Chapter 14
fourteen
. . .
My eyes flew open. Heart hammering against my ribs. Head pounding. Sweat-soaked sheets plastered to my clammy skin. I sat up, dragging my hands through my damp hair, the air choking in my lungs and let my eyes adjust to the darkness, breathing hard.
Same, dream, same terror, different night, and fucked-up images I couldn’t seem to escape. Always dragging me down, keeping me submerged, keeping me from being normal.
“When would this stop?” I grunted, my head hitting the pillow again, my gaze stuck to the white ceiling, now an eerie pale grey against the moonlight peeking through the gap in the curtains I hadn’t bothered to close fully before going to bed.
The dark room gave me a moment to adjust, to breathe, to think. I was a man who made decisions without thinking, took what I wanted without asking and killed without blinking, yet the weight of my past had the ability to reduce me to a boy stuck in cage, blinded by fear.
At times, I called myself a pathetic pussy for feeling this weak and at others, I debated if it was normal to feel so helpless, so ridiculously catatonic in an inescapable past until I reminded myself, I was just a boy without power.
Glancing at the luminous dials of the bedside clock, I cursed the early morning infidelity once more, slid my feet off the side of the bed and stood. On the floor at the foot of the bed, Duke lifted his head, tilting it to the side, his soft whine felt like an apology for my plight.
“You’re back, traitor.” Grinning, I crouched beside him, scratching his head and neck.
“Same shit, different night, boy.” As if he understood, he nuzzled my palm then looked at me with those big green eyes, making me smile.
“If only I possessed your calm.” He shifted his gaze to the patio door, and I frowned. “Is she here?”
He stood, walked to the patio doors and sniffed the threshold.
Curious, I straightened, crossed the room and stopped next to him.
A blast of chill air hit my bare chest, reviving my brain cells.
I closed my eyes, breathing in cold oxygen, momentarily forgetting my dreams. When I opened them, I watched Duke circle the glistening pool, sniffing specific spots before he stopped at one of the loungers and looked at me.
Knowing what I’d find as I walked over, I rested my hands on the backrest then picked up the single stem of small purple flowers, the sweet mix of vanilla and cherry filling my nostrils.
The first time I found the flowers in my bedroom I was at our estate in Italy and tossed them in the trash.
When they appeared again at a hotel in Russia, my curiosity was a little less mild than before until I found them here, on my nightstand one evening after waking from my nightmare. Only then did I accept I had a stalker.
A shift in the air behind me, had me slowly turning. Nestled comfortably in one of the sofas sat what I should call my nemesis. I didn’t. In her full black latex catsuit, her face hidden within the shadows of her hoodie had me wanting to rip off the offending material and choke her name out of her.
I resisted.
“Do you know what it symbolizes?” Her voice like the last time, was soft, raspy and fucking sexy.
Before the fuck in the cemetery, I hadn’t found someone to intrigue my cock or whet my appetite for something depraved, sinister, dirty.
This woman though, had persuaded my cum out of me like she owned my fucking dick.
Clearly, I should be concerned since no woman possessed that kind of hold over me.
I was captivated.
My gaze shifted between her and the stem, smirking. “Who the fuck cares what it represents.”
She tilted her head to the side giving me a view of the black cat-like mask, similar to the one at cemetery. Finally, a silent confirmation she was that woman.
“Greek mythology talks about Clytie,” she began speaking.
“An ocean nymph who fell in love with Helios, the sun god. He showed her some affection until he grew bored and moved onto another sea goddess. Bitter with jealousy, Clytie thought she’d get Helios back by exposing the affair to the goddess’s father.
Angered, he buried his promiscuous daughter alive.
Unfortunately for the nymph, she failed to win back Helios.
Alone and abandoned, she’d sit every day on the sun-warmed rocks, following Helios with her eyes as he passed through the sky above her in his chariot until she eventually transformed into the heliotrope.
” She tipped her chin at the flower. “It favors sunlit rocks and will always turn toward the sun seeking its warmth.”
“And that means what exactly?”
“The flower is associated with eternal love, devotion and faithfulness.”
I threw my head back with a hard laugh. “You stalk me for years for no rhyme or reason and now you speak of love and devotion. Wrong sucker, Katana, you’re not getting that from me.”
“You don’t have to give me anything.” At my frown, she added, “you’re mine, Remo.
I’ll just take it.” Her quiet words dripped with unmistakable possession.
“Like Clytie, I’ll watch over you, waiting for you to come to me and unlike Helios, you will come to me.
Within the next six months you will belong to me, completely. ”
“Is that so?” I didn’t know if I was fascinated or concerned. Then again, very little worried me.
Fisting my palm around the flower until I felt the tiny petals crush against my skin, and dropping it, I neared her.
My hands on the armrests, caging her in, I leaned over, forcing her head back and the light to slide into those blue eyes, vibrant with an energy I rarely experienced from the women I fucked.
“Such confidence?” My sarcasm didn’t faze her.
Silently, we stared at each other, my expression blank, hers, except for those red lips that hosted a slight smirk, lay hidden beneath the mask.
“When you know you know.”
I leaned closer until my nose touched hers. “What do you know?”
She lifted her chin, brushing her lips against mine. “Everything.”
“Who are you?” I whispered, my cock thrilled to make her acquaintance again.
“Someone you desire.” Another light kiss. “Someone you deserve.” Kiss. “Someone you need.”
“Then why hide?”
“Because you’re not ready for me.”
My chuckle soft, I straightened, stepping back. “What makes you think I’m not?”
Her eyes on me, she spread her legs, lifting them over the armrests, one at a time. That position alone brought ideas to my devious mind. What did her cunt look like under the dark catsuit? Was it all wet and pink? I’d fucked it blind that night, now I wanted a view.
As if in answer to my question, she withdrew a knife from beside her and with her eyes on me, cut a slow line the length of her pussy. I hissed a low breath watching the tight material give way, revealing pink folds glistening under the night light.
“Are you planning to stand there all night glaring at my pussy, or would you like to put that dirty mouth to good use?” she asked, her tone unfucked dominance.
I stepped closer, positioning myself between her legs. “If I plan to eat your pussy, do I at least get a name?” I knelt.
Hidden in the shadows of her hoodie again, I couldn’t see her eyes, but it would take an idiot not to believe they weren’t alert, watchful, fire.
“I’ll think about it,” she whispered.
I chuckled, hooking my arms under each of her thighs. It would be easy to strip her naked and removed her mask but where would be fun in that. I liked this element of mystery; it gave my cock a good squeeze.
My gaze dropped from her face, down her body to the apex of her thighs and her exposed pussy.
I wouldn’t be a man if I said I didn’t salivate at the thought of tasting her.
After she’d sucked my cock that night at the cemetery, I’d thought about her often, about returning the favor just to garner her response.
Would she lose control?
Milky skin, a clean-shaven mound, pussy and thighs glistening with her arousal met my gaze. I smirked, suddenly ravenous, and looked back up at her. She bit her bottom lip, the only indication to suggest my expression affected her.
“Beautiful.” I complimented, leaning in, letting her scent sneak into my nose, my pores, my skin.
Pushing her hoodie back, her hands slid down next to her thighs, covering mine.
Intrigued by her show of emotion, I settled back on my haunches, keeping my gaze trained on hers as I leaned forward, so that when my tongue connected with her pussy, I was staring into her eyes and taking in her reaction.
One soft swipe and she gripped my arms, arching her back, shoving her pussy into my face.
Smiling, I rolled my tongue through her entrance, slowly licking up her folds to her clit.
She tasted sweet, nothing like I’d imagined.
Just before I touched the sensitive nub, I swiped back down to her entrance.
A jerk of her body followed by a soft gasp hinted her expectation.
I did it repeatedly, forcing out her frustration as she lifted her hips, trying to direct my tongue to where she wanted.
I chuckled and felt the sting of her desperation when she closed her eyes, slid both hands up to my head, fisting the hair.
“Open your eyes and look at me or I stop.” Her nod earned praise. “Good girl.” A soft sound left her, almost like a scoff.
Smiling, I pushed my tongue into her entrance, lapping aggressively.
Skillfully showing her who was in control, no longer soft or exploratory, thrusting in and out until she was panting and moaning.
Gripping her ass, I lifted her off the seat, tilting her and giving me deeper access to her pussy.
She fought the urge to close her eyes, her legs moving up to drape over my shoulders, thighs thick and firm enough to do some serious damage, clamped my head, her hips slowly rocking as she rode, my face.