Those Eyes Ch 10

Thank you once again, Archangel for editing!

***

"That's your mate?" Adam asked incredulously, watching the sleeping beauty laid out in Aaron's bed.

"Yes," Aaron said, stroking the still tender skin on Aara's cheek.

He couldn't believe that the tiny beauty lying in his bed belonged to him. She was flawless.

"She's really something isn't she? So small, but she held her own with Santana out there," Adam interjected, attempting to hide his envy at the fact that his two youngest brothers had both found their mates before him. "Did you sense her? You know, the way that Santana and Alex felt each other?"

"No, I don't think so. I mean, I've had this weird feeling all week but I just chocked it up to anxiety over this whole mess. But now that I'm really looking at her... I've seen her before, around the apartment."

Adam's head snapped up. "Are you serious? You're sure it was her?"

"Dude, yes. She was wearing sunglasses, but look at her; she's a little hard to miss," Aaron said, suppressing a groan as his eyes slid from the delicate features of her face down to her sensuous curves. It was hard to ignore the way his heart pounded as he sat near her. "It was her. I checked her out one day when I had come to take Santana to class. I looked for her every day after. I'm not really sure why I did, but she was there a few other times."

"So, the redhead isn't the only one that's been watching Ana." Adam sighed, running his hand through his chocolate locks.

"Apparently not."

Though she was asleep, Aara was very aware of one thing: the electricity racing through her veins. Her body struggled to regain consciousness, fighting through the fog to be near the source of that electricity. It craved the nearness, and the intensity of the feeling made a part of her never want to wake up. That small part lost as consciousness slammed into her. She wanted to keep her eyes closed, wanted to pretend to be asleep a little longer, but she needed to see him. She needed to see the owner of the warmth she'd felt as his strong body carried her to wherever she was now. She needed to see the ownerof the scent that surrounded her, and she needed to see the owner of those icy blue eyes that had haunted her for nearly a week.

Slowly, she opened one eye, fighting against the way the intruding light made her head pound. There were two men in the room. Her foggy mind couldn't quite make out their words but she knew they were about her. She blinked a few times, trying to make her vision clear. She bit her lip to suppress the gasp that desperately wanted to escape. Both men were absolutely gorgeous and, from their profiles, she could tell that they shared similar features. They had the same nose and the same full lips. Both of their bodies were built and their jeans and t-shirts did little to hide that fact.

One had his light chocolate hair cut in a short faux-hawk while the other kept his dark blonde slightly buzzed on the side and a bit longer on top. From the angle, she couldn't quite make out their eyes, but she did notice that the one with shorter hair had the deepest dimples she had ever seen. She decided that she liked them immensely.

The conversation that she had tuned out around her seemed to cease and the boy... man... with the dimples suddenly tensed up. She watched in slow motion as his head turned in her direction, and she gasped. Staring back at her were those icy blue eyes. She squealed in the most undignified way and immediately closed her eyes, feigning sleep but knew that she was more than caught.

"Umm, can you give us a minute, Adam?" she heard a deep voice say, the words immediately followed by the opening and closing of a door. "I know that you're awake, Aara. Open your eyes, gorgeous."

She shook her head rapidly and bit the inside of her cheek as she felt the bed dip.

"Please."

She sighed and opened her eyes slowly, looking directly into his. "Who are you?" she asked, keeping all emotion from her voice. She fought the part of her being that wanted to move closer to him, that wanted to be enveloped in his warmth.

He smiled and looked down at her. "I'm Aaron. Hm, Aaron and Aara... that has a nice ring to it."

She was shocked. Had he just claimed in her some offhanded way? She resisted the part of her that relished his words.

"Why am I here, Aaron?" She purposely ignored his last statement.

"Well, you were hurt."

It all came rushing back to her, the fight in the foyer with Santana. She sat up abruptly, and paused as her head swam. Wavering slightly, she reached up placed both palms against her forehead.

"Whoa, whoa. Settle down, sweetness," he said, pushing on her shoulder gently so she'd lie back down.

"Okay, so I was hurt. Why am I here and not at an infirmary? Where is here, anyway?" she asked, her moss-colored eyes darting around the large bedroom. She nearly moaned when she noticed the soft blush creep up his neck and onto his cheeks. He chuckled, sheepishly and ran his large hands through his neat hair.

"You're in my apartment, in my bed."

She leapt up at his words, ready to race from the bed. It was then that she noticed the oversized t-shirt that she was wearing.

"What— What is this?" she asked, gesturing towards her body.

He gulped, audibly. Her gesture causing him to once more take inventory of her beautiful body. He was lost in the sight of her. He had never imagined anyone could be so beautiful, so delicate and sexy at the same time. He discreetly sniffed the air around them, unaware that her sensitive senses picked up on the gesture. His system was immediately flooded with warmth. Her scent was so intoxicating, so light and feminine. It reminded him of lemongrass and sunshine. He wanted to bottle it up and have it with him always.

He desperately needed to take her in with all of his senses and before he knew it, he was reaching out for her. His touch was soft at first; he lightly stroked his fingertips down her exposed arms. The goosebumps sprang across her skin instantly but didn't take away from the softness beneath his fingertips. He had listened to her voice, stared at her perfection, smelled her wonderfully appealing scent, and touched her silky skin... there was only one thing left: he needed to taste her.

The desire to do so was almost more than he could bear and he before he realized what he was doing, his mouth was mere centimeters away from her neck. He waited for her to pull away or stop him but she seemed frozen. When no resistance came, he placed a nearly non-existent kiss near her pulse. He chuckled when she slammed her palm against her mouth, a raspy moan.

He touched her, and she nearly exploded. His touch had been so light, she feared she had imagined it, but there was no way she could imagine a feeling like that. She couldn't understand his appeal. No one had ever taken such liberties with her body, and she was torn between begging for him to continue and throwing him against the far wall.

Only one man had touched her previously. He was a soldier at the compound and the second he had gotten too handsy, she had pushed his head through a wall. She had spent an entire month in confinement; he spent an entire month in the ICU. That was the last time that someone had touched her without her permission other than her family. And now here she was, letting this stranger send sensations through her body that she had never experienced before.

When she felt his lips briefly touch her neck, the floodgates opened. Her body was so warm and she squeezed her thighs tightly together to appease the throbbing sensation she now felt. What was he doing to her? Why was she allowing him to be so closer to her, to touch her this way? She didn't understand it. She didn't understand how everything about this man called to her. If time had stopped then and there and she was forced to spend eternity with his full lips caressing her neck, surrounded by his masculine scent, she could have been content. Very content.

She had never desired someone the way she desired Aaron. She had never needed someone so badly. It was so much more than the physical fires he was now igniting within her with each soft kiss he placed on her neck. It was as if her very soul cried out for him, as if he was the answer to some unknown question. Her body throbbed with a need that wasn't entirely sexual. Nearly every part of her being screamed for her to merge her soul with this stranger's. It screamed out that he belonged to her, that he was the key to her completion.

As his attention turned from soft kisses to light bites and suckling, she reached out and grabbed for him. Clutching, his shirt in her small fingers, she pulled him closer. She sensed his intention before he made a move and braced herself. She began whimpering for it, begging him to do it, and when his teeth sank into her freckled flesh, it was like coming home for the first time.

He didn't know why he did it. He knew it shouldn't have, but when she grabbed for him, he lost control. As her blood rushed into his mouth, he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her small body into his, loving the way her warmth seeped through their layers of clothing to burn his flesh in the most pleasurable way possible. Everything about her told him that she was his, especially the way she tasted. He had never experienced anything so sweet in his 80-plus years of existence.

Her moans and whimpers spurred him, and the scent of her arousal in the air made it nearly impossible for him to pull away, but he did, with one final flick of his tongue to close the wounds. He pulled back and his darkened eyes met her darkened eyes. He saw so many emotions flicker through them and when they settled on anger, he tried to speak.

"Aara, I-"

SLAP!

His head whipped to the side and he tasted what he knew was blood as it began to pool into his mouth.

The haze of arousal had suddenly lifted and reality hit her like a ton of bricks. She had never been so angry in her life. She had also never been so confused and turned on in her life but she didn't want to focus on those emotions. She only wanted to focus on how indignant she felt that he thought that he could bite her and get away with it. The thought of it made her anger flare once more, and she raised her hand to slap him.

To her surprise, he caught her hand before she had a chance to connect once more with his still-red cheek.

"How dare you!" she screamed, trying to free her hand. Raising her left hand, she made to slap him with it, and was once more surprised when he caught that one also.

They sat there staring at one another, her ample chest heaving with each breath. He watched her face flush a deep red and wondered if it was from arousal or anger. In that moment, he didn't care.

"Mine!" he growled before he roughly crushed his lips to hers.

Her lips were so soft and full. He held his against hers, not moving, simply waiting for her to stop fighting him. When the flailing of her small body ceased, he pulled back and stared into the eyes of the woman he was going to spend his entire life with.

"You will never raise your hands to me again, Aara," he said, his tone serious. The humour and mischief she had once seen in his eyes were gone.

"You have no right to tell me what I will and won't do, you pompous asshole." She began stuggling once more as he wrestled her into a supine position, his imposing body on top of hers. She briefly noticed that he didn't rest his full weight on her, just enough to keep her from kicking out at him. A part of her registered how thoughtful that was before she quickly dismissed it. "Get. Off. Of. Me."

She hated feeling so small and helpless. If she was honest with herself, she would admit that she had a bit of a Napoleon complex. She could tell that the man on top of her, Aaron, could easily overpower her and that made her more aroused than scared. She hated feeling this way.

"I will if you promise to sit still and talk to me. I just want to talk to you." The sincerity in his eyes and voice made her cease her struggling immediately.

"Okay." she said, trying to fight the urge to get lost in his eyes.

Very slowly, he began moving off of her but she could tell by the way his body tensed that he was prepared to restrain her again if the need arose. He was staring at her so intensely, and she fought the urge to look away. She didn't want him to know that he affected her so much. Tilting her chin up, she put on the most defiant face she could while lying on her back.

"Why am I here? You knew that I would heal. Why not just leave me on some corner and let me be on my way? Or better yet, why am I not tied to a chair in some sort of interrogation room? I did attack your friend, after all."

"You're here, in my room, because I want you here." His hand twitched as if he wanted to touch her. "I need you here."

The words sent a shudder through her body and she once more schooled her expressions and responses to look like indifference. "Why?"

"Don't you feel it?" he sighed at her confused expression. "Don't you feel the connection between us? The way your entire body tingles when I touch you? The way my scent begs for your attention? How leaving right now would break your heart in the most profound way?"

She continued staring at him, not saying a word. "I know you feel it. You can pretend like you don't. You can keep up this hard-ass façade, but I felt the way that you needed me a few moments ago and I know you damn well felt my need for you. Don't fight it. It'll only hurt more."

She blinked back the tears that threatened to fall. She wouldn't let him see her cry. "Maybe I feel something towards you, but it's surely just physical."

He jumped up suddenly, his body looming over hers. "Damnit, Aara! This-" he gestured between the two of them, "is not purely physical. Yes, I want to be inside of your tight little body in the worst way right now—" she gasped at his words, clenching her thighs at the predatory way his eyes slid over her body, "—but I want so much more from you."

"What is it that you want from me?" she couldn't help but ask.

"Everything, Aara. I want everything."

-Santana-

I paced along the hallway in front of Alex's apartment. My emotions were all over the place. I knew that she was only a floor below me but I hadn't been able to see her. I had nearly begged Alex to let me go talk to her but he had denied my request by simply shaking his head.

Aaron wouldn't let me near her. In the foyer, I had made an attempt to crawl towards her after we had been pulled apart and was met with a snarl and a growl from Aaron. I backed up into my mate's arms immediately, scared for my safety. I understood his reaction, it's exactly how I would have acted if someone had hurt my Alex, but the small girl cradled in Aaron's arms was my sister, my flesh and blood.

I remembered the relief that I felt when Aaron threw me away from her body. I hadn't wanted to kill her, not entirely. That new entity in my soul had nearly begged for her death, craved the taste of her blood in my mouth. I had wanted to fight it, but it just kept repeating her threat to my mate. The beast seemed pacified now.

Hurting her would hurt Aaron which would hurt Alex... I could never hurt Alex.

Thinking of my mate made me want to seek him out. I felt him inside of the apartment. He was alone, his siblings dispersed throughout the complex. Through our bond, I could sense his emotions. He was happy that I was safe but displeased, confused, and frightened by my earlier actions. He was also happy for his brother, which caused me to think about my sister once more. I sighed and entered the apartment like a child waiting to be scolded and punished.

I followed his scent to his office and hesitated in the doorway.

"Come in, baby," he said without even looking back at me.

I moved into the room and stood by his chair, watching him type furiously on his keyboard. In a blur of movement, I was suddenly straddling his lap, my front pressed tightly against his as he held me to him.

"What's gotten into you, baby?" he asked, pressing a kiss to my hair.

I bit my lip to hold back my tears. How was I supposed to explain to him that our mating had broken me somehow?

"Alex, something's wrong." I pressed my face into his neck and inhaled his scent, instantly feeling calmer.

"What do you mean?" His arms tightened around me.

"I feel different. Like, there's something inside of me that wasn't there before." "Before when?"

"Before we mated." I felt his body tense and placed a light kiss on his neck, silently asking him to relax. "I feel stronger. My senses feel sharper. But I also feel more possessive, more dangerous. I can't explain it, but I almost killed her, Alex. I almost killed my sister." My voice dropped to a whisper.

"But you didn't, Ana." I felt his fingers lightly begin stroking my back.

"Only 'cause Aaron stopped me. "

He was silent at that statement, his fingers pausing on my back. "I don't believe that."

I'm not so sure, I thought as his fingers resumed the leisurely pace. {I}

"Can I see her?" I asked, pulling back and looking into his eyes as I chewed on my bottom lip.

He sighed and ran his hand through his messy hair. "Let me text Aaron," he said, pulling out his phone.

I held my breath as I waited for his phone to vibrate, signaling a reply. Though I was expecting the sound, the buzz caused me to jump slightly. I looked at my mate, hope and pleading in my eyes.

I felt his chest vibrate as he growled slightly. "He said that's it's alright as long as I'm with you."

Lie. "What did he really say?" I asked, placing my palm against his face. He moved into my touch and kissed the inside of my hand.

Alex sighed deeply and growled once more. "He said that if you touched his mate, he wouldn't hesitate to kill you." He stood up abruptly, catching me before I fell to the floor and setting me down on my feet away from him. He began pacing. "I can't believe he would say something like that; she came here to our home and tried to take you!"

I nodded sadly, "Yes, but I tried to kill her."

Alex suddenly stopped pacing and was in front of me, his hands on either side of my face, staring deeply into my eyes. "Listen to me, Santana. You weren't going to kill her. Stop thinking that."

I nodded mutely, still not quite believing him.

***

Aara remained sitting on the bed, staring at Aaron. Several minutes had passed in silence after his declaration. She wasn't quite sure what to say and decided silence was the best option. The things that he was saying, what he was asking for weren't possible. She would return home once all of this was settled.

At the thought of leaving, her heart seemed too big for her ribcage and her lungs seemed to constrict. She grabbed for her chest and willed herself to take slow breaths as her soul screamed out in agony. He is not yours! she screamed to herself inside of her head, knowing that it was a lie. The intensity of their meeting, of being in his company, was wearing on her. She needed to escape this feeling, she needed to escape him.

The tone from his phone going off seemed to make a booming sound in the silence. And he finally looked away from her to the smartphone in his hand. She saw his body tense and wanted to reach out to soothe him, but balled her hands into fists instead. She couldn't make this harder on herself.

"Santana and Alex are coming up. Is that alright?" They were the first words that he had spoken in what felt like hours.

At the mention of her sister, the reason that she was there seemed to crash into her consciousness. The mission. Yes, things had taken and unexpected turn but there was still a task to be done, and Aara had never failed at a task. The wheels in her head immediately began turning.