The day after Russell had attacked Sarah, Howie took her in to make a statement and then they headed back to spend the day on Howie’s boat. It was a relaxing day and Howie let her drive it. To Howie’s surprise, Sarah already knew how to handle it. She had spent most of her summers during high school at the marina in Fernandina helping Russell because that was where he worked.
The police made no progress in finding Russell but true to what Sarah and Howie thought, he went back to harassing her. The first time he called was two days before the party to kick off the ‘Black and Blue’ tour. Sarah was at home alone and when she saw the number on the caller ID, it was a payphone. She answered it warily.
"Hello."
"Hey, Angel."
"Russell?"
"Very good. You still recognize my voice."
"What do you want?" asked Sarah trying to hide the fear in her voice.
"I want you."
Sarah closed her eyes and said, "Okay."
That stunned Russell and he said, "What?"
"I said okay. Do you know where the marina is in Cocoa Beach?"
"Yeah."
"Meet me there tomorrow, around five. It should be fairly quiet. Don’t let anyone see you and meet me at slip 46."
"What are we going to do?"
"We’ll take my boat out so we can be together."
"You’re boat?"
"Well, it’s Howie’s but he sorta gave it to me. I need to run it one
more time before we put it up."
"I’ll see you there."
Sarah hung up the phone and sank back into the couch. She couldn’t tell Howie about this. He knew what she had planned but Sarah wanted to protect him. If she got caught, it was going to be tough enough on him but if he didn’t know anything about it, then he wouldn’t get into trouble.
Fortunately, this all worked for her. The weather service was predicting a major northeaster to hit the Cocoa Beach area and the marina had called earlier to ask Howie to move his boat to a safer location. She had planned to take it inland to a harbor up the coast where Howie stored it when he was out on tour. She was going to do that tomorrow anyway and have Howie meet her at the marina. This would definitely work.
As she got ready for bed, Sarah checked the alarm to make sure it was set and then climbed into bed with ‘Millenium’ and ‘Oscar’ curled up beside her. She lay awake thinking about what she was going to do and about Howie. He would do anything for her, including this but she knew she had to be the one. There was no way she could let him do this. She fell asleep thinking about how wonderful Howie was to her and how much she loved him.
Later that night, Howie came home hoping to find Sarah still awake but glad to see that she could sleep. He wondered if she’d had to take something to be able to sleep. Quickly, he changed and joined Sarah chasing the two pets out of the room. He wanted her to himself and as he put his arms around her, she rolled to him and put her hand on his chest.
Sleepily, Sarah said, "Did you just get home?"
"Long enough to change."
"How busy was the club tonight?"
"Not very but it’s the middle of the week too. What did you do tonight?"
Yawning, Sarah said, "Nothing. What are your plans for tomorrow?"
"We have a dress rehearsal. Why?"
"The marina called and asked that we move the boat inland. They’re calling for a severe nor’easter to hit."
"Okay. We’ll do it in the morning."
"I’d planned to do it around six. I just need you to pick me up there."
"Are you going to take it out by yourself?"
"It’s not that difficult and the trip isn’t but about an hour. I’ll
be okay."
Howie looked at Sarah. "Are you sure?"
"Yes," said Sarah emphatically.
Howie let it drop knowing by her tone to leave it alone and snuggled next to Sarah. He held her tight and whispered, "Do you need anything?"
"I need you, ‘D’," said Sarah as she ran her hands along his chest.
"You’ve got me, Angel," he said as he held her tight.
*********************
The next day, Howie was at the rehearsal for the first show in Ft. Lauderdale in just four days. Sarah kissed him good-bye and he promised to be at the marina by seven to pick her up. She watched as he drove off and then headed into the house. She was going to walk to the marina in a little while and start getting things ready. She wanted to have everything just perfect so that Russell wouldn’t suspect anything. She shuddered at the thought of him touching her again. ‘It’s just this once and then you’ll have Howie to make the nightmares go away.’
The walk to the marina was a pleasant one and as she went down to Howie’s boat, she spoke to the men on the dock.
"Why, you’re here without your boyfriend today," commented Jack.
Sarah smiled, "He’s working. I’m going to clean the boat and then run it up the coast before this storm hits."
"You be careful. It’s going to get rough."
"Don’t worry. I’ll be careful."
Joe looked at his watch. "They’re getting ready to close up for the night. If you need gas, you might want to go ahead and fuel up."
Sarah asked, "What time is it?"
"A little after four."
"Damn. With everything I have to do, I won’t get out of here until almost six. Let me go make sure I have enough. I think Howie topped the tanks off the last time we went out."
"I’ll meet you at the pumps. If I were you, I’d go ahead and head out before the water gets too bad."
"Thanks for the advice."
Sarah went on to the boat and got it ready. Then she pulled it around to the fuel pumps. Joe topped off the tanks for her and then told her that everyone was leaving for the night. Glancing at the clock, Sarah was relieved to see that it wasn’t time for Russell to be there. She still had a half hour and by then, everyone would be gone.
As Sarah waited, she got the boat ready. The chum pot was ready and hanging off the side and the boat was fueled up. She had the cleaning supplies ready so that when she got to the other marina, she could clean it.
Right at five, Sarah heard him walk down the dock and she looked up.
"Hey. Did anyone see you?"
"No. Where’s your car?"
"I walked down here. Come on."
Russell boarded the boat and Sarah started it up. As she headed out to sea, Russell sat watching her.
"This is a nice boat. I bet this set him back a pretty penny."
"I don’t know. He’s had it for a while. Are you and Chrissy married?"
"No. What abut you and pop star?"
"Not even engaged."
Sarah tried hard to make is sound like she wasn’t interested in Howie any more but it was tough. They continued on for some time and eventually, Russell looked back to see how far from shore they were.
"Let’s stop here for a little while."
"For what?" asked Sarah.
"Well, I thought you wanted to be together," he replied as he moved
to her. He kissed her along the neck and ran his hands along the inside of her
thigh. "You still feel so good."
Sarah closed her eyes so that she could picture Howie touching her this way and
then put her arms around him. "So do you."
"So, is he as good in bed as I was?"
Sarah thought to herself, ‘Better’ but she said, "No one is as good as you, Russ. Come on. Let’s go down below."
Sarah took his hand and led him down the ladder. That’s when Russell noticed the sharks following them and saw the chum pot hanging off the side.
"Does he always trail that when he’s out?"
"Sometimes. He was shark fishing the last time we went out. Would you mind getting it in. You know how much I hate the sharks following me."
Russell laughed, "Yeah, I do."
As Russell went to the back of the boat, Sarah followed him. This was the perfect time. Leaning over pulling the chum pot up, Russell’s weight was leaning over the side of the boat and Sarah easily pushed him into the water. Just like the press descending on them at the airport, the sharks descended on Russell and the last sight Sarah saw was Russell looking at her asking why. Sarah turned away quickly and ran up to the controls. She started the boat and headed away from the scene. When she looked back, Russell was gone and the sharks were still circling the spot where she had pushed him overboard.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Sarah headed the boat to the marina up the coast and relaxed in the seat. It was over with. Now all she had to do was deal with the aftermath. Would anyone truly miss Russell? Doubtful. Well, maybe Chrissy but she wasn’t worth Sarah’s effort to worry over.
Pulling into the docks an hour later, Howie and Kevin were both there to meet her. The two helped her tie off the boat and then Sarah was in Howie’s arms. He held her tight and stroked her hair feeling her trembling.
He whispered, "Is everything okay?"
"It is now. Let’s go."
"Kevin’s driving us home. He and Nessa are gonna have dinner with us."
Sarah looked at Kevin. She wasn’t thrilled with the idea of having company tonight and for the first time since she’d known him, she said, "Kev, not tonight. I want to be alone with Howie."
Howie was stunned. Sarah had NEVER blown off the guys like that. She was ALWAYS up for having them over.
The expression on Kevin’s face told the whole story. He was hurt but he graciously said, "That’s cool, baby. The tour is about to start and you want some time alone. I’ll just drop you off and head home with Nessa."
Sarah didn’t acknowledge Kevin as she headed to his truck. Kevin and Howie were both confused but they followed her. In the truck, Sarah snuggled next to Howie and didn’t say a word. The two men knew something was up but weren’t exactly sure what it was.
By the time they reached the house, the storm was getting started. The rain was light for now but the wind was howling. Running into the house, Sarah headed straight to the bathroom without saying a word to Vanessa, John, or Kevin.
As she slammed the door behind her, Howie said, "Kevin, I’m REALLY sorry about that. I’m not sure what the problem is."
"Maybe she got scared out on the boat?" suggested Kevin.
John asked, "Did she say anything about seeing Russell?"
Howie looked at him, "No, why?"
"The cops called. His car was found near the marina where you usually keep the boat."
Howie knew then what was going on and he said, "Kevin, thanks for going with me to get Sarah. We’ll see you tomorrow at the party."
"You think she saw him?" asked Nessa.
"I don’t know. All I know is that she’s upset and I need to go to her," said Howie.
Kevin said, "Go on, bro. I understand. Take care of her."
Absent-mindedly, Howie went to the bedroom leaving Kevin and Nessa with John and closed the door behind him. He heard the shower running and went in to find Sarah curled up in a ball in the shower crying. He quickly got undressed and got in with her. He knelt beside her and took her in his arms. He had to brush her hair out of her face before kissing her tenderly.
Softly, Howie asked, "You did it, didn’t you?"
Whimpering, Sarah responded, "He touched me. I feel so dirty. He kissed me and he ran his hands up my thighs. He wanted to know if he was better in bed than you."
"Angel, it’s okay. I know you didn’t want it."
"Oh god, Howie!! The look on his face…."
"Don’t do this to yourself, Sarah. It’s going to be okay."
"How can it be okay? I killed someone, Howard."
"He’d have killed you if given a chance. You were defending yourself."
Sarah looked up at Howie. "Do you still want me?"
Howie snickered, "Can’t you tell the answer to that?"
That made Sarah laugh, "Yeah….I can."
"Come on, let’s finish with the shower and then I’ll show you how much I love you and want you."
Sarah grinned. "Don’t really need a shower now. It’s kinda like a rape victim…I was trying to wash away the feeling he left me with. Is Kevin still here?"
"I doubt it. He understood but I’ve never known you to blow him off like that."
Sarah put her arms tight around Howie’s neck, pressing her body to his. Whispering, "I just want to be in your arms tonight, Howie."
Howie turned the shower off and gathered Sarah in his arms. He carried her out to the bedroom where he set her gently on the bed. Then he went to lock his door before returning to the bed himself. It was dark in the room, save the occasional flash of lightening from the storm that was starting outside.
Howie turned his attentions to Sarah and both of their needs to be together. There was no need for foreplay as they were both ready to be one. There was a storm raging inside both of them that needed release. He entered her slowly, taking her legs and wrapping them around his waist They made love, the natural dance of their bodies driven to a chaotic pitch by the thunder and purple flashes of lighting.
After an amazing climax, Howie collapsed on top of Sarah. He found the pulse point on her neck that he knew drove her wild and began to run his tongue lightly over it, teasing it. All she could do was whimper as he began to suck on it lightly.
"God, you know exactly how to turn me on," she moaned.
"You aren’t too bad yourself, Angel," whispered Howie against her neck.
Howie and Sarah continued to hold on to each other and they fell asleep knowing their relationship had just taken another step. The bond tighter than before and forged for a lifetime.