Free The Yearning by Tina Donahue Page A

this for?”
    “I promised Mike a snack.”
    Her eyes brightened. “We still have the Ambien your doctor prescribed. We can put it or the Sominex into his food and make certain he stays asleep so we can talk about this and decide what to do.”
    Jasmine didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at her youngest sister’s ridiculous idea. “No drugs, not even over-the-counter.” She took plates and silverware from the cupboard. “I’ve decided to let him go.”
    “Screw that.” Lily tossed the plastic bowls on the table. They hit the glass top with a sharp whack and wobbled like slowly spinning quarters.
    “She’s right,” Violet said, her tone far more reasonable than Lily’s and sounding so much like their late mother. She put the ham on the table and inclined her head to the bank of windows. “You’ll be out there within a couple of hours, if you don’t keep him here. You’ll be drawn to God-knows-who. What you went through with Travis could happen again.”
    “Jas.” Lily’s normally blunt voice entreated. “Have you forgotten how close you came to being hurt?”
    Her gaze darted from sister to sister. The fear in their eyes matched hers as the night with Travis returned. She recalled the twenty-four-hour convenience store where they’d met and how she’d roamed the aisles, unsteady from desire, searching for something, anything to calm her nerves, to help her sleep. Frantic, Violet had called her cell phone. She and Lily begged Jasmine to come home.
    She hadn’t. Turning the corner near the sleep aids, she’d bumped into Travis, a tall man her age. Hand flying out, he’d caught her arm as she stumbled backwards into a display of toothpaste. Her gaze met his and the room shifted. Interest rolled through her, heightening her senses. She felt male strength in his callused fingers and saw fire in his chocolate eyes.
    They flirted shamelessly, exchanging first names only, speaking with the ease of strangers or impending lovers. For reasons she didn’t understand, Jasmine told him she just moved to the Keys from the Midwest and hoped to have some fun. Revealing nothing truly personal, he offered to show her around, starting with the body-piercing shop he owned, a block away.
    Remembering her cell phone, she told her sisters she was going to get her navel pierced, ending the call on their imploring voices. Her finger traced the name of Travis’s business printed on his tee and the five gold studs he wore in his right ear. In a kittenish voice, she asked, “Do you take late appointments at your place?”
    Within fifteen minutes, he had her stretched out on his vinyl table, her cotton shorts lowered to bare her navel. He pierced her flesh with metal and quieted her gasp with his mouth, his beard-roughened face scouring her cheeks. Her fingers groomed his wild chestnut locks as she purred, “What now?”
    “Let’s have some fun.”
    Racing forms and body jewelry catalogues littered his worn sofa in the small apartment above his shop. Remnants of a fast-food lunch, or maybe breakfast, remained on the counter.
    Unceasing lust blinded her to the clutter and the edge in his voice as he ordered her to undress.
    Staring at the dark fur between her legs, he asked, “You like being tied up, Jasmine?”
    His question sparked her first taste of panic. She wasn’t certain how he’d react if she said no. Once he’d lashed her ankles and wrists to his bed, he brought out his drug paraphernalia, taking a hit of crystal meth, then offering it to her with a chilling smile.
    She refused. Determined, he pressured her to try it. She started to sob, telling him she wanted to leave. It triggered his rage. Unbuckling his belt, he pulled it from his jeans, saying he didn’t like a tease. The belt sliced through the air, sounding like a shriek.
    Primal terror stole her ability to cry out. Even if she had, no one would hear her. The surrounding businesses had closed for the night…his was the only apartment. The bed shook