I fumble with his pants, unsteady and out of practice. His fingers slide from my center to help, and it takes several awkward attempts to line up the head of his penis with my entrance. I bounce slowly, grinding myself against the base of his shaft, savoring the moment when he tilts his head back in sweet relief like he forgot how good we feel together. Like he forgot me. I lean down to kiss him again, this time hungry. I wish we were upstairs. I wish we were experiencing this moment in private.Maybe it’s an act, a performance on his part for the crowd. For the man in the back. But I’m going to tell myself that it’s not.
“Make me come, Kieren. Make me come,” I plead breathlessly against his lips. I pick up my pace, directing his fingers to my clit. He remembers what I need, doesn’t he?
Without warning, hot cum floods my inner walls. I pant, out of breath, but slow myself as I realize what happened. Kieren’s chest heaves from his release. His closed eyes open halfway, apologetically meeting mine, as he realizes it too. For some couples, this might be insignificant, but it’s significant for us, because never has Kieren let this happen.
A tear falls from my right eye, then another from my left.
It’s over.
We are over.
And we both know it.
This was our crestfallen goodbye. Our swan song. A halfhearted, lackluster fuck before I’m severed for good.
Kieren reaches up to brush away my tears when that god-awful metallic voice rasps behind me.
“It is time.” The low, demonic voice rumbles at my back. I turn to look at the man with the gold-horned mask and then back at Kieren as he reaffixes his own.
“Five minutes,” Kieren responds, holding up his hand with five fingers spread wide.
I wait until I’m sure the man has turned away to lift myself carefully off Kieren’s lap. His release slides out of my pussy, coating his fingers as he tucks himself into his trousers.
“Jace will take you upstairs,” he says, clearing his throat without making eye contact. The pain of being discarded smacks me in the face. I blink away more tears as my feet hit the raised platform, unsteady. In the back of the room, I see a slender woman with pale, milky skin and long, wavy black hair. Her back is to me, and I can tell by the knot of fabric at the back of herhead that she’s blindfolded. Jace pushes off a nearby wall and walks toward me, steps away from crossing paths with Kieren. Two men in black, demonic elder masks with black horns flank the woman, each holding an elbow, guiding the woman toward the hidden room.
Jace stands five feet in front of me, and I make the oversized step down from the dais to the floor. I begin to walk. Jace turns away.
My freedom.
My freedom. My freedom. My freedom.
But I can’t.
I can’t live with myself.
So, I run.
The room isn’t large. It takes two breaths to get to the back.
“No!” I scream, grabbing the woman who I’m sure is Tessa. I grab her left arm from behind, freeing it from the masked elder before he can react.
“Tessa run!” My scream gurgles in my throat as I desperately pull her arm, trying to get her to run with me. “They’re going to kill you!”
A body slams into me from the side. Thick arms are around my waist, hauling me backward as I scream.
“They’re going to kill you! They’re going to kill all of you! Run!”
“Run!” I scream, kicking, fighting, clawing at the arms around me as they lift me off the ground. “Run!”
“It’s a trap!”
Kieren bursts from the hidden room. A half-masked man grabs my ankles, holding my legs closed so I can no longer kick. The room is a blur of blood red and tears.
“Run!” I sob. “Run!”
The basement door shuts behind me.
“Let me go!” I scream as I’m carried up the stairs. “Let me go!”