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Pretty sure I'm gaping at him. My hot but grumpy roommate wants to rub me down? The idea both shocks me and turns me on.
Dax scoops me up and deposits me on the table, on my back. "Roll over and cross your arms above your head."
Only now do I notice the bottle of massage oil he has tucked under his arm.
I roll onto my stomach and link my hands above my head.
He pushes my shirt up to expose nearly all of my back, then he unhooks my bra and lets the halves fall to my sides. With one cheek on the table, I can see him sideways. My nipples harden while I watch him pour oil onto his palm and rub his hands together to spread it around. By the time he lays his hands on me, I'm already wet for him. He slides his palms over my back, massaging tight muscles and getting me more turned on every second. When he pulls my sweatpants and underwear down to my ankles, I start breathing harder. To feel his hands on my ass, rubbing while he works his way down my thighs, gets me so hot for him that I want to squirm and moan. I just manage to suppress that response. But damn, this man knows how to touch a woman.
"Turn onto your back," he says, his voice rougher and rumblier, the way he sounded that day in the warehouse when he vowed to fuck me on the concrete floor.
Just as I start to roll over, a scream echoes outside the house.
I jump off the table and yank my clothes back into place. "What was that?"
Dax grabs a cutlass and sprints out of the room.
Another scream pierces the air, followed by the ravenous howls and bellows of the Echo creatures.
I race after Dax, catching up to him just as he flings the front door open and bolts outside. But as he sprints across the lawn, I lag behind him in my pursuit. His legs are longer, and I can't quite catch up.
A girl tumbles out of the woods, crashing through a hydrangea bush, and collapses on the lawn.
Dax reaches her first, but the girl shrieks when he tries to help her up. I get there a few seconds later and drop to my knees beside the girl.
"Are you hurt?" I ask. "What did those creatures do to you?"
Her blue eyes home in on me. She's breathing hard, and her cheeks are pink, but I can't see any wounds on her. She seems like a teenager. The girl bites her lip, glancing back and forth between me and Dax.
"It's okay," I tell her. "He's a good guy. We want to help you, if we can. Will you let us do that?"
She nods.
"Can you walk?" I ask.
"Y-yeah. I think so."
"Good." I offer her my hands. "Let me help you up."
The girl sounds American, and I want to ask where she's from and how she got here. But questions can wait.
Snarling and the snapping of teeth makes me glance at the woods even while the girl takes my hands and we stand up together. The creatures who guard this estate are watching us. Glaring at us. Ravening for blood they know they won't get, not today. No one can penetrate the estate, Sefton had said. It's magically warded. The Echo creatures are allowed to guard the perimeter and the woods, but they can't cross into the yard. So how did this girl get in? I remember Sefton saying he couldn't guarantee the creatures would "mind their manners." I think he was just trying to scare me. It seems like the so-called guards can't step onto the lawn.
I brush leaves out of the girl's hair. "My name is Allison, and that's Dax. What's your name?"
"Willow."
"Are you sure you aren't hurt?"
She nods. "I'm okay. Those monsters didn't chase me until I got almost to the yard."
The creatures are still observing us from a discreet distance, so I lead Willow and Dax back into the house. We go into the sitting room, and I take a seat on the sofa. Willow drops onto the sofa too, with one cushion separating us.
Dax stands nearby, arms barred over his chest.
Willow keeps glancing at him sideways while wringing her hands.
I look at Dax. "Why don't you get some food and water for Willow? She must be hungry."
