Blink of an eye

Realization

// Author's note: I've been sick lately and the updates have fallen behind because of it. I will do my best to get back in track to earlier update pace. I'll delete this note after I've got the missing chapters published. Just wanted to let you guys know that I haven't abandoned this project! Thank you for your support and comments, I'll make sure to answer to you all. You are amazing and I appreciate the feedback you have given to me!

//

//

Catherine

One, two, three, four, five… One, two, three, four, five… It was 4am and I was still awake, counting boards on the ceiling. I hadn't slept at all because of what had happened during my evening shift. The forced kiss was still in my mind and I could still feel his hard and cold lips on mine. It made me sick and I had to bite my fist to avoid vomiting. This wasn't the first time I was feeling sick because of a man and I felt powerless. My life had taught me better, though. I had to be reasonable and think this through. First of all I had no idea who this Stefano was and why he approached me. We had never met before he decided to hurt me, at least I couldn't remember seeing him earlier, but the way he had talked to me gave the impression that he knew me better. How could he know me? I'd remember if he was a customer, I never forgot faces. Well, at least a face like his or Damien's. Besides the restaurant I rarely went anywhere else than the grocery store. Of course he could have seen me walking on the street but would that be enough to get him that fixated? Maybe, if he was crazy enough. The way he had been talking indicated that he couldn't be exactly sane. So, was he a crazy stalker kind of a guy? Chills ran down my spine and I had to grab another blanket. Darkness of the night felt crushing.

…

It was still dark when I felt a man leaning down on me. I was still tired as the sun hadn't risen yet but I couldn't avoid smiling when I felt his lips on my shoulder. His lingering kisses went down on my stomach before he stopped and asked "Do you think that we made it this time?". I couldn't help giggling when I heard his question. "I don't know, my dear husband, but no one can blame you for not trying." His eyes met with mine and I could see the never ending love in his eyes. He would do anything for me and I would do anything for him. Sometimes I felt like bursting because of all the love I felt for him. He was absolutely divine and I was proud to be his wife. "I believe that this is the time when we are blessed but I want to be sure!" With these words he moved to kiss my breasts and his hand went down to make sure that I was ready for him. His touch felt burning on my skin and he was all I wanted. Nothing else mattered. He climbed carefully over me and his hard erection slided in. First his thrusts were slow and tender but he soon increased the pace as his own desire grew bigger. The warm waves of orgasm started to wash over me and soon the pleasure erupted with my scream. Moments later I felt him coming too. He kissed me tenderly before whispering "I love you."

…

My breathing came in short pants when I suddenly woke up. The warmness of the orgasm was still there and I could feel that I was wet. s**t! This was the second time I was dreaming about having s*x with Damien but this time it had been so intense that it really ended up with an orgasm. I was angry at Damien for making me feel like this but I was even angrier at myself because my body reacted like this. If I was honest, I felt physically good and relaxed and that rarely happened anymore. No headache or aching muscles. Even my bruises started to look better. I had to admit that it was all because of that dream, because of Damien, but at the end of the day I simply couldn't forget who I was. He might have made me feel good physically but emotionally I could be described as a train wreck that came to men.

Sun was rising around 7am and the morning was a beautiful one. A warm mug of tea in my hands calmed me a bit and I thought about the dream again. Even though I didn't like dreaming about Damien I could understand why he was in my dreams. He would have been my type of a guy if I actually had a type I liked. If things were different, if I was different… Who knew, I could have fallen for him. My mind was full of questions nowadays. Why, who, how? I had fallen asleep while thinking about my encounter with Stefano. The complete stranger I had met alongside Damien. They both seem to have stayed in my life after the accident. This far I had not thought that there was a connection between them but could I be wrong? In the end I couldn't be sure of anything. What was their connection if there was any? My brain was buzzing with thoughts.

There was at least one more thing I didn't have time to think about last night - why I couldn't escape from Stefano. My past could explain it but I wanted to believe that I was stronger nowadays. I could take care of myself, couldn't I? He made me feel like I was hypnotized, unable to walk away from him. How did he do it? I was sure I hadn't drank anything suspicious and couldn't think how he could have drugged me otherwise. Unless… unless there was something in the sandwich Damien had left for me! Oh my god, they were working together, weren't they? I was sure I finally figured things out. Damien was working with Stefano and meeting them wasn't a coincidence. They had probably targeted me on purpose. Damien led me to believe that he had saved me so I'd trust him. After that it was easy for him to get me to take some sort of drug. Then Stefano approached me again when I was in that state. He didn't hurt me more badly this time but I could only guess what was going to be their next move. Thinking of it made me sick. Tears of shame run down on my cheeks. I had dreamed about Damien, I had started to trust him a bit. I had broken every wov I had made to myself. Now that I knew their plans I could hopefully avoid their trap. They might even be human traffickers if nothing worse and I didn't want to be their next victim. I wished death but not from their hands.

My phone started to ring just before 8am. That was odd since literally no one called me this early. The caller ID was unknown and I answered cautiously, thinking about the possibility that the caller was either Stefano or Damien. If they had chosen me as their victim they would have my phone number for sure. "Good morning, Miss Winters. This is nurse Smith calling from the university hospital. I'm calling because your doctor has noticed some changes in your blood test results which were taken when you were staying here. Nothing alarming but he wants to take a few more tests to make sure that everything is well. He might prescribe some iron supplements as your iron status is quite low but that will happen after the results are back from the laboratory. Could you come here in 30 minutes so we could take some blood samples?".