Chapter 4
Emmie
DOWN - SIMON, TRELLA ?
Warmth spreads from my lips, a fire burning down my body as I feel myself come to life. The last thing I remember is this burning need to be warm. A yearning to be in the hot spring before me.
But why?
My brain feels like sludge, my mouth is too dry, and I crack one eye open, only to be blinded by the glaring sun. Fuck. Snapping my eyes shut, I let out a low groan, trying to move my body until I'm jostled. I freeze. My memory hitting me like a freight train. I remember everything.
Daring to look, the ice blue eyes of a man staring at me blocks most of my view.
Usually, I would happily stare lovingly into the eyes of my saviour, but when I said I remember everything, I meant it.
Including taking my clothes off before I went skinny dipping on a livestream.
I must have somehow stayed afloat, and this guy found me in the morning.
Fuck, what was I thinking? I could have drowned, let alone the digital footprint of my bare ass
“Are you a fireman or a ranger?” His brows furrow. “I'm sorry, I don't really understand what happened. The last thing I remember is I was cold, so I warmed up in the spring.” My voice is husky, somehow raw despite not using it.
“I am the Gatekeeper for this realm. You are not screaming. This pleases me.”
“Okay, Your Lordship,” I smirk, closing my eyes again briefly to block out the glare of the sun.
Who even talks like that? His voice is rough, like gravel, as if he doesn't use it often.
“Thank you for saving me,” I rasp, looking over his face.
He has a wide smile with perfect teeth. His hair is shaved at the sides, but the top remains long and is tied back from his face by several braids.
His skin is sun-kissed, a golden sheen seeming to follow the dips and crevices of his muscles …
large muscles … very large muscles. I feel like a damsel in the arms of a giant.
He is, hands down the largest man I've ever seen. Stifling a groan, I can feel my nipples harden. I’d hate to be one of those women who throws themselves at rescue workers, but my body betrays me and I clench my thighs together, willing him not to notice how turned on I am.
“If it's okay, you can put me down. I don't know if the rest of your crew can see me, but I'd like to limit the amount of embarrassment I suffer by having as few people see me naked as possible.” Craning my neck, I can't see anyone else around.
The spring looks different too. I can't remember there being a jetty. Is that wheat?
“Your naked body is pleasing, do not waste your embarrassment,” he says, puffing his chest like it’s perfectly alright for me to be naked in his arms.
But I barely register his words. “Wait a second,” I breathe, looking around and really taking in my environment. Where are the jagged rocks, the steaming water? Where is the cold wind and the scattered trees?
Where the fuck am I?
“You didn't answer,” I state. “Are you a fireman or a ranger?” The panic creeps up my chest, and I can feel my skin grow warmer.
All around me, I'm surrounded by fields of what I can only assume is wheat …
or maize?. I'm not sure of the crop, but I am sure I'm no longer on the side of a mountain trying to film evidence of the paranormal.
“Are you a serial killer? ” I whisper.
“I am a Gatekeeper,” he purrs, the vibrations calming my rising hysteria.
“How did I get here?” I can handle this.
I’ve prepared for this. Well, I've watched enough murder documentaries to have a fighting chance.
I need to look for a populated area. Hell, a petrol station.
Anything. Where the fuck am I going to find that surrounded by farm land.
Maybe, a weapon? I glance down at my still very naked body and scratch that idea.
He's wearing a medallion that I could break off but the chain is thick and then what?
I just throw it at him while I run away flailing.
I resist the urge to scream, I need an adult, and stare at him, hopelessly out of options.
“You entered through the Gate.”
He looks at me with an almost confused expression. Like the obvious answer was that I just strolled on through a Gate and came here. Wherever here is?
“I am pleased you do not cry for your mother. This is going far better than expected, human.”
What the fuck.
“Listen buddy, can you stop saying pleased,” I say, starting to get irritated. I'm in a strange place, with a strange man, and he won’t shut up about being pleased.
Gently, he places me on the ground, bending far lower than I anticipated, and sets me down at the top of the stairs leading out of the water he still stands in.
Weird. I can’t see his legs.
As the last of his skin leaves mine, I instantly regret the loss.
Like a part of me already misses him, but it must be the exhaustion of the night, maybe even dehydration, because how can I miss something I've never had?
His eyes roam my body unapologetically, just as his hand reaches out, almost skimming the skin of my stomach.
And I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding, to a pull unknown, wishing he would touch me again. What the hell is wrong with me?
Now that I’m standing right in front of him, I take in his large size.
He's practically a giant compared to me.
Brass bands shine brightly on his biceps, intricate woven metal that only highlights the definition in his arms. The medallion around his neck sits comfortably between his solid chest muscles, some sort of crest engraved on its face.
Rings bathed in glittering stones cover his fingers.
The brass clips in his hair reflect the light of deep emerald gems. I don't quite know what to make of it, but he's definitely not a fireman.
Or a ranger. Is this some weird sexy cosplay thing?
The sun burns bright behind him, a red, glaring orb, floating high above me. I’m no longer at the devil pools. The last of my nerves snap, confronted with the realisation I'm not in Hallowed Springs anymore.
“Where am I?” I whisper, looking around again at the wheat and the pond he’s standing in.
A forest looms behind us, the ebony tree trunks warped and crooked, as a gentle breeze blows, rustling the surrounding crops.
My body starts to tremble, shock maybe? It's like hyperrealism in that everything is recognisable but nothing is familiar.
“You look unsettled, human. Are you well? I have clothing and a blanket if you are cold. The water is tepid, but it might take time to adjust.”
He ascends the stairs with familiarity, each step revealing more and more of him.
Hips that were carved by the gods, an adonis belt guiding me to a huge cock swinging between his thick thighs.
The muscles only accentuated by woven brass bands.
I'm mesmerised as he steps past me and holds out a large shirt.
He must be at least eight feet tall and just as wide.
His muscles glistening as water rolls down his body, the red glow of the sun behind him.
Did I just drool? Pull yourself together, Emmie. Do not embarrass yourself in front of the hot cosplayer.
Scrambling away from the stairs, I yank the shirt from his hand and press it against my body.
Covering myself from his gaze. Somewhere deep down, despite the panic I'm experiencing, I mourn the loss of his stare.
Struggling to put the shirt on correctly.
I first try to ram my head into the arm sleeve like a moron.
“Where … where am I? I ask again.
Stumbling around him, I scarcely manage to reach his belly button. Craning my neck, as I stare at him. His face, not his cock. I start to notice the differences in his features. How he appears to be a man, but at the same time is something completely different.
“What are you?” I ask, scared to know the answer.
“I am a Gatekeeper. Are you fluent in English? I can speak another language if you do not understand?” He says confidently, reaching out his hand and placing it against my shoulder.
The instant calm I feel is so sudden, I stumble back from his touch, falling onto the jetty.
Panic invades with the loss of his touch as I struggle to comprehend the series of events that have led me here.
A strange, very large, large everywhere, man is standing at my feet offering his hand, and I don't know if I'm meant to stay with him or run away.
Why the fuck does he keep calling himself a Gatekeeper? To what? To where? And where the fuck is the bloody Gate?
“I don’t see any Gates? Where is it then?” I snap, becoming irate as my brain attempts a reboot.
“I forget how literal humans are,” he chuckles.
“You passed through it just a moment ago,” he says, gesturing to the large bottomless pit of black water that surrounds us.
As if I have any fucking clue what he's talking about.
Reaching for his clothes, he puts his pants on, intent on dressing in such a way that each muscle dances for me.
A delicious tease that leaves me in a brief trance.
Wow. Slowly, I step back, knowing I'll never outrun him, but I have to try.
“You never answered where … Where am I, Gatekeeper?”
He puffs his chest, a sense of pride radiating from him, “You are in the Seventh Realm, human. You are in Hell.”