Catalyst Page 10

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  I wrenched myself out of that memory, not wanting to think about it anymore. I quickly lathered and rinsed my body. I didn’t want to be in the shower any longer. I shut the water off and walked out, pulling my towel off the rack and drying myself, before I made it back to the room. I looked at Elani who was still asleep. My heart started to pound as the memories flashed before my eyes. I knew I wasn’t there, but my mind wouldn’t allow me to calm down the rest of my body unless I touched her. I needed to know and feel she was real. I tossed the towel to the side of my room and walked over to the bed. I roughly pulled the sheets back and turned her on her back. Elani still didn’t stir; she was in deep sleep.

  I needed her to wake up, to look me in my eyes and tell me this wasn’t a dream. I wanted to hear it from her this was real. I didn’t lose her, and she didn’t lose me. I watched her for a moment as little specks of goosebumps appeared on her body. She softly moaned in her sleep and it made me wonder what she was dreaming about. I looked over her naked form as her skin radiated and glowed. Her nipples were hard, her breathing was labored as if she was building up for a climax.

  “Achilles…” she whispered my name and caused my body to wake up to that.

  The way she called my name each time was different, and this made me crave her even more. I didn’t even think as I lightly spread her legs apart and dipped my head, letting my tongue wake her up.

  I teased her for a moment until I finally buried my face between her legs. Her body automatically complied and was encouraging me to continue making love to her with my tongue. She began to moan and whimper, trying to close her legs, but I held her thighs open, squeezing a bit harder than before. I knew she was close to her climax as her body began to tremble. I didn’t stop as she called out my name in a slur that was halfway coherent. She suddenly gasped and, after lapping up all her juices, I finally moved my head from between her thighs and looked up at her. She had a shocked expression on her face.

  I smiled wickedly at her, and her eyes blinked rapidly. I wasn’t sure if she was still in her sleep mode, so I slowly slid two of my fingers inside of her to fully wake her. I began to slowly pump my fingers in and out of her curving the tips.

  “Baby…” I called out to her.

  Her hand shot out to grip my wrist to stop my hand from moving. I smirked at her and continued to work my fingers.

  “Ales…” she called out and threw her head back, unable to concentrate.

  “I love the way my name leaves your lips. The passion in your voice makes me want to make love to you over and over until both of us break apart. I want to make love to your soul,” I said to her as I leaned in burying my nose into her neck.

  Her scent intoxicated me, and I was an addict. I wanted her scent all over me like a mad man. I wanted it to envelope me, making sure no one else’s scent could ever take over hers. I increased the speed, loving how her nails found their way to my back. It felt as if she drew blood, and that made me high as I bit her neck. I licked over the bite mark and found my way to her lips, leaving trails of kisses all over her jaw. I removed my fingers before she could climax and kissed her senseless for a moment. Then, I drew away from her lips.

  Elani opened her eyes and looked at me.

  I smirked.

  “Open,” I commanded.

  Elani didn’t question me as she parted her lips. The same fingers that made love to her found their way to her mouth.

  “Suck.”

  She obeyed my command, her face displaying that she was loving how she tasted herself on my fingers, I watched her as she sucked my fingers clean and it made me groan loudly. As she continued to suck on my fingers, I put my weight on my knees. I used my free hand to position my member right at her entrance. I didn’t even wait for another moment as I slid home. I shut my eyes, throwing my head back in pure ecstasy as I moved my body in sync with the way her mouth sucked on my fingers. Her legs wrapped around my waist as I removed my fingers from her mouth moving my hands down, I gripped her wrists. I brought her arms up over her head, holding her wrists, so she wouldn’t be free.

  I looked back down as I hovered over her. Her eyes fluttered open as I picked up speed. Her brown eyes stared into mine. No words were exchanged as our souls once again became one. Who were we without each other? We meant nothing apart and she knew it.

  “I love you, Ales. I loved you as Achilles and I will always love you as Ales,” she said.

  I leaned in kissing her so hard I knew our lips bled. I didn’t care because they would heal just as we had done. I pulled away and looked at her.

  “I love you, woman. My woman,” I began, and my thrusts turned rougher… harder. “I love you like a grown man, do you hear me, baby?” I asked her.

  “Yes!” she yelled out as I felt her body close to climaxing.

  My body reacted just as hers did. We reached our peak together, but I kept moving not wanting to remove myself from her. I wanted her, I needed her…I craved her.

  Chapter 9

  Elani

  What do I say when this man has said it all for me? I couldn’t stop looking at him as I ran my fingers through his hair. I watched as he rested his head on my stomach. He looked so at peace with his eyes shut. I wanted him to feel my fingers breezing through his hair even in his dreams. I heard him groaning, then his face twisted in agony as if he was feeling some sort of pain that held him back. I paused my fingers as I heard him. The first sob didn’t seem real to me, but then I heard the second one. That one tugged at my soul.

  It didn’t make sense to me. I didn’t understand why Ales was sobbing in his dreams.

  “Alana…” He finally cried out and broke into uncontrollable sobs. Those made me tear up in a matter of seconds.

  I sat up and tried to wake him up.

  “Ales…Ales? Baby, please wake up,” I begged him.

  My voice must’ve triggered something because he cried louder. That ripped my soul apart. I had never heard or seen him cry, but he was suffering, and I didn’t know how to wake him up from whatever was torturing him.

  I moved his head completely off me, and I sat up on my knees. I needed him to wake up because he was making me sob too. His pain became my pain as I called out to him through the tears.

  “Ales… Baby, Baby, please wake up.” I couldn’t stop the tears that flowed out of my eyes. I felt the pain he went through as he sobbed. His cries were not of physical pain but of internal pain.

  I knew that pain. I cried the same way when I lost him. I started to lightly shake him awake. I couldn’t bear to see him like this anymore. I needed him to look at me and know I was there for him.

  “Achilles!” I screamed out.

  With a gasp, his eyes finally opened.

  Ales opened his eyes and looked right into mine. My sobs became hysterical in his confused state. He looked at me as if I were a ghost from his past.

  I couldn’t help it as I reached out and touched his cheek. Even through my tears, I knew where to go.

  “Baby…” I whispered through the hysteria. “Please don’t cry. Please, you’re breaking my heart. I can’t take that kind of pain,” I begged him.

  Ales reached out and caressed my cheek. He looked at me for a minute. For that entire minute, he was silent as he studied my face. He looked at every single part of my face. I was glad I had ceased my hysterical crying. I watched him as he watched me. I wasn’t sure what he was doing, but he blinked, and I knew his moment of sobbing had passed. Whatever it was, he had let it go, as he looked into my eyes. He wiped my tears and pulled me into him. I wrapped my legs around his waist and my arms around his neck as I buried my face into the crook of his neck.

  “Don’t cry, my love. Please don’t cry.” He begged me just as I had begged him.

  “You scared me. You really did.” I confessed as he caressed my back.

  “It will never happen again,” he replied nonchalantly.

  I didn’t want to press the matter, but I still wanted to know what made him s
ob so painfully.

  “Do you want to talk about it?” I asked him as I reached out and ran my fingers through his hair once more.

  Ales was silent for a moment, and I thought he didn’t want to talk about it, but then he began.

  “I have the same dream sometimes.” He sighed loudly. “At times, it plays out differently from the beginning, but the end is always the same. I dream of you when you were Alana. I dream of making love to you and watching you as you smiled up at me. Then, your face would turn sour as if someone was showing you a monster or something. Sometimes, I would bleed out of my eyes. Other times, you would be the one bleeding, but at the end, there was just so much blood. Blood shed everywhere and, no matter what I did, I could never get to you fast enough.”

  Ales turned his face toward me and kissed my cheek. He tucked a loose hair behind my ear as he continued with his dream.

  “I am never able to save you. Paris is always there to grab me by my heel and drag me back to my darkness. In that darkness, I see you die over and over. I watch as Cyril takes you and tortures you until you can no longer take it, then you pass away in pain, in agony. It breaks me even more when, at other times, Paris rapes you over and over, and I’m just an observer who is unable to defend you. Not able to kill Paris. I can’t take that kind of pain. The pain of losing you is much more than any other pain I’ve ever felt in my entire life. I don’t want that baby. I never did, and I never will.”

  Ales

  Elani had no idea. I was a man in love, and I would do anything for this little lady in my arms, even if she held onto me too tight, nearly choking the life out of me. I would never let go, even if they shot me multiple times. I would protect her, cherish her, love her and give her whatever she desired. I lived for her and she for me. We both knew it from the time we were Achilles and Alana to Ales and Elani. We knew that without the other there would be no point of existing; we shared a soul. We were more than soulmates; we were life mates. We were each other’s essence.

  I smiled as a thought popped up in my mind. It was time to make it right this time.

  “Baby?” I called out to her.

  “Hmm?” she answered as her breathing started to slow, indicating she was falling asleep.

  “What do you say we do this again?”

  “Do what again, babe?” she asked, not getting what I was saying.

  “I love that we did our own intimate thing when we got married, but this time, I want the world to know who my wife is. I want to give you the fairy-tale version and make every woman that’s not you jealous and every man wish you could be theirs.”

  Elani chuckled. I loved her laugh.

  “Yes, Achilles, I’ll marry you again.”

  I smiled widely at her calling me by my warrior name. I knew this would take months to prep, but I didn’t care. I would get her the best to give her the best.

  “I love you, little lady,” I said to her.

  Elani lifted her head off my shoulder and kissed my cheek, then my jaw, as she returned to where her head laid once again.

  “I love you with all my heart, Ales. I really do. You’re more than I’ve ever wanted.”

  It didn’t take too long for both of us to drift off to sleep. We repositioned, but she still held me close to her as if I was her lifeline. I couldn’t wait to see her walk down the aisle and become my wife once more.

  Chapter 10

  Ales

  I couldn’t believe the day was here. I was finally showing off my marriage to the love of my life. This time, we didn’t have to be by ourselves as we exchanged our vows. It was much more stressful than we both considered, but in less than two months we did it. I looked in the mirror at the hotel we were prepping in with my team, and I was much more nervous than the first time. I inhaled, then exhaled, as I grabbed my hair product using it to pull my hair into a bun. When I was done, I looked at my reflection and smiled as Patro came up behind me with my suit jacket.

  I nodded my head as I took it from him.

  “You ready to do this the right way?” he asked me.

  “I’ve been waiting for the time to finally come,” I admitted. “I haven’t seen her beautiful face for two whole days, and it’s driving me nuts.”

  The men I now considered my brothers laughed at me. Jackson, one of the toughest men I ever met, chuckled boisterously.

  “You fell in love quick.”

  I threw my head back and laughed. These men reminded me of back when I was the warrior and I had a whole army to lead, but these six men made a difference in my life. After I calmed down, I looked at Jackson as he sat back on the bed.

  “I’ve loved this woman for a long time coming now. I’d go insane without her. I had to do it once, but I won’t do it again.”

  Jackson stood up, walked over to me, and clapped his hand on my back.

  “Then, let’s go make sure she knows it, boss.”

  I was nervous as Patro and I stood there waiting for my baby to come down the aisle. I gave her the cathedral wedding she’d dreamed of having. When the music began, everyone we invited came into the church. Members of my team, some people I worked with, and some she worked with filled the room. I smiled when a lot of people who were customers Elani had served, or became close to, showed up for her. They all stood up and turned to face where she was at the entrance coming in with her best friend, Stacey. Even if my mother was still part of Stacey, all the memories of Stacey and Elani were still embedded in her subconscious.

  I looked at Patro as he stared at Stacey and how she looked. I knew how much it was hurting him to not be with her because of who was in her body. He not only respected me, but also my mother. I knew he was in love with Stacey, and not my mother, who currently resided in Stacey’s body.

  I looked back at the love of my life as she began to come toward me. She was breathtaking as she smiled at me through her veil. She looked exquisite in her wedding dress. She looked like a queen, my queen. Her wedding dress swept the floor as she walked toward me little by little. Even though it was long sleeved, her skin that resembled the dark earth shined through the see-through material. I bit my bottom lip as she finally made it up to me. I smiled down at her as her eyes were full of tears.

  “Beautiful,” I said to her.

  This made her tear up more, and I reached under her veil to wipe her tears. I was at a loss for words as I continued to look at her. I barely heard the priest as the ceremony began. Patro prompted me to start my vows after the priest couldn’t get my attention. I cleared my throat and reached under the veil again to caress her beautiful face. She was glistening even through her tears.

  “My love, what can I even say to you that you haven’t heard from me before. I professed my love to you since the moment I fell for you, and now…now I’ll continue to do so. I want everyone to know just how much you mean to me. You are the epitome of love, kindness, compassion and life. Gods, I want to say so much more, but I won’t, because I won’t have you messing up that beautiful face of yours and blaming it on me.”

  I smiled when she giggled. I loved that sound more than anything else. I watched her as she placed her hand over mine on her cheek. She looked into my eyes as she said her vows. The moment she started, everyone else in the room disappeared, it was just us two.

  “My liege…” She started and chuckled knowing how much I loved when she called me that. “You are my life line. Without you, I know for a fact I would’ve never experienced love. From the moment you rescued me from a fate I didn’t want, you changed the course of our lives, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Like Maya Angelou said, ‘Love is like a virus.’ It can happen to anybody, at any time and for us, baby, it happened twice.”

  I looked at the priest and back down at my baby.

  “Please tell me I can now kiss my wife.”

  I heard everyone chuckle as the priest cleared his throat and we were handed the rings. We slid the rings unto each other’s fingers. I removed the veil from her face and grabbed her face in my hands.r />
  “I love you, my wife.”

  Her face glowed as she smiled widely at me. Her smile was so intoxicating, and I couldn’t help it as I kissed her. I felt her tears on my face, but I didn’t care. All I cared about was her and that she was happy. I gave her one thing and would use my entire being to give her everything else she needed.

  Elani

  I couldn’t have asked for anything else or anyone else in this moment. I couldn’t believe Ales and I pulled it off. As everyone talked to each other in the banquet hall of one of the extravagant hotels in Vegas, the live band began to perform. I looked over at Ales who stood up, stretching his hand out for me to take it. I smiled putting my hand in his. He guided me to the dance floor and the singer began to sing. I didn’t say a word as we swayed to the music. Then, the lyrics got my attention.

  ♫We can be perfect, we can be stars, we can remember, everything that we are…We’ll take all the history, every battle we’ve won. Put faith in the mystery…♫

  I heard the song before on the radio. It was a called In Our Own Worlds by Jamie Lawson. It did perfectly describe us and how we were in our own worlds, only we existed. I looked up at Ales, finding his eyes already on me. He looked amazing with his hair in a bun. Tendrils of hair escaped as we moved around. I couldn’t ask for a more handsome husband. Even now, as rough as he spoke or appeared with his height and body size, his face was still as beautiful as the day I first laid my eyes on him. Ales was truly sculpted by the gods and I thanked them for it every day. He was mine and mine alone.

  Ales smirked, cocking his eyebrow. “What’s got you looking at me like that, babe?” he asked, as the live band began playing another tune, this one a bit more upbeat, prompting others to join us on the dance floor.

  “Just that you, my husband, are the most handsome man I’ve ever seen in my life.”

  My confession caused Ales to throw his head back in laughter. I watched him in amazement. Oh, how I loved that sound more than anything else.