25. The Protector
Chapter twenty-five
The Protector
Sammy
“ C lose your eyes, Nightstar, feel my breath along your soft skin. Feel the firmness of the ground below you, the rush of your blood racing through your veins, and taste the cold night air as it clings to your flesh.” I lean forward, allowing my breath to skate along her bare collarbone, causing further goosebumps to rise on her porcelain skin as she stands there, a goddess bathed in moonlight. Stunning. Beautiful. Mine.
The tip of my tongue leaves a trail on her velvety soft skin, as her petite body shudders under my ministrations. Her perky rose-tipped nipples stand temptingly erect in the cooler night air, just waiting for my mouth to envelop them. Her hands tighten into fists as she forces herself to follow my instructions, and not reach out for me. I’m trying to teach my beautiful girl about patience and restraint, both of which she tends to sorely lack. “Why do we have to do this, Sammy? I’m fucking cold, and I want you to fuck me hard and brutal.” Her whiny words pull a smile across my face, that she can’t see with her eyes shuttered. My gaze trails over her gorgeous form, to where she’s clenching her thighs tightly. I know all of this is arousing her, the fear mixed in with the unknown. My hand grasps hold of the braid I instructed her to place her hair in, yanking on the strands without mercy, and forcing a pained cry to leave her lips.
“You’re a spoiled brat, Nightstar. You need to follow my fucking instructions. One day, I might not be there to save you, and you’ll need to save yourself.” My heart beats painfully in my chest at just the thought of her alone, and without me to protect her. I hope I don’t live to see that day. If an omniscient God is real, he will grant me that small mercy, and make sure I am long gone from this earth. “Break my hold, Dinah. Do it without opening your eyes, and anticipate my next movement.” My foot moves to strike her shin, and at the very last second, she manages to move it out of the way with a grunt, but not before I rip strands out of her scalp, and wrench her head backward. Her forearm strikes forward, blocking my other arm as I reach for her throat. Good. Better. I drop my hold on her hair and reach for her hip, but she instantly senses the movement and slides to the right. Her left hand strikes forward, her palm slamming into my nose, and causing me to instantly taste blood. That’s my girl. My grumble of pain has a naughty, satisfied smile perching on her pouty lips. I watch as her lean and strong limbs, covered in my tattooed artwork, move like water through the air as she dodges another one of my strikes. She’s getting better at sensing movement, and one day, that will come in handy, if she’s ever trapped in the dark with someone attacking her. It’s my job to prepare her for any outcome, and to ensure her survival at all costs, even if that cost is my own life.
Nothing matters more to me than this woman before me. From the moment I laid eyes on the terrified teenager she was, when she first became my charge, until she was fully grown. An adult who could make her own decisions, regardless of the Brotherhood’s approval, I’ve wished for nothing more than her happiness and safety. In a world where nothing is ever certain or constant besides suffering, Dinah Camrose became my certainty. She is the god I bow down to and serve, her name is the prayer that crosses my lips, and her survival is all I seek. I go to grip her hair once again, but she headbutts me hard, landing a blow to the side of my head, and slamming her knee into my thigh, as I manage to block her blow to my testicles. “Fuck, Dinah,” I groan, the night sky momentarily dancing in front of my vision. She backs up and takes a fighting stance, her body rigid and ready for my next strike. I try to move around her, to approach from behind and keep her off balance, but the tilt of her head tells me she senses my movement. I rush her, grappling with her from behind, but she manages to force us both to the ground in a rolling maneuver, that has her landing on top of me. Her bare pussy straddles my chest as she slams her bony elbow into the side of my head, and her thick thighs grip my chest tightly. Fuck, that shouldn’t be as sexy as it is.
“Concede, old man, and I won’t suffocate you with my cunt.” She thinks that’s a punishment, but hell, that’s a fucking treat. She proceeds to follow her threat by grabbing hold of my messy bun on the top of my head and yanking, forcing the back of my skull to bang against the hard dirt. She slides the perfect round globes of her ass forward, until her soaked pussy lips are pressed right up against my chin, and I can smell her intoxicating musky scent almost at my mouth. “I’m going to tan your hide, Nightstar, and leave every one of my fingers on display, making sure you can’t sit for a week.” I plant my feet firmly on the dirt, and lift my waist and upper body off the ground, trying to buck her off of me, but I only succeed in pushing her wet cunt firmly against my lips and nose. “If you wanted a taste, you decrepit old man, all you had to do was ask,” she moans as she rides my mouth, coating my lips and nose in her dripping wetness. “I’m always happy to help the elderly.”
I lick her folds, tinged in the slight taste of her, and copper, sucking on her swollen clit until she’s writhing on top of me, and moaning far too loudly for the quietness that surrounds us. “Sammy, fuck, fuck, fuck.” I slip my tongue inside her tight hole, as my hands grasp onto both of her thighs and force her to ride my face. Fuck, if I were to die like this, I would be one of the luckiest bastards to walk the earth. She widens her stance, bearing down on me as my tongue thrusts in and out of her pussy, and my eyes keep watch on her partially shadowed features. The little minx still has her eyes closed, but her head is thrown back in ecstasy, as the moonlight illuminates her ethereal form. She’s getting closer to her release, her whole body tightening in preparation, her slim neck cording with the effort of controlling her heavy breathing. An evil grin crosses my lips as her breath hitches, as she readies herself to fall off the precipice I have her on. I quickly yank her off of me by my hold on her thighs, forcing her to land hard next to me on the ground as I scramble back to my feet. She emits a piercing scream, a mixture of fright and frustration, at being denied her orgasm. Little hellion.
“What the fuck, Sammy!” She scrambles to her feet and dares to open her eyes, and glare those beautiful blue-gray orbs at me with displeasure. “Oh, Nightstar, I am going to enjoy taking you over my knee, baby,” I warn her as I advance on her, and she takes stumbling steps away from me. Her taste is still coating my lips, drowning all my senses in everything that is Dinah. My cock is painfully hard against the zipper of my pants, and begging to be released so it can bottom out inside of her, and punish her for her bad behavior. “Fuck you, Sammy! You’re not spanking me!” A hoarse chuckle escapes me. I’m really enjoying her defiance, too bad it won’t save her pretty flesh from my twitchy hand or, better yet, the bite of my leather belt. “You’re right, baby. I plan to whip you with my belt for being a disobedient little slut.”
Her eyes grow dramatically large, but I don’t witness fear within their depths. Instead, it’s a mixture of lust, rage, and devilishness. My little Nightstar wishes to play, and as I feel the blood trickling down from my nostril from her hit, and spy it coating the pretty pink lips of her pussy, I know she’s earned a little play. “I’ll give you a ninety-second head start, Dinah. If you can evade me for twenty minutes, I’ll forfeit whipping that sexy ass of yours, but if you can’t...” I leave my statement unfinished, and allow her to draw her own conclusions.
She kneels down, and I raise my eyebrow with suspicion on what her next move will be. I don’t have long to wait, before she springs up and throws dirt at my eyes, before running away from me and further into the dense woods that cover our property. “Fuck you, Sammy. Catch me if you can!” I swipe at the burning dust in my eyes, and when I’m able to clear my vision, she’s gone. The excitement of the chase fills my blood and has me rapidly moving forward, but beginning to count out loud, so she can hear clearly when she runs out of time, and I hunt her to the ground, and hunt I will. I’m a primal beast searching out his dinner and ready to devour it. “Ninety! Run, Nightstar, ’cause when I catch your sexy, disobedient ass, I’m going to fuck you until you bleed.” I don’t get a reply, but I didn’t expect to get one, that would reveal her position, and my Nightstar isn’t stupid. Despite her bratty behavior, she’s a quick learner, and I have full faith that if she wants to evade me all night, she’ll manage it. The question is, does she want to win more than she wants to cum?
I look for signs of her movements through the heavy bushes, and where she might be hiding, but she’s been extra careful. There are few visible, and she’s hiding her tracks well. Good girl. Pride rises inside of me that she’s mastered everything I have tried to teach her. The Brotherhood, and specifically her soon-to-be husband, Ezekiel Rothesay, are in for a surprise when she becomes a Sacred Wife. She’s not going to allow them to subjugate her like they did her mother, and other women of the Brotherhood. My Dinah is going to be able to fight back. As always, the thought of her upcoming marriage causes my heart to miss a beat, and my breathing to stutter. I can’t lose her, not even to what should be her fate. She’s mine, and she has always been mine, regardless of another wealthy, spoiled prince of the Brotherhood laying claim to her. I should run with her. We could hide deep in the forests, moving from one city to another, and staying undetected. We could be happy together, living and breathing, free from the strenuous rules of the Order that wants to destroy us both. Sammy and his Nightstar, until death parts us.
The minor sound of creaking weight on a branch overhead catches my trained ears, but I refuse to tell her I’ve found her. She’s clever. She’s climbed a tree, and put her dainty self out of my reach. It won’t matter, however, nothing will stop me from getting to her. I pretend to search through the nearby bushes, letting her believe that I don’t know that she’s right above me. When only silence fills the air, and even the creatures of the forest have stilled, I approach the tree from another angle, getting a glimpse of her perched on a branch, holding on for dear life, her naked body pressed against the dark, rough bark. I start to climb silently, ensuring that the thick leaves hide my appearance as I come up behind her. Fuck, I’m so hard that every movement is pure agony, and all I now want is for this game of hide and seek to be over, so I can slip inside of her and fill her with my cum. My mouth salivates with the image of her down on all fours before me, as I use her tight pussy first, and then her ass. The image is so hot that I have to grasp my cock, and tighten my grip on my leaking crown, swallowing the moan that wants to divulge my whereabouts.
I quiet my breathing as I take the branch next to her and sit on my haunches, reaching out and grabbing the end of her braid in my grasp and yanking, until a cry of terror leaves her lips. “FUCK! OH. MY. GOD! Sammy, fuck, you scared the shit out of me,” she screeches, as she holds tight to the rough tree bark, and prevents herself from falling twelve or so feet to the ground. “You weren’t paying attention, Nightstar, so certain that you were safe up here. I could have been any predator hunting you.” I tighten my grip further and yank her head back towards me, until I can lean forward and take her lips with mine. I use my tongue to trace her pouty, pillowy, red lips, allowing her to taste her pussy on mine. “See how good you taste, baby? I need another hit. I’m famished.”
Just then, she loses her grip, a terrified scream leaving her mouth, and ripping her away from me. Her blue-gray eyes glow in the moonlight as she begins to plummet to her death. I scramble to get a grip on her, as my heart pumps out of my chest. “NIGHTSTAR!” I roar as I lean my body completely out of the tree, prepared to fall to my death with her. “SAVE ME, SAMMY!”
I dart up in bed, covered in sweat, and my heart is trying to climb out of my throat. Terror wraps itself around me, like a heavy cloth that I can’t shrug off, smothering me and tangling me further in its depths. My frightened eyes search the space around me, and glaze over the details that I have become intimately acquainted with. I’m still in the storeroom in the Holy Father’s mansion, on a cot that one of the rebels brought in for me. I’m alone, and more importantly, I’m safe, at least for now. I drag my trembling hands down my face, as my heartbeat finally begins to stop stampeding in my chest. Just a dream, it was a nightmare, not real. I repeat the words over and over out loud, to reassure myself of my current reality.
It’s then that I realize that I’m not actually alone, as a shadow steps forward from one of the corners and into the light, their thick dark robes and hood obscuring their features. Where the fuck did they come from, I didn’t hear the door open? I push my weakened body against the wall, preparing to fight against this intruder. “Hello, Samuel. I’m glad to see you’re doing so much better. We haven’t been formally introduced yet, but we have so much in common.” The robed figure continues to move closer and closer, as dread invades every one of my pores. I look around frantically, but there’s nothing but canned goods on the other side of the room to defend myself with. Fuck, has Noah found me again? Has he sent someone to finish the job? Could Abe or Zeke have sent an assassin to remove me from Dinah’s life permanently? What if Dinah sent this person to murder me, finally realizing that I am, in fact, worthless, especially after my attempts on her life?
“I’m not here to hurt you, Samuel. Quite the contrary, actually, I’m here to help you,” the voice sounds soothing and placating, even as it tries to reassure me that it means me no harm. However, my internal alarms are blaring, and I know it’s not true. “Help me... with what?” I gasp as pain ricochets through my damaged body. He stops when he’s no more than three feet from me, and his pale hands rise to his hood, pushing it back and revealing his appearance. No, it’s not possible. This is a fucking ghost standing before me. I’ve seen images of this man, but he hasn’t existed for years. Am I still on the poison that Noah poured through me, hallucinating a dead man?
He squats down until he’s at eye level, his stunning gray-blue eyes, so similar to the ones I love, staring into mine. Bile fills my mouth as shock and terror mingle, and cause a cold sweat to pour down my body. I’m positive I’m lost inside of the broken fragments of my mind, because this is not real, it can’t be. “I’m going to help you get my daughter back, free you both from the Order, and help you kill those two that took her away from you.”
“You’re dead, this isn’t real!” I grab onto my head and smash it against the cement wall, trying to free myself from the specter before me. A strong hand grabs my shoulder, and cold fingers bite into my flesh. “I’m real, Sammy, and I’m your salvation. You need to listen. We don’t have much time before they return.”