I want to give a big shout out to everyone that has read the story so far. I want to send a special 'Thank You' to xAngelofHardyx, RoseanneMay, HighflyinJeffHardy, Lady-Sony and Ms. Chandy. You guys rock!!! \m/ (.) \m/ I desided to try Jeff's POV on this chapter. It's the first time I've ever done a guys POV, so, I hope it sounds okay. The italic is a flashback. And yes, you will get the answers to your big question. Enjoy!
*Jeff's POV*
I watched Sophi walk out the door with John right behind her. What I told her earlier was true. I didn't think I could function until she got back. My dad had never told me that finding my kept would feel like this. It was amazing to have this kind of love for someone and have them return it to you.
Oh sure, I had women tell me that they loved me before, but they never meant it. They always wanted something from me. None of them knew the real me. But Sophi did. She knew everything about me and still loved me despite it. Or maybe because of it. Sophi, unlike other women, never asked me for a thing. Everything I gave her, she thanked me for and then told me that I didn't need to waste my money on her. I would try and take her to expensive restaurants but instead, she would insist on making me dinner at home. I loved her with my whole heart and soul. Sophi was my everything.
I smiled as I dialed Bob back.
"Bob Rice, Manager."
"Bob, it's Jeff again, sorry. Go ahead." I barely listened to him run on about something going on at the hotel. I made appropriate noises and answered when I needed to. Bob was a worm of a guy that tried every time he could to suck up to me. Of course, that was how to get on my good side. Yeah, right.
I piled up some of my papers to one side of the table so that we would have some place to eat. I glanced at the clock on the wall as I got up to pace around the small but nice living room. I started to get this weird feeling. I glanced at the clock again. Sophi had been gone for almost an hour. I hoped she came back soon.
I ended my call with Bob. I couldn't take his voice anymore. I told him I would come visit the hotel in the next couple of days and check things out. That would give him something to do and keep him out of my hair.
I sat my phone on the arm of the couch. I turned to grab some of the papers off the table. Suddenly, I couldn't breathe. I fell to my knees as the pain hit me out of nowhere. Sophi. Had something happened to Sophi? I sat there for a minute, trying to relearn to breathe. A few minutes later, I gripped the table's edge, using it to pull myself up. When I finally got to my feet, I leaned on the table with both of my hands flat on the top of it. Something was wrong. I needed to talk to Sophi. I looked up as I felt someone vanish into the room. I saw Randy with his arms around Maggie. I looked at John standing in front of me covered in blood. None of it was his. My heart stopped and dropped to my feet as I saw who he was holding.
"Oh God, Sophi." I used my arm to sweep the rest of the papers off the table. They fluttered slowly to the ground behind me. I motioned for John to lay her down on the table. He took a step and slowly and gently laid her down. She made a noise, showing just how much pain she was in. I took in the state of her body. The need for someone to pay rose in every injury I found on her. There were too many cuts and bruises to count. Fuck me, they'd bitten her too. Her leg was broken. Her shoulder was messed up. I could tell from the weird angle her arm was laying. I could tell from the labored rise and fall of her chest, they had broken most of her ribs as well. They had busted her lip and made the one eye swell shut. Someone had essentially destroyed her body. I knew my eyes were blacker than they had every been as I turned away from Sophi.
"What the fuck happened?" I yelled at the three of them.
"We were attacked." John said. He dropped to his knees and bowed his head. I could see there was a huge knot forming on the back of his head. My attention was diverted from John when I heard Maggie crying. I turned and pointed at her.
"You! This is your fault! If she dies because of you…" I started walking towards her. Randy stepped in front of her blocking her. "Move Randy." I growled.
"You know I can't do that Jeff. This isn't her fault. You know that." He took a few steps towards me with his hands out, palms facing me. "You need to calm down."
"Fuck calming down!" I shoved him away from me. "She's fucking dying, Randy! You want me to calm down? Would you calm down if it was Maggie?" I heard a noise from behind me.
"Jeff?" Sophi's voice sounded so harsh. I was instantly by her side. I looked into her face. This was killing me to see her like this. I wish I could take all this pain away for her. Why wasn't it me?
"Yes, love?"
"Watch over Maggie?" I heard Maggie start to cry harder. I've waited all my life for Sophi. And now that I have her, she leaving. I needed her to fight, for us. God, I sounded so selfish, but I didn't give a shit. I softly rubbed her cheek.
"Love, don't talk like that."
"Please?" She coughed. It was a horribly painful sound. A small trickle of blood ran out the corner of her mouth. Fuck! That was a sign of serious internal injuries. I knew what I had to do.
"Yes, love. I'll take care of her. She'll be fine."
"Not John or Randy's fault." I nodded, agreeing with her.
"I know, I know." She slowly closed her good eye, the one that wasn't swollen shut. I started to panic. She wasn't opening her eye back up. Her breathing was becoming more labored. She was fighting for every breath she took. Not yet! She can't leave me. "Sophi, Sophi?" I got closer to her, making sure she could hear me. "Love, please talk to me. Love, please." I pleaded with her. I could see her forcing her eye back open. She looked at my face for a few seconds. Just staring. She felt so cold against my hands. If she died, I knew in my heart I was going with her.
"I love you, Jeff." I laid my cheek against hers. She closed her eye again.
"I love you too, Sophi. I love you too. Forever, love. Forever." I whispered to her. She passed out again. Her body was still fighting for every breath. I could hear her heart's unsteady beat slowing down. God, I was losing her. It was now or never. I scooped her up into my arms, cradling her against my chest.
"What are you doing?" Maggie asked me.
"I'm taking her home." I vanished us back to the room we shared at my house outside of the city. I laid her gently down on the bed. I yanked off my bloody shirt and climbed into the bed beside her. I could still hear her heart struggling to beat. She was trying to fight this losing battle. I had to do it now. I had no choice. I knew she would be mad at me, but at least she would be alive. It wouldn't take much. She had lost so much blood already.
I lifted her small delicate wrist in my much larger hand. I noticed her hand. It was completely swollen and discolored. Her fingers were jutting out at all different angles. I touched it and could hear the scraping of bones as they rubbed together unnaturally. I glanced at her other hand laying by her side. I looked exactly the same. They had crushed her beautiful hands. The need to kill someone for this was eating me alive. No, think of Sophi first. I lifted her wrist again. I saw the small tattoo across her wrist. Just the word 'angyal'. The Hungarian word for 'angel'. It was what her Grandmother used to call her. Maggie had a matching one on her ankle. I looked back at Sophi's face. She was an angel. She was my angel and I was going to save her.
"Forgive me, love." I kissed the inside of her wrist. "But I can't let you go. Forgive me." I bit into the smooth, soft skin of her wrist. That first rush of her blood that hit my tongue made me react the same way it did every time I drank from her. My mind flashed to a vision of her under me, naked, writhing and screaming my name. The need to bury myself deep inside her body almost overwhelmed me. I stopped myself when I felt her heartbeat slow to the point of no return. I pulled away from her wrist. I licked the wound, sealing it closed.
I lifted my own wrist to my mouth. I ran my thumb along Sophi's bottom lip, trying to slowly and gently force her mouth open. I parted her lips just enough. I bit into my own wrist. I watched the blood well up quickly and run down to drip off the opposite side of my wrist. I lowered my arm towards her mouth. I had to get as much blood as I could inside of her before the wound closed itself. It was coming at a pretty steady flow and I got a good 20 drops in her mouth before the wound stopped bleeding. I closed her mouth, hoping that the natural instinct to swallow would kick in. I massaged the front of her throat gently, trying to encourage the movement. Finally, I felt her weakly swallow.
I pressed a soft kiss against her lips. I tasted my own blood. I grabbed my discarded shirt and started to wipe away the blood from her face. I froze the moment I felt her heart stop beating. I laid my face against her chest, over her heart, praying that I would hear that sound again. I don't know how long I lay there waiting. I stroked the soft skin of her stomach. Just waiting. After what seemed like hours, I finally heard that beloved sound. It started slow but steadily picked up. I sat up and prayed again that she was going to be okay as I noticed how blue her lips were. She wasn't breathing yet. I tried to brush some of her hair off her face. The blood had started to dry so it was sticking to her face. I was going to make it my personal mission to find whoever did this to her and tear them apart with my bare hands.
Suddenly, Sophi's back arched of the bed as she took in a deep breath. She dropped back down to the bed only to start coughing up the blood that had pooled in her lungs. I could feel her heartbeat getting more steady and strong. Now, all I could do was wait for her to wake up. From what I knew, the process of turning only a few hours, then she would wake up. I didn't know if it would happen that quickly this time. She was hurt so badly. I didn't care how long it took. I would stay right here with her until she opened both of her eyes again.
I watched as some of the smaller cuts started to knit themselves back together. Within the hour, all of her open wounds would be closed. They would be the bright pink of fresh scars. Another hour or so and they would be gone completely. As soon as the open wounds were healed over, then her body would start fixing the internal things. I heard her moan softly. I knew healing from a significant injury wasn't the most pleasant experience. Hell, it was down right painful. I couldn't imagine the pain she was in.
I gently removed what was left of her shirt. I tossed it and my shirt into a pile in the center of the floor. I slowly removed her jeans. I slipped off her bra as well. It was completely covered in blood. I didn't think she would want to kept it. Her underwear was the only piece of her clothing that wasn't destroyed, so I left them on her.
I walked into the bathroom attached to our room. I grabbed some clean towels and wet some washcloths. I walked back to her side and gently cleaned the dried blood from her body. The more blood I cleaned off, the more bruises I found. They would be the last things to heal. It was odd when you thought about it. A bruise was one of the least threatening injuries, yet it took the longest to heal on us.
When I was done, I tossed the towels in the pile. The first chance I got, I was going to throw it all away. But first… I vanished down the hall and grabbed clean sheets out of the closet. I vanished back to our room. I gingerly lifted Sophi to the opposite side of the bed. I stripped that side and slipped on the new sheets. Then I did the same for the other side. I tossed the sheets into the pile.
I shook out the clean flat sheet and covered her with it. I climbed back into the bed with her. I tried to prop her up slightly. I, gently as I could, I adjusted her shoulder so that it would heal better. When I touched her shoulder, she moaned in pain. When she opened her mouth, I caught a glimpse of her newly formed fangs. I was right. She was going to look so sexy with fangs.
I don't know how long I sat there, just watching her. I brushed her beautiful dark hair off of her face. I softly caressed her cheek, willing her to wake up. Yes, I knew she was gonna be angry at me but I just wanted to see her open her alluring blue eyes. Even if she was just yelling at me for what I did, I still wanted to hear Sophi's voice.
There was a light knock on the door. I sat up in the bed.
"Come in." I called out. The door slowly opened and Randy stuck his head in. "Randy. Come in." He pushed open the door, walked in and shut it behind him.
"Jeff," he took a few steps towards the bed, "how is she?" I could tell that he wanted to know if I had turned her. I brushed some more hair off Sophi's forehead.
"She's getting better. It's only been a couple of hours so…"
"Jeff…it's been 24 hours already. They finally made me come to check on the two of you. We needed to know." 24 hours already. Damn it. She needed to wake up soon.
"We?" I questioned.
"Me, John and Maggie. We were worried about Sophi and we were worried about you."
"We're okay. Why didn't they come with you?" I stroked Sophi's shoulder. "Sophi would like to see them, I'm sure." I looked back up at Randy and repeated my question. "Why didn't they come Randy?"
"Well, John's sure that you don't want to see him or have him anywhere near Sophi. And Maggie, well…Maggie is afraid of you." I was shocked by that.
"Why would they think that?"
"You don't remember yelling?" I shook my head 'no'. "Jeff, you yelled at all of us. I thought you were going to kill John. And," I saw his eyes get dark, "then you threatened Maggie." Randy told me exactly what I had done. I hadn't even realized.
"Randy, I'm sorry. I…it's just…" I looked down at Sophi. "It was…she was dying. I…"
"We understand. Any of us would have done the same thing." I nodded.
"Randy go get them and bring them back here. Not for me, for Sophi." He bowed his head to me.
"Yes, sir." Randy vanished. I climbed out of the bed and walked to Sophi's side. I tucked the sheet around her. I noticed that one of her hands had slipped from under the sheet. I carefully lifted it. Her fingers were back to their normal shape and all the swelling was gone. There were a couple of bruises left but the bones had healed themselves. I softly kissed the back of her hand before I laid it back down beside her and covered it back up as I heard the knock on the door.
"Come in." Randy pushed the door. He was followed by John and a very nervous Maggie. John walked right over to me. He started to go to his knees. I touched his shoulder. "John, there is no need for that. I know you. They had to take you down to even get close to her."
"Jeff, I…"
"You did everything you could. They weren't stupid. They knew they had to incapacitated you. John, don't beg forgiveness. Sophi would hate that. You know that." John nodded. "When she wakes up, you can ask her if you deserve to be punished." John nodded again. I smiled at him knowing that Sophi would never punish him. I saw Maggie hanging back against the door. She noticed me looking and averted her eyes. I took a step towards her.
"Jeff?" Randy put a hand on my chest, stopping me. "I can't let you..." I patted his shoulder.
"Randy, it's okay." He hesitantly removed his hand. I stepped up to Maggie. She was ringing her hands. She was afraid of me. "Maggie?" She glanced at me. She was crying. "Maggie, I'm not gonna hurt you. I would never do that. Sophi would never forgive me. I truly am sorry that I scared you." I held out a hand to her. She looked at my hand then at my face. "I'm sure that she would want to see you." Maggie reluctantly put her hand in mine. I pulled her away from the wall and over to Sophi. She started to cry a little harder. I stepped back and let her have a second with her.
"Sophi," Maggie brushed at her hair, "how could they do this to you?"
"Maggie, do you know who did this? Did you see who it was?" I asked her. She shook her head.
"No, I didn't. But who else could it be, Jeff? You know it had to be Taker's men."
"Adam was the one that grabbed hr. I don't know who hit me." John said. I felt my anger rising. That bastard Adam touched my Sophi. If I ever saw him again…
"Jeff?" Maggie asked, pulling my attention back. "Did you…turn her?" I took a deep breath.
"Yes. I had no choice. She was going to die Maggie. I couldn't let her die."
"I know." She surprised me by turning around and hugging me. "Thank you for saving her." She surprised me again by laughing quietly. "She's gonna be mad when she figures out what you did." I couldn't help but laugh with her.
"I know. I know. I can't wait."
As the three of them of them started to leave, I grabbed Randy telling him to hang back for a second. Randy kissed Maggie and sent her with John, telling her he would be along in a minute.
"Randy, I need you to do something for me."
"Sure, anything Jeff."
"I need you to go back to the apartment and grab my phone." Randy nodded. He vanished and reappeared a few seconds later. He held the phone out to me. "Thanks. Only one more thing. Do you see that?" I pointed to the pile of bloody and ripped cloth in the middle of the floor. He nodded as he glanced back at it. "Burn it."
I climbed back in the bed to lay beside Sophi. I sent the message that I needed to. I knew I wouldn't get an answer right away. I settled down in the bed. I took in Sophi's face. The swelling around her eye was gone and the cut on her lip had healed, but the bruises were still there. I leaned over her and gently moved her shoulder. It had reset itself and was healing nicely. She murmured a little like it was uncomfortable for me to touch it. I uncovered her leg. It too was for the most part healed. Still plenty of bruising but the bone was healed.
As I sat there watching her, willing her to wake up I thought back to the day I finally met her.
I woke up after a long night of tossing and turning. I had those dreams again. I had dreamt all night about her. I woke up this time panting and sweating with my need for her. My body was aching for her. My dad had told me I would dream about her but he never told me they would be this much in detail. Before, I could see all of her body, every inch of it. Except the part I needed the most to find her. This last dream was different. This time, I saw her face. Didn't this mean I was going to find her soon? God, I hope that's what it meant. I didn't know how much more of this I could take. I thought about it the whole time I was in the shower.
I thought about on the way to my office downtown. I stopped at the same place I stopped every morning and got coffee. I sat in the car, waiting to take my first sip when I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. I didn't catch her face but I got a bit of her profile. From what I could tell, she was quite lovely. I watched her walk to a beat-up old Chevy sitting a couple cars in front of mine. I couldn't help but watch the hypnotic sway of her hips as she walked. She wasn't doing it on purpose. There was no one around to watch her do it. It was just the natural way she walked. She tossed her purse and bag in the passenger seat and climbed in. I caught a glimpse of her leg as she pulled it in the car behind her. Her skirt had ridden up to her upper thigh and I saw every bit of that leg, down to her sexy black heals. I wondered if her legs would feel as silky as they looked. Damn, what was wrong with me? I have a couple erotic dreams and now I'm lusting after some stranger on the street. Get a grip, Hardy!
I was about to pull away from the curb when I saw the door to the old Chevy come back open. She climbed out and popped the hood to her car. I watched the sway of her hips again as she walked to the front of her car. The air suddenly rushed out of my body, like someone had hit me in the stomach with a baseball bat. I saw her face as she lifted the hood. It was her. My kept. I had finally found her and she was standing less than 20 feet away from me. I climbed out of my own car. I needed to talk to her. I needed to hear her voice.
I walked around the opposite side of the car and up behind her. She had her forehead resting on her arms. Her eyes were closed. I leaned in close to her, inhaling deeply. I caught the subtle scent of her perfume. It wasn't overwhelming but if a guy got this close to her, they could smell it and it would drive them wild. I couldn't help the flair of jealously that rose up at the thought of some other guy being this close to her.
Underneath that, I could smell the scent of her skin. Honey and lilacs. I had to fight the urge to kiss the skin of her exposed neck and see if she actually tasted as good as she smelled.
"Do you need some help, love?" I said into her ear. She jumped at the sound of my voice. She tried to take a few steps away only to trip over her own feet. She was stumbling backwards into oncoming traffic. I reached out, grabbed her upper arms and pulled her back. She stumbled forward and I took that opportunity to pull her against me. God, she felt perfect. Hopefully, my voice sounded normal when I spoke again. "Easy there, love. I didn't mean to scare you. Are you okay?" She nodded. Then she spoke. She had one of the sexiest voices I had ever heard.
"Yes, I'm okay. Thank y…" She finally looked up at me. I watched her gorgeous blue eyes get slightly wide as she recognized me. Damn it. I wanted her not to be one of those women that want me because for who I was. Maybe if I was lucky, she didn't have those pre-conceived notions about me. I rubbed her arm gently. I couldn't help it.
"Are you sure you're okay. Love?" She pulled back and stepped away from me. She did a quick once over of me. Why didn't I dress nicer? Damn me and my casual day.
"Yes, I…I…I'm fine."
"Do you know what's wrong with your car?"
"No. I think it just finally died. I guess it's time to get a new one." She sighed. "Yeah, right. I'm just going to end up riding the bus." She smiled at me. Even if she wasn't my kept, I would have had to get to know this beautiful woman. "Save money that way." I couldn't help but smile back at her.
"Makes sense. For today, can I give you a ride to where you're going?" Please say yes, please say yes.
"Umm…" She hesitated. Think Hardy! Get her to say yes.
"I know, your parents taught you never to except rides from strangers." I held out my hand to her. "I'm Jeff." She looked at my hand. Please take it, love. She finally took it. Damn, her skin was soft.
"I know who you are Mr. Hardy." I grinned at her. She wasn't one of those women.
"Call me Jeff. Please don't believe everything you read and hear. They tend to make up a lot of things."
"I don't believe most of it. I know half the people that write those stories. They're mostly going for headlines."
"Do you work for the paper?" That would be great if she did. I would know where to find her later.
"Yes. I write a small piece that's normally hidden between the full page ads in the back." She squeezed my hand slightly, reminding me that I was still holding her hand.
"So," try not to freak her out Hardy, "do you have a name, love?" She looked flustered.
"Oh, sorry. I'm Sophibella Laurell. But everyone just calls me Sophi." I finally had a name. I smiled at her again.
"Well, it is a pleasure to meet you Sophi." Ever the gentleman, I lifted her hand and kissed the back of it. God. Her skin did taste like honey. I couldn't resist tasting her skin again. I let her hand go. "Now that we're no longer strangers, can I offer you that ride once more?"
"Yes. Thank you. I would love to ride you. Oh, ride with you. I would love to ride with you." I watched her duck her head as her face turned a bright red. I smiled at the image that her words put into my mind. I would love that too. She eventually lifted her head to look at me. I offered her my arm.
"I would like nothing more than to drive you to work." She took my arm and led her to my car.
I looked down at Sophi, laying there, still trying to recover. I remember watching her climb into my car that day. Every chance I got, I would glance at her legs. When she sat down her, skirt had ridden up her thighs again. She nervously crossed and uncrossed her legs and played with the hem of her skirt. She drove me crazy with that.
I was pulled out of my daydream as my phone went off, letting me know that I had a message. I read it and it just confirmed what I already suspected. Miz and Adam had been the one to attack Sophi. They were as good as dead. I tossed my phone on the nightstand. I laid down beside Sophi and pressed my face against her good shoulder. I kissed her exposed skin.
I jolted straight up when I heard the sound. I looked down at Sophi's face. She was murmuring and her eyelids were fluttering. She lifted her hand to grip at her stomach as she rolled to her side. Thank you God! My Sophi was waking up...
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