As always – With the exception of my own characters, everything else belongs to Kelley! And as far as I know (and much to my annoyance), this story still isn't listed in the contents page, grr - hopefully it's going to get sorted. Anyway, Matthew wont come into this for another couple of chapters – my updating is catching up with my editing lol but its getting there!
Enjoy!!!
9. Bearings
As the dinner cooked, Clay and Nick changed and went for a run through Belle's grounds as she cleaned up. With the help of Antonio, Belle got the upturned furniture in its rightful position, as he began picking up the debris on the floor and haphazardly returning it to any surface it would fit. Tidying was not his forte.
Making enough space on the dining table, Antonio laid out the map of Belle's land, looking closely for landmarks.
"When dawn breaks, I'll go out and check the perimeter myself." He decided, pushing the maps aside.
Belle only had one spare guest room in her house other than Mathew's room, meaning Antonio and Clay could share a double bed, or one of them could sleep in Matthew's room – or the option of sleeping on the sofa. Antonio opted to keep watch that night, not wanting to intrude on Matthew's private sanctuary. Nick and Belle retired to her own bedroom, thinking they should still discuss a few things - Leaving Clay with the guest room to himself.
Belle's bedroom was built over her study and its main focal point was the large custom made bay window, looking out into the back garden and surrounding woodland, where a chaise lounge was set in between the surrounding glass windows.
Nick watched as Belle unpacked some of her belongings, pacing the room and giving the occasional sigh. Taking her hand in his, he stopped her movements, embracing her in his arms. "This time tomorrow, he'll be home." He comforted.
Belle looked up at him pulling the hair back from her face. "I hope so." She sighed leaning into him. "Nicky…?" She whispered.
"Hmm?" He replied resting his chin on the top of her head, imprinting her scent into his memory.
"Thank you." She said looking up at him. They held they're gazes locked for a moment, as they found themselves moving their heads closer together. Their lips touched.
It was a soft tentative kiss, enough to quicken her pulse and leave her wanting more, but the timing still wasn't right. Her stomach gave a flip that sent tingles of excitement she hadn't felt in years coursing through her, betraying her body, yet her brain screamed in defiance.
She gasped pulling away. "I cant, I'm sorry – I just cant." She stuttered as she pushed Nick's chest away from her, rubbing her hands over her face. "I want too, god knows I want too, I'm just not…" She trailed off struggling to find the words, slapping her hands down by her sides.
"It's okay." Nick whispered raising her hand to his face and placing her fingers to his lips. "You're not ready." He held her gaze for another moment. "We're still good though aren't we?" He asked almost coyly.
She smiled up at him, and traced the line of his jaw with her fingers and gave him a gentle kiss on the lips. "I just need to get Matthew back first before I rush into anything. But, yeah – we're still good."
*****
The next morning, Antonio went over the maps of Belle's land again. Taking Clay with him to check the boundaries, Nick was to stay at the house and guard Belle. First stop on the agenda was the garden shed tucked away into some bushes at the rear of the garden. Finding nothing of interest except some old gardening equipment they proceeded to change and split into different directions as they came across the beginning of the woodland.
Come lunchtime the pair returned, finding no results or other traces, save for a few faint scent trails, more of Matthew's than of Belle's.
"Are you hungry?" Belle asked, after they reported that they found nothing in the woods. She settled some plates down on the dining room table, and dished out four servings of freshly made lasagne.
After the meal, Antonio suppressed a belch as he wiped his mouth. "Keep feeding us like this, and we might not want to go home." He smiled, making light of the situation as he got to his feet. He went to pick Belle's plate up and gave her a sympathetic yet concerned look noticing she had hardly touched her food.
She shrugged in response, not drawing attention to herself in front of the other two, and gave him a hand tidying away, as Clay called home to update Jeremy with the situation.
A half hour later – at Jeremy's request; she made calls to some of Matthew's friends, seeing if they had seen him lately - faking that they had had an argument and he'd stormed off. If nothing else to get the word out to anyone who might know where Matthew was being held, to come forward or make contact one way or the other, good or bad.
All they had to do then was wait. Antonio went out again at dusk with Nick to walk the woodland he had traced earlier in the day.
Clay took the watch that night, as Nick again stayed with Belle, whilst Antonio got some much needed sleep in the guest room.
********
"Nick!" Clay hissed as Nick started awake staring straight into his cold blue eyes. He glanced at the bedside table alarm clock. It read just past three in the morning.
"I'm up… What's going on?" He asked getting his bearings and his pants from the floor.
"Nicky…?" Belle mumbled waking up.
"There's someone outside." Clay whispered, as Belle jolted awake going to reach for the light, but he caught her hand, pinching it hard enough to make her wince. "No lights." He ordered before walking out the room to wake Antonio.
Belle pulled on her dressing gown she had by her bedside, already in a pair of cotton pyjama bottoms and a strappy top she waited for Nick to get his jeans on before he took her out into the hall, taking her hand and guiding her through the dark.
Antonio met them downstairs and declared the house was clear – so far. As they walked into the kitchen Belle grabbed herself a knife, and held the handle defensively. She could see Nick raise a questioning brow at her in what light the moon spared, as he gently pushed her behind him. She shrugged in response, as eyes and ears turned to Clay as he drew a breath through his nose.
"Elena…?" He concluded leaving the question hanging in the air and strode to the front door pulling it open before either Antonio or Nick could react.