Before she left, she kissed Ollo goodbye–a chaste kiss on the lips that lingered a moment too long but one she felt him return–and promised she’d be back soon. He had taken to sleeping with her every night, as though he needed to feel her by his side to reassure himself that she was all right, that maybe she was banged up and bruised but she was still able to come home to him. It reassured her just the same, and she always fell asleep quickly and deeply when she felt him next to her. His steady breathing reminded her that she was alive, that she was safe, and that she could let her guard down and just relax. There were times when he was up waiting for her, others where he slept through her return, snoring as he did so. Either way, he always seemed to know that she was there with him because he molded his body against hers, as though he planned to never let her go.
And she hoped he didn’t.
He was the reason Reese fought so hard to get home. He was what she looked forward to after coming home every night. It was probably the same feeling Jack had for Andie.
Speaking of which, what was Jack’s deal tonight? Certainly he knew he was supposed to meet up with her tonight. What could keep him? Was Andie all right? Reese was almost positive Beverly would have let her know if something had happened to Andie. If Beverly knew who Reese was, she knew Andie was Reese’s best friend and would have said something. And, considering Beverly sounded annoyed when talking about her nephew’s flightiness, it had to be something solely about Jack. It probably was a business meeting, but… Reese glanced at the clock in her car. It seemed rather late for a business meeting. Granted, she wasn’t familiar with proper protocol concerning professionalism and business, but she knew that eleven o’clock was teetering on the edge between business and pleasure.
She hoped he didn’t do anything stupid. Andie was the best thing that had happened to him. Surely he was smart enough to know that.
Reese slid her car into its usual parking spot and headed onto the streets of Onyx. Originally, she had been worried someone would notice her pulling into the structure every night around this time, and if there were security cameras in the structure, they would see her emerge from the car. They’d be able to trace the license plate back to her and her dream of being Lipstick would be over before it even began. But Jack insisted there were no security cameras set up in that structure; he had checked it out personally when he first started his night watch in Onyx years ago. As such, Reese felt secure in leaving her car here, but always made sure no one was around to see her leave and come back to it.
Once her bow and arrows were securely strapped to her back, she felt even more confident, and she walked into the Onyx night with her head held high. Her heart hammered in her chest at the prospect of doing this by herself. After what happened last time, she wanted to make sure she wasn’t in a vulnerable position because this time, no one would be able to save her. She could die if she wasn’t smart.
The night was warm but not humid, and Reese found she was starting to get more fluid with her movements. She managed to stop three muggings in the span of a couple of hours, and she was fast enough to elude bitter criminals who wanted their revenge. She realized she was starting to get a reputation among the thugs of Onyx because they didn’t seem as surprised when she made her appearance. If anything, they focused all of their hostility and anger on her, as though she was the reason they had failed.
At around one o’clock in the morning, Reese was feeling pretty good about herself. She was slightly out of breath and would definitely invest in some kind of water bottle, but she was actually happy. She was succeeding. It made her feel good. It made her feel as though her purpose in life wasn’t as ominous and impossible as it initially seemed. She could do this. She could be a Seer.
“Well, well, well, if it isn’t Reese Lespoir.”
Reese immediately spun on her heel while simultaneously grabbing her bow and arrow and locking the weapon into place. Her eyes narrowed when she saw Gabriel Burr, standing at the entranceway of an ally, his head cocked to the side and an arrogant smirk on his face. He looked as sinfully handsome as ever, with his slicked-back blond hair and crystal clear blue eyes. He was tall, with broad shoulders, dressed in a nice suit. If he wasn’t at the entrance of a dingy alleyway, Reese was almost positive he’d lean against the wall, looking down at the people who passed him by, exuding the arrogance he was known for.
He chuckled at the sight of her with a bow and arrow, but put his hands up in front of his chest as though he was shielding himself. “I didn’t mean to offend you,” he said through laughter. He didn’t take her seriously, she realized, and her grip on the weapon only tightened. “I guess I shouldn’t sneak up on pretty girls at night, huh?”
Reese rolled her eyes but didn’t move a muscle. “What are you doing here, Gabriel?” She glanced at her surroundings, trying to place where she was. “Wait, is this the back of Dorsia’s? Did you just eat dinner?” She looked out in front of Gabriel and found a car parked at the curb. It was a sleek, black Jaguar with the back passenger door open and… was that a bag hanging out the front door?
Reese took a step towards the car but Gabriel immediately blocked her path. His eyes flashed dangerously, and he lost the playful arrogant air that had occupied his presence mere seconds ago. “I can smell him on you, you know,” he said in a low voice. He took another step towards her, towering over her with his broad frame. He was at least a foot taller than she was, even though they were the same age, and clearly, he was stronger than she could ever hope to be. If she wasn’t smart, he could crush her. And, since this was the back lot–a street that really had no traffic because many backs of restaurants occupied them–he would have no problem doing so. “Everyone knows you’re not pure anymore.”
“What I do with my body is my choice,” Reese said in a voice that was much more confident than she felt. She needed to get to that bag. She needed to see what was in it. It definitely helped that she never liked Gabriel anyway, so she wasn’t intimidated by him.
“Au contraire, my pretty little blonde,” he said, and his smirk was back in its proper place on his chiseled face. “You aren’t like everyone else. Your sexuality is a huge topic up for discussion. Do you want to know why? You could potentially decide who wins this war with your visions.” He shook his head, a disappointed sigh slipping out of his nose. “I would have taken you to places you’ve never even dreamed of, girlie.”
“Are you here by yourself?” Reese asked, deciding to change tactics. “Surely your date wouldn’t be too happy with you flirting with me.”
“Flirting?” Gabriel scoffed. “You’re nothing to me now. Dirty. I wouldn’t touch you with a ten foot pole.” He spat to the side for good measure. “I was called to a business meeting that just wrapped up. I’m waiting for my driver to get out from the restroom. My father left a few moments ago.”
He was lying. There was no way Gabriel would ever wait on anyone, let alone a driver. He was here by himself. Reese kept her body tight, still holding onto her weapon, pointed at Gabriel’s heart. Not like he had one. She quickly looked at her surroundings, taking in any random passersby, any restaurant staff trying to catch a smoke break. Besides some foot traffic way down the block, they were alone. Which was a good thing. Judging by the way Gabriel’s eyes lit up as he, too, looked around, he felt the same way.
The moment he lunged for her, Reese stepped out of the way. She nearly lost her balance at the speed of the movement, but managed to hold her ground. Gabriel spun around fast. Luckily, Reese already had her weapons in position. When he lunged again, she aimed her arrow at his thigh and released it without hesitation. Gabriel immediately dropped onto the pavement, letting out a wail of pain before a string of obscenities. Reese didn’t think twice. She lowered her bow and dashed off to the car in order to check out the bag. She hoped her instincts were correct and something significant was in there or else she’d be in a shitload of trouble. One didn’t shoot the district attorney’s son in the thigh without some sort of consequences.
Her hands pulled the bag down, and for a moment, Reese was paralyzed with shock. There was Andie, dressed beautifully, unconscious. Reese made sure she was breathing and then whipped out her cell phone. She didn’t care what meeting Jack was in, he needed to be here, and he needed to be here now. She would hold off Gabriel until he arrived, and while she waited for him to arrive, she would try and figure out what Andie was doing here with Gabriel, and why Gabriel would want to hurt her.
24
Once Seph returned her to her room, Keirah took the time to explore the walk-in closet. Her clothes were pinching her skin, and she had wanted to get out of these shoes since she first arrived in Purgatory. She slid out of them, her feet taking a shock of cold from the pavement, and padded over to the wardrobe. Upon opening the doors, she found multiple outfits for every occasion, and somehow, they were all her size. She wondered if the room was magically programmed to change upon each new occupant.
Upon her search, she managed to find a nightgown that clung to her body. It was silky and pink–more feminine than she liked, but she wouldn’t complain–and felt cool on her body. Once she had changed she slid into the bed, the sheets were cool and she decided to kick the quilt off the bed completely and closed her eyes. She didn’t know how it happened, but she fell asleep almost instantly.
A soft moan escaped from her parted lips as she felt something press against the folds of her mound. Was it her finger? She didn’t remember having a dream where she would touch herself in her dream, but she hadn’t had sex in months, and it didn’t feel the same without Noir inflicting his torture on her body. Her sexual frustration was at an all-time high, so she kept her eyes closed to ensure the prolonging of this feeling, in case it was just a dream. She needed some sort of release, and if this was how she got it–somewhere safe in her bed through her subconscious–then, all the better.
She opened her knees in order to spread her legs even further, and suddenly, something crawled into her; what felt like a long finger. She gasped, but still refused to open her eyes.
God, yes.
The licking on her folds–because she recognized the pressure derived from a tongue–started to persist at a much faster rate, and she moaned again, this time louder. Immediately, she reached out and grabbed one of the many pillows that had littered the head of the bed and pressed it against her face. She didn’t want to be too loud; Keirah didn’t know if she had neighbors or if the walls were as thick as they appeared.
“No, no, no,” a voice rumbled from below, sending pleasurable vibrations against her mound. “That won’t do at all. I uh I want to hear you purr, kitten.”
Noir.
But no, it couldn’t be.
“Are you a dream?” Keirah asked, breathless, after she removed the pillow from her face. She still refused to open her eyes, refused to wake up. She hadn’t even dreamt of Noir in the months that he’d been gone. It was like she had lost all of him, any piece of him she might have still been able to hold onto. She didn’t want this Noir to disappear as well, especially when he sounded so close, so real.
“It would, uh, seem that way, wouldn’t it?” He began licking her again, this time the way a cat might lick its paw; concise and firm, with a clear purpose in mind. “What do you think?”
“I don’t care,” she gasped out, her insides tensing as he began to curl his finger in a come-hither motion.
He chuckled and then stopped, removed his finger. Keirah was about to protest when Noir re-entered two digits. He didn’t even wait for her blessing; he began to dig deep into her core and then twist into her. Dig and twist. Dig and twist.
“I’ve been waiting for you, princess,” he said in his usual dark velvet voice. She could smell her sex on him. “Hummm… I knew you’d come for me.” She could hear the smile in his next words. “And you will.”
He continued his torture on her willing body. Her fingers curled into the sheets and she grinded her core against his face, wanting her own delivery – needing her release nearly as much as she needed him.
“You dirty little whorrrrre,” he purred. “You couldn’t get enough of, well, of me inflicting both pleasure and eh-pain on your body.”
“Yes, yes, yes.”
“Well-ah,” he drawled, and then stopped completely. “You’re going to have ta wait.”
This time, she did let out a cry of protest and her eyes shot open. He looked at her with his golden eyes bronzed, looking over her so he could meet her eyes. She did look wanton, with her spread legs and her robe pushed up to her hips. She hadn’t put on any underwear either, and one of her breasts slipped out from its loose confines. Her pink nipple was dark and erect with desire.
But he was there. His face glistened with her juices and she could see his hunched shoulders curve in towards her. He was there. He really was.
“Now, now, now,” he said, making sure his lips stayed firmly against her mound so she could feel the vibrations running along her skin and teasing her even more. “Remember the mistress patience? Wait. It. Out. I promise it will all be worth it.”
“I’ll do whatever you want,” she murmured through hooded eyes. When was the last time she blinked? Even she couldn’t remember. She was too afraid to look away, afraid he might completely disappear.
“’Course ya will,” he said in a deep burr. “You’re mine and uh, well, you like what I do to you. You like when it hurts, you like when there’s pain. I make you cry and uh it’s the sweetest sound I’ve ever heard-ah.”
“I like everything you do to me.”
“Yeah, you do.” He crawled over her and her eyes took in everything she missed about him. He wore one of his handmade suits–odd, since it was not the one he disappeared in–this one with purple pants and a red collared shirt, and his dark curly blond hair was as disheveled as ever. She wanted to reach up and dig her long fingers into his hair and yank on the thick tresses, but stopped herself. He wouldn’t like it if she did something without his permission. The paint he usually wore on a constant, nearly twenty-four hour basis was completely washed from his skin. Perhaps they didn’t have the proper material in Purgatory, or maybe he felt more comfortable to show his bare face, but the peachy color was a welcome sight, despite the burned left half of his face. He was terrifying, scary, and intimidating, but God, he was also so attractive. Her pelvis throbbed with painful desire and she rolled her eyes back, biting her bottom lip to keep a moan from slipping out of her lips.
When he towered over her, making her feel petite even though she was tall and willowy, her hands reached up and began undoing the buttons to his shirt. She didn’t know why, but her fingers shook as she did so. Maybe she was nervous. Maybe she was excited. Maybe it was a healthy mixture of both. It didn’t matter. All she knew was that she wanted his clothes off as soon as possible, and she wanted him to fill her up and make her feel complete the way only he knew how.
Soon, his shirt was tossed to the floor, and her shaky hands started to undo the button of his pants. His hands–cut up, rough, and callused–scooped at her milky thighs and dragged along her skin until they met with her nightgown. Before Keirah even could draw a breath, it was ripped over her head and flung across the room as though the material had done something offensive to him. Immediately, his mouth found her neck and he began to bite and suck at her skin. She knew she would be bruised up in a few hours, but she didn’t care; the marks signified that she belonged to him, just like the thin, red J scarred on her cheek. He had carved it himself after getting her back. It felt like a long time ago, actually. But Keirah remembered it like yesterday.
When his mouth found her breast, she couldn’t hold back her enthusiasm any longer and arched up, moaning as she did so. Now she didn’t care if anyone heard. She didn’t care if she woke everyone up. She wanted nothing more than Noir inside of her, and she hated that she had to wait for it.
Her hands reached up to grab his back, and she dug her nails into his skin. He inhaled sharply, sucking in the air between his straight, y
ellowed teeth. It made her thrum with pride, knowing she had taken him by surprise. He bit her nipple in response, hard, and she yelped. Somehow, he made pain turn into pleasure, and even what hurt made her feel good.
“Please, please, please don’t make me wait. I’ve been waiting for so long. I want you now. Please, please, please.” She was mewing like a cat, begging without shame. She knew he would punish her for how easy she was being, but she didn’t care. It had been long. Too long.
And she knew, deep down, that he felt the same way about her. She knew he wanted to draw this out as long as possible, make her beg and writhe underneath him until she just couldn’t take it anymore, draw this out to reinstate his power over her, but she knew he wouldn’t be able to resist. Not when his hands were as desperate as hers were, his mouth explored every trace of skin he could get his hands on as though he were tasting water for the first time since trekking through a desert. He needed her just as badly as she needed him, and she knew, she knew, that as willful as Noir was, he wouldn’t be able to resist. Not their first time. Not when they’d been apart for so long. Not when they’d both been waiting for this.
It wasn’t long before he thrust himself into her, hard and without mercy. He didn’t ask her permission. He didn’t make sure she was wet and ready. He did what he wanted and made no apology about it. She yelped at the pain, and he groaned at the feeling of her tight folds molding around him, sucking him up into her and promising to never let him go.
“You, well, you waited for me, darling.”
“Of course.”
Sacrifice: Book 3 of The Dark Paradise Trilogy Page 18