Chapter Three

One Year Earlier

Mitchell was wandering the streets of Madrid at night, snapping pictures of anything and everything that came into his view. It had been over 24 hours since he first met Corina and he was hoping that he’d run into her somewhere. He couldn’t help but be smitten with her, even though he’d only just met her.

He was walking the length of the huge river called the Rio Manzanares when he saw a bunch of lights up ahead, accompanied by loud Latino music. Ever since he was a child, he’d always been overly curious and he continued towards the lights and music.

As he neared closer, he could tell it was a huge fiesta with a lot of people, a lot of Mexican food, and what appeared to be a lot of alcohol. Several men and women were dancing the night away, letting all their ambitions go. Not wanting to offend anyone, he kept his distance, just watching everyone having a good time.

It was when his eyes landed on Corina when his heart started to beat quickly in his chest. She was here and dancing along with the others. Her gypsy like skirt was flying through the air as her body moved to the pulsating music. He was studying her so much that he didn’t even see the Mexican man approach him, “Beer Senor?” he asked and Mitchell turned to face him.

The man was holding out a beer for him and he took it while giving the man a smile, “Gracious,” he told him, knowing that was one of the few words he knew in Spanish. He was glad at least that some knew the English language.

“De nada,” the man replied and walked around, handing out beers to everyone. Mitchell gripped the beer in his hand and took a swig as he cautiously moved through the bodies. He still didn’t want to offend anyone being here, considering he wasn’t Spanish, but he really wanted to talk with Corina.

He spotted her again, still dancing, her black hair whipping around while she wore a huge smile on her face. The smile alone made Mitchell’s heart melt. He couldn’t believe just how beautiful she was. As he approached her, she turned just in time to make eye contact with him. Instantly her smile widened and she stopped dancing to come forward to greet him, “Hola,” she greeted, leaning in to brush her ruby red lips against his cheek, “It’s a pleasant surprise to see you here.”

“Yeah,” he wasn’t exactly sure what to say to her, something about her made him speechless, “I just kind of stumbled upon this fiesta?” he felt awkward being what appeared to be the only American here at the party and hoped she didn’t notice.

Corina brought a hand up to trace her fingertips along the line of his jaw, “Usted es tan mono,” she told him with a smile and grabbed his hand, linking their fingers together, “Would you like something to eat?”

Mitchell didn’t have a clue what she had said to him in Spanish but it had to be something good with how she was smiling at him. When she pulled him along and asked if he wanted something to eat, he merely nodded, “Sure, I mean, yeah I can eat.”

Corina released his hand to grab a plate and pile a bunch of food on it, handing it to him. Half the stuff on the plate, Mitchell had no idea what it was. He tried it of course and really liked some of it. He finished off his beer halfway through eating and was offered another by another Spanish man. He eagerly accepted the beer and took a few swallows, “I’ve never been to a fiesta before,” he was saying as he took a bite of another food he had no idea what it was. He didn’t want to ask and look stupid though.

“They’re great,” she replied, getting a beer for herself and taking a few swallows, “Do you like the food?” she asked, watching in amusement at a few faces he was making to the strange foreign food. She figured he’d had Mexican food before but in Madrid, they had much more than what he was probably used to.

He chewed what was in his mouth before he answered, “Yeah, a lot of this is new to me,” he took the last bite of food and dumped the plate in the garbage. As soon as he drank the last of his beer, Corina was grabbing his hand again, dragging him over to where everyone was dancing, “No, no, no, I can’t dance,” he quickly told her.

“Everyone can dance,” she insisted as she started to move her hips to the music. Her hands came up to her hair, her fingers sliding through the silky strands before returning to her hips, “Just let the music take over your body. Don’t think about anything else but how your body feels as it moves to the music,” she laughed lightly as she watched his first attempt of dancing and grabbed his shoulders, pulling him closely to her body, “Feel me as I move and just let yourself go.”

Mitchell did as she said and let his eyes close, just feeling the heat of her body next to his. Even as he let his body loosen up and get into a rhythm, he couldn’t help but get turned on with their hips brushing heatedly together. He mentally cursed himself when he felt himself getting hard. He hoped that she couldn’t feel it but once his eyes opened and met hers, he knew for a fact that she could.

Corina was smiling as she continued to dance against him, slowly moving forward to let her lips stop let than an inch from his ear, “Soy golpeado muy con usted,” she whispered as her hands rested on his chest, tenderly stroking him through his shirt.

He shivered lightly under her touch and groaned softly at the feel of her hot breath against his ear. How could one woman turn him on like she did? He’d had numerous relationships in his 35 years and not one woman could make him feel weak in the knees and he felt at that moment, “What does that mean?” he managed to ask in a barely audible tone.

She laughed softly while staring into his eyes, “I just said that I was very smitten with you,” she admitted, laughing again when his cheeks turned a bright crimson, “Nothing to be embarrassed about,” she reassured him, then added, “I’m very glad you found me.”

He smiled and nudged her nose with his playfully, “Me too,” unable to help himself, he leaned towards her and pressed his lips against hers passionately. His arms slid around her waist, crushing her body against his as he devoured her mouth.

Everything from that moment seemed to go by in a haze. One moment they were kissing each other with such a desperate need that neither one of them understood then suddenly Mitchell found himself in a little house that he figured was Corina’s. The two undressed each other eagerly, a touch of the lips between each item removed from their bodies.

Hungry fingers caressed each other’s skin, squeezing, stroking, and probing in depths that they had never explored before. They fell on the bed entwined in each others arms, lips fused together as the teasing game continued. He was stroking her breast with one hand and she was gripping his cock, milking it. His fingers were inside her next, stroking the hot wetness, bringing her to moans.

Moments later he was deep inside her body, thrusting into her, her wetness enveloping him completely. Never in his life had he felt such an intense rush of adrenaline and lust with a woman and he continued to move inside her as her fingers raked down his back. Both of them moaned in ecstasy, their hips colliding together bringing them closer to the moment when their bodies would explode in orgasms.

Both of them were brought to their orgasms quickly and moans escaped their mouths as they collapsed together. Sweaty bodies pressed against each other as their arms still held desperately to the other. Corina was panting lightly as she turned to look over at him, “I don’t even know your name,” she whispered softly, staring deeply into his eyes.

“Mitchell,” he quickly told her, bringing a hand up to brush strays hairs out of her face. He smiled then laughed softly, “It’s nice to meet you,” he joked and they busted out in a fit of laughter. This was the best night of his life.

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Mitchell was packing his bags up stairs in his room when he heard the door bell. He sighed inwardly, not really wanting any company right then but headed down stairs to at least see who it was. As he looked through the peep hole, he saw his other sister, Valerie, the youngest of the three siblings, standing there waiting.

He opened the door to greet her with a smile, “Hey Val,” immediately he pulled her in his arms for a hug then released her to let her come inside.

“Hey Bubba,” Valerie replied, accepting his hug before she moved inside. She was only 21 years old and still liked to call her brother Bubba, even though she knew it got on his nerves just a little bit. She smiled weakly as she turned to face him, her hands clasping together in front of her, “I’m sorry I didn’t come to see you sooner. With classes and all, I’ve been pretty busy.”

At that moment, her calling him Bubba didn’t bother him at all, “It’s alright, I’ve just been doing a lot of thinking,” he pushed the door closed behind him and turned the lock, “You want something to drink?” he asked as he led her into the kitchen. The kitchen was definitely a man’s kitchen, sleek steel appliances and colors that accented his personality. Champagne, that was the color of his cabinets, with white tile floors and a light green counter top.

“Sure, whatcha got?” she followed him into the kitchen, plopping herself down in one of the kitchen chairs. She listened as he listed off his beverages, starting from beer and ending with coke products, “Coke is fine with me.”

Mitchell pulled out two cokes and came to sit down next to her at the table. He slid one in front of her and opened his. He looked at her for a second then brought up his idea of going back to Madrid, “I’m going back to Madrid,” he told her, knowing she would be the only one he’d tell this too. He knew that if he told Kathryn, she’d try desperately to talk him out of it.

Valerie was beyond surprised. She glanced over at him with wide eyes, not believing he’d just said that, “You’re going back to Madrid?” she asked, even though she had clearly heard him the first time, “Why? I mean, what’s that going to accomplish? Corina’s dead Bubba, there’s nothing else you can do.”

“Yeah I know she’s dead but there is something I can do,” he replied, sipping on his soda then letting his eyes flutter closed, “I may not be able to bring her back but I can at least find out what’s going on. I knew absolutely nothing about her and before she died, she told me that she wasn’t who I thought she was. That means that she was in some kind of trouble.”

“What kind of trouble could she have possibly been in?” Valerie asked, not even trying to persuade him to stay and not go to Madrid. She knew when he had his mind set on something, he did it, and no one could talk him out of it, “I think this is a mistake Bubba, but if you must go, I’ll go with you.”

Mitchell quickly cut her off on that thought, “No, I don’t think so,” he opened his eyes to meet her matching brown ones, “For starters, you have school and I need to do this on my own.”

He stood up from the table, took a few more sips of his coke, and walked out of the kitchen. He passed through the living room and headed up the stairs, knowing that Valerie was following him the whole way to his room. As he entered, he began pulling more things out of his closet and stuffing it in his suitcase, “Don’t tell anyone what I’m doing,” he told her as he went to his dresser to get underwear and socks, “Especially Mom and Dad, they would go ballistic.”

“It’s only because we are worried about you,” Valerie pushed stray locks of black hair out of her eyes and behind her ear as she took a seat on the bed next to his suitcase, “I know you’ve heard this before, but someone tried to kill you and Corina and succeeded in killing her. I mean, really, what if that same person figures that it would be best to go ahead and finish you off?”

“Well, they’d have to follow me to Madrid first,” he replied, disappearing into the bathroom to get his toiletries and bringing them in his room to put them in his bag. He pulled his passport out of his night stand and laid it on top of all his stuff then zipped his suitcase up, “I promise I’ll keep in touch and let you know that I’m fine. If anyone asks where I am, just tell them you have no idea.”

Valerie sighed and nodded reluctantly. She wasn’t happened with this but she couldn’t do anything about it, “Alright, I promise no one will know where you went,” she stood up as he grabbed his suitcase. Before he could leave the room, she gave him a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek, “Good luck, please make sure you let me know what’s going on as soon as possible.”

“You know I will,” he smiled and wrapped an arm around her waist, exiting the room together. They descended the steps down to the first floor and headed for the front door. They went out and he locked up the house before he gave her another hug, “Take care Val, I love you.”

“I love you too,” she squeezed him closely to her, having a very bad feeling about this. But could she really say that to him? No, she would just keep it to herself, “Bye Bubba, be careful.”

“I will,” he unlocked his car and climbed in, waiting for her to pull out before he did. He pulled out and followed her down the road. Once she got to a stop sign and started to turn left, he waved goodbye and took a right. The journey ahead of head was going to be one of the hardest ones of his life and he silently prayed he’d get some answers.