Missing Link (The Finders Book 1) (13 page)

Link jumped from his seat, gripping hands with this large man before using their other hands to slap each other on the back.

"Hey bro, things are looking good." Link told him as he pulled away again. I stood, suddenly feeling rather rude.

"Cheers, man. Slowly but surely." He turned to me with a broad smile that was strangely infectious, holding out his hand. "You must be Sam. I'm Ethan."

I frowned, confused.

"Link said you work for The Finders." I said, reaching out and grasping his hand. He laughed quietly,

"I'm there half the time and here half the time. This is my new baby. Once I get this place up and running I’ll be back at The Finders more." I nodded, only slightly understanding as I was still a little unsure what 'The Finders' were all about.

"Well it's nice to meet you. And I guess I have you to thank for this," I say, holding up my completed enrolment forms, as we all take a seat.

"You're welcome here any time you like. Link said you're not too bad in the ring." Ethan said with a wink.

"Not too bad huh?" I repeated, glaring at link who simply laughed.

"I'm gonna change and go get started" he said, getting up and giving me a stunning smile before he strutted off. I couldn't help but admire his ass as he walked. Link just had one of those walks, that no matter what he was wearing or where he was, you had to stop and stare. Maybe it was his confidence. Or maybe just his attitude.

"You two getting along okay?" Ethan asked. I couldn't help the shy smile that crept onto my mouth.

"Link is amazing. He's been very sweet to me."

Ethan leaned back and lifted his arms up, linking his fingers together behind his head as he watched me in amusement. A flash of colour caught my eye and I focused back on the tattoos that wound up Ethan's arm. They were all mythical creatures, and were in stunning detail. An aqua coloured dragon took up most of the space as it wound from his wrist curving around his forearm and bicep and his shoulder, it's head peeking over and resting on his collarbone. It's eyes were a glimmering red, and looked as though they were staring directly at me, through me.

"You like them?" My eyes flicked to Ethan's face, as I realised I had been staring at his arm.

"Sorry, yeah, they are amazing." He nodded, stretching out his arm and twisting it around, I sat forward, taking in the other creatures that decorated his skin. There was an amazing lion’s face with intricate details, it's body had bat styled wings and a scorpion’s tail which was poised like it was ready to strike. I also noted a mermaid laying delicately across a rock and a Phoenix, its wings made of fire.

"Do they have a meaning?" I asked. He shrugged.

"Someone used to tell me I'd never make anything of myself, that I'd never achieve anything. Sometimes our dreams can be crazy, and farfetched," he rubbed over his tattoos, silent for a moment before his eyes met mine again. "But it doesn't mean we shouldn't chase them with everything that we have."

His words hit my heart. It was obvious Ethan had been through some tough times, but he hadn't let them deter him from doing what he wanted to do. In fact, he seemed stronger for it. Ethan's positive energy sunk into me and I couldn't help but smile.

I noticed Link across the room, he was watching me whilst he did pullups on a metal bar. His gaze was intense, I almost wanted to look away, but his body called to me. The way his muscles rippled as he pulled himself up, his face not showing an ounce of strain. Link wasn't the biggest of the guys working out here but he was well defined and boy was he strong. I could see him with his hands on my hips, lifting me up and down in a steady rhythm as I sat atop him. His muscles clenching as he used my body, pulling me up and then forcing me back down on top of him as I screamed out with pleasure. My hands braced on his hard chest, my nails sinking further into his skin with every thrust.

"Well!" Ethan said loudly, clapping his hands together. I jumped, suddenly flustered. My short daydream disappeared but the evidence of it had already dampened my underwear. I snuck one last glance at Link who now stood underneath the bar, arms folded. A satisfied smirk making its way onto his mouth, only causing the blush across my cheeks to intensify.

"Emma!" He called to the young girl who sat behind the desk. She scurried over quickly. "Can you grab a top and some shorts for Sam here, please?"

She smiled, "Sure." She checked my size and showed me to their changing rooms while she grabbed me some clothes from a back room. They were brand new, tags still attached, a bright pink sports bra and some black spandex shorts that came half way down my thigh. If I was anywhere but the gym I would have felt uncomfortable showing this amount of my body, but the gym was my place, my Sanctuary. It was where I felt at peace with myself, so I barely even noticed the men who leered at me or overexerted themselves as I walked past.

I wandered up the staircase, the room upstairs was larger than I anticipated. As I had seen from outside, the treadmills and cross trainers lined the glass wall, several people with headphones plugged in were watching the busy street below. It was the centre of the room that surprised me. It was set up like a boxing area, a large ring stood proudly in the centre, bags and other equipment littered around. It was what stood in the ring that had me grinning stupidly. Link had pads attached to both hands, he clapped them together loudly and I laughed, almost feeling a sense of de ja vu.

Link must have been thinking the same thing as he smiled and called out to me, "ready for round two?"

"Oh, it's on." I said as I pulled myself up and climbed into the ring, noticing how his eyes swept my body. I made sure I stretched before wrapping my hands and finding a pair of bright pink gloves that matched my outfit perfectly.

Link called out punches, starting off slowly then moving faster and with more difficulty. I was breathing hard but keeping up. I could feel the sweat dripping down my spine and gathering at my hairline. But I didn't even take a moment to wipe at it, knowing Link was just looking for a slip. He finally got it as I caught a small movement to my left and averted my eyes for a second. That was all it took and I ended up with a slap around the side of the head with his pad.

I saw Ethan leaning against the ropes chuckling before I turned back with a glare to Link's smug smile.

"One to me." He laughed. I swung at him, but he lifted the pad quickly enough to catch it. I punched twice before swinging my leg at his side and connecting with his ribs. I heard a large burst of laughter come from Ethan as Link held his side with a small cringe.

"One to me." I said mockingly as we both stood at the ready again. I threw several punches and a few more kicks, each one he caught with precision. A kick with my left caught him again in the side but he quickly caught me under the knee, I tried to pull away but instead I just caused myself more problems as I lost my balance and hit the mat with a thud on my back. While the mats are obviously padded, it doesn't change the fact that it still damn hurts when you fall on them with full force. I was now completely exhausted, so I didn't even think about moving.

"Okay...I'm..done." I said in between deep breaths. My lungs burned and my muscles hurt, but I loved it.

I heard clapping and looked over to see both Ethan and Rome standing beside the ring grinning ear to ear. A shadow fell over me and a smiling Link held out his hand. I ripped off my gloves and let him pull me up. My legs were like jelly, so I tripped a little and fell into his body. My free hand was braced at his waist while the other was still gripped tightly in his hand. His skin was slick and smooth. I ran it down and over his toned stomach unconsciously. His skin suddenly broke out in small bumps and through the closeness I felt him shiver at my touch. I stepped back quickly, releasing his hand and muttering a small apology.

"Sam!" Ethan waved me over and I took the excuse, moving like lightning to him. "You're really good."

"I'm not too bad." I say modestly, never one to really take complements well. "KC taught me a lot of self defence so that's where I'm more comfortable as opposed to boxing."

Ethan looked over my shoulder, eyebrows raised at whom I assumed was Link standing a couple of feet behind me. He rubbed at his bearded jaw in thought for a moment.

"How would you feel about teaching?" He asked. I looked at him in confusion.

"Don't you need like a degree for that?" I replied, not understanding. All the boys burst out laughing.

"He means teaching here, like a selfdefence course for women." Link explained as he came up close behind me, still sounding rather amused. Me teach selfdefence? It was something I loved, something I was passionate about. I thought about Isla and how she had told me about being taken. If I could teach young girls like her to defend themselves, maybe I could make a difference. I know it wouldn't stop men like Charlie or Luther but maybe if I could teach girls to fight back, I could at least make these men maybe second guess what they were doing. They don't want a girl who's going to fight them. I could help them not be a victim, help them be confident enough to fight for themselves and not end up like me.

I nodded so hard I thought my brains might be damaged.

"I... Oh my god.. I would love to!" I exclaimed throwing my arms around Link. He didn't seem surprised in the least as he casually wrapped his arms around me. I unravelled myself and did the same thing to Ethan. He placed his hands on my shoulders and held me out in front of him.

“Come see me when you've settled in and we are on. It would do this place some good, and I know these women will be in good hands." I gave him one last squeeze before moving back towards Link who was frowning at Ethan very seriously. But I was too excited to care. I had a long shower, already going over in my head what I could teach them to protect themselves, simple moves, complicated ones, I even thought about asking Link, Rome, Ethan and Dom to help with demonstrations. I let the water cascade over my body, the heat taking away some of the tightness in my muscles. I was happy. Link's words from the night before rang in my head "find out who you are."

I think I was finally starting to discover who I was, who I wanted to be, what I wanted to do. I was finally finding me.

Chapter Fifteen

Link and I spent the next few days doing an electric but awkward dance around each other. I knew it was me making it awkward, as I avoided every small touch or indepth conversation. We went out, went to the gym, and watched movies. I know we both felt it, the pull that we had. Link made me smile and laugh and at the same time his presence made me nervous. I was trying my hardest to deny the craving I had for him. I wanted to get close to him, to let him hold me and tell me everything was going to be fine, that we could be happy. But I kept reminding myself that I can't build a house with someone when I knew the big bad wolf was coming to blow the whole thing down.

I wasn't under the false impression that Charlie had given up and wasn't going to come after me. I still checked over my shoulder, and felt jumpy in the dark, just expecting him to one day be there and drag me away. My gut twisted and turned with every day of freedom I enjoyed. Link reminded me constantly that they would keep me safe, that no matter what happened, I would eventually feel completely free from his clutches. But I knew Charlie better than they did. He was going to hunt me down, and lock me in a room with no key, just to have me all to himself.

We were on our way to a barbeque at Rome’s place. Nerves were taking a hold of my body and I saw Link watch me out of the corner of his eye as he drove and I fidgeted uncomfortably in the passenger seat.

"What's up, pretty girl?" I had become accustomed to Link's sweet nickname for me, every time he said it I caught myself smiling.

"Just, there's going to be people there that I don't know..." I told him, still wiggling about in my seat.

"You'll be fine, just be yourself." He said waving it off.

"I don't know how to be myself." I whispered almost inaudibly, but of course Link never missed a thing.

"You're always yourself with me."

"With you it's easy. You already see me." He reached out and grasped my hand, holding it tightly and resting it on my leg. The heat from his palm burnt pleasantly against my skin. "I've been to parties, it was always 'don't speak, just look pretty'."

"We'll you've already got the pretty part down, all we need to work on is the speaking" he joked, causing me to smile.

"Do we have to, can't we pretend I'm like a mute or something?" I asked, almost seriously.

He laughed, "You'll be fine." He told me, squeezing my hand before he released me and used both hands to pull the car to the curb outside Rome’s house. We sat silently for a moment, I could hear music coming from the house and people's laughter. I sighed loudly before gripping the door handle and throwing it open.

"Okay, let's do it." I told him, forcing myself out of the car before the small amount of courage I had somehow managed to gather dissipated.

"That's my girl." He said, smiling broadly at me over the roof of the car. The simple words once again twisting my stomach. Oh how much I wanted to be his girl. How much I ached to be in his arms, in his bed and in his life forever. A dream that seems just out of reach. But I had promised myself that while I was here, I was going to do everything I could to figure out who I was, and who I wanted to be. It might be pointless in the end, but the memories would be worth it.

We strolled through the front door; it was becoming obvious that Rome never locked it. We walked straight down the hallway and into a small laundry that had a large sliding door leading to an amazing back yard. There were people scattered everywhere in small groups, chatting and laughing. With winter slowly moving into spring, the weather was becoming warm enough for these kinds of gatherings.

Rome spotted us right away, veering away quickly from the couple of large men he was speaking to and making a beeline for us with that same ridiculously huge smile that was often plastered to his face. He and Link did a quick man hug before he threw his arm across my shoulders and gave me a small squeeze. I looked up at him, his brimming grin now changed into a small encouraging smile that instantly comforted me.