The Scream

Ladies loved to be wined and dined. Ladies loved eating at the top restaurants, best in the city-good, best in the whole country-even better. They loved expensive things, clothes, jewellery, cars. That fact was true for many women, but the longer Nate was with her. The more he realized that his wife did not fall into that category of women.

She understood that when he cancelled on her, he was not losing interest or playing some sort of game. He was genuinely busy, and since she sometimes had to take a rain-check because of work, she understood. She liked beautiful clothes and jewelry, not their price tags. Once he had given her a set of expensive necklaces. She had taken one look and asked him to return them. Not coming out right and calling them ugly, but he had seen her thinking it clear as day. She actually ate, big healthy potions instead of starving herself for the sake of dropping a few dress sizes.

When it came to dates, she was open to new ideas, their now regular video dates when he was away having been introduced by her. In fact if she had not told him herself. He would not have believed it if someone else had told him the tango dance party had been as much a new experience for her, as it had been for him. The way she had moved, so confident, so sensual, it still made heat pool in his lower belly when he thought of it.

But since their dance, and idea of something he wanted to do with her kept popping into his head, the longer he thought of it, the more sense it made. So Nate decided to just go for it. What he had thought would be his first hurdle, renting the whole gym for the night, ended up being a breeze.

"A date?! You Nathaniel Kiriakis, bringing a girl her. She must be something else," Pedro had practically thrown the keys at Nate, smiling from ear to ear, and walking out without another word.

After months of buying her dresses for events, he knew Rose's sizes so it was just a matter of buying her the right gym clothes and gloves. To throw her off, he had picked her up in a suit. When the car had come to stop outside the gym, she had been so confused he had almost felt bad. But then he had led her to the ring, and she had given him such a grateful smile, coming in for a hug, her arms going around his waist and gripping tight.

"I have always wanted to learn how to defend myself," With those simple words, the date had become about more than just wanting to see her all sweaty and determined.

The world was a dangerous place, especially for women. It was not a guarantee that there would always be someone there to defend her, so it was up to him to make sure she at least stood a chance. Taking their clothes and gear, they went to get changed, and when they came back, he tried not to be distracted by how cute she looked in her black attire, her red boxing gloves around her neck, looking like giant pom-poms.

"First thing, how to fold a fist, show me how you do it," She did, her thumb tucked between he palm and the rest of her fingers.

"Thumb out, if you do it like that, you'll break your thumb," Rose made a soft ahh, of understanding before doing as he had said, jabbing at the air experimentally.

"Legs apart for balance," She complied, her stance too wide. Anyone else he would, he would have kicked at their shoes to get them to tighten their form. But Rose was his was his wife, she deserved special treatment. Moving closer, he brought his hands to her hips.

"Pull them closer," He used his palms to guide her until her legs were at an acceptable width.

"Raise your hands, elbows bent, fists up to your cheeks, protecting your face," For that one she was a natural, her arms instinctively protecting her ribs.

"Now throw a punch at my hand," She did, and as expected it was week.

"Try again, but this time, twist your upper body slightly back. When you punch, twist forward, throwing your weight into the punch, with your leg pivoting on your toes," This time when she punched him, Nate felt it. And he could tell by the shock on her face that she too felt the difference.

"Good, now let's do it again," He let her get comfortable with throwing punches. Then he started throwing mock punches at her. Silently teaching her how to dodge and weave without dropping her guard. He had thought she would be done after an hour, but she had apparently been serious about wanting to learn to defend herself.

An hour turned into to two, then three. By the time Rose finally collapsed, laying spread eagled in the middle of the ring, Nate was impressed. He had seen people who wanted to do the sport professionally who did not even last thirty minutes the first time they stepped into the ring. He would definitely try to sneak in lessons with her whenever he could.

Too tired to eat, both of them ended up sitting in the middle of the ring after they had showered and changed, munching on apples and drinking ridiculous amounts of water.

"Let's do this more often," It was like she could read his mind. Nate bumped his shoulder against hers as he got to his feet. He offered a hand to help her up and she took it. Her lips ending up plastered to his as she rose to her full height, head tilted up.

The accidental kiss led to a very intentional make out session, and by the time Nate drove her home, both of them had kiss swollen lips. He walked her to her door, staying outside until the upstairs lights came on.

Heading to his car, Nate suddenly got the feeling that he was being watched. He turned around, but no one was there, the street deserted. But even as he got into his car and drove away, he still could not shake off the feeling that something awful was about to happen.

Two hours after dropping Rose off, he was roused from sleep by his phone ringing, her name on the caller ID. Instantly alert, he accepted the call.

"Hello,"

"Nate," She whispered his name into the phone. He was sitting up almost immediately, slipping on a pair of sneakers instead of slippers.

Phone between his head and shoulder, he grabbed his coat and car keys. The absolute terror he had heard in her voice driving him.

"Rose?" He called her name softly, hoping she would be able to answer, she did not say anything. There was the sound of a struggle, then glass shattering, and then, after seconds of agonizing silence…Rose screamed.