Page 325 of Bride of Choice

Rek clung to me long afterward, after the rush of it all had slipped from me and I was left feeling confused, more now than ever, more than slightly sticky, with that pain in my hand letting itself be known.

Rek grunted as his member eventually softened and slipped free.

Wow. We’d made a mess.

“Rek cleans it up,” he rumbled out with a look down at the mess on the floor. “Jojomine gets clean. See Rothy like want for hand.”

Going along absently in a weird sort of daze, I went about following his instructions mechanically. I had that odd detached feeling, not quite numbness but oddly absent of anything but the throbbing in my hand and a pinch in my stomach at what I’d just done.

The whole time I kept wondering if Odix and Gopher would be upset with me for this. If they’d believe Rek, or me that I’d if only for a moment, honestly believed him.

Rek helped me into my coat and pants. I couldn’t one hundred percent recall when I’d lost the boots but I obviously had. How else could he have scooped me up to fuck me senseless? Talk about completely lost to the moment. I’d kicked out of them at some point, obviously, I just hadn’t thought about it.

“I should- I need to-” Good god, where had my brain gone?

Rek glanced up, towel in hand. Noting something in my face as our eyes met and I swallowed convulsively, he nodded and stood. “S’okay, my Jojo,” he purred softly. Reaching out, his fingers brushed along my shoulder. He focused on that spot as he swallowed thickly. “S’okay. Jojo can go. Rek not follow.” His gaze lifted then. “Jojomine find Rek, Jojoknee ready, yes?”

“I- Uhm- Okay,” I blurted.

Rek nodded. “Rek love Jojomine. Rek wait for Jojo.”

Nodding, I accepted my purse as he handed it to me. “I- I think I’ll walk alone, if it’s all the same to you. I think we can put that whole Krampus sightings business to bed once and for all, seeing as how it wasn’t even real. I’ll… go and pop over to Dorothy’s.” Hesitating at the door, I blurted, “I think- I might- I think I might crash there.”

“Rek clean up and make sure Carrie no get into trouble,” he rumbled out, his voice tapering off into annoyance. He sounded annoyed just saying her name.

This was… I was in Bizarro Land, is what it was.

“I’m… gonna go,” I mumbled, then jerked my thumb at the door, before quickly taking my leave.

As I headed for Dorothy’s, fingers curled around the cloth holding herbs to my cut, I got halfway there before turning back around and trudging back. I felt like I was being pulled both ways.

Lost to my thoughts, I headed right past my place and was nearly to the big magic portal rocks, before I snapped out of it enough to realize my mistake.

Cursing myself, I turned around to head back.

As if to contradict my earlier statement and call me a liar, I heard rustling at my back and turned around right as a large set of horns popped up from the bushes.

My god. This ends NOW.

“So not fucking funny, I don’t care what you and Broken Face Mc Dumb Ass were thinking. Or not thinking!” Marching over there, right into the bushes, I glared at nothing.

Popping back out, I shook my head. Probably just a critter. I’m seeing things now, too?! Walking over to a fallen log, I plopped down onto it. Cradling my hand, staring down at it, I sighed.

I’m losing my fucking mind. I mean, what am I doing?! What was I thinking, I-

“I’m not falling for it,” I muttered as the bushes shook at my back.

Lightning fast, long, thin fingers clamped down over my face. A muffled shout left me as I grabbed at the hands covering my nose and mouth. My puny, useless nails, short and natural because I was between sets and letting them breathe, dug in to no avail. I thrashed but it didn’t matter. They were too damn strong. I couldn’t breathe. They were suffocating me!

Grabbing my purse in a blind panic, I brought it up to blindly swing it at them but they grabbed it and easily tossed it away. Shit!

Another hand clamped to my throat, squeezing as I started to scream.

Pulled against a bony chest, the noise they made, pleased with their capture, had bile rising in my throat.

As they lifted me up, black spots dancing in my vision, I kicked out. My boot made contact.

They let me go with a soft hiss of a growl. Dropping to the ground, I gasped in air dizzily and tried to scramble away. The lack of oxygen was doing me in.

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