Mammoth Lakes, here I come."

  I called Tamara as soon as I walked out of the hospital. "Guess what, I'm going with you!" I squealed. "I can't wait!"

  "You are? Great! We'll have a blast. It's just what we need. Let's get dinner tonight and make plans."

  I felt a weight come off my shoulders and laughed. A weight off me, that’s what started the problem. I thought back to what I used to look like. I wasn't obese, but I did need to lose thirty-five pounds to reach my BMI (body mass index). Luckily, on my five-foot-six frame the weight was distributed evenly; but I really hated my double chin, jiggly arms and belly, and the back fat. The ball started rolling when my doctor told me I had to lose the weight. No way was I going in for my next physical with the extra pounds. Plus, I was tired of being everyone's friend and nobody's girlfriend. Sure, I'd had a couple of boyfriends, but they weren't what I wanted.

  Jeremy, my boyfriend from last year, was a perfect example. He was nice enough, but I always felt like the stronger one. I wanted a man who could make me feel like a woman. Maybe I've read too many bodice-ripper romances. Jeremy kissed me like he was apologizing, like he was afraid he was
hurting me. I wanted passion. I wanted to feel like I could count on my man, not like I needed to coax him through every step of his life. And, I didn't want to have to compete with his mother.

  I walked into the restaurant and looked for Tamara. "Dani, over here," she waved.

  I worked my way through the tables to reach her, and bent down to give her a hug and kiss. "TamTam, I'm so ready for this, I can't wait! When can we leave?"

  "I'm ready when you are. I already cleared my schedule, and I handed the latest client who came in over to Marsha. No more court or Judge Samuels for two weeks." She put her palm up and we high fived.

  "Okay, I already packed this afternoon. Do you want to leave first thing tomorrow? Please, please, please," I waggled my eyebrows and grinned. I felt giddy.

  "Yep, I'll pick you up at seven. That early it should only take us five to five-and-a-half hours to get there, depending on how many pit stops you force me to make," she said with a sardonic look, then a laugh. "I already made reservations to take a full-day horse trail ride. Remember the gorgeous cowboy from two years ago? What was his name…Greg, Gary?"

  I sighed, "Cory…yeah. He was hot." The waitress came and we ordered drinks and our dinner.

  "Dani, I have to tell you, you really look great. Hell, you look hot! You lost weight all over, except for your chest you lucky bitch. How'd you do that? My chest is always the first to go?"

  "You've never had to lose weight. You've always had that ballerina body, and having to lose four pounds before a performance doesn't count."

  "Well, those ballerina days are all over and now I'm a big-time lawyer," she grinned with her chest puffed out and her thumbs hoods in her lapels. She laughed before sitting back and looking serious again. "I just want to say that I'm really proud of you, you worked hard to get in shape and you succeeded."

  "Thanks. I do feel good, I feel healthy. But getting in shape hasn't all been a bed of roses." I told her about things finally coming to a head with Dr. Jacobs.

  "That pig, do you want to sue?" She raised her straight eyebrows at me.

  "No. And I don't even want to talk about work for the next two weeks. I'll change my schedule or something when I get back. I don't know…I don't want to give up working with Karen. I'll worry about work later. But you know, it's not just Jacobs, a lot of men treat me differently now, which is really just weird. I'm still not the skinny, California model type…not that I want to be." I still wanted to lose more weight so I could be in the middle of my BMI. I shrugged my shoulders. "It's not that I was completely ignored before, but now I feel like a lobster in a tank being looked over for the next meal. I want a man to appreciate me and want me for who I am, not what I look like."

  Tamara laughed, "You could always gain the weight back."She quickly put her hands up in surrender as I pretended to slap her. "No, no, I'm just kidding. Listen, sweetie, it's the whole package. Men are out here who want to whole package, body and brains. That's what you want in a man, isn't it?"

  "Hmm…touché, you're right. I feel like such a hypocrite. This is all still too new for me. I'm just not used to men coming on to me, not like you are with you lifetime of experiences. But I guess I could have worse problems, huh? Okay men…watch out, here comes Danielle Thomas Richardson." We both laughed and clicked our martini glasses together.

  Chapter 2

  Tamara and I left Orange County at seven-thirty in the morning. We stopped for lunch in bishop at Schatt's Bakery and arrived at her condo in Mammoth lakes by one thirty. The view was absolutely gorgeous; I could swear the sky was a deeper blue than the sky at home. The pine trees smelled so good, and I took a big, deep breath, "Ahhh." The condo had an unobstructed view of the Sherwin Mountain Range; they looked like I could reach out and touch them. Even though it was August, small patches of snow were high up in the crevasses. I lifted my arms to a gentle, cool breeze. It was only seventy-six degrees. Heaven.

  The ninety-five degree temperature at home, the lowest in a week, had been draining me and I felt one hundred percent revitalized within five minutes of breathing Mammoth's clean air. I thought of Huntington Beach where I grew up; there was a cool breeze even in the summer time. I still shivered remembering getting out of the swimming pool and being cold, then lying on the sun-heated concrete to get rid of the chill. I was happy living in Brea; I'd been there since I started nursing school in Anaheim and I loved my cute little cottage style house behind the Brea theaters. I loved everything except those few weeks of heat.

  Tamara opened all the windows while I unpacked. "Okay, what do you want to do first? This first week is for you," she yelled from her bedroom. "We need to stop by the store for food. Do you want to cook dinner or go out? Do you want to go for a walk? Just sit back and relax?"

  I was used to Tamara's multiple questions and ready to answer them. "Let's get the shopping out of the way, then go for a nice long walk and see how we feel when we get back regarding dinner. How's that sound?" After the long drive, I was ready to move.

  "Great, just give me a sec," Tamara smiled as she walked past my door.

  After our divine dinner at Petra's, we headed back to the condo and crashed. Because of the high altitude and the thinner, fresher mountain air, we were both exhausted.

  Besides, we wanted to get a good night's sleep because we were getting up early for a day-long horse ride.

  After a quick breakfast, we left by six-fifteen to get to Reds Meadow Pack Station for our ride. We packed lots of water and munchies, and we also had little packets of biodegradable toilet paper for our potty stops.

  "You think of everything, I guess it's that legal mind of yours." I smiled at her, happy that we were a part of each other's lives again, not like after high school when we only occasionally talked. Our separate "grown-up" lives had kept us busy back then and we hadn't had a chance to see each other much. I shook my head; mom and dad had been dead for five years, and since Tamara was a probate lawyer, I'd needed her help--a sad reason to be a part of each other's lives again, but some good had come out of it. I pulled my thoughts back to the upcoming day.

  "Well, at least since we're early we can drive and not have to take the shuttle down," Tamara yawned. The bus ride wasn't so bad going down, but coming back up after a long day sucked big time, especially if the bus was packed and you had to stand.

  The drive was beautiful. We came down the back side of Mammoth Mountain into the middle of the sierras, saw Starweather Lake from way up high and a quick glimpse of the Minaret Falls. The road was narrow and windy; I couldn't imagine two buses having to pass each other. We finally got to the meadow and purchased our tickets, filled out information cards, and signed waivers in the little store. I smiled while walking over to the corrals.

  The smell was strong, but I loved it. Ten horses were tied up to a rail, saddled and ready to go. I could hear the steady rhythm of a hammer hitting iron. In once corral there were a bunch of mules, and off to the left a young cowgirl had a mule in a shoot while she leaned over and trimmed its mane with electric hair sheers.

  "Well, I didn't expect to see that," I chuckled, "they really like their animals groomed."

  Tamara laughed. "I think they keep their manes short so their hair doesn't get pulled when they have all their packs on"

  "Hmmm, that makes sense." We walked along to another corral and saw many horses and mules together.

  "Excuse me lakes, are you here for the all-day ride?"

  We turned to see a tall young man. Nope, not Cory. Cory was hard to forget with his deep blue eyes and dimples. He'd probably found me hard to forget too since I'd fallen on my butt when I tried to get off my horse. I rubbed my butt and was almost glad he wasn't our guide. But I wasn’t worried about falling again; I was primed and strong after all those spinning and step classes I'd been taking.

  "Hi, yes, we're riding. I'm Danielle and this is Tamara." We shook hands and he led us back to the saddled horses.

  He gave us each a dirty, well-used pouch to hang on the saddle horn, so I put wa
ter and my camera in mine while he took our backpacks over to the mule that would carry everything. In the next ten minute, seven more people came to join the ride. We all got saddled up and headed out.

  "Oh, this is gonna be great," I grinned.

  While we rode single file down a trial, Ben, our guide, gave us instructions. "You can't let the horses eat. They'll test you to see if you'll let 'em. But if you don't show 'em who's boss right off, they won't ever mind you." Well, he evidently hadn't told that to the horses. Right of the bat my horse slowly veered toward some bushes to eat, but I didn't have too hard a time bringing him straight again. Other horses were trying to get food too. Tamara's horse quickly snuck a bit off a tall bush before she could do anything about it and we both laughed; the horse had pulled the whole bush out of the ground and had most of it hanging from its mouth.

  "You also have to watch out for a small purple flower, Lupine. You can't let the horses eat it. They love it, but it has an oil in it that's a narcotic and we can't have a bunch of intoxicated horses on our ride." Ben laughed, and of course my horse and I saw the first patch of Lupine at the same second. He headed toward to flower, but I pulled the reins hard and he stayed away.

  Ben took us down to Rainbow Falls first. At a hundred and one feet the sight was impressive. We couldn't see a rainbow, but I figured the sun wasn't in the right spot. We all got off our horses and took the very uneven stairs down to the bottom of the falls. Ben told us that sometimes people got in and swam, but it was too early in the morning and cold for us. We climbed the steps back out, all ninety-eight of them, and I had to stop twice to catch my breath.

  "What's wrong with me? This should be easy," I said between pants, loudly enough for Tamara to hear. She looked back at me; she wasn't doing much better. Even though she was tiny, I knew she had muscles; those ballet poses took strength. She just shook her head and took a deep breath; her long pony tail was swinging back and forth. When she took her baseball cap off to wipe her arm across her sweaty forehead, her curly, white-blonde hair shone when a patch of sunlight hit it.