by Gina Shafer
“Oh my god, Elijah.” She moans and I hear the thud reverberate through the shower when she lets her head fall against the wall. I keep at my pace and add a finger, plunging deep into her center and relishing the slick wetness I’m met with. She squeezes tightly around me and I have to stop myself from reaching down to stroke my cock while I’m licking her.
“Do you want more?” I tease, pulling my mouth off her clit to speak. She nods, squeezing her eyes shut. I add another finger and curl them up, finding the spot deep within her that I know will drive her wild.
“Don’t stop…” she begs, and I quicken my pace, returning my mouth to her slit, licking with even more fervor than before. I feel her muscles twitch around my fingers and I know she’s close. I suck her clit once, hard, pinching the bud lightly with my lips curled over my teeth. She gasps and her body trembles as she calls out her orgasm.
Before she has the chance to recover, I’m up. I pull her body to mine, lifting her before I turn the water off and step out of the shower, carrying her to my bed. The chill of the outside air hits us both and we gasp. The coolness brushes over my already sensitized skin, and I moan when I feel the goose bumps break out over her body.
I lay her down on the bed, covering her with my body. She writhes against me, already ready for more. I kiss her deep, slowing the pace, as my fingers lazily trace over her hard nipples. I want to worship every part of her body. I want to kiss every inch of her, so I do. I run my tongue lazily around each swollen peak of her breasts, nibbling as I go. I kiss down her belly, over her beautiful pussy, and down her thighs. She moans and I see her earlier goose bumps return. When I start to make my way back up, her eyes pop open and she stops me with her hands on my chest. I frown, not expecting her to do anything but lie there and accept the love… the worship I’m giving her. But, she surprises me. She guides my body down so that now she’s the one on top of me. Her eyes trail down my body, and she flicks her tongue out over her bottom lip in appreciation. Damn, it feels good to have her look at me this way.
When her eyes land on my cock, she ducks her head in one swift motion, filling her mouth with my hard length. Holy shit. Her mouth feels like velvet, and before long I feel that familiar twinge of pleasure building its way deep within. I stop her, not wanting to come before I have the chance to get inside her. She moves on top of me, ready for me to fill her, but I flip her around. I love feeling her small but strong body underneath mine.
“You’re sure?” I ask quietly while I’m looming over her. I know we’ve done this before, but I still have to ask. She deserves an easy escape if she’s looking for one. Thank God she isn’t.
She rolls her eyes and reaches for my cock, almost making me come when she grips me in her palm. She lines me up with her and pulls me close with her heels against my ass.
“Please, Elijah,” she begs.
My arms shake as I hold myself over her, not wanting to crush her with my weight. The sunlight beams in through the window and illuminates her face, her blue eyes shining like jewels. I bend my neck and kiss the tip of her upturned nose and slowly push inside her. She gasps and I have to pause for a moment. The feel of her is just too good; her pussy fits like a sheath around me, gripping me tight. She’s warm and soft and I’m not going to last long if she keeps squeezing me with her inner muscles.
I begin to move, pounding into her harder and harder with every stroke, and she returns every bit of passion. I swirl my tongue around hers and reach between us to find the junction of her thighs, pinching her clit between my forefinger and thumb. She shudders, calling out again, and I rub her in slow circular motions, groaning loudly when I feel her clench around me. I empty myself inside her, burying myself so deep I can feel the end of her.
Damn. She’s addictive.
We both fall asleep without a word, too raw with emotion after what we just did. I curl her body close to mine and fall asleep at the sound of her breath evenly filling and exiting her lungs, her heart beating in time with mine.
My stomach fills with dread when I open my eyes to see that I’m standing in front of the old church where I almost burned alive. I know exactly how this will go; the church will erupt and I will almost burn. Maybe I will see Vara again. At this point I know I’m dreaming, I’ve had this dream so many times I’ve become bored with it. It doesn’t scare me anymore… nothing scares me anymore. Not since I lost Soren.
Soren.
He appears before me and I suck in a breath at the sight of his face. My boy. Even in my knowledge that this is a dream, I reach across the small distance between us to envelop him. I’ll take any time I can get with him, real or not. I’m thrown off when he doesn’t return my embrace. I pull back, confused, only to be met with the face of someone else, not my son. I stagger even farther back.
“Who are you?” I ask, but as soon as the words leave my mouth, the face before me morphs into Abe. I lunge for him, but he disappears in a puff of smoke and I fall to the ground, skinning my hands and knees on the gravel beneath me. The sting of it seems so real that I look down to check for injury. I’m taken aback when I even feel the warm trickle of blood dripping from my palms.
I stand, catching my reflection in the large window of the church. My face is older, my hair turning white. My face is changing; I’m turning into someone else. I know this face… I hate this face. I’m Abe.
I want to claw at my face. I can’t stand looking at myself. My stomach turns and I bend over to throw up, emptying my stomach completely. I lurch back when the church before me explodes in a fiery blast, the force knocking me to my ass.
When I stand, I see a figure in the distance, moving closer, until it is directly in front of me.
Soren again, only this time he’s burning. His skin is melting off his body, crimson muscles and bone visible through the flames. I’m horrified, but I inch closer. Soren doesn’t call out in pain, he just continues to stand there, burning, as a blank look shrouds his face.
Suddenly, his features change, and I find myself standing in front of Karina, still burning, only this time she’s yelling, screaming at me to put out the fire. I’m frantic, searching for anything to put out the flames.
“Do you want some water, Elijah?” Lincoln appears out of nowhere, and the question feels familiar. My brows furl over my eyelids and abruptly I’m back in my bed. Karina is curled up next to me, her warm naked body sliding against mine as she turns.
I take a deep breath, tears leaving my eyes as I recall the images of my dream. Watching the people I love burn, and being powerless to stop it. Fuck. For the longest time my dreams were filled with watching myself burn. I had thought I was being tortured having to experience that. But watching the ones I love burn… that was true torture.
I wrap my arms around Karina and bury my face into her neck, sobbing.
“Elijah?” she asks, sleep still clouding her voice.
After I don’t answer for a beat, she wakes up completely, trying but failing to push me away to look at my face. I’m so shattered I can’t bear to see her right now. I keep my eyes shut tight, my body locked around her.
“Shh, it’s okay.” She comforts me and starts to rub her hand across the back my head, calming me from my break down. She moves her fingers down to my neck and massages gently, relieving my muscles from the tension carried over from my dream.
“What’s the matter? What happened?” she asks softly.
“Stay here,” I say, but she doesn’t hear me, her skin muffles my voice.
“What?” she asks, and I pull my head back to look her directly in the eyes, my face still wet with tears.
“Stay here,” I say. This time I know she hears me because she raises her brows for a spilt second before training her face to remain calm. I know she’s trying not to escalate the situation before she figures out what happened to make me say that.
“I want you to stay behind when we leave,” I tell her. I know immediately by the look on her face that she doesn’t agree with me.
“
Why?” she asks, angry.
“Because I can’t lose you. I can’t put you in danger. I won’t be able to handle it, Karina. I won’t be able to keep my mind clear, to complete the mission if I’m worrying about you the whole time. If I lost you and Soren… I just… please. Stay behind,” I beg.
“What happened?” she asks again. I turn my face away, reluctant to tell her what I saw. “Tell me,” she demands.
“I had a dream. I watched you and Soren burn. I had no way to help you… to put the fire out. I can’t… I can’t do that in real life, Karina. You’re all I have now,” I explain. She’s quiet for a moment, clearly contemplating whether or not she should argue with me.
“Okay, I’ll stay,” she tells me, but she juts her hands out to stop me be before I can crash into her with a kiss. “Kill Abe and then come back to me. We will figure out everything else when you return.” I nod in agreement. I dare not argue with her now, when she just sacrificed something I know is extremely important to her to save my feelings. I’m an asshole for asking her this, I know it… but that doesn’t hide the joy I feel knowing she’ll be safe from danger here at the house.
“Can you just do one thing for me?” she adds, and my body tenses. What could she want? I wait for her to continue.
“Take Willow with you. I can stay here with Scarlett. Just take that damn dog to get her revenge before she bites us all for keeping her here and away from the fight for so long,” she finally says, and I chuckle. I love that she knows exactly when to add lightness to a situation.
“Whatever you say,” I tell her before I bury myself inside her once more. This time I let her take me, ride me, give me all of her while I lie back and watch her beautiful body rock against me.
“I can’t believe I let you talk me into this.” Karina pouts while sitting cross-legged on my bed. She’s pissed and I don’t blame her, but I would be lying if I said a huge weight hadn’t been lifted from my shoulders as soon as she agreed to stay behind.
“This will be the first mission I have missed in years,” she admits. My body stills, my arm dangling over the bag I was shoving extra bullets into. I have the urge to tell her that everything will be fine, that I’ll be back soon… but I’m reminded of the last time those words fell from my lips. I was gone for twenty years. This time, I have no reassuring words to give, so I simply cross the room and kiss her face everywhere there is soft, smooth skin.
“Okay, okay,” she says after what has to be the twentieth kiss. “Just promise me…” She stops for a moment and I can feel the question on the tip of her lips. My heart pauses for a beat, hoping that she won’t ask me to promise to come back soon. I won’t make that promise again.
“Promise me that you’ll kill him, Elijah, and end this.” I feel the breath whoosh out of my nose when she speaks, and I’m thankful for her words. They give me power, energy… hope.
“I will kill them all, even if I die doing so,” I vow.
“I know you will,” she says, and I can hear the sob that quietly breaks from her lips. I worship her in this moment. She doesn’t ask me not to, she doesn’t beg me to come back, she doesn’t let her selfishness keep her from doing what’s right. We would both die if it meant the demons could never hurt another human.
“Time to go,” I say, pulling away from her. Though she knows I would sacrifice myself if it came down to it, I don’t want this to feel like I’m walking to my death. I don’t want this to feel like we’re saying goodbye for the last time.
“Okay.” She sniffles, and then strides straight into the bathroom. I leave her be, knowing she’ll be in there trying to regain composure before seeing everyone else.
I walk downstairs to check on the guys. We should be leaving soon, so I want to make sure everyone is prepared. We are stopping by the warehouse to gather more supplies and weapons, and hopefully more men to join us. In the one night that we’ll be there, I hope to inspire the men there to help me end this shit with the demons.
“You about ready?” I ask Micha, who is entering the front door.
“Yes, just loading up the car. I’ve got most of the guns in the back and I stashed a couple grenades under the seats in case we run into anything sketchy.” I don’t have to ask him what we’ll do in that situation. I already know that even though Micha would do anything it took to get back to Scarlett, he would rather die himself than let a demon escape from death.
I nod, letting him know without words that I agree with his decision. Marcel enters the room from the kitchen, holding a handful of grapes and popping them into his mouth one by one and crunching down on the juicy fruit.
“As soon as you finish slobbering all over the food, we’re ready to head out,” I tease.
“Ha-ha.” He pretends to laugh. “I’m all packed,” he says after knocking back the last two grapes and wiping his lips with the back of his hand.
“Anyone seen Xo? Is he ready?” I ask.
“He’s outside,” Micha answers. “I just saw him… he was adding a few things to the SUV when I was loading up the back. You know him and his tricks.” Micha laughs, causing all of us to smile.
“Micha, can I talk to you for a second?” Scarlett asks, her face red and embarrassed for interrupting. I turn my smile to her. I don’t want her to feel intimidated by us; she’s been so helpful. Scarlett is such a sweet and kind person; she really doesn’t belong in the middle of all this hell.
Micha’s face turns down and a worried looks takes the place of the smile that was there seconds before. I hope that whatever is going on, they both don’t let it affect them before we go.
“We’ll be out front, ready when you are,” I say as I pass Micha. I tap him on the shoulder as I walk by, hoping that he gains some kind of strength from the simple touch.
I collide with Karina as we meet on the stairs, both rushing to see one another.
“All set?” she asks, her earlier tears wiped away. She looks bright again, ready to take on the world. I know she’s going to be okay.
“Yeah, we’re just waiting on Micha. He’s with Scar—” I begin to tell her, but before I finish, she crashes her lips down onto mine. She’s slightly taller than I am since she’s one step higher than me on the stairs.
I groan through the kiss, and she takes the advantage to slip her tongue in and swirl it around the inside of my top lip. There’s nothing I want more than to stay here, take her back to bed, and let the world deal with itself… but then I think of Soren. I pull back, and she rolls with it, wrapping her arms around my waist and leading me down the stairs. If she’s feeling rejected by my break from the kiss, she doesn’t show it.
“I love you,” I tell her. At first, I’m completely shocked by my words. Had I meant to say that? I didn’t even plan to open my mouth, and all of a sudden words were flowing out. Big words. Important words. But when I take a moment to search inside myself for any unsure feelings, I come up empty. I do love her. The second I begin to fear I’ve scared her with my admission; she turns into me, giving my neck a light peck.
“I know.” She smiles.
After we’ve all loaded into the car and Willow has assumed the position between the two front seats where her hot breath hits me square in the cheek, Scarlett and Karina wait by the front door. I feel like a soldier going off to war, waving goodbye to my love before I give my life for my country. In a way, I guess I am, although my intentions aren’t as honorable. I intend to bring as much pain and death as I possibly can, so hopefully if there are any demons left that even think about standing up to the Sicarri, they remember what we did, and quickly change their mind.
As we pull away, I wave. I’m not sure why I do, because I feel ridiculous, but then I notice Karina’s lips moving.
I love you too, she mouths, soundless.
I hold on to that, with everything I have.
“Don’t worry, girl, we are going to make them pay for what they did,” I whisper, leaning down to pet Willow behind the ears. She’s been pestering me for a bowl of kibble sinc
e we arrived at the warehouse, and I finally have a moment to feed her. She licks my chin in a thank-you and dives into her food, growling at anyone that comes too near. She’s not normally so aggressive, so I know she’s been absorbing the energy the group has been putting off.
The Sicarri are still in disarray after their attack from the shadow-walkers; many of their men still injured and healing. They don’t have much to offer us, but when we arrived we, especially me, were met with sincere apologies from most of the men here. They blame themselves for what happened to Soren, and I have to say I’m not too good to offload some of the blame I carry onto them as well. They kicked Soren out of the brotherhood he gave his life to. They turned us both away, and in turn we didn’t have the backup we should have had when the mission went sour. Lincoln never would have worked his way into our core like a worm eats it way through a rotting apple.
I don’t shove off all of the blame though; I carry more than enough for myself. I should have trusted my gut. And for the thousandth time, I tell myself I should have killed Lincoln when I had the chance.
“What are you feeding that dog? It smells awful.” A large, dark figure appears beside me and I know immediately it’s Ted. I stand up to shake his hand, but he envelops me into a hug instead.
“Soren should be here,” he says as he releases me from his tight grasp. For some reason, this comforts me more than any of the regrets people have voiced since we’ve pulled up. Soren really should be here, and it’s unfair that he isn’t. Period. No need to elaborate.
“Yogurt, shredded chicken, and kibbles,” I answer Ted’s earlier question, leaving the Soren subject neatly tucked away where I don’t have to talk about it. He makes a face like I’ve just said the most disgusting thing.
“What’s with the blue chunks?” He points to a blob of blue fruit the fell onto the cement floor in Willow’s hurry to scarf down every drop. As soon as he says it, Willow sniffs around her bowl, scooping up the blue with her tongue.
