It has been a long and busy week, but we're at the end, so here's your reward. Please enjoy!

40. The Aftermath

When we got to the parking garage, Ricardo took his car and Carlos took Maria's car. Ricardo suggested that we stop and get something to eat on the way into town so Carlos and I followed Ricardo. He stopped at a nice looking diner not too far from his house and we had a lovely meal.

While we waited on our dessert to arrive, I must have fallen asleep. The next thing I knew, I was in the spare room at the Manoso's house and it was dark. I looked at the bedside clock and saw that it was only 8PM. I got up and went looking for something to drink and found Carlos and Ricardo in the living room. They were watching the news and talking quietly.

Carlos stood when I walked into the room and said, "You fell asleep at the diner Babe. I thought it would be easiest to bring you here. I hope that's OK."

I nodded and said, "It's OK Carlos. I seem to want to sleep all the time at the moment so here is as good as any place."

Ricardo smiled and said, "Do you want something to eat or drink dear? We still have your dessert. It's in the fridge."

I nodded and said, "I'd love a drink of water. That's why I came down."

Ricardo stood. "Let me. I was getting a drink for myself anyway. I'll bring your dessert as well."

I moved over to the sofa to sit down but when I walked past Carlos, he reached up and pulled me down onto his lap. I giggled and tried to break free, but it was only for fun. I didn't really want to get up. After a few moments, I relaxed back against Carlos and asked, "I'm guessing that you carried me from the diner to the car and then to bed."

Carlos nodded and said, "You were completely out of it. I couldn't believe that you were still sound asleep when I carried you upstairs and put you on the bed."

Ricardo walked in with a glass of water and a covered plate. He handed them to me and said, "I've carried my children to bed dozens of times. I don't think there is a single time that they didn't wake up as soon as I picked them up or put them down. Are you always that heavy of a sleeper or is it the drugs still making their way out of your system?"

I shrugged and said, "I like my sleep and I'm famous, or maybe that should be infamous, for falling asleep at the drop of a hat."

Ricardo smiled and said, "I want you to rest tonight and take the day off tomorrow. In fact, I'd prefer if you took the rest of the week off, but I won't force you. I've gotten to know you well enough to realise that nothing stands in your way if you are determined to do something."

I thanked Ricardo and said, "I will take tomorrow off. I can go into the office with you tomorrow and walk back to my apartment."

Carlos shook his head and said, "I don't have to be to work until 2 tomorrow afternoon. I'll take you home whenever you get up and are ready to go. That way you can sleep in and get as much rest as you want."

Ricardo nodded his approval and I agreed. I finished my snack and then tried to stand. Carlos didn't let go of me but he did help me up and stood with me. Carlos looked at his father and said, "I'm going to help Steph up to bed and then I'm going to have a shower and go to bed myself. I'm pretty tired. I'll probably have a bit of a sleep in myself so I may not see you before you leave."

"Good night son. Good night Steph. Get lots of rest and come back to work only when you feel up to it. Part days are fine as well."

I hugged Ricardo and then headed up the stairs with Carlos' arm around my waist. Carlos followed me into my room and sat on my bed while I ran into the bathroom to brush my teeth and change into some pyjamas. When I came back out, Carlos helped me into bed and kissed me before turning out the light and closing the door. I heard the shower turn on a few moments later but I didn't last long. I fell asleep before Carlos was out of the shower.

It was dark and it took my eyes a few moments to adjust to the fact that there was no light coming from any direction. I could hear Tyler's giggling coming from multiple directions. It was as if a set of surround sound speakers had been set up and I was at the centre of them. Had I been abducted again?

I called out, asking Tyler what he wanted. There was no reply. I stumbled around in the dark, hoping to find a door. There was no door. I was in a large box that measured about 12 square feet. This was different to the last time I was kidnapped. That time I was chained to my bed until Tyler unlocked me. This time I was locked in a box of some sort.

I moved around and felt each wall as far as I could reach. I felt into the corners and along the floor. There was nothing in the room, nothing but the sound of Tyler's giggles and the darkness. I kept hearing the message he had left on my voice mail that convinced me to contact Detective Carter.

"One of these days you are going to find yourself lost in darkness. When that happens, I will find you and you will pray for the escape only death can provide."

I was beginning to get scared. The fear increased with each passing moment until I couldn't take it. The repeated message was taunting me. I screamed out trying to get someone's attention.

Surely someone would hear me and come and help. I heard movement in the distance. A bright flash of light disorientated me and then I could hear voices.

Ricardo rushed into my room and turned on the light. He was quickly followed by Carlos. Carlos passed his father and knelt down beside me and spoke soothingly to me. It was a dream I was dreaming about being locked up again. Now that I was awake, Carlos sat on the bed and wrapped me in his arms. Ricardo saw that Carlos had things under control and went back to bed.

"It's OK Babe. I'm here."

I didn't say anything. I only cuddled closer to Carlos and held tightly to him. "Do you want to tell me about your dream?"

I shook my head and Carlos accepted this without pushing me. I pulled Carlos down onto the bed and after about 10 minutes, he relaxed a little and I could feel my heartbeat finally begin to slow as well. I thought about my dream and figured that it might help to talk about it with Carlos. I started speaking and the raspiness of my voice must have startled Carlos because he jumped a little.

"I was back in the darkness. This time I was locked in a box and there was no way out. I could hear Tyler laughing in the distance and I was afraid that he was going to leave me there to die. I kept hearing the message he left me on my voice mail as if it was a recording. It just kept playing over and over. The longer I was in the box, the more afraid I became. Eventually I screamed for help and that's when you and your dad came running."

Carlos squeezed me and said, "I'll come running as long as I can Babe."

I smiled and cuddled closer to Carlos. I fell asleep a little while later and managed to sleep through the entire night without another dream, at least not one that I was aware of or remembered.

The next morning, I woke up to find myself alone. I heard noises downstairs and voices. I pulled on a robe and went downstairs to find Ricardo on his way out the door. They didn't see me but I heard Ricardo say, "Maybe you should stay with Steph until her dreams stop. She calmed down when you went to her and she didn't have another dream after that. She is welcome to stay here or go back to her apartment but either way, you should spend the night with her. She shouldn't be alone."

I didn't hear Carlos' reply because I retreated a few steps up the stairs. I didn't want them to think that I was eaves dropping. After the door closed, I waited a few seconds and then proceeded down the stairs, yawning and stumbling on the last few steps because I wasn't paying attention.

Carlos came running because I made a bit of a noise and swore when I jammed my hand into the wall trying to stop myself from falling down the stairs. I still managed to land on my ass on the 2nd to bottom stair. He looked down at me and my beet red face and started howling with laughter. I glared up at him because falling down the stairs is not really funny, or was it? After about a minute, I joined in and laughed alongside Carlos.

He reached out and helped me to my feet and then walked me back upstairs. He helped me into bed but I realised that I wasn't going to get back to sleep. "Carlos, I think I should just get up. Maybe we should just go to my apartment. It's closer to the gym and we could spend the day by the pool."

Carlos nodded and said, "OK, why don't you get ready and I'll go pack a bag. If you don't mind, I'm going to spend the night with you. I want to be there just in case you have another nightmare."

I was relieved to hear Carlos say this, even after hearing his conversation with his father. It was true that his presence helped me sleep. In fact, the only time since my abduction that I did have a nightmare was the one night that I slept without Carlos. It was a horrible nightmare and I definitely didn't want a repeat, especially if I was all alone.

I packed my bag and met Carlos in the hallway. "You ready, Babe?"

I nodded and Carlos took my suitcase and we headed out to the car. We drove to my apartment and spent the rest of the morning and part of the afternoon by the pool. At 1:45, Carlos headed to work and at 5, I walked to the gym to have my self defence lesson with Carlos before his class at 6:30.

We worked hard for our hour and I regretted putting so much effort into my private lesson when the class started. I was exhausted before it began, but I got a second wind when we paired up and I worked with Meg. By the end of the class, I was breathing heavily. My shower when we got back to my apartment was very relaxing. Carlos insisted that I go first so I hoped there would be enough hot water for him by the time I got out.

While the hot water cascaded down my back, my mind wandered to the topic of intimacy with Carlos. I really thought about my apprehensions and realised that it was all fear. I was afraid of sex. The three experiences I had in my past were not all that pleasant. For that and that alone, I was avoiding being with Carlos. I was afraid that it would be awful and that he'd leave for the army and forget all about me.

My first time with Joe was actually quite unpleasant. It was painful, not only because of the sex, but it was on a hard concrete floor. The aftermath was also quite humiliating. The whole message in the bathrooms around town made things quite embarrassing to say the least. Everyone knew my business and my parents came down on me hard.

The next two times were no better. They lasted for less than a minute each and they were nothing to get excited about. Ryan was far too interested in his pleasure to worry about mine. I was so inexperienced and I knew that Carlos wasn't. I was going to have to talk to him and explain where I'm coming from. I came to that conclusion just as the last of the hot water gave out.

I got out of the shower and quickly dried off. I changed into my robe and went looking for Carlos. I found him up on the deck watching the city as the daylight was fading and the darkness was beginning to take hold. He looked up at me and said, "I was beginning to wonder if you were ever going to come out of there. Too much heat after a workout like you had today can actually be stressful on your muscles. Do you feel OK?"

I looked at Carlos and nodded. I sat down beside him and thought about how to talk to Carlos about our sex life, or lack thereof. Carlos knew me well enough to know that something was bothering me. He also knew that I'd come out with it on my own schedule. He didn't push me to explain what was going on in my head. He just wrapped his arms around me and pulled me against him while we sat and waited.

I finally plucked up the courage to speak my mind when I started to shiver from the cool night air. "Carlos, I've had a lot of time to think lately about things and I've realised something."

"What's that Babe?"

"Well, I think the reason that I'm not ready to be intimate with you is more about my fear of inadequacy than anything else. I haven't had a lot of experience with sex and the few times I did try, they weren't pleasant experiences. I worry that I'll disappoint you or that it won't be very satisfying for me."

Carlos looked at me and said, "I won't lie to you Babe, I do have more experience than you, but I don't want to have sex with you."

I was confused. "What?"

Carlos smiled sweetly and said, "I know it sounds corny Babe, but I want to make love to you. I want to show you how good I think sex can be when you love someone. I want us to take our time and truly be with each other. Sex is fast and furious, but it isn't always pleasurable for both partners. I want to make sure that you enjoy our time together as much as I do."

I felt a little better and a lot more comfortable about the topic we were discussing so I said, "When I said that I was inexperienced, I've only tried one thing. I have no experience with anything else."

Carlos took my hands and turned me to face him. "Babe, when we do make love, we won't do anything that you feel uncomfortable with. I will not do anything, nor will I make you do anything that you don't feel comfortable doing. We will take things slow and you can call a stop to it at any point.

"I love you Babe. I want to be with you when it's right. That means that I'm willing to wait until you are ready."

I wrapped my arms around Carlos' neck and sniffled as I said, "I love you so much Carlos."

I don't know why, but I broke down and cried on Carlos' shoulder for a good 20 minutes. After I was done, I looked up at Carlos' concerned face and said, "I think the realisation of what could have happened in Miami hit me and I was so relieved that I'm here with you now."

When I fell asleep that night with Carlos' arms around me, I was content in the knowledge that I was ready for the next step. It was too late to do anything about it tonight, but I was ready. I kissed Carlos good night and fell asleep. My nightmares were the furthest thing from my mind and I slept the whole night through without a single bad dream.

Thanks for reading and more will follow next week.