“I can’t hold off any longer,” he whispered fervently. “I’m going to try to go slow OK, Claire? But I can’t stop.”
I nodded, frightened yet oddly reassured that he was saying more than ‘mine’. It soothed me that I wasn’t going through this alone with a lust-filled Lucas-puppet. At least, some part of him was still in there.
He spread apart the flaps of my now unzipped jeans and buried his nose in the little triangle of exposed underwear. He breathed in deep and groaned.
“Fuck Claire, you smell so good.”
My stomach flipped. This was moving too fast. I gently cupped his cheek, slow not to aggravate the predator.
His eyes sought mine.
“Slow,” I said, pulling him up. He allowed it, practically crawled up my body in slow, tantalizing motion. He ended up crouching over me on the bench. I maintained eye contact and nodded. “Good.”
I nervously pulled my bottom lip into my mouth. His eyes darted to my lips, entranced. I immediately released my lip. He swallowed. It was almost like he was a scared little boy, but at the same time his eyes held the hunger of a man possessed. He was both victim and perpetrator.
Just like me.
Everything was happening because of my fervor, my ignorance, and my lack of control. All of this was my fault. He inched closer to my face. I held my breath.
“I’m going to kiss you now,” he whispered against my lips.
“OK.” I breathed back, too scared to rub against his lips with my reply.
His eyes closed. He had such long eyelashes. And then his plump lips grazed mine and I forgot the world existed beyond this contact, this kiss. The fact that we were doing this against our wills didn’t matter anymore.
A zap stung my lip. And all of a sudden, a piece of that raging desire that I had passed on to Lucas found its way home. My body reacted immediately, releasing endorphins and pleasurable need. I shivered from the onslaught.
God, it felt so good, so right and natural. Why had I missed out on this ecstasy for twenty years? Why wait so long for my first kiss again? I never realized I had a hole in my chest until this sweet sensation filled it.
He pulled back after a long slice of heaven. I followed him and initiated the next kiss, swept my tongue against his bottom lip.
Next thing I knew, his lips crashed into mine with bruising force. Both of his hands tangled in my hair, forcing me to take his kiss, to submit. A soft mewling escaped my throat. He growled and pried open my lips with his. I let him. Our tongues tangled together, fighting for dominance.
But he had the better position, hovering over me. I grasped onto his forearms, pulling myself up a little. Lucas growled and pushed me into the bench further. There was nothing else I could do to win ground, so I bit his lip in retaliation.
Lucas froze.
What the hell did I just do?
“I’m sorr—”
My tank top ripped down the center, revealing the tops of my heaving breasts. He pinned both my wrists above my head with one hand.
“Don’t fight me,” he growled.
“I-I wasn’t,” I gasped. “I swear I was just… I got carried away, OK? Please release me?”
“No,” he said flatly. “You clearly can’t be trusted not to escalate the situation. Do you know how much restraint it is taking for me not to ram my cock into you right now? I want to dominate you so bad, make you scream and beg me to stop fucking you because your fragile human body can’t handle the pounding I’m going to give you.”
I squeezed my legs together, hoping he couldn’t smell the sharp pang of arousal his words induced. Lucas Masters’ glare was scary hot.
“But I won’t stop. My wolf will get off on forcing you to take it. Over and over again. Do you want that Claire? Do you want to risk getting fucked to death?”
My eyes widened.
“Good. Now you see why this is such a dangerous predicament for you, yes?”
I nodded frantically. “No biting. I promise.”
“Good girl. Now I’m going to do everything in my power to keep myself from killing you, but it’s time for you to get naked now.” His finger hooked the center of my bra and pulled down.
His scorching gaze zeroed in on my exposed chest. I struggled to pull my hands free from his grip but stopped when he began growling again.
I breathed hard as his head ducked down and gently sucked my nipple into his mouth, swirled with his tongue. My head fell back against the bench, eyes closed. Holy shit. I bit my lip to keep myself from moaning.
“My turn.” A stranger announced.
My eyes snapped open. A man with neon blue eyes stared at my breasts like they were the answer to all his prayers. Lucas whirled around and roared at the intruder. I quickly scrambled to cover myself and ended up tucking the torn flaps of my tank top directly into my bra and zipped up my jeans.
When I looked up the intruder was on the ground, gurgling from the red ruin his throat had become. His eyes bore into mine, even though he was dying the only thing he could focus on was me. The light faded from his eyes and the neon blue color extinguished shortly after.
I wrapped my arms around myself, suddenly cold.
“Y-you killed him,” I cried. “Why did you do that?”
Lucas remained staring ahead, breathing hard. Shoulders tense.
“I’m going to have to kill a lot more tonight.”
“What?” I jerked back. “Why?”
Doors opened left and right. Apparently violence and death was an excellent way to get the attention of every Supe in the vicinity.
In horror, I realized that the blue mist had drifted to the far ends of the hallway. Couldn’t they see it? They were poking their heads right through it, breathing it in. Every time a particle hit anyone’s exposed flesh it created a tiny spark of blue lightning that sizzled on their skin.
“Get in the bathroom,” Lucas snarled, fists clenched at his sides.
I looked back at him to realize he was growing. If his shirt had still been on it would have ripped off by now. His pants seemed to be popping at the seams. It reminded me of when Bruce Banner goes hulk—without all the green. My eyes widened when his designer jeans literally tore apart.
WHAT THE FUCK!
The wolf king stood eight feet tall and was dangerously close to bursting through his black boxer briefs. Not to mention the hallway had quickly filled up with Supes who blocked off both exits. One by one, their eyes sparked a neon blue, spreading like wildfire.
In synchronization, every newly infected Supe turned their heads to stare at me.
“Bathroom now!” Lucas yelled. I didn’t need to be told a third time. I sprinted, scooped my bag off the floor on the go. Movement caught the corner of my eyes. The Supes had begun their charge from both sides, some using the walls like a jumping board to take the lead. The vampires sprinted along the ceiling.
Lucas roared a battle cry, shoulders hunched and claws splayed wide in a fighting stance.
I careened past him and slammed the bathroom door behind me.
Then all hell broke loose.
I sank the lock home. And flipped the light switch like that would somehow hide my presence.
I could hear the bodies smashing together, the snarls, sounds of bones cracking, agonized screams, territorial roars… I stumbled backward, clutching my chest. This wasn’t just a fight. It was a fucking nightmare out there. I wanted to plug my ears…
Something crashed into the door. My eyes widened at the appearance of a muscular arm sporting wicked fingernails—perfect for plucking eyeballs from their sockets. Someone had literally punched through the bathroom door and was now feeling around for the lock.
I screamed.
Without warning, the arm dropped to the floor, spurting blood. I gaped at the severed limb, watched in horror as it gave one last death twitch before falling into eerie stillness. I stared at it, half expecting it to reanimate and crawl toward me.
I froze solid for ten pounding heartbeats.
&nbs
p; It wasn’t going to move.
It wasn’t going to get me.
But the monsters outside the door still might. Fuck my fear paralysis, I had to do something. I frantically looked for something to barricade the door with—then immediately realized that everything was fixed in place and even if there were movable objects in the room, a man just punched through a fucking door! A trash can in front of it wouldn’t do shit.
I emptied the contents of my bag onto the floor. I snatched the pepper spray from the pile, stood up and got in a ready stance, nozzle pointed toward the door. Roars and thuds and tearing sounds came from the other side. Oh God, I didn’t want to see what was happening out there.
I looked down at my scattered belongings. I bent down, grabbed my phone and dialed 911.
“We’re sorry. All the circuits are busy. Please try again.”
An automated message.
A fucking automated message?
WHAT. THE. FUCK.
But it’s not like they could do anything anyway, not if Supes were involved. The most they were legally allowed to do was contact the U.S. Hunters, who were already spread too thin across the country. One Hunter couldn’t even hold onto his umbrella in this shit storm… though it would be nice to tell someone that I was about to die here!
I scrolled through my contacts while keeping the pepper spray aimed.
“C’mon, c’mon!” I muttered to myself after the first few rings. Equal parts relief and regret washed through me when the phone kept ringing. A small part of me didn’t want to say goodbye directly. A voicemail would be better.
Lonely, but probably less traumatizing for her.
“You’ve reached Camilla Alvarez’s phone. Drop a message.”
I smiled soft and sad; it was the last time I’d ever hear my best friend’s voice.
The voicemail beeped.
“Looks like you’ll be getting that car sooner than we thought...” My voice trailed off and hitched at the end. I wouldn’t cry, couldn’t do that to her, couldn’t let the last memory of me be desperate and scared. “I-I just wanted you to know that the thing we talked about is happening. They’re—uh—killing each other to get at me. I don’t think I’m going to make it—” a loud wolf’s howl pierced the air. Lucas! “Shit, I’m out of time. You’re the best friend I could ever ask for. I love you, Camy. Please don’t tell my family I caused this… just… Mom, Dad, Brandt… if you guys are listening to this I want you to know I died fighting and…” My throat thickened with tears, “I-I love you guys so much.”
I ended the call right before the phone dropped out of my shaky hands. I rubbed my face dry with my forearm and took a harsh breath to clear my head: time to go into battle mode.
That pained howl probably meant Lucas Masters was dying or dead. The sounds of the massacre going on in the hallway showed no signs of slowing, meaning they were still killing each other off, even with Lucas out of the picture. The blood seeping under the door supported that theory.
I wiped away the fresh prickling from my eyes. I couldn’t focus on Lucas’ death right now.
Concentrate.
Even if they continued fighting each other till the end, there would still be one survivor left to claim me as his prize. I doubted a can of pepper spray could hold him off, especially if the victor killed dozens of Supes to get to me. No, I needed a new plan—particularly one where the fucker never found me.
I looked again for another escape route, maybe a second door. I knew there wasn’t one, but it didn’t stop me from hoping. My toes collided with one of my emergency boxes of jello, sent it sliding into a stall. I looked down at my feet to avoid further contact with purse debris; I stood in a rectangular pile of sickly yellow light. Light that originated from outside… the window.
There was no way I could jump and pull myself up with my sheer lack of upper body strength. The sink was my only hope.
I bent down to my scattered items, stuffed my keys in one pocket and my inhaler into the other; I then put the pepper spray into my satchel. I scampered to the window; it was a long horizontal rectangle that nearly encompassed the length of the wall. I slid the bag over my shoulder and used the sink as a stepping stool.
Perilously squatting on the counter, I ended up leaning my body weight to the left and walking my hands up the wall until I secured my fingertips on the three-inch-thick windowsill. I got on my tippy toes so I could try to push the window open. No luck. I wasn’t even sure if it could be opened.
I leaned out a little further to see the type of latch you needed to pinch together to slide the window open. I was so close to reaching it I just needed to… one of my legs left the counter top to brace against the wall using the grip of my shoe and the tension of my body.
I hoisted up, transitioned from fingertips to laying forearms flat against the dusty surface to gain purchase. I held my breath as I put the burden of my weight on my left forearm then quickly pinched the latch and shoved the window pane down the tracks. Shockingly, it slid until it rammed to a stop, leaving half the window open for my body to get through.
Just as I was about to lose my grip, I swung my leg up, hooking it over the outside wall—my limb acted as a makeshift grappling hook as I pulled the rest of my body up and laid sideways along the window. I shook from the exertion; beads of sweat dotted my forehead. The window tracks stabbed into my ribs but I didn’t care. I was just amazed I’d managed to make the climb considering a flight of stairs often gave me trouble.
After a brief break to allow my arms to feel less like wet noodles, I lowered myself outside until I clung just by fingertips again. I looked down over my shoulder to double check the distance, then dropped. I narrowly missed a hydrangea bush, but managed to land without spraining my ankle.
I knelt down to keep cover while my breathing and heart rate returned to normal. I patted the front of my leg to double check that I had my keys inside my pocket rather than clipped to my belt loop—if that were the case they would jangle and clank like a little siren when I decided it was safe enough to sprint to my car.
I popped my head out of my satchel strap and quietly set the bag down. It would only slow me down and I feared it could be used as a means to grab me and jerk me down to the ground. I kept the pepper spray though, I white-knuckle gripped that shit. It probably wouldn’t do squat against a Supe, but it was all I had. I unhitched and twisted the top—effectively taking the safety off.
I peeked out of the bushes, head on a swivel. It was desolate and calm out here; the only ruckus originated from inside the building. Even outside of the bathroom chamber of horrifying acoustics, I could tell the fight was dwindling down. I had to go now before the final battle wrapped up.
I burst out of the bushes and sprinted toward the parking garage. It felt like I barely just started when my breathing became harsh, lungs on fire, legs heavy as cinder blocks. It felt like an eternity until I saw the parking garage beckoning me. I forced myself to keep moving. I could practically feel my keys burning a hole in my pocket, hear the coughing start of my Honda’s engine.
Something smashed into my side, knocked me flat on my ass.
I skidded across the concrete and sucked back a scream when the pain hit. My senses eclipsed in white hot agony. I bit my lip bloody, and moaned low and guttural in my throat. Were my hips broken? They felt fucking broken. Felt like they were torn clear off.
“Oh my, such a fragile creature. I knew what you were the moment you stepped into my classroom Miss Sommers, but I was under the impression you would be more… durable.” Professor Capshaw loomed over me, his black shoulder length hair cast shadows over his face. “I don’t see how one can have such fun when you break so easily.”
I coughed up blood. The vampire stared at the scarlet liquid, exposing the slightest hint of blue in his glowing irises. Apparently, he’d barely been infected with the fervor mist.
“Why are you doing this?” I hissed through the pain. I gurgled another red cough. Fire seared down my esophagus and squirmed
in my ruined guts.
“Then again, perhaps you’re a one-use toy.” Capshaw continued without acknowledging me. He squatted down by my side and wrenched my left leg toward him.
“FUCK!” I screamed bloody murder, blistering agony exploded through my brain. I tried hitting him but he slapped my hands away as if I were a toddler.
“Oh dear, did that hurt?” He shook his head disapprovingly. “I imagine my son suffered through a great deal of pain when one of your lot got her harlot hands on him.” Still in a crouch, he walked two fingers up my leg, but I couldn’t feel it. Why couldn’t I feel my fucking legs?
“I’ve waited centuries to encounter and deliver recompense to one of your kind.” He punctuated his resolve by pressing down on my broken pelvis. My mouth opened in a soundless scream. Shattered splinters of my bones stabbed into my essential bits, my organs. The agony was unreal—I couldn’t form a goddamn thought past the pain, couldn’t breathe.
“Allow me to introduce you to true suffering, whore.” He unzipped his pants, exposing a fully erect stubby phallus—pallid and veined like a disgusting four-inch worm.
I clenched my fists, only to realize one of them still gripped the pepper spray.
“With that little thing?” I gritted out while I covertly angled the nozzle toward the vampire.
“Trust me, child. In your ruined state, my manhood will feel like the Colossus of Rhodes.” He bent his head down and licked some blood off my cheek and whispered his cold breath into my ear. “It will split you wide open, girl.”
He lifted his head with a satisfied smirk on his red lips.
I closed my eyes, held my breath, and sprayed. I had barely pressed down the button before the canister was knocked out of my hand.
The vampire wrenched my hand backward. His thumb and forefinger dug into my palm and wrist like pincers. I choked on the pain from having my arm contorted to the point where the tops of my hand and forearm nearly touched each other. The bluish veins of my inner wrist distended outward—oh God, if felt like my wrist was about to snap in two.
“That was foolish.” The vampire pinched his fingers together, culminating to a loud crunch.
The Fervor: A Sinful Supes Story Page 6