Finding Fire

Chapter 17

As Anna got back onto the bus, she was greeted by the same zombies they'd abandoned. Everyone still stared straight ahead, not moving a muscle or making any noise. It wasn't until Nicolas got back on that he could snap them out of the trance they had been in.

He spun them a tale about Anna and he being newlyweds on a road trip for their honeymoon. He said they had car trouble, and the bus had pulled over and offered them a lift to Chicago.

When she asked why he called them newlyweds, he replied, "That way it will not seem quite so strange when I stare at you all night."

A blush crept up her cheeks. "Why would you stare at me all night?"

He leaned closer to her on the seat they shared. "I'm not going to answer a question you already know the answer to." He placed a gentle kiss to the top of her head.

She'd hoped for a peaceful ride that would give her time to think, but Shirley and Nancy had other plans. The two had moved to the seats in front of them almost as soon as he and Annabelle sat down and talked for just about the whole trip.

Soon, Anna knew the life stories of everyone on board. The women had plenty of questions for them as well, but Nicolas did most of the talking. Luckily, Shirley and Nancy were happy with one-word answers.

It seemed important to Nicolas that he reinforce the closeness between them, because he was always touching her in some way. At any given time, his hand might be on her leg, or his arm around her shoulders.

At one point, he entwined his fingers with hers. She'd been startled at the intimacy, but she supposed that after two kisses and sharing a motel room, holding hands wasn't that strange.

When she'd awoken that evening tied to the bed, so many bad memories had washed over her. It was a stupid thing for Nicolas to do. It was stupid, rude, disrespectful, and thoughtless, but she'd known going into this trip she couldn't trust him.

She didn't honestly think he meant her any harm by his actions during the day. She believed he wanted to sleep, and he did it to make himself feel secure enough to get some rest. She just wasn't sure whether he was sorry he'd done it or whether he was sorry she was upset.

She knew the real reason her anger at Nicolas had gone away so quickly. Her biggest fear had been someone seeing her scars and treating her differently. Her teacher had pitied her. She couldn't carry on any type of relationship feeling pitied.

Nicolas didn't treat her any differently. He was still an ass and pushed until he got his way, but that was how he'd always been for the few days she'd known him. He hadn't asked about her back yet, but with the two women right in front of them, there hadn't been much time for private conversation.

While Shirley was in the middle of one of her exceptionally detailed stories about how her grandmother had died in the beauty parlor, Anna leaned her head against the cool glass. She watched the dark scenery pass her by and let the gentle rocking of the bus coax some of her worries away.

As stupid as Nicolas had been, she didn't think he would do anything else so drastic again. She'd known going on this trip that she would be thrown into dangerous situations. Now she would be a bit more prepared for any other scary surprises that waited to jump out at her.

And, most importantly, she still wanted to delve into what had happened to Charles and Evie. She would continue on with Nicolas once they reached Chicago.

As his hand found its way to her knee again, she wondered how close the two of them would get. Considering her reaction to him whenever he got close enough to touch, she wasn't sure she would really have a choice.

She chased that thought away. This would be her choice. She'd vowed to herself years ago that Charles would be the only man to ever take choice away from her.

Nicolas hadn't exactly been passive in his pursuit of her, but he'd respected her wishes so far. That said a lot about him. He'd seen her scars already, so that was a major concern already taken care of.

So now the only question was, why not?

Anything they had would only be temporary. As Anna thought about it, she realized it was probably better if anything they had was short-lived. He would most likely end up hurting her whether they slept together or not.

Up until this moment, her main reason for staying away from him had been her fear of him and her fear of him seeing her scars. Those were no longer major fears anymore.

Anna closed her eyes and stopped thinking. Maybe that was her problem. She thought too much.

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