Elizabeth Finn: Immortal Protector

But the dreams remained. Clouded and shrouded, popping up a time or two a week as a reminder of everything Ember failed to remember.

As Katherine stroked her daughter’s forehead, Ember’s panic and fear faded. Ember was going through a nose-ring phase, and her hair was a most unnatural shade of scarlet red, but she was still as much a child of ten as ever in these moments. But she was also just a teenager. She went out with friends, misbehaved on more than one occasion, missed curfew a time or two, and had been grounded more times than she could recall. Ember was just a normal teenage girl—just one who had very narrowly escaped her own demise and fought constantly to keep the nightmares away.

“Get off me, Todd!” She was panicking.

She’d made the mistake of drinking at the damn party, and now this. Drunk and vulgar dumb-ass jock Todd had her nearly undressed, and in her drunkenness, she was failing pathetically at stopping him. Shit! She was so going to end up the inspiration for some cheesy Lifetime movie. Her mother was addicted to that shit … perhaps she’d check out Ember’s own story … or would that be weird? Her thoughts were fuzzy and drunk. They didn’t make much sense… She’d probably end up played by some C-list actress who couldn’t act. Her mind ran through images of would-be thespians, and she got lost in her thoughts as Todd kept touching her.

Todd’s hands roamed. They took liberties she would never give him were she sober enough to stop him, and when they shoved past the waistband of Ember’s underwear, she wanted to scream. But she was fading, and she was far too busy casting her made-for-TV movie in her foggy mind. As his fingers roughly pried at her sex, his breath sped and panted his excitement in her ear. Ember wanted to push him away, but she was so far away from her own body and soul. She managed a “no” and hoped it sounded convincing, but his hands said clearly it wasn’t.

“I suggest you leave her be, or would you prefer to answer to me instead?” The voice was demanding and so incredibly powerful. His voice alone assured Ember this man was strong. Her eyelids were so very heavy, and she couldn’t see him, but he was powerful, and it left her chanting in support inside her head. You go, stranger! Go on with your bad self and kick Todd’s ass … whoever the hell you are… Every ounce of this man’s strength could be heard in his voice. She could barely open her eyes, and she was unclothed, but humiliation was hard to come by in her current foggy haze. But now, she was saved.

“Fuck you, asshole. She’s willing, and this isn’t your fucking business.”

“She’s drunk, she told you no, and I assure you, she is my business.” The words were spoken on a quiet purr that promised to destroy Todd if he didn’t comply, and Ember kept cheering in her mind. Ember’s eyes were still closed, but as she forced them to open to slits that felt heavier than her eyes had ever felt, she saw him. He was standing in front of her naked body, looking down at her with twinkling hazel eyes. Her savior, and in that moment, she saw him … really saw him, remembered him, knew him. It was as if a flood of memory that had long been forgotten was released in a tidal wave, and as it did, Ember’s eyes teared even in her relief, and those tears spilled down her slack cheeks. She was sure she looked like a freak, lying naked on the floor, smiling a lazy smile with her eyes barely open and tears streaking down her cheeks.

Truman. Truman Solomon. She knew him.

She watched through the slits in her eyes as he reached for Todd’s throat, and holding Todd’s head close to his own, he spoke once more. “If you ever do anything to hurt Ember again, I will kill you. Sleep now.” And as if on cue, Todd’s body slumped to a slackened heap a couple feet from her own.

Mind control. This was impossible. Nothing in life had prepared Ember to see and believe in what she was seeing at this moment. Nothing had prepared her to come face to face with the missing memories of so many years ago that were suddenly circling in her mind. The sight of him over the monster’s shoulder, the tearing, ripping, draining sounds as he devoured the monster in a scene from some god-awful horror movie; that was her life, a damn horror movie. She could still remember the purring, gentle voice as he approached Ember on that cold, dank, basement floor, and the thought alone left her shivering.

When he lifted her, his cool touch sent a strange warmth through her body. He wrapped his arms around her protectively as he wrapped her in a throw he’d grabbed nearby. The second her body was covered, she missed the feel of his skin on hers. Ember usually avoided the touch of men, but this man was different. Where she usually went out of her way to blow guys off at school, she felt safe with him—and Ember didn’t feel safe with anyone.

As he placed Ember in the passenger seat of his sleek, dark car, he reached across her body and buckled her in. He then rounded the car and took his place behind the wheel, pulling away from the home that nearly became another nightmare to add to her collection. Ember continued to watch him. He was calm and cool, and as he approached a light, she spoke. “Are you going to kill me?” She was trying to sound bold and strong, and the memory of the basement hit her again. She’d asked him that very question long ago. She’d been quite bold when she spoke to him then; far bolder than she’d felt.

His eyes twinkled as his gaze moved to hers, and he responded. “You already know the answer to that question. But if you need a reminder, I’m happy to oblige. Not even I could do such a thing.” Truman held her eyes with an amused look on his face as the memories from so long ago played out in her mind. She was struggling to hold her eyes open wide enough to take all of him in, but she didn’t want to look away. His car smelled as delicious as he did, and she found herself wanting to reach out for him to feel the cool touch of his soothing skin once more. He was clean-shaven, and his skin looked smooth and enticing.

She wanted him. She wanted to feel his touch where all others had scared her. She wanted to feel the weight of him pressing in on her body, when all others felt suffocating. Drunk and uninhibited, her body flushed with desire and wetness spread between her legs. And as her body responded to him, he stilled and went rigid beside her. His jaw clenched, and he swallowed hard over a lump in his throat as though there was some shift in him she couldn’t conceive. Had he sensed her want? Was that even possible?

When he carried her into her home, silently passing by her mother’s room, it was again with ease and a cool touch. Her mother was hyper-vigilant when it came to Ember. She had already nearly lost her once, and as her only parent and the weight of her safety sitting squarely on her shoulders, she had little patience for threats to Ember’s security. Even Truman, in all his mysterious otherworldly strength and charm, would be unwelcome in this home, but he seemed not to care at all as he laid her fatigued body on top of her quilted bedspread, pulling the blanket she was wrapped in away from her body. She was left naked and trembling, waiting for his next move.

She wanted his touch. Under the circumstances, it was inappropriate, but she did. She wanted his lips on hers, his hands on her skin. She wanted him to invade her body in the way men seemed so intent on doing without her permission. But it was her friends who did those things, not Ember. Ember had never wanted or desired a man other than the safe and secure ones who occasionally flitted through her fantasies. But he didn’t touch her in that way at all. Instead, he lifted one of her hands to study the knotted and ugly scars that circled her wrists. He studied it and stroked it as her chest rose and fell in her nervousness. The dim lamp beside her bed was on, and her nakedness was causing a flush on her skin. But as he stood from her, walked to her dresser, pulled a nightgown from the drawer, and returned to her … it seemed as though her nudity was not on his mind in the least.