*Picture is Liam*

Elizabeth Crembell

It had been about an hour since I had woken up from the anesthesia. Liam had been waiting for me when I opened my eyes. My skin was as pale as ever, which was a good thing, but my stomach still had a slight pain. 

"You're mental ability to tolerate pain helped you a lot," Doctor Cole said. My hands were folded over each other as I sat up on the white hospital bed and listened to him. I would occasionally glide my thumbs over my wrists to try and soothe the throbbing. Liam was standing next to me with his arms crossed over his chest. "There's still one thing that the lab analysts are testing out, otherwise your body held off the darkness pretty well." He adjusted the glasses hanging loose on his nose and turned his attention back to his clipboard. I kept my attention focused on the doctor as my eyes flickered to Liam's stone figure. 

He told me before I left that he would kill me if I came back injured, not literally. I told him I couldn't promise anything. 

"Just rest for the next week or so, and no shifting." My attention snapped back to Doctor Cole.

"I'm sorry?" I asked, taken aback.

Doctor Cole nodded, "You heard me. No shifting into your frozen form for a week. The serum we injected into your blood could disintegrate and the oracle could come back even stronger. Just rest and take things easy for now. Check back with me in about two days so I can see how your body is doing." He moved the white curtain and walked out of my room. 

I sighed in frustration. I didn't have to look at Liam in order to see his muscles tense. 

"I told you to be careful, Ellie." He whispered loud enough for me to hear. His tone was sharp and his body tensed even more. His gaze was focused on the curtain but I could tell he was frustrated. I lifted the white covers off of my legs and swung them over the edge of the bed. The white hospital gown the nurses dressed me in crackled like paper as I moved. 

Liam gently yet quickly placed both of his hands on my knees and leaned down, his face mere centimeters from mine. I stopped moving and looked into his vibrant, green eyes. His blonde hair was lightly tousled with worry as he stared at me. 

"Did you not hear what the doc said, El? Take it easy." I calmly nudged his hands off of my knees and stood up. 

"Walking is taking it easy, Liam." He placed his hands on his hips and sighed, his gaze on the floor. My stubbornness was pushing his buttons. I reached out and took his hand. I focused my attention on our physical contact rather than making eye contact with him. 

"Please walk me to my room, love?" It was more of a demand than a question, but my somehow gentle tone of voice made my demand sound like a question. Liam loved it when I called him nicknames such as babe, love, Hun, etc. He sighed again and shook his head yes. I slid my arm into his as he escorted me to my room, careful not to walk too fast. 

We walked through hallways, passing by servants and nurses as they fulfilled their daily duties. Liam had to help me up the staircase because my side started to throb and cramp up.

I would once in a while mumble a 'thanks' or a 'sorry'.

I felt useless when I needed Liam's help.

Liam opened the door to my bedroom and led me in. He walked in as if he was in his home, which he was, but he was very familiar with my room as were future husband and wife. 

Liam unclasped my arm from his and walked towards my dresser and vanity closet. 

"You want a nightgown?" He asked as I walked over to my changing divider in order to start undressing. I nodded as I pushed my hair behind my shoulders and hid behind my divider. We had nothing to hide as the future rulers of the United Kingdom. He has not seen me bare, and I have not seen him in the same way, we wish to save our bonding for the night of our honeymoon. But we have exposed ourselves to swimsuits and undergarments. A swimsuit was basically the same thing as an undergarment, so I and Liam decided not to hide anything, to show our flaws. We had agreed on no secrets. 

I untied the back of my hospital gown and glided it down my arms, plopping it on the floor. 

Liam's shadow cast over me as my back faced him. He sucked in a breath as I came into his view. I turned my head the slightest fraction of a sliver towards him as I blushed. After about three seconds of silence, I crossed my arms over my chest and fully turned towards him. His eyes widened and looked away as I looked at him. 

"Liam?" I reached for the short, black, silk cami nightgown clamped in his hand. He pulled it away and looked back at me. I hugged myself as goosebumps covered my skin. I wasn't cold, just embarrassed. His gaze didn't falter from my face. He dropped the gown on the floor and placed his hands on my shoulders, turning me around. As my back faced him I shivered with embarrassment once more. He moved my hair and placed it where it had been before. 

The silence filled my room for what felt like forever. Suddenly a pair of soft lips came in contact with one of my star-shaped scars on my back. I flinched at his touch as he continued to place kisses on my two scars. Each one had to be one foot long in every direction. If you took a foot ruler and spun it in a circle, my two scars would be exactly that size. 

Liam's kisses traveled all over my back moving from side to side and up and down. He hugged me from behind and pressed his broad chest against my back. His nose was buried into the side of my neck, taking in breaths of my lilac scented hair. 

"Where did you get the clothes?" I hesitated. Should I tell him about James? Should I tell him about what torture I had encountered? We had agreed on no secrets, but he was already stressed out. 

"They forced me to put these on in order to try and take my pride away." Liam's thumbs ran circles over his own skin showing that he was calm. I sighed with relief as Liam bought my lie. 

"And did it work?" It had. It really had. I could still feel Mason's fingers running up my stomach. I mentally shivered in disgust. 

"No." Liam breathed into my neck.

"I'm sorry, El." He whispered into my ear as I leaned my head away from his mouth in order to give him room. 

"It's not your fault," I sighed and leaned my body back into him. He placed a hard kiss on my cheek as he squeezed me to him. 

"But I could have stopped you from going," He moved his arms from being wrapped around my shoulders to being wrapped around my torso. "I could have kept you here with me." I rolled my eyes and looked back at him. 

"I would have gone either way, I need to help my people." I turned around so his arms rested on my back and my arms rested on his neck. 

"You're so stubborn, love," He tucked some strands of hair behind my ears and rested his arms on my back again. I scrunched up my nose and stood on my tiptoes. 

"I know." Liam smiled and pressed his forehead up against mine as I closed my eyes. 

"You have no idea how hard it was to sleep knowing that you weren't safe in your own room." I opened my eyes and flickered my gaze between his eyes and his chest. 

"I'm sorry," Liam smirked the slightest bit at my pathetic apology. I pulled my forehead away from him and gave him a questionable look. What was he up to? 

"You know, I like this style on you." It was then that I realized I was still in my given thong and bra. I blushed in the dim light of my room as my eyes widened and my personality grew shy. 

"Shut up," His low rumble of a chuckle made me shiver and squirm in his arms. He was goddamn sexy and protective and charming. He could have me under his control with one look. He picked me up and supported my weight by placing his hands beneath my thighs. My hair spread over my shoulders. 

Liam walked over to my bed and gently placed my back on my folded white and cyan covers. 

"I've missed you so fucking much, baby," Liam leaned down to suck on my collarbone. I gasped at the contact. His hands gripped the sheets as he sucked my skin and brought his knee between my legs. I arched my back and grasped his back with my hands. 

"Liam, slow down here," I knew we weren't going to have sex, we were saving that for our honeymoon. But Liam always knew how to pleasure me and make me squirm with the lightest and smallest movements. 

"God, baby, I can't." He trailed kisses up my throat and across my jawline. His hands played with my hips and his fingertips trailed up my body as he rested his hands back on the bed. His warm lips met my cold ones in a dance. The next thing I knew my legs were wrapped around his toned torso and I opened my body and mouth to him. 

He took advantage of my offers and indulged his tongue with mine. Before we could go any further the right side of my back began to sting. 

~X~ 

James' P.O.V.

I kneeled on the floor before my father as he stared at me with cold eyes. 

"Explain yourself." He spits at me coldly. I balled my fists. 

"I failed you, my Lord." A sharp kick to my ribs made me groan and crumple to the floor. 

"No shit," He scowled at me. "You had one job, James. One. Job." I didn't answer. "You think you can disobey me?" He yelled, his scream echoing throughout the room. I did not cower in fear or flinch at his outburst as I got up and kneeled again. I knew better. 

"What punishment shall I endure this time, my Lord?" I asked. I wanted this over with. Done. A harsh, evil chuckle rumbled from what could have been a monster. The sad thing was, it did come from a monster. 

My father was a monster. A damn evil one, at that. 

"This punishment is permanent. It will take much pain tolerance, patience, toughness, resistance, sufferance, and vigor. But then again, you don't have a choice. You should be able to take this, James, I've trained you for far much worse things than this." His shadow disappeared over my body, I looked up. His gaze fell on my form as he flicked a switch. In the distance of the dark room, a dim light flickered over a hospital bed. 

It was the type of bed you would lye down on when you went to the doctor for a checkup. Footsteps echoed through the room. I looked at my father but he was not the one walking. My eyes went back to the bed. A tall, buffed man with tattoos on his arms stepped into the light with black rubber gloves on his hands. 

"What is this punishment?" My father smiled an evil smile. 

"Why James, you'll be punished with a permanent tattoo." A tattoo? That couldn't be that bad, right? I mean, it was just needles piercing your skin continuously. I had experienced worse. 

"But this ink has a special type of chemical that can cause irritation to the skin. The skin does not puff up, there is no rash, it feels as though your very flesh is being burned alive." Well, shit. 

" Arise, James," I stood up and made my way over to the table. 

~X~

Elizabeth's P.O.V. 

I clutched the skin above the right side of my ribcage in reaction to the pain. 

"El, El! Hey, whoa! Are you okay?" I turned over on my stomach and continued to clutch my side as my free hand clawed my bed covers. My teeth ground together and I squinted my eyes shut. 

"I'm fine, babe," I didn't need to worry Liam anymore. The skin and muscle covering my shoulderblade felt like it was being singed off. I groaned and held back tears as I clutched my covers in my mouth, biting down hard. Don't scream, Elizabeth, don't scream. 

"Elizabeth," A hand touched the sensitive skin over my shoulderblade. I stopped moving, not because of the contact, but from what I was hearing in my head. 

"Bear it, you failure, you can take it. This is only the beginning."

Liam was an Immortal, part of the Legendary clan, one of the people with healing powers. A wave of numbness covered my entire back as his hand rubbed over my back. I relaxed. 

"El?" I breathed out and scrambled across the bed, still holding my side. The pain was still there, and man did it hurt like a bitch. 

"I'm fine, Liam." I got up and walked as normal over to my divider. Before I could lean down and pick up my black nightgown, Liam beat me to it and handed it to me. 

"Don't lie to me, Elizabeth." I sighed and rolled my eyes at Liam's sternness. I looked down at the floor with my nightgown in hand and my tongue poking the inside of my cheek. 

It stayed silent for a while. 

"Is it the wrong time to say that your ass looks really good right now?" I looked up and tweaked my eyebrow. Liam threw his hands up in surrender. 

"Sorry, sorry," I giggled it off and rested my head on his chest. 

"Do you want me to heal up your scars quick?" I nodded against his chest. He rested his hands on my puffy, irritated scars. A cooling sensation covered my back. A few seconds more had passed before Liam took my shoulders into his hands and looked down at me. 

"They just look like birthmarks now, big ones, but they're not ugly. They look encrusted, like how a royal family would identify their children by a  birthmark or something." I smiled and placed a kiss on his cheek. 

"Go to bed, Liam. I'll be okay on my own. I'm really tired." An uneasy sigh sounded through Liam's lips. He pulled me into a hug and kissed my hair. 

"I'm numbing your back to make sure that you can't feel anything for a while." I nodded into the lower crook of his neck. Liam pulled back a little and placed a light kiss on my lips. When he pulled away he took my face in his hands and gave me a concerned yet gentle smile. 

"Goodnight, Elizabeth." As soon as he walked out and gently closed the door behind him, I collapsed to the floor in pain. Tears spilled down my cheeks as I kept my weeps silent. 

His numbing had only worked for a couple seconds.