Fighting Strong

by Marysol James

  “How you doing today, babe?”

  “Good,” she said.

  “Yeah, you look good. How did you sleep?”

  She nodded. “OK.”

  “Any bad dreams?”

  “No.”

  He gestured at the table next to the window which was covered with pieces of paper. “You did some writing this morning?”

  “A bit. I got up around six and just jotted down some ideas.”

  Nick was relieved that she was showing interest in writing again. He wanted nothing more than for Mia to start to heal and to move on.

  It was their fourth day at Open Skies, and even in that short time, Nick had seen her get better. They were talking openly for the first time since Mia had been kidnapped and badly beaten, and he felt that he was regaining her trust after betraying her by kissing another woman. Even though they were in separate bedrooms, Nick knew that she was comfortable with his touch again. The night before, he’d kissed her goodnight and although he’d barely brushed her lips with his, he had felt her shudder at even that small contact.

  Best of all, though, that amazing inner light was back. Mia was simply the brightest, most shining person Nick had ever known, and he’d been terrified that she’d lost something vital. But now he saw that it wasn’t gone; it had just been lost for a little while. Covered up with confusion and hurt and anger.

  Mia looked up in to Nick’s gray eyes and felt her stomach start to churn. He was just so gorgeous and sweet and her body longed to be close to his. She missed his strength and gentleness. That kiss last night had reminded her what it had been like to make love to Nick, and her body had opened and heated up instantly. She put her coffee down.

  “Nick?”

  “Yeah, babe?”

  “I was wondering – I was thinking… could you…”

  “What is it?” He set down his coffee and moved closer. “You OK?”

  Mia looked down and took a deep breath.

  “Mia?”

  “I was wondering if you’d kiss me. Like, properly.”

  Nick’s heart stopped dead in his chest.

  God, I have waited for this for almost six weeks. Of course I’ll kiss you.

  “You sure? You feel ready?”

  “Yes. I – I want to start that part of our relationship up again.”

  “Me too.” He brushed her hair out of her eyes. “We’ll take it slow, OK?”

  She nodded.

  Nick took her face in both of his hands and moved to her. He kissed her forehead, her cheek, her throat, feather-light kisses. She closed her eyes and felt his breath on her skin, hot and sweet. Her hands curled on his chest, loving the groove of muscle under his t-shirt.

  Slowly, Nick’s mouth moved to hers. By the time he reached it, Mia was almost panting with desire. His tongue ran over her lips, tasting her. Her mouth opened and his tongue moved inside cautiously, just a bit, and then moved out again.

  She moaned. “Nick…”

  At the sound, his kiss deepened. Mia swayed on her feet and he held her more tightly, pulled her to his broad chest. Her nipples hardened as they made contact with his body and she moaned again.

  Nick pulled back. “OK, angel?”

  “Yes,” she whispered.

  He ran his fingers through her tousled hair. “My sunflower.”

  Her eyes filled with tears. “God, I missed that.”

  He kissed her eyelids. “Me too.”

  She smiled at him. “Will you kiss me again?”

  “Oh, yeah.” Nick ran his thumb over her lips. “As many times as you want, Mia. All I want to do is kiss you all day long.”

  “That sounds like a plan,” she said. “I mean, what else are we going to do today?”

  The smiled at each other. That was the moment when they both knew that they were going to be OK; that was when they knew that they were through the worst of it.

  **

  Katie looked out the window as Adam drove through Denver traffic. She was already regretting her behavior earlier.

  Jesus Christ. This guy is doing you this huge favor and you’re acting like the ultimate spoiled brat. Come on, now. He doesn’t deserve this.

  “Hey, Adam?”

  He glanced at her. “Yeah?”

  “I wanted to say thanks for this. I – I know it’s a major hassle for you, and you’re really helping me out. I’m sorry I was such a bitch earlier. I’m just… worried. I’m freaking out, actually.” She took a deep breath. “I really want to get there in time.”

  He almost drove the car in to a telephone pole in shock, but he recovered. “Hey, it’s OK. I know it’s scary when people we love are sick.”

  Oh, I don’t love this asshole, believe me. Quite the opposite.

  “Have you – have you been in this position before? Having a family member dying like this?”

  “Yeah.” He concentrated on the road. “My Mom.”

  “Oh, God, Adam. I’m sorry.”

  “It was a few years ago, but I still remember how panicked I was until I was there at the hospital with her.”

  “Your family isn’t from Colorado?”

  “Nope. Hawaii.”

  She did a double-take. “Really?”

  “Yeah. My Dad’s based out there.”

  “Based?”

  “Uh-huh. I’m a military brat.”

  “You are?”

  “One hundred percent. All we did when I was a kid was move around, but when I was fourteen, we settled in Hawaii and it was permanent. My Dad and three sisters are still out there.”

  “Three sisters?”

  “Yeah. One older, two younger.” He flashed her a smile. “So, don’t worry, Katie. I know all about… ummm… difficult and temperamental women.”

  She laughed and he started. It occurred to him that he’d never heard her laugh before and he was surprised how much it changed her face. Even with all the black makeup, her dark eyes lightened and brightened. Adam was sure that under all that crap was a good-looking woman and he just couldn’t understand for the life of him why she’d go out of her way to hide that fact.

  “So what was it like, being raised by a soldier?”

  He settled deeper in to his seat, more relaxed now. “Lots of rules.”

  “Yeah?” She found she wanted to tease him a bit. “Like, ‘my car, my rules’ kind of rules?”

  His hard face broke in to wide grin. “OK, yeah. You got me.”

  She giggled.

  “Dad’s a good man, you know. Tough, for sure, but when he cares about someone, there’s nothing he won’t do for them. When Mom died, it damn near killed him.” Adam was quiet for second. “That was the first and only time I’ve ever seen Dad cry.”

  “I’m sorry, Adam.” Katie felt the urge to touch him, but she didn’t. “Was she sick?”

  “Yeah. Cancer.”

  “Argh,” she winced. “Awful disease.”

  “You are right about that. It’ll rip your heart out.”

  She nodded.

  “What about you, Katie? What about your family?”

  She shrugged. “Not much to tell. It’s just me and my brother Ryan and my Mom. And my stepdad.”

  “Your father?”

  “He died, a long time ago.”

  “Sorry.”

  “Me too. He was an incredible father.”

  “Do you get back to Nevada much?”

  She tensed up. “No. Never.”

  Puzzled, he glanced over at her. “Never?”

  “No.”

  “Oh.” He studied her body language, saw how closed off and tight she was all of a sudden. “How come?”

  “I’m just not close to my mother or stepfather. I go see Ryan in Florida every chance I get, though.”

  “Holidays and stuff?

  “Yeah. He’s married and has kids and I get out there whenever I can. It’s nice to see a normal, happy family once in a while.”

  “So… your family wasn’t normal or happy?”

  Oh, fuck. Way to go, Kat
ie. You need to watch what you say, alright? With your luck, the guy is probably a psychologist-turned-boxer and he’ll climb inside your head and analyze you within an inch of your life. Shut this down.

  “It was OK.” She looked out the window again.

  Her tone had a finality to it and Adam backed off. He glanced at her in the rearview mirror and saw her face was set again. Those few moments of openness and lightness were well and truly over, but Adam was surprised at how much better he liked her for them.

  Adam studied her, trying to set aside any feelings he had about Katie Lloyd. If he forgot that they’d been basically arguing non-stop about his photos for the past three-plus months, then he’d have to admit that he’d find her attractive. If she washed that shit off her face, of course. Nothing sexy about a mouthful of black makeup.

  He changed the subject. “So, I hope we don’t hit too much weather in Utah. It looks bad in some places.”

  She turned back to him. “I know. You think we’ll be OK to drive through it?”

  “I think so. This car’s seen more than one Colorado blizzard and hasn’t so much as stalled. We should be fine.”

  “And if not, we have a tent. We can just camp out, right?”

  He glanced at her, saw that she was teasing him again. He grinned. “Just one sleeping bag, though, so we’d have to share.”

  Their eyes met, his clear blue, hers deep brown. Both were taken aback at the spark of attraction and interest that flared between them. They looked away at the same time.

  Flustered, Adam searched around for something to talk about. “You want to stop for takeaway coffee?”

  “Yeah.” She cleared her throat, still shaken by that glint of heat in his eyes and by her helpless response to it. “Sounds good.”

  **

  Several hours later, Katie dropped off to sleep. She’d been fighting it for an hour at least, but in the end, she succumbed.

  Adam looked at her, all curled up under her coat. Her face was turned toward him and he smiled as he saw that she was completely relaxed, totally out. He knew she was exhausted.

  In the previous few hours, they had talked quite a bit about Katie’s upcoming photo exhibition – carefully avoiding the issue of the pictures she’d taken of him – and she’d told him how much time she was putting in to it. It sounded like she had been living off caffeine and about three hours of sleep a night for months. And this was all while taking care of Mia for two weeks.

  Adam had been amazed that Katie had moved in with Mia right after Mia had been attacked. According to Nick, Katie had basically sat up with Mia most of every night, comforting her after she woke up screaming from nightmares, and then Katie had gone and worked all day. Adam was surprised at Katie’s selflessness and obvious love for her friend. It had made him start to wonder if maybe Katie wasn’t the hard bitch that she appeared to be. Maybe she had a good, kind heart under it all.

  Her breathing was soft and steady and as her chest rose and fell, he noticed that she had great breasts. She was slim but curvy in all the right places, tall with long legs and delicate wrists. Her face was sweet in sleep, and she looked about seven years younger. He wished he could see her without all the black crap on her eyes. He was sure she’d be stunning.

  Despite his background as a professional boxer, Adam had never gone for the whole lifestyle when it came to women. Most of the guys he knew fought and fucked, always trying to work off furious amounts of energy by either beating some guy or screwing some chick. Nick fell firmly in to this category, and if Adam hadn’t known about his girlfriend Shelley and how badly her death had messed Nick up, he’d never have been friends with the guy. Adam had no use for womanizers. He did have three sisters, after all. And he had seen thirty years of his parents’ thirty-five-year marriage; he had seen what ‘until death does us part’ really looked like. He knew that’s what he wanted, and he didn’t mess around with one-night-stands and girls who got all starry-eyed about him owning a popular gym or his pro boxing days.

  No, Adam had always been attracted to women with substance, and despite the fact that she annoyed and exasperated him beyond belief, it was undeniable that Katie Lloyd was pure substance. A talented photographer, smart as hell, a loyal friend.

  In just a few hours of driving with her, he had laughed more times than he had done in months. It was a total shock for him to realize that he actually liked her. She was stubborn and infuriating and tough, but she was more than all that. She hated asking him for help, he knew now. It made her feel exposed and weak, and she was a woman who wasn’t good with having a man help her out. He wondered who had hurt her so badly, who had made her so determined to do things on her own.

  He drove on in the approaching nightfall, keeping an eye on the sky. He was starting to feel uneasy and decided to find a motel.

  Katie woke up as they crossed the state line in to Utah. She sat up, embarrassed, and looked at the clock on the dashboard.

  “Adam, why didn’t you wake me up or take a break? You’ve been driving for almost eight hours straight… you must be exhausted.”

  “I’m OK. Don’t worry about me.” He grinned. “You had a good sleep?”

  She nodded. “Yeah. Thanks.”

  “Listen, can you get on your phone and find a motel nearby? I see the storm’s coming.”

  She blinked and gazed up at the sky. “Oh, man. Look at that.”

  “I know, right? It looks bad. I guess we can turn around and go back, but I can’t believe there wouldn’t be something around here.”

  Katie peered out her window, doubtful. There was literally nothing at all, as far as the eye could see. Normally, she’d find the open space and rock formations and clumps of trees glorious and wild, but with those heavy clouds moving towards them, the desolation was far from comforting.

  “OK, let me see.” She untangled herself from her coat and threw it in the back seat. With her slim fingers she scrolled through a list of hotels just off the road they were on. “Yeah. There’s a motel about fifteen miles down this road. Looks like a crappy place, but I’m assuming they have walls. It’ll do, right?”

  “Yep.” He squinted at the sky. “Oh, shit. Those clouds are moving way faster than I anticipated. We’ll have to drive through it.”

  “Yeah, OK.”

  The weather turned bad more quickly than Adam thought possible. He slowed down as whiteout conditions began and it became impossible to see even two feet beyond the headlights. There were no other vehicles on the road, so that was good, but the twists and turns caught him by surprise. More than once, he almost ran in to a fence close to the road, or a sign.

  Katie sat, tense and quiet, next to him. She stared out the window, unable to believe that the storm had hit that fast. She hated whiteouts, and every time they passed through one, even for just a few seconds, she tightened right up.

  She glanced over at Adam. He looked amazingly relaxed. He caught her eye.

  “Hey, it’s OK, Katie. I’ve driven in far worse. Don’t worry.”

  She was just smiling back at him when something brown flashed behind Adam’s shoulder. She gasped.

  “What’s –”

  Adam saw her eyes widen in alarm and he looked back at the road. A deer bounded in front of them, and he reacted immediately: he turned the wheel gently to the right, missing the animal completely. They both started to relax, and that’s when the whiteout cleared and they saw a giant concrete wall with a sign on it. Adam turned to the left, but it was too late. Katie’s side of the car ploughed in to the wall, swiping it hard enough that her window shattered with the impact, raining glass down on her bare arm. She cried out as her skin split open in several places.

  The last thing that Katie saw and felt was Adam flinging his massive arm between her body and the dashboard. Then she was thrown forward, hard, in to darkness and she knew nothing more.

  Chapter Three

  Katie regained consciousness slowly, gradually becoming aware of a shooting pain in her right leg. She tried t
o move it and groaned as the pain intensified. Her eyelids felt heavy but she forced them open.

  For a few seconds, she simply couldn’t understand what she was seeing. The windshield was cracked and her door was buckled and twisted against a wall advertising some new housing development. Adam was slumped next to her, his eyes closed. He had blood on his head.

  Panic seized her. She undid her seatbelt and turned in her seat. She winced when the movement aggravated her leg but she ignored it. Katie stretched her hand what seemed like a very long distance and touched Adam’s arm.

  “Adam?”

  No response.

  She shook him slightly. “Adam?”

  He groaned.

  “Adam! Adam, wake up!”

  Adam heard Katie’s voice and he wondered why she was talking to him when he was in bed sleeping. He also wondered why he had a headache.

  Did I have a boxing match yesterday that I can’t remember? And did I get punched in the head?

  Katie saw his eyelids flutter open and a wave of relief washed over her.

  “Adam? Can you hear me?”

  “Katie?” His eyes widened as he took in the damage surrounding them. He sat up quickly. “Are you OK?”

  She nodded. “You?”

  “I think so.”

  “But your head,” she said. “You’re bleeding.”

  He reached up and touched his forehead. His fingers came away bloody.

  “It’s OK, Katie. Part of my job description is to get hit in the head on a regular basis. My head is pretty damn hard.”

  “You don’t feel dizzy or anything?”

  “Nope, not at all.” That’s when he saw her right arm. “Hey, you’re bleeding too.”

  She looked down. “It’s not bad.”

  He reached behind him and found his sweatshirt. “Come here.”

  Adam wrapped her arm, and she winced as he tied it tight. “That’ll do until I can check for broken glass, OK?” He looked around again. “Listen, we’ve got to get out of here.”

  “Yeah.” She looked at the wall. “I can’t get my door open, though.”

  “I’ll try mine.” He undid his seatbelt and pushed on the door handle. When nothing happened, he turned his broad back to her. “Move over.”