Dawn Again

Sixteen

Sophie emailed James everything that had happened after their last call. He called her right back, and she felt a lot more centred after talking to him. James had always been Sophie's home base. She had always been a soft-spoken, gentle-hearted girl. Aggression of any kind always left her feeling queasy. James had been her safe spot...always shielding her from unpleasant confrontation. If that made her a weak person, she knew no other way to be.

While Sophie brought James up to date, the men put everything together for Josh, Brian and Jason to leave. They had decided to leave straight away so that they put distance between Josh and Sophie as soon as possible. They were really unhappy that they still had no bead on Quinn's location. Sophie ended her call with James, giving him the new phone number which Richard had handed to her. She handed her own phone to Josh, and then took him completely by surprise by flinging herself into his arms. She was tiny, so Josh easily absorbed the shock and wrapped his arms around her. "Don't you worry baby. Things will be back to normal soon." crooned Josh. Sophie buried her face in his chest and nodded, sniffling.

Josh then did the weird man-hug/shoulder-thump thing with Richard and the three men took off. "You will stay at my place until we get the GPS device." declared Richard as Sophie stepped out of Josh's arms. She looked up at him and muttered, "I would like that, thank you for asking." Richard simply grunted, completely missing the sarcasm...not that Sophie was surprised. Mentally, she wailed for her luck of always running into bossy men. First, there was her dad, then James, John and now Richard. They never thought to ask, always stated. Of course, one huge difference was that except John none of these other men would force her compliance. Even now, Sophie was confident that if she put her foot down and refused to go with Richard, he would work towards a solution which she would be happy with. But she had to be practical. She couldn't very well go back to her apartment. Going with Richard was the thing that would ensure her safety.

So, after Josh, Brian and Jason had left, Sophie followed Richard and Chad to the car park. Chad declared that he'd bring the tracking device to Richard's place the next day and left. Richard helped Sophie into his truck and they were soon on the way to his apartment. As he settled into a lane, Richard chuckled, "In the morning when I saw you, I never imagined the day would turn out like this." Sophie smiled and said, "Yes...but trouble seems to follow you soldiers wherever you go." "Yeah right! Blame it all on us soldiers, why don't you?" retorted Richard with mock indignation and was thoroughly pleased with himself when he saw Sophie's eyes twinkle with mirth. They fell into a comfortable silence then. Richard's apartment was not far, but by the time he parked the truck, Sophie had fallen asleep. She looked tired, but Richard was once again struck by how beautiful she was. Not just beautiful...she was extremely sensual. Every movement she made seemed tailored to arouse...the way she lifted her head, the way she nodded....like maybe the courtesans of old times who were taught sensual graces from a young age. Richard nearly groaned out loud at the prospect of spending an indeterminate amount of time in the company of this bombshell and not touch her....forget take her. Pulling out of his thoughts, Richard unbuckled Sophie's seat belt and was about to lift her out when she opened her eyes and murmured, "Are we there already." "Jesus...she is going to be the death of me." thought Richard as he fought to control the b***r that was threatening because of the combination of Sophie's sleep-husky voice and bedroom eyes. "Yes," he snapped. Luckily Sophie was too sleepy to notice the snap in Richard's voice. She waved his arms away when he went to lift her, but took his arm to hop out of the truck.

Richard was feeling all sorts of alien feelings as he led Sophie to the elevator that would take them directly to his penthouse apartment. He had never had a woman other than his mother or sister in his space. And this woman was causing chaos in his mind. He was suddenly worried whether or not she'd like the apartment, what she'd think of the bed, would she be comfortable. Why her opinion of his house mattered was beyond him though. The elevator dinged, jerking Richard out of his thoughts. He once again placed his hand on the small of Sophie's back (it was actually very small he realised, easily spanned by his hand!), and led her into his house. The fact that Sophie now accepted the several small, innocuous physical contacts that he initiated please him to no end.

Sophie took a couple of small steps into the house and stopped. Obviously a penthouse, it was huge, and it was stunning. Suddenly non-existent walls were closing in, her ears were buzzing and she was plunging headlong into the past. The glass walls, the space filled with expensive furniture, luxury fittings, it was all the same and she was back the hell-hole that had been her life for two interminable years.

She felt a touch on her elbow, she shrieked, yanking her arm away, and running back. But there was nowhere to run. The steel doors of the elevator blocked her way. So she turned back around. Somewhere deep inside her brain, she heard James telling her, 'Go for the man's nuts Ana. Always. That is the quickest way to stop any man.' So she did. She picked up her leg and aimed a vicious kick at John's groin. But he stepped away. She was frantic. How she allowed herself to be caught again, she had no idea. But here she was, and John was coming closer. Her whole body was trembling, tears were running down her face, and her back was to the wall. She slid down the wall and whimpered, "John..." She closed her eyes and waited for it...a kick, a blow, maybe her hair...she couldn't say. But nothing happened for a long time. And then, two hands closed around her shoulders. She stiffened, but the touch was gentle. She frowned and opened her eyes. There was a concerned blurry face in front of her, and it was saying something. She still could not hear past the tears in her eyes, then the hands moved to her face, and she closed her eyes again, waiting for the blow. Calloused, but gentle, fingers wiped the tears from her face and when she opened her eyes, she could see.

It was Richard. He was saying something, she could not hear, but she knew she was safe. She flung herself into Richard, not caring that he was sitting on his haunches, and may not be able to keep his balance. He simply sat down on his bottom and closed his arms around her, "It is okay Sophie. You are safe. You are with me. John cannot get to you here." Sophie nodded but kept her face buried in his chest. After she had calmed down a little, Richard moved her away a bit and got up. Extending a hand to Sophie to help her up, he said, "A drink will help you. What would you like?" He was surprised to know that Sophie's preferred drink was a bourbon, but poured them both a drink and led her to the terrace. "I am sorry." Sophie said, "I really am not a coward...at least I don't want to be." Stunned by this comment, Richard demanded, "Which i***t thinks you are a coward?" Sophie was amused at how peeved he sounded and pointed to herself and said with a small smile, "That would be me." "Well then, my dear beautiful i***t, you are wrong," assured Richard, putting his arm around her dainty shoulders.

She looked up at him and murmured, "I lived for two years in John's penthouse apartment in Washington DC. I saw your apartment and I panicked. Then I thought you were him...but couldn't even defend myself. Ended up crying like a ninny. How is that not a coward? Have you ever panicked?"

"Plenty of times. And that after the fact that I am, most times, bigger than my opponent and can kick ass...am trained to kick ass." Richard assured her and was about to continue when Sophie interrupted him, "But that's just it, Richard. James taught me to kick ass too. But most times I can't." Richard loved the sound of his name on her lips. He loved the way she craned her neck to look up at him, completely exposing her throat in the process. The predator in him was overjoyed at this unwitting show of submission. It wanted to kiss the delicate throat and leave his mark there for all and sundry to see. Richard pulled himself out of his fantasy, mentally kicking himself for being worse than a bottom feeding bastard. The woman was struggling with an abusive past, running from a terror of a husband, and here he was getting all possessive about her. She so did not need this and he needed to reel it in pronto.

Richard cleared his throat and said, "You are a very small, very delicate woman and still you put up a fight every single time. I cannot even begin to imagine what I'd do if I did not have the size advantage. It is easy to kick ass knowing you are anyway bigger than your opponent. You are one of the bravest people I have known, Sophie. Grown men are terrorized by Quinn. Even when he was spec-ops his mates kept their distance from him."

The way Sophie was looking at him, her beautiful eyes trained on him, her lips slightly parted, almost made Richard desperate to taste her. 'f**k it' he thought, and said, "I am going to kiss you. Will that scare you or upset you?" Looking up at Richard, Sophie once again realised how incredibly handsome he was...from his straight as an arrow nose, and a firm s***h of a mouth, and the absolutely sculpted body.... he was any woman's wet dream. And the wet dream had just asked her something! Her eyes dropped to his mouth and the tiniest tip of her tongue slipped out of her mouth to wet her lips. Richard groaned, his arm slipped from around Sophie's shoulder and snaked around her waist, gently pulling her closer to him. His mouth then lowered and finally he did what he had been dying to ever since he the first time he'd seen her....hanging off of a high shelf! How was very gentle, aware of Sophie's reactions....voluntary and involuntary. To his relief, her hands went from the railing of the terrace to his shirt and her body relaxed into his. His mind did a happy dance while his d**k obviously got ready for the next step. Richard ruthlessly tapped his reaction down and enjoyed the sweetness that was Sophie's mouth.

Sophie saw Richard's face lower towards her and she closed her eyes. She so wanted this kiss and at the same time, she was terrified. He was so big she wasn't sure he could be gentle physically even if he wanted to. But his lips were soft and caressing. He did not demand...he shared. She relaxed and a tiny moan escaped her. He took the invitation and his tongue entered her mouth. Not an invasion, not an attack...a sensuous exploration. She loved the kiss and hung on him as her legs suddenly threatened to buckle. She was acutely aware of him...his slightly rough tongue in her mouth, his hard arm around her waist, his calloused fingers in her hair. She moved closer to him, seeking the hard strength; as if that simple touch would scare her demons away. But it was not to be. Just as Richard deepened the kiss, his phone rang. He cursed and let her go, muttering, "Sorry love, I must take this."

"Chad" he snapped in the phone.

"We have a problem Z. People sniffing around our office," replied Chad.