Ride Or Die // Brian O'Conner

Taken

Thank you all once again for the wonderful comments & upvotes! Life has been a little hectic lately, but the here's the next chapter. Hope you enjoy! :)

The next morning, Danielle slowly stirred from a deep sleep. She couldn't remember any specific dream she might have had, but she knew that she'd fallen asleep feeling the most content and happy. It had been a long while since she'd even slept the whole night through.

Laid on her back and letting her eyes adjust to the morning light, Danielle took note of the fact that she was stark naked beneath the bed covers. The silk sheets felt so nice against her warm skin. It was then that the memories of last night came flooding back into her mind.

Turning her head to the left she saw Brian laid beside her, also on his back, his torso exposed with the silk sheets covering only the bottom half of him. He was fast asleep, his hair slightly ruffled from last nights antics. He was a picture of perfection to her and she couldn't help but smile at her own luck. As much as she wanted to smother him with affection all over again, she decided to let him sleep in peace for a little while longer.

Leaning over and giving him a soft kiss on the cheek, Danielle slowly peeled the sheets off her and carefully left the bed. She almost stepped on her bra and as her eyes momentarily flickered across the room, she found herself smiling again at their clothes that had been scattered across the floor from the night before.

She crept over to her bag, which she hadn't had time to unpack the day before and quietly unzipped the top and began rummaging for her oversized shirt that she liked to doss around in. As warm as she already was, she had to put something on if she wanted to go and sit out on the balcony with a coffee. She didn't want to distract any beach goers or fellow balcony users in her birthday suit! But first, she needed a shower and to brush her teeth before she felt anything close to being alive. She tiptoed out of the bedroom and headed towards the bathroom.

The cool shower was refreshing to say the least. She decided to leave her hair damp and let it dry naturally, something which she rarely did back home. Throwing her oversized shirt on, she brushed her teeth and proceeded to the kitchen. Spotting her clutch bag on the counter, she prised it open and reached for her phone. She saw that she'd had five missed calls, all from an unknown number.

Frowning, she put the phone back down and went to make herself a coffee. As she waited for the kettle to boil, she opened the balcony doors and walked out, inhaling the fresh air. Danielle leaned her forearms on the balcony railings and observed the scenery.

It was a beautiful morning. The early morning sun was blazing down on the white sands and the sea was glistening as brightly as it had been the night before, under the full moon. The beach was fairly quiet at this time, besides the odd couple taking a romantic morning stroll and she spotted a few yachts in the distance. Closing her eyes, all she could hear was the tranquil sound of the waves, lapping the shore. A gentle breeze ruffling her hair.

She must have been stood there a good twenty minutes, reeling in her own thoughts and pondering about various things. The idea of making herself a coffee had been totally abandoned. It wasn't much longer before she felt a pair of strong arms sneak around her waist from behind and she felt another body pressing against her back.

"Morning..." Brian half whispered close to her ear.

"Morning." Danielle replied, another helpless smile playing on her lips. She removed her arms from the railings and rested them against Brian's arms, leaning her head back onto his shoulder. She felt him kiss the top of her head, as they both just stood in the same position for a while and watched the world go by. There was no awkwardness. Just comfortable silence. If she could stay in this moment for eternity, she would.

"It would be nice to live in a place like this huh?!" Brian spoke after a while.

Danielle nodded. "It really would. I could definitely get used to waking up to this view every day." she replied, rubbing his arms gently.

"So could I." Brian replied, softly. She moved her head to look up at him and saw that he was looking directly down at her and not the view outside. His hair was slightly damp, indicating he'd showered also and those blue eyes were drawing her in once again. The fact he was shirtless and smelled so good wasn't helping matters either. She moved to face him, his hands now dropping to rest on her hips.

"Are you referring to me or the view out there?!" she asked boldly, smirking a little as she placed her hands against his chest.

Brian grinned in return, but didn't tear his eyes away from hers. "You."

He certainly knew how to get those butterflies working overtime in the pit of her stomach. He brushed a strand of damp hair away from her face and before she knew it, his lips were attached to hers and their bodies were once again clinging to one another in a passionate embrace. She could see a repeat of last night on the cards, but as they navigated themselves back into the room, a violent and rapid knocking on the hotel door brought them to their senses.

Reluctantly, tearing themselves away from one another, they glanced at the door. Whoever it was was desperate for one of them to answer and probably wouldn't leave until they got one.

"Wait here." Brian spoke to Danielle, as he quickly grabbed one of his shirts that was draped over the sofa, one he'd intended to wear for that day before he'd spotted Danielle out on the balcony.

Danielle hovered near the kitchen counter, unsure of whether to stay put as instructed or to dive into the bedroom to get changed properly. Brian approached the door with caution, just as the knocks completely ceased. The room became silent again.

"What the hell?!" Danielle whispered.

Brian opened his mouth to speak when all of a sudden, the hotel door made a familiar clicking sound, as if it was being unlocked from the outside. For a moment, it seemed obvious to Danielle that it was most probably the house maids wanting to come in and clean the room.

Brian didn't seem convinced though and told Danielle to go hide in the bedroom.

"What?!" she hissed.

"Go Danni!" Brian ushered her, as the door began to open.

Torn between wanting to see who it was and hiding for her own potential safety, Danielle fled into the bedroom and closed the door. Surely it must have been hotel staff if they had a key? Or maybe it was a drunken Letty who had only just made it back to the hotel room after a night of heavy drinking and forgotten which room she was supposed to be in. She'd done that before! Whoever it was, Danielle couldn't see it being anything untoward. She felt a little stupid hiding like this.

She quickly scrambled some decent clothes together and got changed whilst straining her ears for any noise. She could hear muffled voices, but all sounded calm. She was about to walk back out of the bedroom, when a sudden gunshot sound pierced through the walls.

Danielle froze.

Before she had time to register anything, the bedroom door flew open causing her to stumble backwards. Two men charged towards her and grabbed her roughly, bringing her to her feet.

"What the....get the fuck off me!!" she yelled, struggling pointlessly against the two large males, who dragged her out of the bedroom. There were two more large men near the front door. One who looked strangely familiar to her. On the floor, Brian was sprawled on his front, blood pouring from one side of his head, a gun in one hand, whilst another man was laying on the floor close by with a gunshot wound.

"Brian!!" she cried out, only to be silenced by a large hand covering her mouth.

"Get her out of here." One of the men spoke. "Remember what Andy and Braga said. And finish him off." he added, looking down at Brian.

That was the last thing Danielle remembered before she was knocked out cold.