The Lost And Forgotten Memories

      In New York, the next day is gloomy but much colder. Natalia and Edward are spending time at the man’s home while his father, Jamie, is working, and his mother, Rebecca, got out somewhere. The lovers are lying on the bed in the light, comfortable room of Edward, who is snuggling Natalia with pleasure, pressing her to himself, sometimes running his hand over her hair and cheek or kissing some parts of her face. While the blonde is pressing herself to him as close as possible with the feeling of warmth and love that he is not going to hide.       “We’ve finally got a chance to be together,” Edward says in a quiet voice with a slight smile. “I missed you so much when the lads and I were performing and promoting the album. I always thought of you.”       “Me too, sweetheart,” Natalia truly smiles, caressing Edward’s cheek tenderly, while he strokes her head with his fingertips. “I couldn’t wait for us to stay alone. For a long time.”       “It will happen. Moreover, we’re alone now: Father is working at the company, and Mother went to visit her friend… They won’t be back earlier than the evening.”       “Do you think they wouldn’t wish to come earlier?”       “No, they won’t do.”       “And I hope our beloved friends wouldn’t love to make a surprise and come here.”       “Of course, the men could do it. But I don’t think they need me now, ‘cause they’re fully busy with their girls.”       “It depends on the girls. On how well they’d deal with them.”       “I trust them and know they’d treat my friends and brother well.”       “You all deserved a very good rest for your good job.”       “We worked well, but we could’ve done it better,” Edward notices thoughtfully and caresses Natalia’s cheek tenderly. “Alas, we haven’t lately had a good mood for the brilliant performance.”       “I’m sure you’ll come to yourself after a short break and show everything you can.”       “I know, but it will hardly help in our case. If Blake didn’t annoy us and behave like we’re guilty of all sins, everything would be otherwise. And the comments get us a little confused, to be honest.”       “I’m surprised that you actually pay attention to that. Those people don’t deserve it. You should work for those, who love you. Everyone has haters, even if you’re an ordinary cashier or a cleaning person. There’s not a person that is loved by everyone.”       “I know, my sweetheart, but it hurts anyway…” Edward says with sadness in his eyes.       “I get it, but these things shouldn't stop anyone from you,” Natalia replies confidently and runs her fingers through Edward’s soft, little disheveled hair. “That’s your dream! And you should reach for your dream. Moreover, you got a real chance.”       “Although I knew there would be many difficulties in my way, it strikes me down sometimes.”       “No, Edward, don’t say it. You can’t leave what you wanted to do so easily.”       “I just…” Edward bites his lip slightly. “Someone has just recently published something about the story of Uncle Michael and me. And… It made me upset. It made me recall the terrible time when I did many things that I’m ashamed of.”       “Please, don’t think of your uncle. Michael and his accomplices are in prison and will no longer bother us.”       “I still can’t believe this story has ended. It lasted for so long… I can’t get used to the fact that Uncle left our lives. I can’t forget everything I experienced because of that stinker and…”       “Sh-h-h…” Natalia softly puts two fingers on the lips of Edward getting sad enough. “Don’t say. Just forget.”       “When I think of what that man did, I get goosebumps on my skin. And the thought of almost ending up in prison for what I didn’t do gets me horrified.”       “But thank God, you didn’t do it,” Natalia notices in a quiet, soft voice, running her hand over Edward’s hair. “It’s all in the past, sweetie. All the guilty people got what they deserved. Don’t make your mood worse.”       “I know, but it’s madly unpleasant for me to remember the way my uncle was bullying me and making me feel like a mollycoddle,” Edward replies with sadness in his eyes, glancing aside for a moment. “I mean… I… I was always a mollycoddle. But Uncle Michael made me much more sure about it. And…”       “No, Edward, say no more,” Natalia caresses Edward’s cheek softly, looking into his eyes. “My man is not a mollycoddle. He is strong and confident. And the best and most talented one. He knows what he wants. And he is ready to get it, despite nothing.”       “I’d keep fearing everything in the world and being ashamed of the mockeries of people, who think I’m a mollycoddle. If not for you.” Edward softly puts his hand on Natalia’s cheek and tenderly rubs the tip of his nose against her nose, making her smile shyly. “I will be thankful to you for that all my life. For helping me get self-confidence and teaching me not to get confused and not to let people mock me.”       “I believe in you and know you can fight back any cad,” Natalia says confidently with a slight smile. “I’m always gonna say it. So, you remember what my man is. The one, who is going to become my husband soon.”       Edward smiles shyly and gives Natalia a soft kiss on the lips, grabbing her face tenderly, while she answers him back with pleasure. And when they step away a few seconds later, the man runs his hand through the girl’s hair, while she puts her arm around his waist.       “By the way, did you like Helene’s doggy?” Edward asks. “I personally, really liked Sammy.”       “Very good doggy,” Natalia smiles shyly. “So kind, talkative…”       “And very funny. You saw what he was doing yesterday? That doggy definitely has a sense of humor.”       “And a talent to instantly steal the hearts of people. We all fell in love with him literally at first sight.”       “It’s amazing that Sammy let us pet him so easily.”       “Helene said he loved being petted and scratched.”       “And he feels he’s surrounded by good people,” Edward assumes with a slight smile. “Dogs do feel when people treat them. If they see that a person is good and not dangerous, they are quiet and friendly.”       “Only if a dog is well-educated. If it’s not, even the best person might get attacked.”       “But in the case of Sammy, it’s excluded.”       “Yeah. And by the way, I’m so glad Sammy understood that Anna was afraid of him and didn’t make her fear much more. He waited for her to find the courage to come to him.”       “She got so white when she saw him…” Edward says with sadness in his eyes. “But I didn’t realize why at first.”       “We all didn’t know it. But that’s good Anna explained it all.”       “Hey, didn’t you and the girls notice the scar on Anna’s hand?”       “Nope, honestly. We didn’t pay attention. And the scar is small and not very noticeable.”       “I imagine what the poor girl felt when that dog attacked her. And Anna was a child…”       “Thank God, she stayed alive and didn’t lose her arm. That dog could’ve easily bitten her to death.”       “But she was madly lucky. And it’s not amazing that she was shaking so strongly. She experienced a too strong shock.”       “Well, I’d also be scared if a dog tried to rip off my arm… Moreover, you know well that I’m terribly vulnerable and could easily die from a heart attack like a terrified bunny.”       “No, I don’t wanna even think something like that could’ve happened to my beauty.” Edward caresses Natalia’s cheek with a tender smile and kisses it cutely. “Never.”       “I get horrified when I just think about what poor Anna had to experience. That’s… That’s horrible…”       “Don’t think about it, my sunshine. Luckily, your friend stayed alive and kept her arm safe.”       “Edward…” Natalia pronounces hesitantly. “Would you stay with me if I were a cripple? If I didn’t have an arm or leg!”       “What kind of question, Natalia!” Edward exclaims. “I’d stay with you, despite nothing! And do my best to make your life easier!”       “And would you take care of me like a helpless one?”       “Sure. For my love for you, I’d do anything. Even if you didn’t have a leg or arm, I wouldn’t leave you.”       “And would it be a gesture of love, not pity?”       “Of course, baby. How can you doubt me? You know well how much I love you. I’m gonna marry you to take care of you and give you everything you need. It will happen, no matter how many arms and legs you have, and how your face or body looks.”       “Really?”       “Really, my silly girl.” Edward cutely kisses Natalia on the tip of her nose, holding her by the back of the head, and snuggles the girl with both arms tightly. “Don’t worry, with me, you’re gonna be in trustful hands.”       “Aw, Edward, sweetheart…”       Natalia kisses Edward on the cheek tenderly, holding her hand on the back of his head, and holds the man for a few seconds before they step away from each other.       “Hey, you didn’t say you were allergic to cats,” Edward notices thoughtfully.       “Alas, it’s true,” Natalia sighs heavily with sadness in her eyes. “I wanted to get a kitty, but I got this thing…”       “Did someone from your family have something like this?”       “Mom and Dad aren’t kind of allergic to pets. My grandma gets an allergic reaction in the early spring, when everything blossoms.”       “You say the reaction is on your skin?”       “Yup, I start to scratch myself and get covered with red spots.”       “Wow.”       “Hey, have you ever wanted to get a pet?”       “Yup,” Edward smiles slightly. “When I was a kid, I didn’t also mind having a pet.”       “Kitten or puppy?”       “I didn’t care. I actually love cats and dogs in the same way… Cats are pretty sweet, and I like playing with them. And dogs are great protectors and loyal friends. I know many cases when they saved and protected people.”       “Why don’t you adopt, for example, a doggy? Right now! I think your parents would have anything against it if it lived here until you moved into your house.”       “A dog needs care, Natalia. My parents have so much to do and aren’t able to take care of it. And I won’t also have time soon. Because of the album release… Shootings, performances, tours, and something like that…”       “However, there is me, the girl, who would watch your doggy with pleasure,” Natalia smiles slightly.       “I wouldn’t kinda mind… And if you want, I’ll make your wish come true. It’s a law to me.”       “At least, I won’t mind if you want a pretty little doggy to live with us. I say nothing about a kitten because I’d get redness on my whole body. I’m a cat fan, but I treat dogs well.”       “Aw, sweetie…” Edward shakes his head with a slight smile on his face, embraces Natalia around her shoulders with one arm, puts another around her waist, and presses her to himself so that she snuggles her face in his shoulder. “You’re yourself like a little kitty that is wanted to be petted so badly.”       “I do feel like this,” Natalia confesses in a soft, low voice. “A little kitty that wants some love and attention.”       “So, my kitty is gonna get it,” Edward promises confidently and leaves a short kiss on some parts of Natalia’s face. “I’m all yours, baby.”       “I don’t doubt it. You’re like an adult and confident cat that would surely save its little kitten from any trouble and tear anyone to dare to hurt it.”       “Anyone, who does that, will regret it and have to deal with me. Nobody will dare to hurt my girl.”       “Sweetie…”       Natalia tenderly caresses Edward’s cheek with a slight smile, while silence settles in the air for a few seconds. The lovers silently enjoy each other’s pretense, forgetting all bad things and feeling absolutely relaxed.       “You know what I want now much more?” Edward asks in a soft, low voice.       “What?” Natalia smiles shyly.       “A kiss.” Edward sets his half-closed eyes on Natalia’s lips and runs his thumb over them tenderly. “A wish to kiss you. And get lost… Forget all the bad things… Breathe in your dizzying smell…”       “And our wishes are the same.”       Edward smiles widely, softly nuzzles against Natalia’s cheek, and rubs it against it tenderly, making her laugh shyly. He looks into her bright sky-blue eyes for two seconds, leaves a short, tender kiss on her lips, and gets her involved in a longer one that she answers with great pleasure.       “You’re so gorgeous,” Edward pronounces tenderly after he breaks the kiss and caresses Natalia’s cheek softly, while she slowly strokes his hair on the top of his head with her fingers. “I go crazy from just one look at you.”       “Hold yourself down, pretty boy,” Natalia smiles slyly, feeling that the tender warmth is spreading all over her body, and her heart is beating fast.       “Why should I hold myself down when I am next to the beauty that’s only gonna belong to me soon? Officially.”       “Using the fact that I always melt at your breathtaking voice?”       “Maybe. I do know all your weaknesses and can use them.”       Edward starts another continuous kiss on the lips again, running his fingers through Natalia’s gorgeous thick hair and slowly letting another slide over the curve of her well-expressed slim waist. Which is, however, hidden underneath a gray hoodie, the size of which is two or three times bigger than her real one. At some moment, the man wants so busy his face in the neck of the girl moaning quietly from pleasure to smooth it with kisses. But the blonde is not planning to let the man go further now.       “As well as I know all your weaknesses,” Natalia says in a low, velvety voice, softly stepping back from Edward and closing his mouth with her fingers. “All of them.”       “You’ll show me everything you can do when I finish giving attention to my beloved baby,” Edward replies confidently with a sly smile.       “Oh, no!” Natalia sits up sharply and looks at Edward with the same sly smile on her face. “You won’t get me so easily!”       “Okay, my rebel, what did you plan this time?”       “Nothing special.”       “You wanna play a little?” Edward squints his eyes.       “Why not?” Natalia smiles innocently. “Think that I didn’t get enough fun yesterday.”       “Okay, I’ll play with you.” Edward sits up slowly and smiles slyly. “But later. Now I want you.”       Edward takes a second attempt to do what he wants, grabbing Natalia by the nape of her neck, sharply pressing her to himself, and giving her another continuous kiss on her lips. Although she answers it and even makes a quiet moan, she steps back again when they break it and shakes her head.       “Hey, hey, not so fast, tiger,” Natalia laughs playfully, playing with her hair. “I know your blood is bowling, and you barely control yourself. But don’t rush to feel me up and kiss me from head to foot.”       “You do want it,” Edward says confidently, running his fingertips over the nape of Natalia’s neck and seeing that she gets a little tense and starts to breathe unevenly. “Look how you’re shaking. How your body tells me it dreams of my caresses and kisses.”       “I won’t deny it,” Natalia blinks her puffy eyelashes playfully, turns her side on and slightly leans her head back, not stopping to look into Edward’s eyes, and bends backward to show some dignity of her body. “I’m getting so attracted to you… Attracted to the best man in the world.”       “So, why do you refuse the pleasure?” Edward caresses Natalia’s knee and puts his hand between her thighs. “You want me, I want you.”       “If we start fast, we’ll end fast. But I don’t want it.”       “Relax, dolly, come to me. Let’s have some fun.”       “I won’t go!”       “C’mon, Natalia, stop pretending to be hard to reach.” Edward brings his face to Natalia’s one and looks into her eyes or lips, which are asking for a kiss. “How can you hold yourself down when there is such an attractive man by your side?”       “I wanna play and become a bad girl for a while.”       “Don’t ask for trouble.”       “I don’t,” Natalia pronounces with an innocent smile in a soft voice, while her hand slowly slides over Edward’s torso. “I’m doing nothing yet.”       “Okay, rebel,” Edward says with a shy laugh in a low voice. “Since you don’t wanna make your man happy at your wish, I’m gonna have to press much more pressure.”       “And what would you do to me?”       “I can do much.” Edward runs his hands over Natalia’s arms and caresses her whole neck with his fingertips, making her feel a sweet shake all over her body. “Well, the best way to take revenge is a sudden attack!”       Edward creeps sharply to Natalia and takes her so that her arms are pressed to her body tightly, while she cries and tries to break free.       “Hey, my hair, my hair!” Natalia winces slightly, feeling mild pain because some of her hair is tightly squeezed.       “Sorry, sweetheart,” Edward apologizes, weakens the grip for a while, raises Natalia’s hair, and puts it aside, opening the view of the nape of the lady’s neck and one of its attractive curves, over which he slowly runs his lips. “My beauty…”       Getting busy with kisses on the nape of her neck and caressing its curve with his lips, Edward unconsciously weakens the grip. And Natalia uses it, breaks free quickly, and turns on him with a playful laugh.       “Look how excited you got,” Natalia shakes her head.       “Oh, how sassy you are,” Edward clicks his tongue with a sly smile. “How non-obedient you are!”       Natalia sharply puts her leg up, not letting Edward get closer to her, and waiting for what he is going to do with a sly smile. However, the man does not get confused and, grabbing the squeaking girl by the legs, presses her to himself quickly and wants to bend and kiss her again. But he has to start to fight with her when she tightly locks his fingers with his fingers and tries to push him off with a shy laugh.       “I advise you to give up, blue-eyed beauty,” Edward advises. “You won’t have the strength to fight with me!”       “You can say it to the lads,” Natalia chuckles kindly. “But you won’t catch me.”       Natalia sits up sharply and keeps fighting with Edward, who succumbs to her and does not show that he has better psychical data than she does. And he thrills with laughter along with her when she starts beating her sweetheart funnily. At some moment, the man ruffles her hair a little and puts the hood on her head. However, a few seconds later, Natalia takes revenge on Edward after all, even if he just succumbs to her and gets eventually struck down on the bed.       “Gotcha!” Natalia smiles smugly, raising Edward’s hand above his head and raising herself above him with her head proudly raised.       “Hey, whatcha doing?” Edward chuckles kindly.       “You’re where you belong.”       “What the heck? How can you explain it all?”       “I’m gonna explain it with one phrase – 'you lost, sweetie.'” Natalia cutely kisses Edward on the tip of his nose and runs her slightly open mouth over some parts of his face. “Lost…”       “Are you sure?”       “You see it all, honey.”       “Actually, I just succumbed to you,” Edward confesses. “But if I wanted, you wouldn’t deal with me. I’d have much more strength.”       “Trying to excuse your loss?”       “Not at all.”       “It doesn’t matter, though,” Natalia smiles slyly. “The most important thing is that I caught you and can do anything I want.”       “Great!” Edward laughs quietly. “You’re a mean girl! You stole my hoodie, put it on, and literally made me a captive in my own room.”       “Do you have something against it?” Natalia leaves a short kiss on Edward’s lips and slowly runs her lips over one of the curves of his neck, while he smiles shyly with closed eyes and is breathing a little heavily. “Moreover, I love wearing something from my beloved man’s clothes.”       “I got it.”       “And your hoodie is so comfortable and soft…” Natalia lets Edward’s hands go and closes half of her face with the gray hoodie of the man that she is now wearing, breathing in the smell of it deeply. “And it smells like you… M-m-m… I lose my mind…”       “Not only my smell can drive you crazy,” Edward smiles mysteriously and puts his hands on Natalia’s thighs, while she is sitting over him. “I can do very much… I know what would help me find the right key.”       “You know, I think I’ll take it home. I’m gonna be sleeping wearing it with the thoughts of your pretense and smell.”       “M-m-m, I shall think if I let my beauty take it…”       “If you wanted to take something from my stuff, I’d give it to you with pleasure,” Natalia replies confidently and smiles playfully, as she slowly walks her fingers over Edward’s chest, over which she also runs her warm hands.       “Why do I need your stuff when I can enjoy you?” Edward moves his hands to Natalia’s buttocks and squeezes them confidently but tenderly, seeing a slight smile on her face and hearing a very quiet moan. “And it’s gonna happen every day very soon…”       “Even then, you’re gonna work hard to get what you want.”       “You will give up. Because you won’t be able to resist me. What I can do and will do to you.”       “But first, I’ll see how you are gonna be whining after what I’m gonna do to do you.”       “Do you want…”       Edward does not speak his mind because Natalia makes him shut up gently, grabbing his face tenderly with both hands and kissing him on the lips so good that his heart stops for a moment, and he shakes slightly. The brunet does not dare to reject the kiss that makes both feel a slight dizziness and a hot flash, and answers it back, holding the back of his sweetheart’s head and putting his arm around the small of her back. Her hands later start stroking his hair and sliding over the male's tough masculine chest, while the man caresses her back and slightly squeezes her tough buttocks.       Sometimes every one of them makes a quiet moan expressing pleasure and breaks the kiss to catch a breath for a second. At some moment, the blonde, keeping a hand on her fiancé’s cheek, leaves a few tender kisses on the curve of his neck and the area behind his ear, while he smiles much wider with closed eyes and feels a nice shake in the whole body. A little later, MacClife, Jr., wants to go further and lets his hand slide underneath her clothes to caress her naked back and curves. However, Natalia breaks the kiss but does not step away from Edward, continuing to caress his face with both hands and examine it with a tender gaze.       “Well, can I do it now?” Natalia asks with a mysterious smile.       “What?” Edward wonders.       “Take your hoodie.”       “Hoodie?” Edward thinks for two or three seconds with rolled eyes and smiles slyly. “Erm… No! I won’t give!”       Edward sits up sharply, strikes Natalia down on the bed, making her cry out quietly, raises her hands above her head, raises himself above her, and laughs with a smug smile.       “You’ve been caught, baby,” Edward says with a sense of pride.       “Hey, this is not honest!” Natalia protests with a laugh.       “What’s not honest? That you yawned, but I used it?”       “As if you were waiting for this moment!”       “Of course, I was.”       “And what’s next?” Natalia puts her legs on Edward’s back and wraps them around his waist.       “Next, my beauty, you’re gonna have to pay for some of your actions,” Edward barely touches Natalia’s lips with his lips and leaves a couple of short kisses on the front of her neck, making her exhale sensually with closed eyes. “Because you don’t need to yawl.”       “And how?”       “You’ll know it later.”       “Okay, you played a little, and that’s enough,” Natalia says confidently. “Now let me go.”       “No, I won’t do it,” Edward shakes his head with a mysterious smile.       “Let me go now!” Natalia sharply tries to get out of Edward’s grip. “You hear what I say?”       “Quiet, quiet, blonde, quiet,” Edward pronounces in a quiet, low voice, brings his face to Natalia’s face, and barely touches every single part of it with his lips very slowly.       “MacClife!”       “Relax, baby, why are you so nervous?” Edward tenderly kisses the area behind Natalia’s ear, which he caresses tenderly with his lips, and in which he wants to whisper something. “Don’t swim against the tide. Stop resisting and succumb to it.”       “Don’t be so confident…” Natalia says quietly, feeling that a sweet shake runs over her body because of Edward’s tender whisper and burning breath on her neck. “And let me the hell go…”       “What would you do if I didn’t let you go?”       “Then…” Natalia smiles playfully and bites her lip slightly. “I will be biting! And resisting!”       “Come on?”       “I’m so dangerous! A-r-r-r…”       “M-m-m, it seems like I have a deal with a rebel girl,” Edward replies confidently. “It’s okay, I know what to do.”       While Edward looks at the face of his fiancée with admiration and stops his eyes on her lips, Natalia sharply moves her hands to break them free. But the man squeezes them tighter immediately and presses them to the pillow, while she breathes a little heavily and looks into his eyes confidently.       “Sh-h-h, don’t do it,” Edward whispers.       “How long are you gonna do this?” Natalia asks.       “As long as I want. And I advise you to be a good girl.”       “I don’t want!”       “Then I’m gonna have to be more determined. Find a way to do my best for you not to run anywhere.”       “Every day, you’re getting crazier and crazier,” Natalia laughs playfully. “And more insolent.”       “It’s not my fault. You make me the one. You make me want to make you mine… Do everything for both of us to feel good.”       “I’ve done nothing yet.”       “You don’t have to. Just looking into your eyes is enough for me to make you mine.”       When Natalia barely opens her mouth to say something and tries to bite him by the neck slightly, Edward gives her such an exciting kiss on the lips that everything turns upside down inside her, her heart stops, her breath gets uneven, and she makes a quiet moan. At first, she gets a little tense and tries to resist. But later, she relaxes and gives herself to the man, while her hands are up above her head and pressed to the pillow. She badly wants to run her fingers through the man’s soft and rebellious hair, caress his smooth cheek, or run her hands over his back… But he does not let her do it and wakes up the fire inside her with just one kiss that is getting hotter and wetter slowly but confidently.       At some moment, Edward slowly, but rightly buries his nose in Natalia’s neck and smothers its curves with soft, tender kisses with distinct pleasure. The girl makes sensual moans more frequently, barely remembering that she should breathe, squeezing her thighs and clenching her hands into fists with a feeling of unearthly pleasure. Her body starts bending backward, the sound of the heartbeat echoes in her temples, and something warm is slowly getting born between her legs.        “Oh, my gosh…” Natalia makes a sensual moan with closed eyes.       “So, why did you fall into silence?” Edward smiles smugly and leaves a couple of more kisses on the front of Natalia’s neck and the area behind her ears. “Keep resisting.”       “Ar-r-r, stop the fuck kidding me!”       “I’m not kidding!” Edward lets Natalia’s hands go and unzips the hoodie to open her attractive collarbones, which he covers with tender kisses with pleasure. “C’mon, sweetie, try to run away from me. I’m giving you a chance.”       “Your brother impacts you very badly… Because you are… Becoming as insolent as he is…”       “No, nobody can outstand him… But my bro gave me a couple of good lessons and discovered some secrets that I’m gonna surely use. Because they will help me drive you crazy.”       “Seriously?” Natalia makes a loud moan, tightly pressing the back of her head into the pillow, while Edward slightly runs his half-open mouth over her neck and collarbones and lets his hands tenderly squeeze her big, tough breasts. “Do you wanna kill me before our wedding?”       “I’m gonna save something for our first marriage night. And make the other things come true now.”       “I’m afraid to imagine… What… I’m gonna experience that night… If I’m about to get a heart attack now…”       “Don’t worry, sweetheart, you’re gonna feel very good,” Edward slowly runs his hand over the curves of Natalia’s waist, opens the zipper on the hoodie, and raises her slim, tight black sleeveless shirt with a beautiful lace pattern on the chest, getting her flat belly naked and caressing it with his warm hands. “As well as I’m gonna do…”       “Please, Edward…” Natalia sighs sensually, making her abdomen tense. “M-m-m…”       “What a beauty you are…” Edward leaves a few short kisses on Natalia’s belly and runs his lips over it, while his hands caress her thighs confidently, and she feels a little dizzy and is enjoying the feeling of an all-embracing ecstasy. “Freaking awesome…”       A little later, Edward moves up slowly, running his hands over the curves of Natalia’s waist again, gives her an exciting, continuous kiss on the lips, and puts his hands on her cheeks, the skin of which is incredibly soft to touch. The girl finally gets a chance to run her fingers through his black luxury hair and run her hand over his tough arms, in which she always feels absolutely safe and surrounded by care and love. And she hotly answers him with a sensual moan when his tongue tenderly slides into her mouth and runs over her palate and around her tongue confidently.       “So, Natalia, don’t you wanna resist anymore?” Edward whispers with a sly smile, bringing his face to Natalia’s ear and making her feel a strong shake in her whole body. “Did you see that doing this is worthless in my case?”       “Even if it’s the truth, I…” Natalia pronounces in a low, slightly hoarse voice, tightly squeezing Edward’s hair with her fingers. “Ain’t gonna give up so easily…”       “Okay. Do what you want.” Edward caresses Natalia’s ear with his lips and kisses the area behind it. “But you wouldn’t get off me so easily. You’re gonna have to pay for setting up a fire inside me.”       “For your caresses and kisses, I’m ready for anything… I can’t live without them…”       “And I’m gonna insolently use it. Relax a little and forget everything in the world.”       Edward leaves a few tender, but exciting kisses on every single curve of Natalia’s neck and the front of it, while she gets her hands underneath his t-shirt and caresses his tough-to-touch back, being behind which is like being behind a brick wall – trustworthy and safe. The man decides not to make this foreplay too long and ends it with a cute kiss on the cheek and a tender caress of the head. Then he lies next to her and tries to catch a breath, feeling a little hot flash and tension in his whole body. Natalia looks at Edward for two seconds with a tender smile on her face and turns onto her back, running her hand through his little disheveled hair at some moment.       “How sly you are, MacClife,” Natalia notices with a sly smile. “Sly, insolent, and shameless.”       “Because I’m giving you pleasure?” Edward asks, caressing Natalia’s cheek tenderly.       “Because you’re using someone’s weaknesses.”       “This is just a part of what I can do, sweetheart. But you’re gonna discover everything soon.”       “If I live ‘till that moment.” Natalia rolls onto her stomach and moves her hair aside. “Because you’ll kill me with what you do someday.”       “I’m still alive,” Edward notices, lies on his stomach, and runs his hand over the perfectly straight back of Natalia. “After everything you do to me.”       “You’re the one to blame, pretty boy,” Natalia smiles playfully and slaps Edward on the nose with her finger. “Do you think you’re the only one to be able to use the weaknesses of the fragile girl?”       “It’s hard to resist when such a seductive and attractive girl is next to me. I mean, impossible. Just looking at you is enough for me to wish to get obsessed with you.”       “Even with bad hair, in shabby jeans, a simple t-shirt, and the man’s hoodie?”       “You’ll be perfect for me in any look.” Edward runs his fingers through Natalia’s hair and ruffles it a little, making her laugh shyly. “A truly attractive girl having a great charm can wear anything, but she’d get everyone excited and cause a wish to caress her gorgeous body.”       “Yeah, and it would be much better if a girl was naked,” Natalia smiles mysteriously, slightly punching Edward on the side with her thigh.       “That’s actually awesome!” Edward rolls his eyes. “Naked, with disheveled hair, without makeup on the face… M-m-m… Just perfect.”       “That’s how!”       “Have I ever told you that I love the natural beauty that you were given by nature so much?”       “Sounds like a compliment,” Natalia smiles shyly.       “Because it’s true, my blue-eyed beauty.” Edward caresses Natalia’s head and cheek tenderly. “The most gorgeous lady in the world.”       Natalia smiles much wider and puts her head on the shoulder of Edward, who cutely kisses her on the top of her head. Silence settles in the air for a little, during which the girl caresses the man’s cheek and runs her hand through his hair, and he looks at her face with a tender gaze.       “By the way, Edward, I’d like…” Natalia says thoughtfully. “I’d like to look at your tattoo better. You got it a long time ago, but I barely saw it on the music video’s shooting.”       “Sure, you can look,” Edward replies softly. “The small of my back.”       Natalia looks at Edward for two seconds, rolls onto the side slowly, and pulls the t-shirt up a little. The girl sees a small flock of black birds that fly away on different sides and the phrase “It’s Time To Let The Past Go” written in a gracious, handwriting font on the small of his back.       “Wow,” Natalia smiles slightly, looking at the tattoo closely. “Beautiful… Very beautiful…”       “I’m happy with the results, too,” Edward confesses.       “Does it have a meaning? Or it’s just a painting?”       “It does. Birds kind of mean getting free from what was holding me down for ages. They fly away after being under a lock and do enjoy the feeling when they can finally get up.”       “Do you mean it’s about the changes that have happened to you over the past few months?”       “Yup. I was also holding myself down for ages… Trying to hold some feelings down… And it was pressing on me. I was in a strong tension and couldn’t relax.”       “Hm… It’s time to let the past go… The birds fly far away, not looking back and moving on.”       “I associate myself with this flock of birds,” Edward confesses. “I had to be in a shell and feel constrained for a long time. But now I’ve finally escaped and felt what I was looking for ages – happiness, freedom, and relief.”       “I got it,” Natalia pronounces with a slight smile and lies on her stomach next to Edward.       “Although I’m still getting used to this feeling and haven’t gotten rid of what I was fighting for half of my life, there is so much I’ve done.”       “And believe me, you’ve been doing this well. Soon, you’re gonna have no reason to think of your past.”       “I’m trying to think about it less. Because… There were horrible people, who made me feel disgusting. Made me do lots of things that I would always regret.”       “Don’t do it, Edward,” Natalia says softly, caressing Edward’s cheek tenderly and kissing another cutely. “Live in the present and be what you are now.”       “I’m trying. Really.”       Natalia shyly smiles at Edward, who is still lying on his stomach with his hands cupped his chin, runs her hand over his hair, and slides down to his cheek slowly, and caresses it very tenderly, letting the man enjoy her love as much as possible. Later, he puts a warm hand on the blonde’s cheek, making her smile and close her eyes for two seconds, while the tips of their noses rub contact slightly.       “Hey…” Edward pronounces thoughtfully. “If you want, you can take my hoodie with you.”       “Really?” Natalia rounds her eyes.       “Yup. But to do this, I’m gonna ask you to help me relax much more.” Edward sets his bedroom eyes on Natalia’s lips, over which he runs his thumb. “Just a little.”       “Sounds very good.”       “But this time, be a good girl and don’t play hard-to-reach,” Edward says softly and caresses Natalia’s head tenderly.       “Okay, I won’t do it again. I teased you a little – that’s enough.”       “In this case, I’ve gotta use this chance.”       The lovers share a look into each other’s eyes for a few seconds and then slowly connect their lips to enjoy the dizzying feelings that they feel every time they kiss each other, understanding that a nice shake is spreading over their bodies, and the sound of the heart beating crazily is echoing in their heads. When the soon-to-be spouses sit up at some moment, Natalia runs fingers through Edward’s hair, lets them “peregrinate” his head, and puts her arm around his, neck while he has arms around her waist and holds the girl very tightly, as if he does not to let her go or is afraid to lose her.       The man caresses her back with tender and slow movements of his hands and is not shy of getting underneath her shirt and caressing the naked parts of the beloved girl’s gorgeous body. But a little later, Edward covers Natalia’s gracious neck with kisses with great pleasure and gives some attention to her tough breasts, which he squeezes tenderly and caresses with his lips. The girl only has to enjoy what’s happening, moan quietly or roll her eyes, and not to forget to give enough love and care to the man, so he feels very good.       

***

      Terrence and Raquelle also decided to spend time together. Staying home, the lovers are sitting in the living room, watching a movie on the big TV, lying on the sofa, embracing each other, and eating something that is placed against them. The girl is pressing herself closer to the man, who is holding her tightly, while she has her head rested on his chest, on which she draws something or just puts a hand at times. But some time later, the movie ends, and the end credits start showing on TV. So, Terrence takes the remote control and presses a couple of buttons, saying cheerfully with a slight smile:       “Excellent movie! I wanted to watch it a long time ago, but had no time.”       “Agree, it’s really good…” Raquelle replies thoughtfully. “But too horrifying. My hair almost stood because of some scenes.”       “I did warn that you shouldn’t have watched it.”       “Yeah, but curiosity won.”       “So, don’t say I made you watch the movie,” Terrence says with an innocent smile.       “I won’t do it, don’t worry.”       “I hope.”       “But the only good thing about watching scary movies is that I can press myself close to my beloved man and take his hand not to be so scared. Press yourself to his chest with the thought that you’re safe.”       “Agree. Watching movies and snuggling your beloved person is awesome.” Terrence runs his hand over Raquelle’s cheek softly, while she still has her head resting on his chest. “Especially, when it happens that you can’t see this person for a long time.”       “We have to,” Raquelle notices with a shy smile. “You’re reaching for your dreams and doing everything to make them come true. You know I treat it with understanding and approve of it.”       “I know, my sweetheart. But I think I’ve achieved a lot. Even if I’m not gonna stop after that and will keep moving on.”       “That’s right.”       “The band’s first single and music video have already been released. Our album is gonna be released soon, and I’m planning a worldwide tour and getting prestigious awards.”       “I’m sure you and the lads can do it,” Raquelle says confidently with pride, running her hand through Terrence’s hair and stroking it shyly.       “It’s not always easy, though.”       “You knew it from the beginning and should’ve been ready.”       “Yeah, I know…” Terrence thinks for two seconds, getting a little sad. “I’ve always said that I try not to pay attention to everything my haters and my band’s enemies say.”       “What do you wanna say?” Raquelle frowns slightly.       “One week ago, I accidentally saw some posts on Twitter… People said something that made me think about the past.”       “Did they hurt you so much that you took it personally?” Raquelle wonders.       “No, I didn’t.”       “But what were they about?”       “About the story of Uncle Michael.”       “Please, Terrence, let’s not think about it. Your uncle and his accomplices are in prison and won’t leave it soon. And Michael won’t actually do it ‘cause he got a life sentence.”       “Yeah, I remember. Those comments just made me remember what we had to get through. Yes, all the guilty people got their punishment, but I haven’t gotten rid of a bad feeling. To be honest, I still can’t come to myself after I discovered so many secrets at the same time.”       “Nevertheless, you’ve said many times that this story made us understand very much and change our opinion about some things.”       “But how hard the way was… Everything happened at the same time and seemed hopeless. I thought it wouldn’t have ended.”       “But it ended.”       “I know…”       “Honey, don’t think about it,” Raquelle says softly and caresses Terrence’s cheek tenderly, looking at him with sadness in her eyes. “That time was really hard, but it’s in the past. We got over that.”       “I still shake when I think of every single moment that we experienced.”       “Gosh, since when have you been so susceptible? I didn’t think you’d be worried for so long!”       “I don’t know,” Terrence shrugs. “I guess something impacted me so much that I’ve really become too susceptible over the past two years. Or… The appearance of my sentimental bro in my life made me less stoned.”       “Susceptible but not worse,” Raquelle says with a slight smile and kisses Terrence on the lips cutely, putting her hand on his cheek. “Vice versa – much better.”       “Nice to hear it.”       Terrence smiles shyly, cuddles the smiling Raquelle tighter, and caresses her head tenderly, while they are still lying on the sofa in the living room. They say nothing for a few seconds and just enjoy each other’s pretense.       “Listen, maybe, we watch something else?” Terrence suggests thoughtfully. “These two hours of watching the movie went too fast.”       “No, I won’t be watching another scary movie,” Raquelle protests confidently. “I’m done with it!”       “We can check out the list of movies on Netflix and select something.”       “Should I cook another big piece of pizza?” Raquelle sits up, holds out a hand to the plate, takes a little piece of the pizza from what she sees in there, and eats it. “The plate with the first one got empty amazingly fast.”       “I really liked it. I’d be happy to eat more.” Terrence smiles innocently. “And actually, we were both eating this one. So, the plate got empty.”       “Yeah, but you were the only one to eat it constantly, but I took a piece several times!”       “You wanna say I eat much?”       “Even too much,” Raquelle chuckles quietly. “The lads are right when they say you’re a glutton. Someone has gotta stand in front of a cooker all day long to feed you fully.”       “Oh, c’mon, listen to those idiots less! You must see how much they eat! Not like kitties.”       “But they won’t outstand you.”       “Excuse me, but I don’t count calories and do eat everything I want. And I keep myself in good shape. Because I’ve got incredible genes and have regular workouts at a gym.”       “I believe what about your genes. Because if you had a bad genetic and ate so much, girls would admire your puffy cheeks and big belly.”       “But as you see, I have no fatness on my body,” Terrence notices in a low voice with his head proudly raised. “Apollo’s body! And trust me, baby, it will remain the same.”       “I won’t gain weight, either,” Raquelle smiles shyly. “I eat anything as much as I want, but it doesn’t make my body worse.”       “You have a gorgeous one.”       “Terrence said, starting to imagine his fiancée being nude and the way he’d be feeling and kissing her on everything he sees.”       “Guessed,” Terrence smiles mysteriously. “When such a sexy and attractive cutie is near me, I can’t stay indifferent. I imagine myself dealing with my beloved bitch with great pleasure and making her moan from pleasure again.”       With these words, Terrence shyly pulls down the zipper on Raquelle’s hoodie at the collarbones’ level and leaves a couple of kisses on the curve of her neck. It makes the girl smiles shyly, but she decides to tease her fiancé, hiding the naked collarbones with a hand.       “Hey, MacClife, don’t dare to do it right here,” Raquelle says shyly.       “Why?” Terrence wonders. “My baby is shy?”       “Maybe…”       “I can’t believe it,” Terrence tenderly caresses Raquelle’s head and the curves of her neck with his fingertips. “How could such a freaking sexy girl be shy? She’s ready for anything with her beloved man!”       “I’m gonna be ready only when we’re in the locked bedroom.”       “Yeah, but you weren’t shy at the music video’s shooing and played in our bed scene brilliantly,” Terrence smiles slyly. “When we should’ve shown passion in front of the crew team and the lads, who almost disrupted it with their stupid jokes. You were a truly hot chick that I would’ve fucked right there…”       With these words, Terrence wants to kiss Raquelle on the neck and let his hands massage her breasts a little. But she steps back shyly and puts her hand on his lips with a mysterious smile, as if she is holding down his impulse.       “No, no, honey, don’t rush,” Raquelle says with a much lower voice.       “Don’t I have the right to kiss my beloved fiancée?” Terrence asks in a low voice. “I think I do. Moreover, she’s gonna be my wife soon.”       “I still think this is the craziest decision in my life.”       “I couldn’t miss the chance to get the most gorgeous girl in the world.” Terrence leaves a short, tender kiss on Raquelle’s lips. “Who drives me crazy with one look.”       “And you, filthy horse, can’t wait to take me to the bed?”       “I’ve been dreaming about it for a few days.” Terrence caresses Raquelle’s cheek, while she accepts this tenderness with a slight smile on her face. “You and I haven’t been alone for so long because I was busy. But now I’m free and gonna give as much attention to my dolly as possible.”       “And I’m gonna accept it with pleasure,” Raquelle takes the hand of Terrence, with which he caresses her cheek, squeezes it in her hand, and brings her face closer to his face, letting the man feel her hot breath and looking into his eyes. “And… If I like it, I will not leave it without my attention.”       “If only you knew how much I missed you…” Terrence replies in a low, little hoarse voice and feels how his heart stops for a moment, and he takes a breath away. “There were no seconds when I didn’t think of you.”       “I missed you so much, too,” Raquelle confesses, stroking Terrence’s hair with very slow and tender movements. “But I was incredibly proud when I was watching you perform with the band.”       “This thing gave me much more confidence.”       “You don’t need it ‘cause you’re too confident.”       “I never doubt myself when I have such a stunning girl by my side,” Terrence says with pride and runs his hand slowly over Raquelle’s thigh. “Never.”       “You know, I don’t also hide my pride when such a gorgeous man is by my side.”       “In this case, stop pretending to be hard to reach and make me happy with everything you can do. Make all my wishes come true and give me the most unforgettable moments. That would help me relax and get rid of stress.”       Terrence leaves a short kiss on the corners of Raquelle’s mouth, holding her face, and gets her involved in a more continuous one. Although she answers him back, she breaks it some time later when he wants to kiss her on the neck. Then the girl grabs his face and slightly rubs the tip of her nose against his nose.       “Make your filthy wishes come true?” Raquelle asks in a low voice with a mysterious smile.       “I think I deserved it,” Terrence replies quietly and confidently and gives Raquelle another short kiss on the lips.       “And I think you should hold yourself down.” Raquelle steps back from Terrence a little and tenderly runs her finger over his lips, which she looks at.       “I’m burning from the wish to make you mine.”       “It will be gone.”       “C’mon, babe, stop pretending to be hard to reach and do everything I love.” Terrence softly grabs Raquelle by the throat and looks into her eyes. “You don’t want me to be rude and take you by force.”       “What would you do to me, filthy horse?” Raquelle asks with a sly chuckle. “Feel me up and kiss? Or decide to tie me up, so I ain’t able to run?”       “I’ll do it in case I have to take measures,” Terrence says with a wide, sly smile, caresses the curves of Raquelle’s neck with his fingertips and slides to her collarbones and breasts, which he tenderly squeezes in his hand. “You won’t be able to do anything. And I’ll get a chance to do anything I want to you.”       “It’s never been a secret to me that you’re mentally ill.”       “So what, cutie? Are you gonna give yourself to me at your wish? Or moan from pleasure with your hands tied to the bed?”       “And how would I look: dressed or naked?” Raquelle asks in a low, seducing voice and slightly bites her lip.       “At first, dressed, but I’ll slowly take the unnecessary clothes off you and fuck you hard,” Terrence smiles slyly, still massaging Raquelle’s breasts and starting to stimulate her nipples with a thumb. “Of course, when you’re moaning from pleasure and begging me to bring the case to an end.”       “Sick bastard.”       Terrence breathing a little heavily sharply grabs Raquelle by the hair on the back of her head, presses her to himself, and wants to give her a passionate, continuous kiss. But the girl immediately closes his mouth with her hand and pushes the man off, looking into his eyes with a heavy breath.       “S-h-h, quiet, honey,” Raquelle whispers. “Don’t move.”       “You’re now asking for great trouble, bitch,” Terrence says confidently in a low, hoarse voice. “You’ll make me stop waiting for the moment when we go to the bedroom and deal with you right here, on this fucking sofa.”       “You’re threatening me?”       “I’m warning. That your tricks won’t stay unnoticed, and you will have to pay much for that.”       “Make sure you don’t have to pay. For your great self-confidence.”       “It’s time to remember that I will get a victory, no matter how hard you resist.”       “Think I’m doing this on purpose,” Raquelle says confidently with a sly smile, slowly running her hand over Terrence’s chest and looking into his eyes, while their faces are very close to one another. “You do always look so sexy when you’re mad. When you try to prove that you’re the boss at home. It gets me so excited…”       “Resistance always gets us excited and encourages us to do something in any way.”       “Then try to catch me.”       Terrence sharply wants to kiss Raquelle on the lips, but she tightly grabs him by the throat and looks into his eyes deeply.       “I mean, try to get out of my webs,” Raquelle adds. “And I’m gonna watch you.”       “And how long are you gonna play with me?” Terrence asks in a low voice.       “As much as I want.”       Raquelle leaves a teasing kiss on Terrence’s lips, runs her tongue over his palate, and moves to the curve of his neck that she kisses and bites several times tenderly, making the man smile widely, breathe heavily, and feel a tormenting tension in his whole body and a slight shake.       “Oh, Cameron, hellcat…” Terrence pronounces in a low voice, exhaling slowly. “You can drive me crazy with a couple of kisses.”       “I haven’t given attention to other parts of your gorgeous body,” Raquelle notices, while her hands slide over Terrence’s torso slowly but confidently, and she starts smothering another curve of his neck with kisses and breathing in the smell of it deeply. “But you’d definitely moan from pleasure.”       “If you try hard, it will happen. At first, some caress for my Apollo’s body, and then you can work with your mouth and give some attention to my penis.”       “Let’s save your dirtiest fantasies for later.” Raquelle runs her tongue over the curve of Terrence’s neck, while her hand slides over the male chest. “As well as any caress.”       Raquelle sharply steps back from Terrence with a sly smile, fixes her little disheveled hair with a gracious movement of her hand, and reaches out her hand to the plate with pieces of pizza. However, her fiancé eats it from her hand before she brings the piece of pizza to the month.       “A-a-a…” Raquelle barely opens her mouth.       “Thanks, dolly,” Terrence says with a sly smile. “Some delicious food before a foreplay is always good.”       “Hey, actually, I wanted to eat it!”       “Eat then!” Terrence reaches out his hand to the plate, takes a piece of pizza, and gives it to Raquelle. “C’mon, babe, open your mouth.”       But when Raquelle wants to take it and eat it, Terrence moves his hand aside and caresses the girl’s head, as he shushes.       “S-h-h-h, don’t rush, sweetheart, don’t rush,” Terrence says with a sly smile.       “MacClife!” Raquelle resents loudly.       “Be patient, babe.” Terrence runs his finger over Raquelle’s lip. “Patient.”       “Stop kidding me!”       “Who’s kidding you?” Terrence eats what he has in his hand again. “M-m-m, yum, yum, so delicious! I’m delighted!”       “If you keep eating so much, I will obviously put you on a diet,” Raquelle threatens funnily. “Tell the servants not to cook after the first order of yours. And I’ll be feeding you according to the schedule: breakfast, lunch, and dinner.”       “If you haven’t forgotten, I can also cook and could always make something delicious.”       “Okay. But don’t tell me you don’t fit your favorite jeans. And don’t complain that your suit ripped right on our wedding day.”       Raquelle glances aside for a while, thinking about something. And Terrence uses it and smiles slyly at some moment.       “Oh, someone’s coming here,” Terrence says thoughtfully, looking at the opposite side.       “Who?” Raquelle asks, being confused, and looks around quickly.       Raquelle does not have to understand that Terrence sharply embraces her with both arms from behind, locks his fingers on her chest, snuggles his face in her shoulder for a second, and kisses her on the temple.       “Don’t yawl, honey!” Terrence says with a sly smile.       “You lied to me!” Raquelle opens her mouth. “Nobody’s coming here!”       “And you, silly girl, believed me.” Terrence leaves a couple of kisses on the curve of Raquelle’s neck and the area behind her ear, over which he tenderly runs his lips. “You were deceived… Deceived…”       “Alright, pretty boy, hold on. I’m gonna kick your ass. And your brother will seem like an innocent angel to you.”       Raquelle sets free from Terrence’s arms easily enough, turns on him, takes a pillow from the sofa, and beats him several times, while he tries to hide his face with loud chuckles.       “Hey, stop it!” Terrence demands through a laugh. “Stop, I said!”       “I will annoy you,” Raquelle says confidently, throws the pillow to the side, and tries to ruffle Terrence’s hair, thrilling with a laugh. “Get it! Get it!”       “A man is the boss at home!” Terrence claps Raquelle on the buttocks playfully. “He rules the show!”       “Right, he is. But when I want it.”       “No, no, don’t tickle!” Terrence exclaims loudly when Raquelle starts tickling his stomach and hips. “Raquelle! Alright, stop it! You know that I barely take a tickling! Don’t do it!”       “There is at least one case when you can’t call yourself perfect.”       “I won’t give up easily!”       Terrence breathing heavily quickly takes revenge and forces Raquelle to protect herself when he starts tickling her. However, the brunette with tousled hair is not going to give up and fights with him, despite the torture, with which he tortures her.       “And men don’t hurt girls!” Raquelle protests funnily and makes a quiet squeak because of a tickling.       “Yeah, if girls behave well,” Terrence replies confidently and playfully claps Raquelle on the buttocks two times. “But if they’re mean bitches, who must get their butts kicked, they must get a punishment.”       “Yeah? What about this?” Raquelle tightly sinks her teeth into the curve of Terrence’s neck and bites it.       “Hey!” Terrence makes a quiet squeak. “Don’t bite me!”       “I’m gonna be biting you ‘till you stop tickling me.”       Raquelle keeps her promise, starting to kick Terrence with both hands and legs, tickling, and biting his ears, nose, neck, and everything she sees. The man does not stop thrilling with a laugh and answers the girl back. A little later, he shamelessly gets his hands underneath her rolled hoodie and starts to slide up and down over her naked back, sides, and belly, not refusing to clap her on the buttocks two more times and squeeze them.       “Is this everything you can do?” Raquelle chuckles kindly. “Only feel my ass up!”       “Do you wanna know it?” Terrence smiles slyly. “I can do it!”       Terrence easily strikes Raquelle down on his laps, even if she keeps beating and biting him for fun and tries to sit up again.       “Okay, okay, relax, baby, stop fighting and biting,” Terrence whispers confidently, slowly running his hand over Raquelle’s belly and thigh. “Nothing will help you.”       “This is what you wanna think,” Raquelle chuckles and sits up slowly, looking into Terrence’s eyes. “And I will get control of you. And tie you to the bed. Do my best for you to howl.”       “Only after I do this to you.”       Terrence takes Raquelle’s hands tightly and places her on his laps again, not paying attention to her squeaks. After this, the man sharply presses her to himself and kisses her on the lips passionately. At first, the girl resists hard, moaning something into his mouth and giving slight hits to the male chest. But later, she relaxes sharply with a quiet, sensual moan and starts breathing heavily and deeply, immediately falling into the abyss of bliss and letting herself give up under the pressure of the strong, confident man. Terrence smiles smugly with a sense of pride and gets his tongue in Raquelle’s half-open mouth, running it over her palate and around her tongue. In parallel, he caresses her throat with his fingertips tenderly, feeling her fast heartbeat well, squeezes the lady’s breasts, slides down slowly, raises her hoodie, and runs his hand over her flat belly. That’s why the girl moans quietly with slight dizziness and understands how her heart stops for a moment. And when the man runs his hand underneath her pants and underwear and stimulates her clitoris, she gets her thighs tense and bends her back backward with a more sensual, louder moan.       “Good girl, good girl,” Terrence says with a smug smile, raises Raquelle a little, holding her by the back, and leaves a few kisses on different areas of her neck, while she moans quietly again with her head leaned back and her eyes closed. “Ah, how gorgeous you are! You never stop waking up the fire inside me.”       “Please, Terrence, please…” Raquelle makes a sensual moan and bends her back backward strongly.       “Sh-h-h, quiet, babe, quiet…” Terrence slowly runs his hand over Raquelle’s naked belly and gives some attention to her breasts and nipples. “I know what to do.”       During another continuous kiss, Terrence places Raquelle between his legs and starts holding her by the back of her head with one hand and lets another hand slide over her thigh and naked back confidently, caressing the nape of her back with his fingertips a little later and leaving a couple of exciting kisses on the front of it. By this moment, the girl breathing heavily relaxes and answers the kiss with pleasure, putting her hand on the man’s cheek, pulling the hair on the top of her fiancé’s head slightly, and starting to hold the nape of his neck later.       However, Terrence decides not to make this foreplay too long and breaks the kiss, stepping back from the relaxed Raquelle a few seconds later, and caressing her cheek tenderly with a sly smile. While the girl looks into his eyes deeply like charmed.       “So, you feel better?” Terrence asks with a slight smile.       “Yeah…” Raquelle pronounces in a hoarse voice. “Much…”       “I also feel good. Thanks to you, cutie.” Terrence leaves a couple of tender kisses on the curve of Raquelle’s neck and the hole in her throat, making her feel a sweet shake in her body and make a sensual sigh with closed eyes. “You’re so gorgeous… You make me want you more and more…”       “And you make me hate you.” Raquelle looks into Terrence’s eyes confidently and deeply with a sly smile. “For making me helpless and disarmed.”       “Yeah, there’s the secret that lets me control you easily,” Terrence says confidently, running his hand over Raquelle’s thigh and buttock and moving it to the lady’s breasts, which he squeezes tenderly. “Make you obey me. Do what I say.”       “Ah…” Raquelle exhales sensually with rolled eyes. “Fuck… Someday I’ll kill you, scoundrel… Kill…”       “I love you, too, my sweetheart.” Terrence tenderly caresses Raquelle’s head and kisses her on the cheek, stimulating her nipples with his thumbs. “Even if you love playing a mean bitch and making me enraged.”       “Am I making you enraged?”       “Yes! You always provoke me!”       “Who would say! You irritate me from our first meeting!”       “Don’t pretend to be innocent.” Terrence moves his hand to Raquelle’s thigh, caresses the inside of it confidently, and smiles slyly. “And if you want me to slap your butts for your bad behavior or tie you to the bed regularly, you can keep going on. I do like crazy girls that can’t or don’t wanna be obedient.”       “I already understood that it can’t be cured.”       “I’m just doing what I think about when I look at such a sexy dolly.”       “You know, I’d also do very much to your naked body,” Raquelle says in a low voice with a mysterious smile and bites her lip slightly, running her fingertips over Terrence’s collarbones. “M-m-m… I wanna touch your tough muscles and kiss every single part of it.”       “I’d be thrilled to give you this chance…”       “Did I ask you about it?” Raquelle leaves a tender kiss on Terrence’s lips and wants to say something into his mouth. “Soon, I’m gonna have the official right to do anything I want to it.”       When Raquelle reaches out her hands to Terrence’s torso and wants to get underneath the same hoodie as hers, he takes them softly and runs the back of his hand over her cheek.       “Yeah, but you’re gonna have to be a good girl,” Terrence says confidently. “Listen to me and do everything I say.”       “It’s time to remember that I will never be the one.”       “You will, babe, you will.” Terrence grabs Raquelle by the chin tenderly and raises it, making her look into his eyes. “I should only apply some effort.”       “You’re starting to irritate me.”       “You, too.”       “Excellent!” Raquelle brings her face much closer to Terrence’s one and glances at his lips with a heavy breath, grabbing him by the collar. “Then shut up and fuck me! Right here and now!”       Terrence smiles widely, his pupils dilate, and his fantasy creates something that makes him breathe heavily and understand that something tightens his pants. Raquelle looks into his eyes deeply for two seconds, and then she tenderly connects her lips with his lips. The man shakes slightly but answers slowly to this tender kiss that is getting hotter and deeper. In parallel, they start caressing the face, the hair, the neck, or the collarbones of each other, breathing heavily and deeply and not hiding their quiet moans. And at some moment, Terrence pulls down the zipper on Raquelle’s hoodie so that he can see her small, careful breasts, gets one of her shoulders naked, and smooths it with tender kisses. It makes her laugh quickly during the kiss but seem much more attractive to her fiancée, whom she does not want and cannot resist.       A little later, Terrence breaks the kiss and slowly takes the way from Raquelle’s cheek to her collarbones from kisses. Feeling his hot breath and warm hands on her sensitive skin, the girl does not hold down her quiet moans and pulls the man’s hair strongly in passion. She squeezes her thighs and leans her head back when MacClife, Sr., leaves a few kisses on the front of her neck and caresses the lady’s breasts like a boss, while she sticks them up proudly. Terrence does not also refuse a wish to snuggle the nose in Raquelle’s curve of the neck, leave kiss prints or slight bites on it. His tender, warm hands caress her cheek, the curves of her waist, and her legs, hold her by the neck, massage her breasts, and give enough attention to her tough nipples. The girl stays very confident and lets him know that this man can do anything he wants for her.       

***

      Peter and Helene decided to go to the city and walk the dog, Sammy, that stole the hearts of the lovers’ friends. Holding each other’s hands, they are having a nice talk, while the pet obediently follows his owner, who keeps him on the leash and sometimes pulls him not to let him go anywhere.       “I’m so happy the guys liked Sammy,” Helene says with a slight smile. “He literally stole their hearts.”       “So, you shouldn’t have been worried,” Peter replies amicably. “I told you everybody would like this doggy.”       “You’re right. So, I’m gonna take him to all of our hangouts.”       “You know, my sweetheart, when I went to your home and saw this fluffy creature for the first time, I loved him immediately, too,” Peter confesses confidently. “When he was a clumsy puppy…”       “Yeah, Sammy was a funny puppy. But look what a handsome guy my baby has become. And how smart he is! When you barely look at him, he understands everything.”       “He’s just madly lucky he’s got such a great owner that made him such a wonderful doggy,” Peter says with a slight smile, lets Helene’s hand go, and hugs her around the shoulders on the way.       “Nice to hear it.”       “But I must confess that it surprises me. You never had a dog, but you educate it like it’s not the truth.”       “I just read very much about educating dogs. And talked to people, who knew what to do.”       “And you became a wonderful owner for Sammy.”       “I think you’ve also become someone like an owner to him,” Helene smiles shyly. “Sammy and you spend a lot of time together. I see he loves you. Maybe, he sometimes pretends to be jealous, but my boy believes you’re good.”       “I’ve also been attracted to him for the past few months. It would be very hard for me to say goodbye to him for a long time, or forever.”       “My heart is always not quiet when I’m at work. Even if I know I leave Sammy with trustworthy people. You, Grandma… And the guys now…”       “Don’t worry. Sammy is really in good hands, while his owner is busy.”       “Aw, sweetie…”       Helene puts her head on Peter’s shoulder for a second and shares a shy smile with him. Meanwhile, Sammy glances at them and starts barking happily, as he is wagging his tail.       “What, buddy?” Peter asks, petting Sammy’s head with a slight smile. “What? Why are you barking?”       “Hey, Sammy, do you know you stole the hearts of the friends of Peter and me?” Helene asks with a slight smile and scratches Sammy’s neck. “Now the men are jealous of my girls and you because you’ve got all their attention.”       Sammy barks two times, breathing with his tongue out and placing his paws on the asphalt.       “Indeed, doggy,” Peter agrees. “You immediately got the attention of the girls when we brought you to them. And the men were jealous for fun and said they got a serious competitor.”       “The girls couldn’t just leave such a good boy without attention,” Helene smiles mysteriously.       “Well, you didn’t also leave the men indifferent. Everybody literally ran around you! Even Terrence’s fans don’t get attracted to him like this!”       “I think they’re kind of similar. Terrence can’t stay without attention, and Sammy is bored when nobody plays with him.”       “And both are gluttons.”       “That’s right.”       Sammy glances at Helene and Peter and barks quietly when jumping.       “Sammy, my Sammy…” Helene pets Sammy’s head with a slight smile. “You’re so good that you even stole the heart of Anna, who is afraid of dogs.”       “Oh, I thought she’d really go home when we came with the fluffy one,” Peter confesses. “The poor girl was shaking from fear…”       “Not surprised. She was a kid when she got attacked by the dog. She’s still got a small scar on her hand.”       “That’s good Anna didn’t suffer. That dog could’ve bitten her to death. There have been so many similar cases. They showed no pity for everyone: children, young people, and old people.”       “Yeah, I know,” Helene sighs with sadness in her eyes. “But I’m glad she realized that Sammy wasn’t a threat to her.”       “And that’s good Sammy showed the best side of him and understood that he’d scare the girl much more if he was barking and running around her. Maybe, she wouldn’t stop fearing dogs, but she’d realize that Sammy would do nothing bad to her.”       “I’m gonna change Daniel’s phrase about Edward… He just liked Anna’s pretty face.”       “Maybe,” Peter smiles slightly.       “By the way, it’s funny: Anna is afraid of dogs, but Daniel loves them…” Peter says thoughtfully. “That’s good he didn’t adopt a dog. Otherwise, that girl would’ve hardly agreed to live with him.”       “Or she would’ve loved his doggy as well as she liked Sammy!”       “Who knows. Anyway, that’s good everything happened.”       “And that’s good Edward doesn’t have a cat,” Helene notices confidently. “Natalia is gonna get married to him soon, and she was allergic to them.”       “Right… But they can get a dog. Rochester isn’t allergic to them.”       “Yeah, but Rochester doesn’t go crazy from them as well as cats.”       “Natalia kinda has nothing against a dog. And Edward doesn’t actually care: cats, dogs, birds… He loves everyone.”       “Well, Terrence and Raquelle are indifferent to them.”       “Yeah… Our gang separated into lovers of dogs and cats and those, who love both of them.”       “At least absolutely everybody liked Sammy.”       “As we’ve already said, it’s impossible not to love Sammy.”       “That’s right!”       Helene and Peter smile shyly and say nothing for a few seconds. And then they understand that they get a little tired when they see a bench not far from them.       “Oh, listen, let’s sit down,” Helene suggests tiredly, taking the leash off Sammy and hiding it in her purse. “I’m a little tired. A bench is there.”       “Good idea,” Peter agrees. “We’ve been walking for a long time.”       But Sammy has different plans for this talk. He sits down against Peter and Helene and just looks at them, as if he feels that they stopped for a special reason.       “M-m-m, seems like the fluffy wanna play a little,” Peter laughs quietly, putting his hands on his hips.       “We’re tired, Sammy!” Helene throws her hands up. “We’ve been walking with you for more than an hour! And we played a little! Do you want us to walk with you ‘till the evening?”       Sammy barks quietly, still looking at Helene and Peter deeply.       “Sammy, are you starting to misbehave again?” Helene asks harshly.       “Listen, we will sit down, but you will run somewhere here,” Peter suggests. “Find something interesting and play a little. And then we will play a little again and go to Helene’s home.”       But Sammy keeps sitting in the same place and looking at the couple in love with an innocent gaze, breathing with his tongue out.       “Samuel!” Peter pronounces gloomily, crossing his arms over his chest.       Sammy barks again, but with some recentness.       “Listen, Pete, throw a stick at him,” Helene says, looks around quickly, finds a fat stick next to the bench, and gives it to Peter. “This one!”       “Hey, buddy, catch it!” Peter exclaims.       Two seconds later, Peter throws the stick somewhere on the side. Sammy looks there and runs away immediately to find the thing that flies a few meters away from here.       “He started to get jealous of you and me again,” Peter assumes with a slight smile. “He does feel that you and I aren’t gonna be sitting on the bench and just talking.”       “Yeah, he doesn’t wanna share my attention with you,” Helene laughs shyly.       “It’s okay. Early or late, he will know that he won’t get off me because you’re my girlfriend.”       “But it’s unsuccessful yet. Sammy always behaves like this when he feels we wanna stay alone.”       “But it won’t stop us, right?” Peter tucks a strand of Helene’s hair behind her ear carefully and caresses her cheek tenderly.       “Do you think his jealousy would make me stop paying attention to you? No, sweetie, my doggy may not even hope!”       “Anyway, I’m ready to fight with him,” Peter says confidently and caresses Helene’s cheeks. “For the attention of my beloved beauty.”       “Don’t worry, Peter, that silly one will realize that I’ll have enough attention for you and him,” Helene promises confidently, placing her hands on Peter’s hips.       “I can’t wait.”       Helene and Peter say nothing for two seconds and just look at each other with slight smiles, while the nice, warm wind is whiffing about their hair and clothes. And then the lovers sit on the bench next to each other.       “Oh, gosh, how it’s good…” Helene pronounces with enjoyment, putting her purse on the bench and warming her legs up, which hurt a little after a long walk. “I definitely made a mistake when I decided to put on shoes with high heels to walk with the dog.”       “Active games with Sammy take much more strength than walking,” Peter notices. “To be honest, he rode us enough. I wasn’t kinda ready for that…”       “But it’s a good way to lose weight if you don’t go to a gym due to a lack of money or time.”       “You don’t need it, sweetheart.” Peter tenderly runs the back of his hand over Helene’s cheek. “You’re as slim as a stick.”       “But I should always keep my shape. Moreover, due to my super short height, even one kilogram is seen.”       “Even in this case, you’d be the most beautiful lady to me.”       “Oh, Peter…” Helene smiles widely when she kisses Peter on the cheek covered with a slight, barely seen bristle of the same ash color as his hair, which is loosely standing on different sides.       “And while Sammy is not here, I wouldn’t mind getting some love,” Peter says in a low, nice voice and puts a hand on Helene’s knee shyly.       “With great pleasure.” Helene puts her arm around Peter’s neck and puts her hand on his cheek. “But try to control yourself. Not only because of Sammy. Don’t forget that we’re outside, and people may watch us.”       “It depends on you, cutie. If you go far, I won’t be shy. If you’re shy, I won’t also add fuel to the fire.”       The lovers look into each other’s eyes for a few seconds with slight smiles. And then Helene decides to be faster and more determined, bringing her face to Peter’s lips slowly but confidently to give him a tender kiss full of love. The blond answers it with pleasure, holding the girl by the back, caressing it, and running his fingers through the black strands of hair that became a little shorter two weeks ago, reaches her shoulders’ level, and is waved in slight, little careless waves.       “It’s not so easy, though,” Peter whispers with a heavy breath, breaking the kiss.       “Yeah, it’s hard to hold down and not to attack such a handsome man, who makes me shake,” Helene replies in a low voice with a shy smile.       “You’re gonna have this chance. I promise.”       Peter gives Helene a tender kiss on her lips, putting one hand on her cheek and holding her by the back of her head with another, while the girl’s hand is put on his tough chest. Sammy spends a few seconds watching the man giving all his love to the kiss with his girlfriend, caressing her head or knee and locking fingers with hers. Then the dog decides to let them know he is here and barks. Helene and Peter step away after a short kiss on the lips with a quiet chuckle and move their eyes to Sammy.       “I said Sammy was jealous of you,” Peter laughs shyly.       “Sammy, when will you finally stop being jealous of the blond and me?” Helene moans tiredly.       Sammy barks again, looking at the lovers with his tongue hanging out.       “Listen, don’t you think it’s time for someone to find a girlfriend and get busy with her?” Helene addresses Peter.       “It would be great, but I know nobody, who has a girlfriend for Sammy…” Peter replies thoughtfully. “Though, I’d love to see him with a sympathetic female retriever.”       The excited Sammy starts barking happily and wagging his puffy tail.       “Oh-oh, look how excited he got, how he puffed his tail!” Helene chuckles shyly.       “Buddy, I promise I’ll personally find a girlfriend for you,” Peter promises confidently, scratching Sammy’s neck. “But only if you give us some personal time and don’t get jealous of your owner and me.”       Sammy makes a sound, looking at Peter questioningly, comes to Helene, puts his face on her laps, and moves his sad eyes to her.       “Is this a protest?” Peter wonders.       “Oh, Sammy, why do you become so naughty when your owner wanna stay with her man?” Helene moans tiredly, petting Sammy’s head. “Huh, my baby? Why are you so naughty?”       Sammy barks quietly again and puts his little wet nose in Helene’s palm of her hand.       “Sammy, if you don’t let us stay alone for a while, you won’t get anything tasty,” Helene says a little strictly.       “Or I won’t take you to my home and will leave with Jessica next time when Helene goes to work,” Peter promises with a sly smile.       Sammy makes a sound that expresses his recentness, inclines his head, and closes his nose with a paw, making Peter and Helene laugh shyly and shake their heads.       “So, fluffy, you got it?” Helene asks with a slight smile.       “Would you let me give some attention to your gorgeous owner?” Peter asks, hugging Helene around the shoulders and kissing her cheek. “Or should I call Jess?”       Sammy makes some sounds again and goes somewhere slowly, inclining his head slightly and not being happy with the promise to leave him with Jessica, the friend of Peter and Helene.       “He got scared immediately,” Peter chuckles. “When he heard about Taylor, he ran away faster than the wind.”       “My boy got scared that Jess would literally choke him,” Helene laughs shyly. “She can’t be tender and has always been a little rude.”       “Yeah, she really lacks tenderness…”       Silence settles in the air for two or three seconds, after which Helene moves her eyes to Peter with a shy smile.       “So, where did we stop?” Helene tries to remember.       “Don’t you remember?” Peter wonders, caressing Helene’s cheek with a mysterious smile. “I can remind…”       Peter softly grabs Helene’s face and caresses her lips with his lips confidently but very tenderly to end the unfinished kiss or start a new one and give it much more love. The girl runs her hands through the blond’s soft hair on the top of his head and ruffles it strongly, smiling shyly with the feeling of a slight shake on her skin and something warm that is spreading all over her body.       “You can’t imagine how much I missed you when you were busy,” Helene says in a low, soft voice.       “I also wanted to be with you and spend some time with my beloved girl,” Peter purrs with a slight smile and, caressing the curves of Helene’s neck with his fingertips, leaves a kiss on all the parts of her face. “I lacked it so badly…”       “Gosh…” Helene exhales slowly with a blissful smile. “You’re making me melt…”       “And you’re driving me insane…”       Peter kisses Helene on the cheek shyly and runs his lips over the area behind her ear, making her sigh quietly but sensually with closed eyes. A little later, he moves to the curve of her neck and leaves a few tender kisses on it. That’s why his sweetheart tenses her muscles a little and tightly squeezes the man’s blond hair with her fingers in passion.       “Oh, gosh…” Helene moans quietly, breathing heavily enough and feeling how her heart stops after any tender touch of Peter’s lips on her soft skin.       “Yeah, I know, sweetie,” Peter pronounces in a low voice with a peaceful smile, putting his hand on Helene’s knee and removing it to the inside of her thigh a little later. “I know…”       “Hey, I told you not to go too far,” Helene laughs shyly, caressing Peter’s shoulders and face. “Rose… Hear what I say?”       “Relax, babe, there is nobody around.” Peter puts his hand on Helene’s cheek and kisses the area behind her ear tenderly, making her body shake slightly, while she feels an eternal pleasure. “Nobody has come here for all this time.”       “Yeah, you’re too hot and attractive. Holding myself down is impossible… But we’re educated people.”       “But I’m doing nothing bad. I’m just kissing you on the neck.” Peter leaves a couple of more kisses on Helene’s neck, keeping his hand on her lap. “Not undressing you.”       “I thought you were shyer. Or the lads impact you badly.”       “Being next to an attractive girl, any shy guy becomes more filthy.”       Helene laughs shyly and, grabbing Peter’s face, gives him a tender kiss on the lips, to which he answers immediately. At some moment, they break it and look into each other’s eyes with a little heavy breath. And then the man gives the girl another one, while she puts her arm around his neck and starts caressing the nape of his neck with her fingertips. The lovers notice nothing around and are completely busy with each other. So, they get surprised when Sammy ruins the moment again, showing up from nowhere and jumping on the bench between Helene and Peter, who break the kiss against their wish.       “Oh, Sammy…” Peter and Helene moan tiredly.       “Why don’t you listen to me?” Helene asks. “I’ve told you many times that you are not allowed do this!”       “Yeah, buddy!” Peter exclaims. “How many times should we tell you that you aren’t allowed to jump on chairs, benches, beds, or something like that?”       Sammy banks loudly and snuggles in Peter and Helene’s cheeks.       “No, don’t pretend to be innocent!” Helene shakes her head, gets up from the bench, and tucks a strand of hair behind her ear.       “Ah, Helene, I do feel that someone’s gonna get nothing tasty and stay with Jessica very, very soon,” Peter smiles slyly. “And Sammy does love her so much.”       Sammy barks again and puts his nose in Peter’s cheek much harder.       “Hey, hey, don’t dare to suck up, jealous man!” Peter says confidently and gets up from the bench quickly with both hands raised. “Don’t dare.”       Sammy jumps from the bench, gets up on his hind legs, puts the front legs on Peter’s stomach, and starts licking his face. He moans quietly and pets the funny dog that is licking his nose.       “I said everything, Sammy!” Peter says. “You’ve already gotten what I promised. When Helene is gonna work, you will stay with Jessica, not Mrs. Marshall or me.”       Sammy whines quietly and looks at his owner Helene with sad eyes and starts licking her nose when she gets down on her knees in front of him.       “Ah, Sammy, what do I do to you?” Helene sighs tiredly, “When will you stop being jealous of Peter and me and understand that I'll always find time for you, and I love you no less than I love him?”       Sammy whines quietly and closes his face with his paw, as if he says he is ashamed of his behavior and he would not do that again.       “Okay, okay, deal, I won’t deprive you of treats,” Helene says with a slight smile, scratching Sammy’s neck. “But I’m gonna think about Jessica.”       Sammy barks happily and licks Helene’s cheek, as if he says, “Thank you” to her for just promising something tasty.       “Okay, my boy, calm down,” Helene says softly and gets up, while Peter holds her under an elbow. “And stop pretending to be a jealous man. Nobody’s gonna deprive you of attention.”       “And if you don’t stop, we’re gonna train you,” Peter smiles mysteriously, hugging Helene by the waist and pressing her to himself. “Hold your passion down. Just like we do it when we put a treat in front of you and ban you from eating it.”       “But he failed that test,” Helene laughs shyly.       “Yeah, this man needs patience.”       “It’s okay, we’re gonna work on it.”       “And I bet that he’s gonna fail this test.”       Peter gives Helene a short kiss on the lip with a slight smile and a more continuous one, putting one hand on her cheek and holding her by the back with another. The girl answers it with pleasure, putting her arms around the man’s waist and not holding down a quiet, sensual moan. At first, Sammy just watches them with his tongue hanging out. But when the blond succumbs to the wish to leave a few kisses on the neck of his sweetheart, who leans her head back slightly with closed eyes, the dog stretches himself with a loud bark and pushes Rose off his owner. And now it makes the lovers laugh shyly.       “You were right,” Helene laughs shyly. “Failed. Or he just tells you that you should be shyer in public.”       “Okay,” Peter smiles cutely and kisses Helene on her temple. “I won’t do it.”       Sammy barks happily, as if he approves of Peter’s promise.       “Okay, man of order, let’s go home,” Helene laughs shyly, takes her purse from the bench, and places it above her shoulder. “Eat something delicious and have some rest.”       A few seconds later, Peter and Helene with Sammy decide to go further on the straight road in the place where there is almost nobody. At first, their way is quiet: the young people go, hugging each other, sharing tender gazes and shy kisses and talking, and the doggy, which is unleashed this time, smells and seeks something on the ground and grass. But some time later, he gives a start sharply with a loud bark and runs away faster than a shot.       “Sammy, hey?” Helene asks loudly. “Come to me!”       “Sammy, come back now!” Peter exclaims.       “Damn, I’m an idiot! I should’ve put on the leash!”       “He’s kinda too excited today.”       “Agree.”       Helene and Peter have nothing but to exhale and go where Sammy ran away. The truth is that this way is not easy for the girl because her thin heels sink into the sand constantly. But the man holds his sweetheart and makes sure that she does not fall. And some time later, they successfully get through this road and end up where a person actually, rarely walks.       “Where’s this restless one?” Helene exhales sharply, looking around. “Samuel! Come to me!”       “He’s there!” Peter exclaims, pointing into the distance.       Helene and Peter see Sammy running to them very fast, as he is holding something black in his teeth.       “Sammy, where did you run away?” Helene asks. “I dirtied my jeans because of you!”       Sammy makes a weird sound, definitely wishing someone to take what he is holding in his mouth.       “Hey, what did you find?” Peter frowns slightly, looking at what Sammy is holding in his mouth closer.       “Sammy, throw it, throw!” Helene demands strictly. “How many times should I tell you not to take some shit? Throw it, I said!”       “Wait, wait, Helene!” Peter comes closer to Sammy. “Sammy, lemme look…”       With these words, Peter takes something black from Sammy and looks at what the dog found.       “Gosh, Peter, why did you take it?” Helene gets horrified, brushing Sammy’s hair away and fixing his collar. “Nobody knows where Sammy found this thing! You know how much shit it might have! And you’re taking it!”       “Hey…” Peter pronounces thoughtfully and moves his eyes to Helene. “This is a wallet…”       “I hope you aren't gonna take what’s not yours?”       “Daniel’s wallet. This is Daniel’s wallet.”       “Daniel’s?” Helene rounds her eyes. “Are you sure it’s his wallet?”       “Yes, I am. Perkins has the same one…”       “Maybe, just similar?”       “No, look, there’s his passport card.” Peter takes a small card from the wallet and shows it to Helene. “Dan’s photo and his data… Perkins, Daniel Christopher, born on August, 20th, 1990, in New York City, New York.”       “My gosh…” Helene pronounces surprisingly and takes the passport card from Peter to look at it better. “That’s really him…”       “There is also some amount of money,” Peter says thoughtfully, examining Daniel’s wallet. “His bank card… A driver’s license…”       “Hm, did Daniel lose his wallet?”       “I wouldn’t be surprised. But he never said he lost his wallet with his documents, money, and cards.”       “He lost it today?”       “I dunno. But Daniel hasn’t lately been lucky. He can’t take high notes on the latest shows… And he couldn’t do something on the shootings…”       “But even if he lost the wallet, how did it end up here? Was Daniel somewhere not far?”       “I don’t know.”       “Okay, it doesn’t matter. Let’s take the wallet and give it to him when we meet him.”       “Yup… Put in your purse.”       Helene takes the wallet from Peter, puts Daniel’s passport card in it, and puts it in her purse. And all this time, they do not notice that Sammy is too excited because of something, barking constantly and running about the lovers, while they are exploring what he found.       “Sammy, what’s happening to you today?” Helene throws hands up. “Why are you so restless?”       Sammy starts barking again and glances somewhere aside.       “What’s wrong, Sammy?” Peter wonders. “What got you so excited?”       Sammy barks loudly again, takes the shoulder strap of Helene’s purse that she is holding in her hands, pulls it slightly, and lets it go two seconds later. Then the dog runs to Peter, takes the sleeve of his dark denim jacket, and pulls this one on the side. While the lovers frown slightly and look at each other questioningly.       “Listen, Peter, don’t you think he wanna show us something?” Helene asks, watching Sammy closely. “Sammy would hardly be so excited…”       “I think so,” Peter exhales sharply. “And he definitely gives us no choice.”       “Okay, Sammy,” Helene moves her eyes to Sammy. “What did you find?”       “Lead us, bandit. We’ll follow you.”       Sammy barks loudly, runs to the side very fast, and turns on Helene and Peter, as if he makes sure they follow him. The young people look at each other, shrug, and follow the dog. At first, they do not go too fast, but later, they have to start running not to lose Sammy’s tracks. A few moments later, he brings Peter and Helene to the straight road, on the edges of which there are many green trees and bushes of different heights. This place definitely makes them feel anxious. Especially, in the current gloomy, little cold weather when the sky is closed with dark gray clouds.       “Gosh, what does Sammy need here?” Helene moans tiredly, breathing a little heavily.       “I swear, if he wanna show us a birdie or a thing, I will kick his ass,” Peter says confidently.       By this moment, Helene and Peter have already mucked the edges of their jeans and shoes with dirt, on which they have to walk to come to the road and follow Sammy, the paws of which got dirty enough. But at some moment, they lose track of the dog and stop slowly, looking around and seeing nothing suspicious or interesting.       “Sammy, where are you?” Helene asks loudly.       “Sammy, come here now!” Peter calls.       “We lost his track. And where do we find him?”       “I don’t know… Sammy! Where are you, you, walking long-eared trouble?”       The lovers look around for some time, and then Helene glances aside and rounds her eyes, holding her breath immediately. The girl takes Peter under his arm tightly and points at what she sees, saying with horror in her eyes:       “Peter, look! Someone’s lying there!”       “Where?” Peter frowns slightly.       “There! On that road! Sammy is there, too!”       Peter looks at what Helene got an interest in much better and really sees someone lying in the middle of the road placed far from here and not moving. A man, young enough, with dark hair… He is wearing gray jeans with a black belt and a gray sweater with half-rolled sleeves. The lovers cannot see his face because it’s turned on the other side, but they see that the terribly excited Sammy constantly snuggles his nose in it.       “It seems like it’s a man…” Helene pronounces quietly.       “But who’s that?” Peter wonders. “And why does Sammy have such a great interest in him?”       “Damn, I can’t see his face. His head turned on another side.”       “Oh, fucking myopia…” Peter squints his eyes strongly, trying to look at the guy lying on the road closely. “I can’t see…”       “Sammy!” Helene exclaims loudly. “Sammy, come here! What are you doing there?”       Sammy barks loudly, but he does not run to his owner. Instead, he claps the unconscious man on the face with his paw. And when the dog turns his head slightly, Peter manages to see familiar enough features of the face.       “No…” Peter pronounces quietly, shaking his head and looking at the unconscious man with horror in his eyes. “No, it can’t be the truth…”       “Oh, my God, Peter…” Helene pronounces with horror in her eyes. “That guy…”       “His face… Familiar features…”       “Don’t tell me that’s…” Helene wants to say, refusing to believe everything is real.       Two seconds of silence before Helene and Peter look at each other sharply with fear in their eyes.       “Daniel!” Peter and Helene say at the same time.       “Fuck!” Peter exclaims with horror.       Peter and Helene sharply give a start at the same time, run to Sammy still running around the suffered fellow and clapping him on the face with a paw or licking it. The lovers quickly run to the unconscious guy and fall on their knees beside him. The blond touches the man’s shoulder and rolls him onto the back carefully. The two get horrified when they understand that this man is really Daniel, who has been lying on the road unconscious for nobody knows how long with tracks of blood on his face and his head in the small bloody pool. A red flow is getting out of his mouth, and the man looks very pale and, seems like, dead. Moreover, he also has a deep cut along the palm of his hand, from which blood is bleeding.       “Oh, fuck!” Peter closes his mouth with both hands, looking at the unconscious Daniel with dumbfounded eyes. “Daniel!”       “Daniel!” Helene shouts with horror in her eyes and grabs her hair. “Oh, my God…”       “Hey, Daniel, can you hear me?” Peter jabs excitedly, clapping Daniel on his cheeks and shaking by the shoulders. “Daniel!”       “Daniel…” Helene pronounces in a strongly shaking voice, shaking Daniel by the shoulder slightly. “Daniel, wake up! Daniel! Daniel!”       “Dude, say something,” Peter starts to panic more and more, breathing heavily enough, as he unsuccessfully tries to wake Daniel up. “C’mon! C’mon!”       “Gosh, his hand is cut!” Helene gets horrified, taking Daniel’s cut hand carefully and looking at it with widely open eyes. “It’s bleeding!”       “Fuck, what the hell! How did it happen?”       “Is he actually alive?” Helene asks in a strongly shaking voice. “I think he’s barely breathing. Don’t say Daniel is dead.”       Peter checks out Daniel’s pulse on his wrist and his neck and later feels some slight pushes.       “Thank God, he’s alive, but his pulse is very weak,” Peter exhales with relief and checks Daniel’s pupillary response. “The pupillary response is very bad. And he's barely breathing.”       “He’s in a too bad condition,” Helene notices with horror in her eyes. “Terribly white…”       “And all in blood…” Peter looks at his hands, sees that they are in the blood, and looks at the unconscious Daniel literally drowning in his own blood. “Damn, Perkins… How did you do it?”       “But how did he end up here? And what was he doing?”       “Did someone beat him so strongly and leave him to die?” Peter asks himself and glances at Daniel’s cut hand. “And cut his hand…”       “What if he’s hit by a car?” Helene assumes. “Daniel is lying on the road! Someone hit him and ran away!”       “But who did that? And why?”       “I don’t know, Peter… I don’t…”       “Damn, who cares about it! He must be taken to a hospital while he’s alive.”       “What could happen? What?”       When Helene wants to turn Daniel’s head on her barely, Peter stops her.       “No, no, it would be better if we didn’t touch him,” Peter says quietly. “Otherwise, we might make it worse if he got some fractures… Or some head issues…”       “Yeah, I didn’t think about it…” Helene exhales sharply.       “No time to think! Helene, call an ambulance! Faster!”       “But I don’t know where we are!” Helene says a little louder, throwing her hands up. “How do I tell an operator where to go?”       “Ah, shit, shit…” Peter grabs his hair tightly, feeling that he is terribly excited and breathing heavily enough, but barely makes himself shake up with the thought that every second is important. “Try to see the current location in the maps.”       With these words, Peter takes his phone from the pocket of his denim jacket and gives it to Helene.       “But do it fast!” Peter exclaims. “We don’t know how much time we have. If we waste time, we will lose Daniel.”       “I’m trying…” Helene says in a little shaking voice, breathing heavily, typing the number of the ambulance, and trying to get the current location on Peter’s phone.       Meanwhile, the excited Sammy barks and whines constantly, running either around Helene and Peter or the unconscious Daniel, the face of whom the dog sometimes claps with his paw.       “Quiet, Sammy, calm down,” Peter says in a quiet, little shaking voice, breathing heavily and petting Sammy’s head. “An ambulance is about to come…”       Sammy whines quietly and snuggles his nose in Peter’s cheek, which he licks shyly.       “Good job, buddy, good,” Peter strokes Sammy’s hair. “Sorry for not understanding you immediately.”       Sammy keeps whining with pity in his eyes, looking at the unconscious Daniel.       “Fuck, not this…” Peter pronounces quietly and moves his eyes into the distance for two seconds. “Getting new problems would be too much… Bringing the band close to the breakup would be too much… Because of Perkins now…”       Meanwhile, Helene is talking to the operator and trying to explain where she and Peter are. She barely overcomes the excitement, even if she sometimes confuses her words. Anyway, the operator says that doctors are on the way. The girl thanks them, turns the call off, and looks at Peter with a scare in her eyes.       “Doctors are coming,” Helene says quietly. “We’ve just gotta wait. They told us not to touch him…”       “I hope they’d come soon,” Peter replies thoughtfully and runs his hands over his face. “Nobody knows how long he’s been lying here, and how much time we have.”       “God, getting problems would be much… If something happens to Daniel, it’s gonna be a catastrophe.”       “I know, I get horrified when I think about it.”       “We’ve gotta hope for the best…” Helene glances at the unconscious Daniel hesitantly. “But looking at him, I think of the worst.”       “Me too…” Peter pronounces thoughtfully. “He’s black and blue…”       “Why? Why did it happen to him?”       “This guy definitely got into great trouble. Someone couldn’t beat him or hit him with a car and hide for nothing.”       “Oh, gosh…”       “At least Daniel is still alive, and the ambulance is coming. It calms me down a little.”       “But it doesn’t mean everything will be okay.”       “No, Helene, let’s not think of bad things. I know it’s hard… But we’ve gotta believe in the best.”       Helen looks at Peter with pity and caresses his back softly, while he throws a sad look at Daniel, keeping his hand on his friend’s shoulder and clapping it at some moment.       “Hold on, buddy,” Peter says quietly with sadness in his eyes takes Daniel’s hand tightly and claps on it. “The doctors are coming. Just hold on…”       “Anna, your friends, and the band need you,” Helene adds in a little shaking voice, caressing Daniel’s shoulder softly. “Nobody wanna lose you.”       Sammy barks quietly with pity in his eyes, and Peter pets his head. Meanwhile, Helene pays attention to something black lying next to the unconscious Daniel. The girl looks at that for two seconds and takes the simple black ring without stones or signatures.       “Peter, look!” Helene exclaims and shows the ring to Peter. “There is the ring! It was lying next to Daniel!”       “The ring?” Peter frowns slightly and takes the ring to look at this better. “Not quite sure, but it seems to be male. The size would be big for a girl’s finger.”       “It’s Daniel’s ring?”       “No, it doesn’t obviously belong to Daniel. He doesn’t actually like wearing rings or something like that.”       “But how did it end up here?”       “Maybe, the ring belongs to someone, who attacked him? Or hit with a car?”       “Lost it? And didn’t notice it when trying to run away?”       “Looks like this…”       Two seconds later, Sammy holding something small and black in his mouth comes to the lovers and barks quietly.       “Sammy?” Peter rounds his eyes. “What else did you find?”       With these words, Peter takes what Sammy brought and looks at this thing, which is a jackknife with a lot of blood on it, while Helene takes the ring from him and looks at this again.       “Knife?” Helene gets horrified.       “It’s in the blood…” Peter notices thoughtfully when he unfolds the knife with a slight movement. “I believe someone cut Daniel’s hand with this one…”       “Honestly, I don’t understand why someone just cut his hand when a knife could be gotten into the stomach or somewhere else.”       “Yeah, it’s weird… Anyway, we should take these things with us. We might need them.”       “Maybe, no?” Helene rounds her eyes full of horror.       “No, Helene, we can’t leave them here. Sammy would hardly give us something for nothing. What if this knife and the ring in your hands belong to the one to blame for what happened?”       Sammy barks quietly, as if he agrees with Peter.       “Even Sammy thinks we should take them,” Peter says confidently. “Maybe, they’ll help us when Daniel explains what happened to him.”       “You think he’ll do?” Helene asks hesitantly.       “We have to make him. First, we’re his friends and must help him if he has problems. And second, if Perkins has serious problems, we should know if someone might threaten us. Otherwise, it might be similar to the case of the MacClifes: it started with the conflict of the youngest of the MacClife brothers with his girlfriend and ended with a fight with their uncle for death, not life.”       “I would like to believe you’re wrong, and Daniel didn’t mess up with dangerous people…” Helene sighs heavily. “And what happened is just a fateful coincidence. That he just met bad people.”       “I’d also love to believe it… Don’t wanna lose my friend… Lose my brother.”       “I know…”       “Anyway, we better think of these things later.” Peter exhales slowly, squeezing the bridge of his nose for two seconds. “We’ve only gotta pray that nothing happens to Daniel.”       “Oh, my gosh…” Helene moans with sadness in her eyes. “What injustice… Why? Why?”       “Yeah, I almost forgot… We need to tell the others what happened to Perkins. First of all, Anna.”       “Yes! I got so excited that I didn’t think about it.”       “Call Anna and tell her. I’m gonna watch Dan’s condition. So, he… Doesn’t get worse…”       “Yeah, now…”       Helene takes her phone and types Anna’s number with shaking hands, but she does not manage to reach her a few seconds later.       “It’s weird, Anna doesn’t answer,” Helene frowns slightly.       “Call again,” Peter says confidently.       But Helene’s second attempt does not also lead to any result.       “Same again…” Helene exhales sharply. “Okay, I’m gonna try to call the others. Maybe, Terrence or Raquelle would answer.”       And the failure again – Helene does not get an answer from Raquelle and Terrence.       “Damn, nobody answers!” Helene exclaims excitedly. “They all turned their phones off!”       “Fuck!” Peter swears. “They probably went somewhere on a date.”       “If I don’t reach anyone, we’ll have to call them at the hospital. We can’t wait for someone to answer.”       “Hey, what are we gonna do to Sammy?” Peter glances at Sammy watching Daniel with sadness in his eyes and kind of hoping that he is about to wake up. “We won’t be allowed to go to the hospital with him, and we can’t leave him outside for a long time.”       “I’m afraid you’ll have to go to the hospital without me. I’ll leave Sammy with Grandma Scarlett and go there.”       “But we don’t have a car!”       “I’m gonna use a taxi.”       “Okay…” Peter nods. “Then, I will go to the hospital with Daniel and the doctors. I’ll be waiting for you and the others there.”       Looking at the sad faces of Helene and Peter, who hugs her tightly around the shoulders and tenderly caresses her head, Sammy whines quietly and touches the lap of every one of them with his dirty paw, and they pet his head or scratch his neck.       “Okay…” Helen pronounces after a short pause. “I’ll try to call someone again… Maybe, someone will answer the call…”       “We can try to call some of their close people,” Peter says. “For example, Blair, Violetta, or Christiana… They’d tell Terrence and Raquelle what happened. Or Edward and Terrence’s parents…”       “I’ll try to call Natalia and Edward again. If I don’t reach them, I’ll call Cameron and MacClife’s servants. And I’ll try to call Anna.”       Helene types Edward’s number and waits for the answer, putting her hand on her forehead, breathing heavily, and looking around, while her eyes chaotically run from one side to another. And Peter being not less saddened and excited hugs her around the shoulders and presses her much closer to himself with the hope of calming his girlfriend down and keeping his emotions under control.       

***

      Edward and Natalia, suspecting nothing, are still spending time together. The girl is lying on the man, giving him a hot and dizzying kiss, as she strokes his hair or caresses his face with both hands. He smiles widely during the kiss, having his arms wrapped around the girl’s waist, caressing her back, or squeezing her buttocks tenderly. They do not hide their loud sighs and moans, feel a little dizziness, and have a little heavy breath, while every single muscle is shaking, and the tender warmth is spreading all over their bodies.       “You’re so incredible, baby,” Edward pronounces in a low, hoarse voice with a wide smile, while Natalia generously covers his neck with kisses, and her hands caress his torso above and underneath his t-shirt. “You, sly fox, know how to make me feel like a truly attractive man.”       “You doubted it, pretty boy?” Natalia smiles shyly, steps back from Edward a little, moves her disheveled hair to a side, runs her warm hands underneath his t-shirt, and slides over the male chest tenderly. “My man is the most attractive and irresistible one in the world.”       “It’s all yours, sweetheart. My gorgeous body belongs only to you.”       “If it belonged to someone else, I would kick your ass.”       Natalia gets Edward involved in another passionate kiss, breathing heavily and loudly, caressing the man’s face, and stroking his hair. While the man squeezes her buttocks tightly and runs his hands over her naked back, moaning quietly when she tenderly touches his palate with her tongue, runs over his tongue, and pulls every single lip of him slightly, taking her fiancé by the wrists and pressing his hand to the bed. A blissful smile shows up on Edward’s face at times, and Natalia’s skillful and determined actions wake up his affection for this blonde-haired beauty. And at some moment, he easily turns the girl onto the back, raises himself above her, and gives her such a hot and exciting kiss that she cannot just hold down her loud, sensual moan. And she presses the back of her head to the pillow when the man leaves a few kisses and slight bites on the blonde’s neck, massaging her breasts, which he also caresses with his lips.       “Beautiful…” Edward pronounces with enjoyment and leaves a couple of kisses on the area behind Natalia’s ear, which he also barely touches with his lips, and her collarbones.       “Oh, gosh…” Natalia moans sensually with rolled eyes.       “I know, sweetie, I know… With you, these moments are getting more unforgettable.”       Edward tenderly runs his warm hands over Natalia’s belly, raising her slim, tight shirt, runs his finger around her belly button, and touches the silver jewelry in it. Then he leaves slight, excited kisses on every single centimeter of this beautiful part of the lady’s body, breathing in the smell of her soft skin. The girl bends backward like a cat with quiet moans, being ready to melt in his strong arms, while her warm hands slowly slide over his chest, pull his hair slightly or slide underneath his t-shirt and caress his naked back.       “Damn, Edward, what you’re doing to me…” Natalia pronounces with a little hoarse voice, slightly pressing her head to the pillow.       “I love watching you at these moments so badly,” Edward replies in a low, velvety voice with a wide smile and leaves a couple of kisses on the area behind Natalia’s ear and on the curve of her neck – closer to the area where he can feel her fast heartbeat. “When you’re so vulnerable…”       Edward runs his hand over Natalia’s belly and moves it to her knees, thighs, and the inside of them.       “And so hot…” Edward pronounces in a lower voice and slightly touches Natalia’s crotch with his fingertips. “I love watching my cat bending backward like a snake along with the sounds of a flute.”       “Ah…” Natalia makes a sensual moan. “For this pleasure, I’m ready for anything.”       “I’ll give you anything you want, my gorgeous queen.”       Edward gets Natalia involved in a confident kiss full of passion on the lips, grabbing her face with both hands and squeezing both of her breasts tenderly when their tongues slightly contact one another. The girl puts her arms around his neck, and runs her fingers through her fiancée’s disheveled hair, pleasing her sweetheart’s ear with sensual moans and enjoying the sweet, tormenting tension that is getting born somewhere in her abdomen.       Some time later, the lovers turn to the side and keep kissing and hugging each other. But later, they decide to catch a breath and some air that they definitely lack. Edward is holding Natalia in his hug tightly, and she presses her cheek to his chest, clearly hearing the fast heartbeat of the man that makes her smile shyly and feel absolutely relaxed. The sound of the beat of the heart echoes in their heads, their bodies are obsessed with the nice warmth, and they feel slight dizziness under the influence of such incredible emotions.       “I love you…” Natalia pronounces with a peaceful smile, feeling absolutely safe with such a trustful and strong man as Edward.       “I love you too, my sunshine,” Edward says softly, kisses Natalia on the top of her head tenderly, and caresses it, later starting to stroke her incredibly soft, long blonde hair that has a good smell.       Silence settles in the air for a few seconds, which might be broken by the heavy, loud breath of the lovers. Natalia and Edward would probably lie like this until the evening. However, the expected, very quiet call on the mobile phone breaks these magical minutes of unforgettable paradise and makes them sigh disappointedly.       “Oh, damn…” Edward groans. “At the wrong time… If that’s one of the men, I swear I’ll kill them…”       Edward raises himself slowly to his elbows and sees that his calling phone is lying on the bedside table that is closer to Natalia.       “Sweetie, couldn’t you reach my phone?” Edward asks. “It’s on that bedside table.”       “No problem,” Natalia smiles slightly, sits up quickly, reaches her hand to the bedside table, takes the phone, and gives it to Edward, who takes a sitting position.       Edward takes the phone, runs his finger over the screen, not checking the number, and puts it to his ear.       “Hello,” Edward pronounces.       “Edward, thank God!” the female excited voice exclaims. “Finally, I got the answer from someone!”       “Helene? Helene, is that you?”       Natalia cooks her ears up immediately after hearing Helene’s name and presses herself closer to Edward, putting her arms around his neck from behind and kissing him on the cheek cutely.       “Yes, yes, it’s me,” Helene confirms excitedly. “Sorry for bothering you.”       “No, no, it’s okay,” Edward replies, running his hand through his hair.       “I didn’t wanna bother you… But that’s important… The case is very serious… We’ve got problems…”       “Serious?” Edward frowns slightly. “Wait, what’s wrong with your voice? And why are you breathing so heavily?”       “Sorry, Edward, something bad happened…” Helene says much quieter, exhaling sharply. “I was trying to call the other guys, but everybody turned their phones off. You’re the first one, who I managed to reach.”       “But what happened and made you so excited?” Edward sits much straighter and moves some strands of his hair aside. “Just don’t say something happened to Peter.”       “Not Peter, but Daniel?”       “What?”       “I don’t know what happened in reality, but Daniel… He… Either has been hit by a car or has been attacked by someone and beaten… I don’t know… But… His condition is too bad…”       Edward rounds his eyes and says nothing for two seconds, trying to realize that he has really just heard these words.       “What?” Edward asks slowly. “Daniel?”       Edward falls into silence again and tries to put himself together and speak his mind.       “What happened, Edward?” Natalia expresses anxiety.       “Wait, wait, Helene, are you sure about it?” Edward asks quietly. “How did you find it out? Did you see Daniel got hit by a car?”       Natalia closes her mouth with a hand with widely open eyes.       “No, I didn’t see…” Helene replies excitedly. “Peter and I were just walking with Sammy… Everything was fine… But later, my dog gave us Daniel’s wallet… We thought he lost it and took it with us. But after that, Sammy led us to Daniel himself.”       “And how’s he doing?”       “Bad. He’s lying unconscious in the middle of the road… All in blood, with a cut hand… And his pulse is very weak.”       “Oh, shit…” Edward closes his mouth with a hand and looks around. “Bloody hell…”       “Turn on the speakerphone,” Natalia says quietly. “I wanna listen.”       While Edward turns on the speakerphone, so Natalia can hear his talk with Helene, Peter takes the phone from his girlfriend.       “Edward!” Peter exclaims. “Edward, it’s Peter! You hear me?”       “Yes, yes, Peter, I hear you,” Edward replies confidently. “What happened to Daniel? Is he really unconscious and lying in blood on the road?”       “Yes, it’s true. Sammy led us to him. At first, he found his documents and then made us follow him.”       “You called an ambulance?”       “Helene did. We’re waiting for doctors, but we’re afraid that we have little time. Daniel is in a terrible condition, and we don’t know how long he’s been lying here.”       “Hey, guys, this is Natalia,” Natalia meddles excitedly. “I heard what you said about Daniel. Where did you find him?”       “We don’t know where we are. But nobody has driven on the road where we found Daniel yet. We didn’t even know if we could explain to the ambulance where to go. That’s good the maps on the phone helped find out the location.”       “Listen, Peter, can you explain how to go?” Edward asks. “Natalia and I will come to you shortly!”       “No, no, don’t go,” Helene replies in a little shaking voice. “Let’s better meet in the hospital.”       “Yes, guys, go to the hospital, instead,” Peter says confidently. “Helene and I agreed that she’d go to her home and leave Sammy with her grandmother after the doctors’ arrival, and I’d go in the ambulance car with Daniel to the hospital.”       “Seems like the ambulance is coming. I hear the siren…”       “Okay, we’ll meet there,” Edward exhales sharply, putting his hand on his forehead. “And yeah, do the others know about Perkins?”       “We’ve reached nobody. Anna doesn’t answer, and Terrence and Raquelle turned their phones off.”       “So, doesn’t Anna know what happened to Daniel?” Natalia asks anxiously.       “No, and we don’t know how to tell her about it,” Helene replies with sadness in her eyes. “We’ve gotta do this, though.”       “Okay, guy, you two try to call Anna, and Natalia and I will find Terrence and Raquelle,” Edward says.       “Okay, deal,” Peter agrees.       “Hey, we’re turning off,” Helene says confidently. “We’ve gotta tell the doctors what happened.”       “Alright, see you in the hospital,” Edward says quietly. “But which one do we go to?”       “We believe, the central one. But if the doctors bring him to a different one, we will let you know it. Call you or send an SMS.”       “Thanks, Helene. Thanks, Peter. See you soon.”       Edward ends the call, says nothing for two seconds, squeezing his phone in his hand, and exhales sharply with closed eyes.       “Yeah, here’s a quiet day…” Edward says thoughtfully. “Everything started so well, though…”       “It’s hard for me to believe it…” Natalia shakes her head with sadness in her eyes. “Daniel hasn’t lately been lucky, and now he’s been hit by the car.”       “It’s unknown yet. Helene and Peter aren’t sure about it. Daniel could be hit by a car or beaten strongly and left to die.”       “My gosh…”       “Yeah… We’re getting problems again.”       “I hope Daniel is gonna be okay,” Natalia expresses hope with pity in her eyes. “None of us wants to lose him. And the poor Anna will be broken down if something happens to him.”       “Oh, shit, what a day…” Edward runs his hands over his face with a quiet moan, while Natalia caresses his shoulders softly and kisses him on the cheek. “Okay, we’ve got no time to talk… We need to go to the hospital… And call Terrence and Raquelle.”       “It’s gonna be hard if Peter said Terrence and Raquelle turned their phones,” Natalia replies thoughtfully.       “Let’s try to call them and then talk to Blair, Violetta, or Christiana.”       “Yeah… I didn’t think about it…”       “But first, I need to change my clothes. Wait for two minutes, please. Gonna put on what I see first before we go.”       “Okay. I’ll try to talk to Raquelle and Terrence.”       Edward stands up from the bed and comes to the closet built into the wall, while Natalia pulls off the hoodie, leaves it on the pillow, and puts on her leather jacket that is lying on the office chair placed near the writing table. While the man looks for something and changes clothes fast, the girl comes to the mirror and fixes her hair and makeup, taking some cosmetics from her small purse lying on the table near the bed.       

***

      Terrence and Raquelle know nothing yet and are spending a wonderful time together. The girl is lying on the sofa and hugging the man, who is raising himself above her and smothering all parts of her face, neck, and collarbones with kisses, not forgetting to caress them with both hands, caressing her knees, thighs, and stomach and tenderly squeezing her breasts. Any action of his makes the brunette breathe unevenly, make sensual moans, feel a strong shake in her body, and bend backward as a snake does along with the sounds of a flute. However, the man feels the same and does not even try to hold down his affection for this beauty that gets him excited with just one look.       “Oh, babe, you’re more imitable today,” Terrence says in a little hoarse voice with a wide smile, breathing heavily enough and generously smothering Raquelle’s neck and collarbones with tender kisses. “You caught the wave…”       “And you’re much crazier…” Raquelle moans quietly with rolled eyes and sinks her nails into the nape of Terrence’s neck a little stronger.       “I think even twenty years later, you will still remain the same attractive, sexy hellcat that can get me excited for a few seconds.       “Damn, Terrence, damn…”       “Quiet, cutie, quiet…” Terrence whispers, touches Raquelle’s ear with his lips tenderly, and kisses the area behind it, while his hand confidently massages her breast, and his thumb stimulates her touch nipple. “Relax…”       Terrence raises Raquelle’s hoodie to see her belly, which he tenderly caresses with both hands and generously smooths with kisses, while she feels a nice warmth somewhere in the bottom part of her body.       “I want you…” Terrence pronounces in a much lower voice, while his hands hold Raquelle’s hips, and his lips slowly slide over the tender skin on the flat belly, feeling the incredible mixture of the natural smell and the smell of shower gel. “I want you right here and now…”       “Me too…” Raquelle sighs sensually with closed eyes. “Me too…”       “You make me wild…” Terrence runs his hand underneath Raquelle’s hoodie and squeezes her breasts tenderly, using the fact that she is not wearing a bra, and runs the fingertips of another hand over her crotch.       “Asshole…” Raquelle bends backward sharply, getting her thighs much tenser. “Naughty asshole…”       “Just an asshole?” Terrence smiles slyly and starts to caress Raquelle’s crotch much more actively.       “Ar-r-r… Fucking filthy animal…”       “C’mon, babe, get mad…” Terrence runs his second hand through Raquelle’s hoodie and caresses her breasts and her tough-to-touch nipples with both of them. “C’mon…”       “Bastard…”       “Oh, yeah, again!” Terrence smiles slyly when he hears Raquelle’s much louder moan caused by the skillful way he treats her breasts. “You look so sexy when you act like a rude bitch.”       “You, asshole… Will pay me for this… I… Am gonna make you regret it…”       “Only when I undress, kick, and fuck you, so that you scream from pleasure at the top of your lungs.”       Terrence covers Raquelle’s belly with kisses and slowly runs his fingertips over her crotch. And then he sharply gets the girl involved in such an exciting and passionate kiss that her heart stops for a moment, her body gets strongly tense, and she feels a strong dizziness. The way he skillfully pulls, bites, and licks her lips does not leave the beauty indifferent. And the way he works his tongue in her mouth and caresses the most sensitive areas gives her an all-embracing ecstasy. She does not even think about resisting and answers any of his actions powerlessly, being ready to give herself to this confident man, who knows how to drive her crazy.       “Please, Terrence…” Raquelle pronounces with a sensual moan in a little shaking voice. “M-m-m…”       “I think it’s time to go to the bedroom,” Terrence replies with a mysterious smile, takes Raquelle’s hands, and pulls her to him. “Here is not the best place.”       “Yeah… Not the best…”       Raquelle sits on Terrence’s laps, not moving her eyes off him, and gives him a passionate kiss while one of her hands caresses his face, and another is on his chest. He is holding her buttocks with one hand and runs another underneath her hoodie, stroking her back confidently. But later, they step away a little and just look into each other’s eyes, not hiding their wide smiles.       “I can’t wait to take these clothes off you…” Raquelle says with a quiet, low voice, getting her hand underneath his t-shirt and rubbing his chest tenderly. “I wanna give your gorgeous body the love that it deserves.”       “And I wanna see what belongs only to me,” Terrence replies confidently with a smug smile and squeezes Raquelle’s naked breast like a boss when he gets underneath her hoodie.       But when Raquelle barely gets off Terrence’s laps and wants to go to the bedroom with him, Blair enters the living room, sees what’s happening, and doubts if she can bother them. However, something makes her overcome this awkwardness, and she goes into the living room slowly but confidently.       “E-m-m-m, excuse me…” Blair says hesitantly.       Raquelle and Terrence sharply turn on Blair, clear their throats quickly, and fix their hair and clothes that are raised up strongly, getting a little blushed from the sense of awkwardness.       “It’s okay, Blair…” Raquelle says hesitantly, pulling up the zipper on her hoodie with a heavy breath.       “What’s wrong, Blair?” Terrence asks quietly in a little hoarse voice. “Do you have problems?”       “I am sorry for bothering you…” Blair replies in a quiet voice. “But… Edward just called me on my mobile…”       “Edward? And what does he want?”       “Talk to you, Terrence. Your brother asked me to tell you to call him. He said he had an important business.”       “But what happened to Edward?” Raquelle wonders. “He said?”       “No, he didn’t say that and just asked Terrence to call him.”       “Oh, this freaking brother…” Terrence pronounces tiredly, running his hands over his face and not being happy Edward did not let him spend such a wonderful time with Raquelle. “Does he have nothing to do?”       “So… Are you going to call him?”       “Yeah…” Terrence clears his throat quickly. “Thanks, Blair, I will call him now.”       “Alright. I will go then. Excuse me.”       Blair goes away somewhere quickly, rubbing her hands, while Terrence exhales sharply and runs his hand over his hair.       “Fuck…” Terrence pronounces gloomily. “If only you knew how much I hate Edward now. For not letting us spend such a good time.”       “I wonder what kind of important business he has?” Raquelle asks, running her hand through his hair.       “I don’t know… But I swear, I’m gonna kill this little rugrat if he runs into something again. Having the problems that he gave us the last time was enough for me.”       “First, you better find out what happened to him. And then you’ll swear on him.”       “What a crazy boy! Everything was fine for a few months, but now he wanna have problems again.”       “C’mon, Terrence, stop chanting.”       “Next time, I won’t also let him spend a funny time with Natalia… I’ll call him and say I’m bored or something like that. I’m gonna look at his face when he’s distracted from sex with the blonde in the middle of the culmination.”       Raquelle shakes her head with a slight smile, while Terrence takes his phone from the coffee table, turns it on, and types the number of Edward, who answers him a few seconds later.       “Oh, finally, His Highness has been pleased to turn on the phone!” Edward says loudly.       “You’re an idiot, Edward!” Terrence throws gloomily. “Why do you the fuck bother me? You did know I was gonna spend time with Raquelle today!”       “Sorry, but the case is critical. If there was nothing serious, I wouldn’t have actually thought of you.”       “I swear, rutrag, I will kill you! You messed up everything! Even by turning off my phone, I didn’t hide from you.”       “Listen, Terrence, I understand it all. My time with Natalia was also messed up, and I’m unhappy with it. But what happened is gonna make all of us forget about any pleasure.”       “You got attracted to problems again! We barely came to ourselves from the previous tricks of yours, but you decided to do much more!”       “Can you shut up and just listen to me?” Edward asks quietly. “And then give your comments! The problem is about all of us!”       “Us?” Terrence leans back in the sofa, exhaling sharply. “Okay, kid… Speak out, what kind of trouble I’ve gotta rescue you from this time?”       “The problem is about Daniel, not me.”       “Daniel?” Terrence frowns slightly and gets straight slowly. “What did he get into? He took an example from you?”       “I can’t be sure about what happened, but he has been either hit by a car or strongly beaten by someone.”       Terrence says nothing for a few seconds, being a little shocked by this piece of news. Raquelle notices this and looks at the man questioningly, hugging him around his shoulders.       “What?” Terrence asks. “Are you serious?”       “Yes…” Edward confirms. “Natalia and I found it out a few minutes ago.”       “But…” Terrence shakes his head, breathing a little heavily. “Wait… But… How? How did that happen? You saw it yourself?”       “I know almost nothing, Terrence,” Edward replies a little excitedly. “Helene just called me and said Peter and she found the unconscious Daniel lying in the blood with a cut hand on the desert road.”       “It’s true, Terrence,” Natalia’s voice pronounces. “They said Sammy gave them Perkins’ wallet and then brought it to him.”       “Oh, shit…” Terrence squeezes the bridge of his nose for a few seconds. “It would be too much…”       “You can call Peter or Helene if you don’t believe us. But they also don’t understand anything and ask themselves how Daniel could end up where he was lying unconscious.”       “And what about his condition?”       “Bad,” Edward says. “The guys called an ambulance and are waiting for doctors. I mean… They were coming when Marshall and Rose were talking to Natalia and me.”       “Do you know which hospital they are gonna take him?” Terrence asks, putting a hand on his forehead.       “Edward and I are on the way to the central hospital,” Natalia replies. “That’s not correct, but Peter and Helene promised to call if Daniel would be taken to another hospital.”       “Does Anna know what happened to him?”       “The guys can’t call her. She doesn’t answer the mobile or the home number. Rose and Marshall tried, and your brother and I have tried to call her.”       “Shit…” Terrence runs his hand over his face. “Okay… You say, the central hospital?”       “Yes, Natalia and I are on the way,” Edward replies. “Peter was supposed to come to the hospital with Daniel and the doctors, and Helene went to her home to leave Sammy with her grandmother.”       “I’m going there immediately. On my way. I’ll quickly put on the first clothes I’ll see, get into my car, and go.”       “Okay, see you there… One of you will call you, if something changes.”       “Alright, thanks.”       Terrence turns the call off and moves his eyes into the distance for two seconds, being nervous enough by this shocking piece of news.       “What’s wrong, Terrence?” Raquelle expresses anxiety, softly taking Terence by the shoulders and looking at him with sadness in her eyes. “What’s wrong with Daniel? Something happened to him?”       “He’s been found on the desert road unconscious and is gonna be taken to the hospital,” Terrence replies with sadness in his eyes, looking at Raquelle.       “What?” Raquelle closes her mouth with a hand and shakes her head with horror in widely open eyes. “But what happened to him?”       “Edward said he had been either hit by a car or beaten.”       “Oh, damn… But why? How?”       “I don’t know, Raquelle… Helene and Peter called him and Natalia and said Sammy led them to Daniel. They said he was in terrible condition. My brother and Rochester are on the way to the central hospital. Rose is gonna get into the ambulance car along with the doctors and Perkins, and Marshall is gonna come after she leaves Sammy at home.”       “And Anna?”       “Nobody can reach Anna. But the guys are trying.”       “She’s not home? Or she doesn’t hear?”       “I don’t know… Anyway, I’m going to the hospital. I’ll quickly change my clothes and take my keys.”       Terrence stands up from the sofa sharply, takes his phone, and goes to the stairs.       “Wait, Terrence, I’ll go with you!” Raquelle exclaims loudly. “Give me five minutes! So, I brush my hair and put on clothes!”       Raquelle gets up and goes up to the second floor after Terrence to change clothes, take something, and go to the hospital. She thinks the fact that Daniel has had problems with taking high notes, and all the men have felt kind of strange was a sign of great trouble that might happen because of what happened to the bassist of “Against The System” after an unknown accident.       

***

      Some time later, Helene, Peter, Edward, Natalia, Terrence, Anna, and Raquelle came together to the hospital where Daniel was brought. Marshall already drove Sammy home and went to the hospital, and Rose was talking to the doctors and was the first one to come here. They are now in the hall of the hospital and impatiently waiting for news about Perkins, whom they are worried about. Someone is sitting on uncomfortable chairs, someone is standing, and someone is pacing the floor.       Anna has not been able to hold down tears since she found out what happened to Daniel from Peter and Helene. The girl cannot calm down and is terribly afraid that she might lose her beloved man. This fear has always chased her, and now it might become real if something terrible happened to her boyfriend. Her friends do their best to support her and each other with words and hugs. Even if they also need support and good words.       “Why did it happen?” Anna asks in a shaking voice with tears in her eyes, sitting in the chair and looking at her hands. “Why? I don’t get it… Why?”       “We’re all shocked, sweetie,” Natalia says softly, sitting next to Anna and holding her hands. “We expected it less than anything…”       “If something happens to Daniel, I won’t bear it. I swear… My life will lose its meaning if my beloved man dies.”       “He’ll overcome it, Anna, you’ll see it,” Raquelle says with sadness in her eyes, hugging Anna around the shoulders. “We will all help him if he needs it.”       “Daniel is a strong man and can survive,” Edward says with a part of confidence, standing in front of Anna and fingering over nervously. “He has a reason to live.”       “I don’t wanna lose him, I don’t…” Anna makes a quiet sob. “God, why? Why was it Daniel? What did he do?”       “Yeah, he hasn’t been lucky lately,” Peter says thoughtfully. “But I didn’t think he’d be so unlucky… That he’d have to fight for his life…”       “But I don’t understand how he actually ended up there,” Terrence throws his hands up. “And what actually happened to him?”       “He could get hit by a car because he was lying on the road,” Helene says quietly, embracing herself with both arms. “However, we can’t exclude the version of a beating. Or everything could happen at the same time.”       “And it happened that the person, who did that to Daniel, hid?” Natalia concludes.       “Quite possible,” Peter says quietly. “That person didn’t kinda want to be blamed for hitting the man and decided to hide, using the fact that nobody was there. Though, I don’t know what Daniel could do to be attacked.”       “So, would someone be afraid of the responsibility if Daniel reported them to the police?” Raquelle asks.       “Exactly!”       “But will he do that?” Helene asks. “Would Perkins love to take some measures?”       “I hope it will happen,” Natalia expresses hope.       “What if someone just beat him?” Edward assumes. “Beat him but didn’t hit him by a car? It just could happen that he was lying on the road!”       “But who?” Terrence wonders. “Do you think he has enemies, who could threaten him because of some business?”       “He didn’t probably tell us much.”       “But he does have enemies,” Peter says thoughtfully. “Blake Connor, for example!”       “Do you think your assistant could do that to Daniel on purpose?” Raquelle gets horrified.       “I wouldn’t be surprised. But I would hit him strongly if it were the truth? What? This kid is jealous of us and laughed at Daniel because of his high notes issues!”       “No, no, Peter, it’s excluded,” Terrence shakes his head. “Maybe, Connor is a deadbeat that hates us, but I don’t think he’d beat someone or hit them with a car.”       “Nevertheless, we can expect anything from that short one,” Edward notices, crossing his arms over his chest. “I wouldn’t also be surprised if it was him.”       “But why do you think Daniel has some enemies, who did that?” Anna asks quietly and hesitantly, sniffing quietly. “What if that’s just a terrible accident? He could just not be careful and look around!”       “You know, friend, I wouldn’t deny that if a person has been hit by a car or beaten where one car per hour drives and one or two people go per day, it can’t be just a coincidence,” Natalia says thoughtfully.       “I don’t exclude that someone could catch Daniel in that place and do what has happened to him…” Raquelle adds.       “So, was this attack planned?” Anna wonders.       “Who knows…”       Silence settles in the air for two seconds, during which everybody looks around and at people passing by them: visitors or doctors in white robes.       “Hey, guys!” Peter breaks the silence. “We forgot to tell you that after Helene and I found Daniel unconscious, she found something, and then Sammy did.”       “And what’s that?” Natalia frowns slightly.       “Now…” Peter tries to find something in the pocket of his denim jacket.       “I have it!” Helene exclaims. “Second.”       Helene opens her purse and quickly finds the black ring found by her and the jackknife found by Sammy.       “We found these things,” Helene pronounces quietly.       “Helene didn’t wanna take these things, but I thought they could belong to the one to blame for what happened,” Peter adds. “They were lying near Daniel…”       “Let me look at that thing,” Anna says quietly, takes the black ring from Helene’s hands, and looks at this, frowning slightly. “The ring is male… But it doesn’t belong to Daniel… The size is too small… And he’s never worn rings…”       “Hey, what’s this?” Edward asks, takes the jackknife from Helene, looks at it and unfolds it, and folds it two times. “Blood on the knife… Fresh…”       “Peter and I think someone could cut Daniel’s hand with this one,” Helene confesses. “When we found him, his palm of the hand was cut strongly.”       “Oh, God…” Anna pronounces with horror in her eyes.       “Anyway, we’re gonna keep these things,” Peter replies confidently. “Sammy found the knife and insisted that we take that one and the ring. He wouldn’t have done it for nothing.”       “And if the ring doesn’t belong to Daniel, it was lost by someone to blame for what happened,” Raquelle assumes. “As well as the knife.”       “I wonder, how many people did attack Daniel?” Natalia frowns slightly. “Was there a company? Or was someone doing it alone?”       “Hard to say,” Terrence shrugs.       “If Daniel had been attacked by fewer people, he would’ve been beaten black and blue,” Edward assumes. “It’s impossible to deal with fewer people alone.”       “Maybe, we go to the police, explain everything, and show these things that Helene and Pete found?” Anna suggests hesitantly.       “Let Daniel decide if he wanna report the ones to blame,” Terrence replies, crossing his arms over his chest. “Though, it would be good to hear what happened from him.”       “Of course, we’ll ask him about everything when he wakes up and can accept visitors,” Peter replies confidently.       “Why?” Anna makes a quiet sob, closing her mouth with a hand. “Why was it him?”       “He’s gonna be okay, darling,” Helene says softly, coming closer to Anna and taking her hands. “Thank God, Daniel is alive. Be glad Pete and I found him and called an ambulance just in time.”       “No, no, I don’t wanna even think about it… If he died, my life would be deprived of meaning. There is no me without Daniel.”       “Don’t say it, friend,” Natalia says quietly, hugging Anna around the shoulders tightly and pressing her to herself. “You’ll see, your boyfriend is gonna be fine.”       “Hey, Anna, haven’t you noticed anything suspicious about Daniel’s behavior?” Raquelle asks. “Maybe, he has been afraid of something? What if there’s something we don’t know yet?”       “Nope, nothing,” Anna shrugs and sniffs. “He’s just been too upset by the bad performances. He said if Terrence, Edward, and Peter hadn’t helped him pretend that everything was okay, everyone would’ve begun to criticize or blame him for using autotune. Daniel has been super stressed because of these problems.”       “There was a reason,” Peter notices thoughtfully. “He’s lately screwed it all up constantly. Sometimes even too openly. It could happen that Perkins could forget the lyrics, play wrongly, and didn’t take notes…”       “I think it explains a lot,” Helene frowns slightly. “But Daniel tried to treat his work with responsibility.”       “And you all know that none of us uses autotune,” Terrence says confidently. “We personally watched each other recording the vocals in the studio. And Daniel did take the high notes in the part of the song, with which he got problems.”       “Listen, guys, it doesn’t matter now!” Natalia exclaims. “The most important thing is that Daniel is okay. And that he tells us what happened, and how he ended up where Peter and Helene found him.”       “You know, I think it’s just the beginning of our problems,” Edward says thoughtfully, crossing his arms over his chest. “The situation of Daniel not taking those high notes was a sign… And I must confess that I’ve lately had dark thoughts on my mind… Everything is kind of fine, but something couldn’t let me calm down.”       “I’d love to close your mouth, so you don’t evoke problems, but I’m afraid I have to admit it’s true,” Peter replies thoughtfully.       “Or Connor did it. He wished us to screw everything up much more and wanted our band to be broken up.”       “Yeah… That fucking devil really gave us great problems. What happened to Daniel is proof of it.”       “Let’s just hope for the best,” Raquelle says with hope. “Maybe, Daniel would get well soon, and we’d live like before. But we started to panic and thought up God knows how much…”       “I’m only praying that everything is okay…” Anna replies with sadness in her eyes, sighing heavily and doubling over, and gets up from the chair slowly. “That Daniel leaves the hospital and stays alive.”       Helene, Natalia, and Raquelle come to Anna and try to comfort her somehow with hugs and good words. While Edward, Peter, and Terrence come together and look at the girls being truly worried about Daniel, with sad faces.       “Hey, was everything so serious?” Terrence asks with anxiety.       “Very serious,” Peter crosses his arms over his chest. “His head was lying in the pool of blood, a little red flow was getting out of his mouth, and he was very white… He was barely breathing and had a very weak pulse… It was horrible to be next to him, honestly… And it hurts to watch Dan being like this… With an oxygen mask, with a neck brace…”       “What did the doctors say when taking him here?” Edward asks.       “Nothing special. Blood loss, a high temperature of the body, blood pressure issues…”       “And about hits, fractures…”       “They didn’t exclude that it could happen. But it was just an assumption.”       “I wanna hope you and Helene came just in time,” Terrence says with anxiety.       “Let’s hope. But Helene and I don’t know how long Daniel had been lying there before we found him. I mean, before Sammy led us to him.”       “Who knows…” Edward says thoughtfully. “But the most important thing is that he is okay.”       Edward glances at Anna, who is tried to be comforted by her friends, while she is crying quietly, shaking slightly, and constantly saying that something very bad should happen.       “She won’t bear it if he gets worse…” Edward adds with sadness in his eyes.       “None of us wants it…” Terrence replies thoughtfully. “Lose our friend… Our brother…”       “I’m starting to understand what you all felt when I was taken to the hospital after the suicide attempt,” Peter exhales sharply.       Edward claps Peter on the shoulder with sadness in his eyes. And then the two look at Terrence, and the men look around with fear and anxiety, wishing to stop worrying and knowing nothing and to find out what happened to Daniel. But at some moment, the long waiting is over because a man doctor of forty years holding a piece of paper in his hands and looking a little tired comes to them.       “Excuse me, young people, who is waiting for news about Daniel Perkins?” the doctor asks and stops his eyes on Peter. “You? I was talking to you!”       “Yes, yes…” Peter jabs a little excitedly.       Anna, Helene, Edward, Terrence, Natalia, and Raquelle come to the doctor shortly, wishing to hear something good and encouraging.       “We’re waiting, too,” Terrence says confidently.       “Yes, we are his close friends,” Natalia adds.       “Please, doctor, tell us, how Daniel is,” Anna begs with pity in her eyes. “What happened to my boyfriend?”       “Can you make us happy with something?” Peter asks anxiously. “Is Daniel fine or not?”       “I can make you happy and sad at the same time,” the doctor replies thoughtfully, fixing his glasses slightly.       “What do you mean, make us happy and sad?” Terrence wonders, opening his eyes wide.       “Well… I can make you happy with the news that Mr. Perkins’ condition is stable enough, and he does not have broken bones after the supposed car accident. He is very lucky in this case.”       “Is he awake now?” Natalia asks.       “Yes, yes, your friend woke up.”       “And what about the bad news?” Helene asks with anxiety.       “Oh… The bad news is that the man got a very strong hit on the head. Probably, against the front of a car. And… It led to the brain concussion… Which also led to some consequences.”       “Which consequences?” Raquelle asks with horror in her eyes.       The word “concussion” is already making everybody feel anxiety and panic, and Anna makes a much louder sob.       “As it often happens after a concussion and any head traumas, Mr. Perkins has got signs of partial amnesia,” the doctor says with sympathy. “I mean, we suspect that he has partial amnesia.”       “Amnesia?” Anna asks in a shaking voice.       “We cannot say how serious it is. But I believe he does not remember some things from his life… That man probably forgot some people and moments related to them.”       “We cannot say how serious it is, but it seems like he does not remember some things from his life.”       Absolute silence settles, during which everybody tries to realize that the doctor’s words about Daniel’s amnesia are not a joke. Anna was trying to hold on somehow and not to fall into hysteria, but now she, getting sharply white from horror, starts crying much more bitterly and makes herself think that amnesia is literally the end of all good things. Peter standing next to the girl hugs her tightly and caresses her head, while she presses herself close to him, shaking strongly and barely standing on her feet from the weakness that she instantly got obsessed with. However, just like his friends do, the man does understand it would be worthless, does not associate the word “amnesia” with anything good, and feels anxiety, fear, and the presentiment of something bad.       “Doesn’t he remember anything?” Natalia asks in slow motion.       “He orientates in time and space badly,” the doctor replies. “He looks absolutely lost and does not always understand what he is told. That man reminds me of a little child, who's just starting to examine this world.”       “So, doesn’t Daniel even know his name?” Raquelle gets horrified.       “No, he does remember his name. When he woke up, the doctors asked him what his name was. Somewhere two or three minutes later, Mr. Perkins managed to call his full name – Daniel Christopher Perkins. He also knows his birthdate – August, 20th, 1990 and his birthplace – New York City, New York. It fully fitted the data of the documents that this young man gave us.” The doctor points at Peter.       “Does he remember us?” Anna asks very hesitantly. “Did Daniel ask something about his friends?”       “Unfortunately, no,” the doctor shakes his head with sadness in his eyes. “It might turn out that he forgot many people and the memories related to them. But it often happens that the memory knows how to, for example, drive a car or play soccer. I mean, Mr. Perkins will not become helpless and will be able to do anything he did before.”       Anna shakes her head with tears in her eyes, closing her mouth with both hands and getting horrified when she images the way Daniel tells her he does not remember and does not love her.       “So, what do we do if Daniel does not really remember us?” Edward asks hesitantly.       “I think we need to find out if it’s true, at first,” the doctor replies thoughtfully. “There is a little chance that he might remember one of you. For example, you, miss.”       The doctor glances at Anna, who moves her wet, red eyes to him and sniffs.       “Me?” Anna wonders with hope in her eyes.       “Yes,” the doctor nods.       “So, did Daniel ask about me? Does he remember that I’m his girlfriend?”       “Are you his girlfriend?”       “Yes, Daniel is her boyfriend,” Peter replies confidently.       “Alright. Well, if it’s so, he might definitely remember you. As… His close person.”       “You’re giving me hope…” Anna makes a quiet sob.       “I am sorry that your friend has nobody from his family, as this man with blond hair said. Maybe, he could remember them, too.”       “No, sadly, he has nobody. His parents died a long time ago.”       “Sorry… Very sorry…”       “Excuse me, doctor, can we see Daniel right now?” Terrence asks. “And talk to him a little.”       “I will allow you to visit him just to find out if Mr. Perkins remembers you,” the doctor replies. “And then, you will have to leave his room.”       “We cannot stay?” Anna asks in a shaking voice.       “I’m sorry, but no. As Mr. Perkins got head trauma, he needs full rest now. Any loud sounds, excitement, or short movements are banned. He is going to stay in the hospital under our watch for at least one week.”       “Alright, we agree,” Helene nods. “See him and leave.”       “Then take a breath away and follow me. And try not to make loud sounds.”       After looking at each other with horror in their widely open eyes, Anna, Terrence, Helene, Edward, Raquelle, Peter, and Natalia nod slightly and follow the doctor hesitantly, praying that Daniel recognizes everybody or at least one of them.       “I’m terrified, guys,” Anna whispers and makes a quiet sob. “I’m really afraid that he won’t recognize me.”       “I think he might remember you,” Terrence replies with hope. “You’re with him much longer than all of us.”       “I don’t know what I’ll do if Daniel says he can’t remember me. I swear I won’t bear it.”       “And yeah, what will we do if he doesn’t recognize anybody?” Natalia asks anxiously.       “I don’t know…” Edward shakes his head. “But first, let’s find out whom he remembers. And then decide it…”       “If only everything was fine…” Peter pronounces quietly. “If only he recognized at least one of us…”       A few seconds later, the doctor leads the friends to one of the many doors to rooms on the third floor. The man looks at everybody quickly and nods, letting them know that they have come.       “Wait here,” the doctor says quietly. “I’m going to call you in a few seconds.”       The doctor knocks at the door very quickly and enters the room, in which there are two hospital beds. And Daniel is lying on one of them. He looks terribly white, exhausted, and absolutely lost, looking around questioningly, frowning slightly sometimes due to the strong pain in the head, and squinting his eyes because it’s hard for him to take the bright light. There are multiple blood wounds on his face, bruises of different sizes on his arms, and small pieces of a patch in some areas. Hearing a quiet squeak of the door, he winces strongly but moves his empty, confused look to the doctor.       “Hello again,” the doctor says softly. “How are you feeling?”       “Not very good…” Daniel replies tiredly with a quiet moan, touching his forehead. “My head hurts strongly… I feel nausea… And… Terrible weakness… Hard to move…”       “I do tell you to move as less as possible. You are now banned from doing short movements.”       “You said it?”       “Sure.”       “Yeah… I probably forgot it…”       “It’s alright, it happens when you have a concussion.” the doctor takes a flashlight from the small pocket of his white robe and checks out Daniel’s pupil's response, which does not make him happy. “The reaction is bad yet… But it’s alright.”       “My head…” Daniel winces slightly. “It’s tearing… I feel too bad…”       “I will give you some drugs. But the most important thing is to lie and move less.” The doctor puts the flashlight in his pocket and examines Daniel’s blood wound and bruises.       “Doctor…” Daniel pronounces quietly. “I kind of have a hole… I… I can’t remember anything… Why?”       “Don’t worry, young man, your amnesia is a temporary thing,” the doctor calms down quietly. “Early or late, you will get your memory back. This is the consequence of your head trauma. You hit it strongly and forgot everything.”       “But… I can’t remember that… I can’t remember what happened to me. And… I can’t remember what I hear now… I don’t remember… Honestly, I… I’m not even sure that… My name is Daniel.”       “Judging from the documents that we got, your name is really Daniel Perkins.”       “I don’t know… I… I don’t feel like me.”       “Say, do you remember something else except your name? Maybe, you recalled something when I was out?”       “Well… I do exactly know that someone threatened me… I mean… I think someone threatened me… Someone wanted to kill me…”       “Jesus Christ…” the doctor gets horrified. “And who?”       “I can’t remember… But I can’t get rid of this feeling…”       “Alright… And do you remember your family, friends, and girlfriend?”       “Erm…” Daniel pronounces hesitantly, while his widely open eyes often run from one side to the other.       “Alright, let’s do something: I will bring some people to you, so you say if one of them is familiar to you,” the doctor says quietly.       “Alright…” Daniel replies hesitantly as he shrugs. “But I’m not sure if I recognize someone…”       The doctor nods, comes to the exit, and makes a gesture, asking Terrence, Raquelle, Edward, Natalia, Anna, Peter, and Helene to come to him. The men let the girls go ahead and slowly enter the room. Every of them notices how pale Daniel looks, while he sets his eyes on these people, who do not seem familiar to him. After seeing the man like this, Anna starts crying much more bitterly and closes her mouth with a hand, as if she is trying not to scream from the pain that she is feeling, while her friends comfort her, and Peter hugs her around the shoulders.       “Mr. Perkins, can you say, please, if you remember someone from these people?” the doctor asks quietly. “Look at them closely and point at the one that seems familiar to you.”       Daniel, frowning slightly, looks at everybody, who came into his room, from head to feet for a pretty long time. At some moment, he gets the feeling that he has seen these people before, but he cannot remember where. He doubts if he knows those, whom he called his close people yesterday. The man does not remember anyone of them or anything that has to do with them. And a few seconds later, Daniel breaks the silence that might also be broken by Anna and moves his dead eyes to the doctor.       “No…” Daniel pronounces quietly and hesitantly, shaking his head. “I don’t remember any one of these people…”       “No…” Anna whispers with tears in her eyes. “Please, God, no… Not this…”       “Look closely, young man,” the doctor advises. “Maybe, someone seems familiar to you? But you are not sure if you know them. Maybe, you have this feeling?”       “I… No… I remember nobody… And… I don’t know… If I should…” Daniel slowly moves his questionable gaze to the others, deciding not to say that these people seem familiar to him because of his great doubts. “Who are you? Why are you doing here? I don’t know you…”       The men and the girls do not think Daniel would not remember any one of them and understand that their worst expectations have been confirmed. They hoped he would remember at least Anna or Peter, whom he has known for much longer, but he does not remember these especially close people to him. The pain that the girl felt after finding out what happened to Daniel and hearing about his amnesia is too weak, unlike the one that she felt when she heard that the man did not remember his friends and his girlfriend. She stops holding her emotions down and lets them go out because she thinks her life is now over. And at some moment, Anna snuggles her face into the shoulder of Natalia, who is standing next to her, hugging her tightly and caressing her head.       “Fuck…” Peter grabs his head with widely open eyes. “Our worst expectations have been confirmed. Daniel doesn’t remember us.”       “What we were afraid happened…” Edward shakes his head with his mouth closed with a hand.       “You literally saw through,” Terrence says quietly. “It was really the beginning of new problems. Connected with Daniel.”       A little later, Anna steps back from the girls, who try to comfort her, comes to the bed, on which Daniel is lying, and sits on it with tears in her eyes.       “Don’t you actually remember me?” Anna asks in a shaking voice with tears and despair, taking Daniel’s hands tenderly. “Please, think a little bit longer… Please… It’s me, Anna, your girlfriend…”       No matter how much Daniel wants to remember Anna or one of his friends, he cannot remember anyone.       “No…” Daniel shakes his head with sadness in his eyes. “I don’t know you… I can’t remember…”       “Please, Daniel, please…” Anna begs much louder and sniffs. “Just say I seem familiar to you. That you believe we’ve met before.”       “Should I remember you?”       “You’re my boyfriend. And I’m your girlfriend. Can’t you even remember this?”       “Girlfriend? I have a girlfriend?”       “Yes, sweetie, you do. It’s me. Me, Anna Seymour.”       “Sorry, but it means nothing to me…” Daniel falls into silence for a second and looks at Anna closer, cracking a slight smile unconsciously. “Though, you’re beautiful… Very beautiful… And being next to you is nice…”       What’s happening is like a terrible nightmare that would be over after opening your eyes. But unfortunately, everything is real. After a tragic accident, Daniel lost his memory partially and does not remember anyone, with whom he felt happy and loved before. And when she realizes that the man will not remember her, Anna gets up from the bed with tears in her eyes and runs away from the room, feeling the unbelievable pain that is like the worst torture.       “Where are you going?” Daniel asks hesitantly. “Wait! Why are you crying? What did I do? Explain it!”       Anna’s friends do not realize what happened immediately, but they do it two seconds later after the door is closed by the girl.       “Anna!” Raquelle exclaims loudly, anxiously. “Anna, wait!”       “Anna, friend, where are you going?” Peter asks with widely open eyes.       “I’ll try to talk to her.”       Raquelle leaves the room quickly, and Natalia and Helene do the same, leaving the men, who look at each other hesitantly.       “What a twist…” Terrence shakes his head.       “Why is that girl crying?” Daniel wonders, looking at the man scarily. “Did I hurt her? Did I say something wrong?”       “She’s your girlfriend, Daniel,” Peter replies with sadness in his eyes. “Anna’s worried that you can’t remember her.”       “My girlfriend?”       “Yes, you love her very much and can’t imagine your life with a different girl,” Edward says softly.       “You said you loved her more and more every day,” Terrence adds with a slight smile on his face but with sad eyes. “You were afraid to lose her…”       “But why can’t I remember her?” Daniel wonders. “Why can’t I remember any one of you? I can remember nothing! I’ve got a hole!”       “Don’t worry, buddy, it’s temporary,” Peter says confidently. “You’ll remember everything, but a little later. It’s not amazing that you forgot everything after the head trauma.”       “But will I remember everything? How much time will be gone?”       “I’m sure you will remember her, your friends, your family, and everything soon,” the doctor replies softly and confidently. “You will not be like this all your life.”       “I’m trying to remember something, but I can’t. Really. I want to do it. I can’t.”       “You may get your memory back at any time. It will happen slowly: first, you will remember one thing, and then another. You remember only your name now and the skills that you had before the memory loss. You will not become helpless. But your hands and legs might obey you badly due to the brain damage.”       “When will it happen? When will I finally remember everything? I want to know everything! Who I am… Who these people are… What happened to me…”       “Don’t worry, young man, it will be gone. You just need some time. And actually, I do not advise you to think about it too much. You need full rest and peace and as much deep sleep as possible. This is how you can get well.”       “Alright…” Daniel pronounces quietly. “I got it…”       “Alright. I’m sorry, but I will have to lead your friends away because I promised to let them in for a few minutes. And you try to sleep. I will come back to you again a little later.”       The doctor turns around and moves his eyes to Edward, Terrence, and Peter looking at each other with sadness in their eyes or watching Daniel, who is behaving like they are strangers to him.       “Come with me, young men,” the doctor says quietly. “You will talk to him later. When he gets better.”       Terrence, Edward, and Peter do not argue with the doctor and leave the room quietly. And in the hall, they immediately see Raquelle, Helene, and Helene unsuccessfully trying to calm Anna, who refuses to believe what’s happening is real. The young men come to the shaking and crying girl and hug her tightly or caress her head or shoulder.       “I can’t believe it…” Anna pronounces with despair in a strongly shaking voice. “He recognized nobody. Even me. Daniel behaves like I’m a stranger to him.”       “He recognized nobody, darling,” Edward says softly, caressing Anna’s back. “Daniel behaves like this with all of us.”       “It must be a nightmare… My worst nightmare… I’m about to wake up, and Daniel is gonna be fine.”       “We all want it, sweetie,” Helene says with sadness in her eyes. “We’re all saddened.”       “I lost him… Lost, guys… I stayed alone… Alone…”       “No, Anna, don’t say it,” Terrence shakes his head, hugging Anna around the shoulders and caressing her head. “You didn’t lose Daniel. Thank God, he’s alive. But our friend is gonna get well very soon, and everything will become the same.”       “No, it won’t be… Won’t be…”       “Friend…” Natalia pronounces with pity in her eyes.       Daniel’s doctor feels that something clicks inside him while watching Anna crying so bitterly and comes closer to her.       “Miss, please, do not worry so much,” the doctor says softly, caressing Anna’s shoulder. “Amnesia is a temporary thing. Your boyfriend will remember everything, early or late.”       “But how long do we have to wait, doctor?” Anna asks in a shaking voice with tears. “We may wait for a week, a month, or a year…”       “It’s true, but this type of amnesia would not last forever. The memory will be back, but slowly. Having a good rest, a quiet day regimen, and a good sleep, Mr. Perkins will quickly recover from the concussion and all the traumas he got. Less excitement and movements for some time before everything is fine.”       “And what do we do to help him remember us?” Peter asks. “Or doesn’t it depend on us?”       “Why doesn’t it depend? It does! Try to tell him about yourself and everything that connected him with all of you. If you’re his friends, tell Mr. Perkins about your friendship. Maybe, it can help him remember you, or at least think better and believe he knows you.”       “You think it will help?” Edward frowns slightly.       “I do not guarantee the recovery of the memory. But this is the only thing you can do. And when he gets much better, you can take him to the places you have visited before or considered important and memorable. It would also help him remember something.”       “It seems like we’re going to have a hard time…” Natalia sighs with sadness in her eyes.       “Better be happy your friend is alive. And this case is a good reason to prove how important your friendship with that man is to you. If Mr. Perkins means a lot to you, you should do your best to take care of him as long as it needs.”       “Yes, doctor, we get it,” Peter nods, sighing quietly. “Of course, we will not leave Daniel and will do our best to help him.”       “I’m sure he will be grateful to you when he remembers everything. The most important thing is not to leave him. Even if you’re hurt that someone looks at you like you’re strangers. That guy needs you like never ever.”       “Even if he doesn’t, it’s alright,” Terrence replies confidently. “It doesn’t matter to us.”       “Unfortunately, doctors cannot get rid of amnesia. They have already done their job. Next, everything depends on Mr. Perkins. And you. But remember that he will be a little distracted and slow, and you might explain something several times.”       “Anyway, thank you, doctor,” Helene replies with thankfulness. “Thank you so much for what you have done for Daniel.”       “It’s my job. Alright… Now excuse me, I must leave you. I have other patients that I should check.”       “Sure,” Anna pronounces quietly.       “You do not better bother Mr. Perkins and go home. And we will see tomorrow. If he gets a little better, I will give you a few minutes to talk to him.”       The doctor turns around and goes away quietly, leaving Terrence, Helene, Natalia, Peter, Raquelle, Edward, and Anna being sad and shocked alone. Every one of them is trying to accept what they found out a few minutes ago somehow and is seriously worried about the band, the existence of which is under threat again.