Chapter 32

Axel approached the first church ‘a few blocks down’ as the Hello Kitty female had described. The place looked empty. He stood outside the door and pressed his ear up against the panel, but heard nothing. The place felt desolate, but still, he had to check.

He opened the doors and walked into the foyer. As he entered the large hall, he gasped.

The beauty astounded him.

Large, stained glass windows cast rainbows of colors along the walls and floors, and he wondered if it was similar to what Eden saw around people. The thick, brown carpet muffled his footsteps as he passed the rows of maple-colored pews and walked toward the white, marble altar.

He kept his eye on the man on the cross lingering on the wall at the front of the church, His hands and feet nailed to the wood. Axel studied every detail from the thorny crown all the way down to the droplets of blood trickling down His toes.

In his time on Earth, he’d studied many religions, but he’d never actually visited any place of worship. The silence engulfed him and wrapped around him like a warm blanket, offering comfort.

He could feel the sanctity in the air, and sweat began forming on his brow. He didn’t belong in a place like this. Someone pure and good did; someone like Eden. Him being in a church was like a shit stain on a white carpet, and it hurt just a little bit. He wished he knew how to be a different male—a normal one—but he didn’t. There wasn’t a deity who could save his rotten, decrepit soul, but one female made him feel as if it could happen. Instead of staring at the beauty of God’s House, he needed to do the one thing he did best.

Kill.

He turned and walked toward the door.

Stepping out into the morning sunlight, he walked two blocks south and found the other church Google had been kind enough to point out. He heard yelling coming from inside as he climbed the stairs and figured he’d found the right place unless he was about to stumble on a whole lot of praying going on.

He pulled open the large, wooden door and stepped into the foyer. It was standing room only, and he got a fairly good view of what was going on as he looked over the tops of people’s heads.

The church looked very similar to the previous one he’d just been in, except the pews seemed a little darker, and the carpet a dark blue color. The stained glass windows didn’t seem to emanate as much color as the others had, almost as if the building knew it had been contaminated by the whole horrid affair taking place.

Everyone in the crowd remained quiet, but a female voice echoed off the walls. He didn’t catch what she said because the scene in front of him had his blood rushing through his body at such a fast pace, he couldn’t hear a damn thing if he tried.

A few men stood scattered along the walls. Most had guns in their hands, their stares focused on the front of the church. He wondered which one was the infamous Judas, the one who had organized this whole sick scenario.

A group of about ten women stood below the altar completely nude, none of them looking happy to be there. He could smell the scent of fresh blood, but couldn’t see where it came from. Glancing around, he found Eden within seconds, almost as if he was drawn to her, connected in some way.

She stood off to the left fully clothed. She pushed her tangled hair behind her ear as her whole body trembled. Tears washed down her cheeks, and he could practically smell her fear.

A man stood behind her, and Axel pegged him at just over six feet tall, a small smile playing on his clean-shaven face. Axel squinted, unsure of what he saw. Did that fucker have horns on his forehead? It didn’t matter because he knew on instinct that this would be Judas, as he seemed to be enjoying himself far too much.

He heard something about the Countess, a sacrifice, then the crowd of naked females was escorted to the right side of the church, while Eden’s group was shoved up in front of the altar.

The woman’s voice echoed around the room. “Undress to be judged!”

He didn’t need to hear any more. No one saw his mate’s fair, beautiful skin, her large, firm breasts, or her precious belly button, except for him. As for the rest of the women in the church … this shit was just flat-out wrong. Memories of his time as a sex slave began to close in, but he pushed them aside. He would do everything in his power to get everyone out alive.

The vast pool of rage he’d kept under control during the night had been ignited, and a blanket of calm came over him. His heart beat steadily; the tension he’d been holding throughout his body loosened. He counted his adversaries, numbering them at fifteen. He would destroy them all without hesitation.

The men in front of him let out a few catcalls as the women began to slowly undress, their cries meeting his ears. He slipped his knife from its holster.

Within seconds, he’d sliced the throats of the three men in front of him. It took a few moments for the Countess’ followers to register that they were being slaughtered, one by one. But when they did, mass chaos erupted.

With his gun in one hand, his knife in the other, the carnage continued. Innocents screamed as they ducked behind pews or scrambled past his feet while heading for the door. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Eden and a herd of other women crawl down the middle aisle toward him, their fear and panic evident in their screams and tears. They pushed and shoved, trying to scurry over the other. If they weren’t careful, they’d all be hurt.

He took aim over the crowd and put a bullet between the eyes of a man across the room who shot at him, then arms circled his neck.

He grabbed them, bent forward, flipping his assailant over his shoulders so he lay on the ground in front of him. Without hesitation, Axel buried a knife in his chest. A stinging sensation registered in his bicep, but he ignored it.

Eden was almost within his grasp, and most of the Countess’ followers came at him with weapons in their hands, rage on their faces. He jammed his elbow into one man’s throat, sending him to the ground gasping for air. As one attacker lunged, he stepped out of the way, then pushed him, sending him head first into a wall. Axel heard the plaster crack above the screams of terror, and the man slowly sank to his knees when Axel put a bullet in his head.

“Axel! Axel!”

He looked down to see Eden at his feet grasping his leg, as if she were going to climb him like a tree. Reaching down, he grabbed her arm and hauled her to standing, pressing her against the wall behind him to shield her. The cold fingers of fear clawed at him, almost crippling him. He’d made himself the focus in the room, and now Eden stood behind him, becoming a target herself.

Another stinging sensation crossed his arm, and again, he ignored it. His main priority now was to get Eden to safety. If she ended up with even a scratch, he’d never forgive himself.

“Hold on to my jacket,” he said over his shoulder, “and don’t let go. Stay behind me.”

He moved to his right, glad to see that the assailants who were left gave him a wide berth. As he swung his gun from side to side, they kept their distance, but with their weapons trained on him. He and Eden had reached the door to the entry hall, and he pushed her backward. Thankfully, she kept her footing and didn’t let go of his jacket. The man who had stood behind her when he’d first walked in now watched the mêlée from the stairs in front of the altar, his gaze never wavering from Axel, and he knew right then and there that their paths would be crossing again. And yes, the fucker did have horns and a gold hoop through his nose.

Once they’d cleared the door and he could smell the cool morning air, he had a decision to make. Not every one of the innocents was out, but if he didn’t lock the bad guys in, they’d come after him.

As he debated what to do, he recalled his time in slavery. He and the other captives had been kept in crate-like cells piled on top of one another, their bodies held in stasis until the doors were opened.

Somehow, one of the other children had escaped, and as he ran from his holding cell, Axel and the others had begged him to let them out. He’d refused, and just kept running. Eventually, he’d been caught, but all the sex slaves had been punished. Axel often wondered if that kid had helped the rest of them escape, could they have fought their way to freedom?

He wouldn’t leave the innocents with their captors, even though The Countess’ followers would come after him, but he’d just have to deal with it. He left the doors open, and he pulled Eden out into the morning sun as sirens sounded in the distance.

He took Eden’s hand and led her through streets, glad all her running allowed her to keep up with him. Thankfully, things seemed pretty quiet after the night of rioting, and they moved down the sidewalk easily once they broke free of the women scattering from the church.

The SUV was parked about four blocks away in front of his studio apartment. If they could get to the apartment and wait for the police to regain control and open the city back up, they could head back to the silo in relative safety.

Axel gazed over his shoulder as they ran to make sure they weren’t being followed. He didn’t see anyone, but he couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched.

They reached the apartment, and he fished the keys from his pocket as they bounded down the steps. He had the door open in a flash, and pushed Eden inside. He followed, then shut the door and pressed his ear against the door trying to detect any sign of anyone outside. When he heard nothing, he leaned his forehead against the panel and fought to catch his breath.

Shutting his eyes, he allowed the exhaustion he’d been holding at bay to roll through him. He’d been up for almost twenty-four hours, and most of that time, he’d been on the move throughout the city looking for Eden.

He heard her come up behind him and place a hand on his shoulder. “You’re bleeding, Axel.”

Yeah, he knew that. That stinging had been bullets catching his arm. “They’re flesh wounds.”

Keeping his head against the door, he feared looking at her. She’d seen him at his worst, or his best, depending on how he looked at it. However, he couldn’t imagine watching him kill male after male had sat very well with the pure and beautiful Eden.

“Can you please look at me?”

He really didn’t want to. He didn’t want to see any fear or disappointment or disgust on her pretty features. However, he could never deny her anything.

Taking a deep breath, he wiped the sweat from his brow and turned.

As he met her gaze, he didn’t see any of the things he thought he would find. Instead, her features were contorted in worry and panic.

They stared at each other a long moment. Tears shimmered in her eyes, and he hoped they didn’t fall. He wanted to make her forget the nightmare she’d been through, but he didn’t know how.

Eden collapsed against him as the tears trickled down her cheeks. He wrapped his arms around her, but then saw he had blood caked on his hands, so he tried to hold her without touching her, without dirtying her.

She gripped his waist like he had become her life vest and she was lost at sea. He didn’t know what to do to take away her fear and pain, so he just stood there and hoped she was getting whatever she needed as the tears soaked into his shirt.

After a few moments, she stepped away from him and wiped her face. Deep purple rings lay below her eyes, and her hair looked greasy and wet, her skin pale. The night had been a terrifying experience for her, and he wanted to kill everyone all over again.

“Are you going to be okay?”

She nodded. “I don’t think I’ve ever been so scared.”

“That’s understandable, but you’re safe now.”

“How did you find me? What about Beverly?”

“She’s fine. She told Hudson that you’d disappeared and he called me and asked me to find you.” He pulled his phone out of his jeans pocket and handed it to her. “You need to call him.”

As she sat on the bed and placed her head in her hands, he looked at his own. He needed to get the gore off him.

“I’m going to take a quick shower, okay?”

“Yes.”

He walked into the bathroom, but only shut the door part way so he could hear everything from the main room.

After stripping off his clothes, he leaned in and turned on the water, then caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. His beard and face had been splattered with blood. The two bullet grazes on his arm had stopped bleeding, but still looking nasty and might need to be healed or stitched.

Placing his hands on the sink, he stared at himself. He looked just as tired as Eden.

He tried to think of a way that he could have saved Eden without having her witness him killing anyone, and he supposed he could have just hurt them, but then, they’d still be able to injure or kill him right back. That would be unacceptable. He’d been trained to be an assassin, and that’s what he did. He just wished he hadn’t exposed Eden to it.

Stepping under the hot spray, he grabbed the soap and washed his hands, then his face, beard, and hair. The blood came off him in a river of red, and he scrubbed until the water eventually ran clear. He placed his palms on the tile and closed his eyes, allowing the pulsing jets to hit his face.

He also needed to talk to her, to find out the details of what had happened during the night. If anyone had so much as bruised her, he would—

A delicate hand landed on his spine, and his breath caught in his throat. Thin arms wrapped around his waist as Eden pressed her chest into his back. Bowing his head, he looked down at her hands clasped at his belly button, then stood up straight and placed his over them.

His doubts about what he’d done began to fade, but the fear of almost losing her returned. If he hadn’t scared her away, he couldn’t go on without her, and Hudson would simply need to understand that and deal with it.

“Your back is beautiful,” Eden said, her voice barely audible above the spray.

The tattoo. He’d forgotten about that.

Turning around, he pushed her damp hair away from her face and palmed her cheeks as he admired the pink nipples on her heavy breasts, the flare of her hips, and the little patch of black curls at her sex that he loved to nuzzle. He didn’t see any marks or bruising on her, and that relaxed him a little bit further. “You see me.”

She smiled and nodded, running her hands over his ribcage to his hips. “Yes, I do.”

He shook his head. “I never wanted you to witness that side of me that you saw today.”

A shadow passed over her face, but left quickly. “What I saw today was a man who would do anything in the world to protect the one he loved.”

Hell, yes, did he love her. “Yeah, I would.”

She stood on her tiptoes and laced her hands behind his neck, gently pulling his head downward.

Their lips met, and all feelings of exhaustion disappeared. His body crackled with desire, as if lightning shot through his veins and ended up in the tip of his cock. The need to be with Eden—the need of an SR44 male to be with his mate—roared within him.

She threaded her fingers through his hair, fisting the short, wet strands. It didn’t hurt, but it jacked him up even further. He grabbed the globes of her ass and pulled her flush to him, his cock pressed up against her stomach, the sweet friction of their wet bodies making him even harder.

As she ran her hands over his shoulders, taking care not to hit his wound, he disappeared into that place of velvet and headiness, where his brain seemed to completely clear out. The fear, the worry, the panic … it all went away. The only thing that even remotely mattered was Eden.

Their tongues dueled in furious passion as he clung to her—his life, his light. He ran his hands up and down her back as the frantic need to plunge his cock into her heightened.

Perhaps this moment should be sweet, a gentle reunion of lovers who had been through a horrible ordeal. However, the way Eden feverishly touched him, her hands felt as if they caressed him everywhere at once. It almost seemed as if she were desperate to get closer to him and to feel every inch of him.

Pressing her up against the wall, he lifted her up, ignoring the pain in his shoulder as he held both her legs wide, and relief flooded him when she didn’t try to clasp her feet behind him. After the night he’d had and all the feelings it had brought, he walked a very fine line emotionally. He didn’t want to feel trapped in any way; he just wanted and needed Eden.

In one swift moment, he plunged his shaft into her soft, silken core. She gasped and cried out as she gripped the back of his neck with both hands.

While he pounded his hips into hers, he stared at her. Strands of wet hair stuck to her flushed face while her full lips remained parted as she panted with each thrust. Their gazes locked as she palmed his cheeks while staring at him through hooded lids.

“Harder,” she whispered.

Feeling absolutely feral and animalistic, he growled and quickened his pace.

“Harder, Axel.”

He could barely hear her voice above the water beating on the old, yellowing tile, but he kept his gaze trained on her lips so he could do what she asked.

As he obliged, her cheeks turned positively crimson. He could see the sheer love she felt for him in her dark eyes, and although he knew he wasn’t worthy, nor would he ever be, he’d take whatever she was willing to give him, and he’d deliver whatever she wanted.

“More.”

Fuck. At this pace, he wouldn’t last long, and if he went any harder, he’d screw her right through the wall into the damn kitchenette.

As her legs swung and her breasts swayed, she gripped his shoulders as though her life depended on him. His gaze followed her left hand as she reached down between them and began rubbing herself. He watched her fingers move frantically while his cock slid in and out of her folds, and he knew he was done.

Eden closed her eyes and tilted her head back, a primal scream emanating from her. It was sexual release, but there was more to it. It was as if he could hear the terror leaving her, as well.

As her inner walls fisted him, contracting over and over around him, he came on a low groan with such force, his knees weakened. While he stood there and tried to catch his breath, he realized that all the anxiety he’d been feeling had disappeared with the orgasm. Now, all he wanted to do was carry Eden to bed and wrap his big body around her, then sleep.

He gently set her down, and she leaned against him, her hands on his shoulders again. It was as if he was the only thing standing in the way of her collapsing.

Wrapping his arms around her, he set his chin on top of her head and closed his eyes. As they stood under the spray, he decided he never wanted to leave the small stall because in this shitty studio with the yellowing tiled bathroom, he’d once again found his slice of paradise.

Exhaustion tore through him, and he tilted her face up and kissed her forehead. “Let’s get you washed up, and then we’ll go to bed.”

She nodded sleepily as he reached for the shampoo.