Author's Note

Ahhh! Let's just say that I'm so close to pulling my hair out! This story was completely wiped out of my hard drive. After having encountered this problem before, I've saved this story everywhere else, so I was able to get it back. Unfortunately not without losing Chapter 8 because it was the last part I saved, so I had to rewrite it from scratch. Luckily, being a focused woman, I was able to write everything from memory. I also continue to be utterly grateful for everyone's support and emails with my grandmother. She's still hanging in there. You all are wonderful! Thank you! Without further adieu, here it is…

Chapter 8: Disclosure

I wrapped the blanket on top of both of us and rested my chin on top of his head, breathing in his hair. The thunder crashed louder and louder outside. Even though we were both wet, King stopped shaking and turned his full attention to me. Suddenly we both were startled by footsteps in the dark. A small shadow moved through the doorway, walking into the kitchen. It was Zoë, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. She felt around in the dark until lightening lit up the kitchen and came up to stand in front of us sitting on the floor.

"The thunder scared me. I heard voices, so I came in here."

King motioned her over with his arms. She snuggled into his lap and saw the cuts and bruises on my leg. She tentatively touched the dark bruise on my knee and hissed.

"Abby, the rain caught you didn't it? I'm sorry…"

She crawled from King to me, being careful not to hurt me, and hugged me so tight. It was then I realized she knew a lot more than she let on. She knew where I went, somehow she figured it out. I heard her whispering as she played idly with a wet strand of hair. King observed the whole scene quietly trying to absorb what the hell was going on.

"I know you miss your daddy. Sometimes when I miss Momma I crawl into the old hiding place and read my books to her. It makes me feel better. She can hear me, I know it. So can your daddy, every time you think of him. It doesn't matter where you are."

I sniffled as a tear slid down my cheek.

"You're so smart Zoë. Very wise…"

"It the same reason I knew when the Gnome King took me away, that you would come find me and King, and rescue us. It's just a feeling. But you're safe here. You don't need to run away because King and I will take care of you."

I knew how difficult time has been to her and the fact that she can speak freely about such things made me respect her more. She lost the innocence on a child that night, but embraced the wisdom that came in its place.

"Thank you."

I gave her a hug and she yawned sleepily. King moved to get up.

"Alright Squeaker, why don't we get you back to bed, Abby and I have lots to talk about, okay?

She just nodded and she curled her hand around his index finger. King glanced at me and gave me a stern look.

"Don't you move. I'll be right back."

He came back a few minutes later and cuddled up under the covers wrapping himself around me. He rested his forehead against mine.

"Is she okay?"

"She's fine, but she's going to have questions in the morning. So…tell me what that was all about."

I was so nervous that I had to start somewhere, but I couldn't meet his eyes.

"She's right you know."

I took a deep breath and began.

"At times I go to Blade's old compound to clear my thoughts and focus on things to come."

I finally looked up to King who looked slightly confused.

"You go all the way out there? I thought that place was completely burnt down?"

"Pieces of it still remain. I feel closer to my father there. Sometimes I just want to be alone because I'm afraid that if I keep things inside, like you said I'll turn into a lifeless shell."

King shifted and played with my fingers, kissing the tips gently. I closed my eyes and prepared to confess the one secret I feared may make me vulnerable to him. That's the last thing I wanted.

"I think about you…"

His eyes immediately shifted to mine, giving me a sincere look. After a second, a sexy smirk crept onto his face. I smiled and shook my head at him.

"That's not how I meant that. I think about how we first met. It's hard for me to think about that without getting upset."

His face turned into a combination of sadness, gratefulness, and pain as he remembers the condition in which I found him. The Nightstalkers, sans King at the time, had gotten a lead that Danica was keeping a man for a blood-letting sex slave. I found him tied up in the underground basement. He had bite marks all over his chest and his eyes were clouded by loss of blood. He was only outfitted in a pair of black dress pants that were unzipped but not exposing any more than it should. That's when I fist saw his tattoo. When I came to him and touched his face, he cringed and spat out the most derogatory words I'd ever heard. Then, opening his eyes, he saw that I was freeing him, he wept. The very first time I saw him cry.

"Yeah, that's a story to tell the kids. Hey, did you know mommy saved daddy from an inscestual, cum guzzling hellhound that touched daddy's naughty parts, chained him to the floor, and forced him drink blood. Not as much fun as it sounds…"

That sentiment made me smile, even though he was being acerbic. The thought that one day he hoped to live a somewhat normal life and the fact that he wanted to include me made me feel good. Maybe I wasn't the only one who worried about the future.

"I don't think you should be so graphic with our unborn children, Baby."

"Well if one of them happens to be anything like me then it'll be alright to talk like that. But, if the girl looks beautiful like you then my boys are going to have their work cut out for them in protecting their sister. We'll just have our own little army of Nightstalkers."

I quirked an eyebrow slightly at him, surprised.

"God knows, I love your sense of nepotism King but just how many kids do you want?"

"Fifteen to twenty…what do you say we work on that?"

I laughed. King had a secret smile on his face. He ran his hand up and down my leg and kissed my knee. I sighed and threaded my fingers through his hair.

"I also wonder what would've happened if I would've left you there for dead. I just remember seeing you. I've never seen someone so weak on the outside, but you had the strength of will to not let Danica win. When Dex and I brought you back here and let Sommerfield administer the anecdote I was so frightened for you. I'd heard from my father how intensely painful the process could be, and I wanted to see it for myself. I came in every night after hunting and watched you sleep. You'd yell out but you were trapped in you own nightmares. I was fascinated by you."

His voice was quiet when King spoke. The thunder shook the foundation outside but I could still hear him.

"I woke up the first night I realized someone else was with me. You were wiping the sweat off my forehead and wetting my lips so they wouldn't crack from being so dry. I thought you were the angel of death coming to take me home, but I remembered you. And after Danica used my every orifice for a sex gamut, I was so excited to be having this beautiful girl just touch me for once."

I nodded my head remembering how much he fought until his vision cleared and he recognized me, and then I smiled. He chuckled.

"You just couldn't keep your hands off me…"

I scoffed and socked him in the arm.

"See what I mean?"

I turned away from him to keep from laughing and felt him plant a seductive kiss on my neck. He spoke into my ear, sucking on the spot below it and I shuddered.

"When I was watching you dance tonight in that outfit, there's nothing more that I wanted to do then steal you away and ravish you up against the wall where I was standing. Later when you came in soaking wet, you looked so beautiful and broken. Despite being angry I wanted to hold you and tell you everything would be okay."

I ran my hands under his thermal shirt and felt his muscles tense and relax underneath my palms. His breath hitched, his gaze sultry and penetrating, and his voice became dark and gritty.

"Why don't I carry you to bed and make all the pain go away?"

My throat went dry at the thought and I automatically consented. He carried me, yet again, up the stairs, but this time he turned into his long forgotten room; decked out in true King fashion. His bed was black and satiny with down feather pillows and comforter. He removed the damp blanket from around me and peeled off the sweater, leaving me laying there nude. He stood over me at the foot of the bed admiring me. Beginning at my ankles he kissed his way up my legs paying close attention to my injuries both new and the ones he created. He laid his head on my stomach and skimmed his fingers up and down my waist, tickling me. I sat up and pulled at his shirt, taking it over his head. I reached for the tie on his pajama pants, seeing the strain in the fabric there.

"Stand up."

I instructed him and he followed getting up and standing beside the bed. I kneeled on the soft comforter being careful of my knees and continued to slip his pants from his waist. He stepped out of them and stood there completely naked. So many ideas were swimming around in my head as to what to do to him. I bit my lip and watched him lean his head back and his eyes flutter closed.

"You know how dangerous it is to do that."

"Why do you think I did it?"

Without warning he lunged forward crushing my lips with his and holding my face. He laid me back down and spread my legs with his hand. He entered me with a guttural groan and I arched my back to meet him. I gripped handfuls of the satin sheets and made them pool around us.

"Abigail, tell me how much you love me…"

"I love you King, I love you."

With that he rolled his hips and I moaned almost screaming. He hit the spot continuously as I called out his name. He tangled his hands through my hair and whispered against my lips.

"Say it again…say it again."

"I love you Hannibal King."

He ran his hands down my arms and braced them on the bed and laid me flat on my back, bring his mouth within inches of mine, taunting me. I licked at his lips and he pulled away teasingly with a smile. He, in turn, licked a trail from my breasts to my stomach, slipping his tongue inside my bellybutton. My body trembled with all of the sensations. Outside the storm raged on and covered our screams. King returned and increased his momentum, moving in tantric passes over my body. I felt every muscle in my body begin to tighten and King felt me tense as well.

"Hold onto me Abby…"

He breathed out and cradled me against his body. I slid my arms up his back gripping his shoulders, bringing the satin with me and wrapping him in it as we climaxed. Our bodies were dewy with sweat and spent with heavy breathing. We both collapsed back onto the bed and I noticed the glow in the dark stars on his ceiling and I laughed out loud having never paid attention to them before.

"What?"

I giggled hard and pointed upward. He turned his head then looked back and kissed me on the nose.

"I'm afraid of the dark."

I just smiled and laid him next to me, placing a litany of kisses on his face, he succumbed to relaxation. He held me against his chest then we both settled and waited for slumber to come.

I woke up hours later when the faint azure light of predawn filled the room. King held me securely around the waist. I looked at him to see a serene face and a tangle of sheets and flesh. Very enticing, but I wasn't about to wake him yet. I moved his hand carefully and slipped out of bed and tiptoed across the room grabbing the discarded blanket that was still damp from last night. I tried to cross the hall soundlessly and padded downstairs into the kitchen. I found a little gleam discarded on the edge of the countertop. I picked it up and ran back upstairs and snuck into bed without disturbing King. In my hand I lightly touched my fathers ring as a tear escaped from my eyes. I gently kissed it and closed my eyes as more tears ran down and I sniffled. King shifted and placed his hand on my hip. He noticed me crying and immediately became concerned.

"Abby, what's the matter?"

He then noticed the ring in my hand and tucked my hair behind my ear, kissing my shoulder and placing his chin there.

"Where did you get that?"

My voice was quiet and laced with raw emotion.

"It was my father's. I found it last night in the ashes of the compound. I couldn't believe that it was there, just amid all this destruction and scrapped metal of this place where he felt at home. I just feel that I have part of him with me now. "

King looked at it with pure interest and understood the meaning and sentimental value.

"You know what I think; I think he was always with you even when he was alive. And now that he's gone, he meant for you to find it Baby. Think of it as a blessing from him, Abby. It was his way of finding you again."

My eyes were opaque with tears. That statement made me love King more than what I thought was possible. He tipped my face towards his and kissed my lips, wiping away my tears as he did so. His kisses we deep and meaningful and I felt him grab my hand and slip the ring on the one finger it would fit; my thumb.