21. Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty:
Amelia
TW: horror play and dubious consent in this chapter
She stood, paralyzed as she watched him change. Like he was pulled from the core, turning into a ghoul much like the woman in the portal. His limbs turned into endless vines that snaked around Buttons. Her head tossed back in terror as the waitress tried to escape. His jaw unhinged and turned into an endless, churning whirlpool of teeth and magic. Amelia heard screams but she wasn’t sure if they were coming from within him or from the woman being dragged…inch…by bloody inch into his mouth. Buttons left tracks in the earth as she was sliced up and dragged to the depths of the oblivion within Knox.
And just as soon as it happened, it was over. Amelia stared at him with wide eyes. His cane clutched to her chest, ankles wobbling in her best wedges, wearing his collar.
What did she agree to…why did she let herself say yes?
Her mouth ran dry as Knox stood up from the spot, only a single drop of blood on the forest floor. However, as he stepped away from it, the drop sizzled into the beyond.
“Bu-bu-but what about Gael, don’t we need to know where she is? What about why she did it? Why didn’t you ask her questions?” Amelia stammered, stumbling back from Knox. He crept closer as she stepped away from him. Her heart raced in her chest. Knuckles turned white, she heard the familiar crack of something breaking in her grasp.
“I don’t need to ask; I know everything Buttons knew. When I devour a soul, I swallow it whole, memories and all.” His voice was deep in his chest, rumbling out into the air.
Amelia toppled backwards into a tree as he closed the space between them. His cane snapped in her hands and crumbled to the forest floor. Knox glanced down to the crumbled bits by his shoes. When he looked back up, Amelia took her chance. She ripped away from the tree, seconds before he could pin her to it and booked it.
Too bad he grabbed her by the collar. Amelia yelped as she was tossed back into the tree. This time, she was pinned to it. “Pet, I thought I warned you not to misbehave.”
“You can’t just expect someone to be okay after watching you do that to someone else!” she cried out, her throat already raw from the vicious throwing up earlier. It had been one bad idea after the next. First, she asked for the truth, then she asked for an explanation, then she ate a rotten pastry, and then had the audacity to demand she stay by his side.
This was her devil. The man she made a deal with…all of him. Her eyes were open finally. Fully.
“You know running only makes me chase you,” he snarled. His nose scrunched and eyes darkened.
Amelia glanced back at the spot where Buttons was ripped apart before returning her attention to him. “But you won’t do that to me.”
“No. You know I won’t.” Knox grabbed ahold of her chin, pinching it between his thumb and two fingers. “Do you regret your deal now?”
Despite the fear pumping through her veins and the panic turning her feet to bricks, she knew the answer was no. Amelia Armstrong didn’t regret it. Not one bit. “The only thing I regret is fighting to come with you out here. I should have gone home when you said.”
His lips curled as he slithered backward. “Oh, what is that? The stubborn Amelia Armstrong backing down? Admitting she was wrong.”
Amelia scowled. Her attention kept darting to the spot Buttons died and the man looming over her like a storm cloud. She was no longer pinned to the tree, but he held onto her chin. Amelia croaked, “I was wrong.”
“Run.”
“What?” she squawked, stumbling away from the tree as he all but shoved her away from him. Her shoes disappeared with a puff of purple smoke. Plus, a very specific piece of fabric she’d been wearing. Amelia groped herself, finding her panties clearly gone. She spun around in search of them only to find both stolen items dangling from his fingertips.
“You smell so delicious, I could eat you up,” he groaned, tossing his head back. Knox inhaled sharply through his nose. Golden veins glistened across his horns and his tattoos lit up. Their contract glowed against her palm in a royal purple. Amelia stumbled back another step, true fear filling her belly.
“Knox, you’re not going to hurt me.” The words fell out of her mouth without permission. As if hearing him swear he wouldn’t hurt her would stop the thundering of her heart.
“No, pet, I’m not going to hurt you… But if you don’t run, I can’t guarantee I won’t feast on you.” His gaze returned to her and there were no pupils, just inky abyss that ran from edge to edge. Teeth like razors, obsidian tattoos running down his face, and a glittering flame igniting between his horns. Amelia stumbled back a step. Her shoes and panties went up in purple flames before turning to black ash. She took another step back, he crept forward.
And so…she finally did what he asked. Amelia Armstrong ran. She ripped around and raced away from him. Her thighs burned with effort. Leaping over logs and zipping around trees, she booked it as fast as she could. Either Knox enchanted her feet or she was incredibly lucky, as she didn’t catch anything with the soft underside of her feet. She flew through piles of leaves and launched off of tree bark. Something was on her heels. His presence was weighing her down, making her clumsy.
She tripped twice. Scrambling forward, barely scraping away from him. Her knees were bruised. Scratches ran the length of her thighs and shins as rose thorns and other underbrush grabbed at any inch of her they could get. Yet, still, her feet never met a sharp rock or even twisted up in a hole she nearly toppled into. However, everything from her ankles up was free game. Her dress caught on a tree branch as she tossed herself around it. A hand wrapped around her wrist.
Amelia yelped as Knox yanked her backward. Something in her woke back up. Her fight or flight was broken, she knew that. Everyone knew Amelia heavily leaned toward fight. Well, until Knox…until that moment when Amelia snapped back into place like a rubber band. She bent at the waist, planted her foot flat against his soft belly, and launched his ass across the forest floor.
Knox tumbled and rolled like a tumbleweed into a tree. Amelia panted for air, hands on her knees. When his eyes flashed open, the purple fiend climbing to his feet…she wasn’t sure he wouldn’t hurt her anymore. She’d never fought back before, and now, as he cracked his neck left and right…fear spilled from her pores like a torrential rain. Knox licked his lips with a long, lizard-like tongue, lips curling.
“You always stand so confident…no one knows how scared you really are, do they, pet? They can’t taste you like I can. They can’t smell how petrified you are. And yet…I bet if I bent you over right now, you’d be drenched. You are, aren’t you?”
Amelia fell back against a tree, exhaustion biting at her heels. “This isn’t funny anymore, Knox. Quit it.”
“I’m not being funny,” he growled, stepping forward.
Amelia whined, backing away from the tree and him. He stormed forward and she lightly jogged backward, narrowly avoiding another tree. “Knox, I’m begging you, stop.”
“Oh, now you beg! ”
Amelia hated the queasy zing his words ran up her thigh into her core. He lurched forward and she shrieked. Ripping away from him, she dove for an open clearing. Amelia wheezed for air. Husks for lungs, she was struggling to fill them as she flew across fluffy moss and clovers. Her toes were slick as she rounded another pair of trees. Everything went sideways as she slipped across a stone and hit the ground hard. The bruise on her knees intensified as she clawed her away back up to her feet.
Fingers grabbed ahold of the back of her dress and she donkey kicked backward. Animalistic rage exploded out of her as she whirled to face him. Her right fist caught him in his razor-sharp cheekbones. Knox flopped into a tree seconds before she swung again. He dipped out of range and her knuckles grazed the tree bark. Amelia hissed with pain as the flesh across the back of her hand began to bubble with blood. Long scratch marks marred her hand as she held it to her chest.
“Knox!”
She spun in a circle, finding herself alone but knowing she wasn’t. Amelia greedily gulped down air. “It’s not fair when you have magic!”
“You’re being hunted, pet,” Knox laughed. He snapped back into place in front of her. Amelia was rammed backward by her collar into a tree. “It’s not supposed to be fair .”
Amelia thrashed, kicking and shoving at him. Knox was unmoved as she used all the strength she had to shoulder him off her. It was in vain. Knox twisted her arms behind her. Her shoulder and elbow locked up and she cried out at the searing pain. He used his leverage to spin her around and shove her face first into the tree.
And now she regretted using the leather forearm bracelet as an accessory piece. Knox untied it from her wrist and used it to bind her arms tight behind her.
“Alright, you won,” she barked, tears welling in her eyes. “Let me go.”
“That’s not the rules, and you know it.” He pressed into the back of her knees. Amelia sank like a rock to the dirty, forest floor. Knox kept her from face planting into the ground, but she grunted nonetheless when she fell into the soft moss around the tree.
The rules… She whimpered, “Knox, please.”
There was no answer. She clenched up, hoping he meant the rules of their little game. He said he wouldn’t hurt her. He promised. He swore. It was in their deal. Yet, why was she so afraid he’d break it. Her heart slammed against her rib cage. Amelia couldn’t see him and when she tried to turn her head, he was out of her field of view.
Then a familiar pair of hands roamed up the back of her thighs and pushed the skirt of her dress up her backside. Fingers brushed her swollen cunt, and a hard shiver ran down her spine. “Tsk, tsk, pet, all that fight? And for what? Just to be drenched like the needy thing you are. Look how wet you are for me; you could drown a man.”
Amelia let out a broken sob as tears of relief spilled down her cheeks. He stroked her swollen lips, taunting her. Knox knelt between her legs and spread them as wide as possible. Leaning over her, his weight was a welcome reminder of their rules. I’ll fuck you wherever I catch you.
“Now, when I tell you to do something, you’re going to say, ‘yes, Sir’, from now on, aren’t you?” He didn’t even wait for her to answer, instead spanking her hard across her needy cunt.
“Yes, Sir!” she shrieked.
“Mmm, you can be louder than that,” he snarled and slapped across her sensitive skin even harder. White spots filled her vision like the flash of a camera.
“Yes, Sir!” she screamed louder, scraping her knees and cheek against the soggy earth beneath them as she did. Everything stung. All the thin cuts, all the bruises, all of it bit into her as a reminder that she ran blindly into the woods.
“Now,” he groaned as he pulled back from her. The sounds of his pants being undone were a balm to her burning soul. Fear subsided and dark, all-consuming desire filled her from her crown to her toe. He returned, his cock spearing her alive. Knox bulldozed her guts aside and fucked into her with no mercy. Not like he had any trouble…as he said, she was drenched and wanting. As the fear of the chase gave way to the pleasure of their play, Amelia moaned. Goose bumps broke across her arms and back, tingling as the fabric of her dress brushed against them. Knox grunted in her ear. “When I tell you to go home?”
“I’ll go home,” she cried, the hot tears still spilling down her cheeks.
“And when I tell you to run?” He bit down onto her ear lobe.
“I run.” Amelia gasped as he ripped out of her, flipped her over like a sack of flour, and tossed her ankles onto his shoulders. Her arms were still bound behind her, but he already had her hips hoisted off the ground. He slammed back into her, making stars form in her vision.
Knox kissed and nipped at her bloody calves. Amelia hissed as he stroked his long, forked tongue against the cuts in her skin. They all healed but the sting made her wince. Despite the pain of him tormenting her wounds and the pressure of her arms behind her back, her clit was alive. A frayed wire, sparking and demanding attention. Her orgasm built in her belly, ready to claim her life when he finally let her cross over into bliss.
For the first time, Knox actively sought his own release first. She knew it. The way he snapped his hips into her, the direction and speed, all of it was the way he liked it. This was for him. Was her punishment that he wouldn’t let her come? After everything he put her through? Yet, she couldn’t voice her frustration as every time she opened her mouth, his name or a garbled moan fell out.
Knox snarled her name as he pounded his hips against her viciously. He broke with a shudder. Knox bit down onto her left ankle as he spilled ropes of his warm cum. Amelia felt every splash of it against her walls. Her blood was cold, but her cunt was burning, filled to the brim with him. She greedily gulped down air as he slowed to a stop.
The forest stood still as they stared at each other.
He spoke first, breaking the tense bubble around them. “I would never hurt you.”
“I’m sorry,” she croaked.
“You were afraid I’d hurt you, that I would devour you when you’d not earned it,” he spat with disgust. His cock fell from her warmth, letting him dribble from her abused cunt.
“Yeah, but then I fought back.” She struggled to free herself from his grip, but he snatched her by the collar. Amelia turned to stone.
“And? As if you’re fighting back would change anything? Did you forget I agreed to your exchange the first time after watching you stab Rick in the neck with a rusty knife? Or did you forget that I promised you that I wouldn’t hurt you.”
“Why are you angry with me! You’re the one who needed to chase and fuck me after murdering someone!” The words tore out of her and left her flayed alive. Amelia’s arms were untied, and her legs dropped to the earth from his shoulders.
He grabbed her by the ring on her collar and brought her face up to his. “You knew what I was when you gave yourself to me. Don’t fool yourself into thinking I am anything but a monster. But I’m your monster, Amelia.”
Knox cocked his head to the right, staring her down and Amelia sat there. Drenched in his cum and her own sweat, still bleeding on the back of her hand and exhausted…yet still sexually frustrated. Her face twisted up angrily. He was right and it pissed her off. Knox was her monster now. She’d known it was a bad idea but did it anyway. Amelia Armstrong dove in headfirst knowing things could and probably would get ugly.
She’d made her bed and now she was lying in it…who was she kidding into thinking things wouldn’t get messy.
“Finally, you’re not afraid anymore,” he huffed, sitting back on his calves.
“Fuck you,” she spat.
“I did.” He cocked a singular brow. She scowled, her left eye twitching with ire. Amelia scrambled to her feet, snatching her leather strap as she did. Knox climbed to his feet. “Are you going to keep up the attitude, or can I make you come now?”
Amelia crossed her arms under her chest. “I don’t want it now.”
He snickered, “Yes you do, come here, pet.”
She didn’t even hesitate, the words falling out of her mouth. “Yes, Sir.”
The look of absolute delight that filled his features, made her thighs clench together. He’d returned to his more relaxed expression, all the devilish magic gone like it’d never been there. But Amelia would always remember the way he looked. Like a cruel version of him painted by a maddened artist. Someone who stared into the void, and it stared back, driving them to paint something oddly familiar yet terrifying. Yet, it was her Knox, the regular Knox she back-talked and teased, who eased her back against a tree.
It was her Knox rubbing her burning slit and soothed her frenzied clit with tender touches. It was her Knox kissing her like she would break apart if he pressed too hard. It was her Knox who curled two fingers deep in her cum-soaked pussy and eased her back into an orgasm. He murmured against her mouth; lips curled with a devilish, smug delight. “Good pet, cum for me.”
“Yes, Sir,” she breathed, rocking her hips in tandem with his fingers. Amelia broke apart. Shivering and whimpering his name as he coaxed wave after wave of cool bliss from her. Wetness trailed down the inside of her legs as he didn’t let her stop coming until he’d wrung every drop from her body.
“I prefer when you’re not afraid,” he purred against her mouth. “I prefer when you’re defiant and fiery, when you’re almost daring me to catch you. As if you’re so confident I can’t, that you are begging me to prove you wrong.”
“But you feed on fear.” She blinked away the haze in her eyes as he tenderly stroked her cunt.
“I do…but I don’t…” he faltered, his mouth lingering open for a long time before he closed it.
“What?” She brushed fingers across his cheek, cupping his face.
“I never want to feed on your fear, Pet.” His gaze locked with hers and there was genuine pain in it. “I fed on your desire earlier, in the car. I’ve never done that, and it… It’s like tasting nectar from the gods, I never want to eat fear again. Not when I can have that. Not when I can have you.”
Amelia nodded, trembling as the exhaustion crashed over her body. “Yes, Sir.”
He grinned from pointy, purple ear to ear, “That’s a good pet. Now, let’s get you home. Buttons lost track of Gael in the woods before I summoned her, so, likely, we’re not in a great spot to be caught with our pants down.”
“What!” she barked, slapping him hard on the chest. “Then why the fuck did you—”
He gave her a stare that meant for her to hush and berate him later. Amelia grumbled, pouting and crossing her arms as he summoned one last portal. Begrudgingly, she stepped through and immediately dropped into the backseat of his vehicle. Knox followed swiftly after, having tucked himself back in his pants. He told his driver to take them home before he made a series of quick calls on his phone. Amelia tried to listen to them, but her mind kept wandering back to the woods.
Buttons had called him a monster… and said ‘when he’…which meant the vampire that hunted them knew Knox…and likely the vampire was that Declan person who kept coming back up.
Amelia wanted to ask who Declan was…but if she was being honest, she’d had about as much truth as she could handle for one day. Instead, she wanted a bath, a long nap, and maybe to cuddle up with Brayden and Penny as they screamed at each other over a video game.