Agent finds a Warrior (2 page)

Her tired eyes watched me curiously, as she
leaned against the door, “You’re being nice to me, why?”

“Males by nature are fix-it people and right
now you’re broken.”

“So once I’m not emotionally stressed and
overwhelmed you’ll go back to being mean?”

“Probably.” I dryly responded.

She rolled her eyes and opened the door
wider. I stepped in and set the heavy pack down on a nearby
table.

“I’ll take the bed by the door and you can
have the one by the window.”

“Why?” Maria asked defensively.

“Because if someone breaks in I want to be
the first one to deal with them.”

“I can protect myself!” Maria hotly
responded.

I turned to her and stated in a firm manner,
“Maria this is a case in point of where you’re just going to have
to accept what I say as the final word on the matter and yes I am
well aware that you are capable of protecting yourself.”

To her credit Maria kept her mouth closed
and I turned away and refocused on opening the pack. It zipped open
to reveal two sides jam-packed with stuff.

One side was obviously for her, while the
other was for me. How quaint.

I did not like the vibe that I was
repeatedly getting from my Creator. Why was He doing this to
me?

“I don’t understand any of this! These
clothes, their my size and and…… why is all this happening?” Maria
finished with in exclamation.

I looked up at her, “It would appear that we
were meant to be together.”

Something flashed in her eyes for a moment
and then she was quickly looking away from me. She knew something
that she wasn’t telling me. I’d let it go for now, but later I
would need to know what it was.

“I believe you have everything you need
here. Enjoy your shower and then I’ll get one and we’ll go to
dinner.”I said.

Maria nodded and grabbed what she needed and
quickly went to the bathroom and closed the door. I waited for it,
but it didn’t happen. She didn’t lock the bathroom door.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Maria stood staring at the door. She wanted
to lock it, but it felt wrong to somehow. To lock it was to say she
didn’t trust him, but she had to trust him. Her life could easily
depend on it.

Maria resolutely turned her back to the
door, but a nervous shiver swept up and down through her.

She stripped down till she was naked. She
looked at the pile of heavenly appointed clothes laying on the
counter and tears came to her eyes as she acknowledged the truth of
the fact that God knew what size clothes she wore and even her
sense of style.

Maybe that sounded like a simple thing, but
it wasn’t. It meant a lot to know that if the Creator cared for the
small details that He had to have the bigger ones taken care of as
well.

Maria wiped at her tears and stared at
herself in the mirror for a long moment before softly saying, “I’m
not ready.”

“
I know.”
Came the soft response that
thrilled her with its authority.

Maria turned to the side and caught sight of
the bruise on her hip. She ran her hand over the two scars and the
mottled bruising that surrounded them, which bore evidence of how
Elon had saved her.

His hand had been pressed there giving her a
second chance at life somehow. The scarred area really wasn’t even
all that noticeable as a blemish, especially for an action that had
saved her life.

He’d said that she had the ability to learn
and do what he had done. She really didn’t want to think about that
or what else it was capable that she might learn from Elon. She
just wanted a shower and then a bed, with food somewhere in
between.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Maria stepped out of the bathroom and I
steeled myself against the emotion I had expected to be confronted
with and I miserably failed.

I was so hopelessly attracted to her and yet
I hated my weakness for her with a passion that exceeded my desire
for her. At least I hoped so.

I slipped past her into the bathroom, as I
tried to not notice how erotically enticing she was in a fluffy
bathrobe. Even her hair smelled pretty and I’d never seen her hair
so curly before as it was now.

I closed the bathroom door behind me with
relief and for a brief moment I actually had to fight against the
urge to lock it. Not because I expected her to come in, but rather
out of the need to have something to keep me away from her.

I looked around the warm bathroom for a long
moment.

It was so strange not being alone, as I had
always been before now. The soggy towel on the floor, the mirror
all fogged up, feminine stuff littered all across the counter top.
The bathroom was a mess and yet I liked what I saw. It looked
better this way somehow.

Groaning I rubbed at my eyes savagely for a
moment.

“Get a grip on yourself Elon! This can never
be!” I said warning myself of the temptation that could not be
warded off, but seemed to press in all around me.

I stepped out of the bathroom shirtless and
headed for the AC unit in the window at the far end of the room.
Maybe a liberal use of the AC would help me cool down and stop
sweating so much. I doubted that it would do much good for my other
problem though, but one could always hope.

I heard a gasp, as I walked by Maria already
dressed sitting on her bed, but I kept walking. I knew how
extremely well-built physically I was and how pleasing I was to a
woman’s eyes, but I knew that wasn’t what had Maria gasping.

The cold air was refreshing against my hot
skin.

I felt Maria’s presence before I felt her
hand touch my back. Her fingers were cool against the roughed up
skin of my back. Although cool to the senses her fingers had the
impact of a branding iron upon my tensed up nerves.

By way of explanation I said, “I was a
galley slave once, actually twice. Once during Roman times and then
later at the hands of Barbary Pirates.”

I knew I was stroking her imagination
needlessly so and I prepared myself for her barrage of questions,
but no questions came. Curious, I turned around to see her and was
surprised to see her standing there crying of all things.

This was so not the Maria I knew from
before, as a hard edged agent of the Agency!

The Maria from before had never showed
emotion. What had changed in her since then?

I watched her hand drift out across space to
touch my stomach and then lift upwards toward my chest. Her
features were twisted in a sort of grim anguish, as if she was
feeling the remembered pain of the scars that I was covered in.
Then to my sudden startlement I realized that in a small way, even
unknown to her it would seem, that she was accessing my
memories!

How was she doing that?

She wasn’t seeing specific memory, but
instead just remembered emotion. Painful emotion.

I swallowed and captured her wondering hand,
as my mind lit up at the possibilities of her having such a gift.
Was it a gift or had something been Divinely imparted to her?

Did she have this ability with everyone or
just me?

Her eyes rose to mine and I said, “Maria the
pain was felt once, but now it’s over and done with so don’t dredge
it back up.”

She glanced back down her eyes still
silently crying.

Her free hand came up and touched one of my
bullet hole scars, “This one had to hit your liver!” She said
incredulously.

“Went straight through it actually. It was
very painful and hard to recover from.”

“Impossible to recover from!” She exclaimed
searching my eyes deeply, even as unbelievably I felt her thoughts
begin to probe into mine.

“Maria I am not immortal. I can die. I’ve
been blessed not too time and time again, but I am as fully human
as anyone else alive today is. My body’s cellular structure has
been kept from corruption unlike the rest of humanity, much the
same as your life has been extended and your aging process
halted.”

Maria was shaking her head, “Why? I have
lived and suffered so little in comparison to you and I’m tired of
it! I have to fight with not pulling the trigger on myself or
stepping into the path of the bullet all the time! How have you
suffered all this and kept your sanity? I feel half crazy with the
need to just have peace, because I don’t want to experience any
more pain! I’m tired of pain! I’m tired of seeing everyone I care
for die! I’m tired of being alone! How do you do it Elon?”

She was crying in her hysteria, as sobs
shook her body hard. How could I not try to comfort her? My arms
came around her and I pulled her head to my chest, even as she
shook hard with the force of her emotion.

I waited until she quieted down and then I
sensed when she wanted free. I let her back, but I held onto her
shoulders, as I gazed into her watery eyes.

“I’ve felt as you do. I understand, but I
have given up what I can’t understand to fulfill the purpose my
Creator has for me. I don’t focus on understanding, at least I try
not to. I focused on doing what God has next for me to accomplish
and the journey of my life goes on and I experience peace knowing
that my life lines up with God’s will and He keeps me healthy,
sane, and even willingly eager to continue doing good for the
Kingdom of God. The peace I’ve experienced in my journey can be
yours too Maria.”

“I don’t think I’m made of the same material
that you are Elon.” Maria said softly.

“Don’t underestimate yourself Maria. I know
I certainly have underestimated you. I’m nothing special Maria. I’m
created of God and maintained by God. All I have supplied to the
equation is my will to choose. I have chosen the path God set out
for me and I have been faithful to keep to it and He has done with
me according to His will. He can do the same with you if you’re
willing to let Him. Now let’s go get some dinner.”

I turned her and pushed her towards the
door, as I grabbed up a shirt along the way.

This softer and completely unexpected side
of Maria was fast undoing every mental block I had set up to halt
my growing infatuation with her. She had a far richer personality
than I had ever imagined. Why was God exposing me to this woman,
when He full well knew what a temptation she was to me not just in
the physical, but now also in all the emotional planes of my
consciousness?

“God help me!” I whispered.

“What did you say?”

“Nothing.”

Maria ate her meal hungrily, but she watched
Elon throughout her meal closely. He was a mystery and yet it was
as if she suddenly knew him better than any other man before in her
life. Everything she learned built a picture of a man that became
more and more desirable to her with every passing second.

Was she already falling for him?

Wasn’t she supposed to do exactly that?

She resisted where her thoughts were taking
her. She abruptly stopped her mind wondering, as she mentally
traced back over what Elon had said in their room. Was she truly
choosing God’s will for her life by resisting what she knew God
wanted of her in concern to Elon?

It was hard to think of herself as a gift to
be given away to someone. The independent and in control of her
life way she had lived bridled at the submissive quality of the
action required of her.

What about her?

Didn’t what she want out of life count?

“
Who are you to question My will for your
life? Did you fashion yourself out of the dust of the ground? Did
you give yourself breath that you could so selfishly consider your
ways higher than Mine? Your thoughts more wise than Mine? Behold I
have spoken into existence all things that are and those things
that are yet to come. Who are you to question the purpose for which
I have fashioned you? I require an answer!”

Maria’s fork clattered to the table, as the
greatest and most terrible fear that she had ever known coursed
through her entire being at the feeling of her Maker’s words
emblazoning their way across all corners of her consciousness. She
jolted away from the table.

“Maria!”

She ignored Elon’s concerned call out to her
and ducked into the first door she could find, which happened to be
the men’s restroom. She was beyond caring.

Maria barely made it to the sink where she
heaved up everything in her stomach sure in the knowledge that she
was in the process of dying. She wanted to apologize though before
she did die.

“I’m sorry!!! I’m so sorry! I……”

“
I heard you the first time. You’re
forgiven.”

Maria started to apologize again feeling as
if she should continue begging for mercy, but the voice of
authority spoke a tenant of wisdom into her that she hadn’t known
before,
“Do not continue to apologize for a sin that has been
forgiven by My Son’s redemptive act of sacrifice on the cross or
else you will declare His sacrifice to have been in vain.”

Maria bit back her words and sobbed against
the edge of the sink.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I quickly stepped into the restroom only to
behold Maria sobbing against the sink halfway to her knees, as
several men stood around looking helpless as to what to do in the
situation. The men’s eyes traced over to me and I gestured toward
the door behind me and roughly said, “Get out!

My tone and manner were not nice and the men
practically tripped over each other in their haste to vacate the
restroom. I came up behind Maria and pulled her up more onto her
feet, as I turned the faucet on to wash away her vomit. It didn’t
smell nice, but it was a mild thing in comparison to the sights and
experiences that I’d had before in life.

The poor girl was shaking to death. This was
so not the Maria I had thought I had known. I pulled her hair back
and leaning over I got a paper towel, which I got wet and started
to mop at her face with.