Safe Haven

Twelve

See-through, lacy, and ghastly. That's all this God forsaken Target had to offer.

It was like the universe knew that Aiden would be with me; shadowing my every move and staring blistering holes into my back. If I picked up something, he'd ogle it. If I chose a size, he'd nod his head as if taking mental notes.

I wanted to die.

"Blue would be a good choice."

Kill me now.

"Oh look! Polka dots!"

I welcome you death.

My face flaming and an all too smug Aiden close behind, I grabbed a handful of size small panties from the box, snagged 34Cs from the racks and stomped over to the cashier; about to throw my intimates at him when Aiden intercepted me.

"Woah woah woah! As payer of this bounty, I think I should see each price so I know how much I'm spending." He plucked them away with a coy smirk on his face that I desperately wanted to punch.

"It doesn't matter! Lets go!" I growled under my breath, but he ignored me, fingering a blue G-string that I must have blindly chosen.

"I told you blue would be nice." He grinned, and I snatched it back viciously. His teasing was torture. I wanted to run out of the store and into oncoming traffic--anything to end this humiliation.  

"Alright... I guess these are all okay." Aiden mused, "You pass!" He patted my head and paid for them and his Calvin cline pack of boxer briefs and tooth paste for our journey.

I walked fast enough so he couldn't be next to me; glaring at the floor and grumbling insults to myself as his deep laughter sounded from behind. I wasn't really looking where I was going, so it was no surprise when I bumped into so someone.  

Someone who was tall and felt like a solid wall.

"Oh I'm sorry--" I gasped, staring in the face of Rome.  

He looked just as surprised as I did, his light brown eyes widening in his broad face.

"You're alive?" He rumbled at the same time Aiden yelled, "Run! Shahana run!"

Rome stepped towards me as I scrambled to bolt the opposite direction. If he was here, then that meant--

"You asshole!" Elarick cursed when Aiden's fist connected to his face.

"Run!" Aiden bellowed while he wrestled with them. Rome looked like he wasn't sure what he should do, but his stance suggested he was about to come after me. If I left Aiden with them, then who would take me home? I also doubted that he could take all 3 of them on by himself... Speaking of which, where was--

"You're supposed to be dead!" Seth sneered in my ear as his arms locked around me. I shrieked and that's when the other shoppers seemed to notice something wasn't quite right and stared screaming. Seth lifted me from the ground while I struggled, and by standing men who wanted to play hero tried to assist me, only to get knocked senseless by Rome.

Everyone seemed to freeze when the sirens sounded in the distance. I took the opportunity of hesitation to bite down hard on Seth's forearm. He flinched, giving me just enough time to let my body go slack to slip out of his grasp. I hit the ground running, and I sprinted straight at Aiden and Elarick; taking them both down with me.  

With Elarick stunned on his back, Aiden slugged him in the face; effectively knocking him out.

"Let's go!" I yelled, grabbing his arm and tugging him up with me. He quickly stared leading the way, and tore past the police cars that just pulled up. Aiden almost threw me in the car and slammed the door shut, revving the engine and streaking out of the lot. Cop cars followed.

"Why are we running from the police? Aren't they the good guys!?" I yelled to be heard over the cacophony of noise.

"If I'm arrested, I won't be able to prove that I'm special forces! It won't show up for identity protection purposes!"

Oh of course it'd be some stupid system answer! What kind of job was this?

"So what, are we just gonna look like the bad guys now?" The sharp right turn of our vehicle going 40 miles over the speed limit was indication enough that we were, indeed, the 'bad guys' in this pursuit.

Aiden's driving was awesome, but we still couldn't shake them off our trail. Especially since the road was blocked up ahead for some sort of parade.

"When I say go, keep up with me, alright?!" Aiden instructed. I nodded just before he spun the car 180 degrees to stop beside the crowd of cheering people.  

"Go!"

We were flying out of the car; he somehow managed to grab the duffle bag of guns along the way, and we melted into the crowd, police cars screeching to a halt. 

Aiden maneuvered his way in between people so quickly that I lost him. Panicking, I struggled to locate him in the sea of faces with no such luck.

I'm lost. I'm lost. I'm lost. I'm lost. I'm lost. I'm lost--

With a strangled squeal, I was yanked back against a wall. The striking golden eyes let me know I was safe and I sighed heavily. It was only Aiden.

"What's the plan now?" I panted, dragging the back of my hand over my forehead.

"This." Aiden leaned in, and our lips touched.

He kissed me.