The Life of Anna, Part 5: Emerged (21 page)

“Is that okay?” he whispered in her ear and
nipped the lobe gently. “How long has it been since he visited
you?”

“Months,” she said, tilting her head
slightly. He brushed her hair away from her neck and she
shivered.

“Stupid man,” he said quietly, nuzzling
behind her ear. “You smell delicious.”

“Thank you,” she whispered, pressing back
against him. Her hardened nipples strained against her strapless
bra.

He chuckled. “I like the view.”

Anna looked up to see him looking down her
top and giggled. “Glad you like it.”

“I’m glad that you’re glad.” He sucked gently
on her neck and she let out a shaky breath.

The line began to move suddenly and he
released her, but held her hand as they showed their IDs and walked
inside.

After many drinks and a whole lot of
laughing, they emerged two hours later, Anna clinging to Levi’s
arm.

He pulled her to him and pressed his lips to
hers. “Come back to my place with me,” he murmured.

Anna gave him a lazy smile and nodded. He
flagged down a taxi and kissed her one last time before helping her
in.

She giggled and stumbled slightly as he led
her into his apartment that he shared with two other guys; one of
them was the comedian they’d seen tonight. They were alone and Levi
pulled her to himself and kissed her deeply.

“God, you are so beautiful, Katrina. I’ve
wanted to do this since the first day I saw you.”

Anna was pretty sure she was tipsy, if not
drunk, and was feeling very good. “Then you should do it.”

He grinned and kissed her again as he walked
her backwards into his bedroom.

The pounding in her head wouldn’t stop. Anna
groaned and opened her eyes. Levi opened his eyes a second after
hers.

“I’ve got a hellava hangover,” he mumbled,
but smiled at her.

There was that pounding again. Anna looked up
and realized it wasn’t her head, even though there was definite
pounding going on in there too.

Levi frowned. “Fucking roommate.” He kissed
her. “Probably forgot his key. I’ll be right back.”

He stood and pulled on his jeans and walked
out holding his head.

Anna laughed and rolled to her back and then
winced. Oh, she didn’t remember ever feeling like this before. She
rubbed her face and then heard loud voices from the living room.
What had happened?

“Where is she?” came a familiar voice.

Anna’s heart dropped. Kurt.

“You’re the fiancé?”

“You know about me?”

“Why do you think I took her out, you
fucker?”

Anna didn’t hear Kurt’s response as she
quickly reached for her clothes. But it was too late and Kurt
slammed open the door and took in the sight of her naked, in
another man’s bed, and probably with just-fucked hair. His eyes
narrowed and he threw something at her.

“Get dressed.”

Anna looked down and saw it was a pair of
shorts and a t-shirt. She narrowed her eyes at him. “How dare you
barge in here on me like this!”

Kurt’s eyes flashed. “How dare I?” he
growled. “What the fuck were you doing going out with him anyway?”
Between his anger and his accent it was difficult to understand
what he was saying, but Anna got the picture. He was angry. It was
quite frightening.

Levi appeared behind Kurt. “I’m not going to
let you take her and hurt her,” he said calmly.

“I will not hurt her,” Kurt mumbled, glaring
at Anna. “Get dressed,” he ordered.

Anna pulled on the clothes before standing
nervously by the bed. She glanced at Levi and gave him an
apologetic smile. “He won’t hurt me.” She hoped.

There was a pair of flat sandals in the
bundle Kurt had thrown and she slipped those on before trying to
comb out her hair with her hands.

“You are fine.” He growled and pulled at her
hand.

“Let me get my things,” she said pulling her
hand away. She picked up her rumpled clothes and purse and stalked
out of the room. “I’m sorry, Levi,” she whispered as she walked
past him, giving him a sad smile.

“If you ever touch her again, hell will rain
down on you,” Kurt threatened, jabbing his finger at Levi’s
chest.

Kurt was slightly taller than Levi, and much
broader, but Levi refused to shrink beneath his glare. “If I find
out you hurt her, I will rain hell down on you,” he retorted.

Kurt looked taken aback, blinked, and then
turned with a growl and pulled Anna out of the apartment.

It was a silent ride through the city to
Anna’s apartment. When they finally walked into her place, she
walked away from him, went to her room and got into the shower
without a word.

She was so angry. He hadn’t shown up for two
and a half months, even when she was sick, and then showed up the
one night she went out and did something “wrong?” Was he having
someone follow her? The thought riled her to the core. How dare
he!

When she was dressed, she stalked out to the
living room where he was pacing. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
he asked, turning to face her.

“Me? What the hell is wrong with you?” she
shouted. “You don’t even bother to call me when I’m sick, but
decide that today is a great day to come visit me? Or did you know
I went out last night?”

“Of course I knew you went out last night.
Why else would I be here?”

“I don’t know, maybe because you actually
cared about me? That you had recovered from whatever bug had gotten
up your ass that turned you into a fucking bastard?”

Kurt’s eyes widened at her words. He was
clearly shocked at her attitude. Gone was sweet, docile Anna.
Present was Katrina, strong woman of New York. She smiled a little
at the image of her standing in the middle of Times Square with her
hands on her hips with a red cape streaming out behind her.

“I told you to be discreet.”

“Oh, like you were discreet, meeting up with
Jasmine after you threw my engagement ring at me?” Through Stef,
Anna had learned that it was her fellow principal dancer, Jasmine,
that had met Kurt at his hotel after the Gala. “You fucking
asshole,” she shouted as the anger welled up inside her.

“How did you know?” he asked, having the
decency to look a little ashamed.

“It’s a fucking dance company, Kurt. I think
everyone knows. No wonder I was getting sympathetic looks a week
later.”

“There are different standards for men—”

“Oh don’t give me that bullshit, Kurt. I’ve
probably fucked three times as many people as you have. I’m not
sweet and innocent and you know it. Why are you making me pretend
to be? Why the hell did you give me a ring this far from when we
could actually get married? You could have at least let me have
some fun before crushing the life out of me again.”

“I am trying to keep you safe.”

“From what? Having a good time?”

“No. From getting hurt.”

“Ha!” She snorted. “You failed.” She shook
her head in disbelief. “You have hurt me far more than any other
man ever has,” she said quietly, glaring at him. “I never had
expectations for men to treat me other than as a plaything. But you
spent years pretending to be nice, and I had expectations from you.
God, I was so stupid.” She walked to the window. “You’re all the
same,” she said bitterly. “Even Alex abandoned me.”

“How dare you speak about Alex that way! What
happened was not his fault.”

“I told him I had a bad feeling about it.
That he shouldn’t go.” She clenched her jaw. “But he went anyway.”
A sob escaped from her throat. “He broke his promise to me. He
didn’t come home.”

Kurt stepped behind her and put his hands on
her shoulders. “Anna...look, I am sorry about coming here like
this,” he said gently. “I know I have been an asshole. But I can
explain—”

She turned and pushed him away, shooting
daggers with her eyes. “I will play your game, Kurt,” she said
evenly. “I will be your perfect fiancé. The one that all the
Elder-Sons need. I will keep you well pleased in bed and make you
feel things you’ve never imagined.” Her eyes turned ice cold. “But
I will never love you.”

Anna was surprised at the pained look in his
eyes when she looked up into them. “Anna....”

She stepped away. “Don’t. If you want sex,
just tell me. I will make all your fantasies come true,” she added
in a seductive voice. “Are there any other indiscretions that you
are aware of that I need to be more careful about?”

“M-more indiscretions?”

She nodded sweetly. “Do you know about the
other men I’ve fucked since you’ve been gone?” Not that there was
anyone except Mr. J., but he didn’t need to know that.

“How many are there?”

“You said you didn’t care.”

“Maybe I do care.” He stepped closer with a
heated look, reached his hand around her waist and pulled her
close. “I care, Anna,” he whispered before crushing her lips to
his. She resisted for a moment before remembering that it was her
duty to please him and pushed him to the couch. He sat down heavily
and she knelt between his legs.

She smiled up at him as she unfastened his
jeans. “Just like when we met, huh?” she said bitterly and pulled
his cock out to take it into her mouth. She sucked and licked it,
running her tongue along the bottom and then swirling it around the
head. He groaned and laced his hands through her hair, mumbling in
German.

She put forth her best effort and his balls
were quickly tightening against his body and he groaned loudly as
he came in her mouth. She swallowed everything he gave her and he
lay his head back on the couch as she put him back in his
pants.

“Is there anything else I can do for you, my
lord?” she asked quietly.

He raised his head and looked at her as if he
couldn’t believe what she’d just done. He cursed in German and
stood quickly. He took two steps away and then turned back around.
“Do not make me have to come back and pull you out of another man’s
bed, Anna. Use more discretion next time.” He huffed as he turned
around and walked out the door.

She stared at the door and then curled up in
a ball on the floor and burst into tears.

After she’d calmed down, Anna decided to
return her library books and get some new ones to get her mind off
of what had happened> She took the shorter route down Columbus
Avenue, avoiding Rockefeller Center entirely. When she finally
reached the library, she sat down in the atrium, feeling numb. She
wanted to forget everything that had happened and bury herself in a
book. She buried her face in her hands. How had things turned so
bad so fast?

She caught a glimpse of pink on the floor by
the staircase as she approached. She walked slowly over and
confirmed what she thought it was: a single pink rose. Much like
the one Mr. J. had left her. She looked around, wondering who had
dropped the rose, but there was no one around. Most people took the
elevator, but Anna preferred the carved marble staircase. She
looked at it as she walked by, but didn’t touch it. The owner would
return for it, but she caught its scent as she stepped by.

The rose triggered the memory of the
wonderful night she’d had with Mr. J. She wondered what he was
doing. What had brought him to New York? Why did he want to remain
anonymous? His kindness stood out in her mind after
Kurt’s...tantrum.

She smelled the second rose before she saw it
at the landing between floors. It didn’t look as if it had been
dropped: it was propped up against the wall. Anna frowned at it and
looked around. She saw another one at the top of the next set of
stairs.

What was this? She went to where the third
rose stood propped up against the marble wall. Curiosity got the
better of her when she saw another rose at the end of a table and
instead of going on up to the third floor, she walked to the end of
the table. She looked around, half expecting to see another rose
and saw it down the way at the end of a bookshelf. Was this some
sort of romantic trail left for someone to follow? And if so, what
was she doing following it?

The roses are the same as the one given
by Mr. J.

But it was just a coincidence, right?

Of course it was. But she walked to the next
rose. When she looked at the plaque identifying the genre for that
bookcase, she nearly choked.
Mysteries
.

She spotted another rose about halfway down
the aisle and she walked slowly to it. It was lying on top of a
book that had a note card sticking out of the top. She looked
around cautiously before pulling out the book. She would replace
the rose and hopefully no one would know she’d been there.

Her heart pounded when she looked at the
book. It was about a ballet instructor who solves murders. Her
hands shook as she pulled out the card. It was written in beautiful
calligraphy on very expensive card stock.

Friday night was magical. – Mr.
J.

Anna nearly dropped the book and the rose.
The trail was for her! A smile crept across her face and she put
the rose to her nose and inhaled deeply. After her terrible
morning, she needed this. A romantic gesture from a strange man.
Her...lover, maybe? She could trust him to be discreet since he
wanted to keep things quiet. Kurt hadn’t heard about it, so
obviously Simon hadn’t called him. And whoever was following her
for Kurt hadn’t figured out what she was doing.

Maybe a little bit of romance and mystery
would help her cope with the horrible person that Kurt had become.
Take her mind off of him. It was already lifting her spirits.

She hugged the book to her chest with a grin
on her face and picked up the other roses that were in the room.
She brought the flowers to her nose, inhaling their scent as she
wandered around, picking out other interesting-looking mysteries.
She finished picking out her selections and went back out to the
staircase and picked up the rose at the top of the stairs and saw
another rose at the bottom of the next staircase. She giggled and
quickly picked it up, following a new trail of roses up to the
fourth floor.