There were so many avenues of sex that I’d never experienced, but I had no fear of them. I knew that when Asher’s tongue licked my slit that my back would bow, and my fingers would grasp the vine wrapped around my wrists. They were the only thing holding me up when my knees became weak.
His mouth slowly kissed and licked me into a writhing mess against the rock.
“You’re so wet, it’s making me crazy with the need to fuck you.” The brush of his lips against my sex made me whimper, my head nodding for the words that I couldn’t say.
I needed him so badly, I swear I was going to combust if I didn’t get him inside me right now.
“I feel it too.” He rose and kissed my body as he stood.
I wanted to ask him what he felt, but his hardened cock pressed against my belly, and all thoughts of talking blew away with the drifting snowflakes.
“That insane need to claim, to pleasure, and feel. It’s a mate thing. Nothing is more important than pleasuring you, the desire to make you feel like there is nothing better in the world than my cock drilling into you.” His husky voice whispered against my neck, running those little tingles of pleasure down my body where they pooled in my core.
“Don’t worry, my sweet kitten. I’m going to take care of you.”
His words were an aphrodisiac to my libido.
“I swear, Asher, if you don’t fuck me right now, I’m going to turn into some animal with teeth and eat you!” I threatened, but no sooner had I finished my last word when Asher lifted me off the ground and impaled me on his cock.
I groaned in pleasure and pain from being so full, so fast.
His body shivered, and it wasn’t from the chill.
I knew what he meant before—the fire between us was indeed burning so hot it would scorch the earth.
“Mine.” His primitive groan echoed around the silent forest.
I wrapped my legs around his, hoping it would help the adjustment of my body.
He slowly lifted me up and then slid me back down with ease.
The more he moved, the better it started to feel, and the more I needed him to soothe the ache that was threatening to take me over.
As if reading my mind, his lips clashed against mine as his cock started drilling me into the stone pressed against my back.
It was everything I’d ever thought sex to be like, and more.
“You are heaven, branding yourself to my very soul.” He moved down to my neck, his fingers digging into my ass cheeks, losing himself inside me.
“Asher,” I moaned, the storm within me looming, preparing to shatter my world as I knew it.
“I’ve got you, baby. Never fucking letting go.” His mouth was hot on the only part of my shoulder that was bare underneath my jacket.
I moaned louder, and his hips moved harder, letting me feel every torturous inch of his length sliding inside me.
I felt something moving with my teeth as I teetered on the edge of release.
His teeth scraped my skin, and I latched onto his neck. Elongated, sharp canine teeth pierced his skin as I came hard enough I swore the earth quaked beneath our feet.
Just as I was coming down from the crest of my orgasm, his teeth sank into my shoulder as he roared his release, sending me over again with him.
The taste of his blood in my mouth did little to deter me from kissing him with a fever unrivaled by those before, even with his own lips coated in my blood.
It was feral and savage.
Just like us, wild and raw in every way.
“I’m pretty sure biting is like saying your wedding vows in animal speak,” he said with a grin. Even now, his stupid humor made me smile.
“You’re an animal.” I kissed him once more before he pulled himself out of my sensitive flesh and set me down.
“I’ll take that as a compliment. I’m an animal in the sack.” His smile was bright, casting away all the shadows of the forest.
His vines released my wrists, and together we helped each other get dressed again, wiping the blood that still glossed our lips as best as we could.
“I don’t have to worry about rabies, right? You’ve gotten your shot in the past five years, correct?” he joked while examining the obvious bite mark on his shoulder that was seeping blood onto his shirt.
His joke won him a smack to his stupid head, then I brought him closer to look over the wound with my own eyes.
“Watch it, magic boy, I could still eat you. Many species kill the male after sex.”
“Magic boy?” he mused, and I watched as the cuts in his shoulder began to heal.
“Mine.” I kissed the spot that was now completely sealed.
“Mine,” he responded, and I didn’t think I would ever tire of hearing that word from his lips.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Asher
A week since our earth-shattering romp in the woods had passed, and Echo had been throwing everything she had into helping the Hero Society when she could, along with hunting down Amanda’s killer, and reading that journal about Delphi.
I’d managed to claim my spot in her schedule in the morning before her day began. Sometimes we would continue to explore each other’s bodies, learning them as our own, and sometimes we would just have a nice breakfast together. She’d lay her head on my lap while I sat on the couch and read a book.
She’d started looking for another apartment since we’d completely moved her out of that one, thanks to Leon’s help. He moved it all onto a truck in about five minutes.
The dude was nice, but his energy was a bit confusing at times. He seemed to juggle between extrovert and introvert constantly. A part of him wanted to be in the crowd and enjoying everything, then another part of him wanted to hole up somewhere and avoid people. Once everything of hers was in my apartment, he asked if we needed anything and left when we said we didn’t.
So far, the crew of the Hero Society was very eclectic. Rose and Lilith had stopped by and had some drinks with Echo at my bar when she came back from work.
They put a smile on her face, and that was all I cared about.
I was currently wiping down the bar, which had just closed down for the night about twenty minutes ago, when Echo came stomping down the stairs in an oversized shirt with sleep shorts, and plopped on a stool in front of me.
“I can’t sleep,” she whined, looking tired as hell.
“Need me to come sing you a lullaby like I did when you were a kitty cat?” Teasing her was always a highlight of my day.
She huffed.
“Your voice wasn’t that soothing.” She tried to blow it off like she didn’t pass out every time I sang to her when she was with me in feline form.
“What’s troubling that smart mind of yours?”
I grabbed some cleaner and got to work on making everything ready for tomorrow.
“I haven’t gotten any new leads on who the killer is, and this Delphi guy is boring. All he writes about are his family issues and trying to learn new medicinal practices. I’ve only got about twenty more pages until the end, and I haven’t found anything that makes it seem important enough to kidnap a woman over.”
That was pretty frustrating.
“Well, usually the big reveal doesn’t happen until close to the end of a book. You just have to keep reading.”
She looked at me and nodded; we both knew she just really wanted to catch the killer that was still on the loose.
“As far as the killer, you’ll catch onto something you hadn’t figured out before. Whoever it is, they will slip up in some way, and you’ll be waiting for them.”
I wished I could give her another piece of advice, but I couldn’t. I knew what she did, and I hadn’t been able to find a connection either.
“Have you tried looking into the previous cases? See if there is a common denominator between them.”
She shook her head.
“I’ve looked but couldn’t find anything. Mom and Dad only talked to people on the reservation, for the most part.
We only came into the city around Christmastime to look at the lights, but that was it. The others had very quiet lives, as far as I could tell from the reports. The detectives on the cases originally were very organized.”
“Well, you’re the detective on the case now. Go do what you do best, look outside of Amanda, and solve the other murders too. One step at a time.” I was completely confident that she could do it, and I would be there with her every step of the way if she needed me to be.
“I think you’re right, I need to look outside of Amanda for now, and see what the connection to the others is beyond that they had powers. Maybe they all knew the killer in some way.” Her brain was moving, and I could tell she was figuring out where she was going to start.
I was mid-sweep when she gripped a hold of the broom handle and tossed it to the ground.
“You’re good for me.”
She was looking at me with those wild eyes that told me she needed me for more than just a sounding board at the moment.
“I think I am a little bit better than just good.” I pulled her to me and then spun her around and bent her over a table.
She moaned, knowing what was coming next, and I smacked her ass since it was presented to me so nicely.
“If you wanted some Asher time, all you had to do was say so, kitten.” I ran my hands over her perfect apple bottom and then back up to grip her ebony hair, her head twisted to the side, and I kissed her hard. Teeth and tongues fighting for dominance.
“Asher, I need your dick, now can you hurry up?” she barked, and it made me laugh.
“Say please?” I began pulling her sleep shorts down and unbuttoning my jeans.
“I said now!” She was feeling extra feisty tonight.
“You can only have my cock when you beg for it. Until then…” I kissed my way down her back and then spread her legs wide.
Two minutes of my tongue on her sex, and she was begging me to take her hard and fast.
I’d oblige, of course, especially since I’d been holding on by a thread, too, needing her heat surrounding me until we both cried out release into the empty bar.
Her face was completely flat against the table, and her breathing sounded like she’d been worked over hard. Good. I wanted my woman as satisfied as I could possibly make her.
I’d grabbed some tissues and wiped her up gently, her pink flesh was swollen from her arousal and my rough handling. Couldn’t say the sight didn’t make my dick start to stir again.
She yawned, and I couldn’t help but laugh. She really did just need some goodnight dick to help her fall asleep.
“Oh, shut it.” She stood up and reached down to pull her shorts up.
“Sleep tight, kitten. I’ll be up in a few.” I put myself back in my jeans and returned to getting everything cleaned up so I could shower and join her sweet ass in bed.
She moved softly back toward the door that led to my apartment and stopped before ascending the stairs.
“I want to go to my parents’ house tomorrow. Will you come with me?” Her voice was low and trembled slightly like a nervous child asking for help.
“Of course. I go where you go.” I looked at her with what I was hoping was the love I felt on the inside with her.
She seemed satisfied and left for the apartment.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Echo
I was taking a step back from Amanda’s case and looking at the others.
Every statement that had been taken was almost identical. Good people, worked hard, volunteered in their spare time, and went to church every Sunday—apart from my parents. We’d never stepped foot in a church. The majority of my people didn’t go to one.
Marissa Adkins was a twenty-four-year-old waitress in Seahill when she was murdered. The report said she attended Sunday morning services with her family then they had brunch. Afterward she went to the grocery store to pick up a few miscellaneous items for a night in with her roommate. She was found that evening by her roommate in their apartment. The slits were on her back. Just like all the others, she’d bled to death.
Beth Buswell was thirty-two and had been a stay-at-home mom of three-year-old twin boys. Her husband had taken the kids to preschool in the morning, and when he got home, she’d been sliced up like everyone else. She, however, had the two slits on her forehead, instead of between her shoulder blades.
I’d been racking my brain trying to figure out the killer’s motives behind the slits on the forehead versus the back.
Dr. Dorian was helpful in letting me know that there wasn’t any main artery at those points, so they weren’t more efficient in creating the blood loss. they were solely for another purpose. He did mention that bloodletting was still used in rural areas of the world to let evil seep out of their bodies. The practice was old, and severely outdated, but couldn’t be ruled out as a motive.
I studied the cases of the others all morning. Asher brought me food and drinks to keep my energy up as I was sprawled out on his floor surrounded by files and pictures of the victims.
Kellee Strickland and her husband, Darrel, both forty years old, had been helping their neighbor move all day, and then when the neighbor went to ask them if they wanted dinner that night, found them both bleeding out in their kitchen.
Bri Partin, age thirty-five, newlywed, was found by her new husband after coming home from the gym. She was cooking dinner.
Jen Sully, Dayna Elise, Markie Divey, Shari Womack, Magda Pereira, Audrina Norton, Cassandra Tatum, and Amanda Johnson’s deaths were the same. Kind women, just doing what they could to help their world for the better.
Only common denominator was that they were all women, with the exception of the two husbands. Different ages, ranging from nineteen to forty. They all were church goers, except my parents. But they all went to different churches, so that made me think it had to have been something else that connected them.
I asked Asher to go with me to my parents’, but I still felt nervous about going. Not long after I’d turned eighteen, I boarded up the house. I haven’t been back since. My aunt wanted me to sell the house and split the profit, but I’d told her to suck it and left.
She emailed occasionally, hoping that I’d sell the house and the large property it was on, but I still told her no.
I just wasn’t ready to give it up yet.
Asher and I were quiet as I drove us out of Seahill and onto reservation territory.
It was quieter, but they had everything you needed, so you didn’t have to go into the city often.
Familiar faces turned when they heard the rumble of my car driving down the main streets. My car was very recognizable. I’m sure the gossip machine would engage in no time.
Echo Cross was home.
The house looked eerie as we drove down the gravel driveway, and all sorts of memories flooded my head.
Pop helping me learn how to ride a bike, and Momma working with me in her gardens.
Those gardens were nothing but leafless vines and weeds now. My childhood home was frozen in a time of death from both winter and the last events that occurred inside it. There weren’t any happy memories inside that house after my parents died.
“Nice house.” Asher broke the silence, and I nodded my head, no words necessary. It was a nice house, or at least it had been. Built decades ago by my great-grandparents, it was a two-story wooden house with a wraparound porch. However, the years of neglect showed. The white paint was flaking off, giving it a creepy, abandoned look.
The one key that hadn’t been touched in years felt cold in my fingers as I parked the car and stepped out into the yard.
“What are you looking for?” Asher was trying to keep my mind focused on the true reason why we were here and not the emotions that were threatening to consume my mind.
“Anything that connects them to the killer. We never went to church, but that’s the only common denominator I can find with the others. I was just a teenager; there was so much I’m sure they didn’t tell me about their li
ves, and maybe some insight would help.”
At least I hoped so. There had been no motive found for their deaths and the others. But there was always a motive behind these evil acts.
I unlocked the door, and it gave with a loud creak from the hinges. The air was stale, and the open living room was dark, the curtains around the windows blocking any light from getting in.
It still smelled like lavender, as if Mom had just plucked a fresh stem off the plant outside and stuck it under all of the couch cushions. She said it was good luck, and helped the house smell nice.
“Let’s split up,” I told Asher, since I could feel his eyes on me. I didn’t look at him before climbing up the stairs and looking for something that could tell me about who would want to hurt my parents and the others.
My room was the same as I’d left it, and I knew there wasn’t anything in there pertaining to my parents’ lives. So, I ventured into a room that was completely untouched since death cursed this house.
Deep breaths, and I turned the knob to my parents’ room, easing the door open.
Their scent had long disappeared, and I found myself missing it hard right now.
“You’re the best damn detective in Seahill, Cross. Find your parents’ killer,” I told myself, trying to not get emotional from seeing their things just as they left them.
Shutting down my brain from feeling anything, I looked at everything from an unbiased point of view.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Echo
My parents’ room was a bust.
Just their clothes, Mom’s jewelry, and some naughty things in the nightstand I wished I hadn’t seen.
Asher, however, found some things he thought to point out once I descended the stairs.
“Found these.” He handed me a yellow flyer, and a letter with my name on it, scribbled in my mother’s handwriting.
“Where’d you find this?” I set the flyer down, determining it wasn’t the main priority right now.
“It was in a hidden compartment behind the bread cubby in the kitchen. I could feel trapped energy there and found that.” Asher looked concerned as I slowly broke the seal and pulled out a long letter written by my mom. As soon as I started reading, my legs gave out. Asher caught me, bringing me to the dusty-as-hell couch. He didn’t say anything as I read on, hearing her voice in my head with tears brimming.
Dusk (Hero Society Book 3) Page 12
