Chapter 7 #2
It didn’t matter. I couldn’t stay here.
Not when I could close my eyes and remember the way Phoenix’s body felt pressed against mine. Not when some part of me could acknowledge that the danger he presented was…
Tempting.
I didn’t need that kind of temptation.
I slipped back into the tent and unwound a few more of the metal pieces, hoping the firelight and darkening skies might help me slip out undetected. Peeling back the fabric made little crinkling sounds, but maybe…
Maybe…
“Where do you think you’re going, Killer?” The voice came from the opening of the tent, and I didn’t think. I just sprang into motion, hoping that I could find somewhere to duck away undetected, because I couldn’t imagine a world where his long-ass legs wouldn’t catch up to me.
I managed to wriggle out through the little hole I’d made before I felt his arms on me, and the vague sound of his voice shouting to the others about staying put made some of the tension in my chest ease.
At least they weren’t going to turn into some kind of unified hunting party to come after me—Phoenix sounded so sure of himself, so confident that he’d catch me.
If I could hide somewhere, that would be good.
If I could find a weapon to break over his fucking handsome face if he found me, that would be even better.
I just needed to get away .
“Come on, Aubrey. Isn’t it a little late to play these games? Do you really want to die that much?” The idiosyncrasy in the way his voice sounded so smooth even though the words were obviously a threat almost made me feel lightheaded.
Fuck, did I?
It had to be something like that, since my pulse was skyrocketing and it wasn’t from the sprint I’d broken into.
Adrenaline burned through my veins, and some part of me wanted to laugh—the sound bubbled and caught in the back of my throat, tearing out in a hitch of breath that almost made me stumble.
With the sound of his heavy footfalls behind me, and the threat I could feel burning along my skin promising to brand me a prisoner forever if he caught me, I felt amazing.
Being chased—being hunted— by a predator like Phoenix made me feel more alive than I had in years.
Since…
The name trying to tear through my mind made me stumble again, and just that break in my stride was nearly enough to let him catch up to me.
I had to force myself to swerve, to duck into one of the abandoned buildings to my left and hope that I wasn’t making a mistake.
I usually liked to clear an area before I entered.
The training I’d gotten from the Order dictated that I secure the entryways and exits before I did something ridiculous, like running in blind.
“Do you really think I’ll let you get away?” The low rumbling growl of his voice was enough to make my body jerk again, to make me scramble when I should have been moving with the stealth I’d spent my entire life learning to perfect.
There was none of that Aubrey left right now. There was panic and arousal warring just beneath my skin and making me feel sick to my stomach, because how broken did I have to be that this was getting to me?
That he was getting to me.
That the sound of his heavy footsteps crunching on the glass of the broken window I’d scrambled past was nearly enough to make me moan.
He was the physical manifestation of every time I’d run into danger, every time I’d pushed myself to see how far I could go before I collapsed.
I needed to run .
I sucked in a sharp breath and carefully looked down the hall. It was so dark in the damn building that I could barely see anything in that direction, and the only reason I didn’t hate it was because that probably meant he wouldn’t see me either when I ran.
I needed to get back onto the street and keep running until I was out of the city.
I needed?—
“Every second you hide from me only makes this worse, you know?” Phoenix’s voice was smooth, warm, a threat sent into the air to sizzle along my nerves in an attempt to give away my position.
He was taunting me to see if I’d react, wasn’t he?
“I’m not patient. I’m not Order, Aubrey.
I’m not some bitch who will let you put a bullet through their skull.
I’m going to catch you. Don’t you get it? You’re mine .”
Mine.
Mine?
What kind of psychopath said someone belonged to them when they abducted them off the street?
Probably the same kind who ate people, but…
I darted out, my eyes fixed on the room in front of me—it was lined with windows, and at the far end was a door. If I could get to it, if I could make it…
“Bad dog.” Fingers twisted in my hair, jerking me around and slamming me against the wall. It knocked the breath out of me, and that was all he needed to grab my wrists and pin both of them above my head with one hand.
One hand.
Fuck, he was so big.
“Fuck off.” It didn’t sound that menacing when I could barely breathe.
Phoenix leaned in, running his nose along my jawline slowly, like he was claiming a prize. Fuck . My heart was beating too fast in my chest, because some part of me felt like a prize.
“Now, how do you want to be punished?”
That spike of adrenaline wasn’t gone. It was burning through me, tearing into my veins the same way the red rain did when it fell, and I…
I screamed when the sensation of his teeth setting into my shoulder sent licks of agony and pleasure racing through my body, arrowing along my spine and making my head throb while my cock jerked in my pants.
No.
This wasn’t the response I was supposed to have to being hunted. To being caught, to being hurt . Why could I only feel things now when they hurt ?
I…
Phoenix moved his mouth over the wound he’d left, and the stinging sensation when he licked roughly against it let me know he’d broken skin, that he was probably flooding his tongue with the taste of my infected blood.
And he didn’t care.
How long had it been since I was around someone who didn’t care if I was infected, broken?
“Fuck, you taste sweet.” Phoenix’s low growl was enough to tear me out of my thoughts, and his hand squeezing my wrists hard enough to draw a pained sound out of my throat reminded me that I was still in very real danger.
Danger.
He was biting me. He thought I tasted good.
Cannibal.
Raider.
Predator.
Some beast that had found a way to slide beneath my skin and lick fire along my spine.
“How do you taste?” My words felt punched out, like some demon had dragged them up my throat and fed them to the man in front of me. Phoenix’s eyes went wide, pupils blown in the darkness of the building.
“Why don’ t you find out?”
He stepped back, dropping my wrists and tilting his head, and I realized he was giving me options.
His lips, slightly parted. When I looked at them, his tongue darted out, licking the little streak of crimson I could barely make out as my eyes adjusted to the low light.
Or… the rest of his body, leaned in toward me, broad and powerful beneath the cut-off hoodie he wore. Even in the low light, it was hard to miss that he was hard in his pants.
Hard from chasing me?
Hard from biting me?
Hard from catching me?
Fuck, I didn’t know. He was already leaning in though, like he knew my answer, and I watched his eyes widen in shock as I dropped to my knees.
I was fine with fucking, but he wasn’t getting a kiss. It was too intimate, too personal. It meant too much.
The last person I’d kissed was Bishop. I planned on keeping it that way.
At least I had the satisfaction of watching confusion chase across his features. He’d obviously expected me to pick the tamer of the two actions, but he didn’t understand that this meant less to me than pressing my mouth to his.
Phoenix dragged his hand through my hair, nails blunt as they played across my scalp, then he tightened them and jerked my head back.
“Is this what you want?”
No. I wanted to escape, obviously. I’d tried to leave, but…
As I rolled my eyes up and looked along the length of his body—as his fingers knotted in my hair hard enough that it nearly made me see stars—I could do nothing but let out a little moan and lift my hands to unfasten his pants, dragging them down around his hips.
His cock sprang free, and… oh fuck . I wasn’t sure I was actually going to be able to do this. He was so big.
But then Phoenix yanked my head back, and he used his other hand to slide two fingers between my lips. I flicked my tongue experimentally against the taste of his salty skin and he let out a growl.
The sensation of his fingers jerking my head back, so my mouth was suddenly wrenched open, made me groan in answer.
“All right, then. If that’s what you want. Put your hands on my hips and squeeze if you think you’re going to faint.” That grin was still there, and he slipped his fingers out of my mouth to grab his cock and guide it to my lips. “Maybe I’ll stop.”
Like I couldn’t help it, my hands followed his demand, sliding to his hips and drifting beneath the ripped shirt he wore to explore the feel of the muscles beneath.
He was hard everywhere , and I had a moment to think that he smelled like smoke and fire before he thrust forward and I choked on his cock as it slid down my throat.
Phoenix wasn’t easy—he didn’t show mercy. He just fucked into my mouth with a singular purpose, and the look of pleasure that tore across his face blurred with my vision when I gagged.
Fuck, he filled me up. He tasted salty and warm, like sweat and heat and everything I should have been jerking away from.
Instead, I dropped my jaw and tilted my head to give him better access, flattening my tongue along the bottom of his dick when he thrust into me again, driving all the way to the back of my throat until I was choking and my nose tickled with the feel of the dark hair that trailed across his pelvis.
Somewhere between the first thrust and the feel of my lungs burning as I tried to find a rhythm to catch my breath, I started to float.