The Life of Anna, Part 3: Embraced (2 page)

“Jenna!” Anna called when she saw her across
the room.

They made their way towards one another.
“Hey, how was your date?” Jenna asked.

Anna blushed. “Good.”

“Really good, by the looks of that
blush.”

She told Jenna what had happened over the
weekend and Jenna squealed. “I’m so happy for you. He seems like a
really nice guy.”

“Yeah. I hurt Aaron, though. He’s upset
because he didn’t get a chance to ask me out.”

“I know he’d been looking forward to it.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

Jenna shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess I
forgot.”

Anna frowned, something telling her there
might be more than just a lapse of memory going on there.

“Wanna do lunch?” Jenna asked.

Anna nodded.

“Okay, meet you at break.”

Anna headed to the main studio where the
soloists and principals had class together. Travis saw her walk in
and walked over quickly to hug her.

“Hey, partner,” he said. “Ready to be a
professional dancer?”

Anna grinned. “Yeah. I think I am.”

*****

Time flew by. Anna spent the days in
rehearsals and the evenings with Ben. The more time she spent with
him, the more she realized she was in danger of falling in love
again. She debated the wisdom of it, but Devin didn’t seem to mind
and she took that as his approval.

Summer ended and fall began, and life
continued to progress in a positive direction. A few months into
their relationship, Ben took Anna to a very nice restaurant and
told her that he loved her over dinner. She could honestly answer
him with her own profession of love.

She felt guilty about hiding her “other life”
and, as laid back as Ben was, it was getting more and more
difficult. Especially when he wanted to take her out of town one
weekend and she couldn’t go because she had to spend time with her
“family friend.”

He wasn’t happy about the family friend, and
Anna suspected that he didn’t totally buy into it, but he didn’t
press her. Too much.

Devin continued to take Anna “visiting” to
various political leaders, going to Sacramento a few times as well.
She was apparently becoming a favorite of the Governor’s, and Devin
took every opportunity to let her spend time with him. Devin
frequently asked her to plant suggestions in the Governor’s mind.
She once heard him refer to her ability to reel in a shark on a
trout hook, but she didn’t really know what that meant.

Greg maintained his distance from her, much
to her relief, but every time she saw him, she was reminded that
Alex hadn’t called. Her anger at Alex continued as a low-level burn
inside her.

There were more than a few nights when Ben
almost caught the men going to her apartment, but she avoided most
of the problem by staying at his place. Ben didn’t seem to mind.
There seemed to be fewer men than there used to be, which Anna
certainly didn’t mind, and to her profound relief she didn’t see
Zach at all.

Then, out of the blue, Alex called in the
middle of November, telling her he wanted her to come visit after
Nutcracker was over and spend the New Year in Germany with him. He
didn’t ask her; he
told
her she was coming. She hated him
for that. He had implied that he was so different from Devin, yet
he gave her no choice in the matter. She wanted to spend New Year’s
Eve with Ben, not the Master she was beginning to despise, but she
didn’t have any choice. As if her consent was optional, she told
Alex she would be there.

By the time Thanksgiving came around, she was
completely head-over-heels in love with Ben and wanted to spend as
much time with him as possible. When she asked Devin for permission
to go to Seattle to meet Ben’s family, she knew she had aroused
Devin’s anger, but was happily shocked when he said yes.

Ben’s family was every bit as wonderful as he
had made them out to be, and they seemed to really like her. His
parents and sisters were very welcoming and instantly put her at
ease. It was her first family Thanksgiving since her parents died.
Jack never made a big deal out of holidays, and there had been
absolutely no trace of celebration after she turned sixteen.

As opening night approached, Anna felt sick
with worry about the weekend. Kurt and Wilhelm were coming into
town and she needed to spend time with them. But Ben still knew
nothing of her other life. How would she explain that she couldn’t
see him after opening night because she had to be with her Master’s
family?

On the Wednesday before opening night, Anna
got a call from Ben. “Hey, love,” Ben said in an excited voice.
“Are you in the middle of something?”

“Just hanging out waiting for the first act
to finish. Why? Is everything okay?”

“Yes, everything is more than okay. We
won!”

“Oh, Ben!” Anna exclaimed, beaming. “Oh, I’m
so happy for you! You’ve been working so hard on that case!”

“Thanks, love.”

“We should celebrate,” Anna said, dropping
her voice seductively, though she couldn’t hold back a happy grin
for the man she loved.

“Yes, definitely. But first, the team is
going out for drinks at Massey’s. When do you think you’ll be done
rehearsing?”

“This is our last run through for the day.
Should be done in about an hour.”

“Wonderful. Do you want to meet me there? You
can meet my team.”

“I’d love to.”

“You know where it is?”

“Right around the corner from your office,
right?”

“Yep.”

“All right. I’ll text you when I leave.”

“Sounds good. I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

Anna grinned and hung up.

“What’s up?” Travis asked, seeing her grin.
“Boyfriend troubles?”

Anna giggled. “Hardly.” Travis always asked
her that. He jokingly said it was because he wanted to be the first
to know if they broke up so he could ask her out. But she knew
Travis was happy for her. “He won his case. His team is going out
to celebrate and he wanted me to come along.”

“That’s great.”

Anna nodded and tied the ribbons on her
pointe shoes. “It is. I’m so happy for him.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. You’re so much in love,
it’s revolting sometimes.” Travis rolled his eyes at her.

*****

Anna sent Ben a text as she started her car.
It would only take a few minutes to get to the bar. Maybe tonight
she would tell Ben the truth. No, tonight she
had
to tell
him the truth. There wasn’t any more time to put it off.

She hadn’t wanted to worry him during his
case, even though she hated lying to him about so many things. She
loved him and wanted to be truthful with him in all things. He
always said that he’d love her, no matter what.

But would he still love her if he knew she
was a sex slave?

She pulled up in front of the sports bar ten
minutes later. There were no spots in front, so she circled the
block until she found a spot. When she walked in, Ben rushed
over.

“I was getting worried,” he said, kissing
her.

“I couldn’t find a spot. Sorry.”

Ben grinned. “I’m just glad you’re okay.”

She liked that he worried about her. He
wanted to protect her from her guardian, even though Ben didn’t
know who her guardian was. When she was occasionally late, he
always worried that Jack had gotten ahold of her.

“Well, c’mon. Let me show you off.”

Anna grinned as he pulled her towards a large
group of tables in the back of the room. It was crowded with many
men and women in professional attire laughing and drinking.

Someone caught her eye and she stopped dead
in her tracks. No, it couldn’t be.
Please no.
But when he
turned around, there was no denying it. Jack was standing with a
beer in his hand, laughing with the group of people Ben was leading
her towards.

“Anna, love. What’s wrong?”

Anna couldn’t say anything. Her mouth
wouldn’t work. Jack turned and saw her. He grinned wickedly and
walked slowly towards them.

“Anna?” Ben turned her to face him. “Anna,
you’re so pale. What’s wrong?”

“I’m sorry, Ben. I’m so sorry.” She looked up
at him with tears in her eyes, knowing Ben would find out the truth
tonight whether she wanted him to or not. Jack wouldn’t pass up the
opportunity to humiliate her.

“What are you apologizing for? Why are you
pale?” He brushed her hair out of her face. “Love, please. Talk to
me.”

Anna glanced at Jack, who was only a few feet
away. What could she do?

“Ben, I need to tell you something—” she
began, but Jack interrupted her.

“Ben!” Jack said, patting him on the
shoulder. “Is this the girl you’ve been moon-eyed over for the last
few months?” Jack grinned at Ben.

Ben put his arm around Anna’s shoulder. “Yes,
it is. Anna, this is my boss, Jack Koslov. Jack, this is my
girlfriend—”

“Anna. Oh, yes. I know who she is.”

Ben looked confused. “You do?”

Jack cupped her chin. “You didn’t tell him
about me, Baby? I’m hurt.”

Anna tried to shake her head free but he held
on too tightly.

“Let her go, Jack,” Ben said with warning in
his voice. He pulled Anna away from him. “What the hell do you
think you’re doing?”

Jack looked at Anna with amusement. “Do you
want to tell him, or shall I?”

Anna looked up at Ben, who watched her with
concerned eyes. “He…he’s my guardian, Ben,” she said softly.

Ben turned his gaze to Jack and narrowed his
eyes. “This is the man who abused you?” His hand curled up in a
fist and before Anna realized what was happening, Ben took a swing
at Jack and hit him in the jaw. “You fucking bastard.”

Jack grabbed his jaw and looked between Anna
and Ben, then burst out laughing. “Oh, Baby. He doesn’t know, does
he?”

Fury lit Ben’s eyes. “What the fuck are you
talking about?” he asked through clenched teeth.

Anna was vaguely aware that the room had
become silent, but was so afraid of what Jack was going to say, she
didn’t really think about it. She looked up at Ben. “I…there’s
something I need to tell you.”

“Anna, you don’t need to defend yourself
against what he did to you. We’ve talked about this.”

She shook her head. “No, there’s more.” Tears
filled her eyes. “I….” She looked around. “Can we sit down over
there?” She pointed to an empty table away from his coworkers. She
didn’t think Devin would like it if everyone in the restaurant
heard what she was going to tell him. Ben nodded and they went over
and sat down.

Anna rubbed her hands together and stared at
the table top. Ben reached across the table and put his hands on
hers.

“Tell me, love,” he said in a gentle voice.
“Tell me anything you feel you need to.”

Anna bit her lip. Where did she begin? She
looked around to see that Jack had disappeared. Tears stung her
eyes as she tried to figure out what to say.

“Anna, I love you. Anything you need to tell
me. I’ll listen. And we’ll work it out. I’ve always promised that.
You know that, right?”

Anna looked up at him. Such love shone from
his eyes it made her heart ache so badly she wanted to reach in and
throw it out of her body. Would he still feel the same way after he
found out what she was? “I don’t know where to begin,” she
whispered.

Ben smiled tenderly. “The beginning. I’ve
always found that a good place to start.” He squeezed her hands
encouragingly.

“Do you know who Devin Andersen is?” she
asked.

“Of course. Everyone knows who he is.” Ben
smiled. “What does that have to do with you? Do you know him?”

Anna nodded. “I’ve known him all my life. He
and Jack are very good friends.” She proceeded to haltingly tell
Ben about what Devin and Jack did to her and how she was raised.
Ben’s face registered more and more shock as she talked. “On my
twentieth birthday, Jack took me to…a place that belongs to Devin
and handed me over to him.” She was reluctant to go on. This is
where things got worse.

“What do you mean, Jack handed you over to
him?”

“Devin…owns me. I belong to him.”

Ben laughed uncertainly. “Anna, you can’t
belong
to anyone. No one can
own
you.”

Anna shook her head. “Devin makes his own
rules, Ben. He owns me.” She pointed to her necklace. “He gave me
this to warn men that he owns me. If I don’t wear it…I get hurt.”
The memory of the jewelry store incident rushed into her mind.

“Anna, he can’t—”

“Oh, but he does, Ben.” Jack’s voice dripped
venom as he sat down next to Anna and put his arm around her
shoulder. Anna leaned away and Ben narrowed his eyes at Jack.

“Get out of here, Jack,” he growled. “This
has nothing to do with you.”

“Doesn’t it?” he asked in a mocking voice,
then leaned into Anna and spoke in a stage whisper. “Did you tell
him how often I get to fuck you? Does he know what you do on Friday
nights? All those men you fuck all night long? Did you tell him
you’re Devin’s mistress?”

Tears spilled over onto Anna’s cheeks as Jack
spoke. She didn’t want to look at Ben. She didn’t want to see the
disgust on his face.

Ben growled. “Jack, haven’t you done enough
to her? Why are you saying those things?”

“Because they’re true,” Jack answered simply.
“Tell him, Anna,” he leaned in and kissed Anna’s ear. “Tell him how
you knelt between my legs on Friday and sucked me off so good I
almost screamed.” Jack looked at Ben. “Please tell me you’ve
experienced one of her incredible blowjobs. Don’t they make you
want to scream?”

Anna dared to peek up and look at Ben. His
face was distorted with rage and disgust, just like in her worst
nightmares.

He looked at her with tear-filled eyes.
“Anna, tell me what he said isn’t true. Tell me he’s lying.” He
trembled and Anna could see his jaw clenching and unclenching as he
stared at her with such intensity she wanted to look away.