~~~~~~ Please check out the previous chapters before reading this one. There is no sex in this chapter, and it contains descriptions of war and violence, that might be disturbing to some readers. Please take care of yourselves.~~~~~~~
Something was wrong. I woke up with a distinct feeling of dread, the cause of which I couldn't place. My room was completely dark and it took a second until I remembered what had happened. My heart was racing, as the details came rushing back at me. Had that been real?
Yes, it definitely had: Between my thighs, I could still feel a dull soreness and the stickiness of his seed.
And of course there was the other proof: The solid Veril soldier resting to my left, I could perceive the warmth of his presence at my side even though I didn't dare looking over to him.
My head was spinning and at that moment I realized what had woken me up: It was the sound of the elevator. A faint but distinctive hum, that would probably have been unnoticeable to me, had I not lived in my building for a while. How long had I been asleep? Probably not very long. The night outside of my window looked as deep and dark as before. The fact that the street lights had been switched of, indicating that it must be past midnight.
The elevator doors opened downstairs and I sensed the warrior next to me tensing up, the sheets underneath him rustling just slightly at his movement.
So he had heard it, too -- damn the Veril's sharp senses!
The humming grew louder, as the elevator was returning upstairs. Who dared to come home in the middle of the night, in times of the unofficial curfew under the Veril rule? Certainly not a woman. My heart dropped to my stomach.
'Please don't stop on this floor, please don't stop on this floor!' I repeated this mantra over and over in my mind, but to no avail as the humming stopped next to my apartment.
The soldier let out a low hiss of disapproval. It was barely audible but made ice cold dread run through my veins.
I turned towards him and placed my hand on the tense muscles of his arm, trying to placate him, the lines of his strange tattoo-like markings glowing very faintly under my fingers.
"Ren...," I started, but my tongue stumbled over his name and the strange feeling it was evoking in my heart. My eyes had gotten used to the darkness by now and I could make out the contours of the Veril's beautiful face. His eyes were shut close and his mouth was pressed into an angry line of frustration.
The elevator doors opened with a
*pling*
.
His voice was low but menacing with suppressed anger, as he opened his golden eyes and locked them with mine, "You said nobody would be here tonight."
It felt like the air in the room had shifted, growing charged with the danger of him. Like summer heat before a thunderstorm.
Hoping that I might be able to calm him down, I tried to explain, "My roommate was supposed to be visiting his parents over the weekend. I thought he wouldn't be back until Sunday."
I could feel myself instinctively recoiling from the burning anger behind his gaze, his eyes stayed fixed on mine as if he was trying to read me.
The sound of steps approached our apartment door, followed by the jingling of keys. Shit, shit, shit!
"Please wait!" I implored.
But he had already gotten up. It was an eerie movement that I had never seen him make before. My blood froze. It was too fast to be human, making it almost look like a glitch in a video game. I had not known the Veril were able to move with this kind of speed and seeing him do it filled me with a primal type of terror I had not known up until now.
It reminded me that he was utterly alien, and for the first time I really grasped, that I didn't have the faintest understanding of what powers he possessed, that these powers might be much bigger and more terrible than what I had suspected. I could practically feel the room crackling with them. Despite the moments of what had almost seemed like real intimacy, we had shared before, I knew virtually nothing about him and his kind, and I realized that I would be a fool to expect human morals or empathy to mean anything to him.
Without a sound Ren had taken his weapon belt from the back of my chair and put it on. At some moment he must have also dressed himself but I didn't know if he had done it just now or while I had been asleep. He was again in his uniform, the leather armor strapped around his broad chest and shoulders. The light of a passing car outside reflected on his short, jet black hair and on the golden embroidery of the red band around his arm. He had a calm and determined look on his noble features, deadly and beautiful, like the god of war himself. Had I really shared several orgasms with this man -- with this being? Was I really pregnant from him? The idea seemed unreal at the moment.
For a second it was like I was paralyzed -- but then I gathered all of my courage and jumped out of my bed stepping next to him.
If you lie, they die.
I had not forgotten that he had warned me about somebody interrupting us and there was no doubt in my mind that he was capable of making his threat come true.
My stomach twisted as I begged him, "He is not dangerous, Ren. Please don't hurt him! He has nothing to do with this."
I looked up at him, my fingers digging into the leather straps around his arm -- as if I could hold him back, as if he couldn't brush me away like I was a fly on his sleeve.
Tim, my roommate, must have heard my voice while he was taking his shoes off in the corridor.
In a low voice, trying not to stir me in case I was asleep, he asked in German, "Are you still awake?"
Ren gave me an exasperated look, that might have been comical in any other situation but at this moment only terrified me. With movement full of deadly grace, he drew his scimitar, holding it in one hand as if it was light like a feather.
"No!" I whispered desperately, trying to keep my voice as low as possible so I wouldn't draw more attention to us, even though I wanted to scream. I tugged on his arm, but he might as well have been a brick wall, as little did he budge.
"Anna?" Tim asked louder now, and I could see the door handle to my room move.
Of course my dresser was still blocking the entry so it only opened to a tiny slit, the light from the corridor brightening up my surroundings a little bit. I couldn't help but admire the military precision and foresight with which the Veril had secured my room.
"Are you fucking him?" Ren asked me out of nowhere. His eyes were clouded with anger and something else, as he looked down at me. He was so close our chests were almost touching and it was like I could feel the threat he posed prickling on my naked skin, as if it was physically palpable.
I was so taken aback by his sudden accusation, that I couldn't help but huff out an incredulous laugh, "What?"
He didn't respond and just kept fixating me with his intense stare, demanding an answer.
