FORBIDDEN AFFECTIONS: ADDICTED TO MY STEPMOM

No! I wanted to shout that that wasn’t true at all. There was nothing going on between Ryan and me. He’s not Amy’s father….

“Crista is right, Jack. I’m Amy’s real father,” Ryan said. “That’s why there’s no reason for you to stay by her side anymore and take care of her. That’s something I should do. It’s my responsibility… This is all just a misunderstanding, Jack. I hope you can see why we’re doing all of this… It’s for you, your mom, and most of all my daughter, Amy.”

I tried to move and scream through the cloth in my mouth, desperately but no words could even be formed. Ryan held me closer as he turned to Jack and continued to utter, “Jack, you owe this to me. For once, let me build our family again so we can all be happy, okay?”

I struggled to breathe and move, my hair messing up my face as it covered my expression and tears.

Silence filled the room before we all heard Jack let out a scoff.

“And you think I’ll believe you?” Jack said, the smile disappearing from his face. “You’re not Amy’s dad, Ryan. Don’t claim what’s not yours.”

“I’m Amy’s father! No one else can be her father but me!” Ryan shouted and tightened his grip on me, seemingly unable to maintain his composure too.

“Jack! Let’s let them go, please. Let’s just be happy for your mom and her family,” Crista said and suddenly hugged Jack.

Jack pushed her away and faced Ryan again. “Do you want to know who Amy’s real father is?”

Ryan and Crista’s eyes widened and even I couldn’t stop but feel my heartbeat pounding slowly stopped.

“Don’t! Jack, don’t say it!!” Crista shouted and hugged my son again as if he was going crazy. “P-Please, don’t say anything anymore!”

Jack didn’t budge and spoke, “I’m Amy’s dad… I am her father.”

My whole body froze at what I heard. My vision and hearing senses suddenly turned numb, and in the split second I realized what was happening, I almost felt the world had ended. Everything went too fast that I couldn’t keep up with them.

Ryan attacked Jack. Crista fell on the floor and was crying. She was pulling on her hair and seemingly out of her mind in a corner as she continued weeping. Jack pulled out a gun himself and fought Ryan. I no longer knew what was going on and I also was at a loss on what to do until one of the men behind Crista earlier suddenly came to me, pulling me up by the arm. He tried to drag me out of the room when he suddenly jumped, his body flinching as he fell to the ground.

My eyes widened. I couldn’t even produce a gasp as I felt a hand touch mine in an instant.

“Mom!” Jack’s voice rang in my ears. “Mom, hurry, let’s go!”

“Marianne!” Ryan called for me. I looked at him, seeing him lying on the floor with a gunshot wound in his stomach and leg. He was struggling to get up but each time he tried, he always fell back down.

I looked at the gun Jack was holding and at his bloodied face.

“Mom?” Jack called to me again, then his wrathful face slowly softened as he touched my cheek. “It’s okay. It’s okay. I won’t let anything bad happen to you.” Then he pulled me close to him, hugging me quickly as if to comfort me from my horribly shocked state.

My knees ached at what I heard. Jack held my hand tight and immediately pulled me out of the house which was both unfamiliar to us. The way he held me slowly calmed me down and pulled back my senses.

When we came out, I realized we had been in some type of an old house in the middle of a forest.

Jack and I ran and hid in the grass and trees while Crista and Ryan’s crew followed. There were about five or more men who appeared from the wooden house.

“Amy…” I mentioned to Jack suddenly, hearing my own dry, croaked voice.

He turned to me and held my hand tightly, “She’s safe. I left her with Aunt Jonah.”

I slowly nodded and held Jack’s hand back.

Jack pulled me with one arm and hugged me tightly. “We can get out of here, mom. Don’t worry, okay? I’ll protect you no matter what happens.” He caressed my back and kissed me on the head, trying to soothe me.

I hugged him back tightly. I couldn’t hide my fear at all, my body trembling still despite my effort of numbing it down. I wanted to ask Jack where and how he learned to use a gun but I decided to put it aside. For now, I thought, we needed to escape and get away from this place as fast as possible.

We soon reached where Jack’s car was parked but soon stopped as we noticed about four men were already surrounding it. We quickly veered off course, heading in another direction. Realizing we had run far into some distance near a creek, we stopped and tried to catch our breaths.

I worriedly looked around, watching to see if anyone had followed us as Jack pulled me to rest under the tree. “Sit down first and rest. We’ll walk again later.”

“Okay…” I replied, trying to even my breathing.

Jack pulled out the gun from his pocket and then moved it as if to check the bullets.

“Aki…”

“I learned this before. From Uncle Benjie,” he said while looking at the gun. He paused, then looked up and looked me in the eye as gentle as he could muster, “I did it to protect you, mom.”Copyright Nôv/el/Dra/ma.Org.

I stopped talking and decided to keep quiet. Even though I’m worried as a mother I also can’t deny we need that weapon now. If not for it, we would’ve been probably stuck in that room or worse, separated again. Who knows what was running in Crista’s and Ryan’s heads now? From the looks of it, they had already lost their sanity… Jack… If something was to happen to Jack, I wouldn’t be able to take it… It was too terrifying…

“Mom,” Jack softly called, reaching my hand as he brought it to his lips to kiss it. Then he began to rub it as he gently said, “Don’t be afraid, mom. I’m here. I’ll protect you no matter what.”

The heavy feeling in my heart slowly quieted down. “Aki …”

“I won’t let anything bad happen to you. I’ll do everything to make sure you get home safely. I promise,” he said gently and wholeheartedly, his eyes clear and devoid of any lie as he looked at me. Then without waiting for my response, he leaned in, his lips falling to mine.

I held Jack’s head and firmly kissed him back, my chest full of fear and comfort both at the same time – battling and mixing all together.

Jack and I kissed too deeply that I felt he was beginning to pry my lips open and suck in harder inside. I gently pushed him away and looked away.

“It’s dangerous… It’s dangerous to do it here…” I said to Jack a little shyly and nervously while looking to the side.

Jack pulled my chin back so I would face him. His lips brushed mine as he pulled me closer to his arms, making me feel his heated and firm body. Uttering in a low, deep voice laced with lust and affection, he uttered, “We’ll do it quickly.”

I shivered at his touch, feeling my entire system melting. I gave in.

Soon, the slow kisses turned more aggressive and wilder.

Under the tree, in the dense forest under the afternoon sky, Jack and I became one again.