HOLLOW

•THIRTEEN•

•Natalie's POV•
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I knocked on the way too familiar white door as I stood outside my house. My foot tapped on the concrete porch while I waited in anticipation. I felt Athanasios rub my shoulder, doing his best to calm me down. It helped a little bit but a little just wasn't enough. The door suddenly swung open and my mother appeared. Her brown hair was tied up in a messy bun and she looked so tired. "Oh my God." She ran into me and wrapped her arms around my body in a hug. "Oh, my baby. You're alright," I felt her tears stain my shirt as a sob escaped her.

I returned the embrace and wrapped my own arms around her. Her own crying almost made me cry. "I'm okay," I say to her as she pulls away to look at me. "If you ever pull some shit like this again!" Her smile was replaced with the most serious face I've ever seen her wear. I almost wet my pants right then and there.

"Who's this?" She asks, catching sight of Athanasios standing awkwardly behind me.

"This is Athanasios. We are a couple." I say unsure of how she would react. She looks at him with slightly narrow eyes.

"Hello, Mrs. Anderson," Athanasios greets her. She finally quit staring daggers into his presence before answering. "Hello." She then lead us into the house.

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Right now we were all sitting in the living room. I had so much embarrassment built up due to my mother's unfiltered mouth. Let me give you the rundown of what I'm saying.

'What are your intentions with my daughter?'

'Who are you?'

'How did you meet?'

'Have you had sex?'

Each of those questions flew out of my mother's mouth. My mother was making me turn into a bottle of embarrassment. We were able to lie to cover up the parts we thought she couldn't handle. Like the part about me in a dungeon.

"Be good," She left to finish cooking God knows what in the kitchen not before giving Athanasios a stern look. That left me and Athanasios alone in the living room. "Your mom is...," He paused for a few seconds, looking for an appropriate word. "Scary." I finished the sentence for him and he nodded in agreement. "She can come across as that." I state.

The ringing of the doorbell echoed around the house. "I'll get it!" My mom shouts from the kitchen before hurrying to the door. Who would be knocking on the door this late at night? My mother soon returned with a someone right behind her. I shot up in shock. "Jaxon?!" My heart rate increased and I began to feel like shit. "Baby," he began to walk towards me with his arms wide open. He wrapped his arms around me and I got stiff in his hold.

He finally pulled away and held me at arms length. He tried to kiss me but I quickly dodged him. "Uh, hey," I say, a little uncomfortable usually I would've hugged him back but I didn't feel the connection anymore. I wiggle out of his grasp and look down. "Natie, what's wrong?"

"Uh, uhm." I searched for the words that just wouldn't appear. Athanasios stood up beside me and pulled me into his gigantic side. I could almost feel the anger emitting from him. He put shame to Jaxon's 5'9 height. "Can someone explain this?" Athanasios asks.

I open my mouth to explain but Jaxon invites himself to do the honors. "I'm Jaxon, Natalie's boyfriend, who are you?" He tries to sound tough but it wasn't working for him. I heard Athanasios growl beside me. It was amazing how years of progress could be thrown away with just one person. I clear my throat before speaking. "Jaxon, I-I," I take a deep breath before continuing. "We both know that our relationship wasn't as strong as it used to be. Before I went to Alaska, we barely saw each other. But in Alaska, I found Athanasios, who I love," I say. Jaxon's face fell before anger quickly took over. "No! How long has this been a thing?" He demands. I felt the tension building up in the room. "Ever since I've been missing," I reply shyly.

"So you've been running around with this guy this whole time?!" He began to yell at me with fury. I wanted to tell him about the bond I felt with Athanasios but I knew I shouldn't. Athanasios suddenly pushed me behind him with ease. "You will not yell at her like that." His voice was low and threatening. It even had me shaking. I turned my head slightly to the side to see my mother witnessing all of this with a look of surprise on her face. "She told you that she is with me now which can be translated to she broke up with you." Those were his final words before he grabbed our things and dragged me out of there.

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Soon we ended up in an empty hotel lobby. "Do you have any presidential suites left?" My jaw dropped as Athanasios asked the receptionist. "Yes, we have quite a few left. They are five hundred per night including room service." The receptionist says. Athanasios nods, pulling out a credit card. Was he crazy? He could've gotten a regular room! "I'll take it," He explains before dropping the card into the worker's hands. The receptionist soon returns the card with an additional two room keys. "Let's go." I follow Athanasios to the elevator that came rather quickly. We were the only ones in the small lift due to the time. "You didn't have to get a presidential suite," I might've been excited about the room but he really didn't have to spend much money.

"Yes I did," He says. I narrow my eyes at him in question. "Why?" Who needs to get a presidential suite? "Because my baby gets the best." He proceeds to place a soft kiss on my forehead. Heat rose to my head and other parts of my body. I don't think I would ever get used to this life. He always made me feel like a princess.

Once we got to the floor, we walked down the hall to the room number the receptionist told us. I couldn't help but notice how far the doors were spaced apart. "This is it," Athanasios took the key card and unlocked the door. He pushed it open to reveal what looked like a palace. "Woah," I breathe out as I enter. This might as well be a luxury apartment. Everything in here looked as if it was worth more than my life.

"How do you like it?" I felt Athanasios wrap his arms around me from behind. I leaned into his body as his warmth surrounded me. "It's beautiful," I say truthfully. "Good. Now let's get you to sleep. You've had a long day." He started to lead me to the room. "I'm not tired though!" I whined. He turned to me with an arched brow just daring me to say more. "You're tired." I violently shook my head in objection. This pulled a sigh out of him before he bent down to pick me up. He threw my body over his shoulder and started towards the ginormous bedroom.

I tried wiggling off of his shoulder but his large muscular arm was wrapped around my waist. Before I knew it, I was thrown onto the bed. "Sleep. Now." He ordered. I crossed my arms and huffed. "But why?" I ask. He rolls his eyes before he began to strip in front of me. He stopped once he was only in his boxers. "Fine, if you're not going to sleep, then I am," he made his way to the other side of the bed and slid under the covers. I could only watch as he shut his eyes. I decide to leave the bedroom and explore the suite some more.

I found my way to the kitchen where it seemed most interesting. I started opening cabinets to see if there was anything intriguing within them. Once I got to the fridge I found something worth looking at. "Ooh, booze," I grabbed one of the many bottles and held it up high in the air as I read the name. "Nope, can't read it." The script writing style was too intricate for me to even guess what the hell it was trying to say.

Five minutes. Five minutes later, here I was, on the couch, unable to sleep. I swear, I'd cry tears of joy when I saw the day I could go ten minutes without him. I found the last mature bone in my body and headed towards the bedroom. I slowly opened up the door and saw that the lights were turned off. I slipped into the room and shut it softly behind me. The clothes from earlier today were still on my body so I figured I'd change into my pajamas that were packed in my suitcase.

Slowly and tiresome, I got my outfit off and started putting my pajamas on. As I was sliding my shorts on, I heard a growl come from behind me. I gasped before swiftly turning around and yanking my shorts on the rest of the way. "Come here, my beautiful mate." He orders. Without thinking, I walked straight into arm's length. I felt his eyes travel along my body causing my hands to sweat a little. "Here," he pulls me into his arms and holds me against his chest. "Go to sleep now," he lays us down in the bed.

He drew circles on my thigh and ran his lips along my skin in a teasing manner. His lips found their way to my ear. "That small underwear of yours looks sexy on that cute booty," he then squeezed by butt. He squeezed my butt... And I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy it.

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