The first thing Autumn heard...was nothing.
And that... was terrifying.
The silence wrapped around her like a vacuum in space. Then, like the flicker of a faulty bulb, noise seeped in...A siren.
Then dozens.Her eyes flew open.
She blinked rapidly against a strobing red light. Her breath came in gasps...or it would have...if sound followed. But nothing did.
Her mouth was open. She could feel her own scream clawing up her throat, yet... there was no sound. Not even her heartbeat... Just the blaring of a million alarm clocks.
The room was square, metallic... no, glass. Dark walls stretched in all directions, glitching in and out of focus. The ceiling spun above her like a galaxy gone mad. She tried to move...but something bit into her wrists. Her arms were above her head... chained.
Her feet dangled. Below her was... nothing but air.
She was hanging off the edge of a glass skyscraper, suspended by metallic shackles from the top of a world that didn’t make sense.
A world she didn’t know.
The thousand alarms shrieked around her.
She flinched.Her vision was disoriented, blurring at the edges.
She tried to move again but the metal cuffs dug into her skin.
Panic surged through her as she tried to struggle.
She was suspended. Hanging.It was difficult... painful and scary.
The city beneath her was warped...like a glowing maze of twisted steel and crumbling towers.
She kicked. Thrashed. Her scream ripped out of her...but was swallowed by the silence again.
Her lips moved. Her throat strained. But nothing came out.
She sobbed in frustration. "Help. Somebody, help." ( screaming in silence)
Her heartbeat pounded louder than the alarms. Her whole body was trembling.
And then... she felt a touch.
Firm. Warm. Steady. On her shoulder.
The noise dimmed like someone had just turned a dial.
She stiffened. Eyes wide. Her breath caught.
Slowly, shakily, she turned..." Kieran?!!!"
Standing impossibly calm in the nothing space behind her. No wind moved his clothes but his hair looked previously ruffled.His eyes were calm... but shimmering. And he was smiling at her...
Damn! That smile was to die for... not his usual smug smirk... this was tender... soothing. Like ’something inside her was released from captivity’ kind of soothing.
She hesitated only for a second...then lifted a trembling hand to his face.
His cheek felt rough with stubble, his skin warm under her fingertips. He leaned into her touch, his eyes fluttering shut for a heartbeat before opening again.
He stood there like he had always been there. Never left. Never gone. Always with her. Like he belonged there, even if nothing else did.
His eyes reflected the crimson hue in the air along with his wolfish gold. The result was devastatingly sexy.
She blinked, trying to focus. Her lips parted.
"...Kieran...you came...?" Her voice was faint. Uncertain. Cracked like thin glass
He said nothing. Just watched her. Like she was a question he had waited a hundred lifetimes to understand.
Then he stepped even closer, his legs caging hers. His hands found her hips.
Without effort, he lifted her.
She collapsed into him...arms instinctively curling around his neck. Her legs gave out. But he held her. Tight. As if letting go wasn’t a concept he was familiar with.
Her forehead pressed against his jaw.
She felt his heart. Beating. Strong. Steady.It felt real.
"...You came for me?" she whispered,her fingers curling behind the back of his hair, pulling him closer as she took him in... devouring... the sight of him... his scent... his warmth... nothing else between them.
He yanked her closer, holding her gaze.
"I would burn down heaven to get to you if I had to...," he murmured, pressing his cheek onto hers.
She tilted her head back to see him better. "But...but you look like...like you don’t belong here."
He chuckled softly. "Maybe I don’t."
"But...you look..." she swallowed, the words catching in her throat. "Beautiful."
The smile twitched his lips higher. " Are you saying that because you are scared???"
"I am not afraid of you," she said, stronger this time."Never was! "
He stared at her...then reached up, brushing her lower lip with the pad of his thumb.
She stopped breathing.That touch sent heat rushing through her like lightning under her skin.
"Then what are you afraid of, Autumn?" he asked, so quietly it was almost reverent.
She didn’t answer. Because she didn’t know. Because she wasn’t scared anymore when she was in his arms.
He leaned in. Close. His breath against her cheek, his nose grazing her temple. His scent enveloped her completely...it felt like...home.
"I missed you," he murmured.
Her fingers slid into his hair, pulling his face closer, burying hers into his as tears started falling from her eyes relentlessly.
Their lips were so close...she could taste the breath between them. And he could taste her tears as she whimpered,her fingers digging into his skin.
His eyes dropped to her mouth, then back up to meet her gaze. Something wild stirred there. Hunger. Guilt. Worship. Passion. But she wasn’t looking. She was letting it all out... and it felt good when she did.
"Don’t ever leave me again, Keiran. Please. I beg you... please don’t... "
Kieran didn’t speak.He just held her tighter.
Autumn clung to him, still sobbing silently into his neck. Her tears soaked his skin.His arms stayed wrapped around her as he whispered, "I didn’t leave you," his voice too wounded. "I lost you,love."
She pulled back just far enough to look into his eyes.
He reached out, his thumb brushing her cheekbone, catching a tear. "Do you know what it did to me, not knowing where you were? Not feeling you anymore?"
Autumn’s breath trembled. She leaned her forehead into his again. Their noses brushed. "Then why..." she trembled as she complained, "why does it feel like you have been...are...holding back from me...like you don’t want me anymore?"
He let out a subtle scoff like she was being ridiculous. He grabbed her chin and made her look into his eyes...
" You know what,you beg so pretty...," he murmured, his voice a velvet wrapped blade. His thumb swiped away another tear, then pressed against her bottom lip again, dragging it down to expose the tender pink beneath." Maybe I tend to get obsessed! "
Kieran’s gaze stayed on her mouth, lingering on the way her teeth caught her own lips.And for one flickering moment...the entire world vanished...just the two for them... inside that nothingness.
Then suddenly... The alarms returned.
The chains on the floor rattled.And Autumn began to flicker.
"Kieran?" she gasped. "Kieran,what’s happening?!"
He gripped her arms, eyes wide.He tried to hold her. Fought to keep her. But his hands passed through her as she flickered again.
" Nooo!! No!!! They are... they are trying to call you back... something... something is blocking me... I can not reach our bond..."
Everything in that dreamscape started shaking and shivering violently. Gusts of wind swept across the surface. Reality shifted...
"NOOOO!!!KIERAN!DON’T LET GO..."
Then everything went white.