Chapter 17: Rachel

As she headed down the stairs below ground level, she really wondered where she'd gone wrong in her life to be in an unknown dungeon accompanied by a killer with a knife fetish. Descending, she homed in on every nook and cranny until she hit the basement floor. It was completely dark and she had to stop, unsure of where to go.

Not far behind her, the creak of Tanner's weight as he followed was ominous until the noise stopped and he was standing right behind her. Nothing but darkness in front of her and death behind, she turned to Tanner with a nervous expression.

"This is better?" Rachel whined dubiously. They had just had a fifteen minute long discussion about why he was choosing the place they were going today. Apparently, being alone in a secluded park had not sat well with Tanner, and it was actually very cold now, so he preferred to be indoors.

"What, you don't like playing around in the dark?" Tanner chuckled in reply, pressing her back against the wall as he slid in front of her in the narrow hallway. A brief flicker of his eyes on hers tugged on her heart as leaned in toward her, but he only walked past.

Breathing heavily, she tried to reign herself in but her face was completely flushed. For a moment, she'd thought he was going to do something else, but then he'd continued on. The man had her brain cells fried with how close he got all of the time, just a hair's breadth away from crossing a line that she wasn't sure they'd drawn very clearly.

The man didn't stop as he turned into another hallway, leaving her alone, and she took off after him, not wanting to get lost in the dark. She rounded the corner only to run right into him, and he laughed again, catching her in his arms. Flustered and nervous, she tensed from his sleeves sliding across her stomach as he held her from behind.

"Did you miss me that much?" Tanner lifted her chin to look up at him, but there was only darkness with the glint of his eyes. Nothing else.

"You have night vision or something?" Rachel stuttered, and he shook again in amusement, though it barely vocalized.

"No. It's just one hallway, and you're easy... very fun to torment. Here." Tanner gestured, pushing a darkened wall forward and light melted her pupils.

She covered her eyes, batting the light away and groaning as he released her to walk into wherever they were. The lights were dim, maybe forty watts at best, and she quickly acclimated but still had to rub her eyes.

Half the room had a TV bigger than her fridge if she flipped it sideways, and elegant couches and chairs crawled around the room, all lined with red, velvety material. The long side of it had some dart boards, the other a pool table, and there was a door that led further in near the back.

"Is this one of Oliver's places?" Rachel asked, noticing the similar décor as the pseudo bar they'd been in. To her right, there was a stocked bar and stools that were placed in convenient spots along it.

"Some place he doesn't use often, yes. I know he's been unkind to you, but using his resources makes my life easier, so I'm loath not to."

"Even though he's a mobster," Rachel pointed out.

"Oliver isn't any worse than my roommates. Someone like me doesn't have a lot of options when choosing friends, but I like Oliver, even if I don't agree with all of his choices. A bit overly defensive of me, yes, but also loyal, calculating, and completely devoid of a moral conscience when it comes to protecting his own."

"That's not an endearing quality." Rachel sighed as she hopped over and plopped on the couch, thinking about Tim. "This is so much worse than the park, by the way." Rachel bounced on the couch, but couldn't throw away her unease.

This place was completely secluded, and when Tanner shut the door, she doubted anyone would be able to hear her down here, even if she screamed at the top of her lungs. There was no one but Tanner and her, and she had no idea what to expect.

"So, what are we supposed to do down in this dungeon?" Rachel asked.

Tanner shrugged, taking a seat next to her and pulling out a small box from the end table. "Beats me. Hopefully I can bore you to death." Tanner smirked as he set down a box of darts on the coffee table in front of them. Playing with one, he tossed it and it landed center bullseye easily. Darts probably threw a lot easier than knives.

"You're trying to get rid of me? You could have just said so." Rachel leaned away from him onto the couch's armrest and glared.

"I wouldn't say trying. I'm just a boring person, so I don't see why you're still asking to come out with me. I thought I'd deterred you last time, but apparently not." Tanner tossed another dart and it didn't even hit the board, but the other dart, knocking it down. Then he tossed another one on the bullseye and continued down the line of them.

"Were you trying to deter me?" Rachel asked, confused on what he wanted, but also a little insecure. Was she really just dragging him along?

"No." Tanner tossed a dart and hit the outer ring, and then threw another, hitting the next outer ring of the same color. It was clear the bullseye was too small to entertain him for long.

Quite tired of trying to figure out what he was thinking, she sat up and scooted next to him on the couch. Immediately, his eyes flicked down to her, and she grabbed a different color dart from the box.

"Let me try," Rachel said, measuring the distance to the dartboard with her eyes and tossing the dart. It skidded on the board and fell, eliciting a snort from Tanner, who leaned forward laughing. His long curls of dishwater blond hair were up in a ponytail today, so it didn't completely obscure his face. Rachel enjoyed how he lit up when he laughed, even if it was at her expense.

"It's a good thing we're not playing each other," Tanner said, setting the box of darts down to look at her.

"I don't think we should ever play anything against each other that requires aiming. That's not a competition. Maybe Candy Land or Chutes and Ladders where it's all luck. I might win that."

"Most definitely," Tanner agreed, setting his arms on the back of the couch and that brought them perilously close as he ran one behind her shoulders. "I seem to have the worst luck with a certain girl stalking me."

"I don't stalk you," Rachel snapped, and he smirked in amusement. "You agreed to go out with me. That's not stalking." Crossing her arms, she refused to let that one slide.

"Go out and do what though?" Tanner asked in earnest, and his smirk fell to a pitiful smile. "The first time, I dragged you into breaking into a place, and then held you hostage. The second, I teased you with my knives and terrified you in the dark. And I'm pretty sure..." Tanner trailed off, looking at her strangely. "I'm pretty sure, by all definition, I sexually harassed or assaulted you the first time. Since you are still here, I'm doubtful of that fact. I'm certain I bent you over a table, but you're still sitting here."

"Well, if you want to put it that bluntly then, yes, I'm pretty sure you assaulted me. Thanks a lot." Rachel crossed her arms and couldn't bring herself to look at him.

It just made her easier to move.

Maybe she should have expected it, but his hands slipping under her legs and lifting her scared the daylight out of her again. The man set her on his lap but had the decency to do so sideways with her legs hanging off onto the couch. Curling his arm up around her back he pressed her head to his chest and she trembled under the control of his powerful arms.

Everything sank in in an impending silence, and Rachel was sure that her blush had crept to her ears. The soft brush of skin against the side of her face nudged her back over to him, and Tanner's eyebrows were lowered in what seemed like apology.

"You're quivering, Rachel." Tanner ran his knuckles over her cheek so delicately that it tickled. "If you don't like this, I will let you go. I'm not the type of man who would force himself on a young woman."

"I am not... that young. I'm turning eighteen in a few weeks." Rachel managed it out in a tight, irritated voice.

Tanner chuckled as he normally did. "You're young," Tanner insisted with a roll of his eyes.

Heat grew in that she didn't quite grasp as she moved. Whatever it was removed her ability to make rational decisions as she shifted to straddle his hips on her knees. Arms around his neck and with her face a few inches above his, she leaned into him. The way he pressed back into the couch to get away from her should have told her to stop, but she didn't. She'd never touched him before, or at least hadn't initiated touch, but when her fingers glided over his defined cheekbones and lifted his face up to hers, he moved easily to her control.

Tanner slid his hand into her hair and leaned his face to hers, nuzzling her cheek with his nose. Even this close, the man kept his distance, pressing his forehead against hers and combing his fingers through her hair. So close to her own and in the dim yellow lights, his hazel eyes were gold-flecked jade. Without words, Tanner held her gaze, his eyes glittering with just a hint of something mischievous, but they were soft and patient.

There was just something horribly honest about his eyes that she'd noticed the first moment they'd met. If he felt something, it showed in them without restraint. When he teased her, they darkened with intent. In the times she'd seen him upset, they'd vibrated with intensity and torn through everything they'd touched. Right now, there was a gentle but desirous glow in them that made it impossible for her to look away.

"Tanner," Rachel said, though it was more of a breath into his lips as he pulled her to his.

Just as light and gentle as his gaze had been, his lips met hers with only the lightest of touch at first. Inexperienced and a bit flustered, she wanted to kiss him back but didn't know how to kiss well. When she did so, moving her lips ever so much, his grip on her tightened, though not uncomfortably.

Almost hungrily, Tanner's lips moved with hers, and when she leaned back for air, he chased her with a smile and slid his tongue against hers. It was tantalizingly warm and she was lost, her entire focus spiraling onto the possessive way in which his tongue guided her own between his lips and how he pulled her against his body when he did so.

It was over just as abruptly as it had started, and Tanner chuckled as he pulled her up and dipped his lips to her chin. Feather light, he kissed her on the cheek once before moving his mouth to his neck, where he kissed her skin a bit harder, and lastly, he wandered to her collarbone his nose brushing just gently against it before he sat up.

Breathing heavily, where she was awkwardly being held against his chest on her knees still straddling him, she couldn't blush any redder and settled for sinking onto his lap and resting her face on his shoulder. The quickened pump of her heart was shaking her so hard that she imagined Tanner could feel it, but his body felt just as calm as it had before.

The beating of her heart wasn't calming, and the way she was on him had her trembling with more than fear for once. The feel of his arms pressing her against him and the way he'd trailed his lips down to her collarbone had excited her and she was cold without his touch.

"If you wanted..." Rachel was far too hot as she spoke to him. "You could continue..." Rachel trailed off into his shoulder, but he pushed her forward so quickly that she was forced to meet his eyes.

They had hardened into a clear admonishment as he narrowed them. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Rachel was silent with their gazes locked together. Tanner appeared angry but confused by her words. Had he taken them as something that she hadn't intended? Rachel thought that she had been clear.

"I just mean, there is no one around, and if you wanted to... you know..."

"I don't... know." Tanner was getting annoyed, and Rachel sighed, slumping, but he was holding her firmly with both hands.

How was this not clear?

"If you wanted to have sex. Damn, Tanner, what are you, five?" Rachel was beet red and quite flustered with having to spell it out for him.

"No, Rachel, I'm thirty-two and almost twice your god damn age." Tanner still sounded angry, so it appeared he had understood her the first time.

"I'm the legal age of consent, if that's what you're worried about," Rachel said, not quite understanding why he was so upset by her asking. A moment ago, she'd been pressed to his body with his tongue in her mouth and now this was irritating him?

"Rachel, look." Tanner lifted her off of his lap and set her on the couch, quite gently for how hard his eyes were. "This is fun for you right now. I intrigue you, and you find spending time with someone dangerous exciting. That will all pass. Whatever childish crush you have on me won't last forever."

"Childish crush?" Rachel spat the words back.

"Rachel, look at yourself. We're in a god-forsaken basement of a mobster with no one around for miles, and I'm armed to the teeth. Does that seem sane to you? You are making rash decisions in the heat of the moment because you're young.

"I am not the man who is going to take advantage of that. I'm kind to you, I get that, and I understand how that can make you think you have feelings for me, but I assure you, they will fade with time. You'll tire of me. I'm not all too interesting, and once you get over the thrill, you'll return to your world and some boy who deserves you. That isn't me."

"You think this is just some joyride for me?" Rachel hissed, and Tanner mirrored her anger. "Well, pity me for feeling something when we kissed. It must have been grossly boring for you."

"I never said that, Rachel." Tanner looked away from her.

She swallowed hard as her chest tightened and her face heated up for a different reason than before. It was a horrible burning in her eyes, and between them, there was a tightening that was indicative of the tears forming at the bottoms of them.

"Why would you... toy with my feelings and kiss me like that... if you... if you just thought this was some stupid crush?" Rachel couldn't stop the tears from falling down her face, and when Tanner went to touch her cheek, she smacked his hand away in a sound that echoed around the empty room.

"Because I had a lapse in judgment. I should have never touched you, then or now." Tanner's eyes were placid, not at all showing his emotion for the first time since she'd met him, and more tears streamed down her face.

"You wouldn't listen to me even if I said I did care about you, would you?" Rachel asked, falling onto her arms.

"No. I wouldn't." Tanner stood then, opened the door, and left.

Confused and unsure of what had just happened, she looked to the door. She thought that he couldn't possibly leave her, but the creaking of the steps as he went back outside said otherwise. Crying always turned her into a wreck, so she curled up on the couch to sob into the cushions.

That asshole had no right to tell her what she felt and would feel. The way Tanner had gotten angry and brushed her off was as if she had been something nagging that was only hanging around him for a cheap thrill. Was that really what he thought of her?

Rachel liked Tanner, asshole or not, and she'd been interested to learn about his past and to be by his side, even if they did nothing, or broke some windows, or threw knives in the twilight. Sure, it wasn't rational by any means, but she certainly also wasn't here for some quick fix of adrenaline.

Though now that she mentioned it, hers falling was also making her quite tired, as was the throbbing feeling from her inflamed sinuses. It wasn't as if anyone was going to come down to this dungeon, and Tanner had abandoned her completely. At least the heat was on in this place, so it was comfortable even without something to cover herself in.

Curling into the couch back, she closed her eyes and tried to not let the tears seep out, though they were still escaping with the remainder of her despair. Not only had he pushed her away, Rachel didn't think Tanner was coming back, and that hurt worse than anything.

"Hey... Rachel?"

She jumped to her feet and had her knife out in an instant, flipping it open, and the speaker took a huge step back.

"Woah, woah, didn't mean to startle you!" Hale, Oliver's enforcer, looked down on her nervously, and she collapsed on the couch and dropped her knife. This wasn't a man she could fight. Why was he here? Had Tanner rescinded his protection of her?

"Relax, I'm not here to harm you. Tanner called me about an hour and a half ago. I was asked to give you a ride home." Hale eyed her, and she lowered her eyebrows in anger as she tried to stop herself from crying again. "I know you think I'm a monster, but I'm not. I only ask this out of genuine concern and not any ulterior motive of Oliver's ... did he hurt you?"

"No!" The insinuation made her unbearably angry, despite how upset she was with Tanner right now. The man frightened, harassed, teased, and taunted her, but he'd never lifted a hand to her for anything but a gentle brush of his fingers. "Just take me home." Rachel gurgled out past her tight throat and renewed tears, and she stormed out.

In a huff, she tripped halfway up the steps and panicked as she fell, but she only bumped into Hale who was right behind her. Looking back, she found Hale holding her firmly in one arm while bracing himself to the stairwell banister with the other.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Hale asked, and she pushed out of his arms to trudge up the stairs.

"I never said I was okay, only that Tanner didn't hurt me. I'm sure Oliver will be giddy to know that Tanner and I won't be going out anymore." She exited out into the cold air and shivered, remembering that she hadn't brought more than a light hoody.

"This was a personal favor for Tanner. I was asked not to convey any of tonight's happenings to Oliver, and I keep my word. No one is getting any joy from whatever pain you're feeling, Rachel. I am sorry about whatever happened between you two, but please don't let it cloud your judgement when it comes to the man's life please."

"You too? You think I'm just going to go on some police calling rant. Do you all think I'm some huge nuisance?"

"I don't know you. I can't say either way. Please just get in the car." Hale averted his eyes, and she got in, slamming the door to his small vehicle. It was quaint and much less spacious than Tanner's. The hum of the motor was also marginally louder as Hale drove off.

The man didn't even ask for her address, just stopped at her house, kicked her out, and drove away in silence. There, he left her, with her agony and a remnant of imagined warmth were Tanner's lips had molded hers to his own. Had there been any feeling behind it for Tanner? Or had it just been something amusing to him? Something passing, or a joyride, as he thought it was.



Word count: 3504 -- Edited July 13th, 2020

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