by Claire Adams
“You’re so handsome,” Ana said sweetly as she looked at me.
Her words caught me totally off guard. I paused and looked down at her and remembered what her lips had tasted like. The sweet touch of those lips were only a few inches away if I dared to try their delicious taste again.
“You’re not so bad yourself,” I replied.
“Having your hard body on top of me … well it just makes me think about all kinds of things.”
Her voice was seductive and Ana licked her lips for emphasis at the end. My body reacted with a throbbing need for her and I knew she felt it. I knew she felt my hardness pressed up against her.
*WHACK*
Suddenly I felt some of the most excruciating pain I have every felt. She had kneed me right in the testicles. Then, Ana pushed me over onto my back and jumped on top of me. Her hands wrapped around my throat and she squeezed my windpipe.
“How’s that for being prepared?” she said with a proud smile.
My testicles throbbed and I pulled my legs up to my body in an effort to get some relief. Ana slowly let go of my throat and then pulled me up so I could sit, but the pain was so excruciating, I didn’t want to sit. I didn’t want to lie either. I just wanted to curl up in a tiny ball and wait for the ringing pain to dissipate.
“That was very prepared,” I managed to get out.
“Do you want to try it again?”
“No,” I said firmly.
There was absolutely no way I wanted to try that again. Ana was a force to be reckoned with and I wasn’t interested in testing out her skills any longer.
“Do you need some ice?” she said with a smile.
“You’re not even sorry. Not even a little bit?” I joked.
“Well, you wanted me to try and hurt you. You just didn’t think I would use a different maneuver. You’ve got to be prepared for everything.”
“You could probably just stay here while I’m gone. I think you’ll be pretty damn safe.”
At least the thrust to my member had stopped the throbbing desire for Ana. Instead, I was left with a whole different kind of throbbing.
“Your phone is ringing,” Ana said as she jumped up to get it for me.
I hadn’t even heart it ring at all. My ears were buzzing and my pulse throbbing in my eardrums from the pain the rest of my body was going through.
“Hello,” I answered as I tried to hold back the pain.
“I tried messaging over your pre-trip packet but they said they couldn’t find you. I don’t feel comfortable with a digital connection. Can I send it to your brother’s house?” my boss said on the other end of the phone.
“Yes, that will be fine. I’ll go over there and grab it shortly.”
“Please take a look at the blue prints and the streets. It’s going to be essential that you know those like the back of your hand. Most of the mission will need to be completed at night.”
“Yes, Sir.”
“I’ll meet you in D.C. before you all take off. See you then.”
“Okay, Sir. Thank you, Mr. Blankenship.”
When I got off the phone, I did my best to stand up and walked off the remaining pain that was going on. I had to give it to Ana; she certainly had caught me off guard. It was a great lesson for me. I hadn’t been out on a job in a few months, I needed to remember that anything could happen at any time.
“I’ve got to run over to Chase’s house; do you want to come?”
“No, I’m going to take a shower and get dinner started. How long do you think you’ll be?”
We were starting to sound like an old married couple, but the logistics of our day to day life were necessary to discuss. I hadn’t really left Ana home by herself very much. And as the night was coming, I felt awkward with her being home when it was dark. But at least I knew she could fight off her attackers if anyone happened to show up.
The truth of the matter was, no one ever showed up unless they were family. Even the mailman dropped the mail off at the main road. It was much too difficult for him to get his car down the dirt road that led to my house.
“I’ll be back in a couple of hours; don’t go killing any hikers that might wonder by,” I joked as I climbed into my Jeep to head out to my brother’s house.
“Pretty soon you’ll have to start calling me The Black Widow,” Ana teased. “Because I’m going to be killing everyone around me.”
As I drove away, I couldn’t help but laugh. Ana certainly had her confidence back. I wasn’t sure what her normal personality was before the incident with Stephano, but I thought it might have been pretty similar to what it was like at that moment. She seemed carefree and confident. Nothing like the woman I had seen over the last few weeks. It was inspiring to see her doing so much better and feeling capable again. I really couldn’t wait to see what she would do next with her life.
Although, I had to go on one last business trip, I was confident that when I got back, Ana and I would be able to keep in touch. Even if she decided to move away or go back home, Ana was the kind of woman I wanted around me. And I wasn’t even thinking about sex. Ana and I got along great, she laughed at my jokes, and I laughed at hers. She was fun to talk to and let me sit in quiet when I didn’t feel like talking.
When I got back from the Syria trip, I would certainly be interested in seeing if Ana wanted to take things further. It had to be up to her though; I wasn’t going to lead her into anything and I wasn’t going to take advantage of her. I respected Ana as a person and as a woman who had overcome a huge trauma. Nothing would get in my way of making sure her best interests were always served.
Of course, all my plans hinged on me getting this job completed and not dying. Dying would definitely ruin any plan I had for being with Ana. But I wasn’t going to take any chances on this trip. I planned to prepare as much as possible and ensure I would be able to rescue the workers and their families with the help of my team.
Chapter 11
ANA
I felt it when Nate pressed up against me and for that brief moment I wanted him. I wanted to lean over and kiss him, but after the disaster that had happened when I first arrived I wasn’t about to put myself out there and kiss him again. We had established a friendship and I was all right with sticking to that.
As I hopped into the shower, I couldn’t help but wish he would join me. Just surprise me and jump in there with me. To see his body naked and erect, standing there just waiting for me to rub soap all over him … that would be a great surprise. My fantasy was very vivid and I would have been delighted if it had come true.
Then I heard something outside, I thought that it must have been Nate coming back. Maybe he did feel something? Maybe he was going to jump into that shower with me after all. But the longer I waited, the more I started to get worried that it wasn’t Nate at all.
What if someone else was in the house? What if Stephano’s people were just waiting for me to be alone so they could kill me? I started to sweat as I thought of all the possibilities of what could be going on.
“Nate?” I said as I opened the shower curtain slightly.
But there was no response. I waited, expecting that Nate would at least open the door a little bit and let me know why he had come back. But with continued silence, I figured he had just forgotten something and then took off again.
I closed my eyes as I ran the soap over my body. My thoughts were almost exclusively on Nate. I hadn’t stopped thinking about him much in the last few days. I was feeling great and had more energy than I remembered having in a very long time. Working out each day was the perfect adrenaline boost and Nate had been teaching me about the importance of protein in my diet when I was working out.
He had told me that protein was more important than any other food, and if I only ate one thing in a day, I had to make sure it was protein. The good news was that I had been eating plenty over the last few days. All the running left me famished and I ate at least three big meals each day, some days I even snuck in a fourth meal la
te at night.
I did feel the anxiety over Nate leaving, though. But after our little practice fight on the floor of his workout building, I felt much more confident in my skills. I no longer felt like I had to go stay with Jordan the entire time Nate was gone; perhaps I could go over there a few days but then spend more time at the cabin. Besides, I had worked so hard on planting my garden, and I didn’t want everything to wither and die.
There was another distinct noise, in the living room, and this time I was out of the shower and looked outside. Nate’s car wasn’t there. But neither were any other cars. My mind started to race as I tried to figure out what could be going on. If Stephano had sent someone to watch the cabin, the could have waited for Nate to leave then broke into the house. They might not have even needed to break in; most of the time the front door had been left totally unlocked.
I got dressed and listened closely at the door as I tried to wait for any clue to who was in the house. I was in the bathroom attached to my bedroom but I didn’t know if anyone had gotten into the room yet. My heart raced as I leaned down to the ground and tried to look out under the door to see if the intruder had gotten to my room yet.
There didn’t appear to be anyone in there, so I slowly opened the door and made my way into my room. I looked around frantically for a bat or something that I could use to attack the intruder, but there wasn’t much around. I finally took the lampshade off of the lamp and held onto the metal base as the only weapon I had available to me.
My heart felt like it was going to pound right out of my chest as I listened at the bedroom door to see if I could hear any more noises.
Then again I heard it. It sounded like something had dropped or hit the wall in the living room. Whoever had broken into the house was probably searching, looking for me. Well, I wasn’t about to wait for them to get me. I was going to surprise them. I was going to attack them before they could attack me.
Slowly, I opened the bedroom door and walked into the hallway. My courage level was about as high as it could be until I hear the loudest crashing noise I had heard yet. Quickly I turned and ran into Nate’s room. I shut the door behind me and crawled into the back of the closet. I grabbed all the clothes I could find and piled them on top of me in the hopes that the intruder wouldn’t find me if he looked into the closet, then I waited.
My heart pounded as I tried to listen for the intruder. I waited for him or them to make their way to the back bedroom. I held my breath and then let it out. I tried to calm my breathing but I couldn’t seem to catch my breath at all. In my hand I still held the metal lamp base and I had it positioned next to me and ready to beat the intruder as soon as he opened the door and tried to attack me. If the metal lamp didn’t work to subdue him, I was ready to wrap my arms around his throat and strangle him to death if I had to.
It seemed like forever before I heard another noise. The closet was surprisingly noise resistant or the intruders were being very quiet as they made their way through the house. But then I heard the unmistakable sound of a car pulling into the drive area in front of the house.
Maybe the intruders had been waiting for their back up to arrive. Maybe that was why they hadn’t come to the back of the house to try and find me yet. I braced myself for the worst as I gripped the lamp base tightly in my fingers.
My breathing grew faster as the anticipation grew. I didn’t know what to expect next, but I was going to be prepared. Even as afraid as I was, I knew that I couldn’t freak out yet. I couldn’t just start running and screaming if I wanted to be able to get out of the situation alive; no, I had to follow my gut.
“Ana!” I heard a voice scream. “Ana!”
It sounded like Nate, but I couldn’t be sure. Was he fighting with the intruders? Was he calling for me to help him? I couldn’t tell, but then I thought that maybe it was a trap. Perhaps the intruders had a hold of him and were forcing him to yell to me so I would come out of hiding.
No.
I wouldn’t leave my spot. They would have to find me if they were going to kill me, and even then I was going to put up one hell of a fight! I might not have been as strong as I once was, but I was strong enough to put up a really good fight. I was going to make sure whoever was coming to hurt me was going to really pay for whatever it was they wanted to do.
There was a power inside of me, and although I couldn’t harness it all, I did feel its energy as I started to plan how I would attack my soon-to-be killer when he opened the door.
I wasn’t a victim anymore. I was strong and willing to kill a man if I had to. The only way I was going to be taken was if I was shot dead. Only a gun could stop me, otherwise I was going to scratch, hit, kick, and strangle my way free from any person who opened that closet door and tried to take me.
“Ana, are you in here?” I heard Nate say.
It sounded like the man was in the bedroom now and I prepared to fight whoever was with him and forcing him to call my name. They weren’t going to trick me. I knew better than to think that Nate was out there all alone. I prepared for a fight!
“Ana, if you’re in here you need to tell me. I’m going out of my mind.”
I couldn’t bring myself to talk. Something in his voice sounded pained, and for a moment I thought he might have been alone outside of the closet door. But it could have just been a trick that the attackers were using.
No, I had to stay quiet to protect myself. Nate had been teaching me all sorts of ways of protecting myself and one of them was not to be stupid. I had to think about everything that was going on and trust my gut when it came to leaving that closet or staying in there. My gut was telling me to stay right where I was, and when the person opened the door, I was going to clobber them with everything I could get my hands on.
I wouldn’t say a word. I wouldn’t give in to the tricks they were using. I stayed curled up in the closet under a pile of clothes and holding onto the metal lamp. I closed my eyes so I could listen to the footsteps more and be prepared when they got to the closet.
Then the closet door swung open and I saw the silhouette of Nate standing in the doorway. He looked like he was alone, but I didn’t trust it for a second. I lifted up the lamp and began to swing it at him, but he caught it and held his hand tightly around it as he pulled the lamp out of my hand.
“Ana, what happened? Are you all right? Please come out,” Nate’s voice said softly.
I looked around him to see if I could see who was out there with him, but I couldn’t see them. Something was off though and I didn’t like how Nate was looking at me. His eyes looked softer than usual and I felt them as they looked deep into me. Nate looked concerned for me, and it wasn’t a look I liked seeing at all.
“Whoever’s with you, tell them they can’t have me. You can’t trick me into coming out. I’ll fight them. You tell them I’ll fight them until I die.”
“Ana …” Nate said as he sat down on the ground in front of the door. “No one is out here. When I got home, the front door was open and a raccoon was going through the garbage in the kitchen.”
It took me a minute to figure out what Nate was saying. I couldn’t comprehend it at first and continued to hide under the clothes. The light from the bedroom shone through into the closet and I saw hundred dollar bills all over the closet floor.
“What?” I asked as I tried to figure out what was going on.
“Did you think there was someone out here?” Nate said softly as he started to pull the clothes off of me.
“There was. I heard him. I yelled out to him and he didn’t respond. But I heard him out there. I was going to fight him but then there was a big crash, so I hid in here. I was going to fight him. I was going to hurt him with this,” I said as I pulled my hand up with the metal lamp in my grip.
Nate didn’t answer me and he continued to pull the clothes off of me and then reached his hand out and held it there for me to grab. He waited patiently for me to decide to actually grab it and then he pulled me up from the ground and wrapped his
arms around me. The pity in his eyes wasn’t at all what I liked seeing and I wished I could just make it disappear. I didn’t need his pity or anyone else’s. I just needed to keep my head focused.
He didn’t say a word. Nate didn’t offer me an explanation, we just stood there with his arms wrapped around me tightly. I felt safe right there. I was so confused though.
“Why is there money on the ground?” I said.
With Nate’s arms around me I was facing the closet and looked down to see what appeared to be thousands of dollars all over the closet floor. It seemed an odd place to have money.
“You must have knocked my box over that I have in there. It’s emergency money if I need to get out of here quickly.”
“So there wasn’t an intruder who was trying to kill me?” I asked.
“No. Just a raccoon.”
I stayed right there wrapped up in Nate’s arms as I tried to piece together what had happened and how I had ended up on the ground, hiding in a closet, in absolute total fear for my life. My mind couldn’t get a grip around the idea that there had not been an intruder. I had pictured the man there. I saw him in my imagination as he had rummaged through the things in the living room. I had even pictured him calling his friends and telling them I was hiding in the backroom and they should come to get me.
“My mind, I don’t trust it at all,” I quietly whispered into his arms.
“It’s okay.”
Nate stayed there with me for what seemed like forever. His comforting arms never left me and I was perfectly content to stand there all night long if he would let me. The fear I had felt thinking that someone was trying to murder me, it was horrible. And even though Nate was telling me that it had all been an illusion in my head, I still felt like I had been in danger.
After a long half an hour, we made our way out to the living room and I grabbed a seat while Nate picked up the garbage. It was clear that there had not been a person in the house; the only things that had been touched were the garbage and the contents inside of it. I felt foolish as the realization of the situation came to me.