a known stranger

Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8

She walked to the kitchen, to locate the door that she had seen. She tried the knob. The door opened to room that faced the rising sun. It was bright. She went in, shutting the door behind her.

The room was open to one side the wall enclosure made fully of glass. The floor was a hard-wood surface, with one section carpeted. In this section, there was an exercise ball, a comprehensive free weights machine, and a treadmill. She went to step on the treadmill; she notices a door on the side. She stepped of the treadmill and went to try the knob. Again the door opened. She stepped in, to find a bathroom cum toilet, with another door on the other side of the toilet. ‘It seems like a day of opening doors and finding rooms!’ Ashley thought to herself. She tried the knob and the door opened. It lead to an in-door swimming pool. The pool was about an Olympic sized in length, as she walked around the pool, there were numbers written on the floor indicating the depth of the pool. 

“oh wow! She thought to herself, she could pass her time here swimming, and practicing her katas in the gym. Of course, the insidious thought at the back of her mind, and where do you think Darien’s going to be, you don’t know if he would be leaving you to your own devices like this all the time do you? She silenced her thoughts, ‘What the heck? I love swimming and working out, if I need to beg him on my knees to do it, I will!’ She went back to her room sprinting up the steps, taking two and a time. She reached her room, rummaged through the wardrobe, and found that her normal tankini was not there, but the bikini which she had bought but never wore because she loved the colour, deep purple with little lavender coloured flowers but could never bring herself to wear it in public. She groaned aloud.. “Oh No! She had the body to pull it off, but she did not want to wear it, considering her “purpose”. “Well, she thought to herself, it was either the bikini or no swimming, and that was not an option! She stripped of her clothes, wore the bikini and dressed back into her sweatpants and t-shirt. She grabbed her swim bag, placed her goggles, towel, and made her way back to the pool. Just as she was leaving her room, a thought pops into her mind, “She should practice her katas first, and then go for a swim to cool off. She goes back into the room to look for her karate suit, changes her clothes once again, and then dumped all her clothes and her change into the swim bag, she goes down.

She spent a good hour of solid concentration on her katas, calming her mind, and building up a good sweat,

Meanwhile, 30 miles away, back at Toowoomba, Darien was meeting Sheila. “Darien, I don’t know what you think you are doing. You don’t know Ashley like me, she gives the image of a strong person, but she’s the most vulnerable person I have known, and she doesn’t know she can drop of the edge if pushed. I barely managed pulling her together when Neil did what he did! That idiot left her because she would not sleep with him. He also called her a tease and a frigid fridge! Ashley’s the warmest person I have known and I am warning you, If you do anything to hurt her, I will strap you in a straight jacket myself, lock you in an unpadded cell, and throw away the key.

She looked straight into his eyes, and gets a shock when she saw his eyes had turned a different shade…she gasped, and her nostril flared when she caught the scent of a wolf. Oh My God! Her voice rose and then quickly dropped to a whisper, “You are a changeling, and “how did you mask your scent?”

“Sheila,” his voice practically growled, “Ashley is my mate, I know how to take care of her, I’ve known you were a wolf from the first, so I have been careful to mask my scent.

“I need to let Jason know,” she whispered. “I know Jason, and he knows I am here,” Darien said. I am not here to fight anyone, just want my mate and I have sworn allegiance to the pack,” he said softly. With that, Sheila looked at him with a new respect, and she nodded. He places some money on the table, and says, “I’ve got to go back,” and leaves.

After completing all her katas, she goes into the shower to wash off and changed into her swim suit. So eager to get into the pool, she forgets to take a towel from the rack. She enters the pool from the steps lead into the pool. She was wonderfully surprised, to find the water warm and soothing. She wades in and starts swimming her laps, using different strokes, she had never had a favourite style, so she always used different styles to suit her fancy. As she was completing her tenth lap, she almost drown in shock as a hand grabbed hold of her ankle, as she came up sputtering, and looking back, she saw Darien had joined her in the pool. His arm snaked out around her waist, and held her up, supporting her. She kicked her legs, her arms ineffectively pushing at him to let her go. She was in the deepest end, and in the shock, and as Darien let her go to avoid getting kicked, she sank into the water. As she kicked her legs to come up, Darien was faster, he caught hold of her sweeping her up, placed her on the side of the pool, where there was a ledge. He held her, and told her as he shook her, “Get a grip on yourself! Are you trying to drown yourself?”

She was gasping, trying to catch her breath. Her knees were trapped against his chest, his arms forming a cage, trapping her effectively on the ledge.

She looked at him, “I should be asking you if you are trying to kill me!” “Why on earth did you scare me like that, couldn’t you have said something or thrown the pool ball in to get my attention rather than grabbing my ankle like that?” she asked. He looked at her, jerks his head over to the right, where she saw the pool ball, a float, and an airbed was floating on the pool, where they were not there when she entered the pool.

She looked down, “Oh dear, I’m sorry!” she said. He was looking at her, and she realized belatedly she was wearing a bikini, she made a move to cross her arms across her chest, as the bikini top was really small for her. He stopped her from crossing her arms, holding her arms to the side, he looked at her. She struggled, against his hold, saying, “please let me go,” I want to wash up and change,” He moved away then, started swimming laps. She climbed out of the pool, then realized she had to walk to the other side to get to the bathroom, and there was no towel available to cover herself. She turned and saw him watching her, she lifted her chin up, straightened her shoulders and walked away. She got to the bathroom, she quickly showered, and changed to her clothes.