This is a short Chapter but I couldn't bring myself to mar it by adding to it. Savor it.
Fight for Me
I was running like the wind towards the jeep. Nate was running beside me. Jeb and Jamie were behind us. It was as if I couldn't get there fast enough.
When we got to the van, Nate drove.
"I don't want to go to the campground. Is there a hotel near the campground where we can stay? There's only four of us. We can squeeze into one room. Jamie and Jeb can share the bed. Nate, you can take the couch and I'll take the floor. It will still be better than the campground."
Nate drove as long as he could without pulling over. He pulled to the side of the road so I could switch places and get gas. Then he jumped right back in the driver's seat. He drove twelve hours straight before exhaustion caused him to find a hotel. We reached the hotel at nearly dawn. I told the clerk that my husband and I had driven all night to get to a family reunion and that we were fearful of getting into an accident. They didn't question the story. The room was adequate. Jeb refused to sleep in the bed, so I ended up sleeping with Jamie. We slept until nearly noon. I took a shower, washed my hair, put it up away from my face, took my time putting on make up and donned the outfit that Sunny had advised me to wear. We should have waited for the cover of nightfall but that was hours away and I didn't want to arrive at the mountain at midnight. The hotel had brought us closer to the mountain than the campground. We only had five more hours to drive. I backed up the van as close to the door as I could. The humans rushed quickly from the room to the van. I stopped at a fast food restaurant and ordered food for us. I ate while driving. I didn't want to waste even one minute. I put on the head phones and stuck Kyle's raging music into the CD player. It gave me the focus and drive I needed to win the war.
As we pulled into the town that Burns called home, my stomach began to knot up. I stopped at a traffic light and a woman came running towards the van. "Someone's coming towards me. Hide." There was a metal plate that separated the front of the van from the back. It rose as high as the console so the three of them scooted up against the plate and ducked as low as they could. I leaned out of the window as far as I could to keep her from sticking her head inside the van. I pulled the headphones off my ears, and let them hang around my neck.
"Excuse me, aren't you Burns' niece?" She asked. She was out of shape and out of breath from running to catch the van.
"Yes. My name is Rainbow Ashes. Most people call me Ashley. It's more human."
"Nice to meet you, Ashley. Burns left a few days ago. He said he'd be back in a few weeks. "
"I know. I'm starting college in the fall and I have a ton of reading that I need to accomplish for my English major. He told me that I could stay at his place because I need the peace and quiet to concentrate."
"Oh." She seemed surprised but satisfied with my answer. "If there's anything you need, my name is Fluttering. Fluttering in the Wind."
"I'm sure I'll be fine. Thank you though for your concern."
I rolled the window up half way and pulled through the green light.
"Damn, that was close!" Jamie whispered.
"Good thinking on the fly!" Nate commended me. "That's my girl!"
It was after dinner when we pulled into the driveway and around to the back of the house. I jumped out of the van as soon as I brought it to a stop leaving the keys in the ignition. I bounded up the back stairs and through the door. Megan and Sarah were lying on the floor in front of the television watching some youth oriented sitcom. They turned to look at me when they heard the door slam.
"Wanda! You're back!"
"Where's Ian?" I wasn't in the mood for small talk.
"At the ball field, where else?"
I was out the door and back to the van in a matter of seconds. Nate, Jeb, and Jamie were out of the van now. I walked directly to Nate. "Can you please get everyone out of the house? Tell them to come back tomorrow." It was an order, not a request.
"Uh, sure." Nate replied.
"Okay." I walked away towards the cave. I was walking briskly but I wasn't running. I didn't want to be out of breath by the time I got to Ian. When I got to the mouth of the cave I turned left and cut through the play ground and continued towards the field. As I entered the field from the far side I could see Ian at home plate with one of the boys. Holly was standing beside him. My heart began to beat faster. I could hear the angry music from Kyle's CD in my head. It had caused me to walk in a very deliberate beat. It was like I was marching on the enemy. I saw Ian look up at me. He said something. Holly said something as well and then she began to come towards me. Ian just stood there holding a bat horizontally in both hands. He was frozen like a stone. Holly met me in the outfield.
"He doesn't want you here." She hissed.
"He'll have to tell me that himself." I growled.
She was walking backwards now to keep pace with my forward momentum. "He's better off with me and you know it." She snarled.
Something snapped inside of me. I never took my eyes off of Ian to see her face, but I shoved her hard in the chest. I guess my forward momentum and her backward momentum contributed to the force in which she hit the ground. I saw Ian flinch as I heard the thud of her crumpling to the grassy outfield. He said something to the boy, it was Blake, I could see now. Blake backed up about ten feet leaving Ian standing alone. Ian looked bigger than I remembered. The T-shirt he was wearing was tight on his body. The muscles in his arms and chest were pumped up and strong. He was gorgeous. When I reached Ian I put my hands on the bat between his and gently pulled the bat away from him. I held it out to Blake. "Take this please." I grabbed Ian by the wrist. I turned and dragged him back in the direction I had come. He didn't fight me.
"Where are we going?" He asked.
"It's my turn now," I hissed.
He followed me in silence as I dragged him still holding his wrist all the way back to the house. I marched up the stairs not letting up on my hold. I pulled him through the back door, through the now empty living room, and into the bedroom. I pushed him onto the bed, shut the door, and locked it. I turned to him. He looked lost. I took a deep breath as I put my hands on my hips.
"Wanda, I..."
I held up my hand to stop him from talking.
He fell silent again. I took another deep breath. I was summoning all of my strength to fight the war.
I spoke very slowly and deliberately. I wanted to make sure every word was heard. "Since I came to this planet I have endured more crap than anyone I know, soul or human. I have been beaten, … battered,…strangled,…and nearly drowned. You know what hurts even more than any of those things? A broken heart. Damn it! There is NO reason why I should be feeling this way! I DON'T DESERVE IT! I came back here to get you back. If you don't fight for me now, then you will never see me again. No one will ever see me again. I will go wherever and live a mundane life among the souls and pray everyday for death to take me. The ball is in your court."
He sat there. He didn't move.
I slapped him hard in the face. "Fight, Ian!"
I slapped him again. My hand was throbbing. "Fight for me damn it!"
I swung to slap him again and he grabbed my wrists and backed me up against the door with my wrists pinned above my head.
"If I fight for you, you might regret it. I can be a demanding son of a bitch."
"I'll take my chances."
"If I kiss you now I won't be able to stop."
"Fight for what you deserve, for what we both deserve."
My wrists were still pinned above my head. His eyes had been fixated on mine but now they dropped to my lips. He leaned in and kissed me. It was explosive. I thought about when Mel and I had been in the desert dying and Jeb came upon us and poured the water to our lips. We couldn't get enough to satisfy our thirst and soften our parched lips. Ian was like that now. His mouth was moving so quickly, tasting, licking, biting. He released my wrists and I combed my hands through his hair. He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me off the floor. I wrapped my legs around his waist. He turned and walked towards the bed. He placed me gently on my back and leaned over me, slowly crawling over me till he was straddling my body.
He put his lips to my ear. "Are you sure about this?"
"Yes." I whispered.
He sat up still straddling me, and pulled off his shirt. I was stunned. I reached out to touch him. His chest was like warm steel.
He leaned back down and kissed me again. Now his tongue slowed. He was regaining the control he had previously lost. He unbuttoned my blouse while his tongue slowly caressed mine. He put his hand around my neck like he was going to strangle me but he moved his lips to my jaw line and then to my neck. He kissed my neck and my whole body began to tingle with excitement. He released my neck groped at my breast.
He brought his face back to mine. He looked me directly in the eyes. "You are absolutely positive about this? You won't be a little girl anymore."
There were so many things I could come say to this comment but I was afraid that any answer might change the course we were on now. So I said the only thing that made sense. "I love you." I whispered.
He leaned in and kissed me for a few brief seconds. Then he jumped backwards off the bed. The unbuttoned his pants, unzipped the zipper, and slid them off. Then he slid off his boxers. I had never seen a man fully naked before except in the memories that Mel shared of Jared. Jared did not compare to what was standing in front of me. Greek gods would be jealous. He reached to my pants. They were low rise so they only came up to my hips. He didn't even try to unbutton them. He pulled them down to my knees in one try. He slid them off of my legs and then he did the same with my panties. I felt very conscious of my own nakedness as he paused to stare at me. "Beautiful." He murmured as he climbed back onto the bed beside me. I turned towards him and he kissed me tenderly. His free hand traveled from my face, his fingers tracing their way down my neck, across my breasts, and to the center my back. He continued to the small of my back, around the contour of my buttocks, and grabbed my thigh. He pulled my leg over his torso and began to touch me in places I had never been touched before. My body became rigid out of fear of not knowing how I was supposed to react.
"Relax." He whispered. "I love you." This helped a lot. "Close your eyes. Enjoy what you feel." His lips touched mine. It was the slow burn kiss. I began to really enjoy everything I was feeling and just when I thought I would explode…..he took me.
I had Mel's memories to help me but memory and the real thing are not quite the same. I tensed up as he entered my body.
"I'm sorry." He whispered.
He moved slowly and carefully.
"Breathe Wanderer," he pleaded.
I exhaled sharply and managed a smile.
When it was over, he collapsed on top of me for about ten seconds. Then he rolled off of me onto his back. He seemed exhausted. We were both trying to catch our breath.
He found my hand and pulled it to his lips and kissed it gently. "Did I hurt you?"
I couldn't admit that in the first minute it did hurt. So, I lied. "No, not at all."
"Liar." He rolled towards me. "It won't hurt as much next time. I promise." He spoke as if he knew from experience. I didn't want to dredge up anything from the past that might take away from this moment.
"How do you feel?" I asked as I leaned over and laid my chin on his chest. He had only been concerned about me.
"You healed me." His answer caught me by surprise. "My heart, no my whole being was shattered into pieces. You put them back together. Now I'll never let you go."
"Good." I began to trace the deep lines his chiseled muscles created on his chest.
He ran his fingers up and down my spine. It made my body tingle. I shivered.
"Are you cold?" He asked.
"No." It was quiet for a few minutes. "You know what I want to do?"
He lifted his head. "Get married?"
"Well, yes. But I meant right this second."
He rolled me over onto my back and leaned over me. "What do you want to do this second?" He pulled my leg over his hip.
"Well, I wanted to jump in the Jacuzzi but if you have other plans." I giggled. I hadn't giggled in I can't remember when.
He slowly ran his tongue over his lower lip. "I do have other plans."
We made love for the second time, and he was right. It was much more enjoyable for me this time.
This time we snuggled when we were done. "You know those kids are probably wondering if you killed me."
"Well, not yet. Can you die of exhaustion?" I smiled.
"You really clocked Holly."
"She deserved it."
"You know, she's really a nice girl."
"Yeah, and Nate is really a nice guy. You want me to go and hang around with him?"
"Nope. You are my property now."
"And you are mine."
"How about that Jacuzzi?"
"Sounds perfect."
We ran naked through the empty house into the bathroom. The Jacuzzi was heavenly. It was there that we made love for the third time.
After we stole our way back to the bedroom and collapsed on the bed Ian started to chuckle. "What's so funny?"
"I was just thinking about when you were marching towards me at the field. When Blake saw you he said you looked pissed and he was right. You did. When you took that bat from me I thought you were going to kill me with it."
"I considered it but then what would be the point of winning the war?"
He turned and leaned on his elbow to face me. "What war?"
"The war to bring you home."
He sighed and collapsed on his back again.
"I like it here Wanderer." He spoke softly.
"I know you do. But it's not our home." It had been a wonderful night up until now. This was the problem being dredged up yet again.
"Well you belong to me now and I say you stay here with me."
"I have a commitment Ian."
"To me!" He sat up. "Burns is happy with Lily. Let him stay there with her. There. Problem solved."
"Sounds great but what about Burns? This is his house. He's lived here his whole life."
"Wanderer I can't live without you now and I know I won't be happy stuck in the caverns all summer long."
"Look. We don't have to leave for a couple of weeks. Let's just try to stretch this out for as long as we can. Okay?"
"Okay, but if I can figure out a way to get you to stay with me. Will you stay?"
"If I had my way, I'd never get out of this bed!" I pushed him down and climbed on top of him. "Come on Superman!"
"You're gonna kill me!" He groaned.
"Then you'll die a happy man."
We made love for the fourth time before curling up in each other's arms and falling asleep.