S.P.I.R.I.T (8 page)

“No.” I smiled, kissing his forehead.

“I wouldn’t have wanted that.” His eyes drooped, as if all the energy had left his body, and he brushed my cheek with his finger. “It’s still a haul to get to a hotel.”

I opened my eyes and looked at him once again, the smile that I had on my face faded as I looked at the seriousness in his eyes. He truly believed what he said, and I for once was speechless. “Zander, I…”

“Shush, close your eyes and rest for a few minutes. We have to move soon, but I just can’t find it in me to let you go just yet,” he whispered, closing his eyes as he tucked his face close to mine. I looked up at the fading light in the sky and then slowly let my lids drift shut.

After what seemed like hours, I felt Zander’s weight lift off from me, and I shivered from the chill that was in the air. Gently, I felt the legs of the insulated army pants over my bare skin from my waist down, and then softly a hand brushed my face. I opened my eyes to look at Zander, who looked as if he had just woken himself, and smiled as my body shivered under his touch. He brought the shirt down over my head and helped me find the armholes as I struggled to keep my focus.

The sky had darkened and the town was now lit up like Christmas, making me well aware of the time. Zander smiled at me as he sat down on the grass to tie my boot, and I couldn’t help but smile back at the little smirk.

“We fell asleep, didn’t we?” I whispered, and watched him nod, glancing up at the stars as he looped the laces.

“For a good hour or so,” he replied and patted my foot. “My ass was starting to freeze, it was the only reason I even moved.”

I laughed aloud, unable to hold it in as he stood and reached down to help me up. With the vision of Zander rubbing his cheeks to warm them up filling my head, I was all smiles as I followed him down towards the town once more.

“Any time now,” he said with a grin.

“Any time, what?” I replied, stretching my arms above my head.

“Any time now, you can stop sending me images of me rubbing my ass, that’s not what I did when I woke up,” he answered, glancing back at me. I couldn’t erase the smile from my lips and I tried to think of other little things to fill my brain with.

“Rain drops on roses, and whiskers on kittens,” I mumbled and watched him stop; this time prepared for it, and turned with a look on his face as if he had just lost his mind. “Favorite Things?” He shook his head to the reference. “You have got to be kidding. It’s a Julie Andrews song from the movie ‘The Sound of Music’.”

“Oh, right, right!” he said and nodded, but lack of acknowledgement in his voice was anything but convincing.

“When we get out of this, I’m going to tie you to a chair and make you watch it with me,” I threatened, walking passed him. “It’s unreal that you don’t know this movie, it’s a classic!”

“Sam,” he said quietly, as we rounded the last corner before dipping into the woods. “Of all the things that happened to me in my childhood, ‘The Sound of Music’ was probably the last movie I ever thought of watching.”

“Tell me, then, did you watch “A Christmas Story’?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest. He stood there a moment, unsure that he should answer, and then slowly nodded. “I bet you wanted a ‘Red Rider’ Beebe gun for Christmas too, didn’t you?”

He laughed. “Move it, woman, we’re almost there.”

“You do realize that the whole ‘you’ll shoot your eye out’ thing was completely correct.” I babbled. The crazy conversation kept the feelings of dread from creeping up under my skin.

“I never shot my eye out, hence the reason I joined the army, because I was rather good at firing a weapon.” He encouraged my chatter as he moved closer to me, gently brushing my back with his hand as the woods grew darker. “Listen baby, keep your voice down.”

“Why?” I whispered, stopping to look at him, but Zander shook his head and then pointed to his temple.
Do you feel something?

Not at the moment, but I need to be on guard.
I nodded in response, then took his hand and let him led on.

We weaved in and out of the forest with ease, and slowly marched upon a small, one-story house pushed back from the road. Nailed to the door was a ‘No Trespassing’ sign that Zander completely ignored as he dug a key out of the potted plant beside the front steps. He held the key up to me, raised his eyebrows and then slipped it in the lock, turning the handle at the same time as the key.

The door opened without a creek and slowly he stepped inside, letting his eyes adjust to the darkness within the house. After a moment, he returned to hand me a flashlight and gestured into the building.

What is this place?

Safe house. The company has them all over, at least one in every city. I think they forgot about this one though. It’s not even hooked up to the system.
I watched him move over to the closet, open the heavy door and flick the switch on the wall panel. A generator, stored somewhere in the basement, kicked to life and the hum of it filled my ears.
It will drown out after a while.

Lights flickered on as Zander hit switches through the hallway, checking every room thoroughly before moving on to the next. Once the sweep was complete, he stood next to me, took the flashlight from my hand and set it on the table.

“The water will be warm in a few minutes. There are clothes in vacuum-sealed bags in the furthest left room. Towels and blankets are back there too, in the same kind of bags. Take a shower, relax, and change. I’ll be back in a few minutes,” he said and headed towards the door.

“What? Wait? Where are you going?” I questioned, turning to watch him grab the door handle. He held up a wade of $20 bills and smiled.

“Food,” he grinned. “If you need me, Sam, all you have to do is call. There isn’t a place in this town that I won’t be able to hear you, and be here within a matter of moments. Okay?”

I nodded, unsure of myself but I wasn’t going to let him see the fear that made me shake inside. I crossed my arms over my chest. He opened the door and stepped out over the threshold.

“Zander,” I whispered, and watched him turn to look at me. “Stay safe.”

He smirked at me, then winked and disappeared into the darkness. With a sigh, I walked over and locked the door, deciding that a hot shower was just what I needed. After searching the room for a set of clothes that would fit me, I grabbed a towel and headed over to the bathroom. Toiletries of various sorts were stored under the sink and I found shampoo and bath soap quite easily.

It wasn’t until I stepped into the hot streams of rushing water that I realized just how tired and sore I really was. It was an effort to wash and rinse my hair, let alone to reach over to grab the bar of soap. I felt as if I had stood there for hours, just letting the jets pour down on me, and I found myself leaning my forehead against the wall. I reached down blindly to where I had placed the soap, and as I set my fingers upon it, a hand grasped my wrist gently.

“Allow me,” the crisp voice spoke, and my eyes flew open in fear.

8

My heart skipped as I glared over at Zander, whose playful smile faded as he watched the color drain from my face. My hand shook in his grip, and I tried with everything I had not to faint in the bathtub. Swiftly he moved the curtain aside, and stepped in to the stream, fully clothed, to grasp me around the waist as I slumped back against the wall.

“Oh, baby, I’m so sorry,” he whispered, pressing my body against his damp clothes. “I thought you heard me come in, I didn’t intend to scare you.”

“At least I know my heart still works,” I whispered, placing my check against his chest.

He kissed the top of my wet head and then tipped my chin to look into my eyes. I had gotten used to the bolts of lightening that flashed within them, but as I watched, they turned into a storm. The lights around me flickered, as the sound of the generator’s hum kicked off and on several times. I could feel the static from his hand, afraid of what might happen if he let off a strong charge while I stood in the stream of water. Just because my own fire didn’t harm me, didn’t mean that Zander’s electric personality wouldn’t send me to the hospital.

“Hey,” I spoke calmly, straightening, to place my hands against his cheek as his chest rose and fell rapidly. “Zander, I’m fine. Relax.”

“I just…” he stumbled. “That wasn’t the reaction I had intended.”

“You’re getting worked up for nothing.” I smiled, and slowly the storm within those deep brown eyes calmed. “I would really hate to see you all fired up.”

“I’ve never been this out of control with my emotions before.” He sighed, and stepped back, pulling the now drenched shirt from his body, and tossed it on the floor. “Turn around.”

“Do I really want to put my back to you?” I laughed and felt him kiss my bare shoulder.

“I’m not going to do anything that you don’t want me too,” he reassured me, and I closed my eyes as I heard his pants drop into a wet pile on the floor. His hands grasped the soap and slowly began to lather over my back. “You have scars.”

“Yeah, they’re…um…from an accident,” I whispered, and I felt him run his fingers over the three identical marks that ran from my left shoulder to my spine.

“Must have been some accident,” he said, as his touch sent shivers down my back.

“Life changing,” I replied, and looked at the wall before me.

He didn’t ask anything more, and my thoughts turned to concentrate on the way the facecloth felt on my skin. As much as it was innocent, the feeling of someone else running the course rag over my body was more than intimate. He turned me gently, so that my back was in the jets of water, rinsing off the soap as he brought the cloth up to my neck.

Your breathing changed.
I felt the tingle of his mind as I my thought connected to him.

I have an absolutely beautiful woman in front of me. Yours would too if you were in my place,
he answered. I concentrated on the way he ran his hands over me, gently caressing my breast for several moments, until he got the reaction he was looking for, before moving on to the rest of me.
I’m not trying to start anything, Sam.

Ah-huh,
I replied, smiling at him as I opened my eyes. The storm had returned, and I swore I saw dark clouds in those eyes, but I watched his reaction to mine opening and a grin spread across his face. “What?”

“Fire,” he blurted out. “I can see flames in your eyes, making the blue so bright.”

“That’s funny, because you have lightening in yours. Its how I knew that you had taken my being scared too hard and why I told you to calm down,” I answered, and grinned wider. “They really are controlled by our emotions.”

His kiss was just as passionate as before, taking my breath and leaving me weak in the knees, and I could feel the pulse intensify as he released the cloth and placed one hand on my lower back, and cupped my head, not wanting me to get away until he had done a thorough job.

Oh
, his voice moaned as his hand gripped my bottom, pressing the hard evidence of his arousal against my belly.
I’m so hard that it hurts.

Let me see if I can help.
I reached down, releasing my grip on his hair, and circled the taut staff with one hand. He gasped against my lips, and using the soap that still coated my skin, began to slowly stroke the velvet-covered iron within my grasp. I felt him pull back, trying to get away from my hand, but the motion only caused me to brush the tip of him with my fingers.

Oh my God!
He started, quickly coming back to me. He began to move, slowly, pulling and pushing in the grasp of my hand, and he had no choice but to release my lips. He placed his forehead against mine, his eyes tightly shut, and his hands gripped my hair as me moved to his own rhythm.

I watched the pained expression cross his face, and felt him grow fuller, knowing what was coming next and I stepped back just a bit as warm jets covered my hand. Slowly he came to rest, his breathing sporadic and the grip on my hair eased. I watched as he opened his eyes and looked at me, a smile crossing his face, and he ran a hand through his hair.

“That wasn’t my intention when I stepped in here with you.” He sighed as I rinsed off my hand.

I laughed, turning back to face him and I stood up on my tiptoes to kiss him softly on the lips.

“I’ve wanted to get my hands on you for a while,” I explained and grabbed a towel, and wrapping it around me as I stepped out of the cooling water.

Zander stood there, shocked that I had even said that to him, and then he followed, his own towel circling his waist as he walked out after me. He stopped as he watched me open the refrigerator and rested his right shoulder against the wall, crossing his arms over that rippled chest. I looked back at him.

“Men are not the only people with desires that would be considered ‘risqué’.” I smirked and watched him nod, biting on his lower lip.

“I’ve just never met a woman who was so…uninhibited when it came to voicing them.” He smiled. I laughed quietly and grabbed a soda from the bottom shelf. “Did you find clothes?”

“Yes, I think I left them in the bathroom,” I replied. He nodded and moved back down the hallway, passing the bathroom as he headed towards the back bedroom.

I glanced around at the several bags of groceries that sat on the small kitchen table, and slowly walked over to look through them. I pulled out spaghetti and sauce, some parmesan cheese and other small containers of seasonings for spicing up our meal. As I moved everything to stove, I heard the first whisper in my head.