Beautiful Creatures Series

It was six in the morning, and Darrell had to get to the job site. With Katelyn missing, it was important for him to keep up appearances, so people did not suspect he had any involvement in her disappearance. He was going to have to go back to her house and pretend as nothing had happened.

However, he could not leave Katelyn tied up all day. She would no doubt need food, water, and to use the restroom. He needed someone to check in on her while he was at work. He knew just who to ask too. Darrell hopped into his truck and drove the short distance to Stanton’s cabin, which was his closest neighbour.

Pulling into the driveway, he knew Stanton was still home because his SUV was still parked. Getting out of his truck, Darrel mounted the wooden porch steps and knocked on the door. It took a moment for Stanton to answer the door. He was only wearing his jeans and not a stitch more except for the police-grade handcuffs attached to his left wrist. He had not had the chance to take it off before answering the door. Darrell smirked. No one talked about it, but Stanton and his new wife Aurora were both a little bit freaky when it came to the bedroom games. Darrell never asked, but he suspected that little Aurora was the dominant one in the bedroom. It was amusing to think of big bad Stanton submitting to anyone, let alone a woman he dwarfed in size.

Darrell smiled, trying not to draw attention to the handcuffs. “Is Aurora around?” It was a rhetorical question. He could see her from where he stood at the door.

She was pulling on a tiny little tank top. She was now dressed… sort of. She was wearing nothing but a pair of fitted black and pink lace panties that barely covered her amazing bottom and the tiny tight tank. It hugged her body in the most seductive way. Aurora was far from modest or shy. Before she married Stanton, Aurora had been a legitimate prostitute. She was drop-dead heart-stopping gorgeous, and Darrell, like every other man, were both envious of Stanton and confused as to what he had done to make this woman love him. Stanton was a great guy but butt ugly. What Aurora saw in him, no one would ever know.

Stanton stepped aside as Aurora came to the door dressed only as she was. The bottom of her tank top riding up because of the small baby bump she had recently developed. She was a good six months pregnant, but she had only started showing not long ago. Aurora came to stand in front of Stanton with a playful grin. “What’s up, Cowboy?” Aurora addressed him with the little pet name she had given him. No one else called him Cowboy, he wouldn’t allow it, but he let it slide when Aurora did because she did so with affection.

“I need you to do a favour for me,” he said.

“Sure,” she said, eyeing him up like he was a steak. “But, you will have to wait until Stanton goes to work,” she said suggestively. Cowboy snickered because he knew she was not actually offering to service him. She was just playing.

Stanton growled at Darrell. “She’s kidding,” Darrell said quickly. “Aurora, tell him you are just playing before he disembowels me.”

Aurora laughed as she turned and caressed Stanton’s face. “Big Daddy knows I’m just teasing,” she said, standing up on her toes as Stanton leaned over to kiss her. She then patted him on the chest. “Go get dressed for work,” Stanton muttered something under his breath as he wandered off to get ready for his day. Aurora turned to face Darrell as she folded her arms across her chest and leaned against the doorjamb. “What’s up, buttercup?”

“That girl from last night.”

“The one you won’t kill?”

“Right. I have her tied up in my house. I need you….”

“Say no more. I’ll kill her.”

“No,” he said quickly. “I don’t want you to kill her. I need you to drop in a few times during the day to let her use the restroom and give her a little food and water. Just until I get home.”

“Are you sure killing her wouldn’t be easier?”

“No, you can’t kill her. You take care of her and be nice.”

Aurora frowned as though insulted. “I’m always nice.”

scared, don’t

exactly do you intend to do with this girl. You can’t keep her tied up in your house

to think this

my lunch break. I can close up for an hour,” Aurora owned and operated the new organic grocery store in the hub. The hub was a small one street where they

“Thank you.”

and then hopped back into his truck and headed off to

***

to slip out of. She did not know where Darrell was, but she needed to escape before he came back. She was making no progress. This man knew how to secure someone. Katelyn’s heart skipped a beat when the front door opened, and in came one of the women from the bar the night before. She was very pretty when not tearing a man to

while. You shouldn’t struggle so much. The knot he tied only gets tighter when tugged on,” she told Katelyn. Well, that explained why she was not getting anywhere. “I’m sorry we haven’t been properly introduced. My name is Aurora Bradshaw,” she said, reaching out to help Katelyn sit up. “I’m

understood. It was a pet name. “Are

to a friend of his. I’m just here to feed and

not a plant,” Katelyn snapped.

could have worded that better. Cowboy asked me to check in on you while he was at work. Make sure you have everything you need while

desperately. It had been way too long, and after everything, Katelyn had drunk

stood up and walked out of the room. She returned shortly with a knife, using it to cut the rope around Katelyn’s ankles so that she could walk. Taking Katelyn by the arm, Aurora helped her to her feet and walked her through the house

escape. The living room, which had been the only room she had seen thus far, was large with an old wood potbelly stove in the corner. The floors were hardwood, and there was a midsized plasma TV in a homemade entertainment shelving unit. The furniture was dark brown and cozy, probably from one of the Lay-Z-Boy lines. The coffee table was unique. It was one large thick slab of treated wood that looked as though it had come from the truck of a hundred-year-old tree.

walls were grey like the other. The cabinets

antique claw tub, a closet filled with towels and clothes, and a sink that looked like an old washbasin one would find two hundred years ago. Only this one was equipped with running water and a proper drain. It was really quite quaint. Aurora stood outside the door, giving Katelyn some privacy while she relieved herself. While the door was closed, Katelyn searched the small washroom for something she could use as a

Katelyn opened the door, and Aurora smiled at

Aurora led Katelyn to the table and sat her

see what Cowboy has to eat,” Aurora said, opening his fridge and going through the cupboards. “How about some cereal for breakfast?” She said, taking out a bowl and filling it with Sugar Crisp and milk. She placed the bowl and a spoon on the table

difficult with her

you,” Aurora said. Katelyn gave her

is a funny way

to kill you in the alley. He’s the only reason you are a corpse in the City Morgue. He went to bat for you against his own kind.

he just wants to protect me, why did

you have stayed had

“No.”

teeming with Lycans who want you dead. Lycans who can track

wooden banister that looked made out of thick branches. She could not see what was up in the loft. “What is

there,” she said. “I have never been up there. You know he built this house with his own two hands from the foundation up. That man can do wonders with

have a girlfriend,” great not only had she attracted a psychopath, but