59. DEAD DEEDS

59

DEAD DEEDS

YARA

I t was a long, torturous day. I had to autopsy Amy, and once again, I found nothing. No DNA, no blood, nothing. My whole body was shaking by the time I was done with her.

The forensic lab found a coffee stain on her red dress. That was the only thing different from the previous cases.

My head was pounding when I walked outside. Even the cold air was no relief against my heated skin. Ryden opened the car door for me with a smile, and it took everything in me to smile at him back.

“Are you hungry?” he asked as he parked the car. He was holding up a paper bag filled with food.

“I… am starving,” I whispered as he set the table. We ate in silence.

“Let me take you to bed,” he said as he pulled me up from the chair.

“Thank you,” I whispered as he lifted me in his arms. I snuggled closer to his chest. “I don’t deserve this, but I’m selfish enough to not say no to any of it.”

He didn’t answer. He placed me on my bed and stripped me. His eyes darkened, and I waited for him to take me, to make me forget everything, but he grabbed one of his T-shirts and pulled it down over my head, softly tracing his finger along my collarbone before bending down and pressing a kiss on my neck.

“Sleep tight, Red. I’ll be right here when you wake up.”

And I fell asleep.

I stood in the middle of a burning forest, a flaming torch in my hand.

Irene screamed as fire engulfed her skin, and soon, she became nothing but ashes.

I ran, trying to get out of the maze of blazing thorns that grew around me. Everywhere I turned, I saw people—people who died because of me.

Ryden sat next to Amy on a decayed wooden bench, holding onto her broken body. Miranda was curled on the ground next to Daphne, who was soaked in blood. Tany was leaning against an old tree—there was no skin over her bent bones. Kat was lying on a steel gurney, trying to untie the red garrote around her throat and failing.

No. No.

YOU KILLED US. YOU KILLED US.

The screams went higher and higher until the whole woods were echoing with their broken, accusing voices.

I threw the torch away, trying to drown out the sound, and every tree, every bush caught fire until the forest completely burned down around me, drowning out their screams.

I was the only one left in a graveyard of ashes. Coughing, I woke up panting and drenched in sweat. I wasn’t in a forest. I was still in my bed, Ryden lying next to me, as he had promised.

I walked to the kitchen and gulped down a bottle of cold water, anger slowly turning into resentment.

When I find that bastard…

Ryden was still sleeping when I went back to my room. I sat on the bed, watching him in the moonlight, my eyes tracing his body with need and desperation. I wanted to forget everything.

Fucking him made my mind empty. I softly trailed my finger up the snakes on his arms until I reached his neck. Strong, fucking beautiful. Too big for my hands, but I loved how fragile, how helpless he looked asleep.

If I killed him now… he wouldn’t be the wiser.

I licked my lips.

The need was back. The urge to take him, to break him, to make him mine. I tightened my palm around his throat, trying to feel that power. I needed to be in control.

Everything else was falling apart, but here and now… I was in control. I wasn’t helpless. I was fucking strong.

I moved lower and pulled his pants down, my hands raking up his body in desperation. Fast, faster, I clawed at him, marking him.

I didn’t care that I was hurting him. I wanted to hurt him. I wanted to… take and take everything until he was nothing.

The demons screamed for release, blood. More. More. My mouth closed around his erection. His cock jerked in response.

“Red?” he moaned, half asleep, half awake.

“Go back to sleep, Ryden.”

“Wh-what…” He shuddered again when I took him all the way in, my lips closing around him greedily, my nails raking over his skin. “Ah, Yara… baby…”

I ran faster as the ghosts of all the people I had left to die chased me, while I chased control. Ryden groaned and moaned, littering the dark skies with his sounds of surrender.

My fingers went to his balls, and I squeezed them before sucking him harder.

“Ah. Aaah…” His screams fought with mine. His need exploded with my lust.

When he came inside my mouth, I took all of him in, greedy for more, greedy for everything. Ryden gasped, his body still lost in the throes of passion. Soft, submissive for once.

“What was that, Red? I was… sleeping.”

“I know. Your cock wasn’t,” I said, walking toward the bathroom, and he followed me relentlessly.

“Something’s wrong.”

“I had a dream.”

“Tell me.”

“You and Irene were dead, and I… I was the only one alive.” I splashed water against my heated cheeks. My body felt like it was burning from the inside out. “I don’t want you to die because of me. I don’t…”

“I can take care of myself, Yara. I’m not new to death.”

“But… you can’t die for me.”

“If I’m going to die, I’d rather it was for you.”

“Fuck you, Ryden. You say the worst things,” I said as I pulled him toward the bed. He pushed me down and straddled me, his eyes burning darker than the night sky.

His fingers touched my lips before leaving for my chin and then he traced a line to my neck, pulling the T-shirt off. His lips followed his fingers, down my lips, down my throat to my collarbone. He licked the pulse pounding at the side of my throat, eliciting a long moan from me.

I groaned and grunted, feeling like an animal in heat, unstoppable, craving this depravity, craving more of him.

“You’re an addiction. I can’t get away from you, Yara.” His voice turned dark, desperate as he looked down at me. “How do I get away?”

“Do you want to?” I whispered. He didn’t answer. He just captured my lips in a punishing kiss as I ran my fingers down his body. Fast and passionate, he kissed as if he didn’t want to think about anything. As if he couldn’t think about tomorrow and then the next day and the days that would come after.

“I want you inside me, Ryden, now,” I begged. “I need you so bad.”

“But, baby…”

“Now.”

“Let me just grab a condom.”

“No protection. I’m on the pill. I don’t fucking care. I want to feel you, feel every inch of you inside me. Just take me,” I ordered. “Take me like this.”

His kisses turned fast, furious. He bit and nipped before he kissed a path down my throat. His tongue grazed against my nipple as his fingers went to my pussy. “I want to drink you until this burning thirst goes away. But I don’t think it will ever go away.”

“Later. Later. I want your cock now. Take me, use me like the whore I am. Break me, Ryden. Destroy me.”

“You’re my perfect whore.” He stopped teasing my nipples and looked up. “I’ll use you, break you, because you’re begging so beautifully.” His hand gripped my throat, and he entered me in one long thrust.

I screamed as he slammed inside me. I pushed myself up, my heels digging into the bed as he thrust once more with a deep, satisfied grunt. His rough hand slid over my thighs, tracing circles on my burning skin.

I tried to close my legs around him, to pull him deeper, but he held them open with one hand while using the other to tease my clit. Soft and slow, he took his time, matching it with the rhythm of his movement.

“Ryden…” I groaned, my voice begging. “Let me come, Ryden.”

“Not yet.”

“Please.”

“You look so pretty begging with my cock inside your pussy. My beautiful slut… tell me what you want now?” he asked, his eyes meeting mine. The possessiveness and greed in his eyes stopped my breath for a second.

“I want to feel you come inside me, Ryden.”

“Oh Yara, fuck, baby, you’ll destroy me.” His eyes met mine, and though they held raging hunger, there was also something else that made my breath hitch. I didn’t want to think about it, but I already knew it.

Love. Such a strange word.

He pounded into me, harder, deeper, faster, his movement feral. My head spun. My breath shuddered. Everything was blissfully quiet and dark inside me.

“Fuck!” I cried out, throwing myself back against the pillows.

His mouth fastened on mine as he continued to drive himself deeper into me. Then he picked me up and flipped us around until I was on top. One hand clamped down on my hip while the other went between my thighs, guiding my movements up and down his cock. His eyes were glassy with lust, his breathing ragged as he watched me ride him.

“Look at me, Ryden, and know that no other woman can make you feel this. You’re fucking mine.”

He growled.

“Yours. I have been since that first day.”

My pussy tightened around him, squeezing, and as I let go, I could feel him growing even harder.

“You first, Red.” When I least expected, he pulled me down and sank his teeth deep into my neck, and with a last push, I came apart in his arms, and a few minutes later, he followed me, filling me with his cum.

I collapsed on him, gasping for breath, trying to regain control over my body, over my mind.

I felt utterly spent. He pulled me against his chest and ran his fingers down my hair, cradling me in his arms. He kissed the top of my head, and my heart felt weak.

I wanted to cry. I wanted to scream.

I must be too tired.

You’re lying. Kat hissed. You’re running from your truth.

Fuck off, Kat. Nobody asked you.

“I like you like this. Naked. Bare. Vulnerable.” He studied me for a moment with a smirk. “I love my mark on you, Yara.”

“Ryden…”

“Yes?”

“I…”

Tell him before it’s too late.

“I like you. I like you a lot. I’m scared and I don’t know what to do with this feeling.”

His smile was radiant. He pressed a quick kiss to my head.

“You don’t have to do anything, Red. Just stay here with me, and I’ll do everything.”