by Regina Cole
“What kind of price?” I’d have to depend on his voice to gauge his sincerity. The thought wasn’t comforting.
“There is no time.” The crackle of leaves not far from us punctuated the urgency in his whisper. A flashlight’s glow bobbed along and angry voices accompanied it. My pursuers were too close. The devil I didn’t know won out in the battle of whom to trust.
“Fine, whatever,” I said, grabbing at the stranger’s muscled arm. “Get me the hell out of here.”
“You must say the words or I will be unable to help. Will you pay my price?”
The odd question, his unfamiliar voice and my unbelievable predicament combined to make me hesitate, even though my survival instincts screamed to agree to whatever he asked.
Rafe’s voice was easy to pick out now. “That fucking cunt is as good as dead.” Leaves crunched like brittle bones under his angry steps. There were no doubts about what would happen to me if I didn’t go with the stranger.
“I’ll pay your price, I’ll pay your price.” My voice was frantic as I tried to drag the stranger away from the encroaching murderers. “Help me, please.”
Hard arms wrapped around me, drawing me to a large form. Instinctively, I tried to pull away but the stranger was too strong. Muttered words sounded, rumbling through the chest now pressed to the back of my head.
I forgot Rafe. I forgot Davis and the poor dead girl. I forgot I was running for my life from the most terrifying event since my mother died. None of those things mattered once the stranger’s body enveloped mine and my vision went white and the world exploded around me.
An eternity later, warm hands rubbed my shoulders.
“You can open your eyes now. You’re safe.”
I hadn’t been aware my lids were closed. When they opened, I gasped.
Faint firelight flickered along the blood-dark walls of the room. Skulls of various sizes lined mahogany shelves above the huge fireplace, their grinning faces seeming to mock my fluttering pulse. A massive bed dominated an entire wall, the mattress draped in black and red silks. A large steamer trunk sat at the foot of the bed. But the thing that made me recoil against the stranger was the glowing purple globe at the center of the room. Its weird light bathed me, prickling like electricity where it illuminated my skin.
“Bryerly,” the unfamiliar voice rumbled behind me, shooting a thrill of fear mixed with something else to the pit of my stomach. “It is time to pay my price.”
He rubbed from my shoulders to my back then forward to pull my hips against a throbbing, hot erection.
“What the hell is going on?” I sprang away as if burned, trying like hell to ignore the lust that had pooled between my legs at his touch. I whirled to face the stranger who’d saved my life.
He was tall, easily close to seven feet. His face and body were covered in a dark robe, which almost shimmered in the firelight. I started to move away but stopped suddenly when the glowing purple globe hummed alarmingly behind me.
“You agreed to pay my price.” He prowled closer, a smooth motion almost like floating.
“Hold on a minute.” I skirted around the sphere to keep my distance from both it and him. “I don’t know you. Thanks for saving me from Rafe but honestly, sleeping with you wasn’t in the plans.”
My body ached in passionate protest at my words. Shoving the desire down, I set my jaw and stood my ground.
He stopped and his shrouded head hung lower as his shoulders rounded. “Very well.”
The edges of the room shimmered, wavered and turned into the cool midnight woods. Rafe’s angry voice rocketed through my brain.
“That fucking cunt is as good as dead.” The flashlight’s beam swept across my bare calves.
Shit.
In the space of two seconds, I reversed my decision. I launched myself at the blackness where my robed rescuer had stood only a breath before.
“Please,” I begged as Rafe’s fingers closed cruelly on my shoulder. “I’ll pay your price, I promise!”
Rafe disappeared and I stood in the dark bedroom once more.
My knees collapsed and I fell into a nerveless heap on the icy stone floor. The cold cobbles felt good against my fevered skin. Content to stay, afraid to move, I’d have spent all night there if the stranger had not scooped me up and deposited me onto the bed.
“Who are you?” My voice trembled. Shame and desire gripped me in equal amounts.
“I am called Verum.” He left the bedside to stand near the purple globe.
It glowed brighter when he came near. I sat up on the bed, watching, rapt, as he carefully pulled back the long sleeves of his robe. He had large hands, with skin the color of dark, rich caramel. A shiver that had nothing to do with the warm air in the room skittered along my spine.
I drew my legs up beside me, trying to preserve some level of modesty. “Well, Verum, thanks for saving me from Rafe. It was really incredible of you. I’d be dead if you hadn’t been so wonderful as to help me.”
He turned then, facing the bed. I strained to catch a glimpse of the face hidden behind the hooded robe but to no avail. How could I be this interested in a man I hadn’t really seen?
“I am sorry, Bryerly, but I did not help you because I am a good person. You agreed to pay my price.”
Blood rushed to my cheeks as I remembered the feel of his hardness pressing into my ass. My legs shifted restlessly, trying to dim the longing ache between them. “I did but you’re not going to force me to have sex with you, are you?”
He came closer, his smooth movement unearthly as he closed the gap between us. “No, that is not part of my price. But we will lie together and I’ll have no need for rape. You can hide nothing from me, Bryerly Robin Keats of Percee County, Virginia. Not the math test you cheated on in third grade, not the time you smoked pot in the girls’ locker room, not the boy you sucked off in your dorm while your roommate slept. And most especially not…”
He paused as he reached out, a long finger raising my chin. I stared into the dark space of the hood where his eyes were hidden. “The way your body clamors for mine.”
My heart thudded so hard it could have cracked my ribs. “How do you know all that? I’ve never told anyone about those things.”
He raised his hands to the embroidered edge of his hood. I bit back a scream as he looked at me. His face was incredibly handsome, masculine, dark and strong, but his eyes were solid white—blank, empty and terrifying.
“Because I am the Truth Keeper.”
Chapter Three
“Truth Keeper,” I repeated in a nervous whisper, scooting away from that piercingly haunting stare. “What is that?”
He closed his eyes and it was all I could do not to sigh in relief. He looked normal now—well, as normal as a super-tall, inhumanly gorgeous man could look. He was much easier to appreciate without those eyes.
His head was shaved but he had a short beard shadowing the strong line of his jaw. The sides of his robe had parted with the hood’s fall, exposing an exquisitely muscled abdomen. My fingers itched to touch that vee of exposed skin and my breasts tightened at the thought of being pressed to his nudity.
“Even now,” he whispered. “Even now I know your thoughts.” He turned away and let the black robe fall to the floor behind him, leaving him bare. His back was exactly as perfect as his face and chest had been. Smooth skin the color of coffee stretched over lean muscles. Broad shoulders tapered to slim hips. His ass was tight, a smooth roundness that crowned his long legs. Heat rushed to my core and my hips twisted with the feeling. My fingers were loosening the buttons of my shirt without my knowledge or permission.
“Wha…what’s happening to me?” Lust surged through me, stronger than I’d ever felt it before. My nipples were so hard they hurt. Tossing my shirt away, I fell backward on the bed and worked furiously to free my skirt from my hips.
“The truth is revealed to us both. Your body is free to feel what it wants,” Verum said, facing me. His eyes were open now, their eerie blankn
ess glowing as he looked at my body.
I’d slid my skirt down my legs, kicking it free when it reached my ankles. Only a scrap of silk underwear and a low-cut bra covered my nakedness. I kept my eyes trained on his face, knowing if I looked at his cock and found it hard that I’d be lost. The swirling desire pulsing through me was held in check by the thinnest of threads. As badly as I wanted to sever it, my caution wasn’t quite overcome yet.
It was hard as hell to keep from touching myself. The urge to rip my panties away and part the lips of my pussy to Verum’s gaze was nearly irresistible. My fingers dug into the silken sheets on either side of me, spine arching as my body fought my brain for control.
“No. I don’t want this.” My lie sounded empty. I wanted him. I wanted Verum more than I’d wanted anyone ever before.
My right hand lost the fight and crept to my chest, dipping into the lacy cup of my bra, caressing my breast. I moaned aloud when I pinched my hardened nipple, delighting in the moisture that flooded my pussy with liquid heat. Was he watching me? Did he like what he saw? The delicious thought drove me on, even though it made no logical sense. My logic had burned up in the heat of the passion that Verum stirred.
“Yes.” His deep voice drew another wave of honey from the well of my desire. “More.”
I couldn’t stop myself from looking downward, past his strong, beautiful jaw. Past the light dusting of hair on his pectoral muscles. Past the molded perfection of his abdomen.
My breath hissed in at the sight of his hard, thick cock. I didn’t even try to stop myself from pulling the panties and bra from my body then. I was lost, as lost as I’d been while running through the midnight woods only moments before.
“Bryerly.” His odd accent made my name sound exotic. “Yes. Show yourself to me. You have no secrets here.”
Parting my thighs in front of him, I reached between my legs and rubbed my forefingers along the pale, nude lips. My fingers became slick with the moisture there and when I parted those folds for Verum, the growl he emitted drew another rush of wet heat.
Holding my pussy open, I flicked the hard cherry of my clit. Feeling decadent, powerful, sexy, I watched him hungrily as his strange eyes feasted on the show.
“Tell me what you’re thinking,” I said, gratified when he gripped the length of his cock, rubbing the hard shaft with smooth, brisk strokes. Maybe he was as vulnerable to this as I was. Maybe he wanted me as badly as I wanted him.
“I am thinking of plunging myself into you. I am thinking of what it will be like to have your tight walls grip me as I fuck you. I am thinking of releasing inside you, over and over and over again.”
“Ah,” I cried out as his fingers suddenly thrust into my body, stretching me deliciously. Two long fingers invaded me, not cruelly but masterfully, playing my body as if it were an instrument and he, a virtuoso.
I rubbed my clit harder, gasping as he added a third finger, quickening his rhythm as he finger-fucked me. I looked into his white eyes, strange, alien things that called to me, body and soul. He wanted me too and the knowledge nearly pitched me over the edge of my orgasm. It would be so easy to come now, so fucking easy…
He instantly removed his fingers. “No. Not yet.”
“What?” Propping up on my elbows, I watched him as he moved away a few steps. He rubbed his wet fingers on his cock, making the dark skin glint in the firelight.
“It is not time for you to find release. We have much to do before then.”
I bit my lip, the throbbing in my core doubting his words. My orgasm didn’t want to wait. I wanted him in my arms, covering me, thrusting within me. Close like lovers, not the strangers we were.
He turned away, walking to the end of the bed where the trunk stood. My breath caught in my throat at the sight of his incredible body. Smooth, muscled maleness moved with almost otherworldly grace as he opened the age-blackened trunk lid and produced a crimson velvet bag. It landed with a soft thump on the bed next. When I started to reach for it, curious, his hand on mine stopped me.
“Allow me the pleasure.”
I nodded and withdrew, scooting over to make room for him as he sat beside me.
He reached into the bag and pulled out a length of black silk. He held it up. “May I?”
Even though I wasn’t sure what I was agreeing to, I nodded. The tickle of uncertainty only heightened my anticipation. Holding the ends of the fabric, he wound it gently around my face, covering my eyes completely. My nails dug into my palms as he tied the fabric in a knot behind my head, tight enough to avoid slipping but not uncomfortably so. My ragged breaths were loud as suspense and blackness enveloped me.
“Lie down, Bryerly.” He positioned me so several soft pillows cushioned my head.
My nipples hardened with excitement and my pulse thrummed quickly. I wasn’t sure why I trusted this stranger or wanted him so much but I knew he’d keep me safe.
Glass clinked, fabric rustled. I twisted my hips slightly, delighting in the feel of my damp nether lips sliding past each other. I rubbed my bare belly, brushing past the little jewel that hung suspended from my navel piercing and down to part my pussy once more.
His fingers lay atop mine, stopping me. “Wait.”
The command wasn’t one I could ignore. I nodded, biting my lip in thick anticipation.
Verum explored me, starting at my ankles, working his way up to my parted thighs. The breeze of his breath tickled my exposed skin, sending shivers of desire to my breasts and belly. I raised my hips to him, silently begging him to take me. I didn’t know what he would do next but my heart raced at the erotic imaginings that rocketed through my brain.
He disappeared. A brief second later, a cool, smooth object rubbed its way up my leg. As Verum moved it higher, his fingers—gripping the object at its base—brushed against me. That must have been the glass I’d heard. A dildo of some sort? He brought it up to my mouth and gently probed at my lips.
“Open,” he commanded.
I complied, parting my lips and receiving the hard glass into my mouth. I sucked the thick length as he moved it slowly in and out with a gentle thrust. The lack of sight only fueled my incredible desire.
What is he going to do with that glass? God. I wish it was his cock in my mouth. Is he going to fuck me? This is crazy, I don’t even know him but this is so damn good. I want more.
I sucked harder, my thoughts fading away as instinct took over. I moved my head forward and back, imagining it was Verum’s hard cock instead of the now-warm glass member.
Too soon, he took it away, my lips making a soft popping sound as he pulled it free. He dragged the warm, wet tip across my throat, between my breasts, down my belly, where a soft click sounded as the glass bumped my navel piercing. He parted my pussy lips, my body’s response coating the dildo as he rubbed it on my most sensitive flesh. The warm tip barely breached the gates of my pussy and I moaned.
“Your form is so pleasing,” Verum said as he worked the tip of the dildo in and out, only centimeters deep. “Your skin is so pale, so different from my own. And so soft…” He trailed off as he covered my breast, squeezing it lightly.
The fire he’d started inside me was ready to blaze higher. I throbbed, ached, quivered with a passion I had never experienced before. I needed him to force the dildo all the way, to stretch me, to fill me. I was so hungry for whatever he would give. My wordless cry conveyed more than language could.
“I know, Bryerly.”
He entered me with the glass, slowly stretching me, filling me with the slick object. I moaned at the feeling, staring hard against the blindfold. I wished I could see him as he fucked me with that long, thick glass member. My tongue darted out to wet my lips, my hips thrusting in time with his smooth strokes.
Pleasure coiled and rippled through my blood, pooling at the base of my belly. Verum’s every movement seemed designed to drive me completely mindless while carefully withholding the orgasm I needed more than anything. No matter how I writhed, he kept his movements ev
en, caressing my inner thigh as he slowly guided the dildo deep.
My hips thrust harder, fighting his even, slow rhythm. More. I want more.
“And you shall have it,” he finally whispered.
A whimper escaped me as the dildo disappeared, leaving me cold at its absence. My thighs lay open, waiting for whatever he would do next. I covered my breasts, the hardened tips tingling at the brush of my palms. Open, vulnerable and completely willing, I lay like a sacrifice to a pagan god. A soft pop sounded, almost like the cork from a glass bottle. What was he doing?
“Verum?” My voice was deeper than usual, passion roughening it. “Where… Ah!”
The dildo was back, slicker than before, this time probing at the much tighter hole beneath my swollen pussy. I gripped my breasts hard, the pain-pleasure of the unfamiliar invasion casting a red haze over my brain. The lack of sight, the tight penetration of the lubricated, honey-slicked glass entering me, the way my fingernails dug into my own skin, it was almost too much to take.
“Your body welcomes me,” Verum rasped as the dildo went even deeper inside me.
It reached its full length and I cried out. No one had done anything like this to me before. It felt taboo, forbidden, but so intensely pleasurable that my hesitation disappeared. Pleasure swirled within me, completely in his control. The dildo stopped moving and the bed beneath me shifted as a hot, hard man lay fully atop me. He pulled my hands away from my breasts and sucked the tip of one into his mouth.
“Oh god,” I cried out as he lightly bit the hard nub. He treated the other breast to the same sweet torture. “I can’t take much more of this,” I said when his head lifted for the second time.
“I know,” he said and thrust his thick erection deep into my pussy.
I gasped. I only thought I’d felt pleasure and passion before. They were nothing compared to Verum’s cock entering me at that moment. The pressure of his large size combined with the dildo still penetrating my tight hole sent sparks of pure pleasure surging to my skull. I gripped the muscles of his shoulders, his back, trying to find some way to hold on to what was happening. The delicious feelings were almost too much to take. What had I ever done to deserve an incredible passion like this? I’d never feel anything this good again, I was certain.
