Under His Protection

Eighteen

As the days past of adjusting to the new found freedom, the heavy burden of anxiety of being simmers down to the back of my mind. Every day with Landon is a new day of learning one another and I couldn't be happier with him. However, It's been 5 days at the bed and breakfast and although I love it here, the town itself is a little....stuck in the past. For instance, there is no walmart or mall. Not even an IHOP for crying out loud. It's like mainstream society skipped over this place completely. Landon tells me that the lack of proper civilization makes this the perfect place to lay low, but the serenity of it all is started to get old.

"When will be able to leave?" I ask as I squeeze a half of lemon, letting the juice dribble into my hot tea. Looking over, Landon is leaning back in the desk chair, staring at me, casually. "Soon, I promise. I have to make sure everything is together when we get to our next destination. Just think of this as a cross country road trip, babe" As much I love hearing him call me babe, I irritated at the fact that Landon won't give me a set day.

With an exhausted sigh, I place the lemon down and pick up the mug, lifting it to my lips. Taking a long sip, I let the hot liquid sooth my frustrations. When I peek over the rim, Landon's eyes are still glued to me. I pull the mug away "What?"

"You're mad" He mumbles, the corner of his mouth twitching up as if he wants to smile, but doesn't.

"I'm not mad. I'm just ready to get somewhere else a little more livable. I feel like i'm in a fancy prison." The tension in my neck grows from both anger and the horrible pillows we've been sleeping on. Landon leans forward, putting the chair on all four legs. A sudden crease forms on his forehead and he nods. "And here I was thinking that you've been enjoying our time together"

I nearly slam the mug down, but remind myself that it's not empty "That's not fair. Don't put words in my mouth, Landon. You know that's not what I mean." Not paying attention to the mug in my hand, it tilts and a dribble of hot tea hits my bare knee. Cringing in pain, I sit the mug down and tears come to my eyes from the burning. Landon jumps from the chair and rushes to the bathroom, coming back with a wet towel. Near a nervous breakdown, I run my fingers through my hair as Landon kneels down and dabs my knee, gently. When he pulls it back, he blows on it a little, making me smile. How can someone classified as dangerous and a killer be so gentle and caring? I don't get him at all sometimes and sometimes I see him so clearly.

"Be more careful, Camilla" He mumbles, planting a little kiss on my knee.

"I'm sorry for snapping at you." I lie back against the bed, throwing my arm over my eyes.

"No, I'm sorry. I should have said what I did. I know this isn't a realistic living situation." His calm voice, transfer to me and I let out a deep breath.

"I am happy with you, Landon. I don't want you to think I'm not. I want to be with you. I want to live and be alive with you, but this isn't it. We aren't living. We're still hiding"

Lying there, I feel Landon's fingers trail over my scolded knee and the sensation moves up my thighs. Inhaling, deeply, I let the air back out as slow as ever. How can I go from mad to burned to turned on in a matter of moments. My emotions and thoughts are so all over the place being cooped up in this room. The slow movement of his fingers sends me into a state of relaxation, but I also want more. I need more of his touch.

Before I can part my legs, to drop a hint, his fingertips move up my skirt, to my inner thigh. Not stopping, his hand caresses higher until they reach my panties. Landon runs his thumb over the cotton fabric before his fingers latch on to the edge, tugging them down. Enforcing his other hand, he pulls them down and a cool breeze from the window hits my bare flesh. I part my legs for Landon as he pushes the flowy material of my skirt up. Without saying a word, he wastes no time diving in.

Landon manages to make me explode twice just from his mouth and by the time i'm coming down from the second one, I'm completely hot and ready for more. I wouldn't be surprised if people walking by the place got an ear full. When I finally open my eyes, Landon is hovering over me, smiling. "What are you so amused with?"

He slowly lowers his body, pecking a kiss on my nose. "I just love hearing you call my name the way you do when you come. Feel better?"

"Much. But I want more. I want you" I spread my legs and wrap them around him, but he shakes his head "I don't have a condom, Cam"

A pout forms on my face and I groan. "I really don't care at this point"

"You'll feel different about that afterwards though. I don't think we're in a position to have an unexpected pregnancy. Do you?" His words make me think for a moment and my mind clears with sober thoughts.

"You're right. I'm not ready for kids. I don't even like them that much." I shake my head, remembering the one time I babysat in high school. There weren't enough pills in the world to make it an enjoyable experience. I hated it with a passion.

"Yeah, I'm not a kid person either. I'm glad we're on the same page" Landon smiles and I take a deep breath, pushing my hormones away. "We should get off the bed before I change my mind"

Chuckling, Landon gets up before pulling me to my feet and wrapping his arms around me. "Are you really ready to leave this place?"

Whoa, I thought we just left this argument. Why are we rehatching it?

"Yes. It's been nice to relax a bit, but this doesn't feel like a home to me. I like feeling cozy and this isn't it." I look up into Landon's eyes and see the look of someone who is planning something. Letting me go, Landon turns and grabs his phone before dialing a number. Probably contacting our next hide out. Just great. With my inner thighs still a bit messy from the back to back orgasms, I step away to the bathroom to freshen up and regain my sanity. After freshening up, I feel calm again. In the mirror, I smile at my messy hair. Landon didn't even bat an eye at how matted it looked. Maybe he doesn't care which makes me quite happy. People underestimate the joy one feels to have someone look at them as if they are perfect. I hope he looks at me like that forever.

A tap on the door breaks my thoughts and Landon opens it without even waiting for my permission. "So I made a few calls and I can get us on a plane tonight"

My eyes nearly jump out of my head "Are you serious? A plane? Wouldn't Crow find us?"

Landon leans against the door and shakes his head "We aren't fugitives, Camilla. We just needed to lay low for a bit to make sure we weren't followed. Now that I know we aren't, then we can leave any time. The next hideout was just going to be for extra precaution, but I assume if Crow wanted us, he'd be here by now."

Had this been weeks ago, I'd be jumping for joy, but for some reason I don't know what to think about anything. It almost seems too good to be real that Crow is actually gone. "So we can just go where ever we want?"

"Yeah. Why don't you look happy? You were the one who said you wanted to leave" He steps in, standing a bit straighter. I lean against the sink, looking down at my bare feet. "I am happy, but I don't know. It's just surreal. I mean, we can get on a plane and just go. We can have a real life together and not have to have people hide us."

"Yes, we can have a real like. Did you think we were going to hide out forever?"

I nod, slowly "Yeah. That's what we've been doing. I haven't felt free in a long time and now it's right here in my face. I will be....we will be free. Like really free" I talk, but it's not really directed to Landon. I feel like i'm trying to convince myself more than anything.

Closing in the space between us, Landon tilts my chin up with his finger so i can look at him "If I could take everything back I would in a heartbeat. You didn't ask for all this trouble."

I shake my head, pulling away from his touch "I don't care about that anymore."

"You don't? So you just forgive everything Crow did to you all of a sudden?" Landon asks with a pinch of humor in his tone.

"Of course I don't. I don't mean it like that. I just don't understand" I cover my face with my hands, feeling overwhelmed all of a sudden. What the hell is wrong with me?

"Alright. Come here and talk to me" Landon orders, taking on hand and pulling me. He sits down on top of the toilet, pulling me on to his lap. Rubbing circles in my lower back, Landon kisses my shoulder. "Talk to me, baby. What's going in that head of yours?"

"I just don't care about any of it anymore. I don't want to always look at the situation and see red all the time because the whole time wasn't bad. Every second I got to spend with you was the best. You helped me hang on to my sanity. If none of this would have happened then I would still be with Ray and he's still be lying and hiding things from me. He put me in a situation that almost me killed, but he also put me in a situation that got me you. I can't be mad at that, right?" I sit there and look over Landon's face, waiting for some sort of reaction or explanation to the way I feel.

"And the leaving thing? Why are you confused about that?" He finally speaks.

"I've been quite used to hiding out with you in our own little world. The thought of being back in the real world with everything that has happened is just weird. I've seen people get killed. I've been hurt. You lost a friend. Mentally, I'm sure we're all over the place."

Landon nods as if he's finally realizing something. "Camilla, I think you're just scared. You're afraid that you're going to start feeling hopeful and then it's all going to come crashing down again. I get it, I really do, but are you going to let it keep you from being fully happy?"

"As long as I have you, I'm going to be happy, Landon. But that scares me too. If something happened and you... I just couldn't live with myself." My chest tightens all of a sudden and tears come to my eyes. I try to focus on the tile on the floor to keep me from crying, but it doesn't work. The thought of being without Landon is just too much. I can only imagine how confusing I must look and sound right now. Just early I was ready to burst out of here and now I'm ready to curl into a ball at the thought of leaving. I expected to be hiding for a least a few more weeks. I didn't think Crow would give up so easily. Maybe it just didn't see the trouble in finding us anymore.

We sit there for a few more moments as Landon holds me, until I can finally think a little straighter. Back in the room, I sit on the edge of the bed with my hands on my knees. "So where are we going to go?"

Landon shrugs "That's up to you. Where would you like to go?"

A million places come to my mind and New York is nowhere on the list. That's really the last place I wanted to be. How would I explain anything when I ran into old friends or friends of Ray? Yeah, thats a no go. "I don't really know"

"Well, there is only one way to solve this problem" Landon grabs his bag and starts digging in it until he pulls out a folded up paper. Unfolding it, he grabs a few thumb tacks from the desk and when he pins the paper up, I see that it's a map. "Okay, close your eyes and just stick the thumbtack where ever."

He hands me a tack and grabs a scarf from his bag. Tying it over my eyes, Landon kisses the back of my head before letting me go. I hold up the tack and try to imagine the map in front of me. Taking a deep breath, I extend my arm and push the tack in.

When I pull the scarf off and blink a bit, my mouth falls open. "Seriously" I force out a laugh, but on the inside my stomach is doing flips. Landon looks from the map then me before a huge smile grows on his lips. "Well, then it's settled"

By the next morning, our new life had begun.

After the plane lands and we get off, Landon makes a call to confirm that everything is ready. Although I have no clue what he is talking about. Never in my life did I think i'd be living somewhere like Florida of all places. I'd lived in New York all my life and that was all I knew. Landon however was more worldly, having been stationed and moved to many different places around the world before getting out of the military. I didn't want to tell him, but I was a bit jealous that he's seen the world and I haven't. However, all that is changing, I guess. I'm in Florida so it's a start.

Sitting on an outside bench with our bags, Landon walks off to get a rental car as I look around at the clear blue skies. As the sun beams down on my skin, I realize immediately that I love it here already. No one knows my name or about my past. No one is chasing me or trying to kill me. Oh how i've missed freedom. But i'm glad I have it back.

A few moments later, Landon pulls up and hops out with a smile on his face "You're carriage awaits, Princess"

Standing up, I act surprised "Oh golly, you shouldn't have. Why, you must be my prince charming" Landon comes around and wraps his arms around me. "There isn't anything charming about me, baby."

"Oh, I do have a thing for bad boys" I bite my lip and Landon leans in. "Oh, but baby you should know that I'm not a boy. I'm your man" I inhale, sharply as Landon kisses me hard. Not caring about the people around us, his hand slips over my backside and grips it, firmly, causing my hips to press to his. Before I can get to far into it, Landon pulls back, but not before tugging my bottom lip with his teeth.

And just like that, my panites dampen. Suddenly, a car waiting for us to move, blares their horn, breaking us apart. I glare into the window of the care and there is an older lady scowling at me like a fresh hussy. Landon loads the car with our few bags before getting in. "Ready to go to our new place?"

"Absolutely. I wish you'd tell me about it though. Is it a house or apartment?" I ask, ripping open a bag of Doritos I got from the snack place in the airport. Landon reaches in the bag, taking a few.

"It's a condo, actually. It's not too far from the beach. I thought you'd like that"

"Oh, I like a lot. How did you get us a place so fast?" I mumble chewing on the cheesy goodness.

"I have connections. One of the perks of being in the military is that you make a lot of friends from a lot of places. Friends that don't mind doing favors if you've saved their life a few times"

"So you're not just my hero. You're a lot of people's hero." I smile and Landon looks at me as if I just told him something he didn't know. Maybe he didn't see himself as a hero. Surely, saving people's lives has earned him something.

"In the military when you save people don't you get medals and stuff?"

Landon nods as he focuses on the road as we veer onto the interstate. "Yeah, I got them. Certificates and such, but I didn't feel like I deserved them. I was just doing my job. When I started working for Crow, I put them all into a safety deposit box. I'll get them back soon."

"Where are they?"

A smile spreads over his face and I frown "What?"

"Here in Florida" He mumbles and my eyes widen. "You dirty cheater!" I smack his arm and he starts laughing.

"How did you do it?"

Still smirking, he shakes his head "When I blindfolded you, I may have moved the map a bit to make it look like you aimed for Florida. You actually were aiming for Kansas" How the heck did I not know he moved it? I wouldn't be surprised if Landon had been planning Florida this whole. He doesn't seem like the type to just do anything randomly. Well besides burn down a house to save a girl be barely knows, but that was extreme circumstances.

"Well then I guess I should thank you for being such a cheater. Remind me to never play board games with you." I nudge his arm again and he lays a hand on my knee giving it a rub. My sneaky man.

For most of the ride, I stare out the window, taking in the different scenery. The air and atmosphere is so different and calming. It's definitely something I can get used to. I see why Landon wanted to come back here. By coming here wit him, it's like i'm getting to see what's in his head. This is his favorite place and now it's mine. Of course, anywhere with him is my favorite place.

As the sun starts to set, Landon says we are only a few minutes from our new home, but he makes a stop first. Landon pulls up at a bank and when I tell him that I'll sit in the car and wait, he objects. "I need you to come in with me, please" He says when he comes around the car and opens my door.

I want to ask why, but instead I just take his hand. Inside we walk up to a teller and Landon hands over his I.D. The teller smiles "Right this way, Mr. James"

James. His last name is James. In all the chaos, I never even thought to ask his last name. Does he know mine? I follow behind Landon and when I fall a step behind, he reaches out, taking my hand. The teller leads of to the back with all the deposit boxes and Landon retrieves a key from his wallet.

"I'll leave you to it. I'll just be right outside if you need anything" The woman says as she leaves. Leaning against the edge of the table, I watch Landon unlock and grab the box from inside the little cubby. Sitting it on the table, he opens it and it's stuffed with papers and medals. He takes his time laying out everything and i'm in awe of all the achievement certificates he has as well as medals. "Wow, you were a really good Marine"

Landon snorts, but doesn't say anything. Among the things, I spot a few pictures. Picking one up, I take a good look at it. In the picture there is a little boy with a woman holding him. The boy has a little car in his hand and he's look at the woman as if she is the queen or something.

"Who's this?"

Landon looks at it, before taking it from my hand "My mother and me. It's the only picture I have of her before she died of cancer a few months after. I was 3 when I went into foster care. I don't even remember if I had a father or not. If I did then he didn't want me"

My heart breaks for them and I lean against against him, pressing my mouth against his shoulder "I'm sorry"

"It's okay. From the picture alone, I know she loved me." His warm tone nearly brings me to tears and I immediately think about my own parents. "I don't have their pictures anymore. Surely they are thrown away by now."

Landon stops going through the things and sighs, wrapping his arms around me "I'm sorry. I wish I could get those things back for you."

"Thank you" I mumble, blinking away my tears.

After going through the things, Landon puts them all back, taking only a few things including the picture of him and his mom. When we get back to the front, we find the teller and Landon tells her that he wants to make some changes to the information on his bank account. I don't pay much attention as she leads us to a desk. While they talk, I people watch. I worked in a bank for a year and for some reason I really liked it. I got to interact with different people everyday, some regular, some not. If I applied for a job now, my bank reference would probably say I quit without notice. If only they knew the truth.

"Okay, and you can sign here" The teller says, pulling me back "What?"

"I'm putting your name on my account" Landon says and my eyes widen in shock.

"What? No way. I can't do that. It's your money Landon." I shake my head frantically, pushing the pen and paper away only to have Landon slide it back "I have more than enough for the both of us. I want this with you Cam"

"But....you barely know me"

"I know you better than you think, babe. I trust you with my life so money is nothing." He shrugs, picking up the pen and holding it up "Please sign it. It'll make things easier as far as grocery shopping and such because I honestly hate going to the grocery store." Is this crazy man actually talking about food shopping right now? He has officially gone off the deep end.

"Are you sure? Like really sure. I could be a gold digger"

Suddenly, the teller snorts "Honey, if you were a gold digger the pen would have flames shooting off of it from signing so fast. You're obviously not."

Looking from one nut case to the other, I sigh, taking the pen from his hand. "Are you sure?"

"I'm more than sure. Just sign it already, babe. I'm hungry and tired" Landon groans. Rolling my eyes, I look down at the paper and scan over it. I'm about to sign when I see something odd. I look up at Landon "Your first name isn't Landon"

"That is correct." He nods. "It's my middle name. My first name is Alexander, but Landon is what I told everyone after I started working for Crow so that he couldn't track me or my background. The only person who knew this was Vikor"

"It's like meeting a whole new person" I shake my head as a smile grows on my lips. "Can I keep calling you Landon?"

"If you want"

"But if I want to call you Alex?"

He shrugs "I'm fine with that too"

Leaning in, I kiss Landon gently and sigh, "I learn something new everyday" Turning to the papers, I write my name down and Landon leans in "Camilla E. Wyatt. What's the E for?"

"Everly. It's weird, but my mom thought it was magical"

"I think she was right. I like it."

Butting in again, the teller clears her throat "Excuse me, but do the two of you know anything about each other?"

Landon and I glance at each other and shake our heads "Nope"

"But I know I'm in love with her" Landon says.

After the teller swoons and gushes over our relationship, she gets all my information before giving me a nice temporary debit card until an official one comes in the mail at our new address. When we leave, Landon can't stop calling me Everly. However, I don't mind at all. When we finally get to our place, there is a car sitting out front. I look at Landon and he is equally confused.

Parking, we get out and get to the door, Landon reaches under the welcome mat and retrieves a key, only to find that the door is already unlocked. Cursing to himself for not having a gun at the moment, he steps in front of me and opens the door, slowly.

We step inside and I notice that the place is already furnished completely. Dang, I wonder if Landon's connections can hook me up with a few things. A new car, new cell phone, a spa trip that is much needed. Shaking the thoughts, I follow him in, leaving the front door cracked just in case we need to run. I've become quite the professional at worst case scenarios.

Just as we're about to round into the kitchen, I feel someone coming up behind me. Spinning around, I yelp loudly before it turns into pure shock. Tears immediately spring to my eyes and I drop my bags. "Viktor!" I throw myself into him and he grunts loudly. "Whoa, please remember that I did get shot"

I jump back, covering my mouth "Oh my God, I'm so sorry. Oh my God, what are you doing here!? You got shot!" I shake my head, stepping in to hug him again, this time without so much force. Viktor raps his arms around me, firmly. "I don't go down easily, sweet Cam"

Finally pulling away again, Landon steps forward and shakes his head "You remembered the plan" He chuckles and I frown "What plan?"

Viktor chuckles "Overseas one night we were getting drunk and we came up with a plan that if s**t ever hit the fan and we got separated, we'd meet in Florida no matter what. Well, s**t hit the fan and after you two left, I managed to crawl into a ditch until everyone cleared. Make no mistake, I was dying, but I got to the road in time to catch a trucker passing. When I got discharged from the hospital, I called our friend Newt, hoping that you'd already be down here. But you weren't so I just got a place and settled in to wait. I knew after everything quieted down, you'd make your way here. No doubt about it."

Landon shook his head and pulled Viktor into a strong Bro hug, obviously not caring about Viktor being shot. "Thank God, you're okay" I hear Landon mumble in Viktor's ear.

"You can't get rid of me that easily, Brother."

"What about Crow? Where is he?" I ask and Viktor smiles "From what I heard, the bastard fled the country. When word got out about him killing Adrianna, people started looking for him. Crazy or not, Adrianna had some damn good connections who didn't take the news lightly."

"So, it's really over just like that?" I ask and Landon takes my hand "Yeah, it's over. Crow now has a target on his back. His life is now in serious danger and we're the least of his worries. We'll never see him again"

I nod taking it all in. It's overwhelming, but exciting to have my life back. A lot of these have changed. I've changed, but I have Landon and Viktor to be my family now. I know they love and care for me just as much as I do them. I was afraid to start a new life, but now i'm more than ready.

After my emotions finally ease a bit and I stop huggin Viktor so much, I walk around the condo and get a good look of everything. It's absolutely gorgeous and I can't wait to get settled in. In the bedroom, I run my fingers over the sheets. Landon and I will be sleeping here. The thought alone fills me with unexplainable joy. We've come so far and now we can continue to grow. And thank God Viktor is here to grow with us. I would have spent the rest of my life missing him. Come to find out, this so called Newt guy got Viktor a place about a block away so he'll be around a lot. Landon has his best friend back. I'll have to thank Newt one day. If I actually ever see him. Neither of them will tell me what this Newt character does actually does, I doubt that's even his real name, but they said his job is a lot more classified any job they've ever done. So I took that as code for stop asking questions.

When get back down stairs, I see Landon and Viktor in the kitchen talk and before I can even round the corner, Viktor yells "Cam, what are you cooking for dinner?"

Rolling my eyes, I smile. This is going to be rather interesting.

THE END!!!!