Unsuspecting Prey

Home : Stories by Mick : The Lion and the Lamb : Unsuspecting Prey

Summary: The prey spots the predator, but can he save himself?

AUTHOR: Mick
EMAIL: mick@cryptoffic.com
RATING: PG-13
SERIES: The Lion and the Lamb
CHARACTER: Landon Cassill, Kevin Harvick, Landon POV
WORD COUNT: 849
COMPLETED: September 19, 2008
DISCLAIMER: If I owned them I’d be too busy to write this stuff. Just fiction, folks. I own NOTHING and am affiliated with NO ONE mentioned here. Not the drivers, not the teams, no one. This is all fiction and fun. In other words...NOT REAL, NOT REAL, NOT REAL. ;-)
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"Night of Victory" Deer Creek Speedway; Spring Valley, Minnesota

The longer I’m around Kevin, the more uncomfortable he’s making me. It started on the flight out here. We were alone on his jet and he was all over me. He was sitting too close, touching me too much, looking at me so hard it was making me squirm. His eyes, dark and intense, seemed to gaze right through me, turning me inside out. Just when the tension would get to be too much to handle, he’d crack a joke or talk about racing and I’d feel okay again, but the security wouldn’t last long before he was starting all over.

Being alone with him here, away from everything and every person that’s familiar to me isn’t helping the unease. Even when I’m alone I can feel his eyes on me. Every time someone comes up behind me or calls my name, I jump and panic. It didn’t take me very long to figure out Kevin might not have the best of intentions with me. It only took a second longer to realize why Junior had tried so hard to keep me from coming here. I’d thought he was just jealous he didn’t get asked to go; turns out, he was trying to protect me. I could kick myself for not listening to him. He’s always looking out for me, why would this be any different?

I’ve been on autopilot all afternoon. I qualified terrible and nearly crashed just trying to park. My only saving grace is that he’s been busy taking care of things far more important than me. Another big help is all the fans around. They’ve been a huge help without even realizing it. Signing autographs and taking pictures keeps me busy and keeps me from having to be alone. Of course, I can’t take them on the plane with us tonight and the thought of having to be alone with him sends me into a mild panic.

“Landon! Hey Landon!” Aw, crap, he’s found me again! I fight back a grimace as Kevin jogs over to me, throwing an arm around my shoulders much like he did this weekend when he saw Junior coming over to us. He gives me a more-than-friendly squeeze, his eyes blazing with ill-intent, “Ready for that Q&A, buddy?”

I swallow hard and nod my response, my throat suddenly too tight for me to speak. My tongue feels ten times too big and my hands are shaky and sweaty at my sides as I let Kevin lead me to the hospitality tent where the Q&A session is being held. I try to put some distance between us by sitting at the end of the table next to David Stremme, but he fails me and scoots over so Kevin can squeeze between us. Stupid David, can’t you see how badly I want to get away from him?

Kevin seems to realize what I was trying to do and smirks at me, a dangerous smirk. A “you can’t escape” smirk. I’m beginning to feel like prey. At any moment he’s going to pounce me and I won’t be able to stop him. I’m not strong enough to defend myself and he knows it. He’s counting on it. For the millionth time today, my heart skips a beat and then pounds double-time. There has to be a way to get away from him. Maybe I can call Junior and ask him to come pick me up. I can explain to him what’s going on and-

Oh. My. God.

His hand is on my thigh. I gasp and try to move but he holds tight to me and out of the corner of my eye I see that smirk again. Squirm around and push harder at his hand but I can’t do much more without causing a scene in front of everyone. He chuckles, as if reading my thoughts, and looks over at me as he slips his hand up a little higher, innocently asking if something’s wrong. I glare at him, as menacing as I can muster, and dig my nails into his skin as I try to pry his hand off my leg. He chuckles again, tightening his fingers to the point of pain and I let out a yelp, nearly knocking over the table and my chair as I spring to my feet. Everyone turns to look at me and I can feel the blood rushing to my face, tears threatening to fall from my eyes from the combined embarrassment and panic.

“Everything alright there, Shaggy?” Kevin laughs like he’s as clueless as everyone else and pulls me back down, leaning over to whisper in my ear in a chilling tone, “Calm down, kid. Won’t be so bad if you don’t fight it. Hell, you may even enjoy it.”

He sits back, giving me a shit eating grin as his hand returns to my thigh, this time rubbing it instead of just holding it. My throat closes completely, tears burning the backs of my eyes, and it takes all the strength I can muster not to fight him anymore.

I’m so screwed.

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Mick - mick@cryptoffic.com