She heard a sharp intake of breath and realized it was hers. He dipped the length of two fingers, the pressure heady, before he pulled them out and brushed her own wetness over the folds of her cunt.
He untwisted the panties and kissed the inside of first her right ankle, then her left, his breath warm against her skin, and his scruff tickling it. Then he spread her legs apart, exposing her completely, and gently wedged one ankle between the seat back and the side panel and the other between the driver’s side headrest and the back of the seat.
She lay completely spread eagle. He stopped to take her in, his heavy-lidded gaze grazing over every inch of her and causing the most incredible sensations to ripple through her.
She reached down and tugged at his shirt, wanting to see as much of him as he was of her. He obeyed, lifting the shirt over his head, but then stopped there. His impossibly wide shoulders tapered down to a lean waist. He ran his fingers along the inside of her knee, but she protested with a wiggle and a moan and pulled at the button of his jeans.
Without taking his eyes off her, he made quick work of the button and zipper and slid his pants past his hips and over his steely buttocks. His hard cock spilled out, and she wanted nothing more in that moment than to wrap her lips around it. But he had other plans.
He bent over her at last, the width of his shoulders spreading her even more, and covered her clit with his mouth, hot and wet and sensual. The soft sweep of his tongue teased and caused a swell of unimaginable pleasure. It pooled in her abdomen and reverberated out from there.
His tongue flitted, and his fingers probed, and it didn’t take long before the promise of an orgasm spiked within her. She’d been ready for days. It was no wonder it didn’t take long.
She dug her nails into his shoulders and stilled as much as she could, beckoning the orgasm forward, begging it to come closer. Her lungs seized, and the pressure between her shaking legs swelled as his tongue coaxed her to the very edge.
He opened her more, spreading the folds of her sex to give the very tip of his tongue access to the most intimate part of her. He sucked and stroked and worked another finger inside her until her hips rose off the seat, and the blistering heat of an orgasm rushed forth. The sweet sting of release exploded and washed over her in unimaginable waves. Each one a little higher than the previous. Each peak a little sharper.
She had yet to come down when she felt him push inside her, escalating her climax even more. He buried the hardness of his cock in one solid thrust and then waited like a predator watching its prey. His muscles coiled. His jaw clenched. His face the picture of sweet agony as he tried to hold back.
But her orgasm, still rippling through her, milked an orgasm out of him. He groaned. His muscles contracted. He grabbed the armrest on the door above her head, ripping it loose as his climax rendered him helpless.
When he let go of the armrest, and his frantic breaths calmed, she uttered one word between pants of her own.
“Two,” she said, her voice barely audible.
He grinned down at her. “For reals? You came twice?”
She smirked and followed up her announcement with, “I win.”
He laughed and collapsed on top of her, burying his face in her hair. Her second favorite place for his face to be.
Chapter Twelve
Real men won’t break your heart,
they’ll break your headboard.
—Meme
Garrett lay in utter abjection across the seat. Marika lay on top of him, their legs protruding out the door.
“What’s wrong?” she asked him.
How could he tell her? How could he admit that he had come before he meant to? Although it wasn’t exactly premature ejaculation, it may as well have been.
“Tell me,” she coaxed, much like she’d coaxed an orgasm out of him before he was ready.
“It’s nothing.”
“Tell me,” she said, her voice low and sweet.
He lifted a shoulder. “I had big plans. I was going to give you a night you’d never forget.”
“Oh, I don’t think I’ll be forgetting this for a very long time.”
“Promise?”
She giggled. “Promise. But I do have to ask. Did you say all of that about your parents just to get in my pants?”
“Yes.”
“Well, it worked.”
“It fucking rocked. Tomorrow I’m going to tell you about the time I accidentally killed Mojo, my eastern box turtle.”
“Oh, no,” she said, her voice full of mock concern. “How sad.”
“Yeah. He died a horrible death.”
“Hmmm.”
“A chainsaw accident.”
“Oh, my god. He died from a chainsaw?”
“No. His death was more chainsaw adjacent.”
Garrett heard a voice and stilled. “Did you hear that?”
She waited and listened. “I don’t hear anything.”
He heard it again. Someone shouted from a distance, and it took Garrett about three seconds to be dressed and out of the SUV. He ran toward the main house, looking back to make sure Marika followed him. She ran while trying to get her shirt over her head.
It was Cookie. She rushed toward them, waving her arms frantically. When she was about ten feet away, she slowed, holding her chest from the effort.
He took her by the shoulders. “What is it, sweetheart?”
“She’s gone,” she said between huffs. “Elwyn is gone.”
A shockwave rocketed through his body. “Did the creature—?”
“No,” she said, almost hyperventilating. “She snuck out. We checked the footage. She crawled out of her window and headed toward the clearing.”
“Son of a bitch. We had a plan. Why would she do that?”
“Because she’s exactly like her mother.”
“God help us.” He turned to check on Marika again.
She was struggling to get into her shoes. The SUV they’d borrowed pulled up beside her. She waved Garrett on. “I’m good. Just go,” she said before climbing into the vehicle.
“Me, too,” Cookie said. “I’ll catch a ride.” She indicated the SUV with a nod. “Wait, Garrett. Please, just—”
“I know, sweetheart.” He squeezed her shoulders reassuringly then took off at a dead run back to the house.
By the time he got there, predawn light was just piercing the horizon. Everyone was present and accounted for, scrambling to gather their weapons. Angel watched from a corner. He walked up to Garrett. “Where is she?” he asked the teen.
“In the clearing.”
“You’ve been agitated since last night,” Garrett said. “What’s going on?”
“I don’t think she told you the whole truth.”
He’d been strapping a gun around his waist. He stopped. “What do you mean?”
“I’m not sure. I think she knows more about that creature than she’s telling.”
“I need you to be more specific.”
“I think she went along with your plan to placate you.”
“Fuck.” Garrett raked a hand over his head. “She really is her mother’s daughter.”
“Identical. I think she’s had her own plan the whole time. And I think the creature knows it.”
He stilled at that, his hand pausing on the zipper of his duffle bag. “Why do you say that?”
“It’s like he was waiting for her. Like he knew she would go to him because he didn’t give her a choice.”
“How did he manage to communicate that?”
“The hellhounds. You and Marika. He attacked so she knew he would. So that she wouldn’t jump planes again.”
“We need to move,” Robert said just as Cookie and Marika burst into the house.
“I’m coming,” Cookie informed him.
“Sadowski,” Garrett said, nodding to the security guard.
The kid walked up to Cookie and indicated a chair at the table. “Sorry, Mrs. D.”
“You’re commandeering me?” she
asked her husband, appalled. “I’m appalled.”
“You can be mad at me later.”
“Oh, it’s far too late for that, Mr. D.”
He exhaled and said under his breath, “Great.”
“Well, I am coming,” Marika said, stabbing Garrett with a challenging scowl.
“Marika—”
“No. Don’t you dare. You dragged me into this.”
After a long moment where he conjured any number of ways to keep her here, he gave in. She did have a point. “Okay, but you have to put your bra on the inside of your shirt.”
She gasped, looked down, then glared at him.
“I win.”
“No, you don’t. That was cheating.”
“Duh,” he said with a shrug, right before he handed her a nine millimeter semi-automatic. “You good with that?”
She hesitated, but only for a second. She checked the chamber and slipped it into one of Garrett’s holsters.
“That belt won’t fit you.”
She buckled it around her waist, but it hung loosely at her side. “Good enough.”
“Just don’t try a quick draw.”
“No worries. If I have to draw, it will be anything but quick.”
* * * *
They raced across the rugged terrain, Garrett following Sadowski’s SUV. A small army followed after him. Just as they came into a clearing about three miles from the compound, Sadowski’s SUV slammed into something so hard, it lifted the backend of the vehicle off the ground.
Garrett skidded to a halt, jumped out of his truck, and ran toward the SUV. The others scrambled out and took up positions in a defensive formation as he checked on the kid. The airbags had blown, but Sadowski would be fine. Then he ran to the front to see what he’d hit.
Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
He waved away the smoke billowing from the engine and went to step around to the front when, just like the SUV, he slammed his shoulder into something. He blinked and patted the air. His hand landed on a cool, hard surface, smooth and invisible.
“What the fuck?”
Marika ran over to him. She lifted her hands, but he put an arm out to stop her.
“Don’t touch it. It could be harmful.” As far as he knew, it could cause brain tumors or hair loss. No telling what kind of radiation could be emitting from it as they stood there.
“What is it?” she asked.
“Some science fiction shit is what it is. It’s a barrier of some kind.”
“Like a forcefield?”
“Exactly.”
He scanned the area and gestured with a nod. “That’s why the hellhounds are pacing and pawing at the grass. They can’t get in either.”
“Look at Artemis.” Marika pointed.
He saw her about half a click away. “She’s completely incorporeal,” he said, astonished. “How can she not get past it?”
“I don’t know, but I don’t like it.”
He turned and scanned the inside of a huge circle where the barrier must have been if the hellhounds were any indication. A scattering of small trees dotted the area as well as several huge boulders. Beep stood from under a tree and walked over to them, spear in hand.
“Son of a bitch,” he said under his breath.
“Oh, my god, Garrett,” Marika said. “We have to get her out.”
“I think that’s what Artemis and the hounds are trying to do.” He watched as the tiny girl he loved more than air walked up to them, her expression solemn, her eyes apologetic. “What are you doing here, sweetheart?” he asked her.
“I’m sorry. I had no choice.”
“We always have a choice, baby.”
Her expression was so sorrowful, it broke his heart. “Not this time.”
Frustration strangled him. “What is this?” he asked, pounding his fist against the barrier.
“Nepaui elemental light. It is impenetrable. Hayal doesn’t want me to get help from, well, you.” She turned and scanned the interior of the dome. “Sadly, he is less honorable than I previously believed.”
“You mean other than trapping a child inside this thing to fight her to the death all because he can’t take rejection?” Garrett looked around. “That’s what this is, right?”
She pursed her lips. “It doesn’t matter.”
“Stand back.” He drew his sidearm and shot two bullets at the barrier. They bounced off without a trace. The material simply flashed iridescent then repaired itself.
Desperation began to take hold. He holstered his gun and asked, “Why did you leave? We had a plan.”
“First, it wouldn’t have worked. And second…second, I didn’t want you to see this.”
He put his hand on the transparent barrier. “See what, baby?”
Her chin quivered, and she looked away. “What I have become.”
“Elwyn,” he said, his voice hitching with a sob, begging her to be safe. To survive.
She grinned and put her hand on the other side of the shield, mirroring his, almost like they were touching. “You never call me by my name.”
“I will call you anything you want if you’ll just get me inside there. Please, baby.”
“Will you call me Queen Salmon Patty?”
He tried to smile. He failed. “I will.” He saw the beast uncurl from behind a boulder and felt his knees weaken. His chest rose and fell rapidly as though he couldn’t catch his breath.
It slowly walked up behind her, in no hurry for the fight to begin. She bowed her head, as though accepting the inevitable.
Right before she turned, she met his gaze and whispered, “I love you.”
Garrett broke down. He pounded on the barrier. It felt cold like glass, yet it gave—just barely—underneath his fist. He pounded harder, over and over, yelling at it to break.
Marika tried to pull him off. He stopped and watched what was about to happen as though it were in slow motion. The size difference was so great it was almost comical. A field mouse facing off against a grizzly.
“I’m sorry, Hayal,” Elwyn said, seeming genuinely sad. “I didn’t want it to end this way for you.”
She was speaking English to it, but it seemed to understand.
It tilted its head as though sizing her up, pointed its spear at her, and said in stilted, guttural English from behind its blood-red mask, “You…haven’t…won…yet…little girl.”
“I’m sorry nonetheless.”
Angel appeared beside them. Garrett panicked. Tried to grab him by the collar. His hand went straight through. “Get in there,” he said, his voice a hiss. “She can jump through you. She can escape.”
“I can’t. I’ve tried.” He pushed against the barrier. It was as solid to him as it was to Garrett. “It’s blocking us from entering.”
The creature turned to take up position, but Beep continued. “Please give my regards to your mother.”
The beast whipped around. Whatever she meant by that, it definitely infuriated him. He charged forward, and Garrett’s muscles seized.
Beep lowered herself to the ground and watched him from beneath her dark lashes. One second she was in front of him, readying to spring. The next, she was behind him, landing on the earth, whisper-soft.
Everyone looked on confused until they saw her spear lodged under the beast’s chin, the tip sticking out from the top of its head.
Hayal stumbled then caught his footing, but only for a few stunned seconds. As Beep turned around to watch him, he fell forward like a tree falling to the ground.
He landed with a loud thud. Dirt billowed up around him and formed a cloud over his body.
“She moves like Charles,” Garrett said, remembering Beep’s mother and the first time he’d seen her move at the speed of light. Impossible for the human eye to track.
“She did it.” Marika squeezed his arm.
Beep walked to the fallen creature. With one foot braced on its head, she grabbed hold of the spear and pulled the blood-soaked length of it out in one long heave. Then she t
urned to the now-empty field, her stance wide as though readying for another fight.
Garrett looked on confused until he saw a second creature materialize twenty feet in front of her, this one more humanoid, yet somehow wilder. He held two massive knives, one in each hand, curved and wicked. Created to kill.
“That’s it,” Angel said.
Garrett glanced between the two of them. “The creature that followed her?”
The teen nodded and pushed against the barrier again.
“Angel, what aren’t you telling me?” At least this guy was smaller than the last one. Then again, the bigger they were…
“He’s powerful,” Angel said. “I could feel it when he passed by. Like the heat from a nuclear reactor.”
Suddenly worried again, Garrett pushed against the barrier, too. Marika joined in, shoving with her shoulder. Robert, probably the only sane one, didn’t bother. He just watched, his mouth set in a grim line.
They stopped when Beep sank low to the ground. Ready to spring into action again, she took her spear into both hands and pointed it at the intruder.
Her opponent’s hands flexed on the knives. He watched her for a long moment, tilted his head as though studying her, then turned his back to her. In that same instant, she turned her back to him and Garrett’s heart got stuck in this throat. Then they waited. Beep coiled to strike, steady and low to the ground. The creature standing like he hadn’t a care in the world.
“It’s a demon,” Robert said, frowning. “What the hell is—?”
“Wait. Those rocks.” Garrett pointed to the boulders marking the boundaries of the barrier. Nine in all. No, ten. “I’ve never seen them before.”
While they blended perfectly with the landscape, tan highlighted with golds and shadowed with darker browns, they were somehow the wrong size for the area. The wrong shape.
As Garrett and the team stood helplessly by, the rocks moved. Beep sank lower and the demon followed suit, his elbows out, his knives positioned perpendicular to the earth beneath him.
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