The Land Where Sinners Atone

by Mason, V. F.

  “You probably thanked God you didn’t meet me that day, right?” He doesn’t say anything, because he can’t deny it. If he tried, I would have called his bluff. “I met Sebastian on that day in the cab. Whenever your name popped in my mind, I thanked you for ditching me, so I could be with the man of my dreams.”

  The energy changes around us with my truth, swirling dangerously as his green orbs glow with anger and his hands fist. And before I know it, he cages me between the sink and his strong chest, plastering a hand on either side of my hips while I have no choice but to lean back as he drills his stare into me. “The man of your dreams left you.” Possessiveness coats his voice, and he leans over me, my back digging into the sink, but I don’t budge.

  He can shove his possessive tendencies down his throat!

  “Because of you!” I shoot back but then close my eyes, taking a deep breath that doesn’t help my state one bit, since it fills me with his presence, and my body, my betraying body, once again reacts to him.

  How humiliating is this?

  “Maybe we’re bad luck for each other,” I whisper, still avoiding his gaze. “When we’re together, bad things happen.” Finally, I snap my eyes back open to look at him, and then I grip his shirt. “So let’s keep our truce and stay away from each other.” I hate myself for it, but I add, “Please.”

  His hand trails from my hip to my waist to my arms, leaving goose bumps in his wake as he slowly raises it to my neck, cupping it gently. I gasp when he squeezes it and tips my head back, angling my head as he shifts forward, murmuring over my lips, “We are not. I’m going to prove it to you.”

  “Don’t,” I whisper brokenly, begging him not to push me into this… what I really don’t want, even if my body sends a different signal entirely.

  Doesn’t he see it?

  If he isn’t careful, he might break me, and I won’t withstand it, forever shattering into tiny pieces that no one in the world will be able to put back together.

  Maybe that’s why I’m not that afraid of the unsub, despite his psychopathic tendencies.

  For Zachary King is a bigger threat to my sanity and heart, which is bleeding so much that one more wound is going to kill it.

  And then what will be left of Phoenix?

  His thumb rubs my lips, sliding through them gently before he puts it to my chin, pressing it so hard I have no choice but to open. And right before he delves his tongue inside, he whispers, “I will fix this, Phoenix. I will.”

  I want to scream that he won’t. Because how could anyone but God himself possibly fix what Zach did?

  But instead, my hands fist his shirt tighter, holding on to him in this chaos that slowly eats me alive, and I arch my back as our mouths connect, with his tongue exploring inside and mine seeking his.

  Goose bumps break on my skin, and my stomach flips in anticipation accompanied by regret rushing through my system, showing me the truth I want to avoid.

  Nothing in this world has the power to stop me from succumbing to him, and I want to scream in frustration from the injustice of it.

  Is this because of the connection we’d made as kids, and on some subconscious level, I’m still drawn to him?

  To the idea of my pen pal and how all the stars can align in such a way that makes us question destiny?

  Maybe when I’m in his company, I’m once again the cheerful eighteen-year-old who dreamed big and believed in fairy tales that don't come true.

  Instead of living in reality, his arms have the power to take me back in time to when my heart was capable of amazing emotions with butterflies erupting in my stomach and dreams filling my heart with so much love I could fly.

  I’ve already slept with him once.

  What will one more time change, anyway?

  We are doomed either way; might as well enjoy the ride while it lasts—without illusions.

  When all of this ends, so will we, because there was never an us to begin with.

  My hands travel back to circle around his neck. I press myself harder against him while his palms glide over my shoulders to my waist and ass before he hikes me up. I cradle him between my legs, locking my ankles behind his back, all while the consuming, hot kiss continues awakening every part of my body.

  I half expect him to place me on the counter and fuck me right here, but he spins around, walking inside the bedroom where, in short strides, he reaches the bed. I moan in protest when he drops me on it. I bounce a little, landing on my ass with my hair all over my face blocking my view of him.

  Flipping it back, I watch him throw his T-shirt on the floor, freeing up his Greek-god-like body with all the hard, rigid muscles that should be carved into a sculpture for how exquisite they are. His hard-on bulges behind the zipper, and my pussy clenches remembering how it drove into me over and over last night.

  A moan slips past my lips when he removes the belt with a whoosh and then lowers his zipper, taking out his cock. I bite my lower lip, imagining what it would be like to taste him on my tongue.

  After all, in this moment, reality doesn't exist, and I can be as dirty as I want with him. Nothing is off limits to us if it means pleasure and satisfies the craving inside me.

  His eyes darken when he guesses the trail of my thoughts, and he crooks his finger at me. I start to crawl toward him, then I pause. His brows lift, he cocks his head to the side, and I get up on my knees, gliding my palms all over my body before reaching the hem of my dress and shimmying out of it.

  I shiver from the breeze blowing through the open balcony door, my nipples instantly hardening, and I moan again, pressing my thumbs against them, which sends spasms toward my core, aching to feel something inside it.

  He growls when my needy whimper echoes through the space. He says in his low yet husky voice that has the power to seduce me all on its own, “Come here, darling.” I crawl close to him until he threads his fingers in my hair, pulling at it harshly and tilting my head back while his other hand strokes his cock up and down, a drop of precum leaking from the tip. He rubs his thumb on it, spreading it over the head, and steps closer so it’s inches away from my mouth.

  “The way you watch me makes me think you’re in need of a dick in your mouth.” Possessiveness flashes in his gaze. “My dick. Do you want a taste, darling?” He drags the tip over my lips. I open my mouth to trap it, but he takes it back. I frown and groan when he tugs my hair, sending light prickles of pain all over me. “Answer me.”

  “Yes.” And then without listening to whatever else he wants to say, I place my hands on his hips, sucking on the head and moaning when the first taste hits my tongue, intensifying the desire inside me.

  Salty and musky, like something you know you shouldn’t have but will try it anyway, because if you don't, you might go insane.

  Leaning back, I lick his length, enjoying the organ pulsing under my tongue while his breathing speeds up. His hold on me tightens when I close my mouth around him again, sucking him deep and putting my hand on the root of his cock, squeezing him hard.

  My pussy is dripping wet, clenching with each swipe of my tongue and reminding me of how turned on I am. My free palm slides down my stomach to cup my core, pressing on my clit.

  I moan around his girth, sending vibrations through him, and he growls, pulling at my hair so hard my eyes water. Dragging my mouth from the base to the tip, I suck on it, flicking my tongue over the head before gliding it over his length again. I squeeze him in rhythm with my fingers pushing inside me, each of my movements sending waves of pleasure in my body and filling my blood with much-needed anticipation of divine happiness that’s almost within my reach.

  Zach stills me, pushing me back a little, and then his thumb settles on my chin before he orders, “Open.” I do as he says, and he thrusts inside my mouth easily while I relax my throat as much as I can around him. “Your mouth is so hot, baby. I could die a happy man with my dick in there with your plump lips holding it prisoner. Pleasure and pain combined in one.” His hips shift back and forth, and h
e groans above me. I continue to move my fingers inside me with the rhythm of his thrusts, imagining him moving between my legs, driving into me over and over again. A light whimper escapes me. The fire builds in my veins gradually as my body buzzes in anticipation. “Do you like those fingers in your pussy, Phoenix?” His thumb presses on my cheek so our gazes meet. “I bet they have nothing on my dick, do they?” He pushes back a little, leaving only the tip in my mouth, and I suck on it, my hand dropping from his hard-on to the bed, needing to have more balance or I might fall from all the things happening to me at once. “Are you dripping for me, baby?” I nod, and his hold on me softens, when he says, “Show me.”

  With a tortured moan, I take my fingers from my core, which spasms in despair not welcoming the emptiness, and lift my hand to his mouth. He licks the wetness from them, his tongue brushing against my skin, making me hiss in. Then he sucks them into his mouth before letting go with a soft pop.

  He wraps his hands around my neck, gently coaxing me up to my knees. He drops his mouth on mine, going for a deep kiss that boils my blood so much it’s a wonder I don't combust in his arms. The combination of both of our tastes almost sends me toward the edge, but before I can prolong it, he pushes me on my back and announces, “I’m hungry, baby, and I want to feast from the source.” He gets out of his jeans before hooking his fingers in my panties, lowering them and then tossing them away.

  He catches my foot, rubbing my ankle, and gives it a light kiss before bending it and placing it on the bed and then repeats the same action with the other one, leaving a space between them as he looms above me. He leans forward, his lips leaving feather-like touches in his wake as he skims from my neck to my collarbone and then the underside of my breasts.

  He flicks his tongue over my nipple, tugging on it with his lips, and then sucks a bit more before moving to the other one, doing the same thing. I arch my back, pushing the nipple farther inside his mouth, but he only chuckles against me and trails lower, leaving my nipple aching. I tremble when his breath whooshes, freezing my wet-from-his-mouth pointed peaks, and the combination of it along with the hotness rushing through my system stills the air in my lungs for a second, and I moan in resignation.

  I lace my fingers in his silky, dark hair as he showers my body with kisses until he shoulders my thighs farther apart and opens me up with his finger. His hot breath on my flesh makes me jerk and exhale heavily as it fans my core before he swipes his tongue from my clit to my bottom, scooping up my wetness while driving me insane with each glide of his tongue.

  My loud whimper fills the air when he slips it inside me, swirling his tongue over my walls, pushing deeper and deeper. My toes curl into the bed, my fingers pulling at his hair and keeping him in position, because if he just continues to do so, I will…

  I groan in frustration when he bites on my lower lips before sucking on them as his fingers slide into me, one, two, three, and he drags his tongue to my clit, pressing against it before flicking it from side to side. I cry out as electricity zaps through me in waves, ready to hit me all at once. My body is coated in sweat, ready to let go and finally find the satisfaction it so desperately needs.

  I’m so wet, so aching, wanting to orgasm so hard. One of my legs hikes over his back, sliding up and down, locking him in this position so he can finally give me what I crave so much.

  “Zach, please,” I whisper. However, he is relentless and removes his fingers, replacing them with his tongue again, giving my core an open-mouthed kiss that should be forbidden for how much it makes me feel.

  Digging my nails into the back of his head, I place my foot on his shoulder and close my eyes, starting to slowly roll my hips back and forth, finding the friction with him moving rhythmically inside me.

  A hot flash assaults my body, traveling through the tip of my toes, up, up, up to my head, almost like a snowball that is ready to swallow me whole.

  Just a little bit, one more glide, and I will…

  I gasp when his mouth abandons me. My eyes snap open to see him wiping his mouth on the inside of my thigh before he leans forward, settling between my legs with his hard-on wrapped in a condom. When the hell did he have time to do that? He drags the tip all over me, earning himself a cry of frustration. “Zach,” I beg and warn at the same time, wanting to finally reach the blissful oblivion without a care in the world.

  “I know, darling. But you’ll come on my dick and not on my tongue. Because…” He enters me with just the tip, my pussy clenching around it. He groans above me. “Exactly that. I want the walls of your pussy to squeeze around me so much you won’t ever think this is a mistake. Because no one in this world can make you feel the way I do.” Before I can protest to that, he drives into me with one, swift move. I cry out as the headboard of the bed hits the wall and my body instantly clamps around him.

  He brings his mouth to my ear, his lips moving against it when he whispers, “Who fucks you right now, Phoenix?” I stay silent, wrapping my legs around him and moan when he slowly, agonizing slowly pulls back only to drive deep into me again. “Answer me.”

  “You,” I reply, my voice husky—so much, it seems, I’ve screamed for hours. I rake my nails over his back, pushing them into him. “Zachary King is fucking me right now. Are you happy?” Even though I don't see it, I physically feel his smile, and despite my emotions toward him, which have nothing to do with my body, a ghost of a smile appears on my lips too. “Now please, Zach, fuck me so hard I will feel nothing but your cock inside me, or get off me so I can finish the job myself.”

  He growls into my ear; the caveman doesn't seem to like my threat, but all thoughts of it fly from my mind when he grips my hips hard, his fingers digging into my skin so deep they will leave a mark. He slams into me so hard I cry out but then moan when he pushes back only to pound into me over and over again, thrusting into me deeper and deeper, his length dragging across my walls repeatedly while thousands of sensations assault me from every corner, sinking their claws into me and moving me toward the bliss that always follows when in Zach’s arms.

  I’m hot, so hot, as his cock stretches me with each thrust, as if claiming its territory even if both of us know it’s temporary.

  I palm his head, searching for his eyes, and when I find them, I connect our mouths with an incoherent murmur, and we lose ourselves in the kiss. His movements speed up, the pace pushing me to the brink, then closer and closer until finally it hits me so hard I still before throwing my head back and crying out, my core spasming all over him, sucking him inside and not wanting to let go.

  One, two, three more strokes and he roars above me, his cock stiffening inside me before he spills into the condom. Our heavy breathing becomes the only sound in the room.

  He lands on me, our bodies pressed so close together even the air can’t slip between us, and for a moment in time, I allow myself to enjoy this reprieve and bask in the afterglow of our lovemak—

  No.

  Sex.

  Raw, meaningless, no-strings-attached sex that satisfies our basic needs.

  My eyelids flutter closed while I try to ignore the voice in my head that doesn't let me run away from the truth, no matter how much I want to.

  The biggest lies we tell… are spoken to ourselves.

  Chapter Eighteen

  “Envy sinks its claws in any willing soul as long as you let her, and so it is very dangerous.

  Especially if all this soul knew was cruelty mixed with pain, and the only thing that kept it going through the dark times were thoughts of revenge.

  And when you add betrayal to it all, reminding them once again how insignificant they are in someone’s life…

  The consequences might be deadly.”

  Phoenix

  Phoenix

  Something trails from my forehead to my nose, almost a feather-like touch that’s barely there, yet it’s enough to disturb my sleep.

  Frowning, I roll to the side to avoid it, and a loud giggle fills the room before a hot gust of air hits me o
n my face.

  Burrowing deeper into the pillow, I sigh when the softness of it all surrounds me once again, and the blanket shelters me from the light wind whooshing from the balcony.

  That’s heaven, cold weather combined with the warmth inside where a person can spend hours under the blanket and never think about a thing.

  My body throbs in all the right places, reminding me of last night’s activities, and I exhale heavily, thinking how once again I succumbed to the desire of the flesh instead of listening to common sense.

  At this point, I might become a running joke.

  Yet in Zachary’s arms for a fraction of a moment, I can forget about the vicious reality I’m living in and focus only on the pleasure that has the power to wipe everything away from my brain. So hot and intense that everything that came before it pales in comparison.

  But the thing about blazing fire that awakens every hair on your body and makes you crave the man so much you think you will go insane if he doesn’t come inside you and satisfy the deep craving he placed in you?

  Once you get addicted to it, it’s impossible to let go, making it one of the most dangerous things this life has to offer.

  I sigh again, thinking how with each action I take, I bring myself deeper and deeper into the spiral of madness from where there is no escape, and then another giggle erupts, and this time I pay attention to that.

  Peeking one eye open, I see Emmaline as she lies on the pillow next to me, rolled to her side and hugging a teddy bear close to her chest.

  She smiles brightly, the sun streaming from the window making her hair glisten, and she pokes my cheek again. “You’re awake!” she exclaims.

  My heart, as always, flutters in my chest at seeing this beautiful little creature, but gradually the pain goes away, not merging her with my daughter in my mind.

  Slowly, Emmaline can have her own place there, and maybe this will make our interactions easier for me? After all, who can resist falling in love with this child?