Chapter 12
I don't own Victor; I'm just fooling around with him in my imagination. This chapter is just sort of filler; I wanted to hurry things along so we can get to the good stuff!
GypsyWitchBaby- I'm so glad Brett loved the " Where the Wild things are," quote! Glad you guys liked all their interactions. Can't wait to read more of your story, my dear pen pal!
LiveFreeDieWell- More is on the way, so keep reviewing!
ShikaKibaShinoGal- I'll make sure to call Nightcrawler! About Steven: I know that he is irritating but he serves a purpose, and who knows maybe in the sequel I'll kill him off for you. (:
MyBeautifulEnding- Yup! My Victor hums and I must say he is mighty good at it to.(:
Ms- "why-do-I-have-this-strange-unknown-feeling-and-want-to-save-this-girl-without-a-reason?" Is the best comment I've every heard! You crack me up!
Fire black dragon and Aidanlinore- Yeah two new friends, thanks for commenting!
RunningRiot- I look forward to your comments everyday, dear! Your such a great encouragement.
MaskedRevolt- I love the ideas, your so sweet! Look for them in the sequel, but don't get your hopes up to much, cause we still have to finish this one AND do a prequel! So who knows when I'm going to get to the sequel!
" VICTOR!" I screamed his name as loud as my lungs aloud, my voice slightly cracking at the end. He had better go and hide like a rat, I thought, cause I was spitting mad and I wanted to hit something, namely him. Sometimes I wished that I could actually hurt him, it would be a lot more satisfying when we fought.
Here I was in bed alone, a crime in and of its self, waking up thinking I was back on the plane strapped to a gurney and Victor in a cage, ready to be dissected and dismembered by nameless evil men. Not the way I like to wake up in the mornings, and Victor had done this to me, sneaking off in the early morning hours and just when I thought he had begun to think of other peoples feelings, he had to go and crush my hesitant hope before its even blossomed. At least he was consistently a jerk, if that counted for anything, and in my book it didn't, it just made you more of a jerk.
Here I was looking scrumptious, all sleepy eyed, naked, and hair springing in every direction, and I sat in bed alone. Was that conceited to say about yourself? Oh well. Victor, true to his word had made sure that all vestiges of clothing were stripped from my body, like they were personally offensive to him, before we fell asleep in a tangle of arms, legs and hair, the hair mostly belonging to me.
Victor always complained about my long hair getting everywhere: in his face, toothbrush, the shower drain and his clothes. It was like my hairs were tiny skinny ninja's, able to scale the tallest wall and infiltrate the tightest of facilities. I never knew how they did it, but they were the masters and I didn't question their abilities. I knew though that he loved running his big hands through its curly, unmanageable mass, and getting a good handful to hold on to while he pulled me closer. I know I sure liked it.
As I was still stewing in hatred and revengeful plans, like going and getting a certain butcher knife for the kitchen and stabbing Victor, Steven barged in the door, eyes wide and face flushed like he had been running from a giant man eating toy poodle with purple fuzzy hair.
" Kate! Kate, What's wrong, are you hurt? " He panted, hands on his knees, head between his legs as he tried to grasp his breath, sucking in air like a lawyer pinned in a corner of his own lies.
I sat up in bed, though I made sure to keep the covers over my breasts. Didn't want any more trouble between Vic and Steven, more for my sake though, I was getting to the point where I didn't much care what Victor did to Steven, apart from kill him of course. I didn't want Victor being any more angry or cranky than normal.
" You should work out more, you look pathetic." He looked kind of ridiculous, heaving and panting.
He looked up and glared at me. I almost laughed, his glare was like looking into the face of a baby bunny compared to Victors deadly gaze, which could cut you into tiny slices. I just couldn't take Steven seriously when he tried to be mad.
" I thought you were in trouble and you mock me?" He looked rather offended for my taste. I wasn't that mean.
" Sue me." I said sarcastically, as I flopped back onto the pillows, trying to inhale as much of Victor's left over scent from last night, and forget that I had to deal with Steven for the day, while Victor, I presumed, trained and worked out the kinks with his team for the upcoming mission.
" Why were you screaming then?" He queried.
" Because I woke up alone, and when you're married that's a big deal!" I rolled around on the bed to illustrate my point. How hard was it for Steven to get it through his thick skull that I missed my husband next to me when I woke up?
Straightening up Steven looked at me, with slight reproach in his blue eyes. Still grumpy and irritated and not wanting to looking into Stevens eyes, I flung the covers back over my head as if the layers of cloth could stop time from moving forward. I lay under them, looking at the light that filtered through the stitches of the fabrics, until I heard Steven footsteps getting louder as he walked towards me.
I peeked my head out from under my molehill of blankets, and perceived Steven standing next to the bed holding my nightgown that had been on the ground, where Victor had thrown it after he had peeled it off me. As I studied it more closely I noticed that there were a large number of tears in it that I hadn't noticed last night.
" That was my favorite one!" I yelped in anger, as I snatched the piece of garment from Stevens' hands. I examined the soft floral garment, sticking my fingers through the holes and tried to see if it was salvageable. I think its life expectancy had run its course. Damn, Victor and his claws, this was not making my mood towards him any better.
Since I had been intent on my dilapidated nightgown, I missed Stevens face turning the shade of a tomato, and a light sheen breaking out on his freckled forehead.
" What did he do to you last night?" His voice was soft and strained, like someone was twisting his arms in a painful position.
I blushed slightly, as I figured out what Steven talking about, he thought that Victor had slept with me last night.
" Nothing, Steven. I promise, I'm fine. You can even check the stitches if you want to." I said, lowering the blankets around me.
Apparently my reassurance wasn't working on him, because he still looked like he was going to blow a fuse.
I reached out my hand to Steven, trying to wipe away his unfounded fears about my safety. Seriously he was only one here that had hurt me recently! People just liked to blame Victor, because he was tall, big, creepy and a mutant. Steven recoiled away from my touch like it was venomous, and continued to stare at the nightgown in my lap, hands clenched by his side.
" What if I told the General, I needed you away from Victor for your own safety." He sounded serious and that's what had me worried. Steven wouldn't do that to me, or would he? I knew he was jealous, but was he stupid enough to take me away from Victor? I hoped not, for everyone sakes.
" I wouldn't do that if I were you. When a man like Victor sees something he wants, he gets it, no matter the cost and he doesn't loosen his grip. Ever."
" Apparently he got what he wanted from you." Stevens' eyes were dark as ink with anger and his tone was honeyed covered with scorn.
" No I gave it to him. I would have it no other way, you know that." I was stern and firm for I wouldn't let Steven have the satisfaction of knowing how much his flippant words had hurt me. Did he really think I gave into Victor that easy, after what he had done to me in the past?
From my position in bed I could see the sun, and judging from how stinking high it was in the sky, that I had slept in quite awhile. I was hungry, which never helped anyone's mood, so I decided to skedaddle Steven out so I could get dressed and the day could start. The sooner it started the sooner it would end, and Victor and I would be back in bed.
Breakfast was sub par: cereal, not even the sugary kind that I liked but that whole wheat crap, dry toast and diluted orange juice. Seems like the well rested bird doesn't get the biscuits and gravy, only cereal, but I would rather sleep in and eat relatively alone, than have to battle my way through another breakfast with Victor and the men staring at me.
Steven didn't have much of a plan for the day, and all I knew is that I wanted to watch Victor train with his team for a while. You know, see how my man was holding up against the young pups.
Like spectators at a baseball game, Steven and I sat above the training grounds. The grounds were in a large, open feeling buildings full of windows and all sorts of machines for working out, complete with a jogging track for the second level, but the first level was still visible while you worked out.
We sat on the track: arms threaded through the guardrails and our legs hanging over the edge, letting them swim in the empty space. Victor and his team, Marcus included, were below.
It had only taken me the attention span of a gnat to find Victor from among, even with them all being dressed alike, he stood a head taller than anyone. Like GI Joe action figures they dashed around beneath us, wearing green cargo pants and white undershirts. I studied their movements and realized that they were doing some sort of exercise where you ran through an obstacle course, which consisted of flying objects trying to hit you, rubber bullets being shot at you from snipers above, and large boulder type things that you had to climb over. Then to top it off, there was a shooting range competition, you had to get 3 out of 5 bull's eyes with your heart beating out of your chest and your hands shaking violently.
Child's play for Victor: he easily scaled the walls and destroyed the snipers guns, even though the rubber bullets bounced off him, harmless as snowflakes. Snarling, he leapfrogged over the obstructions in a single leap, and as I watched he settled into the shooting range part of the exercise .
Shooting wasn't Victor's forte, he preferred hands on killing, but I wasn't surprised when his first shot was dead center, as well as the second one. It all seemed a bit too easy for him, so I decided to make it a little harder for him. I leaned over the edge of the railing, as he prepared the gun for the third shot and if he made it, which I would bet my arm it would be, then he would have a perfect score. We couldn't have that, could we now? Have to bring the man down to reality, however short the fall.
So just before my husband pulled the trigger, I whistled the last few notes of Sweet Baby James, the song he had hummed to me last night after his nightmare.
The instant the notes had escaped my mouth, he fired. The shot didn't even hit the target board, but flew way right. I chuckled softly to myself and grinned at Steven, who was also trying to not to bust a gut.
" I'm so going to pay for that later, but it was so worth it." I chuckled again to Steven. He looked peeved, when I said that I was going to pay, but he didn't understand how Victor worked, or how he doled out punishment. The punishments could range from, a scratch or him depriving me of sex for a week, though it was rarely the latter except if I really ticked him off and he wanted to see me to beg. I hoped it was just a scratch.
When I looked down again, Victor was on his feet and was heading towards us, an evil look full of mischief and indignation plastered on his handsome face. Even though we sat a whole story higher than him, I felt my tummy tighten and spasm a little in worry about what Victor had in mind for my punishment, for making him look incompetent in front of the other man.
Victor crossed about half the distance between us, before the General, who was sitting in a lounge chair watching, called him back into formation.
" Good shot honey!" I yelled down at him.
I smiled wide and waved cheekily at him, from my nice safe perch above. Might as well milk it for all it's worth, since I was already in trouble. He snarled back, and once again my stomach contracted in dread, but he followed orders, always the good solider, and returned to the group.
The exercises and drills went on for another hour, and since we didn't have anything better to do, Steven and I just watched them, and talked to each other. The topics didn't stray any deeper than the surface level, for which I was thankful, though Steven did ask about how Victor and I ended up married, and with great skill and tact I skirted around that dastardly topic. I hoped my red herring story about the drunken man in the bar would keep him mind preoccupied for a while, and he would stay away from touchy subjects, like how Victor and I met. It worked marvelously, his mind latched on to the story like a starving leech on a fat man, and I relaxed and went back to enjoying studying Victor as he worked his fine body into a sweat.
The next week melded together into one big fat, sticky popsicle puddle. The nights were Victor and my time, but in the morning he was gone and I only saw him again at lunch and dinner. What a great marriage we had going. The cycle of rotation started with my team, and I easily feel into a comfortable pattern for each of them.
Steven and I were amiable enough, though an undercurrent of tension still smoldered unresolved, due to the fact that he implanted a device that could kill me in my heart.
Elvis, the mammoth ginger, was my favorite. His wry sense of humor, resounding laugh, and easy, confident personality soon became my fix of normality and joy for the week. He also shared my passion for the water, so our days together were designated pool days.
When it was Charlie's, the cook, day to " watch" me we spent the hours in the kitchen working and preparing meals. Since I wasn't a bad cook, and stillness didn't bother me, the hours that I spent cutting vegetables were rather enjoyable. Though Charlie and I relationship hadn't progressed past the stage of indifferent looks and him being a tight-lipped grump, they hadn't gotten worse either. Especially since I hadn't ratted him out to Marcus about how he let his giant mutt of a dog in the kitchen while we worked with the food.
Robert was nice enough, but he worked a lot so I mainly spent the days curled up in a sunny corner, wrapped in blankets and reading a good book.
The only day of the week that I didn't look "forward" to was the day that I had to spend chained to the side of Marcus. He was always the picture of a good solider, his politeness never faltering, but for some reason I felt like it was just some façade, a mask pulled over my face. Like the closest I ever got to see the real Marcus Steele was that day he kidnapped me, and I woke up with his hands pinning me down. I never mentioned my odd inklings to Victor, though, it seemed trivial and girlish since Marcus hadn't done anything wrong.
My body was healing quite nicely and in a few more days Steven planned on taking out those disgusting stitches. I still ached when I got out of bed every morning, and pain still periodically racked my body, if I move to quickly or made a sudden movement. Victor eyed my like I was going to collapse any minute though.
Soon enough though the day that I had been subconscious dreading, arrived without out my permission. It was the night before Victor left for his and his team's first mission, to do God knows what, though I was sure it be bloody. We lay in bed quietly, one of his hairy arms around my shoulders and I lay pressed close to his side, my hands fiddling with his other hand, that was draped over his stomach. My spindly fingers seemed like the stems on cherries as I lightly traced up and down Victor's large digits and then carefully to the talons that curved downward.
I'm sure he could smell my apprehension, I just wondered if he knew it was about him leaving tomorrow. It wasn't so much that I knew I would be alone, with no protection from Victor, but I was worried for him. If he was going to behave well, and not get all the soldiers killed. Most importantly though was if he was going to come back to me in one piece. I knew it was stupid at this point of our relationship to be worried about him getting hurt, but It was one of though things that no matter how much I saw him heal after getting hurt, my gut reaction would always be to worry about his safety.
" You smell like a every other whore I've fucked when you're scared. Either you stop worrying or I'm going to treat you like I did those bitches."
Translation: Tell me what's worrying you. I know it's hard, don't beat yourself up; it took me awhile to figure him out too. I stopped toying with his hand, and moved my way up along his hand and arms, not looking at his eyes while I spoke.
" Yeah I'm worried… about you leaving tomorrow."
He shifted from his back to his side, taking his arm away, using it to press me to his chest.
" No one will touch you once I'm gone."
I nuzzled my face against his chest, and smiled even though he couldn't see it.
" I wasn't worried about that, silly. I'm scared about you…" I paused in embarrassment, not sure if I wanted to continue. Victor's slight rumble from his beneath his chest, made me think maybe I should. "…About you not coming back."
He snorted and chuckled. " You've already been sliced and diced and you're worried about the man who can't be killed. Seems like I'm going to have convince you of my strength, since apparently you think a little bullet could take me away from you."
He was quickly on top of me, pinning me to the bed before I would move. With one hand, he grasped both of mine and pinned them firmly above my head. Chuckling I squirmed under his grasp.
" Hey! Are you planning on breaking the rules? I wont tell Steven if you don't." I wasn't doing anything wrong but I felt like a teenager sneaking off for a rendezvous with her boyfriend, not a wife sleeping with her husband.
I gasped a little through my teeth, when his clamp on my hands began to be painful. He loosened his grip accordingly and looked down at me pitifully.
" Stop worrying, I don't want or need it. You on the other hand, have me worried every time you step outside."
" It's not my fault I have big feet, I get it from my dad. Somewhere in the womb his genes hijacked my moms and I ended up like him mostly.
" Thankfully your not exactly like him, if you were I wouldn't be doing this." He lowered his head to my mouth, though his tongue only explored mine for a moment, before trailing down to my neck scraping my arteries with his fangs. I shuddered, wanting to touch him back, to feel his face, but his hands kept me securely locked in place.
" Let me go, please." I pleaded.
" Still worried about tomorrow?" He continued downwards with his exploration of my body. I didn't respond, except to subconsciously arch into his touch, but then again that was all the answer Victor needed. He could already smell my body's physical reaction to his touch, and Victor wasn't one to withhold.
" No!" I moaned, " I'm not worried, go die for all I care, now let me touch you."
" You telling me what to do woman?" His mouth was now at my belly, and I couldn't hold still, but no matter how much I bucked and squirmed underneath him, I couldn't loosen my hands.
" No, jerk! I love you, now let me go!"
He stopped moving, and looked up from between my legs. I sucked in long slow breath. In the months we had been married, neither one of us had said we loved each other. It had made sense in the beginning since I hadn't loved my husband, but as my feelings had grown for him, I had just been too scared. The few times I had tried to say I love you Victor had freaked out.
I didn't move as he inched up towards me on his elbows, but kept my eyes focused on the ceiling above me, counting the tiles one by one until Victor's face loomed over mine, blocking my view of the ceiling.
" I love you and I know that you love me to, whether you say it or not."
" I could still hurt you, whether I love you or not."
" Sometimes the people you love the most, are the ones you hurt the most."
He didn't answer me, but he released my hands, and with a primeval growl he cut off any further talking between us by kissing me so thoroughly that my toes curled in delight. Maybe tomorrow would be okay after all.
