Page 23 of Bloody Quarter

My hand moved faster and in time to the wails begging to end his life. One face floated behind my closed lids. Alora’s blue eyes stared back at me, and a new urge to claim her and have her scream in my ear played out like a ballet, dancing across the stage of my darkest fantasies.

“Fuck yes,” I yelled as Thomas’s screams reached the crescendo. He would be dead soon. I jerked harder, my balls and abs tightening as I beat my cock like I was punishing it. “Fuck!” The jet of come shot out to join the blood and thrashing tails of the gators fighting for the pieces of Thomas in the water. With each stroke of my shaft, more come found its way out of the tip of my cock as I pictured coating Alora’s pretty face. I wanted it to drip from her chin as she licked it from her lips.

Slumping against the wall, I shook out the last remaining drops as satisfaction filled me and euphoria buzzed under my skin. Stuffing my cock away, I looked over at Thomas. He’d gone quiet, his eyes staring sightlessly up to the night sky. Did he see heaven, or were some of the screams from his soul being ripped from his body and dragged to hell?

Unclipping his hands from the hoist, I turned up the machine to finish the job. I needed to get everything cleaned up and head to the shelter. Seeing Alora after this had put an extra pep in my step.

“Don’t worry, Doll. You’ll scream for me, too.”

Greyson

My finger tapped on the top of the steering wheel in time to the song playing as I rolled up the alley behind the homeless shelter and parked out of sight. It took a lot longer than I thought it would to clean up, but the family property was once more perfectly quiet, sanitized, and picturesque.

I still had my truck, which was just as well. The muscle car could be too loud, and at this hour, it would alert everyone inside the shelter that someone was out back. Jumping out, I pulled up the hood of my coat and acted like I fit in as I walked to the back entrance. The door was bolted for the night, but this was an old building, and the lock was shit. It took a total of five seconds to break in. I didn’t like that at all, never mind the fact that Alora was constantly sleeping in a room with dozens of men. That fucking pissed me off. If any of them touched what was mine, they were going to end up like Thomas. Add the lack of safety and the fact that any piece of shit could wander in, and I didn’t like her here where I couldn’t keep an eye on her.

The back door led into a service bay with boxes stacked up, most of which seemed to be food and other supplies for the shelter. Impressively, they kept everything in an orderly fashion. Cracking the door open to the main hall, I listened but didn’t hear any movement. It was common to have at least one person, if not more, manning this place at night. It was dark, but dim lights shone at the end of the hall, making it tough to stick to the shadows. Keeping an eye out for cameras, I snuck out of the storage room, tucked myself further into the hood, and put on a limp.

Walking slowly into the main sleeping area, I spotted Alora. She was only a couple of cots away, her back to the wall, the pack she carried around held tightly to her chest, and although her eyes were closed, I knew she wasn’t asleep. Her body was too tense, and her breathing was all wrong. There was a smattering of empty cots, and I picked the closest one and laid down. I could just see her around the arm of a man lying on his back.

It shouldn’t have been this difficult to stay on my own cot and not go over there and climb on hers, but it was taking far more restraint than I’d ever needed with a woman. I loved sex, but I’d never been this interested in someone. What I wanted to do with her was not something normal people deemed sane, but that didn’t matter. I ran my tongue over my lip, envisioning covering myself in her blood as I fucked her.

She sat up and looked around the room before taking her pack and heading to the back. Making sure no one was watching, I jumped up and caught sight of the women’s bathroom door closing. Slipping around the corner, I stood outside and listened. The toilet flushed, and a moment later, I heard the water at the sink. I watched the sliver of light at the bottom of the door for her shadow. I needed to time this perfectly.

Anticipation rushed through my body, making it sing, especially with the earlier kill still so fresh. Pulling my knife, I readied myself, my muscles tightening. Alora was looking down as she opened the door, but her head snapped up as soon as she spotted the toes of my boots. I was on her in a flash. Flicking off the lights and grabbing her by the throat. She gasped, but before she could scream, I cut off her air supply. The pack fell to the floor as her hands gripped my arm. Pushing Alora back against the wall, I laid the dull edge of my blade against her neck.

She whimpered, her pulse jumping under my fingertips, and each thump traveled through my hand and right down between my legs. “I wouldn’t try to scream if I were you. I don’t want to have to slit your pretty throat.”

Fuck, her skin was soft under my hand. Easing in closer, I brushed her cheek with mine, and she shivered in my hold. When I buried my nose in her hair, the rich, flowery, and cinnamon scent made me heady, and I groaned.

“What do you want,” she whispered, voice as feathery light as I remembered. “I don’t have anything.”

I smirked and let my lips trail along her jawbone. “So many things,” I said, growling, and let my lips hover over hers. It didn’t matter that it was dark. I could picture her clearly in my mind. “But for tonight…just this.” Flicking my tongue out, I licked her upper lip.

“You’re him, aren’t you?” Alora’s voice was impressively steady, but her hands were shaking like a leaf on my arm.

“Who is him?”

“Mr. Laurent?”

I smiled against her lips, loving how she said my name. “I don’t know. Do you want me to be him?”

She was quiet and didn’t say anything at first, her throat constricting as she swallowed. “Will you kill me if I say no?”

“Careful, Doll, there are far worse things than killing you. But no, unless you scream or try to run, I won’t kill you…tonight,” I whispered next to her ear, and she shuddered.

“Then I just want to be left alone. I don’t want you to be any particular person.” She dropped her hands away from my arm, and I knew she was conceding that she couldn’t escape, yet she didn’t beg to be freed. Fuck she turned me on.

“You will, that I can promise you.” I ran my thumb up and down her neck, stroking her skin and feeling her pulse race faster from the simple touch. I could take her right here against the wall or knock her out and steal her, but it didn’t feel like the right time, and I wasn’t prepared for her. At least not tonight.

“Maybe.”

“I don’t make veiled promises. You will submit willingly to me, and you will want me. I will take over every second of your day with thoughts of what if, longing, and even fear until I’m the only thing you think about.”

“You’re pretty cocky,” she said. I chuckled low and nipped her earlobe, sucking on the little piece of delicate flesh. It was subtle, but her breathing changed just enough that I knew my touch was affecting her.

“I’m honest.” Releasing her neck, I kept the blade in place as I braced my hand on the wall beside her head.

“You’re something. There are thousands of girls, why me?”