

My Sweet Escape

A Touched by an Angel Novel

Paulina Anemone

My Sweet Escape Copyright © 2013 by Paulina Anemone

Smashwords Edition

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages for review purposes. If you are reading this book and you have not purchased it or won it in an author/publisher contest, this book has been pirated. Please delete and support the author by purchasing the ebook from one of its many distributors.

This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to any person, living or dead, any place, events or occurrences, is purely coincidental. The characters and story lines are created from the author's imagination or are used fictionally.

Cover done by Okay Creations.

Chapter 1

Hell

When he first found me, my head was down and there was blood dripping from my bottom lip. My hair was covering my face, covering the wounds I'd accumulated. I took a deep breath and released it, my hair barely moving due to all the dirt embedded in it. I heard the footsteps coming closer, splashing water with every step, blocking the drip-drip-dripping noise somewhere in the far corner, like a faucet that wasn't properly closed.

I flinched in my chair, which reminded me of the intense pain caused by the chains slowly scraping the skin off my wrists tied at the back of the wooden chair. My feet were sore and swollen. The terrorists had realized that I was too weak to attempt anything stupid, so they'd left them untied.

The room was dark, with a small window on my right side. A window that showed me that there was more out there than these four walls, but I never experienced it, never remembered it. The sun was blazing bright through it. There was water all over the floor, mold everywhere, and it was extremely hot and muggy inside. I'd already passed out a few times from both exhaustion and dehydration; and I'd vomited as well. I could taste it in my mouth, and there was some leftover vomit on my chin.

I was drenched in water, and I hadn't slept in days. I'd slept in the same position for at least the past two months: in a chair, tied up in chains, with my hair covering my face. My body was feeling weaker and weaker with every second that passed. My heartbeat was slowing down every day; one day it would just give up and quit on me, and let me die in this place.

The footsteps came closer and I began to sob hysterically, even though I had a dirty rag in my mouth. My cry grew louder with every footstep and I began to shake as they approached. They're coming again, I said to myself. I wondered what torture they had in mind this time.

But he ran his cool fingers through my hair, pushing it away from my face. And I immediately knew that these soft fingers weren't those of a terrorist because of the tiny sparks of electricity that ran across the surface of my skin from his touch. The sparks traveled to my insides. It traveled straight to my heart, like a defibrillator bringing a dormant heart back to life. I immediately sat up straight, without looking at his face, taking a deep breath and exhaling without trouble.

"Samantha? My God," I heard the man say with an American accent.

I immediately opened my eyes and looked at his feet, but flinched at the pain that shot through my right eye. That's a beautiful name, Samantha. Is that supposed to be me? I had no memory of myself. No recollection of who I was or where I came from. The last thing my mind kept constantly replaying was laughter in the background, shiny black hair, and a beautiful garden. And then all I could see was these four walls. Nothing more. I don't remember anything but these four walls.

He knelt in front of me and removed the rag from my mouth. My lips were cracked and busted in the corners from being kept open that way for hours. My jaw was so stiff that my brain told me to scream, but the guy put his hand over my mouth and a finger over his lips as a warning to keep quiet.

I looked at his face as he was in front of me for the first time. I thought that I was imagining the whole thing. His skin was fair, translucent, and completely clear from any kind of scars or marks. His bone structure was absolutely magnificent with a straight nose, high cheekbones, and perfect European jaw line. But his best features were his eyes.

He pressed to his earpiece and whispered, "The Ruby is in sight."

I tried to ask who Ruby was, because apparently he'd gotten the wrong girl. But my mouth was not functioning the way it should be. My tongue felt like sandpaper. He got up from in front of me and made his way behind me, inspecting me. He gasped in a small voice but quickly composed himself. I wonder what he was looking at back there...

I felt like I was in a daze. I felt like I was dead, and he was here to take me away to Heaven. He came back in front of me and knelt down again, moving all of my hair away from my face, being very sweet with me.

"Who are you?" I whispered, sounding more like, "Whoryou?"

He smiled, flashing a perfect white smile and a dimple on his right cheek. "My name is Angel. I work for a secret rescue group. I'm here on behalf of your father."

"My father?" I whispered.

"Yes, you went missing a few months back."

I inspected his face, making sure I was understanding everything correctly. "But what am I doing here? I don't understand why you called me Samantha. Who is my father? Who are you?" I pushed for answers. I needed to know what's going on. This was the first person who'd actually spoken to me instead of about me. I wanted to know the truth. What's going on?

Angel maintained eye contact, not giving anything away with his face before getting up and talking to his earpiece again. "The Ruby seems to be suffering from some sort of amnesia. Requesting permission to proceed... Sir, I am positive I've located the right subject...The Ruby is in custody. Over and out."

"What's happening?" my voice crackled.

He turned back to me with a poker face. "We need to get out of here."

I looked towards the door that led outdoors and whispered, "Just you?"

"Yes," he said. "Unfortunately, the United States has no authority on a kidnap case in another country, especially the Middle East." So I guess I was in the Middle East. In the beginning, I'd tried to figure out my location. Of course, I knew I was somewhere in the Middle East because of their looks and speech. But eventually I'd given up. "So, in a secret mission, we're able to come and rescue you, with a limited plan of course."

A limited plan? More like a suicide mission. Why wasn't there anyone else here helping Angel out? We would never get out of here alive, especially with those maniacs running around out there with machetes and guns.

He walked around and began to work on my wrists, jiggling them for a few minutes. I heard him grunt in frustration and tug on the chains slightly until he finally pulled them free. He didn't realize that tugging on the chains like that hurt like hell, but I couldn't talk any more. I tried to scream but nothing came out. The chains felt like they were removing pieces of my skin with them, as he pulled my hands free. Defeated, my hands just hung at my sides. Blood quickly began to drip down to every single one of my fingers.

He came back to face me, but I kept my face down so my hair would cover it. "I don't have anything for you to wear here, not until we get to my safe house," he said, giving me a tiny bit of hope that we might actually get out of here alive. His face was unreadable, and I gave him credit since I hadn't showered in weeks and I was sitting in my own deposits.

I heard him walk around the small room and I finally looked up to take a good look at him. He was wearing black army pants with multiple pockets, and by the looks of it, they were all filled, making his thighs look like tree trunks. He had on black leather boots laced up to his ankles. There were guns strapped on both of his muscular thighs, and a bigger gun wrapped around his back, over his tight black shirt. It looked extremely heavy, but I guessed not for him since his back was straight. He even had on black leather fingerless gloves.

Tattoos completely covered his right arm. I tried to focus my eyes to see what they were but I couldn't see anything past colors. Angel was very muscular. I could see the muscle lines on his arms beneath the shirt and his tattoos.

However, nothing but his accent indicated that he was someone from the States here to help me. But it was either this or stay in this shack and wait for the terrorists to finish me off and send me back to my father in pieces. A man I couldn't remember; but that might not be the best way to receive your daughter back. And I don't think I could possibly find a worse place in the entire world than this.

He came back to me with a bucket of semi-clean water and a washcloth I'd seen on the floor a few days back.

"Shouldn't we get away from here before someone catches us?" I said in a hoarse voice.

He looked over at me and responded, "They come and check up on you every thirty minutes. We still have about twenty minutes or so before someone comes to make sure you're still alive."

He began to clean my face and hands, trying to remove all the dirt and blood that he could, but it seemed almost impossible. He squeezed the cloth at the top of my head, his muscles looking more pronounced by this action, letting all the water run down my face so he could scrub some dirt away. I just watched his face concentrate while I looked at the man before me. I had to be dreaming. For the longest time I thought I was in Hell; but with Angel before me, I'm thinking otherwise. After ten minutes of trying to remove dirt from my body, he gave up. He tossed the cloth aside with a curse.

He examined my body. There were bruises all over my face and body. Bite marks in places that I didn't even remember. A bruise on my neck from where they'd tried to choke me with an electric wire. And my back had been slashed a few times for their entertainment, but I didn't know about this until later on. He ran his fingers over the marks, leaving a tiny trace of coolness in my skin. He closed his eyes and shook his head a few times before he turned away. I began to think about the different tortures and closed my eyes as well. I was sure that if I didn't die trying to escape, I would die from the depression.

What happened to me? I could remember the times when the terrorists raped me. I remember the nights of intense crying when the world was ignoring me. I remember screaming in the middle of the night until my voice grew hoarse, hoping that someone would hear me. I remember some of the worst tortures. But I couldn't remember how I got there or the reason for my kidnapping.

I looked up at him and was instantly frozen by his eyes as he turned them to me, turquoise like the Caribbean Sea. I stared into them, our eyes locked for what seemed like an eternity. His beauty caught me off guard and I couldn't look away. I was expecting some military maniac with a pole up his you-know-what and a deep scar somewhere in his face. But instead I get the definition of perfection. I closed my eyes and felt a wave of nausea coming up. I turned my head and tried to hurl, but nothing came out, just whimpering silence. He caressed my cheek with his cool fingers in sympathy.

"I need you to put this on." I opened my eyes as he began to remove the large automatic wrapped around his back. He pulled his black shirt over his head and handed it to me, leaving him only with a white tank, too tight for his muscular body. I looked at it as he walked away, talking to his earpiece again, "Black Angel here, the Ruby is being removed. Over and out," and let go as soon as he was done.

I noticed that he was waiting for me so I slowly removed my dress and slipped on his tight black tee that only covered the top of my thighs. But the material was more like tights, it was an under armor shirt. It smelled wonderful though, like outdoors, trees, grass, and other things I couldn't put a name to. Of course, right now anything smelled better than feces, mold, and old water. I looked at it and inhaled the scent before I slipped it over my body. Pain jolted all over my body, leaving me breathless.

"I'm done," I tried to say, but it came out as a whisper.

He heard me because he turned around and looked at me sitting with my hands hanging at my sides, my hair all over my face. He knelt back down in front of me with my old dress in his hands. He shredded it and tied the makeshift bandages on my ankles and wrists, covering my infected wounds.

He pulled my hair away from my face again, tucking it behind my ears and said, "I think that if I would have come tomorrow, you would have been dead." His breath was sweet and cool in my face.

I looked up at him again as his hand lingered on my cheek, stroking it gently. I finally had a moment to look into his magical eyes once more before the chaos. We heard yelling in another language and rustling next door. He looked towards the door expectantly before turning back to me, eyes looking serious and concerned.

"We won't be able to get out of here alive if you don't help me." He took a larger piece of my dress and wrapped it around my right calf. It jolted pain straight through my brain as he tightened it. "Your calf is pretty bad; does it hurt when you move it?" I stretched out my leg then shook my head a little. He walked around and lifted my shirt once more before touching my whip marks. He came back and caressed my cheek. "I need you to run, can you do that for me?"

I looked at the door one more time before I heard the noise next door again. I didn't really think about his question. I just wanted to get out of there. I nodded quickly. At the same time, someone slammed the door open. Angel protected my body while he fired three quick shots in that direction. Those shots echoed loud and clear, ringing in my ears. The camp was quiet and calm for a few seconds. Everything was quiet. Then the alarm went off, sending everyone into frenzy.

Chaos erupted.

People began to shout outside. He put my arm around his shoulder and got up quickly, too quickly. This time I did scream out loud as he pulled me up. He took the last piece of my shredded dress and removed as much feces as possible from my back, cursing, and throwing it on the floor.

He began to jog, faster than what my body was able endure. I tried to make my feet function, trying to help him as I said I would. But I was too weak. My body wasn't working. I hadn't eaten real food in weeks. I felt more nausea burning in my esophagus, but I knew that it was just dizziness from the movement of walking and running, something that I hadn't done in a while. He kicked the door out and found a terrorist with an automatic waiting for him. But he didn't get a chance to even pull the trigger, because Angel shot him square in the forehead. I turned my face before the man hit the floor, and we started running in the opposite direction.

The sun was extremely bright. I could feel it burning through the open wounds and multiple bite marks all over my body. I looked up to realize that we were in the middle of a camp, in the middle of a dessert. My head kept bobbing forward since my body lacked the energy it needed for this marathon. My feet practically dragged as Angel ran around the campsite. Thankfully, he was much taller than I'd realized, so my feet barely touched the burning sand.

My dragging feet left two lines, a great trail for the terrorists to follow. But there wasn't any time for strategies because they were coming towards us, fast. I saw about five or six dusty trucks stopping in the middle of the campsite with armed men jumping off and running towards us, automatics in hand. I heard them screaming at each other in their native language. I felt him run his fingers along my side, reaching for his automatic.

I couldn't catch my breath but I was trying to stay awake. I wanted to get out of here and I needed to help him out. But I was fainting slowly...

I looked up through my hair, just as I heard the click from the safety and then the sound of the automatic firing. The sound was louder than I'd ever thought possible, making my ears ring. I didn't remember it being so loud in video games. His body was shaking slightly as the automatic continued to eject bullets. It felt like he was having a seizure.

I looked behind him as a few men approached with machetes. I pulled on his shirt and he turned around quickly and began to shoot in that direction. He began to run sideways, avoiding the herd of bullets chasing us. He turned around, making me dizzy as the automatic began to eject bullets again. I felt my body become dizzy from all the movement. His spinning was making my head worse, so I grabbed his shirt with my bloody hand and held on tight. I closed my eyes, but quickly opened them again. I couldn't let myself pass out. Not yet.

I turned my head to where he was aiming, just as Angel let go of me, sending my weak body crashing to the ground and my head hit the soft sand with a thud. My eyes closed on their own from exhaustion, but I needed to keep moving, I needed to get up. Everything settled for a moment. Everything went quiet as the debris settled down around me. When I opened my eyes, I saw a missile whistling just over my left ear, then exploding about a quarter mile behind me, making me jump in the sand and slam back down. I felt debris and ashes and sand falling all over my body in slow motion, and then everything went quiet again.

There was another missile whistling in the other direction, exploding a truck.

"Fuck!" He crawled back towards me and asked, "Are you okay?"

I nodded and he began to pick me up again. I felt like I'd rolled around the sand, since it was all over my body from the sweat. This time, he was running faster than before, automatic in hand. I saw the terrorists running towards us when Angel began to shoot them. I saw blood splashing out of their chests. I couldn't face this. I buried my face in his neck for what seemed like forever. The automatic kept clicking away in all directions, empty shells swarming my bare feet.

When I heard the clicking stop, I looked up. There were bodies on the floor all around us. I began to sob silently; so many people had to die. All of this just to save me? Violence has always been the answer for humans. Negotiation was never an option. This made me sad. Angel strapped the automatic on his back once he ran out of bullets, but pulled out a magnum from his thigh.

We began to run around the campsite again, this time slower. There were a few small wooden houses with tin roofs around the campsite, and a tall watch house in the middle, empty. I assumed the guard had been assassinated without even knowing who the shooter was. There were dry shrubs here and there, but there weren't any trees.

We ran away from the bodies, away from the nightmare where I was kept for about two months. I can't number the days exactly, because when you're held captive, you don't think of the days of the weeks. You think about when they are finally going to kill you. End the pain and suffering once and for all.

Angel dropped me on the ground one more time, leaving me in a sitting position. My eyes were threatening to close, but I couldn't let it happen. I looked up at him and saw him shooting again, more men coming everywhere as the alarm continued to sound, and more screaming in their unfamiliar language. He grabbed my arm and dragged me behind a tin house, while I screamed in agony from the pain. I plopped my head back just as Angel began to reload his magnum, doing it in a few seconds. He ran away from me towards the chaos as I closed my eyes, I couldn't keep them open anymore. I heard more gunshots in the distance and people yelling. I was drifting away...

I heard another gunshot right next to me that made me jump. I looked just as the man hit the floor. I was splattered in blood. Without a word, Angel picked me up and began to run again.

We made it to the edge of the campsite without any more attacks, and began to walk towards the small patch of lonely desert right where the truck was burning from the explosion.

"We're going to walk this desert? Why can't you call a chopper or something?" I said in a small whisper.

He threw his head back to laugh and modeled his perfect white teeth again. His laugh was evil, dark. "Honey, we're not the Army or the Navy. I'm not supposed to be here. If the Middle East even suspects that there's an American here on a secret mission, World War III would begin with America."

I just stared at him as our pace slowed and my bare feet buried themselves in the hot sand. Could this be possible? Could it even get any harder for us than it already was? "How are we getting home then?" I asked, expecting the worst.

He turned me to face him. His eyes glowed so brightly with the sunlight. I followed a sweat trickle from the corner of his eyebrow, down his lips, and then down his jawline.

He licked his pink lips before he said, "Honestly, I don't know how we're getting home. We thought you were dead. Nothing was known except the suspected location of your whereabouts. I was told to come here and get you out. Dead or alive, but preferably alive. I really didn't have any hopes of finding you alive, but you proved me wrong." I listened as my knees buckled and slowly gave up on me.

My swollen mouth hung open because I didn't know what to say. My undamaged eye was closing from exhaustion, but I kept fighting it. My body was swaying back and forth; I was slowly fainting. I tried to even my balance as I said, "My feet are burning."

He just laughed and began a slow walk towards the faraway city. I looked up at the sky and the sun blinded me. I closed my eyes and felt my sweaty hair sticking to my face. The city seemed unreachable in my view. We kept walking for what seemed like hours, but somewhere along the line, I fell asleep, or passed out from the heat. I don't know which one it was. The last thing I remembered was feeling someone pick me up for the rest of the walk. I heard faraway gunshots in my sleep.

I came back to consciousness when he sat me on a table. He was dripping with sweat and his usually bright eyes were dark and hollow. But I was his first priority. I was conscious, but I couldn't snap out of a daze. I couldn't function for myself and he saw it very well. He laid me down on a rough table and took off the shirt I was wearing, leaving me completely naked. He turned me over and left me like that.

I began to stare at the walls; the flames were making the walls dance involuntarily. I heard him shuffling somewhere in the corner. Finally, he came back to me. I felt him clean my calf and my back thoroughly, enough for it to sting a little. He concentrated on the calf for a few long hours as I stared at the walls. Once he was done with that, I saw him heat up a needle with one of the candles on the nearby tables. I felt him begin to sew up my calf, and that's when I passed out.

Chapter 2

Out

He took a hold of the electric wire and wrapped it around his hands, taunting me. He said something to the other three men in their familiar language, and they all laughed. He came towards me while my head was down. He walked around me. The silence was eerie. The other two guys in front of me were completely still. The wire appeared in front of my face, then around my neck in a flash. My chair was pulled back, pulled towards the terrorist behind me. My neck stiffened and I closed my eyes. I couldn't try to pull free because my hands were chained.

The men around me began laughing and chanting unfamiliar things. I couldn't hold my breath anymore, and it was stuck in my throat. I couldn't breathe. I began convulsing. My body was shaking and the laughing grew louder. The chanting grew louder. Then everything went black.

When I came back to consciousness, I saw all their faces as I walked through the campsite, all alone. The siren alarm was still going off, and everything else was still, except for the feeling of the calm wind on my battled skin. Their eyes were open, staring in my direction. Something was stinging on my right wrist; something was burning it. I looked down and one of the terrorists was holding a lighter to it, burning my skin, and laughing.

I flinched my hand away, almost smacking the guy in front of me in the face. I looked around the small plain room lit with only a few candles. There were some on the small table to my right. Melted wax dripped away from the corner of the table and onto the cement floor. I looked at the guy in front of me. He was built with a buzz cut and piercing blue eyes, bright with the flame lights. I looked at his hands and he had a bottle of rubbing alcohol in one hand and a few cotton balls in the other one. His face was controlled, and I could see that he was trying not to make any sudden movements that would frighten me.

My heart started racing and I feared for my life. I felt like I knew him, but I didn't know if he was a good guy or a bad guy. Everyone was beginning to blend in by now. Everyone was my enemy. Without thinking too hard, I snatched the knife that was sitting right next to me. At the same time, he grabbed the gun and automatically pointed it at my face. I stood with my feet apart, holding the knife with both hands. The guy looked at me quickly and pressed the release button for the ammo. As it clanged loudly on the floor he dropped the gun and put his hands in the air as surrender.

I looked down at my right forearm and pulled the needle straight out, making me bleed all over. I covered it with a piece of cotton, still looking at his eyes. He still hadn't moved from the position he was in a few seconds ago, steady as a rock. I looked at the knife one more time, then back at him.

Finally acting fast, I threw the knife at him and turned to hide in a dark corner. I heard the knife clang on the floor as I pressed my body against the cold wall. I wrapped my arms around my body and tried to quiet my breathing. I collapsed onto the floor from the dizziness. The knife was on the floor and the man was trying to regain his composure. I saw him look down, and then put the gun on the table quietly before staring straight at me.

I got scared. He didn't move towards me yet; he just stared. I had nowhere to go because he was blocking the only way out that I could see. I began to cry quietly because I already knew I was going to die. He began to walk towards me, and then knelt down in front of me. I hugged my body tighter. He then sat down on the floor in front of me, just staring at me. I covered my face with my arms and began to sob.

"Samantha," he breathed quietly. He took a deep breath and released it. "Samantha, look at me."

When I didn't look at him, he slowly unwrapped my arms from my body, his cool fingers calming my body of the fear. Slowly, I looked up at him from beneath my hair. He was sitting cross-legged in front of me, holding my forearm with his hands.

And I stared at him. I stared into his eyes and felt familiarity. I felt complete calmness radiating through his cool fingers. He'd taken me out of that place. He was the only person who dared to save me when nobody else would. He was the only one who worried about me being safe.

"Angel," I whispered. He sighed and let go of me. I jumped on him and began to cry on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

He didn't hold me at first. I rested my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes as the tears flowed down on their own. He took a deep breath and held me close to his body. This act made me cry harder, and so I cried like a child as he caressed my hair and murmured things in my ear. I needed this affection from someone. Being tied up and tortured for so long makes you think that you don't deserve to live. You're worthless.

"I don't want to hear you apologizing for anything that's happening." He slipped his hand in mine. "Come, sit back on the table. Let me clean you up."

I nodded as I looked down. He shuffled through a couple of duffel bags on the floor. He came up with a pair of shorts and a plain shirt that looked like they belonged to him. I looked down at myself and realized that I was the cleanest I'd been in a long time. My skin was a little red, and I was wearing a white shirt covered with fresh blood. I assumed it was his because it was extremely big. But my body was really clean and smelled like baby lotion. Even my fingernails were dirt-free. I'd never thought I would be clean again. My hair also smelled like baby shampoo, and it was damp. This meant that he'd undressed me at some point and bathed me. At that thought, a blush attacked my face.

I sat back down on the uncomfortable table, trying to keep my body covered. I realized that I was wearing one of his briefs as underwear. I tried to keep my face from burning with embarrassment again. He sat on the chair with his long legs outside of mine, pouring rubbing alcohol on my wrists and ankles. I flinched, trying to avoid screaming. I squeezed my eyes shut for a while until I became numb to the pain.

I looked down at him, coolness radiated through his skin, his hand over my wrist felt comfortable. His breathing was the only thing I could hear in the quiet space. He placed gauze and tape over where I'd pulled out the needle so it could stop the bleeding. I looked at his face and saw that I'd smeared my blood on his right cheek. I took the rubbing alcohol and wet a cotton ball. I went for his face but he pulled away quickly, giving me an angry glare for even thinking about touching him.

I looked at the cotton ball and sat back. "I put blood on your face."

He looked up at me and I tried again. This time he didn't pull away. He kept an intimidating stare at me, making me regret cleaning him. I rubbed the cotton ball on his cheek gently, feeling how smooth and baby-like his skin was before I pulled away, dropping the cotton ball on the table and looking at my thighs.

"You washed me?"

He answered as he continued to look up at me. "You have a few infections, and you've been sitting in your own feces and blood for a while. Plus, you had your menstrual cycle."

My face went completely red at this point. I had my period and he was cleaning it? "Oh my God," I said, covering my face once again with my hands.

"I've seen worse things, believe me. But you smelled pretty bad so I couldn't ignore it. I gave you a sponge bath," he said with a little hint of sarcasm in his voice. His lip lifted just a little. I couldn't tell if he was joking or not. He continued what he was doing while I tried to think about something else, but it didn't work. Just the image of this guy bathing me freaked me out, especially after everything I been through.

He began to clean my hands and arms gently with a clean washcloth. He was gentle with me, sweet even. He did the same to my face, making me feel like a child. He didn't try to make small talk; he looked comfortable with the quietness in the room. His eyes traced every single part of my face while his fingers rested on my chin for stillness.

I realized that my right calf was covered with a long bandage and I asked him, "What happened to my leg?"

He looked as if he didn't want to answer, but he did. "You have a really bad cut on the back of your calf. It is pretty deep. There were maggots inside. It took me a few hours the night we got here to completely clear them out, then I sanitized the area and sewed it up."

I felt completely disgusted and embarrassed. "Oh God..."

"Actually, you were lucky. The maggots were keeping the area from becoming infected, even though it is gross."

"What about the rest of my body?" I asked, afraid that they were lurking around in my insides. Gross.

He was checking my pulse and talking at the same time, "I did my assessment and I didn't see any more on the rest of your body. But we need to get you home and to a hospital ASAP."

Once he finished cleaning my wounds, I said, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do any of this, or pull that thing out." I pointed at the bag on the wall.

He took a pair of tweezers and began to work on my eye. "I don't blame you. You have gone through so much for a girl your age. Besides, the IV was just there for a few days to restore your health, since you haven't really eaten or drank anything in a long time."

He poured something in my eye and I flinched. "A few days?"

He soaked a new cotton ball in another liquid and dabbed that on my lip. "Yeah, you've been out of it for four days now. You passed out on our way here and were unconscious until now."

I stared at his flawless face; trying to figure out why a person like him with such a violent job didn't have any scars or marks anywhere on his face. He just had mesmerizing blue eyes and full pink lips.

"Hey, when this nightmare is over, I'll give you my combat knife to keep. I see you got a thing for it." He laughed as I smiled and looked away from his face. "You have no sun damage and your skin looks pretty healthy. Look left and then right," he said, holding my right eye open. "Good. Your right eye will be fine. It's functioning normally and your pupil is still dilating. The swelling has gone down in the last few days. You don't need to worry about it; but it will take days for it to look normal again."

"Thanks," I said as we both got up, my body screaming with pain. He helped me until I was steady and my dizzy spell was over.

"Here are some things for you to change in to." He pointed at the shorts and tee on the chair. "I'll meet you in the front room," he said and walked out of the room.

I threw the soiled shirt on the floor and inspected my body. I was clean and smelled like I'd been in a hospital. My body looked like I'd suffered a severe case of chicken pox or something. The bite marks all over my body were purple and my feet were extremely swollen as if I was pregnant. My back felt raw for a reason I couldn't remember. My breasts felt heavy and sore. I slipped on the shorts and tee shirt and saw a rubber band hanging on a nail. I grabbed it and wrapped it around my wrist where it wouldn't hurt my open wounds.

I looked out a tiny window but it was no use. Most of the houses didn't have electricity. All I was able to see were small portions of houses, and the stars and moon. I assumed that I was still in the Middle East. I sighed with sadness. I thought I would be away from here. But then again, his truck was destroyed back at the campsite and he'd carried me for hours. I wonder if anyone had noticed... I walked cautiously down a narrow hallway until I made it to the front room. The hallway was small and uneven, the cement was cracking in certain places, and it was extremely dark. There was an empty room with a few mattresses thrown on the floor, and nothing more. There was a deck of cards scattered all over the floor. The walls were completely bare. In a small kitchen by the front entrance Angel was stirring something on a small electric stove. The evenings must be cool out here because I was a little cold in my shorts and tee.

Angel crept up behind me and handed me a warm bowl of what looked like soup. I hadn't heard him coming, which creeped me out a little. But I guess that is the way military men walk. They sneak up on people like cats. I sat down on one of the mattresses and set the bowl on the cement floor, staring at it, not knowing what to do with it.

Angel came and sat next to me, with a bowl for himself in his hands. "You have to eat. When was the last time you ate something?"

I thought about his question. I don't think he was putting dirt in the category of food. My face had been smashed on the floor one too many times. You would think that with all those weeks without eating, I would be starving right now. But I felt empty; hollow. I felt like every memory that I had inside me had been stripped out, and all that was left was this girl. An empty girl.

"I don't know."

I needed to put all this aside. I didn't need to be a burden for Angel. I'd worry about my issues later. I picked up the bowl again and looked into it. It smelled good. I closed my eyes and let the steam warm up my face. I opened them again and lifted the spoon to my mouth. It was packaged chicken noodle soup. I swallowed a couple more spoonfuls, liking the way it was warming up my throat and stomach for the first time in weeks. I ate it way too fast, without enjoying the taste. Before I knew it, I was finished with the bowl.

"Is there any left?"

Angel took the bowl from my hands and got up. "You ate enough for today. I can't give you more because you might get sick on me. You stomach is not used to having food in it yet."

He walked into the other room and I walked towards the window so I could look out, but I immediately felt his firm hands around my waist, making me scream because my body was in so much pain. "Sorry, but you can't go near any windows. And you can't go anywhere without me. Understand?"

I looked up at Angel and he let go. His beautiful blue eyes traced my facial features. Whose eyes did he have, his mother's or his father's? They were brilliant and magical. Just knowing that they were on my face made me feel intimidated. I looked down at his full lips and he took a few steps away from me.

He turned away from me and I sank into the corner mattress. I began to run my fingers through my hair. It had gotten long since the last time I'd looked at it, or even noticed it. It's down to my waist now, more brown than blonde because of the shack, but in the sun, it becomes a soft blonde, heavenly.

I sat there, staring at the wall. When I wasn't able to feel any more knots in my hair, I French braided my hair from the top of my head to the tips. Angel came and sat next to me with a beer in his hands. We sat there side by side with our heads leaning back against the wall. He continued to sip his beer and look out at nothing.

"I was having a dream that one of the terrorists was choking me with a wire before I woke up. Then there was another one burning my wrist. That's why I attacked you." I was staring out at the wall absently, thinking about how my life would never be the same again.

He turned to me. "I don't think that was a dream." He ran his cool fingers down my neck. I flinched from his touch at first, but then I felt where he was touching. It was a little tender. "Your neck was very purple there when I first found you. I think you're slowly remembering everything."

I stared into his eyes. He didn't look away at first. But then he took a sip of his beer and looked in the other direction.

"I don't want to remember what I went through. I feel like I will be better off. But if I keep all this inside me, I will drive myself crazy." I began to see flashes of things that I was remembering, but nothing definitive. I ran my fingers across my face, frustrated. "At this point, I couldn't care less what happens to me." I blinked a few times, trying to come back to reality. "I'm scared of what my future will be like."

He looked over at me, and then caressed my neck again slowly where the bruise was still somewhat visible, tilting his head to the side, mesmerized. "If you want to talk about anything, I'm here for you. This experience will make you stronger if you use it to your advantage."

"Does that even taste good?" I asked him, looking at the brown bottle with orange script. I didn't want to talk about any of this.

He tilted it so he could get a closer look at the bottle. "It's actually really gross." But he continued to drink it.

"So how did you know I was there at that campsite?"

He took a sip and said, "I didn't. There was no indication that you were alive. I've been in this house for about a month, scoping the camp. The only lead we had on your whereabouts was a picture of a man in robes. After a lot of researching, we came up with the Middle East. We had nothing to lose."

Besides his life? "How come you're the only one here?"

He laughed a cold short laugh and his eyes grew dark. "Because everyone else thought this was a suicide mission. Everyone backed out. The whole team. I was the only one willing to do this." And I thought he was a daredevil or a risk taker. He began what I assumed was his assessment to make sure I was still sane. "Do you know what day it is today?"

I looked at him as he gave me a bag of ice. I pressed it to my eye and shrugged.

He took another sip of his beer and said, "It's July 21st, and you've been missing for sixty-two days today."

I looked down. A little over than two months, that's it. It felt like I'd been missing for six months. I didn't think I would ever see anything but those four walls before I died.

"How old are you Samantha?"

I'd been holding back on Angel, not throwing too much at him as I came back to the present. "I have no idea who I am. I didn't know my name until you said it back at the shack. It has a familiar ring to it. But no matter how hard I think, it feels like it's digging its way deeper in my skull." I ran my free hand down my face and took a deep breath; trying to be strong for his sake, not mine.

How was it that I woke up with no recollection of who I am and how I got there? How was it that nobody familiar came for me? Why wasn't the government helping here? Every question just brought dozens more in my head.

"Who is my father?" I guessed I'd start with an easy one.

Angel straightened up a little with respect. "Your father is one of the most respected men in the military. Ex-Lieutenant. Retired. But now your father is the most successful entrepreneur in the game."

I look at him with confused eyes.

He finished his explanation. "Your father builds and distributes all of the United States' military machinery. Anything from tanks to missiles and weapons."

"If my father is so important, how is it that terrorists managed to kidnap me from my own home?"

Angel smiled dangerously, as if he were telling a scary story. "You went missing in Europe. You were on vacation."

Shit! How was it that I couldn't remember any of this? I squeezed my eyes shut and thought hard, but nothing surfaced. I needed time.

"So why are you here? Why isn't there a whole army here?"

"The Secret Rescue Mission I work for is small, no more than fifty employees. The government doesn't know we exist. We do the jobs that the United States ignores, like kidnapping overseas. Our own resources and our clientele's payments fund us. We do jobs that our clients don't want the government to know about. I have no clue why your father hired us instead of asking help from the government. That's a great question for you to ask him when you get home."

I must have fallen asleep sometime during the conversation because I woke screaming from one of my nightmares but I couldn't remember this one. I didn't even remember feeling sleepy when Angel was interrogating me. I woke up on Angel's shoulder. He was still sitting in the same position with the empty beer bottle next to him. I came back to reality when I felt his firm biceps on the side of my face. I quickly moved away from him, feeling completely humiliated. The bag of ice was melted in my hand. It must have been a pretty long nap.

"I am so sorry," I said, moving away from him a little more, leaning against the wall.

He looked over at me and smiled. "Get some rest. We're going to need it tomorrow."

I scooted to the next mattress over and looked at him one more time. He was still sitting, though now he was free to move without worrying about me. I closed my eyes and welcomed sleep once more. I just wished that I didn't have to open my eyes anymore.

I woke up to the sound of rattling. I opened my eyes to look straight at a rattlesnake staring at my face. His beady eyes were focused on me, as his tongue tasted my fear in the air. I was about to scream when I looked at Angel on the mattress across from me with a finger on his lips. I stayed as still as I could when I saw him grab the rattlesnake's head and tail in one swift move. He walked out the room, all this with the snake not even realizing his movements.

Angel came back empty handed and lay down on his mattress and closed his eyes. I got up slowly and lay down on his mattress by the wall before I had a chance to change my mind. I felt him freeze in confusion, but he didn't say anything to me. I put my arm around his waist and buried my face in his back, listening to his slow heartbeat. Listening to his slow deep breathing. Smelling his fresh scent. If something, anything, wanted to come and get me, it would have to go through him first.

Chapter 3

Run

I'm on the other side of the world. I don't know where we're going. I don't know who this person is who has been helping me when I'd lost all hope. When I thought that my life was over. Those dreams wouldn't let me sleep. I kept waking up screaming and Angel would sooth me awkwardly until I fell asleep again. This happened plenty of times during the night.

Angel didn't sleep, not that I could tell. Every time I awoke, he was laying face up, looking at the ceiling. Several gunshots erupted during the night, scaring the living crap out of me. But Angel assured me that this was normal in the Middle East. Though he always looked alarmed and unable to sleep. I wondered if this was the way it would be the whole time we were there...

I felt like I slept for about twelve hours on and off, finally sleeping on a mattress. I wished I could sleep soundly like I did after my rescue. But due to my frequent nightmares that I couldn't remember once I woke up, it was impossible to get a good night's sleep. I opened my eyes and heard shuffling around the room; the sun was just beginning to come up. I sat up and stretched my arms, trying to get the remainder of soreness out of my system. I closed my eyes and breathed in the scent of his skin lingering on my own. I looked around and saw that everything was packed except for the mattresses.

I felt it as if I were still there, feeling a blow to my face. I spit out blood. I was surprised that all my teeth were still intact. He grabbed my hair and punched me again, laughing as if this was entertainment for them. The sun was shining brightly through the window on my right. The heat was unbearable.

"You are going to tell me where it is!"

I grabbed the edge of the door and shut my eyes tightly. This isn't real, I told myself. I'm away from that nightmare. I shook my head and straightened up.

I wobbled for a little bit, still trying to come back to reality. I looked around the tiny room with the mattresses while I regained my composure. Everything looked dirty now, even the mattresses. The walls had dust and tiny smears everywhere. All of the windows had bars protecting them from intruders. I decided to get ready so when Angel came around we could get away from here quicker.

I walked down the hallway and found a toothbrush in the small room. I automatically made my way outside and filled a plastic cup with water from the sink inside to brush my teeth. When I went to the backyard, I froze at the view of the city. I was staring at women hanging wet linens in their backyards; men wearing long robes, walking around the busy streets. Crowded cement houses and buildings filled my view from the backyard.

After a few minutes of staring, I felt someone's presence behind me. Thinking it was Angel coming to yell at me, I turned around to apologize and ran smack into him, dripping the water all over him. I was going to mumble sorry but something didn't feel right. The smell was musky and old, nothing like the smell of Angel. I looked down and saw dirty long robes and leather sandals. I didn't want to look up but I did, straight at his tan skin and overgrown beard. He looked down at me with a giant grin of satisfaction on his face, exposing several missing teeth in the process. I looked down to see a small gun in his right hand. I tried to scream, but nothing came out.

I felt like I was reliving a dream. I didn't think that I was going to be in the position I am now. I thought I was going to be rescued and far away from this location. I thought I was going to be far away from this nightmare.

I looked over at the door and saw Angel pointing his gun at the terrorist's head, tilting his head for me to move away. I quickly ducked away and ran towards Angel. When he pulled the trigger, I covered my ears and threw myself on the floor at his feet with a scream, feeling the hot leather of his boot on my cheek. Once I was down I heard the body behind me hit the floor as well.

Angel knelt next to me, pulled me to a sitting position and made me look up at him. I did, but my eyes are unfocused, lost. He shook me vigorously and said, "Samantha! Don't do this to me now. Come on, snap out of it."

I look into his eyes as if I'd just woken up. My eyes began to well up and I threw myself into his arms, crying. This was taking too much out of me. I squeezed his shoulders as hard as I could and said, "I can't do this anymore. I can't."

"Okay, okay," he said, trying to soothe me quickly to calm down. He ran his hand through my hair. "But we have to go. Now!" I looked up at his blue eyes and they were wide with concern. His look made me come back to reality.

Confused, I got up with Angel and walked back into the house. We walked past the small room and I realized that all of the duffel bags were gone. "The truck is packed. We need to move out," he said, as if he could read my mind.

He kicked open the front door and shot another terrorist in the head as we ran to the truck. I climbed into the front seat as Angel dodged for the driver's seat. The truck was an old Jeep Wrangler. The truck screeched and launched forward, moving faster than I thought possible. I had to hold on to anything I could find so I wouldn't be thrown around all over cabin of the truck. Where he got this truck from was another mystery to me.

I had no time to cry like a baby because he grabbed my jaw and made me look at him, hurting me with his firm grip. "Can you please do me a favor, don't go anywhere alone, okay?" I just looked at him as I saw a few different expressions go through his face: worry, anger, and frustration.

I nodded and rested my head on the headrest and closed my eyes once he let go of my face, trying to get myself together again. I was definitely getting tired of this. As if being captured wasn't bad enough, imagine looking over your shoulder or worrying about where you're going to wake up.

"Are we being followed?" I asked Angel as he checked for ammunition while still driving.

"Not that I can see," he answered as he switched to third gear.

I sat up and looked at Angel's face. He was concentrating on his driving. His jaw line was perfect, model looking. His skin was faultless and clear, and it had that tiny hint of glow on it that every woman craves. His tattoos were a magnificent work of art that must have taken days to perfect. While his eyes were drawing and addicting, his buzz cut said, "Danger! Keep away!"

"So, how did you become whatever you are?" I asked, since it seemed like the heat was over. I leaned back again and closed my eyes, listening to his calm voice. I began to unbraid my hair and run my fingers through it, calming down instantly. Anything to keep my mind occupied would help me right now.

"I became a U.S. Navy Seal at the age of eighteen. Then, I was appointed by my captain to join a group called the SRM, the Secret Rescue Mission. A group designed to rescue victims in your situation being held by terrorists or for ransom. High-end people, like your father, qualify for our work. Unfortunately, the average society does not qualify for the service our organization has to offer. Nobody besides the people we've helped in the past know we even exist. And there's a lengthy non-disclosure contract that has to be signed by anyone we've helped."

I left my mouth half open as an oh. I changed the subject by saying, "Where are we going anyways?"

He turned to me, mesmerizing me with his blue eyes. "The plan is to drive down to India where there will be a chopper waiting for us. It's too risky to drive over to Europe since the Iraq war is current in the west, and Russia is a country I like to avoid. So India is our best choice right now."

I looked out the window and released a deep breath. Kids were walking to school wearing blue tops and khaki bottoms. There were only some women in sight, covered as expected. The street was dusty, there were chickens running around. Some men were burning trash in the middle of the street, making it hard to see in front of us. We were driving up a small hill and he turned in another intersection. We'd left the rural area behind and were now in a busy highway.

There were numerous military Humvees in the street, back to back. They were all the color of sand. The Marines were driving around, scoping the area. For a second I felt safe, even though I could hear gunshots at a distance. They all turned left while we continued straight ahead for a few miles. Disappointed, I turned my head from the window's view.

I just looked at him. My mind was playing tricks on me I'm sure. But his face was unique. I think he chose the wrong career. With a face like that, he would have become a successful model or actor. Though women would have stalked him on a daily basis. But then again, I couldn't imagine walking past him down a street and not noticing his beauty.

He looked at me with his piercing turquoise eyes then looked away. The lean muscles in his arms called me in, I tried really hard not to trace the lines in them. The tattoos on his right arm were unique. Blues, greens, oranges, his tattoos were like a collage of artwork. They consisted of skulls, fire, and angels; there was even some sort of red flower in them. I made a mental note to ask him about the meaning of his tattoos.

I tried to shake my head but I couldn't. He looked like someone straight out of a sci-fi novel with a deep dark secret. Right when I was going to look away, Angel made eye contact with me one more time that almost took my breath away.

But as quickly as it came, it left. He looked at his rearview mirror and I saw his eyes widen with concern. He swerved the truck to the right so hard that I came crashing on top of him; he gripped my body by the waist to prevent me from getting hurt. His elbow hit my forehead so hard it almost knocked me out. The swerve was too late because a missile hit the rear of the truck, flipping it forward in the middle of the street. I hit the back of my head on the side window and this time I did black out.

When I came back to consciousness, I heard steam somewhere in the truck. Angel was lying next to me on the roof. He was already getting up and looked around at the damage. I could hear cars driving past us. But I had a feeling that someone was coming for us, fast. He shuffled through the rubble in the truck for an automatic and began to pull me out by my arm, shooting pain straight to my brain. I grabbed the duffle bag right next to me and threw it over my shoulder. It was heavy, and I'd lost my sandals somewhere, so my swollen feet were bare. My head hurt a little from the crash, but other than that I was fine. Angel seemed to be in one piece as well, no surprise there.

I quickly got to my feet and looked back at Angel, who was aiming with his automatic ready to fire. "Go!"

I stared at him but began running as soon as I heard the gunshots. My body felt like it couldn't function any longer. It sounded as if a thousand firecrackers were exploding behind me. I didn't know where I was going, I just ran. I thought about Angel. With all those gunshots there was no way he was still alive. I took a hard right into a small alley and began to sprint up some stairs. There were clothes hanging from strings in the alleyway, which made it harder for me to see if there was anyone standing in front of me. I smacked them out of the way and took the steps two at a time.

Then I remembered something. I stopped at the top of the stairs and turned around to see Angel running as fast as he could so he could catch up to me. There were about six or so terrorists behind Angel, following us.

I turned right again as another man wearing long robes tried to cut me with a machete. I ducked as it clinked on the cement wall and Angel shot him down. I jumped over him and began to run again. We kept running until we made it to an outdoor market. There were people everywhere. The outdoor market was huge. There were dozens of small little huts built with cloth and sticks, just enough to provide shade from the broiling sun.

Women were walking around with large containers on their heads. Some women were covered from head to toe in black, looking both mysterious and breathtakingly beautiful with only their eyes exposed.

We dodged everyone in our way and ran away from the men who were trying to kill me. We passed thousands of onlookers for what seemed like hours. Their faces were grim and emotionless as they saw us running for our lives. As soon as I saw an opening in the outside market, I made a hard right into another alley; this one was a dead end. Angel was right next to me and ran towards the wooden door at the corner bolted with wooden sticks. He kicked it in and we entered an abandoned shop with cobwebs all over the place.

He closed the door and peeked through a small opening in the door, automatic in hand. I closed my eyes and leaned against the dirty wall, letting my feet lose all their strength and collapsing on the floor, a deep breath escaping my lips. I removed the duffle bag and my shoulders screamed with pain.

After a few long minutes, Angel sighed and came to sit next to me saying, "I think they kept running. But we need to stay here for a few hours to make sure there isn't anyone around. We'll move after sundown."

I just looked at him overwhelmed by everything that had been going on. I had nothing to say. I looked the other way and decided to explore the space we had here. I walked towards the front of the store where large store windows once stood and saw that there were giant roaches running to hide from us. About two months ago, this would have made me scream like a girl. But the last few months, roaches and rats were the only living things that weren't trying to harm me intentionally. This place was absolutely deserted; the only things here were broken glass and lots of dust everywhere.

"I lost my earpiece," I heard him say. I walked back and sat on the floor next to him. "I have no way of reporting to my Captain now." He had his head down as if he'd just failed the whole mission.

"We can do this on our own." He looked at me as if I was crazy. "Whose idea was it to name me 'The Ruby' anyways?" I asked, looking at him.

"Your father's. Your favorite stone is the ruby, so he thought it was a great name." Of course, I couldn't even remember the things I love. Could you blame me though?

"How old are you?" I asked curiously.

He looked at me and removed both straps from his thighs, guns clanging hard on the floor. "Twenty-four."

I couldn't hide my astonishment, "That's it?"

"Yeah, that's it." He gave me an aggravated look.

"Are you always this smug?" I asked, keeping eye contact.

He gave me a shocked face with wide eyes. He opened his mouth a few times, but nothing came out. Finally, he gave me a half smile, exposing the dimple on his right cheek. "No. Not always."

I looked down and mumbled, "I was beginning to worry." I saw him roll his eyes with annoyance. I began to play with the dust on the floor. "So what's your family like?"

I saw his jaw clenched before he looked away. "I don't have a family."

"I'm sorry. I was just wondering where you got your eyes from." But he ignored my comment.

I looked at him, not willing to push him further, so I just dropped the interrogation. This was getting too personal. And I didn't want to get into detail. But surprisingly he continued, "I lived at an orphanage in Delaware until I was fifteen. I graduated from high school at that age and got emancipated so I could join the Navy. I wanted to have the family that I never had. And I do."

I couldn't hide my curiosity, so I continued, "But don't you want to search for your biological parents? At least to get some answers? You have the power to have someone help you find them."

"No," he answered sternly. "They didn't want me. So why should I waste my time with their presence?"

I could see that this conversation was agitating him, so I dropped it. For the first time he sounded completely immature. So I changed the subject out of curiosity. "What about a special someone waiting for you at home?"

This time he looked at me and pierced me with his eyes. "Nah." He smiled his charming smile and looked as if he was reliving a memory. "A few here and there, but nothing serious." He touched the tip of my nose with his fingertip and looked towards the door before he walked towards it.

A few here and there? Dangerous as I suspected. But I wouldn't blame any female who fell for him because he's gorgeous.

I looked at the guns on the floor. I picked one up to examine it more closely. The gun was heavier than I anticipated, and I dropped it by mistake, making an extremely loud thump in the quiet room. I quickly covered my ears because I thought it was going to fire. Angel turned around and looked at me. I dropped my eyes to the floor to avoid his.

He didn't say anything, so I looked back at him. His back was towards me again. His black cargo pants fit his physique perfectly. His small waist and broad shoulders could not hide underneath his tight black shirt.

"So what are we going to do now?"

He was silent for a while, so I assumed that he was ignoring my question. "I don't know. But we need to get away from the Middle East or the attacks will never end," he finally answered.

He turned around and looked towards me. "Something's not right here. No offense, but usually terrorists won't go through so much trouble to get a hostage back once they've escaped." He examined his fingernails through the gloves as he thought. Then he took out his combat knife and began cleaning his fingernails with it. Seriously? "Unless there's something extremely important about that person." He studied me intensely as he brainstormed. I felt like a science experiment as I looked at him.

He walked towards me, slid down to the floor and closed his eyes again. So this was how I'd spend my twenty-first birthday. Instead of going to a club and getting drunk, I'd be touring the Middle East.

I began to remember some things. I was in Italy on a summer vacation before I entered my senior year at NYU for forensic psychology. My friend Hunter and I decided to get away from everyone and spend my birthday in an unknown location; unknown to all of our friends, at any rate. Our parents knew very well where we were. The last thing I remember was leaving the hotel with my camera in one hand and holding Hunter's hand with the other. I didn't even know if she was okay and safely back home. I was sure she was though. She was probably the person who called my father to report me missing. Hunter is a smart girl.

I looked at Angel as he closed those beautiful eyes. "I don't know where I got my eyes from. My mother's eyes are brown and I never met my father."

He didn't even open them for me to look at. And he must still be thinking about what I'd said to him. I must have brought up some old memories.

He opened his eyes and I looked straight at him while he was examining my face. I looked into his most beautiful feature, his eyes. The feature that reminded him everyday how alone he was in this world. He might have many beautiful women around, but he doesn't have anyone who honestly cares about him. That was when I realized that I wasn't the only person suffering because of my parents' poor decisions. Angel suffered too.

Chapter 4

Down

As everything slowly began to surface, I wished it wouldn't. One thing about oblivion is the beauty of not remembering the bad things in life. If only I could remember just the beautiful times of my life, not the bad ones...

After a few short hours of daydreaming, Angel tapped me on the shoulder, bringing me back to reality. I looked up to his face and he said to me, "The sun is beginning to set. We should move."

He pushed the door open and the alley was quiet, the only thing that could be heard was an eerie calm wind. We walked back to the outdoor market only to find a long deserted alley. I had no clue what we were planning to do now. It's not as if we could walk all the way to India. Especially because we didn't necessarily blend-in; we're both clearly Americans. Angel was walking around with ammunition all over his body, looking as if he was going to start a war here in the Middle East. In a way, he kind of was. And I was walking around barefoot with cuts and bruises all over my body. We were clearly calling attention to ourselves.

I tried to keep up with his steady pace, but my body felt worn out. I'd rested enough today, but I just didn't feel right, and I was hungry. Beads of sweat began to tickle my forehead.

We'd been walking down the quiet alley for twenty minutes. The only thing we were able to hear was our footsteps and the wind. I began to walk slower; my body was beginning to give up. Angel didn't realize that I was lagging behind.

Suddenly, everything became foggy around me. I couldn't see past a few feet ahead of me. I began to wobble, so I shook my head a little to stay focused. I'm so cold, I thought to myself. I ran my hand over my forehead and it was covered in sweat.

"Angel," I was able to breathe without passing out.

"What!" He turned around, a little frustrated because I was slowing him down. But as soon as he saw my face he caught me before I went down. My body began to tingle and my vision went black for a little bit. I couldn't hear Angel saying my name.

"Samantha! Say something to me."

I looked up to him and a tear escaped my eyes. "I'm sorry."

He felt my face. "Shit! You're burning up."

He picked me up and began walking the rest of the way with me in his arms, along with the duffel bag already on his back. I buried my face in his chest and inhaled deeply. He didn't sound tired. His heart wasn't racing. I'd never felt more comfortable in anyone else's arms. I felt protected. The world couldn't get me; as long as I was in his arms, I was safe. His arms tightened around me and I looked up to see his face.

He looked straight ahead, with no emotion on his face. I was only inches away from his lips. And I just stared. I brought my shaky fingers up to them and brushed them against his lips. They were as soft as feathers. Is that how they'd feel if I kissed them? Would he take my breath away?

He looked down at me and I gave him a weak smile. I just rested my face on his cheek and closed my eyes. The only thing I wanted to do was sleep.

I woke up the next evening feeling like I was run over by a tractor-trailer. My entire body was in worse pain than when I was held captive. My head felt like there were hundreds of people inside playing the drums.

"Mmmm." I couldn't say anything more. I was shivering. I was cold. My teeth began to chatter. "Ahhhhhh."

"Hey," I heard the sweetest voice say.

I opened my eyes and he was sitting next to me drinking something warm. He was wearing shorts and nothing else. As if he wanted me to pass out again. He leaned forward and felt my forehead.

"You have a fever. We need to stay here a few more nights so you can rest." He pointed at the bag on the wall. "Don't pull it out this time. You're very dehydrated."

I looked around the room. The room was small, with a queen-sized bed that I was laying on. There were no couches, just a TV stand with an old TV on it. The four walls were painted in orange, and the bed sheets were a soft blue.

"Do you want to try some warm soup?" he said, getting up.

I looked over to him and I couldn't concentrate on what he was saying. He was just beautiful. He looked tired, but that doesn't hide the perfection that he had been gifted with.

I nodded and he walked towards the warm cup on the corner. He brought it back to me and I began to drink it quietly while he pulled a shirt over his head. Thank god. The soup tasted good. But my stomach was doing flip-flops so I decided not to finish it. He saw me just staring at it so he took it away and finished it himself.

He folded his arms and said, "Try to rest. You fever needs to break."

I lay back down and pulled the covers up to my chin. "Aren't those people still around the area?"

He didn't understand what I meant at first. "They probably think that we're far from here. We should be. But I can't force you too much, knowing that you've already passed out on me."

He began to say something else to me but I was falling asleep. "Don't leave me," I said, pulling my arm out and reaching out for his. "I'm scared."

I heard him sigh while he walked around the bed. Then I felt him sit on the bed. I looked over at him and he sat back on the bed with his eyes closed. He took my hand and I closed my eyes once more.

I woke up the next evening confused and a little scared. I didn't know what was going on and I felt lost. My throat was burning and I was more exhausted than the night before. I spread my arms around looking for Angel, but he was sitting on the floor, staring out the window.

"Angel," I said, on the verge of tears.

He walked over to me and sat on the bed. "Are you okay?"

I looked down at his hands and began to cry. I didn't know exactly why I was crying, but I felt emotional. He wiped my tears away. "We'll be away from all of this real soon. I promise."

I looked up to him and he smiled. I mean, he actually looked sincere.

"Let me pull the IV out so you can shower and freshen up."

He got up and set out everything I needed for the shower. He also pulled some gauze and tape and removed my IV. He walked around and helped me out of bed. I was a little wobbly and my legs felt like I'd run a marathon. But other than that, I was able to walk fine into the bathroom.

I grabbed a few inches of dental floss while the hot water filled the tub and spent about ten minutes trying to remove as much dirt as I could, followed by brushing and washing my face, letting my hidden tears stream down now that I was alone. Once the tub was full of steamy water, I removed my clothes and unbraided my hair before sinking inside the tub. The hot water felt like multiple stabs wherever I had a bruise. But once I got used to it, my body became numb to all the pain that those men have caused me these last few months. I immersed my body completely in the water and closed my eyes. When I was feeling dizzy and couldn't hold my breath any longer I came back up coughing and gasping for air.

I sunk back into the hot water and washed my long blonde hair, trying to untangle as much as I could with the small comb. I cleaned as much as possible, closed my eyes and began to cry again, letting the tears mingle with the water. I cried for what seemed like hours, feeling the pain of the abuse that I'd gone through. I must have gotten tired somehow because I closed my eyes and dozed off into a quick nap.

I woke up again when Angel knocked on my door softly. "Are you okay?"

I splashed water in my face before I answered, "I'll be right out." The water was cold, so I must have slept for a while.

I finished my necessities and dried off with a small towel. I looked at my face in the long mirror for the first time in months. My face looked pale instead of burned from the intense sun. My body was swollen and purple in more places than I'd thought possible. The wounds on my wrists and ankles looked better. But looking back at my face, the swelling on my right eye had gone down a little, though it was purple all the way around the rim. My lip was busted, but the swelling there was also down. My eyes were red, and I had dark circles around them, either from the lack of sleep, the crying, or the lack of food and nutrition. My neck looked better, though it was still purple. My back looked horrible. I would have deep ugly scars for the rest of my life. I wrapped the small towel around my body and covered as much of my bruises as possible.

When I walked out of the bathroom, I saw Angel sitting on the floor by the window, with all of his guns scattered around in pieces. He was holding a dirty rag, cleaning each piece meticulously. He would turn a piece this way and that way, making sure all the angles were shiny. He heard my footsteps and looked up at me. His blue eyes traced my body from head to toe, looking pained for a reason I couldn't understand.

He looked away and got up from the floor. "I'm going to shower," he stated and walked into the bathroom without another word.

I looked again at his clutter and turned towards the duffle bag. I spread the clothes I'd washed in the bathroom on the floor and pulled out one of his tank tops and a pair of underwear he must have gotten me in a market. They were a little tight and very uncomfortable. But at least I had some to wear. I climbed into bed and sighed heavily because the bed was extremely comfortable.

About twenty minutes later, I heard the bathroom door open and Angel walked out with a small towel wrapped around his waist. My mouth hung open in surprise. I could tell his body was perfect underneath all his clothes, but I hadn't braced myself for what I was about to see.

His upper body looked absolutely delicious with the water dripping away from it, down to his v-shaped abdomen. The tattoo on his right arm extended from his wrist and worked its way all around his shoulder. I tried not to look at his eyes, so instead I turned the other way and allowed him to put something on, for my sake only.

"I got us some tuna sandwiches and Coke," I heard him say. I turned around and saw him wearing shorts and a white tee. "It was the only normal thing I could find." He sat at the edge of the bed and handed me a foam plate and a can of soda.

"Thanks," I answered before I inhaled the food faster than I thought possible. The sandwiches were amazing, or maybe I was just extremely hungry. I ate about three and collapsed back on the bed, closing my eyes and moaning with pleasure.

He took my plate and threw it out. "We should get some rest. I don't know how long we'll be walking tomorrow."

He took a pillow and threw it on the floor. "What are you doing?" I asked him.

He turned back to me. "I'm sleeping on the floor."

"No, you are not. Why? This bed is big enough for the both of us." Okay, so I was being a little selfish, and I thought he could sense it. "Besides, I need you more than ever right now, and letting you sleep on the stiff floor will not help this situation."

He just stood there looking at the floor while I stared at him. He looked like he was about to argue with me. Finally, he took a deep breath, picked up his pillow and made his way to the bed. He slid underneath the sheets and sat down facing me. I looked at him and felt my cheeks flush so I turned away for a while. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all.

"I promise you that I will get you back home just in time for your twenty-first birthday," he said with his voice sounding soft.

I turned and looked at him again and saw honesty and sincerity in his face. I was so used to seeing his guard up, with complete defenses. Now his eyes were like the window to his soul. I felt like I could see his vulnerability if I tried hard enough. But I looked down at the sheets and let it go. I didn't want to bother him.

He cleared his throat and said, "Did you have any plans?"

"No, I just thought about spending it somewhere in Europe. But I guess the Middle East it is."

He was silent for a moment. I wanted to turn and look at him. But he did something I wasn't expecting. He softly grabbed my face so I had to look at him. I flinched. I was used to receiving a beat down since my abduction. He scared me, not intentionally, but I couldn't help the way my mind had been working lately.

I looked up to his face, letting a single tear escape my eyes. His eyes looked extremely sincere, but his jaw line looked overworked and tense. I saw anger begin to well up and I closed my eyes to let more tears run down my cheeks. He turned my face from side to side, inspecting my bruises. I felt his thumb on my cheeks, wiping my tears away.

"You didn't deserve this." I opened my eyes again and he let my face go. "Your face looks much better. We should get some rest."

And just like that, his guard was up again. I hated how he was so composed all the time. So robotic, without showing any big emotion. But then again, that was the way most army people acted. He lay on his back and looked up at the ceiling. I laid down facing him, letting my silent tears run freely as I closed my eyes.

I felt him move slightly and heard him click off the lights. When he came back to the bed, he laid facing me, putting his arms around my shoulders to console me. This was the first time since the shack that he'd seemed like a human with emotions. He was my shoulder to cry on for the night. His chest was bare. So I just buried my face in his chest and let my tears run until I was too tired to cry anymore.

Chapter 5

Remember

I saw her, my mother. She was looking at me from a distance. Just when I made eye contact with her, she turned her back on me the way she did when I was ten. She walked away in the middle of Times Square, New York. The crowd was immense as usual, which always made it hard to walk in any direction as it is. At first, everyone was walking in slow motion, letting me concentrate on my mother. But as soon as I started moving, everything moved faster. I saw her heavenly blonde hair like mine, down to her waist in giant waves, flowing with the wind as she walked away from me. Her white dress flowed the same way her hair did. She turned to me once and I met her dark eyes again, cold with no compassion, and continued to walk away from me.

"Mom!" I yelled, or I thought I did because nothing came out. Not even a whisper.

The crowd was pushing and shoving me in every direction. Men wearing expensive business suits, carrying newspapers and briefcases, hurrying to their destination. I lost her somewhere in the crowd; so after what felt like hours of walking, I gave up. I sunk to the dirty cement sidewalk and began to cry. I put my face in my hands and let it all out. I looked up to see if she turned around when someone shoved a newspaper in my face.

The headline for August thirteenth, "Samantha Kelber was killed by terrorists in India."

I jumped on the bed and opened my eyes to see the sun shining through the window. I began to feel the bed for Angel and saw him sitting on the floor with tiny drops of water in his buzz and black uniform on. It looked like he'd recently cut his hair short again. His guns were back together, ready for combat. I lay there staring at his face, as he looked at his guns carefully, cleaning them, and inspecting them.

"I know you're looking at me. I noticed when your breathing pattern changed," he smiled, looking more relaxed and open than last night. "You should wash up." He looked at me and flashed his beautiful white smile with his dimple on his right cheek. "There's a bagel here with coffee. But we have to move fast."

I stared at his face for another brief moment before I got up and went to the bathroom. Mentally, I rolled my eyes. I wished I could just grab him by the shoulder and shake him really hard. He needed to stop being so collected all the time. I washed up quickly. I looked at my bruises in the mirror; they were turning yellow at this point. My eye was still purple. I washed my face and put on the clothes from yesterday.

When I walked back, I sat on the floor next to Angel and began to work on the bagel and coffee while he finished playing with his guns. Angel pulled a hat from one of the bags, and kneeled in front of me. He brought his hands around my face and I closed my eyes. His scent surrounded me quicker than I could imagine. I didn't want to open them. I wished I could just bring my hands up and feel his face like I did last night.

I opened my eyes again and looked at him. He pulled the hat down my face carefully and looped my long hair through the back loop. His hand lingered on my hair. He looked into my eyes and I caught my breath. He let go of my hair and my stare to turn around. I put my head down in disappointment.

I had absolutely no clue as to why I was feeling this way towards Angel. I mean, besides the obvious. I've said it one too many times; he is very good looking. But maybe it's because he's very seductive without even realizing it. He called me in; I wanted to touch him, I wanted to feel his soft skin. I didn't know what is wrong with me, but being alone with him all the time was driving me insane.

But besides the obvious, Angel has become a companion to me. He was my shoulder to cry on every night. He was my savior. He was my protector. He was the only person that truly cared about me. It felt like an obsession.

"I need to change the dressing on your calf and wrap your arms and legs. I also need to take a look at your back."

He came back with the First Aid kit and began to pour rubbing alcohol on my wrists. I took advantage and stared at his beautiful face as he concentrated. Once he was done, we went for my swollen feet. He took the dressing off my calf and the smell was disgusting. It looked like raw meat. I looked away as he did his job. A five-minute process felt like an hour because of the smell.

I couldn't bite my tongue, so I asked, "Why did you get all those tattoos on one arm?"

He finished wrapping my leg, then sat across from me. He looked at his arm while he turned it over examining it, his muscles flexing with his movement. Finally, he turned his forearm towards me and said, "Do you see these letters?" He pointed at a few words barely visible underneath the orange fire and a faceless angel.

I touched his cool skin and traced the letters. But I couldn't make out what it said. It was covered up. "What is it?"

He looked down at it and traced them with his own finger. Our fingers almost touched. It was tempting to close that tiny space, to close the barrier that was separating us. But I held back. He only touched me when he needed to. And last night he comforted me because he felt sorry for me. That's all that was between us. Everything else was professional.

I looked at his face and he looked sad. He was reliving a memory. "It says," he began, "Fuck the world." He looked up at me and started laughing because my face fell. He looked almost embarrassed because of what he said.

"I did it when I was fifteen and still at the orphanage. I was almost kicked out because of it. But it was the main reason why I had to leave and then became emancipated. I had a rough past." He looked up to me. "When I was sixteen and living in the streets, I had nowhere to turn. So I enlisted in the Navy."

We sat across from each other for a while, in silence. He'd lived on the streets. I could not imagine how difficult it must have been emotionally to have nobody to turn to. Not to have a single soul in this world who cared about you. He was never adopted. Nobody wanted him. I looked at his face as he studied mine with curiosity.

We sat there, staring at each other. He's broken, just like me. He has so much anger and emotions that he wants to take out on someone. Maybe that's why he chose the career he did. But killing and torturing people would not cause this pain to go away, and I didn't think he'd realized this yet. And for the government, Angel was just a tool. They didn't care about him either. He was just a weapon that they would use until he either died or got seriously wounded.

He got up and pulled my top up without me realizing it. I was still in deep thought. I looked up at his eyes as he finished pulling it completely from my body, leaving me with the tiny bra. I immediately covered my chest and looked down. He walked round me and began to dab my back with alcohol, stinging it a little in the process.

"I'm sorry, but your back is going to be marked forever. I think those cuts are too deep for repair."

I'd already known that. I could tell how bad they were just by the movements I made. Whenever I shifted my body or used my back, I could feel the scabs stretching slightly. I would be carrying the memory of that place on my back for the rest of my life. He walked in front of me and gave me the shirt back as he turned around looking for something. Once we were finished, he handed me a pair of old sneakers that were too big for my feet. But then again, they were swollen so maybe the shoes would fit perfectly.

He put most of his ammunitions in his duffle bag, except for a gun, which he hid in his waistband underneath his shirt. He grabbed his packed duffel bag and pulled out his dog tags.

"I've never seen you wearing those," I said out loud as I walked towards him and inspected them up close.

He gave me a half smile and said, "I'm supposed to keep a low profile, remember? But now I think we're trying to look like someone we're not. Let's just say were tourists."

I laughed as I looked up to his tall profile. "Right," I said as I followed him out the door.

Angel and I walked towards the front desk, he handed the guy our room keys and walked out without saying a word. Walking past the door felt like a heat wave smacking my face. The sun was brighter than I last remembered. The humidity was at its highest. People were walking in every direction, fanning themselves with paper, or whatever they could find. Many of the men were eyeing my shorts from the moment we left the motel. I think I wore the wrong outfit for this place. Now that it was daytime I was able to see our surroundings. Most of the houses were made of pure cement; some were rundown with pieces of rubble everywhere. The dirt road was slightly wet. The people did that to minimize the amount of dust in the air when cars drove by.

Angel put an arm around my shoulder and whispered in my ear, "We need to move away from this crowd." His breath tickled my ear and I couldn't suppress a smile. Men looked at me in disgust as if Angel had said something naughty in my ear. My smile grew wider with that thought, wishing it were true.

We walked to a busy intersection where multiple old cars were honking their horn at us, asking if we needed a taxi.

Angel waved an old Toyota down and we got in. "Where are you going?" the man asked in an English I almost couldn't understand.

"Take us to the nearest bus station, we're heading to Pakistan."

"Pakistan, you're crazy," he said, eying us curiously through the rearview mirror.

We bumped into each other as the driver swerved and he said, "What do you mean?" He put his arm over my shoulder, helping me stay steady with the swerving. I felt a spark immediately. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

"There are riots everywhere. Violence and killings because of the war against the Americans. And you two clearly look American, so this might not be the best choice for you."

I looked up at Angel with worried eyes and he looked down at me. He whispered in my ear, "We'll be fine," and looked back at the driver. "It's okay, we'll just pass through."

"Whatever you say," he muttered and we drove the next twenty minutes in silence.

A death wish. That seemed to be what we were asking for. Drowning ourselves deeper into a river that we might not be able to get out of. The disaster that I've dragged Angel in. There is no way that we're getting out of this mess alive and sane.

We passed some of the poorest areas in the Middle East. There were children without shoes all over the streets. Some of them looked like they hadn't eaten in days. The dirt roads were bumpy and uncomfortable to drive on. The air felt thick and polluted to the point where I felt my skin became dry and cracked. I was surprised that the Toyota didn't break down from the blazing heat.

I looked at Angel, facing the opposite window that I was. His eyes glowed with the sunny rays entering his pupils. His face looked tight, as if there was a big war coming. Maybe what the driver said to us was getting to him. How were we supposed to survive the war we're about to enter? We're about to walk in the middle of a riot. I didn't see how this was any better to where I was before, chained and slowly dying.

"Here you are." I looked up and saw a small white building with people walking to and from different buses. The buses were old and dirty, but they had the Mercedes logo, which surprised me. The building was only one story, but there were men sitting on the roof looking down at the passengers. Nothing but the buses indicated that this was a bus station.

Angel pulled out some local money and paid the taxi. We stepped out and he pulled our duffle bag over his shoulder. The sun began to prickle my skin; the wind was making my hair fly all over the place, so I pulled my hat lower. We made it inside and walked towards the cashier. The cashier was a man with an overgrown beard and a few missing teeth. The inside was just as bland as the outside. The floor was made of grey cement. The chairs were made out of white plastic, and there were only a few phone booths with rundown stools by each one. The fabric was coming off the chairs, and the stuffing was pouring out.

The cashier looked at us so Angel cleared his throat and said, "We need to buy two tickets to Pakistan."

The man laughed, showing me that there were more missing teeth in the back than in the front. "Haven't you been watching the news? Not happening. All the traffic to and from Pakistan is postponed."

"When will it be possible to cross?" he asked, lowering his voice and moving closer.

"As of right now, there's no definite date. One week, maybe two."

He closed his eyes and tilted his head back, trying to control his anger. He was not very good at it though. He reopened his eyes and said, "Fine. Two tickets to Iran."

The man shakes his head and mumbles something we didn't understand but gave us the tickets. Angel took them and walked towards a pay phone on the corner. He put a few coins in it and dialed. He closed his eyes again and leaned against the wall.

"Hey," he said softly after a few seconds of waiting. "Is Captain there? I just wanted to report in," he said in a deep husky voice. "I lost my earpiece in a car bombing." There was a small pause and he smiled, a smile that would make any woman melt at his feet. "Right, as if that's going to happen anytime soon." There was another pause where he half smiled, his eyes shining in the process. "You miss me?" Pause. "Okay, I'll wait." He waited again and a deep voice emerged.

"The Ruby is fine, sir, but we ran into a few roadblocks." He told the person on the other end of the phone about our situation in his professional voice, not the sexy one he'd just used. Then he said, "I know about the war in Iraq. I'm going to try to avoid it. I'm thinking if we head towards Europe the heat will cool down. I'll keep you posted. I lost my earpiece so I'll contact you as soon as I can," he assured his listener and hung up.

We sat down on the benches and waited for the bus. He looked ahead, clearly annoyed about the whole situation. Arms crossed and poker face on duty. And I just didn't have it in me to begin to ask questions. I didn't need him to tell me about the mess we were about to enter. We're stuck in the middle of a giant war in the Middle East. No matter which way we turned, we were going to walk into trouble.

The bus arrived about an hour late and we made the line. The humidity inside was unbearable; I immediately knew that I was going to get sick. We sat down towards the back; Angel sat on the aisle seat. The bus filled up quickly, and it was pretty hot in there. Children were crying, people talking and laughing. It was all too overwhelming for me and the heat wasn't helping. I closed my eyes and leaned back. "How long is the ride?" I asked, keeping my eyes closed.

"Twelve hours, with only one stop."

Great, so I would get sick along the way. The bus lurched forward, and began to speed away. The ride was terrible: bumpy and swerving at times without warning. I was completely surprised that everyone else, including Angel, were sitting as if there wasn't anything wrong with this guy's driving. I tried to look out at the scenery but it was just making my stomach feel worse so I looked down.

My eyes began to roll back; beads of sweat were beginning to form all over my forehead again. My head felt weak, and I could feel my breakfast burning in my throat.

"I don't feel good," I was able to say without vomiting all over Angel's thighs.

Angel turned to me, concern written all over his face. But when he saw that I was getting road sick, he smirked and said, "When aren't you sick?"

I rolled my eyes and closed them. But I felt his cool fingers touching my forehead, removing the sweat. I opened my eyes again and looked straight into his. His blue eyes looked mesmerizing, addicting to the point where you don't want to look away. So I didn't, I forgot about my motion sickness, and the heat wave making it worse. His fingers went from my forehead to my cheek, down to my almost-unswollen lips, making me shiver with arousal from his touch.

The driver swerved again without warning and Angel crashed on top of me, crushing me with over 200 pounds of muscle. This time my vomit answered with anger, and I threw up all over the floor. Many people around us grunted with disgust. I looked back up at Angel but he got up and went to the small dirty bathroom on the back of the bus. He came back with a few wet napkins and ran them across my forehead and lips, cleaned the mess on the floor and threw everything out the window.

He sat back next to me and said, "Are you okay?"

I nodded and he put his arm around my shoulders and I leaned into his broad chest, closing my eyes and hearing the rhythm of his heartbeat. I wrapped one arm around his tight waist, feeling his gun there so I went for his chest instead. I breathed in his smell, making it part of my dream. I became selfish and let myself become comforted by him. I wanted his arms around me; I wanted to feel him close. I felt his arm tighten around me, and his head rested on top of mine.

Waiting for the right moment, I was able to bring my head up. But the heat and the movement wouldn't let up. I looked over at Angel, my face pale and clammier than before. He acted fast. He removed his tight black shirt, leaving him in just his white tank, and rolled it on his thigh. He quickly moved the gun to one of his pockets before anyone noticed. He indicated for me to lie on his thigh.

After a final thought, I rested my head on his thigh, looking up at the ceiling. Angel looked straight ahead, sometimes out the window. Even at this angle he was beautiful, though I could only see his lips and up his nose. He looked down at me and removed my hat. He began to stroke my hair, untangling the braid, and playing with the long strands automatically. I began to get sleepy. I turned to the side and wrapped an arm around his waist again before I took a short nap.

Chapter 6

Memories

After riding for hours with only a short stop, we finally made it to Tabriz, Iran. We stepped out of the bus to face a cold night. Angel handed me his black shirt so I could double up and avoid getting sick again. I wrapped my arms around my body and followed Angel towards a small motel about ten blocks down the same main street. We bought some takeout food from a small corner restaurant and walked into our small room. This room wasn't as nice as the first one. But it was clean and comfortable. I set the dinner on the table and walked into the bathroom to clean up and change.

My face looked clammy and pale, even sicker than the day I'd escaped captivity. I took a steamy shower and walked out wearing sweats and his long tee. I absolutely loved wearing his clothes and smelling like him. It made me feel comfortable, like I could survive this. He was sitting on the table, hunched over and eating his food as he concentrated on the newscast on TV.

"It's worse than I thought," he said between bites, "Iran has its own war going on."

I didn't say anything. I wrapped a towel around my hair and sat at the table to begin working on my meal. The last thing I wanted to talk about right now was more fighting and more people dying and Angel knew that. He finished his meal and walked into the bathroom without looking at me.

Isn't it bad to shower right after eating?

I shrugged. I turned off the TV, leaned my head back, and closed my eyes. I felt like I was floating, my eyes felt heavy. I couldn't remember the last time I was able to sleep without worrying about anything. I wanted to wake up like any other normal girl.

I wanted to be home, wherever that was. Surely I had a nice home, a nice family. Did I have brothers and sisters? I needed to worry about all this when I was home, away from all this.

Someone knocked on the door. It was three hard knocks. I got up from the chair and walked towards it automatically. I looked towards the bathroom and I could hear the shower still running so I shrugged and opened the door. There was a tall man wearing faded jeans and a yellow tee shirt staring down at me.

"Can I help you?" I asked but let it go because my stomach gave me a warning. He was still staring at me, without moving an inch.

I took a few steps back and walked into the small bed, so I stopped, staring at this man with my mouth open. He smiled at me with crooked teeth, his tanned skin shining with sweat. He pulled something from his side, a black Glock. He pointed it straight at my forehead and pulled the trigger without giving me a chance to scream.

But I did scream, I screamed at the top of my lungs, pounding my fists at this person standing right in front of me. I'm not going down without a fight, I told myself. I tried to scream again, but he put a hand over my mouth, so I bit him, making him jump back and curse out loud, making his dogtags jingle on his chest.

Dogtags?

Terrorists don't wear dogtags.

He came back to me, taking my face in his hands and looking into my eyes. His eyes would make anyone forget about the world, just him. He didn't say anything; he just looked at me, just looked into my eyes. I wanted to cry, but my body felt like it was out of tears, and it needed time to recuperate. And I trembled.

But he wasn't thinking about my fear, because his eyes were soft and a little unfocused. He blinked a few times. He looked down at my open lips and caressed them with his cold fingers. His eyes looked heavy, hungry. He didn't seem like he remembered what had just happened. He pulled the towel from my hair and ran his fingers through the long strands. He had artistic fingers. It felt incredible. I felt like a cat when you scratch their head and their eyes roll back.

He began to lean towards me. I looked down at his lips as they parted and I closed my eyes. I didn't have the chance to catch my breath. He slowly leaned in and gently pressed his lips on mine, so slowly, as if he was trying not to frighten me.

His lips were soft and cool, with drops of water on them. I tried to kiss him in return, but my body wasn't reacting. With everything that I had experienced lately, I never expected to feel this warmth in the pitch of my stomach. A feeling of caring for someone.

My ears were on fire, my face was boiling, and my arms were unresponsive. I wanted to wrap my arms around him and bring him closer to my body. But they just hung loose at my sides the way they had at the shack. But his cool breath and his soft lips were melting away all the torture I'd experienced. His fingers radiated calmness around my body, removing all the fear I had for him.

And I must say that was one of the best kisses I'd ever had in my entire life. A kiss that made me forget about my surroundings, a kiss that made my heart skip multiple beats, as if I'd developed a heart problem. A kiss that made the sun and moon align with all of the planets. His movements gave me the chills, and then warmed me up with affection. The way he moved his fingers on my cheeks made me realize that he knew what he was doing.

Did I seem like an amateur to him?

I was losing control of my breathing; my head felt light. But right when I thought I was going to pass out, he pulled away from me.

When he pulled away, he finally let me gasp for air. I was completely shocked at what one of his kisses could do to me. I couldn't even imagine what anything else might do to a woman. I looked up at his face, my body feeling warm and flushed. He didn't let go of my face; he continued to caress it with his thumbs. I just looked into his eyes, wanting to say something, but I couldn't find my voice. I was lost in his eyes and confused as to why a complete stranger would kiss me. He caressed my cheek with the back of his hand and smiled at me with warm eyes. He began to lean closer to me again as he closed his eyes.

There was a knock on the door and he looked at it in confusion. Once he realized our surroundings, he grabbed his gun and went to answer the door, standing with his back to it. "Who's there?"

"It's Ihab. We heard screaming, I'm making sure everyone is okay," said a man with a heavy accent on the other side of the door.

I looked at Angel with fear. "We were sleeping."

The man quickly responded," I apologize for bothering you." We heard him walk towards the next door, knocking on it softly.

He turned back to me and said, "We should get some sleep."

"Do you know who knocked on the door earlier?" I asked him without moving towards the bed.

Angel pulled up some shorts over his towel, but I was too interested in his answer to turn around. "There wasn't anyone at the door before Ihab. You were imagining the whole thing," he answered, with no impatience in his voice.

"No, that's not possible. He was wearing a yellow shirt. He came towards me with a gun. Why did you come out then?"

He dried his buzz and turned back to me. "The only reason I came out was because you began to scream. I thought there really was someone in here."

I knew I was not going crazy. I wasn't seeing things. Annoyed, I turned to look out the window. I needed to compose my emotions. I closed my eyes for a minute then reopened them. It was dark outside, but the moon was bright enough to let me see people still walking around. I looked up at the moon. There was a building near it that caught my attention. I focused on the roof to see a bald man half-visible behind a sniper rifle. "What the..."

I looked at the sniper for a brief second and he eyed me back before I threw myself on the floor, hearing the crash of the bullet through the glass window. I could hear Angel's voice in the midst of all the noise, but I could not put together the words coming out of his mouth. He threw his half-naked body on top of mine, covering me completely. His face crushed my ear, his neck smelled like Irish Spring, his body still cool from the shower. He shot a few times out the window while he was still crouching on the floor.

With the duffel bag in one hand and gripping mine with the other, he pulled me up and we were running out the hotel before I knew it. Ihab looked at us with astonishment as we passed the front desk.

The night was cool and it smacked my face like pieces of ice chips. We were running past the late walkers all over the street. Their eyes were on us; Angel was running around with nothing but a pair of shorts on. I would have thought the street would be deserted at this time with the chaos going on in the Middle East, but I guess not. We made it away from the scene without being attacked by anyone else.

We slowed down at an abandoned street and I steered Angel to face me. "How much more of this are we going to be able to handle until we get killed?"

He moved away from me and kept walking towards the abandoned street. "I don't know, Samantha. But standing here in the middle of this street isn't going to make our situation any better." He turned to me and stared me down with rage. "And how many times do I have to tell you to stay away from any windows? Didn't I say that to you? I said it, didn't I?"

I pointed back at the direction of the hotel with anger. "What makes you think that he wasn't waiting until we went to bed?"

"Okay, so all of a sudden you're an expert?" He turned around and began to walk away from me.

I caught up to him and jerked on his arm hard enough to turn him towards me. He looked at his arm with aggravation, then over to me. "What the hell is wrong with you? From the day you got me out of that place, you've been nothing but a jerk."

He removed his arm from my grip, but kept eye contact. He didn't say anything to me, his jaw tightened and he looked enormously egotistical.

"You know what," I said, throwing my hands in the air, "if you want to go, just go! I don't need this from you. I was already prepared to die back in that shack. The last thing I need before I die is to be around an asshole like you." I wheeled away from him and began to walk forward, anywhere away from him.

He followed me into another unknown destination. He didn't say anything to me as he passed me and walked ahead. After a while, he stopped and pulled out some clothes from the duffle bag and began to change before I even had the chance to turn around. This was not the way I wanted to see him naked, so I focused my glance down the street. He began to stock his pockets with ammunition, and his thighs were securely strapped with guns. He picked up the duffle bag and began walking without seeing if I would follow him.

We walked in silence for about three hours, not knowing what this deserted road had in store for us. Everything was too quiet, creepy even. We made it to a nicer area and there was a pay phone on the corner. He put some coins in and dialed a number fast, not letting me see.

When someone picked up the phone he leaned his head on the pole and closed his eyes. Without using code words, he went straight into business. "Captain, I'm running into so much heat right now. I'm running out of options on how to keep her safe."

"I have a name," I said without thinking.

I was able to hear the other man on the phone. His voice was extremely deep and raspy, as if he smoked a pack of cigarettes a day. "Let's change tactics, head to Egypt. Can you get there in about a week or so?"

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, another week? He responded quickly, "Yes." He eyed me with a 'behave' look.

"Ok. Call me in a week with a status report, I'll send a chopper for you guys. I'll give you the location there, this phone might be tapped."

"Ok," he said, sounding defeated.

"Angel, you're doing a great job. Get there in a week,"

He was about to hang up when I said out loud, "I want to talk to my dad."

I don't know what possessed me to say that. I didn't even know the guy. But at this point I needed to hear the voice of a person who actually cared about me.

The man on the other end of the phone paused for a bit then said, "Keep it short Angel" and hung up without another word.

Angel put the handset on the hook and looked at me. He picked up the phone again and put more coins in. "I'm going to dial your father's work number."

He put the phone to his ear and a woman picked up. "I need to speak with John, it's important."

She said, "I'm sorry, but he's in a very important meeting. If you give me your name and number..."

"This is Angel Polanski regarding his daughter."

"Hold on ok, he'll take the call immediately."

It took about thirty seconds for me to hear my dad's voice on the other end of the phone, a little short of breath. "John, it's Angel. I have your daughter. I cannot give you the location of our whereabouts. But she is safe with me. She will come home."

He pulled the receiver towards me and I took it and smacked it in my ear. I collapsed on to the floor, and tears began to flow down my cheeks when I said, "Daddy?"

"Samantha, oh thank God. Are you okay, please tell me you're ok, sweetie. You're not hurt, right?"

"Dad, I'm fine but it's been terrible..."

I heard gunshots and Angel said, "Hang up, and let's move," at the same time my dad said, "Gunshots, are you hurt?"

"I'm sorry daddy, but I need to go. They're coming for me," I cried and hung up the phone. It took the whole world to tear me away from that phone, but I did.

I turned towards the noise and saw a pickup truck full of men with guns. I looked at Angel, but this time he didn't need to say anything because I began running with him as fast as my tired body would let me. We began to pass tin houses and cardboard shacks again. Despite it being the middle of the night, there were kids outside; some didn't have clothing or shoes on.

Angel pulled a hard left and more gunshots erupted, we leaned against a cement wall and everything went silent. I stood next to him as he peeked to see how many people he was up against. While doing that, he reached into one of his pockets and handed me a small gun.

He looked over his shoulder again and I looked at the gun in my hand. It looked out of place, and I couldn't bear to see myself take the life of another human being, evil or not. I pulled on Angel's thigh and unbuttoned one of his pockets before I dropped the gun inside. I looked up at him to realize that he was observing me the whole time. I pulled on the duffle bag from his shoulder without breaking eye contact. The bag was much heavier than I'd expected, but I threw it over my shoulders without complaint.

I heard the truck door open and footsteps as men started running everywhere. Let the games begin, I thought to myself. Angel leaned over the wall, pulled out both magnums for the first time and began shooting. He shot over his shoulder and moved back to face me. He listened over his shoulder for any movement. I just watched his beautiful face concentrate on anyone moving around.

I heard another truck approach and Angel stared down at me still concentrating. "Stay behind me."

Angel left the wall and began to shoot with both guns. I quickly followed him and hid behind his large body. I wrapped one arm around his waist and I covered my face with the other. The gunshots exploded again like firecrackers. I could hear the gunshots fly past us with a whistling sound. We slowly walked towards another cement wall on the other end of the small houses. Right when we made it there, I heard a grenade launcher go off and aim straight towards us.

With both guns in his hands, Angel grabbed me by the waist and we went crashing to the floor. I knocked my head against the wall when Angel fell on me, forcing all the air out of my lungs because of his weight. I felt the rubble of cement fall on top of Angel's body. I could feel how heavy each rock was by the way his body vibrated. His head was resting on my shoulder as everything went completely silent, including the community around us. He brought his head up and looked into my eyes. What I wouldn't give to wake up every morning to those eyes.

Getting up, he grabbed my arm and we ran to the other side of the house we were using as a shield, because the gunshots were raging towards us as family members ran in every direction, screaming. Angel ran towards the other house, looked over his shoulder, and then signaled me to come towards him. I did and covered my ears as the gunshots followed me. Angel shot three consecutive shots.

There were only a few men left, and they were running towards us from the other direction. One of them threw a knife towards me. It was coming straight for my head. Angel shot the knife in mid-air, stopping it abruptly. Angel pulled out a grenade and threw it towards them. He threw me on the floor again as it exploded loudly.

I got up as the smoke and debris began to settle. One man came from the side of a house and began to pound on Angel, he got up and they began to fistfight. I was pulled away from the floor with my mouth covered. I began kicking and screaming through the fingers while they pulled me inside a small room and locked the door. I was thrown on to the bed and one of the men pointed an automatic to my forehead, quieting me instantly. The other man came and turned me on the bed, tying my wrists with rope while he sat on my legs.

I heard a gunshot go off and I assumed Angel had been killed. I lay there, letting the tears run down my face. The man came around the bed and tied a cloth around my eyes and another one around my mouth, keeping me quiet. Everything was silent. At this point there was nothing I could do. I was blind and mute, and Angel was dead.

One of the men pulled me to a standing position when I heard gunshots erupt again. I walked backwards until my body hit a wall, then I sank down to the floor and turned my body into a ball. The gunshots continued as I sobbed uncontrollably. Everything went quiet again. I heard silence, calmness, until someone crashed through the door.

I knew he was near me, I could feel him. Don't ask me how; I just knew it. Tranquility radiated through my body as he began to untie my wrists. When he did, I wrapped my arms around my body in defense. His cool fingers removed the cloth from my mouth and my eyes.

I squeezed my eyes shut. I knew it was Angel, but I just wanted to stay this way, in a ball with my eyes closed. I was trying very hard to cooperate with him so we could get out of this alive. But I wasn't him. I wasn't prepared for war. I wasn't prepared for all this.

He began to un-wrap my arms from my waist and I opened my eyes. I looked up at him crouching in front of my body, with both of my hands on his. I jumped on him with excitement and threw myself at him, knocking him on his butt unintentionally. He pulled me into a tight hug and let go quickly, looking into my eyes.

I rubbed my hands on his chest for comfort. "Thank you for saving me."

He pulled me into a standing position. "Don't worry about it. Come on, let's get away from here," he said and led me out the door.

There were bodies everywhere. The village people were quiet, some women and children were crying. I looked around as everyone had horror and depression written all over their faces. Some children didn't know what was going on, so they went to small puddles of dirty water and began drinking it. Angel began to walk around the bodies and pick up as much ammunition as he could. He grabbed the grenade launcher that was still in the man's arms. I just stood there and looked at everyone. Certainly the video games made it look fun, but they don't show how the soul haunts your dreams and won't leave your mind at peace.

Angel walked next to me and said, "We should get out of here before anyone else comes along. We'll take the truck so we can move faster."

We walked towards the pickup, black and dirty with sand and mud. Well, at least we weren't in a taxi with a mysterious driver. Hopefully, were going to be able to control our luck now. The quicker we got to Egypt, the quicker we got home and ended this nightmare for good. But I need to be realistic with myself. Getting home would be the easy part. Moving on with my life and pretending like nothing happened would be the impossible.

Angel threw the bag in the backseat and started the engine. I got in and he said, "We need to get away from Iran. We'll head for Turkey to avoid Iraq."

I didn't say anything. I just faced forward and concentrated on my view of the mountains far ahead. He looked at me, but I didn't dare look back at him.

"I never said this escape was going to be easy, Samantha. But I didn't think it was going to be this difficult either."

I watched him drive and his eyes glowed with the stars. "I'm not blaming you."

"Sam," he said for the first time. I looked over at him. "I'm sorry for getting angry at you earlier, and for kissing you."

I just looked at him. He said it arrogantly. Jerk! I mean, I liked the kiss. But I couldn't compliment him on it. It would probably make his head bigger. Ew. I leaned against the passenger door and cranked the window shut. I closed my eyes and rested my forehead against the cool surface. I was able to hear laughter in the background of the engine's loud rumbling. I should apologize for cursing at him.

He began to reload his Magnums while still driving. I saw him remove the ammo on the grenade launcher and a logo that I would recognize anywhere caught my attention. Knowing that it was completely harmless without its ammunition, I tried to snatch it from Angel's grip, but he was much quicker. He gave me an angry look, but I ignored it.

"Can I see that?"

He looked at me again for a few seconds before handing it to me.

"Do you know what this is?" I held it up so he could get a clear view of the logo.

He looked at it for a brief moment then ignored me. I turned it back to my face, making sure I wasn't seeing things. No, this was definitely what I thought it was.

"This is the logo to my father's manufacturing company."

He looked at it again, this time his expression changed. "Are you sure?" he asked me, even though his face confirmed my suspicions as true.

Everything began to flash back slowly. My father, his manufacturing company. My mother's death. Everything was coming back.

"What is this doing all the way out here? My father only builds this for the army and stuff. I'm positive that he never sold it to terrorists. This must be a mistake, or someone must have lost it somewhere."

Angel shook his head as he inspected the ammunition that had collected on the floor. They also had the same exact logo.

I couldn't say anything more than, "Oh God." I covered my face with my hands and sighed loudly. But then I thought of something. "Wait, why did you act like you didn't know the logo at first? I can tell by your face that you did know. Why did you do that?"

He took a deep breath and let it go slowly. "When I picked up all this stuff back there, that's when I realized that it was your father's logo. I'm just as confused as you. I don't know what's going on, I swear. The only reason I didn't say anything earlier was because I didn't think your memory would recognize it. I was just trying to protect you."

I stared at him for a while without saying anything. Could I trust him? Was he lying? Right then there was nobody else I could trust. "I didn't recognize it until the logo hit the light from the dashboard. It gave me flashbacks." That's all I needed to say for now.

He pulled over and turned to me. "Samantha, the only way we can solve this mystery is to go back to the campsite where I found you and see if there's anything there that can confirm our suspicions."

I was already shaking my head, even before he finished his sentence. "No. I can't go back there."

He looked me in the eye. "Sam," he said again, "something is telling me that this is something much deeper than just a kidnap case. We need to find out what's going on. It will help you remember."

I put my head down. How was it possible for me to go back there? I didn't want to look back, but at the same time, I wanted to know what was going on as well. I looked out the window. Angel waited quietly for me to make up my mind.

A part of me was saying no. I needed to get as far away from the torture as I could. There was no way in hell that I would go back to the same exact place where I was abused. I was treated like garbage. How could I just return to that place to look for some answers?

But at the same time I was very curious. It was no coincidence that these terrorists were running around with my father's ammunitions. There was something weird going on and I needed to find out what.

I finally turned and faced Angel. He was still looking at me. "Let's go back."

He caressed my cheek. "I won't let them hurt you. I promise. But we need to go to a base so I can regroup and get a new truck."

He started the car again. I didn't respond to his comment. I stared out the window, afraid of what the future had in store for me now.

Chapter 7

SNAP!!!

"I'm telling you, we'll be looking at these pictures when we have a football as a back and our wrinkles are worse than a pug's," she tells me as I'm trying to refocus my eyes.

I laughed and leaned away from the statue of Achilles. We'd always promised ourselves that Greece and Italy were the first places we were going to visit in our future of traveling the world. When we were little girls, we were obsessed with Greek mythology. Even though we knew that most of the stories were folktales, they captivated us completely.

I looked up at him and said, "You know, choosing Brad Pitt to play his role was a huge mistake, because I envisioned him to be a lot sexier. But then again, his statue says otherwise."

Hunter walked next to me and giggled, "You mean because his whole package is being exposed?"

I looked at her and blushed. "I didn't even mean it like that." I couldn't look back up at the statue. Didn't they have a toga to cover themselves with or something?

She bumped her shoulder against mine and flipped her black hair. "You will always be the innocent one of us. Live a little, will ya? Now come on, let's take pictures of all the statues before dark approaches."

She ran towards Alexander the Great, where I first saw the dark man in robes standing at the far end of the park, looking at me. Something told me to get away from there, and take Hunter with me. I shook my head and jogged towards her, I was always the negative one. I always looked at the bad before the good, and according to Hunter, this held me back from a lot of fun that I could've had in my teen years.

Hunter handed me the camera and wrapped her legs around Alexander's thigh. I smiled and snapped a few photos before I gazed around the park. We were the only ones left.

I didn't want to sound like a party pooper so I said, "I'm starved. Let's get some yummy Mediterranean food tonight."

She hopped off the statue and her brown eyes glittered with the moonlight. "The night is still young, babe. Plus, we need one more photo of Zeus." She pointed towards the fountain where the man was still standing.

I grabbed her wrists and we whirled around in the darkness. "Let's come back tomorrow. This feels weird."

"No way, just for one? Come on!"

She pulled at my wrists and we began to walk towards the fountain. A few short minutes later, we were gazing at the most beautifully sculpted statue of all. Surrounded by the fountain and lilies everywhere, I took my pose sitting on the fountain with my bare feet in the water. I decided to look up at the King of the Gods, kind of like a metaphor, since he was also the King of the Sky.

I waited for the flash, but it never came. Curiously, I looked over at Hunter. That's when I saw the man behind her. With one swing to her neck, he slit her throat, letting blood pour out in every direction before he began to make his way towards me. I couldn't make my feet work, so the only thing I was able to do was scream.

So I screamed as loud as my lungs would let me. He slammed on the brakes hard, making me launch my arms forward to avoid contact with the windshield.

"What is it? What?"

Tears were streaming down my cheeks like waterfalls. My throat felt tight and sore. My body felt weak, I'd finally found the point where I couldn't go anymore. This hurt more than being tortured in the shack. Her being gone forever felt like my heart was being ripped out of my chest. I looked over at him and said out loud, "Hunter, she's dead."

He closed his eyes for a brief second, and then reopened them. "Samantha..."

I looked at him with hate. "You knew, didn't you?"

He took a deep breath. He turned his body completely towards me. "Your father informed me about her death. I was waiting for the right time..."

"I can't believe you," I interrupted.

He turned his head and stared out at the road. I jumped out of the truck and walked away. I didn't know where I was going, but nothing mattered anymore. I let the tears flow more freely now. Hunter was like the family I'd never had. We'd been friends since the second grade. Her family was my adopted family. Neither of us had any siblings, so it was as if we were.

My mother died when I was nine, and before my disappearance my father was so consumed in my stepmother-to-be's life that he forgot about me. Special events and birthdays didn't matter to him much. I felt like my father hired this man to keep his reputation up. I knew from the moment I was taken to the campsite that ransom hadn't been the reason I was taken. It was because my father stopped selling and distributing his merchandise around the world, behind the United States' back. My father was afraid of the outcome of war with such powerful weapons in the hands of the enemy. That's why Angel's secret organization was hired instead of my father going completely public with my disappearance. Of course the public knew I was missing, but all the important facts were hidden. And now I'd lost my better half, my twin. I'd lost the only person who had been there for me since I could remember. All of this because of my father. He was to blame.

I felt his soft hand wrap around mine. I looked up at him and only saw shadows, except for those eyes. I buried my face in his chest and sobbed. I felt him take a deep breath before he wrapped one arm around my shoulder while still holding my hand with the other. I just sobbed and sobbed with all my might. I could still hear her giggles. It was like a poison running through my veins. Something so beautiful was slowly killing me inside.

Many people say that they never got the chance to say goodbye to their loved ones because they were either angry with them or they weren't there for them. I didn't get to say goodbye to Hunter and I watched her die with my own eyes. I saw fear written all over her face.

Angel pulled away and stroked my cheeks, wiping away all the tears. He didn't say anything to me. He didn't have to. Despair and sorrow was written all over his eyes. His silence soothed my pain away. His touch erased the bad memories. He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and led me back to the truck. We walked around to the driver's side and I slid down to the passenger's. He got in next to me and closed the door. He pulled me towards him, his cool skin sending his familiar aroma around my nostrils. I cuddled up next to him and buried my face in his neck, soaking it with tears within minutes.

I felt the car in motion again and I shut my eyes, but quickly opened them again. I was afraid that if I went to sleep, I would see Hunter dying, over and over again in my memory, in my dreams. All of my lost memories were slowly coming back to me. Something I desired so badly was now something I wished I'd never gotten back. They would be my torture. I had to face it one day; because this was the only way I would ever see her again, in my dreams and in my memory. Pain and excitement walked hand in hand in my life.

I woke up to the sun shining through my eyelids. I opened them to realize that Angel was still driving. The sun stung my eyes but I still looked over at his slouched body behind the steering wheel.

"Ohmygod, do you want me to drive for a bit?"

He looked over to me and smiled his charming smile. He looked a little tired, and his smile quickly faded away. "Nah, we're almost done. We're in Turkey. We have about a week to kill before we're supposed to be in Egypt. Since staying in one place for a long time increases the chances of being caught, it is best to move around. And I thought that since we're here, we might as well take advantage of some ancient buildings." He pulled out a digital camera from his pocket and handed it to me. "I don't want you going back home completely empty handed from this."

His sincerity took me off guard. I stared at him briefly before turning my attention to the digital camera. I looked at the red digital camera in my hands and turned it on. There weren't any pictures saved on the memory card so the first thing I wanted to do was capture his beauty and I did. I turned the camera to him and snapped a few pictures of him driving. He looked tired, but even the circles under his eyes couldn't hide his perfection. I thought about taking more pictures of him when he was all rested, and looked the most stunning.

He laughed and said, "I'm not part of Turkey's tourist attraction. I'm Irish."

"You are?" I asked, afraid of demolishing his mood completely.

"Yeah, my father was American, but my mom is Irish. That's about everything I wanted to find out about my past."

I turned off the camera and looked at him. "You're a bit more cheerful than usual."

He glanced at me quickly before turning back to the road, a hint of joy still in his face. "I was trying to keep professional this whole time, but it's impossible when we've gone through this much together. Besides, it's very difficult to ignore you when you talk so much."

I rolled my eyes and stared out the window. He was right though. I do talk a lot. I didn't know anything about his life, but I hadn't gone through anything this tough since my mother died. And when she did, I experienced that on my own. My father avoided the conversation at all costs, which made it harder for me to deal with it. Going through so many different emotions with Angel had brought me closer to him. He'd been my shoulder to cry on from the very beginning. And I felt really bad about the way I treated him yesterday.

"Angel," I said, loving the way his name sounded on my lips. He looked over at me. "I'm sorry I was mean to you yesterday. Especially when we were getting away from the hotel and then again when I woke up."

He looked at me quickly before turning back to the road. "I was being inconsiderate with you as well. I need to remind myself about everything that you went through and not let my arrogance take over." It wasn't exactly an apology, but for Angel, it was the closest thing to it.

"But I need to keep in mind that you are the one person who came for me when everyone else turned their backs on the mission. I mean I know it wasn't what you preferred to do. But I want to thank you for taking the job when nobody else would."

He smiled at me with warm eyes. "I was not going to let you die like that, the way I found you back there. I've been in war, and many of my friends died out here, not able to say goodbye to anyone, it can destroy you."

He had a point. Many people died in the Iraq War every day. I couldn't imagine receiving a family member in a coffin with an American flag covering it. That isn't something nobody should receive as if it was some sort of UPS delivery.

"So is Angel your real name or is it just like a code name like mine?"

He laughed a little at my code name remark. "No, it's not a code name, it's my birth name. Black Angel is my code name as you call it," he responded, gripping the wheel with one hand and taking hold of mine with another.

I look down at our entwined hands and then back at him. This was where the line was being crossed. I mean, there was no doubt that Angel was mouthwateringly hot, and he could leave me speechless with just one stare of those intense eyes. And the kiss back at the hotel almost sent me into a coma because it was just that damn good. But I'd thought that he was just doing it to get me back to reality. Was he? Because he was leaning in a second time before he was interrupted. What would have happened if we weren't interrupted? How far would I have gone? How far would he have gone?

And my state of mind isn't at the place to be used by someone. Even if this is just to comfort me when I needed. I'm broken, and I cannot add a broken heart to this. What will happen when we get back home? Will he still want to be with me when I start acting crazy? Will he leave me as soon as we land?

But now he wasn't holding my hand for moral support, or to help me in a tough situation; he was holding my hand because, well, I don't know why. That's why I felt that he was crossing the line, because this is where confusion comes in. Maybe approaching him about it wasn't a bad idea.

"Okay, so don't feel weird about this, but why are you holding my hand?" I looked straight at his tired eyes.

He looked over at me and blinked a few times. "Um, I don't know. Why am I holding your hand?" he questioned himself in wonder. But when I thought I'd ruined it and he was going to remove his grip from mine, he just held me tighter and drove silently for a few minutes.

I didn't even realize that he was stopping until he turned the truck off. I looked out the window to see the most beautiful view I have ever seen. The mountain we were standing on was pure green, and the buildings before us were a mixture of ancient and modern. Indian and Greek. It was an amazing clash of culture. "Where are we?"

He got out the car and waited for me, "We're in Adana, Turkey. It is the fourth largest city in Turkey."

I walked up next to him and he held my hand again. I looked down at it and then up at his eyes. He just smiled before he pulled me towards the view in front of us. We drove for hours. Much of it reminded me of Greece and their arenas. Another building reminded me of the Taj Mahal in India. Turkey was a mixture of all its surrounding countries, and that made it beautiful.

I looked at him most of the time while he was teaching the history. He looked confidant and assured that all his facts were correct. Everything around us had history written all over it. We drove for another hour around the city until my body ached from sitting in the small cabin, so we crossed the Greek border.

Angel turned towards me, stroking my cheek, leaving it burning when he pulled away. "I don't know if you noticed, but your face is almost healed."

Of course I hadn't noticed. My face was the last thing I had been worried about. Back home, this would have been my number one priority. I looked in the rearview mirror. He was right. The swelling in my right eye was completely down, along with my lip. It was as if it had never happened. The marks were gone, but the memories would be there forever. However, the marks on my neck were still there, looking as if they might never heal.

After hours of driving and sightseeing in Greece, I asked Angel to stop by the garden where Hunter died. I snapped pictures of all the statues, in the same order we did that dreadful day, leaving the fountain of Zeus for last. Angel stayed behind and watched me from a distance, giving me space. I could hear her laughter through the statues. I even thought I saw her running though the park, black hair flowing around as she ran, light blue dress flowing with the cool wind. I smiled at myself. Memories of her were the only things that would keep me going and living the life she wanted me to live. I let tears flow, because they were the only things that reminded me of the reality of it all. I picked up a few lilies and walked towards the fountain. I looked down to where she had stood; there wasn't even a slight indication that it had happened. I placed the flowers down on the ground where she collapsed and walked away. I made it to Angel's side without looking back.

"Are you okay?" he asked when I walked up to him.

I just nodded. He felt my sadness; because he did the one thing that I needed the most. He pulled me close to him and hugged me tight. I wrapped my arms around his narrow waist, buried my face in his chest, and let the tears flow freely. He didn't say anything, he just held me, smelling my hair and kissing my forehead. I could get through this, as long as Angel was with me.

"We should get away from here."

He held me by the shoulders and directed me back to the car. This whole day was as if nothing had happened back there in the Middle East. I forgot about everything until we made it to the park. Hours and hours of sightseeing and walking had made me exhausted. We drove in silence for about an hour until we pulled into a small fancy inn called Park Hotel.

"I thought we would be heading to Egypt?"

He parked in a corner where the trees would be covering most of the car and killed the engine. He turned to me, his eyes were a little red, and so I immediately knew the answer to my question.

"I'm a little tired."

I looked into his eyes and didn't argue. This was the first time that I'd seen him looking exhausted.

"Angel, I have a question."

He took a deep breath and turned to me waving his gloved hand, "Ask away."

"We passed a few American embassies throughout our time together, including one here in Turkey. Why haven't we entered one of them and asked for help? I mean, we're Americans. They would help us in a heartbeat, especially when they figure out I'm a missing person."

He put his head back and pinched his nose for a few long seconds. Then he turned to me. "Samantha, I told you that your father didn't want to go public with your disappearance. Of course the world knew terrorists captured an ex-lieutenant's daughter. But they don't know the motive or the reason. I wondered this myself, but refrained from asking your father that same question. Why? Then we saw his logo on all those guns and ammunitions back there and it got me thinking that your father might have been doing something that he didn't want the U. S. to find out about. Treason maybe. I don't know. That's why he hired me and paid me an unimaginable amount of money to bring you back alive, and an added bonus when I came back home. It was as if he was trying to buy my silence."

I glared at him and became furious. "My father would never betray the Americans. What would be his motive? Why would he do this? How dare you accuse him of this?"

"I didn't accuse anyone of anything Samantha, damn it!" He took a deep breath to calm himself down and continued, "All I am saying is that it's suspicious that I was sent here practically alone to save a girl from men who were trying to kill us with her father's machinery!"

I wanted to yell at him some more. But he'd made a few fair points.

Angel took a deep breath and looked at me with sincere eyes again. "Look, I didn't mean to upset you. I know this is a lot to take in. But we need to stay sane and just take this as it comes. Thinking about all the inconsistencies we have witnessed is just going to make us both crazy. We need to concentrate on surviving instead."

Angel was right. For now, I was going to forget about everything involving my father. I need to just concentrate on my escape.

We got out of the car and walked towards the hotel. The street was quiet with only a few sightseers walking around. The area was simple and timeless.

The hotel was a beautiful and simple white building at the corner of the street. The inside was decorated with a hint of luxury. There was a small chandelier hanging above the front desk, which was made out of cherry wood. A small sitting area to our right boasted beige leather sofas that matched the walls exactly. Replicas of paintings by DaVinci and other artists were displayed all over the room. The carpet that surrounded the room was a deep red with black designs.

We walked in and the concierge greeted us immediately. She was striking with long black hair and emerald eyes. She had a beauty mark on the right side of her lip. I stared at it for a while, debating if it was real or fake.

"Welcome," she said with no accent at all. She immediately looked at Angel. "How may I help you this evening?"

"Can we get a room with a queen size bed?"

She smiled, showing a chipped tooth at the front. "I'm sorry, but we only accept reservations. Did you make one?"

I sighed and looked at him. He licked his lips and lowered his voice, "We didn't. But we've been sightseeing all afternoon and I completely forgot about making a reservation."

She looked down and began clicking away in her computer. She looked up again and saw that I was looking a little ragged and Angel was carrying all kinds of weapons and wearing his dog tags. "You're in luck; we have a small room with a kitchen that might work for you two."

I closed my eyes and sighed from relief. "Thank you so much."

She smiled and handed us the keys. "No, problem. Enjoy your stay."

She handed Angel the key and we took the elevator to the second floor, which continued the same decoration as the main lobby. "I think we would have gotten the room without your flirting.

"Are you jealous? Because you know I can't help it when women flirt with such a handsome man like myself," he teased with a combination of a sneer and a laugh.

I looked at him and smiled confidently. "Why would I be jealous? We're not a couple," I retorted and continued to walk towards our room as I heard him laugh lightly.

Once we made it to room twenty-five, he unlocked the door and stepped aside. I gasped in surprise because everything was white. The bed sheets, the curtains, the carpet, even the coffeepot and the microwave in the small kitchen.

Angel walked in first and dropped the duffle bag on the floor and turned towards me, "So, are you going to just stand there all night?"

I just looked at him and gave him a smirk before I walked towards the bed and sat down. He sat down next to me and gave me an arrogant smile. I answered, "You don't have to get smart with me."

He snorted but continued to stare at me.

"Thank you for trying to make me feel better. Thank you for today."

"My pleasure," was all he responded.

He looked down at me and all his amusement faded away, just the pool of blue eyes and clear translucent skin looked before me. I looked away. I had to. His look was intimidating; I didn't understand how any woman could just stare at his eyes and not feel self-conscious.

I got up and decided to hit the shower without looking back at Angel. I dug through the duffle bag and gathered everything I needed before closing the bathroom door behind me. The bathroom was just as beautiful. The room was also white, but the faucet on the sink and on the shower was gold. There was a painting of a sunset, mimicking the golden tints in the room. I ran the steamy hot water and jumped in quickly. I closed my eyes and let the hot water stream down my face.

Hunter. The person I needed the most was not with me anymore. Just thinking about going home and meeting up with her would excite me right now. Instead I would be going home to an empty dorm. My father was going to go back to run his company and hide behind his desk. My stepmother-to-be has probably convinced my father to let her move into our home before their marriage in September. I had it all planned out. I was going to avoid her until their stupid wedding, then get an apartment in the city with Hunter once we graduated college. That way, I didn't need to spend one day in that house with her.

But that wasn't going to happen anymore. Hunter was gone. I hadn't even attended her funeral. Did they choose her favorite flowers? Tulips. Did they dress her in one of her favorite outfits? Her floral cocktail dress with her yellow pumps? Instead of crying with depression or sorrow, I was crying from anger. I had always trusted my instincts, but that time I tried to ignore it so we could have a good vacation. I should have dragged her out of there even if she'd hated me for it. I shook my head and finished my shower. I needed to concentrate on getting out of here alive. This war wasn't over. These men wanted my father to suffer. I wanted him to pay for Hunter's death.

And there were still many unanswered questions. I felt like these terrorists were after something deeper besides my father's money and me. There was something missing and I couldn't put my finger on it. Why were they still chasing us? What did they want from me in particular? Could it be that my father was selling his merchandise to terrorists after all? I would get some of my answers once we headed back to the campsite. I never got a chance to brainstorm like this and I kind of liked it better when I didn't. All these unanswered questions were annoying me. I hated to be left in the dark.

Frustrated, I turned off the shower and dried off. I put on the shirt and walked out of the bathroom. Angel was hunched over on the kitchen table. He turned to face me and smiled. His eyes were dark. He was definitely tired.

He moved out of the way so I could look at the table. "I got us some garden salad, macaroni and cheese, chicken soup, and garlic bread. I know, weird combination, but I tried to choose only what would seem normal to you."

Still shocked from all of the food, I walked towards the dinner table and sat down. He smiled and said, "Start eating, I need a shower," and walked into the bathroom.

I decided to wait for him so I turned on the TV. There was news on the war in Iraq, so I quickly changed it to a movie with Jennifer Aniston in it, I didn't know which one. In the meanwhile, I microwaved some of the stuff so it wouldn't get too cold.

The man grabbed me by the hair and dunked my head completely into the large bucket of water. At first I would hold my breath long enough for him to bring me back up and laugh in my face. But then he realized my strategy. With his other hand, he punched me in the ribs, knocking the wind out of me. I was surprised that my ribs weren't broken.

'WHERE IS IT?" He screamed in broken English. I had no clue what he was talking about.

This time when I went under, I swallowed water. He brought me back up and I coughed convulsively. He punched me one more time on the lip and let go of me.

I sat stiffly on the white leather chair, trying to get a hold on myself. I shook my head and looked around. Everything was white. I wasn't in the shack anymore. I was in a safe place. That wasn't real. Those were just old memories resurfacing. I took a few deep breaths as I tried to regain control of my body.

Angel walked out of the bathroom with a change of clothes. He came to the dinner table and sat down. He looked at me briefly as if he was going to say something, but then turned towards the door to make sure it was still locked. We began to eat in silence. I stuffed my face with as much food as I could eat. The salad was delicious and I couldn't even remember the last time I'd had macaroni and cheese. The food was so yummy that I forgot about what just happened a few minutes ago. Angel looked up at me and laughed. But he didn't distract me. I put the macaroni and cheese in my mouth and closed my eyes so I could savor every taste in it. It didn't taste like the ones back home, but it was good enough to indulge.

Once I was done with my meal, I felt extremely exhausted and sleepy. I closed my eyes and moaned with gratitude. I felt his cool hand slip underneath mine and he gave me a quick squeeze. I opened my eyes and he pulled me to a standing position next to him. He wrapped his fingers around mine and pulled me closer.

He looked into my eyes and said, "Let's take a walk on the beach."

I just looked at him and nodded. I was afraid that if I tried to say something my voice would fail me, or worse, squeak like a mouse's. I was already nervous just from looking at him, so I let him pull me away. He pulled me out the hotel room and we exited through the back emergency doors. He let go of my hand and we crossed the semi busy street to meet the sand on the other side. I kicked off my sandals and we slowly walked towards the shoreline. We didn't say anything to each other. I just sat down and looked out at the ocean. Angel came up and sat next to me. I lay back on the ground, not caring about getting sand in my wet hair.

I closed my eyes and concentrated on everything around me. The cool wind was calming my skin. I definitely needed a facial when I got back home. The moonlight and the stars were caressing my skin, bringing it back to life. The waves were crashing on the shore and on the rocks. I could hear people talking and laughing in the background, somewhere far away. I could smell his aroma. I could feel heat radiating from his skin. I could hear his heartbeat...

My eyes snapped open. So much for my calm mediation. I looked over at him; he was still staring out at the ocean with his arms on his knees. I thought about what I was going to do. Well, I should indulge now because once we headed to Egypt, I might never see him again. I might lose him forever.

I came up to a sitting position without disturbing him. I scooted up and sat right in front of him. He looked at me in shock. I brought my hand up and traced his eyebrow. I saw his Adam's apple move and he closed his eyes. The wind pushed my hair in all different directions. I looked up at his buzz cut and bought my hand to it. His hair felt sharp and uneven, needing another haircut. Angel tried to stay as still as possible, but I could hear him catching his breath. I took my finger and traced his lips, his pink beautiful lips. The same lips that had me at the edge of my sanity. Talking all the advantage I could, I traced the lines of muscles of his arms, something that had been haunting my dreams. I traced every color and stroke of his tattoos. Every skull, every angel's wing, even the giant black cross that engulfed the tattoos all around them. This one looked older; as if it was the first one he'd gotten.

I dropped my hand and recorded his face in my mind. His face was incredibly clear of scars or sun damage. His lips were remarkably smooth.

As if on cue, he opened his eyes to dazzle me with his most remarkable feature. He lit up something inside when he looked at me. I didn't hesitate; I touched his cheek while his eyes were still open. He tilted his head and rubbed his cheek against my palm. I got up on my knees and looked down at him. He just looked at me, no expression for me to read. I grabbed both of his hands and put them on my waist. I took his face in my hands and leaned in for the kiss I'd been waiting for since the night he kissed me.

My kiss was hungry, needy. I kissed him with everything I had. I put my hands around his neck and brought him as close to me as I could. It was something that had been burning inside me from the moment he walked into my shack, sweaty and looking extremely sexy dressed in all black. He was a professional at kissing, I could tell and I was losing control.

I pushed him back hungrily so he could lie on the sand. I jumped on top of him and began kissing him again. After a while, I broke the kiss and yanked his shirt away from his body. I looked down at his perfect chest. I traced the muscles in his abdomen. I looked up to catch him staring at me. His eyes were slightly closed, his lips open. But as usual, there wasn't any big emotion in his face.

Annoyed, I removed my tee to leave me with a bra too small for my bust size, exposing the scratches and bite marks all over my chest. I began to lie on top of him and grabbed his jaw to kiss him again. He put his hands on my shoulders and pushed me back. "Samantha..."

I interrupted him by kissing him again. This kiss was more passionate. I broke the kiss and went for his neck, biting and kissing him softly. I went for his shorts and his hands met me there. I sat back up on top of him. "Samantha, we can't."

I was so annoyed I hopped off him and sat down facing the water. "Why not? Is it because you have someone else waiting for you? Or is it because my father is this big important guy and you don't want to seem unprofessional to him?"

I was mad. "I'm an adult. I don't live with my father anymore...only on summer vacations. But in one more year I am going to make a living on my own. My father has no right to tell me what to do anymore, especially when I come back home. That's if I make it home."

He got up. I could hear him because his dogtags jingled with his movement. He was behind me. I could feel him. His voice was near me. His soul haunted me.

"Samantha. You are an adult, I'm not arguing about that. I don't feel that I have to consult your father about your own decisions." God, the way he talked made him sound so professional. "And you are a very beautiful person, so it's not that either. And no, there isn't anyone waiting for me at home. I've already told you that, and I don't need to repeat myself. I just simply feel that we are both in the wrong place at the wrong time." Geez, could he make me feel any worse?

I wanted to cry, but that would make me seem even more immature. So I simply turned around and looked at him. He was already looking at me with warm eyes. I could tell that he was making an effort for them to look warm. I knew he spent years learning to control his emotions while in the Navy, but it was really getting on my nerves. He always looked so stone faced and cold-hearted.

As if he could read my thoughts, he gave me a tiny smile. He brought his hands up and caressed my cheek. "Let's just take it day by day, okay. Today was one of the few days where we didn't get attacked by anyone."

He was right; there was no arguing with that one. He slowly brought his lips to mine and kissed me very gently. The kiss sent shivers all the way up my spine and into my brain, ringing a bell. I could feel his soft full lips slowly parting mine. His tongue slowly licked my lips, teasing the kiss before he pulled away.

A little breathless, I looked down at my thighs and said, "If you want me to behave, you should not do that again."

He touched my chin so I would look up at his eyes. "We won't be able to behave for too long."

Before I was able to ask him what he meant, he turned and grabbed my tee shirt and dropped it over my head. Looking me over with heavy eyes, he pulled my arms through the shirt and pulled it down. Helping me up, we both made our way back to the hotel room.

Once we were back in our room, I washed up again and got underneath the covers wearing just his tee and my underwear. Angel followed after I got out of the shower. I lay down on my stomach, facing him. I closed my eyes as he pulled my shirt up, revealing the slash marks all over my back, sixteen that I was able to count. He lay down with me, removing some of the pain and torture with his cool fingers. I was out of tears; I just kept my eyes closed to avoid my look of hurt. I felt him press his lips on my back a few times.

I opened my eyes as he turned to face me and gathered me in his arms, groaning softly before closing his eyes. I could feel him breathing in my hair; this made my body relax all over. Before I went to sleep completely he kissed my hair several times and whispered 'Good night' in my ear.

Chapter 8

Lose

I woke up at the sound of the front door closing. Angel plopped on the bed with two cups of coffee and a bag of bagels. He was dressed in his uniform as usual, though it was looking worn out. He looked delicious.

I got up and smiled at him. He smiled back and handed me a cup of coffee. "I got you strawberry jelly and cream cheese. I didn't know which one you liked." He had one on each hand and gave me a shy smile.

I took a sip of the coffee. It was delicious. I beamed with excitement because it had no sugar and the right amount of vanilla cream. "That is my ultimate favorite kind of jelly," I said, pointing at the one he had in his right hand.

He looked at me and laughed, but I gave him a look so he didn't even dare comment on it. I spread everything on the bed and began to prepare my bagel. I put the perfect amount of cream cheese and jelly on it and began to eat.

I don't know if I felt bolder because I'd attacked him last night, but I became more confident with saying everything I felt. "You know," I said in between bites, "you look extremely mouthwatering when you're in complete uniform."

His bagel was frozen between the bed and his mouth. He just looked at me so I started laughing, throwing my head back as I did. He put the bagel down and said smiling, "I can see you're becoming more yourself now. Your father did warn me that you're very outspoken."

I rolled my eyes and finished the bagel. The last thing I needed right now was my father's face in my thoughts. I got out of the bed and went to the bathroom to wash up and change my clothes. I French-braided my hair and put my hat on to conceal my face.

When I walked out the door Angel was ready to go. "So, what's the agenda for today?"

He picked up the duffle bag and opened the door. "We're driving to Inrick, Turkey. Captain thinks it's a good idea to get rid of the truck we borrowed and re-gather ourselves there. Their naval base is the perfect place to lay low for a few days before we go back to the Middle East."

I quickened my pace to keep up with him. "Why can't we just use one of their helicopters or jets and go home?" I asked him as we exited the hotel and onto another humid day.

He opened the truck door and threw the duffle bag in the back seat. "Remember, we're supposed to keep a low profile. The Navy won't report us because I was stationed there, but they will let us stay for a night. We cannot show in any way that we used the Army or Navy for our personal business. That is just asking for trouble back home."

We jumped into the cabin and rolled down the windows. "Okay, so you're not supposed to use the Navy for personal business? I don't get it but whatever. So how long is this drive?"

"A few hours. Who knows, the traffic here varies so it's hard to say."

I stopped with the interrogation to give him time to breathe. I enjoyed the scenery and continued taking pictures of things I didn't yesterday, including of well-rested Angel. The sky was clear and the weather was perfect. I took more pictures of the beach since it looked more green than blue today. I turned to Angel and snapped half a dozen pictures of him in his adorable uniform. This time, he didn't say anything. He just looked arrogant.

He looked over at me again and said, "One thing I'll have a hard time getting used to is your blue eyes. They look sad all the time, even when you're smiling."

I glanced at him, surprised at what he'd just said. My eyes are hard to get used to? What about his? "I know, they're teal. My father always called them puppy eyes when I was a girl. Because he said he was never able to say no to me." I looked back out the window.

We passed a few more ruins before everything left us. The street was deserted and there weren't any structures. All I could see were trees and mountains. I took a deep breath and plopped my head on my hands, removing the hat that was making me sweat.

He looked over at me and laughed. "You don't want to take pictures of mountains?" I looked at him and rolled my eyes, which made him laugh even harder. That sound made his eyes sparkle. His eyes shone like an angel. It was beautiful. "We need to stop for gas," he said looking at the dashboard, a hint of laughter still in his voice.

Fifteen minutes later, we pulled into what looked like at a gas station. It was completely run down and it looked scary. I didn't even bother to go into the small convenience store because I knew I wouldn't find anything in there. So I just went around to the back to use the bathroom.

I found it quickly because of the smell. It was horrendous. I opened the door with my foot and the sight was even worse. There were flies all over the place. The toilet looked like it wouldn't flush. There was dirt or other stuff that I didn't want to think about on the walls. I took a deep breath and closed the door. I squatted with my feet apart and began to breathe with my mouth when I couldn't hold my breath any longer. I couldn't complain because this looked a lot better than the dump where I'd been held.

Don't fall.

Don't fall.

Don't fall.

Don't fall.

That was all I could think of as I squatted and did my business.

As soon as I was finished I opened the door so I could breathe clean air. But the door opened to a tall white man with green eyes and a full-grown beard.

"I'm sorry..." but his sentence cut off when he looked me over. I felt completely naked in front of him. He took the time to look at every inch of my body. He looked behind him as if to see if the coast was clear.

I tried to walk past him but he grabbed my arm and turned me to him, pinning me against the dirty wall behind me. He looked about thirty, or maybe younger without the beard. But he was creepy. I knew his intentions weren't good from the way his eyes kept roaming around my body. I began to pound on his thick chest because my mouth went completely dry. I actually thought that I was going to be raped again. I couldn't believe this.

With fear running though my body I screamed so loud that the man let go of me and covered his ears.

I kicked him in the groin and turned to run again, but he caught my leg and we both went down together. He began pulling me to him. "You're gonna be sorry, bitch."

He pulled me underneath him while I screamed again. I slapped his face but he didn't even notice. He ripped my shirt and pulled it away from me while he licked my neck. Of course, today I'd decided not to wear the extra tight bra because it bothered the lashes on my back. His hands began exploring every inch of my body. I began crying now that I couldn't scream anymore. He went for my shorts and began to pull them down. Right when I was about to pass out I heard Angel.

"Get your fucking dirty hands off her!"

I opened my eyes to see Angel pointing his magnum in our direction. The guy got off me with his hands up in defense. But Angel did something that both surprised me and scared me at the same time.

He put his gun back on the holster and said, "I wanna get a fucking piece of you."

He walked over to him with excitement written all over his face and they began fighting. Just like that. I sat up to cover myself and saw Angel grab him by the shirt and punch him in the face. The guy went limp on the floor with a single thump. I began to pull my shorts up and covered my chest with my ripped shirt.

Just as Angel came towards me, the man got back up and headed for us. I tried to say something or move, but I couldn't. I was frozen. The man went for the gun on his thigh and yanked it free at the same time that Angel turned around and began beating the man down again. I couldn't see clearly what was going on. There was a struggle for a few minutes. I wanted to get up and help him but I couldn't. I just watched.

I heard the gun go off. The man got up, threw the gun to the ground and ran away. This time I did get my body to work. I ran towards Angel with the shirt still wrapped around my chest. I began crying hysterically as I made my way to him. I cried like a little girl. He was face down so I threw myself on him. I heard a car screech and drive away.

This wasn't happening to me. Right when everything was finally falling into place, something bad happened as usual. I didn't want to cause his death. That was the last thing I wanted for him.

I turned Angel over and realized that his eyes were open and he was still breathing. They were short painful breaths. I sobbed as I pulled his shirt off to inspect the damage. I found the entrance wound on his right shoulder, right where his tattoos ended. I sighed with relief, covered my face with my hands, and began crying all over again.

"Son of a bitch shot me," he breathed.

Angel sat up slowly and pulled me to him, hugging me with his left arm. I hugged him as gently as I could and sobbed on his unharmed shoulder. I couldn't lose him. I couldn't. He was the only person I had left. He was the only person keeping me together. I kissed his cheeks over and over.

"Why are you crying?" he whispered in my ear, kissing it gently.

I could give him all the answers. I'd thought I was going to be raped. I'd thought I was going to die. I'd thought I was never going to see him again. I'd thought I'd lost him forever. But I gave him the answer that had been bothering me since I met him.

"I thought you weren't human."

I felt his stomach rumble with laughter then quickly stop because of the pain. I pulled away and looked at him. He had dirt all over, and he was sweating and looking a little clammy. I caressed his face, trying to remove some of the dirt and sweat there.

He looked into my eyes and said, "I told you not to go anywhere alone. I wish for once you could listen to me." He didn't sound angry though.

I smiled as I began to clean his body of all the dirt and sweat. I was glad to hear him still act like Mr. No Feelings. I was glad that he was still being himself. "But I really needed to pee."

He smiled as he stroked my cheek with his left hand and said, "You need to get the first aid kit. Put my shirt on."

I looked down at his shirt. It had a small hole on the right shoulder. I turned away from him and pulled the ripped shirt free before I pulled on his black one. I turned back to him and began to feel his pockets for the truck keys. Once I found them, I ran for the truck and unlocked it. I grabbed the duffle bag and pulled out the kit. I locked the door and ran back to him. He had pulled himself to lean on the cement wall where there was shade and had his eyes closed. There was blood all over the dirt and running down his right eye.

I threw myself in front of him and he opened his eyes. His blue eyes looked sad. I opened the kit and poured alcohol on all the instruments before pouring some on a gauze pad. Avoiding the bullet hole, I held it firmly on his eyebrow as he closed his eyes in pain. Once I disinfected it, I applied anti-bacterial ointment and sealed it shut with tape. I cleaned the blood from his face and he looked up at me.

"I don't think you need stitches."

He put his hand over the tape and felt the cut. "You need to take the bullet out."

Astonished, I just looked at him. What was I suppose to do? Say no? "How?"

"It's not deep; I can feel it a few inches from the entrance hole. Use the forceps to pull it out."

I picked up the forceps and looked at it. They looked like giant tweezers. I inspected the way they worked for a few seconds until I decided to go in. I went in a few inches and Angel gasped in pain again. He bit down on his lower lip. I felt something hard and I clamped on it. More blood oozed from the hole when I did.

"That's not the bullet," he said a little annoyed, "that's a bone."

I gasped and quickly let go. I came out an inch or two and turned slightly to the right. This time I found it quickly and pulled it out, dropping everything to the ground. I quickly picked up the bottle of alcohol and poured some into the wound. This time Angel screamed for a second, and then bit down on his lip. I slapped a large gauze dressing on it and taped it up as best as my shaky hands would let me. I cleaned the medical supplies and wiped them dry before I closed the kit back up. I cleaned my hands and we got up.

"Sorry, I've always hated blood and all that stuff," I said. Angel got up with no problem.

"You did great."

I puffed out a deep breath, "When all this is over, you're taking me to Bora-Bora."

Another silent laugh rumbled his stomach, but stopped quickly, "Bora-Bora, huh?"

I answered, "Yes, Bora-Bora. No people, no phones, no TV, and nobody attacking us. Just water and a little hut." He nodded in agreement.

I picked up his gun and placed it back on his thigh. I bet there's a scratch on it that he will complain about later. I wrapped my arm around his waist and we walked towards the truck. Angel got into the passenger side, which meant that I was driving.

"Um, so which way are we going?" Okay, so I was maybe the worst driver ever. I do admit it, my driving sucks. Luckily, we were the only ones on the road.

"Follow this road until you see the base. You won't miss it."

He leaned his head back and closed his eyes. There was still sweat all over his face and chest. The gauze I put on his wound was already spotted with blood. He looked paler than before. I tried to concentrate on my terrible driving. At least there wasn't anything distracting me, like music or texting. Angel fell into a deep sleep and I could hear him snoring lightly.

About twenty minutes later, I spotted the base. I mean it wasn't that difficult to find. There was a metal fence surrounding it with a few large factory-looking buildings that screamed military. And I could see a number of jets and helicopters in the distance. I quickly turned towards it and drove up to the security point.

There was an African-American man standing there with a huge automatic in his hands. He took one look at me and said with a southern accent, "Come on girl. This ain't no place to play. Go home."

I was already worked up as it was and this guy didn't give me a chance to speak. I pulled the dogtags out of Angel's shirt and shoved them in the guy's face. "This isn't a game. This guy here is a Navy SEAL. He was shot about five miles from here. He's bleeding to death." Okay, so I was exaggerating a bit. He was obviously fine, just tired and only lost a bit of blood.

The man came closer to me and inspected the tags thoroughly before opening the gates for me to cross without another word. I didn't know which way to drive. So, I just drove into a garage opening in one of the building. I heard several men yelling, but I ignored them. I put the dogtags around my neck, and turned to Angel. I put my hands on his face and shook him gently. He opened his eyes and looked around him. Once he noticed where he was, he began to get out of the truck. I got out quickly and ran around to help him. He was steady, but I put my arm around his waist anyway. I had no clue why I thought I could keep him steady. If he collapsed, I would go down too.

I looked around the base. It looked like an airport. Behind me were different lanes where the jets would take off and land. There was a white tower in the distance watching the air traffic. The jets were all different; some looked scary. Off in the distance was a large ship, metal and ready for combat. In front of me, the garage was completely empty. I assumed that this was where they would store some of the jets because it looked off limits. I left the keys in the ignition anyway; they could move it.

There were men everywhere. Some were off in a distance going through boot camp training. Everyone else was wearing standard Navy uniforms. Almost everyone's attention was on us.

A tall man, taller than Angel, came around and saluted Angel before shaking his hand. He looked about ten years older than Angel, but I could see that he was still built underneath his uniform. "Kerry, we've heard good things about you. Captain in the major terrorist group capture, and now the soldier responsible for the rescue of Samantha Keller. It is a shame that we had to meet this way. I am Lieutenant Pierce."

The man looked over at me, and I took a few steps back automatically. I didn't realize I'd done it until Angel turned to me and asked me what was wrong. I just shook my head and closed my eyes. What was wrong with me?

I was confused as to why this man called him Kerry, but I decided to ask him another time. "Thank you for letting us through. I was shot a few miles back."

"You don't need to explain yourself. A Navy SEAL is always honored here. Come. Let's take you to the infirmary so they can take a look at you."

Before Angel followed him, he turned back to the truck and unloaded, removing all his guns and ammunitions from his body. The only thing I saw him keep was his combat knife. He turned back to me and I wrapped my arm around his waist again.

The tall man turned and began walking. I let go of Angel, but he held my hand as we followed. We passed a number of training grounds and jets that looked like they would go faster than anything I knew. But mostly everything I saw was a plain wall. No pictures, no windows, nothing.

"I've heard many stories of your achievements, but I never thought that you would be this young. I am in my thirties and still on the road to become a SEAL myself. It's a hard process." He looked back for a second. "You don't look any older than twenty-five, son."

Angel squeezed my hand. I could tell that he hated it when people doubted him because of his age. "Twenty-four, actually. I trained hard. The Navy was my life."

We walked in silence until we entered a large white room with a few beds; all of them were empty. There was a beautiful woman with blonde hair in a tight bun. Her green eyes were huge and almond shaped. Her lips were full and perfect. Underneath the Navy uniform, I could tell that her body was perfect as well. She turned to look at Angel and I could tell that she liked what she saw. She enjoyed his 6'2 figure from head to toe.

The Lieutenant said, "Let's leave Kerry here with Sandra while I take you to clean up and get something to eat." He looked at the nurse.

But Angel's grip tightened on mine. "That's not possible. She needs to stay with me at all times. Unless you're really hungry?" he said, looking down at me. I quickly shook my head. No way was I leaving him with Miss Victoria's Secret here.

The Lieutenant just looked at him and nodded with approval. "I can see you didn't earn respect with your looks. Your captain told us you need a new truck. I will prepare everything for you." He left without another word.

Angel lay down on the bed next to Sandra and she began to remove the gauze on his chest. The bleeding had stopped, but she took some sort of stick and began to poke around inside the wound. Angel closed his eyes and tightened his jaw.

"So I hear you are quite the celebrity today?" she said as she poured some sort of yellow liquid inside, I heard it sizzle a little. Her voice was crisp and a little annoying.

"I guess so," was his only answer, his eyes still closed.

"Well, there isn't much for me to do; the girl did a pretty good job. No internal bleeding and no signs of an infection. It will take a while for it to heal. But it will on its own. Unless you want me to sew it shut so you can continue with your mission."

Angel opened his eyes and thought about it for a few seconds. "Sew it," he finally said, closing his eyes.

Okay, Barbie is just trying to prolong the moment with him, and she just called me a girl. Though Angel doesn't look interested in her. Then again, he's not the type for soul searching so I couldn't know for sure. I rolled my eyes and looked at his dogtags, which I had never inspected thoroughly: Kerry Angel Polanski, Navy SEAL. It had other numbers and his social security number on it. On the other side there was some sort of emblem. I took his hand in mine and he looked over at me. His eyes were tired and red; he needed to rest. The nurse took his face with both of her hands and made him face her, interrupting our moment. Her large bust was inches away from his chest. He looked up at her as she removed the tape from his right eyebrow. She didn't do much to it, just cleaned it and sealed it with small Band-Aids. She did the same with a cut on his arm.

"Your arm will be fine. You will be able to use it properly after a full night's rest. I will give you a small shot of morphine to ease the pain though." She caressed his perfect arm before inserting the needle. "I can tell you don't mind pain, Kerry. Those tattoos must have taken days to complete, especially with that artwork."

He smiled briefly at her. I felt invisible in the room. "How'd you guess?"

"Well," she continued, "my older brother is a tattoo artist. When I was in my teens, I spent hours watching him work. I learned a lot from him."

I was withdrawing into the shadows we they continued their conversation.

After she "inspected" him for a full evaluation, he slowly got up and hopped off the bed, stretching his arm a little. He looked at her, I mean really looked at her body completely. He did like what he saw. Any man would have. And Angel was the type of man to enjoy a beautiful woman like Sandra. She looked back, giving him a seductive smile and turned around to show her backside, pretending she was cleaning her supplies.

A young man in a Naval uniform came in. He was short, though a little muscular. His dark hair was cut short like Angel's. His tanned skin gleamed with the bright lights and his brown eyes took in everything around him. He was an observer. He looked at me and smiled.

He gave a small wave. "Hi, I'm Sam. I'm here to show you guys the room where you'll be staying."

Angel turned to the nurse and gave her his charming smile. He thanked her and turned away. I walked out the same way I came in, without saying a word to her.

The three of us walked down the small corridor while the boy looked back at me a few times. At the end of that same hall, he stopped and opened the door to a bland grey room with a bed on either side of the room. Our duffle bag was on one of the beds and the bathroom door was open.

The boy turned to me. "I got you enough clothes for a few days and some of the guys volunteered to clean your guns. Let me know if you need anything."

The boy walked off without saying anything to Angel. I smiled at him as he walked away. "That boy seriously has a crush on you," he said, burning two holes on the boy's back.

I smiled at him. "The same as Barbie?"

He walked into the bathroom and closed the door behind him with a thump. He definitely seemed aggravated, but that's not my concern. I looked at all the clothes they'd left us. Angel got more underclothes, black tees, and sweats with their logo, and more army pants. I got sports bras and underwear, sweat suits with their logo, some jeans, and black tees with black boots. Not my style at all, but everything that we had in the duffle bag was beginning to reek with the smell of sweat and dirt. And for the first time, I had clothes of my own, though I didn't mind wearing Angel's stuff.

While Angel washed up, I emptied the duffle bag and tried to get all the sand out of the compartments. I threw all the old clothes in a trash bag. I guessed they would recycle or get rid of them once we were gone.

All his guns and more were here. There was a smaller automatic and an extremely long rifle. None of them were loaded. I knew more about these things now since that was what had been keeping me alive lately. I left them on the bed and put our clothes neatly in the duffle bag. Angel came out the shower with a towel around his waist. I turned to him and inspected his dressings, touching them carefully. He looked down at me and kissed my forehead. I gave him the sweats and threw his old stuff in the trash bag.

Without a word I went into the shower myself to wash up. There was a razor that I took advantage of. I cleaned myself up and put on the stuff Sam had given me. The underclothes fit perfectly, though my breasts were pulled together tightly. I pulled on the white wife beater and the sweats; they were tight around the hip area. I towel dried my hair and came out. Angel had put on the grey shirt with the sweats. He seemed to be doing okay. I walked up to him and put his tags back around his neck.

"You never told me your real name is Kerry."

"It was, but once I left the Navy I never used it, leaving only Angel. Kerry is an Irish name and it just reminds me too much of the past I never had, so I just got rid of it. But people still call me that from time to time. Speaking of," he said giving me a charming conceited smile, "what did you mean back in the gas station?"

Oh no. I sat down and buried my face in his chest. "I didn't think you were human." I looked at him and smiled shyly. "I don't know, but you're perfect, absolutely perfect. Your skin naturally glows and you had no scars or marks before now. I really thought you were some sort of fallen angel or guardian angel or something. It took a bullet hole to snap me to reality."

I thought he was going to laugh but he didn't. He looked too tired and a little out of it from the drugs. He leaned in and kissed me softly. I suppressed the desire to bite his lower lip. "I am just like you. No supernatural here. I could be your guardian angel if you wanted me to be," he said, winking at me.

I smiled as his words made my heart flutter. But I ignored it, knowing that he was just acting a little off because of the drugs he'd received. He isn't acting like himself at all.

"Are you feeling okay?"

He looked down at me while he moved his shoulder a tiny bit. "Good. I just need to sleep for a bit then we'll get going tomorrow. Let's meet everyone at the cafeteria."

He got up and I touched the rifle. "They brought you more stuff."

He looked down at it. "I'm not a fan of rifles, but we should take whatever we can get."

I got up and followed him around the base. Everything looked exactly the way I figured it. Plain, no color, and people dressed in navy uniforms everywhere. "Were you stationed here?"

He looked down at me and smiled. "Only for a few months. That stuff is really tight on you. Bet some of these guys won't be able to keep their eyes off you." He inspected me once more, making me feel a little excited.

And they couldn't. As soon as I entered the cafeteria that's how it was. I felt like a piece of meat in the middle of a crowd of dogs. Men would turn and look back from time to time. Women looked a little annoyed at me for taking all their attention. I grabbed a tray and followed Angel around to fill up our plates. He went to a bench and I slid in next to him.

He looked excited to talk to people who were into the same thing he was, though his eyes still looked droopy. There were a few people he knew from when he was stationed here. Sandra came in and sat at the table across from us so she could enjoy the view. The food wasn't great but it was edible. Angel told me about their nutrition facts and how it makes your body strong and blah blah blah.

Sam came over once we were finished and wanted to give me a tour of the base. He wanted to show me the ship that he was going to take a voyage in soon. I looked at Angel and he shrugged. I guessed that was a yes. But I didn't want to leave Angel for a second. I told him thanks but that I was tired. Angel looked at me with surprised eyes. He got up and told everyone that he was very tired and needed to get some rest, but had enjoyed everyone's company.

Back in the room I pulled off the stupid sweats that everyone liked and stayed in my tank and underwear. Angel took some sleeping pills and sat on the edge of the other bed, looking a little like a drug addict. He was sweaty and clammy. Since everything was scattered on that bed, I went to the other. I was surprised when Angel came and lay down with me. I thought he would empty his bed and go to sleep. But he didn't. He came to me in only his briefs. He turned off the lights even though it was still bright because of the outside lights. I looked over at the clock, 7:59pm. For the first time I was actually worried about the time.

He looked at me, running his fingers through my wet hair. His eyes looked like glow in the dark marbles. He brought his lips to mine and kissed me passionately. I didn't overdo it. I kissed him gently as I ran my hands over his chest, feeling every curve of it. I could feel that he was aroused. His kisses sent shivers up my spine and I sighed with pleasure between his lips.

He broke the kiss and said, "I'm glad I took this job because I met you."

I closed my eyes and let a tear run down my cheek. Never in a million years would I have guessed that he would say that to me. Most of the time I felt like I got on his nerves. He still didn't push himself on me. He wrapped his arm on my waist and brought me closer, groaning loudly.

He kissed my cheeks several times and whispered in my ear, "Sleep, I will always be here protecting you."

He was slowly opening up to me, even if he wouldn't remember any of this tomorrow. With that thought, I fell asleep.

Chapter 9

Continue

I woke up with a start. I heard what sounded like a whistle outside. But the windows were too high for me to see. I looked at the clock again, 12:05pm. We'd definitely had our fair share of rest. I was facing Angel, with an arm and a leg on his body. My shirt was gone; I take clothes off in my sleep when I'm uncomfortable. Luckily, it wasn't anything else. That was showing that my sleeping pattern was becoming normal again. Before it felt like I was in coma or something, not even feeling fully rested when I woke up.

I looked over at Angel. He was sleeping on his stomach with his good arm hugging the pillow. His muscles looked stronger this way. His back rippled with every muscle imaginable. His mouth was hanging open, and he would be the only person in the world who could make that look sexy.

This was the first time I'd woken up before him, so I watched him sleep. I turned on to my side and began to caress his cheek. By the second stroke his eyes opened slowly and he smiled at me.

This didn't seem real; it had to be a dream. My knight in shining armor was really a guardian angel. I was waiting for his wings to magically appear. There's a lot of goodness in him. I could feel sincerity running through his cool skin. What I didn't understand why someone so beautiful like Angel would choose someone so normal and boring like me.

He blinked once bringing me back to the room. I touched his eyebrow and he said, "That's going to leave a scar. This will be my first battle scar," he said it with a slight attitude.

"Well, good morning to you too, Mr. Self-Centered. So that's what was bothering you all day yesterday."

He smiled and turned his body towards me. He wrapped his good arm around my waist and pulled me on top of him. I couldn't imagine a better Heaven than to wake up every morning to someone as beautiful as Angel. He looked a little surprised. My cheeks turned red with embarrassment and I buried my face in his chest.

"I usually sleep only in my underwear at home. Whenever I wear pajamas I take them off in the middle of the night. I've had a few embarrassing moments at slumber parties."

I felt Angel laugh silently and I brought my face back up. He combed my hair away from my face and I smiled at him. I began to trace the muscles in his chest then put my head on his chest and closed my eyes. He ran his fingers up and down my scarred back while I concentrated on his breathing. His heartbeat slowed down, and his rhythm mimicked mine. He wrapped his arm around my waist and became very still. I gently peeked at his face to see him sleeping again. I put my head back down and welcomed sleep for myself as well.

The nap was short. Angel woke up first thirty minutes later. I sat up; not realizing what it does to a man having a half-naked woman sitting on top of him. Embarrassed, I sat on the edge of the bed and Angel came behind me, kissing my neck and shoulders. He put his strong legs on either side of mine and wrapped his arms around me. I closed my eyes and leaned back in to him. I breathed in his scent and recorded it in my memory. He was driving me absolutely insane.

Right when I was losing my mind he got up to shower. I sat there watching him go. I heard the shower run and I got up myself, removing my underclothes and throwing them on the floor. I found my white tank and threw it on the floor as well. I wrapped a towel around myself and went for the door. I never thought about whether he'd locked the bathroom door behind him. I turned the knob and opened the door. Today he hadn't.

He didn't hear me come in but I could see him moving behind the foggy shower door. I dropped the towel and stepped in the shower. His back was to me and he turned to face me in confusion. He looked like he was going to say something, but then he looked down at me. The water was steaming hot, I guess this was the way he liked it as well.

He just stood there looking down at me. My body was completely healed; just a few cuts and marks were visible, but the bites had left scars all over my body. I was pale with no suntan, which was a minus. But I was an average looking girl.

I had felt that sex was something special to be shared with someone who actually meant something to you, not some one-night stand with a stranger. But all that was destroyed. I had been destroyed in the worst possible way a woman could be. One of the kidnappers had raped me countless times.

I pushed those horrible images aside and picked up the bar of soap. Angel was still staring down at me when I said, "Let me get your back for you."

He didn't say anything; he just turned around and put his hands on the wall. I lathered the soap all over his back with shaky hands, I'm sure he was able to feel it. His shoulders were muscular, perfect. His waist was slim.

I was sure my experience had scarred me forever. I would never be able to live a normal life like before. I was terrified of men. I was terrified of any man who came close to me...except Angel. He's like my God. I became obsessed.

When I was finished he turned around to face me again. I looked at his perfect body completely. He could control his body, I couldn't. He took the soap from my hands and finished his washing. He stepped under the spray and rinsed with his eyes closed.

I just stood there, watching perfection do its task. He gave me the soap and I began to wash up. I stepped under the water and closed my eyes to let the steam wash away the shivers from seeing this man naked. When I reopened them, Angel was still looking down at me. He stepped towards me and put his hands on my waist.

He just looked down at me while the water sprayed on his back. He struggled with his emotions for a bit. His jaw clenched and he looked away, closing his eyes. Finally he reopened them and half smiled with sincerity, "I want you back home. I want you with me."

I looked at him, a little confused. But, he bent over and kissed me before I could even ask what he meant. His kiss wasn't soft and innocent. It was strong and demanding. A kiss that drugged me instantly. I brought my hands around his shoulders and pulled him closer to me. He hissed because of the pain and bit my lower lip hard at the same time. He pushed me against the wall and both of his hands were on either side of my face. But I wiggled closer to him. He kissed me harder and my head was beginning to spin. He pressed his body against mine and I could tell that his control was over. Our bodies changed the temperature knob and the water became so cold that it snapped us back to reality. I jumped away as he shut the water off.

I stood there panting while he tried to regain his composure. But I wasn't about to let that happen. I put my hands around his shoulders again and jumped up to wrap my legs around his waist. He groaned loudly with pain. He began to kiss me again, while he held me there with his good arm. He opened the shower door hard making it crash against the wall. We made it to the bed while still kissing and he threw me on the bed.

I fell with a thump and he began to caress my cheek. I closed my eyes and he kissed my eyelids. Everything he did to me drove me crazy. Angel was breathing hard on top of me. His body felt marvelous on top of me, but he was just too heavy. Just when I thought he couldn't be more beautiful, he got up and brought me with him. He pulled up his briefs and knelt on the floor in front of me.

"We can't do this now," he said, taking both of my hands and kissing them gently. He looked up at me. His eyes were still wild, but his face was controlled.

"I know." I wasn't mad at him. I couldn't be after the way he'd treated me. After the excitement I'd just felt with him. It left me wondering about what else he could do that would drive me to the edge like that.

"I want to always protect you, even when this nightmare is over." He came up and kissed my cheeks, my shoulder, and my hands. "Don't ever leave me," he said in between kisses. He completely surprised me since he was drug-free and still talking about a future together. He looked over at the clock, 4:13pm. "We should really start leaving," he whispered. I agreed. I got up and got dressed. I left my wet hair loose so I could let it air dry. I packed up all of our stuff while Angel prepared his guns and strapped them on his thighs. I walked over to him and kissed his shoulder, since it was level with my eyes. Once we were ready, we walked out of the room and made our way to the garage. There were several men moving back and forth. There was a black Hummer with the windows completely tinted.

Lieutenant Pierce emerged from the front seat of the car and smiled at us. "I see you guys are set to go. I hope you guys were able to rest enough. Do you need Sandra to look at your dressing before you leave?"

Angel looked over at me and I rolled my eyes. He laughed and turned back to the Lieutenant. "Thank you for you your help. But I really need to finish this mission." They both saluted each other and, without another word, we got into the truck and drove back to where it all began.

We headed back to the Middle East.

It was extremely hot that day, and even though Angel insisted on putting the windows up and the air on, I wanted to enjoy the heat. I wanted to frizz my hair. I wanted to remind myself of the humidity back home. After a few minutes of opening and closing the windows, I won. Angel left the windows down, mumbling something about how hot he was wearing all black. Even though I knew he didn't mean it the way I was thinking, I couldn't agree more.

I looked over at Angel, dressed in black, his skin glowing white and his eyes radiating blue. I had to admit, he was completely beautiful.

I grabbed his hand and he kissed it gently. "How are you feeling?" I asked him.

"You know," he looked over at me, "I've never before been shot or cut by anyone. But I feel okay."

He looked at me and gave me a wide smile, demonstrating that his teeth were still white despite our way of living here in the Middle East. Now that he was more open with me, I could see how cocky he was. I thought it was all just an act. He really was cocky.

I hesitantly asked, "What was it like going to war?"

His jaw tightened and then he gave me a tiny smile. "Joining the Navy was the best thing I ever did. I was treated like family. I graduated when I was eighteen. I began working toward becoming a SEAL when I left for California that same year. For everyone, the training is difficult, waking up before the sun rose and going to sleep at about midnight. It takes a toll on your body after a few weeks. But living in a foster home wasn't that different. The training was easy for me as well. It distracted my mind completely. I proved that I had what it takes to be a SEAL and I became one when I was twenty-one. I served on a number of special ops missions in Iraq for two years, including the capture of a major terrorist group leader. When I came back to the US, I decided to go into retirement and work for a private company. I didn't think it was difficult, but now I'm seeing otherwise.

"A Navy SEAL is someone who is physically, mentally, and emotionally fit for chaos. We show no emotion because that's what we're trained for. We are the best in the US, and possibly even the world. The reason I was shot yesterday was because I let that man provoke an emotional reaction from me. I'm supposed to defuse the problem before inspecting the damage. But I was too worried about you to even think about him still being conscious. And asking to fight him, that was just a bonus I couldn't resist."

Exactly what I'd thought, this was entirely my fault. He let his guard down to protect me. I needed to help him out myself. I felt like I kept dragging him into a deeper hole every day. And he didn't specifically answer my question, but I figured that war must be no different than the circumstances we were in now. I looked over at him. How could someone so beautiful be so dangerous for me?

I sighed and looked out the window while he kept taking us deeper down the rabbit hole. I didn't understand why I'd agreed to go back. I knew my father was responsible for all of this. But I couldn't remember all the details. Whenever I opened that locked door in my brain, it just led me to another long hallway. It felt like my brain was protecting me from that answer, because I knew it would destroy me.

We stopped to eat and got right back on the road. I became mentally exhausted and fell asleep with my head on Angel's shoulder. Somewhere along the line Angel gently lowered my head to rest in his lap.

Chapter 10

Break

Angel drove all afternoon and night while I slept. He drove for sixteen hours straight. He would only make short stops, as if he wanted to get this finished. I spent most of the time lying on Angel's thighs while he drove in silence. I memorized every single one of his tattoos, tracing them with my fingers as he drove.

His right arm was a beautiful collage of tattoos. It began with a beautiful red Hawaiian hibiscus on his wrist, large enough to wrap all the way around. Right above it, where the "Fuck the World" used to be, there was a huge black cross bleeding deep red blood down to the hibiscus. On the opposite side of the cross was a grim reaper, with his scythe raised, aiming straight at the black cross. I realized what this meant. The grim reaper was destroying the cross, that's why there was blood dripping from it.

I asked him the meaning of this piece. He told me that no matter how hard his demons tried to destroy his conscience, they would never take over his soul, which was the meaning of the red hibiscus. It meant immortality to the Japanese and life to the Malayans.

"I'm not a good person Sam."

I sat up. "Why do you keep saying that? You see yourself from the things you've done in the past. I see you for everything you've done for me now. So what, you kill people? They deserve it."

He looked over at me, angry. "I don't ever want to hear you talk so negatively. I know I kill people. I have to live with it. But you? You're pure. You're everything that I'll never be. I'll do all of this and more for you."

Was he kidding me? Pure?

"And you're a hero. You save people from their worst nightmares." I touched his forearm and he turned to me slightly. "You're my Angel."

He jerked the car slightly, and then leaned over and kissed me so fiercely that I lost my breath completely. He broke the kiss for just a second, pulled the car over, and then continued to kiss me. I lay back and he followed, covering every inch of my body with his. I was helpless when he kissed me. I was at his mercy.

He broke the kiss and I immediately felt lonely. "I'm not an angel, Samantha. I'm not good for you..."

I put my finger on his lips and stopped him. "We're on our way to prove that my father is a terrorist himself. He's possibly the reason why all this happened to me. And you're saying you're not good for me? Baby, nobody is perfect for each other, but you are everything to me."

He closed his eyes and I saw him struggling with a few emotions. But when he opened them again, I saw something that startled me. I saw love. And it made me so happy that a tear escaped my eyes. He didn't know what it was though. I could see him struggling with this new emotion that he had never experienced before.

With a shaky voice I said, "Please don't shut down on me now. Please. I don't want to lose you."

"Just give me time. This is something I'm use to doing, so just give me some space."

He pulled off me, and even though it was ninety degrees outside, I felt cold. I wasn't angry or upset with him, but I felt lonely again. Icy. He turned back to the road and we continued on our way.

"Have you ever dated a girl?"

He peeked at me for a second, took a deep breath, and then let it go. "I have never had a girlfriend in my life. I realized how charming I could be right after the orphanage. Women saw that too, and they would pay me to spend time with them. Some paid me for sex." He looked over at me, but I kept my face expressionless. "After the military, I just casually dated women. And by casually dated, I mean just strictly sex. I don't know the first thing about a relationship."

He was stiff next to me, as if I would look at him in disgust or if I would start crying. "Angel, I told you I would look at your present, never your past."

I saw him relax a little while I grabbed his arm and continued to inspect his tattoos. Above his elbows, it became more positive. Right above his elbows were a few red demons with their arms in the air. Above them were angels, dozens of them, shooting arrows at the demons. It was a battle of the gods happening in the middle of the sky. His large shoulder was the bright sun, making me smile.

"Your tattoos are beautiful. They tell a story about you."

He looked down at me and kissed my forehead before looking back at the road. I sighed and rested my head on his shoulder again.

I didn't want to look out. I didn't want to look at the place that I'd thought I would never see again. Every few hours, I would go to my side of the seat and reminisce on my life back home. Sometimes I would cry on Angel's shoulder. I wondered how my life would be once I returned to my normal routine.

What made me think I would have a normal life again?

Around noon the next day, Angel pulled into a rundown motel in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. I waited in the Hummer while he went inside to fetch our room key. The place was horrendous. Or maybe it was just my mood. But I could tell that we were getting close because of the way the city looked. We were on the border of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, and my body was already telling me that I was making it to the place that began all of my worst nightmares.

Angel returned to the Hummer with a bag in his hand. He drove around the small motel until he found our room number. He parked in a corner where the trees partially covered the Hummer and got out of the car. I quietly followed him and looked around as he got the duffle bag.

Uzbekistan was weird. There were men standing outside their doors, smoking a cigarette. Most of them were staring in our direction. Not in a curious or nosy way. But in a way that made you feel like you were being spied on. Most of them looked like they were ready to make a phone call as soon as we entered our room. After all, Angel was clearly an American with enough ammunition to start War World III on his own. I looked at the brown motel in shock. The motel was very run down like a lot of the ones in America. This motel was in the poorer place of the city. There were single doors with numbers on them, and only one window that followed each door. There were prostitutes hanging around the area. Some were eyeing Angel curiously. Finally, one of them got the courage to come over and talk to him while he gathered our things out of the truck.

She came closer. Maybe she was beautiful underneath her short black wig and extravagant makeup. Most of her body was exposed with her short black dress, and her breasts were an inch away from becoming exposed. She took a puff from her cigarette before she threw it on the floor. She traced her long red fingernail on Angel's back as her blue eyes roamed around his body. I couldn't move or feel jealous. I just watched in astonishment at how she had Angel's complete attention with that one touch. He turned around curiously. His eyes traced her body completely.

She placed both of her hands on his chest and smiled with stained teeth. "You looking for some fun, baby?" Her accent was barely noticeable.

Still holding the duffle bag in his hand, he gave her a charming smile, a smile I'd never seen before from him. He looked down at her. He tilted his head a little to get a good view, licked his lips, then came back to meet her eyes. My body shivered with that look, and it wasn't intended for me. "Thanks, but I have company for the next few hours."

She didn't push herself on him. She removed her hands from his chest and said, "I'll be around when you decide to change your mind." She turned around and walked away from us. She said "when" as if she knew that he would change his mind.

Was he changing his mind already?

That was the weirdest thing I'd ever seen and I thought I'd seen some pretty interesting things so far. Angel watched her for a few seconds as she walked away. Finally, he turned towards the door and opened it. The smell was terrible; old liquor and cigarettes. The brown carpet was stained with cigarette burns. The bed was small, with an old quilt covering it. But that was it. The plain walls didn't have any paintings. There was no TV. The bathroom was plain, but at least it looked clean.

Angel closed the door and dead bolted it. He threw the duffle bag on the floor and looked out the window before drawing the curtains. He walked towards the small bed and began to remove all his ammunition. He undressed, leaving only his briefs, and climbed into bed. I was still standing by the door, staring at him. Finally, I followed him to the bed and removed the old quilt before I undressed slightly and climbed in. I didn't want to undress completely because the bed felt dirty.

I turned to him, wondering if he was cranky. "What's up with this place? I mean Uzbekistan?"

He turned his head to me and looked as if I asked the most ridiculous question. Finally, he said, "This is a very different place. I've only come into this country once before because this is the one country that actually worries me. I don't know, but it's just a feeling that I've always had." The whole time he was whispering, as if he didn't want anyone to hear us.

He plopped onto his elbow his face was only inches from mine. I felt his cool breath on my face; his hand began to run through my puffy hair. He came down and pressed his lips softly to mine and said, "Try to sleep, we're going to be in and out of there, okay?"

I nodded and turned to face the wall. Angel spooned me from behind and wrapped his arm around my waist. The walls were thin; I could hear the people next door having rough and energetic sex. I blushed, thinking that Angel was hearing the whole thing with me, but I heard his breathing and light snoring right behind my ear.

I wasn't sleepy. But Angel was already asleep. I knew he was tired. He'd spent almost an entire day driving. I knew that whatever was coming wasn't going to be appealing, so I tried to sleep myself.

Screaming. Someone was screaming. I watched him slit her throat. Her eyes went wide as her hands went to her neck. I thought she was screaming. But nothing came out. She didn't stand for too long. She went down quickly, her eyes were open, although I already knew that she was dead. She was dead. She was dead. She was gone forever.

He was coming towards me. But I was already gone. My consciousness was already gone. That was the moment I went crazy.

I thought the whole time it was Hunter screaming from the pain.

But then I realized.

I was screaming.

I was screaming from the trauma.

And I screamed and screamed until Angel finally put his hand over my mouth, stopping me. "Samantha, you're okay, I'm here with you."

I whimpered as I turned towards him and buried my face in his chest. "It haunts me, watching her die, it haunts me everyday."

He was rubbing my back, trying to console me. "I know baby. You're going to need to see a therapist when you get home to help you with the nightmares."

I looked up at him in the darkness. I could still see his shining eyes in the dark. "I don't really have any nightmares. Not that I remember."

He kissed my temple and said, "Yes you do. I usually wake you up a few times during the night to stop the nightmares from overwhelming you. I can hear you moan a few times, so I just wake you up or hug you and you usually stop. I was just too tired tonight, I must have missed it."

I stilled. He didn't get a full night's rest because of my nightmares. I caused him to wake up a few times a night. How was he even functioning? At home, this would be normal. Like a mother waking up in the middle of the night to feed her baby. But not here. In the craziness we experienced every day. He should be really exhausted, and he's not showing it.

"Sleep, I'm watching you."

I felt him kiss my forehead one more time before I felt sleep take over my body.

We were close to my torture area by the time the sun went down completely. I became aware of it because of the way my body was responding. I shook while Angel held my hand and kissed my knuckles. I just stared out the window. The desert was coming in view when Angel turned off the headlights.

I needed a distraction. And the first thing that came to my mind was more of a disturbance.

I wasn't mad or jealous. But I had to know. "Are you into prostitutes?"

He turned to me with a little shine in his eyes then laughed. "I'm not into them, Sam. She was hot; I'll admit that. But no, I've never had sex with one of those."

One of those. Well, that cleared everything up. As if I didn't know that Angel was the type of man who likes to have fun with women. And I didn't know if I could agree with his 'she was hot' comment. "How many women have you been with?"

He looked at me again, this time with a serious face. "Why do you really want to know?"

I traced little circles on his hand, not meeting his gaze. "I'm just curious."

He shook his head and said, "I'm not going to answer that. It's not appropriate."

"Angel," I said. When he looked at me I said, "Really, I'm just curious. I'm not going to judge you by the number."

He looked at me a few times with worry. He took a deep breath and finally answered. "I don't know, more or less than forty."

I looked over at him in shock, he wasn't joking. What was I supposed to do? Get mad? We weren't a couple. And if it did happen in the future, why would his past concern me? I should judge him according to our time together and our future. Right? But did I think that he would have said yes to the prostitute if I weren't there? I didn't know. How could I trust him around other women? That was where I became confused.

Was I supposed to share my number? "I've only had one partner," I blurted out before I had the chance to bite my tongue. Well, I'd already made an ass of myself so I might as well clear it out. "I mean I think it was only one terrorist, but I'm not sure."

I continued to look out the window. I felt him staring in my direction, but I wouldn't meet his eyes. He didn't push me. He just kissed my knuckles as we continued driving, leaving them cool and calm.

I saw the campsite. Everything was quiet there. It was mostly dark, except for a few tin houses. Angel stopped the Hummer about a mile before it and we got out. He came around to me and looked into my eyes. "Are you ready?"

I nodded when he pressed his lips to mine. I hugged his waist for a minute, while he wrapped his good arm around my shoulders. I inhaled his aroma; I felt his heart beat on my body. But I let go. It took the whole world for me to let him go, but I did. We needed to get this over with.

He turned to the duffle bag and handed me a flashlight. "Don't turn it on unless I tell you to." He turned to the duffle one more time and came with the large sniper rifle. It was almost as long as me. He handed it to me as well. I looked at it curiously, but threw it over my shoulder. Angel already had the automatic and the grenade launcher over his.

We walked the long boring desert until lights were visible. Angel held his hand up and I immediately stopped. He stretched out on the ground. I was pretty sure what was coming, so I did the same and handed him the rifle. He looked through the scope until he focused on someone. He aimed straight for the guy on the tower. He concentrated before pulling the trigger. I was surprised at how quiet it was. He took out a few more men around the compound before he got up.

He handed me the large gun and we began running. Everything was quiet. There were some men walking alone around the camp, but Angel took them out. Everything was exactly the way it was the day I left. We made it to one of the tin houses and Angel looked in the window. It was deserted.

I saw it first. I ran towards it until I made it to the door. Angel said something, but I kept going. The shack was completely empty and no larger than an average bedroom. I saw the small window that was always on my right and I climbed in. Angel whispered something I couldn't understand then took a deep breath and climbed in behind me.

It reeked. I had to cover my nose and breathe through my mouth. It was light enough for me to see my surroundings. My feces were still sitting on the chair, along with blood and urine. There were maggots and flies everywhere. I turned my head and my body threatened to vomit.

I don't know what I came in here for. My body brought me here. I felt like I'd left something here. I couldn't remember. I took my camera out and began snapping pictures. Angel walked up to me and looked like he was about to say something, but then he decided to back off. About five minutes later I saw something shining in a corner where the bucket of dirty water was still sitting. I walked towards it and picked it up. It was my mother's silver charm bracelet with small diamonds and pearls. This was what I'd come back for. It was dirty, but it wasn't tarnished. I opened the small locket that I'd added to it a few years ago. My mother's picture was missing.

I put my face in my hands and began to cry. I'd just wanted to see her face. I wanted to look at the familiarity of her eyes, even though they always looked cold whenever they turned to me. I wiped my tears. We needed to keep going. This isn't the place to get emotional. Angel came next to me and clasped the bracelet on my arm securely. He took my hand in his and led me out through the window. I left without looking back.

We continued looking through most of the houses until we made it to one that didn't have any windows.

This one caught his attention. We walked quietly towards the small door. It was locked. He pulled a few pins from one of his pockets and began fiddling with the lock. He concentrated quietly for a few minutes until I heard it click. Quietly, he removed the lock picks and opened the door. We slipped inside and he closed the door completely, leaving us in pitch-blackness. I remembered that I had the flashlight and turned it on.

We were inside where they kept all their ammunitions. I had the flashlight in my hand, and luckily, I'd decided to keep the camera with me. I didn't know what to illuminate first. The room was the size of an elementary school gymnasium. There were guns of all sizes everywhere. I became overwhelmed. I ran towards some of the hundreds of stacked boxes. I opened the lid and pulled out what looked like a giant bullet, the size of my arm.

I broke down. My arms began to shake uncontrollably. I couldn't move. I couldn't control my body. I dropped the flashlight and was about to drop the bullet when Angel came behind me and took it.

"This is a missile of some sort. If you drop it, it might explode." He began to examine it. He brought up the flashlight and held the logo at an angle so I could see it. "It's the same logo, Samantha."

And it was. They all had it. Forgetting about the time and where we were, we spent the next hour opening boxes, looking through every single thing, and taking pictures so we could have evidence of what we'd found.

Every single thing there had my father's logo on it. Including the boxes where they were stored. I cried. A lot. I dropped his rifle, on the floor loudly; I collapsed on the floor, buried my face in my hands, and cried. I'd been alone here. I was alone and tortured. And my father had been supplying these men. I knew my father thought that he was responsible for everything that had happened; he was right. I hated him.

Angel dropped in front of me and calmly removed my hands from my face. I looked up to him, his beauty. I looked into those eyes and my heart tightened. For the first time I saw something different in his eyes. He was in front of me and kissed my nose, my eyelids. He came closer to me and kissed my lips, slowly. His lips soothed the pain away. I lost control a little and even forgot why I was crying. I came up on my knees as well, grabbing his black shirt in my fists and became absorbed in his kisses. I tightened my grip on his shirt and brought him closer, if that was possible. I moaned between his lips and inhaled his smell. I bit his lip hard enough to feel him stiffen a little.

He broke the kiss and turned his head slightly, listening. I didn't know what he was doing until I heard rustling at the door. Angel felt for the gun on his thigh as he got up and slowly approached. After aiming the gun at the door for a few seconds, everything went quiet. He felt for the door, and then came back to me.

He sat in front of me and caressed my cheek, smiling sadly. He was bleeding a little from where I'd bit him. He held my hand. I smiled at him. I couldn't help it. He made me happy even in the worst situation possible. "The door is locked again."

My smile faded and I looked at the door again. "So we're stuck here?"

He got up and looked around. "Not exactly." He walked towards the wall and said, "I'm going to break through the wall. Stay behind me."

I got up and we collected all of his guns. Angel took the rocket launcher and aimed it at the wall; I hid behind his large body. I heard the explosion through my covered ears, while Angel turned around and covered my body with his. As soon as everything settled, Angel picked up both of his Magnums and began shooting.

They were coming from every direction; some of them were behind me. I tapped Angel's shoulder a few times so he could shoot behind me. But there were too many men, dozens probably. So we began running, fast. There were just too many of them to handle. Angel continued to shoot as we made our way to the desert where the Hummer was waiting for us. Angel threw the keys at me as he continued to shoot down the men following us. We jumped in the Hummer and I drove away while Angel shot the trucks down with the grenade launcher.

He directed me where to drive while he was still out the window with his automatic. After about an hour, Angel came back into the Hummer and dropped the smoking guns on the floor. He sighed and covered his face with his hands.

I drove in the direction that he told me. It was my turn to drive while he gathered his thoughts. I drove overnight. I drove as the sun came up while he slept beside me. At this point, I didn't know where I was driving. But I kept driving. I wanted to get as far away from them as possible. I saw a sign that said Egypt and turned in that direction.

Finally, I was beginning to feel calmer. My eyes began to droop. We were in the middle of the desert. I was getting tired. After a few hours of driving in the daytime, I pulled over, too exhausted to continue.

Chapter 11

Isolation

The sun was beginning to set when I opened my eyes. The Hummer rumbled loudly as Angel drove silently, facing forward. I looked out the tinted window to see the beautiful countryside and old farmhouses in the distance. The view was phenomenal. I took the camera out and began snapping pictures again, including more of Angel. The golden rays were blinding but couldn't diminish my view of him.

"Where are we?" I asked, stunned.

Angel looked over at me for a brief second. His blue eyes gleamed with gold because of the sunlight. "We're well into Turkey. You were sleeping for a while."

"Oh," I said, feeling like an idiot. I'd slept this whole time while he'd been driving? I looked at the dashboard. 7:47pm.

Everything came flooding back to me. We went back to that place. Where I was tortured. My father's logo was everywhere. I buried my face in my hands and that's when I felt the charm's cool surface on my cheek. I looked at it closely. The diamonds were still intact, though there was one missing, and my mother's picture was gone. I needed to keep my mind composed. I needed to keep my mind busy.

"After you fell asleep, I didn't know where to drive, so I went to where it said Egypt."

"I'm sorry. I should've kept myself under control. I was just frustrated about your father, you know. But you actually did well. You went in the right direction."

"So where exactly do you live back home?" I asked, trying to change the subject from my father.

"D.C. Though as soon as I go home I'm quitting my job. I think I've had my fair share of war; I've had enough of it actually. I think I will become part of the FBI."

I looked at him surprised. "Really? You seem like someone that would try to go higher, like the CIA."

He smiled slightly, and a dimple emerged. "Not at all. I just want a normal job. A nine to five. Sick days, holiday pay. But at the same time, something that will never bore me. Give me a little action and I will be a happy man."

I thought for a moment. "I'm studying Forensics. I wanted to work on crime scenes. But now I don't know after all this."

He changed the subject quickly without acknowledging my sentence. "Hey, you said you didn't have a boyfriend back home, right?"

I tilted my head in curiosity, "No."

He looked out at the road and turned on his headlights. "When I went to meet your father at your house, there was this tall blond with tears in his eyes the whole time."

Tall blond. It rushed everything back to my memory. Craig. I don't understand how I couldn't remember him; even after Angel mentioned him I was still confused.

And then all my memories with him rushed in. Our prom, high school graduation, going off to college together. The most popular quarterback dating the most beautiful nerd. Every time I thought of our future together, I always saw us living somewhere in the city with many children.

But now I think about him and I feel nothing. Its like a switch was turned off and my feelings for him were gone. It has nothing to do with Angel. This place has changed me. And it has everything to do with Angel. I am completely obsessed and I am immensely broken.

"Craig," I finally say, "is my boyfriend."

Angel looked over at me and laughed. He threw his head back and laughed like if I had told him the funniest joke. He looked back at me with tears in his eyes from the laughter.

"Your boyfriend," he said doubtfully.

"He's my high school sweetheart. I couldn't remember him before, but I do now."

Angel looked over at me. He looked angry. His jaw locked, and he turned away. I couldn't meet his eyes. I felt ashamed. Even though I couldn't remember Craig before, I still cheated on him. We were quiet for a long time, and it become more awkward then ever. I began to cry silently.

Angel caught a tear before it dropped from my chin. I looked over at him and held his hand. I looked at his eyes illuminating with the dashboard and my body shivered. I'd never thought that I could feel like this for someone. Craig never made me feel this way. Never in a million years. Angel looked at the deserted road then back at me and smiled. That's all I needed to forget the reason for my tears, his smile; it faded away any type of sadness.

That was the first time I realized that my feelings for Angel were something much stronger than just lust and affection. At first, I thought that I was feeling this way for him because he was there for me when I felt vulnerable and lonely. He'd found me at the bottom of a pit, dying. He was there for me when I was crying at night. I'd thought that I felt this way for him because of the way my body reacted whenever he touched me, or whenever he even looked at me.

Now I realized that what I felt for him was something much deeper. Something I'd never experienced before. I didn't think I could explain it. I could feel whenever he was around me. My body calmed down whenever he touched me, even when we were in the middle of a shootout. The love that I had for him was something strong, burning heavily.

Love?

Was that what I was feeling?

What did he think about me? Was he just trying to complete his mission so he could go back home and become a ladies' man again? Was I just a pastime?

He held my hand tightly, reminding me that he was there and stared out at the road. His touch was cool; his skin sent tiny sparks of electricity all over my body. I leaned into his shoulder gently, trying not to hurt him. I closed my eyes and breathed his scent.

He wrapped his arm tightly around my neck hard enough to stop the airflow in my body. I couldn't breathe. I began kicking and screaming until I bit down on his arm and he released me. I grabbed the steering wheel and jerked it towards the mountainside as hard as I could. The Hummer didn't flip, but it stopped abruptly.

I jumped out of the truck and ran away from him as fast as I could. "Samantha!" I heard him say but I just kept running. He caught up to me and tackled me to the floor. I turned around and punched him in the face. He spit blood and smoothly grabbed both of my hands with his good arm.

"God dammit Samantha, relax." He said.

I looked up at him as tears ran down my cheeks. He didn't look angry, but he still had a glint of anger in his eyes that he was trying to control. I looked at his lip and he was bleeding from the corner. He licked his lips again and got off me. I just lay there, in the dirt, with tears streaming down my face. I got up and he began to walk towards the truck. He didn't say anything. I didn't either. He got into the driver's side and I got into the back seat and lay down, letting all the tears in the world escape silently.

We drove just like that for a few hours, in silence while I cried my eyes out. I didn't want to keep hurt him; that was the last thing I wanted to do. One minute, we were cuddly and cute and the next I was biting him and punching him in the face. There was something obviously wrong with me. I'm not schizophrenic; I could tell you that. But it had to be some sort of post-traumatic experience. I wrapped my arms around myself and remembered Hunter and her spirit.

I sat up and look at the dashboard, well past midnight. I looked around us and we were still moving. The scene was a little different. There was sand all over the place.

"Where are we?" I asked with a small voice.

He didn't look back or answer for a few minutes, so I climbed over to the front seat. He looked at me, and then looked back at the road. "We're well into Jordan. We'll be in Egypt soon."

That gave me a pang of disappointment. I wanted to go home, of course. I wanted this nightmare to be over. But I didn't want to leave Angel. I didn't know how to explain that to him. I didn't know how to tell him that being away from him would hurt me.

"I'm sorry I hit you last night. I don't know what is wrong with me. This is getting out of control."

"PTSD."

I looked at him. "What?"

He looked over at me. "Post-traumatic Stress Disorder."

Of course. "Yeah, it just didn't register with me before." I ran my hands over my face. My teachers would be disappointed in me.

"You were just under too much stress to think about the symptoms you are having. Don't beat yourself up over it."

I looked over at him. I turned on the overhead lights so I could take a look at his lip. He automatically turned his head towards me while his eyes were still on the road. His lip was cracked on the bottom corner and a little swollen. But it looked okay. He turned his blue eyes my way and I let go of his face, intimidated.

"I'm sorry," I said again as I turned the lights off.

"It's okay. It just proves to me that I shouldn't get you too mad because you have a pretty mean right hook." He looked over at me and we both burst out laughing at the same time.

I looked back out the window. More sand. And houses that looked like they were part of the sand. Little windows here and there. But Egypt was certainly something completely different than what I'd seen in the Middle East. This was getting pretty regular now. But it meant that I was that much closer to leaving Angel's side for good. I looked at the scenery just as Angel stopped the car.

I jumped out of the truck because I just couldn't believe what I was seeing. The structure looked like something from another planet. I couldn't see much of the things that we'd passed on the desert because of the clouds covering the moon. But this structure I saw clearly with all of the lit torches surrounding it. It looked like a huge rock. But when I ran closer to it I realized that it was some sort of large house. I snapped as many pictures as I could before I turned back to Angel.

We drove through the entrance area. I could see why he'd chosen this place. It was in the middle of nowhere. There was no electricity inside, and the tourist population was low at that time because the heat was unbearable without air conditioning. He parked the truck in another secluded gated area and a man wearing long robes approached us. This made me uneasy. But Angel grabbed my hand in assurance. We were in Egypt now, I thought to myself. I shouldn't treat these men as terrorists.

Angel dug out a small phone from his pocket, dialed a number and pressed send. "We're here," was all he said and hung up. He destroyed the phone before I was able to ask him about it. I looked at it on the floor. It was in a million pieces.

I gave him a questioned look and he replied, "Captain reserved this place. The chopper will be here in a few days."

I just looked at him. So it was all over. This would possibly be the last time I would see him. He kissed my hand and walked forward. I followed him. The man in robes didn't approach us. Angel pulled the duffle from the trunk and threw it on the corner.

Angel walked towards the man and he said, "We weren't expecting you this morning," with a heavy accent.

He gave Angel a piece of linen that matched the sand exactly. Angel shook the man's hand and said, "We made good time with this vehicle."

They opened the linen and draped it over the Hummer. Once it was covered, the men placed a few rocks to hold it in place.

"I assure you that the hotel is empty at the time, so you guys have it to yourselves. Most of the people who work here are gone for a few weeks courtesy of your Captain. There isn't anyone here that will divulge your whereabouts to an unwanted party." I looked at the man in astonishment. I wondered how much the hotel got paid for this.

We followed the man inside the dark hallways. I couldn't see anything so I held on to Angel. The hallways were extremely tight, and most of them were roofless so the moon was playing peekaboo with a few clouds. We went up a narrow staircase and walked along the top of the structure. We made it to a door that he unlocked with his keys.

"What is the name of this place anyways?" That was the first time I'd spoken since we arrived. Both men turned to me.

The man with the white robes answered, "This is the Ecolodge Desert. The name of the hotel is Adere Amellal in Siwa."

I tried to remember all of that. "And what is your name?"

"That I cannot answer, just as I don't know your names. It is better to keep it this way to prevent problems in the future."

He pushed the door open and walked away without another word. The room was small with a beautiful king size bed in the middle of it. There was a mosquito net covering the bed, making it look magical. There were multiple white pillows everywhere, on the floors, by the windows, and all over the bed. There were a few candles mounted on the walls, no other source of lighting. I walked into the room and sat on the bed. Angel dropped the duffle bag and closed the door to come and sit next to me.

I looked up at him and began to cry. "I don't want to lose you. I don't want to go home if it means that I'm not going to have you by my side." I poured my tears out to him like a little girl.

He looked down at me with sad eyes. He touched my cheeks lightly with his fingertips. "I'm just confused about all this. I'm confused about everything that's happened."

I took a deep breath, but his expression didn't change. Frustrated, I walked out of the room. I didn't know where I was going, but I needed to get out of there. I felt like an idiot. What made me think that someone like Angel would even think about me in the way that I thought about him? I mean, he'd kind of explained his feelings at the base, but that might have been the effects of the drugs. Now that I was feeling something deeper than lust, everything changed. I wiped away my tears and walked away from the hotel. I looked out at the desert. It looked so quiet and peaceful, isolated from the war and all of the problems that I'd been through.

Something caught my eyes as I scanned the view. By the corner of the hotel where the desert began, there was a deep red square carpet with white pillows lining the edges. Near the pillows, there were a few small wooden tables with candles on top of them.

I wiped the remaining tears away and walked towards the carpet on the floor. Once I reached it, I took my shoes off and stepped on the plush carpet. I sat on one of the pillows and stared out at the mountains of sand. The stars were remarkable. I lay down on the pillows and looked up.

I was beginning to concentrate on the view of stars that I had until Angel's head blocked my view. Annoyed, I got up and sat facing the desert. The sand was flying with the small wind we had tonight, or this morning. The mountains looked like something out of a movie.

I felt Angel sit next to me so I looked at him. His expression still hadn't changed so I just looked back out to the desert. "I don't want you to tell me that you love me because I really think it will freak me out. I do care about you Samantha. I want us both to come out of this alive and in one piece. I feel like you are rushing this; not the relationship, but I've been concentrating on getting home, not on us. I'm sorry if I made you feel used or unimportant."

I didn't say anything back. He was right. I was trying to make this into a love story where a girl falls in love with her knight in shining armor. Her guardian angel who came from Heaven. That's not the way it happens in real life. People don't come home canoodling after a traumatic event like this. People come home a little crazy. I needed to live in today and get out of here alive. I needed to go to therapy when I got home. Then I needed to see if my feelings were still the same for Angel, though I thought that all the therapy in the world wouldn't change my feelings for him.

Angel got up. I looked at him as he looked out at the desert. He still had on his black army pants, though all of his ammunition was gone. But his body from behind was just an eyeful. "Have you ever thought of becoming a male model?"

I saw his cheeks rise before he turned to me. He was smiling. "I didn't want females to stalk my personal life every time I came out of my house."

"Oh. So you do know that you're extremely hot."

He didn't say anything to me, which showed me that he was more conceited than I'd thought. "Ew." He began to blow out all the candles on the tables as he ignored my remark. "So are you still a player, or a man whore or whatever?"

He finished his task and sat on the pillow next to mine, facing me. "I've been with a lot of women." Gross, I already knew that one. Thanks for reminding me. But that's all he said on the topic. "Come." He lay down on the pillows and pulled me on top of him facing the illuminating sky.

"Do you know anything about stars?" That was something I'd always wanted to get into, but never made the time for. Maybe when I got home, I'd start with buying a telescope and Google lots of stuff until I learned something.

"I only know certain things, like that," he said, pointing at the brightest star, "is the North Star, or Polaris. And to the right of that," he said, grabbing my finger and making me trace a series of stars, "is the Big Dipper." I laughed at that. Whenever Hunter got a small breakout on her cheek, she always compared it to the Big Dipper. He caressed my finger lightly and continued his tutorial. "Um, I think that right there is Aquarius, but that's all I know about stars."

As soon as he was finished with his tutorial, we saw a shooting star to our left and I smiled. "I think you killed that one by pointing at it." I turned around to face him. I was on top of him with my hands on his iron chest and made a wish. He looked confused. "You're not supposed to point at stars, it's a myth."

His facial expression changed, but his eyes closed. "The sun will be coming up soon." He opened his eyes again and looked into mine.

"How do you know?"

He shrugged his good shoulder. "I don't know. I can just feel it. Well, it's probably like 5 a.m. or something. Because the moon is gone, but the sun is not out yet. See?"

I looked over my shoulder and stared out at the sky. He was right. The sky was completely dark. "Do you want to see Venus?"

I looked back at him and he smiled at me. He patted his chest and I rested my head on it. His hand began to stroke my hair and I closed my eyes. His breathing was incredibly slow; his heartbeat was slow as well.

I must have fallen asleep because I heard Angel calling my name. "Samantha, look." With my eyes half open, I sat up. I looked over at the sky in search of the stars. Instead I found just one star. This one was massive and a deep orange. The sky was completely clear and the sun had risen.

There was a small black dot in the corner of the sun. But the sun was rising quickly, leaving the black dot behind. "What's that?" I looked over at Angel who was leaning on his elbows.

"That's Venus. Look."

I looked back at the sun. It was rising, and it had left Venus behind already. The sun was getting brighter, brighter orange, and then yellow. Venus was visible for a few minutes, but it quickly faded away in the background. Now it just looked like a bright star before the sun rose completely, and Venus was visible no more.

Angel came up next to me and caressed my cheek. He kissed my lips gently and helped me stand up. "We should really get some sleep. It's going to get extremely hot out here in the afternoon." That scared me.

Angel held my hand and led me around the hotel. Everything was extremely quiet. There wasn't any noise of any kind. We walked up the narrow staircase and into our dark bedroom. I removed my pants and unbraided my hair.

I threw myself on the bed, welcoming sleep. This bed was huge. Angel came next to me. I could feel his bare chest on my back and his arm around my waist. He kissed my hair lightly and I rested peacefully.

Chapter 12

Peace

I woke up because the heat was unbearable. I rolled over, but Angel was gone. I got out of bed, looking for a place to wash up, but got caught up with the view from the open window. Excitement flushed my mind. There was a beautiful blue lake right near the corner of the hotel, in the middle of the desert. Excited, I opened the duffle bag and pulled out my sports bra and shorts. I grabbed my towel and toothbrush essentials with the camera in my other hand. I really should be looking for some sort of bathroom but I was just too excited.

My stomach made a huge protest of hunger as I ran down the stairs. It was hot, and I mean really hot. There wasn't much change of heat between here and the Middle East, but the sand was burning, radiating more heat up and around the desert. I felt sweat tickle down my forehead. The hotel was even more beautiful in the daytime. The structure was the exact same color of the desert. The walls were rough; it could scratch your skin if you weren't careful.

I didn't look at anything else in the hotel, just the exit so I could swim. Finally out, I sprinted towards the water. I dropped my towel, took off my sandals, and walked towards the water in only my underwear. It was cold enough to cool me down from the heat. I walked deeper and deeper into the lake until I began swimming. I went underwater to wet my hair and was surprised at how incredibly clear the water was. I was able to see the bottom of the lake with no problem.

I emerged again and laughed out loud. My laughter was the only noise around the desert, which was a little creepy. But it felt like I was in my own paradise. I brushed my teeth quickly and began floating on the water. The silence and peacefulness was something I hadn't had in a really long time. My ears weren't ringing, things weren't exploding, and people weren't attacking us. It was just this lake and I.

I closed my eyes and swam as far as I could until I grew tired. Then I began to float slowly back towards the hotel where I found Angel waiting in the shoreline, with his arms crossed and a poker face. Party's over, I thought to myself. I got out and splashed water towards him. He closed his eyes and turned his head, but smiled slightly.

"I told you not to go anywhere alone." He was wearing shorts and a white tank. "You never listen to instructions, do you?"

I squeezed all the water out of my hair. "No, sir." I saluted him.

He raised his eyebrows but held my hand. "I'll show you where you can wash up so we can eat something."

"And where were you this morning?" I asked, following him.

"I was contacting the Captain."

I gave him a questioning look. "How? Smoke signals?"

He just gave me a 'smart ass' look and pointed towards a room in the corner with a bucket full of water. This gave me negative memories. Memories that reminded me of my little torture home back in the Middle East. I shrugged it off and did my necessities. Once I was done, I walked out with the towel wrapped tightly around my body. He led me back to our bedroom and stared out the window so I could change.

I looked over at him, still clutching my towel. His broad shoulders were memorable. Every ripple in his back, down to his slim waist was clearly visible through his tight tee. His rear end in basketball shorts was the envy of every woman: tight but noticeable. He wouldn't turn around and look at me.

I shrugged and let the towel fall on the floor. He'd seen me naked plenty of times, especially at my worst. The only thing I was embarrassed about was that I was on the skinny side since I hadn't been eating like I usually do. Now I was a little underweight for my 5'6 stature. I was usually fuller and toned.

There was a small mirror in the corner. My skin was completely clear from any kind of cuts or bruises. But I had many bite scars; everywhere that I could see, there was a bite. I couldn't remember any of these bites. My back looked completely horrendous. Tiny golden lines covered my body, bites everywhere, and a thick scar on my chin. I had no clue where it came from, but it looked ugly. Maybe when I got back home I could get a plastic surgeon to repair it. My leg had healed as much as it could, but that gash looked like it would never go away.

I turned and spread the wet clothes and towel on the floor. It wasn't like everything wasn't going to be covered in sand anyways. I looked up to find Angel staring at me. I looked into his ocean eyes for a brief second and continued my task of getting changed. A white tank and rolled up sweats later, we walked out the room and he led me towards the front of the building.

It was a small room with a small table in the middle, but no windows. Candles made it brighter, and the walls were bare. The room felt inviting though. There was food all over the table. Freshly squeezed lemonade, and a bowl filled with melting ice.

"Let's eat before the ice melts completely and the food gets cold."

He led me to a chair and sat to my right. The food was Mediterranean, and it was delicious. We ate in silence, enjoying the food. Angel wasn't good with small talk, I can tell you that much. He won't just go and spark up a conversation just to break the silence. I guess he enjoyed it. That's something that I wanted to ask him one day, because I, on the other hand, am a huge talker.

Once we were finished, Angel handed me orange and pink rags. I looked at him with a confused look. "What is this for?"

He looked down at me, "We're going to ride a camel, recreationally." When I still looked at him blankly, he sighed and took the rags back. "You can't go out in the sun looking like that. It will cook you alive." He took the longer cloth and began to wrap it expertly around my body, tucking it over my shoulder so it wouldn't unwrap. The smaller cloth was used to cover my face and neck. He did his own with white rags and then led me from the room.

I looked down at myself and began to laugh hysterically. I gave Angel the camera and he snapped a few pictures of me smiling. "I look like the pile of laundry that is sitting in the corner of my room." He looked back and shook his head.

We walked around the stone quiet hotel until we made it to the edge. It was extremely hot outside. The sun was unbearable; I couldn't look up. I understood why we needed to be covered. But I wondered if I was going to sweat bullets underneath all these rags.

At the edge of the lake, there was a large pale camel drinking water while the man we'd met yesterday was holding his leash. We walked closer and the camel spit on the ground.

I looked at Angel and said, "We're riding that?"

He looked down at me, and my breath caught at my throat. He looked absolutely beautiful and mysterious covered from head to toe in white and his blue eyes electrified my body. He didn't answer; he just looked at me. It seemed as if he was smiling, but I couldn't tell because his pink lips were covered. He took my hand again and led me to the camel. I didn't protest; I just let him lead me. We made it to the man and he handed Angel the leash and walked away without saying one word.

The camel turned to us and just stared. Angel walked around the camel and helped me on. The camel moved and grunted. I stared down at Angel with worried eyes and this time he laughed out loud. He jumped behind me and we were on our way.

He put one arm on my waist and with the other, began whipping the camel to life. He was actually faster than I would've thought. He was kicking sand as his feet glided through the desert.

"Angel," I said, adoring the way his name sounds on my lips, "I don't want to end up with raccoon eyes."

I looked over at him and he rolled his eyes. "That will not happen. We'll only be out here for a few hours."

The camel slowed down as Angel whispered in my ear, "Do you see the pyramids?"

I couldn't see anything at first because the heat emerging from the hot sad was making everything look deformed. But then I did, there were far off the distance. Almost unnoticeable. But we were slowly riding towards them.

They were incredible. Like the size of an ordinary New York block. I couldn't imagine how perfect they used to be in the ancient times. Smooth. But now, some of the pieces were falling apart. Angel stopped the camel and we walked around a huge pyramid. I mean, I had to stop and sit on the edge of it because I just couldn't believe that this thing was real.

Angel came next to me and pulled me up for an embrace. It felt amazing to be in his arms, I was so happy. I was in love with the way my life was whenever I was in his presence. I sneakily grabbed his robes and ran away with them without him realizing it.

He laughed, and let me run away from him for a bit before he began to run towards me with all his power. And I acted scared as he charged towards me. I squealed and tried to run faster, but it was useless because he caught up to me and tackled me to the floor. I was laughing so hard that I actually snorted, very loudly. I covered my mouth with my hands, but continued laughing.

He looked down at me with those amazing eyes and said, "I like the sound of you laughing. I don't think I've heard it before. Not freely like this."

"You make me happy." I smiled up at him.

He smiled back, but it didn't fully touch his eyes. Helping me up, he said, "We should start heading back. It's not safe to expose ourselves like this."

I wanted to scream, "Then why did we do it in the first place!" But I held back. He was trying. However, he was holding back on me. I shrugged and followed him back to the camel.

Once we got back, we showered and ate before retiring to our bedroom. It went completely dark as we hung out and I talked to him about my life back home. The only source of light was a few candles on the walls and the bright white moon through the window. Dressed in only a small tank and boy shorts, I pulled back the white mosquito net and jumped on the bed. Angel, wearing only his shorts, laughed out loud before he secured the net around us.

I plopped my damp hair on the fluffy white pillow and watched Angel as he blew out the candles on the walls. He came to bed and lay down facing me. His face was completely visible thanks to the glorious moon in Egypt. I watched him watch me. His eyes blinked once. Once again, I wished I could read his mind so I could know what he was thinking. What he thought about me. I wanted to know his deepest frustrations.

He gently caressed my drying hair and said, "The chopper will be here before sunrise."

I closed my eyes with despair. If staying in a foreign country forever was all it took to keep Angel by my side, then I would sacrifice everything I had at home to be with him. I opened my eyes again and looked at him; he just gave me a sad smile.

"You know," he continued, "I never thought that taking this job would have made me this happy. I don't know how else to explain it."

I just looked at him. With that sentence, I didn't need him to explain anything else. He came up on his elbows and leaned towards me. I smiled at him before he pressed his lips gently to mine. This kiss was innocent and angelic. Soft enough to make me feel like I was floating away with the clouds, and soft enough to make me lose my mind.

His lips parted from mine and he kissed my forehead before gathering me completely in his arms. It was warm in the room, but I would risk the uncomfortable heat to sleep in his arms any day. I buried my face in his thick chest and breathed in his scent. This was the way I wanted to go to bed. Every night.

Angel woke first; I was still asleep. I finally woke up when something exploded awfully loud. I spread my arms around the bed looking for him. But he was looking out the window intently, with his magnum on his hand.

"What's going on?" I asked, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes.

He walked back towards me, his face inches from mine, dogtags jingling with his movements. "They found us."

He didn't need to say anything more. I jumped out of the bed and went straight for his duffle bag. I pulled on shorts and threw Angel his uniform. Then I picked up all the ammunition that I could without making any extra noise. As Angel scoped the scene from the window, I strapped the guns on his thighs, and put the automatic on his back.

Once I was done setting him up he looked down at me and said, "There is a whole army out there. I don't know what we can do."

I looked at him in remorse. All of this was happening because I'd escaped. Wouldn't it be easier if I'd died back there in the shack, instead of all these people dying, including Angel, because of me?

"I need to just give myself in." I looked into his eyes.

"No."

"But it will be easier. None of this has to happen. Besides, it will give you time to figure out a strategy."

"I said no. Now we need to go, stay near me." He pulled my arm with a little more force than he'd intended. I already knew that I would have a bruise there tomorrow, if I made it that long. His eyes softened for a brief minute. He kissed me so seductively and slowly that I had to hold on to him to make sure I wouldn't collapse. "I'm not letting you go."

He looked out the window one more time, then grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the door. He put one finger on his lips and I got the message. I looked down and realized that I'd forgotten my shoes, again. But I didn't need to think about that.

He cracked the door so slowly that I didn't think he could peek out from it. He pushed me against the wall and opened the door wider. I stayed flat against the wall with my eyes closed. I felt Angel leave my side. I couldn't explain it, but I didn't feel him there anymore. I squeezed my eyes as soon as I heard the gunshots sounding like never-ending firecrackers. Tears were streaming down my cheeks while I waited.

I felt him come back, his cool fingers wrapped around mine. I looked up at him and saw his bright blue eyes in the darkness. The gunshots continued, hitting the wall behind us. He peered back out from the wall and shot a few other times before the gunshots became more constant.

"We can't go that way," he said as he closed the door and dead bolted it. The room was still completely black, but I saw him move an old trunk in front of the door, making sure they would stay out a little bit longer. "We'll have to go out the window."

The window? Uh-oh. We could hear banging from behind us, then gunshots. We moved away from the door and Angel pulled something else from the duffle bag. He took out a rope and a walkie-talkie, and put it in one of his many pockets. He tied the rope quickly and securely on one of the bedposts while the gunshots slowly destroyed the thick door.

We ran to the window and I gulped. He spun me so I could face him and our eyes met. "I don't have to tell you how serious this is now. You will jump out the window, right?"

I didn't have anything to say so I just nodded. He let me go and said, "I'll go first. Follow me."

He neatly stepped over the window, and with a quick move, he jumped out, shimmying down the main wall. I just looked down at him with disbelief; the drop was at least forty feet. Once he reached the ground, he looked up and signaled impatiently for me to come down. I looked back and the door was almost destroyed. I saw the face of one of the terrorists, and that was enough motivation to do as Angel directed.

I grabbed the rope and climbed over the ledge. Using both hands and wrapping both of my legs around the rope, I slowly began to slide down. I shut my eyes tight because I was completely afraid of heights. When I heard the loud crash of the door giving way above me I screamed and let go of the rope. Realizing what I'd just done, I screamed even louder because I knew I was going to break a leg or something; that's when Angel caught me swiftly. Thankful, I held on to his neck with more force than I intended.

Without wasting any time, he put me on the ground and we began running around the hotel maze. Every now and then, a terrorist would appear and Angel would quickly shoot them down. We kept running until we made it to an underground tunnel, where I collapsed trying to get oxygen back in my lungs. Angel pulled out the walkie-talkie and began to change the stations around.

After a few minutes of static, he said, "Captain, Captain come in!"

The voice on the other end wasn't the usual one; it was the voice of a young woman. "Angel, you're still alive!"

"Jessica?"

"Yes, something is going on at the base. I don't know what it is. I can't explain what I've found, especially through this station. The Captain was killed in his home last night."

Angel put his head down and sighed deeply. I was going to go and comfort him when he punched the wall, making the tunnel echo and rubble fall on his feet.

"Listen, I'm getting out of here before I get killed too. Take care of yourself, Angel. We'll meet in the future because you will come back home. Over and out." And everything went silent.

Angel sank on to the floor, removed the automatic from his back, and buried his face in his hands. He was there in that position for a long time. I wanted to give him a moment to grieve his loss. But it hurt me to see him in pain. It caused me pain too, somewhere deep inside my soul. I crawled over to him, removed his hands from his face and made him look up at me. I didn't say anything, just sat there looking at his blue eyes. He brought me up to his body and gave me a tight hug, running his hands up and down my back. The tightness of his strong arms reminded me of his body so I pulled away quickly.

"Let me take a look at your knuckles."

He placed his hand in mine and I immediately felt blood on it. His skin was scraped off his knuckles, and one of his fingers looked broken because it was slightly out of place. I ripped off a piece of my shirt and tied it tightly around his hand to hold them in place. He looked at me while I worked, his eyes looking defeated.

I got up and looked down at him with my hand waiting for his. "Come on, you've got a mission to finish."

He looked at my hand for a moment, and then grabbed it with his automatic in hand. We slowly began to walk deeper and deeper into the black tunnel. It was dark enough for me not to see much in front of me, but Angel seemed not to have a problem.

Angel stopped abruptly and I crashed into him, he steadied me, pulled out his magnum, and began to walk a little faster. I jogged to keep up and we made it to a clearing by the lake I'd swum in yesterday. I didn't see this opening when I was here. Then again, everything blended in perfectly.

We looked back towards the hotel and there was chaos going on, everything was being burned down. The Hummer was burning, until it exploded loudly, making some men run away from it. The desert was extremely cool compared to the way it was in the daytime.

Angel guided me towards the lake and jumped in swiftly. I looked at him in surprise and he yelled, "Come on!"

I looked back at the burning hotel one more time before I jumped in next to him, leaving all the noise behind.

"We have to swim underwater to avoid being spotted. This will be the perfect way to escape. Got it?"

I just looked at his ocean eyes and nodded. I was a great swimmer. But I wasn't good at holding my breath. Angel took a deep breath and went under. I did the same. I saw him immediately and I followed his lead. He slowed down his pace so I could keep up with him. We swam all the way to the other side of the lake. We came out gasping and tired. He helped me out of the water and we continued to walk through the desert in silence.

We walked for about an hour. The desert felt like it would never end. I held onto him because exhaustion was taking over my body, and his as well. After a long time of walking, something came up behind me so fast that I didn't have time to react. Something hard hit the back of my head and I was immediately knocked out for a few minutes.

When I came back to consciousness, Angel was fighting a bald man who matched his physical size. When my eyes went into focus, I saw that both men were beating the crap out of each other. Angel was bleeding from his fresh cut in his eyebrow, and his lip was busted open again. The other man was cut in the ribs by Angel's combat knife.

Punches were being thrown over and over. I wanted to run towards Angel and help him out, but my vision was dancing. I sat up and touched the back of my head, blood.

I looked at the other man more closely. Tan cargo pants, black tee shirt, black boots, and dog tags. This couldn't be happening. This man wasn't a terrorist; he was one of us, an American. Why would Angel be fighting one of his own men?

Angel punched him hard and the man went down on all fours, spitting out blood and laughing. "You really thought that this was only about saving some stupid rich girl, huh?" He got back up and gave Angel a bloody smile. "But it goes much deeper than this. A conspiracy that you could never imagine. One thing I wasn't expecting was for them to send YOU out here. YOU made everything more difficult for me. The negotiations between the Americans and the Middle East are in trouble because of you. But it seems that you were too busy to realize what was going on around you. You were too busy fucking the bitch."

"What does Samantha have to do with any of this?"

He got up and laughed again. "Kerry, you were always military smart, but never had any kind of common sense. What do you think? That this has to be over oil? Are you as naïve as every other American back home? Think about it."

I didn't believe what he was saying. He was simply trying to get under Angel's skin to irritate him.

"You think the President didn't know about her disappearance? You think that this wasn't planned? It was all about the money. Power. One hand always washes another. And we are tracking down those who might know about America's treason, beginning with your Captain, and continuing with you."

Angel straightened his stance and just looked at him in confusion. Angel began to throw the knife up in the air and catching it, showing that he was calm. "What makes you think that you aren't next on the hit list?"

"Oh, I got security from both parties." He reached behind his back to where his gun was hidden. "You are just a leftover veteran who must be disposed of."

The gun glinted into view. But Angel didn't see it; he was looking at me with sad eyes. The man never noticed that I had woken up. He pointed the gun at Angel at the same time that I ran towards him when the trigger was pulled.

"No!"

The bald man gave me a shocked look. I fell on my knees with short gasps. Angel dropkicked the bald man. There was another struggle when the gun went off again, hitting me with another painful gasp and I collapsed, when Angel broke his nose. He grabbed the man's gun and pulled the trigger five times. The gun was smoking by the time Angel lowered it.

Once he cleaned his fingerprints from the gun, he said, "I'll make sure you stay down," and turned to me. I felt him take off his shirt and press it on me.

I looked at the sky and saw a shooting star and smiled. I closed my eyes and gave in to sleep. I heard his voice urging me to stay awake. But I'd finally found the moment to give up. I gave up the fighting. I gave up trying to survive. Emotionally, physically, and mentally: I was done.

Chapter 13

Death

I heard more gunshots, never ending gunshots. It sounded like there was an army of people running around near me. It sounded like there were hundreds of choppers in the air. I heard people screaming.

I felt someone pick me up. I felt his iron grasp. I knew it was him. The sun was shining bright; the helicopter was loud. It had finally showed up. The ride was bumpy.

I was moved again. This aircraft was moving much faster. With lightning speed. I opened my eyes once, but all the faces around me were unfamiliar. Where was he? Had he left me already?

The peaceful thing about this place was that it was extremely quiet. The only thing that I heard was laughter right next to me. I got up from the bed in surprise. It was a white canopy bed with white sheets in the middle of the desert. Hunter wrapped her cold fingers around mine. They were cold, dead, and sculpture-like.

"Why are we back here?"

"This wasn't the place I wanted to be either. But I've been stuck here this whole time. I've been waiting for you so we could finish this chapter and never look back into this nightmare."

I looked at her and her black hair shone in the sun. She was wearing the same pale blue dress she'd died in, though it wasn't covered in blood. The winds made our hair fly. I looked at her and began crying. She turned to me with tearful eyes and hugged me. "Samantha, don't come with me. Your time isn't up. Mine was. I wanted to stay here long enough to lead you back home. Don't die in a place like this. Do it for me."

I broke from her hug and began to cry even harder. "How can I move on? You were everything I had and you know it. I have nothing back there. I don't care if I have to die in this nightmare. I'm going with you."

She grabbed my hands and squeezed hard. "My life ended a long time ago Samantha. I want you to do everything that I didn't get a chance to." She wiped my tears away and kissed my forehead. "Go. Finish college and travel the world, take lots of pictures, get married, and grow old with a guy who you will argue with everyday." I laughed and her face brightened. "Don't stay here. Do this for me. I will continue living the life I couldn't through your eyes."

With that she let me go. She stared out at the desert and said, "Don't let them win Samantha."

We looked at each other and I gave her one final hug. I breathed in her exaggerated perfume smell of vanilla and smiled. I'd finally been able to say my goodbye. "I love you."

She let go of me and said, "I love you too. Now go."

And I did. I turned from her and walked in the opposite direction. She began to walk towards the sun. "Samantha," I heard her say. I turned and looked at her. "Tell my parents that I love them."

A tear escaped my eyes and I nodded. She blew me a kiss in the quirky way she always did, and I watched her go until I couldn't see her silhouette anymore...

"CLEAR!"

I felt shock go through my entire body. For the first time in weeks, I felt alive.

"We have a pulse!"

I felt my soul and my body come together. I felt my brain gaining control of my body. I moved my fingers. There was silence in the room. There was something in my mouth and I couldn't swallow.

"She's coming back," I heard someone say.

I tried to move my hands so I could remove the tube from my mouth, but they were restrained. I opened my eyes with difficulty. They felt like they were sealed shut with glue. A nurse came and appeared in my view. It was a beautiful, short African-American woman with curly hair and a brilliant smile.

I pulled on my hands even harder, but it was impossible. They felt like they were tied with rope and I felt a panic attack coming. The monitor on my right was beeping quicker now. I needed to get out of here before they tried to kill me. She was going to try to kill me.

She put her hand on my shoulder and said, "Honey, it's okay. You're safe now. Your hands are restrained because we didn't want you to remove anything that might harm you. My name is Deanna. I'm going to call the doctor so we can get an order to remove some of these tubes and stuff. I'm also going to call your father and let him know that you are out of the coma. Now, I'm going to give you something to sleep so this process will run smoother." She injected something in my IV and ran her hand through my hair before she left the room. But I was falling asleep before I heard her footsteps disappear.

I woke up a few hours later. This time I was sitting up slightly and my hands were free. I still had oxygen coming into my nostrils and there were a few tubes sticking out from my body. Panicked, I looked around the room. There was a small TV above me, a bathroom to my right, and a few chairs and a computer in the room.

Right when the panic was getting worse, my nurse walked in and I sighed in relief. "How are you feeling? Now, I told I would get all that stuff off. Right?"

"Fine," I said. My voice sounded rough and my throat was in severe pain. I brought my hand to it and it felt swollen as if my tonsils were infected.

She had a sympathetic look to her, walked around the bed and checked on the IV bags. She turned to me and said, "The tube was there to help you breathe since you've been in a coma for seven weeks." I gave her a shocked look. "You are at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital; you were transferred here from Princeton University after your gunshots."

"What happened?" I asked, still holding my throat.

She sat on the chair next to me. "You were shot twice in Egypt by an unknown person. Once here, only about two millimeters from your heart," she pointed to a place underneath my heart where it was tender, "and here," she pointed at my stomach. "Your left lung collapsed, that's why you needed help breathing. There is still a tube removing excess fluids from your lung and there's a tube collecting your urine from your bladder. You were purposely intubated by us so you could heal quicker, but you went into a coma mysteriously."

A tear escaped my eyes and I looked out the window. We weren't that high up. "I was raped."

Her eyes shone with tears and she patted her eyes before she handed me a tissue. "Honey, I'm so sorry. I can't even imagine going through the stuff you went through. There will be a few doctors and psychologists coming around now that you are awake. But I can assure you from a medical aspect that you're okay. All of your blood tests came back negative. And other than a few infections here and there, you are severely anemic, which is something we all expected. You will be just fine."

Just fine. Those weren't the words that I would explain my future with. Even though this was somewhat important, I wasn't worried about that. It seemed like nothing mattered to me. I just wanted to give up on life.

The nurse sensed that I wanted some space and she left without saying another word. I cried silently for hours. I'd wanted to die back there and not come back alone. The worst feeling in the world was to wake up from a coma all alone. I would have thought that my father would be here at least until I woke up. But I guess his life was more important than mine. He was probably showing off to the press. I could see it now: "Samantha is alive!"

I felt like I was in that tunnel back in Egypt. But I was alone, in the dark, and I was just running and running without reaching the exit.

I must have dozed off because the next thing I remember was hearing, "Samantha," from a soft voice.

I opened my eyes and saw Annie, Hunter's mother. I was still in the same sitting position. As soon as my eyes landed on Annie's face, I broke down and started crying loudly. She sat on the bed and hugged me tight. I hugged her back and we sat like this for a few minutes, crying hysterically.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I feel like this is my entire fault. Hunter shouldn't be dead. Not her. I can't see my future without her."

Annie pulled away from me and began to wipe my tears. "We would never blame you for what happened back there. None of this is your fault. It was her time to go." She began to tear up as well. She's such a beautiful person, both inside and out. Her mother had the same black hair and brown eyes and ivory skin. It felt like I was looking at Hunter all grown up twenty years later, which made me cry even more.

Annie continued. "We all miss her. She was the sunshine in everyone's life. Never a dull moment around her and you know this very well. Samantha, I don't blame you, and I never will. I would never wish that it should have been you dead and her here. So I don't ever want you to feel guilty again. Do you understand me?"

I nodded and she gave me another quick hug. "Harold comes every couple of days." She began to wipe away the new tears, referring to her husband and Hunter's father. "Sometimes, he brings books that he used to read to you and Hunter and reads them to you. You know what he said to me? He said that Hunter is still living though you."

I looked out at the setting sun again. I heard her laughter again; I'll always hear her laughter. "I will make sure I live my life to the fullest. I want her to be proud of me." More tears were streaming down my eyes. "I saw her just before I woke back up from the coma. She told me the same thing you did. And she wanted me to tell you guys that she loves you."

Annie held both of my hands and smiled. "We thought that we were going to lose you as well. A few weeks back, on your birthday, your heart stopped beating. We thought we'd lost you forever."

"Where's my father?" She might know what was going on with him.

Her eyes darkened, but she quickly smiled to remove any trace of it. "He couldn't make it today. But he will be here tomorrow morning. He promised. And happy belated birthday Samantha."

I smiled at her and we changed the subject to something less depressing. I wasn't surprised to hear that my dad wasn't coming today. I was already expecting that. After a few hours of chatting about some of my favorite TV shows and celebrity gossip, Annie kissed my forehead and told me that she would be back tomorrow with Harold.

I would be alone, for hours. The nurse would come in a lot and give me medications, or check on my status, but I would be alone often. I told the nurses know to only let immediate family in; I don't want to see Craig yet. I don't know what to say to him. But I don't want to see him. Dozens of doctors came and went, giving me the same information over and over.

Deanna came back with some of the other nurses. They noticed that I was feeling a little down, so they started talking about celebrities and their personal lives while in the room with me. I knew what they were doing. They didn't want me to feel lonely.

And then they began to talk about Angel and how hot he was. I caught up quickly because I felt the familiar tingle on my skin when I heard his name.

"He was the one who saved you, right?" My heart skipped a beat and the monitor went off. Some off the nurses started laughing at the gesture. I nodded at Deanna. "I tell you, he is eye candy. He usually stays about two hours later than the end of our visiting hours. But we never had the courage to say so. Besides, we all enjoyed the eye candy."

Most of the ladies nodded and smiled in agreement, which made me laugh out loud, something different for a change. I saw some of the nurses straighten their scrubs and fix their hair. This would have made most girls jealous. But to me, it was reassurance because I wasn't the only female who was affected by his beauty. I wonder what I looked like. Right when I was feeling self-conscious about my image, the nurses surrounded me as if I was in a day spa.

"I know this is uncomfortable, but until we get a doctor's order, you aren't allowed to do almost anything. Your hunk doesn't know that you're awake because we don't have authorization from your father to release any information to him."

So Deanna and the Asian nurse were the only two who stayed behind. They closed the door and pulled the curtains. One nurse filled a basin with hot water, and the other put a heavy wet shower cap over my head. Before I knew it, I was stripped of my gown, lying completely flat, and being washed with baby shampoo by them. I did feel weird. I felt awkward that they were there washing me from head to toe while I just lay there useless. I was able to move my arms and legs with only minimal pain, but I was on bed rest until further notice.

I looked down at my body and saw the damage. Golden bite scars all over my body, some around my breasts. There were two pink bullet holes, they looked completely healed, and there was a tube coming out from my side, and another one coming out from my bottom.

Once they had me washed up, I turned from side to side a few times so they could do my back, change the sheets, and put my gown on. They rubbed baby lotion all over my body, which felt incredible and smelled yummy, and sat me completely up for the first time since I'd woken up. The Asian nurse towel dried my hair and combed it out. She then parted it down the middle and began to French braid my hair from root to tip. My hair was completely down to my waist now, probably past it. Securing the rubber bands, she stepped away and Deanna came with a cup of water, a ready toothbrush, and a mirror.

I brushed my teeth and looked at myself in the mirror. My face was completely rested. I had no dark circles, but I was a little puffy. My skin was a little flushed, but clear from any type of mark beside the ugly scar on my chin. I looked at my teeth and they were decent. They were not the way I expected them to be, but I understood the reason for it. The dentist was on my agenda once I got out of here.

Once I was done looking at myself, the nurse took all the stuff away and they both left without another word. I sat there with my hands on my lap, listening to the eerie quietness in the hospital, except for the monitors going off at the nurses' station. I closed my eyes and lay my head back.

That's when I felt him first. I thought it was because we had spent so much time together. We had gone through too much together. It was like a hush in my brain where all of my thinking had suddenly stopped. I opened my eyes when I heard the footsteps coming closer. The nurses went quiet in the hallways as well. Some mumbled hello, some just stared. He walked into my room and stopped at the doorway. He simply looked at me. His eyes were shining with tears.

He looked amazing in a white tee shirt, and dark denim jeans that showed how perfect his body was. He had a helmet in his hands. He looked like he'd lost some weight.

Tears streamed down my face when I breathed, "Angel."

He dropped his motorcycle helmet at the door with a loud bang, sat on my bed, and pulled me in for a tight hug. I felt him smell my hair and kiss my neck. I just sat there with my arms around his waist, tears streaming down my cheeks.

He let go of me and looked into my eyes. "Why the hell did you do that? Are you more insane than I thought?" But he didn't look angry. He looked away from my eyes and began to caress my cheeks.

I just looked at him. "I couldn't sit there and watch you die."

"So you thought it was a brighter idea if you died? Don't you know that you would have ruined everything? Do you even know how important you are?"

That felt like a low blow. I wasn't expecting this. I removed his hands from my cheeks; more tears betrayed me and escaped my eyes. "Well, I'm sorry that I almost ruined your stupid mission by killing myself. Didn't you think that he would have killed me anyways after killing you?"

He shook his head and smiled at me. "That is not what I meant. I would have died fifty times back there in Hell, but it wouldn't matter because my goal was to keep you alive. And not because of my mission, but because that's how much I cared about you by then. That's how much I care about you now."

He laid his head on my shoulder and closed his eyes. "From the moment we landed here from Europe, I came every single night, hoping to see your eyes again. I came every night and sat with you for hours and talked to you, even though I knew you couldn't hear me. I felt empty inside without hearing you ranting and complaining." He looked up at me and laughed, "I felt empty without feeling you next to me every night. I left Washington that very night, packed all my stuff, sent a resignation letter. I came to New York and began job searching for the FBI. I got the job within a week, but I knew that there was something missing. I didn't know what it was, so I kept visiting you every night. I put my beginning date on hold. And they didn't mind waiting for me to be ready to start. They were thrilled when they heard that I wanted to join their team."

He kissed my forehead, and both of my hands. "I realized that it was you missing in my life when I came on the night of your birthday and your heart stopped beating right in front of my eyes. I didn't know what to do. I was frozen. I could have starting performing CPR, but I thought I'd lost you forever. I just sat in the background looking shocked while they were trying to resuscitate you. "

He let everything sink in. He put his head on my shoulder and caressed my back at the same time. I thought about how difficult it would have been if I'd came back without Angel by my side. I'd already lost Hunter; losing Angel as well would have been heartbreaking.

"Have you seen my father since you came back?"

He lifted his eyes to me and they were dark, just like Annie's. He looked tired and his cheekbones were a little more noticeable. "The only time I saw him was when I received my medal in the White House."

I ran my hand through his buzz, feeling shivers as I did. "What was that like?"

He got up suddenly. He walked towards the window and put his hands in his pockets. "Everything that guy said back in Egypt was true. Well, some stuff that I was able to find. But when I received my medal, the President gave me a look of resentment and anger, something that solidified all the doubts I had about our country. There is something definitely wrong going on. But I think that this was only the beginning." He turned his head to the side and said, "I don't want you to become involved in this mess."

I lifted my hand and said, "Come here." He took a deep breath and tuned back to walk towards me. Once he sat on the chair and held my hand I said, "I became involved when I was abducted. You were dragged into this whole mess because of me. You would have easily continued living your normal life if you'd never attempted my rescue. But I don't want you to leave me. I'm not going to let that happen."

He sighed, ran his hands over his face and kissed my forehead. "You got your wish, Samantha. It was impossible for me to be away from you. I chose New York to be close to you. It's too late for me to try and stay away."

He was frustrating me. He could never give me a straight answer. He was always the composed Angel who got on my nerves so I changed the subject. "You're not eating well." It wasn't a question; it was a comment.

"It's been a rough couple of months for me as well. When I'm not with you, I'm thinking about you. I commute from the city every night. Then I wake up after a few hours to go and dig up more stuff on our situation."

I wanted to scream, but I didn't want the nurses to think that I was becoming psychotic as well as depressed. "Will you come every night to see me?"

He sat back on the chair and folded his arms. "Believe me, I want to. But I need to handle a few things, some unfinished business back in D.C. I need some time for myself. I need to be alone. I can go in peace now that I know you're okay."

He pulled out a small box from his back pocket and handed it to me. "Happy birthday," was all he said.

I looked at the deep blue box, caressed it with my fingers for a few seconds, and then opened it. My breath caught in my throat immediately. It was a silver oval locket charm with a red ruby on the center. I ran my fingers over the ruby when he said, "Open it." And I did. I let a single tear escape my eyes. It was a picture of Hunter and me in Rome. It was the best picture we'd taken together.

I looked at him with teary eyes. "How did you get this picture?"

"Annie received the camera you guys used."

I looked back at the locket and held it to my heart. "Thank you."

He didn't respond. He took the locket from my hands and fastened it on the charm bracelet already on my wrist. When he came back in front of me, he kissed me delicately on the lips, as if he was afraid he would break me like a china doll.

He let me go and breathed into my face. "Don't leave me again, you hear?"

I nodded, because being so close was making me dizzy. He straightened up, pulled a card from his pocket and put it on my nightstand. "My office number and cell number are on it. "I'll come by as soon as I get some things settled."

He got up and I watched him go, sad that once again, he was leaving my side.

Chapter 14

Rest

I slept amazing last night. Angel had put a spell on me, letting me sleep soundlessly for over ten hours. Unwillingly, I opened my eyes to see my father sitting next to me.

"Daddy!" I threw myself into his arms, forgetting completely about what I'd discovered back in the Middle East. With all the time I had to think, I'd decided to ask him when I was finally home, resting peacefully. I needed to be alone with him. I didn't want to be disturbed when I asked him about what I'd discovered in the Middle East.

"Oh my little girl, you're finally with us again." I felt him wet my neck with tears. "You are the only thing I have left from your mother."

I pulled back and wiped his tears away. "Dad, why did all this happen to us?"

He looked to the side and answered quickly. "They were just terrorists who wanted money. But honey, all this is behind us." He looked back at my face with a cheerful smile. "I brought you some stuff from home."

He pulled up a small suitcase with everything I needed to endure the boring hospital room; including my cell phone, laptop, magazines, books, and female necessities.

"Dad, I know you well enough to know that you didn't pack all this yourself."

He laughed. "You're right, Helen helped me with all this stuff. She was worried about you, you know."

Curve ball. My monster stepmother-to-be. And I bet she didn't come to visit even once. I quickly changed the conversation to something else, anything else. After about twenty minutes, he told me he had a meeting to attend and left. That was why I spent a lot of time alone. I registered for four online classes to keep me busy. I didn't want to fall behind in school, especially if this was my last year of college.

With the same routine day after day, I was becoming exhausted. Homework, online browsing, catching up with all the shows I've missed, doctors visiting me, psychiatrists evaluating my mental state, physical therapists getting me out of the bed and walking around. I was exhausted by it all.

After three days passed and no word from Angel, I finally gained the courage to call his cell. He answered after the second ring.

"Hello."

My heart sank from hearing his voice. "Hi." I didn't know what else to say.

"Samantha, I'm sorry I've been busy."

A tear escaped my eye. "I miss you."

He was silent for a minute. "You don't know how frustrating it is going days without hearing your voice." I took a breath of reassurance. At least he'd been thinking about me too.

I closed my eyes with relief. "When am I going to see you again?"

He took a deep breath. "I don't know, Sam."

He sounded frustrated so I changed the subject. "I'm doing better and better every day. I walked with physical therapy and my body is recovering smoothly."

"I'm happy to hear that. Listen, I need to call you back. Is that okay?"  
"Sure."

We said our goodbyes and he quickly hung up.

A few days later, I called him two other times and it was the same way. The same short sentence. After that, I gave up on trying to contact him. And went into a deep depression. Medically, I was cleared. But I was transferred to a different floor to treat my depression. I was there for weeks. I wouldn't talk to anyone. My father, Annie, and Harold would come and visit me, but I wouldn't talk. I was completely mute from the day Angel walked out of my life. I fell behind in my schoolwork as well, not logging into any of my classes.

I understood where he was coming from, I really did. He'd been visiting me every night for almost two months. He needed to get his life back together. He needed time for himself as well. But knowing that he wasn't next to me hurt. It was as if he'd taken ninety percent of my heart with him and only left me with that tiny remainder. I knew that we were going to be together again when he was ready.

I didn't want to seem like a foolish girl, but my heart was broken. The hospital didn't have a cure for this. I was monitored 24/7 by someone. My father became deeply concerned. I could see it in his eyes. He seemed more affected by this than I thought. He looked years older than he really was. He'd lost weight as well; he wouldn't talk to me, just stared with hollow eyes.

After being monitored for weeks, the doctors discharged me. They figured that I wasn't going to commit suicide, but a psychiatrist was still going to visit me once a week at home to make sure I was mentally okay.

My father picked me up that morning, early because it was the day of his wedding, how inconsiderate of me. His eyes were red and he gave me a quick hug. He listened intently when the doctors were discussing the discharge instructions.

I declined the wheelchair. I grabbed my suitcase and we were on our way to my dad's car, a sleek black BMW convertible. He opened the door for me and put the suitcase in the small trunk.

The forty-minute drive to our home was quiet. The sky was overcast and it was about seventy degrees outside, perfect for an outdoor wedding. Leaving New Brunswick behind and entering Princeton was a blessing. Everything was as beautiful as I remembered it. The trees were beginning to change colors but hadn't lost their leaves yet. The homes were endearing here with their white picket fences and fresh cut grass. Many people knew my father as we drove down the rural streets. Many people pointed at the car and whispered, some honked their horns and waved.

Finally, we left the small town behind and drove up a long stretch of grass and trees until my home was visible. The long driveway was busy with commercial vans parked everywhere. People were carrying tables, chairs, decorations, and center arrangements. The front of our home, a beautiful white three-story colonial home with black window panels, was decorated with white roses.

I didn't look around. I got out of the car, got my suitcase, and entered. The inside was even more horrific. The wedding was going to be outdoors, since the sky was supposed to clear up by midday and it was warm enough to walk around without a sweater. But the entrance was beautiful. Everything was white, from the tile floor to the grand staircase. The chandelier came from Italy; hundreds of crystals surrounded the beautiful lighting above our heads.

There were waiters and helpers running around in every direction. None of them glanced at me twice. I looked back, but my dad must have gone around and parked the car in the garage. My new stepmother, Helen, emerged from my right side, wearing a leopard robe, rollers, and some sort of mask on her face.

"Samantha darling, come here, let me give you a kiss." I walked towards her without a word. She brushed her collagen lips on my cheeks. "I want to cry, I really do, but I have a surprise that will make you feel better, trust me."

She was beautiful, even before she'd had all the unnecessary surgeries. Tall and lean with full lips and green eyes to die for, and long blonde hair.

She led me to what used to be my father's study and I gasped. I was against this wedding, and I didn't like Helen at all. But she led me into this room and I appreciated her a little more. What I needed right now was right in front of me. Helen had turned the study into a day spa. It was equipped with everything, including a tanning bed.

Now, on any other occasion, I would have killed her with hateful words, because she's famous for spending every penny of my father's that she could get her hands on. But this was perfect. I'm not a materialistic person, but try to go though months without shaving your legs or getting your hair done. I'm sure you would feel like this was Heaven as well.

Heaven. That reminded me of the person who had taken over my dreams every night. The last time I felt love sick like this was in high school, and that was nothing compared to the withdrawal I was going through now. The cure to all my pain was not at my side. And by the looks of it, he didn't want to be. As soon as he saw that I was going to survive, he'd left me and never looked back. I knew that having his love would be too good to be true. I didn't deserve someone like him. I was feeling depressed all over again, so I shook my head and entered the room.

Helen lightly kissed my forehead and said, "Go, because besides me, you are going to be the talk of the night. I want you to look like a goddess." She shouted into the room, "Ladies! We need to be out the door in four hours. Let's get moving!"

I mentally rolled my eyes and walked further into the room. The women greeted me with wide smiles. A short beautiful Asian lady with almond shaped eyes approached me immediately. She began to undress me. At first I pushed her away and gave her a furious look. But then I reminded myself that I was home. This wasn't the Middle East. I was away from it all.

"Sorry," I whispered and I began to undress. This was the first time in two weeks that I'd spoken.

I felt like everyone's eyes were on me, including my stepmother's, from the moment all the clothes left my body and a towel was wrapped around. Everyone turned back to what they were doing, pretending like they didn't see anything. She led me to the tanning bed where I baked for about ten minutes. I didn't want to overdo it, I just wanted to remove a little of the paleness.

As soon as I was done, she led me into a small tub where I sank in with my towel and everything and closed my eyes as they worked on my fingers and toes. Next was the waxing. And I can tell you that I'd forgotten how much that hurts. She went for my hair next and began to highlight. I was going to protest, but just shrugged and let her do whatever, since Helen was yelling orders from across the room. I swear; that woman was going to grow a wrinkle by the end of the night.

Cutting, drying, and styling took most of the time and I was quickly getting bored and sleepy. But she soon spun me around and I did look amazing. My eyes looked bright and excited. My lips were full and inviting. I looked over at Helen and she was already dressed in her expensive Vera Wang dress as if she was going to a runway instead of a wedding. She looked over at me and immediately began fanning her face to avoid crying.

"Okay, we've got twenty minutes. There's a small rack of dresses I pulled out for you. I hope you find one that you like. You're my only bridesmaid and my maid of honor."

Maid of honor? That was the last thing I wanted to do with her. I didn't want to share this special moment with her. But, I wasn't up for arguing, especially since she'd made my self-esteem shoot up like a bullet with all this pampering. Whatever. My helper finished applying my makeup and I walked towards the rack. I pushed most of them aside since they weren't my style, until I saw one that was perfect. I slipped it on and thanks to my weight loss; it fit perfectly, because I knew that Helen would get a dress too small for me. She is one of those who praises size zeros and ones. No, I wasn't that small, but the dress was a one and it fit just right.

The girls put the final touches on us with jewelry and I turned to the full-length mirror. I gasped at the miracle that these women had managed. The deep blue dress was heart shaped at the bust and mermaid style until my thighs with a beautiful train. I had a simple manicure and pedicure. My makeup was done simply as well, just enough to bring out my teal eyes and pink lips. My hair looked marvelous. It was dried out and damaged, but these ladies had brought it back to life with the heavenly highlights and soft curls midway down my back, since they'd cut a good amount off. The front was teased up while the back hung loosely. The jewelry was super blingy and extravagant, but I expected that from Helen.

"You look beautiful." I looked over and Helen was standing right next to me. Her dress was covered with tiny crystals from head to toe. It was beautiful. Even though I thought she looked a little silly dressed in all white. "Let's do this!" she squealed with excitement.

I assumed that was my cue. I grabbed my small bouquet of white roses and walked out the door. I realized that I'd forgotten to thank the ladies, but everything faded when I looked at the person standing in front of me. He was coordinated to match my dress. I looked into his baby blue eyes and he pulled me into a small hug.

"How are you feeling?" asked Craig as he let go of me and touched my jaw.

"Not as well as you Craig," I joked as I removed my hands from his. "Come on. Let's get this show over with, please."

Craig grabbed my hand again and led me through the back entrance when the music began and the flower girl walked towards the altar. There were a couple of hundred people present and I immediately became nervous. Everything was white in the decorations. The roses, the carpet, the chair covers, the tablecloth, the centerpieces, you name it. But it looked beautiful. The only colors visible were the guests, and my father's black tux.

Our lawn was covered with some sort of removable pavement so our heels wouldn't sink into the grass. This wedding had the most beautiful view yet; a small creek where swans spent afternoons like these. It was the perfect finishing touch to the wedding because there were at least two dozen of them. Someone must have been feeding them in order for them to hang around and wait for more food like that.

"Are you ready?"

I looked up at Craig's sweet baby face and nodded. We exited the house and began to slowly march towards the altar with the pace of the music. Immediately, people began to turn and look at me. Once they got a good eyeful, they would whisper to each other, look back at me, and then whisper some more. I tried to put a smile on my lips, but they were frozen. This must have been the longest short walk ever because I tried really hard not to turn back around and run away from this. But Craig's grip on me was pretty tight, so I was sure not going anywhere. I was also certain that some of my whip scars could be visible through my dress and loose hair.

Once I stood on the opposite side of my father, the music boomed with more energy, announcing Helen's entrance. And she did what she'd intended to: turn everyone's head. She walked with her back straight and her head held high. Walking with elegance and radiance, seeking the attention of the whole community of Princeton. Helen walked alone, drawing all the attention to her.

As soon as she was in front of my father, the ceremony began. The lawyer, my father's best friend Anthony, asked everyone to send a small prayer to god for my safe arrival home. We had a minute of silence. Then we sent out another prayer for Hunter. I tried really hard not to cry while the audience was quiet. Thankfully I didn't. I just stood there with the white roses in my hands. But I didn't hear anything. I didn't hear the ceremony, I didn't hear when they exchanged their vows, and I didn't hear the music start up again. Craig brought me back when he took a hold of my hand and led me away.

Once everyone began to enter the reception, I excused myself and disappeared to my bedroom for a few hours. I needed away from everyone, including Craig before he starts asking questions. I walked in and instantly realized I'd missed it. My room was huge. Everything was still pink and yellow, including my sheets and curtains. But I also had a small sitting area with white couches and a flat screen mounted on the wall. My bathroom was my sanctuary. I had a hot tub large enough to fit four people, and a large vanity table with all my makeup still scattered around it.

I walked towards my window and sat down on the cushioned windowsill. I looked out the window as more guests arrived. I just sat there and thought about everything that had happened to me on this long journey. I didn't cry. But I did remember the last and best moment I'd spent with Hunter.

Chapter 15

Past

I realized that a few hours had passed when the sun began to set. I needed to declare my presence once more before I called it a night. I wanted to relax in my bed. I wanted to soak in my tub. I put my shoes back on and made my way outside. There were at least five hundred people now, and the whole area was illuminated completely, making it look like a dream world.

Friends, distant relatives, and acquaintances asking about my well-being stopped me at least fifty times between the back door and my father's table. I gave them a small smile and said, "I'm okay." But it was a lie that even I wouldn't believe.

I sat at the table and faced the lake, watching the swans prepare themselves to fly south for the winter. I watched them all leave, and then I watch the water settle until it looked frozen.

I saw my father a few times. I danced a couple of jazz solos with him. He would give me a kiss and I would go back to my table and let him enjoy his day. When he came back from the honeymoon, we needed to talk about everything I'd gone through, even the stuff I'd seen in the Middle East. Until then, I wanted him to enjoy his night. Nobody approached me to ask me to dance. I guess it was written all over my face that I didn't want to be bothered.

The waiter came and brought me dinner. I don't know what it was because it looked like one of those rich people dishes that Helen loved. But it was incredible. I couldn't remember the last time that I'd eaten something this good, so rich in taste. I looked around, hoping that there wasn't anyone watching the way I'd inhaled two helpings in a matter of ten minutes.

There was someone watching, because as soon as I was done with the second plate, a hand appeared in my view. "Let's dance, Samantha."

The meal had made me feel better, because I accepted Craig's offer. We danced for a while in silence. Craig smelled my hair and said, "God Samantha, I missed you."

I pulled away a bit. This is the only way I can break up with him without any problems. "Craig, I need space."

Craig looked into my eyes and caressed my cheeks. "Babe, I finally got you back..."

"I understand you Craig, but I have been through so much. I just need to be alone for a while."

He just stared at me for a while in silence until he said, "I'm sorry you went through everything alone. I wish I could have been there with you. I wish I could have taken all the torture instead of you."

I looked into his baby face and said, "I was alone for the torture. But I wasn't alone for the part of getting out. Angel was with me the whole time. He never turned his back on me. No matter how difficult it was for us to escape..."

He laughed brutally, cutting me off. I forgot how much of a jerk he could be. "You mean that military junkie who ditched you as soon as he dumped you in the hospital?"

I stopped dancing and I began screaming loud enough for everyone on the dance floor to hear. "You don't have the slightest idea of what I've gone through. I was raped, Craig, over and over again, until they got tired of me. I was beat up. I was tortured. I was shot at. I was treated like I was nothing. And here you stand trying to prove a point that is completely irrelevant to what I just went through in the Middle East. I forgot what an asshole you are." I slapped him hard enough for the people around us to stop dancing and gawk at us. "Go fuck yourself Craig, its over," and walked away, leaving him standing on the dance floor alone.

I went back to my table and sat down. If these people thought that I was going to run away and cry like a girl, they were wrong. I got a few orders of champagne and stared out at the lake like before.

I began to feel the buzz of the alcohol when my father went to the stage where the jazz performers were. I clumsily picked up my glass and stood up, assuming that he was going to toast his wife.

"May I have everyone's attention, please? I would like everyone to stand up." He waited a few seconds for everyone to get up. "I want to thank the only man who took the mission of rescuing my daughter. The only man who cared about my innocent girl's safety. A man who made the impossible possible and brought my daughter safely home. A man to whom I will forever be in debt." I dropped the champagne glass, and everyone turned to me, except for my father. He continued, "Please welcome Navy SEAL veteran, Angel Polanski, with a respectful round of applause."

Everyone went silent because nobody was coming forward. But then I saw him. He exited the back door of the house, and the only people who noticed him were the young women. Most of them straightened their hair and stuck out their busts with extra emphasis.

He was in a Vera Wang tuxedo that fit his body perfectly. His broad chest and thick thighs were still visible underneath all those clothes, and it clearly looked like he'd gotten back into shape, which was perfect. The straight black pants made him look taller than I last remembered. I didn't know what he looked better in, the tux or his army uniform. But they were both breathtaking.

He didn't see me, or at least he shouldn't be able to. I was a little secluded from his line of sight. But he did. He turned those brilliant blue eyes to me at the same time everyone began to cheer and applaud him as he made his way to the stage. His buzz cut was shorter and sexier than ever, bringing his exquisite cheekbone structure and perfect pink lips to life.

I looked over at Helen, who was looking a little bored until Angel appeared. She smoothed her expensive dress and made her way to the stage so she could get some attention. She kissed each cheek and stepped aside to admire him, like every other woman in this reception.

My father gave him a tight hug after he said, "God bless you," through the microphone. He pulled out a handkerchief and absently wiped his eyes in front of half of New Jersey, which was rare. Ex-Army lieutenant tearing up in front of people. Throughout this whole time, the applause never died down, until Angel picked up the microphone.

Everyone went silent as if the President himself was about to speak. "Come on, John. No tears. There's no need for that. Today is your wedding, and your daughter is home in one piece. I was given that job. And even with everything Samantha and I went through, I would take that same job again, because she was worth it. Now, if it's okay with you, I would like to have a dance with your daughter." He looked at my dad, and he encouraged him as if that was the most utterly important question ever.

With that, Angel made his way towards me. That was the longest I'd ever waited for a dance. Angel was stopped at least fifty times, by men saluting and shaking his hand respectfully. Some asked about his skills and then looked at his young face. Angel would charmingly kiss the hands of the wives of his admirers. He would give quick kisses on the cheeks to the younger women. And I could already tell Angel doesn't give up until he has the whole crowd in his favor, even if he's flirting with the women. Maybe he should run for President.

I didn't move from where I was standing, I couldn't. The buzz was wearing off quickly. But the glass was still shattered in front of me; my feet were a little wet from the champagne. I was still staring at Angel, finally making his way towards me. Angel in a tux was something like sugar for coffee. The two went together perfectly, though anything would look good on him. I watched him come closer to me and I closed my eyes.

I felt him slip his cool fingers to mine and they found home. I opened my eyes and stared up at him. The whole world was looking at us, but when we were together, it was as if we were the only ones on this planet. The jazz boomed back to life, making the night as magical as ever.

He came up extremely close to me and gently kissed my forehead, moaning with pleasure. "Mmmm. You look beautiful. I waited all night for that." He held out his arm for me and I took it.

I felt someone grab my arm from his, hard enough to leave a bruise the next day. I looked to see Craig standing behind me. "No! No."

Angel walked past me and faced him, gently removing my arm from his grip; Craig was only an inch shorter than him. So they were pretty much evenly matched, though I'd already seen what Angel could do. There was no competition. Physically or emotionally. "What are you going to do about it, kid?" Craig never answered.

They stared at each other for a few seconds then Angel sneered, "That's what I thought. Samantha, let's dance." It sounded more like a demand than an invitation, but right now, I would do anything to get these two men away from each other.

I quickly grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the dance floor. At first, he wouldn't stop staring at Craig, who was walking back to his table where some of his buddies were eyeing Angel like an ex-con, until about half way through the first song. Finally, he turned his eyes to me and I fell in love all over again. I smiled, a warm bright smile, for the first time in a long time. I rested my head on his shoulders, well, more like his thick arm, and closed my eyes. His smell revived my system, his heartbeat slow, his breathing even. He seemed so calm then, always keeping his cool.

I was feeling the rhythm of the music, feeling the way his arms were around me. I felt his finger on my chin, lifting it up so I could look at him, and I did. His eyes were extra shiny with the night-lights. He closed his eyes and leaned in for a sweet kiss, a kiss that answered the questions of everyone staring. A kiss that sealed the look on Craig, staring at us from his table. A kiss that took me to the highest stars imaginable.

He released me from his spell and said, "Let's go for a walk."

He pulled me a little and I stumbled on the dance floor, feeling completely embarrassed. He turned around and smiled before walking away from the staring crowd and towards the dark where the moon was reflecting on the lake. The music sounded fainter the further we walked. People's voices were no more. So once we were far enough, Angel turned to me and pulled me closer to him, entwining his fingers with mine.

"What happened to you?" I asked before he kissed me and made me forget.

He turned away from me, letting go of my hands. He put his hands in his pockets and stared out at the eerie lake for a long time. Finally, he turned around, removed his jacket, and placed it on the grass so we could sit side-by-side facing the lake.

"I couldn't go back to the hospital. Once I knew that you were going to be okay, I thought that the best thing for you was for me to stay as far away as possible."

I watched the moon light up the lake as if thousands of diamonds were sitting on the surface. "Why would you think that?"

"Because I'm not good, Samantha."

I caressed his arm and said, "Let me be the judge of that."

He turned to me briefly. "Do you remember what that guy said in Egypt?" I nodded. "As far as I could dig up, he was telling the truth."

I stared out at the lake and was in deep thought. He'd already told me this. I didn't understand why he was repeating himself.

"So I went back to DC, where I had to let a few girls down easy."

"Um, what?"

He looked down at me and gave me a wicked smile. "Do you remember Jessica? I was having an affair with her. Even though she's married. And there were a couple of other girls that I was casually dating."

Was he trying to intimidate me, or make me feel more insecure around him than what I already was? "Why are you telling me this?"

He gave me a confused look. "I thought I should come clean about..."

I held up my hand. "I don't care about your dirty little secrets. I care about the present."

He shook his head a little. "So anyway, I changed my number and moved away from all of that. But before I left, I collected a few things that I want to show you." He looked alert all of a sudden, and looked behind us. I turned around too, but I didn't see anyone there. "We can't talk here. I have too much to tell you, but not here. Let's go to my place."

To his place? Be alone with Angel? Without any of the distractions from the Middle East? I didn't know anyone who would turn this down. The party was almost over and my father was about to leave for his honeymoon destination in Fiji. And I was finally twenty-one.

He helped me up and I looked back one more time. But I didn't see anyone near. We made our way back to the party. Angel was carrying his jacket. He followed me to my dad's table where he was already drunk.

"Daddy," I whispered in his ear, "I'm going out with Angel. I'll be back in a little while."

"Actually honey, we're leaving for Fiji in a few hours. Will you be okay home alone?" I felt uneasy about being home alone. Not with everything that I'd been though.

Angel stepped forward. "I'll take care of her Mr. Kelber. Don't worry about that. Enjoy your time there; I heard it's a very beautiful place."

My father waved us away and began laughing at another joke that our Mayor told him. I kissed his forehead and shook my head before we made our way to my bedroom, Angel behind me. "Pack something for overnight. I don't think we'll make it back tonight, unless you want to spend your first night here and we'll go tomorrow?"

I shrugged while I grabbed a small backpack and took only the essentials. Of course I didn't want to stay here. I wanted to go to the end of the world, as long as it was with Angel. I began to remove my dress and Angel turned around, pretending to be looking through my bedroom. I felt so comfortable around him that I forgot he still tried to act professional around me. I dressed in my favorite designer jeans, heelless boots, and leather jacket with a tank underneath. I let my hair loose and grabbed my bag, ready to go.

"Do you have any sunglasses here?" he asked me, turning around with my stuffed monkey in his hands.

"Yeah, sure," I said, grabbing a pair before I closed the door behind me. "How did you know that I take him wherever I go?" I asked him, pointing at Benny. I admit I'm a little embarrassed that I still sleep with a stuffed animal, but Benny and I have gone all over together.

He turned to me in the dark hallway. "Your father showed me a few pictures of you in your bedroom. Benny was in almost every single one of them so I thought you would bring him with you."

We walked quietly down the staircase and went outside without saying a word. Angel led me around the collection of fancy cars, where there was an all-black, fast-looking motorcycle hidden among the trees. I stopped abruptly to look at it when Craig came up behind me.

"Don't go with him, Samantha," said Craig.

Angel turned around as if he was going to say something, but I stopped him by putting a hand on his broad chest. "Don't ever talk to me again." I looked him dead in the eyes, making sure he got the message.

"I still love you Sam, don't go with him."

"Great way to show it. You will never change." I looked at him briefly for a moment; still stunned that he'd just said that he loves me.

I pulled Angel with me and left Craig standing behind. "So, you drove all the way over here on that thing while wearing a tux?"

He gave me a conceited smile as he gave me a helmet. "Put your sunglasses on. This is going to be a long ride."

I looked at the helmet in shock. It didn't have a visor on the front; it was just a simple military helmet. I'd never been on a motorcycle before, so this would be an interesting experience. I must have put on the helmet backwards, because Angel took it off, and placed it on correctly, tucking as much hair as possible inside the helmet, destroying my fancy hairdo. He took the glasses from my hands and placed them neatly on my face.

"I've never been on one of these."

He turned to me and kissed me gently, making me shiver with the cool night. "I told you, I'd always be there to protect you." I was surprised that I'd actually chosen the perfect outfit for this ride.

Once he put on his own helmet, one that actually covered his whole face, he got on the bike and turned it on. He revved the engine loudly, making a scary noise. I swallowed, and then held his shoulders as I climbed on behind him.

"Put one foot there, and one there," he directed in a muffled voice because of the helmet. I did as he said. "Put your arms around my waist and hold on tight. Are you ready?" I looked back at Craig one more time, who was still standing there staring at us, and then nodded.

Angel revved the engine one more time before driving off. I couldn't hear the music anymore. He slowly drove down the long driveway, avoiding the collection of cars. He turned out of the deserted street and took Route 27. There, he took his time, giving me an opportunity to feel comfortable on the bike. There weren't many people out. The usual night traffic but nothing that would scare me.

The bike ride wasn't bad. He took his time as he made his way to the New Jersey Turnpike. It wasn't cold out, but I tightened my grip on his waist when he sped up. The air, though, would hit my face like cold icicles. Whenever Angel was at a stop sign, he would lean back and caress my thigh, making me go crazy all over.

We made it to the entrance of the turnpike and he pulled over. He put both feet on the ground and lifted his helmet. It was loud because of the cars driving past us, but I was able to hear his instructions.

He turned to face me. "Okay, I need you to put both hands on the gas tank like this." He held my hand and pressed them on the tank in front of the bike, making me lean even closer to him. "Tighten you legs around my thighs." And I did. I scooted as close to him as I could. "We're going to be going really fast. If you need time to breathe or something, tap my shoulder and I'll pull over." I nodded.

He put his helmet back on and went through the E-Z Pass. Now we were traveling like a shooting star. He was going really fast, and I mean over one hundred miles an hour. Everything around us was flying. I could barely keep my eyes open and I couldn't breathe well. Weren't there any cops or radars? Sometimes I would tuck my head behind Angel's broad shoulders so I could catch my breath. But I could feel tears streaming towards my ears from the speed.

Sometimes, Angel would change the gears and I would knock my helmet on his by mistake. It felt like an eternity until we reached the George Washington Bridge. He slowed down a little, but not too much. Now he was dodging the usual traffic, making zig-zags all over the bridge until we made it out.

Driving in the city is already bad, only crazy people drive here. But here's Angel, driving his motorcycle like a maniac around downtown. The honks and flashing lights could drive anyone insane, or give you a headache for the day. He made it to Central Park, which is a beautiful scene, and pulled around a white condo that faced the park. He drove to the underground parking deck and swiped his card for access.

The only cars that were visible here were the most expensive cars in the market. Every color and every style. We drove around the car show until he pulled into a spot by a black Audi. The windows were completely black. Angel cut the engine and put the bike on the stand. I looked around as he got off and saw at least four armed security guards. Angel held my hand and helped me climb off the bike, immediately feeling the stiffness in my muscles.

"So you live here?" I asked, looking around while he led me to the elevator and pressing the 45th floor button.

He turned to me on the elevator, "Yeah. I fell in love with the view. You'll see."

Once we made it to that floor, Angel opened the door marked C. I gasped, "Wow." I thought my house was beautiful. But this was just modern. His plush carpet was white, so I immediately removed my boots and left them at the entrance. Everything in the condo was white. The carpet, the couches, the flat screen mounted on the wall, the kitchen, the bathroom. His office was the same way.

I ran into another room and was confused. The carpet and the walls were white, but everything else was black. This must be his bedroom.

"Why black?" I said, turning to face him as he removed his jacket and bow tie.

He pointed at himself and said, "Black Angel, remember."

I laughed out loud and turned back to the living room. That sounded like something he would say, being super smug about it. I looked out the window in shock. The view must be beautiful in the daytime. I could see the park directly in front of us, and faraway buildings. I could see everything. The George Washington Bridge was in view; all the skyscrapers were beautifully lit. I went to school here in the city, but anyone could forget how beautiful this place was. Angel came up behind me and brushed my hair to the side to kiss my neck. I sighed, and closed my eyes.

I turned to him and forgot how to breathe. He was wearing nothing but sweats pants. His chest was as beautiful as I remembered it. Broad shoulders, ripped chest, and rock hard six-pack abs. I looked up at his face and caressed his cheek slowly. He closed his eyes as I did.

I sighed and said, "So this is your bachelor pad?"

He opened his eyes and shook his head. "No, I left that in DC. Do you want to get something to eat? Sushi?"

I thought about his question. "No, I want some pizza!" I was excited.

He laughed at me, but turned to the phone and ordered our food. When he came back, he took my hand. "I want to show you what I've dug up so far."

I followed him back to his office. Everything in his house was extra neat. I thought it was because he just moved here, but he said, "Not really, I have a maid who comes once a week to clean for me."

I felt a stab of jealousy for the first time, clearly visible to him. "Relax," he laughed. "She's at least thirty years older than me. I knew you wouldn't like it if I had a hot maid strolling around in her mini skirt and red heels."

"What about the cooking?" I teased.

He pointed at his chest and said, "I am a fantastic cook."

I didn't say anything else as I sat on a white leather chair. I wanted to say that I wasn't the jealous type, but whom would I be fooling? Not me. Angel walked behind the white office table and opened a drawer. He pulled out a manila folder and came around to sit next to me.

He opened the folder and spread it in front of us. There were dozens of papers and pictures. Many of them were of me, some of my father, and one that had Captain written in black marker.

"Where did you get all of this?" I said, shuffling through the papers.

"I had Jessica contact an old colleague who works for the White House. She didn't mention my name, so she went through everything she could find."

I picked up an article with the headline "Military colonel committed suicide in his home." The story went on about his achievements, but mentioned nothing about a suspect. "Your Captain was strangled?" I looked over at him. He nodded.

There was a top-secret memo that classified my kidnapping as a tragic loss. It went on saying that I was found shot dead by terrorists in the Middle East. The date was August 13th. My birthday. I didn't have to ask Angel what this meant, because it was clear. I wasn't supposed to come back home. Angel was supposed to be killed even before we met. He was supposed to be killed, and then blame it on the war against the Americans in the Middle East.

I picked up a few pictures of my father. He was with the man who raped me back in the Middle East. He was dressed in a sharp black suit, almost unrecognizable. But I would never forget his face. They were in some sort of warehouse. They looked to be in agreement, because they were shaking hands. My hands began to shake. I didn't know what this meant.

"This was the man who raped me," I told Angel, pointing at the man in the picture with my father.

I saw the muscles in his jaw clench with anger as he ran his hands over his face.

I turned to Angel with watery eyes. "What does it mean?"

He sat back and rubbed his chin. "I don't know. That's what I've been trying to figure out myself."

"But he wouldn't sell his merchandise to them. That's what he told me. That was the reason why I was kidnapped."

Angel came closer to me and touched my chin. "I'm not judging any of these until I have hard evidence. Right now, we don't know if any of this is true, okay. Your father is not the bad guy, trust me. I know one when I see one." The doorbell rang and he got up. "We don't know why your pictures were in the White House. I didn't think that you were that important to the President. Let it go for now. I'll dig everything up. Trust me."

He held out his hand and I took it. I followed him to the door and the pizza guy, already short, was invisible behind all the boxes he was holding. Angel handed him a bill and said, "Keep the change," and closed the door.

I followed him to the kitchen as he opened all the boxes. He'd ordered way too much, but I was glad. Pepperoni pizza, cheesy bread sticks, buffalo wings, and a fudge cake. We sat on the island counter and dug in.

We chatted for the duration of our meal, about nothing in particular. Once we couldn't eat anymore, Angel began to put our leftovers in the fridge. I admired his rear end as he packed everything in gently.

Once he was finished, we went and sat on the sofa. He turned to me and held my hands. "So do you like this place?"

I looked around. Who wouldn't? "Of course. You did a nice job decorating it."

He smiled while he ran his hand through my hair. "I thought of you when I got this place." He had that controlled look to him. Great, now what? I thought we were over this poker face thing.

"I want you to move in with me."

He'd caught me completely off guard, and I mean completely. I never even imagined that he was going to say that. I replayed it in my head, just to make sure my mind wasn't playing tricks on me. I looked at him in shock. My eyes were wide. My mouth hung open. I couldn't say anything.

He looked worried. "I know we don't technically really know each other. But there's something weird going on. Something's telling me that we were safer out there than in our own land." My expression must have scared him. "I'm not saying this to become your commando again. I'm saying this because I don't want to lose you. We just got back to our normal lives. I don't know how it would be without you in this world. We can stay in separate rooms for now."

I still couldn't speak. My mouth was closed now, but I was too shocked to speak.

He knelt in front of me and took my face in his big hands. "I don't know how else to explain it. I don't want to lose you, Samantha." He was struggling with his words. I was more nervous now. "Stay with me, Samantha. Let me show you how much I love you."

This time an emotion erupted from my face. I was crying as usual. He revealed the dimple on his right cheek as he smiled at me. His smile was bright and triumphant, but I ignored it. I held his hands on my cheeks, but kept crying.

"You can redecorate this place however you want. Make it pink for all I care. But don't leave me, please."

I finally found words. "You love me?"

He looked at me intently with the blue eyes that I'd fallen in love with. His eyes were bright, beautiful, and angelic. His pink lips parted and he smiled again. I touched his buzz and it sent sparks of electricity all over my body. He nodded.

I smiled at him and threw myself in his arms. "Okay," I whispered in his ear and his shoulders relaxed.

He quickly pulled back from me, serious. "God, I have no clue what you did to me Samantha. I have no clue how to handle these feelings."

I laughed at him while he gave me a serious stare. "What I did to you? Angel, that's exactly what I feel I've been given. An angel."

He shook his head, trying to remove me from his embrace. "I'm far from that, Samantha." He turned away and looked out the giant windows. His face looked sad in the reflection.

I got up and walked in front of him. "I told you already. I don't care about that. I care about from here on in. And you are my Angel. Fine, so you're not a guardian angel, more like an Archangel. But you are my Angel. I've been touched by an Angel, and that is you." He leaned his head against the window with his eyes closed, but he was still facing my way. "And about all that love you have for me. We can put it to good use," I said innocently with my big puppy eyes.

He opened his eyes in confusion. But he bent down and kissed me, still not understanding what I meant. I pulled away and removed my tank. He looked down at me, finally getting the picture. He picked me up and walked into the bedroom. His bed was really high up, and it was huge.

He laid me on the bed gently, as if he was afraid of breaking me. He was on top of me. He kissed my nose, my cheeks, my neck, and then my lips. This kiss felt like it was releasing a lot of tension from his shoulders, and he relaxed more. He began to kiss me more passionately, more seductively, and for the first time ever, I was able to completely feel his power when it came to passion. I was lightheaded; I was dizzy. I couldn't remember where I was. I just felt him on me, and I didn't care about anything else.

He felt me become a little limp and he pulled back, a little worried. I smiled at him and brought him closer. I let him kiss me everywhere. He removed my bra expertly and went for my jeans, leaving me in only a thong. He looked down at me, but didn't say anything. His eyes were dazed. I sat up in front of him and began to pull down his sweats with shaky fingers. He saw how nervous I was, but didn't say anything.

He came back to me and the temperature in the room went up. He began to kiss me hard and fast. He was everywhere. I felt like I was on top of the world. My eyes were rolling back, but I fought it. I wanted to experience that moment with him. He went for my lips, licking them and kissing them with all the love he had. He left my face and kissed me everywhere, in places that made me gasp and moan with pleasure.

When he came back to me, I was ready for him. He began to press himself in me. It was painful, both physically and emotionally, but I pushed that aside. He was extremely gentle. I think he was afraid that he would hurt me. He went very slow, moaning my name in my ear as he went along. I pushed onto him. I grabbed him and went faster, pushing him to the limit. He began to catch up with me, thrusting forward, sending the best pleasure I'd ever experienced through my whole body.

The man pulled my hair and threw me on the floor. Two men held my arms as the man in the picture entered me with such force that I screamed. The other men laughed like it was a joke. He went hard and fast, pulling my hair, slapping me, and grunting. When he was finished, he pushed me aside as if I was nothing.

I gasped. I stopped and Angel did too. He looked up at me and he removed himself from on top of me. I turned to my side and began to cry. I buried my face in the satin comforter because I was embarrassed. Angel came around wearing briefs and pulled me underneath the sheets. He covered me first, and then slid next to me to console me like he'd done every night in the Middle East. I wrapped my arms around his waist as he wrapped his big arms around my shoulders.

"This was not the way I wanted our first time to be. I ruined it," I cried into his chest.

His voice was still deep and husky. "You didn't ruin it, Samantha. I was waiting for you to react like that. I wasn't planning on doing this tonight. We need to go slow and take our time with this. You were severely damaged. It will be fixed, but you need to be patient."

I lifted my face and looked down at perfection. I got up a little and stared. I traced my finger on his chest, every rip and every muscle in his chest. I touched the tiny bullet hole and could still remember when he was shot. His eyes were still half closed. His pink lips parted. His hair was extremely short. The scar on his eyebrow was unnoticeable, but I knew that it bothered him. He was absolutely beautiful and perfect. And he was all mine.

He opened his eyes. "I know I'm irresistible, but really Samantha, take it slow."

I looked down and covered up. I lay down facing him again, and watched him drift into sleep. I watched him sleep for a little while. His breathing was clearly noticeable with his large upper body. I continued to run my hands all over his body, not able to get enough of him until my body went into its own spell of sleep.

That may seem like the end, but life never has a happily ever after. The end is only the beginning.

The end, for now

Epilogue

She was gone. He was going to meet up with her later. But now, he was going to enjoy his hot coffee and read the newspaper. He didn't hear the footsteps but he should have. He knew they were coming for him. He turned to look into the man's eyes just before he pulled the trigger, emptying all twelve shells into John Kelber's body.

Some people might have other songs that fit the scenes of the book better, but these are the songs I listened to while I worked through the book. I listen to music while I write, so I hope you enjoy these songs.

  1. Sia "Breathe Me"

  2. Birdy "Shelter"

  3. Natalie Walker "Walking Dream"

  4. Evanescence "My Immortal"

  5. Kelly Clarkson "Addicted."

  6. Danity Kane "Stay With Me"

  7. Enrique Iglesias and Nicole Scherzinger "Heartbeat"

  8. Sóley "Pretty Face"

  9. Christina Perri ft Jason Mraz "Distance"

  10. Avril Lavigne "I'm With You"

  11. Adele "Skyfall"

  12. Rihanna "Stay"

  13. Jordin Sparks featuring Chris Brown "No Air"

  14. Florence + The Machine "Never Let Me Go"

  15. Britney Spears "Everytime"

  16. Christina Perri "Jar of Hearts"

  17. Kelly Clarkson "Because of You"

