by Kelly Goode
‘Does she need any medication?’
The doctor handed over a small pill bottle.
‘Just some standard painkillers, nothing special. She’ll be okay in a few days but until those stitches dissolve, she needs to be careful not to reopen the wound. I’d suggest she refrain from doing anything physically demanding.’
Inappropriate thoughts about the physical activities Carter would like to see Ember perform flashed through his mind. He flushed as he cleared his throat.
‘Thanks. I’ll take her back to her room and let her sleep off the sedative.’
‘Not a problem, Carter. My door is open to you anytime. If you want to restart our therapy sessions, I can book you some time. Being charged with Ember’s welfare during your mission could affect you more than you realise. I wouldn’t want to see you slip back into that darkness that nearly consumed you after Cass-’
‘Don’t say her name, doc,’ Carter warned, his eyes narrowing. ‘I’m over it.’
‘Are you?’
He didn’t grace the question with an answer, just rearranged Ember in his arms and left the room. His body was shaking with anger, but there was another underlying emotion there too.
Something far worse.
Guilt.
30
The little girl screamed as the pressure on her finger increased. The menace in the man’s eyes as he continued to squeeze was confusing. This man claimed to love her and yet he put her through the most horrific pain. Split lips, bruised ribs, even broken fingers.
‘Quit your whining, Ember, or else I’ll give you something to really cry about.’
The little girl bit down on her lip to give her another area of discomfort to focus on as she whimpered. Her finger throbbed.
‘Please let go, Daddy. It hurts.’
‘Don’t call me that you little bitch.’
The girl stilled. Struggling only made it worse.
‘I’m sorry, Roger.’
At six years old, she was too young to understand why this man didn’t allow her to call him Daddy. The children in her class called the men that picked them up from school by that name.
‘Your mother will be home soon,’ Roger said, finally releasing his grip and pushing her away from him. ‘She’ll strap your hand for you. You’re such a clumsy child, Ember. Always hurting yourself.’
‘But you did-’
‘I did what?’
The little girl stopped talking. If she made him angry, he’d hurt her again.
‘Nothing, Roger. I’m sorry.’
She repeated her apology. She was always apologising. Roger banged his fist on the table, causing her to flinch. She knew this pleased him as his eyes glazed over when he grinned.
‘That’s right. I did nothing, Ember. You remember that.’
She cradled her swollen finger to her chest, her heart thumping against her tiny ribcage. The beats seemed to match the ticking clock on the kitchen wall. This man who was supposed to protect her preferred to feed off her fear while her mother was at work.
Only one more hour until she came home.
Things were different when her mother was there, and the little girl vowed to tell the truth this time. That she hadn’t fallen or hurt her hand playing in the garden. She’d tell her about Roger’s twisted games and how much he enjoyed watching her cry.
She followed the rotations of the clock hands as they ticked round.
Tick-tock.
Tick tock.
Only one more hour and then she’d tell the truth.
Tick tock.
Tick tock…….
Bang! Bang!
I woke in a daze, gasping for breath. My heart was thumping just as it had been in my dream. I pushed my wet hair away from my clammy face and sucked in a ragged breath. I hadn’t dreamt about my childhood for years.
What the hell was going on?
The banging continued, and I realised the sound was real and not just my blood pounding in my ears. I got out of bed and staggered towards the door. I pressed my hand against the panel, and it slid open to reveal Harvey.
‘What the hell is going on in here, Red?’
Hearing him voice the question I’d just asked myself felt strange, as if I was having an out of body experience. Harvey nudged me out of the way and started pacing around my small room.
‘I didn’t invite you in,’ I said.
Harvey levelled me with a dark stare. ‘Good job I’m not a vampire then. What was the screaming about?’
‘What screaming?’
He continued his examination, opening my wardrobe doors, pulling aside the clothes as if playing hide-and-seek.
‘I heard screaming.’
‘It wasn’t me.’
‘But it was coming from this room. Did any of the men force their way inside? Are you covering for Carter? Did he hurt you?’
Harvey disappeared into the bathroom, and I heard him pull aside the shower curtain.
‘Oh, for God’s sake, there is no one else here,’ I called out to him.
When he came back, I saw him run his hands through his short dark hair and down his face in frustration.
‘I’m not going mad. I heard screaming.’
A thought suddenly occurred to me.
‘I was dreaming,’ I said hesitantly. ‘Maybe I screamed. I don’t know.’
‘What were you dreaming about?’
I shook my head. ‘Nothing.’
‘So dreaming about nothing made you scream so loudly that I heard it from across the hall?’
I looked down at the floor, not wanting to meet his eyes. I focused on his feet instead, which were bare, and I realised he must have jumped out of bed to come and check on me as he was only wearing black boxers and a white t-shirt.
‘Is that what you usually sleep in?’
31
The question caught Harvey off-guard. How did they go from talking about dreams and screaming, to his bedtime attire? He looked down at the t-shirt he’d pulled on. He’d been in such a hurry; he hadn’t paused to think about what he looked like. Though now he wished he’d put on his jeans too as his boxer shorts were tight fitting and if Ember kept staring at him as she was, he wouldn’t be able to hide his arousal for very long.
‘Usually I sleep naked, Red,’ he snapped. ‘Is that what you usually sleep in?’
She looked down at her nightdress as if seeing the garment for the first time. It was one of those full-length white cotton dresses that was so unsexy, it should have been the ultimate turn-off, but to Harvey, she looked like an angel.
An angel with hair that reminded him of the fiery pits of hell.
‘I…I…I didn’t put this on,’ she stammered.
Harvey felt his gut churn with anger at what she was eluding to. Someone else had dressed her for bed.
‘Where did Carter take you after the briefing room? Is your arm ok?’
Again, she looked down at herself in an almost dream-like state. She examined her arm, which he was pleased to see covered with a clean bandage.
‘He took me to the doctor who stitched the cut, but it’s all a little hazy. They drugged me.’
‘They drugged you? Who the fuck do they think they are?’
Ember reached out and touched his arm. The move was supposed to calm him, but it sent a jolt of heat through his body.
‘It’s ok,’ she said. ‘They had to drug me. The doctor was a vampire. I almost set him on fire.’
That made Harvey laugh.
‘Good for you, Red,’ he said, and she blushed at hearing the admiration in his voice.
‘I think you should go back to your room,’ she said, gesturing to the door. ‘You’re probably tired, and I’m fine now. Honestly.’
Harvey was tired, but there was no way he was leaving. Being around Ember, was how he imagined a moth felt when it saw a flame. It was stupid to covet something so dangerous, but he wanted it all the same.
‘Tell me about your dream,’ he coaxed.
She opened he
r mouth to speak but faltered.
‘Sharing is caring,’ he urged, remembering his therapy sessions with that nosey bitch, Marilyn, which thankfully made Ember smile.
‘It was about my father,’ she said, her green eyes glistening with unshed tears.
‘Hey, it’s ok.’
Harvey reached for her, but she batted his hand away.
‘I told you I’m fine. It’s just all that stupid psychological mumbo-jumbo they’ve been putting us through has brought some memories to the fore that I’d thought I’d locked away.’
‘She made me talk about my mother too.’
As soon as the words left his lips, he regretted them. What the hell was he telling her that for? Some badass demon he was.
‘You have a mother?’
Ember sounded so surprised that he laughed again. He realised he often laughed in her company, and it made him feel lighter inside.
‘Of course I have a mother. Immaculate conceptions don’t happen every day, you know.’
‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude. It’s just you’re a…’
She didn’t finish her sentence.
‘A demon,’ he supplied, and she nodded.
Harvey reached for her again and this time she allowed his hand to settle in the curve of her waist.
‘Let’s just say I wasn’t born evil. It’s just something I’ve discovered I’m good at along the way.’
‘You’re not that bad,’ she said, and the raspy tone of her voice stirred the primal impulses he was battling to contain.
Harvey wanted to touch, taste and smell her. To explore every inch of her creamy white skin with his hands, and then with his mouth.
Ember’s green eyes widened as he began gently stroking his fingers across her hipbone.
‘I am very, very bad, Red,’ he said. ‘My mind is full of sinful, wicked thoughts.’
He could see the pulse in her neck flutter as she licked her dry lips. He made some obscure noise of frustration before inclining his head and crushing his lips to hers.
Harvey expected her to push him off, to slap his face as she’d done to Carter, but her body just melted against his as he deepened the kiss.
32
Harvey’s arms tightened around my waist, pulling me closer into his embrace. His lips were soft yet demanding as he kissed me. My head spun from the explosion of need and desire. How long had it been since a man kissed me like this?
Had a man ever kissed me like this?
I swayed on my feet. I could barely catch my breath as our tongues slid together. The action was velvety smooth as we explored the inside of each other’s mouths.
Harvey groaned, and the sound of gratification made my stomach tighten with arousal. I tingled all over, and the throbbing ache between my legs demanded attention. I ground my hips into his. The friction made me gasp, and I wished for something harder to fill the void.
As if reading my thoughts, Harvey lifted me off my feet, and I automatically wrapped my legs around his waist. His mouth only briefly left mine to press desperate kisses across my jaw and down my neck as he carried me towards the bed and laid me down on my back.
‘This bed was only designed to sleep one,’ I said, as I shifted across the narrow mattress to give him room to join me.
Harvey looked down at me and smiled. A deliciously wicked smile that turned my insides to molten. His dark gaze roamed over my body.
‘Good job I’m not intending to sleep in it,’ he said, nudging my thighs further apart and settling between them.
He was careful not to press his entire weight onto me by leaning up on his elbows, but it felt so good to feel his hard chest against my soft breasts that I wanted more.
‘I’m stronger than I look,’ I said, rotating my hips, so his erection grazed against the outside of my knickers. ‘You won’t hurt me.’
Harvey’s eyelids fluttered, and his jaw clenched as he exhaled.
‘Keep doing that, and I can’t promise what I’ll do to you, Red.’
My fingernails pressed into the soft cotton of his boxer shorts as I gripped his taut buttocks and pressed our hips together again. Harvey mimicked my movement. The only barrier between us was our underwear.
I groaned.
‘Seriously Ember, I don’t want to hurt your arm,’ he said gruffly, ‘so tell me if I do anything you don’t like.’
Up until that point, the cut on my arm had been the least of my concerns. I knew I needed to be careful not to burst the stitches, but the painkillers were lulling me into a false sense of security. I nodded my head in confirmation and Harvey slid his hands beneath the hem of the hideous nightdress that I’d never seen before.
My mind briefly wandered to Carter. He must have changed my clothes while I was sedated. The fact that two men had put their hands on my naked body in one night brought me back to reality.
‘Wait, there’s one last thing,’ I said, pushing Harvey away slightly.
‘What’s wrong?’
‘I need to know what we are doing here.’
He gave me that smug smile again. ‘I think you know what we’re doing here.’
‘I mean, what is this? What does this mean?’
Harvey’s dark eyes clouded as he stared at me.
‘This doesn’t mean anything, Red. We’re two consenting adults having sex. No strings and no messy emotions. Can you handle that?’
Could I handle that?
I wasn’t exactly a hearts and flowers type of girl. I’d been through too much shit for that. Sex without the complication of love suited me just fine.
‘I can handle that,’ I said, reaching up and pushing my hand through the short dark hair at the back of his head.
Harvey kissed me softly before saying, ‘So let’s just be clear. You’re giving me permission to fuck you and not call you in the morning?’
I laughed.
‘Sure am, Romeo.’
He kissed me again.
‘I knew the second I laid eyes on you that you were my kind of girl.’
Harvey reached down between our bodies, pushing my knickers to one side so he could slide his fingers into me. I moaned as he worked his hand back and forth, making me writhe with desire.
When his thumb skimmed across my clit, I cried out, the stimulation bordering on painful.
‘Like that?’
Harvey’s voice was thick and husky, which told me he was as turned on as I was, maybe even more so if the straining erection bobbing against my thigh was anything to go by.
‘Mmmmm,’ I replied, unable to speak as he rubbed my slick nub until my toes tingled and my calves tightened in preparation for one hell of an orgasm.
33
Harvey knew Ember was close to climaxing. He felt her thighs tighten around his hand but refused to ease off. Her face and neck were flushed as she squirmed beneath him, trying to find relief from his penetrating fingers. Watching her creamy white skin turn a deep shade of pink as he continued to explore her slick folds, caused a trickle of pre-cum to escape into his boxer shorts.
‘God, Harvey, please.’
He would never tire of hearing his name escape her lips, especially on such a hoarse request.
‘Please Harvey, what?’
He’d posed the question but did not require an answer.
He knew what she needed.
What they both needed.
Her green eyes blazed into his as he teased her clit. He’d fucked many women during his time on earth but never one that made him want to shoot his load into his pants like a teenager.
‘Take me,’ she breathed, and his body throbbed in response. Harvey didn’t need telling twice. He released his cock from his boxers and positioned the tip against her wet and ready entrance.
‘You should know this might not last as long as I’d like. I was in the detainment unit for almost a year.’
He felt embarrassed admitting that he was ready to explode, but when Ember looped her arms around his neck and pulled him into a passionate kiss, he
felt his self-consciousness ease slightly.
‘Just two consenting adults, remember?’ she said once they’d broke apart. ‘No emotions. No explanations.’
Harvey nodded and unable to hold back any longer, he thrust himself deep inside her with a satisfying grunt. Her murmurs of pleasure roused his inner-demon, but he refused to let the darkness obscure this moment. He buried his face into her neck, kissing and licking her skin as he bucked faster and faster. Ember’s hands slid under his t-shirt, leaving gratifying, painful scratch marks as she clung to him.
‘Ah, yes, right there.’
Harvey slowed his momentum, ensuring he hit the right spot until she fell apart, calling his name as she came. Flames danced in front of his eyes; small orange sparks that flickered across Ember’s skin. The flares warmed his flesh, not hot enough to burn him but sufficient in adding a layer of intensity to his own climax.
Harvey gave in to the pleasure, collapsing onto Ember and capturing her lips with his.
‘Wow,’ he said when he was able to catch his breath again. ‘That was pretty intense.’
‘Sure was,’ she replied sleepily. ‘I needed that.’
Harvey rolled off Ember, and after adjusting his boxer shorts, pulled her into his arms, so that her back was against his chest. There wasn’t much room on the single bed, but he couldn’t think of anywhere else he’d rather be right now.
He’d lied earlier. He’d said no strings and no emotions because that’s what he’d thought it would take to sleep with her, but after holding her small body against his, it was as if that human part of him he’d had taken away all those years ago was slowly starting to repair itself.
Harvey had a shit load of emotion for this woman, so much so it made his chest hurt and his scar itch like crazy.
As predicted when he’d first looked into Ember’s eyes, he was in trouble.
So much fucking trouble.
34
Carter moved silently through the shadows, grateful for the cover they provided. It was coming up to three in the morning, so he was confident the recruits would be asleep, but he still wanted to remain undetected by the security cameras. He told himself he was only going to check on Ember, as he was worried about the effects of the anaesthetic, but the truth was he felt bad about what he’d said after the final test. She wasn’t just another recruit and after a week of training together, he did care what happened to her.
