10.

Nick didn't finish work until midnight but I didn't mind staying with him until his shift ended. In fact, there was nothing I wanted more.

It was quite a turn on to see Nick doing his job and doing it so well. He demanded the room with quiet authority and a deep voice to match. Not only that, all eyes were on him.

Especially mine.

Nick had sat me down on his office chair, which was also in a room full of other desks and officers. They were open but spaced out quite nicely.

He demanded "stay here, I'll take you home later." And that was the end of it. It was flattering to know he just wanted to look after me.

In terms of Danni, she got picked up earlier by one of her old friends. She had no one else to call really. I offered for her to stay with me, I think it would have been funny, especially with Danni, to be let loose in a police station. Yet Danni had other plans. She had always been a night bird.

Nick had his team around him and he spoke to them with calmness and authority. They listened intently as he spoke about a man on red alert around the city. It was interesting to hear him, even though I kept getting side tracked at the naked women calendars on his wall.

I didn't know whether they were serious or some kind of office prank present. Either way, they were funny in my eyes. Even though I was a jealous person when it came to the people in my life, they were still pictures and Nick had taken a liking to me. He could have any girl he wanted, mousey Alice or the blonde with big fake boobs in the waiting area. However, Nick had stated he wanted me.

I didn't know how that was humanly possible, however, I wasn't complaining.

"Just keep an eye out for him, he will usually be around the small lanes in the city." Nick stated as he paced the floor, his fine muscled glory on display for all of us to see.

I kept an eye on Alice. She seemed to take a liking to Nick. I was a woman myself, I could see it in her eyes how much she fancied him.

Tough luck, Alice, he's mine.

I hadn't meant to let my cat claws spring free from my hands.

When Nick had finished his speech, his team assembled out of the room and some in to their own office cubicles. Nick came sauntering up to me, my body slouched in his chair and my feet kicked up in to his desk.

"Hey, handsome." I flirted. He smirked my way, his eyes bright as he took in my form.

"Getting comfortable there, sweetheart?" My smile broadened his way.

"The naked women on your wall really help with the settling in." I stated, my tone mocking and joking. His eyes flickered up to the calendars on his wall and back down to me. He smirked again.

"Jealous?"

"Just merely an observation." I shrugged.

Nick suddenly grabbed a hold of my hips and hauled me out of his chair. I wanted to shriek with shock, but didn't want to disturb his work mates, so I decided to keep my mouth shut.

Next thing I knew, Nick was slouched in his own office chair and I was upon his lap.

"This isn't appropriate, you know." I stated. I didn't want him to put me down, however. His legs kept a good balance on his desk and were used as a good seat beneath me.

"Fuck it." Nick let out as he breathed in my scent. I wiggled on top of him as he began kissing my neck silently. "Stop wiggling." He demanded.

"I can't help it when you're kissing my neck." I hissed his way. Nick stopped what he was doing with a smirk and kept a hand on my thigh as he booted up his computer.

He rolled further to his desk and I had no choice but to lean back on to his chest.

"Quite the compromising position." I stated. Nick chuckled quietly.

"I could think of better positions to put you in."

"That's not very community friendly."

"I don't do community friendly." Nick gruffed.

"You're a police officer."

"I'm a police officer when I'm a police officer. The real Nick isn't community friendly. You should know this by now." Nick replied. I sat up and turned to look at him.

"Then what are you when you're the real Nick?" Nick shrugged in reply. "Well, what's your favourite thing to do?"

"I like to draw." That was the last thing I expected to come from his mouth. He obviously loved his tattoos and the art work on his walls were one of fascination and passion. I, however, hadn't expected him to be in to that stuff himself.

Nick was always so uptight, so brooding and mysterious. It was hard to imagine him sitting there drawing, letting his thoughts and feelings out on paper.

I admired him for having a passion.

"What do you draw?" I asked. Nick moved his mouse around as he did things on his computer. They looked too confusing to even comprehend.

"Anything really. Abstracts, usually with no colour."

"Why no colour?"

"There's no point painting colourfully when you're not thinking and feeling with colour." Nick stated. My heart sank at his words. I knew he was battling something inside, it was hard to tell but something about him was there. This, this told me definitely that he was battling with his demons.

I wouldn't push him, I'd never push him for information. If he wanted to tell me, when the time was right and he was ready, I'd be all ears to listen to him.

"Maybe the colour will shine bright if you let it." Nick sighed.

"Cathy, nobody paints in colour if they're just going to blacken it with their feelings. Even if they do, I don't lie that good."

"Well, you haven't blackened my colour yet."

"Give it time." Was his response. He was quite a pessimistic person when he wanted to be. Sometimes he was all so sure of himself, others he was ready to be negative.

Before I could respond, the office door opened and everybody stood at the man who barged in. Nick didn't bother standing, I stood glued in his lap.

The man seemed highly respected and he was obviously high up in the hierarchy around here. I was confused as to why Nick hadn't stood up, too, like the rest of his team.

"Abel." The man snapped. His voice was low and lethal. Nick turned in his chair and gently pushed my off of his lap. He stood gracefully from his chair without attitude.

"Yes, sheriff?"

"There's been an emergency up north of the city. We need you to lead tonight." He stated. His chubby body leaned against the door frame in a relaxed posture. He didn't seem at all intimidating anymore.

Nick nodded before shutting down his computer.

When he came back up from bending over his desk, he whispered in my ear.

"I'll be back in fifteen minutes. These jobs won't take long. Sit at my desk and do not wander around, there are dangerous people around here at night." His voice sounded stern. I rolled my eyes. "Cathy, I mean it."

"Yes, yes. Go and do your job." Nick stood up straighter and eyed me effectively. I sat back down in his chair and gave him the sweetest smile I could muster. He narrowed his eyes.

"Behave."

"Yes, sir." Without another word I moved towards his desk and started messing around with his equipment. He was going to have to let me if he wanted me to stay entertained and sane.

He sauntered off, Alice hot on his tail. What was up with that girl? If I wasn't in his work place, I'd have been telling her by now that Nick and I had a thing going on. However, I wasn't really that petty.

She could have her silly crush. God knows I had mine.

The office cubicles were dead after ten minutes. Many people had gone home, many more were coming to work at 11:50.

Nick was meant to be finishing in ten minutes. I doubted that was even going to happen if he was out on the job. I sighed.

Feeling bored and extremely advernturous, I decided to get up from the desk. Fuck Nick. Nothing was going to happen to me here, police were everywhere.

With that thought, I left the offices and made my way down the hall. I passed the interrogation rooms and nearly shivered. They were horrible places. So dark and scary inside.

With the female toilets to the left, I decided I did indeed need to pee. With that thought, I went to the toilet.

The toilets were small and I wasn't sure if they were for the staff or for the public who needed to come to the police station. With that said, they weren't very nice.

The paint was chipping off from the walls in all directions and it smelt strongly of cheap soap.

After I released my bladder, I made my way to the sink to wash my hands. I looked at myself in the mirror and sighed. I really did look like shit.

My hair was a mess and most of my makeup had washed off. I didn't know how. It was maddening how much you changed throughout the day and during your activities.

After a few minutes in the toilet, I left.

Suddenly, my body smacked into a soft belly. I grunted at the contact. As I was pushed backwards a touch, I looked up at the figure infront of me.

"Why, aren't you a pretty thing?" The man stated as he raked suggestive eyes down my body. I cringed in disgust.

The man was lanky, tall and looked extremely greasy. He wore the uniform Nick wore. I shuddered at the look of him.

"Hi." I said. Not really knowing what to say or how to say it. I tried to push past him, but he shot out an arm and pushed me backwards gently.

I swear to God, I was going to kick this man in the balls.

"Where are you going?" He asked with lust clear in his voice. I shivered. Not again.

My chest began to tighten as my memories collided in to me with force. I had spent so long trying to forget everything that had happened. I had tried so hard, and this man had to come and fuck everything up for me.

I heaved a large lungful of air.

"Away from you." I spat. "Leave me alone."

"Don't be that way, petal." The name caused me to take a step back with shock. He was using the pet name he always used. I couldn't breathe.

"Fuck off." I hissed. I laid two hands to my head.

"Now, now." He hushed. He went to touch me, I recoiled at the gesture.

Please, don't touch me.

I pleaded. I pleaded in my head. I needed someone to help me, anyone. I needed to get away from him.

"I'll scream blue murder if you touch me." I hissed. He chuckled loudly.

"Nobody would hear you here, petal. Only you and me." He winked. I choked on the air I was meant to be breathing.

The memories felt all too much. They over took my mind without a backwards glance. I couldn't stop them. On shaking legs, my memories came back to me.

It was a windy night in Australia, Sydney. The winds pushed the metal bins around he garden and the small trees held on strongly to their roots as they were pushed in all directions.

My mother had left only an hour ago to her work party. She went every year, and every year I hated it. I hated it when she left, when she had to go and leave me with her husband.

When I was sixteen, I pleaded and begged her to stay. I did at seventeen, too. At eighteen, I stopped begging her to stay when she left. I accepted my faith. I couldn't tell her, she wouldn't believe me. Not when she was completely in love, not when she was head over heels. She wouldn't hear me, she wouldn't listen.

The thing was, he hardly ever touched me, he hardly ever hurt me. It was his words that were my undoing. The way he used to tell me all of the things he would love to do to me, maybe next time, maybe the time after that, he didn't know and he didn't want me to know, either. He was the master of mind games, a monster under the bed.

I hated him with every fibre I had in my body.

Tonight, he was watching the rugby game in his study. I wish he'd stay there all night, but I knew him. He'd be up soon. He called it tucking in, I called it hell.

I used to sit on my bed and cry whilst I waited for him. There was nothing I could do. He reinforced curfews when my mother was out, he used them religiously to keep me indoors and in hands reach.

Why couldn't she see what he was doing to me?

I heard the familiar footsteps I heard every night. Sometimes he'd leave me be, sometimes he wouldn't. Tonight, I knew he was coming my way, I knew by the way his breathing quickened as he approached my room. I knew by the way his feet rocketed the house.

He wanted me to know he was there. He could smell the fear a mile away. He loved it.

The door creaked and it seemed like hours until he was beside me. I hid under the covers. At eighteen I was hiding under the covers like a three year old girl. I was hiding under the covers like I was scared from the ghost.

"Catherine." He purred. I could feel his hands running down my body as I shivered. "Let me see your face."

I ignored him.

The next thing I knew, he grabbed the top of the blanket and ripped it away from me. Now he could see my tears, he could smell the fear radiating off of my like a wave.

"Don't touch me." I sobbed. Maybe tonight was the night he would do it. Mum wouldn't be back for hours yet. He could, he had the chance.

"Come on, petal, you know I wouldn't hurt you." I looked to him, not being fooled. I could see by the sadistic look in his eyes that he would. He wouldn't think twice about it.

"Please." I pleaded. "I don't want this."

"Of course you do." He chuckled loudly. His sounds vibrated off of the walls. "I can see it in the way you look at me. Your mother would be very, very angry if she found out."

"Go away."

"You're eighteen now, Catherine. Old enough to follow your desires. Old enough for me to follow mine. You know I want you, I have since your mother introduced me to you."

"You're sick." I spat. His words infuriated me. Why couldn't he just leave me alone? Why couldn't he just jump off the face of the Earth and let me live?

"That's enough." He grabbed my thigh tightly. I tried to push him off me. He was too strong, he wouldn't budge. "Be a good girl, Catherine."

He leaned in closer to my mouth. I screamed and screamed and screamed.

Until everything turned black.

"Cathy!" I heard a voice so thick and deep. They sounded panicked and frightened. I couldn't open my eyes, they were too heavy.

I really wanted to open them. The voice sounded familiar. I wanted to see the person talking to me, I desperately wanted to open my eyes wide.

"Get the fuck away from her!" The voice bellowed. "I'll break your fucking neck."

"I was just talking to her, Abel. You fuck off."

"Don't push it, Dixon. I swear to God, I will fucking kill you. Never, ever touch her again." I felt hands upon my face. Arms around my body as I was rocked back and forth. "She's mine." The voice growled.

I couldn't help but sob. I wanted to open my eyes. I wanted these memories to leave me. I was just so tired, so washed out and tired.

"Come on, Angel. He won't hurt you. I've got you." The voice hushed. In that moment, I knew who the voice belonged to. It was Nick. I sobbed more once I knew he had come to save me.

"Don't go." I croaked quietly.

"I'm not going any where. You're okay, you just panicked and blacked out for a few minutes. Open your eyes now, Angel."

"I can't." I sobbed. "They're too heavy."

"You can fall asleep, I'll take you home. You're safe, I've got you." His arms tightened around my body. The pressure and the warmth coming from him relaxed my beating heart.

"Thank you." I whispered, before I stopped fighting and let myself fall asleep.

Once he was done, he left me sobbing in bed.

This was the worst he had ever been. He touched me, he did all of the things he said he would. I knew it was only a matter of time.

He broke me, left me in two pieces in my bedroom with a smile on his face and the eyes of a winner.

In reality, it wasn't the monsters under the bed or the ghosts you were meant to be afraid of. Not when the man under your roof was the devil and was insistent on dragging you to hell.

________________

Please vote this chapter!

Hope you enjoyed x