Sanctify
Chapter 4 - Twenty Fifty

Alone in the kitchen, Jenna Witte washed her dishes and sighed. Having grown up in Seattle, loving the rainy weather and dreariness of the fog, she’d only known how to live alone, in solitude, and not care for anyone other than herself. Not in the selfish way, but in the self-sustaining way. Her friends came and went from her life and she knew better than to get attached to these temporary pleasures. She attended Harvard on a rare scholarship before moving on to Oxford. She returned to Chicago to do research and travelled around until she reached the University of Southern California. There, on her first day of working in the well-stocked labs, she met the pair of blue-green eyes that stirred her lonely heart.

She worked closely with him five days out of the week, and when she snuck into the labs on the weekend, she was surprised to replace him there, also. They got along well enough and conversed easily on many subjects, most of them work-related. He didn’t seem to mind her shy demeanor and even called it ‘cute’. Jenna knew girls liked him a lot by the way some openly gawked at him, but she chose to ignore it, hoping her heart would as well. But those blue-green eyes watched, laughed, and teased her on a daily basis. So, when celebrating the end of their research project and the publishing of their papers, he had taken her out to celebrate. There, in front of the giant fountain at Exposition Park, Jenna blurted out the three words she never imagined herself voicing.

“I like you.”

She’d never confessed to liking a boy before, and being already 26, she didn’t know what to do. And, as if his silence after her confession wasn’t enough, he didn’t even look at her when he responded.

“Sorry, Jenna.”

Jenna closed her eyes, remembering the taste of rejection for the first time despite it being a week since she last saw him. Conveniently, their schedules didn’t match and so when she entered the offices to clean out her belongings before moving on to her next assignment, his desk was already empty. She looked for him at the project office but his name wasn’t under any team, nor did she happen to meet those bright eyes again. Her roommate had told her to move on because lingering on the ‘what-if’ was too painful.

A light thud made Jenna freeze. She recognized it as someone landing on the balcony that ran behind the apartment building. She brushed her tears aside and swallowed any bits of fear that tried to lodge into her mind. One thing about living that had been instilled in her was the lack of fear. “Fear is just uncertain curiosity,” she had remembered from somewhere.

Long black hair from her mother hid the backdoor from her sight, though she felt the hairs of her arm stand up at the sound of the back door opening. That very same strict upbringing ensured her hand on the nearest knife. She almost smiled remembering the added on bit, “… but it doesn’t hurt to protect yourself.”

Soft footsteps approached her and, the moment she turned, Michel Geske grabbed her and spun her, pressuring her to drop the knife onto the counter top, while pressing her body to the counter with his body. Overwhelmed by the sudden closeness and the beautiful blue-green eyes that peered down at her, Jenna blinked a few times before she demanded, “Let me go.”

Michel smiled, his always-stunning eyes moving from her lips to her eyes, “I’m thinking about it.”

Jenna swallowed before willing herself to look away from Michel’s intense and guarded gaze. She wanted to him so badly and yet, his rejection still freshly burned in her memory. “Please,” she whispered, knowing how not over him she truly was in that moment.

Michel sighed and released her from him. He took a step back but not that big of a step. He looked her over and whispered, “I have to go away, possibly forever.” Jenna nodded, feeling the goodbye coming on, and then he surprised her, “Come with me?”

Eyes wide with surprise, Jenna frowned, “What did you say?” She stepped away from Michel, too warm for her comfort. “Quit messing with me. You… you don’t –”

Jenna could have accepted a simple response of any of the excuses used in the textbooks, but Michel’s sudden kiss caught her completely off guard. She didn’t want to respond and she even tried to contain herself, but the moment he touched her, she had lost. A strong willed woman, she was known for that, brilliance and tenacity that challenged even the most arrogant of men, and yet, she melted against him. His right hand confidently held her to him from behind her head and the other on her lower back, keeping her in place. So gentle. So warm.

When Michel pulled back, he swallowed and waited. Jenna licked her lips and whispered, “You kissed me.”

Michel bit his bottom lip, “I’ve wanted to do this for so long,” he whispered, pulling her face to him and kissing her again, this time on the cheek and the corner of her lips before pressing down with a selfish insistency that she gave way to. She went soft all over, but she appreciated his hard body anchoring her.

She pushed her hands against his chest and looked up at him. “You did?” she asked, very hot for more.

Michel clenched his jaw, noting the passionate and longing glaze over her, now, tearless eyes. He had worked so had to carefully avoid her during the past few weeks so as to observe her behavior without him in her life. From the beginning, he knew better than to get close to her, but she had such insight and interest in the biological engineering and fusion of the mechanical with the metaphysical, though her field of study was genetic modification, he found her thoughts and ideas mesmerizing. As if she were his own computer of information, her research floored him; something no one had ever managed to accomplish. He was the acclaimed genius of his school, he was known for his achievements, and yet, this shy woman stunned him into silence. But to see her cry because of him was worse than anything he had ever imagined. He had heard that women get over men quickly when the man isn’t around, but he never imagined wanting her so badly when away from her. Which was why he made the decision to come back for her.

He knew what he asked for would sound selfish and over-the-top cheesy if misunderstood, so he carefully explained, “I’m being recruited for a job and I have to leave right now. I’m allowed one person who I can’t live without, and because you have been my peer for the past three years of researching and working, I want to take you with me.” He recited the words carefully, knowing that if he told the truth, she would surely run in the opposite direction. And, knowing him, he would be crazy not to chase her down and drag her with him. Jenna stared up at his sincere eyes and swallowed as he added, “If one day, time allowed us the leisure of making our oaths before the altar, I couldn’t imagine staring into the eyes of anyone else, or baring my soul to anyone but you.”

Jenna swallowed, a bit afraid of his words, “Really?”

Her passionate gaze made him cringe a little. The truth was, the moment he explained who she was, what she did, and handed in her research paper in for recruitment consideration, the office was determined to take her. But that meant he wouldn’t be by her side. And he wanted that. He didn’t trust the organization enough to let her brave the entry courses and trials alone. However, if he brought her in, committed himself to her, then he would always have her with him and be able to ensure her safety and happiness. Also, he would get to listen to her speak, and that was far more of a reward than anything else.

Rayner, who still waited outside, interrupted their moment “We got to move! You can get your alone time once we reach the safe house. Let’s go!” he added, none too happily.

Michel kissed Jenna’s forehead and then once more before he stepped away from her, clasping her hand in his, and pulled her towards the backdoor. “No contact with people you knew outside of who you meet from now on. Your new life, with me, begins now. Can you handle it?” he asked and stopped at the back door. He grabbed her face and kissed her once more, as if saying goodbye. He knew he was manipulating her and taking an advantage of her in that moment of sweetness he had just created. He’d watched her enough to know just how badly she wanted him. Using it against her in that moment was a cheap shot, but ensured her curiosity.

Knowing all too well the years of loneliness Jenna had lived up until meeting him, she replied eagerly, “If it’s with you, I can do it.” Michel smiled at her, a wave of confidence shaking her to her core. And then, Jenna hesitated and turned, one last time, to look at the apartment she lived in with her roommate. She knew she was being spontaneous and stupid, but the torrent of emotions within her hadn’t allowed her any common sense. “Should I tell Kat that –” Jenna started before a hand with a towel soaked with chloroform clamped over her nose and mouth. Jenna breathed in, coughed, and then fell unconscious.

Michel caught her and pulled her out the back door. Rayner shut the gate of the apartment complex and wiped it clean of prints. He led the way through back alleys of the many apartment complexes to the SUV that waited for them. He got in to the passenger seat and shut the door. In the driver’s seat, Oren looked over and raised his brows, “That’s her? She doesn’t look like much.”

Michel looked from the sleeping face of Jenna to his comrades in the car, and then asked, “What if I’m ruining her life? What if she resents me for the rest of our lives? I’m basically stealing her from everyone that loves her,” he added, very uncertain.

Oren turned on the car and let it warm up as Rayner warned, “Live or die, make that choice now and live with it. That’s what makes you a man that she can either love or hate for all eternity.”

Michel swallowed and pulled her closer so that the other guys wouldn’t hear; “I swear I will protect you with all I have. Thank you for this,” he added and opened the door to the back seat. Getting onto the car, he shut the door and the SUV took off into the night. Oren was quiet as Rayner kept an eye out for wandering eyes. In the back, Michel held onto Jenna, tears of regret already flooding his eyes.