“Ben your home alarm is it monitored? And do you have any cameras set up?”
“My alarm is back to base monitoring.” Whilst he is talking I open my laptop and start working. “And I have one camera out the back but it’s monitored only through my computer.”
“I really hope you don’t mind but I’m hacking into your alarm and diverting it to my laptop plus I’m hacking into your computer and am also monitoring your one camera out the back. Can you please go up to your attic and install this and one pointing out the front window.” I hand him 2 small coin size cylinders. Ben looks at them and then at me. “They are cameras Ben. I use them when I need eyes and ears out on a job for surveillance. They go between night vision and normal with a click on my laptop. Now can you go set them up in prime positions so you can get your arse back here and make me something to eat?”
“This is..... amazing yet frightening. You’re like a female version of James Bond.”
I start laughing so much my sides start hurting. “Ben I’m nothing like James Bond. I’m not a spy, I’m certainly not a good person and I kill for profit.” I find this entire situation absolutely hilarious but Ben’s shoulders are tense and his face hardens as he considers my statement.
“Yes about that, I think........”
“No Ben, you don’t think. You can’t think about this whole scenario. This now is a job. I need to keep you alive and safe and you need to not over think anything.”
Ben nods his head and starts for the attic to install the camera and once he has come back out he goes to one of the front windows. I get all the cameras up on the laptop and see that he has positioned them both in the perfect place for optical viewing.
“Anna, why did I put a camera in the attic? Nothing is up there.”
“Because if this assassin is half as good as I am, then I can tell you they will come into your house in a way we won’t be expecting, it won’t be through the front or back door. But we’ll keep those covered too”
“What do you want to eat?” Ben doesn’t go on to question me anymore. I think his brain is just trying to make sense of everything. Or maybe he’s accepted me or maybe he’s just shut down.
“Surprise me”
Whilst he is making us sandwiches the conversation is fairly light. There’s still so much more I need to talk to him about, but we are both tired and hungry and emotions are still pretty raw. After brunch I am really tired and I can see Ben stifling a yawn.
“We can sleep in shifts Ben. It’ll be the safest way for us”
“Well, not exactly. You see I had a safe room put in when I built the house. It’s a bit like your steel box but without the artillery”
Now it’s my turn to be totally speechless and surprised.
Who the hell builds a safe room in their house?
Chapter 28
“Ben why on earth have you got a safe room? They are usually for shady people like myself or if you are trying to protect something precious.” I keep periodically checking my laptop to make sure everything is ok, whilst Ben and I have this rather bizarre conversation. But then this entire situation is rather odd.
“Because I was waiting for the day I would marry and have children. And seeing as I am high up in the Police there may come a day where I would need to use it for my family, a bit like the situation I am in now.” Ben lets out a huge yawn again. That explanation seems plausible.
Doesn’t it?
“Well you have me now Ben, and there is no way I am going to let anything happen to you. Anyway, we are both tired so show me to the said safe room you had built and let’s get a few hours shut eye, because this is far from over.”
Ben takes my hand and the duffle bag and I take my laptop but need to come back for the rest of my sniper’s rifle. I follow him down the hall and he turns into the laundry. “Really Ben? Your safe room is a laundry? What do you expect us to do in here? Separate whites?” I’m stifling a laugh and Ben gives me a smug look.
“Step back hot shot.” Now he is the one making fun of me. I step out of the laundry and Ben pushes aside the washing powder to show a concealed panel and enters 9785 code; it looks much like the ones I have for my steel boxes. He puts in his code and the floor section dips down a little bit and slides back. He was comparing me to James Bond, should I compare him to Harry Houdini being able to disappear and reappear? We climb down the 10 steps into a huge room. I stand and take in my surroundings, there’s a queen bed a small kitchen area stocked with a lot of slabs of water to the side and a door to the left, likely the bathroom. “The door to the left is the bathroom and there is enough food and water to last 7 days down here,” Ben looks proud of himself.
“Where are your guns Ben?”
Ben looks at me like I am an alien; he has been doing that a lot lately. “I only have my service weapon,” he says. I have to remember he is a man of the law and not a man who is an outlaw. He makes his way back up stairs and gets the rest of my rifle and comes back down placing it near my bag, my duffle and the laptop.
“Well lock it up Ben so we can get some rest. I need a shower, have you got something I can wear tonight to sleep in?” Before I finish the sentence Ben has locked us in this steel box. He walks over to a small chest of drawers and hands me a pair of his boxers and a t-shirt. I head over to the bathroom and find that it’s fairly moderate. There’s everything that’s needed in there. I turn the shower on so its scolding hot and I strip out of my clothes. I drag myself into the shower and let the last 30 hours just wash away and go down the drain. I stand with my forearms leaning against the wall in front of me and tilt my head down and just let the water stream down my back. I try not to think of what Ethan did to me and how much pain I am still in. I look down and see the bleeding has stopped but I am still very sensitive and sore. My eyes are closed and my breathing is deep and I’m letting every breath cleanse my insides just as the water is pounding over my body washing away the hardest few days of my life. I don’t hear him I just sense him. He steps in the shower behind and starts rubbing my back, he doesn’t say anything. I turn and look over his beautiful face, his strong arms that only a few hours ago held one of my weapons up and was shooting at a potential risk, just envelop me. There’s nothing sexual about this encounter. This goes beyond an attraction, this is much more than that. This is two people just holding each other and understanding each other. He doesn’t move in an inappropriate way, he simply holds me and isn’t letting me go. Our breathing matches each other’s, our bodies totally melt into one, we are so close it’s impossible to see where one person ends and the other person starts. We are in this tangled mess of arms and legs and nearness for an indescribable amount of time, all that I know is that the water is cooling. Ben pulls away quietly and steps out of the shower pulling a towel around his waist; I turn the faucets off and put a towel around my body and one for my hair. I step out into the room and see Ben is already lying down on the bed. “What you did in the shower Ben....” He interrupts me straight away.
“I owe you much more than that.” He sits up in bed with his legs over the side, he can tell by the look on my face that I’m about to question him. “Before you say anything else Baby girl, I owe you my life. I would be dead if it wasn’t for you and what I did in the shower, I did it for both of us because I needed that as much as you did.”
I smile and nod once telling him he is right – he would be dead without me here and it was imperative to us both that that exchange happened.
I grab a hair tie from my bag, make my way over to the bed to sit next to him and towel dry my hair as dry as I can get it. Once I’m done I put it up in a ponytail, I then stand and move a few steps away from the bed to dry my body off and I hear a gasp come from Ben.
“What’s wrong?” I say turning towards him.
“I didn’t see how bad your bruises are in the shower but your thighs are covered. Is that what Ethan did?” The anger on his face is undeniable, there is pure rage in his eyes, his fists are balled up and his entire body is shaking so hard I’m fearful he is about to start convulsing.
“Ben you need to settle down. This is not helping anyone, and besides you know I took care of Ethan Martelli.” I slip into his t -shirt and boxers and I go over to Ben and I push his legs apart and stand inbetween them as he is sitting on the bed. He lightly lays his head on my stomach and his arms come up and softly start caressing my hips, lower back and thighs. My hands are alternating between rubbing his shoulders and going into his hair scratching and tugging. Ben lets out a very low moan and his entire body just relaxes into me. “Is it ok if we lay down together Ben?” He breathes one very deep breath and lets me go so he can move over to let me lie down. “Let me just get the laptop out and set it up so we can still monitor what’s happening.” I go and grab the laptop and set it up beside my side of the bed. I know I’ll be waking up through the night to check on it, and it will alert me if we have any breaches.
“I just want to hold you while we are in bed. I don’t want us to be Ben the Target or 15 the Assassin. I just want to be nothing more than we are this very moment.”
“That sounds fair” I say as I crawl into bed and into Ben’s protective arms, face to face. He is lazily running his hands up and down my back stopping every now and then to place gentle kisses on my face. His breathing deepens and he slowly starts drifting off to sleep but all the while his arms are still moving lightly up and down my back.
What will tomorrow bring?
My mind is then totally consumed with blackness.
Chapter 29
I open my eyes and find that Ben and I are still wrapped up in one another. My legs entwined with his, his arms forming a protective cage around me, my face in the nook of his neck, our torsos fully pressed into one another. Our combined body heat providing all the warmth we need in the safe room. For a few minutes I lay there in his bed just letting my imagination go where it’s never been before, a happily ever after. I shut my eyes and I play a movie of Ben and I in 10 years time. Waking up exactly how we are today, Ben giving me kisses that start gently and turn heated and having to stop because our daughter runs in and jumps on our bed because she’s excited that it’s Christmas day. Our daughter, she’s just beautiful her eyes are her fathers and her beautiful straight mane is mine. She is a lot like her father in the way she’s so passionate and emotional; her father looks at her and shakes his head because he knows that in a few years time we are both in trouble with boys knocking on our door. That’s the only time I have ever thought of a future and I know that I can’t let it entertain my thoughts again. One lonely tear falls from my eye. Lonely, what an appropriate word because that will be me once all dangers are cleared. I chose this life and I can’t get out of it. How would a relationship with a police officer, especially a police officer who knows what I do – work. It can’t, can it?
Or
can it?
Once my body has settled and I have eliminated the thought of a future with Ben I start moving my body away from him. I manage to slip under Ben’s arms and sit on the side of the bed; I bring the laptop up to my knees and see that it’s 6am! Wow, we must have needed that, we slept over 14 hours and I didn’t even wake up to check the laptop. I have a feeling Ben didn’t move either. There seems to be no security breach or issues happening. So far so good. I stretch my back and go to stand up when 2 strong hands grab my waist and bring me back into bed. I’m lying flat on my back and Ben moves so his body is hovering over mine. His legs between mine, his arms on either side of my head.
“Good morning beautiful, I know that the circumstances aren’t ideal but I love having you in my bed.” Ben’s words are slow, sweet and sultry. He starts laying graceful slight kisses down my jaw and down my neck. I try to stop a low moan erupting from me but I simply can’t. I tilt my head to give Ben better access and he is still faintly running his mouth over my face jaw and neck. But he stops abruptly and I feel the connection broken immediately, my eyes open and I see his beautiful deep blue eyes mere inches away from my face.
“Why did you stop Ben?”
“Because that monster hurt you and I can’t reopen any wounds you have. I’m sorry I even let myself go that far with you Anna. I just needed to touch you and I want you to know that I love you and I will never hurt you”
“I know Ben.” My hand comes up to his face and I gently cup his cheek whilst he leans into my hand and closes his eyes.
He takes a deep breath in and moves his body away from mine. I stay lying down with my eyes closed for another moment calming my own body down when I feel the bed move. Ben gets off the bed and goes to the bathroom, leaving me on the bed for a few more moments trying to calm my own desires and lustful thoughts of Ben down. Ben re-emerges a few moments later brushing his teeth and running his hands through his hair. “What are the plans for today Anna?”
“First thing first Ben, we need to stay inside today and keep all the blinds and curtains closed whilst I work on who this assassin is and where I can find him. But most importantly, I’m hungry and you need to feed me.” I smile at that last part and Ben’s face erupts in a huge grin.
“Well I think I can do that for you, it’s the least I can do”
“Damn right Ben!”
Ben goes back into the bathroom to put his tooth brush away and then makes his way to the 10 steps that can get us out of this room. I stay in bed for a few more moments before I get up and go to the bathroom. Ben has laid out a clean toothbrush in its packaging on the vanity unit; he really is a gracious host. After dressing in my jeans but leaving Ben’s shirt on, I make my way up the stairs and find this unbelievably sexy specimen of a man whisking something in a bowl. He really would be the perfect partner for me.
WHAT THE HELL am I thinking???
“What are you making for us Ben?” I say as I try and shake the images and thoughts of a future with him and our daughter out of my head.