Apprehended Ch. 31

The creature repeated, "no harm will come to the human female," like some twisted, broken record. However, it added, "I cannot read the supernatural, for I am supernatural. I can only read and feed from the mind of the ordinary. It is my curse. It is my sustenance. They enter my domain, and I am bound to comply by the laws of what I am. Be still. It will take its course."

That's when it happened.

I felt myself being transported through space and time; my body no longer held by the gravity of the Earth. I was no longer a body. I was no longer functioning with the capacity of my human form. I was watching from a very far and untouchable distance. Yet, I saw as if I were front and center. I understood as if the creature and I were of the same mind.

The hooded figure was indeed Apollo, the God of Oracles. Yes, it was evil incarnate. But it was also trapped; cursed to feed off the prophecies of humans-male and female alike. It could not read Jared, Gavin, or Ethan because they were not human. It could only keep them at bay. It could not kill them either. It could not kill Lily and I. We were its food. Its sustenance to continue living for eternity.

The ultimate realization that terrified me was that its food wasn't merely a prophecy of a human mind. But of a specific prophecy being foretold to said victim:

The foretelling of death.

I watched in mortified horror the death of everyone I loved, including my own demise. I felt every death. I felt every emotion of grief and was burdened with the suffering of what felt like a thousand lives. I even witnessed strangers who were unfamiliar to me lose their life. In old age and in youth.

There was no time frame. No way to differentiate places and causes. I only felt and witnessed.

I cried out in pain, praying for it to be over.

And when it was, my body was as still and lifeless as Lily's had been moments before.

I blinked in confusion, feeling...oddly misplaced now that my body was being held down by gravity and the laws of physics...of scientific methods and reasoning. The shaking came later. Much later. It felt like eons. Light years.

When in fact it was only a few minutes.

"Annie?"

I turned slowly, remembering Ethan.

"Ethan?"

He nodded, his eyes red and swollen...filled with worry and fear. "Yeah, honey. I'm here. I'm right here." He hugged me into him, breathing me in.

But I was...spacey. A bit cloudy and convoluted, like broken vines in a heavily twisted and mangled tree. I was not myself.

Ethan scooped me up, hugging me so closely, our bodies became one. I felt the deep rumble of his chest as he spoke, his voice so dangerous, he sounded like an animal, uncontrolled and enraged. "If she is harmed in any way-even mentally-I will come back for you. I don't give a fuck what you are. I don't give a fuck of the repercussions," he threatened. "If my young are harmed in any way, I will torture you. You will pray for death and hell will be a goddamned vacation compared to me, motherfucker. You may be bound with the inability to feed off of me. But I promise that I will feed off of you. And your carcass won't even be a footnote in time."

Then, we were gone, ghosting into the night like phantoms.

***

Like last time, I was fully aware.

Lily was fully aware.

We remembered everything we saw. We recalled everything we felt. And the mortification of it all kept our mouths shut.

We both went home in silence. Ethan, Gavin, and Jared were talking vehemently, but they were just background noise. I clutched Lily's hand like a lifeline. To the point where our fingers were ice-cold and numb. A communion forged through understanding and genuine empathy.

"Sweetheart?"

I blinked, turning to the source of the noise.

Ethan had unbuckled my seatbelt. Gavin had unbuckled Lily's. Both were trying to pry our hands apart.

"Can you let go of her hand? We're home. I want to carry you inside."

I dropped my eyes and stared at our entwined fingers. Like two entwined lives.

Lost lives...

She released mine first and Gavin quickly scooped her up, taking her out of the car and slamming the door with a quick kick of his boot. The loud noise made me jump.

"Easy," Ethan murmured, scooping me up as well. He didn't slam the door. He simply left it open. "Jared, lock up, would you? I want them to see Doc."

"You got it, Alpha."

We were moving again. I wasn't staring at my surroundings even though they were familiar. Even though I knew-deep within the recesses of my mind-that we were home. Instead, I wrapped my arms around Ethan's neck and shoved my face into his hair.

It smelled of shampoo and conditioner. Of musk, forest, snow, and masculinity. Of him, a smell unique only to the man I loved. All scents that would disappear when he was gone. His warmth extinguished. His voice a memory. His laugh a reminder of what was no longer there.

The first tear landed on his shoulder and the rest followed silently. I didn't sob. I didn't whimper or cry out. I didn't sniffle or clear them away. I simply was.

Doc was waiting for us in the med bay. Lily was already being examined, tears streaming down her face in the same locked silence I was imprisoned in.

"She's healthy," said Doc, examining every inch of her thoroughly.

There was deep discussion for a time. I did not follow. Eventually, it was my turn, and I went through the motions with the same disconnection. I was diagnosed as fine. The young were next, and they too were viewed with the same desperate concern.

The same outcome.

We were all well.

Safe. Sound. Bound by the hands of time and inevitable fate.

I wasn't sure how long I was essentially comatose, but eventually, Ethan's words began to make sense and I was dropped into reality like an incoming meteor, with Earth as its target.

"-so, he said that you can, and I want to know if you are. All you have to do i-"

Ethan was speaking. I had no idea what he was talking about. "Hm?"

He froze, staring at me with wide eyes. It took him a solid two minutes to answer. "I asked if you were?"

I glanced down. Warm water blanketed my naked body, making my skin look flushed and healthy in the glow of the warm bathroom lights.

It seemed I was taking a bath.

Ethan was rinsing me off. My hair was washed and conditioned too. It smelled like strawberries. I smiled and it felt weird on my face. "Thank you."

He jerked a little. Almost like I slapped him. "What?"

I lifted my hand and it felt heavy. I touched the tips of my hair. "For washing my hair."

He went silent, his golden eyes assessing me with a scrutiny I could not understand. "Yeah," he mumbled, running water down my arms. "Anything for you."

We finished the bath in more silence. I was comfortable with that. By the time I was in bed, the heat was on in the room, making the clean bedsheets and comforter warm. Ethan carried me, leaving me momentarily naked under the sheets to grab one of his tee shirts and a pair of his boxer-briefs from his dresser.

He slipped the shirt over my head and adjusted it, so it wasn't uncomfortable. Then he slipped the boxer-briefs over my thick thighs and stopped just below my protruding belly button and swollen stomach. He lifted the hem of the shirt a little to lower his huge body and press a soft, lingering kiss to my abdomen.

It tickled.

Especially when both of his huge hands cupped my bump, his fingers tenderly rubbing and massaging my flesh, which was getting harder with every passing month. He murmured something to the young and it felt amazing. Like they somehow understood and loved his voice and attentions. Like little butterflies taking off, I felt the pleasure deep within, tickling and exploding in pure delight.

I buried my fingers in his hair and scratched his scalp lightly, kneading just as he massaged me. He continued to murmur. To whisper things I was unable to hear.

Then-without warning-he lifted himself and kissed me so deeply, I was rendered incapacitated. His tongue penetrated my lips in a fast, controlled stroke, dancing with my own as he licked my pallet and flicked at my tongue. His hands moved to my face, mimicking the same pose he had just used on my stomach, and I was trapped in the strength of his palms.

He tasted of salty tears, Spring rain and sorrow.

I moaned into his mouth when one of his hands released my cheek to slither down my jaw, my neck, collarbone, and breast. It lingered on its fullness, his hot blunt skin penetrating the fabric of the tee shirt. Then he swept down and cupped it, from bottom to top, passing his long thumb over my nipple in the process.

Instant heat licked my body like a soft caress. Like molting fire.

My nipple puckered and he released my mouth, licking my upper lip as he left. I watched his head dip low, his mouth finding a new target. He didn't even waste time. He moved fluidly and sure of what he wanted-which was me; sliding his hand underneath the shirt to lift it.

Warm air danced across my heated flesh. My pink nipples hardened from exposure and Ethan's eyes smoldered. He took the left one in his hot, wet mouth, flicking it with his tongue.

Instinctively, I arched off the mattress and it caused nearly my entire breast to be engulfed in his wet warmth. I shoved my hand in his hair again and it knotted in my fingers. I pressed his head into me, and he complied, sucking more of me in. With his free hand, he found my unattended breast and cupped it in his palm, running his thumb back and forth across my hard nipple.

Then his mouth was there too, soaking it, flicking it, and kissing it. He was everywhere. All around me. In my nose. In my line of sight. On my body. When he was satisfied that both breasts were given attention, he hooked a finger in the waistband of the briefs and pulled, slipping them free of my body in a gentle and lithe movement.

He was sure and steady here too.

He moved to the bottom of the bed, hitched my right leg up and pressed against my inner thigh to spread me. I felt myself open up to him and he lowered his head instantaneously, slipping his tongue out of his mouth to lick a hot, wet path from bottom to top. He flicked my nub once on the upstroke and my nerve endings were aflame.

I bowed again, my core lifting straight back to his awaiting mouth, which was open.

He swallowed me, enclosing my entire core, and centering his tongue on the length of my slit. I cried out and just as my body lifted a centimeter off the mattress in pleasure, he slid his thick tongue into my aching depths, and I came violently.

I contracted around him on shudders so uncontrolled, I lost my sense of self. But Ethan was with me, filling me up and exiting in perfect synchronization to my orgasm. And when it was over, I was mush on the bed. Sweat dripped from my brow and I was in heaven. My lids were droopy, and my breath was erratic.

I nearly melted into the mattress. Into the heated room and the mask Ethan had put into place to let me know that he was here, no matter where my head was. No matter the horror I encountered.

That's when I whimpered.

His blunt head had somehow pierced through my haze, momentarily tracing a path up the center of my wet, trembling lips. He parted me and I soaked him.

That was the only preparation I received.

In one fluid stroke, his hips drove home, and his hard, thick shaft penetrated me, filling me to the brink.

It was euphoric.

I opened my heavy lids, and he was on his knees, his hands spreading my thighs wide. He was so deep; it was all I could do not to come again.

Then he began to move.

And I felt Ethan take me to new heights.

He didn't go too fast or slow. He was precise and thorough, as always. He stroked so deep, I felt him in the depths of my soul, only to pull out again, threatening to exit and leave me rendered empty and unfulfilled.

He'd go deep again, his hard girth brushing against my walls and stretching them to capacity. Only to repeat and slip out again. At one point, he nearly exited, his very tip last on the downstroke.

I didn't even recognize my own voice as I pleaded. "No, Ethan."

He shook his head, looking down at the union of our bodies with his eyes afire. "No, baby. I'm not leaving you." He penetrated again, his invasion so fulfilling, I contracted once, and my flesh broke out into goosebumps.

When he was balls deep, he lifted his hand to his mouth and licked his thumb, dropping it to my nub to flick and rub his hot wetness on my tender flesh during another downstroke. He pulled out again, his blunt head on the verge of exiting and he could no longer withstand the pleasure. He slammed back in, applying more pressure to my nub just as his balls slapped against my cheeks and his lower abdomen brushed against the lower part of my rubbed clit.

I exploded, crying out and coming even more violently than my first orgasm.

Ethan was there with me, groaning and jerking inside of me, filling me with hot jets that dripped down the middle of my bottom and pooled on the mattress. With every explosion, he winced and moaned, his head dropping back on his shoulders and his muscles straining under the force of his own orgasm.

Impossibly, he came inside of me even deeper, the warmth so penetrating, I was drowning from the inside out.

And then it was over.

He all but collapsed, being mindful not to apply pressure to my stomach. He shoved his head into my neck and shoulder blade to press warm, wet kisses across my flesh. He murmured into me, making promises, and telling me he loved us with every ounce of his being.

I wrapped my arms around him...

And laughed when he let out a loud, nasally snore.

I let him be for a few minutes, simply brushing his hair away from his sweaty face. Even after hot lovemaking, he still smelled delicious. I turned my head and watched him sleep. His beard was just as beautiful as the rest of him-shiny and thick. I lightly scratched at the hair near his ear and let my fingers delve into it to feel the soft flesh of his face.

He was so beautiful at rest. Relaxed. Vulnerable.

The thought made me remember things I didn't want to remember. Things I didn't wish to know, feel or be a witness to. The reminder-unbidden and fresh-bombarded me and crushed its weight on me like the pain of a thousand burning stars.

Tears pooled in my eyes and a small cry pierced through my lips. It was low and weak. I tried to stop it, but the pain was too great. The reality was too much.

One night, in a time I could not predict, my Ethan was going to leave this plain of existence. I didn't know details such as why or when, but I knew what he would look like taking his final breath. And I also knew one fact that shook me to the marrow of my bones: I was going to be left behind. I was going to have to live what felt like a lifetime without him. It was never going to be the other way around. I was never going to die before him. He was never going to die because I died ahead of him.

He was never going to live a life of immortality.

I don't think anyone ever could.

Every living thing that existed was capable of death. It was an inevitable, concrete fact. The ultimate equalizer.

And the eternal griever forced upon the remaining.

Ethan heard my cry. Of course, he did.

He lifted his head sleepily and in a daze, blinked a few times and stared at me, his voice garbled and deep. "You alright?" He glanced down instinctively, realizing that he had fallen asleep on top of me. He moved in a flash. One moment I felt the wonderful pressure of his weight. The next, he was beside me. "I'm sorry," he muttered, groggily cupping my cheek to press several slobbered kisses to my temple and head. "Did I hurt you, my love?"

I bit my tongue to stop from bursting into uncontrollable sobs. "No," I said, my voice thick and shaky.

He shifted a little and yawned, his jaw cracking from the pressure. Then he kissed my temple again, got off the bed like a zombie and dragged into the bathroom naked, his glorious muscles and butt on full display. He flicked on the bathroom light, positioned himself in front of the toilet and used the loo.

I watched.

Not in a perverted or twisted, peeping Tom way. But in a way that reminded me that this was numbered. Everything was numbered. And it was more than a sobering reality.

It was a nightmare.

Ethan flushed, pulling me away from the horrors of my head and washed his hands. He turned off the light, shuffled to the lamp beside our bed and casted us into darkness.

It reminded me of the tent. Of the piercing black that surrounded us and sealed our fate.

I hitched in a breath and said-a little too loudly and uncontrolled- "no, Ethan!"

He froze and gained his wits about him when he heard the terror in my voice. "What's the matter? You okay?"

I cleared my throat and took a deep breath. Too bad it didn't help. I still forced myself to be calm. "Can you um...just...leave the light on?"

He flicked it on and stared at me, the room igniting in a warm, soothing glow. His eyes were piercing. "You want to sleep with the light on?"

I nodded.

He blinked. "Yeah, yeah. Sure, we can do that." He examined my face. "Can I ask you something though?"

I nodded again and prayed that whatever it was, it was not a question of what I experienced.

My prayer went unanswered.

"You want to leave the light on..." he blew out a deep, long breath and I smelled the remaining mint in his mouth when he brushed his teeth earlier, "because of what happened tonight?"

Once more, I nodded. I couldn't answer. I just...couldn't formulate the pain of what I was forced to experience.

He too mimicked my nod and made a move to get into bed but thought better of it. "How about I sleep on that side tonight? I know we go with the flow and sleep wherever we lay, but call me ol' school, okay? I'll be closest to the door. Which is wolf tradition when it concerns his mate. Only I sleep on that side. To protect you."

Ethan somehow always knew what I needed, even when I didn't know myself. Because this was exactly what I needed: reassurance that he was here with me. That he was walking beside me every step of the way even if I was vague on most of the details of my trauma. All that mattered to him was my safety and the protection he knew only he could give me.

Right now, that was more than enough.

It was a gift. It was everything.

"Yes, please," I whispered, moving to take his previous place on the bed.

He smiled sadly and made no move to push me further on the subject. Instead, he left the light on, walked to the bedroom door, locked it, and headed back. He climbed into bed behind me, gracefully and quietly taking position of the big spoon.

He kissed the nape of my neck softly, murmured, "I love you, dulzura," and wrapped me up in the safe cocoon of his large body.

I drifted off into a blessedly dreamless sleep.

***

"Do you remember what you saw?" I asked Lily.

She sat on one of the many couches in the library, a large mass of books scattered throughout the space. We hadn't touched any of them. We were not inclined to read or find any information.

Four days had passed since our ordeal, and both of us had recovered in our rooms with our mates. This was the first time I saw her since then, and I couldn't help but mutter the question I had been thinking once she went her separate way with Gavin.

She nodded tersely, her eyes low and unfocused. "Yeah. Do you?"

I swallowed loudly. "Yeah." I paused before asking the next question, unsure how she would react. "Did you um...tell him?"

She looked at me. "What?"

I scratched my head. "Gavin," I clarified. "Did you uh...tell him...what you um...saw?"

"Oh," she said, thinking it over. "No. I didn't." Another pause. The fire in the fireplace cackled and hissed, omitting a soothing orange light in the safe space. "Did you tell Ethan?"