Loving The Temperamental Adonis
Chapter 241: In it together

Chapter 241: In it together

He groaned in pain as he tried to open his eyes, but it seemed his strength failed him. His head throbbed as if a hammer had dropped on his skull, and his limbs felt sore as if he’d been dragged on rough ground while unconscious. The pain in his head was so intense that Neil wanted to remain unconscious and not try to wake up. But then, in the haze of crumbling back into unconsciousness, he heard a faint voice beside him, followed by a familiar hand tracing his face. The hand was so soothing, and it felt real.

Only his wife’s touch felt like that. His heart knotted at the realization that he must be dreaming. He’d missed her so much that he didn’t want to wake up from this beautiful dream where his head was lying on her lap and her fingers were tracing his face. He could even hear her voice calling him to wake up. But how could he wake up when he knew she wasn’t there? He could only feel her in his sleep, not when awake. He’d rather remain like this.

"Neil... please open your eyes. You can’t be here. He’s going to kill you," she cried, cuddling his head and stroking his hair.

Neil couldn’t mistake this for one of his dreams again as he felt something wet falling on his cheeks. She was crying. The Mia in his dreams never cried but smiled and kissed him. Realizing something was off, Neil tried to open his eyes, but it was challenging with the pain in his skull. However, when he heard her cry get louder and her pleading for him to wake up more desperate, he forced himself to open his eyes.

At first, his vision was blurry, and he could barely make out her face, but gradually he saw her clearly. She was smiling through tears and staring down at him with so much relief in her expressive brown eyes that made him ache from longing. Unsure if this was a dream or reality, he gripped her hand, which was cuddling his face, and pulled it to his lips. He kissed each one of her fingers with so much love and longing that his heart ached.

When he saw that she didn’t disappear like in most of his dreams, Neil frowned and pushed himself up.

"Be... be careful, you have a wound on the back of your head," she said, helping him to sit up. But before she could do more, Neil had yanked her into his crushing embrace and buried his head in the crook of her neck. He hugged her so tightly as if he feared she would disappear if he were to let go.

"If this is some kind of dream, Mia, I never want to wake up from it," he whispered against her skin, his voice laced with tender longing. "By God, I’d rather remain here than wake up to a world without you. Lord, I missed you so much!" He tightened his hold on her, but because of her large belly, he couldn’t feel every inch of her against him. He pulled away and cupped her face in both his palms, tears streaming down her face as she placed her hands against his on her cheek.

"I missed you too, Neil. I... I thought you were dead when they brought you in with your head bleeding. You were so still, and I got scared that you were also dead... I... I couldn’t bear it. You..." She broke down completely, her shoulders shaking uncontrollably with her sobs. Unable to take it anymore, Neil pulled her back into his embrace, and she melted into his arms and cried even more.

When Owen’s men had first dragged the unconscious Neil to her, with blood dripping from his head, she’d thought they’d killed him like Zephyr and had panicked, yelling at the men like a crazy woman. She’d even gotten up on her swollen feet and hit one of them with her shoes. She hadn’t known how she’d done it, but she’d almost blinded one of them until they yelled that Neil was alive and just unconscious.

Mia had run to his side, and when she felt his heartbeat, she was so relieved she almost passed out from it. She’d somehow managed to stop the bleeding from his head and pulled his head onto her lap for the two hours he was unconscious. When he started to groan, she’d tried to coax him into waking up by stroking his face and neck. Now that he was awake, she could barely contain her emotions, knowing Owen had left them together because he believed he was doing her a favor by letting her say her goodbyes to Neil before he’d end him.

When Mia’s shoulders continued to shake uncontrollably with her sobs, Neil began to realize he wasn’t dreaming and that this moment was real. He raised his head and looked around the place, noticing that they were in an empty, dirty warehouse with a foul smell in the air that made one want to throw up. However, the fact that he wasn’t dreaming and that his wife was really in his arms made him quickly snap back to his senses.

He slightly pushed away from the hug as Mia’s sobs subsided. He looked down at her tear-filled eyes and weary face and felt his heart tighten and his anger rise at the fact that Mia had been staying in a pit like this for four days. He stroked her cheeks and asked, "What did you mean by you thought I was dead too?"

With that question, Mia was reminded of Zephyr. She covered her face with her palm and cried, shaking convulsively from the soul crushing image of Zephyr’s body this morning when the men came to drag his already decomposing body away that had left the warehouse smelling even after he was taken away. She hadn’t been able to even look at the body when they were dragging it away and laughing and gagging at the smell it emitted from the infected wound. She’d felt so angry she wanted to get a gun and shoot them all in the head to shut them up for good, including Owen.

"They killed him," she murmured, her voice breaking as she avoided Neil’s gaze guiltily. It was her fault, and she wish she’d done something before he died.

Neil felt his breath hitch in his lungs. He seemed to understand what she meant, but to be sure, he asked, "Who, Mia? Who did they kill?" He used his hands to stroke her arms to soothe her.

When she spoke next, it was like the words were wrenched out of her soul. "Zephyr... he’s dead! They killed him." She proceeded to tell him what happened and how she’d been forced to stay in the same place with his dead body for a day before it was taken away that morning. "I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you when you told me to stay at home. If I’d listened, Zephyr wouldn’t have died... it was my fault..."

Neil could see that she truly believed it was her fault that Zephyr was no more. He pulled her back into his arms and stroked her back, assuring her, "It wasn’t your fault, Mia. And I know he wouldn’t want you blaming yourself for his death. I promise you, I’ll give justice to Zephyr’s death once I get you out of here."

Then, as if Mia had been doused into cold water, she suddenly stopped crying and pushed away from his embrace. She shook her head frantically. "We can’t get out together. Neil, you have to leave. You shouldn’t have come here in the first place!" She began to push at him, telling him to leave before it was too late, and before they get to him and kill him too. Zephyr had died because of her, she wouldn’t allow her husband die as well.

"I would never be able to live if you were to die, Neil. Please go and leave me!"

Her panicked state showed in her quick, frantic movements as she tried to push him away. "Go, Neil! Leave me! Save yourself!"

Neil grabbed both her wrists and calmly called her name, "Mia, listen to me." But she continued to struggle, desperately trying to push him away like a frightened cat trying to struggle out of it prey’s hold, her brown eyes were filled with so much terror Neil feared that she might hurt herself or the babies if he didn’t calm her down from her hysterical state of mind.

"Go, Neil! Leave!" she shouted, her voice hoarse with fear and desperation as she hysterically looked around to see if the men were in sight and if Owen would come out of nowhere and shoot Neil like they’d done to Zephyr.

Neil called her name again, "Mia, stop!" But she wasn’t listening to him. She was too consumed by her fear for him to listen and her nails were biting into his arms as she kept looking around in fear.

He finally grabbed the back of her head and pulled her in for a kiss to shut her up. She struggled at first, but the moment his tongue slid against her lips she lost the battle and melted into his demanding kiss. With a smothered moan, she leaned into him and let him part her lips.

Neil had not intended the kiss to go this far, but once she stopped struggling and parted her lips for his tongue, he didn’t hold back, he’d missed her terribly he let his passion take over. His arms tightened around her, imprisoning her against his chest, while his mouth opened hungrily, his tongue plunging into her mouth and stroking against hers. He dipped his tongue in and out her mouth with a wet flavor that made a moan tore out of her mouth and drove him insane.

Lord, he’d missed her so much! He closed his teeth on her bottom lips and sucked on it to soothe the pain while his hands shifted restlessly over the sides of her breasts. Her body automatically arched against him, and she moaned into his kiss as her arms wrapped around his neck and kissed him back with the same intensity until they were both on fire.

When Neil saw that she was calm, and that the kiss was getting intense than he’d intended, he reluctantly dragged his mouth from hers, breathing heavily with his forehead resting against hers, he whispered huskily, "I’d rather die than leave you here. Nothing would make me leave this place without you."

Mia’s tears streamed down her flushed and breathless face as she stared at him. "But, Neil..."

He placed a finger on her lips to silence her. "We’ll get out of here together, Mia. I promise. I won’t let anything happen to you." He kissed her forehead, holding her close, his determination growing stronger with each passing second. "We’re in this together. Always."