Page 123 of Hellbent
He doesn’t pull out. We don’t move for a long time. And when his breathing finally slows he just whispers into my skin.
“Max…”
Nothing else.
“I know,” I whisper back.
Because I do.
He moves slowly, and pulls out with a groan, a wave of cum sliding out with him. Then he gathers me close, rolls us onto our sides and tucks me into his chest.
I let my body go slack and his mouth brushes my temple.
Outside, the storm moves off in the distance. The thunder is softer now.
I wake with a jolt, heart racing, breath caught in my chest.
For a second, I don’t know where I am. Everything is black. Too quiet, too dark, like being buried.
I feel the bed beneath me. The weight beside me.
Ryder. Still here.
His arm is draped across my waist, his breath slow and even against the back of my neck. Bare chest pressed to my spine. A furnace behind me. Solid and unmoving.
Safe.
But there’s sweat at the back of my knees. My throat is dry as ash. I squeeze my eyes shut, but the image is still there.
Billy’s voice. Billy’s mouth.
The heat of his hand wrapped around my throat.
I sit up fast, trying to shake off the dream, but the feeling clings to me. That oily, heavy knowing that something isn’t right.
I need air.
I slip out from under Ryder’s arm and he doesn’t stir. My shirt and panties are crumpled on the floor. I pick them up and put them on and make my way down the stairs, into the kitchen. The view from the window is pitch dark, the moonlight tracing lines around the tall grasses and trees beyond the driveway.
Ryder told me not to go on any walks, not even to step outside.“No more wandering. Not alone. Not after dark.”But I’m not going anywhere. Just getting some air.
I step out onto the landing, into the mist. The rain has stopped, but everything is damp, like the air itself is weeping. I take a deep breath of the cool night air, exhaling the memory of Billy out. It was just a dream. This is real.
Around the perimeter of the entire property, sensors and cameras have been erected, creating an invisible fence, alerting Ryder and Jake to any breaches. There’s no threat they wouldn’t know about.
I walk down the steps, arms folded tight across my chest, just to feel the ground beneath my feet. The grass is damp and cool, mud squishes between my toes, but I don’t mind. The connection to the earth grounds and calms me.
I take a deep breath, pause…and then the hairs on my arms rise.
It’s quiet, but some electric knowing skates over my skin. Something’s wrong. It’s that predator stillness. That primal knowing. I’m not alone.
My whole body goes rigid.
I turn—too late.
A hand claps over my mouth. Another around my waist in an iron grip. I try to scream, but the sound is completely muffled against the palm shoved over my face.
I thrash and kick. My heel lands on a shin. My elbow slams into something hard.
