Forever Our Ever (19 page)

“Is he right, Demetri? Is this my fault? Have I become the center of this shit, with Kris and Liam on one side and Mick and Julius on the other?”

“No, Ever. Julius is not against you. He said that he was somewhat rash about his assessment of you. He intends to contact Kris and try to set things right, but he obviously hasn’t yet. Mick is just reacting. You can’t really blame him for being angry, although taking it out on you was extremely unfair. Do Kris or Liam know how to feed you?”

“Yes. They have never done it, but they know the mechanics. Do I really have to wait another week to get my body back? It is so disgusting to watch that mush being injected into the tube in my nose.”

“I can only imagine. Give it another night or two. I want to make sure that I have thought this through thoroughly.”

“Do you realize how irritating it is to only hear one side of your conversation, Demetri?” said Kris in a tone that was close to a growl. Ever turned to look at him and say the flickers of gold in his eyes. She had no idea what to do. She couldn’t stop him from turning in her current condition and if Liam tried, Kris might attack him if he was angry enough. She wanted to shout at him, to jump up and hold him and tell him that everything was going to be okay. She hadn’t even considered how this was affecting Kris. He had lost his mate, and he was shirking his responsibilities as Alpha. He had been forced to think about what happened to Rick, and now Mick had walked out, leaving Kris to try and figure out how to feed her body. Ever needed to get her body back.

She didn’t even give it a thought, she didn’t think about her doubts or her worries, Ever simply stood up and took a swan dive onto the bed.

Pain! Pain everywhere, an agony that she had never imagined flared through her. “Ah!” she crooned, before suddenly realizing that the sound was real. “Kris.” Her voice was little more than a raspy whisper. Her mouth tasted like sand and her nose was throbbing. Ever tried to move her hands to pull the tube from her scorched throat, but it refused to obey her commands.

“She’s gone,” said Demetri in a horrified voice. “Ever’s gone. She just disappeared.”

“What do you mean, she is gone?” asked Kris. She could hear the growing anger in his voice. She needed to speak and get through to him. Could they still not hear her? Straining to speak louder, she said, “Kris!”

“Ever?” he said a moment later, his cool hand caressing the overly warm skin of her cheek. “Say something. Are you really back in your body?”

“Yes.”

“Can you open your eyes?”

She focused all of her energy on the simple act of peeling her eyelids upward. Everything was blurry and the light of the room stung, but she could see the shadow of someone hanging over her. “Pain. So much.”

Her skin felt as if it was going to explode.

“Fuck! Where is the pain?”

“Everywhere.”

“Now that we need fucking Mick, he isn’t here. Damn it. Liam, see if he will answer his phone. What can I do, Ever?”

“Tube.”

“You want me to take it out?”

It was a ridiculous question, of course she wanted it out. “Yes.”

“Okay, give me a minute. I don’t want to do this wrong. Let me look up how it is done.”

Ever was tempted to laugh.
Ah, the wonders of the Internet come to my rescue.

She could hear that Kris was frantically typing as Demetri took her hand. Ever felt sweet, soft warmth flow through the palm of her hand. It rolled up her arm, hitting her shoulder and then spreading outward. It radiated like a rolling wave down her chest, through her stomach and downward into her legs. It didn’t stop the pain, but rather soothed it and made it more bearable. “Her body is really swollen. I wonder if that is where the pain is coming from.”

Bingo. Give the man a prize. Hopefully he had some idea what the hell to do about it.

“Mick is not answering his phone. I have called three times and left three urgent messages. I also sent him a text, but he is ignoring me,” said Liam.

Kris was at her side again. “Fuck, Mick. Liam, come over here and sit behind her as Demetri and I sit her up. It says to get her into as close to a sitting position as possible. It might be a good thing that Mick didn’t feed her, because it says this might trigger her gag reflex.”

“Luckily she doesn’t have much of one,” commented Liam. He was such an ass. It did, however, inject some much-needed humor into the distraught air of the room.

“Leave it to you to make a sexual reference right now, Liam.”

Demetri snorted a burst of laughter. “Seriously?” He put one arm at her back and the other under her armpit. Kris did the same and they lifted her upward. Liam slid in behind her, wrapping his arms around her chest as he scooted up closer to her. Ever let her head loll back onto his chest. She almost felt as if she couldn’t hold it up herself.

Kris slowly tore the tape from her nostril. It pinched badly and felt as if the skin had come off with it. “I’m going to do this really slowly. Try not to move, the Net warns that the tube can snap off and then we have real problems.”

Oh peachy, just what she wanted. Moving really wasn’t an issue because she didn’t feel as if she could at the moment. It was obviously going to take her body a bit to recognize that her spirit was back inside it. What if it couldn’t? What if she was trapped forever in flesh that wouldn’t obey her thoughts?

She felt the tube in her nostril move. It was a scratchy feeling that made her want swallow or cough or something. She couldn’t decide exactly what urge was prominent, so she didn’t do anything. Ever concentrated on the feel of Liam’s arms around her, the tight, hot feel of his chest against her back.

Demetri took her hand again, weaving his fingers through hers. “Does she have a favorite song?”

Liam chuckled. “Yeah, ‘Stay.’ She likes Rihanna.”

“So do I.” He began to slowly sing the song, his voice husky and absolutely beautiful. Ever had sounds and sensations to focus her mind on and it was very helpful.

The slow, meticulous movement of the tube stopped and Kris stroked her cheek. “I think it’s almost all the way out. When the end hits your throat, it is going to gag you. Try not to throw up.”

Ever was afraid to nod in acknowledgment, but she braced herself as Demetri went back to the song. Liam was rubbing her skin with his fingers and it suddenly occurred to her that her body was completely naked. She only had on the diaper that she had been mortified to watch her men check and change whenever they changed the babies. They had normally kept a light blanket over her unless the children were feeding, but sitting up, there was no such covering.

Kris quickly tugged the tube the rest of the way, Ever gagged and someone, she thought Demetri, stopped singing and put a hand to her forehead, pushing her head back onto Liam. Ever felt as if she couldn’t breathe, each breath raspy and irritating. Kris stepped up onto the bed and knelt over her legs. He stroked her cheeks. “Ever, calm down, give it a minute for your throat to adjust. Then I will get you some ice to suck on. Are you hearing me?”

She leaned into his hand, fighting to open her eyes again. She didn’t remember closing them, but they were surely closed. They slowly peeled open and she saw that Kris was slightly more in focus. Ever tried to give him a smile, but her face was slow to respond.

He leaned forward and gave her a soft kiss. Her mouth tasted absolutely horrid and she could only imagine what her breath smelled like. “Hey, welcome back.”

“Ice.”

“Okay. Don’t be so impatient.”

She reflexively laughed and her throat tingled for a second before she started to cough. Kris held her face as Liam snuggled tighter to her back. Demetri got up and walked from the room. He was back a few minutes later with a glass of crushed ice. Bless the food processor that had the ability to turn it into snow.

He sat down beside her, taking some finely crushed ice and running it over her lips. Kris took the glass from him and fed her a few small chunks. They felt like heaven on her parched tongue and she managed to smack her lips against the sensation.

One of the babies started to cry, the sound filling the air and her ears in a glorious fashion. It was the first time she heard the sound in her body and she longed to get up and go to them.

“May I?” asked Demetri.

Kris nodded. “Please.”

Demetri got up and came back with one of them cradled in his arms. Ever couldn’t see well enough to know which child it was and she hoped her eyesight would clear. To go through the rest of her life with only shadows before her would be horrible. She did note, however, that the child was giggling. It was nice to know that Demetri had calmed the wailing so quickly. He handed the child to Kris.

“Say hello to your alpha son, Ever. Can you see Seren?”

“Not really. Blurry.”

“Take my word for it. It’s Seren.”

“Okay.”

The child was focused on her and she longed to see him better. Ever blinked her eyes and noted that they cleared slightly. “I have some homeopathic drops that might help in my bag,” said Demetri. “Do you think it would be okay to try them?”

“Let me see them,” replied Kris.

Demetri got up and walked across the room. He was back a moment later and Kris took the object in his hand from him. “I don’t see anything harmful in the ingredients. Do you want to try one eye, Ever?”

She wanted to do something. Her eyes were incredibly gritty and sore. “Yeah.”

Liam leaned back, putting her head on more of an angle as Demetri touched her face. He put a finger above and below her right eye and dripped cold liquid into it. Ever blinked a few times and her vision cleared significantly. At least she could see out of one eye. “Do other one.”

He repeated the action with the other eye and it also cleared. She blinked hard and then did it a few softer times. Everything was still a smidge blurry, but it was ninety percent better. “Thanks. Helped.”

Liam slid back, dragging her with him as he moved back into the headboard. The motion made her wince, but the pain had subsided slightly. She focused on Kris’s eyes. They had gone back to a gorgeous shade of light blue. Obviously, the focus of his attention was no longer on his anger. He held Seren up before her. “Can you see him now?”

“Yes.” Ever had to smile at the absolutely beautiful baby who was grinning at her. He smacked his lips and leaned forward in Kris’s grasp.

“I think he’s hungry. Do you want to try and feed him?”

Ever tried to move her arms and felt the muscles twitch. There was very little response, but her arms did move slightly. Demetri put his hand to her wrist. “Give it time, it will come.”

She certainly hoped so. Liam held out his hands and Kris handed the child to him. With Liam holding the baby to her breast, she got to feel the sensation of her child suckling for the first time. It was a bittersweet victory as he bit her with his tiny teeth. “Ow.”

“Seren,” admonished Kris. “Don’t bite her. I’m rather fond of those nipples and I don’t want them injured.”

Ever wanted to die as she turned her eyes to Demetri. It was embarrassing enough to be sitting naked beside him, without Kris making reference to enjoying her nipples. Demetri chuckled. “I guess her sense of modesty is working properly. Don’t worry, Ever. I was a nudist for a while and even in your current state, you have a great body.”

He grimaced and looked from Kris to Liam guiltily. Kris threw him a glance. It wasn’t angry as she had expected, but more of a look that relayed interest. What the hell was he thinking?

Demetri was actually enjoying watching as the four children fed from Ever’s beautiful breasts. Once they were settled back into their rather cramped, oversized cradle, the three men worked together to try and free up her muscles. As the day passed into night, Ever regained some of the use of her arms and legs and the swelling seemed to recede slightly.

His hands stopped their motion on her upper arm as chills ran up his spine. The sense of threat ticked at his mind as he heard the doorbell ring. “Who are you expecting?” he asked quickly.

“Shit!” muttered Kris. “I completely forgot that Silva was supposed to stop by to get an answer for Tella.”

“It is best that he doesn’t know I’m here. Try to stall him at the door for a few minutes.”

Kris nodded and got up as Demetri made his way to the far corner of the room. Demetri sat down, making his body as small as possible, and then focused on blending himself into the scenery. It wasn’t actually disappearing or becoming invisible, but the family trait was similar to being a chameleon. He could throw a layer of natural power over himself to mottle his surroundings. It was similar to what he had done when trying to calm Ever. The only difference was that her spirit supplied him with twice the natural amount of power and he was able to build a virtual silent bubble around their bodies. It had kept her from becoming distracted by outside noises.

Demetri smiled at the completely stunned expression on both her and Liam’s faces. His little trick had obviously worked. The bedroom door opened and Kris walked in with Silva. The man would not see him, and Demetri was glad not to see Tella. It was better that the woman didn’t know of his presence or his assistance. It wasn’t that he was afraid of her, it was simply that he didn’t want to add fuel to the fire of her impending anger at losing her prized child. Demetri had an idea of what would happen to Seren if Tella got her hands on him. He would grow up under her studious eye as a male prisoner in her home. He would not be allowed to leave, or even go outside into the sun. Once he became old enough…well…old enough in Tella’s opinion, he would be transformed into a sex slave to do her bidding. When and if he was unlucky enough to give her a girl child, he would then have his mental faculties stripped from him so he was little more than a living zombie. What would happen after that, Demetri was afraid to even speculate.