She’d said yes.
And he’d stayed for several weeks.
But then Kyle showed up. He tempted her with promises and trinkets. Derek had been so disgusted. He thought Tabitha was so much better than that.
He could have given her anything she wanted, he’d just never known she wanted anything.
It killed him that Kyle had known what she wanted more than he did.
When it became obvious that she wasn’t going to help Kyle of her own accord, he’d kidnapped her. He thought torturing would be the trick to getting what he wanted, but he’d miscalculated. He’d cut Tabitha too many times and she’d bled to death.
It had been Derek who'd found her body, covered with blood, broken. He’d held her in his arms all night. By the time her father found them the following morning, Tabitha’s blood had covered him.
He’d been blamed, and he’d been on his way to a noose around his neck when he’d disappeared.
He and Brad hadn’t spoken of it since the day he’d returned.
He looked down at his hands. Sometimes he still expected to see himself covered with Tabitha’s blood.
And now, it looked like it was all going to happen again.
“Derek? I asked what I can do.”
Brad’s voice startled him out of his reverie, but he was too shaken to answer immediately.
The next thing he knew, Brad was pushing him into a chair. “You’re white as a sheet. I mean, you’re a night dweller so you’re always pale, but...”
“Yeah. I’m fine. Just got lost in my own nightmare for a minute there.”
“Tabitha?” Brad asked.
“Yeah.”
Brad crossed the room and pulled out a bottle of water. He cracked it open and handed it over. Derek grabbed it and downed half of the contents.
He was starting to feel human again, if that was the right word for it.
Brad sat quietly on the other side of the room. While Derek wanted to forget about this, he knew he needed Brad’s help. And the other man most certainly wasn’t going to leave without an explanation.
“I found out about Gwen a few weeks ago.”
“Gwen?”
“The Key." It was impossible to miss the disapproval on Brad’s face, but Derek continued. “It was a dream. Well, a dream for her. Kyle and I met in the dream realm. It was the same as before, one of us will be her death, the other her salvation.”
Brad jumped up, running his hands through his hair. “I can’t believe you’ve known this for weeks and kept the whole thing to yourself?”
“I didn’t want to worry anyone.”
“Worry anyone? Hell, Derek, if Kyle succeeds we all bite the dust. I think it’s pretty important for us to know.”
He knew Brad was right.
Still, he didn’t want anyone else to know. Other creatures of the night knowing would mean certain terror and death for Gwen. The sooner she was dead, the sooner they were all safe.
“I don’t want anyone to know yet.” Before Brad could interrupt and tell him he was insane, he kept talking. “The prophecy says that one of us will be her salvation, the other her death. I just want some time to figure out how to save her. How one of us can be her salvation.”
Brad paced a few times before stopping. “You’ve known what, two weeks already?”
Derek nodded.
He knew what Brad was thinking. The prophecy said thirty days. They had two weeks left.
“All right. I’ll go back to all the old texts and see if I can find anything we may have missed last time.”
Derek nodded. “Thank you.”
Chapter Four
Sweat poured down Gwen’s body as she slashed her brush across the canvas in front of her. She dabbed her brush back into the crimson paint, moved two steps to her left and slashed at the canvas next to it.
She lost track of how long she’d been working on the two paintings. Her phone rang, but she ignored it. Her stomach started grumbling about an hour ago, but she ignored that, too.
She paused briefly to drink some water and then again to use the restroom. She wasn’t sure how many hours ago that was at this point.
The two paintings were taking everything out of her.
She tossed down one brush and picked up another, stabbing the soft bristles in thick black paint. A few finishing touches and she declared both paintings complete.
She stood back, breathing heavily. Her chest rose and fell with exertion.
“Nice pictures.”
The voice startled her. She swirled around, dropping her paint covered palette in the process.
“What are you doing here? How did you get in?”
He didn’t answer her. He crossed her studio and stood before the paintings, his blond head moving back and forth, like he was watching a tennis match, studying the two paintings.
“If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were afraid of me.” He spun around, piercing her with his ice blue gaze.
“I don’t know you.”
“No,” he said, turning back to the picture of Derek. “But you know him, don’t you?”
“How did you get in here?” Gwen shivered in fear, not cold. She could have sworn the temperature in her apartment rose at least ten degrees in the past few minutes.
“That doesn’t really matter. What matters is I’m here and your little boyfriend isn’t.”
“He’s not my boyfriend. I barely even know him.” Unfortunately, she didn’t know if she was lying or not. She didn’t know him. Any more than his name and that he was a fantastic lover, anyway.
The blond man walked towards her. She tried to back up, but ran into her drafting table. There was nowhere for her to go. He had her trapped.
Her heart pounded as his smile seemed to grow at her predicament. When he was only inches away, he stopped. His hand came out, and he rubbed one thick finger down her cheek. It felt like her skin was melting off where he touched her. His hands were burning hot.
“You know him well enough, don’t you?”
He came closer so she could feel the heat radiating from him. Beads of sweat formed on her forehead. Whether it was from the sudden heat in her apartment or fear of the man standing in front of her, she couldn’t be sure.
Her breathing became labored. It was so hot.
“Please,” she said, but she didn’t know what she was asking for.
“Please what?” He took another stop towards her.
She was practically gasping for breath now.
“Don’t worry,” he said. “It won’t be too much longer.”
Too much longer for what?
She opened her mouth to speak, but only a squeak came out. Colors swirled in front of her eyes. The ice blue of his eyes and blond hair swirled together.
It was so hot in here.
Getting... hard... to breathe.
* * * *
“Gwen? Come on, you have to wake up, baby.”
The voice was so gentle. So calming. She thought, maybe, she could listen to it forever.
“Open your eyes, Gwen. Please.”
She smiled. She could feel Derek’s calming presence looming over her. He was a little on the cold side, but it felt so good after the heat coming from the other man.
The other man?
Her eyes flashed open. She struggled to sit up, but Derek’s arms held her down.
“Calm down.”
“No. Where is he?” She struggled against Derek’s hold.
Eventually, he relented. “Where’s who?”
“The other man. The one from my dream.”
Derek stood up from the bed. How had she gotten to the bed anyway?
“Kyle was here?” The anger was clear in his voice.
What had she done? Was he mad at her or the other man? “I... I didn’t know his name.”
Like his name was the important part? How had he gotten in her apartment, anyway? And for that matter, where had Derek come from?
“Derek, what’s happening to me? Am I g
oing crazy?” Tears burned at the back of her eyes, but she refused to let them fall.
Derek rushed back to the side of her bed. “No baby, you’re not going crazy.”
But she didn’t believe him. “I’ve always had nightmares. But they’ve gotten so much worse lately.”
“I know.”
Her eyes snapped up to his. He knew? How?
She didn’t speak aloud, but he seemed to know what she was thinking anyway.
“I’m sorry Gwen. I wish I could tell you, but it’s not time yet. I just need you to trust me.”
She didn’t know why, but she did.
She nodded. “Will you... will you make love to me?”
She knew she should talk to him. She wanted, no needed, answers. But at the same time, she wasn’t entirely sure she wanted those answers. Did she want to know if she was going crazy?
She wasn’t entirely sure. But she did know she wanted Derek’s hands on her again.
“Please, make me forget that I’m going crazy.”
Derek perched on the edge of the bed next to her. He reached out to her. His hand was cold, but her body warmed at his touch. “You’re not going crazy, Gwen. I wish I could tell you what’s going on, but... ”
She interrupted him before he could finish. “No. I don’t want to know. Not now anyway.”
She leaned forward, burying her face in the crook of his neck. She closed her eyes and inhaled the clean scent of him. The world disappeared, and the only thing left in her universe was the man in front of her.
Derek’s arms came around her. He held her close to his body, and she could feel it warm as she hugged him closer.
Why was he always so cold?
Frankly, she didn’t really care. And when Derek’s hands started caressing her, sliding up and down her back in a steady rhythm, well, she didn’t care about anything but getting even closer to him.
Her hands slid to his black shirt, working the buttons with fumbling fingers. He sighed and his hands stilled before moving again, this time a bit harder.
Gwen stuck her tongue out and traced the vein on his neck. He tasted just as he smelled, clean. Derek’s hands continued their path up and down her back, only this time, they slipped underneath the white tank top she wore.
And then, she pulled back. “Come take a shower with me.”
Gwen had lost track of time while she’d been painting. She didn’t have a clue what time it was. She just knew her body was humming.
But she’d worked hard at her painting. If she and Derek were going to be in a bed this time, she wanted to be as clean as possible.
“A shower?” He pulled back and looked down at her, question in his eyes.
“I’ve been painting all day.”
He shrugged his shoulders, and then a broad smile spread across his face. “I get to see you naked in the shower right?”
She laughed, stood up and started walking out of the room. Before she reached the door, she turned back, a sly smile on her face. “That’s generally the way a shower works.”
She pulled the tank top up over her head and tossed it in his direction, hitting him in the face before she dashed the rest of the way to the bathroom. She expected him to follow right behind her, but she was in the shower before he appeared.
But when he did show up, it was well worth the wait.
He’d stripped in the bedroom, and walked into the bathroom gloriously naked.
Gwen’s mouth fell open and went dry. “Wow.”
Derek smiled. Pleasure radiated from his gaze. He knew just how damn good he looked. Gwen had to struggle to pick her tongue up off the ground.
His skin was pale. His chest had a light dusting of hair and dusky nipples. His body was ripped, with bulging biceps on his arms and a washboard stomach. Her gaze swept lower and found his cock, bobbing between his legs.
He was that way because of her?
Derek stepped into the warm spray of the shower, and then closed the glass door behind him, encasing them in a cocoon of warmth and steam. And the heat wasn’t only coming from the water. She thought she might combust simply from looking at a naked Derek.
Her breasts were heavy, her pussy desperate to be filled.
She reached out to run her hand from Derek’s collarbone, all the way down to his hipbone. He was all sinew and muscle. Amazing.
“Turn around,” he said.
“What, you don’t like looking at me?”
The way his cock reached out towards her, she knew that wasn’t the case. He liked looking at her just fine.
“You need someone to wash your back.”
She picked up the liquid soap and her puffy sponge and handed them over to Derek. He took them both in one hand and with the other swirled his finger, indicating she should turn around. She did.
She closed her eyes, waiting for the sensation of his hands on her. The soap bottle clicked open and then closed again. Anticipation grew as she waited for the poof to touch her back.
A deep sigh escaped when the bubbles rubbed over her skin. He started slowly, moving the sponge up and down in long sweeping motions. Then he brought the sponge to her shoulders, squeezing so that soap ran down her front. She watched the bubbles as they slid down, down her breasts until just a drip was on the tip of her nipple.
She moaned.
And then his hands moved away.
She whimpered.
“I need more soap.”
She was quiet, her body primed for the next time he touched her. She heard the soap bottle open and then close again. She braced herself for the poof to touch her again, but it didn’t.
This time, it was Derek’s hands that touched her.
His hands were so big. The two of them spanned the expanse of her back. He moved his hands slowly around her back and then lower to her ass. She sighed again, her back arched, pressing her ass further into his hands.
“You’re so soft,” he said, the wonder clear in his voice.
Who was this man who’d never experienced soft things before in his life? She didn’t have a chance to voice her question before Derek’s hands started massaging her cheeks in a circular motion. And then, she couldn’t speak at all, it felt so incredibly good. Every once in awhile one of his fingers would delve into the crevice between her legs and she’d lose her breath.
It felt amazing.
But she wanted him to touch her other places, too.
“I think my behind is clean.”
Derek continued to rub his hands in circles over her cheeks. “Do you have any requests?”
“My... my front could use some washing.”
She’d hoped he’d turn her around so she could see him. To try to figure out if she could read anything from those deep green eyes.
But he didn’t turn her around. Instead, his muscled arms snaked around her waist to her stomach. She was disappointed that she wasn’t facing him, but at the same time having his body pressed up against her back could in no way be considered a hardship.
Even though his hands were on her stomach now, they continued working in a circular motion. Ever so slowly one hand started sliding up while the other slid ever so slowly down.
*
Gwen whimpered.
Damn, Derek loved that he could make her feel so good. And talk about feeling good, he didn’t ever remember feeling this great in his whole life.
He was torn. He wanted to see her, look into her eyes but...
That would be just too intense.
His cock nestled in the crook of her ass. Her skin warmed him. It took everything in him not to push her a little more forward and plunge into her.
He knew her body was primed and ready for him. But he didn’t want to take her quite yet. Instead, he continued to explore her with his hands, memorizing the feel of her incredible body.
One hand reached the underside of her breast at the same time the other one reached the soft patch of heart shaped hair above her slit.
He wasn’t sure what part of her he wanted
to explore more first. When she wriggled her ass against him and his finger slid down into her wet heat, the decision was taken away from him.
“Your pussy is so hot.”
“I think that’s the water.” She laughed, but the sound ended in a gasp when his finger slid over her clit.
He barely even noticed the water pounding down on them. It was nothing compared to the heat emanating from Gwen.
At the same time one hand delved lower, into the folds of her pussy, the other moved up to tweak her nipple. He touched it lightly, but she reacted like she’d been struck by lightning.
He tweaked her nipple again. Harder this time. She reacted the same way, her back arching, automatically pushing his hand down further. This was quite a fun game they were playing.
The water continued to pound down on them, and the scent of the lavender soap filled the air. Yet that did nothing to disguise the scent of Gwen’s arousal. And his mouth practically watered for a taste of her.
Though he was reluctant to leave the heat of her body, he slowly lowered himself to his knees.
“Derek,” she moaned.
His name had never sounded so good.
He kneeled on the tile floor, still cool even though the water was hot, and shockingly cold compared to Gwen’s warmth. He lowered his head to her beautifully rounded ass, delivering a quick lick and kiss to each cheek.
“What are you doing?”
He loved the fact that she was so into what he was doing to her that she hadn’t even realized that he’d fallen to his knees.
“I’m going to taste you,” he said.
“Oh.”
Oh? All she could come up with was, Oh? He was so turned on he thought he might actually explode.
He used her shock to his own advantage. He turned her around and pushed her against the wall. She hissed when her body came into contact with the tile, but he figured she probably needed the cool down. He knew it was helping him.
He pushed one of her legs up and delved between her them.
“Oh, my God.”
Oh, my God was right. He’d never tasted anything as wonderful as Gwen. She was all sweet woman, sweet and salty at the same time. His tongue flicked over her clit and he felt her wobble a bit. He helped her stay upright with his hands on her thighs. Her hands grabbed onto his head.
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