Reckoning (Sacrifical Duet Book 1)

by Riley Ashby

  His fingers stroked my neck, causing the hairs on my arms to stand up straight. “A little.” He clasped my shoulder, the other hand cradling the back of my skull as he dipped his head. Lips brushed against my skin, sending fireworks down my spine. “I was afraid he would hurt you more. He thinks I’m slipping already.” His lips pressed against my neck, wet tongue gently lapping at my skin. This time, when my fingers wrapped into his shirt and pressed into his flesh, he didn’t balk.

  “Are you? Slipping?” My voice sounded as unsteady as my pulse felt. When had this mood shifted? Why was I no longer angry?

  He tilted my head to the other side, switching his hands, and kissed my neck again. “Where else?”

  “What?”

  “Where else did he touch you?”

  I was shaking. “He bit my ear.”

  Kisses traveled up my neck to my ear; his tongue flitted out to lick me before his lips followed and pressed a silent kiss against my ear. I couldn’t help my moan, didn’t want to. When he spoke again, it was barely a whisper. “Where else?”

  “Here.”

  He stopped kissing me to look as I placed one palm against my stomach, then sank to his knees before me as he lifted my shirt. The skin was a patchy red, and my entire body went up in flames as he pressed his lips just above my belly button.

  “What are you doing?” I stared down at him, meeting his blue eyes as he looked up at me from below, hands wrapping around to rest at the small of my back.

  “Fixing you.” A bruise was forming near my hip in the shape of his father’s thumb; he sucked it gently, and I gasped not from pain but from the desire burning through me like wildfire and the effort it was taking to hold myself back from falling down to meet him. “Anywhere else?”

  I whimpered. I didn’t want to say it. Didn’t want to admit that his father had been pressed against my core, intimidating me with sexual violence, not when Meyer had transformed me from frightened to electrified with a few kisses.

  “Tell me.” He bit the hem of my jeans, tugging them away from my hips before letting them fall back.

  “Between my legs.” I choked a little as I said the words, and his fingers tightened for a moment before they slid up my back and around my shoulders as he stood, fingers twining softly into my hair to tilt my head and bring my lips to his.

  I crumpled as he kissed me, falling into his chest and clutching at his shoulders like a life raft. My anger at him dissipated, evaporating into the air, and I was left with the fear I’d felt while Conrad held me and the relief when I heard Meyer’s voice, letting me know I was safe, at least for now.

  He let one of his hands fall down my front until he cupped me between my legs, fingers rubbing at the seam of my jeans to send electric shocks through my body. “Right here?”

  I nodded, keeping my lips against his, never letting us break contact.

  “Well then,” he said, “you need to get on your back.”

  Meyer

  She didn’t hesitate, stepping backward but dragging me with her until she hit the mattress and sat down hard. I broke away from her kiss to push her back, keeping my eyes on her as I flipped open the button of her jeans and pulled down the zipper. Her chest and belly heaved with her breath, pupils wide in the darkening room as I slid my fingers underneath her panties and pulled them away with her jeans, leaving her naked from the waist down on my bed.

  “Scoot back a little more,” I urged, sliding one hand beneath her shoulders to help her move up enough that I could crawl between her legs. “Spread your legs.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “Don’t get cold feet on me now.” I put my palm flat against her stomach and crawled my fingers up beneath her shirt, then dragged it back down to the small patch of brown hair between her legs. “This is how I fix you.”

  She put her hands over her face, neck flushing red, but bent her knees a little and let her legs drift apart until she was spread open before me.

  “Christ,” I muttered, sliding onto my stomach and coming just inches from her pussy. “This is better than I imagined.”

  “You spend a lot of time thinking about my vagina?”

  Seriously? She’s going to give me lip now? “More than you could imagine.” Her flesh was the perfect shade of pink, glistening with arousal and growing even wetter the longer I stared. I reached forward with one finger and stroked just outside that wet space. She twitched, then sighed as I flattened my palm against her inner thigh and pushed her open wider. “But I could never quite imagine what you would taste like.”

  One of her legs shifted as she began to breathe harder. “What if I don’t want you to—”

  I shifted forward and licked her before she could finish, and one hand flew away from her face to grab my hair. But far from pushing me away, she pulled me closer against her flesh, and I had to grab one of her legs for leverage. “What were you saying about not wanting …?”

  “Just shut up and eat it,” she gasped, and I obliged. My mouth watered as the taste of her exploded on my tongue, and I wanted more, every last drop she had to give me. I sucked her clit between my teeth and nibbled gently, causing her to buck her hips forward against my mouth.

  “Fuck.” She gasped. “Fuck, that’s good.”

  “Do you believe me now?” I bit the inside of her thigh. “That I know every inch of your body better than you?”

  Her only answer was to moan as I entered her with my tongue, exploring her inner walls briefly before returning to her clit and attacking it with everything I had. I rubbed my face back and forth, stroking her sensitive skin with my stubble as she gave me even more of her sweet taste. Rising to my knees, I hooked my hands under her ass to raise her up to me, loving the way she fell back, hands dropping from my hair, a helpless doll amid the blankets as I ravaged her with my tongue.

  “You look perfect,” I praised before returning to her pussy. I didn’t want to leave her for too long. I could tell she was close, could taste the change in her, could feel the muscle spasming against my chin. “Come for me. Come on my face.” My voice was muffled against her skin.

  “I won’t,” she moaned, twisting just a little before I righted her once more. God, she was such a fucking tease.

  “You will,” I said, “or I’ll chain you to this bed and lick you until you do. Neither of us is leaving this room until you scream for me.” She knew I meant it. I’d made the same promise once before and stolen an orgasm from her while we stood at odds in the woods. When I saw the scratches left on her back from the tree, I had excused myself to masturbate in the bathroom, so turned on by the visual reminder of what I had done to her. And now was even better because we were finally on the same page, and I was barer before her than I ever had been before.

  We dropped back to the mattress as I moved one hand between us, pushing two fingers inside her tight pussy and twitching against her G-spot. “You’re so soft,” I whispered. “I want to know what this feels like around my dick.”

  And then she lost it.

  Her hands landed in my hair again, pulling me tight against her while her sweet cream filled my mouth, and I bore down on her even harder, intent on getting every last ounce. Her pussy clamped tight around my fingers, pulsing, begging me to empty into her just as she was emptying onto me. My length pressed painfully against my zipper, but I didn’t care. I was too intent on the sounds she made and the taste inundating my mouth. I grabbed her breast with my free hand and squeezed, wanting to hold her through it all.

  Eventually, her fingers loosened in my hair. I kissed the inside of her thigh as I pulled my fingers from inside her and spread her arousal across her skin. Crawling up her body, I didn’t stop until I covered every inch of her. I expected her to duck away when I kissed her, but she lifted her head to meet me, then sank into the mattress as I pressed her down. Having her beneath me was almost more than I could bear, and my hips sank against her, seeking relief for my aching cock.

  “You can,” she moaned, thrusting into me a
nd sending every last rational thought from my brain. “If you need …”

  “I do need.” But I couldn’t stop touching her. I cradled her head with one hand while the other went to the button of my jeans, shoving aside the fabric and pulling out my cock. I pressed against the hot, wet flesh between her legs, leaking precum all over her.

  “Don’t fuck me,” she said. “I’m not giving you that.”

  God, she was going to kill me. “Whatever you say.” I sat up, forcing our mouths apart to look down at her as I yanked her legs around my hips so that I was pressed between her pussy lips but not inside her. I rocked forward, sliding between her pink flesh with ease. She moaned and pressed her head back, eyes closed, already on the edge once more.

  “Come on my dick,” I urged, grabbing her hips and helping her slide up and down my length. “I want you on every inch of me. So anyone coming within a mile of us can smell that you’re mine.” I’d never felt so unhinged, so lost in my feelings, not in the worst moments when I was cowering beneath my father or cutting open my skin in the morning light and watching the blood drip down my arm. I pushed the head of my dick against her clit, biting my lip to keep from coming until I felt her let loose. She came again silently, more wetness spilling onto my length and dripping down to my balls.

  Finally.

  I jerked back to bring my hand to my cock and pump myself to completion. I imagined her cunt wrapped around me as I stared at her. Even now, she was still wrapped in pleasure, hands buried in the sheets, eyes hooded as she stared at me towering over her.

  “Keep watching,” I grit out. I aimed my tip at her pussy and came all over her, long strings of hot cum coating her flesh and dripping onto her entrance.

  “Fuck, Meyer,” she gasped, eyes flying wide, but I grabbed her wrist to keep her from wiping it away, scooping it up with my fingers and pushing it inside her. “You’re a maniac.” Her wide eyes stared at me, but she didn’t fight my grip.

  “I’ll get you the pill,” I muttered, twisting my fingers to spread my cum along her inner walls. She jerked, gasping. “I just want to know I was inside you.”

  “Christ, what are we doing?”

  “Not fighting anymore.” After completing my task by marking her in the most feral way I knew, I released her and leaned down to kiss her stomach before falling onto the mattress beside her, tucking myself away and pulling her against my side. “I told you, you belong to me.”

  One hand pressed against me, holding herself away; the other fisted my shirt and tugged me closer. “Then end this. Stand up for yourself. For both of us.”

  So much for pillow talk.

  I huffed out a long breath. “You don’t understand the dynamics at play.”

  She tried to sit up, but I rolled on top of her, wrapping my arms around her shoulders as she pushed ineffectually at my chest. She drew back one wrist as if to slap me, but at the last second, her fingers just tapped against my chest. “He’s going to kill you in order to get to me. He’s not interested in letting you play out whatever plan you came up with to humiliate me.”

  I closed my eyes and pressed my forehead against hers. “He will. I’ll show him. I’ll show you both.”

  Her body twisted, and I had no choice but to let her roll away from me, but I kept her back pressed against my chest. “Get me that pill,” she muttered. “I’m not going to end up like my mom.”

  My nose twitched, tickled by her hair. “What do you mean?”

  “Seriously?” She twisted to look at me, the hatred back in her eyes. “You’re going to keep playing dumb?”

  I didn’t want to talk about Eva. I kissed her, but she jerked away, finally extricating herself from my grip and snatching her clothes off the floor. “Go get me that pill. Now.” I barely got my phone out before she snapped, “Don’t text Joshua.”

  I sighed and slid my phone back into my pocket, leaving the text message unwritten. “I’ll have to leave.” What if Conrad came back, and I wasn’t around? Clearly, I couldn’t trust Joshua anymore. Fuck, just another thing I needed to deal with.

  “Fine. I’ll put a chair under the door.” She slammed the door to the bathroom, cutting us off. I glared at the door until I heard the running water in the sink, then jumped off the bed and burst in. She jumped, spraying water across the vanity. “What the fuck?”

  “Come on. We’ll go together.” I grabbed her hand, still damp and slightly soapy, and pulled her along with me to the garage. “Put these on.” I grabbed a pair of sandals for her, then stopped. It was too cold outside; her toes would freeze. “Hang on.” Ducking back inside, I grabbed a pair of socks and an old pair of sneakers and handed them to her. “Here.”

  She looked back and forth between me and the socks for a moment before sitting to pull them on her feet. “Thank you.”

  “I don’t like the surprise in your voice.”

  “You’re so cold-blooded; I wouldn’t expect you to consider that it’s too cold for me out there.” She shoved her feet into the shoes, and even though they were a couple of sizes too big for her, she got back to her feet. The shoes were comically large.

  “Can you stop doing that?” Reaching for her arm, I pulled her against me only to walk her backward again, pushing her into the counter as I crushed our lips together.

  “Stop what?” She spoke in a high whine, fingers tugging at my shirt so she could touch my bare stomach. I shivered.

  “Looking so fucking cute all the damn time.”

  We made out for a few minutes, losing all sense of urgency in the taste of each other. I could kiss her forever. When we kissed, I managed to forget about our situation. When she met my tongue, invaded me as much as I did her, clutched at my clothes like she wanted to rip them from my body, then it was easy to lose sight of the danger we lived in every day. She didn’t know the half of it, what Conrad would do if he saw us like this or if he’d walked in on me delivering pleasure, instead of taking it from her like he demanded. He’d always found joy in hurting people, bending them to his will, but for me, the reward was seeing another person’s delight. Not that there was much room in my life for helping others.

  We broke apart when her stomach gurgled, angry at the late dinner. I glanced at the clock. “Let’s go. I’ll get you some food while we’re out.”

  “Sure.” She looked a little dazed as I grabbed her hand and pulled her into the car. I handed her some sunglasses as she settled in.

  “It’s already getting dark,” she said.

  “If someone we know sees you, it’s better if you look a little battered.” There was no hiding the shame in my voice. I didn’t want her to hide. I wanted her to be able to stick her head out the window and take in the city she’d been hidden away from for the past few weeks. But if it somehow got back to Conrad that I’d taken her out for a joyride, we’d never hear the end of it.

  She was quiet while I drove, eyes out the window the entire time. She pulled off the sunglasses when we got on the highway but dutifully put them back on when we exited. I pulled up to a pharmacy and put the car in park but didn’t get out.

  “I’ll be okay.” I turned toward her as she sank into the chair, head disappearing below the level of the window. “You’ll lock the doors. It’ll only take a minute.”

  “What if you run?” I gripped the steering wheel harder, skin twisting against the leather. What were my choices? Leave her vulnerable at home? Bring her inside with me at the risk of being caught on camera? Or give her the opportunity to take off while I was inside?

  “I won’t.” Her voice cracked as she spoke, and when I turned to look, she was wiping at her eyes beneath the glasses. “God help me, but I’m not going to take off. I’ll wait here until you get back, and we’ll go back to your house together.”

  “Home,” I insisted. “We’ll go home.”

  She cried harder as she shook her head. “That will never be my home, Meyer, no matter how much you wish it. But I won’t leave you.”

  Three words sat on my tongue, but there wa
s no force on Earth that could bring them into existence. I could never say those words to anyone, much less a woman I was holding under duress. But I wanted to give her something. A thank you for still staying.

  “What candy do you want?”

  She sniffled. “Sour Patch Watermelons.”

  I nodded. “Okay. Give me ten minutes.”

  “And a cherry Pepsi.”

  “Sounds good.”

  I left the keys in the ignition so she could listen to the radio, and when I emerged minutes later with her drink and candy and a tiny pill in a small white bag, the car was still there with my whole world inside it.

  Madeline

  Joshua called him on the way home after we’d driven through McDonald’s, and I paused, shoving fries into my mouth long enough to listen to half their conversation. Meyer barely said a word, mainly grunting before hanging up and throwing his phone in the back seat.

  “What did he say?” I had to speak around my cheeseburger, not caring about the grease dripping down my face as I spoke. I was starving after what had happened in his bedroom—the fear of having Conrad’s hands all over me and then the multiple orgasms from Meyer.

  “He says Conrad called him to the house because the security system was going off. Turns out that someone had just messed up the settings, and it took him a while to figure it out.”

  “Do you believe him?”

  He laughed. “Not for a fucking second. He shouldn’t have left you under any circumstances.”

  I crumpled the paper that had held my burger and tossed it back in the bag before returning to my fries, pausing only long enough to take a deep pull from my soda. The sugar high was fast and real, and I felt more awake than ever. “What was he supposed to do? Ignore your father?”

  “Yes!” He hit the steering wheel to accentuate his point. “I pay him an absurd amount of money to listen to me, not Conrad. I doubled it after you showed up to prevent this kind of thing from happening.”

  “How did you know to come home?”