Again, apologies for not updating. And a big thank you to those who have reviewed, much appreciated!

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She woke up hours later in the same position, from what felt like a coma. It was getting a little TOO warm. She blinked for a while to let her eyes get used to the light. The sun was already up and glowing through the window. It smelled like sun, sleep and sweat in the car. The blanket was still half wrapped around her but she quickly realized it wasn't the reason why she was feeling so warm.

Sands' body rested pressed firmly against her back. His arm was resting on her waist and his leg was over hers.
She stilled, trying to think how to get away from the awkward situation as quickly as possible. She hoped he didn't wake up.

But of course he did. His hold around her just tightened and he sank his face in her hair. She could feel his breath on her neck and it sent small shivers down her spine.

"Morning", he said and she could hear from his voice that he was smiling. His hand roamed down from her stomach to her thigh and then back up. It reached her breast and settled on it.

She realized now that she shouldn't have trusted her reasoning last night. Where did the stupid idea come from that he didn't like her? He was a man, he liked everything that had breasts!
But before she even attempted to push him away he suddenly stopped and sat up. She exhaled as the tension in her body eased.

He turned to look at her and there was a strange expression on his face. He looked a little confused, like he'd just awoken from a sleep he had thought was real. It was such a strange look because until now he had been looking nothing but confident and cool. He turned away and ran his fingers through his hair sighing. Then he pulled his boots on and stepped out of the car.

Lina got up too and put on her shoes but she didn't get out of the car. She saw him light a cigarette. What had made him stop his passes? Surely it wasn't because of morals or because she wouldn't appreciate his advances. It was definitely best if she just staid as far away from him as she could under the circumstances.
She decided to get out of the hot car and opened the door. She rose on her toes and reached her hands towards the sky stretching her stiff limbs. There was also another thing that required attention too. There was a bush about 20 feet away from the car and she started walking towards it.

"Where do you think you're going?" she heard Sands ask behind her.

She paused and turned around. "I'm going to the little girls' room, if you don't mind", she said pointing her thumb over her shoulder to the bush. He nodded and she went to relieve herself.
When she came back she saw he was holding two apples. He threw the other one to her. They ate their breakfast in silence and when they were finished he pulled out the car keys from his back pocket.

"Time to go, get in", he nodded toward the car.

Lina really didn't want to but she went to the back door anyway. She couldn't stay here in the desert, could she?

"No, you're sitting in front."

She glanced at him on the other side of the car and then opened the front door. She didn't want to fight, although she would've rather sat on the backseat.

They drove for about two hours with nothing but the radio shouting. Sometimes she carefully turned to look at his profile. He had a nice jaw line and a straight nose, he was actually very good looking. If you forgot about his criminal character, which Lina wasn't anywhere near forgetting.

Sands must've felt her look because he turned to face her. Lina quickly turned her head away and looked outside.
After a couple of minutes she saw some road signs: 8 miles to the next town. Soon after it he pulled the car aside of the road again.

"What now?" she asked hesitantly. She got no response.

Not knowing what was going on she watched him get out of the car and go open the trunk. She couldn't see what he was doing but after a moment he came to open her door.

"Get out."

"Why?" She looked at him suspiciously.

"Just get out, okay?" he said looking like he didn't appreciate her arguing.

She did as he said and got out. He took a hold of her hand and led her to the trunk. When they got to it she could see he had pulled out some rope. Before she even realized he cuffed her hands again, this time behind her back.

"Hey! What are you doing?" she protested.

"I have some business to take care of in town", he answered. "You'll be safer here, I mean I don't want you getting any stupid ideas like yesterday", he said referring to her escape attempt.

He tied her feet with the rope and then tied a scarf around her mouth. She just let him do it, she was just numb. And it wasn't like she could've stopped him even if she tried. Finally he finished and stood in front of her. She looked up into his eyes.

"Sorry darling, but you haven't really given me a reason to trust you."

He pushed her into the trunk. Lina's eyes widened from fear as he slammed the trunk shut. Soon the car was moving again.

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Riding in the trunk wasn't exactly the most comfortable way of traveling. It was dark and cramped and every time the car turned she managed to painfully hit some part of her body to the walls. Luckily there were only those 8 miles left to the town. Soon the car stopped and she heard him slam the car door shut and walk away. She tried to wiggle but of course it didn't get her anywhere.

He was gone for a long time. Three, four hours maybe. She couldn't really tell the time, in the small, dark trunk it seemed to stand more or less still. She was alone with her thoughts.
She wondered what kind of business he was taking care of. Or on second thought, maybe it was better she didn't know. Considering what she knew about him, she was pretty sure it was nothing nice like buying post cards.
When her arm was getting numb she struggled and turned on her other side. She tried to listen to any sounds coming from outside but she didn't really hear anything, only an occasional car driving by. The car was probably parked in a quiet place. But even if the car would be in the middle of a big crowd no one would still know she was caught in there.

But she couldn't just give up! There must've been some way out of there. She lifted her tied feet and started to kick the trunk roof. It was difficult and her knees were hitting on the roof too. After doing it for some time without any results she gave up. She was sweating, her feet were hurting and her knees were going to be black and blue tomorrow. She hoped he would come back soon or she was going to fry.

Right then she heard sounds from the distance. It took a while before she realized they were gunshots. What was even more worrying was that they were coming closer. The shots continued and then she started to hear men's voices shout in Spanish. Suddenly someone shot a gun right next to the car. The car door was opened and the engine started. The car sped off so fast that she crashed against the trunk wall. Something thudded very close and when she turned to look to her feet, to the direction of the sound, she saw a small bullet hole in the wall. They were shooting at the car!

The car made several hard turns and she tried to get some support from the walls with her feet and back so she wouldn't get knocked around so much. Whoever the shooters were they were following the car. Could it be the cops? Would they shoot at the car?
After endless turns and high speeding, the car started to slow down until it finally came to a full stop. Someone got out of the car and soon the trunk lid opened. Lina didn't know how to feel when she saw it was Sands opening it. She had hoped it would be the police, but then again it might have been someone worse than Sands – even if it was hard to imagine someone worse than him.

The sun was shining straight behind him so she couldn't see his face, She could only see he was wearing his dark sun glasses again. She squinted her eyes a little because of the light. He lifted her out of the trunk and set her on her feet in front of him. He put his hands on both of her shoulders and looked her through as if to check that she was alright. Lina was feeling slightly perplexed and uncomfortable and she kept looking somewhere over his shoulder. Then he came even closer into her personal space, but just as she was about to pull away he started to untie the scarf around her head. He took it off and Lina pulled a long breath of air in her lungs. He opened the rope from her feet and fumbled a while with the knots. Lina looked around and saw they were outside the town again. He apparently managed to shake whoever was on his tail. Finally he took off the cuffs too.

"What happened?" Lina build up the courage to ask.

"Like I said, just some business I had to take care off", he grinned.

She bent down to look at the hole in the trunk. "I don't think your "business associates" were very keen on you", she said not quite able to hide a sarcastic tone.

He took a look at the hole too. "Damnit! Those fucks! I don't like it when they blow holes in my cruiser", he said clearly irritated. (Cheesy reference to PotC. Sorry…)

Lina rolled her eyes.

"I'll have to get that fixed once…" He didn't finish the sentence and Lina's interest picked up. Was he about to say something that involved her future? But he didn't mention it again. "Well, hop in the car, darling, we better get moving", he just said.

This time she went straight to the front door. He drove on and they headed towards the endless desert again.

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Around 8 pm he stopped the car in front of a deserted looking motel on the roadside. It looked a bit eerie and images of the Bates-motel in the Psycho-movies flashed in Lina's mind. He picked up the bags from the backseat and told her to get out. She walked behind him toward the building.

"What are we doing here?"

"We need to fill our supplies and I need a good night's rest", he said putting emphasis on the word I.
They entered the building and a man walked in from a backroom. So it wasn't deserted after all. Lina looked at the man. He was short, an inch or two shorter than her, he had a big stomach and small, beady eyes in his sweating head. She was glad he didn't resemble Anthony Perkins at all, that would have been creepy. His face lit up when he saw Sands.

"Ahh, Senor Sands! So good to see you!" He spoke English with a really strong accent. He stepped out behind the counter and came toward them with his hands reached out. He and Sands shook hands.

"Nice to see you too, Raulo", Sands said smiling.

"How long has it been? Two, three years?"

"Too long amigo, too long. I see you've still got the place running", Sands said taking a look around.

"Well, you know how it is. Business is mostly slow, but I manage", he laughed. "But who is your beautiful companion?" Raulo turned his eyes to Lina and looked her up and down very thoroughly. Lina met his gaze coolly.

"Listen, we need a room for the night. You've got one?" Sands asked ignoring Raulo's question. For some reason he was being polite. There was really no need to even ask since the place was about as crowded as the freaking North Pole.

"Of course! For you, always!" Raulo said turning back to Sands. He went behind his counter and took a key from the wall and put it on the table.

"Here you go. Room number 7, the best one we have."

"How much do I owe you?" This time Sands pulled out his own wallet.

"Oh, no no no!" Raolo put his hands up. "Business might be slow but I would never charge a friend."

"Muchas gracias, Raolo." Sands put his wallet back and took the key and their bags again. He pointed toward the corridor. "This way, darling."

Lina began to walk in front of him. She glanced at Raolo over her shoulder and he gave her a suggestive wink.

But what she didn't see was him picking up the phone as soon as they were out of sight.

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She stopped in front of room number 7 and let Sands open the door.

"After you", he said stepping out of the way. Lina entered the room and he closed the door behind them. It was one of those typical motel rooms. Small, but surprisingly clean. There was a bathroom on the right and closets on the left. The room was dominated by a huge bed.

"Why couldn't you get a room with two beds?" she asked displeased.

"Because there aren't any", he said simply, starting to unpack some of his stuff.

She sat on the bed. At least it was soft. There was a TV in the corner and she turned it on. A guy in a suit was giving a weather report in Spanish. It looked like it was going to be sunny for the next few days. So what else was new?

"I'm going to go find something to eat", Sands said.

She turned to look at him just to see him pull out the cuffs again.

"Oh no, please! Not those!" she said quickly and instinctively put her hands behind her back.

He stopped to look at her. Right now she would say or do anything to avoid the cuffs. Her wrists were still sore from the previous times.

"Look, I don't need those. I'm not going to run away. There's nothing out here anyway, where would I even go?" He didn't look convinced so she went on. "I really need to get a shower. I'm sweaty and dirty… please! I promise on my mother's grave I won't try to run away." She was pleading now.

He seemed to think about it and she sighed in relief when he put the cuffs away. "Okay. I'll be back soon."

She leaned back on the bed when the door closed. Thank god! She really didn't want to be cuffed again.

There was a towel right next to her on the bed. She stood up again and began to undress. It was better to take the shower while he was gone.
When she was convincing him she had realized herself too that trying to escape really did no good for her at the moment. Even Raulo, the only other person here besides them, was his friend. He certainly wouldn't help her.

She folded her clothes on the bed, took the towel and headed to the bathroom. She closed the door and was pleased to see it had a lock. She locked it and shook the handle just to make sure. She drew the shower curtain aside and turned the water on. There was no hot water but she tried to ignore it, stepped under the cold water and let it run over her head. It was refreshing. She grabbed the soap and began to wash herself.

After she was finished she turned off the water and stepped out of the shower. She started to dry herself on the towel squeezing the water out of her long hair. She stopped when she saw her reflection from the big mirror on the wall. She stared at her image. She looked somewhat pale and tired under her tan, maybe a little scared too. There was a small bruise on her right cheek where he had hit her. It was fading though. There were bruises on her body from the trunk-ride, but her knees weren't that bad. Her eyes looked back at her very serious.
Her father had once said she had her mother's eyes. She had been flattered because she had thought her mother was the most beautiful woman in the world. Lina could remember the warm look in her eyes every time she had looked at her daughter. She had been a very sweet woman, always kind and polite to everyone. Well, at least until…
She stopped her trail of thoughts and wrapped the towel around me. It wasn't the time or the place to go walking down memory lane.
She unlocked the door and walked over to the bed. Sands hadn't come back yet. She went to the window and pushed the curtain aside a little to look outside. All she could see was the house and behind it nothing but desert. She looked at the house; Raulo probably lived there. She remembered the Bates-motel again and left the window shivering. She went to her purse and got her make-up bag. She went in front of the mirror and started putting on some mascara.

It wasn't until she was almost finished that she suddenly realized what she was doing. Why was she putting make-up on? She looked at her make-up bag. She had her usual small storage in it; mascara, eye liner and eye shadow, powder and lip gloss. She might as well finish since she started. She added some more mascara and then put the bag away. She should definitely hurry up and get dressed before Sands came back. She looked reluctantly at her dirty clothes. It wasn't and attempting idea to put dirty clothes on a clean skin, but she didn't have much choice. Maybe she could try and wash them…

Right then the door opened and Sands stepped in.

"He didn't' have any food ready, but he–", he said closing the door, but stopped in the middle of his sentence when he turned to see her. She was standing in the middle of the room wearing nothing more than a towel.

It was a strange moment. For seconds that felt like hours they just stared at each other, until he finally blinked and turned away. Lina wrapped the towel tighter around her.

"He said he'd bring us something soon." He went to a brown paper bag she didn't remember seeing before, pulled out some clothes and threw them on the bed. For some reason he looked very unpleased. "I got you some change clothes from the town earlier."

Lina took a look at them. It was a knee length brown skirt and a white, cotton blouse.

"Get dressed while I take a shower", he said in a voice that sounded almost angry and took the other towel from the bed.

Lina didn't know if she should thank him for the clothes or not, so instead she said: "There's no hot water."

He left to the bathroom not answering anything and soon she heard the water being turn on. Quickly she put on her underwear and pulled the skirt and the blouse on. She turned to the mirror on the wall. The clothes were actually quite pretty. The blouse showed a lot of shoulder, but wasn't otherwise low-cut. She took the towel and dried her hair some more.

She sat on the bed when Sands came from the bathroom drying himself too. He wasn't wearing anything but blue jeans. She had time to register that he had a rather nice figure, before she turned her full attention to the TV-screen. He really didn't need to catch her staring at his bare chest. Even if she didn't understand much anything they were saying on the TV, it was something to keep her occupied. There was some action movie going on, dubbed in Spanish. Like she needed more of that; she seemed to have enough action in her own life.

There was a knock on the door and Sands went to open it. He came back with Raolo on his tail. Raolo was carrying a tray that he set on the table. On the tray there were two plates of roasted pork with rice and a bottle of red wine.

"Looks like you remembered what I like", Sands said approvingly.

"Compliments of the house", Raolo said and added with a grin, "and a nice bottle of wine for the lovers."

She looked at him her eyes wide. Lovers?

Sands didn't correct him and just thanked him as he left. Sands went to the tray and tasted from the other plate with a fork.

"Come have some. Raolo always cooks a mean pork."

She walked over to the table and sat down. Sands went to the bathroom again. Lina took the other plate and a fork and began eating. He was right, it was good pork. Sands came back now fully dressed and opened the wine bottle and poured some into the other glass. Before pouring into the second glass he asked if she wanted some.

She hesitated for a second but then nodded. She'd only have one glass, what was the harm.
She tasted the wine. It had a slightly strange tinge but it wasn't bad and she drank it. They ate in silence.

Despite her earlier resolution they emptied the wine bottle. They had emptied their plates too and she starting to feel sleepy. It must've been the food and the wine.

But when she got up she felt really dizzy and barely managed to get to the bed. That was strange. She usually had a pretty good liquor head and she had only had two glasses of wine. She sat on the bed. Her head felt heavy and her vision was becoming blurry. She lifted her head and like from behind a dismal glass she saw Sands lift up the wine bottle and look at it.

"Oh shit…" he said, then dropped it to the floor and soon followed in suit.

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R&R please!