The hunter.
And I knew my time was up when the first words spoken that smooth hypnotic voice of his that told me,
“Now that is a shame.”
I sucked in a deep breath, placed my hands on the table just to steady myself as his name slipped from my lips,
“Lucius.”
Then I felt him stepping up behind me and I tensed as I heard those forbidden words whispered in my ear at the same moment he took possession of my body. He did this by gripping my arms and pulling me back against the strength of him,
“Found at last, my Khuba.”
I gasped and started to struggle in his hold, making him grip me tighter before banding an arm across my torso, telling me softly,
“Ssshh, be still now…I won’t hurt you.” I tensed, closed my eyes as the tears started to rise as I told him fiercely,
“And I told you once before…you already have…now let go of me!” At this I felt his arm turn to steel and the rumbling vibrations at my back matched that of his low growl of frustration. But he had no clue as to what he was doing to me right now. How much pain he caused me by being back in his arms once more.
Gods, but how I just wanted to relax back against him. How I wanted to let him hold me and say to hell with my strength. One that seemed to be sucked right out of me, especially when he suddenly turned me to face him and snarled angrily,
“And I told you, that I never would!” Then, before I could stop myself, I slapped him across the face as hard as I could, until the pain lashed across my own skin. Then, before he could react in any way, I lost every good sense I had and grabbed him by the shirt, yanking him into me. After this I reached up and crushed my lips to his the second I pulled him down to meet me! Doing so with so much passion, it felt as though it had the power to burn us both to Hell for our sins!
His own reaction only managed to fuel my own into holding onto him tighter. This was because he had one hand fisted in my hair at the back of my neck and the other fisted in the material of my shirt at the base of my spine. There he held me to him as if he feared that I would suddenly disappear through his fingers. As if he was doing everything in his power to prevent that.
Somewhere in the back of my mind I had that nagging voice telling me that this was wrong. That I shouldn’t be doing this, that he was no longer mine and I didn’t belong to him. That I was angry and upset. But above all else, it was questioning why he was even here and why was he kissing me so desperately, it felt as if he needed me like he needed his next breath? None of it made sense, least of all the way my hands curled around his neck as if to anchor him to me, never wanting to let go.
But then I started to think of everything I had been through these last two months. I thought of all the pain and suffering he had caused me. I thought about what seemed like the endless tears and cursing his name as I woke from my nightmares. And then after all of this my mind forced me to ask myself…what was I doing?
So, I let my fingers uncurl from his hair, and just as they started to lower, he knew. He knew that he was losing me because he pulled his lips back enough to tell me on a dangerous promise,
“No, I am not fucking letting you go!” Then he pushed me back until I was trapped between him and the table. So this time I had no chance of escaping him as he really kissed me. And foolishly, I opened up once more, doing so on a whimpered moan, as he plundered my mouth, tasting me, drinking me in and consuming me whole. He ravished me just with his kiss, and I swear it felt powerful enough to brand the memory to my damaged, fragile soul.
And I wasn’t the only one who was affected in this way, as when he finally released my lips, doing so now, as we were both panting, he placed his forehead to mine and told me,
“By the Gods, how I’ve missed you.” I swallowed hard, so hard that he could hear it, that along with the feel of my emotions getting too much to hold back as I shuddered in his arms. Which was why this time, instead of simply pulling away, something I knew Lucius would react to in a negative way, I tried a different tactic. Because I couldn’t let him kiss me like that again…I just wouldn’t survive it.
“Please, Lucius…please.”
“What is it, my Khuba?” he whispered down at me, as his hand cupped my face before caressing a thumb across the apple of my cheek. His beautiful eyes scanned my face, my hair, even down to my neck as if needing to take in every inch of me. Gods, but just with that look alone he made me feel so treasured.
“Please, give me time… this…this is all too much to take in,” I whispered, finally braving to look up at him, meeting his eyes as his gaze came back to mine. He released a heavy sigh before placing his forehead to mine once more, a rumbled sound of frustration coming from him before he lifted his head so he could kiss me there.
“Alright Amelia, I will give you this time…”
“Thank y…”
“But it is time that will be spent by my side,” he said cutting me off and giving me little choice in the matter. I looked away from him, knowing that right now I didn’t have it me to argue. No, I just couldn’t think much more past the realisation that he was here with me now. So, I nodded without looking at him, simply waiting for him to step away and finally give me that space I felt desperate for. It was as though I couldn’t breathe. As if I had forgotten the process or something.
But then he grasped my chin and turned my face back to his, giving me little option than to do as he wanted. However, despite his dominant grip, his eyes softened in a way I used to love.
“Don’t shut me out,” he whispered gently and this time I couldn’t help but close my eyes, needing to rid myself of the sight of what was happening. Then finally I could breathe again when I felt him stepping away, cursing under his breath in a language I didn’t know. That was when I finally opened my eyes and turned my back on him. Finding myself once more holding onto the table top and grasping at the papers there, as if the feel of the pages beneath my fingers would help take me back to what had once been my reality. The one I had built up without Lucius.
Not here. Not back here in this dream world that I had been stumbling blindly through the whole time Lucius had pretended to want me. Back to the place he seemed to want to force me back to. Which made me hiss,
“Why?”
“You know why, you are just too blinded by what you think you saw to see the truth behind the veil of pain,” he told me making a breath get stuck in my throat on a gasp.
“I won’t go back there…I won’t go back to Afterlife. You can’t make me,” I told him, turning back around to tell him the last part of this vow, which was when he surprised me.
“I have no intention of trying to force you to,” he told me with a fold of his arms across that wide chest of his. Gods be damned, but why did he have to look even better than I remembered. In fact, my memories hadn’t done his image justice and even then, he had been the one to feature in every one of my fantasies. Also, I had never seen him dressed in anything other than a suit or jeans and a t shirt. But right now, he was dressed for summer and I hated to say it, but Gods, he looked hot and that had nothing to do with the temperature.
He wore a worn denim shirt open and rolled at the sleeves with a white t-shirt underneath. He had dark grey cargo shorts that reached his knees and had multiple pockets, that looked to have a pair of aviator sunglasses hooked in one. I knew that most likely a phone and wallet would be in the others. A pair of black sandals that looked like the kind wore for hiking and a black glove that looked like strapping you would have on for a boxing match, completed the look. Who knew that Lucius had a glove for every season, I thought with a concealed snigger.