If he wasn't refusing their help, he was cursing at them for treating him like a baby. He was constantly trying to do everything himself, ignoring any protests he received. He had already cut his hand on a kitchen knife three times as well as slicing open his side when he smashed the glass coffee table by tripping over the rug. If he hadn't been blind they would have found it very funny.
But he was blind. And he hated it. He hated feeling so helpless and frustrated, so dependent on everyone else. Hell, he couldn't even shave by himself.
Sands' bullet wounds had healed with faint traces of scars and he had lost the bandages on his face but there was no hiding the gaping sockets where two beautiful brown eyes once were. He kept his sunglasses on every minute of the day. He couldn't stand the reaction he might get from anyone who saw. He was only too glad that he couldn't see how ugly he now must have looked himself.
But it was the emotional wounds that would take longer to heal. Every night when he finally got to sleep, he was plagued by nightmares, forcing him to relive the pain and horror of what Guevera had done to him. Every night he woke up, trembling and sweating. Every time he slept he saw that drill…
A month and a half after Sands had arrived home from the hospital, he went back to work with Trent. He was to be given a new partner and an assignment. He had a feeling that it would be something to do with clearing up the mess in Mexico. He didn't exactly leave the job completely unfinished but there was still a lot of trouble down there.
Trent left him in his superior's office where he would meet his new partner while he went back to his own work. Sands only had to wait five minutes before his boss, Dylan Rainey entered along with someone else. Sands could hear two sets of footsteps.
"Good morning, Sands," Rainey greeted him and shook his hand. Sands didn't bother to stand up. He sat slouched in his chair and raised his cup of coffee to his lips. "I trust you remember Natalie Ryan." Sands just managed not to spit his coffee all over his boss but it was certainly a close thing.
"Wha…err… yeah but… what the hell are you doing here? You're supposed to be in Boston." There was nothing but coldness in his voice.
"I came back," she replied icily. "I would have thought that was obvious. Even to you." Sands knew she wasn't talking about his blindness there. The two had a history. And it wasn't necessarily good. They had been partners for three years and had got on well. Probably a little too well, if you get my drift. They had been very close for those three years and when Natalie had left Sands he had been heartbroken. He was close to admitting to being in love with her. He had actually thought that they might have had a chance together. She had requested not to be partnered with him for her 'sanity's sake' and so she had been sent to Boston to do something or other for the agency. Sands hadn't really cared at that point. She was gone.
"So why are you here?" he asked coolly. Then a horrible thought struck him. No no no no. They wouldn't have… would they? The agency had had no idea that Sands and Natalie had been doing the horizontal bop in every bed they happened to come across. He turned in the direction of Rainey. "She's not…"
"She's your new partner, Sands." Shit.
"Don't flatter yourself, Shelly, you're not exactly a walk in the park either," Natalie snapped.
"OK!" Rainey had had quite enough of their bickering. Christ, they'd been in the same room for two minutes and already they were at each others' throats. "Please, both of you take a seat."
Sands and Natalie slouched in their chairs at different ends of the desk, refusing to look at each other.
"I need to tell you of your next assignment. Sands, I know how much you hated Mexico and I doubt, after what happened, that you ever want to hear the place mentioned again. However, we have reason to believe that there are still fragments of the Barillo Cartel working there. They are not happy with how things went last time. We believe that they will soon try to avenge their lost and try again. We do not know for sure but we do think that it will have something to do with the President and perhaps his family. We want you both to travel down to Mexico immediately and try to find out what you can. We will have Trent Rivers in the office here. He will remain in contact with you at all times and monitor the movements of the Cartel. With any luck he will be able to keep you both out of harm's way."
"Not much chance of that, if you ask me," Natalie mumbled. "I like danger. You have to like it if you're in the CIA. What other fucked up reason could people have?" Rainey ignored her.
"There is a flight to Mexico at three thirty this afternoon. I want you both to get yourselves prepared and leave on that flight, undercover as a newly married couple on honeymoon. Rivers will be in contact as soon as the flight arrives with directions to the hotel and further instructions. Good luck." And with that he left the room. Sands and Natalie sat in shock.
"No fucking way am I pretending to be married to you…" "Is he kidding? This is gonna be hell…"
At two thirty sharp, Sands and Natalie had met outside the airport, ready for the task ahead. They took out the false I.Ds they had been given and Natalie led Sands towards the small line to check in.
"Not long to wait, eh? That doesn't surprise me. Who'd want to go to that shithole of a country anyway?" Sands murmured, more to himself than to Natalie, who in turn said nothing. "Something wrong, sweetheart?" He stressed.
"Oh no, darling," she retorted scathingly. "After all, there is really nowhere on earth I'd rather be right now than with my gorgeous husband."
They never said another word to each other until they had boarded the plane. Sands sat by the window and Natalie ignored him. They sat through the flight safety procedure and finally they were on their way. As far as they were concerned, the sooner this was over with, the better. After five minutes Sands had become extremely uncomfortable and squirmed in the small space around him. Natalie opened her book and he heard the rustle of the pages as she found the right page.
"So what's that you're reading?"
"A book."
"No shit. You really don't have to have eyes to know that."
"Why do you care? I seriously doubt you've read a book since school."
"I've read my fair share, baby."
She went back to ignoring him and turned to her book. Sands sat in silence for a few minutes, thinking. They'd been in this situation before. Well, one like it anyway.
Six years before:
"There must be something else to do on a fucking plane." Sands grumbled. No answer.
"I said there must be something else to do," he repeated pointedly.
"You know as well as I do that, as partners in the field, we're not supposed to sleep together," Nat said, knowing exactly what he had in mind. She sighed, exasperated as he raised his index finger and said,
"One. Who said anything about sleeping? Two. As long as we both keep our mouths shut, no one will know a thing. Three. It's just a stupid meaningless suggestion and we wouldn't get in trouble anyway. And four. When has that ever stopped you before?"
Nat had to admit, every word was technically true. They'd been sleeping together for almost a year now and they both knew deep down, their relationship was something more than just sex. However, she was as stubborn as he was and hell would freeze over before they'd admit that to themselves, let alone each other.
Sands leaned over and gently kissed her lips. Soon her heavy breathing and tense body told him that he had achieved what he'd wanted and he broke away slightly.
"Go to the bathroom," he whispered. "I'll follow you."
He waited a few minutes so as not to draw attention to them, then, when his need for her got the better of him, he followed. He knocked once and opened the door, finding her leaned back against the sink. Sands closed the door and they immediately seized each other.
He took her mouth while he ran his hand under her leather jacket, over her shoulders and it fell to the floor behind her. He shrugged his own jacket off and his hands wandered down her sides. She was wearing a tight low cut top with long sleeves, showing off her slim waist and round breasts and he pulled it over her head.
He pulled her closer and his fingers searched her bra clasp, trying desperately to undo it. When he had pinged her painfully twice in his haste to get it off, she pushed him away and did it herself. She threaded her arms through it, throwing it to the floor.
Sands pulled her back and pressed her against him, his arms wrapping tightly around her, cuddling her. He buried his face in her long black wavy hair and kissed her neck. Her fingers worked at his shirt buttons and he pulled it off. She raked her eyes over his lightly muscled chest and licked her lips, his dark eyes watching her closely with amusement and passion.
His hands moved down her back under her jeans and underwear, gripping her buttocks before moving further under. She was hot and wet and gasped as he brushed her clit. He smiled.
"You won't be able to walk after I'm done with you," he breathed.
"I'll take the risk," she moaned and captured his lips with hers while working at his trousers and boxers. They fell to the floor and he hissed, squeezing his eyes shut when her fingers barely brushed his hard sensitive cock. He took his hand from her pants and pulled them down. Finally they both stood completely naked.
She pulled him to her and backed towards the wall. He kissed her neck as he hoisted her up on to the sink. It felt cold beneath her hot skin. He trailed feathery kisses up to her eager mouth and sank his tongue inside. Sands moaned into the kiss, spreading her legs open wide to allow him closer to his manhood's home. He positioned himself there, rubbing his cock against her clit. Nat felt as though she was about to burst. She needed him to fill her now, more than ever. She shifted into him and her hands found their way down to his tense buttocks, encouraging him to push. He took the hint and with one swift easy thrust, he was deep inside her.
They remained still for a moment, clutching each other, enjoying the feeling of warmth tingle around their bodies. Then, slowly, Sands began to pull out again, removing his mouth from hers and burying his head in her neck, whining with need. He pushed back in, slightly faster and pushed in hard until he could physically go no further. He nibbled gently at her earlobe, breathing heavily into her ear, holding her as close as possible. She kept her hands firmly pressed onto his ass, as if afraid he would stop.
Faster and faster went Sand's thrusts into Nat's tight heat. Louder and louder came their hungry moans and cries of pleasure. Soon he was slamming in and out of her so hard and fast it almost hurt but, damn did it feel great. Finally he felt her trembling in his arms and realised it was almost over. At any other time, he would have slowed down to enjoy it for longer but at the moment his painfully erect cock was doing all the thinking.
With one last thrust, Sands buried himself as deep as possible inside her and they both erupted in ecstasy. She clenched him and he jerked against her, his arms squeezing her tight, her fingernails digging into his ass. When it was over they collapsed against each other, both trying to hold the other up.
They didn't know how long they stayed like that, joined at the hip, cuddled against each other, her fingers gently running up and down his spine, relaxing his muscles. Far too soon in her opinion, Sands was saying,
"That was amazing, baby, but I'm exhausted. Why don't we go and sit back down and have a sleep?"
"Sounds good to me," she laughed, feeling him gently pull himself out of her. They dressed between kisses and finally, he took her hand and they found their way back down the aisle ready to dream peacefully in each others' arms.