Drive

Hal basked in the first genuine feelings of complete happiness he ever remembered feeling. He was free of tension, and his company was lovely and equally happy. She enjoyed... being with him. There were no expectations or judgments. This utter peace and bliss felt precious, fragile, and wondrous.

He suddenly began to wonder why he'd never felt this way with Lisa. Yes, she excited him, but soon enough, he'd start to feel unworthy, insecure, and the pressure would mount until he finally exploded into rage. Lisa would then have him right where she wanted him.

Now, he felt his peace was in danger of popping like a soap bubble. Like a self-fulfilling prophecy, his anxiety over this most recent revelation destroyed his feelings of contentment. He did his best to keep it from his face, but Sam saw his expression change and watched him with sad eyes.

He paid the bill and left a generous tip. They wandered into the attached gift shop and looked over the memorabilia and souvenirs. On a whim, Hal picked up a CD of classic music from the heyday of Route 66.

Sam held up a dark blue t-shirt with a large route emblem for the highway on the chest. He saw how it was resting over her boobs and suddenly imagined how great it would look on her. She was smiling at him mischievously as she bit her lip. He plucked the shirt from her fingers and added it with the CD on the counter to buy it while she giggled with her throaty voice.

They walked out to the car, and his instincts ensured the area was safe before they got in. His peace of mind was gone.

The hotel was their refuge for the night. Hal locked up and made his preparations. Due to the heavy meal, he decided to move his exercise session to the morning. He stripped down and put on his shorts while Sam was showering. When she exited the bathroom, he saw her long, blonde locks were still wet. He suddenly had the urge to touch it.

"May I brush your hair?" he blurted.

Sam smiled in surprise at him and nodded, handing him the brush as she sat at the end of his bed. He moved closer to slide his hand between the back of her neck and her hair. She sighed at the sensation of his gentle touch. He ran the brush through her beautiful hair, from her scalp all the way down to the ends. He was mesmerized by the sheer amount of hair she had and how soft it was.

"Your hair feels wonderful. Are the shampoo and conditioner working out for you?" Hal asked softly.

She was tingling madly, so she just nodded.

When he finished brushing out all of the knots, he admired its shine. "May I braid it for you?" he asked.

She desperately wanted to keep feeling his hands in her hair. "Yessss! I mean, if you want to," she gasped softly.

He used the comb to separate the bundle of hair in his hands and weaved them into a strong thick braid.

Sam tried not to squirm from the sparks Hal was sending through her body as his strong hands firmly gripped her hair and gently tugged the bundles as he worked.

When he was done, she bit her lip to distract herself from the heat between the legs as she bound the braid's end with an elastic band. "Thank you! You did an excellent job with the braid!" she gushed, just a little breathily.

"Your hair is amazing!" Hal said with an admiring smile. She blushed, and they went silent as neither knew where to take that next.

"I guess we should go to bed—our beds," Hal stammered.

She chuckled with the release of tension and nodded as she stood and went back to her bed.

When they were ready, Hal turned off the light and laid back. His hands twitched with their need to be back in her hair. He struggled to push that away, but it took him much longer to settle his mind tonight.

He couldn't see Sam's eyes watching his silhouette against the minimal light coming through a gap in the curtains. He couldn't see her struggling with her need to feel his hands on her once more.

Both found sleep difficult to find.

Chapter 6

Sam became aware of a noise and opened her eyes. The clock between the beds showed it was just a little after one in the morning. She saw Hal's shape sitting up in bed, and he was breathing in gasps. Perhaps he'd had a bad dream? A distant jingle of keys could be heard as someone dropped a set somewhere outside in the parking lot.

Her eyes went back to the man in the next bed. God, she wanted him. He'd treated her better than anyone ever had in her entire life. He was gentle and patient and seemed to love seeing her smile. She'd caught him watching her, a smile on his face to match her own. She couldn't remember a time when she'd been this happy.

She knew he was going through some kind of marital crisis, and she'd promised she wouldn't interfere, but hearing him shake and tremble was more than she could endure. She had to ease him back to sleep.

Sam pushed her sheets back and stepped over to the side of his bed.

Hal's head suddenly swiveled in her direction, and a hand grabbed her throat. She was lifted off her feet and slammed down on his bed faster than she could understand what was happening.

His hard body was on hers, and his other hand suddenly covered her mouth, pressing against the bottom of her nose. She was having trouble breathing with his weight on her and his hand, blocking her mouth and nose. She tried pushing him away, but he was just too strong. She looked up into his face, but it was hidden by shadows. He seemed to be watching her but said nothing.

Then she felt it. He was becoming excited, and it was pressing against her. She managed to wiggle her head to inhale a little air, and the pressure down below was both delicious and terrifying as he continued to watch her in total silence.

She needed air, but his grip just tightened, and genuine fear seized her.

He was going to kill her.

A harsh jingle sounded outside their door, and Hal's face lifted to look in that direction. A sliver of light from a gap in the curtains painted his face briefly, and she saw his eyes. Cold and emotionless, like a shark's. There was no expression on his face as if the muscles were paralyzed.

The jingle became the grinding noise of a key fumbling against the lock on their door. A drunken and slurring voice could be heard through the door.

"Separate beds... stupid fuck. Here Titty Titty! I've come to fuck you!"

Hal leaped off the bed, releasing Sam so she could suck in a deep breath.

As the door began to swing open, Hal's left hand shot through the opening to grab the man's throat. He squeaked in surprise as he was yanked inside. Hal's right fist hammered his face. The man's nose shattered and flattened out as his head snapped back, his muscles all going loose with his fall into unconsciousness.

"HAL!" Sam managed to scream, though her rough, gravelly voice was hoarse from the strangle grip he'd had on her earlier.

Hal's second punch stopped just before impact, and he swayed as he released the neck of the hotel's reception clerk.

"Sam?" Hal's voice was full of dread.

"I'm okay. You... you didn't hurt me," she lied.

Hal turned on the lamp next to the door. He looked down at the unconscious man in the open doorway. "It's the clerk from the front desk." He leaned down to take a sniff. "I smell alcohol."

Red and blue lights suddenly painted the doorway as a cruiser pulled into the parking lot and parked behind their car. The sheriff got out, put on his hat, walked up to the open door, and looked down at the unconscious clerk.

"So, what happened here?" the sheriff asked as he eyed the scars covering Hal's torso.

"The clerk tried to break in. I stopped him," Hal said, his voice cold and clipped. He twitched when Sam gently touched his arm.

She'd wrapped a sheet around herself and was now standing next to him.

"I heard this man say he was coming in to have sex with me. He used cruder words," Sam said to the sheriff.

"So your... husband got jealous and beat him?" the officer asked, looking closer at Sam's neck. The mark from Hal's grip was beginning to show.

"We're not married," Sam blurted.

The sheriff pointed to Hal's hand. "He seems to be married to someone. That mark on your neck is no hickey. Are you okay, miss?" The lawman put his hand on his holster, and Sam felt Hal's body respond. She froze.

Hal forced himself to relax. He'd been drilled on this by his doctors. He had a script to follow. "I have an acute case of PTSD. I was woken incorrectly just before the clerk's arrival." He turned his head to Sam. "I sincerely apologize for any harm I might have caused you."

"It's okay!" Sam insisted. "I forgot to call out to you! It was my fault!"

The sheriff gave Sam a disgusted look as he assumed she was just another victim taking the blame for being abused by a predator. He turned his eyes to Hal. "I believe you've worn out your welcome in Santa Rosa. Get your belongings and go."

Sam made a sound of protest, but Hal touched her arm and nodded to the sheriff. "We'll leave immediately."

Hal gestured for Sam to get her clothes and get dressed in the bathroom. He packed his suitcase, hiding the knife he collected from under his pillow. When Sam came out with her make-up kit packed, Hal took his turn getting dressed in the bathroom.

When he came out, the sheriff was speaking quietly but firmly to Sam, no doubt trying to help her break free from the monster that Hal was. He didn't blame the man, but he could see the sheriff's mind was made up, and the denials Sam made were falling on deaf ears.

An ambulance arrived, and they waited for the clerk to be loaded onto the gurney and wheeled away. The man had begun to come to and was complaining about his sore nose.

Once they had access to their car, Hal loaded their suitcases into the trunk. He held Sam's door for her then faced the sheriff as he shut her door.

"You arrived pretty quickly after he broke in. Were you just in the neighborhood?"

The sheriff glared at Hal. "We got an anonymous call from a concerned citizen."

Hal looked across the parking lot to the gas station across the road. The dark sedan was parked there—concerned citizens.

He nodded, walked around to his door, and got in. Sam was watching him with a worried expression. He waited for the sheriff to get back into his cruiser, then he drove out of the parking lot. The sheriff pulled out behind him, no doubt to follow him to the town limits.

Hal watched his rear-view mirror and saw their tail leave the gas station to follow.

He pulled back onto the interstate and saw the sheriff continue past the ramp. A short interval later, headlights pulled onto the interstate behind them.

"Where are we going now?" Sam asked in a quiet voice.

Hal looked over at her, and his heart clenched as the fact that he'd hurt her sent a chill through him.

"I want you to know how sorry I am that I hurt you! I knew you weren't safe with me. I should have insisted on separate rooms—"

"No! We were fine the night before! I made a mistake—"

"That almost cost you your life because of me! Because I'm a monster!" he exclaimed in anguish.

He held the steering wheel tight, his knuckles white from the death grip. He watched the lines on the road tick by and saw their tail following well back. He hadn't realized how loud his breathing had become and tried to calm himself.

"You-you're not a monster," Sam said quietly, almost as if she were trying to convince herself.

"I am. Part of me is," he admitted.

"You said it was PTSD—"

"It's not. That was a lie for the sheriff. Something he would accept." He looked over to her. "But you saw it. The monster. It left its mark on you." A shudder went through his body. "I can't let that happen again."

They drove on through the darkness, lost in their thoughts.

"What... where did the monster come from?" Sam asked cautiously.

He gave her a bleak look then concentrated on the road. It was easier to talk that way.

"It's always been inside me. Now, it's just compartmentalized. I'm not allowed to talk about it but considering it almost killed you, you deserve to know. You can't tell anyone about this. I mean it. It's not safe for you."

He held her eyes with his, and she nodded, eyes wide with fright.

Hal squirmed inside as he was responsible for that fear, and that was something he never wanted to do to her. She didn't deserve it.

"You're married."

Another sharp but straightforward comment cut through him. He nodded.

"She knows." It wasn't a question.

"Yes."

"Have you ever hurt her?"

He sucked in a painful breath. Sam couldn't know what these questions were doing to him, but he was reeling from the cuts.

"Yes."

"Is-is that why you're going to LA? Did she leave you?" Sam asked gently.

She was so far from the mark, Hal gasped out an involuntary bark of relieved laughter, then immediately clamped his mouth shut.

He needed to answer that. "No... she hasn't left me." He realized he wished she would. It would be... cleaner. "She won't. Not until... she gets what she wants."

"What—"

"Please, I can't..." Hal gripped the wheel tighter until he felt the stitching begin to cut into his skin. He forced his hands to relax.

"I'm sorry," Sam asked. "I really like you. I don't like to see you in pain, so I want to help. If talking it out can help you. I want you to know I'm willing to listen."

Hal felt the urge to burst into hysterical laughter, but he managed to suppress it. The woman he almost killed didn't want to see him in pain?!

"Th-thank you."

The moment the words left his lips, their incredible inadequacy slammed home. This woman, who had no place in his predator life, who'd likely been a constant victim in her life, now occupied his heart and mind.

Until this moment, that had been Lisa's domain. No other woman had ever, ever threatened his wife's domination of his being.

He didn't know what to do with this new awareness. It still had no place in his current situation.

He wasn't free of Lisa. She still had her claws in him, deeply. He'd been entirely under her spell since that first day they met in high school, and he still was.

After he'd been sent away to the army, he and Lisa had been separated for over a decade. When he returned to her, he was a changed man. The doctors, technicians, and trainers in the Ghost-Ops Division he was assigned to had seen to that. They hadn't removed anything, just reorganized it so he could fit into civilized society, yet be the weapon they needed him to be. That first day when Lisa brought him back to her place from the outdoor cafe, she'd tested him to see if he was still the man she'd molded to her desires. He knew every inch of her body. He knew what she loved and what she craved. He gave her that, and when she still showed signs of kicking him to the curb as another failed conquest, he panicked and let the monster out, just a little. It punished her for playing with him, and when they were finally spent, she smiled as she caught her breath, gingerly touching the bruises on her throat. Her satisfied smile that day sank the hook into his soul. He was hers.

His handler had threatened to have Lisa eliminated for her interference with their successful project. Hal managed to convince him to hold off until he could prove his performance wouldn't be impacted.

He did prove his skills exceeded anyone else in the project. He fulfilled his mission goals with less collateral damage, less noise, and more accuracy than the others, so his handler had to agree to his request to be allowed to marry Lisa.

Their married years began well enough. He was able to keep Lisa satisfied without exposing her to the monster. But every so often, they'd go through a rough patch where nothing he did was good enough for her, and his anxiety would begin to build.

During those times, she would revert to using her master class cock teasing skills, exciting and enticing strangers in bars, sporting events, neighborhood parks, and on tropical vacations. She'd tease them beyond their self-control, with the promise of a fuck they'd never forget. Her real goal was to drive Hal into a jealous rage, to make him lose control. When confronted with the situation, he'd attempt to diffuse it, but that always failed as Lisa picked her targets well and wound them up into a frenzy. They'd attack, he'd lose control, and the monster would get loose.

He'd come close to killing them on more than one occasion. One near fatality had Lisa's lipstick on his cock. Later, she'd asserted the man had gotten her too drunk to distinguish whose cock was in her mouth

Lisa was always there to confront his dark side after it dealt with its rival, and it took its reward from her willing flesh.

During this escalation of hostilities, his handler returned to inform him that Lisa's disruptive behavior, if it continued to get worse, was going to be dealt with. While Hal's performance in his missions had not been affected, the odds were increasing that Lisa would force him into violence they couldn't cover.

However, this threat remained just that, a threat, as he'd become too valuable to the Project to risk affecting his happiness and performance.

He realized he wasn't happy, and Lisa's need to sample his dark side continued to get worse. As it did, his happiness diminished, but Lisa was content as she was getting what she wanted.

As she always did.

Their interlude in the shower not that long ago when he'd lost control and almost strangled her, was an eye-opener for him. He finally understood she wasn't going to stop until he'd killed her.

That thought terrified him, but he felt he had no control in their relationship.

Enter Chet.

Hal discovered the man sitting in the waiting room of the dental office where Lisa worked. The moment they locked eyes, Hal knew he was facing another predator, one who'd been visiting his wife at work.

He was six-foot, young, handsome, tanned, and blonde, with broad shoulders and a narrow waist. He'd easily fit in with college jocks or Cali surfers.

It was the cold dead eyes that locked on Hal's, which gave away his true nature.

Before Hal could decide how to react, Chet stood, casually walked to the front desk, and let the office assistant know he'd reschedule his appointment. Then he looked at Hal and told the assistant to tell Lisa he'd see her at their 6 PM appointment on the twentieth. As Hal wondered at that, the man smirked and left.

When Hal confronted Lisa about the reference to 6 PM on the twentieth, she claimed Chet must have gotten the date wrong as she'd be in LA at a conference. With a chuckle, she dismissed his insistence that she assign Chet to another hygienist.

Her small satisfied smile sent a knife through his heart.

He realized at that moment, Lisa was a monster, too.

Chapter 7

They stopped in Albuquerque to get a room at a hotel to finish their sleep.

While Sam spoke softly, she insisted she felt safer in a room with him than a separate room when they had people following them.

Hal didn't have the will to argue, especially when she touched his arm and turned her doe-eyes on him. He reiterated the rules, then they managed to catch up on their lost sleep.

They got a later start than usual, but they'd covered some of the day's mileage already. They grabbed brunch in Gallup, once more visiting an Applebee's. Obviously, one of Sam's favorite places.

Speaking of the lovely blonde, she was wearing her blue Route 66 t-shirt and light grey yoga pants, which proved to be a significant distraction for the wait staff and Hal. She was delighted with the attention he was giving her. She'd perfected her look of innocence when he questioned her on the provocative nature of her attire.

Her throaty giggle when he gave up brought a smile to his face. Her joy filled him with happiness. He began to wish for a future where he'd hear that sound every day.