Fear the Wicked (Illusions Series Book 2)(22)
After removing her wrist from the cuff, I picked her up, cradling her close to my chest while still managing to hold on to the tools I'd taken from beneath the platform. Colleen had already stepped deeper inside the cabin. She was smart to keep her distance from the immediate threat. It was unfortunate that despite her best efforts she would be used.
Shoving the door opened, I stepped out into a shadowed forest, the last beams of the setting sun nothing by a glow on the distant horizon. The moon and stars were already visible in the sky, the crisp bite of evening wind nipping at my cheeks. Eve shivered for only a second beneath her simple dress, but was soon heated again by another rush of need and heat, the drug coursing through her veins doing its best to force her into overdrive. She wriggled against my arms, her eyes rolling back and fluttering closed, her lips pulling into a smile before pulling even tighter into a stern line.
"Where are you taking me?" she managed to ask, her words scattered and hoarse with a hiss of air over her tight lips. Teeth chattering in response to the mix I'd given her, she relaxed for only a second before her muscles were clenched again.
I set her on the ground, chuckling as she crawled toward me rather than away. Her back arched so that her hips and shoulders were held up and proud, she resembled a cat in heat just begging for some tom to come relieve her.
"You're not going anywhere," I answered, “not yet anyway.” After pulling a length of chain around the thick trunk of a tree, I secured it in place with a padlock. The steel collar locked onto another link and I dropped it to the ground to turn and watch my beautiful girl seduce me.
She was on me in seconds, her hands rubbing up my body as her lips found my neck. I needed to return to the cabin, but I didn't have the willpower to push her off. I adored Eve when she was like this and wished I could find a way to make her so thoroughly useful without the need for intoxication. Yes, my love was always willing to submit whether high or stone cold sober, but she was never so free while sober as she was now. She practically growled when my hand found the apex between her thighs from over her dress.
"They're everywhere, Elijah. I need you. I need you to chase them off."
Pulling her closer to me, I smelled her hair. There was a distinct scent to Eve's fear. In ways, it was the same as her need, a calling card letting me know she doesn't trust what's being done to her but will submit regardless. So perfect, she was made for me. And I had been the one to make her.
"Chase who off?"
"The demons. They're reaching for us. Don't you see?"
Twisting around, I saw the thin branches of the trees that hung down, the starlight in the sky twinkling like a million small eyes through the branches. In her state, it would be easy enough to confuse those shapes and shadows for something more nefarious than nature.
Turning, I pressed my mouth to her ear. "Do you trust me?"
"Always," she promised, pressing her body closer to mine as if she would have preferred to crawl inside me.
"Then you must endure them, Eve. For only a few minutes. I have business to finish in the cabin."
"No!" Clinging onto me like I was her only protection against the world, she begged, "Please don't leave me, Elijah. Please!"
My hand found where I'd dropped the collar to the ground and I brought it up to snap in place around her throat. It wasn't enough to choke her, just to hold her in place until I could get back outside to retrieve her and take her to the compound.
"Trust me, Eve. I've protected you. The demons won't come near."
She trembled at my words, but her fear was lost to another rush of need, the musky scent of her arousal teasing my nose until my body was growing hard. No woman could affect me like Eve. No other woman was designed specifically for me.
Slowly peeling her off me, I fought my own battle against what I wanted to do, and led her to sit at the base of the tree. She fought at first, but finally succumbed when I kissed her forehead and said, "Hide your eyes, Eve, so that you don't see them. Be brave. God is watching over you."
Nodding her consent, she bent her knees and pulled her legs against her body. Tucking her face down over her knees, she hid from the threat that was all around her. I only had a few minutes before another rush of energy and need caught her in its crushing blow, so I left her where she sat to enter the cabin.
Colleen was now crumpled on the floor crying and I looked past her to see her father's arm twisted behind his back with Richard's foot planted over his spine. One hard yank and her father's arm would snap like a twig, his spine crushed inward if Richard used all his weight.
"Don't break him," I demanded, my voice forceful yet mocking. In truth, I didn't give a damn about what was done to the man. I had one objective only, which I was running out of time to complete.
Richard eased off some of the pressure, but applied it again when the man screamed, "Get the hell off my daughter!"
I'd only wrapped my hand around her bicep to help her to her feet, but I stopped before accomplishing it. Turning to stare at the man who was flat to the floor, the corner of my lips kicked up. "Or you'll...what?"
He struggled for only a second before his face twisted in pain. With skin as red as a tomato, he watched helplessly while I guided his daughter to her feet. Still staring down at him, I had to laugh. "You may want to pay attention, Dad. I think your little girl is about to be all grown up."