Taken Over

   I wanted to press him on it, wanted to understand why he would lie over something so simple, but I knew he wasn’t going to tell me the truth. Perhaps I was imagining it, but I didn’t think so. “I wish we could stay, but I have to get back. I’m sure Abby and Aiden have started to worry about me by now.”

   He nodded, the distance in his gaze fading as his fingers stroked over my cheek. I buried my doubts as I leaned into his gentle touch. I didn’t want anything to spoil the joy of this moment. I couldn’t get over how wonderful it was to have him here again, how whole I felt with him here. I had never thought of myself as boy crazy or needing a man to make me happy. I had never thought that I would everneed someone else to survive. But I did need him.

   I had survived without him, but I had been unable to truly live. Now I could live again, now I could feelagain. And I could smile and laugh without feeling guilty or lost or adrift in a world that terrified me without him. A world that, though it still possessed love and wonder, without him had been empty and cold.

   “I wish we didn’t have to go either.” He threaded his fingers through my hair, curling it gently around his fingers.

   “They’ll be shocked to see you.”

   God I loved his smile. It was so rare, so fleeting, and yet it lit his entire face. It sparkled in his eyes and radiated with his love for me. “No less than you were.”

   He pulled me closer to him, kissing me softly. That wonderful smile, those magnificent lips. All my doubts and fears were pushed aside as they warmed me to the very depths of my soul. He pulled slowly away from me; his eyes glowed with more than just love. My toes curled in response to the ravenous gleam in his gaze. I was certain that he could devour me, that he wanted too, but it was more than just my body he wanted. A jolt of surprise tore through me as I caught sight of something within Cade that I had never seen before. Something dark and dangerous. Something that I didn’t understand, but it wanted possession of me in ways that I couldn’t even begin to fathom.

   Had they done something to him in there? Had they changed him somehow? Was that why he had lied to me?

   The thought terrified me, but I couldn’t shake it as that dark gaze burned into me. Seeming to realize my sudden trepidation he blinked and then managed a wan smile. The look was gone from his gaze, but I couldn’t forget it, and he couldn’t hide it completely.

   “Cade…”

   “Let’s get you back Bethany.”

   “Are you ok Cade?”

   “I’m fine.” His fingers entwined with mine. He lifted my hand to place a soft kiss against my knuckles. “Lead the way.”

   I studied him for a moment longer, but there was no evidence of the darkness I had seen just moments ago. No evidence of anything other than the man that I had always known and loved. I must have been imagining things. I had become so accustomed to the bad, that I could not allow myself to simply enjoy the wonder of his return.

   I squeezed his hand tight as I led him back through the forest. Even though my runs were often hectic and panicked with my need for escape, I was somehow always able to make my way back to the farmhouse. Something in my subconscious must have remembered the route because I sure as hell wasn’t any good with directions. As we walked, I told him everything that had happened since he’d been gone. Everything we had gone through, the losses we’d experienced, the places we’d been, and our trip to Plymouth.

   In the begi

   “You trust this Dr. Bishop?”

   That wasn’t the response I had expected. I had told my tale; I had thought that his was going to be forthcoming now. “Well, yes,” I said hesitatingly. “He’s very smart, he saved my life, and he’s a good man.”

   Cade made a noncommittal sound that puzzled me. My uneasiness grew. I didn’t know what had been done to him, what he’d had to endure while imprisoned by the aliens. I studied his countenance. Even if they had somehow managed to change him, I knew that he still loved me, it was obvious. But what had happened to him? Where had he been? How had he escaped? And why wasn’t he telling me?

   I tried to bury my multiple questions and doubts, hating myself for them. Of course they had changed him, of course he was different. We were both different after what we had endured. We were alldifferent from what we’d endured.

   “Does he have any idea why you are different than the others?”

   His question sounded nonchalant but there was a new tension racing through his body. His shoulders were tight, his eyes hard. I didn’t tell him about my own fears, my own doubts about myself. I couldn’t bring myself to speak of them. I didn’t want him to look at me differently; I didn’t want him to fear for me. And if I was going to be honest with myself, I didn’t want to think about them right now. Cade’s return had given me a reprieve from the abnormalities in my blood, and until this morning I hadn’t thought about it again. I wasn’t ready to worry about it now either.

   “No. Not yet. But hopefully he will be able discover something that will help the others.”

   “Hopefully.”

   He had agreed with me, but he didn’t sound overly convinced. “What is your blood type?” I asked softly.

   The small smile he gave me did not reach his eyes. “O negative.”

   “At least Bishop won’t be trying to stab you on a daily basis.” I had tried to sound light, but my voice sounded flat even to me.

   “He shouldn’t be stabbing you, either.”

   I swallowed heavily, my hand tightened around his. “What happened to you Cade? Where have you been?”

   He was silent for a long moment, his hand was firm and warm in my tight grasp. “There are some things that you are better off not knowing Bethany.”

   “Cade…” His dark gaze swung toward me, the turmoil within it more than apparent. I wanted to push him, wanted to know what had been done to him. Wanted to know why he seemed so off, but it was more than apparent that he did not want to talk about it. I swallowed heavily. “Whatever happened I can handle it Cade. If you decide one day that you want to talk to me, I’ll be here for you. I’ll always be here for you.”

   “I want to talk to you every day for the rest of our lives Bethany, just not about this. Not right now anyway.”

   “Ok. I understand.” I said the words, but I was slightly wounded and still a little confused by him.

   He stopped walking suddenly. A small gasp of surprise escaped me as he wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me against him. “I don’t want to hurt you; it’s the last thing in the world that I want. For right now though, t hisis all I want. I just want you, and I just want to live in the present. I want to think of our future, not the past. I just want to be.”

   His eyes were haunted, but there was a feverish light in them. He needed this, he needed me to understand his desires, and I could not refuse him. There were things I did not wish to discuss with him, at least not right now anyway. He was not asking me to kill someone; he was not asking me to abandon my family. He was simply asking me not to make him relive his pain. My heart swelled, ached. I wished that I could take whatever it was that had hurt him so badly away, wished I’d had more faith that he had somehow survived, maybe I could have rescued him sooner if I’d had.

   “I never should have given up on you. I should have come after you.”