Chapter Ten — Progress

Honeysuckle and mint. Warmth and softness. A hot breeze against his neck. One sensation after the other dawned on him. Joseph sucked in a deep breath, his chest moving against another body. Moose, he thought and closed his arms a little tighter around him, but it suddenly hit him that his dog smelled of everything but flowers and freshness. He opened his eyes one at a time and quickly screwed them shut again with a groan not loud enough to wake Maria who slept peacefully in his arms.

He should have told her to sleep on the couch. No, he should have untucked his blanket from under her, grabbed his pillow, and stayed on the couch like all the nights before. Now he was wrapped around her small form, his nose buried in her hair and her face safely tucked underneath his chin. Joseph closed his eyes in defeat. At least until she woke up and undoubtedly screamed her lungs out in sheer panic, he would enjoy it. The last time he had woken up with the warm, soft body of a woman in his arms, had been before the call. It seemed like a lifetime ago when it had not even been four years.

Joseph took in another deep breath and couldn’t deny how nice she smelled when she wasn’t scared or angry for once. He had already smelled a trace of her true scent when she had been outside on the porch and also when she had played with Moose outside. He knew he should apologize for how he had acted yesterday. Being a dick and making her keep her distance from him was easier than telling her… Needless to say, holding her close like this was not exactly what he had intended. And yet, he couldn’t bring himself to untangle himself from her arms and roll out of bed. Even though he knew he should.

Joseph closed his eyes and dozed a little longer, hoping to simply fall asleep again until she woke up and pushed him away.

When she finally stirred in his arms there was no violent thrashing, pushing, or screaming. All she did was give a little gasp and gently maneuver herself out of his embrace before she slipped out of bed. He followed the sound of her footsteps. Maria put another log into the fireplace, sneaked down the hallway into the kitchen and then disappeared into the bathroom across the hallway. At no point did he smell panic on her and he couldn’t keep his pulse from speeding up a little.

Once he was certain that she was out of earshot, he let out a deep sigh and rolled onto his back. For the first time since the storm hit, his knee didn’t feel like a nest of angry fire ants was trapped inside his joint. He couldn’t deny that he liked her scent, very much actually. Moose let out a little whine and caught his master’s attention. Since the bed wasn’t big enough for two people and the large dog, he had slept in front of the fireplace. Now he shot Joseph an almost self-satisfied glance as if this had been his plan all along… or maybe Joseph was only imagining things and Moose only wanted to be let out for his morning business.

The Alpha sat up, a fresh whiff of her scent clinging to his chest. Just as he swung his legs to the side to get up, Maria unlocked the bathroom door and stared at him like a deer in the headlights.

“Good morning,” Joseph offered and rubbed some sleep from his eyes. His hair was its usual curly mess while he found himself painfully hard. Thankfully his blanket covered it.

“Good morning,” she returned shyly, wrapping her arms around her middle and standing a little lost in the middle of the hallway.

“How is your leg?”

Joseph was thankful she broke the awkward silence between them so quickly. He looked down to his knee and pursed his lips. “Better, thank you.”

“Good… that is good. It means sleeping in the bed is better for it,” she said, her voice trailing off a little toward the end. “I think I will start breakfast. Scrambled eggs and bacon today?”

He nodded, internally smirking about how quickly she disappeared down the hallway. It would be different, if he detected anything other than nervousness in her scent, but as it was right now, she reminded him of his first girlfriend right before she admitted she liked him… a lot. Not that Joseph expected that from Maria, but he was relieved that waking up in his arms wasn’t traumatizing for her.

All day, they lived past each other again. This time though, it wasn’t because he actively kept his distance from her, but because since his leg was better, he could work in his loft office while Maria sat downstairs in the living room reading. She asked him around midday what he would like for lunch and close to evening what he’d like for dinner. They also spent a few minutes outside while Joseph checked on the fuel level in the generator and Maria played with Moose, throwing sticks or snowballs for him to catch. Joseph shook his head again when he saw how thin she dressed when she left the warmth of the house. He opted not to yell at her again like the last time, only mentioning over dinner that he would rather she dressed thicker in the future and that she ate more.

“More weight means you won’t freeze so easily,” he told her. She had only stared at him wide-eyed before she’d nodded. This was probably the first time anyone ever told her to eat more when the whole world seemed so fixated on dressing in size zero. Joseph liked watching her eat, cook, think… anything really. As much as he wanted to deny it, having her in the house was actually very nice. This would only make it more difficult to say goodbye when she would inevitably leave again.

But he pushed that thought aside. The streets were still covered in thick layers of snow, the power was still out, and it would be at least a couple more days until anyone would be able to leave their house farther than a few feet from the porch.

Come late evening, they were faced with the unspoken truth that they would share the bed for another night. Neither of them had talked about it and now that Joseph was getting ready for bed, he stared at her already curled up in her blanket burrito. A smile tugged on his lips and something inside him swelled with pride. When she woke up in his home over a week ago, she had scrambled underneath the bed to hide from him. Now she was already slumbering in his bed while knowing he would join her a few minutes later.

Trust, he thought and lifted one edge of his blanket, she trusted him. Maybe she allowed herself that feeling for the first time in years or even ever. When he slipped into bed, he still made sure not to touch her in case he was misjudging everything.

***

The next morning, they woke up the same way as before. Maria had cuddled closer at night, Joseph had turned toward her, folding his arms around her little form to keep her warm, keep her close. His morning wood pressed against the barrier of blankets between them. He wanted them gone. Primal thoughts and urges filled his mind. She was an Omega and he was an Alpha, nature dictated them to be together. He would make sure she had everything she needed to be content and happy, she would give him children and make house.

That’s where he stopped his line of thought and disentangled himself from around her. She wasn’t his and she wasn’t going to bear him children. He had no place for them and no money to move into a bigger home. He wasn’t even sure he could support Maria with his royalties and minimal pension for more than a couple of weeks. Right now they lived off his reserves he had built up over the last couple of months.

Maria stirred next to him, moaning softly in her sleep as her body sought out his warmth. One glance at the fireplace told him he needed to put on another two logs to keep the room at a cozy temperature. Last thing he wanted was to have her freeze or get sick.

For once, Joseph prepared breakfast. He needed a little time for himself while still having something to do. While sipping the first cup of coffee he looked around the living room, especially the cozy nook Maria had been spending yesterday in almost exclusively. She had built almost a mini nest in the curve of the couch with another comforter she must have found in the deepest, most hidden corner of his wardrobe. Not even he recognized it.

A small flicker of light from the hallway suddenly caught his attention. Joseph needed a moment to understand what had just happened. The power was back.

He placed his mug on the counter and rushed into the mudroom to get dressed. If the power was back, he could turn off the generator and save his fuel until the next power outage cut off the electricity.

Joseph stopped in the middle of pulling on his coat when he realized what that meant. Soon, the streets would be free…

His eyes wandered down the hallway to the bedroom door. Until two days ago, he would have welcomed her leaving, now a little voice in the back of his mind whispered that he didn’t want her to leave anymore. Quickly shoving that voice aside again, he limped outside and did what he’d set out to do before coming back inside to finish his coffee and turn on the TV to check what he’d missed over the last couple of days.

The sound of the rambling news channel must have piqued Maria’s interest because only a few minutes later, she joined Joseph on the couch with a mumbled, “G’morning.”

She yawned and pulled her legs under her butt as she snuggled into her little nook like she belonged there.

“The power is back,” she mumbled, still half asleep.

“Returned only a couple of minutes ago.”

Joseph tore his eyes away from her and focused his attention back on the screen. The news anchor read a story about the damage the storm had caused before moving to the next one, a kidnapping.

"The twenty-five-year-old Maria Williams, wife of Rosslow Mayor, Chadwick Williams, is still missing. Authorities found her car yesterday evening, that went missing with her nine days ago from her Rosslow home. Mayor Chadwick Williams just held a press conference pleading for his wife's safe return."

The image of the serious-looking news anchor switched to footage of the press conference. A tall man with light brown hair and something about him that simply screamed "slick bastard politician" stood behind a reading desk with mics from all kinds of local and national news channels pointed at him.

"Please, Maria, if you can see this, don't forget how much I love you. If her kidnappers are seeing this, I want you to know that I will pay whatever sum you want for her." A number appeared at the bottom of the screen.

"I set up a line for anyone who has seen my wife. Clues that lead to her safe return will be rewarded with ten-thousand dollars. No questions asked. Until my wife is back home with me safely or the kidnappers are caught, I will make sure that no other of my loved ones will be harmed." He turned to the women standing slightly behind him, keeping his eyes on a woman hardly out of high school. “Me, my mother-in-law and my wife’s sister will hold together in these difficult times."

He sniffed against tears and held up a picture of his wife smiling solemnly into the camera, and Joseph almost dropped his coffee. Those big eyes, the gentle wave of her dark blonde hair, the little dimple in her cheek; that was Maria, his Maria. Only now he picked up on her shallow breathing and the panicked scent coming from her side of the room. Before he could say anything, Maria bolted up, a hand clasped tightly over her mouth as she rushed toward the bathroom. The sound of her retching followed. This couldn't be true. None of what Williams, Chad, had said could be true. Joseph refused to believe that some random kidnapper had beaten her up only to let her escape in her own car. She would have said something about that, would have talked about wanting to go back home to her husband and family who were standing slightly behind Chad during his speech. No, the story was much simpler and Chad was only trying to cover his ass.

Now that he knew his name, he could finally do something about this asshole. Joseph struggled up the stairs and searched for his mobile. When he descended the stairs again, he searched his contacts for his old partner. They may not be in frequent contact since the trial of his allegedly unjustified shooting of his attacker, but they used to be like brothers.

Just as he found Omar's number, Maria returned, fear written plainly across her pale, glistening face. She snatched his phone from his hands, hurt and sadness adding to the nauseating mixture her scent was right now.

"Please don't call him, please," she begged and hiccupped a sob. Maria clutched his phone tightly to her chest, shaking. "Please, don't send me back to him. He… he lied. I wasn't kidnapped. Please, Joseph. I-I'll do whatever you want, but please—"

She lost herself in another heart-wrenching sob.

How could she even think that he would send her back to him? He had seen the bruises, and had smelled her fear. Joseph held out his hand and calmly demanded his phone back.

“Please,” she sobbed again. “Anything, I’ll do anything.”

“My phone, Maria, please.”

With tears streaming down her face, she looked to the ground, her shoulders quaking under the force of her desperation. Finally, she held out his phone and was about to turn around to undoubtedly return her nest underneath his bed, but Joseph caught her around the arm and pulled her to his chest in what he hoped would be a comforting embrace.

“I would never send you back to him, Maria.” Her tears soaked his shirt and once again he noticed how thin she was now that he allowed himself to touch her like this. Her words echoed through his head in an endless loop. Anything. She would do anything. A dangerous promise even to someone who thought himself above his primal urges. “And never make this offer again, not to me and not to anyone else, okay?”

She nodded against his chest, quietly sobbing and soaking in the comfort he offered. He wanted to tell her so much more, but he couldn't seem to find the right words. Instead, he held her closer, burying his nose in her hair and sucking in her slowly calming scent. Maria snaked her arms around his middle and calmed down bit by bit.

When she had stopped shivering in his arms, her scent was also almost back to her usual nervous self, Joseph couldn’t ignore the burning in his knee anymore. He looked around and saw that he only needed to move back a little before he could use the back of his couch to rest his weight and hers on.

As soon as she realized he was moving, Maria let go of him, pulled her arms around her middle, and stared at him as if she was about to start crying again.

“Knee,” he whispered as the only explanation needed. She nodded, but didn’t move from her place in the middle of the living room. When he was comfortably leaning against the couch, he reached out his hand to offer her to come closer and even return into his embrace, but Maria flinched back two steps, shaking.

How dare this motherfucker Chad do this to her again? All the trust he had managed to encourage in her was gone again.

“Maria, I would never hurt you.”

“That’s what he said too.”

It hurt to hear her compare him to her abuser, but he only lowered his hand and fought not to let that hurt enter his scent. Something in his face must have still showed his emotion because all of a sudden tears glistened in her eyes again and her lower lip began to quiver.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered and ran into the bedroom, closing the door loudly behind herself. They were back to square one, all progress lost.