Chapter 11 – Reese #2
When I was out in the world, surrounded by people, it was still there, simmering just beneath the surface, but the difference was that whenever some kind of interaction or event triggered it, a much larger, more aggressive part of myself rose above it.
It must’ve been some kind of protective thing, because if the anxiety were at the helm, I’d collapse into a puddle of useless fear.
But with the aggression, I was able to defend myself at least.
Except for when I was alone. There wasn’t any kind of defending myself from myself.
Then, that rage-filled part stepped back into the shadows and allowed the other one to have free rein.
Then, I was left alone with a buzzing, humming disquiet that crawled beneath my skin like ants.
A colony of disorder that brought with it the most unsettling restlessness, making my skin feel too tight. The wrong fit. Everything wrong.
It was the wrongness that got to me. It sliced through all my carefully placed barriers and spread into every crevice it could, bringing with it an awful energy that had once driven me to find something sharp and cut.
And when I did, it was like I’d made an exit for all that unwanted energy, and it poured out of me with each new wound.
But I didn’t do that anymore. Hadn’t done it in four years.
I glanced at the bathroom, then dropped my backpack at the foot of my bed.
I was so tired today, and all my bones felt like they weighed five thousand pounds each. I wanted to sleep for days.
I wanted to be at peace. To feel some sense of calm. What would that even feel like?
Wait, hadn’t Dakota asked me to see if his lighter was here?
I made my way to his desk, which was annoyingly spotless, but his lighter wasn’t here. Maybe it was in the drawer? I wasn’t looking through his drawers, though.
I shot him a text back saying his lighter wasn’t here, then went to get in bed. I paused when I noticed the bright orange flower speckled with brown dots sitting on my pillow.
What the hell…?
My heart beat harder as I picked it up and held it under my nose, inhaling.
It smelled sweet, like vanilla, and something warmer. I stared at it, smelled it again, then leaned on my bed and set it gently on the windowsill before lying on my stomach. I circled my arms around my pillow and shoved my face into the soft fabric, then turned my head so I could see the flower.
Can you touch me?
Touch me more.
Pretty.
My eyes slid shut, my breathing evened out, and the rest of the world slowly drifted away.
“Touch me. Just like that. Oh, fuck, Reese.”
I moved my hands up hard thighs covered in silky black hair, sliding my thumb down the sensitive crease of his groin.
Dakota bucked above me, his arms on either side of my head trembling as he held himself up.
His hair tickled my cheek as he panted over me, staring down at me with a drugged-out look.
His face was flushed, his eyes half-lidded as I touched him, letting my hands glide gently over his bare skin.
I glanced down at his cock hanging between his legs; the tip was leaking precum and was a dark pink that faded to a lighter pink along the shaft.
I wanted him to crawl up my body and push it past my lips so I could slide my tongue along the underside, swirl it around the head and taste him. Tease him relentlessly until he was so worked up he couldn’t help but thrust deeper.
“I want your hands on me. I can’t stop thinking about your hands. Please? Please touch me?”
I nodded and trailed my fingers over his lower abdomen. His stomach muscles contracted and he sucked in a soft breath, lowering his head to look between our bodies. To watch what I would do next.
It was fucking intoxicating.
When I wrapped my hand around his shaft, he moaned, and I glanced up in time to see his eyes roll back in his head.
“Don’t collapse on me,” I murmured, sliding up the soft skin until my thumb brushed against his slit.
“Unngh, oh, fuck, yes,” he groaned, breathing hard. “Right there.” He shuddered as I rolled my palm over the crown, spreading his precum over every soft inch and squeezing his shaft as I took it down to the base.
“You like that?” I whispered, staring up at his flushed face. His lips were inches from mine, trembling as I stroked him up and down, and every inhale was a ragged mess that had all my blood going to my cock.
He lowered his head until his lips were barely brushing mine. “Yes,” he whispered back. “I like everything you do.”
I liked seeing Dakota fall apart above me. He was so careful and controlled in his desire, too; I could tell he was having a hard time holding himself up. His arms were shaking, every muscle in his body flexing and contracting in continuous, mesmerizing ripples.
He was beautiful like this. At my mercy. Asking so sweetly for what he wanted. I didn’t know what I was doing, but I would give him whatever he asked for.
“Please,” he rasped, his harsh voice sinking into my skin and dragging down my cock. A thick pulse of need had me throbbing behind the zipper of my jeans, but the pain of it was delicious. It was making me delirious. “Please.” Dakota licked his lips, drawing my eyes down to that full, wet mouth.
I wanted to kiss him.
I wanted—
His fingers sifted through my hair, stroking in time with my own hand on his cock. Up and down. Back and forth. I thought I might come from that alone. I wanted him to come, so I started stroking faster.
“Oh, fuck. It feels so good. So fucking good. Please, Reese.”
“Reese?”
His fingers—long, lithe, and pretty—curled around the back of my skull and dug into the nape of my neck, massaging gently. My stroking faltered as a mind-numbing need sparked in my balls. I couldn’t breathe anymore.
“Reese, darling.”
Blunt nails scraped against my skull, and I wanted him to make me feel a pain as deep as my lust, until I couldn’t tell which I was feeling more.
Dakota’s lips touched mine and I jerked my hips up.
As soon as I made contact with the soft flesh of his ass, the orgasm started.
Colors exploded behind my eyes as his mouth closed over mine, capturing my cry.
I pressed into him as hard as I could, drawing out the pleasure that rocketed through me.
He was so warm against me, holding me just as tightly as I was holding him, and a slew of overwhelming emotions gathered in my chest and burst there, spreading through me like fire.
I bit down hard on his bottom lip, sliding my tongue across the softness of it as the euphoria started to fade in intensity.
“Fuck. Reese, wake up.”
“Wake up, darling.”
“Wake up!”
Two big hands were framing my face, holding me still. I frowned at Dakota, who now looked too serious and slightly frustrated.
“I swear to god, you have some tiger DNA in you. How are you so strong?”
I blinked, trying to think past the hazy wisps blanketing my mind, the heavy sensation that something wasn’t right. When Dakota’s face came into focus inches from mine, I just stared at him in confusion.
“Are you awake now?” His dark eyes searched mine as my heart pounded, and I was slowly starting to realize that I was on top of Dakota.
Straddling him.
“What…” My hands were in his hair, fingers gripping tight, and what? What the fuck was happening?
“Don’t freak out,” he said as my panic started to rise. His grip on my face tightened and he gently shook me. “Hey. It’s okay.”
I licked my lips and rasped, “What’s okay?” What was okay? What happened? “Dakota, why am I…why are you…”
With every passing second, I was waking up more and more, and the horror of this reality was slowly filling up my entire body.
I loosened my grip on his hair, then let go.
I tried to sit up, but he was still holding my face, so I shook my head to get him off me.
He let his hands fall to the bed—my bed, we were in my bed—and watched me warily.
He was fully clothed. That whole thing was a fucking dream.
“Reese, you didn’t know what you were doing. It’s okay. You’ve been sleepwalking a lot—”
“What?” I said in disbelief. But I knew. Deep down, I knew I’d been sleepwalking again, that he’d been dealing with my nocturnal bullshit. I knew he’d probably been helping me in some way.
Ever since I’d moved here, the nightmares and vivid dreams had started up again.
But god, to hear it out loud, the fucking humiliation… it was crushing.
Would I ever be anything but a burden to other people?
But Dakota didn’t seem put out at all. His lips curved up in a little smile, and he said, “Yeah, you’re pretty wild. But lucky for you, I like wild.”
“Oh my god,” I whispered, hot, viscous shame pouring through me like lava. I was fully awake now, but my mind was still foggy and I felt hot all over. And weak. And now I’d done something to Dakota in my sleep.
And why the fuck was I still sitting on him? Something hard was pressing against my ass, and—
Oh, fuck. I scrambled off him and backed away from my bed on shaky legs. Dakota pushed himself up onto one elbow, his brows knitting together.
“Hey, it’s okay. You didn’t know what you were doing.
And it’s not entirely your fault, I’m the one who…
” He ran a hand through his hair. “Well, I thought you were having another nightmare, and I wanted to calm you down but you grabbed onto me and wouldn’t let go, and then you pulled me down to the bed and got on top of me. You’re really fucking strong.”
“How can I be stronger than you?” I cried, flinging my arms out. “You’re practically twice my size!”
Dakota sat up and raised his voice. “You are very fucking strong, and you caught me by surprise! I wasn’t expecting to get dry-humped and chewed on!
” He pointed at me and spoke at a normal volume again.
“Though, just for the record, I’m not complaining because it was really fucking hot and I’m hard as fuck right now, but I’d rather you be awake while you’re doing that to me. ”