Fate and Destiny (6 page)

She nodded her head in
agreement since opening her mouth would cause her teeth to clack
together, leading to a tom-tom drum in her head. Andrew scooped her
up, carrying her into the small steamy room and depositing her on
the porcelain seat.

Closing the door to
maintain the heat, he returned to the fire that was just beginning
to flame up in the grate. It took several minutes to get the
temperature in the cabin warm enough. Once it was an acceptable
temperature inside, he opened the door to the bathroom to retrieve
Destiny and bring her back into the main room.

The steam from the hot
shower escaped out the door, temporarily blinding him with the
warm, moist blast. His eyes quickly adjusted however, and he could
clearly see the pile of clothes on the floor and the naked woman
standing in the shower directly in front of him. Eyes closed, she
rinsed the remaining shampoo out of her hair. She hadn’t yet
noticed him standing there.

His brain was telling him
to turn back around, close the door, and knock. Which he should
have done in the first place, but instead he found himself unable
to move. She was beautiful standing there before him, balanced on
one foot. Even though he had taken off her clothes to cleanse and
warm her, he hadn’t really put all of the pieces together to
imagine her fully naked as she was now.

Her long hair hung wet and
thick down her back. Her face turned up to let the water run down
her back and her neck was long and graceful. Her shoulders were
soft, creamy, curving nicely down to full breasts. Her arms were
raised over her head, her hands smoothing through her hair. The
angle perfectly displayed her to his eyes.

His legs turned to cement
although he tried to turn away. His neck wouldn’t work either. His
eyes locked on the sight before him. Her breasts were round and
firm with large rose-colored nipples. The thought of flicking them
with his tongue fleetingly ran through his mind before he could
stop the vision. The cement effect spread warmly up from his
legs.

With a mind of their own,
his gaze traveled down to her waist, over the well-shaped roundness
of her hips and down her incredibly long legs before he was finally
able to force his body to turn around and leave the
room.

Quietly closing the door,
Andrew walked directly across the cabin and straight out the front
door, again using his body to block the wind. He stood in the
frigid air only a few moments, just long enough to calm him, and to
rid the thoughts of touching her from his mind. The image of her
standing in the shower, her silky skin shimmering with thousands of
tiny beads of water kept running through his head.

The cold air did not help
much, but he felt composed enough to go back in and knock on the
door. The cabin was extremely warm compared to the cool air
outside. Part of that was due to the increased blood flow
throughout his whole body. He ran his hands through his hair in
exasperation, and gently knocked on the bathroom door.

6.

“
Come in.”

The voice beckoned from the
other side of the door. He took a deep breath to steady himself
before opening it. She sat where he originally left her, fully
dressed again in the flannel and sweats, brushing her
hair.

 “
I hope you don’t
mind me borrowing your brush.” Smiling, she ran the brush through
her long glossy hair. “And your shampoo and towel too. I couldn’t
resist not getting in the shower. It just looked so relaxing and
warm.”

Andrew swallowed the lump
in his throat and found his voice.

“
You can use anything of
mine that you want to.”

He barely hid the tremors
in his voice, hoping she could not detect the effect she had on
him. He carried her stiffly back to the bed, not trusting himself
to hold her too close. The cabin warmed with the help of the fire
and the steam escaping from the bathroom although a chill remained
in the air. He removed her sweater from where it hung over the
fireplace and handed it to her. Taking the sweater, she dropped it
in her lap instead of putting it on. Andrew wanted her to wear it,
but was glad she didn’t.

Noticing the top two
buttons on the flannel shirt unbuttoned, Andrew couldn’t decide if
he was greatly relieved that her body was covered up or if he
needed her to button the shirt up to her neck. Despite the layer of
clothing, he could still see her naked before him by allowing his
mind to wander.

To distract his thoughts,
he sought out the deck of cards, sitting at opposite end of the bed
from Destiny to play rummy. The talk started out very casually. The
weather, the nuances of California and Nevada.

She was much more relaxed
in his presence but he hoped she would feel comfortable enough to
tell him who kidnapped her and left her for dead in the woods. He
could help her if he knew what happened. As a second thought, maybe
if he reminded himself of what happened to her, he would be able to
control his urges. Remembering her resistance to his earlier
questioning, he wasn’t sure how to bring the subject back up,
finally deciding the direct approach was best.

“
I know you don’t want to
talk about this, but did you know the men who kidnapped
you?”

The abrupt change in the
conversation took her by surprise. She looked up from the Ace of
Diamonds and into Andrew’s golden eyes. He searched her face,
waiting for an answer. Her mind cleared enough in the last few
hours that she now remembered almost every detail of those events.
They could both be in danger. She realized she could not lie to him
now.

He might end up being her
only hope for survival. If he were involved with the kidnappers,
maybe he would take sympathy with her and help her escape. No
answers to the dilemma were printed on the cards in her hand.
Folding them into a pile, she placed the cards between them on the
bed.

“
Yes,” She said quietly,
“I knew one of them, but I guess I better start at the
beginning.”

Taking a deep breath, she
prayed she could trust him.

“
I used to be a barmaid in
Vegas at the Diamonds Casino. The owner of the casino was Marcus
DeMont. He noticed me and I guess he took a liking to
me.

“
I was barely making ends
meet. Marcus would sit and have a drink every now then, and he
would talk to me. He was a very down to earth person, so I accepted
when he asked me out to dinner with him.”

She spoke slowly and
quietly, testing each word before she said it.

“
I didn’t know anyone in
Vegas and he was always a gentleman. I worked for Marcus in the
finance department for almost six years.”

With Andrew’s complete
attention, she continued.

“
Marcus’s son, Charles,
had access to the checking accounts. He was an awful man. Addicted
to drugs and alcohol. He was also Marcus’ only child. I found out
someone skimmed a lot of money out of the company. There were
strange charges to the company account for trips and cars and
houses.”

Andrew brought her a fresh
cup of hot tea while she talked.

“
Well, I took everything I
found to Marcus one night. I went to his house because I didn’t
want anyone at work to know what was going on with Charles. Marcus
was a very proud man. Anyway, I wanted him to know what was going
on privately. I was in his home explaining what I found and how,
when someone came knocking on the door.

“
While Marcus went to
answer it, I took the opportunity to use the restroom. I heard
shouting. I snuck down the hall and saw Charles wildly waving
papers around. He screamed about how he had a right to do whatever
he wanted with the money. Marcus just kept saying over and over,
‘How could you? All of it would have been yours
someday’.”

Destiny paused. Her throat
tightening, she took a sip of tea.

“
Charles backhanded Marcus
across the face. Then he hit him with a fist and Marcus fell. I
think that’s when Charles realized what he did, because he suddenly
made a phone call. I didn’t stick around. I crept back down the
hall and went out the bathroom window. I was so upset and scared
that I kept dropping my keys. By the time I started the car, I saw
another car come around the corner and pull into Marcus’s driveway.
I sat there and watched as two of Charles’s cronies ran up the
steps and into the house.

“
A few minutes later, they
came back out. One carried Marcus over his shoulder and Charles had
my briefcase. Then they all got in the car and left.”

She paused again to collect
herself, tears flowing down her cheeks. Reaching over, Andrew took
her hand in his to offer encouragement. His thumb gently stroking
the back of her hand.

“
I didn’t know what to do.
I went to a pay phone and called the police. I gave them a
description of the car and told them what I saw, but I wouldn’t
tell them who I was. I was too afraid of Charles. Then I went home
and waited to hear from Marcus. I really thought everything would
be okay. On the news the next morning, they reported Marcus was
dead. They labeled it an accidental death from a fall down the
stairs.”

Her whole body shook as she
cried so hard it was difficult for her to speak. Andrew moved to
her side, wrapped his arms around her, trying to comfort her.
Putting her arms around his neck, she buried her face in his
shoulder while sobs wracked her body. Andrew couldn’t even imagine
the nightmare Destiny went through before she ended up sitting in
his cabin. She hadn’t even told him how she was abducted yet, but
he didn’t want to add any more pain to her already heavy heart by
making her relive anymore of it. He hugged her tightly as she
quietly cried for her murdered friend. Andrew had the feeling
Marcus DeMont was one of the few people who had ever shown any
kindness to Destiny.

Too soon, Destiny pulled
her face away from Andrew’s shoulder and dried her tears on her
shirttail.

“
I’m sorry,” she said
quietly. “He was such a good man, and he died so
tragically.”

Andrew hushed her
apologies.

“
Don’t be sorry Destiny.
You have every right to be upset after all you’ve been
through.”

She tried to force a smile,
but it was only for his benefit. Holding her tightly against him,
she wrapped her arms around him, returning the hug as if they had
been lifelong friends.

“
Destiny, you need to
rest. We can get you to safety after the storms let up.”

Andrew moved slowly away
from her warm embrace. She nodded her head in agreement, wiping
away a few remaining tears.

After she settled in under
the warm covers, Andrew resumed his position on the floor. He soon
found the blanket and his sweater to be too confining and
uncomfortable, so he removed the sweater and pushed the quilt down
to his waist. Sleep eluded him as he thought about Destiny. Her
friend died at the hands of his own son, but she had not explained
how that led to her being left for dead on the mountain. Putting
his hands behind his head, the warmth of the fire heated his chest
while his thoughts tumbled.

He heard her quietly speak
his name as if she was afraid of waking him.

“
Yes, Destiny?” he replied
just as quietly.

“
Why don’t you sleep in
the bed?” The simple question startled Andrew. His eyebrows rose
slightly but he quickly guarded his surprise before he
answered.

“
Well,” he said
cautiously, “I usually do, but it seems to be otherwise occupied at
the moment.”

Again she paused as if
thinking before she continued.

“
You can’t be very
comfortable on the floor, and it isn’t fair you can’t sleep in your
own bed because I took it over.”

Andrew wasn’t sure what to
say. Was she actually suggesting they share the bed? He wanted to
lie to himself and disregard the situation as wishful thinking.
Images of her in the shower jumped to his mind and he knew lying
next to her in the bed would make it impossible for him to
sleep.

“
The floor isn’t so bad,”
he answered. “Besides, I don’t want to hurt your leg or make you
uncomfortable.”

Perhaps his answer would
stop her line of questioning. He really didn’t want her to feel
guilty for sleeping in his bed.

“
Andrew?” she said again,
just as quietly as the first time she spoke his name. “I don’t want
to be alone.”

The realization of what she
was saying smacked Andrew in the face with the force of a
prizefighter. She was scared and the memories wouldn’t fade.
Opening his eyes, he tipped his head to watch her on the bed. The
fire lit her eyes and he could see the terror in them. A wave of
shame washed over him for thinking of the sight of her in the
shower and using that as an excuse not to comfort her. He should
have heard the fear in her voice or at least realized what was
wrong with her after knowing the secrets she kept.

7.

Andrew rose from the floor,
grabbing the blanket, and climbing into the bed behind Destiny. He
pulled the blanket over both of them and settled himself under the
thick pile of cotton. Careful to keep a distance between them, he
tried to get comfortable in the small bed, but it was almost
impossible in the available space.