Empathy (19 page)

I need to go pack a bag. I’m not letting her go home and face that house on her own, and if that brother of hers is there, she won’t be safe around him. He is a greedy, unstable fuck. I want to take him out, she’ll be safer without him still breathing, but her fragile mind can’t handle another death.

AFTER SEEING ZANE OFF, I go back to my dorm to find Blake waiting for me with a bag. He’s going to drive me home. Having him to lean on transforms the full on dread of having to go home into a simmering, uncomfortable motion in my insides.

I’ve been staring at his profile as he drives for the last hour. He’s a beautiful specimen. Rugged but soft, hard lines with stunning features. I was lucky to even catch his eye but I have and the usual to and fro of lust/hate has fizzled into a thick haze of ultimate lust and possibilities of where we could go.

Tightening his grip on the wheel while sneaking glimpses of me, his eyes drop to my exposed thighs in the sundress I’m wearing, causing my breathing to quicken. “Puya, don’t distract the driver.” His tone is lower than should be allowed.

My insides heat up. He completely depleted me of energy earlier with his sexploits yet my body is igniting for him again and I need the distraction he gives me. Placing one foot up on the dash, my sundress sliding up to expose my panties, I take a deep breath and summon my inner slut. “What if he’s distracting me?” I ask, stroking my hand down my neck, seductively tracing a path down my collarbone then chest; down my cleavage, pushing the buttons away so he can see the flesh burning up for him.

The car swerves, making me screech. The brakes hit hard. Before I can determine what’s happening, he’s round at my door, yanking it open and dragging me through it. He takes me to the driver’s side and pushes my head through the open window. I brace myself on my arms as my palms hit his seat, my pelvis pushing against the frame, my ass prone in the air.

I reach up onto my tiptoes to gain some stability.

“What the hell, Blake?” I cry out, but the gust of cool air kissing my now exposed skin from him lifting my dress and tearing my panties away has my pulse vibrating. His teeth clamp down on my ass cheek, the burn of pain followed by the lapping of his wet tongue is a contradiction in the pleasure it gives me.

His mouth drops lower, the warm swipe against my slit makes my hips buck, my arms struggling to keep me up. “Like to tease the driver, Puya?”

Oh God. Frenzied fingers enter me, the position I’m in gives him a direct target to the sweet spot that sends me spiralling into intoxicated pleasure. The ache from having him earlier is still there, eliciting a steady rhythm of pleasure and pain. The cars passing, the daylight making us visible to anyone who looks our way and the thrusting of those long delicious fingers followed with the flicking of his tongue over my clit has my core kindling a blaze that’s getting ready to tear through me. His other hand slaps down hard on my ass cheeks before parting them, tracing the seam all the way up with his tongue.

My insides tighten with nerves and desire. I want to pull forward to stop him from going near the forbidden, but I’m completely at his mercy and he’s showing me none. As much as I haven’t ever thought about anal play, his tongue stroking me there gives me chills. Pressure puckers against the hole before his thumb breaches the muscle. His teeth scrape up my ass cheeks then his tongue leaves a heated path up my spine while his fingers and thumb fuck me punishingly.

My dress falls over my head, trapping my arms and face in pools of fabric. My inner walls clutch at him.

“Yeah, squeeze me, Puya.” His deep growl rumbles against my back. My orgasm hits in a stream of rippling ecstasy. My hips are being pulled backwards; hands coming through the window to hold the dress in place over my face and arms. The cool air in contrast to the warmer air of the car hits my fevered flesh, dispersing over my exposed stomach and breasts. I shake my head, trying to make the material fall so I can breathe better, but he has other ideas. I hear his belt whip from his jeans and he fiddles with the fabric, gathering it against my wrists. The belt fastens them together, trapping me inside its confines.

Mumbling for him to release me becomes groans when his hands grip my ass cheeks, lifting me; my legs snaking around his waist, crossing my ankles to hold on. His hard cock pushes straight into me, my inner walls coated in my release he had just gifted me moments before.

The heaviness of his chest pushes against mine, trapping my body against the car. The power of his movements is going to leave bruises up my back and I don’t care in the slightest. He fucks me like he hates me; hard, fast and without compassion. My heavy breaths heating the air imprisoned in my dress leave me lightheaded. I’m in a translucent state of euphoria. Every touch magnified by my senses being taken away. The fear and excitement of being seen, and the pure high of every jerk of his hips. I ride him right back, twisting my hips as much as he allows, gripping his cock, stroking every inch with my inner walls. I’m flying, my whole body vibrating with my release.

His warm sprays of cum glaze my already sensitive nerves, prolonging my climax. The ties at my wrists became lax, my dress falling back over me. Gasping at the fresh air, I can’t take my eyes from his. Strands of my hair cling to my sweat-coated brow. I know I must look a mess but I’m humming all over and the way his eyes devour mine, I don’t think I could ever feel unattractive in his presence.

“Don’t tease the driver.”

A giggle erupts from me, surprising him, his eyes widening. Hot, heavy palms grasp my face, dragging me to his lips, his tongue forcing entry to my mouth. I melt into his embrace, giving myself to his possessive need.

A tooting of a car horn makes reality swarm in. Embarrassment tinges my cheeks and mixed with the sex flush, my face is on fire.

“You have no clue how beautiful you are. How is that even possible?”

I’m not sure if he meant to voice his thoughts, but my internal organs are ready to combust with how many feelings rush through my body at his words. “Now get your sexy ass in the car. I’m going to find us a hotel to stop over in. We can drive the rest of the way tomorrow. You’ve worn me out.”

LOOKING UP AT THE HOUSE that held such a mix of things for both her and me, although mine were only known to me and the guilt of everything that went down here ate away at me especially when I woke up to the apple scent of her shampoo invading my senses; her soft supple body resting completely on mine, mewing sounds purring from her as dreams held her captive. I was completely falling, so fast I couldn’t catch my breath, was this how it was all supposed to go, was she my sin and my redemption?

“Okay, I’m ready,” she says for the fourth time, yet still doesn’t make a move to actually get out of the car and walk into her parents’ house.

Opening my door, I drum my fingers on the hood, my eyes piercing the house where her brother stands on the porch. I left my firearms at home to stop myself from putting a few bullets in him; not enough to be fatal, just a few to give him unbelievable agony.

The passenger door opens before I reach it, her timid lips creasing into a small smile then a frown. I grasp her hand, trying to pass my strength through our palms to her.

“Who the fuck’s this?”

Inhale, exhale, close eyes, count, let her soft stroke down my arm ground me to her. Don’t kill him… don’t kill him
. Smiling down at a tense Melody, I nod for her to go on inside. Her eyes dash between me and her piece of shit brother. I slip an arm around her shoulder, dropping a light kiss to her forehead, whispering against her skin. “It’s fine, Puya. Go on in.”

She reluctantly pulls from me, entering the house. Her brother turns to follow, coming up short when my hand shoots out to grip his fragile neck. I move swiftly, pulling the door closed with my free hand and smashing his frame against the wood panelling. His hands pushing at my chest don’t budge me an inch; he’s weak in body as well as mind, the little pissant. Closing in around him, my frame much larger than his, I relish in his fear as tears well in his eyes from my choke hold.

“While we’re here, you’ll show both of us respect or I’ll snap your scrawny fucking neck, you got me?”

He tries to nod but he’s restricted. I shove myself back from his body, rolling my head to loosen the tension stiffening my shoulders. “Go show your sister some support. Today is a big day.”

He flees inside and I take a minute to loosen my rigid posture before following him.

Melody has stopped in front of the mirror that once reflected the people we once were. The pieces hold a memory of the night, her soul fragmented with it. Now all the tiny shards of glass have been brought back together, creating a mosaic.

“You kept it?” she asks.

“It’s an antique. I had it fixed. It looks good, right?”

She brushes her fingers over the cracks. “But it’s ruined. It’ll never be the same again.”

I walk to her, placing my hand on top of hers as she brushes down the grooves.

“Just because something got broken doesn’t mean it can’t be reassembled into something just as beautiful. It’s different now. But it once reflected an image of a girl teetering on the edge of life and death. Now it shows a woman who survived it.”

I’m risking myself here, but I know she will never know it was me in here that night, and she also knows I’ve read the files on what happened. “I know it feels like the darkness pulled you under. Like your gravity abandoned you, letting you slip, but you didn’t fall, you didn’t drown in evil. You survived, Puya. Look at the woman staring back at you, she’s learning to breathe in her new life. She didn’t die, she’s just adapting to cruel circumstance.”

“The police reports tell you all that?” she jokes.

“Your eyes tell me that, Puya.” I kiss the sensitive tissue below her ear, making her sigh.

“So, you guys are later than I expected.”

I feel her blush without having to see it. “We’re here now,” she murmurs. “I want to get a few things while I’m here.”

“Fine, but dinner will be ready soon.” I turn and glare in his direction as she hurries up the stairs. “Make yourself at home.”