“Turn around,” a dark, seductive voice whispered in her head. “Go back or you will lose your freedom.”
Freedom, the word chanted in her head, taunting her with everything she ever desired. No one watching her, keeping tabs on her. She had the ability to do whatever she wanted. Was that freedom? She shook her head hard; there was no time for internal debates, she needed to find Mick.
“Why? He would keep you away from your freedom.”
He would keep her away. Mick would want things just like she wanted things. He wouldn’t understand if she wanted to go to the beach alone for a month. He would want to come, to hold her hand. How could he ever understand her desire only to see her footprints in the sand? He would hold her back. Why was she even looking for him?
Turn around; the voice whispered again sounding much closer now. It was so insidious as it whispered into her ear and penetrated her heart.
“You don’t have to listen to him. You are free. No one tells you what to do.”
Her feet fumbled as she tried to move. Forward or backward? She pondered where she would go. Her feet started walking again even as she tried to slow herself down. She broke into a run, fear on her heels chasing her. The desire to scream was close so she ran even faster, passing beings that made her soul cry out in pain. She ran until she fell.
In front of her, in a cell so small she would have missed it if she were standing, was Mick. There was a clear front panel on the box that held him. His knees were almost pressed against his neck that was how small the box was. How would he ever break out of it? The box was so tight he couldn’t move.
She waved her hand in front of the cell to get his attention, but he acted like he couldn’t see her. She knocked and still nothing. She could see in, but he couldn’t see out. He was trapped; he’d never get out of there, at least not alone. She banged against the glass trying to break it. His head lowered like he was reacting with pain to her hitting the glass and the box contracted getting smaller. Every time she touched the box the heat in her hands increased. Was the box feeding off of her?
Her stomach twisted, the French toast she ate earlier threatening to come up. She almost choked on the bile in her throat as fear held her immobilized. She hurt him and her heart felt like it was bleeding. With slow, measured footsteps, she backed away as she cast her eyes around looking for a way of escape.
“I told you to run.” That voice said again. This time, she could feel the evil in it like it was slithering through her mind. “Leave him; he was never yours.”
She looked at the box again it appeared to be shrinking in front of her eyes. Mick was so curled up at this point she doubted his ability to breathe in there for much longer.
He was going to die; she needed to accept it. The acid in her stomach began to burn her. She fell back to her hands and knees as she dry heaved trying to take in enough deep breaths to calm herself. She refused to be calmed down. She stood not knowing what to do. In a fit of rage or was it fear she kicked the cement box expecting her foot to break. Instead, the box broke; the boot she was wearing went through it like a hot knife through melted butter. It crumpled around Mick and allowed his body to expand; he took in deep, desperate gulps of air until he was finally able to stand and approach her.
Her body stilled, she was afraid to move, afraid that she hurt him with her raw fury.
He pulled her into his arms. “You saved me, set me free.”
His mind slid into hers touching her on a level she never experienced before.
“Come with me?”
She nodded, still scared to use her voice. His hand clasped hers, and he led them out of the maze, like he always knew the way, he just simply needed to be set free.
“I’m taking you to my planet.”
“I can hear you in my head.”
“And you always will from now on. We’ve moved to the next level of bonding.”
“I could be wrong, but I don’t think Brook went through all of this.”
“I’m a guardian, Jaz mine; the rules are different for me.”
His hand was warm on her, and she concentrated on it as they walked through the dark corridors. She couldn’t see anything, but Mick seemed to know exactly where he was going.
“What are you a guardian of?”
He stopped and turned his now dark blue eyes on her. “Everything.”
They stepped out of the dark void onto a world with a pale lavender sky overhead. Jaz gasped at the beauty of it. “This is so different from Earth.”
“We were taken by how blue your sky is when we first came.”
The reddish-brown trees amazed her, and she walked closer to them reaching out her hands to touch. The bark was smooth not like the trees she was used to.
“I am amazed at how different planets are from each other. Especially planets that have sentient life. I think I could study them all and never grow bored with finding out what makes each one different.”
He gave her a smile even as he directed her towards a large building. It looked like the building was squatting; she shook her head and looked at it again. It wasn’t tall like the skyscraper buildings on Earth, but it wasn’t one story like Mick’s house either. It looked like it might be a story and a half, like it was squatting.
“Where are we going?”
“I want to show you my first memory.”
Her senses changed, no longer was she large or self-sufficient, now she felt like crying.
Chapter Seventeen
A tearing sensation went through his little body. Needles were pulled out of him painfully. The blackness of night he had been so used to was going away replaced by a light that hurt his sensitive eyes. He opened his mouth, and a wail came forth, not the words he wanted to say.
“Where am I?” he asked, but no one answered him.
He was on a platform; he knew that because he could feel it rising in the air. Fear, something he never knew assailed him, making him want to scream Stop! Instead another cry came from his lips.
Knowledge came to him blasting his small brain; the pain ripped him apart as he assimilated all there was to know. He was Created, unwanted, and unloved. His job was to develop a bond with the brothers in his family group and keep the planet safe. When there was no need for him any longer, he would be decommissioned.
He was cold, one day he would be able to regulate his body temperature but not today. They made him a baby so he would grow up with a desire to protect his planet. He shivered again, the coldness in the room raking over his sensitive skin making it turn different colors. He would fight if he didn’t freeze first. A new sensation reached him turning his stomach into a ball of cramps. Hunger, his mind supplied. To know so much but to be so helpless.
He was to remain here until the Scientists remembered to check on him to see if he was born yet. Other words began to infiltrate his mind. They told him he was more than a warrior or a killer. His mother’s DNA linked him to the past he would never have known existed, that’s when the curse exerted itself, promising one day, it would take everything he loved.
“Not meant to live…” the words, the voice went through his mind and then there was love.
Arms stronger than his picked him up, held him cuddled in a warm blanket.
“Open your eyes, Milj.” Something warm washed his face getting all the left over birthing material off of him.
He opened his eyes to see a young boy.
“I’m your brother, and I promise I will take care of you.”
Something was inserted into his mouth. He sucked on it. Food, he sucked again as the boy carried him out of the room.
The thought of hatred and violence and death that had been knocking at the door of his mind demanding to be let in left him, it fell by the wayside as his brother cared for him.
*~*~*~*
Jaz opened her eyes, tears streaming down her face.
“Mick?” They were still on the lounge chair in his backyard, his head still between her legs.
“Jaz mi
ne.” His voice was soft as he climbed up her body.
His kiss shredded another layer protecting her heart and she knew, one day soon her heart would belong to him for all eternity. She kissed him back letting the softness of her feelings invade him.
He gave a sigh of contentment that touched her. His fingers roamed her body taking their time. He explored her like this was his first time touching her. He kissed her on the side of her breast, and she giggled when it tickled. Mick smiled at her.
“Jaz mine,” he whispered before he took a nipple in his mouth and worshiped it. Sucking to the point that she felt such an intense pleasure her body shook. He released it with a pop and kissed it before taking the other one in his mouth.
“Mick, what you do to me.”
He gave a low laugh around her nipple and sucked more before he gently bit her making her want to collapse with the beauty of it.
He looked into her eyes. “I want to be one with you.”
Her hips lifted wanting to feel him deep inside. He covered her and began to sink slowly within her, drawing out the pleasure until she screamed out as he fully seated himself.
She drew in a deep breath at the pleasure of him being in her filled her. He withdrew and plunged back in, and she felt another presence within her mind.
“Mick?”
“I can feel what you feel.” His voice was hoarse. “I feel your pussy tightening around me, trying to keep me close, fighting when I pull out even though you know the downward stroke will fill you with intense pleasure.”
“I can feel you also. You get a thrill when you pull out because I’m closed so tightly around you. The feel of my pussy clinging to you brings you such joy, but more. You know I want you, that it’s not just your body I want but you the male, you can feel my mind, see I’m not hiding from you or thinking about anything but how good you feel and how much I care about you.”
She almost panicked, lost it, when she realized the emotions she felt were real. She wasn’t faking how she felt. Then he plunged down one last time and everything she had splintered into nothing, as the joy he felt, the…no, she shied away from that word. The pleasure he felt overcame her and took her back to the world of bliss she discovered in his arms.
Mick wrapped his arms around her and carried her into his bedroom where the two of them took a nice long nap. Now she was playing with his chest, he had a very fine smattering of hair on it, and it fascinated her. She was curling it around fingers and tugged just a little which made the corners of his mouth come up in a half smile.
“Did your brother name you?” She couldn’t shake the memory of the joy Mick felt when he was picked up in his brother’s arms. Love was the only way she could define it. Never having loved before, she didn’t have anything to go by but that emotion, that feeling had taken over her body when she had been in his memories, now she felt like she knew love, what it felt like for the first time in her life.
“He named us all and the earth names we use are very close to our original names.” His fingers were caressing the side of her arm, drawing little patterns on her.
“Didn’t the Scientists get mad that he took such a liberty?”
“They didn’t care. It was one less thing for them to do. Besides, they would have probably called me warrior two or something equally as foul.”
“Who named Dante?”
His hand went still as he thought about what she asked. Who named his brother?
“I don’t know. The question has never come up. Dante has always been his name.”
“I feel closer to you. I know you a little better now that I can feel you in my head. I’ve never felt anything like this before. It’s not intrusive, and you’re not digging around for information.”
“It’s like we can finish each other sentences and know what the other needs before we have to voice it.”
“That’s it.” Her voice was excited. “But it’s so much more. I feel like I was made for you and you were made for me.”
“Because we were made for each other.”
He leaned over to kiss her and she met his lips. What could go wrong?
Mick was flung across the room or did he teleport? She didn’t know, but he was huddled down in a ball and his form was changing. Why couldn’t they catch a break?
She drew the sheet over her body absently noting it was a bronze color and so soft. She stayed quiet and refused to move; somehow she knew that any sudden movements would be bad for both of them.
He finally looked up, and she sucked in a deep breath. She was expecting a monster but what stood before her was a male so handsome he would start a riot if he walked out like that.
“Mick?” She wanted to stand up, drop her sheet, and present her body to him, but his blue eyes were now all black and in his hand he held a Symphor. A weapon only the original Created could command. They only drew it when they intended to kill.
His body fought against a force she couldn’t see. Sweat broke out on his brow. She’d never seen that before.
“Run, Jaz.” It was all he could say as he fought for their lives.
She wanted to run. Please run, she told herself. Instead, she stood up and dropped the sheet allowing it to flow down her body. When it hit the floor, she stepped over it. There was a loud sound pounding through the room as she took a few steps; turning, she looked for it before realizing it was the sound of her heartbeat in her ears. Her chest ached with every beat; her breathing was labored, and still she stood in front of him.
The floor shook until she realized it was her knees. With nothing to hold her up, she dropped in front of him. Her world shattered as she looked up at him with eyes that were reflecting her soul. My life for yours, Mick, I will gladly trade. Please live, she thought as she watched him approach.
‘No, damn it,’ he screamed in his head as he resisted the urge to walk towards her. ‘Anybody but her!’ The ache in his chest had him bringing his hand up and rubbing. He burned on the inside, fire rose through his blood setting it to bubbling, and still his traitorous feet drew closer to her.
Trust blazed in her green eyes like a fire condemning his soul to hell. He’d be there soon enough when he broke that trust, when he killed something so fragile that no man should be allowed to touch. Still, he walked toward her.
She loved him. He bet she didn’t even know it yet. But he knew it because you didn’t risk your soul, your life, for someone you didn’t love. He stood in front of her. His heart cried out refusing to admit that somewhere within him was a male who could take the life of the female he loved. He raised his hand; this was it, he couldn’t control the movement.
He’s going to do it, went through her oxygen starved brain. Her lungs desperately tried to breathe. She could see the black at the edges of her eyes, but she would hold onto consciousness for as long as possible. The muscles in her legs twitched; she couldn’t figure out if it was fear or a sudden desire to get up and run, but her body stayed still.
His muscles contracted as he raised his Symphor over his head. Once again the beauty of his form caught her wishing she could touch him one more time.
She should bow her head, close her eyes, but she didn’t. She knelt as straight as possible and placed her hands behind her back. Your life, she thought and smiled at him. She wanted his last memory of her to be smiling. He brought the Symphor down, and she accepted that her death would truly be at his hands.
It never touched her. Mick simply disappeared leaving her alone in an empty house. At that moment she realized she was more prepared to die than she was to live.
Her shoulders sagged as her skin grew cold. She never felt as alone as she did right now. With her feet dragging, pulling against the warmth of the floor, she moved. She eyed the bed, the thought of allowing her body to drift onto it and shut away the world seduced her. No, she would refresh herself, get her thoughts together, and figure out a way to get her mate back.
Her reluctant feet carried her to the bathroom because her days of quitting were long gone.
*~*~*~*
Sweat and blood flew across the room hitting the wall before sliding down. The crack of a hand hitting across a face was the only sound in the room before a jeer went up.
“You’re pathetic. Held at bay by the submission of a female. It disgusts me to know you have Darkness DNA in you.” A booted foot kicked the male on the floor.
“Fight, damn you. Show me something; give me something to be proud of. You know we’re going to kill your mate. Why do you resist? No one. No. One. Resists. The. Darkness! And you have the nerve to try.”
“Hit him.” The male backed up and sneered at Mick again.
The male behind him took his whip and pummeled his back with it like he was an expert. White hot pain burned across Mick’s back. The nerve endings screamed, his muscles tensed, and still he said nothing.
He almost killed his mate. The monster in him surfaced. It was so easy to pretend the other forms he could shift into were the monsters, but he knew the truth. The male who was too beautiful for words was a demon. He could command life or death. But all he ever wanted was death. Just a smile would draw you to him. If he murmured your name, you belonged to him.
Mick was a monster, but it hid in his beauty. Another crack of the whip against his back before the male in front of him spat at him.
No one escaped The Darkness. Why was he fighting so hard? Wouldn’t it make more sense to make Jaz’s death easy and slip into the realm where he would forget she ever existed? His stomach cramped the muscle-punishing him for the thought. He clutched at his mid-section while he dry-heaved.
The male in front of him laughed. They thought they were getting to him when really the thought of hurting his mate tore him apart. He wanted his mate, he needed his mate. It wasn’t until he showed her his first memory and he remembered what love was, the unconditional kind that takes you for exactly who you are, that he understood he loved his mate.
If he killed her something in him would die. He had a feeling not even The Darkness would want him then.
Mick (The A'rouk Brothers Book 1) Page 11