The Life of Anna, Part 2: Entwined (42 page)

When Alex broached the subject with his father shortly before graduation, he brought Gaidon with him as a witness of his skill. Gaidon told Vati that Alex was a natural and could shoot impressive distances with extreme accuracy. Vati had coldly dismissed both of them and stubborn young Alex was ready to leave the country and join up somewhere else.

The night of the graduation ceremony, Vati took Alex aside and told him that he had arranged for him to be tested. If he passed the test, Vati would allow Alex to train with the American military during the next two summers, with the intention of creating his own team that would do work solely for the Brotherhood; he would have the best of the best to choose from.

Alex was ecstatic. He beamed during the commencement ceremony that night, giving an enthusiastic valedictorian speech about pursuing one's dreams, no matter the cost.

The next week the test began without Alex knowing.

He’d been walking in the woods with his little sister, Greta, when a group of seven men came up and surrounded them. They were all big men, probably in their thirties.

One grabbed Greta and Alex grew enraged and proceeded to take out the men with his fists, one by one, until he faced the last and biggest one.

The man wasn’t as tall as Alex, but he was broader. Alex was fast, but he was still young and inexperienced and after a long fight, the man had Alex on his knees with his knife against his neck. The man held him until Vati appeared a few minutes later with another man. Vati and the other man, Eliah, were impressed by what they saw. Eliah was a Brotherhood assassin.

The next week Alex spent every waking moment with Eliah, learning what he could and showing Eliah what he knew. By the end of the week, Eliah reported back to Vati that he was impressed with Alex’s determination and prowess, and it would be foolish to not allow Alex to train. Alex would be a valuable asset to the Brotherhood, if Vati could convince the other Elders to allow a Son to take on such a profession.

Ten years later, Alex had become everything and more than the Brotherhood had expected of him. And this was the first mission he could recall dreading. Not because of the target, but because of leaving Anna. He'd planned on spending time with her this week, letting her get to know him before he left so that she'd look forward to seeing him when he visited.

Now, he not only had to delay his move, he had to leave on Tuesday for who knew how long, without having time with Anna. He ran his hand through his hair and sighed. Damn Devin for making her afraid of him! That was the only explanation he could think of for her fear.

He needed to call her. As he reached for his phone, it rang. He half hoped it was Anna herself and was disappointed when he saw it was Greg.

“Yes?”

“Made contact with Devin. He saw my tat and knows who I am.”

“Good. How did he react?”

“Suspiciously, but didn't say anything.”

“All right. Thanks.” Alex paused. “I got a call.”

“Shit,” Greg said. “When do we leave?”

“Tuesday. Come on over, We'll start planning. I'll have Seth call the others.”

He got up to go find Seth. He'd have to call Anna later.

Anna unlocked her apartment, exhausted and hurting. Playing pet to Devin, Trenton and Maki was not easy. Especially when doped up on some sort of sex drug. The whole evening was a blur once they arrived back at Trenton and Maki's house. She had vague memories of lots of sex, but couldn't pinpoint any one particular event. Devin had woken her after a few hours to take her home.

Her phone rang sometime later. She didn’t know how long she'd slept, but she wasn't ready to wake up yet. But she got up and answered her phone anyways.

“Hello,” she said with a hoarse voice without looking at the Caller ID.

“Hello, Anna,” came a deep, accented voice. Wilhelm? Kurt?

She looked at the phone and saw Alex's picture. Alex! She shook her head and rubbed her eyes. “Hello, Alex,” she said nervously.

“Did I wake you?” he sounded amused.

“Late night.”

“Oh.” He didn't say anything for a minute.

Had she angered him by being out late? “H-how are you?” she asked politely.

“Busy,” he answered vaguely then didn't speak again.

“Oh.” Why had he called her? “Did you...need anything, Alex?”

“
Was?
Oh, I'm sorry.” He cleared his throat. “I was wondering if you were busy tonight.”

“Tonight? Uh...No, I don't have any plans.” For unknown reasons, butterflies appeared in her stomach. Why did he want to know?

“Would you like to have dinner with me? Tonight, I mean.”

Anna wasn't sure, but he sounded almost... nervous? “If you’d like,” she said softly. Why would he be nervous?

He said something quickly in German then stopped. “I was speaking in German, wasn't I?” He chuckled. “I'm sorry. I do that when I get excited sometimes.”

Alex was excited about taking her out to dinner? His slave? Maybe she’d been wrong about Alex. Maybe he wasn’t so scary. “It's all right. I...I like hearing you speak in German.”

“You do?”

“Yes.” Anna flushed at her honesty with him.

“I'll have to remember that.” She could hear the smile in his voice. “How does six o'clock sound? I know you have to be up in the morning.”

Anna glanced at her clock. It was just before one. She could sleep for a little bit more before she needed to get ready. “That sounds good.”

“
Sehr gut
. Then I will see you at six.”

They said good-bye and Anna put the phone down on her bed after setting an alarm. Dinner with Alex? Was it a date? She shook her head. Don't be silly, she told herself. He wouldn't ask his slave out on a date.

She cringed at the remembrance of her position with Alex.
Slave
. She lay down, excitement gone. Maybe he finally wanted to have sex with her. But why would he bother to take her to dinner first? Oh, he didn't make any sense!

Why did Devin take her out to dinner? Business reasons. Or to have sex. Maybe Alex did feel like he needed to take her out to dinner first. It seemed silly, though. Other men just came over and did it.

Her alarm went off at four-thirty and she found herself, again, contemplating Alex’s reasons for asking her to dinner. She still hadn't come to any conclusions by the time she was ready to go, dressed in a silver and gray silk A-line dress and silver-heeled sandals.

At six o'clock precisely, a knock sounded at the door. She answered the door, trembling slightly, and her breath caught in her throat at the sight of him.

Why did she always forget how handsome he was? He was even more so tonight, dressed in a tailored black suit with a dark gray dress shirt and black silk tie. His hair was tousled fashionably and his piercing cobalt blue eyes looked at her with such emotion, she had to look away.

“Hello, Anna,” he said in his deep, accented voice. “You look beautiful.”

She glanced up shyly at him with a timid smile. “Thank you, Alex. You look very handsome as well.”

His boyish grin lit up his face. “
Danke
.”

She hadn't noticed he'd had one hand behind his back until he brought it forward, holding a bunch of pink roses bundled in clear cellophane and wrapped with a pink ribbon. “These are for you,” he said, a tremor in his voice as he handed them to her.

Anna's eyes widened at the beautiful flowers. “Oh, Alex, they're beautiful!”

She accepted them from his hand and brought them to her face. They smelled as beautiful as they looked. She was briefly transported back to her mother's rose garden as she buried her nose in the bouquet.

*****

Alex watched in silence as Anna smelled the roses he'd brought her. A thrill ran through his body, seeing that she liked them.

He’d spent the better part of an hour in the flower store that afternoon, looking at every possible combination of flowers, but he kept going back to the pink ones. Finally, he just decided to go with his gut feelings and his gut had been right. It usually was right, except when it came to the precious girl standing in front of him, lost in some happy memory.

He was curious about what the sparkling eyes represented, but hesitant to intrude. She surely didn't have that many happy memories and it would be cruel to deny her something that most people took for granted. Besides, he was perfectly content to simply watch her.

She looked up at him suddenly and her face turned pink. “I'm sorry, Alex,” she said with a trembling voice. “Let me see if there's something to put these in.”

He mentally hit himself in the head; he should have anticipated she didn't have a vase. She walked into the kitchen and he let out a small sigh of relief when she located one in a high cabinet.

It was on the top shelf and he easily pulled it down and handed it to her. When their fingers brushed accidentally, warmth spread through his body like a spring day in his mother’s flower garden.

“I'll unwrap them if you want to fill the vase with water,” he said.

He took the roses from her and laid them on the counter to untie the ribbon as she went to the sink.

Within a few minutes, Anna had artfully arranged the roses in the vase and was tying the ribbon around it.

She stopped as she finished the bow. “Is this all right? Or should I just throw the ribbon away? I haven't gotten flowers since....” She swallowed and didn't finish the sentence.

He suspected since before her parents died, but didn't want to upset her by voicing it. Instead, he gathered her into his arms.

“I like the ribbon around the vase,” he said softly, deeply inhaling her scent of raspberries, vanilla and musk.

She leaned her head against his chest and wrapped her arms around his waist, melting into him. Oh, he could stay like this with her forever. It was heavenly, having her in his arms willingly. As he stroked her silky hair, he imagined what it would be like to have her with him all the time.

They stood like that for what felt like a charmed eternity, until she stiffened suddenly and pulled away. His heart broke as she stepped away and looked up at him with frightened eyes.

“I'm sorry, Alex. I shouldn't have—”

“Anna, never apologize for being comfortable in my arms,” he said in a soft voice, stepping towards her and cupping her cheek. “I wouldn't want it any other way.”

He gazed down into her softening green eyes and fought with himself about the wisdom of kissing her. When her tongue darted out to sweep across her bottom lip, he lost the battle and lowered his head to brush his lips against hers. She sighed softly and he slid his hand around the back of her head, pulling her towards him and capturing her lips with his.

*****

Anna clung to Alex's formidable upper arms as he pressed his lips to hers. He took her lower lip between his and sucked gently, eliciting a soft moan from her throat. His tongue slipped between her parted lips and gently invaded her mouth, dancing and swirling around hers. His one hand held the back of her head and the other wrapped around her waist, pulling her close.

Her mind spun at his kiss. It was a welcome invasion into every part of her: body, soul and mind. As his lips caressed hers, she felt herself melting into him, as if they were becoming one person. He groaned as he thrust his tongue against hers and she imagined other parts of his body thrusting against her.

She stepped closer, her body touching his and feeling the expected bulge against her belly. Would he finally have sex with her? She desired him. She wanted to connect with him on so many levels and she wasn't thinking about him as her Master, but as a lover.

When he pulled away moments later, panting and staring at her, she looked up into his eyes, begging him wordlessly to take her to bed.

He shook his head, wide-eyed, still gasping for breath. “Anna, I can't...,” he said in answer to her unasked question. “I don’t want to begin things in lust.”

Hurt, she started to turn away, but he held on to her hand and pulled her back to him, pressing her head against his chest.

“Do you hear it?” he asked in a hoarse whisper. “Do you hear my heart pounding for you?”

She could feel and hear his heart pounding fast and hard in his chest. She sucked in a ragged breath as she realized his desire for her, and looked up at him.

“Why?” she whispered.

He knelt in front of her and held her hands in his. “I've never felt for any woman what I feel for you,
Schatzi
. You are my treasure. I want you to know that before...before I make love to you.”

She looked at him with tears in her eyes. “Why does it matter?”

“Precisely because you asked that question,
mein Liebe
. Because I want you to know the difference between lovemaking and fucking.”

Aaron had made love to her. She frowned at him, hurt. “I know the difference, Alex.”

“Do you?” he asked, firmly but gently. “Do you know that my desire for you is more than physical? I want you. All of you. Body, soul and mind. I won't accept any less.”