The Life of Anna, Part 3: Embraced

The Life of Anna, Part 3:
Embraced

By Marissa Honeycutt

Copyright 2014 Marissa Honeycutt

Smashwords Edition

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author.

Copyright 2014 Marissa Honeycutt

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof
may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the
express written permission of the publisher except for the use of
brief quotations in a book review.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters,
businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of
the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any
resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is
purely coincidental.

All portrayals of sexual acts are between adults
(aka, over the age of 18).

This book is for grownups. This book is not for
people who are easily offended, get nightmares easily, or have
difficulty reading books about tough subjects. I do not glorify bad
things, but bad things do happen to my poor characters. This is not
your typical love story. My heroine does not fall in love and live
happily ever after... at least not like the typical heroine. There
is a happily ever after, but it is a long, painful journey to that
end.

This is not a stand-alone novel. The series must be
read in order.

Anna’s story is told in five, novel-length books.
There is a subculture within our own world that you’ve only heard
whispers of. The conspiracy theorists wish they knew Anna’s story.
What the conspiracy theorists think they know is only
disinformation, put out there to keep them from the real story.

This book will likely offend you. This book might
make you cry; it might make you throw up. It is a dark book. As my
friend, Heidi, said, “It’s dark. It gets darker. It gets even
darker, and then it gets even darker. And then, just when you think
it can’t get any darker, it does.”

But, don’t worry. I take you to the deep end
gradually. ;)

There are many sexual situations in this series of
books. People die. People get hurt. Things aren’t always truly the
way they appear. The antagonist isn’t just a bad guy; he’s EVIL. My
heroine’s worldview is skewed; things that may appall you are
perfectly normal to her.

Any violence in this book is non-gratuitous and
crucial to the plot and character development.

Do not read this if you are under the age of consent
in your country. Do not get angry if the subject or actual book
upsets you. If you're reading this, you've been warned.

“It’s kinda early,” Ben commented as he and
Anna rode the Sapphire’s elevator up to their floor together. “Do
you want to come to my place for a bit? We could watch a movie or
something.”

“Sure,” Anna said, glancing over at him.
She’d had a wonderful dinner date with her neighbor last night,
ending with a simple, tender kiss goodnight at her door. Today the
young lawyer had followed up with lunch and a sweet Sunday
afternoon walk on the beach. Ben was fun and incredibly smart, and
he had a way about him that put her at ease, even after a long,
rough evening at the Manor with Devin. He had also managed to help
her forget, for a while, the reason she had gone to the Manor early
last week.

Ben grinned and they walked down the hallway
to his apartment. He unlocked the door and they walked into an
apartment with a similar feel to Anna’s, but with a different
setup. Their living room was in the center of the apartment with
the bedrooms on either side. The TV was on and Ben’s roommate,
Matt, sat on the couch drinking a beer. Anna didn’t notice Greg at
first, but when she did, she stiffened. The man hired by Alex to
babysit
her was slouched in a chair, looking cool as a
cucumber.

“Hey, I thought you’d have Jenna over,” Ben
said, pulling Anna further into the room.

“She had something to do with her dad,” Matt
answered with a shrug. Anna’s best friend Jenna had hooked up with
Matt after their double date last Thursday.

Anna smiled at Matt but gave Greg a dirty
look.
Dirty, stinking liar
. He had pretended to be her
friend, when all the while he was being paid to watch over Alex’s
property
.

Greg looked up at her, nodded slightly, and
then stood. “I should get going. I’ve got some stuff to do before I
hit the sack.”

Anna frowned in confusion. Why was he
leaving? She thought he was supposed to keep an eye on her. Was
this a trick? Or was it Alex’s way of saying he no longer cared
enough to even protect his property?

“Are you sure?” Matt asked, looking
surprised. “The movie’s not over.”

Greg gave Anna an understanding smile. “Nah.
I gotta go. I’ll see ya later. Thanks for the beer.”

Anna watched as Greg left, then sighed in
relief.

“Hey, how was your, what, second date?” Matt
asked.

Ben smiled at Anna. “Second or third? Does
dinner on Thursday count as a date?”

Anna giggled. “I don't know. Does it?”

Ben looked thoughtful. “I think it does.
Because then I could do this.” He cupped her cheek and pressed his
lips to hers, caressing them and giving Anna goose bumps up and
down her arms. She kissed him back and lost herself in his
touch.

When he pulled away, Anna looked at him
shyly. “Are you not allowed to kiss me like that until our third
date?”

Ben chuckled. “Nope. It’s too forward.”

Anna giggled. “Then I think I’ll consider it
our third date as well.”

“Always the gentleman.” Matt chuckled and
stood up. “I’ll finish in my room. Nice seeing you, Anna.”

“Nice seeing you, Matt.”

Ben and Anna sat on the couch and talked for
a bit. She loved hearing him talk about his family; so different
from her own. She avoided telling him much about her life after her
parents died. She didn’t want to tell him what she was, but worried
about being dishonest. Maybe she should ask Jenna for advice.

“Why don't you like talking about your
guardian?” Ben asked after Anna had deflected a third question
about Jack.

Anna flushed. “He…wasn’t, er isn’t, very
nice.”

Ben chuckled. “Well, maybe he’s one of
those kind
of lawyers. A lot of lawyers aren’t nice.
Especially when they get to the top of the mountain.”

“Does that mean you won’t be nice when you
get successful?” Anna didn’t think that was possible.

“I hope not. I try really hard to be a nice
guy.”

She smiled. “I think you succeed.”

He grinned. “Thanks.”

They looked at each other for a moment, then
Anna blushed and looked away.

“Did he hurt you? Your guardian, I mean?”

Anna looked back at him, alarmed. “Why?”

He shrugged. “Gut feeling. When you said he
wasn’t nice and didn’t like talking about him, it kinda made
sense.”

Anna studied Ben’s eyes for a long moment.
How much could she tell him? Would he still like her if he found
out what she really was? Tears came unbidden to her eyes. She felt
like she was deceiving him by not telling him, but fear kept her
mouth shut. She really liked him and it would devastate her if he
didn’t want to see her anymore.

“Hey,” he said in a soft voice, and pulled
her close. “Hey, it’s okay. I would never judge you for something
someone did to you, Anna.” He stroked her hair and kissed her head.
“He did hurt you, didn’t he?”

Anna nodded.

“I’m so sorry, Anna,” he whispered and hugged
her close. “Men like that…oh, they make me so angry.” He kissed the
top of her head. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, I mean...I want you to know that if
you ever want to talk about it, I’ll listen. And I wouldn’t ever
think badly of you.”

Anna looked up into his eyes and smiled.
“You’re a really nice guy, you know that?”

He smiled tenderly. “I try.”

She stroked his cheek with her thumb, then
leaned up and kissed him. He slid his hand around the back of her
head and deepened the kiss, his tongue slipping in between her
lips, making her moan softly. They kissed for a long time, then Ben
pulled away suddenly, panting.

“Anna….” He searched her eyes. “Do…do you
want to stay the night?”

Anna nodded. “Yes,” she whispered. “Very much
so.”

He nodded and stood, pulling her to her feet.
He kissed her again, then took her into his bedroom and closed the
door behind him.

Anna slept soundly in Ben’s arms. She awoke
to him stroking her hair back from her face. The first thing she
saw when she opened her eyes was his smile.

“Good morning, beautiful,” he said with a
tender smile.

“Good morning,” she replied, smiling back. It
had been a wonderful night. Anna was pretty sure he didn’t know
anything about the Brotherhood because he didn’t make any comments
about her rings or jewelry. At his age, if his father was a
Brother, he would be aware of the organization. She knew he wasn’t
because he had no piercings of his own.

Anna glanced out the window. The sun was just
rising. “What time is it?”

“Six. I have to get to the office early
today, unfortunately. If I had known what a wonderful night I was
going to have, I wouldn’t have scheduled such an early morning
meeting.” He leaned down to kiss her. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.” She smiled. “I understand.”

“What time do you finish dancing?”

Anna thought for a minute. “I don’t know
exactly. This is my first day with the Company. Probably around
five, though.”

“You dance all day? Wow.”

“I don’t have to be there until ten. And it’s
not like I’m dancing nonstop. I have breaks.” She giggled.

Ben rolled his eyes. “I figured that.” He
grinned down at her. “I’ll be home around six. Do you want to have
dinner here with me?”

Anna nodded eagerly.

He leaned down and kissed her neck. “Then
maybe dessert here in my room?”

Anna nodded and giggled. “Sounds wonderful.
What will we have?”

“Mmm. How about you?”

Anna giggled again. “Only if I get you,
too.”

“Hon, you can have me any time you want.” He
rolled on top of her. “You have an amazing mouth.” He kissed her.
“And body.” He kissed her again. “And everything else.”

Anna felt him hard against her thigh and
pressed up against him, which made him groan. He captured her lips
with his. “I suppose I could be a little late,” he murmured against
her lips.

*****

Anna arrived at the studio early, hoping to
find Jenna. She saw Aaron parking as she walked out of the
garage.

“Hey, Anna!” he said, jogging up to her and
giving her a big hug. “How was your trip?”

“DC was interesting. I got to see a lot of
interesting things, so I guess it was good.” She grinned at him and
hugged him again. “I’ve missed you.”

He buried his face in her neck. “I’ve missed
you too.”

Anna closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. He
always smelled so good.

“Hey, you’re with the Company now. You wanna
go out to dinner after rehearsal?”

Anna knew what he was asking and she bit her
lip. She was pretty sure that she and Ben were more than just
dating at this point. “I…I can’t. I have plans.”

Aaron looked surprised. “With who?”

“Um, a guy in my building. His name is
Ben.”

Aaron stiffened and pulled away. “Oh.” He
looked up at the roof with a pained look in his eyes.

“Aaron…please don’t….”

“No, it’s okay, Anna. I just thought…well, I
thought I’d have at least a chance to ask you out before some other
guy did.” He glanced back down at her. “Is it…um…have you gone out
with him before?”

Anna blushed and nodded. “We went out a few
times over the weekend.” She winced. “I’m sorry, Aaron.”

“It’s okay.” Aaron shook his head and sighed.
“C’mon. Let’s go.”

Anna felt awful. Maybe she shouldn’t have
gone out with Ben. But it’s not like she had been looking for
someone. It just…happened. She glanced at Aaron as they walked
together to the studio. His face was inscrutable, but she could
sense his hurt.

Aaron opened the door for Anna then
disappeared into the crowd of students and professional dancers.
She blinked tears away as she looked around for Jenna.