Through the Dark

by Riley Ashby

  Maybe it was stupid, but I had genuinely thought I was going to die when he left me there. The inside of a cave is so dark you can’t see anything no matter how long you wait and how wide your pupils dilate. The silence in the middle of the path was absolute, and I had no clue if or when any new hikers would be along to find me.

  He turned to me now and took both my hands in his. “I’m sorry, Elle. I don’t have an excuse for what I did. It was a dick move, and I should have grown out of that kind of behavior years before.”

  I struggled to hold the tears in now. After the strangers led me out and took me back to our campsite, Rhys pretended like nothing had happened. “I thought you just wanted to hang out in there alone,” he said, munching on trail mix and poking the fire. “You’re a weird kid. I thought you’d like the dark.” I sulked the entire trip, too afraid to wander far from the campsite, and my mom had just thought I was being difficult for the hell of it. Meanwhile Rhys made friends with everyone around us and ran wild. It wasn’t until years later that I’d shaken off the gaslighting and realized exactly what he’d done to me.

  Biting back the tears now, I glared at him. “Why did you remind me of this?” I’d worked hard to push that memory away.

  He bent over to kiss me softly. I refused to respond, holding myself hard and cold. “Because I want to promise you, right here, I’ll never scare you like that again. I promise to respect all your hopes and all your fears. I left this stuff in the past a long time ago, but I still owe you closure for it.”

  The pain in his eyes was sincere—as much as this had hurt me, it also caused him anguish to hold on to what he’d done. And he had tried to apologize, hadn’t he? More than once. By walking me home, or helping cover for me if I got a bad grade in school. I remembered him bending over a failed math test, fidgeting with the final grade to make it look higher than it actually was, before handing the paper to me wordlessly and going back to his car. That had been the school year after the incident in the cave. Was it possible some of his overprotectiveness was due to guilt?

  I forced myself to relax my shoulders, and gave his hand a little squeeze. “Thank you, Rhys. I accept your apology.”

  He blew out a breath and dared to smile, and I couldn’t help but return it. “I’m glad to hear that, Ellie. I’m sorry I dredged up the memory last night, too.”

  I shook my head. “Neither of us had any way of knowing I was going to have such a visceral reaction. What mattered was you stuck with me.” He pulled me into his side and rubbed my shoulder reassuringly as we looked at the entrance to the cave. I picked at my lip with one hand, wondering if I was really going to say what I was thinking of next. “Let's go in.”

  He looked at me, surprised. “Really? Are you sure?”

  “No.” I forced myself to relax my jaw and take the pressure off my teeth. “But it's time I got over this. It was over ten years ago.” I frowned a little, thinking of my mother. “There are a lot of things I need to move on from.” When I looked back at him, he was sitting faintly. “What?”

  “You're, like, growing as a person. I won't have a little brat to spank any more.”

  “That's assuming I let you spank me again.”

  He raised his eyebrows. “You’re trying to tell me you don't want me to?”

  I flushed deep. His mind reading was maddening.

  “Let's get it over with.”

  I started for the entrance to the cave, but he grabbed my hand and started in ahead of me. This time, he didn't let go of me as we ventured into the dark. As we stepped deeper into the earth and the sunlight faded away, my breathing started to quicken and tears threatened at the back of my eyes. Hearing me sniffle, Rhys paused and pulled out his cell phone and turned on the flashlight.

  “Better?”

  I nodded as the panic that had started to rise dissipated a bit. “Better.”

  He squeezed my hand tighter as we walked. In my memory, it had taken us twenty minutes to travel from one end of the cave to the other, but after only five minutes we saw the light from the exit. He killed the flashlight and pulled me through the exit into the open air. I took a deep breath, my first full lungful of oxygen since we’d stepped inside.

  “How do you feel?” Rhys grabbed me at the waist and turned me to face him, staring at me intently. He grasped my chin gently and turned my head as if examining me for injuries.

  “I’m okay.” And I was. Going back into that cave had been my worst nightmare for years, but now I’d made it through, the entire thing seemed a little silly. Especially when Rhys was holding my hand. My stomach complained once more, louder this time. We both laughed. “Can we get some food now?”

  “Of course.” We turned back to the trail and continued along until it looped back to where we’d parked the bike. “Up for another adventure?”

  I smiled at him tentatively as he settled the helmet securely on my head. “Lead the way.”

  After lunch, he took me to other places where we had conflicting memories. The park where we’d had my disastrous birthday; his dad’s old house where he’d worked on his first car while I watched and tried to stay out of his way. He apologized over and over, to the point that I insisted we stop visiting old places. I didn’t want to relive the past anymore. I wanted to move forward, hand in hand with Rhys, unafraid of what would come next.

  As the sun drifted lower in the sky, he took me to an overlook popular with local high school kids as a place to make out after dark. It was still early enough that we were the only ones there, and we leaned against the fence facing the gentle slope looking over the city. The clouds faded from one color to another as the sun sunk lower.

  I let out a long exhale as I gathered my hair into a ponytail. “I guess we should have a safe word.”

  Rhys froze for heartbeat, then shifted a little closer to me. “You think so?” He was trying to keep his voice light, but I could hear the tautness underlying his words.

  “Yeah.” I turned toward him, squinting up through the late afternoon sun. “If you’re going to keep tying me up and spanking me.”

  He pulled at his pants, and my eyes followed the movement to see his cock straining a bit against the fabric. Damn, the man was easy to manipulate. Something to keep in mind the next time he was angry with me.

  I grinned. “I’m guessing you’re on board with that.”

  “You have no fucking idea,” he growled, and stood suddenly, turning back to his bike and dragging me with him. “Let’s go. I’m taking you home.”

  *

  We returned home as the sun finally sank below the horizon. I was slightly sticky and sweaty from running around in the sun all day, and a little worn out if I was being honest. Between the hike and the emotional turmoil, my brain and my body both were crying out for rest. But I couldn’t stop my hands from reaching for him the moment the bike was securely stowed and our helmets hanging on the wall.

  Rhys, for his part, responded much the same. His strong fingers gripped my hips as he backed me up against his car in the cool of the garage.

  “It’s been driving me crazy to have you pressed up against me all day.” I shivered as he brought his mouth to my neck, sucking at the skin harder than he’d dared at the wedding. We didn’t have to worry about hiding hickies from anyone this week.

  “So do something about it.” I grabbed at his shirt and yanked it up, desperate to feel his skin, but he seized my hands.

  “What’s your safe word?”

  “Red, I said immediately. His fingers tightened around mine

  “Inside,” he gasped. I bit his shoulder. “I want you laid out before me so I can see everything.”

  I whimpered a little at the thought of him sucking on my nipples the same way he had my neck.

  “God, keep making that noise.” He lifted me into his arms and another mewl escaped me unbidden. “I love every sound you make when you come. I was in pain the other day trying to imagine what you must sound like across the pool. Every last bit of my restraint went into k
eeping me from running across the pool to fuck you in the chair.”

  “I know,” I said as he kicked open the door to his pool house and took me inside. “I almost went to you.”

  He laughed and set me on the floor. “No you didn’t. You were too scared. But that’s okay.” Stepping back, he pulled his shirt over his head in one fluid motion before grabbing at mine and doing the same. “We’re going to make up for it now.”

  Instead of reaching straight for my bra, his hands landed on my breasts, massaging them over the cups. I moaned and arched my back a little, pushing the mounds into his hands, stumbling backward as he pushed me across the house. My breath flew from my lungs as my back hit a wall. He kissed me again as he pulled at my shorts.

  “Did you put on sexy underwear for me?”

  My laugh was as unsexy as my white undies. “You saw my only pair of sexy underwear at the wedding.”

  “We’ll have to change that.” He set my shorts falling to the ground, then stepped back a little to take in my briefs. “On the other hand, these are just fucking adorable.” He fell to his knees before me and bit at my hips, tugging the fabric away from my skin and letting it snap back. “So innocent.”

  I let my head hit the wall as he slipped his fingers underneath the waistband. He inched them down my legs with agonizing slowness. “I’m far from innocent.”

  “Mmm.” He helped me step out of my panties and then tossed them aside. My breath came faster as he stared at my bare pussy, bringing his face forward to rub his nose against the smooth skin and my landing strip of curls. “Did you think of me when you fucked those other boys?”

  His eyes flicked up to meet mine as he hooked one of my legs over his shoulder, opening me up before him. He pursed his lips and blew cold air across my wet pussy lips.

  “No,” I lied. “I didn’t think about you at all.”

  “Really.” He didn’t sound convinced. His tongue darted out to touch my clit so gently. “Because I thought of you. Every time I took another girl home from a bar instead.” He closed the final distance and sucked my clit into his mouth, letting go just as I rose up on my toes. “Fuck, you taste amazing. I’ve wanted to do this for years.” Before I could respond, he was back at it, his tongue alternating between my pussy and my clit. I gave into him completely, diving my fingers into his perfect hair, groaning as he showed me just how good he’d gotten at eating pussy over the years of pleasing women other than me.

  There was no doubt my newly minted step-brother knew exactly what he was doing as he teased me with his mouth, thrust his tongue deep inside my pussy, only to replace it with his fingers in order to focus entirely on my clit. As he hooked his digits inside me and pushed into my G-spot, I screamed his name as loud as I could while my orgasm crashed through me. There was no fear of anyone hearing me now. No reason for me to hide from him. Only when he’d coaxed every last ounce of pleasure from my body did he withdraw his fingers and guide my leg back to the ground. He dragged his fingers along my belly as he rose to standing, leaving a trail of my arousal up my stomach.

  “Now,” he said, gasping, “I want to see those tits.”

  My chest heaving, I reached behind me to unclasp my bra and let it tumble down my shoulders. He stared at my chest as he brought his fingers tentatively to my skin. His fingers alighted softly on the stiff peaks of my nipples, sending goosebumps rising all over my body.

  “Perfection,” he whispered, and bent over. He sucked one of my breasts into his mouth while kneading the other, and then he was lifting me once more and carrying me further into the house. I sank into soft cotton as he laid me on his mattress, then stepped back to take off his pants. I propped myself up on my elbows to watch his cock spring free from his boxers, slapping against his lower belly before pointing straight at me. My sex clenched at the sight of him, so thick and long.

  “I still don’t know how you’re going to fit.”

  “Don’t worry.” He grabbed my hips and flipped me to my stomach. I bent my knees and lifted my ass to give him access, leaving my tits pushed against the mattress. “We’ll make it work. Are you on the pill?”

  “Yeah.” I could only breathe the word as his hands landed softly on my ass, spreading me wide. Something brushed against my pussy lips.

  “I wish you could see it, Ellie, I’m lined up right with your tight little cunt. My cock is touching your entrance. Can you feel it?”

  I nodded, unable to speak. He began to push in to me slowly, teasing my sensitive hole with his length. He would push in an inch or so, then pull all the way out, before sliding a little farther and doing it all over again.

  “More,” I pleaded. “I need more.”

  “Do you think you’ve earned it?”

  Well, he did promise I would beg. “Please, Rhys, fuck me with your long cock.”

  “Christ,” he grunted as he slammed into me, sheathing his entire length inside me with one quick thrust. I cried out in pain as he hit my womb, then was overtaken by the pleasure of the way his cock stretched my pussy. I yelped as his hand came down hard on my ass. “You’ve been a very bad girl, teasing me like this for so long.”

  “I’m sorry,” I cried out as he began to pump me with his hips. He spanked me again. “Hey! I said sorry!”

  “Not good enough. You’re going to have to take a lot of cock to make up for the years of blue balls you’ve made me endure.”

  He was absolutely ruthless as he fucked me hard into the mattress. I grabbed onto a pillow to try and keep from sliding all over the place, but just when I thought I couldn’t hold on anymore, he pulled out and pushed me over so I was on my back.

  “I want to see those tits shake while we fuck,” he said, and held my legs closed against his chest while he slid inside me again. “You’re even tighter like this. I can’t take it.”

  “Don’t give up on me now,” I warned. “I want to come again.”

  He grabbed my ankles and spread my legs wide. “Rub that clit for me. Make your pussy clench around my dick while I spurt inside you.”

  God, the man was good at dirty talk. I dipped one hand between my legs while the other went above my head to brace me against the headboard. “Like this?” My middle finger stroked against my clit. His eyes were locked on my pussy.

  “Yeah.” I could barely hear him over the sound of his balls slapping against my ass. “Like that.”

  His gaze on me was too much to bear. He stared at me like he’d never seen a pussy before, and I was coming again much too soon, soaring higher than I ever had on my own or with anyone else, drunken boys with dark hair I picked up in bars when I thought I’d drank enough to forget about the man who was really on my mind. He let my legs go and fell forward, groaning as we came together. I grabbed his neck and dug my fingers into his skin, holding him tight until my legs fell to the mattress and he collapsed on top of me. We panted in unison, and as he rolled to the side, I his hot cum flowed between my legs.

  “You’ll have to wash your blanket.”

  “I don’t care.”

  “That was…”

  “Everything I wanted.” I rolled my head to look at him. His eyes were closed as he caught his breath. “I can’t believe we waited so long.”

  I twisted to my side and sat up a little, trailing my fingers across his chest. “That’s what made it so good.”

  He turned to look at me. “Sex with you will always be good, Ellie. But I’d do anything to go back three years and have you for that extra time.”

  Smiling, I buried my face in his neck as he pulled me against him. “We have plenty of time now.”

  He pushed me to my back and climbed on top of me again. “I want more.” He bucked his hips against me. His cock was hard again. “Spread your legs for me. I’m going to come in you until your body is brimming with it.”

  Chapter 9

  I didn’t leave his bed for hours. Even when I rose to use the bathroom, he followed me to the door, waited outside, and picked me up in his arms the moment I opened the doo
r. When we grew hungry, he tied me to the headboard and came back to the bedroom with pasta, feeding me bite by bite. Then he ate my pussy until I begged him to stop, unable to take any more pleasure. Tears streamed down my face from the sheer overstimulation of it all.

  “Good.” He untied me and dragged me off the bed, propping me on my knees. “Now it’s my turn.”

  I barely had time to open my mouth before he shoved his cock in my face. My gag reflex kicked in as his entire length slid into my mouth and down my throat. Just as I thought I was going to lose everything in my stomach, he pulled out and grabbed my chin. I gazed up at him as saliva dripped down my chin.

  “Fuck, you’re gorgeous.” He pushed into my mouth again, slower this time, allowing me to breathe while I sucked him. My tongue swirled around him as he pumped deeper, and when he pulled back, I pressed the flat of my tongue against his head. He shuddered and grabbed my hair to hold me still. “You’re going to make me blow in no time.”

  I hummed, and he cursed again. Good. If he could torture me, I could do the same to him. I wanted to see how quickly I could make him lose control.

  Wrapping my hand around the base of his cock where my mouth couldn’t reach, I bobbed my head along the rest of his length. My teeth dragged along his skin. He swore over and over as I worked on him, his dick pulsing in my mouth. When his hand tightened in my hair and his knees locked, I grabbed his hips and took him as far as I could just as he exploded in my mouth. I swallowed load after load of hot cum, barely able to keep up, all while he moaned my name.

  “Ellie. You’re fucking amazing.”

  I swallowed once more before I pulled back and sat on the floor. My knees sighed in relief as I extended my legs forward. Rhys dropped to his knees in front of me and kissed me, his tongue exploring all corners of my mouth as if he wanted to taste himself on me. We gasped as our lips separated, but he held my face close to his.