Protect

1. Dryas

1

Dryas

Rue chuckles in bed beside me. She’s still sweaty and breathless and beautiful, lying completely naked except for her glorious cascade of coppery hair. I move a little closer, still trying to catch my breath. Tracing a constellation of freckles on her hip, I walk my fingers up her milk-froth pale skin until I reach the rosy tip of her breast.

Rue’s eyes are on me, her gaze bright blue. Her eyes softly close as I cup her breast and shape the pebbled n****e with my fingers. She props her head up on an arm, her breathing crossing the line into a quiet moan.

She is insatiable. Where usually any other partner would be begging for a break right now — after all, it is the fourth time we have f****d today — with Rue, that is not a concern. She presses closer into my hand, her eyes opening again.

Her gaze is darker now, her pupils wide with arousal. I brush back some of the magnificent curtain of her hair, nuzzling her neck. She shivers, excited.

Already, I am getting ready for her again, my c**k stirring against her leg. Her tiny hand finds the curve of my hip, tracing the line of my thigh. When she cups my c**k boldly, it is my turn to inhale quickly, closing my eyes. Her clever fingers find the notch just below the head of my c**k, squeezing and rubbing the vein that runs along my length.

I lean in and catch her mouth with my own, kissing her hard. She mmms, humming with unfulfilled desire. At that moment, it takes everything I have to remain still, not to flip her over and mount her. Everything in me screams that I should allow my primal side to take control, that I should just f**k her right now.

But we have already done that, Rue and me. I am trying for something different, trying to let her explore. Especially, because it feels so damn incredible to surrender myself to her attentions for once.

Closing my eyes, I feel her pressing me onto my back, moving down my body. She trails hot kisses down my torso. I can feel my body getting tight. I can feel her hot breath on my c**k a second before her soft lips brush the tip.

Fuck. The gentle suction of her mouth, the feel of the tip of her tongue as it flicks against my flesh… it’s too good. I can feel my toes flex, my hand coming up to fist in her hair.

Opening my eyes, I look down and see the hottest thing I have ever witnessed. Rue glancing up at me, her mouth open wide, taking as much of my c**k between her lips as she can. I can see just the flash of her breasts as she moves, high and tight, her n*****s pebbled. She does something with her tongue that feels incredible.

I have a choice to make. Either I spill down her creamy throat, or I pull my c**k from her mouth and switch our positions, driving my hardness into her hot p***y while she makes little moaning sounds. Both sound absolutely incredible, but only one will make her come.

“Stop,” I grit out. “Your mouth feels good, but nothing compares to f*****g you. I want to look into your eyes and watch you come for me.”

She pauses, hesitating. I seize on that, grabbing her with a growl and flipping her onto her back. Pinning her hands together over her head, I kiss and bite her neck. She is so very responsive, her chest rising and falling raggedly.

Her breasts are perfect, two flawless globes, each creamy and white and topped with a dollop of pink. I gorge myself on them, running my tongue around the areolae, teasing the n*****s to fine points with my teeth. She is so remarkably sensitive, her back arching, pushing her breasts up to my mouth.

Begging for more, demanding it.

What she wants, she gets. While I run my tongue in circles around her areola, I shift to my side. My hand wanders down her ribs, shaping her hip.

Nudging her thighs apart, I spread her p***y lips. She is already wet for me, so hot and soft, soaking my fingers as I find her clit. When I circle her clit she moans, her hands descending to run through my hair and explore my back.

“You are a tease,” she whispers in my ear.

That only makes me smile as I nuzzle my face between her breasts. I think I could die here and now, with her breathy little mmms and ohhs of pleasure egging me on.

My attention shifts to my c**k when it starts to ache with the need to bury myself in Rue, to wrap myself in her so deeply that we become something entirely new.

I release her breast from my mouth with a wet pop, moving back to grasp my c**k. She knows all too well what that means; her legs wrap around me; her arms pull me inexorably closer. I bury myself in her hot, tight p***y all the way to the hilt. Groaning, I have to pause for a second and close my eyes.

Rue is not interested in my struggle not to come, though. She rocks her hips against mine, making a whining sound as she tries to get me to move.

“Please, Dryas,” she says, her hands on my ass cheeks. Her bright blue eyes are intent on mine as soon as I open them. “Make me feel good.”

How can I say no to that?

I start to thrust, already gritting my teeth. Red flashes across my vision, which is weird. I shrug it off, trying to focus on this moment.

I move over Rue, every single muscle in flex. Rue scratches her nails down my back. The moment is erotically charged, seeming like we are the only two people in existence.

Her heart beats in time with mine, her breaths punctuated with every hard flick of my hips. Our eyes meet, the passion and emotion in hers matching the fire and meaning in my own.

Then the scene shifts, so suddenly that I am not prepared for it.

In the next moment, Rue is gone. The whole world where the bed was, where snow gently fell outside the windows, has all vanished. Everything is a deep, dark red… just like the color of blood.

Squinting, I can make out the dashboard of the car I am in. Everything is painted that same deep red like someone knocked over a gallon of paint. That strikes me as odd, but there is a buzzing sound in the back of my skull that is quite distracting.

I wish it would go away, but it persists.

I look down, trying to move. Everything rights itself in a second, and I realize that I am upside down.

Realizing that I am hanging, held in place by my seat belt, I manage to unstrap myself. I crumple with gravity, falling to the ceiling. My hands are slick with blood, but then again everything in sight is covered in blood.

How much of it is mine?

It’s only then that I look past myself, into the driver’s seat. Ari is there, sunk back against the headrest. His face is untouched by blood, his expression one of surprise.

I reach out to touch him, but my hand stops just shy of his body. There is a wound in his neck, a great gaping pink and red hole where his esophagus should be. That’s where all the blood came from, I realize.

For a second, I feel a little sick. I am touching his blood, which is only just starting to go cold. Grimacing, I reach over and feel for a pulse, already knowing that he is dead. I close my eyes, feeling a momentary pang of guilt; Ari was not much, but he was loyal.

When I have made sure that Ari’s eyes are closed, I try to get out of the SUV. The passenger door doesn’t work, looking oddly squished. So, I slide into the backseat and open the door.

My heart wrenches for a second when I realize that once again, I am going to be looking for Rue. I blink into the sunlight and look around, spotting the black sedan. It is completely busted and laying on its’ side, one of the back doors wrenched almost all the way off. From the bloody marks on the outside of the car, it is clear that someone has made it out of there.

At that moment, I know in my bones that she’s gone. Either she is dead, or she has been taken. With my heart as heavy as lead in my chest, I lurch over toward the sedan.

In the distance, I can hear sirens wail. I am focused on the car, on finding out where Rue is. Peeking in the ripped off door, I find the backseat empty.

My heart sinks even lower. If she is not here and Derrik is gone too, then that means that she has doubtless been taken by force. No matter how angry or upset Rue is with me, she would have checked on me; would have woken me from where I lay in Ari’s pooling blood.

She is gone, that much is certain. My fists clench unconsciously as I think of how close I came to saving her, and how still I fell short.

I am always just missing the mark when it comes to her.

I try to focus on what is before my eyes because there is not a lot I can do about the existential dilemma right now.

There is a good deal of blood here in the back of the black sedan, spattered in one direction. It is impossible to know whether any of it is Rue’s, though. A chill runs through me as I stagger back, slumping against the car. A police car and an emergency services van weave their way toward the crash.

A crash in which they will find that I am the only survivor.

Falling to the ground, I hear the buzzing sound again. It is everywhere this time, loud and oppressive. Between the buzzing and the roar of the sirens, it is too much. Putting my hands over my ears and closing my eyes, I sit and wait for the police to arrive.