Page 18 of Scream for Me

I shake my head, looking away from her eyes. “No, we need to keep moving. It’s not safe.” I point to the tall tree by the riverbank. “I’ll just be right up here so I can watch you.”

“Okay,” she replies meekly.

“Just don’t scream.”

She rolls her eyes. “Obviously.” She turns toward the water, stepping in but slipping on a wet rock. She gives a little screech but catches herself on both feet. She covers her mouth and turns to me, eyes wide.

I listen again; still, no movement nearby. “We’re good.”

“Okay, now I promise I won’t scream.” She pulls down her hand to reveal a smile, and it takes everything in me not to lick it off her face. I watch for a moment, stilling my anxious nerves to convince myself to scale the tree. It’s not until after she lies back in the water, floating on the surface, and sits back up to run her hands over her body that I gain the confidence to leave the bank. I’ve never climbed a tree so fast in my life, and once again, I’m thankful Marie’s scream brought me so much strength. I grab two of the circular brown fruit and four large leaves for her clothing, and tuck them under my armpit, falling to the ground with a heavy bang.

“Holy shit!” Marie yells.

“What’s wrong?” I ask, rushing toward her.

“You scared me.”

My heart settles, registering that my jump may have been louder than she anticipated. I catch my breath, walking toward the bank, dropping the leaves, and cracking open one of the fruits on a stone. “What’s new?”

She giggles, falling to her back and floating. “You don’t usually scare me.”

It’s funny. She was terrified of me mere hours ago after I ripped through the monster's flesh and pounced on her as if she were next. Even then, in my animalistic craze, I was still myself—my new, uncovered self. I would never hurt her, and I think a part of her knew that. But still, every morsel of her body shuddered in terror as if I was back to the monster in the dark corner of her room. She wanted the fear. I recognized her subtle reactions so well, and it took such a short amount of time to learn. Perhaps that explains the strong, abrupt need I feel for her—the words that slipped from my mouth as I took her on the forest floor. We’re made for each other, even if in the end we discover we can never be.

I contemplate pointing out the recent history of her fright, but I can tell she would rather play this game and I’m happy to oblige. I pour the liquid into one half of the fruit and enter the water, presenting it to her. “Why am I slightly offended?” I offer her the hairy brown shell, and she accepts with a laugh. “You want me to be scared of you?”

I shrug, trying to ignore the way her breasts look covered in the gleam of the water and fall to my back, strategically hiding my budding erection with my thighs. “Sometimes.”

“Like when?” She slurps the juice inside the fruit, barely twisting her face in disgust before peeling a piece of the green meat off and slipping it into her plump lips. Everything she does is intoxicating. How can I expect to keep her alive when all I want to do in her presence is fill her?

I dunk myself under the water to cool myself off. “When I’m fucking you.” I don’t look at her. These words should not be leaving my lips right now. There’s only one way they could end, and it does not keep her safe.

She places her partially-eaten fruit half on the surface of the water and swims toward me, her eyes full of desire and her lips below the surface. I tense, anticipating her touch, knowing I won’t find the strength to refuse. She rests her top half on my stomach as I float. “Why would you want me to be scared when you’re fucking me, hmm?”

I gulp. “Because you gush for me and your screams pierce my soul.”

She crawls closer to my lips. “I’m pretty sure I can get just as wet and scream just as loud when I’m not scared. You definitely proved that for both of us, but want to test the theory?”

I don’t respond; instead, I let my head roll back. Her hands reach between my legs, finding my cock, hard as stone and standing to attention. She palms my tip, lathering herself in my liquid before slowly rolling down my length. My attachers come to life, reaching for her and suctioning onto her hand. She doesn’t let their force deter her; instead, she continues to roll her palm up and down. She can’t reach her fingers around me, but the sensation is more than enough, nearly causing me to burst already.

She increases her speed, and I’m completely lost, but then she moans, her head resting on my chest, watching as she strokes me. “Wait,” I say, ducking my lower half into the water and sitting up. My attachers heed my mental command and release her.

“What?” she asks, hurt and confusion in her eyes. “Did I do something wrong?”

I scoop her in my arms, staring into her eyes. “Never. You’re perfect, always. That’s the problem. It’s too good, and I’m mere hair-widths away from pulling you onto my lap and filling you until you're leaking with my seed from every orifice. We’re nearly to the light. We have to wait.”

She gulps, resting a hand on my chest to steady herself. “Why must you say shit like that?"

“Like what?”

“You want me leaking from every orifice? How do you expect me not to jump your bones after you said a thing like that?” She covers her eyes with the back of her hand. I chuckle and throw her over my shoulder, satisfied with both of our cleanliness. I pick up both halves of the fruit, the uncracked one, and the leaves I gathered for her clothing as she settles herself in my arms. “Ready to reach the light?” I ask.

“Ready,” she replies, but I don’t miss the dull look in her eyes.

There’s so much we haven’t talked about yet. We don’t know what we’ll do if the light isn’t what we hoped for or if she decides the human world is the only place for her. It would be the right choice, of course, because she can’t live in this darkness, even with me by her side. From my newly excavated memories, I know sometimes love isn’t enough.

Chapter 16: Marie

I’ve slept enough over the last couple of days to last a lifetime. Of course, I needed it. From fucking to fighting for our lives, my system hasn’t worked so long in probably ever. Scully raced through the woods. Not necessarily running, but taking such quick strides that wind pinned me against his chest. Since I napped for almost the entire journey to the end of the woods, I’ve barely had time to notice, but now I take in the differences. The trees are shorter, and there’s no source of light to be found, but the darkness lowers a hue. The path is more defined—still riddled with fallen leaves, branches, and twisting roots, but it appears to lead somewhere. I trust Scully knows the way, and even if the light isn’t what we hoped, it’s apparent we’ll find something at the end of this journey.