Total pages in book: 144
Estimated words: 130761 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 654(@200wpm)___ 523(@250wpm)___ 436(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 130761 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 654(@200wpm)___ 523(@250wpm)___ 436(@300wpm)
Phebe brought her face closer to mine. I could feel the heat from her damp skin. And fuck, I could smell the salt from her tears. But I was paralyzed. The bitch’s words had me completely motionless, my cock softening inside her.
She dragged in a stuttered breath, then stroked back the hair from my face. “Who keeps you in this prison? A prison like mine?” she repeated, but my mouth was sealed tight. I knew my breathing was coming out hard through my nose, but I knew nothing else beyond her searching eyes, her tears and those fucking gutting questions.
Phebe’s lips pressed a kiss to each cheek, then to my forehead and finally my mouth. She stayed there, kissing my closed lips. My hands were iron tight on her ass, but when her tongue probed at my lips, I let her in. But this kiss wasn’t like when we fucked. The bitch was being gentle, fucking caring.
Fucking destroying me. Who keeps you in this prison? A prison like mine?
She kissed me for a minute, maybe two, before pulling back. Nose pressed against my own, she ran her hand over my forehead, then softly down my cheek. “You are not so dissimilar to me, I think.” She smiled as more tears fell down her pale cheeks. “I see it in your eyes. I . . .” Her breathing hitched. “I see . . . me.”
Phebe shifted and, pulling herself off my cock, got to her feet. She fixed her dress and tipped her head back to the night sky. She took three deep breaths, then turned her head to me. “AK,” she said softly in farewell and walked away. I watched her as she faded into the darkness.
I stared after her for fuck knows how long. I ran my hand down my face. My head was spinning. I reached down and tucked my flaccid cock back into my jeans. I could still taste her pussy on my lips. I could still see her on the ground before me, letting herself come. But I could also still see those tears streaming down her face. Who haunts you?
I took out a new bottle of beer and downed the amber liquid in three swallows. Then I chased it with the bottle of tequila under my chair. I drank until I blacked the fuck out.
When I woke up, still in the chair, the night still black, I stared at the people parading before me. The fuckers who never, ever left me alone. I lifted my head as my drunken eyes took in the bleeding forms walking toward me, getting in my face. Their black eyes were soulless pits as they stared me down, never letting me move on.
I closed my eyes, trying to block them from my sight. “Them,” I said hoarsely. I took a shuddering breath, feeling my own tears running down my cheeks. “I was trying to save them . . . but it never works . . . nothing ever works. They’ll never leave me alone.”
I fell back to sleep, feeling Phebe’s hands on my face and her lips on my mouth. I see it in your eyes . . . I see . . . me.
And Christ, but I saw her too.
Chapter Twelve
AK
I pulled my bike to a stop outside my cabin. I lowered the scarf from my face and wiped two days’ worth of dirt from my cheeks. I kicked my leg off the bike and pounded through the door to my cabin and into the kitchen. “You’re back,” Ash said as he came into the room. I arced my hand to the back of his head and brought him in to my chest.
“You good?”
“Yeah,” he replied nonchalantly, then ducked his head shyly like he always did. I pulled a smoke from my pack and offered one to him. He took it and I lit up, waiting for him to say whatever it was he was building up to.
“I’ve been to Flame’s the past two nights,” he eventually said. I looked up at the little fucker’s face. You’d think my psycho brother had just given this kid the world.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.” He tried to hide his smile. “I stayed over last night. Madds made up a bed for me in the spare room, before I even had a chance to say I’d just come back here.”
“Flame good with that?”
He nodded. “Even stayed up with me for a bit after Madds had gone to bed. He didn’t say much, but he showed me all his knives. He even had a drink with me.” He shrugged. “We mostly sat in silence, but . . .” He took a deep breath. “It was . . . good. You know?”
“I do,” I said and felt my fucking still-tight chest loosen some. Flame had fucking listened to me, the asshole.