Pain and Possession

The instant he stepped into the small house he shared with the only person in the world he trusted he sensed something was wrong. A heavy scent of fear and panic lingered in the air, making his nostrils twitch. Closing the door, he’d happily opened mere seconds ago silently; he walked with measured and soundless steps into the house.

He wanted to call out but something told him not to. There was something going on in there that wasn’t right. His senses were going haywire from the different scents and feelings he was getting.

His eyes scanned about him relentlessly looking for the source of his discomfiture. His ears buzzed with the loud silence of the room. Silence was one thing he never heard in the house, not with her around. The fact that it was so silent was testament to the fact that something was not right.

After a thorough search of all the downstairs rooms he determined that there was no one on the bottom level of the house besides himself. That left the top level which housed only their bedroom and a bath. Before he made the climb up the stairs he grabbed one of the ridiculously sharp knives from the kitchen.

As he held it in his slightly damp hand, the memory of her asking him why he was so particular about the knives being so sharp came back to him. He’d told the truth, he hated to see a dull knife; it was an anathema to him to see a knife dulled and useless. Now they would come in handy.

He checked the small bathroom across the hall from their bedroom first knowing it would be empty. That left he bedroom as he stood outside the door he took a deep breath and tried to prepare himself for what he might see behind it.

He was expecting a small army of mercs or maybe even soldiers waiting on him to enter the room, ready to blast him to pieces. He even had a mental picture of one of them holding his woman hostage to subdue him. The thought made his blood run cold then boil in anger. No one but him ever touched her.

He tried his hardest to temper the animal side of him that roared awake at the image of someone else touching his property. It took him a few precious minutes to control the murderous thoughts that ran through him. It made no sense going in there wildly, especially since he had no idea about what was going on behind the closed door.

He closed his eyes and when the raging beast inside of him had somewhat calmed, he made use of his ability to hear better than normal people to try and figure out what was behind the door. The walls around him disappeared as he concentrated solely on what was going on behind that door.

It came to him as a barely perceptible murmurst,rst, then as he relaxed and opened himself to the sound, it became stronger and stronger until it was a strong steady heartbeat in his ear. His breath left him in a whoosh and it was only then did he realized he had been holding it in. The measured rhythm of her heart told him that there was nothing wrong and that more importantly she was there alone. Gripping the door knob with a steadier hand than before he slowly pushed the door opened.

The sight that greeted him gave him a sense of relief so great it almost brought him to his knees.

She was in bed. Fast asleep. She laid sprawled across the bed in an undignified manner, the way she always slept. Her face was towards him and he smiled at the small furrow between her brows that told him what ever she was dreaming about she didn’t particularly like.

Moving with his customary silence he made his way over to her side and crouched by the bed, gazing at her loveliness. Her mouth was slightly opened and a small noise escaped with every breath she exhaled, it was sound he’d come to love.

As he stared at her he was once again amazed that she was actually real. He’d never hoped to find someone like her to be apart of his life. He’d never thought he would find someone period to share his life with. She was special, she was his.

The animal on the inside purred as he drank his fill of the woman he loved more than life itself. He was home and the beast was content. For now.

Leaning forward he pressed his lips carefully against hers, giving into the temptation that nagged him. Whenever she was around he always felt the need to touch her, to feel her skin, her breath in the essence that was her, to feel her silky long hair. His gaze shifted to the red gold tresses that were spread tumultuously about the pillow, her hair was one of the things he loved most about her. It was her hair that had caught his interest the day they had met; it’d reminded him of copper.

Her breathing pattern changed suddenly and he looked down at her to fihat hat her eyes were opened and a somber look in them. It was not a look he was used to getting from her on his return home.

“Hi” she whispered and from the tone of her voice he gathered something was wrong.

“I just got home and all you can say is hi?” he rumbled half playfully and half curiously. The beast inside growled softly, it sensed that something wasn’t right either.

He saw the slight hesitation in her before she leaned forward and gave hichaschaste kiss on the lips. Her lips lacked all of their customary enthusiasm and she pulled away from him quickly.

Something is wrong! The beast began to roar at him and he tried his best to quell its nervousness, maybe he was just reading into things. Maybe it was just him still being edgy after spending a week tracking and finally killing his prey.

Trying to think over the noise of the beast he gave her a crooked smile and caressed her soft cheek with a hand. On his trips away he always dreamt about her and her soft skin, skin that felt like the finest silk underneath his rough hands, skin that was the color of peaches and cream and complimented her hair perfectly.

“How was your day?” he could still recall the acrid smell of fear in his nostrils. Someone or something had frightened her badly today. He hoped it was just a mouse or something of the sort. The beast gave a scornful laugh at his attempt to convince himself nothing was wrong.

“It was…okay” she told him in a hesitant voice and he knew instantly that she was not telling him the truth.

“Did you have any visitors” he kept his voice light and casual not wanting her to know he knew something had happened.

“No” she turned her face away as she lied, not knowing that he didn’t need to see her face to know that she was lying.

“Not one…” he pressed, unsure if he should be was angry at her for lying or to be concerned that she felt the need to lie to him. One thing he’d always admired about her was her openness and her honesty.

She was silent for a while and he could almost hear her mind racing as she tried to sort out her thoughts.

“There was one person…a man…he was looking for you.” she finally admitted softly.

He frowned and his guard immediately went up. No one knew how to find him, no one. He made sure that his whereabouts was anonymous. “What did he want?” his voice came out sharper than he intended and he cursed himself silently at the lost of his control.

“I don’t know…he said you worked together”

The beast inside him roared and threw itself against the locked cage he kept it in and he wstilstill as the implications of the visitor today sunk in. He had to leave, they had to leave. Somehow his location was known. Without showing any outward sign of his displeasure he asked her,

“What else did he say” he asked her, ignoring the cries of the beast for him tave ave now!

He said-” she stopped short and the widening of her eyes was the only warning he got. Whirling around he growled as he saw a stranger with a gun rush into the room towards him. Grabbing her he rolled over to the other side of the bed, ignoring her frightened screams when two bullets embedded themselves in the space where they’d been only moments before.

The beast howled in triumph at being proven right and in a challenge at the interlopers who dare confront him on his own ground.