He Knew My Voice Day One Novels & Stories

My heart pounded in my chest, my breath coming in short, rapid gasps. “You,” a deep voice growled, sending a wave a shiver down my spine. I knew that voice, it was the same man who had come to me on the first day I had woken up here. “Didn’t I tell you I'm going to chop your silly little head off if I didn't hear from the king? Didn't I?” he barked, his tone menacing.

His presence made my chest tighten in a way that hurt and soothed all at once. I knew him. I knew I did. He looked at me like I was the only person in the room, like he’d been waiting forever just for me to notice him. When he spoke, his voice hit me like a memory, rich, warm, threaded with affection and mischief all at once. “Hey, boss.” My breath caught. The sound echoed through the dream, rippling through me, unlocking something raw, something missing, something that had been waiting in the dark all this time.

I swore to make him cry blood. “Working late on your first day, I see.” A voice suddenly sounded, and my mouth went dry. I froze, as the voice sent a spark running through my spine. Deep, commanding, I knew who it was even without turning around. My heartbeat doubled. “You look like you've seen a ghost,” the voice sounded much closer. He was advancing towards me. Holy shit. “Tell me, what did you find?”

Gone. He took one slow step toward me. His voice was steady. “I know you.” He shouldn’t have. But he said it like a fact. And I knew my life had just changed, whether I wanted it to or not.

He holds the phone up to his own ear for barely a second, his eyes never leaving mine. Suddenly he presses the phone into my ears. I frown, confused. He nods, signaling me to go on. “Uh... hello?” “Hello.” The voice comes out fast, annoyed. “Who's this?” I freeze. That voice. I know that voice. It’s raspy, familiar, with that distinct arrogance I hear almost every morning of my life. My whole body is rigid, the heat of fury suddenly boiling up. This piece of his story, combined with the voice in my ear, has just assembled into an exhausting picture.

Holding the moment like something he didn't want to startle. I rolled toward him. Eyes still half-closed. My body finding his the way it always did – automatic, the geography of him memorized so thoroughly that I could navigate it in the dark. "Hi," I murmured. Into his chest. Into the tattoo I knew was there without looking. "Hi." His voice. Morning-rough. Low. The voice that existed only in this window – before coffee, before he rebuilt the walls that kept everyone else at arm's length. This voice was mine. Only mine.

He was the one person who seemed to see me through—and he was the last person on earth who should have known I was down here. "Hello, Sierra," he said, his voice a low, gravelly rasp that set my nerves on fire. "Long time no see."

It sounded… uncertain. “Leave,” He said. His voice was low but it carried power. I blinked. “Uh, sorry, who’s offering the terrible advice? I’m a little busy here.” I gestured with a clawed hand at the welcoming committee. “We were just about to exchange… pointed views.” He took another step closer and for the first time, I got a clear look at his face in the gloom and my smart-ass reply died in my throat. I’d never seen him before in my life. But something in my gut… knew him. It was the weirdest damn feeling. Like hearing a song you can’t name but know all the words to.

I’d been so focused on my father that I hadn’t noticed anything else at first. Then I heard his voice. Low. Calm. Steady. “Prepare the OR.” I froze. My body recognized him before my mind could catch up. That voice had lived in my chest for years, buried under distance and time and pretending I’d moved on. I turned slowly too slowly and there he was. Ethan Cruz.

Every muscle in my body locked at once, breath snagging in my throat so hard it hurt. I knew that voice. I knew it all too well. How could I possibly not recognize the voice when I’d spent months listening to it ask gentle questions, hold space for my silences, murmur “take your time” when I couldn’t find words. I’d heard it crack in a park when I kissed him. I’d heard it whisper my name like a prayer while I marked him and fucked him and ruined him.