Righteous Obsession by Rose Riker

You have enough condoms!  Are you expecting to be attacked
by a harem?”
    “No, but I knew you’d be borrowing them from me the
entire tour and I didn’t want to run out,” he laughed.
    “Well, thanks, Colin,” Jake replied and beat a hasty
retreat.
    Colin laughed again and shook his head.  He fast dialed
Alethea’s number and lay back.
    “Hello?”
    “Hi!”
    “Colin, how was the concert?”
    “Great!  The audience was really terrific and they
called us back for three encores!”
    “How did Liam do?”
    “He was pretty nervous at first, but I gave him my
secret for avoiding stage-fright and I guess it worked for him,” Colin
explained.  “By the way, thanks for calling and for your telegram.  How was
your interview with Megadeth?”
    “It was interesting to say the least and no, they didn’t
talk me into going skydiving with them though it wasn’t for lack of trying!”
    “I’m sure,” He laughed.  “Mom and dad said to be sure
and tell you hello for them.  They’re here in Atlanta.  Dad surprised mom with
tickets to Atlanta this morning and they’re leaving for the Caribbean for two
weeks tomorrow.  I think Mom’s having kind of a hard time adjusting to her
youngest child being out on his own.”
    “Your parents are so thoughtful of one another.”
    “I know.  So, what are you doing right now?”
    “Not a thing.  I’m just laying here in bed – wearing
nothing!”
    Colin groaned.  “I wish you hadn’t told me that!”
    “Why not?”  She teased him.
    “Because I’m three thousand miles away from you and I
can’t do a damn thing about it!”
    Alethea laughed softly, intimately.
    “The next time I’m in Los Angeles I’m going to make up
for lost time!”  Colin promised her.
    “I’d expect nothing less!”
     “I’m looking forward to it!”  He replied.  “Well, as
much as I hate to, I’d better let you go.”
    “I’ll talk to you soon.  I love you.”
    “I love you too.”
    “Sleep well – if you can!”  She teased.
    He chuckled and hung up then folded his arms under his
head and stared up at the ceiling.  He found himself fantasizing about being
married to Alethea.  Thoughts of marriage seem to be occupying his mind a lot
lately even before Liam mentioned it.  He shook his head and checked his cell
for messages and saw he had a voicemail.
    “I hope you’re counting the days, Matthews, because
you haven’t got many left!  You’re a dead man!  I swear this to God who
appointed me His Holy Avenger!”  It was the same person who had left the
threatening messages the previous night. 
    “Fuck it!”  Colin swore, tossing his cell on his bed.
He picked it up again, listened to the voicemail a second time and then saved
it.  He got up and started to pace around the room with his hands jammed into
his pockets then suddenly stopped.  Fuck!  This is just what this creep wants –
to make me worry and fret about what he says he’s going to do!  ‘Well, I’m not
going to oblige the dickhead!’  Colin thought.  He got undressed and went to
bed.  He stared into the darkness once again trying to figure out how this
person had come by his cell number.  He couldn’t and wouldn’t let himself worry
about the threats on his life.  Colin finally fell into a restless, uneasy
sleep, dreaming that somebody was chasing him.  He glanced over his shoulder,
but couldn’t see anyone. He could hear them, very clearly, running after and
gaining on him.  Just when they were practically on top of him and planning to
do God only knew what to him, a loud buzzing sound rescued him.  He jolted
halfway out of bed, his heart hammering, his breath coming in gasps and his
hairline damp with sweat.  He drew a deep breath and collapsed back into bed. 
Obviously, the threatening message he’d received last night caused this
nightmare.  What in the hell was this person’s game plan?  Was he actually
planning to kill him or just drive him nuts with empty