The Encounter (7 page)

“Psst.” I thought for a moment that there was a pipe leaking, but then I heard a loud thump and turned with my heart leaping from my chest. Standing in front of me like he had come out of nowhere was Chance. His clothing was covered with some kind of dirt and spider webs and he was now trying to shake them loose, while doing a little dance that reminded me of the fantasia hippo. “Damn, I was starting to wonder if it was safe to come out at all.”

I didn’t mean to do it, but my hand moved on its own accord and slapped him across the face so hard that the echo was almost deafening. The fact that he and left me to fend for myself with those two men had gotten the better of me and I decided to show it in a physical way. He didn’t say anything, just stood there as still as could be and then placed his hand on his cheek where my hand had just made contact.

“What was that all about?” He didn’t yell it, keeping his voice to the bare minimum, but still seeing the anger that was seeping around the corners of my mouth. Amazingly, he was keeping his calm, not raising a hand in defense, but still quite curious as to why I had done it in the first place.

“You disappeared when those two men arrived and they were here for you. If I didn’t know any better, I would think that you were some kind of coward, but that is not the person that I have taken you for. This leads me to the question: Why you would leave us like that, when you could obviously take care of yourself and probably us as well?”

He walked back and forth, most likely thinking about what his response was going to be and then he turned and grabbed my two wrists with both of his hands. “You’re right and I’m sorry that I didn’t intervene, but if I had, there would’ve been more here after they didn’t report in. I wasn’t far away and I stayed in the kitchen until I saw that he was coming my way and then I went down here. I was going to leave, but I found that the windows were painted shut and it would’ve taken a whole lot longer to break through them than it was to hide somewhere.”

“Chance, where did you hide and how could you possibly know that they weren’t going to kill us before they left?” I had thrown two questions at him in rapid succession and he was going to have to defend himself, whether he wanted to or not.

“They weren’t going to kill you, because they can’t afford the exposure. The Trojan horse depends on secrecy and with the delegation meeting in exactly seven days, there’s no way that they’re going to make any kind of waves to put that on hold. As for finding a place to hide, well, this house is unfinished down here and there are huge beams crisscrossing the ceiling that were made supposedly for a barn. I was able to jump from the stairs and to one of those beams in the darkness, keeping myself flat against the surface, while that man did his search and then went back upstairs.”

“Are you trying to tell me that you stayed up there all this time without making any noise or even trying to come down until I came down here?

That was over 2 hours ago and I would’ve gone stark raving mad or at least came down to find out if the coast was clear. Besides, you are covered with spiders and that must’ve been difficult to handle. I know that Mike is deathly terrified of spiders and if he had to do that, I don’t think he would’ve been the same man afterwards.”

“Cecily, I have done a whole lot worse than that and I’ve stayed in mud up to my neck for over 12 hours. Let’s just say that a couple of hours up there was a cakewalk compared to some of the things that I’ve had to do.” The very idea that he had to put his life on the line like that was a little disconcerting, but the dangerous element of his personality was definitely raising the temperature in the room. It had to be 10° cooler down here than the rest of the house, but with him standing there and my body so close that I could almost touch him, it was a wonder that we didn’t ignite into flames in the form of human combustion.

“What was this about a delegation and what does that have to do with a Trojan horse?”

I knew that I shouldn’t be asking such questions, but my curiosity was piqued. It wasn’t like I was expecting an honest answer in response, but I had to put it out there. “I think I deserve some answers, because I did protect you. If you didn’t know it, I was on my way to take you to the hospital when the man that came to this house was standing by the door. I now know that he was probably waiting for you, but my instincts and the hairs on the back of my neck began to rise and I decided to get the hell out of there before he spotted you.”

“That was good thinking, because the hospital or any kind of clinic was the first place that they were going to look for me. I still don’t know how I got injured, but I guess that the trauma to my body was enough to make my mind block it out for the time being. I still can’t believe that they actually are going to use the Trojan horse. I only came up with it to defend ourselves from the enemy, but I think that they’re going to use it in a different way.” He still hadn’t told me what the Trojan horse was and he was basically beating around the bush.

“There must be somebody that you can talk to.” He was wringing his hands and talking underneath his breath, but I wasn’t close enough to hear exactly what he was saying. “If this Trojan horse is as dangerous as you make it out to be, then I would think that there is somebody that you can notify.”

“I would, but I get a feeling that they have covered their bases. I vaguely recall something about an ambush at my house at the lake. Come to think of it, if I can get back to my house and into the secret room that I have in the attic, then I might be able to find the evidence that I need to bring to those in authority. As it is, I think that I am a wanted man for something that I didn’t do and they only want me out of the way for as long as it takes for the delegation to meet in seven days.” I couldn’t help myself, putting my hands on his shoulder, but pretending that he had some dust on it by pushing my hand back and forth across the surface.

“So, I imagine your next stop is your house on the lake. I guess this is goodbye and I do hope that you find what you’re looking for.”

I was somewhat disappointed by the fact that he was going to leave, but a little bit relieved to know that I wouldn’t have this temptation hanging over my head like a Damocles sword.

“I’m afraid it’s not that easy and they will be looking for me for the next seven days. They most likely have four blocks and even every organization working in conjunction with the military. I would say that 50 miles in either direction are going to be locked down and I really can’t get there without some help. I hate to ask this and, believe me, if there was any other way, I would do it.”

“Jesus, I crash into you with my car, get you some medical help and take care of you at my house and now you say that that’s not enough. I would call you selfish, but I know that that’s not the case. You’re just trying to do the right thing and I do have to admire the fact that you are willing to try to stop them. You still haven’t told me what the Trojan horse is.” If I was going to get involved, then I would need more information and a reason to put my trust in a man that I had just met.

“I don’t think I should tell you for your own safety and besides, I’ve already told you more than I should have. Don’t get me wrong, I think that I can trust you, but I would never want to put you in the position of talking. This way, you don’t know anything and I think that’s the best for you and Mike.”

He ran his hand through his shorn head and I had this impulse to reach out and grab him in a not so subtle way. My hand moved to do just that, but his hand stopped me with an accusing expression on his face. It was then that I remembered that Mike was waiting for me upstairs in the bedroom.

Looking at my watch, I realized that I had been gone for well over an hour and we had been discussing things, while looking at each other like wild animals on the hunt. “I was just going to…”

“Cecily, I know exactly what you were going to do and I can’t let you do that. You have a good life here and I don’t want to ruin it for you, but believe me I have the same impulse. It’s taking everything I can muster not to just take you in my arms and throw you down on that bed over there.” The fact that he was thinking about it was a testament to the feelings that we had for each other, even though they were probably misplaced and most likely some kind of nightingale syndrome. After all, I had saved his life and something like that would have a profound effect on anybody.

“I have to go upstairs, so why don’t you stay down here and tomorrow morning I will somehow get you to your house. I don’t know how I am going to do that without being caught in the act, but I can see how important this is for you. I just wish that this didn’t have to fall on your shoulders and it must be hard to have that kind of responsibility.”

“I guess I’ve never thought about it and I’ve always been sent to one post after another. I do admit that it gets lonely moving all the time and there really isn’t enough time to settle down or put down any roots. I’ve never been married nor had children and I think it’s just this life that makes it difficult to have any kind of normalcy.”

I could feel the sexual tension in the air and I could only think of two things that would alleviate the situation. One, I could fall madly and deeply into a lust filled moment with this man, or I could take all of this build up of frustration and use it on Mike. It didn’t seem fair that I would do something like that, but the alternative was to risk everything for one moment of blissful happiness.

“I need you to stay down here until morning and I’ll be back to collect you. I think that the both of us should give some thought on how we’re going to make this work, and you’re going to have to stay out of sight, at least until Mike goes to work in the morning. I just don’t think he will understand and might find it necessary to call the authorities and have you arrested for questioning.”

He grabbed me and I turned to look at him at the edge of the stairs “If that happens, I’m afraid that I would never make it to court, because this is way too important for anybody to allow me to stay breathing. Once they get me behind bars, it wouldn’t be all that difficult for them to arrange an accident or make it look like I had committed suicide.” The idea that he could lose his life over something that he was trying to prevent was unconscionable.

Going upstairs, I felt my pulse racing and my heart beating so fast that I thought for sure that I was going to have some kind of attack. I had not been so excited in a very long time and Mike was in for a wild ride. As I was getting closer to the bedroom, I started to strip off the robe, dropping it onto the floor in the hallway, before doing the same thing to the negligee and then walking into the bedroom with my body on display.

Ready to attack, I saw that he was lying against the pillows, but he was no longer ready for sex and had fallen into a deep slumber after a very long day.

“Mike… Mike… wake up… god damn it… wake up.”

I know from personal experience that he is very hard to bring around and he would literally have to have a bomb go off in order to wake him from whatever wonderful dreams were running around in his head.

There’s really no way that I was going to get any sleep and I could’ve gone downstairs and gave Chance something to smile about, but instead I turned to a trusty old friend with the required batteries to go along with it. Just the feel of that thing touching my skin and running down between my legs was more than enough to bring about a cry of ecstasy. I stifled that moan of excitement with a pillow over my head, letting my body shake and shiver with that toy pressed up against my little friend. I kept it there until I was completely satisfied, or at least satisfied enough that I could put it back in the drawer where it had come from.

Unfortunately, it was just a tease and I was still feeling that itch that couldn’t be scratched. The toy had done its work like it always has, but it is nothing compared to the real thing. I tried in vain to shake him awake once more, but eventually gave up and turned over with him pressed up against me.

It took 2 hours before I was able to drift off and I was sort of regretting that I didn’t take the bull by the horns with Chance. He was right there, but he was being a gentleman and spurned my advances. There was something to be said for a little manly persuasion and I could’ve gone for being grabbed and kissed in a spontaneous fashion. I never had anybody lose themselves in the moment like that and I think that every woman secretly dreams of that kind of passion.

* * *

EIGHT

* * *

I was awake earlier than expected, sitting there and looking at Mike and watching him sleep for the first time in a long time. I haven’t seen him in this bed in many weeks and I think having him here last night was a good thing. The only thing missing was that he wasn’t awake when I got back upstairs to attack him. I suppose I should take some fault for that myself because of the fact that I was downstairs with Chance for much longer than expected.

It was only the crack of dawn and I couldn’t sleep, wondering how I was going to get Chance to his place. For some reason, I believed everything that he told me without question or hesitation and I’m usually a little bit more cautious than that when I meet strangers. It felt like we had known each other for a very long time, like we were star crossed lovers from a previous life.

I’ve never even contemplated having sex with any of my boyfriends in the past until I got to know them on a more intellectual level, but with Chance I was willing to risk everything for one moment of happiness. It was wrong and I knew it, but there was no way that I could tell my heart to stop feeling what it was feeling. This man had issues and I could see not only the scars on his body, but also a damaged psyche that needed my tender loving care to soothe away those demons.

It was just a good thing that he didn’t scream during the night, but maybe he wasn’t even sleeping, mulling over everything that we had said to each other and almost did. I thought for sure that I was going to have hot wild sex with him, but he was the one that threw the cold water on my parade.