I picked up the clothes he had taken off and put them on. The truth was that I looked perfect, as if I had bought it myself.
—Shall we go? he asked me while I looked at him dressed in worn jeans and a grey shirt.
—Yes, let's go. —I answered him as I walked towards the door and Christian gave me the step to go ahead.
As I went out into the corridor, I felt his lips in my ear.
—I'll take care of you later. —he said to me as he spanked me.
—Hey! —I shouted for surprise and turned to see him smiling at me with his messy hair. —I don't think you want to deal with me. —I said to him as I continued walking.
—Why not, I like to deal with you, especially in bed. —he said stuck to me as we made our way to the dining room for dinner.
Kate stared at me as we reached the dining room.
—New clothes? —she asked me pointing, and I just laughed.
Christian made me forget everything as usual, and I didn't even pay attention to the dinner or the conversation, there was only one thing in my head and it was Christian. I was anxious, I just wanted dinner to end quickly, just like the movie Elliot came up with. On top of that, it lasted more than two hours. Chris and I settled on the couch while Elliot and Kate sat on the floor mat right in front of us. And as soon as the film began Christian ran one arm over my shoulders as he slid his fingertips over my bare shoulder and with the other hand held mine. His fingers running over my shoulder were sending shocks all over my skin while at every moment he was leaning towards me to give me a kiss on the neck, to slide his tongue slowly down it or simply to steal a kiss from me. Half an hour later I couldn't stand the tension between us anymore. At that moment I wanted his hands running over my skin and his lips in other areas of my body. I got up from the seat and Christian stared at me like Kate and Elliot turned to me.
—If you'll excuse us, Christian and I have a matter to discuss. —I told them very serious and Christian stared at me squinting as he reclined on the sofa with his arms folded and got serious too.
—You're right, we were dealing with it when Elliot interrupted us. —Elliot and Kate looked at each other and then they looked at us again without understanding anything. —If you'll excuse us, we have to finish elucidating the matter. —he replied as he got up and followed me to the main cabin where he closed the door after entering.
—Well, you were in a hurry to finish the matter at hand.
—You don't know how tormented... that's not the word, excited, I think it describes it better, that you had me with your slight caresses and stolen kisses. —I answered him as I approached him still standing at the door.
—Did I have you? That means you're not anymore. —he answered me as I came to where he was and stared him in the eyes.
—You really want me to answer that. —I said to him as I wrapped my hands around his neck and looked at him seductively.
—No, it's not necessary, because now I'm going to finish what we left unfinished a while ago. —he said to me as he walked with me until when we reached the bed he pushed me over it and he came over me undressing me quickly and devouring my body until he had satisfied his hunger...
Water fell on my body and hit the road as blood ran down my face. I couldn't remember how I had managed to get out of the car...
—Can you see the license plate?
I took the sketchbook next to me, opened it on one of the last pages and wrote down the little I could see of the license plate and the model of the car. Then everything happened again, the crash, the car spinning on the road and me coming out of it...
I woke up startled and sat on the bed, the dream had been very intense. Christian next to me woke up when he felt me breathe fast.
—Another nightmare?
—Yes, again with the accident, I remembered something else. —I said to him while he looked at me opening his eyes wide. —I remembered that I wrote the number of the car in my sketchbook.
—That's great love, so I hope we can find the culprit. —he said to me as he took my hands in his. —Tomorrow as soon as we get ashore we'll go to the Police Department, now let's go to sleep. —he said to me as he slowly stroked my cheek and I nodded.
I lay on the bed and while Christian hugged me and kissed my hair, I fell asleep.
After arriving at the port and saying goodbye to Kate and Elliot we went straight to my apartment. We decided not to tell them anything, we didn't want more people to get involved in this after Christian got the phone call. When I got to the apartment I went straight to my room and looked for the sketchbook, opened it on the last page and started to flip it forward until I found the page I was looking for. I ripped it out of the notebook and gave it to Christian who stared at the paper stunned.
—Well, it's not written completely, but I think this will help them start an investigation. —he said as he held my hand tightly. —Come on, the sooner the better.
—Let's go. —I said to him as we left the apartment for the Police Department.
We handed over the car's license plate data and after giving our cell phone numbers they promised to keep us updated if they made any progress in finding out who it belonged to. Now all we had to do was wait and see if the culprit showed up.
Kate went with Elliot to his apartment, so it was just us. We prepared a quick macaroni and cheese dinner and then hugged each other sitting on the couch while on the TV there was some movie we weren't even listening to. We were just hugging as Christian slid his hand over my shoulder and I smiled at the touch of his hand. And I turned to look him in the eye. He only smiled at me as he brought his lips closer to mine and kissed me slowly as his hands pressed my body against his and I groaned against his lips for a few seconds before he carried me in his arms and led me to the room.
The next morning we woke up early and after breakfast we walked to the museum.
It was a beautiful morning, and the rays of the sun bathed us, slowly warming our skin. We walked hand in hand as we smiled. We didn't have to tell each other anything, our gestures said it all. We loved each other and nothing else mattered.
After a week we received the long awaited call from the police. We were in the apartment and for a change the four of us were laughing at some joke Elliot had made when the phone rang.
—I'm going. —I said to them as I got up from the sofa and headed to pick up the phone that rang insistently. —Yes. —I said while I was still laughing.
—Good afternoon, please with Anastasia Stelle.
—Yes, that's me. —I replied while everyone was looking at me for a moment.
—Excuse me, it's the Police Department, we called about your accident. —he said to me while I went to where everyone was and put the phone on speaker so that everyone could listen.
In the end we had told Kate and Elliot that I had remembered something about the accident, but that's all we told him.
—Did you find out anything? —I asked them hopefully.
—Yes, there is a vehicle that matches the data you gave us. It belongs to Alex Powell, he reported it stolen a little over a month ago. Do you know it?
The truth was that name didn't sound to me.
—I'm sorry, but I don't know him.
—That's all we've found out so far, we're moving forward with the investigation to locate the stolen car and the thief, and as soon as we have more information we'll let you know.
—Okay, thank you. —I said as I hung up the phone. — We're right where we started. —I said as I dropped by Christian's side on the sofa.
—At least they're moving forward, you'll see how they end up catching the culprit. —he said to me as he rubbed my shoulders and I smiled slightly at him.
I was just waiting for him to find the culprit.
Later that night and after Christian had fallen asleep I was still awake as he hugged me.
For two or three days I couldn't sleep well. On the one hand I still felt the sensation that I was being watched but I didn't see anyone, and I didn't want to say anything to Christian. Especially after he had been very strange for a few days. He never had meetings and he had been in meetings for several days where Elliot was the one who picking me up at work while he stayed and arrived a few hours later.
I don't know why it seemed strange to me, he was the boss, at some point he would have to meet with his superiors. Lately everything seemed out of the ordinary to me.
The best thing would be to put aside my paranoia and forget all that. I turned in his arms as I leaned against his chest and he smiled asleep.
He loved me and that was what mattered.
—Another meeting? —I asked him framing an eyebrow as I sat on a chair in his office.
—I'm sorry, Taylor says it's urgent and it won't take long, but you know how it is. —he said to me while I stared at him.
—So we won't have lunch together?
—Shit! I forgot.
—Don't worry if I hurry I'll catch up with Mia and Ethan, I'll send them a message to wait for me.
—I'm really sorry Ana, I had something special planned for lunch, but apparently it will have to be another time. Maybe at dinner? —he asked me hopefully.
—All right, I'll see you later. —I said to him as I gave him a quick kiss and headed for the office door.
But just before I left, when it was already open, Christian called me.
—Anastasia, be careful. —he said to me with concern.
I still remembered the threat they had made to Christian, but a long time had passed since then.
—I will. —I replied with a smile as I kissed him and left his office.
I was going down the steps of the museum entrance when I spotted the kids on the other side of the avenue waiting for me and waved my hand at them. There was a lot of traffic at this time. A moment before crossing I felt the cell phone ringing, warning of a message. When I looked at the screen it was Christian's.
Upset, why would I be upset?
I was standing on the sidewalk so I decided to answer him and began to write a response to his message. At that moment a black van braked quickly in front of me screaming the tires and scaring me.
—You idiot! —I yelled at him.
And then someone got out of the truck with a ski mask on, so that I wouldn't see his face, and he held me tightly by the hands as I got into the truck and the cell phone fell out of my hands. And while I was struggling to free myself, he put something on my face and little by little I lost consciousness.