58. A sister's worry

Oh god, Aliciah.

What am I going to do with you?

While a part of her wanted to tell her sister the truth, the other side wouldn't allow her to give in to the desire. Because no matter how distressed she was for the absence, she'd be more disturbed at her reason. How did she explain to her sister she was exchanging one life for another? That Danika had agreed to conceive, carry and give birth to a strange man, all in the hopes of providing her the life she deserved to have.

Especially if Aliciah was to ever learn that Shane was a possible cult leader who lived in the middle of the wilderness. Yep, her sister would go completely bonkers that she'd ever dreamed of agreeing to his proposition. Undoubtedly she too would question the mental state of her sister and whether she was the right person to raise her.

Don't worry sis, I'm there with ya.

Danika wasn't certain of much these days since Shane came into the picture, but it couldn't be helped. Right now she was all the girl had backing her corner and the closest thing she had to a parent. So despite her shaky mental state at the time, Danika would do what she could to improve her life.

Exhausted from the emotional upheaval her life seemed to have become today, she lay curled up on her side. Danika spent the length of the day fading in and out of consciousness, her mind simply too troubled by everything to get out of the comforts of the bed. The few times she'd thought of doing anything, she was bored down by the reminder she had to face. Simply too weakened to face either the truth of those eyes or thoughts of her sister, she climbed back into bed. Yes, sleep was preferable to either.

It was sometime around dinner time when the bedroom door finally came open, to omit Shane into the room. She watched as he came inside balancing the tray in the enclosure of his hand, placing it down on the table. "Eat," came the order, as he walked back out of the room, though this time he gave her the lame excuses of work. It was a step up from his usual screwing and disappearing for hours on end, never attempting to explain himself.

Turning on her other side presenting her back towards the wall, she stared off into the distance. The tray of food brought in for her remained on the table across the room, left completely untouched by her. Danika was touched by the depth of concern it took for him to bring her food to the room, but her mind was too plagued by her own uncertainty and fear.

Just the thought of food made her sick to her stomach at this juncture. A hand clamped on the sides of her stomach as it roiled and lurched, showing how unappetizing the food was. Or the thought of food anyway. Again Danika worried that she was losing touch with reality, wondering if she'd seen all the occurrences that she believed she had. Or were these delusions of a broken mind too? Was she imagining everything that'd happened? It was so fucking frustrating trying to figure out what was real from fantasy, it getting harder to tell the difference.

Her mind spun dizzily. Danika was fifteen the last time this had happened, when she'd experienced a mental breakdown. A lapse in her mind brought up by the images that simply couldn't be real, haunted by her insanity. She tried to block out the unwanted memory of what'd happened that night, but it was of no use. Next thing she was forced to relive those frightening moments when she was held at gunpoint. Standing in the darkened alleyway she'd turned down, a gun trained on her head and a mugger demanding her money.

Money, ha, what a laugh!

She'd tried to tell the man that too, to make him understand he was robbing the wrong girl. He hadn't listened. Shaking in terror at the thought of her life being cut short, she desperately sought to give him the minimal change in her pockets. The angrier he got, the more terrified she became. Only to be blown away by the strange blue light that encompassed the both of them and the man went crashing into the building. Then the shocked disbelief as Danika watched her running away, calling her a freak show for what happened. Then there were those eyes glowing from the end of the alleyway, where she had stood guard. Aero. Her guardian wolf was there to protect her from all the ilks of the world, the only source of security she'd known.

She dozed off again.

When she awoke the next time it was to realize that she wasn't alone anymore, Shane laid on the bed next to her, a thoughtful expression in his eyes. "You didn't eat," he pointed out.

Though hours ago she'd been overwhelmed with the need to get away from this man, now she could only seem to think about pulling close. She'd been frightened of what was happening between them, the need and desperation to have him in her life, but now it came as a welcome relief to her worries. No matter how fucked up it seemed at the time being, she needed this man in her life, to be near him. "I must've dozed off." It wasn't a complete lie anyway.

"That was all?" He pressed for answers. Almost like he thought she might be lying to him and wanted to know what was really going on.

Despite her need to stay away from this man, she didn't question herself when she suddenly closed the distance between them, nor how she burrowed into his warmth. Shane seemed surprised by the reaction he'd received from her, as she'd never been so willing, but didn't protest what she was doing. Danika knew when the storm finally settled down she'd hate herself for what she was doing, but simply didn't have the strength to fight him right now. Better him than the fears that plagued her mind.

"Yes, that's all," she assured him.

He closed his fingers around the wrist that was attempting to venture too close to the waistband of his pants, a noise she didn't want to think about rumbled deep in his chest. "No. You need more time to recover."

"No need," she denied. "I'm recovered."

Shane tried to talk sense into her, but as the blankets fell away, bearing witness to her dressed in simple underwear, the protests died on his tongue. Flipping her around on her back in the blink of an eye he was between her legs, and stared down at her. "Remember I was the one that tried to talk sense into you."

"I will," she promised.

With those assurances being given to her, his mouth crushed down on hers as hands tore away the clothes blocking their access. Moaning as she felt the last shreds disappearing from her body, replaced by the hands touching her. It soon turned to a scream of pleasure as his cock was placed at the opening, slamming right into her body. Throwing her head back at the intense waves of arousal that washed over her, Danika submitted to the need for the man.

The ferocity of their coupling went on for hours, as neither of them seemed capable of pulling themselves away from the other. Touching, kissing, submitting, it was almost violent in its wonder. Halfway through he yanked out of her body, leaving her confused only to be planted on her hands and knees. Then rising up from behind her, gripping tightly on her hips Shane pounded away inside of her body, reveling in the brutality and violence he found in her body, a rarity his lovers never allowed. Save for her.

Danika glanced up to stare at them in the mirror, to bear witness to Shane in all of his magnificent glory. Having learned she loved to watch him as he devoured her, to show proof of the pleasure he found. His eyes brightened in emotion, almost a glittering reddish tint to them. Danika hurriedly blocked out the image of those eyes, unwilling to allow her broken mind to destroy this moment for her.

Afterward, when Shane finally regained the strength from the heated sex, he climbed out of bed. "I brought you a sandwich," he explained, as he gathered up the clothes that were discarded onto the floor.

She jerked up. "Where are you going?"

Yanking on the pants he'd discarded onto the floor, Shane stopped as he came to stand in front of the door. "I'm going to sleep in the room across the hall. You need time to recover from everything and clearly, you aren't up to listening to the needs of your body."

Danika understood what the man meant, as already her body was reacting to the thought of having him again, aware of what would happen if he stayed. She pushed the rest of the way up in bed. "There's no need for you to be kicked out of your own bed. I can go back to my old bedroom."

"No," he cut her off. "You belong here."

She opened her mouth to protest the decision he'd come to tonight, to inform him to sleep with her. Just because her body was thrumming in anticipation of having him again, it didn't mean either needed to give into it. And the thought of having him sleeping in a room across the hall, to be denied the closeness of their bodies. It drove her inside. Only for the words to become locked in the back of her throat, unable to express her need to him. Because no matter what'd happened between them, he was still dangerous and Danika was scared of what was happening between them.

Shane took a step closer to the door, his hand reached out for the doorknob, when suddenly he stopped. "I won't be here tomorrow when you wake up. I have to leave the house for awhile, but Delilah will keep an eye out on you while I'm gone."

He was leaving. "For how long?"

"A few hours," was his response.

Danika bit the corner of her lip at his confession, her emotions rising at the thought of what was to come. The thought of this man leaving, of being gone from him for any length of time, assailed her with a wealth of sadness, but refused to think of why.

She dropped her head. "Okay."