Chapter 1 #10
Alone now, Ancelin steadied herself against the bedpost as she stood.
The bite mark on her neck pulsed with a strange warmth that radiated through her veins.
She closed her eyes, reliving the pressure of his body against her, the way his fingertips had traced fire across her skin, the unexpected security she'd found in his embrace.
For a moment, she questioned the wisdom of her hasty surrender, but the lingering pleasure silenced her doubts.
A flash of lightning illuminated the bathroom doorway, and she made her way there, soaking a soft towel under the tap before carefully cleansing the evidence of their passion from her skin.
Dressed once more, she perched on the edge of the bed, heart pounding with both longing and worry. Each thunderclap echoed her racing thoughts. The storm outside raged like her own fierce emotions—wild, untamed, and utterly alive.
The surreal situation she found herself in was beyond belief.
"Here I am on a wild and strange planet, in an incredible house, stranded in the middle of nowhere.
This storm disrupted the most thrilling time of my life.
" Ancelin grinned to herself. "What on earth am I thinking?
I can't wait to be with him again." Like a woman possessed, Ancelin muttered feverishly to herself.
"And to make it all worse, I'm in this pitch-black room, while the tempest rages, waiting for him to return after that deafening crash.
I swear I've seen this scene play out on the SatView movie of the week or maybe in a theater.
Her fingers hovered over the tender punctures on her shoulder, the skin around them hot and pulsing with unfamiliar energy.
The sensation radiated through her veins like liquid fire—terrifying yet exhilarating.
Ancelin couldn't stay still. She leapt up and stalked toward the bedroom door, her body electric with a restlessness she couldn't contain.
Another thunderous boom and shattering crash erupted, the glass exploding with such force that Ancelin jolted.
Terror-stricken for Krevan and panicked, she bolted from his room and tore down the stairs, frantically searching for the source of the chaos.
"The greenhouse," Ancelin gasped into the oppressive darkness.
She navigated the house with trepidation, pausing to let each bolt of lightning guide her next steps.
In the kitchen, a sudden flash illuminated the room, revealing the flashlights Krevan had left on the counter.
She snatched the largest one and charged toward the greenhouse.
Reaching the greenhouse doorway, she halted.
The door stood firmly shut. The power was out, rendering all automatic systems useless.
The glass doors strained violently against the relentless wind.
Peering through the doors, she witnessed utter devastation.
The lush plants and all Krevan's meticulous work lay in ruins, either obliterated or swept away.
Massive wooden planks and other debris had torn through the glass enclosure.
Tears surged in Ancelin's eyes. She felt an overwhelming urge to mourn Krevan's loss.
Her recent past had been riddled with grief, and even a loss like this one ripped through her emotions with brutal intensity.
Standing by the greenhouse door, her flashlight casting a beam into the chaotic void, she wept softly yet fervently.
A wave of agony crashed over her without warning, transporting her to the past. The greenhouse vanished, replaced by her family home's blood-soaked living room.
"Daddy?" she whispered, her voice breaking.
Her flashlight beam trembled across the darkness.
"Please wake up." Her legs buckled as the familiar horror unfolded in her mind.
She reached out with shaking fingers to touch ghosts.
"Momma? Drew? Alyssa?" The names caught in her throat like broken glass.
Her tears fell unchecked as reality blurred with memory, leaving her trapped between worlds, reliving the moment that had shattered her life forever.
"You should have stayed in the bedroom.” Krevan's voice was steady as he guided her away from the glass. "It's not safe here."
Ancelin stared up at him through wet lashes, but her eyes were distant, seeing someone else.
"Daddy?" Her voice cracked. "You're alive? Help me wake Momma. Please—there's blood everywhere." The flashlight slipped from her fingers, plunging them into darkness as the wind howled like a freight train bearing down on them.
"We need shelter." Krevan scooped her up without hesitation. "I'm taking you somewhere safe."
He carried her down a staircase she couldn't see, into a basement room where even his night-adapted eyes struggled to navigate the absolute darkness.
"The tornado's almost here," he said, settling onto a cot with her in his lap. "Nothing will harm you while I'm here."
Ancelin pressed her forehead against his collarbone. "I'm sorry about that episode. For a moment I was... elsewhere. Back there. With them." She shivered. "I'm okay now. Not crazy, I promise."
"I never thought you were." His fingers brushed her arm. "Someday, you'll tell me what shadows follow you."
He found a flashlight in the darkness and pressed it into her hands before searching for a candle.
"Is this your first tornado?" she asked.
"Yes, but I've prepared for one. This planet has unpredictable weather patterns."
“You’re prepared for everything.” Ancelin smiled.
"No, not really. I wasn’t expecting you at all. But I’m glad you’re here with me." His voice was full of sincerity.
"I can’t really hear much from down here. How will we know when the storm ends?"
"I can hear it. I’ll know when it’s over. Let’s lie down and rest. There’s nothing we can do right now, just wait and see what’s left when it's all over."
"My house might not be standing after this. What will I do?" Ancelin mused more to herself than to Krevan.
"You’ll stay with me. You won’t need that house.
I couldn’t let you be there alone and unprotected.
I’d have to keep an eye on you constantly.
I’ll take care of you now. I want to be with you often, to be close to you," Krevan confessed.
"I told you that you needed a protector.
That's me now." Krevan lay back on the cot beside her, and she nestled closer.
Strangely, she appreciated his assertiveness and open honesty.
"Krevan, it feels a little early for us to be together like that. I don’t want to take advantage of you."
Krevan burst into a joyful laugh. This sudden laughter from the usually serious alien seemed unusual. His laughter was so infectious that Ancelin began to giggle too. "Why are you laughing like that?" Ancelin pulled a funny face at Krevan, who looked at her with his now-familiar, otherworldly eyes.
"You’re beautiful, even when you make funny faces.
" His eyes flickered between the candlelight and their natural gleam.
"I haven’t laughed like this in years. You make me happy.
I feel good with you." He lifted her up and placed her on top of him.
"How could you possibly take advantage of me?
" His tone was incredulous. He looked up into her eyes. "Do you want a blanket?"
"The blanket can wait." Ancelin nestled against him, her body softening.
"You're like a furnace anyway." She traced a finger along his collarbone.
"Every night for the past year, I've jolted awake at 3 AM, sheets damp with sweat.
The doctors offered pills—little blue ones for sleep, white ones for the daytime terrors.
I just wanted to outrun it all." Her voice caught.
"Two nights before it happened, at my graduation party, Mom squeezed my shoulders and said, 'Baby, your real life is just starting.
' Forty-eight hours later, my whole family was gone.
" She pressed her cheek against his chest, timing her breath with his.
"Sometimes she still visits me, right before dawn breaks.
" Her eyelids grew heavy as his warmth enveloped her.
"I don't want you thinking I'm clinging to you because I'm broken. But I’m grateful I found you. "
"It seems we've both been to our segments of Hell.
" Tenderly, he stroked her back with his hand.
Ancelin shivered under his touch. "Ancelin, it would be hard for you to take advantage of me.
" Krevan's crooked smile faded as he gazed into the darkness beyond the flashlight’s reach.
"I can help you escape from your nightmares and your hell.
" His voice dropped to a whisper. "But I'll also have to tell you how I escaped mine. "
Chapter 3
The tornado screamed overhead like a wounded beast. Ancelin jerked awake, disoriented, before realizing she was wrapped in Krevan's arms, her nightmares temporarily silenced by his presence.
Each time the wind howled, his muscles tensed around her protectively.
When her breathing deepened, he carefully extracted himself and tucked the blanket around her shoulders.
She curled into it like a child, eyes fluttering open to watch him through the candlelight.
"You fled one nightmare only to find yourself in another," he murmured, candlelight dancing in his eyes.
The house creaked against the storm's assault.
Krevan stood and made his way to the staircase, pausing with his hand on the railing.
When he looked back at Ancelin curled on the cot, his features softened.
Before he could stop himself, he was beside her again.
"The house can be rebuilt," he said, kneeling beside her.
His voice dropped lower. "After what happened between us, you're mine now.
For a Triaxen, this means something sacred.
" His fingers hovered above her cheek without touching.
"We have mated. I know your human mind doesn't yet comprehend. "
Ancelin's face flushed hot in the darkness.
"I've never experienced such a connection," he continued, "and I won't let anything threaten it—or you—ever again." Krevan settled into the small chair beside her cot, his gaze never leaving her.
Ancelin drifted into sleep, and when she stirred again, she found him with his eyes closed, his breathing deep and even.
"Krevan," she whispered, her fingertips grazing his knee.
His eyes snapped open—molten silver in the dim light—and a primal hiss escaped through bared fangs.
Ancelin scrambled backward, pressing herself against the wall, clutching the blanket to her chest like armor.
"Ancelin..." His voice softened as awareness returned.
He moved to the cot and extended his hand.
"Forgive me. I very seldom sleep so deeply.
When you touched me..." He shook his head.
"I'll learn your presence. I won't react that way again.
" He brushed a strand of hair from her face. "My fangs aren't meant to hurt you."
Something in his gentleness drew her forward. She inched toward him until his arms enveloped her. The comfort she'd been searching for these past months had found her in this shelter; with this alien male whose intimidating exterior concealed such tenderness for her.
"You're safe now," he murmured against her hair. "Do you trust me?"