These Ashes Between Us

Rescuing the Damsel in Distress

Kimberly stirred from her troubled nap. She tried to breathe in deeply, but her lungs quickly filled with damp, cold air that smelled of oak and mildew. A weak, lone overhead bulb flickered, shedding a stuttering light across the room.

Slumped in a corner with wrists and ankles bound with ropes, Kimberly flexed against the restraints, the chafed skin already raw. She shivered from cold and hunger, missing her jacket and warm food. Still, her hazel eyes burned with defiance, the same fire that fueled her podcast.

Her gaze swept the windowless room. Stone walls dripping with condensation, rows of ancient wine racks, a shaft overhead letting in a whisper of air. She guessed they were holding her in a wine cellar, or maybe a basement.

The two mean-looking guards played cards in a corner, oblivious to her stirring. Kim tilted her head, listening. They had said little since dumping her here. Which meant they were probably waiting for someone or something. Despite her keen eavesdropping on their low conversation, only random words filtered in occasionally, none of it making any sense to her. She'd never really been good at eavesdropping. Her mother made sure she never learnt the art.

"Eavesdroppers only hear bad things about themselves," she'd warn her.

Her folded feet were going numb but she didn't want to risk calling attention to herself. When the numbness slowly turned to pain, she forced herself to quieten her thudding heart and slowly stretch her legs with as little noise as possible. What she'd do to get a morsel of decent food into her system! The food they'd served her earlier looked like what a dog vomited. She couldn't look at it twice. Her whole body was shaking from hunger and fear.

Suddenly, she heard a muffled noise. Her eyes flew towards the guards but they were already on their feet. One gingerly opened the door and stepped out while the other one raised his weapon and headed towards her.

Her heart began to thunder loud enough for her to hear it, her whole body froze. The sound came again, followed by an unmistakable crack of a lone gunshot. The first guard's body fell in, throwing the door ajar with him to reveal some armed men barging into the room commando style. Before she could process what was going on, the second guard fell a few feet away from her. He hadn’t even had the chance to fire his weapon.

Heavy boots came closer to her, crunching against the concrete. Fear clogged her throat. Unsure of what they wanted, Kimberly struggled to free her hands, but her wrists burned where the ropes dug into her skin.

“Clear!” a gruff voice announced from somewhere in the room.

When she looked up, a tall figure was looming before her, blocking the flickering light from the weak cellar lamp. His shadow cut sharp across her face.

Her breath hitched as he crouched down before her. In a flash of metal, the ropes binding her snapped loose. Kimberly stared at him, wide-eyed, her heart lurching wildly in her chest.

That face.

The face she had buried four years ago, but never truly forgotten, a ghost crawling out of her fantasy.

Piercing green eyes met hers, dragging her straight back into a past she had fought hard to forget.

Was it possible? She stared hard at that sharp outline of his face, the strong, chiseled jaw, the jet black hair framing his face, those outrageously long eye lashes, the broad shoulders begging for a head to lean on them. It was Xavier, older, harder, but definitely him.

“Xavier…” she whispered, her eyes feasting on him.

His jaw flexed, and an unreadable expression flashed across his face. His sharp eyes took in her curvaceous body in its disheveled state, clots of blood marring her beautiful pouting lips. Even in her dire situation, those hazel eyes shone fiercely. His mind shot to the days when those eyes worshipped him, when that perfect body used to plaster naked over his large frame after their usual climax and he tensed.

The room simmered with tension, everything and everyone fading away as their gazes locked. In that split second, memories were evoked, feelings resurrected. But Xavier caught himself and, forcing his mask back in place, stood up and said briskly,

“You are coming with me.”