Protection (Book #1)

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven
"Delilah, wake up. We have to wake up early to train. That way we can relax the rest of the night. How does that sound?"
I disagreed with a mumble into my pillow.
"It's not that early. The sun is going down right now. You can get up and get dressed and come downstairs and we'll have a really tough workout and then you can have a super relaxing shower. Tell me that doesn't sound amazing."
"Go to sleep."
"No, baby. I'm going to train you. Whoever's after you may not come when you want them to."
Dion would come at a decent time, wouldn't he? Why would Dion come after me? None of this makes any sense. If Dion were after me, he would be able to find me no matter where I was, so I didn't understand why he wouldn't have just come to my apartment and spoken to me or attacked me.
So it couldn't have been him. It had to be someone else. Who would be after me?
"Dee? Seriously? Are you going to get up?"
I groaned but sat up, hanging my legs off the side of the bed. "Yes, I'm coming."
"That's what I like to hear."
I pulled his chin down in front of my face. "I know you do." I kissed him, but he pushed me away.
"You call me immature and childish, but listen to yourself!"
"I'm not being immature! I'm being salacious." I pulled on shorts, a sports bra, and a T-shirt and followed him into the basement. He posed me a few feet away from the punching bag.
"Keep your left foot back and the toes of your right foot beside your heel. If you have enough space like this, you can take a step and power through when you punch. Step with your right foot and keep your heel up. Don't stop moving until you've made contact, and then step back into position. Try it."
The movement felt foreign and I couldn't get my feet to do what he had said so my arms just flailed.
"Sorry. I forgot something. Your left foot, rock back on your heel and your right foot stay on your toes. That way it's like you're mid-step. It will become fluid after a while. Try it again."
I stared at my feet, following his instructions, and then stepped through and landed a soft feeling punch on the bag.
"That's better. You'll get more strength out of that once you get used to the motion. At first it's weird. Don't focus so much on your feet. They're important, but if you don't land a punch at all because you stumbled, you're in more danger than if the hit wasn't very hard."
I nodded. I went through it a few more times and it seemed like my feet were starting to understand what I asked of them, so I was starting to get more solid hits each time.
Ben picked up two dumbbells and started doing bicep curls and moved into a corner where I couldn't see him. "Stop looking at me. You're in a fight. You need to focus on what you're doing, not what I'm doing."
I turned around and pushed the bag with my fingers. "This is your fault." After I got a few more good punches, he put his dumbbells back on the rack and leaned down onto the bench. I swore I saw something that looked like a bruise peeking out from under the bottom of his shirt.
I was by his side before he had stretched out and I pushed his shirt up. There were three solid lines of bruises of varying colors from light pink to a purple to a darker brown. I pressed myself up against the opposite wall.
He smiled, leaning up. "It's okay. That's normal."
"That is not normal! I hurt you! Those are bruises!"
"They're called hickeys."
"They're bad. I didn't realize you were so sensitive. I'm sorry. I'm normally so good at being gentle."
"Dee. It's okay. Humans do this to each other a lot."
"On purpose? Why?" And why am I screaming?
"It's a way of marking their territory. It shows other people that the person has a significant other. It's not as easy as with Zuri, where you can smell them on you. It's more difficult to be Safi."
I groaned. "I can't deal with this. I can't believe I hurt you. I'm so sorry."
"You did not hurt me."
I tried to sneak past him but he grabbed my wrist. As he had said, I was fast, but he was strong. He pulled me into his arms and squeezed me.
"I enjoyed it very much. If it had hurt I would have told you."
"I didn't notice. I wasn't paying attention. I knew your skin was getting pink but I thought..."
"It's okay. I'm fine. Look at me. I was working out. Calm down."
"Does it hurt?" I reached my hand out and touched his chest as lightly as I could.
"No. They don't hurt." He pressed my hand into his chest harder.
I looked into his eyes and sighed. "I'm still sorry."
"If you apologize one more time, I'm going to make you fight me."
"That will never happen."
"Why?"
"I won't fight you back."
            He cocked his head to one side. "So you would just... let me beat the shit out of you and not fight back?"
            I nodded.
            "That's stupid, and not helpful to your training," he whispered.
            "I will heal within hours from anything you do to me, within reason. You will not."
            He looked at the ceiling for a moment, grappling to contain his anger. "You're going to get on my nerves about these hickeys, aren't you?"
            "Absolutely." I smiled and ducked out of his arms, going back upstairs to shower.
            The water steamed against my skin but it didn't feel as hot as I wanted. I still couldn't imagine who would come for me. An idea fluttered in and the water shut off with a simple turn of my wrist. I was still dripping wet, wrapped in a towel when I stood at the top of the stairs to the basement. "Ben?"
            "Yeah? Why are you wet? Are you okay?" he racked the bar and sat up, coming up the stairs.
            "What if the person that's after me has something to do with my parents?"
            "Well, the reports seem to sound like they have a crush on you. So that's unlikely."
            "They lied about everything else. How hard could it be to fabricate a story about a crush?"
            "Get dressed. We can talk about it."
            I was dressed in record time, which surprised me because I was shaking and my heart was racing. Most of my memories of my parents involved Dion. I was certain that Ben wouldn't understand Dion, so I was terrified i wouldn't be able to disentangle the two stories and give him only the most important details.
            Thinking of Dion again made me nervous enough on its own. The fear that I might have to explain everything that he and I went through together was far worse. I was nauseas and I spent more time leaning over the sink convincing myself that the knots in my stomach were uncalled for than I'd spent even in the shower.
            With a deep breath, I stepped back out and sat on the couch beside Ben.
            "What makes you think they might have something to do with it?" he asked.
            Okay. That's an easy question. "They weren't secretive about the fact that they were against the Revolution. They were very strict Christian Safi."
            "Did they have any enemies?"
            "Ben, did you hear what I just said? They were prey to two-thirds of the world's population, for one. They..." I wracked my brain. My human memories weren't as clear or orderly as the ones from after I'd changed. "They didn't like criminals. That sounds odd, but they would call the police on anyone they saw breaking any law. That would piss someone off, wouldn't it? I'm sorry. The old world was so strange. It's so hard for me to remember."
            "That's okay. Did you change during the Revolution?"
            Did I? "I changed January of 2020."
            "So right after it was over. Where were you after your parents... passed?"
            "I stayed in an apartment with two girls."
            "You had roommates? Why did you ask if I stayed with Wes and Cata platonically? Oh."
            "No. No! I wasn't sleeping with them. How many times do I have to tell you? I like men! You, specifically. I only asked because they're both so attractive."
            "You think Wesley is attractive?"
            "Are we doing this right now?"
            "No. We're talking about your parents." He took a moment to get his face back in order and looked back over at me. "What about those girls? Could either of them have anything against you?"
            "Eleanore and Clare?" I asked.
            "What are they up to these days?"
            "I haven't spoken to them in eight years," I said with a light chuckle. "Almost nine."
            "What?"
            "It's December. I was changed in January. My birthday is soon."
            He scoffed. "Birthday. When is your real birthday?"
            "I don't remember."
            "That's awful. Dear God! Quit distracting me. I am entirely too interested in you! I need to have Wesley come talk to you."
            I shook my head. Wesley will know how to make you answer. You can't let that happen. You're lucky he hasn't questioned you yet.
            "Yes. Wesley is better at these things. You two need to talk about Usalama's ethics as well."
            I laughed loudly. "You work for Usalama?"
            "Why is that funny?"
            Come up with something fast. "I always thought that was a new-world FBI station."
            He smirked.
            Dion hated the Usalama. He had always complained about them by name but never told me what they did. I knew then that he couldn't be the one after me. If he knew that something like that existed, he was too intelligent to let them know what he was up to. He would know a way around them so that he could come to me unnoticed.
            "That makes me happy," he finally said, drawing me out of my revelations. "You knew I was protecting you before you knew how, or why, or me."
            I frowned.
            "Don't do it," he said, his nostrils flaring- another signature Ben facial expression that I loved.
            "You're doing everything to protect me, and I'm hurting you."
            "You didn't hurt me."
            "There are marks!" I shouted. "If I leave marks on your skin that counts as an injury!"
            "I'm a human. I could bump my leg on the table and it would leave a mark."
            "You should be more careful then."
            "What is bothering you? What is really wrong?"
            "I've never been with a human. I can't remember sex as a human, either. I don't know what you can take and what you can't. I don't know what your body can handle. You are fragile, and I haven't been treating you that way. I'm just so upset that I could have seriously harmed you. This may be 'normal' to you, but it is very important to me. I need to be cautious with you."
            "I promise if you hurt me that I will tell you."
            "You don't understand, do you? I could break your bones and by the time you told me, it would be too late."
            He groaned. "Let's talk about this later. I'm going to smoke and then find something to eat."
            "Would you like me to make you something?"
            His face lightened. "If you want. You don't have to. I can do it."      
            "I don't know what all we have. Do you have something specific you want?"
            He grinned. "You seem to be a good cook. I'm sure you can manage."
            I scanned the fridge and cabinets, and decided I'd make him pita pockets stuffed with ranch flavored tuna.
            "What is this?" He asked, when he returned, smelling of cigarette smoke.
            "These are tuna ranch pita pockets."
            "They look great. Now, you think Wesley is attractive?" He picked up a pita pocket and took a bite, staring at me the entire time.
            "Wesley is a handsome man. However, I am with you. You might have noticed."
            "Do you think everyone is cute?"
            I laughed. "I might, actually. I can't remember the last person I found unattractive. Wait, actually, our cashier at the grocery store wasn't desirable to me. I'm sure she was really nice though. I don't know how to answer your question about Wesley, because I feel like the two of you are like brothers."
            "There's no pressure. Answer honestly. That's always the best way to go."
            "I don't find him nearly as attractive as you."
            "Well he's on his way so..."
            "He's what?"
            "Do we have any more of these pocket things?"

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I am finishing this story up (finally. After 2 years) The chapters may come up all at once or slowly get updated as the week goes on. But just for reference, I started this story Jan 25th 2016 and am finishing it today May 26th, 2018. Plus I have panned most of the following chapters. I hope everyone enjoys!