~The Binding~
Chapter
8
Taking a break they sat down to eat the dinner that
Kevin had ordered. Kevin watched Bron wolf down the food.
“Did you eat anything besides cereal since you’ve been down
here?”
“Umm, a few burgers
from Mickey D’s, a couple of candy bars, and ...”
“Forget it,” Kevin looked towards the ceiling. “How
are you going to teach our kids to eat right and you don’t?”
“The same way I raised Andrew, Do as I say, not as
I do.” Bron quipped as she grabbed a bread stick.
“How is your mom? I should call her. Do you think
she’ll ever speak to me again?” Bron asked, slightly anxious
about the answer she would get. All doubt had been erased about
what happened to people who got on the wrong side of Mama or
MeeMaw Richardson. They weren’t mean to others but Bron had
been infamous to the cold shoulder routine.
Kevin swirled a piece of bread around in the sauce
on his plate. Popping the bread in his mouth, he chewed, and
then swallowed. “Oh I think she is going to talk to you alright.”
His face was somber as he looked at his wife. “And if you are
lucky, she won’t come up the side of your head and give you
a real bell ringer. I think she perfected that move on me but
I’m not sure.” Kevin knew that Bron would have loads of questions
about the family and the business. As of yet, the only thing
she cared about were the kids. All afternoon she pestered him
to call them and he refused. “The kids are fine, we’re not
contacting them until they are with us.”
“Kevin, please.” Bron begged as she reached over and
squeezed his hand. “I feel bad enough, don’t make me feel worse.”
“You’re damn lucky Bron, I almost had you declared
unfit.” Kevin was dead serious when he spoke those words.
“If you ever leave my children again, I will do it. You’re
going to see them tomorrow.”
Bron’s face hinted at the guilt that she was feeling
inside, “I thought I was doing the right thing. I thought I
was protecting them.”
“Uh-huh,” Kevin downed his glass of milk. “I don’t
really care what you thought you were doing. Don’t ever do
it again.”
“I won’t.” Bron hesitated, this probably wasn’t the
time or the place but she did wonder if anyone had touched her
business. “Mc is probably pissed and took my business again.”
Kevin’s stone sober glare narrowed in on her like a
Tomahawk missile. “I don’t give a fuck if Mc is pissed. He
can’t touch any of your assets, everything went joint when we
were married.”
Bron’s eyebrows wrinkled together, “Not my business.
I remember the post-nup and everything was cut and dry. What
was your was yours, and what was mine stayed mine, if we had
it before hand.”
Kevin’s lips curled
slowly, “I changed it, it didn’t sit well with me.”
For the millionth time since he had caught up with
his runaway wife, her mouth fell to the floor in shock. He
winked at her, “Surprise.”
“You can’t do that, I have to sign the papers!” Bron’s
anger flashed in second.
Kevin shrugged, “What the hell do you care? You just
walked away from all of it and me.”
Slamming her fork down on her plate made the sauce
fling across the table. “Damn you, I feel guilty enough, stop
rubbing it in.”
Kevin’s lip formed a little ‘o’ but Bron was right,
he had ridden her pretty hard today and it was already late.
“I’m sorry, I’m just still so pissed off I could strangle you.
I love you but you drive me nuts.” Kevin mumbled to her. He
gave her a hard look and then tossed his napkin to the table.
Pushing his chair back, he went into the living room with the
folder in his hand and notes from what they had come up with
before dinner.
Kicking his shoes off, he sat on the couch and hunched
over the papers. “When you’re done cleaning up in there, we’ll
go over this again.”
Starting to clear the table, she felt a stab of pain
in her chest. Not only did the pain remind her that her son
wasn’t there, Kevin kept staring at her from the living room.
When she looked down, she saw where she was leaking. Shaking
her head at him, she left him to go in the bedroom and pump.
“You don’t have to hide from me, I am your husband.
It’s not like I haven’t seen them before. Besides, I think
I’m beginning to get jealous of my son!” Kevin yelled downed
the hall.
“You're a pervert!” Bron yelled back.
Kevin was scribbling away on the tablet with one pen
and another stuck in his mouth horizontally that he was chewing
on. He laid his notes out in a very simplistic manner but it
served its purpose. For each letter that was received he made
a sheet for. Each incident was recorded that was mentioned
in the letter. All people present were recorded. He was trying
to find the common denominator, the single person that would
stand out. Kevin had started this project before dinner and
they weren’t even a quarter of the way done. As of yet, they
could not find one person that was linked to all the things
that were mentioned. This mystified him and drove him crazy
at the same time. Now he wondered if it wasn’t more than one
person who was tormenting his wife and leveling all the threats.
Kevin’s mind whipped around at the complications of all of this
and how it would affect their lives. One decision he did make
while going through the notes was that Bron would get better
security since he hadn’t totally ruled out Jake. There were
only two people that he could count on inside of his circle
that would help him and not ask questions, Carlos and Billy.
Kevin also thought that bringing Cole in wouldn’t be a bad idea.
He would speak to Billy about it and see what he said once
they were home.
Kevin made a mental note to call Tim tomorrow after
the kids got there so that Bron would be busy. Tim and Jerald
were going to do some changes in the house.
Glancing at his watch, he noted the time. Mc might
have figured out where Bron had run to by now, if he could then
so could Mc. If Mc showed up in Florida, then Kevin would consider
him the ultimate suspect as Bron did.
Kevin never saw Bron
come back from the bedroom and go into the kitchen.
Bron started to frown as she cleaned the dishes. Her
hope was lagging and her heart sunk. She didn’t think they
could ever figure this out. Running away from her family wasn’t
necessarily wrong in her eyes. What was wrong was not confiding
in Kevin about what had been going on all these months. Part
of her reasoning for not telling Kevin, was in fact, that it
was Kevin to begin with. Kevin would have been a bigger problem.
The man was the epitome of a territorial male in the human species.
He would protect and mark his territory if he felt threatened
in any way, shape, or form. This behavior would manifest itself
by Bron essentially being a prisoner in her own home, she was
sure of that much. After all, he had made her his little prisoner
for weeks when they were on the road. “At least he isn’t a
dog, lucky me.”
She knew how it would play out too. Her family would
no longer have access to her. Things would be worse than just
getting letters in the mail. If this were a family member,
then whoever it was would know that she had told Kevin about
the letters.
As soon as she had finished the dishes, Bron joined
him on the couch in the living room and they went back to work.
They tried to digest everything that was written in the letters.
Papers were spread out over the coffee table. Bron’s brain
was fried as Kevin grilled her repeatedly and made notes about
who was in the room when such and such happened or when this
or that was said.
“Okay, who was there when we went camping? What about
when we went... ”
“Kevin I can’t do this anymore. I can’t think straight.”
Bron shook her head at him, she had cried many times over the
last few hours out of frustration.
Kevin just wouldn’t accept that she couldn’t remember
everything and thought maybe she was even possibly hiding something.
“If you can remember every single damn story you ever wrote
or read than dammit you should remember this, it’s too damn
important Bronwyn!” Kevin would yell at her as his aggravation
bubbled to the surface. Kevin threw the pad across the room
to vent his anger.
Yawning, her body started to lean against his. Enough
was enough for one evening. Neither of them could take any
more pressure.
Kevin grabbed the remote and clicked on the television.
His arm lazily draped over the back of the couch and Bron leaned
even closer, actually pitching sideways onto him. Kevin’s hand
wrapped around her shoulders as he lay down on the couch, tossing
his legs up and bringing her with him. Flicking on ESPN made
his wife groan. “Aww, now come on. I need my sports,” he laughed
as his hand rubbed her back and worked up to her neck. His
hand then went to the back of her head as his fingers lazily
played with her hair.
“Sssst,” Bron’s hand
shot to the back of her head.
Kevin realized why,
she had a goose-egg on her head from last night when he slammed
her head against the door.
Bron frowned, as she rubbed the tender spot. After
propping herself up on her elbows and using his chest for a
platform, she glared at him. The bones in her elbows jammed
into his chest.
Kevin cast a suspicious look at her, he knew what she
was waiting for and this was another one of those times where
he wasn’t going to apologize either.
Her lip curled to the side and then she lay her head
down on his chest. “Do you have something to say to me?” Bron
uttered as her eyes focused on the television.
“Not really,” came from him.
It sounded like a rumble, deep, and loud since her
ear was resting on his chest. “I think you do,” Bron kept prodding
him.
“I’m glad you think that, because I don’t. I’m sorry
you got a bump over it, not over what happened.”
A loud sigh came from
her and Kevin smiled in the room that was lit only by the flicker
of the large screen television.
“That wasn’t a nice thing to do to me. I know you
and the end doesn’t justify the means in this case either.”
“I’m not nice sometimes, you know that.” Kevin wasn’t
going to argue this point.
“Don’t do it again, I’ll shoot you… Or something.”
Bron grumbled, pissed because she didn’t get the entire apology
she was expecting. Like that was a big surprise, Neanderthal
Kevin would only apologize when he felt it was necessary.
“I’ll kiss it and make it better,” as his hands hooked
under her arms and he pulled her face up to his face. Her body
slid so nicely over his, he groaned. Bron was small, he always
thought he would like a woman as tall as he was, vertically
challenged and petite had its benefits as well. His lips went
for hers and he pressed his tongue against her mouth.
Bron was laughing in her head, ‘My cave man, so subtle.’
She did not intend to give him what he wanted either. Her mind
was made up, time to level the field again. Kevin’s moustache
and goatee scratched against her skin in vain.
Kevin’s hand went to her jaw, his fingers wrapped around
her chin. Applying slight pressure, he grunted as he stared
at her, “Open.” He wanted to taste her, drink from her, all
of her; it had been weeks since he had made love to her. Last
night wasn’t making love that was controlling sex.
Bron clenched her jaw which closed it even tighter.
Stupid was not in the plan, she knew better than to answer.
She had done that once, their very first kiss when he had snuck
into her hotel suite to prove yet again another point.
Kevin smirked at her, “Okay.” Then his fingers tightened
on her jaw and they kept tightening.
Bron squinted, then
howled from the piercing pain his fingers were causing, “Oww!”
That was all he needed as his tongue dove into her
mouth. He explored, tasted, and sucked every inch of her mouth.
One of his hands held her head from behind so she couldn’t move
if she wanted too grazing her teeth and the sensitive spot in
the top of her mouth. Kevin’s breathing was becoming ragged.
He whispered to her, “Don’t play where you don’t understand.
I think I have told you that many times before.”
Kevin dumped her to the back of the couch when he stood
up and then proceeded to drag her back towards the bedroom by
her hand, turning the television off in the process. The clicker
was tossed to the sofa.
Bron snarled at his lack of tact. Kevin was always
dragging her when he held her hand and it drove her crazy. He
was taller by a foot, longer legged, and she couldn’t keep up.
Most times, she imagined she looked like a rag doll being dragged
in a breeze. “I think I have an understanding now,” Bron’s
voice was high pitched.
Her face scrunched up when her remark was answered
with a deep belly laugh from him and a slamming of the bedroom
door once they had crossed the threshold. “I don’t think that’s
funny.”
Kevin stood stock still before his hands went to his
waist. His T-shirt was hoisted over his head. Bron watched
with maybe a little too much enthusiasm as he stripped down
to his boxers pretty quickly. The confusion didn’t start until
he left her standing in the bedroom, by herself.
It didn’t take long for him to return with wine glasses
and a wine bottle. He dropped a CD into the stereo in the bedroom.
Baffled, Bron had no idea what was going on. Kevin poured two
glasses of wine. Stepping towards her, he handed her the glass,
just as the music began to play.
Bron took the glass from him and sipped, “I can have
this. I have enough stored milk to feed an army.”
“I wouldn’t have given it to you if I thought it would
be a problem.” Kevin mumbled as his arm snaked around her waist.
As Bron took another sip, Kevin’s hands reached for
the blouse she was wearing. His fingers deftly unbuttoned the
small buttons on the shirt. He didn’t remove her shirt he just
opened it. Taking the glass from her hand, he set it on the
nightstand. Bron had gulped most of it anyway.
“What are you up to?” Bron became self-conscious very
quickly.
“Oh will you just relax. You’re gonna like this.”
Kevin grinned at her.
“Ya know…” Bron began
to push his hands away.
“We’re gonna dance baby, that’s all. I want to seduce
my wife, it’s been a long time since I’ve done that.”
Bron shook her head
and stepped forward into his arms, “In that case.”
“Mmmm,” Kevin mumbled as he pulled her closer to his
body. He could feel her skin rub against his, God he loved
that.
One of Kevin’s arms wrapped around her waist, his free
hand grabbed her hand. Slowly they danced around the room to
Kevin’s Matchbox Twenty CD. Rob Thomas’s voice flooded the
room, as he sang the chorus. Kevin sang with him, he had seen
this very scene unfold in his own head for days when he had
been searching for her. Kevin didn’t sing but rather whispered
the lyrics to her. Kevin’s hands left her waist as they went
for her head.
Bron felt her head being pulled upwards. Kevin’s hand
were now on her head pulling her to look at him.
Raising her head, she looked at the man and could see
the pain that she had caused him. He began to sing a little
louder and only for her.
*If
your gone, baby you need to come home.
Cuz
there’s a little bit of something in me.
In
everything in you.
Going up on her toes, she planted a kiss on his lips
that was as hungry and hot as he was. Her lips caressed his
until he opened his mouth for her this time.
His hands dropped to her hips and he lifted her. Her
jean clad legs wrapped around his waist. Kevin walked to the
bed and fell on the mattress as they began to make love to each
other until late in the night.
The room was dark and they were both sated, the glow
had gone, and the bodies had cooled. “Witch?”
“Hmmm?” Bron half answered as she backed her butt
into Kevin for her beloved spoon. His arms wrapped around her
tightly and he squeezed. Bron’s cheek rested on his bicep.
Pushing a lock of hair from her face he whispered to
her. “You need to go see Gabe when we get back. Your incision
still looks nasty.”
“Thank you Kevin for reminding me. That was a nice
way to finish off this romantic evening,” Bron snapped at him.
“I just want to make
sure I didn’t hurt you last night.”
Bron understood that as about as close to an apology
she would ever get from him over what had happened last night.
“I will,” she kissed his bicep and heard him yawn. Kevin was
happy now, now he would sleep. But could she sleep?
*Matchbox Twenty.
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This page © 2001 - 2007 Bronwyn
All Rights Reserved
This is a work of fiction.
The characters and events portrayed are fictitious.
Any resemblance to real people or events is purely coincidental.
Used with Permission
No part of this text may be copied or reprinted
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