EXHAUSTION didn’t stop the nightmare. It slithered through her dreams, the stinking dark fog stained everything it touched and surrounded her until all there was around was stench and decay.
Shadows ruptured from the ground with rumbles and puffs of rotten waste and formed an army of headstones in what had become the barren wasteland of Tess’ dreams. They loomed like soldiers, tall, intimidating, silent. Waiting for orders. Waiting to kill.
Cold, bitter, and carried on a savage wind, it snaked around her and turned bones to ice, breath to steam. She folded her arms under her breasts and huddled into herself for warmth.
And they came from the darkness like ghosts. Ghosts from her past who had shaped her future with selfishness and greed.
“Hello again, little sister.” The three of them spoke together, a haunted clash of voices humming like an angry swarm of hornets.
Tess studied their faces, and what she could see of them was shrouded in darkness. Her subconscious projected them as they had been the last time she’d seen them. Not children, but young adults.
“Not happy to see us, little sister?”
“I’m not your sister,” Tess snarled, putting every ounce of hate and disgust into her voice, but it came out weak, frightened. The voice of a terrified young girl.
The triumvirate split and formed a triangle around her. Once, she would have spun around, trying to keep them all within eyesight at the same time. Now, she stood still at the center of them, her eyes locked on the eldest of them, the ringleader.
Jonathan.
“It doesn’t matter what you do. I am beyond you now, and you can’t hurt me. You’re reduced to nothing. Spoiled boys who terrorized and brutalized a young girl for no reason other than drink and stupidity.”
Jonathan’s mouth moved, spewed out the voices of three, and sent it roaring across the cemetery and out across to no man’s land, to the edge of dreams. “Beyond us? There is no beyond us, little sister. We are stronger now than we have ever been, fueled by your fear and weaknesses.”
Tess’ courage started to fail. She stood in the middle of them, the bravado she had met them with, strong and valiant, dwindled as though she did, indeed, fuel them through the dream state.
“I’ll die before I let you touch me again.”
Manic laughter throbbed, echoed, and bounced from one ghost to another. The creepiness factor multiplied and wrapped an ethereal hand around her ankle, dragging her back down into the hell she’d endured for years. “You’re going to die anyway, little sister. We’re just going to have our fill of you first.”
The figures exploded. The rending of their forms boomed like gunfire, and shards of them flew like shrapnel, morphing into the guise of crows. Hundreds of them flapped and swooped down to rip at her clothes and cawed with delight as she battered at them.
Weight dropped on her chest and stole her breath. Not now, was all she could think. Not when she needed to fight, to live. Her hand closed around the throat of a crow, gave it a serving of what she was going through, squeezing until its beady eyes bulged and the sharp beak gaped open.
They roared in shock when the life evaporated from the bird and swarmed around her, until the clothes she wore were rags and her skin bloody tatters.
She screamed, forcing the sound past the blockage in her throat, just completely pissed off at having to survive in dreams what she’d lived through in life. She could die here in dreams, had done so before with variations.
They drove her to the ground, onto her knees with her arms folded over her head. The screech of birds died away, along with the angry flapping of hundreds of wings. It took a moment to summon the courage to lift her head and face the new monster they had become.
They stood together, three young men on the cusp of manhood, eyes alight with madness and hands on their bastard erections. They had her where they wanted her, she realized with dread. Naked and on her knees. Shit! Even in dreams, emotions felt so real and did so much damage.
She scrambled to her feet and tried to leap up and rebalance the scales and throw off their advantage. She was too late. The scales were too far gone in their favor. Weight crashed down on her back and she staggered, crashing face first into the ground.
Hands groped her, tugged and poked, rammed fingers into places they had no right to touch. She screamed again, a battle cry of outrage, and fought like a demon. They pinned her easily, that eerie maniacal laughter swelled into a tumultuous noise, deafening her even as it froze her to the bone.
The first cock attempted to breach her, a horribly cold appendage ramming against her, bruising her. If it managed to penetrate, it would damage.
“Bastards. You couldn’t do it the first time, what makes you think you can manage to get it up enough to—” The sentence cut off in a high-pitched scream. She became detached, separated body from mind as pain the like of which she’d never felt ripped her apart.
Their combined howl of triumph was the last thing she heard before she woke up.
*
“Jesus, Tess! Wake up! Come on, baby, it’s a dream!”
Mac caught her as she shot awake, the remnants of the scream still hanging on the air. She immediately pressed a hand between her thighs to check her sex. When she cupped herself, she yelped at the contact.
His strong arms curled around her and drew her close to a rock hard, naked male chest. “For fuck’s sake, Tess, you’re absolutely freezing. Here.” Mac kept her close as she started to shake and pulled a blanket up around them both. “Scared the life out of me, baby.”
She tried to turn away from him, much to her shame. Turn away, shy away, to hide her vulnerability from him.
Mac didn’t give her a choice, he just anchored her to him. His big, warm hands rubbed up and down her arms, soothed the goosebumps, and warmed her chilled flesh. She struggled for a few moments before she surrendered, cuddled into him, rested her head on his heart, and listened to the soothing rhythm.
“Want to talk about it?”
She shook her head and dragged in a long breath.
Without a look at the bedside clock, Tess knew what time it was. Typical nightmare time, three in the a.m. and counting. He smiled when she shifted, snuggled closer to Mac’s warmth and soothing hand, and hissed out a pained breath.
He held her hand, the one seeking the pain between her thighs, drew it away, and brought it to his mouth. “Leave it alone, baby. You’re going to be sore for a little while. I’ve cleaned you up, changed the bed, and found some painkillers. All you have to do is swallow a couple pills and go back to sleep.”
Tess narrowed her eyes at him. “What don’t you want me to know?” she croaked the words out slowly, careful not to raise her voice.
Mac rolled his eyes and sighed. “Can’t sneak anything past you, can I? Your pussy is very swollen, so it’ll be tender for a while.”
“How swollen?” Her voice rose an octave.
“Never satisfied,” he muttered grumpily. “Always needing details.”
“Damn. Straight.”
Mac moved quickly. She found herself on her back with lovely soft clean sheets under her. Mac’s hands rested on her inner thighs and he eased them open. Something flickered across his face but his eyes never left hers. “Take a look. Just don’t freak out.”
Daunted, she lifted on her elbows and drew in a long breath before she dared to peek down at her sex. She gasped, goggled at it with her jaw on her lap. Swollen was an understatement. Her genitals were swollen as if they’d been trapped in a vacuum and left there. No wonder she was sore.
Mac trailed his fingertips over the puffy flesh. Tess hissed slightly at the over sensitive flickers of nerves attempting to come to life. Her clit appeared huge, and it was adamant about tolerating no touching at all.
“Wow.”
“Are you okay?”
She blinked at him. “This is from…multiple orgasms?”
“Multiple rapid orgasms. Do you know how many times you came in five minutes?”
All she remembered was orgasm flowing into orgasm. The edges of each blurred into one long explosion centered on her clit. “No idea.”
“Twelve. Your body responded to each one within seconds. How sore are you?”
“Fairly. That was my punishment then? I demand an orgasm and you give me several until my body can’t take any more?” Tess frowned and tried to recall events. “Shit. Shit, Mac, please tell me I didn’t wet myself.”
“No harm done, Tess. You were pressed to your limit.”
She moaned. “Fuck. How embarrassing.”
Disapproval crossed over Mac’s face as he shoved her back to the pillows and crawled over her so his body fit to hers in all the right places. Despite everything it had gone through, her sex flared to life, her hips lifted to his cock in offering.
“Natural bodily functions, Tess. I don’t want you to be embarrassed by what we do together. If you feel that way, it needs talking out so that we progress together. Otherwise, we end up doing things that you’re not comfortable with and you end up unhappy, humiliated, whatever.”
His body relaxed on top of hers, slowly, gently, and allowed her to get used to the weight of him as he pressed her down. She was braver when it came to him on top, but there was still that knee-jerk hitch of resistance. He rubbed his nose over hers, his lips brushing hers with the faintest of smiles.
Tess’ hips rolled against his cock, notched his erection between the puffy lips, and coated it with the clear moisture flooding her. He moaned and buried his face in her neck. “No, baby. Not tonight.”
She understood why he said no, she really did. From what she’d seen of her pussy, any contact with it would be painful. But he’d denied her his cock, and it was his cock her body craved. Her arms looped around his neck and locked him to her as her hips lifted, capturing the head of his erection inside her. She wrapped her legs around his hips to hold him still.
“Tess, I said no.”
“You didn’t mean it,” she purred. “Otherwise, you’d fight me.”
“Created a sodding nymphomaniac,” he muttered back at her.
“But I’m your nymphomaniac.”
That switched something in him. The territorial male came out and strutted its stuff, and his eyes darkened and adopted a heated glaze, which suggested his control was close to being compromised. “I’m yours, Mac. You’ve marked me as yours, in every place possible. Now, do it again. Mark me as yours so everyone knows,” Tess murmured.
The growl of an alpha male in full rut rumbled out of his chest. His mouth swooped down on hers, violated it in several very interesting ways, and then said, “Mine.”
“Yes. Yours.”
“Mine,” he snarled and then drove his hips downward to hers, sliced his massive cock through her brutally swollen sex, and took advantage of her lubricated state to pierce her to the core in one vicious thrust.
“Agh!” As her sex spasmed around the swift intrusion, she decided she really needed to start listening to Mac when he said no. And, of course, she’d managed to wind him up to the point where marking her was his main focus. “Mac!”
Mac’s hands fisted in the pillow on either side of her head and caged her in, his eyes focused solely on hers, sweat just beginning to sheen his face and shoulders. That rock hard body pressed her down. His hips battered into hers with sharp slaps.
“Wrap your legs around me,” he bit out between thrusts and reached down to drag at her thigh. She felt like she was in heaven around him, so much so, she didn’t know if she could stop even if she wanted to beg him to.
The pain radiating from her broken center began to change, eased slightly, and allowed room for pleasure to sneak past and evolve. She hooked her legs over his back, gripped his hips tightly with her thighs, and howled when his cock slid deeper, possessed her fully.
His mouth sought the pulse point at the base of her throat, his tongue laved over the throb. She made a soft mmmmn noise and angled her head so he had better access.
She was unprepared when his teeth clamped down on her throat, his bite none too gentle as he sucked feverishly, marking her physically. The feel of his mouth claiming her so openly sent the beginning of her orgasm stuttering. Little sparks juddered through her system before they fanned into the real deal by the now brutal stroke of his cock.
Wet sounds emanated from where they joined, strangely erotic, the counter beat to the hard slap of flesh on flesh. Their moans and sighs filled the air, punctuated by gasps and whimpers.
“Going to come,” Mac forced the words out in a guttural groan, his body tense, his hips driving faster, harder, vicious blows into her pussy until his head fell back, his cock as deep in her as he could ram it, and he roared with the sheer victory of his orgasm.
Hot semen splashed at the heart of her, pulsed out with the swell and throb of his penis. He ground his pelvis against hers and rubbed against her clit until her sex fisted around him and milked the last of his ejaculation with strong contractions.
Well and truly marked, Tess thought with satisfaction. Well and truly his.
Just as he belonged to her.
“You need to go to sleep,” he murmured in her ear half an hour later, once they’d both caught their breath and lay limp. “I’ve got plans for you, baby.”
“I’ve slept more since I met you than I have all year,” Tess grumbled.
“You’ve had an extraordinary amount of physical exercise since you met me, baby. Your very lovely, incredibly sexy body has been put through its paces and had to accustom itself to a lot of new things.”
She cocked an eyebrow at him. “Don’t you have a business to run?”
“The club can manage without me for a few days. Paul knows what he’s doing. I cleared a few issues up earlier by phone and email while you slept, so there’s nothing pressing to attend to.” He ran his nose up and down her jaw, down her throat, and then nuzzled between her damp breasts. “Except you, of course.”
“Softie.”
“You’re my exception,” he said simply and brushed his lips over hers before he rolled off and left her laid wide open and stunned.
He kept saying these things, and her barriers were falling away bit by bit. She’d lost the war the first time he joined his body with hers. She knew it then and could admit it now. But she seemed to be losing the battles as well, too fast and too easily, and she needed those to protect the softest part of her for a while longer.
The past hours were evidence of her connection with Mac. In all her life, Tess never thought she’d be so open with a man she’d been willing to do what she’d done with Mac. The trust she had in him was down to the bone. She’d never acknowledged this wanton and overtly sexual side of herself.
Mac was the key to her chest of secrets and lies.
She found herself wanting to curl up with him on the sofa, a bottle of wine between them, and tell him everything. Everything. Not just the shit and blood of her past, but the goals and triumphs of her present and future. Every secret she’d kept close, every lie she’d told and suffered over. Everything.
“Wish I had a camera handy,” Mac said with a grin and stood at the side of the bed, his thumbs and index fingers held up in a square as though focusing in on a potential photograph. “This would be a very sexy addition to my wall at the office.”
Tess’ insides shriveled at the thought. “I hate having photos taken of me.”
His gaze roamed up and down her body, his head tilted as though considering his options. “Why?”
Feeling stupid, she shrugged. These days everyone snapped photos with their phones and their cameras and tablets. Social media and the need to splash pictures of yourself half-dressed or in various poses seemed to be the accepted norm.
“Why, Tess?” He sat beside her, laid a hand on her thigh.
A short inner battle, and then a swift kick to her mind, and a reminder she wanted to share everything with this man. Sometimes sharing makes us fools, she mused and felt like a right one. “They make me feel ugly. I feel stupid when someone points a camera at me and I get this weird expression on my face like a deer in headlights. It’s really attractive in photos, believe me. I just…I look horrible. I can’t bear to have pictures taken.”
“Do your scars affect the way you feel about photos?”
“I don’t like being photographed with my clothes on, Mac. The likelihood of anyone getting pictures of me naked are zero to one.” Tess stared down at her chest, the silver scars bisecting her breasts, down to her pubic area where most of the scars were hidden beneath the protective hair.
“They don’t define you, Tess.”
“They defined the direction of my life from the age of thirteen,” she disagreed. She gestured to her breasts. “They’re physical reminders of my inadequacies. Why would I want them immortalized in pictures when they’ll stay with me until I die?”
“Because you’re beautiful, Tess. Your body is beautiful. The scars don’t detract from that. They only enhance it, proof of inner beauty, inner strength. What comes from inside you shines, and as a result, baby, you are divine.”
She scoffed. “You’re thinking with your penis, Mac.”
“Believe what you want to believe,” he retorted. There was anger and sympathy written over his face, but he didn’t press for an argument. “Just know that I see you, Tess. I see all of you, and I like what I see.”
He reached out to the bedside unit, plucked some tablets off the side, and held them out to her. Then, he passed her a glass of water. “Take these, they’re only painkillers. They’ll take the edge off the discomfort.”
“Mac.” Touched by him, despite telling herself he was bullshitting, she sat up, stroked his face. Shifting onto her knees, she leaned forward and kissed his stubbled cheek. “No one has ever cared for me or liked what they’ve seen. There’s been no one until you.”
He popped the pills in her mouth himself, held the glass to her lips until she drank thirstily. Setting the empty glass aside, he lifted her onto his lap, folded her into him so that she felt protected. More than that, she felt loved.
“One day, you’ll let me take photos of you naked. Maybe then, you’ll see what I see. Maybe then,” he said with a sigh and ran his hands down her back, “you’ll learn how to love yourself.”
You can’t love what you hate. But she said nothing, unwilling to damage what was fragile and blooming. She’d never see what Mac saw in her. She’d spent too many of her younger years staring in the mirror and despising what stared back, then too many years avoiding the mirror at all.
“What did you see in me?” Tess wondered drowsily. “When you claimed me yesterday, why did you choose me?”
He hmmm’d in response. “I saw you on the security cams, loitering outside and looking as lost as a townie in the countryside. Took me ten minutes to decide whether you’d come in or not. If you’d walked away, I would have been out the door tracking you down.
“But you knocked on the door. That was brave. Paul was going to turn you away. You seemed too young and nervous. I told him to let you in, do the forms, and keep an eye on you. I wanted you naked and under me even before I read your forms. Then, you were in my office, so restless and unsure of yourself. Terrified, but still willing to give yourself to me.”
Tess smirked. “So, because I was a slut then?”
“Don’t bring yourself down that way!” Mac’s voice snapped out. “Not everyone likes someone else because of how fast they drop their pants, Tess. Courage, strength, character. What’s in here,” he set a hand on her heart, “is far more important to me than what’s here.” His hand cupped her lightly between the legs.
That gave her something to ponder. She yawned widely, shocking herself. No one should be this tired after so many hours sleep. Her eyelids fluttered shut. Her head drooped like a wilted flower.
“What was in those pills?” she slurred at him. Her body went into a wonderful float, rising up and away. It was with a detached sense of self she felt him lay her down gently, smoothing a hand over her hair and tucking her in. His lips touched her forehead.
“Codeine, baby. Just painkillers, I promise. They’ll help you sleep until morning.”
Were her eyes rolling around in their sockets? “Unfair, Mac.”
“Perfectly fair, darling. I need you healthy and rested for tomorrow.”
“W’for?”
“Surprise, baby. Wait and see.”
“Bastard,” she mumbled before her system crashed.
She hated surprises.
* * * *
Breakfast was ready and waiting at something past eight in the morning. Four triangles of golden toast, lavishly adorned with thick blackberry jam. A tall glass of orange juice, so cold condensation ran down the glass. Four slices of bacon, crisped to perfection, and two potato waffles.
Tess sat up in bed when Mac brought it all in on a tray. Love swamped her as he fluffed pillows around her and tucked the covers to her breasts.
“What’s the occasion?” she asked with a little smile.
“Do I need one to spoil you? You haven’t eaten in the time we’ve been together. I’m surprised I can’t hear your stomach growling from here.” He turned to open the curtains to a clear sunny day.
While his back was to her, Tess grabbed the opportunity to slide her hand beneath the covers and check between her legs. Everything seemed to be okay, just a little tender and achy. She didn’t have time to remove her hand before Mac caught her in the act. Sympathy whispered over his face and Tess experienced a wave of mortification.
“Everything all right down there?” Mac asked with genuine concern. “Anything I need to look at?”
Tess’ face heated at being caught. She quickly withdrew her hand and plucked at the duvet cover with nervous fingers. “No, no, everything’s dandy.”
“Good. You should feel better still by tonight. Once you’ve had breakfast, had a shower and feel like yourself, we’ll make a start on your surprise.” The tray settled on her lap with Mac next to her, and the sight of that food made her mouth water. The scent of bacon tickled her taste buds. “Tuck in, baby.”
“Are you not having any?”
“I’ve had mine, and had a shower. I’m an early riser,” he explained. He picked up a piece of toast, held it to her lips, and fed it to her slowly, much to her delight. “One night, I’m going to tie you up like I did yesterday, blindfold you, and feed you all manner of tasty goodies. I’ll cover you in chocolate and whipped cream, and then lick it off until you’re spotless and aroused.”
Tess choked on a bite of toast. Mac patted her on the back quickly as he chuckled. “Guess you’re interested in trying that, huh?”
It sounded sexy as hell. She could easily imagine his tongue, the way it would slide all over her body as he paid special attention to wickedly sensitive places…oh yes, please! “I might consider giving it a shot.”
He grinned. “I’ll shave that very sexy mound of yours, so that it’s smooth and soft, and so sensitive to the touch that even the feel of my breath on your pussy will be divine torture. Cover you in melted chocolate and spend hours down there making sure you’re clean inside and out.”
She’d eaten the toast and started on the bacon. Now, she set aside the second piece and spread her legs wide beneath the covers. “Jesus, Mac, if you want another round of sex, just go for it. Any more fantasizing and I’ll self-combust!”
“Fantasizing is the fun bit,” he said and leaned over to kiss her and steal a rasher off her plate. He bit into it and then gestured with the remainder. “And you’re banned from sex until tonight, young lady.”
“Say what?”
“No sex today. I don’t want to cause any more damage by overdoing things, not after the last couple days. You just need to have an easy day, and that’s what we’re going to do.”
Tess went straight into pout mode. She’d looked forward to maybe a good long coming together in the shower after breakfast, had thought about a quick, hard screw against a wall or perhaps on a surface top. “But I feel fine.”
“By tonight you’ll feel a lot better than fine.” He popped the last bit of bacon into his mouth and patted her knee while he chewed. “Be a good girl and don’t argue. If you behave yourself today, I’ll make it worth your while.”
Eyes narrowed, she sized him up while she refreshed herself with a long drink of orange juice. “Worth my while how?”
He cocked an eyebrow, surveyed her plate, and went for a waffle. So much for having his earlier, she thought. “You’ll see. I have many tricks up my sleeve, baby, and it’s just a matter of picking one. How do you feel about spending the night with me in my home?”
Anticipation fluttered in her belly. “Your home? With…the toy cupboard?”
“Not just the toy cupboard, baby. All manner of contraptions designed for your pleasure, with any room you like at your disposal.”
She did like the sound of that. It created images of raunchy, no holds barred activities. “Are we checking off boxes from the list?”
Between them, they’d cleared the tray. Mac picked it up, set it aside, and then straddled her where she rested. He tugged the covers down so her breasts were free and ran a fingernail over each nipple. She hissed in delight, and they beaded tightly in response, extending into his palms.
“We’ll see what we can do. I really want to adorn these girls with some pretty jewelry though. I have just the sparkles in mind.” He bent and pressed his lips to each point. Then, he made slow and very thorough love to her mouth until her brains leaked out of her ears.
“Well, now that we have this evening’s plan in place, we better start with the day portion of the plan. Up, shower, dress and pack a bag, baby.” He winked at her and sent her heart fluttering. “We’re going to have some fun.”