Protected by the HERO (7 page)

“He survived the surgery, but his memory is really bad. He doesn’t seem to be able to make new memories. All he seems to know is his life up until high school and that’s it. He remembers his family though, and he remembers me. My visits keep him calm when he gets overwhelmed by all the things he doesn’t recognize.”

My heart went out to Melina then. She was an amazing person to care for someone else like she did. The urgency I felt to save her life redoubled as I thought about Jayden and how it would affect him if Melina suddenly vanished from his life.

“It must take a toll. But you’re an amazing and strong person to stick by him like that. I truly admire you for it,” I said sincerely. Melina looked up at me misty eyes. Her expression of melancholy fled and was replaced by wonder.

“Usually guys hit the road when they find out a girl comes with baggage…” she said with a bit of hope in her tone.

“Well those aren’t the right guys for you anyway. I am,” I said boldly. She smiled and stood on her tiptoes to press a soft kiss to my lips.

“I think you might be right about that,” she said. I laughed and then kissed her again deeply. My tongue slid between her lips, and I lifted her up to she could wrap her legs around my waist.

“Bed,” I murmured against her lips and she kept one arm wrapped around my neck while she pointed the way to her bedroom at the end of the hall. I laid her down on the bed and kissed her jaw and behind her ear. Melina moaned when my lips passed over a sensitive area of her neck. I slid my hands underneath her sweater and pushed it off over her head. She had taken off her bra when she came back from the phone call, and her breasts were now bared to me. I pulled off her jeans and panties smoothly, as she had kicked off her boots while I pulled off her sweater.

She was completely naked and looked stunning sprawled on the bed. Her hair fanned out on the blankets. Her eyes were bright and warm as she gazed up at me.

“You’re so beautiful,” I whispered hoarsely and she smiled at me tenderly.

“I’d like to see you naked too you know,” she said, and didn’t have to tell me twice. I all but ripped off my clothes and made her giggle while I did. I climbed over her once I was completely naked and her hands seemed to be everywhere. My shoulders, back, arms, chest, and stomach. My cock was hard and pressed against her thigh while she touched me. I was losing control and the room felt charged around us.

I had never felt this way with woman before. Melina did things to me. My thoughts were cloudy, as if I were drunk from the sight of her.

“Hey, Caleb…” Melina snapped my attention back to her face and she took my face in her hands. “Stay here with me, alright?”

I nodded. She had seen that my attention was split. I refocused on her. I pressed my lips to the skin of her neck and inhaled. She smelled like jasmine and vanilla. I kissed her at the base of her throat and then caressed her curves. She opened her legs and my fingers found her wet core. I slid them in between her slick folds and rubbed my thumb against her clitoris.

Melina sighed in pleasure and arched her back as I rubbed against her. I buried my face in her neck and sucked and nibbled on the sensitive underside of her ear. My fingers slipped into her core and I pressed against her G-spot. Melina cried out and gripped my arms tightly.

“Caleb…I’m going to come,” Melina whispered. I wanted to be inside her; she was so hot, slick, and tight around my fingers. Melina jerked and shuddered underneath me as her orgasm swept over her. I pulled out my fingers and slid my cock inside of her. She felt like a tight, warm glove around me. I thrust into her over and over again, going just as fast and hard as she needed me to, until we both splintered off into orgasm. The electric, thrumming sensation shooting up and flooding my every vein with pleasure as I emptied into her.

If I was unsure before, there was no doubt about it after that night. I was in deep with Melina and there was no getting out.

*****

After a while of simply lying with Melina in bed, we both fell asleep in each other’s arms. As I was drifting off with Melina beside me, I realized that I felt more content and grounded than I’d felt in a long time. When we woke up in the morning Melina’s bright blue eyes were gazing up into my face, a small smile on her lips.

“Morning,” I said groggily and Melina stretched up to kiss me on the chin.

“Good morning…you know you talk in your sleep?” Melina said with that lopsided smile. My heart picked up a fraction when she said that. What could I have been saying while asleep?

“I do? What did I say?” I asked and plastered a smirk on my face to hide the anxiety.

“You said that you’ll save me and that we’ll be together,” I bit my lip and grinned at her boyishly.

“That’s not too embarrassing…” I said and she giggled.

“No, not really. It’s very sweet though.” Melina kissed me again before she sat up and stretched. The blanket fell away from her chest and I sat up to kiss her shoulder. I just wanted to lie together with her in bed for the rest of the week. At least until Saturday.

“So I’m guessing you have to go to rehearsal today? I asked.

Melina nodded. She got up and walked towards the closet, where she grabbed her robe.

“I do. The Nutcracker is opening next week so we’re doing all-day rehearsals up until the show. Then after I’m going to visit Jayden, and then I’m all yours again.” Melina smiled at me and I grinned.

“Awesome, I want to change things up tonight and cook for you at home,” I said.

“That sounds great! What are you going to make for me?” she asked.

“It’s a surprise. By the way, you said that your favorite dish is eggplant parmesan, did you not?”

“Yes, that is my favorite dish,” she said.

“It’s still a surprise though, what I’m making you,” I said. She laughed as she went into the bathroom to shower. I glanced at my phone and realized the game was only a few days away. I had until then to figure out how I was supposed to make sure she wasn’t in Brooklyn come Friday. When I heard the shower start up I realized Melina was naked and wet not twenty feet away from me. I hopped out of bed and ran into the shower where she squealed when I jumped in behind her.

I almost made Melina late for rehearsals. After she left for the Lincoln Center I went to do some planning. I recalled some of my earlier attempts at time travel.

When I had first figured out how to jump back and forward in time, I had made a huge mistake. I jumped back only a day in the past, messed things up, and completely changed the present and the future. One of the old houses I had been working on had gotten burned down to the ground in Venice. The arson had been connected to a local mob and the people who gave me the commission to restore the old house had wanted to give up as a result. The house was nearly finished when it was burned down and the owners, a young couple, had lost heart.

I was so upset that I jumped back. I arranged it so the police would be surrounding the house around the time the house burned down. The men were caught and when the point where I had jumped back passed, everything seemed completely fine. But then three days later the mob had assumed that the couple who commissioned the house had something to do with the arrests. They were gunned down in the new house and the house was burned down anyways. That was when I started jumping further back to observe how I could interact in the past in ways that wouldn’t affect the future. Eventually I came across a woman who was about to lose her job for someone lying on her. I jumped back in time before her boss could fire her and saved her job.

There I realized that as long as I didn’t change pivotal moments after they happened, there would be no adverse effects in the long run. It was all about natural acts. That’s why I had to jump back to save Melina before she died in the present. I’d simply go with her to visit Jayden and walk back to the subway station with her Friday, that way I could make sure she wouldn’t run out onto the street for her scarf.

The only hard part was convincing Melina to share that part of her life with me further, for her to allow me to go with her and visit her dear, sick friend. I went to pick up some groceries and then headed to the apartment to relax. And then I started making dinner for Melina.

*****

The week flew by and before I knew it, Friday had arrived. I picked up Melina from work and convinced her to let me go with her to visit Jayden.

“Are you sure you want to come with me? You know you don’t have to,” Melina said cautiously as we stepped onto the sidewalk from the subway station.

“I want to. I want to meet your friend, it’ll help me learn more about you,” I said, and her expression softened.

“Alright, well…it’s just that I’m nervous. I’ve never taken anyone to meet Jayden before,” Melina said softly. I laced my fingers with hers.

“I’m really glad that you’re sharing this part of you with me,” I said and she smiled up at me. I couldn’t help but pause to kiss her soundly on the lips.

Jayden lived in an apartment on Bedford Avenue and the closer we got to his building the more nervous Melina became. I didn’t say much because I didn’t want her to change her mind at all. I had to be with her until the sun set and rose again. We were buzzed in and I followed Melina up to the fifth floor. She hesitated outside the door before she knocked and then a tall, lanky guy answered the door. He had black hair and light brown eyes that lit up as soon as they fell on Melina. His hair was styled into a buzz cut and it was clear to see the scar that went along the right side of his head.

“Hey Melina…who’s your friend?” Jayden said. He had pale skin and big eyes. He could be handsome if he wasn’t so gaunt and lanky. Jayden’s eyes were glued to Melina though. He clearly saw me there, but she was his only focus, almost as if she were his lifeline.

“Jayden, this is Caleb…we’ve been dating for a few weeks now and I really like him. I wanted you to meet him,” she said slowly and Jayden’s eyes swung over to me.

“Caleb…yeah, she’s spoken about you. I think she might love you already, but she’s too hardheaded to admit it.” Jayden spoke bluntly and I glanced down at Melina whose cheeks were turning red.

“Well it’s no secret how I feel about Melina,” I said and glanced down at her with sincerity in my eyes.

“And how is that?” Jayden asked. He leaned against the doorframe and crossed his arms over his chest. I honestly didn’t imagine he’d act so normally. Melina said his memory was bad, but clearly he remembered her talking about me. I grew a bit nervous and glanced down at Melina. She was looking up at me with her eyebrows raised.

“Calm down man, I’m just rattling you. Come on in,” I think both Melina and I breathed a small sigh of relief. I knew I was done for when it came to her, I knew she had my heart. But I didn’t know how she’d react to me telling her I loved her. Jayden lived alone, though Melina had mentioned that he had a nurse who came to help him occasionally.

Things were going perfectly fine while we visited with Jayden. He was funny, even though he sometimes lost sense of time or his surroundings.

Of course I got too comfortable though. Jayden wanted to cook dinner with Melina, and they needed pasta and sausage. I was supposed to run down to the store a couple of blocks away and instead decided to jump from the hallway. I got the food and jumped back to Jayden’s door. Melina was waiting outside in the hall for me with her arms crossed and her face deathly pale.

“What
are
you?” she asked me, her tone and expression both horrified. My heart thundered in my chest and I gripped the plastic bag in my hand tightly as my mind raced. How would she take it all, would she freak out and bolt if I told her the truth? Melina continued, “I was running out after you to tell you to get ice cream and I saw you holding out your hand and then…you stepped forward and just
disappeared
. So I stayed out here to make sure what I saw was real and then you just…you just reappeared out of thin air with the groceries! Did you…
teleport
? Can you teleport?” Melina demanded and I took a deep breath and nodded.

“Yes…I can teleport…and I can time travel,” I said in a low voice and Melina’s mounting anger froze as she digested all of that.

“Why didn’t you tell me before? Why did you hide such a big part of yourself from me? You don’t have like a family on each continent or something do you?” she asked, her tone again horrified. I took a step towards her and she backed up against the door. I stopped and then took a deep breath to explain everything to her.

“I’ll tell you the truth then, because I don’t want to lose you…I—well I saw you get hit by a truck. It’s supposed to happen in a couple of hours. I was leaving the sports bar a couple blocks down and you were walking to the subway. Your scarf blew off of your shoulder and into the street and you didn’t see the truck coming. You were hit and you were dying. I knew I could save you if I went back in time so I did…” I trailed off and then took a cautionary step towards her.

“I was dying…? And you came back to save my life?” she asked slowly and I nodded.

“I did, I couldn’t just let you die, it was unfair, it would have been too soon,” I said. She looked up at me with tears in her eyes. I became unsure and wondered how the hell I could have made her cry with any of that.

“So all of this, you spending time with me and wanting to meet Jayden…it was just some good Samaritan act all along?” she said with a choked up voice. I couldn’t stand to see her cry and it killed me that I was the one making her do it.