Chapter 25 Deeper, Little Rabbit
Deeper, Little Rabbit
PREACHER
Bloodied gauze and sutures litter the bathroom floor as I gently wipe away the blood on Ripley’s face. She’s perched on the counter, right next to the sink, giving me a good look at the toll the night has taken on her naked body. Bruised knees, scrapes on her thighs, and…
“What are you looking at?”
I smile, gliding my hands up her bare legs. It’s those eyes. They hook right into me, and suddenly I want to tell her every single secret I’ve buried over the years.
“I was thinking you’ve never looked more beautiful.”
Her lips part and I brush my nose across her cheek, shuddering as her warm breath fans against my own skin. Her touch is like lightning, crawling down my spine and gathering there until I feel like I’m going to explode.
“You know what I was thinking?” She asks.
I dab my stab-wound with iodine; it looks worse than it actually is, and thankfully it seems like it'll heal up nicely. The fact that she got me right in the eye-socket of one of my skull tattoos is just the icing on the cake.
“Tell me.”
“I was thinking that you still haven’t kissed me, not really.”
“I suppose that’s true.”
It’s been a damn long time since I’ve kissed a woman, but honestly, I couldn’t even remember the last time. That’s how uneventful it was. Maybe sometime in my early 20s, before the business took over my whole life.
“Are you scared?”
She’s got a sinister, hyena-like smile plastered across her face. The light is so low, almost sucking the color right out of her eyes until they’re two black pools.
“Do you think I’m scared?”
“Not in general, no, but I think you might be afraid of intimacy.”
That knot in my stomach pulls tighter. Intimacy means being known, it means ripping open the deepest and darkest parts of yourself and begging to be accepted.
“You do, huh?”
My tone is flat. Emotionless.
“Tell me I’m wrong.”
She looks so confident, leaning forward and biting her lip.
“You’re fuckin’ annoying,” I growl.
She breaks into laughter, covering her mouth with one hand, her cheeks bursting with red, like fresh blood scattered across snow.
“You think that’s funny?”
“I know it is.” Her words feel almost as brutal as that horn she stabbed me with. “You’ll put your gun in my pussy, you’ll chase me through the woods, but you won’t fucking kiss me! You know what else I think?”
“I haven’t the faintest goddamn idea, rabbit.”
“I think you’re afraid to be seen.” She licks her lips. “But what you don’t understand is I've already seen right through you.”
“Are you sure about that?”
She watches me, her eyes dancing across my face like she can see right into my goddamn soul. I feel like a teenager, standing in front of a girl and not knowing what to do. I want to kiss her, and agonizing over something as goddamn juvenile and trivial as that has got me in a tailspin.
“I haven’t run away yet, have I?” She reaches up, her fingers tenderly brushing against a cut on my cheek. “Now stop being such a little bitch and kiss me.”
Her nails dig into the back of my neck, threatening to tear straight into my skin. It’s not really a kiss so much as the two of us trying to devour each other, but I follow her lead, quickly learning what she likes: teeth, snarling, and the sound of my moans.
I tear my mouth from hers, my chest still tight with anxiety, struggling to swallow the urge to ask her if it was okay. One kiss and all of a sudden a shitload of insecurity comes rushing in through the door.
But she just smiles up at me, her lips bitten-red, with a small smear of blood across them. I must have done that and didn’t even notice. I flick out my tongue, lapping at her new wound and making her giggle.
“See, if you’d done that earlier, you probably would’ve had me begging a whole lot sooner.”
“You’re a goddamn brat, you know that?” She squeaks as I lift her up off the counter and carry her over to my big clawfoot tub. “But you’ve got me pegged.”
The water is steaming, the smell of rich vanilla filling my nostrils as I gently set her down and help her in. Her legs are still trembling, so I hold her hand to keep her steady until she’s safely submerged.
“Holy shit,” Ripley lets out a relieved sigh, tipping her head to the ceiling. “This is incredible.”
I pop the cork on a bottle of wine I had sitting off to the side, and pour two generous glasses, handing one over before stripping off my filthy jeans.
“Oh my god, are those piercings?”
Her eyes light right up at the sight, and I grin, climbing into the bathtub along with her.
“You like ‘em?”
“I mean, I guess I felt them.” She entwines her legs with mine as the water slowly strips away the events of the night, like waves against a shoreline. “It felt… really fucking good. When did you get them?”
“Long time ago, and it’s a bit of a story, but that doesn’t matter right now.” I raise my drink. “It’s time to congratulate my little rabbit. You were perfect tonight.”
“Mmm. I’ve always loved validation,” she purrs as we clink glasses. “So? What’s the next step? I thought there was supposed to be a feast or something.”
That’s a thing I’ve learned about Ripley, she never lingers too long in the moment; she’s always so focused on what’s next.
I appreciate the ambition, but sometimes you just want to revel in the now, basking in the fact that you chased a woman through the woods and fucked her senseless less than an hour ago.
“How about this weekend?” I ask, swirling my wine as I plan out a menu in my head.
“Sounds great.”
This is the most comfortable I’ve seen her.
She’s relaxed, almost ethereal in her movements, gracefully examining her wine glass before setting it down to grab the soap.
I watch as she lathers herself up, glowing golden and graceful in the candlelight, until she lifts one leg out of the water and lets out a loud snort.
“Somethin’ wrong?”
She shrugs.
“Forgot to shave my legs.”
Truthfully? I hadn’t noticed. And even if I did, I wouldn’t have given a shit.
But if she wants it gone…
Without a word I reach over to the small table next to the tub, grabbing my brush and small jar of shaving cream as I gently grasp her leg. She doesn’t pull away, just watches me with a bemused look that quickly spreads into a smile.
“Are you serious?”
“About takin’ care of you?” I ask as I dip the brush into some cream and begin to lather up her leg. “We’re partners, right? Isn’t that what partners do?”
I grab the straight razor, flipping it open and gliding it carefully along her skin.
“Never had a man do that before. It’s kind of sexy.”
I study her as I work, keeping my focus on the blade, but being sure to watch for her reactions out of the corner of my eye. In turn, Ripley’s gaze is fixed on my hand as the razor glides effortlessly along the side of her leg.
“When’s the last time someone took care of you?”
I work my way up to her knee before dipping the blade in the water and cleaning it off.
“Never.”
I grunt softly as I switch to her other leg, lathering it up and getting to work. She didn’t even miss a beat.
“Yeah, well I know the feeling. After my mama got sick, it was just me taking care of the three of us, so there wasn’t a whole lotta pampering.”
“Do you think that’s why we’re so fucked up?” She asks. “Because no one was there to help us?”
“Could be.” I sigh, washing off the razor for another go. “But I don’t really worry too much about all that. With so much fucked up shit happening to us, who knows what ingredients really make the difference in that soup.”
Ripley grins, and I can see a new excitement flash in her eyes as I move up her thigh.
“Alright then, can I ask you another question?”
“Nothing’s off limits anymore, little rabbit. Ask away.”
She takes a moment to sip her wine.
“Okay then. I’m curious about what we are.”
“That’s not a question.”
“Alright, fine. I live in your house, sleep in your bed, eat your food. We fuck, and you’re apparently shaving my legs now…” She tilts her head. “So, what are we?”
Truthfully? I don’t know. Are we student and teacher? Star crossed lovers with a murderous edge? All I’m sure of is if another man came near her, I’d tear his head right off his body.
I glide the blade along her inner-thigh, this time flicking it in such a way that it makes a shallow cut— close to her artery, but not quite.
“We’re partners.”
She hisses and I grab a cloth, wiping the excess soap and shaving cream away from the newly open wound, before dipping my head and gliding my tongue across it.
“Partners?”
The second the taste of copper hits my tongue, I groan and seal off the cut with my lips. Ripley lets out her own deep moan that makes my cock swell, but I take my time, sucking up every drop until there’s only a thin line of red where I made the initial incision.
“I teach you how to be the perfect predator, and you teach me…”
Her chest heaves as she drinks me in, pinching and twisting her nipple gently.
“What can I teach you?” She asks, almost breathless.
“How to trust people. How to care for someone.”
She smiles, those electric blue eyes digging straight into me.
“I’ll try, but only if you promise to do the same.”
I wish I knew what love felt like. I know the word, but the sensation escapes me.
Is it like that warmth I felt sitting on the counter watching my mother bake in the mornings?
Is it the feeling I get when I’m riding one of the horses at dawn, one of the only times I ever truly feel free?
Or is it something more obscure, like the crushing longing you sometimes feel when you’re staring out into the empty sky at night?
I’m falling for Ripley, I’d have to be an idiot not to notice that.
But is it love?
I finish shaving her leg, and she watches with a patient curiosity as I twirl the razor between my fingers, still not quite sure what to say.
“C’mere. I want you closer.”
She sets her glass down before slipping between my legs, the water threatening to spill over the tub.
“Close enough?”
I take in the cuts and marks on her face and neck, the bruises on her body, the stitched up gunshot wound on her arm; she’s so beautifully fragile at this moment, and I’m seeing her now after all the layers of defensiveness got peeled away, bit by bit.
Beneath it all, all the years of unhealed wounds buried away, is someone who’s scared, and full of untapped rage.
Anyone else would be terrified of her, and they’d be right to, but I think it’s the thing that makes her shine.
“Nobody is ever gonna hurt you again.”
I grasp her chin, running my thumb along her lips.
“I’ve heard that before,” she murmurs. “How do I know you’re telling the truth?”
I point the razor at a spot just beside my heart.
“I want your initial, right here.” She’s quiet, her gaze stormy as she eyes me with suspicion. “You want proof that I’m not lying to you, right? Carve yourself into my skin, and I’m yours. My body, my heart, my everything.”
Ripley reaches down, wrapping her fingers around my straining cock before slowly easing herself onto it.
“Then I want something, too.”
I rest one hand on her hip as she begins to rock back and forth, carefully taking the razor and brandishing it in front of me. When I meet her gaze, I don’t see Ripley anymore. I see something mythical.
Medusa.
Lilith.
A beautiful Siren who lures men in with song, only to feast on their still beating hearts.
She brings the blade to my chest, choosing a blank spot with no ink, and presses down without remorse. I hiss as the pain shoots through me, but she only giggles, continuing to bounce on my cock as she digs herself into me.
The pain is delicious, even addictive.
“Deeper, little rabbit.”
The smell of blood in the air only makes me harder.
“This is as much as I can take,” she groans.
“No, cut me deeper,” I growl, rolling my hips up to meet hers. “We need the skin to scar.”
I grind my teeth as she runs it through again, breathing heavily through that searing pain.
“That’s it, baby girl. You finish marking me up and then you can come on my cock.”
I gently run my fingers down her spine, and relish the reaction as her whole body shivers. She sinks the blade in deeper, finishing off the R before dipping her head to lick the blood up. It doesn’t take a goddamn rocket scientist to be able to tell that she’s right on the edge.
I wrap my arm around the back of her neck and smash my mouth against hers in a violent kiss. All I taste is copper, basking in the intermingling intoxication of pain and pleasure as Ripley continues fucking me like a wild animal.
But I can’t let her do all the work.
I lean over into the perfect spot between her neck and shoulder, biting down with a brutality that makes her cry out.
She’s earned this.
“I’m coming,” she whimpers. “Fuck. You feel so good.”
“All over me, pretty girl. Let me fill you up.”
She tumbles over the edge with a shuddering groan, but I’m only a few seconds behind, warmth exploding at the base of my spine as I pump her full of my cum.
It’s hard to catch my breath, and even harder to focus on anything but how good she feels.
I’m perfectly locked in the moment, holding her close, breathing in deep as I play with the damp ends of her hair, feeling the sticky heat from the steam that clings to us.
All of that, and her heartbeat, almost in sync with my own.
And then it’s all over, and Ripley’s gazing up at me, her eyes filled with tears.
“Thank you,” she murmurs.
I sit in stunned silence for a moment, unsure of what to do.
What to say.
“Of course, but… for what?”
She smiles, tears rolling down her cheeks.
“For everything.”