Chapter 33 #2
I take a deep breath, remembering that feeling of having nothing and no one.
Wondering how I’d ever survive. But the feeling still stings, that is, until I feel the soft arms of an angel wrap around my neck from behind.
I squeeze her forearms as she presses her face to my neck, whispering, “You’re not alone anymore, Apollo. You have me, and Indy.”
We sit there in silence for a minute before she releases me, and goes back to braiding my hair.
As I feel her finishing up, I start to feel nervous.
I don’t know how to act around her anymore.
I want to turn around and push her into the bed as I kiss her and touch her soft skin, but she’s only just forgiven me and I worry I’ll scare her away with my assertiveness.
“Should we get something to eat?” she asks when I don’t say anything.
“Oh, yes, I forgot, I was cooking breakfast but I, uh, burned it. I’ve got some more meat I can cook.”
“You gonna let me help this time, rain man?” I give her a guilty look, feeling bad for snapping at her yesterday, but by the look in her eye, I realize she’s teasing me.
“Hmm, maybe if you’re a good girl.” I see her eyes widen in shock and red tinge her cheeks before she looks at the fire as we take a seat.
I set to work skewering sticks with meat, and handing her one.
When she doesn’t say anything, I keep my eyes on the fire as I speak.
“I’m sorry, did I make you feel uncomfortable? ”
“Oh, uh, kinda. But probably not in the way you’re thinking,” she mumbles, shifting in her seat. I give her a questioning look and she lets out a big breath. “Apollo…” she groans, dropping her face to her hand.
“I’m fucking this all up, aren’t I?” I ask, feeling defeated.
“No, it’s not that.” She sounds frustrated. “You made me feel… wet.”
“Wet? Wet where?” she gives me an exasperated look. And it’s as if a lightbulb goes off my head. My eyes widen and I glance down her body. Does she mean she’s wet… between her legs? “You’re not wearing any underwear,” I point out, obviously.
“I know that! That’s why I feel uncomfortable… Your meat’s about to burn.” She had me distracted, but I quickly pull my meat off the fire just in time to save it. Her skewer is done as well, so we eat in silence.
I think about what she’s just revealed to me. Did she like me calling her a good girl? So much that it… aroused her? I can feel my own cock harden at the thought. I promised I’d show her things today, though, and I don’t want to overstep that invisible boundary… yet.
“Do you want me to show you how to forage for some nuts and fruit? I know you found the berries already.”
“Oh, yes, I’d love that!” I nod and we finish up our meal. I put out the fire and gently take her hand, making sure not to injure it, as I lead her through the trees to the east.
“See this tree here?” She nods as I drop her hand and reach up to a branch, pulling it low for her to see. “These are the nuts.” I pull one off and use my knife to split it open.
“Oh! It looks like a pecan!”
“It is a pecan,” I tell her with a smile.
“Here, the branches that still have some are a bit high, I’ll pull it down and you pull them off, okay?
” She nods eagerly, and we set to work collecting nuts.
I keep them in my pockets, as she has nowhere to keep them in my shirt.
Which reminds me. “We should go see how your dress is drying.”
“Oh yeah! I almost forgot about that.” I take her hand again and lead her to the pond, thinking about her dress.
“Angel, what were you doing in the middle of the desert alone in your night dress? I know it had something to do with that sandcrawler, but I just can’t figure out how it happened.”
“Oh, well, me and my mates and Silver, did I mention him before?” I shake my head. “He’s our friend, he knows Ria, so he’s taking us to her. He’s really kind, he even used some magical cream to help heal me several times.”
“But he’s not your mate? Or is he courting you?” The way she speaks about him makes me think there is more there than she’s letting on.
“No, he isn’t interested in me like that.”
“Ah, but you are interested in him.”
“What? I didn’t say that!” She didn’t deny it either, but I’m not going to point that out. Not when I wanted to convince her to keep me.
My step falters and I almost trip as that thought enters my mind. Is that what I really wanted? To be with Angel and Indy and her other men? What if the others were assholes who hated magic? I glance down at her and realize I’d put up with it if it meant being with her.
“So anyway, we were crossing the desert to get to the sea, to find Ria. And we had stopped for the night. I heard a noise, so I got up to take a look. I saw what seemed like a sand dune, but when I touched it… Well, it turned out to be that sandcrawler, and it shot a spike through my hand. I couldn’t pull myself free and it took off.
I grabbed a spike with my other hand and managed to hold on for a while.
Eventually, I was able to pull my hand free, but I have no idea how long I was on it.
It could have been hours, and as it was night, I had no idea what direction we had traveled in.
When the sun came up, I decided to just follow the direction we were heading, to the east.”
“How long were you out there alone before I found you?”
“I think that was the third day.”
“Fuck, Angel. You could have died. You almost did die.”
“How did you find me?”
I think about how I’d been feeling for the few days leading up to finding her.
“I—I had been feeling this tug in my chest for days. I didn’t know what it was and tried to ignore it, but it got stronger and stronger.
The day I found you, it became so unbearable that I found myself sprinting across the desert with no idea where I was going. ”
We’ve reached where her dress lays, but she just turns to stare up at me. “And that feeling,” she says, placing her hand on her own chest, “Did it ever stop?”
“Yes, the moment I found you.”
“What does that mean?”
“Are you sure you want to know?” She nods her head slowly, licking her lips.
“I can’t be sure, but I used to hear stories of fated mates and the pull they feel to each other, often during times of great distress.”
She gasps, before whispering, “I knew it!” She already expected we were fated mates?
When she sees my expression she continues.
“I feel it too, but for me it’s only when I’m near you, and it’s like this constant…
hum in my chest, telling me to be closer to you…
telling me your mine. I feel it with Ry and Brax and Indy too.
” Her eyes are wide as she comes to this conclusion.
“And Silver?”
“I don’t want to talk about him.” I can see the pain in her eyes, so I decide to leave it for now.
“Okay, we won’t. But tell me, are you okay with this, how does it make you feel…” about me, are the words I really want to ask.
She rubs at her chest, looking down like she should be able to see what she’s feeling. When she looks back up at me, she’s frowning. “I’m obviously drawn to you, I have been since the beginning. It’s why it hurt so much when you said those things to me.”
“I kn—”
“Wait, let me finish.” She cuts me off before continuing. “But even when you were saying them, I knew you were just projecting, you knew almost nothing about me. It still hurt, but I knew the man that Indy spoke about was a kind, caring man, not cruel.”
“I made you cry,” I tell her, frowning that she was just brushing off my poor treatment of her so easily. “You can’t just forgive me so easily.”
“Too late, rain man,” she says, placing her hands on her hips, looking up at me expectantly.
“I… I don’t know what to do with you.”
She laughs before taking a small step towards me, whispering, “Whatever you want.”
My body freezes in surprise. Did she really mean that? I clench my fists to stop myself from reaching for her. “Do you not want me, Apollo? Do you not want to be my mate?”
“Fuck, Angel. It’s taking everything in me to restrain myself from fucking you over that rock,” I say, motioning to a large waist high rock that overlooks the pond.
“You don’t deserve a man like me, I’m rough and abrasive, full of scars inside and out.
You deserve someone kind and charming, like Indy. ”
She takes another step towards me and reaches up, placing her hand on my chest. “I was under the impression that I could have you both.”
I study her face for any sign of hesitation, but all I see is heat. “You really want me, Angel? Not just for now, but for always?”
“That’s a terrible proposal, try again.”
I lick my lips, afraid to so much as blink and break the spell I must have unknowingly cast over her.
Why else would she want me? I cup her face in my hand.
“You are the most amazing person I’ve ever met, your heart must be so big to be able to forgive me so easily.
I’ll spend the rest of my life making it up to you, by loving you and protecting you, if you’ll let me. Marry me, Angel?”
“Better,” she says with a nod of her head.
“Better? Angel, don’t leave me hanging like this,” I groan.
“Maybe I need a reminder,” she says, tapping her lip in thought.
“Of what?”
“Of what you taste like.”
This time, I don’t hold myself back as I bend down and wrap her in my arms, sealing my mouth to hers. This kiss is so different from the last one. It’s full of passion and heat and I can feel myself getting hard at the feeling of her soft skin.
Finally, she pulls back to look me in the eyes. “Yes, I’ll marry you, Apollo.” You couldn’t stop the smile from filling my face as I squeeze her tight and spin her around, making her laugh.