I had to follow the voice. I had to find it. Maybe, somehow, it could help me…
The night sky burst into my vision, and I gasped for air as if I’d been drowning. I was lying on my back, my head was burning, I was so dazed that I couldn’t move. I could only stare through the ragged limbs of the pines, their needles piercing the starry night sky as the clouds swept over the moon.
There were footsteps behind me...closer...closer…
Leon stood over me. Something was smeared on his face; blood or mud, I couldn’t be sure. Slowly he crouched down, scooped me up into his arms, and cradled me against his chest.
His shirt was wet, stained. As he began to walk, it was with a stiffness that hadn’t been there before.
I tried to talk, tried to ask what the hell had happened and if we were safe. But my tongue felt like it was made of cotton, and I realized that my hand was still clenched in a vice-like grip around the knife.
“Just sleep, baby girl,” he muttered, even as my exhaustion swooped in as the adrenaline subsided, and I found myself barely able to keep my aching eyes open. “I told you I’d kill it. You’re okay. You’ll be okay.”
The bedcovers were pulled up over my head, my breath creating a warm cocoon as I lay nestled on soft pillows. My groggy brain knew it wasn’t my bed, but it also knew that something bad had happened last night, and pushing down the covers to see where I was seemed pretty frightening.
There was a shower running somewhere. The sheets smelled freshly cleaned and were crisp, like hotel sheets. I wasn’t wearing my costume from the party, but an oversized sweater that smelled distinctly of smoke and citrus-y pine. Leon’s smell.
I pushed back the covers, blinking slowly. The curtains had been thrown back to a gray day over a sea of snow-dappled pine trees clustered around the roofs of a small town. The room was undoubtedly a master suite, and on an uppermost floor judging by the view. The bed was massive, the walls made of stained wood and the decor like the interior of a modern log cabin.
I sat up, rubbing my eyes before I noticed my glasses, and my knife, sitting on the bedside table. Suddenly, it all came back in a rush that twisted up my stomach — the roofie in my drink, Juniper and Zane, Kent, the Gollum in the woods. My body still thought there was danger, and I could vividly remember what it felt like when the Gollum touched me.
The mine...those cold, flooded tunnels…
I jumped as the bathroom door opened, and Leon sauntered out naked, water dripping down the inked artwork on his chest as he rubbed a towel over his hair. He spotted me awake, smirked, and paused with the towel around his shoulders.
“Finally awake,” he said. The mirror at his back gave a drool-worthy view of his tattooed back and his ass — men’s asses were too rarely given the appreciation they deserved. I just nodded, hoping that the blush creeping up my face wasn’t visible. Trying not to stare at the monster-dick between his legs was proving impossible, no matter how many times I’d seen it before.
“And how do you feel?” He came up to the edge of the bed. I wanted to lick the water off his chest.
“Like I haven’t eaten in five years,” I said, honestly. My stomach was about to ingest itself. Horrifying events probably should have killed my appetite, but I desperately wanted a big breakfast.
If Leon was part of that breakfast, even better.
“Good, I already ordered room service. Should be here shortly.” He tossed aside the towel and crawled up on the bed, and my heart stuttered. “You’re the first course, doll.”
My makeup from the previous night was likely smeared all over my face and I hadn’t brushed my teeth, but he genuinely didn’t care. He pushed me back on the pillows and shoved my over-sized shirt up, sucking first one nipple and then the other as he pressed my legs apart. “Don’t forget our deal,” he murmured, in-between lapping his tongue over my now-hard nipples. “I get to pierce these sweet little buds. Soon — today, in fact.”
I’d forgotten, but the moment he reminded me my head rushed with heat. He gripped my hips, tugging me into position so I was held up just slightly off the bed, my back arched, and began to eat