Finding Fire

Chapter 14

Anna was proud of herself by the time dawn approached. She'd managed to stay awake the whole night. Sure, she'd slept through most of the day, but the previous night and early evening had been so eventful, she'd still been drained.

The dark scenery didn't help. She couldn't make out much of anything. The steady rocking motion of the car going over the road had threatened to pull her into unconsciousness for hours.

She wasn't sure why she so desperately wanted to stay awake. Maybe it was just that she wanted to prove a point. She wasn't some weak little girl. She could stay out late with the big boys. Or maybe it was simply because she would have even less to do during the daylight hours holed up in a hotel with Nicolas.

Plus, it would be hard for him to seduce her if she was in an exhausted sleep.

About half an hour before sunrise, they pulled into a small motel fifty miles outside of Toledo. It wasn't the nicest place Anna had ever been to, but it was better than the motel they had dropped Brad off at.

Once again she stayed in the car while Nicolas took care of the room. Nicolas had told her it would be easier if the clerk never saw her, and that was fine with Anna because she was almost too tired to get out of the car. He used his mind control on the clerk so he would never remember the man and woman who paid for two nights right before dawn.

She wasn't too tired to notice what was missing when they entered the room. "Where is the other bed?" she asked as soon as she glanced past Nicolas's shoulders into the room.

The room was clean enough. Everything was neat and in place. There was a small table and chair next to the window. A television that had seen better days sat on the dresser up against the wall across from the bed. The only bed. As in there was only one.

"You son of a bitch. You couldn't even get me my own bed?" Fury bubbled up inside her. "I'm exhausted, so if you have even one tiny idea about crawling into that bed with me, you're sorely mistaken."

She raised an arm to, well, she didn't know what, but hopefully cause him some sort of bodily harm. Unfortunately, he was faster than her and blocked her blow, catching her wrist. "No, no," he said while she jerked herself free. "It wasn't on purpose."

She took a step back, but her eyes still shot daggers at him. "I find that really hard to believe."

"I was booking the room and was making sure he wouldn't remember either of us. I never thought about the sleeping situation."

"You never thought about the sleeping situation?" she shouted. She walked a couple of steps away from him and took a couple of deep, calming breaths.

When she felt as though she'd marginally calmed down, she turned back to Nicolas. "Okay, you know what? I don't even care why we only have one bed. That's because I'm sleeping on it, and you can get the chair." She pointed to the uncomfortable-looking recliner next to the table.

She expected him to protest or argue, but he just shrugged and walked over to the chair and sat down.

She was immediately suspicious. Nicolas didn't give up easily. "You aren't going to fight for the bed?" she asked.

"I'm probably not going to sleep much. Besides, you look like you're about to pass out standing there. It only seems fair," he said.

She walked to the side of the bed and set her duffel bag on the floor next to the nightstand. "Why aren't you planning on sleeping?"

"I have a hard time sleeping with other people," he said. "I haven't shared a room with someone for about sixty years."

"You aren't going to sleep because I'm in the room? Just go get a second room. I'll be fine."