Elani
After Ales had calmed down, and we were off the jet on our way home, I knew something else was on his mind besides the news of his mother. No matter how much I loved him, I knew he needed help that I couldn’t supply properly. He held my hand as he looked straight forward while driving.
“Baby?”
“Hmm?” he answered.
“I think it’s best you see someone qualified enough to deal with not only your panic attacks but also what you suffer from. I can’t outright claim it’s PTSD, but I want you to see someone about it. If not for yourself then for your daughter.”
The whole time I watched him for a reaction. Some people flipped out when they needed to see a specialist about the issues in their lives. I waited for him to respond, not wanting to push him. His knuckles turned white from the excessive squeezing of the steering wheel, yet the hand that held mine wasn’t squeezing my hand. Finally, after some time, he spoke up.
“I’ll try. I can’t guarantee anything, but I’ll try my best, not just for you and our daughter but for myself as well.”
“That’s all I wanted to hear, love. Just as long as you try, Ales, then I’m okay with it. You’re no longer alone.”
At those words, he smiled. He pulled my hand up to his lips and planted a kiss there.
“Good. Also, I have to go away for a couple of days. I think it’s best you stay with Stacey.”
“Yeah, I think it’s best I’m there for Stace… I know she probably has a lot of questions, and she’s probably much more confused than I was when I remembered.”
“I’m bringing you to your old apartment. Lady is there too, so don’t worry about her. Patro is coming with me.”
I turned to look at Ales. I wanted to make sure he was okay. I never asked him about his missions. They were none of my business, and I doubted the government would want me to know what he did or where he went. I had to ask Ales this one question about that message on his phone before I forgot.
“Ales…” I called his name out.
He looked at me from the corner of his eye as if he knew what I was going to ask him. I almost snickered, but stopped myself, so I could be serious.
“Yes…”
“The text, the message I saw when I first woke up in your house? Why wasn’t I supposed to see it? Who was it you had to eliminate?” I fired question after question at him.
Ales groaned. “Baby, if I tell you more, it can risk either one of our lives. These are top secret missions. The fact that you even know what I do for a living is a stretch.”
“This isn’t the first time you’ve told me about a secret mission. I’ve always kept my mouth shut, and it won’t be different this time around either. Just tell me. It’s something I’ve been thinking about. My brain won’t rest until you tell me, and you know how I am.”
Ales rolled his eyes. “Ugh! If you must know, it all happened six months before I found you. We were sent on an overseas mission, which I will not go into the details of, even if you continue to ask me. I refuse for you to know too much. They had an asset that belonged to us captive, so we had to extract him, which we did. Now the issue is our raid went south. The same person who we extracted was turned, and he turned from one of our greatest assets to our enemy. So, we had to get rid of him. No more Elani. I’m done.”
I rolled my eyes but understood where he was coming from. I could admit when I was just being nosy. It was becoming interesting to me.
“So, what you did to Hector?” I don’t know where that question came from, but I just remembered hearing about the great Achilles as he attached Hector’s body to his chariot after he killed him and dragged him around for nine whole days.
“Yes. It’s all true, and I won’t hesitate to do it to anyone who posed a threat to us. I’m done playing nice.”
I nodded.
“Torture then?”
Ales smirked at me, knowing I never had an issue with how he dealt with his enemies. I watched him do it once, and I never shied away from his touch. I should’ve, but none of it bothered me. The memory of it popped up in my head, tearing me away from this conversation.
Achilles swung his spear around back and forth as he captured the soldiers who thought they could infiltrate their camp. That time, I was bringing him food and things his mother wanted him to have. When I walked into the tent, I was shocked for a moment, but the initial shock wore off as I had seen some of these things being done to people from my village. I was immune to it. If anything, I was fascinated by trying to understand what made people want to endure that kind of pain until the end. Achilles turned around, and he smiled up at me with blood smeared diagonally on his face. There was that dangerous glint in his eyes that could only be fulfilled by killing or sex. Right then, he seemed high on the captured soldier that was half alive.
That one should be glad he wasn’t displayed out for the other soldiers or even mutilated. Achilles was quite the torturer. I watched him as he came closer to me. He was covered in blood everywhere, but I didn’t care. To me, he still looked handsome as the first day I saw him.
“Alana…” The hunger in his eyes switched attention from the soldier to me.
“My liege,” I said to him and curtsied.
His lip curled, and I knew he was holding back from laughing. He took the items from my hands, and off my shoulders, setting it down in the far corner. When he walked back toward me, each step reverberated through my body. His heavy footfall matched my heartbeat’s intensity.
I bit my bottom lip, not knowing what he would do next. As soon as he reached me, he captured my jaw in a firm grip making me look up at him. Before I could take a breath, his lips came crashing down on mine. I moaned into his mouth, trying to control myself. I didn’t have time to think as he ripped his lips away from my mouth and turned my body toward the table on my left. He lifted me up placing me on the table.
“On all fours,” he commanded.
I obliged and got on all fours. I turned to look at him, but he lifted my gown up to my waist and entered me in a matter of seconds. I threw my head back at the intensity and the rough way he was taking me. I wanted to scream out, but his arm snaked around my throat and held me in place.
Achilles was always rough, and it never bothered me, but this time, it was different. He was draining me, killing me and reviving me all at the same time. I wanted to yell out how he made my body feel, but I couldn’t think straight. He moved us and now we were facing the soldier. His blue eyes met mine as Achilles continued to take me from behind. The soldier, although he was losing blood, seemed to have enough blood for his member, as he became aroused at the display in front of him.
I wanted to be mad, but I couldn’t think straight as Achilles continued, not relenting. My body arched into him loving the way he was taking every ounce of life from me. I wanted to scream at him to drain me and take everything, but I started seeing black spots, the ones indicating I would lose consciousness. I was seconds away when he removed his hand from around my throat and ripped my release from me. My throat was sore from the screams lodged in my throat. Achilles slowed as he was close to his release. I turned to look at him, as he stared hard at the soldier, with a look that promised vengeance, torture and nothing great for the soldier’s life.
Achilles looked down at me as he released, and it became so powerful that he threw his head back in pure ecstasy. I was conflicted as he slipped out of me; I wasn’t sure if I should’ve been turned off by what he just did, but I still wanted to be with him. I didn’t say anything as he planted a kiss on my shoulder. I didn’t know when or where he got something to clean me up, but he cleaned me then told me to head back.
He kissed me once more, and I just stood there. I didn’t want to leave. I wanted to see what he would do to this man.
“Can I watch?” I asked him.
He looked at me perplexed, and I shrugged my shoulder.
“Want to learn how to torture, love?” he asked me with a strange glint in his eyes.
I nodded.
He smiled as if he had just won the world for himself. He walked away fixing himself. When he came back, he had a knife in his hand that was a good size for my hand and he walked me over to the soldier.
“Do what I taught you when you’re fighting. Don’t kill him but injure him.” He started off teaching me how to torture an enemy.
I was snapped out of the memory by Ales calling my name multiple times. I looked at him and frowned.
“Sorry. I spaced out. What did you say?”
He smirked at me before continuing as if he knew what I was remembering.
“You were thinking about that time we tortured the soldier together, weren’t you?”
I shook my head.
“I can tell by the look on your face. You mirrored my look. But from now on, you won’t have to worry about that ever happening again.”
I looked him straight in his eyes and smiled. “I’d love it if we ever got the chance to do it again.” I bit my lip.
Ales chuckled. “We’re here at your old apartment. Go inside and stay with Stacey. Nowhere else, babe.”
I leaned in and kissed his cheek. Ales turned around, wrapping his hand on the nape of my neck, pulling me in and kissing me as if I was the first sighting of water in the middle of the desert. He finally let go after a moment and rested his forehead on mine.
“I love you, baby.”
“I love you too,” I said as I kissed him again. I pulled away from him, opening the car door. I stepped out and was greeted by Patro. He smiled at me. “You take care of him Patro, you hear me?” I stated.
He winked at me, keeping his smile in place.
“Yes, sister-in-law.”
I grinned at him and made my way into the apartment building. I looked back out the glass building door, and waved goodbye at Ales. Then, I walked into the elevator toward Stacey.