“Sunshine, trust me.” Brandr is frowning down at me. His look is fearsome, but I’m not scared that he will hurt me. Somehow, I know that I can trust him, I can feel that he will protect me, that he will never hurt me, but what if I’m the one who hurts him? Reluctantly I nod, not because I don’t trust him but because I don’t know if I trust myself in being what he needs me to be.
ARIA 6
It has been three weeks since I woke up in Brandr’s room. I am now moving around, my ankle still hurts if I stand for too long, but otherwise I’m fine. Even my throat is getting better. I have been practicing and can now talk. I can only say a few words because it still burns if I overdo it, but it’s getting there.
This week Brandr has started to leave the room during the day for short periods of time. I have decided that today is the day I will speak to him. I have been practicing when he leaves me to go and do whatever he does, like now he left about thirty minutes ago. I know he will be back soon as he never stays away for too long.
The time that we have been together has allowed me to get to know him. He has spoken about his life at the compound, about the men that live here who he considers his family. I feel like I already know them from all the things that Brandr has already told me. He has also spoken a lot about Burkhart, I can tell how much he cares for him from the way he speaks. Burkhart has come to see us a few times. I know he’s worried about Brandr. I have seen the concern in his eyes when he looks at him. I wish I could ask him what he’s worried about, soon I will be able to.
Walking towards a full-length mirror that is standing against the wall I look at myself critically, trying to see what Brandr sees. My hair is straight and a very dark brown, nearly black. Turning slightly I see that it reaches the middle of my back. I have never thought much about my hair, but Brandr seems to like it as he has spent hours throughout these last three weeks stroking it or plating it. Brandr has started to sleep in the bed with me and even though he hasn’t touched me I can tell that he wants to. Every night when we go to sleep Brandr holds me against his chest, burying his face against my hair. He says that I smell like warm honey and every morning when I awake cuddled up to him, I can feel his erection against my back.
The first day that I felt it I could hardly sleep the whole night, worried that he would do something, but as time passed all he did was hold me. I wish that he would kiss me and maybe touch me as just the thought of him makes me wet with want. Looking down at my body, once again I wonder what he sees in me. I’m wearing a white sundress with a little red flower print that Brandr arranged for me. He promised that we would get clothes and anything else I might need as soon as I’m better. The dress I’m wearing stops about a palm above my knees. My legs look long and here I must agree that I’m happy at having lived my life always outside in my garden helping Gran around the farm.
My legs aren’t white but a nice golden brown, even though I have been out of the sun for a while. My breasts aren’t big, but I would say they aren’t small either. From the way I have caught Brandr staring at them sometimes, I would say they are the right size to fit into one of his hands. The thought of his hand on my breast makes my nipples pebble in reaction and my heart accelerate. I don’t know what is happening to me, but I am in a constant state of arousal. I can’t even find any release as I’m too worried that he might walk in and catch me.
Looking up at my face I see that my dark blue eyes are slightly hooded, my lips are parted as my breath is coming out raggedly from the wants coursing through my body. My face is back to normal as the bruising has gone away. I’m about to turn away from the mirror when I hear the door to our room open. I see Brandr through the mirror walking in. When he sees me he stops, his eyes run over my body, lingering on my ass.
“I brought you coffee Sunshine. I have to go out again, but I shouldn’t be too long.” His voice has that low growly texture that I love so much. I have noticed that when he starts to get excited his voice goes like that, which is most of the time.
Turning I walk towards him. His eyes run over my body stopping at my breasts then finally lift to my mouth and then my eyes. “Thank you Brandr.” It is the first time I have spoken in front of him and I can see his body freeze in surprise but then his face breaks out in a big smile. His beautiful green eyes sparkle as he closes the gap between us.
“At last,” he says as he places his hand behind my neck pulling me towards him. His mouth crushes down on mine. I have never been kissed before. As his mouth covers mine I tense in fright but then as he continues to kiss me I relax, opening to him. His tongue slips in, allowing me to taste him for the very first time. I don’t know much about kissing but I’m sure that if he had to kiss me any better I would melt into a puddle.
His other hand comes around my waist pulling me flush against his body. I feel his hard-muscled chest against my soft breasts, the friction of his chest rubbing against my nipples sends a bolt of desire down to my core. Moisture pools between my legs, soaking my panties. I move against him trying to get even closer, he groans against my lips as his hardness rubs against my stomach.
“Your nearness is driving me crazy.” His voice is a deep rumble that excites me even more. He’s kissing my neck, my shoulder, the thumb of his hand at my neck is stroking up and down gently. I feel like all my senses are in overdrive as he kisses and strokes my skin. I feel his hand at my breast and instantly my brain takes me back to the darkness, and my imprisonment. I know this is Brandr and that he isn’t going to hurt me but at his first stroke on my breast I tense. Instantly my breathing changes, I open my eyes to try and focus on him, but my vision is tunnelling.
“Sunshine?” I hear his voice, but it comes to me as if from far away. I try to regulate my breathing as I can feel myself panting, black dots are flashing before me. “Aria! It’s okay, you’re okay, no one is going to hurt you. I’m here Sunshine, breathe with me.” I can hear his voice but it’s still faint. I feel his heart beating under my hand. I don’t know how long we stayed like that but when I’m finally conscious of my surroundings I’m sitting on Brandr’s lap on his bed.
“I’m sorry.” My voice is still rough, gravely from not being used. It still burns when I talk but every day I feel less pain.
“Fuck, don’t apologise. This is my fault, you have been through hell and here I am groping you. I’m the one who’s sorry.” I can hear the rage in his voice; his body is like iron under me. I gaze into his eyes and wish that I hadn’t. There is so much fury in them that If I wasn’t convinced that Brandr would never hurt me I would be scared. He seems ready to rip someone apart. His hands are fisted, and I can feel a slight tremor coursing through him.
“I wasn’t … expecting it.” I know it isn’t just because I wasn’t expecting his touch, but I need to try and calm him. I don’t want him to never touch me again, but by the tenseness in his muscles I worry that he will never want to do this again. Suddenly he lifts me off him placing me on the bed next to him, he gets up as soon as I’m seated.
“I brought you some coffee. I know how much you like it.” He moves towards the table where he had placed the steaming cup. “I have to go out for a while. Are you sure you don’t want me to show you around? Gabriela and Jas have been asking about you.” Even though he’s being considerate he doesn’t look at me. I don’t say anything, waiting for his eyes to meet mine. When they do, I shake my head in denial. Since I had started moving around two days ago he had wanted to show me around and introduce me to the others. I know that I had to sometime but the thought of being surrounded by people who I don’t know frightens me.
“Okay then, do you need anything before I go?” Even though he’s being considerate his body and voice are still stiff and unapproachable as if he’s drawing away from me. I can feel tears forming behind my eyes, but I will not allow myself to cry in front of him. I do not want his pity. If he’s upset with me because I freaked out when he touched me, then he’s not the man that I thought he was. After making sure that I was okay he leaves,
as soon as the door closes behind him I feel the first tear slip down my cheek.
I know I’m not experienced where men are concerned, but it really seems like Brandr likes me, and if what he says is to be believed, then no matter what, I am the only woman for him. Even though I still find that hard to believe, I can’t deny the attraction between us or the connection that we both have. I know he says that he will always protect me and be by my side, but what if he grows tired of me freaking out?
I don’t know how long I sat on the bed staring at the closed door with tears rolling down my cheeks. I must go find him and try to make peace. If he’s upset with me I must try to make it right, maybe if he goes slow I won’t freak out like I did earlier. It’s not because I didn’t enjoy his touch because I did, but as soon as I felt his hand on my breast, fear overtook my senses.
Making up my mind I make my way out of the room, looking to the right I see a closed door that looks like it could be another room. In front of that door are glass windows. Peering inside, I notice that this must be the infirmary, but now there is no one inside.
Turning to my left, I walk past an open door. As I look inside I see a screen on the wall with various couches, games and all kinds of entertainment equipment. This must be where they usually play their games. Brandr told me about how they had a PlayStation and played against each other, he said the games could get quite rowdy. I continued past this until I encountered a courtyard. Now that I look around, it seems like we are in an underground structure, as the walls all seem to be rock.
The courtyard even though surrounded by high rock walls, has light shining from the ceiling. It’s beautiful and bright. There is a beautiful yesterday, today and tomorrow tree in the middle and now it’s in bloom. The fragrance from the tree reaches me, filling me with calmness. Nature has always had that effect on me, trees, flowers, animals they always manage to calm my soul.
There is a beautiful bench next to the tree that looks like it has been crafted to blend in with the peacefulness of this place. If it wasn’t for wanting to find Brandr and make sure that we are okay I would have sat on the bench under this beautiful tree.
I walk past the tree and make my way towards another corridor that I see opposite the one that I came from. As I enter this corridor there is a double door to my left. Approaching, I hear noises coming from inside, peering in I see a stunning woman mixing something in a bowl. She has beautiful strawberry blonde hair that falls down her back. I can’t see her eyes as she is looking down, but she is petite with honey coloured skin. I have always envied women like this one. I have always felt too tall, and my hair is black and straight. I tried to curl it once but after a few hours it was back to its straightness.
I don’t feel petite and womanly like some women. I have always worked with gran in the garden and therefore my chipped nails and that my hair was always in a bun, never worried me until on odd occasions when I had to go into the town and saw all the beautiful women with their manicured hands, done up hair and makeup. How can Brandr even want me when there is a woman like this one here, to compete with?
Suddenly, she looks up and I am mesmerised by stunning emerald green eyes. I should have left before she saw me. Now it will be rude to leave.
“Hi, you must be Aria. I’ve been looking forward to meeting you,” she says with a big smile on her face. “Why don’t you come sit over here and keep me company, while I finish this chocolate cake I’m making.” She points to a chair that’s close to her. I make my way towards the chair, but I can feel my heart racing. She seems nice, but what if she doesn’t like me. She must be Gabriela as I can’t hear her thoughts and Brandr has told me that Jasmine is expecting.
Brandr had explained to me that I couldn’t hear their thoughts because they were Elementals and I would probably not be able to hear Gabriela’s and Jasmine’s either, as they belonged to Wulf and Bjarni and had their blood.
“Would you like some coffee?” she asks, pointing towards the coffee machine on the counter behind her. I have just had the coffee that Brandr brought me, but I feel bad in not accepting. I nod to let her know that I will take a cup. She pulls down a mug and fills it, bringing the jug of milk and the sugar bowl, she places everything in front of me.
Just then Jasmine walks in; her hands at her lower back, massaging. Brandr has talked about how she is expecting and how excited they all are. She is just as beautiful as Gabriela, but where Gabriela has strawberry blond hair Jasmine has beautiful dark brown curly long hair, with luscious lips and expressive chocolate brown eyes. When she sees me sitting at the table, her face breaks into a huge smile. “Yay! I finally meet you!” she says, walking towards us.
“Aria this is Jasmine she’s with Wulf and I’m Gabriela. I’m with Bjarni.” I nod in greeting and then pick up my coffee to keep my hands busy. Jasmine and Gabriela start talking, they try to include me in their conversation, but the only thing I do is either nod or shake my head. As my voice is still raspy and painful when I talk, I decide to just listen.
After a while Jasmine gets up. Apparently, she can’t sit on these chairs for long as her back aches. “How about we move to the entertainment area? Those couches are more comfortable for me now than these horrible chairs. My baby was kicking me the whole night, until her daddy started to talk to her.”
Listening to these two women and how close they seem to be, I wonder if I will ever be able to find what they have, friendship. Since moving in with gran, it had only been the two of us. I used to have a friend in school but when I started to hear people’s thoughts she decided that we couldn’t be friends anymore as I was dangerous to be around.
These two women seem happy with their lives, from their conversation earlier on I can tell they love their men and that they feel like everyone around them is family.
I wonder if I stay, and if Brandr still wants me, if I will find what these women are gifted with.
BRANDR 7
I had to leave before I lost my shit. I don’t want to frighten her or to make her afraid of me but the look in her eyes gutted me. As soon as I touched her luscious breasts she froze, I could feel the change in her instantly. Her eyes when I looked at her were haunted. What did those fuckers do to her?
The sweat is running down my neck, my muscles are screaming, but I continue hitting the punching bag. I must let off some steam or I’m going to kill someone. I nearly made my way to the garage when I left her. I wanted to kill all the fuckers who we still had locked up in the warehouse from when we had found her, but at the last minute I came to the training room.
I hear someone walk in, but I don’t look around. I’m still too raw to communicate with anyone. I continue punching and kicking. I know that I’m desecrating the punching bag but rather the bag then going out on a killing spree. I can feel whoever came in is standing behind me, watching me, but I don’t give a fuck. Suddenly I feel arms around me holding me still. I fight them trying to break free, but they are like steel vices, unrelenting and I’m exhausted. After fighting for a while against the restraints I quieten.
“It’s okay B, just let go. I’m here for you.” I hear Burkhart’s voice say from behind me. Since I can remember he has always been there for me and vice versa. He is closer to me than any blood brother could ever be. He let’s go of me and I turn to face him.
“It’s killing me Brother. The haunted look in her eyes. The nightmares, all because she belongs to me.” I can still feel the fury course through my body but the anguish at what Aria went through is what is gutting me.
“It’s not your fucking fault man, stop blaming yourself. It’s those sick fucks that you must blame, everything and everyone they touch they destroy.” His voice is filled with anger; I can see his tense body. Burkhart has been hunting a specific Keres for years for what was done to his sister, but he still hasn’t been able to catch him. A few years ago, he came close, but the asshole escaped.
“She spoke today.” My voice is low and rough. “I’ve been waiting for her to talk so she coul
d tell me what happened in that cell, but I don’t know if I can listen to it without losing my mind. From her reaction to my touch I worry that she was raped.” Just the thought of some other son of a bitch touching her, hurting her makes my vision start to tunnel my heart starts to race, my rage starts to rise again.
“B don’t go there Brother, you are torturing yourself with assumptions,” He says. “I know what it’s like to imagine the worst when we don’t know the reality of what happened. Don’t go there Brother, it eats at you until you are in a dark pit of vengeance, I know.” I can see the truth of what he says in his eyes. Burkhart has been fighting his fury for years; I worry that when it finally snaps that it will consume him.
“I want to kill every single Keres that was involved in her abduction. They are mine, I’m going to get the info from her and then I am going to eradicate them one at a time. I will not have them breathe the same air she does.” My bloodlust has no bounds, I will avenge her.
“We will all stand by your side B; the others are furious at what has been done to you. Now with them knowing how to find our mates, we need to find them before they do.” The brothers are all worried that somehow the Keres might have captured their mates as well as mine. With Aria we arrived in time to save her life. What if they have one of the other brother’s mates and we don’t make it in time? Celmund and Bion are working around the clock to try and find the method the Keres are using to find our mates. We think we might be onto something, but Celmund must still test Jasmine when she’s in a trance, before we can be sure.”
Wulf will not allow her to get tested by forcing her into a trance, as she is twenty-seven weeks along and he worries that it might hurt her and the baby. We all agree with him. If it was one of our mates we would do the same. Once Aria is feeling better I will ask her if she is willing to get tested. I know from what I heard Gabriela say that it doesn’t hurt, and that it’s like taking photos, except that one of the tests is testing the energy radiating from them when they are using their gifts.
BRANDR_Elemental's MC Page 5
