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Lisbeth felt his arms come around her from behind. His hard body sheltered her and made her feel loved and safe. His lips sought her neck, bringing her chills. The good kind. “You are my forever love, Lisbeth. Always.” His German accent still made her stomach flutter.
“I’ll never be able to make it without you. I don’t want to leave.” Lisbeth’s heart seemed to shatter in her chest. She knew she had to go home and fulfill her obligations. A contract to satisfy. Her college had been paid by KenSpec Labs on the promise to work for them for four years.
“I don’t want you to go. I promise you that I will travel there and stay with you every chance I get. We’ll work this out. I couldn’t let you go now if I didn’t think I’d never see you again.” She heard the tears in his voice. Knew the pain in his soul. She’d never experienced love the way she had this past month. His hands gripped her waist turning her from the beautiful vista of Heidelberg. She closed her eyes and then opened them to gaze into the beautiful green eyes of the most amazing man she’d ever met.
“Stieg.” Her breath hitched. He cupped her face in his hands. She knew it was to comfort her. Her heart was breaking. He tried to smile, and she saw a flash of his dimples. She ran her hands over his broad shoulders, loving the feel of his skin beneath her palms. She knew every inch of his skin, knew the taste of it all.
“I know, I know. We’ll video chat every day until I hold you again.” His eyes filled with tears. “I love you, Lisbeth. That will never change. I will find you in this world or any other. I promise you. We will be together again.” He kissed her then, pouring every ounce of his emotions and his vow into the kiss. It was hard for her to return the kiss when she was crying. Her heart feeling like it was being squeezed in her chest. She wrapped her arms tight around him, trying to pull him hard enough to fuse their bodies together.
Without warning, Stieg flew backward and was jerked out of her grasp. “No!” She reached her arms out to him, grasping his fingers with hers. “No!” She screamed again, trying to pull him back into her arms. The look of shock and fear on his face felt like a stab to her chest as her hold on him broke.
Lisbeth jerked up in her bed, her heart pounding and her mouth dry. She’d had this dream before and each time, the details got more solid, but she always woke with the same heartache. This time though, it was as if he’d just been pulled away from her embrace. She still tasted him on her tongue. She fell back to the bed, covering her face while she sobbed.
She heard a knock on her door a second before it flew open and her best friend and roommate barged in and came straight for her bed. The bedside lamp flooded the room in light just as warm arms pulled her up and into an embrace. “Shhhh, shhhh. It’s okay, Lisbeth. It’s okay, honey. It was just a dream.” Soft words fell from her lips, trying to calm the pain. Lisbeth slowly relaxed, allowing Deb to rock her gently. They both knew it was more than a dream. It was her personal hell.
“I-I saw him, and I could feel him just like I feel you now. Deb, I can’t go on like this.” Her body shook with her emotions, her tears soaked her friend’s pajama top. “I hurt for him. I feel like someone has ripped part of me away. I’m grieving. How is that possible?”
Deb grabbed her shoulders her fingers grasping the cold skin. She pushed Lisbeth back, so they were nose to nose. The concern she saw there brought fresh tears. “You’re starting to scare me. Lisbeth, you need to find out what is going on. Go talk to your boss. See if this has happened to anyone else.”
Lisbeth reached behind her to grab a tissue from the nightstand. “What if they say I’m unfit and remove me from the study. I love my job.” She looked down to her hands. She noticed they were still shaking. “I used to anyway.”
Deb snorted and put her fingers under Lisbeth’s chin to force her head up. “Things have been crazy since you came home from that top-secret mission a few weeks ago. You’re right, you can’t go on like this. You don’t sleep, you hardly eat now. Every single time you see an advertisement for his new movie you fall apart.” Deb grabbed another tissue and used it to wipe more tears from her face.
“Don’t think I haven’t noticed you searching the web for pictures of him. I can see your face and I know when I see you looking at your laptop that you’re torturing yourself. This isn’t like someone with a teenage crush on a movie star.”
She tried to stop the sob that threatened to overtake her. She blew her nose instead.
Deb moved so her eyes were level with Lisbeth’s. “I’m really afraid you’re going to hurt yourself if this gets worse. And it’s steadily gotten worse. I know you’ve had time off since your last mission, but you go back to work today. Go see your boss. Please.” Lisbeth nodded in agreement before looking at the clock. It was nearly time to get up anyway.
“I’ll go by his office first thing.” She stood up to head to the bathroom. She decided to go ahead and shower but was stopped by Deb’s quick intake of breath.
“Holy Mother of God.” Deb’s voice was shaking. “Oh, Lisbeth.”
She’d never heard Deb’s voice sound so full of fear. Hands grasped her shoulders, turning her back more toward the lamp. “What? What is it Deb?” She could hear her roommate panting a second before she pushed her into the master bath. The overhead light flipped on and Deb turned her so her back was facing the mirror.
“Look. But don’t freak out.”
Lisbeth turned her head slowly to peer over her shoulder. The thick strap of her pajama shirt was pushed aside, and Deb pulled her long dark hair away from her left shoulder. Lisbeth nearly fell to the floor. “Oh god!”
****
Dave was reading a report as he walked down the hall. He nearly wal
ked into the young woman standing in the hallway. When she looked up, he was stunned to see the change in her features. “Miss Mohr?”
“Captain.” Her voice broke but she took a deep breath and calmed herself. “I need help. P-Please.” He stared at her in shock but didn’t make a move or say a word. She had lost weight, her face had lines of stress around her mouth. Dark circles were under her puffy eyes that were filled with unshed tears. She had always been so professional, and this was out of character for her.
“Captain Amsted, I really need to talk to you, sir.”
Dave studied the young woman’s pale face and red nose.
“It’s really important and my friend Deb said I should find you. I need to talk to you in private. Please.”
Dave nodded as he stepped away from her and toward his office. He’d flown with her on board his chopper for several years but hadn’t spoken two words to her away from the mission. She had been on the flight over the time anomaly, but the crew had been given time off after the incident. He hadn’t seen her since. “Okay. I can take you to my office. Come on.” He walked down the hallway to his private office and let her walk in and sit before shutting the door.
