His second chance at a happy life

It was a normal day

"How long have we known each other?” He asks. He holds out his hand in the middle of the table. I hesitated before taking it, and he started to slowly rub each knuckle with his thumb. His eyes don't leave our hands as he waits for my answer.

“Twelve years,” I muttered softly. His heat was soaking into my skin slowly, a bit of mind-numbing pleasure sank in. I try to focus on my breathing like in training, but I inhale his scent mixed with chocolate, even more fogging my mind. Ignoring it, I breathed out an even breath. I watch him as he speaks again, not looking at me.

"What is it about me, you are so scared of?" His voice was even, and he waited patiently as I looked for an answer. I wasn't scared of him, fear was the furthest thing I could think when looking at this man. He was as large as a bear it seemed, yet he talked with warmth whenever we were together, his stares were full of admiration, I was safe with him. There are days when it felt as if he knew me better than anyone, but I knew so little about him. The things I do know feel as if they belong to someone living in the past. What he shows me and what I got to peak at from his almost innocent slips in passing are two different people sometimes.

"It's been twelve years, and I don't even know if you have any living family."

"I thought I had told you everything that was needed." I scoffed, pulling my hand away,

"What does that even mean?" I crossed my arms and leaned as far as I could in my chair, his eyes shot to my face, and I watched as the look on his face dropped. It was as if someone had splashed water on his mood. He lets out a breath and runs both hands through his hair,

"I said that wrong. What I meant was you know the things that make me who I am. In fact, you know more about me than anyone."

"How could that be? I don't know anything about your parents, what you did when you were a kid, where you grew up, who was your first girlfriend? How many have you had in fact. Why are there always people coming and going from Grendel's looking for you? Hell, what do you do for a living? Do you live in the city? Why motorcycles?" Why are you lying to me? I don't ask my last question out loud. I was already looking like a crazy person with the list of questions I didn't know that had been on my mind for years.

"I didn't know those things mattered. I never really tried to get close to someone like I am trying with you so, I was unaware that certain things as such had weight to them. Um, I don't have parents. I ran around the village I grew up in, in Spain. As a child I was on the streets with no real education until the government took me in, and I trained with other kids in the camps afterward. I have never had a girlfriend; I have had partners from time to time but nothing serious and I haven't had a partner for a long time. I am a writer, I live downtown, riding my bike makes me feel like I am flying. Anything else?" He rested a hand on the table and stared at me with a serious look. He answered almost every question.

"Your Spanish?" I sat there dumfounded not sure if I had absorbed all the information. His smile returns and nods,

"Yes, but it has been so long since I have been there it feels shameful to call myself such." We were both silent for a while when I finally asked.

"Why me?"

“You know when I met you, you were this punk ass kid that had a bad attitude and had to prove she was stronger than everyone else in the room.” He breathed, letting out a laugh that softened his face, his eyes were shining as he looked at me. “After spending so long with you, I would have been blind not to notice how amazing you are as a person and magic caster. I think your bravery is inspiring, and your brightness is infatuating, and I have never met someone so captivating. You really are becoming the strongest woman in any room you step into. Not to mention you are a stunning woman with your golden eyes and your brown curls, the way they bounce around you like it is alive, has me wanting to be with you just to see if you become even more gorgeous the next day. The way you stand up for others and yourself is breathtaking. I find that you are the most strong-willed woman I have ever met, and I don't want to miss my moment to tell you how precious you are to me. I never noticed how fast time flew until I realized how long it had been since you came into my life and I still haven't told you how much of my heart has become filled with nothing but you.” I started to gap at his words. His face was serious. I could tell that he meant them.

“So, all the women I've seen?” He gives me a look of confusion but then smiles, a slight chuckle comes out, he kisses my knuckles, softly brushing his lips against them.

"That is a friend of mine and Grendel's. She is known for her many different looks. She brings me reports." I wanted to know what he was getting reports about if he was a writer, but my phone started to ring ‘Come little children’ from Hocus Pocus, meaning it was Ellie.

Emilio had found a ring and was good to go, but we had to stop at the nearby supercenter for last-minute party supplies. Ellie was organized and had shuffled us around swiftly. Trevor and I helped grab things while Emilio pushed the cart.

"Okay, I'll go get the car you guys wait here." Emilio said before running out to his truck. I feel sorry that we had parked so far. We were silent for a moment listening to the rain fall. For me, it is a second of peace, nothing can hear me, and nothing can see me. It's only the rain. I take a deep breath of the crisp air, closing my eyes, slowly opening them as I exhale.

When I open my eyes in a flash, my brain searches for why the air was so cold, my throat closes on me as I spot the problem. The pale man is here right in front of me about six cars away, his glare fixated on me. I can't turn away. His stare was as if he had me in a trance that I could not breathe. The temperature started to drop fast, every breath I took started to feel like ice in my lungs. I tried to move, but my feet felt like they were stuck to the ground. I glared him down waiting for something, anything to happen that would let me show him what I have been training for these last few years. I wanted to throw all offense spell I knew at his ass, but I couldn't move. I tried to move my arm again, and it looked as if he was moving as well. He slowly began his way to me. I stuck in a deep breath and felt myself warm up enough that I could shift slightly. I grasp my bracelet and project a protection shield around everyone. Wishing I had more time to think that is when time froze. I gasped as the rain stopped mid-fall, the silence echoed around me like death had washed over the land. I take an achy breath in and start to chant a spell, forcing him to add weight to his every step. The next step he tried to take almost sent him to the ground. However, the rain started to flow again, the sound of traffic and living beings interacting with one another caused panic to rise. I couldn't let anyone get hurt. Ellie was speaking, but I didn't have time to think. I closed my eyes and forced whatever I had done earlier to happen again. To my relief, time froze again. I was confused; time has never acted up before. I never had the ability to manipulate it. My thoughts were cut short as a flash of onyx feathers flew past me but was gone as soon as it came. This time I looked over at Ellie, who was motionless in an extremely unhuman way. I wanted to run to her to make sure she was okay. However, noticing that I was still able to move, I stopped myself worried she would unfreeze and have to deal with this mess. I looked around to find Trevor, but he was gone. Not able to find him, I glanced back at the pale man. He had stopped from taking a step, but he smiled, straining to raise his head up to the sky as he looked at something. I shifted to follow his gaze and saw nothing but the half bright sky. I was about to look away when the flash of black caught my eye as it zipped through the blueish-gray sky. I tried to focus my eyes on the creature to get a better look at whatever it was again, but then a scream pierced the silence. The origin was untraceable. I looked around but saw no one injured. I hear it again. My heart started to race. The awful cry all around me, was breaking my heart. Clashes as a fight break out around me follows the scream. Moments passed from time to time, I would see two beings in the sky throwing punches and a sword sliced through the pale man more times than I could count. The echo of a man's voice bounces around me shouting in a language I have never heard before. The pale man was nowhere in sight but the cold still in the air let me know he was still nearby. I had to do something to help whoever it was fighting, so I ground my stance and focused my energy on the bracelet. Grendel had gotten me from the Underworld to use a conductor for my magic and I infused all my power into the spell as I chanted my protection mixed with exile and fastened the split he created by getting here. Then, when I felt charged enough, I flung out a large ring of purple swords around me, focusing it all on the pale man so, that if one hit him all the others would follow its mark. I might not be able to see him, but I will do my best to slow him down for whoever is helping me. Within seconds, a heat wave came crashing in on me, but it was short-lived as a wave of ice-cold washed over my body. The last thing I remember is blackness.

"I really don't see how that is an important part of the situation." I woke up to Trevor's voice speaking in a harsh tone. I was in my car next to my job; I noticed he was at the hood of my car with his back to me as he spoke. I could only pick up pieces of his conversation.

"I called you as soon as I could! You don't think, of course, I attacked first. No, she was fine. Panicky. Stranger, no, brother, I am telling you it stopped. Minutes not seconds." I shifted in my spot to hear more of his conversation with possibly Grendel. However, he turns and, still speaking into his inner wrist, he says, "She's awake, we'll talk later. No, my place." My cheeks flush,

'Are we going to his place!?' Our eyes met as he spoke. He held my gaze as he began to move to the passenger side of the car where I was sitting, as if he was daring me to break. I meet the challenge and refuse to drop the stare. He pulls the door open and crouches next to me, and he looks at me up and down. The ability to breathe was back as he looked away first. He places a bottle of water gently into my hand, I look down and stare at it,

'I didn't see this in his hand.' My mind is feeling foggy as I bring my gaze back to his beautiful face.

"How are you feeling?" He asked, pushing a strand of my wild curls out of my face. I twisted and let out a groan as I noticed how heavy my body was, and everything ached. My arms felt like jello and my chest hurt and my mouth was drier than a desert. I couldn't ask my many questions that are building at the moment. Forcing my arm up, I watch him break the seal of the bottle and I chug the water down. It had only helped quench a quarter of the thirst. I set the bottle in my lap. When he leans forward, his long muscular arm stretches past me, I inhale sharply, breathing in his warm spicy scent. He glances at me and grins slowly without breaking eye contact. He backs away and hands me a slightly drunk bottle, taking my empty bottle from my tightened grasp. "I drank some already, but this should help. Sorry, I should have gotten more water." He speaks in a low voice, then looks at his wristwatch, "Let me take you home." I open my mouth to ask about his place but close it before uttering a syllable. I nod, looking away my face on fire. It makes its way down to my toes. The door shutting made me jump in my seat. I looked out the window and watched him walk to his side, his ass was too fine in those tight jeans,

"That is torture." I groan, resting my head back on the seat. He slides into the driver's side and begins to mess with my car's GPS. He finds my address, and we head out in silence. I gripped the seat belt watching the building fly pass.

"You said your place is downtown. Where at?" I asked. The feelings in my body were easing up, and I could move more comfortably. I stretch my arms and peek at him over my arm.

"I think it's that building." He pulled up to a red light and pointed to one of the more established apartments downtown. We were a few blocks away, but we could still see the top of it. My eyes almost pop out of my head as I lean closer to the front window.

"You must be a great writer." He shrugs,

"I did alright." I laugh and I see him cheesing a little. "Feeling better I see." He glances at me before looking back at the road.

"Many thanks for the ride." My sentence was cut short as my phone went off.

"Hello?" I hear Ellie say in a questionnaire tone. Mimicking her, I say,

"Hello?" I heard a loud sigh followed by a string of Spanish and English curse words assaulting my ear,

"b***h, you scared the cr*p out of me!" She ends almost in tears.

"I'm sorry a lot happened, and I guess I over did it."

"I heard the fight. I know most of what happened but what I don't get is the time freeze." She took a deep breath and was speaking calmer.

"I might have done it. I was wishing for more time to find a way to power my spell and that was when everything stopped. I don't get where the fight happened, though it was only half of this world. I had fainted because I used too much power when I sent him some offense spells. I'm feeling way better now, and Trevor is taking me home, so I am going to go rest after taking a shower."

"Alright chica I'll call you tomorrow morning, love yah." She hangs up, and I turn to look at Trevor. I took in his appearance for the first time since the store. His hair was disheveled and there was dirt on his clothes.

"Will you be able to get home alright?" I asked watching him drive. I did not know driving could be sexy, but the way his muscles flexed as he took control of the wheel was making my heat rise and my center moist.

"I'll be just fine." He laughs, not taking his eyes off the road. His muscles jumped as his laugh ran through his body. I sucked in a breath,

"Yeah, I'm clearly worrying about nothing."

"What is there to worry about? I am more intimidating than anything that would try crossing me." He grins, a hint of mischievous gleaming in his eyes as he looks over at me. He pulls over into my apartment's parking lot and quickly gets out of the car and comes to open my door. His broad shoulders blocked the sky behind him as he bent to help me out of the car.

"I hope you get home quickly then," I mutter as we reach the door to my building. He lifts my hand to kiss my knuckles,

"Have a restful night, Samantha. If you need anything, you can call me, I will come to your side faster than you can count to five." He ushers me inside before he started his walk home.