Leading The Beginning

Warm and comfortable, Amber stir half asleep. The soft caress of silk crosses her legs as she tries to roll over, but the pain in her ribs stops her quick. Her eyes feel as though they weigh a hundred pounds, however, prying them open anyway is necessary. As her vision clears, the large soft bed in a dimly lit room starts her panic.

"Where the hell am I"?, who brought me here? she tries to remember but can't even remember her own name. "Who am I? How did I get here"? Where is here? Her heart races, and she feels as though it will jump right out of her chest. Pushing off the silken covers, she tries to sit up, but pain limits her movements. "What is wrong with me? she tried again by moving her legs, and although a little painful, they seem to work fine. Amber's head is still throbbing, so she reaches up, and her fingers brush over a bandage at her temple near her left ear. "Was I in a car accident? "Why can't I remember what happened to me, or anything for that matter"? Looking around, her concerns only grow when she realized that she's not in a hospital. She slides her hands down her body to feel a soft cotton shirt that reaches her thighs. Slowly, Amber pulled the fabric up, moving her hands to her stomach and touch several bandages on her abdomen. Gliding her hands along her body as far as they will reach, she finds more gauze on her arms and upper thighs. Amber's hand slides under the shirt to move it above her breasts to check for damages there too, and she froze.

Movement to her left catches her attention, so Amber slowly turns her head to stare into the bluest eyes she'd ever seen. Heat races from her chest to her face and she's sure it turns beet red. "Getting caught fondling myself in front of the most gorgeous man I've ever seen is more than humiliating. Please let there be a hole nearby so I can crawl inside and never come out". Troy just stares at her, mouth open, probably at a loss for words, as she is.

Slowly pulling the t-shirt back into place, Amber tries to ask where she is, except only scratchy air comes out. Pushing sound through her vocal chords feels like running her tongue over sandpaper, which she did once on a dare when she was a little girl. Her eyes flew opened in shock at the memory, which probably makes her look like she is going to freak the hell out, which she might.

Troy puts his hands up in surrender as he slowly moves to the bedside. He should be scared to death considering she feels like someone beat the shit out of her, but something in his eyes tells her she's safe with him; which is crazy! She don't know this man or even who she is for that matter. However, someone took care to bandage her up, so she assumes it was this Troy. Please don't let him turn out to be my abuser with a guilty conscience.

Troy slowly leans down to reach the bedside table and picks up a glass of water. Tucking his hand under her head, he lifts slightly to put the glass to her lips, all while his eyes search hers as if waiting for her to panic. Amber sips slowly; holding back a wince at the pain swallowing causes, but feeling like she'd just crawled out of the Sahara Desert keeps her drinking what she could. Troy moves the glass away, but trying to tell him thank you proves impossible. When Troy notices her struggle, he shakes his head.

"Sshhh, not yet."

Something in his face warns her not to argue. Although Troy seems angry, it doesn't feel as though it's directed at her. Troy leaves for just a minute and came back with a spoon with white powder on it. "I hope it's aspirin and not something else. Duh... why would he spoon-feed her enough cocaine to kill her after he'd spent time bandaging her up"? Troy mixes a little water with it and leans down to place it on Amber's tongue. Drinking down the powder only hurts a little and tastes horrible, but she can't imagine the pain of swallowing a hard round pill at this point. Amber lies back into the softest pillows and closes her eyes again. Just that little bit of movement had already exhausted her. Who knew drinking water could take so much out of a person? When movement on the bed jostles her body, Amber quickly open her eyes to see Troy lying down on the other side. Oh myGod! Oh my God! ohmyGod! What does he want with me?

I'm only laying on top and promise to keep my hands to myself. Troy just want to be close in case she needs him. Your ribs are badly bruised, and I'm not so sure they aren't broken. I just need to hear you breathe and know you are safe, okay?

Relaxing a little with his promise, Amber closes her eyes again and let sleep claim her once more.

She is fast asleep again, so Troy heads back outside. Fresh air and two beers could not clear his head. He couldn't stop thinking of her, so small and damaged in his bed. Now Troy can't stop thinking of Amber sliding her hands across her body up to her breasts. His head screams, "she's just assessing the damage," his hormones screamed, "Do you want help with that?" It has been too long since Troy enjoyed the company of a woman and it shows. Maybe Amber didn't see his tongue hanging out of his mouth while he imagined it following the path of her hands. Her face burned hot with embarrassment, making Troy felt bad to have put her in that position, but he couldn't help the excitement of seeing the shy innocence reflected in her eyes.

When he touched her neck to help her get a drink and give her some Advil to help her sleep, it sent little shock waves up his arm with that simple touch. As Amber laid her head back again, the bruising around her throat flares his anger again. What has happened to this beautiful woman, who would have hurt her this way?

It looks as if someone tried to strangle her, and when I find them, heads will roll. What in the hell am I thinking? Why am I acting possessive? "No wife no kids," is my motto; that way no one can take them from you. The loss would be too great.

After an hour, Troy made his way back inside, and climbed on top of the bed to be near her. His hormones, once again, go in a different direction than just being her caretaker. He had never kept a woman for longer than a few days, except he couldn't picture being without this one. What will happen two months from now, or even years, concerning this woman? His mind wanders to her laughing green eyes staring up at him from the porch swing while rubbing her growing belly and he knows he's a goner.

Troy does not know what it is about this one, small, fragile woman, but from the moment he touched her, he felt an unbreakable connection. He had never believed in love at first sight, and maybe it's a hero complex, but he feels like she needs him as much as he wants her. As bizarre as it seems, the thought of letting her go once she is healed, makes him physically ill.

Troy kept her on a steady supply of Advil, chicken broth, Jell-O, and water for six days and hope that rest will help her heal faster. He needs to find out who she is, what happened to her, and where she's from.