Piece by Piece

Chapter VI

The next day they woke up for a breakfast buffet, satisfying their every early morning cravings. Once they were done eating, they went back to their room to change into their swimsuits. They decided to lounge under the sun for a bit, Natalie needing to practically paste sun screen to her skin. Though Ludwig had no trouble with the excuse to have his hands on her.

When they were walking around the pool, looking for a place to hop in, Natalie tried to push her lover in, but he was trained not to be surprised by such things. He spun around her and smacked her ass with enough force to just tip over the edge of the pool, where she fell in.

He laughed as she squealed and then surfaced the water, "It's cold, jerk" she huffed before he jumped in next to her, coming up with his arms around her, "I've been through colder" he commented.

They spent the afternoon playing in the water, teasing each other and just overall having a blast. The sun was setting when they decided to get out, and Natalie wanted a drink from the bar. They went over, ordering their drinks.

They chatted and shared kisses, before Ludwig excused himself to go to the bathroom. Natalie was friendly and spoke to the bar tender while she waited, but she wasn't alone for long.

Suddenly a voice appeared next to her, a cocky, arrogant, and snide male's voice. "Margarita with sugar is still your go to, Natalie?" His voice was all too familiar, it sent a chill down her spine, feeling like someone just dumped ice cold water on her. She gripped the bar and slowly brought her eyes up to dark blue eyes. She took hard breaths, this man was a nightmare in the flesh. He smirked and stroked her jaw "Thought you could run away, did you? Well I found you. It's time to come home" he grabbed her wrist tightly, eliciting a whimper from her.

Just as he did, a hand roughly gripped his wrist. Ludwig's voice was harsh as he glared at the man. Ludwig was a little shorter by a few inches, but was definitely more muscular. He could take down this blonde-haired blue-eyed fool in seconds. "Let go." His voice was deep, and it was a hard command.

"Please, she belongs to me," Spoke the unknown guy, glaring back "I'm taking back what's mine!" With that Ludwig applied a painful amount of pressure to his wrist "I. Said. Let. Go." Ludwig raised his head, looking down his nose at him "Don't make me snap this." He glanced to the guy's wrist. With that, mystery man snatched his hand away from Ludwig, letting go and snarled at him "Who do you think you are?"

"Think? No, I know who I am. I'm Natalie's boyfriend and the guy who's going to kick your ass if you don't get out of here." He spoke calmly, watching him. The whole time Natalie was silently crying and shaking, quickly getting behind Ludwig and hugging him as she buried her face in his back. Ludwig still had no idea who this guy was or why his girlfriend was so scared, but he didn't like that someone made her cry. Or tried to stake their claim on her.

The man scoffed "I'll be back, Natalie, wait for me babe" he smirked and walked away. Natalie clutched her lover tighter as she was addressed. Ludwig carefully got Natalie to stand in front of him, where he picked her up like a child, letting her hide her face in his neck. He went to their room and gently sat down, rubbing her back.

Now she had those body shaking sobs, the loud ones where you can't help but open your mouth. She was shaking uncontrollably, clutching onto Ludwig. He whispered sweet words to her, stroking her hair as he rocked her. At one point he was worried about her breathing, they were quick breaths, and he gently coaxed her through her breathing and calming her down.

When she was calmed, her lover gently carried her to the bathroom and started a bath for her. He could see she didn't want to talk just yet, and saw she had teary eyes. He kissed her forehead gently, stripping her carefully and set her in the hot bubble bath. He let her soak, his hand in the water so she could hold it tightly.

He eventually washed her up and scooped her out of the bath and into a towel and robe, laying her on the bed. He laid next to her, holding her as she pressed her face into his neck.

"Liebe.. Who was that?" He murmured gently, stroking her hair. Natalie took a deep breath before whispering to him.

"Ryan."