Hypnotic - 10. Chapter 10

I sat in my car and stared at Dav. My heart was pounding and the pain in my head spiked from the rush of adrenaline. The last week had been a dream come true at first, and then my worst nightmare. I didn't want to face the man who had broken my heart. I looked at my keys, seriously considering just starting the car back up and driving away.

There was tapping at my window before I could do it though. I jerked a bit, startled.

"Ellis? Why are you just sitting in your car? Are you okay?" Davis tried the handle, but I'd locked the door when I got in and he couldn't open it. “Unlock the door, Ellis.”

"I'm fine, Davis. Go away."

"No."

My lips folded together and my nostrils flared. "Fine. I'm leaving until you get sick of waiting. I don't want to talk to you Davis, so just leave me alone."

"You can't drive around forever, and I'll just follow you." I could not believe he just said that. "We have to talk Ellis; you have to listen to me."

"By talking, you mean you tell me you're sorry you tried to kill me and just expect me to say okay and go back to before when I trusted you?" I glared through the glass at Davis. "Thanks to you I've got scales on my back and my senses are driving me nuts. I can taste scents now. It's annoying, especially at work. We're not even mates anymore!"

Davis' shoulders were bowed, and he looked sad. "Yes we are, Ellis. That's what I need to talk to you about. Please get out of the car and talk to me." His hand spread on the glass. "Please, I'll keep my distance," he said softly. "I won't hurt you, I promise."

My head hurt, and my pills were inside. I needed to get out of my car, take two and get in bed. But if I got out, would he smell my brother and Ahsran on me?

A circle of color began to ring my porch light. The headache was getting worse. I feathered my fingers over my forehead and into my hair, pushing it back. I would take my pills, listen to whatever excuse Dav thought would change my mind, and then collapse in bed after he left when I told him it was too little, too late.

"Fine. Back up," I told him.

I gripped the edge of the door when I stood up, the wave of dizziness hitting me just as I expected it too.

"What's wrong?" Dav said, stepping forward.

"Nothing." I let go of the door and shut it carefully. I concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other all the way up to my front door. It was when I tried to put the key in the lock that the true extent of my headache made itself known. I couldn't even really see the hole, and I was too dizzy to bend over to look closer.

I braced a hand on the door and groaned quietly. This was getting bad fast.

"Damn it, Ellis, you've got a headache again, don't you? You have that same pinched look."

"It's nothing," I whispered, "just stress."

"You’re stressed because of me. Give me those keys." Dav snatched the keys from me, though I wasn't resisting too much.

I didn’t enlighten him to the true cause of my stress either, but then again, it was sort of his fault.

He unlocked the door and then tried to grab my arm. I pulled it away, moving slowly but not letting him tow me in to my own apartment. I walked in by sheer force of will, going straight to the kitchen. My pills were on the breakfast counter. I shook the bottle. I'd had another headache over the week and I was running low on pills. I'd need to call my doctor in the morning. I was a little surprised he hadn't called me in to finish the tests he'd wanted to run.

Just one more thing to schedule into my already crazy life.

I popped the top on the bottle and shook two pills out into my hand. I knew it would be petty not to drink the water Davis slid across the counter, but I was tempted to get my own. The throbbing to the right of my eye convinced me moving around to get a glass would be stupid. I grunted and took the pill.

"Let's get you in bed." Dav was standing beside me.

"I don't want you back in my bed," I said mulishly.

He sighed. "I know, Ellis."

I could feel his heat right behind me as I stumbled to my room. My head felt like it was going to explode. I moved toward the window to pull the shades and the curtains.

"I'll get them. Get in bed."

"Stop being so bossy." I grumbled under my breath about his attitude, like he had the right to just walk into my apartment and tell me what to do. I wasn’t doing it because he told me to, but it was the only thing I was actually capable of at the moment. The act of lying back in the bed sent a wave of dizziness through me.

Damn this one was bad.

I grabbed the edge of the bed, holding on tight in hopes that the room would stop swirling. The quiet swishing of the curtains stopped and I heard water running in the bathroom. A cool washcloth draped across my eyes and forehead. I sighed a little in relief, enjoying the feeling on my hot face.

My heating pad was draped across my feet, and I heard a small click as Dav turned it on. After that the room was filled with silence. Maybe he left. Hands on my face, turning the washcloth and stroking my hair startled me, making me hiss a little.

"Don't. You don't get to touch me just because I can't stop you."

"Oh Ellis," he whispered.

I ignored the pain in his voice from my words. It wasn't the same; it wasn't anything like what he put me through.

"Just go away Davis. I don't want you here." I twitched a little and groaned as my pain spiked. The pill couldn't kick in fast enough. I could feel the pain taking over and it even eclipsed the ache where my bond to Dav used to be.

"I'm not leaving you like this, Ellis. I just can't," his voice broke.

I made an annoyed sound and tried to push him away. Big mistake. If I had been able to eat earlier I would have thrown up right then. Instead I whimpered and panted as my stomach twisted and my mouth watered. The headache was in full swing, and the pain made me feel like someone was trying to pick their way out of my brain, steel claws as their tool.

I could sense Dav still in the room, but he wasn't touching me anymore, and I couldn't speak to tell him to leave. I kept waiting for the pill to kick in, but it wasn't helping. Usually the pain started to ease within fifteen minutes but it felt like the pain went on and on.

"Ellis? Are you okay?"

I was whimpering steadily, tears flowing from the corners of my eyes to soak into my pillow.

Why wouldn't it stop? My fingers dug into the bed.

"Ellis!" Dav's alarmed whisper sounded like a ringing shout.

His weight on the side of the bed made me shift a little. I tried to push at him to get him away from me. My hand fell weakly back to the bed when he didn’t budge.

"Ellis, let me help you. I think my venom could make the pain go away."

All I heard was pain go away. I'd do anything; give anything for that right then.

"Can you talk to me? I don't want to bite you against your will, but I hate seeing you like this."

I didn't answer, I couldn't but I whimpered. I wanted him to bite me. I tapped at his leg with my finger.

"Are you trying to answer me? Tap twice Ellis if you want me to bite you."

I focused, pushing at the pain as hard as I could to lift and tap with my finger twice.

"Thank you Ellis." I could hear the relief in his voice. I didn't even feel him move before I felt his fangs sinking into my shoulder. The pain was minor compared to the explosions going off in my brain as my body arched in reaction to the venom that I could feel pumping into me.

It was more intense than before, like a flow of burning fire through my veins. My heart thundered, pumping the venom into my arms and legs and directly to my cock. His tongue swept across my neck and the twin points made me squirm as he licked around the bite wound.

Suddenly, it felt like my whole body was tingling, burning. The clothes I had on were too irritating and had to go. I was tugging at them when suddenly my shirt ripped away. I sighed in pleasure as my headache faded into the background as the air in the room slid across my sensitized skin. I could feel currents from Dav's breath swirling around my stomach.

I needed him. My cock hurt as it pulsed, trapped in an awkward twist in my underwear. I tried to get to my zipper, but my arm fell to my side.

"Dav," I moaned.

"It's just the venom, Ellis. Let go, let it take the pain."

My arms and legs began to feel heavy. "Dav, please."

"Ellis." Dav sounded so agonized, I imagined that I could even feel it a little bit but his sigh distracted me as it swirled around my face.

"You don't want me in your bed; you only let me help you to stop the pain."

I couldn’t think. His words made no sense, and now I was in a new pain. My hips shifted restlessly, the only movement I could manage. It felt like I could feel every stitch in the sheet under my back.

I whimpered.

"I hope you don't hate me even more in the morning for this."

I felt him slide into the bed beside me. His hand stroked across my chest and then down into my underwear, shifting and pushing them down my thighs. His heat radiated into me, warming my cool skin. I not only wanted him to touch me; I desperately needed him to touch me.

He shifted on his back, pulling me partly onto his chest. His t-shirt felt butter soft, but the iron bar of his erection digging into my lower back was even more distracting. I would have jerked if I could when his hand closed over my dick, and he tugged upward in a long smooth stroke. My head fell back against his shoulder, and I heard a variety of sounds fill the room as he began to drive me crazy.

The agony of sensation was phenomenal, better than I had remembered. Going from pain worse than anything I'd ever experienced to a high like this sent my body into overdrive. Dav pulled me close, but I could feel the tremors running through my body; my chest heaved as I tried to suck in enough oxygen to keep from passing out.

Then Dav's hand changed its movement and he added a twist at the head of my erection, closing his fist and rubbing back and forth before sweeping down the to the base of my shaft and back up again. I'd never felt anything like it. I could feel my orgasm approaching as my balls drew up and I shouted when his mouth clamped onto the bite mark and his fangs sank in one more time.

The little slice of pain and the tight squeeze of his slick palm were too much. I shot over and over, shuddering and moaning. Dav held me through the aftermath, his fingers stroking my chest and kissing my shoulder as the venom kept me hard and needy until he coaxed me into a second and smaller orgasm, though no less intense.

I panted as he laid me down on the bed. He moved off the bed and left but I had my eyes closed, too sated to think, much less care if he was finally leaving. Though it startled me, I made a sound of appreciation when a warm washcloth swiped across my stomach and groin instead. The quilt was tugged out from under me and Dav covered me up and then slid on top of the blanket beside me.

He pushed my hair off my sweaty face. "Feel better?"

I hummed; talking would be too much effort. Warm, sated, a musky comforting scent around me, I was almost asleep.

"I love you, Ellis."

Then again, maybe I already was and this was all just a dream.

***

I woke up alone. I rolled onto my side, pulling the spare pillow to me. Tears filled my eyes and threatened to fall. I hated this feeling, the emptiness where Dav should be, where he was before everything went to shit.

I licked my lips, tasting salt. Damn it! I was really tired of crying. Then I paused. I caught a scent and flicked my tongue back out.

Dav.

He'd been here. He'd really been in my bed.

I slid out of bed and picked up my underwear. I slid then on and then walked out of my room. He was still there, sleeping on the couch. He rolled off the couch and to his feet as soon as I entered the room, blinking at me in the morning light.

"Oh god, Ellis, I'm sorry. Does your head still hurt?" He rushed over to shut the curtains.

I shook my head. "Leave them open. It doesn't hurt at all, like I didn't even have a migraine last night."

He stopped. "Oh. Well, good."

I turned away from him. I was still so angry with him; I wasn't ready to forgive him. I didn't know if I could.

I started some tea in the kitchen.

"Do you want me to go get you something for breakfast?" Dav asked.

"No." I grabbed a mug. "Tea is fine." I turned around and took a sip, glancing at him. Why was he still around?

I ignored the frown I could almost feel him direct at me. "You said you had to stick to a special diet for your migraines. Is that why last night's was worse than the others? Have you talked to your doctor? You should eat Ellis; I'll go get you something."

I turned around and put my mug on the counter, taking a moment to just breathe. I turned back to face Dav and crossed my arms over my chest, standing straight so I didn’t have to look up too far to look him in the eye. Having this conversation in my underwear while Dav was completely dressed was not exactly ideal, but it was my own fault for not putting on any clothes.

He was standing in almost the exact position I was.

"You gave up the right to tell me what I should and shouldn't do when you thought I should stop breathing. I don't know why you were at my apartment last night, and while I'm grateful that you stopped the pain of my migraine, that doesn't give you any god damn say in my medical treatment."

"I know, I just--"

I interrupted him. "No, you don't just anything. In fact, why don't you just leave?"

Dav's face was completely shocked, his eyes wide and his mouth open so far that I could see the twin points of his tongue behind his straight white teeth. His arms fell to his sides.

"I thought that after last night you'd--"

"That I'd what? Fall into your arms because you gave me the best orgasm of my life and took the pain of my headache away? That's not enough Davis. Not nearly enough. The pain from what you did won't go away that easy. I don't know if it ever will."

I took a deep breath to insist he leave, no matter how hurt he looked when my cell phone rang. It was sitting next to my keys on the breakfast counter. I rushed over to grab it before Dav could see the caller id. If it was Isiah. . . .

"Hello."

"Hey, br--"

"Hey. This isn't a good time. I have company."

"Shit!" Isiah said with feeling. "Are you okay?"

"Fine but I'll have to call you later."

"Are you sure? We can--"

I interrupted him again. "You can just wait for me to call, please. I'll be fine."

He growled. "Ellis. . . ."

"Promise. I'll call you soon." I hung up the phone before he could say anything else.

"Who the fuck was that?" Dav snapped. "I didn't recognize their voice."

"None of your business," I said in a sharp voice. "You're not my mate anymore; I don't owe you any answers."

"The hell I'm not! Our bond is still there, you're just blocking it! I knew I tasted a male on you. A Carthera cat clan male! Are you sleeping with some flea bitten cat?" His eyes glittered as he hissed in anger.

I glared at him, half angry and half afraid he'd figure it out and then try to kill me again. I backed away but didn't stop glaring even though my heart was racing. "I am not blocking anything! You did it somehow, when you came to get me that morning to take me to Velaku's. Don't try to put this fucked up situation on me!"

"I admit I did at first, but I stopped as soon as I realized that you weren't the one killing those Carthera like Benny said."

"Oh yeah, right after you tried to kill me, you asshole!" I threw that back at him again.

"It was an honest mistake. I said I was sorry." He took a step closer to me and I stepped back. "Stop doing that! You said you weren't afraid of me. I thought you didn't believe all the crap about Snakes."

My rage took over and drowned out my fear. "Sorry? You're sorry!" I shouted. "Sorry isn't enough. Sorry can't take away the fact that you broke my trust, tried to kill me, and made me fear you. You did it; no one else could with rumors about how deadly you are. I saw it first-hand remember? If Dr. Pannar hadn't been there, I'd be dead and you'd have killed your own mate over a 'mistake'," I spat the word out at him. "A mistake you think sorry can make better. As if that will take it all away."

"You weren't afraid of me last night when I was stroking your cock," he said. I could not believe he had the gall to point that out.

"You son of a bitch! I was in the worst pain of my life. You offered relief from that, and I took it because I felt like I was going to die. I couldn't control my reaction, and you know it. You took advantage of that in hopes that I'd forgive you."

Dav took a step back and the anger melted from his face. "I didn't think that."

I made a noise in my throat, and he shook his head and sighed. "I've really messed this up, haven't I? I slept on the couch so I wouldn't be tempted, Ellis. I know you're not ready to forgive me, and things aren't right between us. I'd not ruin whatever hope I have of getting you back by taking advantage of you."

His calm tone and lack of anger made mine drain away. I closed my eyes.

"It's all just been too much," I said finally. "I hurt inside, where you used to be."

"You need to unblock the bond between us, Ellis."

I shook my head, sinking down onto a chair at the counter. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"You closed yourself off, away from me."

"If I did can you blame me Dav? You got my memories when we bonded too. Do you really think I could have hidden stuff like that from you?"

Dav leaned against the counter and sighed. "No. I acted in a way I never thought I would. If I could make you understand the way I felt, the betrayal, the rage. It was so strong; I never even though about the memories I’d gotten from you. We’d just mated; I let you in, and I'd never done that before, not really. I thought you were using me. You’re a human. It’s what they do."

"I get the feeling of betrayal," I said in a bitter undertone.

"I'll never stop saying sorry for that, either," Dav said, "even if it doesn't help, because I am. Losing you, it hurts me too. Like a hole in my chest that aches constantly where you used to be. Please stop blocking our bond. Let me back in."

"I told you, I don't know how I did it so how can I undo it, even if I want that with you again?"

"It's like a wall that you erected around that place where our bond is rooted inside us. You smothered it, closed it off. You have to let go and reach back out for me. I'll be here waiting for you, I won't ever shut our bond down again, I swear. I never want to live without your heart inside of me."

I saw the sincerity in his eyes and heard it in his voice. I think somewhere inside I'd known we were still mates, but I'd been so angry I didn't want to face it. Opening our bond back up meant opening back up to him though and his feelings. There was no guarantee that I could even forgive him. If we couldn't work things out, could I handle the bond between us?

"Please Ellis, I need you."

The simple plea and the single tear that was sliding across his cheekbone broke my resistance. I closed my eyes and focused inside, to the place where the pain was, the place he wasn't. I could feel it, the way I'd drawn tight and hard against that spot. I could almost see the walls I'd built. I pushed and nothing happened.

I stretched out my hand blindly. "Help me."

I felt his fingers close over mine. Their heat flooded me and his musky scent filled my nose. I didn't push this time, instead I pulled. I pulled at that place where Dav should be inside me until our bond flooded up and over the walls, pushing them over and into oblivion.

His pain flooded me first, then his joy at the bond being restored. He jerked as my feelings swamped him and he gasped. Our eyes locked together.

"Ellis--"

I stopped him. "Don't. Not right now, please. Just. . .no talking right now."

He nodded silently, my hand still across his mouth.

I went to stand up, still staring deep into his eyes. That's when the pain in my head hit with no warning. No aura, no nausea, nothing but a sharp stab that was followed with a wave of darkness. I groaned.

I dimly felt Dav catch me as I fell.

Then I was gone.

Story Discussion