Things were quiet for the past few weeks. Life for the group returned to normal. Cricket, Cal and Stefan ran the company well and profits were up by 30% for the quarter. Natasha, Natalia and Damon got along in their studies and mixed well together. It was almost boring. One unplanned thing hovered there. Love was in the air. The following is how it began.

Natasha sat at her desk listening to “All I Want to Do Is Make Love to You” by ‘Heart’ on her iPod. The phone interrupted her reverie, but she did not mind. Cricket, Cal, Stefan, and Monica were at an offsite meeting going over her performance under their tutelage. She had been doing well in every subject except assassination. She hated killing people; it ran against her moral upbringing. She prayed deeply inside to never kill anyone again.

Who was Natasha? Where did she come from? What was her background? When she first arrived at Wolf’s Head Oil her appearance surprised the foursome. She was 5 feet 11 inches tall, with long black hair, very intense blue eyes and very trim long legs. She did not walk like an athlete who ran track, but more like the sleek way a leopard stalked its prey on the savannah. When she came to them she was a junior at the Bard School and at the top of her class. She was born into a family of privilege in Romania and ran track competitively until sidelined by a severe muscle injury. She still ran but at a much slower pace and not competitively.

She grew up outside the country attending private schools all over Europe. She ended up at the Bard School because her parents had attended the school. They wanted her to get a very well rounded education in things other than normal subjects. While at the Bard School she excelled in academics, but had trouble with the other subjects. It was decided that in her best interests, to place her with some former students, who could train her personally. She had never dated or had a boyfriend, they were unimportant to her. She did not have time to spend frivolously with such things.

Answering the phone was something she did for Cricket and Monica every day. On the other end was Mr. Wagner from the Bard School. He wanted to speak to Cricket and told Natasha to get her. Natasha explained that she was not there. Mr. Wagner sighed, but told her that there was a young man coming to join her in her training. He would arrive shortly. She hung up only to have the phone ring again. It was Security this time. There was a young man in the lobby asking to see Cricket. Natasha told them to send him to the Executive floor.

Damon’s parents were graduates of the Bard School, who died in an accident on a mission. He grew up in the foster care system moving from home to home. He was an orphan with no real roots or relatives. He flourished in school and excelled in sports. He was a brilliant child in spite of his background. When he left middle school, he went to the Bard School on a scholarship provided by the school. While there he was a good student, but distracted by the structure and surroundings. Discipline was a problem, but he did not care. He wanted to have fun at any cost.

Out of the elevator stepped one of the most handsome and beautiful men Natasha ever saw. He was very tall, at least 6 feet 5 inches tall with dark brown wavy hair, bright green eyes, a cute nose and the most kissable lips in the world. Her mouth dropped open and she stopped dead in getting up to greet him. Here was the man of her dreams. She sat riveted in her chair, watching this man approach. His walk was deliberate, but not stiff, sort of casual and unhurried. He approached her desk and a crooked smile appeared on his gorgeous face.

"Hello, I am Damon. I believe Mr. Wagner called about my arrival today. Is Cricket here?"

Natasha sputtered, "Sh… sh… she is on her way here to greet you. I am to see to your needs until she arrives. I am her Personal Assistant, Natasha. Welcome. Is there anything you would like Coffee, tea, water or juice?” In her head she thought, “me?"

"No thank you. I will wait until she arrives."

Natasha got up shaking, "please follow me to the conference room, where you will be greeted by Cricket and the others."

Damon looked at Natasha and thought, "I would follow you anywhere", as she led him down the hall to Cricket's private conference room. He entered the room and briefly brushed against Natasha. They both felt a spark go between them. She almost fainted at the touch; he slowed his entry, and looked at her curiously. They smiled cautiously at each other. Natasha wanted the feeling to last; she almost grabbed him to her. He hesitated, turned and took her hand. That did it; she looked him in the eyes reached up and drew his mouth to hers in a long passionate kiss. He kissed her back, wrapping his strong arms around her. The kiss lasted a long time, and the two failed to see Cricket, Monica, Stefan and Cal come down the hall.

That was how Natasha and Damon met. They had been students competing for over six months now. They felt very comfortable with each other, anticipating the others needs. It was a very natural partnership, but there was something missing. The spark was still there and they had spent a lot of time together unsupervised. In their minds they wanted to take their relationship to the next level but school policy prevented that. Damon thought about violating the rules again. He had a girlfriend at the Bard School, a classmate named Natalia. He liked or loved Natasha. She was the woman for him. He tired of the rules and walked up to Natasha, grabbed her into his arms and kissed her. Her reaction, rather than utter shock and disdain, was to wrap her arms around him tightly and kiss him back fiercely. They kissed and hugged for over 5 minutes.

When they stopped Damon said, “Natasha, can I take you on a date?”

“I thought you would never ask. Where shall we go?”

“Where do Cal and Cricket, or Stefan and Monica go? I am not that familiar with this area and do not want to go into the wrong part of the city.”

“Actually, I thought of a place we can go that is close to where we live. That way we don’t have to get home early or have to worry about traffic. There is a nice restaurant and better club there where we can be ourselves. I want to go to both places and would be honored to be escorted by you.”

It was set; Damon and Natasha were officially a couple. Although the Bard School discouraged fraternization they never punished anyone for it. In fact one of the things the school liked was when ex-students married and raised families. It was a very effective way to blend into a community and be well below the radar. Now these two were joining that group. Natasha called the restaurant and made reservations for dinner the following Friday night. She sat at her desk with a smile and warm pink glow on her face, as she thought about Damon being hers. She watched as he walked away with a spring in his step. She felt good that they moved to the next level of their relationship. She wanted Friday night to be special for them. What should she do? Does Damon have a clue what she liked or desired? It did not matter; just being with him was enough. Having him alone, uninterrupted was even better.

Damon thought, “What do I need to do Friday night? I have to get a car and pick up Natasha at Cricket’s estate. That is easy. From there we will take it slowly.”

On Friday Natasha busied herself at the office to get everything done early. She wanted to get home and be ready when Damon arrived. She was so nervous; this was the first date in her life. She wanted it to be perfect. Damon was the man of her dreams, and she dreamed of him every night, since they first kissed. He was such a perfect gentleman with her.

Damon got the best car from the carpool at Wolf’s Head Oil. It was clean and gassed up ready for their date; he drove it to Cal’s estate. He readied himself for his date with Natasha. He dated before but not like this. His earlier dates were to parties with family and friends, never alone. He wanted it to be perfect too. Natasha was special to him, he never felt this way about a girl before. He never wanted to leave her. He felt real loss at her kidnapping. She was gone and no one knew to where. It felt as if he had lost part of his heart. When she called he felt so relieved to hear her voice. When they met in San Antonio he knew she was the girl he wanted to marry. Now they arranged to date for the first time.

Damon picked up Natasha at Cricket’s and drove carefully to the restaurant where a valet parked the car. She was dressed in a clingy simple black dress with a single strand of white pearls as an accent. He was dressed casually in an open shirt and a black jacket with gray slacks. They complimented each other very well. Dinner was simple fare, nothing too heavy but very nice. They sat casually talking about school and their lives getting to know each other. Damon reached across the table seeking her hand. She smiled placing her hand gently in his. Their eyes met and love flew between them. A waiter came to the table, but when he saw the two lovebirds he retreated to the kitchen. Something special happened in that moment. Their love for each other blossomed and spread throughout the place. The adjoining tables saw it and watched with wonder. Dinner went well and ended with a beautiful chocolate confection for dessert ordered special by Damon beforehand. Natasha blushed at being treated so well.

When they got up from the table Natasha kissed Damon a little too long but it was alright. She wrapped her arm around his waist as they walked from the table to the parking lot where the car waited.

“Where shall we go now, my love?” Damon said.

“I thought we could go dancing, but right now, I want to be alone with your arms around me. Let’s cruise down to the cliffs overlooking the ocean. There are blankets in the back of the car so we can lie on the cliffs looking at the stars listening to the waves crashing on the rocks below.”

“That sounds wonderful. I want to spend a lot more time with you alone. It is so rare we are alone.” Damon said, but he really wanted to say a lot more, but was afraid. He was deeply in love with this woman, but did not want to be spurned. Little did he know, that she wanted him to say those three little words to her.

As they sat on the blanket, looking at the boat lights on the ocean, they chatted more about nothing important. Natasha shivered from the wind blowing off the cool ocean water. Damon wrapped his jacket around her shoulders pulling her closer. He looked down at her putting his lips against hers. The kiss was light but felt like a torch burning from their mouths to their hearts. The flames of passion were lit and blazing inside them. Natasha moved closer wrapping her arms around his neck not wanting to let him go. Her lips remained tightly kissing his. His arms wrapped around her waist pulling her up to him. They broke the kiss hugging each other tightly.

As They hugged, Damon whispered in her ear, “Natasha, I Love You. I don’t want this night to ever end. When you were taken from me, I felt as if my heart had been ripped out. That was the worst feeling in the world.”

“Damon, I wanted so much to stay with you that night, but you told me to run and I did. The men who took me were rough, but treated me well. I missed you so much. I wanted to be in your arms cradled by the man I love dearly. When I awoke in San Antonio, my first thoughts were of you. My heart yearned to hear your voice. I wanted to tell you I was safe and we would be together soon. When you knocked on my hotel room door, I was so happy and overjoyed you were alone. Our hearts united as we kissed hello. I never want to be away from you again. I Love You, Damon.”

They kissed more and between kisses looked at the starry sky. All their troubles and trials seemed like a million miles away. The lights on the water blinked at them, as they held each other. Suddenly a pair of headlights appeared behind them, followed, by floodlights from a local police car. A large burly policeman got out of the car and walked over to the couple. He looked at them with disappointment. He was hoping to bust some kids drinking or smoking, but not happening here tonight.

“You two better get into the car soon. This area is off limits after dark. The cliffs are dangerous. A few people have fallen off them accidentally over the years. I don’t want to find either of you at the bottom later. Please get in your car and go home.”

“Y…ye… yes officer. We need to be going anyway. Thank you for your concern.”

The officer turned, walked to his car and left them alone. They burst out laughing after he left. It felt good to be busted on their first date. It just added to the things they remembered about the night. They gathered up the blanket, folded it up and put it back in the car. Damon hugged and kissed Natasha as she got in the car. The drive back to Cricket’s estate went too quickly. Damon did not want to leave; Natasha wanted him to stay the night. As much as they both wanted it, it was not the proper thing for them right now. Damon hugged her, kissed her and thanked her for a wonderful night. He walked to the car, got in and drove away. Natasha turned went inside and leaned against the door as it closed dreaming of what happened tonight. She would never forget this night. She wrapped her arms around her and held on tight as she walked to her room.

As she slept that night dreams of living with Damon flooded her brain. She slept with a smile on her face. Life was wonderful now. She had a man of her own and no one can take that from her. Sometime later an evil thought crept into her dreams. Why did Mr. Wagner and Mr. Schultz want to have her keep quiet about the kidnapping? Why did they let her go so easily? What was going on?

Damon slept soundly, for the first time in weeks. Natasha was the woman he wanted. She was all he needed. Things were right with the world. No problems happened and life got back to normal. Training proceeded with Natasha, Natalia and him. They had passed all their tests and received their degrees. They officially graduated from the Bard School. Everything was good. But there nagged some troubling thoughts in his mind too. Who wanted to hurt Cricket? Why was it only her? What had she done in the past? They had to find out the answers soon.

Cricket, Cal, Stefan and Natalia spent time puzzling out the attacks at Cal’s estate. Hooligans Ltd. was a private gun for hire and very expensive. Who had pockets deep enough to pay for them? Why target them? Who took Natasha and why? Lots of questions, very few answers came forth.