Page 43 of His Pet

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The guilty look on Bella's face as Alex came in the door told him all he needed to know. She was watching the broadcast, even though she'd said she would wait for him. He sighed, but he wasn't truly angry. Somehow he'd known. But there was something else in her expression too, the kind of excitement that she usually showed just before she remembered something new.

"Come here," she said, the guilt washing away quickly as she pointed at the screen. "Look at that, on the banner behind him... do you feel anything?"

Anger, as he looked at the Wolf, but nothing specific enough to spark a single memory. Probably there were too many tied up with the man. But he did recognize him, immediately, and knew that he was the real deal. Alex barely glanced at Ken and Lisa, although his attention lingered on the redhead for a moment. Looking at her made his balls ache, and not in the good way that he associated with being around Bella.

Then he looked at the banners that Bella was so excited about. His chest tightened, and it took him a moment before he realized he felt rising excitement too. Excitement and... triumph?

The dark hole in the back of his mind opened up, except that it wasn't dark, there was light in it, like a tunnel...

"A tunnel, yes," Bella said, her head jerking back around to stare at the television. The same hope and excitement that he felt in his chest was glowing on her face.

He hadn't even realized he'd spoken out loud. Her hand reached out as if to touch the sigil.

"The way out... Alex, we knew the way out!"

Fuck.

He groaned as he went to his knees, gripping his head in his hands. It wasn't just that one memory that had become unblocked, it was like they were all coming tumbling through the tunnel, one after other, assaulting him from every side.

"Alex? Alex are you okay?"

The panic in Bella's voice made him want to leap up and take down whatever was scaring her, but how could he protect her from himself? He hadn't been able to at the Wolf's compound. Hadn't been able to when they'd been returned the Moon, forcibly separated after landing, and then given the memory drugs. Not that the doctors had realized what they were blocking the memories for. Alex was pretty sure that they truly believed they were helping, that Alex and Bella had been traumatized by their time with the Wolf and needed protection.

Those fucking Moon officials...

"Bella... I remember everything." His voice cracked. With his eyes closed, so that he couldn't look at her face, all he could see was the memories rushing by, filling that empty, gaping hole. "The things I did to you..."

"Alex, you wouldn't, you always took care of me, I know that," Bella said, rubbing her hand over his shoulders trying to soothe him. "I don't remember everything, but Iknowthat."

The faith in her voice, the trust, made him feel like he was splintering apart inside. He could remember how much he'd enjoyed fucking her. Dominating her. The sick part of him that had become aroused whenever the Wolf had fucked her too. Down there it hadn't seemed quite as bad; now, having been back, no longer in the situation, all he could do was pick apart every single thing he'd done.

He was a monster, and she didn't even see it.

Growling, he grabbed her wrist, pulling her down onto the ground as she shrieked, and rolling atop her, pressing her lower body into the ground with his as she stared up at him. Despite that, once the surprise receded, she didn't look scared.

"I hurt you, Bella," he said, rocking against her, feeling his cock starting to grow as it rubbed against her softness. "I hurt you because he told me to."

"You protected me," she countered, shocking him as she wrapped her legs around him, arching beneath him. There was no way he could misinterpret the hot arousal filling her eyes as she tilted her chin challengingly. "I chose you. I remember choosing you, Alex. I remember you trying to fight him."

"Dammit, Bella, I'm a monster!" he yelled, trying to pull away from her.

She kept her legs wrapped tightly around him. Making a frustrated noise under her breath, Bella reached up and grabbed his head, pulling him down as her lips came up to meet his.

Idiot man. Then again, she wasn't entirely surprised at Alex's attempt to take the entire burden of guilt onto himself. Her memories were coming back. Not as quickly as Alex's had—that had looked painful as hell—but they were sliding back in one at a time. Most of them to do with Alex, many of them surrounded around her admiration for him, her appreciation of him, her love for him.

She remembered him hurting her. She also remembered him holding her as he told her why. She remembered them fucking, and she also remembered them making love. Alex's arms around her at night, creating a safe haven in the midst of uncertainty. Her fear for him as he tried to fight to keep her safe. The way he'd constantly put his own body between her and perceived danger.

Bella kissed him. Hard. Passionately.

Maybe the idiot didn't remember everything, maybe he was only remembering the bad, because right now she was remembering a lot of the good. His mouth tasted of mint and chocolate, his cock rocked against her pussy and she flooded with anticipation. Memories slid through her, both good and bad, many of them arousing her even though it made her feel a little ashamed to be turned on by them... but then again, she'd been turned on when they'd been happening to her.

"Bella..." Alex sounded tortured as he pulled his mouth away from hers, although he was no longer trying to detangle their bodies completely.

"Shut up," she said fiercely, glaring up at him. "I remember choosing you, Alex. I remember how guilty you felt when I did it, but I didn't feel any guilt until the Wolf took you instead. I always liked you, even when Ken and I were together. And while we were down there... I think... I know... I couldn't have made it through without you. You were everything to me. You still are."

His gaze softened, his fingers brushing over her cheek as she blinked back tears.

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