Chapter Seven - Samantha

I sit straight up looking around the room desperate for some sort of evidence that Simon really was here in my room. I take a deep slow breath and I swear I can smell his aftershave in the air. I look over to my bedside table and see my phone plugged in and a glass of water. Pulling my phone from its cord and sitting against the headboard, I tap the screen, its five am. As I unlock the screen a message pops up and I bite my bottom lip as I read who it was.

Ghost: Hope you slept well.

I reply, 'I did, thank you. For everything x'

Oh god, why did I send an 'x'. How embarrassing. I look at my phone and see him typing a reply. My cheeks flush red and I flop down onto the bed like a love sick teen in a rom-com. 

Ghost: You never need to thank me. 

I lock the screen but instantly my phone shows another text from Simon. 

Ghost: P.S You snore 

Ghost: It's cute though don't worry

Oh my god. I flop off my bed deciding that a shower is an absolute necessity this morning but before I head to the bathroom I slowly walk towards the front door of the infirmary. After everything that happened yesterday I feel uneasy - I want to check its been locked. Padding over to the door I turn the handle, its locked. I sigh a breath of relief heading back in to the kitchenette to put the kettle on while I shower. Tea will make me feel better. As I get to the kettle I pause and a huge smile spreads across my cheeks. On the kitchen counter is a cup of tea with a small side plate resting on top. He remembered. A teaspoon and a small folded note rests to the side. I touch the side of the cup, it's still slightly warm. He must have stayed all night. I squeeze my eyes shut desperate to have him pull me into his chest again, to cup my cheek against his strong hands and hold me close. I long to lift his mask and kiss his lips. Will he kiss me softly again or take control? He's been so gentle with me, the way he wraps his hands around me it's like he's holding back, scared he'd break me. 

I shake my head willing the thoughts to slow down and take the note in my hands unfolding it slowly. Scribbled across the paper it says, 'Meet me at my office at 8:30am. Enjoy the tea, hope it's still warm. S' 

A smile expands across my cheeks again and my heart beats faster. Heading to the shower I turn the hot water on letting the glass fog and the room heat up. My mind races with the thought that Simon stayed all night, watching over me, protecting me. That he snuck out of here so silently this morning but not before making me a tea. Stepping into the water I roll my neck, letting the water wash over me and my mind and my hands start to wander again. 

I have a hideous ball of nausea in my stomach as I head to the chow hall this morning. What if Collins is there? What if he corners me on the way here and kills me for telling Ghost what happened? My stomach churns and my head spins. My head feels heavy and sweat beads on my forehead as I bend down and throw up all over the grassy path. Resting my hands on my knees, hunched over I throw up again and again until I feel weak. Wiping my mouth on the back of my jacket sleeve I stand on wobbly legs. Looking left and right it seems like no one saw that which is great because I don't think I could handle any more embarrassment for the week. Taking a deep breath I continue my walk to the chow hall quickening my steps as it starts to rain and a really cold wind picks up, whipping my hair around and chilling my cheeks. 

"Sam!" I push through the door and Lucy shouts towards me two trays of breakfast in her hands. Steaming cups of tea rest on the trays and my stomach growls at the thought of a fresh cuppa. The one Simon made me was luke warm by the time I'd finished my shower. Serves me right for spending so long against the hot jets of water imagining what Simon will feel like between my legs. Whether he will ever take his mask off when he fucks me. Lucy snaps me out of my daydream. 

"I knew you'd be here, here," she hands me a tray of porridge and toast, "gotcha some while its half decent, that porridge turns to fucking cement in about ten minutes," she laughs walking towards the other girls seated at the back of the hall. I scan the room and there's no sign of Collins. I take a seat facing the door, nervously scanning the room as I try and make small talk with the other girls and eat something. 

"You ok though Sam?" Lucy asks gently pushing my hair behind my ear and giving me a soft smile. 

"Yeah, I'm ok, I just feel a bit," I stumble over my words. 

"You don't have to worry about him, if comes anywhere near you I've told Price I'll kill him with my bare hands, he won't be staying here long, he was on thin ice way before you got here," she whispers before shovelling porridge into her mouth. 

The door opens and I quickly look up to who has entered dreading that it's Collins. But instead my eyes meet Simon's through his mask. I take a shaky breath and offer him a half smile and he winks back at me. The other guys walk in behind Simon, shoving each other out of the way to get to the hot breakfast waiting under heat lamps in the kitchen. Simon walks slowly behind them, scanning the room as if he too is looking to make sure Collins isn't here. There is no doubt in my mind Simon would kill him right here in front of everyone. 

"Excuse me, what's that about?" Sarah says laughing, looking between Simon and I dramatically. 

I laugh nervously, "Haha nothing Sarah, Ghost just came to make sure I was ok yesterday, it's nothing. He was just being nice." 

"Nice?!" Amelia snorts as she almost chokes on her cup of coffee. 

"Yeah? Nice? Sammy that man right there enjoys torturing innocent souls and dragging them to the afterlife!" Sarah whispers dramatically looking at me with wide eyes. 

"Yeah Sam I went on a mission with him a few months back and he cut off a guys ears for 'not listening to instructions'! Can I just clarify we were fucking trying to torture information out of him. The dude probably couldn't hear over his own screams, it was fucking gnarly," she says with a deadpan stare. 

"Yeah girl I don't know if you know who you just called 'nice' but I watched him beat the fuck out of Collins yesterday and Köing and Price had to pull him away, I thought he was going to kill him if..."

"What do you mean?" I cut her off. 

"Well they were meant to have a friendly, let some tension out, Collins said something to Ghost in the ring and it fucking pissed him off big time. Collins got in a cheap shot but Ghost fucked him up. Left right left right," she throws pretend punches, "We all thought he was going to kill Collins," she nervously laughs taking a large sip of her coffee. 

"What did he say to Ghost?" I ask leaning closer and looking around the table of girls who seem puzzled by my question, I turn to Lucy, "What did he say?" 

"I don't know babe," Lucy replies, resting a hand on my back, "but either way, Ghost didn't like it and he beat him black and blue, I don't know if Collins will be coming on the next mission but we will see how well he heals," she looks to Ghost who takes a seat on a table on the far end of the hall. Simon nods to Lucy and returns the gesture. 

"But I didn't see Collins after the fight? Does he need stitches? I need to make sure he's ok," I whisper to Lucy as the other girls continue chatting and finishing their breakfast. 

"No, you don't need to do anything, he'll live," Lucy takes the last sip of her tea and places it on her tray. She looks up as Köing and Soap approach our table and rolls her eyes.

"Here comes dumb and dumber" the girls snicker. 

Both men have on tight black t shirts showing off their strong chests and broad shoulders. Even with his stange hooded mask, Köing looks devious as he steps closer. I know he likes to tease the girls but I don't think he ever 'wins' the verbal wars he starts. Soap strides confidently beside him, his arms are covered in a patchwork of mismatched and very random tattoos, none of which seem to have been done professionally. His dark eyes and thick stubble accentuate his handsome strong features and I don't miss Katie blushing as he approaches us. He stands by her side at the table his arms still folded tightly across his chest. I watch as she shuffles nervously, I wonder what's going on with them? I'm going to have to ask her later. 

Köing leans over gripping the edge of the table, "Ok stop your gossiping ladies, we have debrief in fifteen minutes, meeting room B, you've got just enough time to change your tampons," Köing playfully punches Amelia in the arm but she stands shoving her tray into his stomach and punching him simultaneously. He buckles over dropping the tray loudly onto the table coughing as he sucks in a breath. He swears in Austrian under his breath at her as she flicks her ponytail and glides out from under the table towards the door effortlessly. 

"Come on girls, its show time," she winks as they throw their heads back laughing at Köing as they walk out of the hall. 

Looking to me, I offer him a sympathetic smile and shrug my shoulders. 

"Bye Sam" Köing coughs as he picks up the tray and walks towards the kitchen. I shake my head and laugh softly as the group exits leaving the hall suddenly very empty. I look towards where Simon was sitting and he's not there anymore. He must have left for the meeting too. I don't know why I expected him to come over here and speak to me. 

I pick up my tea drinking down the last sip before placing it back on the tray along with some bits of rubbish left on our table. A sudden chill moves behind me and a shiver runs down my spine before a hand lands on my shoulder. I gasp, turning quickly to see who it is. 

"Fuck!!! Simon! You scared me," I pant clutching my chest. 

"Sorry," he laughs softly his fingertips grazing the side of my neck. 

He moves to my side, standing above me, his tight long sleeve black compression shirt stretching over his broad muscly chest as his hands rest by his side. He slides his hands into his trousers front pockets, the veins spider across the scars littering his hands and knuckles. Peeking from the sleeve of his shirt I can see some tattoos and I bite my lower lip at the thought of his bare arms wrapping around my waist. His balaclava today is just plain black and I'm mesmerised by his emerald green eyes that shimmer as his gaze rakes over me. He's not wearing the usual black eye paint either - I like it. I take a deep breath willing the warmth in my lower stomach to simmer down. It's like all the air has been sucked out of the room. Something about this man, his presence, the way he looks at me has my body uncontrollably desperate for him. I cross my legs tightly under the table. 

"It's my job to sneak about, how'd you think I'm still alive?" He grins through his balaclava his hand brushing over my shoulders and moving my hair from one side, exposing my sensitive skin. His fingers gently caress my skin before his hands make their way back into his trouser pockets. 

"That's true but I don't know how you can be so big and muscly but as silent as a mouse, it doesn't make sense," I look up to him raising my brows. 

"Muscly hey?" He leans down closer to me and I know he's grinning through his mask. 

Taking a shaky breath desperate to close the distance between us I part my lips willing him to kiss me. The automatic overhead lights turn off as the room darkens, the only light coming in through the windows as the miserable windy day keeps the sun away. I should be cold but my body burns with desire, my core trembles as he inches closer to me. 

"You're blushing Sam," he whispers as his fingers stroke my cheek before his hand cups my chin. I feel him bring me closer ever so gently, tilting my chin towards him. 

"I, um, I can't seem to think when you're around for some reason," I manage to whisper back completely unaware of my surroundings. My heart rate slows and my body screams at me to reach out and kiss him. I clamp my crossed legs tighter under the table feeling how wet I am just by him touching me. My nipples harden painfully through my t-shirt and Simon's eyes track down my body seductively, I suck my bottom lip in through my teeth desperately stifling a moan. Our eyes lock and I lean even closer parting my lips wider. 

Without warning, Simon stands creating distance between us and I slump back. No more than two seconds later the chow hall door opens and Simon turns his head to see who it is that just interrupted our moment. 

Collins walks wearily through the door looking left to right, even in the dark room I can see his eye is badly swollen, bloodshot and bruised. He limps slightly, clutching his side most likely nursing a broken rib or two. As he moves through towards the kitchen, the lights turn on, the motion sensor lighting up the hall row by row. Collins looks up and notices Simon and I. I straighten my back unwilling to let him know how much he scares me. He looks to Simon standing beside me and I see his Adam's apple bob up and down. Simon stands like a statue, completely unmoving as Collins walks through into the kitchen to see what food is left ignoring us. 

"Let's go," Simon says laying a protective hand on my back as I stand from my seat. Simon picks up my food tray and his other hand moves lower down my back and wraps protectively around me. Warmth floods through me pooling at my core as he thumb gently caresses my spine. We head towards the kitchen where Collins is serving himself the cold leftovers from the morning. We move closer and Simon protectively guides me to a stop taking a firm step in front of me. 

Dropping the tray onto the kitchen bench, Simon slides it aggressively over towards Collins. The tray spins slightly knocking over the coffee Collins had just poured himself. 

"Fuck mate!" Collins spits as coffee spills out onto his uniform and drips onto the floor. 

"Clean this shit up Collins, you're late to the meeting. It started ten minutes ago. Get over there once you clean this shit up and then afterwards, you'll be running laps till I tell you to stop," he growls. 

"Run laps?" Collins questions raising a brow. 

"You deaf now too?" Simon growls.

"I can't run fucking laps, look at the state of me!" Collins spits angrily. 

Simon stands a good foot taller than Collins and much much broader and stronger. Collins looks like a puny teenager in comparison. Simon crosses his arms in front of his chest, silently daring Collins to challenge him. Simon's rank within this division means he's completely untouchable and Collins knows it. Collins eyes dart to me and I take a step behind Simon, tucking myself in behind him. 

"Ah, Sammy, nice to see you again. As you can see, I need a bit of help with some injuries I've sustained in a...what would you call it Ghost, an accident?" he says notioning to his eye. 

"Wouldn't say it was an accident, I'd say that I beat the fuck out of you," Ghost retorts. 

Without realising I've grabbed the base of Simon's shirt holding it so tightly my knuckles have gone white. Simons hand moves behind his back, gently taking my hand in his and rubbing his thumb over my knuckles to try and calm me. 

"Well Sammy? What time can I come over for some special treatment?" He leers at me. 

Simon drops my hand quickly closing the distance between himself and Collins. Collins quickly cowers and screws up his eyes waiting for impact as Simon grabs him by the scruff of the neck. 

"You will never need medical attention from Samantha. I don't care if you're bleeding to death. You just crawl back into whatever hole you came from and die ok? You don't look at her, you don't speak to her, you don't say her name, understood maggot?" Simon spits through gritted teeth. His eyes have darkened, looking almost black as his chest rises and falls with rage. 

Collins nods his head quickly wincing in pain as Ghost shoves him backwards as he releases him from his grip. 

"Clean this shit up Collins," Simon knocks the other trays that were piled up on the bench to the floor and food and drink spills out in front of Collins. 

Simon turns taking my hand and pulls me towards the doors. He flicks all of the lights off before we exit I bite back a smile as we hear Collins swearing as the room plunges into darkness. 

The cold air hits me as we exit the hall. "Come with me back to my office, I've got those med kits ready for you to restock today," Simon says leading me through the grounds to his office in the main building. The chill from the winter's day bites at my cheeks and nose but my temperature is souring. My hand feels so light in Simons. Warmth travels from our entwined hands through to my core. Again I'm embarrassingly reminded that my panties are absolutely soaked and all he's done is touch me rather innocently. I take a deep breath as we head through into the main building. 

I come to a halt, "Wait, my jacket! I left it back," Simon cuts me off before I can finish my sentence sweeping my coat over my shoulders. 

"Wait, when did you grab this? How did you know it was mine?" I ask shaking my head and giggling. 

"Get inside already," Simon laughs quietly as he holds the door open for me and ushers me inside. Simon's hand again finds my lower back as he guides me towards his office. 

Pulling out a key from his pocket, Simon opens the door and swings it open for me. My eyes scan the dimly lit room, it's dark and there are boxes piled high in one corner. 'MED KITS' is written in marker on the sides of the boxes. My head cranes to count the mile high pile; thirty six. 

"You've got to be kidding me Simon?" I turn to him resting my hands on my hips. 

He laughs turning on a small heater in the corner of the room before taking a seat on his office chair behind his desk. His legs spread open wide and his trousers strain against his thick hard thighs. 

"I need to keep you busy, so this should keep you out of trouble for a while," He growls seductively, his eyes narrowing an God I wish he'd lift his mask. I'm desperate.