by Claire Adams
“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 Eleven
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 late 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, they could have waited for Nate to leave then broken into the house.
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 driveway 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 that,” I said as I pointed to the lamp he had pulled from 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.
“I better stay with Jordan when you’re gone,” I said reluctantly. “I had hoped to stay here at least a little bit, but it’s clear I won’t be good by myself.”
“What are you talking about? You did great!” Nate said enthusiastically.
I looked at him puzzled as he sat next to me and grabbed my hand. How on earth can he think what I did was good? I hid in a closet for over an hour trying to hide from a murderer who really was just a raccoon. Nothing about that situation seemed like it had gone well at all.
“How do you figure?” I laughed.
“You were able to sneak into my room and the closet totally undetected. You had yourself very well hidden and you had a weapon there with you. That seems to me like a woman who conquered her fears but was being smart and ready to fight.”
The way Nate looked at me and spun that whole situation into something that sounded positive; it absolutely floored me. There I was being sad and putting myself down and with one simple statement he had me feeling on top of the world.
“I’m going to kiss you again,” I said as a warning before I leaned in and let my lips touch his.
This time he didn’t pull away. This time I felt his arms pull me toward him and the passion in his touch told me that he wasn’t going to stop. This time, my kiss had incited something in him that he wasn’t willing to stop or forget about. With the kiss I gave him, I didn’t care if anything else happened after that moment; I just wanted to feel the gentle touch of his lips on mine.
The passion between us was palpable, and I wanted more and more of Nate. I climbed into his lap and straddled him as our kiss continued. With a deep breath, I pulled in his scent and let my hands grab his t-shirt and pull it up over his head.
Briefly, our eyes met, and I saw the desire he had for me. There was no question at all that Nate wanted me just as badly as I wanted him. My hands ran up and down his chest as I moved my lips to his neck and kissed him gently up and down.
“Thank you,” I spoke softly.
“For what?” he whispered.
“For making m
e feel normal again.”
“You’re not normal though. You’re extraordinary,” Nate said as he stood up with me in his arms.
His hands held onto my ass as he flipped me around and laid me down onto the couch. His lips moved to my chest and teased me as he kissed down and around my shirt before grabbing it with his hands and pulling it up and over my head.
Nate was gentle, each touch and movement preceded by kissing. He didn’t move quickly and allowed me to get comfortable with each part of my body his lips touched before pulling my clothes off. I loved every moment of it.
Something deep down had given me fear that I would never want another man to touch me. But I wanted Nate to touch me. I wanted him to kiss me and show me his passion more than I had wanted anything else in the last few months. His lips felt like they were giving me power as they touched me, and all I could think about was wanting more and more from him.
Nate was gentle and kind and nothing like any man I had ever been with my entire life. He didn’t rush to thrust himself inside of me. Instead, his touch enticed me and showed me love like a true gentleman. My eyes were closed except for a few times when I peeked at him to see where his kisses were going to go next. One of those times he looked right at me and our eyes caught each other’s. Nate shone a mischievous smile as he let his lips move down to my thighs and spread them apart. I closed my eyes again as the pleasure he gave me brought me close to exploding with desire.
“Yes,” I whispered to him as I pulled him up on top of me. “Yes.”
I reached down and grabbed his pants and started to unbutton them. I wanted Nate inside of me. I wanted to feel the passion we had for each other and the feeling was one hundred percent mutual. Nothing about the moment had me nervous or scared. All I wanted was to feel the pleasure of our two bodies as they made love.
Nate didn’t wait another moment as he pressed himself into me, and I moaned out in delight. His thrusts were smooth and deep, and I felt my body rumbling almost instantly. I couldn’t help it. With only a few thrusts, I screamed out in pleasure and wrapped my arms tightly around him.
