Chapter 10 Emery #3
I consider ways of potentially removing it. It’s my understanding that we were given them for the trials. Do they remove them at some point? Do all Dark Forces soldiers have them or do we earn trust at some point?
My frown deepens as I walk back through the halls of the Under. Rubbing my shoulder where Mori’s sim-twin stabbed me in the simulation. Everyone has long since returned upstairs. The soldiers who dwell down here must already be back at their quarters since it’s late.
The Under has become a quiet, ominous place. Where the steps echo a little more with each stride through the emptiness. Like a slumbering cave filled with secrets.
I shut my eyes and let my fingertips brush against the wall.
A sharp wave of recollection awakens my heart.
My legs begin to slow until I come to a complete stop.
My eyes and mind don’t remember things. But my body does.
The touch of the walls along my fingertips is so familiar.
The maze that is only familiar in the shadows.
Forgotten by the world, forgotten by me.
Only to be remembered when I close my eyes and succumb to its whispering halls.
I’ve heard the other squads joke that the Under is the darkest place mankind has made, but I have a hard time fathoming how it couldn’t be true.
Did I spend much of my time in the dark? Tracing the walls to guide me?
I begin walking and let my body remember the paths it once knew.
The air smells earthy and like cement. The wall stops but my instinct is to continue to the right, so I let my hand fall to my side and slowly walk through a larger space.
I can tell by the draft of cold air that breezes through me.
I stop when it feels right and finally open my eyes.
I’ve entered the barracks and am standing near the back.
Rows upon rows of beds line the entire space.
The cot before me is bare, only a thin mattress and caseless pillow.
This was mine. I look up and find the communal bathroom only a few rows over.
The silence here is more unsettling than the knowledge that I once spent a considerable amount of time here is.
There’s a longing for the sound of others stirring in their cots, talking long into the evening.
If I shut my eyes I can hear the sounds I’d left behind.
The water in the shower hisses, filling the space and grabbing my attention.
I walk through the bathroom and stop when I reach the showers. Surprised when I find Mori beneath one.
His arm is pressed up on the wall to support his leaning frame. All of his clothes are still on, drenched with water. His hair clings to his face and a short hiccup of misery escapes him, shoulders trembling as he lets his head fall more into the cascade of water.
I watch him for a long time. Unsure if I should try to see if he’s okay or remain where I am. Warmth flushes across my cheeks and sinks down into my stomach. My anger for him seems to always quickly shift into something more lewd and twisted.
He eventually turns off the shower and turns around. His eyes harden the moment he sees me standing here, but he doesn’t look surprised to see me.
I swallow the nerves building in my throat. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to stay for as long as I did,” I say slowly. He walks past me and dismisses me completely.
Mori strips down, letting the wet clothes fall to his feet. I inhale at his exposed skin and try to keep my eyes above his waistline. He opens one of the cabinets against the wall and takes a black long-sleeved shirt and pants out.
Going commando? I look down at his cock and take a deep breath at the size of him. My cheeks burn and I force my gaze to the floor. There’s no way he’s ever fit inside me before. My core aches with need at the very thought of it.
“What happened back there? You’re acting…off.” I try to confront him on it again.
He pulls his shirt on and glares at me over his shoulder when I take a few steps closer to him.
“Don’t.” Mori lets his head tilt down and shakes it slowly. “I’m not myself right now. Neither are you.” I try to focus on his words, but my eyes keep getting drawn to the arteries in his neck that protrude from his skin.
The heat in my center becomes more unbearable. I want to touch him, delicately, softly. But I also want him to touch me as callously as he touches everything else. To feel his cruelness the way I believe it’s meant to be felt.
“I’m evil, remember?” he mumbles, letting his eyes lazily fall over me. If it weren’t for his lovely pained expression, I’d be more enraged with him.
“I honestly didn’t think you’d take it to heart when I said it.” I cross my arms as I follow him out of the showers, walking through the barracks.
He grunts. “You were right when you said that I don’t have one.”
I level him with an exasperated look. “Then why are you pouting about it?”
Mori stops dead in his tracks and whirls on me.
It takes me by surprise and we fall back onto one of the cots.
He inhales sharply, both hands pinned over my wrists and holding them down by each side of my head.
Every nerve ending is on high intensity from his cold fingers down to where our crotches are pressed together.
His grip is brutal. Inescapable.
“What do you want from me, Emery?” His voice is raspy as his eyes dip down to my lips. His hands are hot, seeping into my veins like liquid lust.
“I want you to tell me everything that happened in the Under Trials. I want you to tell me who we are to each other.” My lower lip trembles as I take him in.
His scent of birch is so intoxicating, I could steep in it forever.
I bite down into my lower lip to quell the urge to lift my chin and kiss him.
Wet strands of his hair spill onto my forehead as I find the universe in his eyes.
Who are you, really?
He takes a long breath before letting his body slump down farther on top of mine. His lips are soft against the shell of my ear. I think he might say something but he only clenches his jaw and loosens his hold from around my wrists.
He rises slowly and then stares down into my eyes. He must see how I desperately long for him. My brows knit and my thighs try to rub together to ease the tension there. His knee keeps them apart, feeling my attempt at staving off the desire that collects between my thighs for him.
“Fuck,” he whispers, torment stretching over his tense expression.
I see it in his eyes—the moment he surrenders to his lust. The ice he keeps set in his soul melts and his lashes lower, hooding his gaze.
He stares upon me like there is no separation between light and dark, as if we truly are two soldiers cursed to circle one another dangerously, only to secretly meet at dusk and let the blood on our hands disappear with the sun.
Mori lowers his forehead to mine, taking a deep breath as our lips softly brush, not quite a kiss. His left arm is braced over my head, and he slips his right hand under my lower back, fingertips drawing lines over my skin.
“You don’t remember me,” he murmurs. “But I can never forget you.” His mouth collides with mine before I can process his words.
I’m overcome with his intoxicating, woodsy scent, and the weight of his endearment.
He kisses me fervently, like he’s been holding himself back with chains and he’s only now about to devour me.
I relish in it, arching my back up instinctively and moaning as our tongues explore one another.
His teeth skate over my bottom lip and a small whimper escapes me as his body comes down over mine. Heat races through my lower abdomen and the pressure of his leg against my crotch has me mindlessly grinding against his thigh.
He nudges my legs apart with his knee and buries his fingers into my hip.
I gasp at the motion and the pressure that his thumb has, digging into my sensitive flesh.
He chuckles over my lips, pulling back enough for me to see him clearly.
His eyes fill with restraint, and he sits back on his haunches like he might stop and leave me here.
My thighs are already soaked with my need for relief. He can’t give me a preview and then just leave.
“Please, I want you, Mori,” I beg, hooking my thumbs into my waistband and pulling my pants down to reveal myself to him. “I need you.”
Hunger flashes over his eyes and he swallows.
“You don’t know what you want, Emery. You haven’t the slightest clue.
” His eyes stay fixed on my wet panties, and he hums low as he lets his knees sink down to the floor and drags my ass to the edge of the bed.
He hooks a finger around the band of my underwear, pulling them to the side effortlessly.
When he doesn’t move for a few moments, I realize that he’s just staring at my pussy, holding it open and sucking in his lower lip. His canine tooth showing, making me want him to sink his teeth into me. It wouldn’t even hurt. I bet it’d just feel really fucking good.
“Don’t look at me,” I complain, trying to wiggle from his hold, but he fastens a strong hand securely over my hip and keeps me locked in place.
“Always so shy,” he teases as he brings his mouth an inch away from my center.
His hot breath coils against my clit and sends a shudder up my spine, making my toes curl into the sheets.
Then a sharp breath escapes me as he strokes his tongue up my slit.
He drags it slowly all the way up until he swirls the tip around my sensitive bundle of nerves, pressing his lips down over it and sucking in ruthlessly.
My lips part and I cry out as he doubles down, lapping at my center like he truly will eat every last bit of me. Those sharp eyes are focused on my expressions with a fervid hunger for each whimper, moan, and plea.
Mori groans into my pussy, the reverberation making my hips jut up into his mouth.
He grips my waist tightly and buries his fingers into my flesh as he devours me and pushes me closer and closer to my limit.
He teases my entrance with two fingers before pressing them inside me, filling me and rubbing up against my walls.
“Mori,” I whimper, threading my fingers through his hair and bucking my hips with each thrust of his hand and every flick of his tongue.
He moans at my voice, and it’s enough to make my entire body melt. My stomach clenches as I come on his hand. He laps up the juices and places a final kiss on my inner thigh as he returns those fiery eyes to mine.
Something has shifted in him once more. Sadness maybe, but there’s more hope in the tilted smile and lift of his brow.
My breaths are uneven and I struggle to rein them in as he slowly climbs up back onto the bed. He lets his fingertips gently glide up my knee and thighs, slipping beneath my shirt until he’s pushing up my bra and cupping my breast.
The warmth of his chest meets mine, and I fall into myself with the nostalgic feeling that rushes through my chest.
“How did it feel to come at my mercy, love?” He smooths his forefinger and thumb over my nipple, sending a pulse of heat through me.
“It felt so good,” I mumble. My eyes are half-lidded, drunken with lust. I want him to feel good too.
Mori moans as I palm the huge bulge in his pants. I shoot a glance at him to make sure he’s not going to get mad if I pull down his pants. Sometimes he’s so hot and cold that I don’t know what to expect, but right now his eyes are hooded and needy.
I lean forward and slip my hand under his waistband, finding him rock-hard and on the cusp of breaking out of his boxers on his own without any help.
I palm the head of his cock and before I can glance back at him to make sure he’s still not going to snap at me, he leans in, locking our lips together once more.
A moan escapes me as he pushes me down to my back with his kiss alone. His brows are knitted together like he’s greatly conflicted on doing this with me, but he’s not stopping. I don’t think I could stop even if I wanted to.
Every time he moans into my mouth, a sharp coiling need throbs through my core. I need him inside me. To fill the void.
I manage to free his dick from his sweatpants and let a small gasp out when I truly see the full length of him. Mori pulls back and gives me a wicked grin.
“Come here, take me in your mouth so I can fuck all your questions away.”
I glare at him. “I’m really not asking for a lot.”
He stands and tilts my chin up so his dick is lining up with my mouth. “But you are,” he whispers as he traces my bottom lip with his tip. His skin is so soft. I want to see him come undone just like he watched me come.
My lips part and I take his tip in my mouth, stroking the bottom of his length with my tongue and wrapping my hand around the base of his cock. The veins are bulging, making my pussy weep.
“God your mouth is perfect, Em. You can’t remember important things, but this comes second nature to you?” Mori lets out a cruel laugh. “That makes me so angry.” His fingers curl around the base of my braids. What little breath I had is stolen away as he rams his hips into my face.
My eyes water as his cock hits the back of my throat.
I swallow down on him and he groans, the sound so deep and satisfied that my eyes roll to the back of my head.
He fucks my mouth like he hates my guts.
I focus in enough to watch his expression as he comes undone.
His jaw is slack, lips parted with his uneven breaths, and those piercing green eyes level me into nothing more than the hollow girl I am.
I don’t have time to assess what that yearning look means before he’s spilling down my throat and making me swallow all his come. His dick throbs over my tongue and the sensation makes another pulse roll through my core.
He finally pulls himself from my mouth, and I take a few deep breaths. His salty taste lingers on my tongue, and I can’t help but savor it.
My eyes lift to his. I don’t know what I was hoping for, maybe for him to look at me with soft eyes, or to tell me things about myself. Even to continue and roll in the sheets together, but that’s not what I get.
There’s been a shift in his demeanor. His jaw tightens and he shakes his head once as if to lose whatever thoughts have slipped into his mind. He secures his pants back around his waist and turns away from me.
“Don’t stay down here long,” he bites out curtly as he heads to the exit without another word, leaving me alone in the underground hell wondering what he’s fighting so hard against in his mind, and why he loathes me so much.