Page 25 of Soulless Saint

“Fuck,” I muttered, looking around for somewhere to set down the cups so I could open the door. But the hallway was entirely bare save for the doors.

No one was down here so I set them on the hardwood floor close to the wall and shouldered into the room.

Darkness enveloped me, and I squinted to make out the shapes you’d normally find in a bathroom but couldn’t see anything more than a foot past my own face. I reached in, running my palm along the wall to find a light switch, a whispered curse tumbling from my lips.

The smell from within filtered out, strong enough to overpower the stench of alcohol and pot coming from the front of the house. I shivered at its intensity. There was no mistaking it. That was man smell. And not like old socks and gym shorts. No.

This was warm amber, leather, and musk with a woodsy undertone. Despite the fact that I was definitely fasting, I allowed myself half a second to close my eyes and breathe it in, letting out a sigh.

Goddamn.

I opened my eyes and reeled back, sensing movement inside. I withdrew my hand, not able to find the light switch.

This is not a bathroom

“Sorry,” I chirped. “I’m just looking for—”

Tattooed hands reached out from the dark, yanking me inside so quickly I barely managed a strangled yelp before the door shut behind me, sealing us into the darkness.

My back connected with the closed door and rough fingers snaked into my hair, gripping the back of my neck as a warm body pressed into mine.

“Wait—”

Lips met mine in a hard kiss. Something slumped to the floor and my hands that were one second ago pressing firmly against a bare, wide chest, started to slacken.

The monster in the dark stole all the air from my lungs, breathing me in until I couldn’t feel my legs and I knew that if it weren’t for the way he was holding me pinned I would fall right on my ass.

He tasted like honey and whiskey, and when his tongue swiped at the seam of my lips, I opened for him on instinct, a soft moan rattling up my throat.

He growled at the sound, his chest reverberating against my fingertips, making my toes curl.

His hand on my hip moved, snaking lower, reaching down between my legs, fiddling with the hem of my skirt.

Oh fuck.

Callused fingers brushed my inner thigh and my back arched, our lips parting as I threw my head back at the violent sensations making all rational thought flee my body.

I’m supposed to be on a hunger strike.

No hotdogs allowed.

But… a girl’s gotta eat.

The sound of my tights tearing as he ripped out the crotch hit me like a bucket of cold water and suddenly his hot lips on my neck didn’t feel good anymore.

My breathing turned shallow and vivid images of someone else’s hands on me in the dark burst into my mind. I pressed my thighs closed, trying to extricate myself from the monster in the dark, my heart beating wildly against my chest. My head spinning.

He tried to force my thighs back open with a growl, but I shoved his hands away.

“No,” I managed around the lump in my throat, trying unsuccessfully to find the door handle.

He caught my wrists and pinned them above my head, his hot breath trailing down my neck to my chest until his lips met the supple mound of my breast.

Despite myself, my nipples pebbled at his touch, but when he pulled back, I reflexively kicked forward. Ava Jade’s words rang in my ears. Always hit ’em where it hurts. You’re not always going to have a weapon and there’s nothing that’ll bring a man to his knees faster than a good kick to the family jewels. Do it fast. Do it hard. Then run.

A hard breath forced past his lips as my heel connected, and I watched the shadow of him crumple. His grip on my wrists slackened enough for me to pull free, and I whirled around, frantically trying to find the door handle, hot tears in my eyes.

My fingers brushed it, and I twisted, rushing forward.

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