by Anne Leigh
He always had his hands wrapped around me and whatever position he took when we first went to bed, it was the same position he kept before he woke up.
I knew because there were a couple of times I had to get up to go to the bathroom and he never changed positions.
The man was a statue.
Even in sleep, he remained true to form. Still, disciplined, controlled.
The only times he lost control was when we were making love. Oh, I loved having him lose control. I savored making him aroused to the point where his voice would break, chanting my name in pleasure, and asking me to relieve him of his lust.
My thighs clenched as I thought of him. There were a few times when I’d taken advantage of his sleeping state and I’d put his cock inside my mouth to wake himup blind with lust and begging for me to finish him off.
He always returned the favor. Making my pleasure last longer, and always waiting until I was incoherent in lust, pleading for my release.
Webb was a gratuitous lover and he always made sure that I was satisfied before he saw to his pleasure. It wasn’t as if I had a million dollar price tag on my virginity. I just didn’t have the time nor the right person to experience sex with.
I’d never experienced sex with another man and I didn’t find myself wanting to experience it with any other man.
Every time I thought of Webb with other women, it made me cringe. I knew that he had them before me, and I’d never ask him to compare, but still, it wasn’t something that I’d waste my time thinking of.
Before I allowed my thoughts to go into overdrive, I stood up and felt the carpeted floor beneath my feet. Most of Webb’s place was marble, but there were rugs in the bedrooms to keep my feet warmer during the night. Webb had bought them because I’d said that I didn’t like to wear slippers, but there were times when I felt the floor was cold on my feet.
The man did everything to make me comfortable.
I had to refrain myself from talking sometimes because otherwise, he’d buy every single thing that amused me or I thought was cool.
He didn’t have to, but he did because he loved to see me smile.
That’s what he told me when I’d asked him why he bought me the giant stuffed kangaroo that I was hugging and laughing at during a trip to a warehouse store.
“Webb?” I called out again.
Where could he be?
I walked to the kitchen, wondering if he had gotten hungry.
Nope, he wasn’t there.
The dining room was also clear of his shadow.
“Webb?” My voice rang in the silence of the night.
I saw lights on in his office.
Hmm…
He worked, but he tried to do everything during the day, unless there was something urgent that needed his attention.
The door was slightly ajar and I heard his voice, which sounded strangled and worried, “Have you alerted the CIA?”
The CIA?
The person on the other line was speaking so Webb was silent. Then I heard Liam’s voice, “They won’t take him out of the country, Dub-ya.” Dub-ya was his nickname for Webb, but even that didn’t soften the protracted anxiety in his voice.
Why was Liam awake at this time?
This must be really important.
I didn’t want to disturb them so I moved to turn away from the door.
I could ask him in the morning.
“What the fuck do you mean?” Webb’s voice was louder now, the agitation evident as he let out a bunch of expletives.
Webb didn’t curse a lot on a regular basis, especially when he was talking to Tony or his counterparts. So whoever was on the other line wasn’t Tony.
I didn’t really want to be snooping into what seemed like a really important meeting, at two in the morning, so I should have really just gone back to bed.
I was ready to take another step when I heard Liam say, “Should we tell Athena?”
And those words right there made my feet freeze on the floor.
The beating of my heart slowed and even if I wanted, I knew that no coherent words would come out of my mouth.
Time, for all I knew, stood still.
And when I finally found the courage to walk, I didn’t bother being quiet about it.
My feet turned, I pushed the door wide open, and in my light yellow pajama set, I stood in front of the two men who protected me with their lives.
Two pairs of eyes greeted me – one was masked with fury, the other with sorrow.
I wanted my voice to be heard so I gathered my strength and faced the man who held my heart in his cobalt blue eyes and I said, “Where’s my dad?”
I was settling into bed with my woman when my phone buzzed. Usually I didn’t answer it anymore, but it kept vibrating and when I checked the caller, it was Leo.
Leo Caldwell was the agent-in-charge for Dr. Joseph Bridges. He was a decorated Marine Corps officer before he became an agent. His resume spoke for himself. As a trained combatant, he was skilled in all types of combined arms warfare, and was highly respected by his men. I’d talked to him many times via a secured line discussing Joseph’s whereabouts and possible security breaches.
I didn’t want to wake Athena so I quickly got out of bed, and took his call while walking towards my office.
He wasn’t calling at this hour to say hello. He was calling because something had either happened to Dr. Bridges or there was a pertinent security intel that I needed to know right now.
I was hoping it would be the latter but my hope was extinguished when he said, “Sparrow’s gone.”
Sparrow was code name for Dr. Bridges.
I’d texted Liam to come to my office asap so here we were, trying to determine how El Padre’s men were able to take Dr. Bridges.
I thought I heard something, but I was trying to bring all my focus into what Leo was saying.
Then, she was right there.
Standing in front of us, in her favorite pajamas, contraptions that I didn’t have much affinity for since they blocked me from gaining instant access to her body.
Her hazel eyes were wide, questioning and anticipatory in fear, and her voice cracked when she asked, “Where’s my dad?”
I said to the phone, “Leo, I’ll call you back.”
My legs reached her in a few seconds and my arms went around her body, “Babe…”
Her shoulders shook and I hated seeing her like this.
Liam’s voice broke through, “I’m gonna go outside.”
I gave him a brief nod and as he shut my office door, I said, “Leo’s trying to find out where your dad is.”
I wasn’t going to hide this from her.
After all that she’d been through, the last thing she’d want was for me to keep this from her.
As much as I wanted to shield her from the onslaught of uncertainty and fear, there was no doubt in my mind that we’d go through this together.
She turned her head so she could see my eyes, her own filled with tears, “What happened?”
“After dinner, your dad and Leo’s team went back to the hotel. Leo did the final check to ensure your dad was okay at around quarter past twenty three, sorry, eleven fifteen last night. He just did another check twenty minutes ago – meaning he’d checked the security cameras inside Joseph’s room and there was no one in the room. The team went in and what they found was that two windows were opened, large enough to fit a body or two, and Joseph was nowhere to be found.”
Athena’s body shook inbetween sobs. I fucking hated this – watching her suffer and not being able to do a goddamned thing about it. The feeling of being powerless in these situations. I had to keep my wits about me because the priority was to find Joseph. I trusted Leo’s team would be able to handle it, but still I was personally invested in everything that was happening.
“We’ll find him, babe. Leo’s gonna give me updates and in a few minutes, I’m going to wake Tony up to see what we can do,” I said with as much confidence as I could give at
this minute. There was no doubt in my mind that El Padre’s men took him.
Her voice was filled with anguish, “Please find my dad, Webb. Please.”
I’d been through a ton of shit, been in situations that were completely fucked up and I’d never given up.
I wasn’t anywhere close to that now.
The last thing on my mind was not finding him.
“With everything that I have, I promise you we’ll find him, babe.” My hands caressed her soft skin and I was caging in the raging beast that wanted out. The beast that wanted to move from this spot right now and go to Columbia to shoot the motherfucker in the head.
El Padre and his family brought so much suffering and tragedy to my life that I really wanted to shove it all back in his face and make him disappear. Forever.
Hate wasn’t something I thrived on.
But there was no other emotion that I could attach to him except that.
Because of El Padre, my son was gone from this world too soon.
Because of him, Athena had suffered unimaginable horrors.
And now, it was because of him that she was suffering again.
I soothed her hair with my hands and said, “We’ll get him back, sonnenschein. If it’s the last thing I do, I’ll bring him back to you.”
My dad had been my beacon for all of my life.
The shining light that had gotten me through the darkest, uncertain days.
His brilliant mind was admired all over the world, but it was his genuine heart that made him the greatest father to me.
I never imagined the day would come when something like this would ever happen to him.
It made me scared, upset, and very, very angry.
I knew Webb, Leo, and everyone was working overtime to find him.
I saw and heard everything that was happening in the office.
Webb’s directives to Tony.
Webb’s adamant demands for information from Leo.
And Webb’s unfailing devotion to me.
It had been twenty four hours now, but it felt like forever.
Webb hadn’t slept a wink.
Yet he was functioning as if he had ten hours’ worth of sleep.
Liam had come in and out of the office, and a couple of times he hugged me and said, “We’ll find him, Athena.”
There was also that one time when Webb was busy on the computer and Liam and I were on the lounge, not really talking to each other, but sitting by quietly across from each other when Liam pointed at Webb who seemed so absorbed in what he was doing and said, “If you still don’t know what love is, all you have to do is look at him.”
And I did. I looked at him. At Webb.
And I saw –
Love was giving everything he had so he could save my father.
Love was constantly reassuring me that everything was going to be alright even when he maybe doubted himself.
Love was never giving up, even when Tony or Leo would give him news that he didn’t like, Webb forged on, telling them to look at it at a different angle.
Love was…shining in his beautiful blue eyes, that softened whenever he glanced my way.
I’d never thought I’d be the recipient of love from a man.
Not like this.
Not in the overpowering, ride-or-die stuff that I’d heard people say when they talked about love.
But now, I saw it. I felt it. And I cherished it.
My father was my beacon. He gave me life.
And now, Webb, my anchor was going to bring him back to me.
I had to believe it.
Even when at times, I heard the resignation in Webb’s voice when he was on a call and he didn’t like what the intel being fed to him – I had to keep faith that my father was alive.
Twenty four hours hadn’t brought us any luck into knowing where my father was.
He was taken from the hotel where he was staying at, through the window, and down from the third floor to a waiting car.
Tony had gotten that information from the security cameras. The feed was delayed so Leo’s team didn’t see anything wrong until later.
I held no vendetta against anyone.
My parents had ingrained in me to love everyone as they were.
And in my life, I’d always seen the positive, the good in every person.
But for the life of me, I could not see the good in this El Padre guy. I saw him as a vile, vindictive, non-human.
This world would be a much better place without him in it.
“Babe.” I felt the nudge on my left arm.
I slowly woke up, I didn’t even realize I was sleeping until now.
Exhaustion can do that to a person, I felt like I was on a live wire for the past day. Never knowing exactly what time it was and what I was doing.
I’d fallen asleep in Webb’s arms when he sat on the couch with me while staring at a mass of data that Tony and Leo’s team were giving him.
I knew he was itching to go and do something, but at this point, there wasn’t much that he could physically do other than look at security footages, real-time intel, and wait.
Wait for any communication from the kidnappers.
Wait for news about my dad’s whereabouts.
Wait for everything.
And while waiting, I had fallen asleep.
“Babe…” I heard the tiredness in his voice and as I opened my eyes, I met the cloudy, dark blues of his gaze.
“Yeah?”
He propped me up in his arms so that I was resting on his shoulders. I could see the day and a half’s worth of stubble growing under his chin. Webb liked to shave his face because otherwise, he got itchy. The last thing on his agenda right now was personal grooming. I ran my right hand across it and it felt rough, prickly against my skin.
“We have news.” His voice held an odd sound.
“Okay…”
“El Padre’s people have made contact.” The pools of cobalt blue held my attention. I’d never get over how beautiful he was. “They have Joseph.”
My jaw tightened, “Is he alive?” I couldn’t even entertain the thought of the alternative – that my dad wasn’t alive because I wouldn’t know what to do. How I would even cope.
“Yes.” His hard lips planted a kiss on my forehead.
“They want his formula? Is that it? Why did they take him? Are they going to let him go?” My questions came out in a rush and I demanded answers.
“They might let him go.” He was talking straight, but he was also waiting to give me something else, I just felt it. “He’s safe for now.”
“What do we have to do to get him back?” There was nothing I wouldn’t do to get my father back.
His voice was eerily calm and collected, and at this moment, I caught a glimpse of the man-in-command, the warrior who led his team into victory, the SEAL who never gave up. “They want to meet with me.”
“With you?” My eyebrows raised in disbelief. “They have my dad and now they want you?”
“Tony received a text to the phone he’d established for the kidnappers to make contact. It’s a secured line that even the NSA can’t breach. Leo’s team doesn’t know what’s happening. Only Tony, Liam, you, and me know about it. I had a feeling that El Padre wouldn’t want to go through the regular lines of communication. It has been his M.O. from the beginning. Anyways, this morning, a text came through and it said that they wanted to meet with me.”
I couldn’t say anything. I didn’t want him to go.
“What if something bad happens to you? What if they take you, too?” I finally voiced out.
“I’m getting your father back, babe.” His voice held a promise that I couldn’t breach. “I don’t care what they want to do with me. I’ll get him back for you.”
I trusted that Webb would do everything that he could to save my dad.
I had to trust that he knew what he was doing too.
It took me a few beats and then I said, “I love you.”
His eyes gentled
, “I love you, too.”
“Bring him back to me, Webb.” I moved my legs so I could straddle him and put my arms around his neck, relishing the strength that this man had, embracing the power that he had over me.
“I will.” It wasn’t a promise, it was a fact.
“And come back to me.” My voice fractured because I didn’t want to imagine my life without him.
It was said that the mightiest of men wielded power not with the sword, but with the words that they used. Webb had the skills of a powerful warrior, but he also had the mind of an accomplished strategist. And I had to believe, keep my faith, and never lose hope in all of that.
“I will, sonnenschein.” His voice held no hints of vulnerability, producing a steady beat to my galloping heart, “I will always come back to you.”
The flight to Florida was uneventful. No turbulence, no lousy passengers, and no TSA’s dragging passengers off the plane.
Five hours wasn’t too long, but it was long enough for me to think things through.
It was difficult to leave Athena this morning.
When I’d slipped inside of her at dawn, she’d welcomed me without any qualms. I’d made love to her in a slow, steady rhythm, reminding her body that it was made for me. That no matter what happened today, I would always be imprinted inside of her.
Her father in captivity brought things in a greater, magnified perspective for me.
There was nothing I would not do for her.
There was nothing I would not give to her.
If she asked me for my heart, which she already had, I’d hand it to her beating and bleeding.
If she asked for fucking Mars, I’d be on the next flight to that forsaken place.
What I said to her father was the truth, I didn’t want to love her.
I didn’t want to be involved with her because she was young and she was my detail.
And mostly because, I didn’t know if I could give her the love that she deserved.
Most would say that I was being absurd or ridiculous, or maybe even ostentatious.
That at this point in my life, I shouldn’t be so hung up on a girl, that I should keep on enjoying being single.
But I never cared about what other people thought.