Chapter 41 One Soul

~Anna~

“Will he be alright?”

“I believe in him, Carson.”

“Are you alright?”

“We’re doing fine. Thanks for checking up on me,” I replied.

“Bella, you know you can always lean on me. If anything comes up, anything at all, please give me a ring?” he asked.

He’d been calling every day, something I was thankful for. I almost forgot to call him with everything that’d been happening.

“You’ll be the first to know,” I told him.

Liam stirred in my lap. “Got to go now. He’s awake. Talk to you soon?”

“I’ll call you. Take care of yourself, Bella. Please…” he said before hanging up.

I tousled Liam’s soft brown hair, letting it slide between my fingers. With him facing towards my knees, I admired the profile of his face, tracing the dips and curves, from his forehead down to his perfectly aligned nose, stopping momentarily at the tip, before continuing down to his soft lips. I let my forefinger linger on the bottom lip, before finally finishing its travel at the curve of his chin, then halfway through his throat.

“You’re so cute when you’re asleep,” I whispered.

“Cute?” he asked, lips pulling into a smile.

I knew it! He turned on his back and looked up at me.

“What time is it?”

“A quarter before twelve,” I answered.

He’d been asleep since this morning. Lexy had already woken up by late afternoon. She dropped by with Rigel to check up on him and me.

My knight looked so worn-out. More and more rogues dared get close to the territory. Thankfully, there had been no vampires since the attack.

“What happened?” he asked, raising an arm over his eyes.

He could hide it all he wants, the forced enthusiasm in his voice gave everything away.

“You coughed it all out, babe,” I said gently. I didn’t want him to remember that it came out of his eyes too. “I’m so proud of you.”

His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down. “Will I get better?”

“Of course. I’ll be here with you until you’ve completely recovered.”

His arm shot out to touch my face, startling me.

“Then you’re leaving?” he asked, sitting up.

“No…” I said, laughing slightly.

There was no way I was leaving him now; he was stuck with me!

“Stay with me,” he said, pushing me unto the bed by my shoulders. His eyes found mine as he pleaded. “Stay here. Please. I promise I’ll get better. I’ll remember, so…”

I placed my hand over his mouth and a finger on my lips.

“I’m not going anywhere. I’ll stay here with you, always,” I whispered, moving my hands to cup his face.

He tilted his head to kiss my right hand, sending shivers down my spine. He leaned down to me, his warm breath fanning the base of my neck.

“If… If I…” he trailed, closing his eyes and inhaling deeply like he was taking in my scent. He pressed his body on me, carefully so as not to crush me as his hands went around my back, trapping me completely underneath him. His legs captured mine between them, and heat spread through me.

He was the closest he’d ever been, with no space between us, and my heart hammered in my chest that I could hear every beat in my ears. It felt hot, swelteringly hot, his body heat permeating into my skin. And yet it wasn’t uncomfortable, and I made no move to push him from me.

His now ragged breathing moistened the skin on my neck, and when his lips pressed down on my parking spot, I inhaled sharply. It was starting to feel weird down there, so much so that I had to urge to rub my thighs together. That was when I felt him, and my cheeks flared in both embarrassment and delight. I did this to him.

He groaned at the contact, then his teeth grazed the skin softly that I let out a moan.

“You… like that,” he whispered before he nipped around my marking spot.

I bit my bottom lip to suppress more shameful sounds that threatened to leave my throat, pressing my thighs tightly together.

“Liam…” I breathed, feeling hot all over.

He kissed my marking spot then sucked on the delicate skin, sending shivers of delight all over me.

“Liam!” I gasped as he sucked harder, then he licked at where his mark would be. I felt the sharpness of his canines digging into the skin and a surge of panic pulled me out of the haziness.

“Liam…”

He raised his head suddenly, a sullen look on his face as he stared at my marking spot. I couldn’t move my arms, so all I could do was talk to him.

“Liam, look at me,” I cooed.

He raised his eyes to me, sad and empty. “If…”

“If?” I asked, encouraging him to tell me.

Please talk to me.

He averted his eyes and sighed. “Nothing.”

“Please tell me?”

“No,” he said, sounding like he was convincing himself. “No. If I tell you, you’d leave me.”

Why? Why was he afraid of me leaving him? I did try the first day I was here, but that was because I got to know he was engaged so it was reasonable. I threatened him before coming here that I’d leave him if he broke any of my conditions but we’re over those now. I never tried to get away from here, from him, since then.

Did it scare him this much? That I was going to leave him? The thought had only crossed my mind once – that was when he hugged so tightly on my first day when he looked like he had just gotten back from a run. Panting heavily and sweating, he forced his arms around me when I was determined to push him away, and he held me without saying a word before turning on his heels and stomping out of my room.

I never realized I meant this much to him. I never realized how much I scared him. But it wasn’t really me, was it? Not entirely. He still loved her – his first mate. And he was yet to get over her sudden passing, and perhaps he never will.

She would always have a place in his heart that it wouldn’t be mine entirely, and though it pained me that I could give him my all while he could only give me what was available, I made a deliberate decision to stay by him. This crippling fear… wasn’t because he was scared of losing me, his second mate. It was because of the deep-seated trauma of his loss that etched itself into his soul.

More than a reality slap, this was a hard, merciless kick in the gut. And yet I found myself making up excuses. My favorites - that I was his mate now and nothing was changing that, that he also wanted to be with me and wanted me in more ways than one, and that I was special to him.

“I’ll always stay with you.”

I would. Goddess knew I would. Try as I might, there was no denying that I’d fallen for him, deep, and I was still falling in this seemingly unending abyss. I allowed myself to fall without the guarantee that he’d catch me when I reach the bottom. It was foolish of me to think that he would, but there was no stopping now.

He gritted his teeth and hugged me tighter, my breasts flattening against his broad chest.

“What if I don’t remember? I know you’re my mate. I know your name. I know I’m the Alpha. I know Lexy’s my sister, Gale’s my Beta, and that dick’s my Gamma. I know nothing else,” he confessed, his voice cracking at the last line.

For all the times we were together, he had this domineering presence that commanded respect and garnered awe. His voice was always full and sure. He knew what he wanted and without any trace of fear, he said what he wanted.

My heart broke at seeing him this way and was jumping in the joy that he was being vulnerable with me. It was horrible. I was horrible, convincing myself that this side of him was just something he hadn’t exposed yet, that he always had this softer, weaker side to him.

“I try to remember but I can’t. I can’t remember how I met you, the things I did to you, I can’t remember what I thought about you,” he said, letting our foreheads meet.

His minty breath fanning my face, he continued to speak. “But I can’t deny how I feel. I feel elated when I’m with you. When you hold my hand and rest your head on my shoulder, my heart races. When you let me sleep on your lap as you play with my hair, I feel at peace. And I’m afraid… I’m afraid of losing you. I’m afraid of letting go of your hand because it might be the last time. I’m afraid of sleeping and waking up with you gone. I don’t know if I’ll still remember who I used to be. I try so hard but nothing… my mind comes up with nothing.”

A tear dropped from his chin unto my cheek. My vision was getting blurry. He sounded desperate, helpless.

“If I don’t remember anything, you’re going to leave me, aren’t you?”

He held me tighter still that it was difficult to breathe. His chin rested between the base of my neck and shoulder. He was shaking as he kissed the delicate skin. “Please don’t leave. I’ll… I…”

“I won’t,” I replied, my voice shaky. “I won’t leave you, ever. Memories or no memories, I’ll always stay with you.”

He shook his head slowly. “No. No, you’ll leave me. Because… because I don’t know the truth from the lies. Because I won’t be who I used to be. I’ll be different and not the Liam you knew, and you’ll see that I’m different and… and then you’ll get fed up and one morning, I’ll wake up and you won’t be here. You’ll realize that I’m not the same Liam.”

“You’ll always be my Liam.”

For three days, he kept these to himself. For three nights, he slept only when he was sure I was sleeping and always with an arm securely around my waist. He’d awaken when I get up to use the bathroom and went back to sleep when I pretended to be sleeping.

“I’ll always love you, no matter what or who you are.”

“You love me?” he asked in disbelief, pulling his arms from behind me to raise himself. Hands-on both sides of my head, his eyes held a hopeful glint. “You… really love me?”

He cupped my face, thumbs brushing away the tears. “D-Did you say –“

“I do. I really do. I did,” I answered, surprised at myself for having blurted it out.

Wiping his own tears, I brushed my thumb past his lower lip.

Dare I say it once more?

I breathed deeply, filling my lungs with his woodland scent that only I could smell. I brought his face closer to mine.

“I love you, Alpha Liam Rose.”

His lips pressed on mine, gentle and soft, letting it linger. He inhaled sharply as his lips began moving, tongue licking, asking for entrance. I parted my lips, and he explored my mouth slowly, twisting his tongue around mine in the most sensual way possible.

Pouring every swirling emotion in my heart into the kiss as I pulled him closer, an almost unbearable heat traversed from my stomach down to my core.

I pressed my thighs together, and he groaned as the slight shift caused his bulge to brush against my thigh. Hot… I felt too hot.

Something switched in my mind, igniting a desire I felt bold to act upon. I moaned into his mouth as his kissing became rougher; rushing; ravenous.

And when he pulled away, I gasped for air and craved another.

“I love you,” he whispered, kissing my forehead.

“So much,” he said as he kissed my nose.

“My Anna,” he growled then captured my lips once more.

I wrapped my legs around his waist, moaning as his bulge pressed down on my thigh. This was embarrassing. I shouldn’t be doing this… but when he bucked his hips, rubbing it on my thigh, the anxiety died.

He groaned into the kiss, and the sense of control I had over him excited me further. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know how this should go. But I was more than willing to learn with him.

My core clenched in anticipation as he sucked the life out of me. He let me go and sat up, adjusting his position so he was straddling me, something poking at my stomach. Gorgeous brown eyes clouded with lust and dark with desire, his chest rapidly falling and rising…

I did this to him.

Only I can do this to him.

“Please…” I whined, painfully throbbing down there. What was I asking for?

He leaned closer to my face and whispered. “Are you sure? My memories might never return and –“

My arms shot forward and I pulled him to me, crashing his lips on mine. He growled and kissed me back as he parted my legs with his knees.

“I can smell you,” he said softly, then sucked on my sweet spot. I bit my lip to suppress a moan, feeling myself moisten down there. It was aching, begging to be touched, by him, as shameless as that sounds.

“I want to mark you,” he breathed.

I nodded. I wanted it too.

Was I ready for it? To bear his mark forever, to give me to him fully and have him give himself to me? Wait, could I mark him without a wolf?

His hands moved up and down my thighs, pressing down hard that my dress was becoming a bother. Boldly, my hands tugged at the end of his shirt. He sat up again and hurriedly raised it over his head, then threw it somewhere in the room.

Oh, Goddess…

My eyes feasted on his hard pecs and well-chiseled abs and the tempting V-line that led to a huge bulge in his pants.

Oh, Goddess…

I gulped nervously as I watched his chest rise and fall, craving for his body to be on top of me, caging me with those bulky arms.

“Eyes up here,” he said, chuckling.

I raised my eyes to his face to see him smirking. “Like what you see?”

I nodded. He took my arms and placed them on his abs… rock hard abs, I think I was drooling. I slowly moved my hands up his chest, feeling them relax by my touch. I was going to remember the very outline of this mouthwatering form.

“Your heart’s beating so fast,” I whispered, my palm stopping where his heart was beneath.

“You do so many things to me, Anna,” he replied, voice husky. “You make me want to do many things to you.”

I bit my lip, practically dripping down there now.

Oh, Liam…

He leaned in to kiss me, and his hands found their way to my breasts, massaging and squeezing. My nubs hardened in response.

“I want you off this dress,” he said, growling, already lifting the skirt.

I giggled and sat up, with him on his knees between my legs.

He nipped at my marking spot as he raised my dress my thighs, then my chest. It got stuck when it was half-past my face, and he stopped pulling. I reached for his hands, but he swatted them away, kissing me immediately to stop me from complaining.

I love this man.

“Get it off,” I whispered, pushing my body against him that my breasts flattened against his chest. “Now.”

He growled then fully took off the dress, throwing it somewhere and guiding me back down the pillow. His hand lazily lingered on my inner thigh, creeping ever so slowly to where I wanted him to touch me. I arched my back to help him unhook my bra, exposing my erect buds.

His eyes darkened.

My arms moved to cover my chest. His intense stare embarrassed me further, and he had to force them to the sides.

“Don’t cover your beautiful body, mate. Don’t hide what’s mine.”

His mouth closed around my left breast and sucked hard as his tongue swirled around my nip. It sent delightful shivers down my spine. Then he caught it between his teeth, and I gasped.

“Liam…”

The hand on my thigh finally reached my core and settled on my mound. I groaned in frustration, and I swear to Goddess he smiled. Clearly, he was enjoying this. Well, two could play that game. I placed a hand over his bulge and rubbed, earning a hiss from him. I didn’t stop until his hand gripped my wrist.

He turned his attention to my right breast, and I swear to Goddess if he didn’t touch me right now, I’d push him off me.

He suddenly let go after giving it a lick. Then he fumbled with the button of his pants and I heard a zip. Groaning, he got off the bed to take off his pants. I raised myself on my elbows and watched with bated breaths as his pants dropped to the ground, then his black boxers, and my eyes widened.

It would never fit.

He climbed back up the bed, pulling me down by my ankles. I bit my lip as he fisted his dick.

But he didn’t push it inside… just yet.

His mouth enclosed on my core and his tongue slid up and down the fabric. My hands clutched at the sheets as my back arched. Ripping the flimsy piece of clothing off, his tongue rapidly went in and out of me, then slid up to my clit.

“Liam…” I moaned, unable to stop myself. He then sucked on it as he slid a finger in, then two, curling them inside me, hitting a particular spot that made me lose my breath.

Heat pooled in the base of my stomach. He softly bit on my clit and I gushed, my thighs kept parted by his hands. His tongue lapped me entirely, and when he hovered above me, he licked his glimmering lips in satisfaction.

“So… fucking sweet,” he said, his voice husky.

I felt him poke at my entrance. He looked me in my eyes, searching for any sign of hesitation. Narrowed eyes clouded with lust, and I was sure he saw the same in my brown ones.

Deep within myself, I wanted this. I wanted to feel him and take everything he could give me. Now and forever.

I wrapped my legs around his waist and pulled him into a kiss. This was my answer.

He pushed inside me, slowly easing in, then pulling out only to push back in, more of him every time. My walls stretched painfully to accommodate him; I still doubted he’d fit all of him in. His mouth hushed my groans and his tongue seduced me, taking my mind off the pain.

He stopped, then pushed further in, and I felt something tear. Something tore and it was too painful that tears rolled off the corner of my eyes. He kept pushing, and then he stopped and stayed still. As he sucked and kissed my sweet spot, I took deep breathes to calm myself.

“Are you alright? We can stop if you’re –“

“Don’t,” I said, cutting him off. “Don’t stop now.”

“I’m going to move,” he said as he nipped on the skin.

I nodded.

He slid out of me slowly before pushing back in. I whimpered at the pain, as I felt every inch of his length, as his size stretched me. My nails dug on his back, making him groan.

He was patient with me, letting me adjust to his size. Then the pain began to fade, sweet, sweet pleasure taking its place.

“Faster,” I breathed, and he complied, eventually building a rhythm.

He felt hot inside me, throbbing, and hitting places I never knew existed.

Warm breaths fanned the side of my neck, and his hand twisted and played with my nips.

“Faster…”

Oh, Liam.

I moaned his name wantonly as he dove his entirety into me fiercely, rapidly; the sounds of our lovemaking arousing me more. Then he parted my legs wider still, changed his angle that he found the same spot as his fingers, and repeatedly brushed past it.

“Liam!”

I felt the same familiar knot in my stomach, the same heat gathering towards there. Deep guttural moans constantly on my ear, my name leaving his mouth in a frenzy. I felt his canines dig into the skin, and the flesh tore as he bit down, hard, drawing out blood.

I forgot to breathe. The pain brought immense pleasure; I was going delirious. My body shook and my juices gushed out of me at the same time I felt his release. He spurted his seed over and over, seemingly never-ending. White clouded my vision as I reached my thigh, and then I saw nothing.

When I gained consciousness, I felt him lapping up the blood.

“What happened?” I asked, breathless.

He kissed his mark and raised his head to admire it. Then he pecked my lips.

“You passed out,” he said, smiling. “How do you feel?”

“Amazing,” I replied, smiling back at him. I missed that look on his face.

“You’re mine now,” he said.

I circled my arms behind his head. “I’ve always been yours, Liam.”

My canines itched. I swiped a tongue over them and felt them grow longer.

“Always?”

“Always.”

He leaned in, offering his marking spot to me.

“Mark me. I’m yours too. Always.”

I bit down, hard, surprised that I could mark my mate even without a wolf. I tasted metal in my mouth, then a strange sweetness. My canines retracted after, and it didn’t itch anymore. I lapped up the blood and kissed my mark.

It was finally official. We mated. The marking was complete. He was mine in every way I was his.

“I love you,” I whispered, holding back the tears.

I didn’t care if he ever recovered his memories or not, I’d stay by his side and create new ones with him – our memories.

“Aren’t you supposed to pull out?”

“Why?” he asked, chuckling.

“Because we’re done?”

I couldn’t believe he was still inside me even when I passed out!

“Who said we were done?” he said, chuckling as he began to thrust slowly into me.

“Liam…” I moaned his name at the pleasure of it, overjoyed that we were now one.

My mate had found me, accepted me, and claimed me. I had accepted him and claimed him.

“I love you,” I breathed as he began to thrust faster and harder.

This was going to be a long night.

I pulled him into a kiss, pouring all that I had. It felt good. It felt right. I finally felt complete.