There was a sea of blackness, a sea which was freezing cold yet burning hot at the same time. I was just... floating, my body moving up and down with the movement of the waves. It was so soothing, I could almost ignore the crippling sensations wracking my body. It was a phantom pain - I could feel it but oddly enough, nothing was there.
Suddenly, the sea started to shake, the waves jostling against my sore body. The sea began to get restless and my body was sent reeling as I was shaken to the left, to the right.
"STOP", I wanted to yell but my mouth wouldn't open, as if my lips were sewn shut. I reached forward blindly trying to grip onto something but fists were met only with more water, the liquid trickling out from my closed fingers.
The sway became rhythmic and I found a pattern, one which allowed me to brace myself from each turn. However, as quickly as I adapted, the sea sped up and I found myself flung left, then right, waves mercilessly crashing on my face, smothering me in the relentless liquid.
I fought through the waves, my arms flailing wildly as I tried to break through the surface but it was to no avail for the moment I neared the sweet oxygen that lay in wait for me, another wave would roll, piling water on top and furthering the distance I had to travel.
"Please" I sobbed, "please..."
Was I never allowed to rest? Whoever I was, I had suffered. My mind refused to acknowledge anything about me, not even who I was. All that existed was a blank slate, one that didn't even allow me the privilege of knowing what my name was. The body I had hurt, it burned with a pain that seemed to grip my heart in a vice. Despite all that, there was a slither of resilience that forced me to carry on.
Even as I tried to swim through the black chaos, my body was being jostled by some unknown force and I had the sense of movement even though my body was still. The jostling increased; became more frequent, violent and my strength decreased, each stroke more feeble than the last till I could barely move my fingers.
My body was in freefall, sinking deeper and deeper into the depths of this angry black sea, and I inhaled, the will to struggle dissipating with the air I had left in my lungs. Thick black tar entered my nose, the liquid cold but leaving a trail of fire as it travelled down my throat. My eyes were wide open yet I could see nothing, a swarm of haziness.
There was some kind of comfort I gleaned from the darkness. I was alone yet I didn't feel alone, this void around me was my sole company. My eyes could see nothing, yet I could feel an unexplained presence of something soothing, laying in wait for me to surrender. The deeper I sunk, the more tired I grew until my body became rigid, my eyes coming to a close.
The jostling began to ease until the sea strangely became still. I opened my eyes in surprise. I was still sinking, but slower. I sighed and closed my eyes, I had no strength, there was nothing in me. The water became a warm solace, a soft velvet comfort that eased by aching muscles and relieved my nagging worries.
"Arya", a voice echoed.
I opened my eyes. I could hear a... voice.
"Arya..."
The voice was faint and weak like it was far, far away.
"Arya!" The voice shouted with urgency.
It was a man's voice, deep and masculine and as he shouted that word again, my body was struck with some strange fevor. The water around me rippled with the intensity, flinching back.
"Arya, listen to me, you need to wake up", it said in a thick, power-filled voice.
As those words reached my ears, my body was filled with the urge to obey. The voice said to wake up, I wasn't sure as to why, but I had to listen.
"Arya", he commanded.
Arya? It wasn't a word I was familiar with but I knew I must listen.
I pushed my arms through the water, the water resisting against my movement. It was like tar, thick and viscous. The water swarmed me from all angles, holding my body down, shackling any movement.
"I can't", I wanted to yell back. "I can't".
"Arya!"
"Help me!", I whimpered pathetically, "I can't". It was too strong, lulling me into surrender. My arms fell limply to my sides as I began to sink again.
My eyes were fluttering close when I felt a warm touch on my lips, a heat blossoming from the gentlest of touches, a heated feather. The warmth gently lapped at my skin spreading to my cheeks and then to my nose.
I groaned and tried to reach for this source of warmth in this desolate cold sea. The touch became heavier, more urgent and warmness shot right through my body, from my fingers to my toes. With newfound strength, I began to push forward, the heat pulsating through my body.
The water tried to cling on to me, but the heat fought back, allowing me to slip free of its deathly grasp. I rose, leaving the dark murkiness behind me, heading towards the surface. Warm fingers danced on my body, each touch sending my body reeling with the eagerness to survive, to fight.
I gasped as my head broke through the surface and I took a deep inhale of the air. The sea was still dark but I was bathed in a warm, golden, familiar light. It made me heady and content being surrounded by such beauty.
"Arya", the voice smiled. "Wake up".
My eyes shot open only to meet an unfamiliar dark oak ceiling. My eyes felt dry and itchy like they hadn't been used in ages. My head throbbed with pain and my body was numb, lifeless. I tried to lift my fingers and it was like my bones were creaking like a machine that was neglected and rusted.
I opened my mouth, my tongue dry and took in a deep breath, my chest wheezing with the effort.
Where was I?
There was a sense of lingering panic filling my body but I wasn't sure as to why? I didn't recognise the room I was in but it looked clean and homely. I was in a wooden cabin of sorts, beams crisscrossing the ceiling, the sun reflecting warmly on the rich mahogany. The room had the bed which I was on, few furnishings and a thick cosy rug that looked like I would sink in it if I took a step.
This was... nice.
Whose room was this? Was it mine?
My head felt fuzzy like there was a thick unmoving fog settled on my brain that I couldn't clear.
Who was I?
I lie in bed, wracking my brains only to be rewarded with more of a headache. I couldn't even get up, my body felt like it was bound even though there were no visible ties. It was like I was in an unbreakable cast and soon I found myself giving up and settling deeper into the soft bed.
It felt like I was lying there for hours, unsure of what to do with myself. In the distance, I heard a sound similar to a door opening and there were signs of movement.
I froze.
Who was there?
There was a heavy thud as something was dropped and the person began to make their way towards the room I was lying helplessly in. Then steps were heavy but oddly light, almost predatorial. They neared my room and I held my breath in suspense as I watched the brass doorknob turn in what seemed like slow motion.
The door was pushed open and I watched as a tall figure entered the room and stepped into the warm light. The breath I was holding escaped my lips as I drew in the person who came into the room.
He was tall, so tall I could tell he would tower over me and I was lying on a bed. His face was chiselled, lean, under his cheekbones fine hollows. His nose was straight and strong, a shadow of hair covering his angular jaw. Those lips, they were soft and flushed, a gentle contrast to his warm tanned skin, open and inviting. His body was just as gracious as his face, toned and muscular, his shirt hugging onto his pectorals in a way that filled me with some sort of warped jealousy as I wondered what it would be like to rest my head on such a chest.
As my eyes travelled back up to his, I saw his eyes and I felt a warm spark journey throughout my body. They were... gold, like an ocean of molten liquid, so deep that I found myself unable to move. They were so enchanting, surrounding the black of his pupils. The gold seemed to pulse as his eyes were locked on mine, the contents of his eyes heating up, threatening to spill out of his iris. It seemed to burn with rage and passion, with love and desire, with pain and promise and untold whispers of romantic nothings. I was reminded of the sun in its fiery beauty but if like Icarus, I came to close, I would burn and fall but I would burn and fall happy, content to be close to something so magnificent, with such raw beauty.
"Arya", he purred, breaking the heated silence.
"Malik", my lips worded unconsciously. A small part of my brain wondered how I knew his name but that was pushed to the side as he took a step closer to me.
"Arya", he whispered back, his voice dark and raspy, sending shivers running up and down my back. "Arya..."
I felt a single tear well up in my eye and before I could blink it away, it fell, sending a wet, cooling trail down my heated cheeks. His eyes were full of emotion as he leaned and brushed his warm lips against my cheek and I felt myself freeze as his tongue darted out to capture that rogue tear.
A spot of warmth blossomed where he touched, spreading rapidly from my face to my chest and I watched with wide eyes as he leaned in again till his face was hovering over mine. His head tilted and his hand trailed over my face to cradle my cheek as his lips slowly descended to mine. His hand covered my cheek wholly and I felt myself nuzzle into it as I tilted my chin forward to meet his lips halfway.
It was perfect yet imperfect. Satisfying yet unfulfilling. I felt my shoulders drop as all the tension and worry melted away under his hot, soft lips. I opened my eyes to see him gazing at me with such intensity that my breath hitched.
A gasping breath left my lips as he deepened the kiss, pulling my face closer with his hand. His other hand snaked down to where my other hand lay useless and interlocked our fingers together tightly. It was like a circle of warmth, starting with his lips on mine and ending with our entwined fingers. I... I never wanted to let go, I felt complete. I felt free. I felt whole.
My other hand, seeming to break out of the stiff chains, reached up to his awaiting curls and I ran my hand through them, feeling the pillow-soft locks surrounding my fingers. I felt him groan against my lips and the low vibrations shot through me, making me smile. I lay there helplessly as he continued his assault on my lips, slanting his head to gain better access.
I groaned in a mixture of pleasure of pain and pain as my body throbbed with the simplest of exertion, my heart beating furiously in my chest as I allowed the most beautiful stranger I had ever seen, kiss me.
"Arya", he growled against my lips. "You're injured".
Huffing, I tightened my grip around his neck, trying to hold him in place, wanting to keep his soft lips against mine. It was a drug, I had never felt anything like this and now I never wanted to let go.
"Arya", he moaned against my lips. His hand gently held onto mine and he pulled my arm down, my body offering no resistance as long as I could still feel him. Gently, he withdrew from our kiss and brushed my hair out of my face with a tenderness that made my heart ache.
"How are you?" He asked in a quiet voice, his eyes unwavering.
"I... I don't know... What happened...?" The moment that those words left my lips, a recollection of the past events began to fall into place. "Oh, God..."
My God, Mikhail. Everything he had done clicked into place, my name, my family, Malik, my escape.
I had escaped, I had done it...
I looked at Malik who looked down at me with concern and the simmering rage hit me like a truck as it began to overboil, burning any lust I had for the man who called himself my mate.
"Malik", I said quietly.
Malik looked at me, waiting for me to continue.
"You bastard", I hissed.
So. They are reunited. but not for long lmao 😈
anyway comment vote etc thank you :)