Chapter 19
NINETEEN
Emily
Ionce heard that a dream is a wish the heart makes. I dream again, but this time taste and smell erase every fantasy that still clings to my chest.
I am drowning. My lungs claw for air. Each attempt to breathe leaves a metallic taste in my mouth. I shake myself awake, eyes flying open, and I am lying in a bathtub filled with blood. Above me, bodies hang from chains. Their blood slides down, in little drops, and drips into the bath.
A scream tears out of me, so loud my ears start to ring.
My body curls in on itself. I shake violently, knees pulled tight to my chest, arms wrapped around myself as if I can keep from breaking apart.
The door bursts open. Footsteps rush toward me.
“Are you okay?”
I stare at him, blinking hard, trying to make sense of his face. Is this Zayne, reaching for me, or Zeke, twisting reality again, slipping into my head?
This time, I let him in.
Sometimes broken things recognize each other. He pulls me into his arms, and even that small hug eases the hollow pain that throbbed inside my chest. Tears spill down my face, streaking through the blood that is all over my skin.
I pressed my lips to his, desperate. My mouth moves against his as if I am trying to anchor myself to something real.
He lifts me into his arms and carries me to the shower beside the tub. Warm water pours over us. It washes the blood from my skin, from my hair, and from my hands.
“I got you,” he whispers.
His hands are gentle as the water runs over my naked body.
“I got you,” he says again.
And for the first time since waking, my breathing slows.
But I don’t care anymore. I just want to feel anything other than fear. I want to feel anything that sends my mind somewhere else but this place. I push him against the wall and kiss him again.
“Fuck me,” I say. “Please.”
I don’t have to ask twice.
He grabs me, his hands hold my body, and as my legs lock around his hips, he spins us, pressing me back against the cold tile. My spine meets the wall, the shock of it pulling a sharp breath from my lungs.
“Don’t stop kissing me,” I whisper, breath turns shallow as my fingers work down to his sweatpants.
This is so unethical. This is something my old self never would have imagined doing. But now, knowing I may never be that girl again, I just want to forget who I am. I want him to fuck me until I forget everything.
“I never want to,” he moans into my mouth. “I never want to stop, Freckles.”
Freckles?
“Zayne,” I breathe, hands sliding around his neck.
My mind is playing a trick on me. This time, he didn’t correct me.
“Yes, Freckles,” he says softly. “Want me to stop?”
“No,” I gasp. “Fuck, no.”
He pins me harder to the wall as I push his gray sweatpants down. His cock slips free, slapping against my soaked pussy. The tap on my sensitive skin sends a pulse straight through me.
My heart stutters as his mouth leaves mine and drags down my throat. His teeth sink into my neck, not enough to hurt, just enough to mark I was his, just enough to make me moan.
He wraps his hand around his cock and brushes the tip through my slick, down to my inner flesh. I arch, breath breaking as he pushes inside me, inch by agonizing inch. My back bows as he fills me, stretching me until there is nothing else I can feel.
His hands lift my thighs, locking me in place as he drives me deeper in the corner, bodies tight and breath tangled.
“I promised to spread you and search,” he murmurs against my skin. “But I already know every corner.”
He thrusts harder, voice dropping rough.
“And now I promise I won’t ever stop.”
“You also promised to erase every other man.” A tear slips down my cheek as he locks his eyes with mine. “Fuck me, please,” I choke. “Make me forget.”
He stares at me for a second too long, long enough that part of me thinks he might stop. Instead, he pushes harder inside me, eyes never leaving mine, driving in and out until his pace turns faster, rougher.
“I promise,” he says, mouth crashing back to mine as he kisses me. “And I also promise I will kill every single man who dares to touch you.”
He keeps moving, skin slapping against my clit, driving me wild as my inner walls tighten around his thick cock. My head falls back, eyes rolling as I moan.
“Yes,” I breathe. “Please. Don’t stop.”
And he doesn’t.
He keeps his rhythm until suddenly he pulls out and spins me around. My feet hit the floor, unsteady, and he spreads my ass cheeks before thrusting back inside me. My ass slaps against him with every movement as my pussy throbs, aching for him.
One hand slides up to my throat, squeezing slowly as I arch my back, letting him fill me completely. And when my knees start to give, he lets me sink to the floor.
“Open your mouth,” he orders.
I turn, locking eyes with him as I stick out my tongue. He pushes his cock inside, driving deep until I gag. His hand massages my throat, guiding him farther as he straightens, fingers tangling in my hair.
Tears gather in my eyes and slide down my temples, but my mind is empty. And I want it to stay that way.
My tongue works along him, moving gently as he grows harder in my mouth. Then he thrusts deep in one final motion, filling my throat and making me swallow.
“Good girl,” he whispers as he pulls out.
He wipes my lips with his thumb, then presses it back against my mouth, watching as I lick it clean. His hand drops to my chin, lifting my face before he pulls me back to my feet.
“Where is he?” he asks as he pulls his pants up.
“I don’t know,” I whisper. “And I don’t want to know.”
He presses his lips to my forehead. Then he pulls a hoodie from his body and pulls it over my head.
“Run,” he says. “Run as fast as you can.” He reaches past me and shuts off the water. “Then hide somewhere no one can find you.”
“But,” I whisper.
He cuts me off.
“Down the hallway, there’s a door that leads to a construction site,” he says. “That’s the only way out.”
I take a step forward, then stop. I turn back to look at him.
Water drips from his hair and clothes. Blood stains his skin.
For a moment, he looks exactly like the monster that lives in my head.
But when he steps closer, I see his eyes.
There is something feral there, something dangerous, but also something that made me feel safe.
He is the kind of beast that destroys everything in its path except the one thing it chooses to protect.
My chest tightens.
I won’t argue again.
I turn around and run.
I run as fast as I can.