ANNA

 

His gaze is lost, staring out the large picturesque windows. The world outside looks calm, if not busy, but I know it’s anything but. There’s a world of danger out there and I’ve more than had my fill of an adventure.

I turn my attention back to Zane. He stands tall above me and with his body pressed against mine, it’s like he’s my shield or my protector. His muscles are strong beneath the thin fabric of his shirt and though we’re in the midst of crisis, I can’t help but to massage him gently with my hand held firmly against his steel chest.

His gaze drops to meet mine and it’s almost like he misses a breath. From underneath my palm, I can feel his heart racing. It’s funny that I almost think it’s racing faster than mine.

Almost.

It would be impossible for a talented, measured and experienced man like him to ever feel the same level of fear that I'm feeling right now. I have been around many dangerous men, but they have always been in a controlled setting, usually in the basement of the factory. Down there, in what I called earlier nothing more than a musky tomb, I was safe.

But I don't feel very safe right now, even with Zane standing before me, even with his body pressed so close to mine. I feel like I'm living a bad dream. I wonder if this is what he felt like the first time he encountered danger like this. That was a good twenty years ago, and I'm not even sure he would be able to remember the first time he was afraid of anything. It's not just him either. All of the other men at Ford Security are amazing at what they do. They have the kind of strength only the willfully strong can possess. They're strong and capable, and protective as hell not just to the people closest to them but to everyone they encounter.

I drag my hand across his chest, reveling in the way his heart races beneath my touch. In my deepest fantasies, it's my touch that is making his heart race and not the danger we found ourselves it. In my fantasy, he pushes me even deeper against the bookshelf and he pins his knee between my thighs. And then he kisses me, drops his mouth right against mine and pulls me inside out with his tongue. And then…

I shake my head gently, realizing that this is not the time to be thinking about my wildest fantasies. Fantasies that will probably never come true. Right now, I need to be thinking about getting out of this situation alive. I swallow nervously and cock my head upwards so that I can get a good view of him. His eyes are still staring out the picturesque windows.

I think he notices me staring at him. He trains his head down to look me in the eyes and I just about melt. I just about melt all the way into the hard surface of the floor. He's so tall, so handsome, so brave and strong. He's everything I've ever wanted in a man, but I'm too much of a pussy to ever actually say anything.

The eye contact almost becomes uncomfortable, not because I don't enjoy him looking at me, but because I'm not used to having a man like him looking at me the way he is looking at me. He drops his head slightly, drops it just enough so that his eyes level with mine. And his lips too. He breathes hot fire, scorching the flesh of my lips with hot desire. And I think to myself, I think that maybe my fantasy could become a reality. He drops his head just a little more, just like he's about to kiss me. His lips hover above mine, and I feel his breath against my own mouth. I find my heart racing even faster than before, probably racing even faster than his.

This is my chance. This is my perhaps one opportunity to take matters into my own hands. I've been dreaming of this moment since I first started at Ford Security. I've always believed it was nothing more than a wild fantasy of a naïve, sheltered woman.

One of his hands drops against the top of my head, his fingers comb through my hair, pushing it out of the way so that it’s not in my face. His lip wrinkles into some kind of a beautiful smile and if I thought I was melting into the floor before, I'm really about to turn into a pool of mush. I'm honestly terrified, but I'm not going to lie—the adrenaline rushing through my veins brings about a euphoric feeling. Combine that euphoric feeling with the feeling of dread hanging high over my head, and it's a potent combination of mixed feelings.

Here in this bookstore, here with him, even in the midst of the excitement outside, I still somehow feel safe. He exhales sharply, the gentle breeze of his breath brushes against my lips. His steel body is still in front of me, the hardness of his muscles almost delicate underneath my soft touch.

I shake my head and cast away all of my thoughts, retreat from his touch just slightly enough so that there is a few inches of space between us. It's only with this breathing room that I am able to screw my head back on straight.

And again, this certainly isn't the time to open up about my feelings, particularly not when out of the corner of my eye, I see the three men approaching the front door of the library.

“I think they're coming back,” I whisper under my breath and swallow a gulp. Once more, his eyes shift back to the floor-to-ceiling windows. The first of the three men pull open the door. And when they walk inside, I swear I can feel their footsteps as their boots collide with the floor. Zane grabs me by my shoulder and drags me backwards. He places one finger against his lips, shushing me as he lets go of me.

Zane twists and begins stepping slowly and quietly down the aisle. I follow his lead, cock my head over my shoulder to get a good look at the three men. They all basically look the same. Each one is a little over six feet tall, with dark black hair that is slicked back over their heads. Each has deep, dark hunted eyes. I contemplate whether or not those three men might be triplets, but I quickly come to the understanding that it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter who they are. All that matters is that they are either trying to kill us or take us, and I'm not sure which one would be worse.

I overhear the first of the three men talking to the bookstore attendant, questioning whether or not she has seen a younger woman with a man. I take pleasure in the smallest of things, such as being referred to as young when I’m anything but. She shakes her head incredulously and stammers out that she has not. There's a fearful look scribbled across her face, almost like she knows that these are not good men. But isn't that something we all possess? The innate ability to look evil right in the face and recognize it for what it is.

The man stands in front of the woman while his two goons begin searching through the store. Looking through an empty space on the shelves, I lock eyes with one of the two men searching for us. I throw myself downwards, ducking out of the way and pray under my breath that he didn't see me. When I cock my eyes over to Zane, he also drops low to the floor.

My heart is racing, pounding, about to beat right out of my chest. But there's something about the way Zane looks at me, something about the way he's able to calm me, something just right about him that allows me to catch my breath and focus on the task at hand, which at the current moment is simply escaping without being noticed.

He twists back on his feet and begins heading towards the same back door that we came in through. He looks over his shoulder once more to make sure that I'm following him and in the process he accidentally knocks a large book off of one of the shelves. It lands with a thud against the hard floor.

We both freeze in place, and I swear I can hear both of our hearts beating in tandem. This is how I die, I think to myself in the brief moments of silence that follows the collision of the book against the floor. I hope against all odds that somehow the man didn't manage to hear it, but any doubt I could potentially have is erased the second the bullets start flying.

Zane lunges backwards to protect my body with his own. He pushes roughly against my back, driving me forward and closer towards the door. Bullets tear through books and chip away at the bookshelves while the few customers in the store scream in the background. Bullets shatter the windows, tearing apart every single thing they touch.

The back door is within my reach so I jump to my feet and rip the door open, Zane follows closely behind. I twist on my feet as he closes the door behind us and hold his hand tightly around the doorknob. I'm still trying to catch my breath, still trying to come to terms with the danger I’ve found myself in when bullets began to tear through the door.

I throw my hands over my ears, trying to protect myself from the flying shrapnel, all the while knowing it's not enough. I'm not used to these situations though, so I'm expecting Zane to take charge once more. He races past me, grabbing my hand as he does so. And he kicks the back door open so that we can exit back into the same alley we came in from moments earlier. He doesn't take the time to close the door behind us before we’re racing back down the alley.

I'm running as fast as I can, but somehow he manages to run so much faster than me. From my vantage point, I've got a great view of his back but I take a second to look over my shoulder and see that the three men are now following us with guns in tow.

"Zane!" I scream, causing him to come to an abrupt stop and pivot to face me. I'm still running towards him and he manages to catch me in his arms before turning back around and holding my hand as he drags me towards the end of the alley. Just then, tires squeal against the asphalt from the road ahead and a black SUV is barreling down the narrow alleyway and heading straight for us. My feet dig into the hard ground beneath me. My head spins around to see the three men with guns fast approaching. I somehow decide to take initiative and take a sharp right turn into an intersecting alley.

Zane follows me and it's like I can feel his shadow chasing behind me. From behind me, I can hear the squealing of the tires once more as they scratch against the asphalt and the car comes to a sudden stop. There's no way that car is going to be able to round the corner without getting stuck.

Just up head, there is another intersection and I can choose three different ways to go. I can go straight, or I can go left or right. It's such a simple decision but the consequences could be dire if I don't choose correctly. I come to a brief stop while I try to decide but Zane rushes past me, rips me by my left arm and pulls me into the left alleyway.

No longer can I hear anyone behind me. I don't hear the sound of gunfire, and I don't hear the sound of their feet patting against the asphalt. I don't hear the sound of a car, and most importantly, I don't hear bullets chipping away at the brick exteriors of the buildings that surrounds us.

While I'm thinking that we may have lost them, I know it's best to be safe rather than sorry so we continue on. Zane takes a final hard right turn into an adjacent alleyway. It's a wider alley, certainly wide enough for a car to squeeze through. We come to a stop beside a steel trash dumpster. I drop down onto my ass so that I can catch a quick breather. Zane stands above me, his eyes searching down either side of the alley. He's on guard and he's alert, and maybe I should be on alert right now too. But right now I just need to rest.

Any hope I had at resting is completely ripped away from me when I hear a car engine roaring in the near distance. Zane’s head whips to the right, his eyes staring down the length of the alley and that's when I know that the shit is about to hit the fan. He reaches down and rips me to my feet so hard that I almost feel like he might have torn a muscle. Zane and I are both now running down the alleyway against impossible odds. There is no way we are going to be able to outrun the black SUV that is chasing after us. We miss our first opportunity to veer into an adjacent alleyway and from behind us, and I can hear the car getting closer and closer to us. More than that, I can feel it getting closer to us. I can feel the heat of the car as it approaches us. Just when I'm about to let out a terrified scream, Zane throws his body against mine.

My body cracks against the hard cracked asphalt as his body lands above mine. The black SUV rips past us and I thank God that I'm alive, at least for the time being. I glance up to look at Zane and take notice of the way his eyes seem to tangle with mine. I take notice of the way he watches me and I swallow nervously.

There are seriously more important issues at hand right now… but do I care?