“It’s understandable,” he whispered. “I can see how my actions could have been misconstrued.”
“I want to stay,” she said.
“You don’t have to.”
“I know, but I want to. Truly.”
“Okay,” he said, breaking apart from her just slightly. “But we can just stay up late talking. That’s all I want.”
Anna smiled. “Let’s just see where the night takes us”
They sat in the living room, Anna sprawled out on the couch so that she could have her ankle elevated, and Noah on the love seat across from her. They were each on their third glass of wine now and Anna was starting to feel the effects. She wasn’t drunk, per say, just happy, and Noah’s cheeks were flushed but he wasn’t slurring his words or anything.
They’d been swapping stories from their various adventures working in the field, each one clearly trying to one up the other with each heroic tale. Eventually, they ran out of stories, or at least, ran out of stories worth telling, and they grew quiet. Anna watched Noah as he got up to go to the bathroom. He had taken off his suit jacket at some point in the night and undid two of the buttons on his shirt. He looked so good, Anna was starting to wonder if he someone like him could ever actually be into her. Despite what she’d said earlier, about them being a terrible couple, Anna still wanted Noah to like her for some reason. Her stomach did a sort of somersault as she watched him walk back down the hallway towards her. She wanted him. Even more, however, she wanted him to want her.
But how can I let him know? After my freak out earlier, he’s going to think I’m a total nutjob if I come onto him now.
“I think I’m going to turn in,” he said, yawning and stretching. He reached his hands over his head and when he did so, the bottom of his now untucked shirt came up, exposing his very well defined ab muscles. “I can help you pull out the bed, there are extra sheets in the hall closet.”
“Thank you,” was all Anna could think to say. Rather than help, Noah pretty much ended up doing all the work of pulling out and dressing her bed. For Anna to try and lend a hand would have probably just made the whole ordeal take that much longer, which is exactly what Noah told her when she tried to hop to the other side of the bed and pull down the fitted sheet, nearly falling over and smashing her head on the coffee table in the process.
Once the bed was made, Noah clapped his hands together and smiled. “Well, then, I’m off to bed. The bathroom across from the kitchen has clean towels in it and I set out a new toothbrush for you. Also, I put an old t-shirt in there if you need something to sleep in. Let me know if you need anything else.”
Anna nodded. “Okay, goodnight. Thanks again, for everything.”
“Anytime.”
Later, as she lay in bed, Anna could still smell Noah’s cologne on her from when they’d embraced. It didn’t help either that his t-shirt also carried a distinctly Noah scent. She tried to push him out of her mind, because every time she did think of him, she felt the butterflies in her stomach flutter around with excitement and there was a sort of tingling feeling between her legs.
Anna wasn’t lying before, when she bragged to Noah about her sexual experiences. She’d done a lot of sexual experimenting, with both men and women, but she’d never gotten around to the ‘big shebang’. Something always kept her from going all the way. But with Noah, it felt like she was having to stop herself, and she was no longer able to come up with explanations as to why.
She threw the sheets off of her and sat up on the creaky, pull out mattress. She could see the analogue clock on the microwave from where she was. It read 1:15. It was late, and she told Noah to get her up by 5:30 so that they could be at the station no later than 6:30. She should really just lay back down and force herself into sleep.
Instead, she reached down and picked up one of her crutches.
There was really no way to sneak when somebody has a broken ankle and has to hop/limp everywhere. She ended up making a lot of noise on her way down the hallway. She stopped in front of the bathroom and considered just going in and turning on the sink or something, indicating to Noah that she had just gotten up to go pee. Instead, she kept going and hobbled all the way up to Noah’s bedroom door.
Again, she hesitated before knocking.
Really though, what was the point in hesitating? She couldn’t possibly be worried about waking him up at this point, because if he’d slept through the sound of her stumbling down the hall in the dark, he would sleep through her knocking lightly on the door.
She knocked.
There was the sound of someone getting out of bed and then the door opened slowly.
Noah stood in front of her in just his boxers.
“Do you need something?”
Anna threw her crutch to the side and pulled Noah into a passionate kiss. She pressed her body against his, and ran her hands through his hair. He kissed her back and wrapped his arms around her, picking her up off the floor, just like in her dream.
With the boot, it was a little awkward at first. She wasn’t able to wrap her legs around him like she’d hoped, so instead, she just let him carry her over to the bed. He sat down and she was able to position herself, straddling him on her knees, in a way that didn’t put weight on her ankle.
She pulled his oversized t-shirt off, revealing that she in fact did not have anything on underneath it. Noah’s hands ran up and down her body. He kissed her neck, one arm around her back, holding her steady, the other hand cupping her breast and playing gently with her nipple. Anna sighed softly, and arched her back as an electric pulse of desire went up her spine.
Her replaced the fingers on her nipple with his lips and sucked on her breast while his hand found its way between her legs. She was already so wet, his two fingers slid inside her with ease. She gasped at the sensation, having never felt something quite like it. For a slip second, she worried she might feel pain, but Noah worked his fingers in and out of her very slowly and gently.
As he penetrated her, he used his thumb to rub up and down along her clitoris. Anna was moaning loudly now, trying to catch her breath, but her inhalations got shorter and shorter as the pleasure grew more and more intense.
She came and let out a final, loud sigh of relief.
After taking a second to collect herself, Anna refocused her attention on Noah and kissed his lips, his face, his neck. She reached her hand into his boxers and stroked his aroused member. He let out a long, satisfied breath, as she ran her fingers down his length.
She liked his sounds of pleasure, she liked knowing she was the source of his sexual gratification. She felt herself grew excited again, and she couldn’t contain herself any longer. She pushed him onto his back and he somewhat hurriedly rigged the rest of the way out of his underwear.
She reached down and guided him inside of her. She lowered herself onto him slowly, feeling little pinches of pain as she did so. Her breath caught once he was fully inside of her.
“Does this feel okay?” he asked. “You know, we don’t have to—”
“Shh.” She pressed a finger to his mouth and moved her hips, first in circles, then up and down.
Noah groaned and reached up to once again touch her breasts. The pain subsided after a couple thrusts, and was quickly replaced again with body-quaking feelings of pleasure. Lost in the ecstasy of it, Anna wasn’t even paying attention to where Noah’s hands were. First they were on her breasts, then her but, only when his fingers were once again rubbing her clitoris did Anna take notice.
Her sighs turned to screams of “yes, yes, yes” as she got closer and closer to her second climax. Noah was close as well, she could tell by the way he was breathing heavier each time she slid back down on his pole.
They orgasmed together, but Noah was careful to push Anna off of him just before he came, which was something Anna hadn’t even thought of until then.
Exhausted and sweaty, she slid off of him and laid down, working to catch her breath.
He opened the drawer ne
xt to his bed where a rag or towel of sorts was folded up and he used that to clean himself off. Once that was done, he curled up next to her, his large body spooning hers, and whispered in her ear.
“That was amazing,” he said.
“It was,” she agreed. “But why did you pull out?”
He lifted himself up on his forearm and frowned at her. Before he could answer what he must’ve thought was a very obvious question, she added, “I’m on the pill.”
His expression shifted and he relaxed back into their cuddle. “I didn’t not know that. I guess I just assumed… Since you hadn’t…”
“In case you haven’t noticed, I’m a very prepared woman. I would never be so careless as to have sex without any sort of birth control.” She laughed softly to herself.
Noah chuckled. “That’s fair. I was just being cautious, but now that I know you are on the pill, I won’t be quite so quick to push you away from me next time.”
Anna nodded.
“Because honestly,” he said. “It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do.”
He pulled his arm tighter around her and tangled together they fell asleep.
New Lovers, Old Friends
It was still dark out when Anna awake at the sound of shuffling feet and glass shattering. She opened her eyes and reached behind her to find that Noah was no longer lying in bed next to her. She sat up and looked around, finding him standing alert, his ear pressed to his bedroom door.
“Somebody’s in my apartment,” he whispered. At some point in the night he had put his boxers back on and Anna suddenly felt very exposed, sitting there naked. She found the t-shirt he had lent her and put it on, cursing herself for having left her underwear out in the living room. It seemed like a sexy move at the time, but now she was pretty sure it was the stupidest decision she’d ever made.
“What are we going to do?” Anna said. “Do you want me to call the police?”
“You are the police,” said Noah. “It’s fine.” He walked over to his closet and opened the door slowly, trying to make as little noise as possible. He slid his hand inside and felt around the wall of the closet, retrieving a large metal bat. “I’ll take care of this.”
“Hang on!” said Anna. She surveyed the room and picked up the only heavy object she could find, the lamp on the bedside table. “I’m coming with you.”
“Anna, your foot.”
“I can hop!” she said. “It will provide a nice distraction for the burglars at least while you clobber them with the bat.”
Noah smiled, despite the situation. “Fine, but don’t get in my way.”
He pulled open the door and brought the bat high above his head. He started down the hallway, his footsteps light, and Anna hopped from the bed to the door as gently as she could. The floor creaked underneath her foot, but it wasn’t loud enough to raise anyone’s suspicion. She rested for a moment in the doorway and watched Noah’s back, in case anyone was hiding in the bathroom, the door to which lay open in the hallway between them.
Just as Noah took the first step into the living room, someone turned on the overhead light.
“Hello Noah,” said a voice that sounded like it was coming from just around the corner. “I’m sorry to disturb you.”
“Arraaah!” Noah swung the bat around at a target Anna could not see. She saw a large, muscular forearm reach up and catch the weapon in mid-air. The man gripped the bat tightly and with one quick motion, he managed to get it out of Noah’s hands and throw it threw the living room window.
“Now let’s just calm down,” said the man. “Shall we? It would be a shame to wake the neighbors.”
Noah moved a few feet to the left, and the man, clearly wanting to keep both eyes on him, moved a few feet to his left. Now, the man was standing with his back facing Anna, framed perfectly in the hallway. She sucked in a deep breath and prepared for what she knew would be some of the worst pain she’d ever felt, then she ran full speed down the hallway, putting her full weight every other step on her bad ankle, and holding the lamp ready to strike.
She was just a foot or two away from the man when a thick pair of arms wrapped around her stomach and pulled her up and away, the swing of her lamp just barely clipping the back of the man’s head.
Somebody had been hiding in the bathroom, but he hadn’t been waiting for Noah, he’d been waiting for her. Anna squirmed and kicked, her ankle screaming in pain, but whoever was holding her was much bigger and far stronger than she.
“There she is!” the man took his eyes off of Noah when he’d been hit with the lamp, and now he watched with a big grin on his face as Anna fought back tears. “I was hoping you’d be here for the show.”
“Who are you?” said Noah. “What do you want?”
The man put a hand to his chest and feigned offence. “You really don’t know who I am?” he said. “I’m hurt. After all we’ve been through.” He motioned with his fingers for the person holding Anna to come into the living room. “Come in here Pauly. I’d like her to see this.”
Pauly walked down the hallway and half placed, half threw Anna into the smaller couch that hadn’t been pulled out into her bed. She dropped the lamp in the process and it landed with a hard thud on the floor by her feet. Now her whole leg felt like it was on fire, as the pain from her little run shot up from her ankle like bolts of lightning. Pauly sat down on the couch next to her and put his arm out to sort of clothes line her, pinning her back against the couch. “Don’t try anything,” he said in a gruff, low voice. “I’m serious.”
Anna’s eyes were fogged over now and her head was starting to ache. She tried to blink away some of the dizziness and got a few good looks at this other man who had at some point pulled a knife and was holding it out threateningly towards Noah.
“Aren’t you getting tired of playing games with me, Noah,” he said. “You always lose.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about Lewtin, and I’m talking about all the poor, innocent people of Idle Waters.”
Noah’s eyes narrowed and he took a step closer to the man. “You,” he spat. “You killed Lewtin, and you’re behind the murders in town too.”
The guy smirked and threw his hands in the air. “Guilty as charged. The name’s Bruce, but you can just call me The Boss. That’s what most people know me as.”
“But why?” asked Noah.
“Why do anything?” said Bruce. “For money. For power. Sometimes for food.” At that he opened his mouth and ran his tongue across his teeth, which were slowly beginning to elongate and sharpen. He was a werewolf too. “But you, you just keep poking your nose where it doesn’t belong. Getting my guys in trouble, busting my favorite markets. It’s getting old, and I decided it was time to put an end to your antics.”
Noah nodded to the knife in his hand. “Well then, are we going to fight like wolves, or are you going to fight like the piece of shit you are.”
Bruce grinned and dropped the knife on the floor. “If that’s how you want it, that’s fine with me.”
It was Noah’s hair that changed first. It grew long down his back, then it seemed to wrap around his front and by the time it was running along his arms and legs, his frame had already begun to bend forward and he stood on four massive paws. Bruce didn’t wait until Noah was fully transformed before charging. He, now in full wolf form, threw Noah onto his back and pounded on top of him.
I have to do something. I have to do something!
Anna tried to remember where Noah had put his cellphone. If she could get up fast enough, maybe she could get away from Pauly, grab the phone, and lock herself in the bathroom. Pauly was a big, lumbering man, who wouldn’t be agile enough to grab her. At least, he wouldn’t have been able to if she had too good feet.
She couldn’t spot Noah’s phone anywhere, and she remembered he had it plugged in to charge in the kitchen. There was no way she could get to the kitchen and grab it before Pauly grabbed her. Her mind raced as she struggl
ed to throw together a plan b, but Pauly’s leg was shaking like a leaf next to her, which was making it very hard to focus. Then, she realized, Pauly was nervous.
But why?
Did he think there was a chance The Boss might not win the fight against Noah? Or was there something else going on that concerned him? Anna starred at Pauly’s leg and did her best to clear her mind, to let her intuition take over.
It came to her in the form of a single word: Betrayal.
But who betrayed Pauly? Or was Pauly going to betray someone? Maybe he was nervous because he already did betray his boss…
Her intuition gave Anna a second word: Distract.
Okay, it wasn’t much to go on, but it was something. Anna needed to distract these guys, she knew that much, and she had a pretty good idea how to do it. She let go of the breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding and started to bat her eyes like she’d seen Stella do sometimes when talking to Sheriff Wells.
“Pauly,” she said in a soft, seductive voice. “All this violence and fighting, it’s all so barbaric.” At this point, Noah and Bruce had found their way into the dining room and Anna was having to somewhat shout over the sounds of plates breaking and chairs being thrown. “There has to be a better way for us to hash out these issues. I’m sure if you think really hard.” She ran her hand gently up his leg. “You could come with something I can do for you. We could make a deal.” She leaned in close and whispered in his ear. “I’ll scratch your back, and you won’t kill me.”
Pauly smirked, but Anna could tell by the color flooding to his cheeks that she had him. “What do you say, big boy?” she asked. “Tell me what you want.”
He turned her and like an adolescent boy going for his first kiss, Pauly moved his face towards hers, his mouth wide open and his eyes closed. Anna reached down, wrapped her fingers around the stalk of the lamp, and swung the heavy metal base as hard as she could into the side of Pauly’s head. He was out cold.
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