Dahlia's Kiss

FLEE

Drake cutthe ropes with a small knife he had concealed in his pocket. Sitting beside me, he stroked my thigh with appreciation. “You know, I really didn’t think this would go as well as it did. If I would have known you were going to believe me so easily, I wouldn’t have tied you up down here.”

I tried my best to look as if I commiserated with him. I couldn’t afford for him to not believe me. “You know how hard it is to find your true mate? I’ve waited my whole life to have that kind of connection with someone. All those things you did to prove you love me. No one has ever cared enough to take things into their own hands like that. I always knew there was something between us. Thank you for finally filling me in.”

Drake squinted his eyes. “You know if you’re lying to me, I will kill you, right? I’m a lawyer. I’m highly adept at knowing when someone is spinning a tale, and this seems suspicious.”

Frantically, I grabbed his neck and pulled him down on top of me, kissing him as hard as I could. I dug my hands in his hair, scratched at his scalp, and wrapped one naked thigh around his waist. “Does this feel like I’m lying?” I asked. Extending my tongue, I licked his lower lip.

Drake’s eyes half closed as he swooned over me. “Dahlia, I can’t live without you. I did all these things because I couldn’t take a chance at you getting away. No one has ever loved me. Your kind doesn’t believe someone like me could exist. Humans have no idea anything other than themselves even exist, and here I am. I’m the most eligible bachelor in the city. Women fall at my feet, and I can’t get close to them. All it would take is one person realizing I don’t age, and my charade would be over. I’ve taken so many lovers, but I’ve been close to none. And then I found you. You’re absolutely perfect, and we are meant to be together.” He grabbed both of my hips and dragged me the remaining few inches to his waiting body. His erection strained behind his pants, and any other time, it would be a turn on. But not now.

“How could I ever leave the man who is meant to be my forever? We will never be apart now, Drake. We will stay young forever.” I allowed him to run his hands up the insides of my thighs. I smiled when he parted my labia and looked at me hungrily.

“Don’t turn on your pheromones. Take me for real. Just you, without the extra help.” He ran his finger up my slit and it took everything in me not to slam my legs closed and kick him as hard as I could. He was bigger and stronger than me. Drake was also an avid runner, and there was no doubt I wouldn’t get far if I tried to bolt. Everything waged on whether I could fool him.

Throwing my head back, I pretended to enjoy his touch, moaning at the right moments, and arching my hips. A small moan escaped my lips, more a force of habit than anything else, and he seemed to buy it. One finger slid inside me, and I prayed he didn’t notice my lack of wetness. When the second finger slid in, I gasped and peeked through mostly closed eyes to see how his body responded.

“God, you’re so tight. How are you this fucking tight?”

Because I’m not turned on, so my body isn’t relaxing under your touch, you idiot. “My body was made for you. It is as tight as you ever imagined your mate would be.” The words passing through my lips felt slimy and fake, but they made him smile.

“Get on your knees and turn around.”

Slowly, I obeyed his command. The cement was hard under my knees, and it hurt to hold the position he asked for. Behind me, he disrobed, and I imagined how his body would look. I knew every ridge, every valley, and the extreme girth of his member. I clenched my nether parts, thinking about how soon he would penetrate me. If only I could constrict my muscles hard enough to break his shaft off. Note to self, do more kegels.

Drake kicked my knees apart, and I felt my skin tearing against the floor. I gritted my teeth to keep from crying out from the pain. From behind, he rubbed his spit into my pussy. I braced myself against the wall to keep from falling over under his brutal stroking.

“This is mine,” he said. “It belongs to no one else. You will never allow another man to penetrate you. Do you understand me?”

A single tear slid down my cheek as I fought to stay in control. “No one will ever touch me again. Not now that I have my true, bonded mate.” I said the words, but they were hollow and laced with acid.

He inserted his fingers again, pumping me mercilessly until he felt braver. Now there was three and I could feel them stretching my opening wide. He applied more spit and forced the fourth finger inside my hole, expending his hand until they were not contorted into a circular shape, but a flat hand. It hurt, but he rammed his digits back and forth as if I was supposed to find pleasure in the violation.

“Drake!” I said through heavy tears.

“Yeah, baby. I know you like this.” He was delirious, lost in turning himself on. I knew he would be rock hard. He always had liked pain during sex, but this was going too far. Then he put his thumb in. I cried out in pain as his entire fist moved inside of me.

“Oh my God, this is perfect!” His voice sounded so excited. “I’ve never been able to do the things I wanted to on a woman before, but now that you belong to me, all bets are off. And the greatest thing is, you’ll heal from whatever I do to you as if nothing ever happened!”

His fist slammed into my cervix and lights went off behind my eyes. He had to stop. This needed to stop. He pulled his hand out abruptly, leaving me feeling hollow and broken. My knees went weak. Grabbing me from behind, he lifted me and drove his cock home. His jerking, frenzied motions were much more violent than they ever had been before. Each thrust made me see red, like a hot poker was piercing my internal organs. If I ever got out of this, I would kill him.

When his seed spilled out from inside of him, he pushed against my behind so hard that I lost balance. The top of my head hit the wall I’d been bracing against, and I hit the floor. He took that as a sign of triumph.

“Too much for you, huh?” Drake chuckled. He plopped down on the floor beside me and dragged my body next to his in an awkward cuddle. “You don’t have to run away this time. We are mated. We can stay like this forever.”

Yay for me.

“I’m so cold,” I told him. I wanted to say, I’m cold, my knees are bloody, and you probably ruptured my uterus, but no big deal.

Drake stood and retrieved a bundle from under the stairs. “Here are your clothes. I was going to give them back after we talked.”

I dressed in a hurry. When I was done, he motioned for me to lie back down beside him. Trying to keep up the rouse, I did so without complaint. When he began to snore lightly, I considered my options. I knew the keys were in his pants pocket. I heard them jingle when he took them off. If I could just get to them, I could get out of here. But he wouldn’t stay asleep long on the cold, hard floor without me to keep him warm.

It might be the only chance I would get. I moved one leg free of him to see what would happen. He didn’t stir, so I moved the other one. Carefully, I lifted his arm off of me and slide out from under it. I laid there for a moment until his breath became even again and slowly got to my feet. I crossed to his discarded clothes and picked through them silently. When I located the pocket holding my freedom, I pushed my hand inside and cupped them so they wouldn't make a sound when I removed them.

He was still snoring. My heart was hammering in my chest. Now was the time. I had to move.

I summoned every ounce of strength I had left and bounded up the stairs and through the door. I was almost to the front door when I heard the basement door slam closed. He was behind me and closing the distance. I got the door open through sheer force of will, and a little luck at having identified the correct key on the first try, and gulped in mouthfuls of fresh air. I’d almost made it to the street when his arms circled my waist from behind.

He dragged me back into the house, kicking and screaming. He had no neighbors in shouting distance. I knew there was no chance I’d been heard.

“Lies,” he said. “It was all lies. You pretended to want to be with me just so you could escape. How could you do that to your bonded mate? Don’t you respect what is between us? This only happens once in a lifetime, Dahlia.”

I thought of Sterling, Cole, and Damian, and cringed. Once in a lifetime, my ass. “I’m sorry. I’m just scared. I never expected to find my true mate. I’m not sure how I should be taking this.”

“You could be grateful,” he sneered.

Back to the deep, dark basement we went. Each step he took with me in tow left me feeling bleaker, my resolve broken. There was no hope. No escape. This was where my story would end.