The S-Gene (Book 1: Amelia) - COMPLETE

“Good morning.”

Amelia forced her eyes tightly shut before opening them. A sense of panic twisted her guts, and she held her breath for a second. It wasn’t until her vision focused and she saw Noah laying next to her that her stress levels reduced.

He was there, bare chest, his head resting in the palm of his hand to prop himself up. Noah was staring at her, his left cheek sunk in as he appeared to be chewing the inside. Nervous. Noah was nervous.

“Morning,” she replied, her voice hoarse. She cleared her throat, hoping to fix it. “Have you been awake long?”

He rolled his lips together. “No, not long.”

Oh god, what did she even look like right now? Probably a freaking mess. She tried to rectify the situation by smoothening the side of her hair with her hand. They had sex. She slept with Noah.

After everything, after all the pretending, the struggles… It had happened.

“You look beautiful.”

Darn. Her vain concerns were too obvious.

A small heat boomed on her cheeks and she turned her head to the left. “So no one’s come yet huh?”

It was not as though she expected a quick rescue, but she did wonder what their game plan was. Leave them here until they had what they wanted? Break them down psychologically? Eventually, they would need food.

One look at Noah was enough to notice that he did not seem to share her interest regarding Genecorp’s plan. He gave a few sidelong glances while keeping his head still. He drew his mouth into a straight line and bit into his lips.

Was he concerned? About what?

“Noah?”

He swallowed, nodding at her. “I-I don’t know.”

“You okay?”

“Yeah.”

He flipped onto his back, breaking the eye contact, before running his fingers through his wild hair. “Sorry about - you know.”

No, she didn’t know. “About Genecorp?”

“No. About last night.”

He was sorry they had sex? Okay, now she was hella fucking confused. “I-did you not…” Amelia was pretty fucking sure he had wanted it. No one had lavished each other with consent words but… she didn’t think anybody forced anybody.

She sat up in the bed, turning her body to face him. “I’m sorry-I thought you…”

“No, no I did,” he hurried to reply as he propped himself up. “I wasn’t sorry about that. I was sorry that you didn’t…”

His mouth twisted and his cheeks burned red as he looked away from her. His hand slapped the back of his neck and he gripped the skin hard enough to turn it white. “You know.”

That was a lot of you know for things she didn’t know.

She searched his eyes, hoping to find an answer as to what was bothering him so much, and what he felt he had to apologize for but… she drew a blank. Did he think he lured her into this? Because she had wanted it as well.

“Noah, what’s going on?”

Alright, now his face was a shade of red darker. What was so… Oh. Oh. “Are you sorry because I didn’t…”

He winced. “Yeah.”

Amelia slapped a hand on her mouth, covering the laughter that wanted to bubble out of her. How could he be sorry about that? It wasn’t like he had been purposefully selfish and disregarded her pleasure. Plus, the moment had been far from horrible. She had enjoyed it. She had expected that ending.

She had no issue with it.

“I’m not upset, Noah. I liked it.”

“But I did, you didn’t.”

“And that’s fine.”

His ego didn’t appear to believe that it was indeed fine. How was she supposed to convince him? Oh - wait, had she hurt his feelings by talking about Genecorp first? She hadn’t meant to do that. That evil corporation had become her entire world.

Though last night gave her a moment of peace, a moment away from the ugliness that was her life, that gloomy cloud remained, hanging over her head. How could she move on from this while she was trapped here?

She was even more trapped now. Stuck in a house with no exit. She had considered breaking down the doors, but they appeared to be reinforced, and honestly, who the fuck knew what she would find on the other side of it all?

No, focus Amelia. Present moment, present moment.

“Noah, trust me, I needed it.”

This time, it was her turn to find it difficult to meet his eyes. She felt desperate. She had clung to him and she didn’t even know if she had given him the chance to not be there for her. She had run to him, bothered him for help and advice. She had let him put his own peaceful life on hold for her.

Sometimes she doubted him because why would anyone do any of these things for her?

This place had challenged what she taught about love, about life. It showed her the darker side of people, which ended up being much worse than anything she had ever imagined. So how could she trust something good when she was surrounded by so much bad?

“I can do better.”

She tried not to giggle; wow, his pride was really wounded.

“Noah…”

But she wasn’t given a chance to properly protest. Instead, he tilted his body, putting a hand on each side of hers, trapping her beneath him. “I wanna do better.”

His name was caught in her throat, her lips parted as she looked up at him. His lips descended on her neck, his mouth finding the pulse point on her neck. He nibbled at it, her insides clenching.

Since she had not found her release last time, her body was a little tightly winded. A mere touch was enough to start her spark in her loins. Noah slowly kissed his way down to her collarbone and she held her breath.

Last night, she hadn’t gotten dressed after everything. Leaving her completely exposed to him. And by the warm flesh she felt pressed to her inner thigh, he had not either.

As one hand found its way to her drenched core, she pressed her face to his chest, feeling like her heart might explode... He slid a finger back inside, slowly stroking, withholding himself from rubbing her clit.

Once his fingers were coated with her juices, he pulled out and rubbed his cock. He placed himself right there, the head pushing, promising to stretch her. She didn’t move, she didn’t speak but after a beat, she tilted her head back to look at him.

It was enough. It gave him the push he needed.

As he stared at her, he thrust, filling her, stretching her. Her eyes widened, and her breath was taken away. He filled her to the brim and then he began pounding inside of her. Her blunt nails dug into his shoulders, leaving red marks behind.

Amelia couldn’t catch her breath, desperate to hold on to him. She licked her lips and squeezed her legs tighter around his waist. He seemed more confident this time. Though some of his motions were clumsy, he wasn’t afraid to be more forceful. He hooked his hands around the back of her knee, allowing him more depth.

Oh fuck.

“N-Noah.”

Her brain was buzzing, her heat flustered as she felt beads of sweat covering her flesh. Her toes curled, her heart racing and her lips found his neck. She tugged at the skin, leaving a trail of red marks behind.

She was loud - louder than before. He was stretching her, pushing in further than she thought she could handle. Desire grew in the pit of her stomach and the reality had surpassed what she’d expected.

Last time, she had allowed him to control the reign, discover at his pace. Now that he appeared determined, she decided to be greedy.

“F-faster.”

His eyelids fluttered, and he was more than happy to grant her that request. His speed picked up, slamming into her, her thighs smacking around his waist. Her toes were scratching at his back, desperate pleas were spilling from her lips.

For a second, he gave the impression that he had lost himself within the moment. He was rough, and she got louder with every thrust of his hips. Last time, he had built up momentum, but the intensity and the duration hadn’t been strong and long enough to get her there.

This time?

Amelia was trying to grab onto anything she could touch. His skin, the sheets. Anything. There was a faint taste of blood in her mouth, forcing her to realize that at some point, she had bitten through the thin membrane of her lip.

“T-there.”

Oh god, oh god.

A little more, just a little more.

Then it happened.

She quivered around him, her whole body shaking and even if he had wanted to pull out, he wouldn’t have been able to; she had a steel grip on him. His face was buried in the crook of her neck, and despite the trembling of his body, he held himself back long enough for her to ride out her orgasm.

It wasn’t until her body grew limper that he managed a few more strokes before coming undone himself. He nearly collapsed on top of her, but he buckled his elbows, preventing the crash.

Jesus fucking christ.

Amelia let her legs drop down, her arms weakly still holding on to him. She nuzzled the inside of his neck, blissfulness enveloping her.

This was what she had been looking for this whole time.

“Miss Parks?”

At the sound of the foreign voice, her first instinct was to bury herself beneath Noah, hiding her nakedness. What the fuck who was that? WHAT?

Noah stiffened as he lowered himself to cover her and turned his neck. She tried to tilt her head to see around him.

Three, no four men?

“Miss Parks, are you alright?”

Did this look like an appropriate moment to ask her that?

“This man is not who you think he is.”

This… did they… did they think he was the shapeshifter? None of this made sense. “WAIT!” she screamed, burning her throat. “This is Noah… the other, he… he’s dead.”

Her instinct was to leap away, but she couldn’t; not naked like this. Also, why were they showing up now pretending to be the good guys when they all knew they were not? Else they would have been here a long time ago…

“Could you leave the room?”

Noah’s booming voice surprised her and she tilted her head to look at him. He was fucking pissed. “You already let her be taken. The least you could do is let her get dressed.”

The men appeared to be hesitant. Seriously, they wanted her to come out naked? For fuck’s sake. She watched as one of them pressed their ear. “We have them, sir. Yes. No, he was taken care of. Yes both of them are here.”

Was this brand new information to them, or were they playing a part? She couldn’t trust a single thing from them.

“Very well, sir.” He dropped his arm to his side. “You may get dressed. We will then accompany you to get physical. To ensure you are well and to find out what happened. Genecorp apologizes.”

A physical - yeah right. Fucking bullshit.

But what could they do? How could they get out of this?

She looked at Noah who was still glaring at them. They were fucked, weren’t they?

***

“I cannot tell you how relieved we were to locate you - unharmed.”

Oh, relieved. Sure, like they hadn’t known what was going to happen. As if they didn’t let that psycho kidnap her. Was that the game they were playing? It couldn’t be that easy, it couldn’t be that simple.

“And here I was, thinking I could trust your security,” she replied with a smile as she leaned into the uncomfortable plastic chair.

They had not taken her back to the house they had so generously lent her. No, she was back where she had learned the truth, where she had seen a human turn into a wolf for the very first time. At least they had let them put some clothes on.

Still, there had to be a reason they had taken her right back to Dr. Harper.

The room was small and uncomfortable. As if she was in a police station being interrogated. They wanted something from her and now she had to figure out what that something was. There was no way in hell she was giving them what they wanted.

Before they had been separated for their checkups, Noah had given her a look and she knew all too well what it meant. Keep silent. Silent about his surge of power, silent about her wish, and most of all, silent about his lamp.

He hadn’t needed to tell her. She would not betray him like that. He had done everything for her and now it was her turn to try to protect him.

The only variable she had no control over was their knowledge. Did or did they not see what was taking place inside that house? It would help a lot - since she would know how much she could play them, and how many lies she could come up with…

“Shapeshifters are always - tricky.”

“Maybe they should be guarded then. Or neutralized.”

Dr. Harper’s mouth twitched as he smiled at her. “From what I saw, you neutralized him fine on your own.”

“Are you arresting me or punishing me for killing him?” Their negligence had cost her enough and she wasn’t about to add to that burden. It was their fault it resulted in death, not hers.

“No, of course not.” He rearranged the pile of papers in front of him, glancing away from her face. “This was our responsibility. We are responsible for your safety and we failed. You cannot be held accountable for protecting yourself.”

But…

“It is unfortunate since shapeshifters can be quite valuable, but. He should have known to behave better than he did. I am simply relieved that we were able to locate you… and Noah.”

There it was. A long pointless conversation simply to lead to what they truly wanted to know. How did Noah get there?

“Right.”

“Speaking of Noah,” he added, using his index finger to replace his glasses slightly higher on his nose. “Do you know how he got with you?”

She bunched the skin between her eyebrows, frowning. “What do you mean? I was with Noah. You graciously gave us a little honeymoon suite,” she replied, gritting her teeth behind a smile.

“Yes,” he replied before clearing his throat. “There, the two of you were together. I am referring to after your…”

“Kidnapping?” she filled in for him.

“Yes. After that. How did he get to that house with you?”

Amelia brought a hand to her cheek, lightly tapping it. “By… being kidnapped too? I’m confused. Didn’t that psycho get the both of us? He showed up, pretending to be one of you,” she said, pointing at Dr. Harper, “Then next thing I knew, I woke up in that weird room and house.”

“By yourself.”

“No, with the psycho who pretended to be Noah. I assumed he copied his shape… by bringing him along. Isn’t that what happened?”

Amelia didn’t know what Noah was telling them. They didn’t have time to coordinate a lie. The best thing she could do is pretend she was absolutely clueless which would give more credibility to whatever lie Noah was feeding them. As far as she was concerned, she was a dumb human who didn’t know better.

“I thought maybe the psycho had him locked away somewhere and by the time I… you know disposed of him - Noah had escaped.” She raised both her eyebrows, making eye contact with Dr. Harper. “Isn’t that what happened?”

She saw it; the pinched expression, the narrowing of the eyes, the lips pressed into a thin white line as he clenched his jaw. He was annoyed with her. He couldn’t be a hundred percent certain of what took place. Else he wouldn’t bother asking her.

But he knew she wasn’t being truthful.

“We have a few gaps in the timeline,” he settled on answering. “Noah was not taken at the same time as you and we are trying to establish, how and who may have assisted. So that we may punish them accordingly.”

Then they should be punishing themselves since they allowed it.

“Well, I can’t help you with that. I thought Noah was with me the whole time. I don’t remember much after someone found us in the middle of nowhere, drugged me, and kidnapped me. Sorry.”

“Right.” He straightened his back, putting a smile back on his face. “Do not concern yourself with this, we will find the people responsible. And, to ensure your safety, we will keep an eye on you until we have caught all the culprits and understood how everything happened.”

The hint of threat in his voice was unmistakable. Until they had what they wanted, they wouldn’t let them be.

“Which is why you and Noah will remain here. Until it is all sorted out.”

“Excuse me?”

“Yes, it will be easier to remove all variables if you are here, where no one but employees of Genecorp are allowed to be. We will make the two of you very comfortable.” His smile grew. “You will be given privacy, of course. So you may continue your relationship as you sit fit and we will help you procreate as much as we can.”

“What- but can’t you…”

“No, we cannot. This was a severe offense. We guarantee the safety of everyone here and we have failed. We will not fail again.”

They had somehow spun this so that they could come out on top. Had this been his plan all along? An easier way to control them, an easier way to do whatever they wanted? They were trapped. They were here.

If it was impossible to get out of their little imaginary town, it was even more impossible to get out of here. They would be constantly watched, constantly observed. Their every move, their every word.

How would they get out of this?

Her mouth was dry, a heaviness in her stomach as she tried to swallow her new reality. She was even more trapped.

She had gotten her last taste of freedom. Genecorp had her, they had Noah and they wouldn’t weasel their way out of this.

They won.

Amelia could barely fight the tears flooding her eyes. Frustration. Rage. Anger. No. No, they couldn’t let this happen to her and then turn around and restrict her even more. She wanted out, and she wanted out now.

“I will leave you be for a moment. Someone will be here to escort you shortly.”

With those words, he got up and walked out of the room, slamming the door shut a little harder than he had to. But he wanted to. Because he was a smug, proud asshole who thought he had won.

Amelia let her anger seep through her blood as she shoved the pile of paper to the floor, creating a mess. “FUCK!”

A tear slid down her cheek.

What now?

What the fuck could she do?