The world is just as it was. Well, this world anyway. The trees hover just as high as they did before, only the air is much clearer. There’s a peace surrounding us that wasn’t here prior. The darkness that loomed is completely gone.
Daylight remains, and the frogs croak, birds tweeting carefree songs while the leaves rustle in the wind, like nothing ever happened—as if we weren’t almost swallowed whole by a hurricane of darkness.
Caz stands next to me, his head back and his face pointed up at the sky. His eyes are closed, and I watch as the youth slowly comes back to him. He inhales, and after exhaling, he drops his head and takes my hand.
“Come with me.” He leads the way through the trees, stepping over wet leaves and grass, until he pushes a bush out of the way, revealing a small cabin.
The cabin is one story and can’t be any bigger than an apartment. And that’s me being generous. It’s roped in green vines that wrap around every corner and even touch the roof. The front door is wide open; however, it’s dark inside and I can’t see much. Not too far from the cabin, tied to a tree, is a black stallion with a sleek black mane. It’s just like the horse in that portrait from his mansion. A beauty. It stomps its thick hooves, huffs, then bows its head.
“Wait here.” Caz leaves my side, walking ahead cautiously. I believe this is the first time I’ve seen him not carrying a gun. He approaches the door, takes a look inside, then turns to me and says, “Mournwrath was here.”
“What?” My heart beats a little faster.
“I think it left. But I saw it. That darkness that was chasing you…I think that was it.” Caz gestures for me to come. Sensing my hesitation, he says, “It’s not here. And even if it were, I wouldn’t let anything happen to you.”
His words are enough for now. I walk ahead, taking his hand and walking up the stoop. He doesn’t have gloves on, which I find all too surprising, and I look at him to see if he’ll realize it. I think for a moment he’ll read my mind, notice our hands touching and take his away, but his eyes avert to the open door of the cabin again. I let the thought pass me, fighting a satisfied smile.
The inside of the cabin can’t be any bigger than my studio. A worn two-seater sofa is against the east wall, and on the west wall, a bed pressed against viny wood. A kitchen is straight ahead, equipped with a stove and sink, but I don’t see a fridge. A two-top table with black tiles for the surface is wedged between the kitchen space and living area. There’s bedding on the bed, a black sheet with a thick brown quilt folded at the bottom, and another quilt on the sofa, white with green threading.
I step deeper into the tiny cabin, and I’m not sure what it is about it, but it feels like home. Like I belong here…or like I’ve been here before.
“Watch your step there,” he says, pointing at the floor. The floor is made of wood and one of the planks is splintered, as if someone stepped there before, creating the fracture.
“What is this place?” I ask.
Caz turns, then sighs. “It was me mum’s place.”
“Your mom?”
He nods, then walks across the cabin to the kitchen. “It’s wedged between Blackwater and Whisper Grove. Not very easy to find.” He swings open a cabinet above the stove and collects a silver flask, offering it to me.
“Water,” he says.
I take it, unscrewing the cap and chugging some down. The water has a minty aftertaste, like the youth water. It’s nice and cool, and I take a few more sips before giving the flask back to him. He drains it, then places it on the tile table.
“Why did you come here?” I ask as he stands by the table, his back to me.
“To get away.”
“From what?”
He side-eyes me. “Everything.”
“Your family is looking for you.”
“I don’t need them looking for me.”
“They care about you, Caz.”
He says nothing to that. Instead, he strips out of his coat and places it over the back of one of the steel chairs. He stands there, shirtless, his skin creamy between the black veins.
“Will those go away?”
“Not sure.” He moves to a small door, swings it open, and takes out a long-sleeved shirt that looks to be made of black silk. When he slides his arms into it, he leaves the front of it unbuttoned, then digs into his back pocket, pulling out a platinum case. He takes a bloom out of it.
“How did you get back?” He sits at the table and lights the end of the bloom. He offers one to me from the case, but I shake my head.
“I thought of Silvera.”
“You did, eh?” He takes another pull, then releases a cloud of smoke. “Didn’t know it worked that way.” He pauses, looking me all over. “And how’d you find me?”
“I followed her. Maeve told me Silvera might be linked to Cerberus, and I assume she found you through him.”
“Hmm.” He takes a few more pulls, releases the smoke, then grabs the ashtray on the table, stabbing the lit end out and killing the flame. “You weren’t supposed to come back, Willow.”
“I know, but I’ve been worried.”
“About me?” He scoffs, a humorless smile riding his lips.
“Is it so hard to believe people actually care about you?”
His eyes flicker from the ashtray to mine, and he raises his chin. I realize that’s a statement of bad timing. After seeing how he was treated in those hurricane visions, I get why he’s afraid to trust.
“It was foolish of you to return. The Tether. It could kill us.”
“I don’t believe that anymore.”
“And what makes you say that?”
“Because I found a book from my world. A woman talked about the same Tether we have—the Cold Tether. She believes those who are Tethered are supposed to be together. She says when she left the other world and went back to see her lover, he was dead.”
He narrows his eyes briefly before dropping his hands. “Juniper thinks the same.” He taps a finger on the tabletop. “Maeve sent her to speak to Alora and Beatrix behind my back.”
“Why would Beatrix tell us to stay away from each other if we’re actually supposed to be around each other?”
“I’m not sure, but either she’s a liar or she had reason to warn us.”
I sit against the back of the chair and take another look around the cabin. It’s quiet here. Cozy. I can see why he came to this place.
“Does anyone else know about this place?”
“No one but you.”
I don’t know how that makes me feel, but it’s not bad. I’m quiet another moment before asking, “Where is your mom now?”
He doesn’t react on the outside, but I feel the heavy clench in his chest and the nerves shooting into his stomach. “No longer here.” He pushes out of his chair, walking across the cabin, his boots thumping on the wood. He tosses logs into the fireplace and then lights a match, starting a fire.
“I saw you with the gun in your office.” I stand but keep a distance between us. Sort of hard to do when we’re in a house the size of a bedroom.
“I own lots of guns.”
“You know what I mean.”
He drops his head, agitated. “Just let it be.”
“No, I won’t just let it be.” I walk closer, minimizing the gap between us. “Why do you want to die so badly?”
He turns to me. “What is there to live for? You’ve seen my world. It’s cruel, and I didn’t sign up for any of this shit.”
“Sure, it’s cruel, but you clearly bring order to it. If you go, who else will do it?
“There are plenty of people out there who can do a much better job than I can.”
“There may be, but right now it’s you. You’re the one in charge. You’re the one who can make the differences.”
“I’m not in charge by choice. This role isn’t something I went after. It was shoved into my hands.”
I let his words marinate before walking around him. I stand in front of him and start to reach for his hands, but he stops me, clasping my wrists and holding them in the air.
“There’s only so much I can take,” he rasps.
“Do you mean of my touch?”
His eyes roam my face. “It doesn’t feel like the others.”
My head tilts. “How do you mean?”
“I mean…it doesn’t…burn like the others. Doesn’t hurt.”
“No? So what does it feel like?”
His mouth twitches, and he strokes the flesh inside my wrists with the pads of his thumbs. I don’t even think he realizes he’s doing it as he looks into my eyes, trying to find the answer. Or maybe he won’t answer me at all. Either way, I wait.
I don’t understand…
“Understand what?”
He frowns and releases my wrists. “Get out of my head.”
“I can’t help what I hear. Tell me what you don’t understand.”
He sighs, a pained expression taking over his face. “I don’t understand how it’s all so different with you. It’s as if my whole life has been a lie after meeting you.”
“The Tether, apparently,” I say, laughing a little. “That’s what makes it different.”
He looks like he wants to laugh, but he doesn’t. Still, his eyes are lighter, his features not so heavy and somber.
“It’s far too easy.” He grabs my hands again, this time entwining our fingers. As he does, he brings me in closer until our bodies collide.
“What’s wrong with it being easy?” I raise my chin, angling my lips. I want his lips again.
“Nothing in my life is ever this easy. What if I do die because you were too stubborn to listen?”
“Then we find a way to prevent that before it happens.”
“And if there’s no way?”
“Then…if you die, I die, and we go together.”
My words seem like a slap to his face because he winces, but our eyes hold.
“You don’t need your red pills,” I whisper.
“Not with you, apparently. But I will need constraint.”
“From what?”
His eyes spark. “Ravishing you.”
“When’s the last time you…” I swallow the rest of the words, but of course he hears them, and for the first time since meeting him, he cracks a smile, revealing a beautiful set of white teeth. He’s so gorgeous when he smiles. “You find that funny, huh?” I laugh.
“Why does asking about my last time embarrass you?” His knees gently bump into my thighs, forcing me back. The backs of my legs hit the edge of the bed, and I gasp as I fall on it. When I’m seated, he’s on top of me in an instant, cradling one side of my face in his hands.
“I don’t know,” I breathe as his mouth moves closer to mine.
“It was ages ago,” he says on the hollow of my neck. “Fuck, why do I want to be inside you so badly right now? The way I’m feeling isn’t normal. Is this what happens when you cave to your Tether?”
I’m not sure how to answer that, but that feeling he has, I feel it too. Every sense of mine is heightened now, all my desires bared. I want to blame it on the Tether, but it wouldn’t be completely that, would it?
“You’re changing the subject.”
“Fine. Six months ago.”
“That’s not ages,” I argue.
“It is to me.”
I roll my eyes, and he dips his head back, looking at me. “You’re angering yourself thinking about it.”
“I’m not.” Still, I’m annoyed.
“There’s nothing to worry yourself about. For the last person, I needed many red pills to even take the edge off.”
I want that answer to satisfy me, but it doesn’t. What the hell? Since when have I become so jealous over what a man does? Never in my life have I cared what a man has done with his body, but Caz is different. His body, somehow, feels like it should only belong to me. He shouldn’t share it, but knowing that he has…
“Who the fuck is Garrett?” he demands, frowning now.
“What?”
“You’re thinking about your last time with a fucker named Garrett,” he snaps, tipping his head back to get a fuller look at me.
“No, I’m not.”
“You are. I hear you.”
“Hmm. I guess that makes it fair then.”
Caz’s frown grows deeper, and I hear a growl building in the base of his throat. I’ll rip his fucking heart out. She’s mine. Fuck him.
“We didn’t know each other before you came here,” he says, as if trying to justify it. “So long as it doesn’t happen anymore.”
“You’re jealous.”
He grunts, then plants an elbow outside my head. As he does, he scans my body with his eyes. “Do you wear these clothes around him?”
“Sometimes,” I murmur. A tank top and pink shorts. No bra. I’d changed into the outfit when Faye and I started reading.
“Don’t ever wear them around him again.”
“Or what?” I challenge. Not that I’ll wear this around him anymore. I never want to see Garrett again.
“Or I’ll find a way to your world and fill his head with my bullets.”
“You won’t have to worry about that, trust me. But you should really get that temper of yours under control.”
Caz looks down as I draw in a breath. His hand skims down my waist and I watch as he traces his fingers across the pink band, then drops his head, planting his lips on the hollow of my neck.
“I can’t do this,” he finally whispers.
“Why not?”
“I just…can’t. It won’t do either of us any good.” A pause. “You should go back home.”
Ugh. Why must he still put up a fight? I mean, I get that he’s wary about the Tether, but come on. “What if I don’t want to go back home? What if I want to be here? With you?”
He picks up his head, eyeing me. “Then I’d tell you what you want is unjust.”
“For myself?”
“No,” he says, and a breath falls through his parted lips. “For me. Staying here is suicide for you. If anyone outside of the people in my circle find out about you and me, that’s not only a threat for myself, but you as well. I’m used to it, but I can’t have that with you.”
“Then we keep it here…right?”
“Not sure. Rami came close to knowing. Who’s to say no one else noticed?” My breath hitches as he drags his hand down, farther, farther, until it’s between my thighs. “I’ve never touched another person as much as this without…” He wrenches my thighs apart, gliding his fingers along the flesh inside of one of them. “No burning. No pain. Just…pleasure. I never thought it’d be possible.”
I sit up as he does, and I sense that he wants to pull away. I hear him battling himself, wanting to retract, but finding it hard to. I don’t want him to.
“Can I try something with you?” I ask.
He cuts his eyes to me. “Try what?”
I bite into my bottom lip, too nervous to say it out loud. My face becomes hot when the thought hits him, and when he gets a whisper of the idea, it registers all over his face. His eyes are rounder, brighter, and he blinks several times as he digests it.
He sits up straighter on the edge of the bed, drawing in a breath. “All right then.”
I climb off the bed, moving in front of him. One of my knees presses outside his thigh, and I cradle one side of his face in my hands.
Trust me?
His eyes soften. I do.
I hold his blue eyes a moment, and he stares back into mine, then I drop my leg and climb on the bed to get behind him. While he faces forward, I spread my legs outside of his, so my feet are dangling off the bed, then I guide my arms beneath his, wrapping them around his waist. From behind, I spread his shirt open a bit, splaying my fingers on his bare chest.
His breaths become ragged as my palms rest on his body, but I don’t stop. I inch them farther down, spreading them over his abs and resting my cheek on his shoulder blade. He shudders as I reach for his belt buckle, then he rapidly grips my hand. I freeze, breathing evenly, and he slowly releases my hand, putting his back at his side.
I continue unbuckling his belt and listening to his heartbeat through his back. When the buckle is undone and the pants unbuttoned and unzipped, I lower them just enough to reach his briefs. He lifts his hips a bit, helping me get them down. When they are, I pull out his dick, freeing it, and he expels a trapped breath, dropping his head to watch what I’m doing.
“Is this too much?” I whisper, lifting my head.
“No.” His voice is thick with arousal. “Keep going.”
I wrap my hand around his hardening dick, sliding my thumb over the tip. It’s wet with pre-cum, and I use it to dampen the head. I lower my hand and, slowly, I stroke him, working from the base to the top. As I swivel my wrist, his dick grows twice as hard in my palm.
“Has this been done to you before?”
“No. I don’t let anyone touch me like this.”
“And this doesn’t hurt?” I ask, still going.
“Not at all.” He places the back of his head on my shoulder, exposing his neck. He smells like sweet tobacco and ocean air. I place my lips on the crook of his neck, and he groans, body tensing.
“You’ll make me come.”
“That’s the goal.”
“I don’t want to come in your hand.” He reaches down, grabbing my hand and hissing as one of my fingers slips over the tip. Then he turns to face me again, laying me back and spreading my legs apart. He lowers himself, dragging his lips from my chest to my navel until I feel the heat of his mouth above my pussy.
“What are you doing?”
“Do you think it’ll feel like a normal orgasm when I make you come?” Not if, when. “Or do you think, since we’re Tethered and all, that the sensation will be heightened?”
“I—I don’t know,” I breathe.
“Shall we find out?”
Caz’s mouth lowers and he kisses the lips of my pussy outside my shorts. He does this repeatedly until I find it hard to distinguish which is wetter—me, or my panties.
Finally, he uses a finger to move my shorts aside, and all that’s left is the damp barrier of my panties. A guttural sound rips through him, and it travels through my body as he kisses the cotton fabric. The heat of his mouth is unbearable, and I twist below him. He presses a hand to my belly, silently demanding me to be still, to let him do this, and I gasp as he uses the other hand to shift my panties aside too.
“You’re already wet,” he rasps.
“Am I?”
A deep chuckle fills the cabin, and before I know it, his mouth is coming down and he’s devouring me. Shit. He just goes straight for it and I knew it was coming, but I’m still not prepared.
His lips are hot, his tongue hotter as it wrestles with my clit. I clutch the bedsheets and a shrill gasp breaks out of me as I buck my hips, and as if he’s taming a wild horse, he grips me and doesn’t relent. His tongue feels incredibly delicious running over my clit, then sliding downward to enter my pussy. He guides a finger up and begins to fuck me with it while lapping his tongue around my swelling clit.
Pulling his mouth away, he says, “Fuck, you taste incredible,” before diving back in. His tongue swirls, rolls, and dips. He even slows the licks down, teasing me, taunting himself, and I moan, pushing my hips upward, wanting his face buried deeper.
You’re being greedy.
I want to slap him, but I also want to fuck his face at this point because the feeling building up inside me is excruciating. I need to come, but I’m also afraid to. I don’t know what kind of sounds will escape me. Will they embarrass me? Will they embarrass him? Fuck, it’s too much to think about. Regardless, I don’t have much time to consider it because he takes his mouth away, flips me onto my stomach, and I hear the rustling of fabric.
You don’t realize how much you’re turning me on. Never felt like this before. Fuck, I need to come.
His voice is loud in my head, and it doesn’t take a genius to know what comes next.
“I’ll need your permission…” His voice is thick, raspy. The turmoil inside him is loud. He’s torn.
I shouldn’t. I’ll lose control if I…
“You have my permission,” I tell him. “Don’t stop.”
He pauses, as if contemplating it, then before I know it, he’s hoisting my hips upward so that I’m on my knees, and he slowly enters me from behind. His dick is hard, swollen as he fills me, and I clutch the quilt on the bed, breathing deeply. I was not prepared for the size of him.
“Love of Vakeeli, your pussy is so wet,” he groans. “And so tight. Fuck.” He leans forward, his mouth dropping to my shoulder blade to give it a small nip. It’s enough to sting, for me to feel it, but not too much to take me away from the pleasure of this moment.
“I need a minute,” he murmurs, voice thick.
“For what?”
“I just…I need to feel you right now, with all of me inside you. I need to remember this feeling.” He clutches my hips, remaining perfectly still. Despite his body being motionless, though, I feel his cock pulsing, like it’s taken on a life of its own. “Fuck, your pussy is too much to bear. What I imagined it would be like doesn’t even come close.” Again, he curses beneath his breath, then pulls his hips backwards before thrusting. He makes a noise of strained pleasure.
“Look back at me,” he commands as I moan, and I turn my head, looking at him, moaning as he thrusts into me again. The eye contact only enhances the feeling. “Fucking hell, Willow. You’ve got me so hard.”
Yeah, I can tell. He feels so big inside me, like he’s swelling by the second. He works his hips faster, like an insatiable need has taken over him. Leaning forward, he brings a hand around to wrap around my throat, applying light pressure. He guides my body backwards, burying his dick deeper inside me. He does this repeatedly, his breath hot on my ear, his body hard like marble as it presses to me.
“Oh, fuck,” I moan.
“Do you like how I feel inside you?”
“Yes,” I breathe as his hand wraps tighter around my throat. He doesn’t stop stroking, filling me to the brim, making sure I feel every inch of him.
I sink my teeth into my bottom lip as he pulls his hand away from my throat to grip a handful of my hair. He’s definitely fucking me now—a primal being dominating what’s his, and, my word, it’s the best dick I’ve ever had.
He doesn’t slow down until I hear him growl the words, “Oh, Willow. Fuck, I’m coming, baby.”
Just when I think he won’t have the restraint to pull out, he does, and his hot cum spills onto my lower back. I sigh, collapsing onto my belly as he groans and shudders with his release. I glance over my shoulder and he has his dick clutched in hand, pearly streaks dripping from the tip.
I have to brace myself at the sight of it because even after his release, his semi-hardness is massive. Sure, he felt big in my hand, and yes, he filled me up like never before, but seeing it brings forth a unique awareness. For a moment I can’t believe something so big was inside of me. Is that how all the men in Vakeeli are? Violent, darker, broodier, and…bigger?
“Turn over,” he commands after wiping his cum off my back with a towel.
“What?”
“Turn onto your back.”
“I thought we were finished.”
He cocks a brow. “Did you finish?”
I start to tell him no, but he grabs my hips and drags me toward the edge of the bed. To his knees he drops, and he glides his tongue through the lips of my pussy before sealing his mouth to my clit.
“Oh, my—”
I can’t even finish my sentence. This man is just…oh my goodness. What kind of man is he, and how did I get so lucky?
He licks my clit, sucking away at it with dire need like his only priority is pleasing me. His eyes flicker up to mine, and they glaze over as he groans and buries his face deeper, like I’m the best thing he’s ever tasted. And I watch him do this to me, a rush of coolness sweeping through me, fusing with a pleasurable heat—an icy-hot combination that’s indescribable but oh-so-good.
“Oh, Caz!” I cry. Oh, I’m gonna come.
Come.
His voice makes me detonate. I rock my hips against his mouth, clutch a handful of his hair, arch my back, and come.
A loud cry breaks out of me, my body shattering into a million shards as he groans between my legs, drinking me all in.
When I look down, his cool gaze is on mine, and he’s clearly pleased with what he’s accomplished. His eyes are filled with pride, confidence, and a smidge of arrogance. “There,” he says. “Now you’re finished.”
When he lets me go, my legs drop, and my feet hit the wooden floorboards. He steps away, using his thumb to wipe the edge of his bottom lip.
We stare at each other, breathing raggedly, the energy between us charged and palpable. It fills the room, striking every nerve in my body.
I don’t know what comes over me—whether it’s my insane attraction to him, our Tether, or a combination of both—but when I stand, I throw my arms around his neck, drag him back to bed, and one word runs through my brain as I kiss him.
Again.
