Dawn Again

Seven

Instead of going for the coffee as he was tempted, Richard went to the gym. He felt a lot better after going a few rounds of hitting the stuffing out of the bag, and doing some weights. He still had not managed to work Sophie out of his system. So, he decided to go for a run. A run always helped clear Richard's head, and he needed to stop thinking about the girl. She had become like the itch he could not scratch, and that did not bode well. Richard hated being out of control. So, he got into his Tesla and headed off to Discovery Park.

After completing his regular 10-mile run, he had slowed down to a cooling off jog when he spotted her. Richard was certain the girl jogging about a 100 yards ahead of him was Sophie. The woman was nothing if not sensuously graceful...even when jogging. She had tied her hair up in a high ponytail and was wearing nondescript grey shorts and a white tee, but it was definitely her. Richard could tell just by the way she moved. He kept to his pace, knowing that he would catch up with her very soon. It was not that he was going very fast or that she was going slow. He was just so much taller than her that he would soon cover the distance between them. A moment later he saw a man jog up to Sophie. She faltered slightly when she looked up at the man who had come up next to her. Richard could tell from their body language that she was not happy to see the man, and the man seemed to be having trouble taking no for an answer.

Richard decided against interfering and chose to keep observing instead. He slowed down considerably to maintain distance between the pair and himself. A couple of minutes later, as he rounded a bend in the track, the pair were not on the track. There were a couple of other joggers on the track between him and Sophie, and then that's it...no sign of Sophie or her companion. Richard did not like this. She had not looked happy or comfortable with the man so it seemed unlikely she'd go off track with him willingly. Richard sped up along the track looking for signs of anyone stepping into the trees. That is when he heard a scuffle and ran into the trees towards the noise.

Sophie closed the coffee shop and changed into her jogging gear in the attached bathroom. She left by the back door and headed to the underground parking lot to get her car. Every day after closing up the shop she went for a jog. She had never been a jogger before. But now, she jogged 5 miles religiously, every single day. She needed to know that she was fit and ready to fight or run for her life. Given her slight build, James had drummed it into her to run rather than try and fight if she got into a tight situation.

James had also drilled it into her not to follow any sort of routine at all outside of the coffee shop. So, everyday Sophie randomly picked a name from her list and went there to jog. Today, it was Discovery Park. She absolutely loved the place, so was very happy that she picked that one today. She needed the calm and tranquillity of the lovely green tracks of Discovery Park. She parked the car and started on one of her favourite tracks. She was near to the point where she turned back when someone jogged up right next to her. She looked up to see Charles fall into pace beside her. "Hi! Imagine running into you here. Do you jog here often?" asked Charles as he literally undressed her with his eyes. Sophie sighed, and replied, "Charles, please. Why can't you just drop this? I am not going to go out with you, or anyone else for that matter, anytime soon." Charles ignored her, and continued, "What is it Sophie, huh? You bat for the other team? Is that it? You like p***y? Give me one night, and I promise you, you will be a changed woman. Come with me tonight." Sophie refused to take the bait and decided to turn back.

Just as she turned, Charles hooked his arm around her waist and pulled her into him, her back to his front. At the same time, he clamped his other hand on her mouth so she could not shout out. He picked her up easily and carried her into the trees. Within a couple of seconds, Sophie had disappeared from the track. She kicked her legs and tried to get to the r**e whistle that she always carried in her pocket. But her arms were locked to her side by Charles' arm. She tried to butt her head into him, but she had no room for movement the way he had plastered her to himself. Once Charles felt he was deep enough into the woods, he shoved her up against a tree trapping her between his hard body and the tree. With his free hand, he brought out his tie and gagged her. She tried to butt her head into his nose again, but Charles was far too tall. He turned her around and once again trapped her against the tree. Sophie was shocked at how easily Charles had overpowered and gagged her in the space of less than two minutes. She was also furious with herself. She had trained so hard with James, learning self defense, but it had not helped her against Charles. He was nearly a foot taller than her, and easily had 100 pounds, most of it muscle from the feel of it, on her.

"You could have made this so much easier on yourself, you know." hissed Charles, and hooked his fingers in the front of her t-shirt. He gave it a hard yank and the tee ripped down the middle. Then, suddenly, Charles was gone! He had crashed into the ground a few feet from her. Sophie gaped at him, and then her eyes found the reason for Charles' sudden dislodgement from her person. Richard was advancing on Charles, and just as Charles stood up, Richard sent his right fist flying into Charles' jaw, sending him back down on the ground. "You need a doctor Sophie?" Richard asked without looking at her. Sophie quickly removed the tie from her mouth and replied, "No. I am not hurt." As soon as Richard heard that, he went at Charles again. This time he did not wait for Charles to get up. He caught Charles by his tee, pulled him to his feet and said, "If I see you within 1 mile of her again, I will tear you limb to limb. Hear me, you f**k? Stay away from her. This is your last warning." The menace in Richard's voice sent a chill down Sophie's spine and she winced when Richard drove his fist into Charles' stomach and left him in a heap on the ground.

Sophie noticed that Richard's pupils were dilated, and his eyes looked more brown than blue. She knew it was the adrenaline from the fight. Without realising it, Sophie took a couple of steps back when Richard turned to look at her. She did not have a good experience with men on adrenaline. Richard noted her retreat and the wariness in her eyes. He closed his eyes, took a couple of deep breaths, and said, "Know this Sophie." He paused to take his tee off. He held it out to Sophie who was holding on to her ripped tee trying desperately to cover herself up. Her eyes trained on the ground, she took his tee and murmured, "Thank you." It was wet from his sweat but it would do very well to cover her up. Richard faced away from Sophie to give her some privacy so she could put his shirt on and continued, "No matter what, I will not hurt you physically, EVER. Come now, let us get you away from here." He held out his hand waiting for Sophie to take it. She did not take his hand, but said, "Thank you Richard." and came closer to him.