The Love of Her Death

by Luna Carrol

  His hand smoothed down the side of her face in a surprisingly gentle fashion. He closed his eyes and grasped her quickly around the ribs. With very little effort, he lifted her up and over him, laying her flat on the bed.

  "Spread your legs, Donnice."

  His voice took on an eerie sound. Not just husky with passion but animalistic and ferocious.

  She swallowed as she obeyed.

  "Touch yourself for me."

  He stood above her, his face hidden in shadows created by the light behind him. Something foreboding in his speech and shadowed face caused her chest to tighten in fear.

  "Colin?"

  "Do as I say. Spread your legs."

  "You're not going to hurt me are you?” The feeling just crept up on her. He had been nothing but gentle with her.

  He stood silent. If he would just say something, she wouldn't feel so frightened. She waited for what seemed like the longest minute of her life.

  Placing a hand over the juncture of her thighs, she attempted to sit up until he placed a strong hand on her thigh. “Do as I ask."

  She lay back with some hesitancy. Closing her eyes, she widened her legs. Her heels caused her legs to bend at a greater angle than normal, making her sex lift higher as well.

  "Spread it for me."

  Using both her hands, she parted her cunt for his clearer view.

  "You spoke of wanting to be compelled. Made to do things that conventional society would frown upon."

  She breathed harder. The possible outcomes were staggering to her. “But remember, I said my lover would be noble enough not to ask."

  His face drew closer and caused her to gasp. His eyes were no longer normal. They had black centers with no whites around them, only a bright yellow color. “I said you would have to overlook the noble part with me. Now touch yourself."

  She shakily lowered her hand to her still moist slit. Finding her clit, she absently tugged at it. She couldn't take her eyes from his. He couldn't possibly be human. Maybe he had been but not now. Had he become that immediately after death? Perhaps he became that after taking so many souls.

  Her chest lifted and fell in sporadic breaths. Time stood still as she waited for him to do something.

  "You will cum for me, Donnice.” He leaned over and whispered in her ear. “You will cum because I want you to."

  He did remember everything she told him—the eyes, the decisiveness. She couldn't possibly ignore his wishes now. Not only because she feared him, but, for some odd reason, she just wanted to be his even more now. No man could ever be as strong as him. He was what she had always wanted—pure strength and totally in control.

  He lowered himself and used his flattened tongue to lick up her parted sex. Those eyes never closed. They watched her.

  "Do you know what I see when I look at you now?"

  Of course, he had to mean with those eyes. She shook her head no.

  "A soul crying for a hero. Someone waiting to be saved. Someone wanting decisions made for them.” He tilted his head much like a dog listening for something in the distance. “I see a soul, who needs to learn to save itself."

  Cowboy, Marie, Ivan, and Peter, he had saved her all those times. Even her life, or rather, her death was a poor attempt at taking control of her own destiny. She even told him that she wanted a man who could make decisions for her.

  "No.” She watched his eyes open wider, cautioning her or maybe just shocked. “When I met you, I wanted you to save me.” She smiled through breathing heavily. “I knew you could."

  He moved too quickly and paused just before her face. “Look at me. Do I strike you as a savior?"

  She gently placed a shaking hand on his cheek. “Yes. You're the one who saved me many times.” She ran the pad of her thumb over his goatee. “And you wanted to save me."

  He clenched his jaw, making that tiny muscle twitch beneath her hand. “I'm not to have emotions, Donnice. I have a duty to perform."

  He moved his cock into position. “Now, cum for me."

  She braced herself just before he plunged deeply. Holding him, she gasped into his ear, purposely exhaling so that he could feel it. Kissing his ear, she begged him for all he had to give her.

  His thrusts threatened to flatten her into the bed each time. They were forceful and dominating thrusts. The type meant to completely satisfy a woman. She moaned and lifted her knees.

  "You are my hero, Colin. The very man I have always dreamt of."

  Colin pulled his head back after a deep thrust. She didn't know what she was saying. “Look closely, Donnice. Listen closely. I am no hero, and I am no longer a man."

  She stared into his eyes long enough that he realized she could handle seeing his strange eyes staring down at her.

  "You're the one who's afraid now, Colin."

  He paused his thrusts. Her eyes, filled with emotion, did frighten him. His jealousy of Jay frightened him.

  "Love me, Colin. I'll accept you for who you are."

  "Damn it, Donnice.” He lifted himself off of her. “Do you not understand anything yet?"

  "I understand that I want you.” She wrapped herself around his lower back. “And I understand that you want me."

  He closed his eyes and tried to ignore her warmth. He didn't want to look into her large trusting, brown eyes. If he did, he would tell her things that she just wasn't ready to hear.

  "Please finish what you started, Colin.” Her soft wet mouth kissed his arm.

  "No.” He tried so hard to remain unmoved.

  "No?” She half giggled, such a sweet sound.

  What he wouldn't give to be joking with her.

  "I said no.” He stood and pulled his pants on. “You can sleep here tonight."

  Her mouth hung open as she pulled the sheet up over her body. He knew she didn't understand. Not many men stop making love to a woman just before they ... Making love? The thought crossed his mind before he could prevent it.

  "Was it something I did?” Her heart-shaped face lowered as if in shame.

  He needed to tell her. If he didn't, she would think he didn't want her. However, it just may be easier that way. Let her think he didn't want her. That he didn't want to spend forever with her. It was a hell of a lot easier to take than the truth.

  "Something like that.” Even as he said the words, he could hear her heartbreaking.

  He turned and left the room before she could ask any more questions. Perhaps fear did play a role here. It didn't change the fact that he couldn't kill her like he planned. He knew she had to go.

  He walked out onto the empty platform at the end of the train. He should tell her that to cum for him would be her last time. His hunger would be the death of her.

  There was no way he could resist her at the moment of her release. Her soul would be so close to the surface that he would taste it in her very breath. Her soul, more than any other soul, was what he needed.

  No. She would be better off taking random lovers until her stop. A stop he couldn't name. Perhaps another man could teach her to accept her for who she was and thereby reach her journey's end. Damn. The thought of her with another man shouldn't make him so angry. He gripped the metal handrail before him until his knuckles turned white.

  He knew all the stops of his previous passengers. Not once had one been so mysterious to him. Donnice's stop could be at any moment, and that fact alone drove him insane. He should know the moment to ... to kill her. He closed his eyes against the light of the moon. She was already beginning to accept herself. She was learning that she couldn't be something she wasn't and reach that ultimate peace.

  He listened. Donnice cried so easily. She had to be crying now. Nothing. He cocked his head to listen more intensely. Still no sound.

  Colin sighed. He would have to go check on her ... again. Since the woman boarded his train, she confused him and kept him on his toes. However, he would keep doing it. He wouldn't allow any other guest to hurt her even if she did bring the situation on herself.

  Openi
ng the door, he found an empty car. No trace of her existed except for the crumpled bed sheets left behind. She hadn't reached her stop. She had to be in another car.

  A soft gasp came from the next car. Donnice! Something had frightened her.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Swinging the door open, Colin found her pressed against the black control wall of the locomotive. The train's engineer was looming over her with an evil smile.

  The engineer could frighten any man with just a look. He had no nose, just a gaping hole where it should be. Instead of lips skin hung and flapped around his chin as if someone had grabbed his mouth and pulled the lips from his face. His eyes were filled with flames that matched the furnace he was damned to tend for all eternity.

  "That's enough.” Colin reached a hand out to Donnice. “What are you doing here?"

  She looked to him and back to the engineer. When her face returned to Colin, the large brown eyes pooled with tears of terror and trembling lips. Sliding her body along the gadget and control-covered wall, she reached a hand out to his.

  The engineer growled and lunged toward her. His coal shovel raised above her head.

  She screamed and jumped to Colin's side.

  Colin gave the engineer a daring stare. “You cannot harm a passenger."

  "She's in my engine room.” The flaps of skin moved, but the opening of his mouth remained hidden beneath.

  "Coincidence. I'll take her."

  "She asked about her stop. It is no coincidence that she's here. She came looking for me.” The engineer's voice rang of accusation.

  Colin briefly glanced in Donnice's direction. The woman would forever be a problem. However, the fact that she was searching for her destination without his aid said something, too. It could be time.

  "Is it true? Has she been with us for so long?” The engineer's anger, emphasized by his waving of the shovel, caused Donnice to flinch against his back.

  "She has."

  "Why? Are you neglecting your duty, Conductor?” His voice rose.

  "She had not reached her destination, but...” Damn, he hated this. “Her stop is quickly approaching now."

  "See to it!” He pointed his shovel at Colin's chest.

  "I tend to the passengers.” Colin gripped the shovel and threw it to the side. “You just drive the train!"

  The engineer released a scream, and the train whistled at the same time. Colin didn't flinch. The train and the engineer were closely connected. He learned that a long time ago.

  Donnes whimpered behind him and gripped his jacket. “Please Colin, let's go."

  "Take her, Colin. If she doesn't reach her stop in minutes, I'll tend to her myself.” The engineer sneered in Donnice's direction. “My fire will consume more than just coal."

  Colin shoved the engineer back. The hulking beast of what was once a man flew backward across the room. A loud hiss ensued as his hand landed flat against the metal near the roaring fire.

  "I tend to the passengers.” Colin repeated himself and felt rage like he never had before. His fists clinched and opened at his sides. No one, not even the engineer, would harm Donnice.

  "Then do it!” The engineer pulled his burnt hand away from the hot black metal, his skin resembling sticky glue. “Or the next time I see her I will do exactly as I said!"

  Colin kept the engineer in his sight as he pulled Donnice to the door. Grabbing her arm none too gently, he didn't exactly know what to do with her after leaving the engine room. The engineer could make good his threat.

  He closed the door behind them and watched as Donnes sat on the edge of his bed. Her artificially colored red hair drooped down as she looked to her feet and hugged herself. She didn't belong here. Like it or not, her journey was nearing its end. Anyone looking for themselves, really searching for answers, would find their way sooner than those who were content with the way things were.

  "I'm sorry, Colin.” He steeled himself for the tears to come. “I didn't know my stop was approaching. You didn't tell me, and I knew...” She looked up. “I know I can't stay here. Something is keeping you from ... from caring about me, but I remembered you saying that the engineer wanted all of us off his train."

  He almost said something that he would regret. “Just stay here tonight. All I ask is that you give me one night of peace. Is that so difficult?"

  Watching her chin lift and eyes narrow, he knew she would leave if given the opportunity, but he had to make her take on the responsibility of her own fate. One more shove and she would find the stop she sought now. “You just don't understand things. For the life of me, I don't get it!"

  "Life?"

  "Figure of speech.” He dismissed the question by lifting his hand and walking to the opposite door. He turned. “Let me put it simply."

  "I'm not mentally challenged."

  Purposely raising his brows, he received an exasperated sigh from her.

  "If you leave this room, you will regret it."

  He slammed the door closed behind him. He hated this part. She had to finish her journey without him. This part never bothered him before, but this time ... He looked back at the closed door. She had to be strong enough. She had to make the right decision this time ... whatever that decision may be. Damn, he hoped that she wouldn't make him take her soul himself. Please Donnice, take that final step alone.

  * * * *

  She stared at the door. “I'll regret it? The only thing I regret is trusting you with my feelings."

  Looking behind her, she remembered the engineer's warning. Colin knew how to get her to her stop. That infuriated her. He had secrets, and he lied to her! He said that he didn't know when her stop was. Well, he sure as hell knew when confronted by the engineer!

  Jerking up a pillow, she slammed it repeatedly on the mattress. She's a prisoner of the train of death, and a prisoner of this room! She stopped abusing the pillow when she started breathing heavily.

  "Regret it. What did that mean really? He would bend me over his knee? He would put me off the train? The only other thing was that someone could try to hurt me, but Colin said that he wouldn't allow anyone to do that. Besides, I don't really want to find out where I'm going anyway. I would much rather get off earlier and not have to put up with Mister High and Mighty."

  She opened the door, half expecting him to be on the other side. The only thing she saw was a normal looking empty passenger car. See? Nothing. Colin was bluffing.

  Walking to a bench, she sat by a window and watched a winter wonderland pass by. Dark trees covered in snow and ice created a fairy-like world. Would she ever get to walk in snow again?

  "May I sit with you?"

  She turned and saw ... Mister Callaway, her former boss! Her mouth hung open. He even wore the same style of clothes he always had—khaki pants, blue windbreaker, and a white button down shirt.

  She looked around him at the otherwise empty car. He just happened to find her. No way. The train hadn't stopped, so Colin knew he was here. She placed her back against the bench once more. That's what he had meant about her regretting it if she left his room.

  His eyes were hard, unforgiving, and she didn't blame him. He sat in the bench facing hers. “It shouldn't be snowing yet in Washington."

  She lowered her face to his shoes. It was as good as anything to look at. Being an okay looking man, he would know that there could be only one reason she didn't look at him. Shame.

  Colin had betrayed her. He knew that Callaway would be the last man on Earth she would want to run into. Killing a man made it hard to want to see him again.

  "I'm sure it's getting colder though. What do you think?"

  She nodded.

  "I think it's my ex-wife's birthday. I'm not certain."

  Damn that hurt. She knew what he planned on doing. Talk about things he loved and make her feel worse. She deserved it. She'd sit here and take her punishment.

  "My son has started school again by now. I hope he's getting by okay. The holidays were just around the corner, too, if I'm n
ot mistaken. Time is confusing on this train.” He reached into his pocket. “You wanna see my daughter?” He held a picture out to her.

  She could barely bring herself to glance at the smiling blonde beauty in the picture. With that smile and those eyes, she'd have no trouble finding a man who wouldn't betray her.

  He turned the picture back toward him. “Yeah. I guess not. She has her mother's eyes. They tend to make a person feel bad even if they don't know what you're guilty of.” He chuckled. “Always worked on me. Even when I knew that she couldn't possibly know something, she got it out of me."

  She shifted in her seat.

  "My daughter's in college now. Majoring in History. I tried to talk her into something more practical. You know, like business or something. Nothing doing.” He smiled and placed the photo back in his wallet. “You have pictures? I mean of your family."

  She shook her head no. “My parents died when I was a teenager."

  She used to have pictures of her family. Her aunt had given them to her. Now, they were in a photo album left at home. The landlord would most likely throw them away since she had no more living relatives. Damn, she wished she still had a few pictures of them.

  He nodded. “I think I remember you mentioning that."

  "Yeah. Car crash. The city's fault."

  He snorted rudely. “How could the city be at fault?"

  She bristled. “They could have fixed a faulty traffic signal."

  "Your parents could have driven more cautiously."

  She stared at him. Words, where were some words. That had to be the rudest comment anyone had ever said to her about her parents. If she hadn't killed the man, she would probably slap him now.

  "Not many people on this train.” He looked around the car.

  "They're here.” She snapped.

  He looked back at her. “Where?"

  "It's hard to explain. When you want them, they're easy to find.” She'd be damned before she was sharing any more information with him.

  How dare he say something like that? Didn't he know it would sound rude? Of course, he did. People said what they thought way too often really.