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"You're okay, Leah," he says in my ear. "You're safe."
"How can I be safe with you?" I dare to ask.
"You couldn’t be safer with anyone else."
I'm so confused. How does he know my name? How can I possibly be safe with a monster who I've been taught my whole life only kills women?
He jerks to the side, making a turn and I grip him tighter. My eyes widen as a new emotion fills me. Something I have never, ever felt before. Never thought I would, least of all with a monster. Arousal. Somehow, until this very moment, I had not realized that I am completely naked, with my body against a monster wearing nothing but a loincloth. My bare pussy is rubbing against his stomach with his every movement. It makes me feel...desire. I can feel my wetness on him. I have never...
His hand comes to my ass, no claws now, as they heft me higher on him. I moan, fucking moan, as my clit rubs against him. His fingers flex on my ass and I know he heard it. I can feel his muscles moving against me and my eyes close to our surroundings rushing by me, tightening my arms around his neck, my thighs around his body. He groans and I arch forward, my hips moving without me giving them permission to, just to rub harder on him.
What are you doing?But I don't seem to be able to stop. I move my hips back and forth, rubbing my clit on him, trying to contain my sounds but failing. He doesn't try at all, groaning in my ear, giving breathy sighs that I don't think has anything to do with the exertion of him holding me as he runs. He doesn't show any signs of that, somehow.
Then, we're slowing down and my eyes open to find out why. But instead of me taking in everything around me, my mind finally clears enough to truly realize what I was just doing.
"Oh my God," I breathe.
"Don't you dare feel ashamed."
He grits the words out though, tight and clipped, sending fear rushing through me again. But then he crouches down, still holding me against him. I look around me as his arms bunch with him moving something below us. We're in the forest, deep in the forest. When I look up, I can barely see the moon through the canopy of the tall trees overhead. At the sound of movement, my eyes snap down and find the monster moving leaves aside. A hole appears, utter darkness inside of it, looking like it will swallow me whole. I hate the dark.
I shake my head, trying to put space between us as my chest begins heaving with my panting breaths.
"No, no. I can't go down there. I can't."
"You can, Leah," the monster murmurs.
"How do you know my name?" I squeak out.
"I know everything about you," he answers but doesn't really answer at all. "They will be looking for us. I will protect you with my life if they find us, I swear. But we will be safest down here. They would not dare to come below ground."
"So why the hell would I want to?" I blurt out.
I'm getting dizzy, feeling light-headed, the darkness creeping in again. The reason I hate the darkness in the first place. I have passed out during a beating from my father so many times, the pain and fear too much for me to bear. I’ve awoken with bruises and scars that I didn't know the cause of, other than that they were at his hands. I’ve awoken to my sisters comforting me yet again, having taken the rest of the beating for me. The darkness is my weakness, and I can't afford to be weak right now. Not again. I won't wake up to my sisters, but to a monster, doing who knows what to me.
"I would never..." he begins to growl, and a shaky cry rips out of me. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Look at me. Please."
I look up from the dark hole to meet his just-as-dark eyes. Are they supposed to make me feel better? Then, his mouth curves up, those full lips smiling at me. And it's disarming, it's handsome, it's...confusing.
"Just...trust me. For a little while. Then, I will explain everything."
Everything? What the hell does he mean?
He straightens, coming to standing, always looking me in the eye with meaning, as if he's trying to convey something that I don't understand. Then...he jumps, and we're falling again, only this time into a darkness that feels like it's consuming me. I look up again, at the disappearing light from the moon, and my eyelids flutter shut.
The darkness wins.
Chapter 5
As we fall to the ground, her mind goes completely blank. No thoughts, no feelings, nothing. Sheer panic fills me as I land and pull my head back enough to see her face. That panic only worsens when I find her closed eyes, and the way her head drops back listlessly.
"Leah!" I shout, far too loud. "Leah, pl—"
Visions fill my mind, her dream beginning. She and her sisters setting up some type of structure they call a fortress with sheets and pillows. Her mind is taking her to a place where she felt safe. Because she damn sure doesn't feel safe with me, and I can't even say that I blame her. She has no idea how much I failed her. But I do, and the guilt is consuming me.
She was at the mercy of that sick fuck, and if I'd gotten there a moment later, he may have hurt her in an irrevocable way. Maybe he already had. I'm so angry at myself, for not getting to her sooner, for not recognizing that feeling in my stomach as a warning to go to her. For not realizing that scream was her calling out for me, even if she couldn’t have known, and rushing up to save her the very moment my eyes opened. I don't think I'll ever forgive myself for what she had to endure.
I cradle Leah to my chest as softly as I can, not wanting to rouse her, not when her dream state is a place where she's laughing and giggling, no cares in the world. Because we have much to worry about now. I have killed three humans, and their leaders will not take it lightly, just as if they had killed three of us. We would want retribution. Justice. But I could not let anyone hurt my mate. Even knowing the consequences will be steep, I don’t regret a thing. Except that the first time my mate ever saw me, it was as I ripped someone's throat out. Still though, I wouldn't change a thing. She's with me now, safe.
