Transmitted

File 1

Aradia dug out her phone and checked the time again. Shit. She was running late, if only her boss had let her go early like she'd asked. He had a tendency to be interfering; he'd held her back to ask her some inane questions about her health and lifestyle. As if it was any of his business... That she had been acting out of character and looked pale and unwell for the last week or so was no excuse. Her private life was just that, private. She was getting her work done on time wasn't she? So he had nothing to worry about. She sighed and shook herself. It didn't matter, she had a doctor's appointment to get to and the damn bus was late. She cursed her foolishness again for the cause of the doctor's appointment. That had been another out of character incident. She grimaced. Totally out of character. She never did things like that... Not until that day... 

She'd been at a club with a guy a friend from work had set her up with. It had been ok at first, he had seemed nice. They'd chatted, had a few drinks, and then Aradia had started to feel dizzy. She put it down to lack of sleep. She'd been having weird dreams lately - nightmares really. The wake up in the middle of the night screaming kind - and not always in her bed; she'd been sleepwalking too. So she'd told him she'd go home, try to get some sleep - if she could. He had looked a bit put out, but he'd walked her to the taxi rank. Then things had got a little odd. He'd become slimy, creepy, moved in too close, tried to kiss her. She'd backed away and refused him, telling him she wasn't feeling up to it. He'd been persistent though, and actually it had become not only uncomfortable but a little scary. He'd backed her into a corner and leaned over her, and then - 

- And then a tall muscular guy had inserted himself between them, facing her date and a rich, deep voice had said 

"The lady isn't interested." 

Her date had turned pale. He'd stammered something about minding your own business. The tall stranger had laughed menacingly. 

"Perhaps this is my business." he'd suggested. Her date had glanced at her warily around the stranger's bulk. 

"Do you know him?" he'd asked. Aradia could only see the back of the stranger; through the thin material of his T-shirt she could see the ripple of perfectly toned muscle. This man was ripped, and huge. Fully a head taller than herself in heels, and she wasn't short by any means. She didn't know anyone like that. 

"yes." she had said quickly "he's a friend from my hometown." ridiculous. Her hometown had been a little farming village miles out in the middle of nowhere. This person clearly frequented a gym, and probably had a personal trainer. But she hadn't known what else to say. She had to get out of the situation with her creepy blind date - how else could she get him to leave?  

"You heard her, I'm a friend, so why don't you let me take her home instead?" the man had said, still in his deep, measured voice. He had sounded totally relaxed and confident, unlike her date whose voice was quavering as he replied 

"Fine! She's frigid anyway!" he'd snapped, and turned himself around and disappeared sharply, before either the stranger or Aradia could say more. Aradia had let out a pent breath. 

"Thank you-" she'd started to say, and then her words had caught in her throat as the stranger turned and she'd seen his face. He was devastatingly handsome; features that looked like they'd been sculpted by an artist and the most gorgeous green eyes she'd ever seen, all wrapped in flawless golden brown skin. The essence of male beauty stood before her. Her mind went numb. 

"No problem." he'd replied with a trace of a smile "I could see you were being harassed, I hate men who bully women." 

"M-me too." Aradia had stammered, at a loss for words. How did one speak to a living god like this? What should she say? She gave up and gazed at him instead. He laughed, and dear God the man had a sexy smile, she almost fainted seeing it. 

"You seem slightly out of it, do you want me to escort you home?" he'd said next, that delicious smile still playing about his lush lips. Aradia had opened her mouth to speak and croaked instead. Shaking herself, she'd cleared her throat and tried again. The living god waited patiently while she collected herself. 

"Yes, that would be nice of you." she'd managed to say politely, hating herself for sounding so stiff. He'd smiled again, causing her innards to melt, and then he'd asked casually 

"Alright, so which way?" 

Aradia had let him take her home and more... She felt a sudden rush of heat thinking about it. She'd never been much for one night stands... Not like her friend Hetti, who had a different man at her apartment every weekend. No, in fact, Aradia had never had a one night stand before that night... She'd always decried loudly that she had to be in love with a man to sleep with him, and had never understood Hetti. Well, that had changed in a hurry. Aradia's face burned with shame, thinking back. It hadn't taken much for her to throw her moral values out the window. Not much... Just an incredibly sexy hunk of a man... 

"Are you getting on, dear?" a creaky, kindly old voice asked from behind her. Aradia shook herself out of her daze and turned around to see who addressed her. An old, bespectacled woman smiled warmly up at her "the bus, dear." she prompted at Aradia's bewildered look. Oh god, she'd been so absorbed in her memory she hadn't noticed the bus pull up. How embarrassing. 

"Yes, thank you." she stuttered, mortified, and allowed the old woman to get on first while she fumbled with her bus pass. Still flushed with embarrassment, she found a seat near the back of the bus, where less people could see her.

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-- Author's Note --

Hello, thanks for reading :)

This story was knocked together in a couple of days while travelling to and from work, but editing it and drawing a cover has taken over a week (yes, I admit my photoshop skills are not exactly top notch).

If you see any mistakes please point them out to me - I've tried to correct everything but I'm sure I've missed some.

Now the rating: I don't think there is really enough sex / violence to warrant an 18 rating BUT there is some, and very delicate sensibilities may get offended (I really think not though) - also, the story focuses on more mature themes so may not be particularly interesting to younger readers? I don't know, you be the judge :)

I welcome feedback - even if all you want to say is the story sucked (I'd really appreciate it if you told me why it sucked though!).

/Jo