AN ENCOUNTER WITH HIS SOUL

Maya’s pov~

Where am I?

I saw myself from a corner, but strangely not as myself; even though I knew it was me lying on that bed, I could feel the softness of the bedding around my back, and I still couldn't understand it.

Lying beside me was a man, his hair covering his face. He lifted his powerful arm, and I saw him place it on my thigh. I saw myself stir as I felt his touch.

How is this even possible? How am I watching a stranger touch me and still feel it?

This must be a dream, but it didn't feel like it.

I saw myself settle into his body; I scooted my ass over to touch his lap. “You already know what you want, Minu Lill.” 

There it is again, that statement. What does it mean?

He watched him kiss my ear, and then he traced his tongue down my neck until he reached my waiting breasts.

He put the nipple in his mouth and sucked on it. He glanced over at me while he did. I saw the way he looked at me; he wanted to devour me whole.

The room instantly disappeared, and all that I could see now was the bed floating. Now we were deep into the lovemaking.

Am I dreaming?

He grabbed the fatty part of my hip and thrust himself deeper.

“You are so sweet," he whispered. I held onto his strong arm around my eager neck.

"Oh, it feels so good," I moaned into his ear.

I could feel our bodies merge as he went deeper inside me.

I gasped as the unnatural musk hit my nose again.

That’s when I knew who it was; I reached for his hair and shoved it away from his face instinctively. He grinned.

“Did you miss me?”

The light shining through his golden eye almost blinded me.

“Get away from me, you pervert!” I pushed my body away from him, but he held me still.

He laughed heartily before pulling me closer. “That’s never going to happen Minu Lill; your pussy is my meal."

Those words sent a cold rhythm down my spine.

He looked at me with hungry eyes.

“What? No, get away from me!” I tried pushing him off, but he wouldn't budge, almost like we were glued together.

“When I see you, I'll take you at first sight. I'll continue fucking you and going hard on your soft pussy until youwillingly submit yourself to me. You belong to me and only me,. You Minu Lill,” heme, whispered in my ear.

“Not if I put a bullet in your head first."he 

I started to shake myself away until he let me fall off the bed;first." suddenly it felt like I was falling into an endless void.; I was screaming,void. but words failed me.

“You are never getting away from me;screaming, you belong to me." Hisme; voice faded into the background. I woke up, and." His my eyes widened as I gasped for breath.

My voice suddenly came back!

I screamed.up, and My body jerked upright before I even understood where I was. 

Then I stopped.

My skin was clammy and cold, as if I had been pulled out of ice, and my chest burned. 

As memories of him—his eyes, his voice, the way he touched me—lingeredscreamed. like something I couldn't get rid of, my fingers curled into the sheets under me, and I gripped them—lingered tight.

It was Alek;them not only was he unnatural, he was now hunting me in my dreams.

The dream hit too vividly, too real, but how did I get back here? The last thing I remember was the storm.

My breath came in short bursts as I looked around anxiously, expecting to find him standing there, watching me, cornering me again, but instead—

“Maya, easy… easy, child.”

The voice was soft. Grounding and feminine, and that meant safe. 

I relaxed.

I turned sharply, my heart still racing, and found Mrs.Alek; Harlow, Kate’s mother, sitting beside me, a warm smile and a bowl of soup resting in her hands. 

The steamMrs. from it curled gently into the air, carrying a comforting spicy scent that felt almost foreign after everything.

After that unnatural musk that never leaves me.

“You’re safe,” she said again, her eyes kind but lined with worry. steamI took the bowl from her and thanked her with a nod.

Words are starting to slowly form.

“You fainted in the storm, Maya."worry. 

I swallowed hard, my throat dry. “I fainted in the storm… how?”

She nodded before propping up the pillow to sit behind me.

"A, Maya." man brought you home. Said he found you lying on the road, drenched in the rain;"A you were shivering."rain; She paused, studying my face for my next question.

"No,shivering." he didn't stay long.” 

My stomach twisted, a man.

a kind stranger or someone stalking me, like the masked man from the club.

He did threaten me.

I forced my shoulders to relax, even though every nerve in my body screamed otherwise. “Did he tell you his name?”

Helen Harlow shook her head. “No. Just said to take care of you.”

I looked down at myself. My clothes had been changed into something dry—one of Kate’s oversized shirts,"No, I think.

But how did they know to bring me to her parents’ house? The cottage that Kate and I share was a little far from here but close to where the apartment building was.

This wasn't an ordinary helping man.

My own things were nowhere in sight, almost like she was in my head.

“Your clothes were soaked through,” Helen added gently.

“I washed them for you."shirts,

“Thank you,” I whispered, touching her arm fondly.." I felt bad for Helen, managing a bum of a husband and now a dying daughter.

Silence settled between us for a moment, heavy but not uncomfortable. 

“Kate is still hooked to machines for life support,"fondly.support," she started.

“How is she?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper; I needed to know.

Helen’s smile faltered, just slightly. 

“The same, we listed the cottage for sale but we could barely get 50 thousand from it; it's useless. I've exhausted all I have on keeping the machines on," she sighed. 

“Doctors say… we just have to keep trying; her father… well, he doesnt much care."

Keep trying.

A small statement for something so impossible.

I pushed the blanket off me and swung my legs over the side of the bed, ignoring the slight dizziness that followed. 

“She’s going to wake up,” I said, more firmly this time. “She has to.”

Helen looked at me, really looked at me, like she was searching for something to believe in.

“I hope so,” she said quietly.

Before I could respond, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper.

“I don't know what happened, honey, but your clothes smelled like a compost bin, but I found this while I was getting your things,” she said, handing it to me.

"I didn’t mean to pry, but… I thought maybe this might help our situation a bit.”

I hesitated a little before taking it from her

The paper was slightly crumpled, damp at the edges, and smelled like decaying food.

I unfolded it slowly.

CRIXTON KURR’S BLOOD DONATION PROGRAM.

A DRIVE-THROUGH OUTREACH.

I glanced through the flyer before my eyes landed on something.

Donate and receive a $5,000 compensation package.

My breath caught.

"Mrs. Harlow, it says five thousand dollars for a blood donation? Is this real?”

She shrugged but encouraged me to continue reading.

My eyes scanned the rest.

The location, time, and eligibility. 

It all looked legit. Very organized.

I smiled. Hope surged so suddenly it almost hurt.

“That’s… a lot, Mrs. Harlow," I exhaled, my fingers tightening around the pamphlet. “This could cover her next treatment. At least keep the machines hooked while we look for the rest."

Helen nodded, but her voice immediately sounded concerned. “It’s safe, isn’t it?”

I nodded, though I wasn’t entirely sure. But right now, certainty didn’t matter.

Opportunity did.

“I’ll do it,” I said. “I’ll sign up.”

Aleksandr’s Pov~

I banged my hand on my grandfather’s desk.

“A blood donation? That’s your plan to get yourself an heir?” I smirked; my grandfather had finally lost his mind.

I watched him smile and nod at me. “You must be patient, my boy; if you want your inheritance back, you have to be strategic." 

I shook my head again, “How does this..." I waved the flyer in the air. “Help me take Kelvin out?”

“Shhhhh!!” My grandfather exclaimed, hitting me with his cane. I winced in pain and instinctively stepped away.

“I can't keep hiding forever, Grandpa. These prosthetic masks I have to wear, the eye patch hiding what makes me a Harrington—I'm through. Do you hear me?" I was frustrated, and my grandfather could tell.

“The walls have ears, Aleksandr. Listen to me carefully. I don't like the idea of your mother’s bastard sitting on my throne either. My grandfather worked very hard to get us to where we are; it's our legacy, not his." He paused before gesturing for me to come closer.

“But he is the shareholders’ choice," I whispered. "How do we top that?”

My grandfather laughed, “After tomorrow, I'm not so certain that will be the case." My grandfather glared at me.

I looked at the flyer again. “You are making Petra’s parents the main sponsor; I don't understand."

My grandfather laughed heartily. “Why don't you wait, Alek? The storm is already settling. Tomorrow, you are going to get your answer."