Chapter 2

It had been two days since Ben had left her in the hospital yearning to see him, to touch him, and be near him. Ben was like a healing balm to her wounded soul. Ciara was being discharged from the hospital today. Her mother wanted her to come stay with her, but Ciara had insisted that she wanted to go back to her loft; although that wasn't going to be her first stop. She planned on going to see Ben at his motel room. She was going to talk to him and convince him that he was wrong and that he couldn't give up on them. She wanted to tell him again that she loved him and that she wanted to be with him, in every way.

When she had first run away to South Africa, she had been angry and confused about what had happened, but it wasn't long before she started to miss him and began to have dreams of the two of them making love. She dreamt about his mouth doing delicious things to her body and his big strong hands caressing her, cupping her breasts and touching her with such passion. She wanted more than anything to be able to kiss and caress Ben's body as well. She had only seen him half naked a handful of times, but she knew that he had a body that was made for sin. When they were at the cabin and Ben had gone outside to wash her shirt while she gave herself a sponge bath, she thought about his washboard abs and what a thill it would be to attempt to clean laundry on those babies. He also had the lines that made a 'V' as if they were pointing to his manhood and begging her to give it the attention it deserved. Simply put, Ben was sexy as hell.

Kayla walked into Ciara's hospital room carrying Ciara's discharge papers. She was worried about her niece. She wanted Ciara to be safe and to be happy and had the feeling that Ben Weston was going to play a huge roll in keeping Ciara safe and happy. "Ciara honey, I have your discharge papers ready for you, all you need to do is sign," Kayla stated.

Ciara swung her legs off the bed and waited for her Aunt Kayla to bring the papers to her. She was ready to get the heck out of here. She was anxious to go and see Ben. She was going to change his mind and she wasn't going to leave his room until she had convinced him that he was not a danger to her and that they needed to give what they were creating a fighting chance. "Thanks, Aunt Kayla. It's not that I don't love seeing you and everything, but I am so ready to leave this place."

"I understand, Ciara. I love you seeing you too, but would rather it not be in my hospital," Kayla replied. "Are you going home to your loft or are you going to stay with your mom for a bit?"

Ciara blushed, knowing that she was not going to do either, at least not right away. "I'm not going to stay with mom that's for sure. She'll do her smother and hover routine which will drive me nuts," Ciara sighed.

"So, you're going back to the loft." Kayla stated.

Ciara didn't answer and couldn't manage to look at her Aunt Kayla.

"Ciara…your silence is saying more than you want it to and I'm not going to lecture you. I just want you to be happy and I want you to be safe, please remember that. You have so many people that love you and worry about you," Kayla said.

"I know Aunt Kayla. Please don't worry about me. I'm not going to do anything stupid or unsafe, and more importantly I'm going to make choices that are going to make me happy," Ciara stated while letting a small grin spread across her face.

"Okay honey, I love you," Kayla said as she stepped closer to Ciara and gave her a hug.

"I love you too, Aunt Kayla" Ciara exclaimed.

Kayla stepped out of the hug and moved the papers on the table toward Ciara. "Sign here, and then you my dear are free to go," Kayla sighed.

Ciara hurriedly scribbled her signature across the page and screeched. She was finally getting out of her.

Kayla sighed again and subtly shook her head, "Make good choices and be safe."

"Don't worry Aunt Kayla, I will." Ciara replied.

Ben's Motel Room

Ben couldn't believe that he had managed to walk away. He did the hardest thing that he would ever have to do in his life; walk away from the woman that was his everything. He knew in his heart and soul that Ciara was the only one for him. They were meant to be together. He couldn't count the number of times that he had pictured the two of them living their lives out together. Of the two of them kissing and making love. Of the two of them getting married and starting a family together. He could picture her growing round with their child growing inside, a product of their love. Now that was no longer going to happen.

He had made the right decision. The decision to walk away from her and keep her safe. Ben knew now that he needed to figure out what his next move was going to be, what he was going to do with the rest of his life and where was he going to do it. He definitely wasn't going back to the Ozarks. There were too many bad memories there. He couldn't stay here in Salem. Not when he would be running the risk of seeing Ciara on a regular basis. That would be too painful and a torturous constant reminder of what he couldn't have or even worse witnessing her moving on with someone else. Maybe someplace that would be warm year-round would be a nice change of pace, he just wasn't sure.

A knock sounded at the door. Ben wondered who could be coming to his room. There was absolutely no one left in this town that wanted anything to do with him so he couldn't imagine who would be coming to see him.

Ben walked to the door and hesitantly opened it.

Ciara pushed her way past him and stormed into his room. "Ben, I'm not giving up on you and I refuse to let you give up on us!"