Marcus' palms were sweaty as he drove into work today. He had gotten the phone call last night, and he prayed that what was about to happen wasn't. He could feel his brother watching him as he drove and the closer he got to base the more nervous he became.

The last few months had been amazing. Despite the cold, gloomy winter that had descended upon them, everything in his life seemed to fall into place. He and Jade were finally in a good place and he looked forward to each day he got to spend with her. She was improving every day and the more she improved the closer the got.

"You okay?" Marco asked, and he turned towards his brother as they waited for the light to turn green. He wanted to pretend he was all right, but he wasn't. He wanted to drive back home and never go into work again and for the first time in his life, he wanted to leave. He wanted to resign from the defence force and spend his life with Jade doing a normal mundane job. He thought he would feel loss at this thought but he felt a peace and calm he hadn't felt before.

"No." He didn't elaborate as he started to the car again and drove towards the last place he wanted to be.

Jade was finishing up in the gym when her phone rang. She wiped the sweat from her face and rolled over to her bag and smiled at the personal trainer who was working with another client. Taking a quick sip of her water Jade picked up the phone and smiled when she saw Marcus's name flash across the screen.

"Hey handsome, what's up?" She held the phone between her ear and shoulder as she unwrapped the wrapping from her hands. Today she had been boxing and found she needed to find a new way to complete cardio because running was out of the options.

"Sorry, did I interrupt your gym session." He asked, and Jade smiled to herself.

"Just finished. About to get changed, grab something quick to eat and head towards group therapy." She said with a smile on her face as she put her bag on her lap and wheeled herself over to the change room. Noah was meant to be with her, but his son was sick, so he had to call in sick. Jade understood and said she could get through her day without him. It wasn't a strenuous day and the only thing she would need help with would be to cook later tonight.

"Okay. I was wondering if I could see you today?" Jade frowned as she grabbed her phone from between her shoulder and sat up straight in her chair. It was usually for Marcus to ask to see her. Lately, he had just been turning up to her place without an invitation, but she didn't really care. She enjoyed having him over and though he didn't stay every night, she wished he would.

She would love to ask Marcus to move in with her, but even though everything in her life was finally looking up, she still needed to find that independence she had been craving.

"You don't have to ask. Is something wrong?" Marcus closed his eyes and rubbed his finger at the top of his nose. He didn't want to worry Jade because he knew all she would do is worry all day. He knew he sounded stressed, so he tried to make his voice more calming.

"No. I want to see you. Thought I should ask considering I have been turning up a lot lately." Jade smiled and quickly switched the phone to her other hand as she rolled into the women's change rooms.

"I don't mind you turning up. How about I make something for dinner? Any request?" She put the phone between her ear and shoulder again as she got herself out of her tights. Over the last few months, Jade had become somewhat an expert at multi-tasking. Andrea said it was good for her brain so often more times than she cared to admit, she would talk on the phone while either getting dressed or making dinner.

"I could go for some of that casserole you made the other day." Marcus heard Jade grunt on the other end of his phone and he let out a soft chuckle.

"Are you getting naked without me Jade?" He asked with a smile on his face and Jade just grunted again.

"You wish. My stupid tights are stuck like a second skin. I might need you to come and rescue me." Marcus let out a deep chuckle causing the other people around him to turn and have a look at him. Jade smiled to herself when he laughed. She knew he had been stressed about work lately so she made it her mission to make him laugh at least once a day.

"I'm sure love. If you haven't fixed the problem by the time I get home, I will be more than happy to help you remove your tights and possibly any other bits of clothing that seem to be problematic." Jade hummed through the phone as she finally shimmied her ass out of the offending item.

"Well, I'm sorry to burst your bubble, but I got the tights off, but if you're lucky, I might have an extra surprise for you after dinner." She lowered her voice into a seductive tone that made Marcus let out a soft groan. This woman would be the death of him, but he knew it would be a glorious death.

"Hmm, what type of surprise?" Jade quickly looked around to make sure there was no one else in the room as she smiled to herself.

"I'll give you a hint. It's new and involves a lot of lace and a lot of skin." She reached into her bag and pulled out a pair of track pants and shimmied her way into them. She grabbed her shirt and quickly put her phone on loudspeaker while she quickly switched into something clean.

She was getting heaps better at changing herself but putting on a bra still was a nightmare and she accepted that she will always have a love-hate relationship it the tiny hook and the tiny clips.

"Keep this teasing up Love and I'll come home from work right now and fuck you on the first thing I see. We have yet to see just how sturdy that wheelchair of yours is." Jade blushed 20 shades of red as another woman walked in right at the moment hearing everything Marcus had just said.

She quickly fumbled with the phone and took it off loudspeaker while mouthing an apology to the lady who gave her a funny look.

She cleared her throat before speaking to Marcus again as she picked up her bag.

"I will see you tonight." She heard Marcus chuckle on the other end before she hung up. She quickly exited the gym before running into the lady who overheard her conversation. When she stepped outside the cold winter air aggressively whipped against her face causing her to shiver and pull her jacket in close to her body. She looked at her watch and saw she should probably do her shopping now rather than later. She quickly checked her phone and saw that there was a disability bus that could take her to the shops.

Normally she would wheel herself, but she was feeling lazy, plus it was fucking freezing outside. Jade wheeled herself towards the bus stop and pulled out her gloves while she waited.

She recently had to buy gloves as her hands were becoming hard with rough thick callous from constantly pushing herself around. She remembered the feeling when she ripped one and the pain that followed for the next few days. She saw the bus pull up and pulled out her opal card and waited for the bus driver to put down the ramp.

She wheeled herself on, positioned herself in the first few seats and put on her breaks. She felt the bus move, and she watched as people got on and off until she was at her stop. She thanked the driver and rolled herself off and into the small shopping centre. She grabbed a trolley she had ordered two weeks ago that attached to the front of her chair. She knew she would need a taxi home, so she quickly booked one before starting her shop.

She knew everything she needed and pushed herself around grabbing everything she needed for dinner. She was reaching for some spices when she heard a voice she never thought she would hear again.

"Jade?" Her hand froze as she blinked her eyes thinking for a second, she had imagined that voice. Her heart rate quickened, and she thought she would have a panic attack.

"Jade is that you?" She slowly lowered her hand and released the trolley to spin around and face the person who shattered her in ways he didn't understand.

"Garrett?" She chocked out as she stared at the man before her. Her palms became sweaty as she stared at the man she once loved. He had changed since the last time she had seen him. His hair was longer, and his eyes seemed to be clearer. He looked more put together like he had finally gotten his life back on track.

She glanced down the aisle hoping someone anyone would come and save her, but there were only a few people shopping. She felt like something trapped her as the events of their last meeting flashed before her eyes. She felt her blood turn to ice as she froze in fear.

Little made Jade scared, but Garrett standing in front of her petrified her. He went to take a step forward and if Jade's legs were working, she would have stood up and bolted out of there without looking back.

"I-I." H stumbled over his words before clearing his throat. "You're in a wheelchair." His voice was laced with shock, but Jade didn't care. She didn't understand where this deep-rooted fear was coming from. She knew what he did last time was disgusting, but she had gotten over it. So all she did was nod her head and prayed that he went away.

They both stood there in awkward silence. Jade was trying not to pass out from fear while Garret was trying not to pass out from shock.

"Do you want to grab lunch with me?" Garrett finally randomly said and Jade gave him a funny look.

"No." She didn't want to have lunch with him. She wanted to go home and cook Marcus some dinner and change into something sexy and scandalous for him.

"I won't hurt you." Jade firmly shook her head and went to turn around back to her trolley and nearly screamed when he quickly grabbed a hold of her chair preventing her from going anywhere.

"Get your hands off my fucking chair this instant or god help me I will defy all my doctors' predictions and stand up and beat the living shit out of you." Her voice was sharp and full of venom and she watched as he raised his hands and took a step back.

"I'm sorry. I want to talk. I spoke to your mother the other week, but she didn't know where you were." Jade let out a humorous laugh and looked at Garrett.

"I cut my mother from my life. The same as you, so if you could kindly move along I have dinner to make." She felt herself snap out of her fear when she tried to push herself away and Garrett grabbed hold of her chair again.

"Please, Jade. I wanted to say I'm sorry. I'm sorry for all my mistakes. I'm getting professional help I promise. I am doing good. I wanted to see you." She gave him another sharp glance, and he stepped away.

"That's good for you Garrett that you are getting help, but I don't want to see you again. You cheated on me, you stole my money, you sexually assaulted me, and you hit me. So, I'm saying I don't want to see ever again. Move on with your life because I am done with you. Goodbye Garrett, I hope you can find someone to love you because I don't and won't." This time when she pushed herself away Garrett didn't stop her.

She calmly pushed herself out the aisle and when she was out of site she hastened her push not caring she was missing a few items. She quickly paid for her items and went outside not caring about the cold. She cancelled her taxi and booked an Uber instead that was 2 minutes away.

Not caring about the cold Jade sat outside the grocery store watching to make sure Garrett didn't come out. Her breathing was coming out in quick short breaths and she tried to will herself to breathe before she passed out. Each breath and took a puff of white air escaped her lips as she glanced at her watch wondering where the hell her Uber was. Each time the shop doors opened Jade held her breath praying it wasn't Garret.

Those 2 minutes felt more like 2 hours and when her Uber pulled up, she loaded everything into her car.

"I'm so sorry. Is there any chance you could fold the wheelchair up and put it in the boot?" The Uber driver gave her a warm smiled and nodded her head.

"It's no problem." Jade unstrapped herself and pushed her body up and gracefully slide into the Uber seat. If she wasn't so terrified about running into Garrett she would have slapped herself on the back for being so graceful about it. She instructed the driver how to fold the chair and after a minute they were driving off to her house.

Jade felt herself relax the further away from the grocery store they got and soon she felt like she could breathe. On the way she messaged Sofia to meet her at her home to help her cook with dinner.

She still had trouble with cooking, but it was much better than a few months ago. The drive was silent back to her place, and she didn't mind. It allowed her to sift through her feelings about seeing her ex again.

She felt scared, no terrified when she saw him because all she could remember was when he hit her and sexually assaulted her. Then she had more power and now she was so much more vulnerable. If he wanted to her hurt, she wouldn't have been able to fit back. What terrified her the most was he could have easily pushed her right out the shop front doors and there would have been nothing she could have done about it. She shivered in the back seat at that thought and tried not to dwell on that feeling of helplessness.

They pulled up to her street right as Sophia was getting out her car.

"You could have called me Jade. I would have picked you up." Jade shrugged as Sophia got her chair out of the boot and the shopping bags.

"I wanted to leave ASAP." Sophia noticed something was off with Jade and knew she would question it later once there were out of the cold.

"Thank you, so much." Jade thanked the driver and watched as he drove away before following Sophia inside. She looked at her watch and saw she had 3 hours until Marcus came home. She wheeled herself into the kitchen where she saw Sophia frowning.

"Everything okay Sophia?" Sophia looked up and nodded her head at Jade.

"Yes sorry, dear. Lost in my own thoughts. You forgot a few ingredients." Jade looked at what was on the counter and prayed she had some in her cupboard.

"Oh, I must have forgotten to put it into the basket." Sophia gave her a knowing look but didn't push Jade to speak. Sophia hanged back and supervised Jade as she cooked while they talked about family and books they had both been reading.

Jade a few weeks ago joined a book club now she had time to read. The ladies were all nice, and they met up once a week to talk about the book of the week and to assign a new book. Sophia was in a different book club, but they often found themselves to be reading the same books.

She had formed a good attachment with some ladies and they had invited her over for lunch in a few weeks. At first, Jade was weary of these women, but she soon found it good to have female friends who she talked to regularly.

"Well, Jade I think you are just about done. You did really well today." Jade smiled proudly up at Sophia. She had only needed help to cut up the carrots when she nearly sliced the top of her finger off again.

"I feel my mind getting stronger. There is more and more I am remembered. Though there is still a lot I struggle with. The other day I forgot how to turn on the tap. It's silly things I forget like how to cover myself with bed blankets or get this one how to kiss." She remembered the other day when she and Marcus were making out on her bed when suddenly she froze. Her brain did a short circuit, and she forgot how to kiss.

She was super embarrassed, but Marcus didn't care and acted like it didn't happen and moved onto pleasuring other parts f her body. It wasn't until later that evening once they had finally come down from the ecstasy of sex and they were snuggling in bed did he ask. At first, Jade said nothing and when she did Marcus spent the next 2 hours showing her all the different ways he could kiss her.

"I am sure Marcus didn't mind teaching you how to kiss again." Jade felt her cheeks redden as her mind flashed back to when Sophia caught her and Marcus in a very compromising position.

"Yeah." Sophia chuckled at her as she grabbed her bag.

"Text me if you need anything okay Jade." She nodded her head and followed Sophia out and watched as she drove away. Once, Sophia had left Jade showered and changed into her most scandalous outfit yet and waited for Marcus to arrive to unwrap his gift.

When Marcus got to Jade's house his heart was beating out of his chest. He knew he had to tell her today, but; he didn't want to. He wanted to for one night forget, but he knew he couldn't do that. He grabbed his key out that Jade had given him and opened the door. He first noticed how quiet the place was.

"Jade?" He called out and got no response. He went into the kitchen and saw and smelt the aromas of dinner and a note.

Come find me

Marcus smiled to himself as he picked up the beer took a swing as he took off his uniform. He took off his jacket and shirt leaving him in nothing but his pants and shoes. He took his wallet and keys out of his back pocket, putting them on the dining room table before he started his hunt for Jade.

He didn't have to look far when he found her lying on their bed covered in nothing but skimpy black lace. He found himself speechless as he let his eyes roam over every inch of her body. The black lace clung to her like a second skin that made her look sexy and sinful. He crossed his arms over his chest as he leant against the door watching Jade.

Jade felt the moment Marcus walked into the room. She felt the tension rise as she felt his eyes devouring her body.

"You going to stand there all night or are you going to unwrap your gift?" Marcus pushed himself off the wall and stalked towards Jade with a predatory look in his eyes.

"This is too much Jade." He crawled up the bed, so he was hovering over Jade. She could feel his body heat radiating off him as he slowly trailed his hand up and down her side.

"You like?" She looked up at him from under her lashes and saw the hungry look in his eyes.

'Yes." He leant down and captured her lips into his she automatically felt fire lick through her body as she grabbed onto his back to pull him closer. Jade wasted no time as one arm trailed down his hard and chiselled stomach and grabbed hold of his already hard cock. She stroked him through his pants before slipping her hand inside causing a deep and throaty groan to come from Marcus.

She held his hard-hot flesh in her hands as she gave him a squeeze before stroking the cock with loving strokes. She broke the kiss and Marcus trailed rough kisses down the side of her neck exciting her in ways that most woman only wished for.

"Let me do something for you." Marcus broke away from Jade's neck and his eyes automatically went to her chest where her hard nipples were begging for attention behind the black lace. Marcus felt her hands unbuckle his pants and soon he was naked before her while she was still covered in that damn sexy black lace.