Forever Our Ever (12 page)

“I wonder if Silva is still around?” asked Liam. “He always claimed to be able to hear the dead. Ever isn’t dead, but it’s the same principle.”

Kris smiled, and Ever thought it was the most wonderful thing she had ever seen. The simple expression seemed to lift some of the dark shadows from his face. “That is an excellent idea. I wonder if one of the women will know.”

Liam hopped up. “I will go ask them. Be back in a minute.”

Liam hurried from the room as Mick shook his head. “I can’t believe that you are going to bring that deranged old man into our house. He belongs where he is, way out in the forest away from the clan.”

“Not if he can help us.”

Ever watched as the men put the children down to sleep. Pippin claimed that she knew of Silva’s whereabouts, and she had taken the truck to go see if she could locate him. Liam had speculated that she probably wouldn’t be back until morning and had suggested that it might be a good idea if they got some sleep.

Mick, on the other hand, had been furious. He refused to acknowledge that maybe something otherworldly was happening. He insisted that they were overreacting due to stress and he wanted no part of it. Mick had promptly risen and walked out of the room. A moment later the front door had soundly slammed shut after he stormed through it.

Liam took Mick’s place, lying at her left side. “Wow. I never realized that Mick was so against the supernatural. Has it never occurred to him that we are weres, so other entities very likely exist?”

Kris chuckled. “Yeah…well…you know Mick, his way or the highway. I think he has a bunch of issues going on in his brain and this was simply the end of his fuse. Remember how afraid of Silva he was as a child?”

“I remember. He used to come to the house to try and get our mother to go into the afterlife. Father insisted that she was lingering in the house. Mick used to run and hide in his room. You don’t think he is still afraid of the man, do you?”

“It’s possible. I wonder what he is like now? Silva was old when we were younger. I always thought that he was really strange, but I wasn’t afraid of him. Do you honestly think he can help?”

Liam sighed and began to fiddle with her hair. It was a complete disaster, lying in knotted mats around her head.

“Could one of you possibly get off your ass and put a brush to my hair?” Ever asked in dismay. They were letting her body go to shit. Ever wondered if anyone was doing any kind of upkeep on her muscles. Had she simply been left to lie in bed so the babies could feed from her? If she ever got her body back, she would be atrophied to hell.

Boosting herself from the chair, she glided closer and stepped up onto the bed. Ever stared down at her body. She didn’t exactly look dead, but the skin on her face appeared drawn and tired. She looked very puffy and a feeding tube had been run down into her throat. “Son of a bitch. What the hell is Mick thinking? If I’m that swollen then my body is not being moved around.”

With a disgusted sigh, she turned and sat down. Maybe if she could match her spirit up with her flesh then she could melt back into it. Ever lay down, trying to place herself in perfect alignment. She closed her eyes and tried to imagine that she was once again a whole entity, body and soul as one. Nothing happened. She remained adrift above her own flesh.

Wiggling, she closed her eyes and tried harder. Ever imagined that she could bore her way into her body like worm in the dirt. When she opened her eyes, she was staring at the underside of the mattress. Just as she had walked through the outer wall of the house earlier, she had now gone through her body rather than becoming a part of it. Ever was so frustrated that the situation was actually slightly comical. It was either laugh or cry, and she feared crying would suck her back into the gray nothingness. Ever chuckled at herself as she crawled out from under the bed to try again.

Kris and Liam had both fallen silent to their own thoughts, and Ever had an idea. If Carmen had come to her in dreams, could she reach Liam and Kris the same way?

She lay back into her body, this time being careful to stop when her back hit the mattress. It was an extremely odd feeling to be equal with her flesh, but not a part of it. She ignored the sensation and put her hands to her sides, grasping Kris’s and Liam’s hands. Closing her eyes again, she imagined that she was with them in dream sleep.

Kris tightened his hand slightly and began to rub her fingers. Could he feel her, or was she simply reaching his subconscious? In her mind, she imagined herself to be with him. Kris came into view in her thoughts. It was real, yet not real.

Kris smiled brightly. “Ever!” he whispered with reverence in his voice.

“Hey, Kris. You can hear me.”

“Where are you?”

Ever laughed, bit her lips and laughed again. “I’m lying beside you. I can’t seem to become a part of my body again. You were right in what you said. I…I’m adrift as a separate entity.”

Kris reached out tentatively and touched her cheek, causing Ever to whimper. The caress almost painful in the intensity of it. “I can feel you,” Kris said with a gasp of laughter. “I miss you so much. I feel as if my heart has been crushed.”

Ever sniffled, tears forming in her eyes. “Me too. I’m so sorry.”

He grasped her cheeks, staring deeply into her eyes. “For what?”

“I think this was my fault. I was dreaming of my days with Carmen. Then he tried to come for me and pull me into the afterlife with him. I couldn’t go, but…then I found out that I was what I am now.”

He shook his head dramatically, his beautiful hair shimmering around his handsome face. “No, Ever. You didn’t do this. Your body was dying and the only way that we knew to save you was for me to bite you. Essentially, my saliva declared war on the part of you that was Carmen, that was were. It worked. Your body is alive and doing fine. But…” He turned his eyes from her, looking sadly downward as if it was agonizing to look at her. “I think the pain may have been what separated you from you flesh.”

“It doesn’t matter how this happened. What matters is that we have to fix it.”

Kris returned his gaze to her and she saw the wetness in his eyes. It touched her deeply that Kris was showing such emotion for her. Were men were not known for crying. “You’re right. I swear to you that I will do anything and everything to help you. I want you back, Ever.”

She stroked his cheek, trying to swipe away the emotional agony that she saw there. Her heart was aching for him. Her sweet Kris, her strong, humorous rock of a man was falling apart before her. With a snort of sentimental laughter, she replied, “I want you back, too. Hey, our babies are beautiful.”

“They are, aren’t they?”

“Yes, and their mother looks like shit.”

“What do you mean?”

“Could one of you please brush and wash my hair? Is anything being done to keep my muscles from atrophying, or am I just a living dairy?”

Kris chuckled at her wording. “A living dairy, huh? I guess we have been so caught up in grief and trying to keep you alive that we didn’t give much thought to those things. I will make sure those things are attended to. I’ve been with you every second since this happened, so I can easily spend that time working your muscles. If Mick comes back, I will have to have him show me the proper way to do it.”

“You don’t think he will come back?”

“I don’t know. He has been really weird, and he’s not saying much about what the hell is going on in his head. I have to wonder if he is suffering from a severe case of insecurity.”

“What do you mean?”

“The children aren’t his, he isn’t alpha as he always imagined, and he can’t really do anything to help you.”

Mick had been ousted from life by life itself. Everything he knew or thought he knew was now gone. “I won’t be able to have more, will I?”

“I don’t know. There is no way to know what my genes will do, although I think they have made you stronger. I can’t even imagine how your body is surviving without your spirit in it. It has to be pure animal instinct that is now keeping you alive.”

Ever hadn’t thought of that. Would her flesh eventually die if they couldn’t find a way to fix this? “You have to find a way, Kris. I rejected my guide into the afterlife and I don’t think I will be given another chance. If my flesh dies, I will become an earthbound spirit.”

He nodded quickly and then gazed past her. “Liam.”

Ever turned to give him a smile. “Hey, baby.”

“Hey. Are we dreaming together?”

“I think so, but I think it is more than a dream. I think this is real, but the only way I can reach the living is in sleep. Well…our babies can see me.”

“That’s what Kris and I thought. I miss you. I love you.”

“I love you, too. Both of you. All of you. Just to let you know, I can see you and hear you. I just can’t make you see me in return. I think that if I can stay in the house and you guys are here, that I can stay out of the abyss.”

“What is that?” asked Kris.

“It’s a gray, silent, sad place where I just sit and cry. It was so hard to pull myself from the depression so I could escape it. I accidentally went outside and it is there, threatening to pull me back in. I would rather be here with you.”

Kris nodded. “Then we will have to try and keep things upbeat. Is there anything that you want to do while we are together?”

She wiggled her eyebrows and gave him a sassy smile. “As a matter of fact…”

Ever rolled to face Kris, and Liam smacked her on the ass because she was ignoring him. She pushed back the wayward part of his hair and grinned. “I think this would be the perfect time to pay some attention to me. It will give you both incentive to keep my muscles strong and toned in the real world.”

Kris laughed, the sound it evoked dark and sultry. Ever adored it when he laughed that way. “So you’re saying that you want to fuck?”

Ever promptly slapped him on the chest. Kris grabbed her hand and flipped her to her back, pinning her to the bed with his body. The wolf’s head belt on the jeans he had fallen asleep in dug into her lower stomach, creating an odd zing of sensation. It wasn’t pain, as it might be in real life, but simply a knowledge that the cold steel was there.

“Are there lesbian weres?”

He glared at her, his top lip peeling from his teeth as he wrinkled his nose. It was a very inopportune time to ask the question, but she really wanted to know. “Why? Are you considering becoming one?”

“No, silly. I was just wondering.”

“Yes, I guess so. What prompted this question?”

“Snow.”

He chuckled and then shook his head. “No, Snow is not a lesbian. Although, she is rather butch. Any other pressing questions?”

Kris accented his words by grinding his groin into hers. He obviously had pressing questions. She giggled. “Just one. Now that you are alpha, can we do something about Nara’s husband? It seems a shame that she can’t turn him.”

“I’ll give it some thought.” Kris rolled his eyes at Liam, who proceeded to laugh.

“You are forever our Ever. One of these days, you will learn to curb your curiosity after you initiate sex. Well…continue to be curious about sex, but don’t ask unrelated questions in the middle of it.”

“Thank you for clarifying, Liam. I’m done.”

“Kris, would you allow me to spank her? I really have an urge to do so. She is being such an ornery little girl.”

Kris stuck out his tongue to harass her. “I would actually like to see that.” He rolled off her, but kept his hold on her hands. Liam stood and, with a snap of his fingers, created a high-backed chair that looked as if it belonged to a king. It had no arms, but the padded seat was wide and looked immensely comfortable. “How did you do that?”

“This is a dream, Kris, we can do anything we want.”

“Interesting.”

Liam offered Ever his palm and she took it, allowing him to pull her upward. Her spirit body was not being affected by her human one, and she was revved up and ready to go. Liam sat down and dragged her down to his lap. The minute she got herself situated, the extended sides of the chair dropped out and sent her upper body and legs flopping downward.

Kris spun around so he was lying across the bed. He flipped to his side, arching his head down so he could clearly see her face. Reaching out with his arm, he began to fiddle with her nipple.
Crack
. Liam’s hand connected with her ass, causing her to arch off his legs. It was unexpected and made her ass cheek sting badly. He rubbed the skin, his palm turning icy with the touch. Liam hit her again, but this time it wasn’t his palm. It created a thin streak of pain that seemed to sear out with heat from the central line. “Ow, what is that?”

“You are being switched, my sweet,” interjected Kris with an amused smile.

Liam hit her again, causing her to jump, a moment later, he added another one, two lines instead of one.

The chair suddenly seemed to grow taller, the legs extending and moving her and Liam upward. Kris slid off the bed like a snake, twisting his way under the chair to kneel beneath it. It was impossible that he had moved his body into the small space, but he didn’t appear cramped at all. Giving her an upside-down smile. Well… she was upside-down, he gathered her breasts into his palms and began to deeply massage the tissue.

She was at the perfect height for his cock and she undid his belt, unbuttoning his jeans to expose his beautiful flesh. She jumped as Liam hit her again, once, twice, his cold palm massing her screaming ass cheeks. Kris thrust his hips forward, reclaiming her attention as he began to nip and nibble on her nipple. His hands were crushing her breasts, making her very aware of exactly what he was doing. The cold of Kris’s hand suddenly changed to fiery hot and he began to spank her again, hitting one cheek with his palm and the other with the switch. It was an overwhelming sensation, pain, pleasure, and heat all combined as a single entity.

She whimpered loudly, the overly wet feel of her now-glowing pussy causing her to draw Kris’s dick solidly between her lips. She licked and tormented him with her tongue, Her fingers grasping and fondling his balls. Liam continued his assault and then stopped again, both palms turning to ice as he rubbed her ass. It felt so good, the cold against the ember-like heat in her skin. They were driving her insane, the rubbing and touching, Kris’s teeth and tongue scraping against her tight nipple, his fingers against her breasts to arch them against his mouth. He released one side and began to suck on the other, his fingers shifting inward so he could pluck and roll the wet nipple between them.