Thor'sday Night - Paranormal Erotica (2 page)

– and her survival instincts literally kick in
as she begins struggling and lashing out with her legs. The heel of
her sandal makes vicious contact with a shinbone, but all it gets
her is an angry groan, and a stab of pain in her shoulder as he
yanks her more firmly against him. She tries to bring her knee up
between his legs, and failing, between his companion’s, but that
doesn’t get her anywhere either. They both let go of her suddenly
and shove her down onto the ground. She lands hard on her ass
between gnarled tree roots that look just like demonic fingers to
her, yet she can’t scream because the impact knocked the breath out
of her. ‘No!’ she gasps. ‘No! No!’

Bending over her, one of them grabs her wrists
and forces her to lie down by pulling her arms up behind her. She
feels him kneeling there, pinning her arms down, and starts kicking
out with her legs again. It is so dark beneath the tree she can’t
really see anything. It’s as if she is lying at the bottom of the
sea struggling to make it back to the surface, to light and
life.

‘¡Estate quieta, coño!’

‘If you keep resisting, he’ll cut you,’ the one
behind her warns, and her whole body stiffens. She has no choice.
She has to let her legs be spread open. She has to allow a
terrifying shadow that embodies death and disease kneel between her
thighs, and tug her dress up out of the way. Then the rough feel of
dirt beneath her soft white panties buries her hopes of escaping
this nightmare. It tells her she is just one more body to the
earth, and that there is no God…

The silhouette between her legs rises over her
with eerie smoothness, and dives away from her headfirst just like
an evil spirit in a movie suddenly called back into its grave.

‘¡Carajo!’ the one behind her yells, and she
listens to him crashing away between the leaves before she grasps
the fact that her arms are no longer pinned down.

She immediately sits up with the intention of
running, but all she can manage is falling forward onto her hands
and knees, and then sitting back on her heels.

It takes Carmen a few stunned moments to
distinguish the breathless thudding sounds she is hearing from the
pounding of her own heart. Finally, her brain registers the fact
that an even taller silhouette is fighting the one of her would-be
rapist, or rather, beating it straight down into the ground. It is
such a terribly wonderful sight that she doesn’t even cringe when
this miraculous portion of the night turns in her direction, and
falls to its knees before her. A man’s breathless voice asks in
English, ‘Did they hurt you?!’

She can’t seem to find her own voice to answer
him.

‘Talk to me, honey.’

Warm, and slightly rough, hands cup her face,
smoothing her hair back out of her eyes. It doesn’t help her see
more clearly, but as his hands move gently down to her throat they
seem to find her voice. ‘I’m all right,’ she whispers.

‘Are you sure?’

His hands pass lightly over her breasts, and
then travel slowly down her body. ‘It’s not torn…’ He seems to be
talking to himself.

Bracing herself on his broad shoulders, she
lifts herself up just far enough to wrap her arms around his neck.
He is a lean, hard wall protecting her from any other menaces the
darkness might hold. Which is why it is perfectly all right with
her when his hands slip up into her dress, because she knows he is
simply making sure she isn’t hurt. His hands linger, carefully
assessing her condition, and suddenly realizing that he saved her
life gives her such a profound thrill, and she shudders in his
arms.

‘It’s okay,’ he murmurs, ‘you’re safe now.’

She shifts her hips, encouraging his fingers to
check where it really counts, and he does a thorough job of making
sure her panty is still smooth and intact, during which she
experiences a breathless joy because she is alive and unharmed.
‘Can you walk?’ he asks, gently smoothing her dress down around her
thighs again.

‘Oh, yes,’ she assures him, only to discover
that her legs won’t cooperate and she needs his help just to stand
up.

She isn’t conscious of falling, only of his arms
catching her.

Blue lights flicker across the squad car like
heat lightning, sympathizing with her pulse, which refuses to slow
down, and reflect her shocked mental synapses, making it even
harder for her to think straight, which at the moment is a
blessing.

The officer who just took her statement remarks,
‘You were very lucky, miss.’ His small hard features, contrasted by
a sagging belly, aren’t very sympathetic. ‘Damned lucky.’

‘I think she knows that,’ the man who rescued
her replies tersely.

The restless blue waves of light wash over
individual faces in the crowd that has gathered around the police
car, the intangible tide of its curiosity held effortlessly at bay
by another uniformed officer.

‘It’s too bad the other prick got away, but it’s
a good thing for her you just happened to be around, Reed. It’s
enough to make me believe in guardian angels.’

‘Are you finished?’

‘Yeah, I’m finished with her.’

‘Then I’ll take her home.’ His tone softens,
‘Come on, Carmen, let’s get out of here.’

She willingly lets herself be led away by the
strong current of his kindness. Until they turn onto the street
where she was nearly raped, then she stops dead. ‘It’s okay,
Carmen, I’m with you now, no one’s going to hurt you.’

‘How did you…?’

‘I live around here.’ He somehow grasps what she
is trying to ask him. ‘I was on my way to grab a bite to eat.
Fortunately, I was off duty tonight.’

‘Off duty?’

‘I’m a police officer, Carmen. I’ll see to it
you get home safely.’

Still she hesitates.

He slips his hand into hers. ‘Come on,’ he
urges, and starts ahead of her down the street, past the galaxy of
broken glass where she was almost thrust into another, terrible
world.

‘This is my car,’ she says faintly.

‘I’ll drive. I assume your keys are in
here?’

She realizes he’s still holding her purse; she
had forgotten all about it.

‘Yes,’ she says, and disbelief hits her like a
fist. ‘I can’t believe this! An off duty policeman just happened to
be walking down the street exactly when I needed him?’ Her dry
laugh hurts like a cough. ‘I thought things like that only happened
in the movies!’

‘That’s usually the case,’ he replies, ‘a lot of
other women haven’t been so lucky.’ He unlocks the passenger door
for her, and she can’t seem to breathe until he slips in beside
her. His silver bracelet glimmers in the corner of her eye as he
thrusts the key into the ignition.

‘Thank you,’ she whispers.

The engine purrs to life.

‘Thank you,’ she repeats fervently.

He stares steadily back at her. ‘It’s all right
now.’

She looks away shyly, because she hadn’t really
noticed until that moment how handsome he is.

He accelerates down the street. ‘Where do you
live, Carmen?’

‘In Coral Gables, between Miracle Mile and
Lejeune, just off Ponce. I’ll tell you where to turn.’

‘Got it.’

‘You must be starving,’ she comments after a
moment, remembering he said he was on his way to dinner when he
stopped to save her life.

‘Rescuing a beautiful woman from a fate worse
than death does rather stimulate the appetite,’ he admits.

She wants only two things in the world right
now: to be home safe, and not to let him out of her sight. ‘I have
some chicken breasts in the freezer, and lots of wine,’ she offers
hopefully. ‘Would you like to have dinner with me?’They are
traveling down 32nd Avenue towards U.S.1 with a complete disregard
for the speed limit, which she supposes is natural with cops.

‘How about if we stop somewhere? I can’t imagine
you feel like cooking right now.’

‘No, please, I want to go home.’

He glances at her. ‘Okay, I understand.’

She isn’t sure whether or not he has accepted
her invitation, but decides to assume he has because the hope
sustains her.

He manages to find a parking spot just a few
yards from her building.

She quickly gets out of the car before he can
open the door for her; to show him she is feeling better.

The sky is perfectly clear and yet lightning is
flashing silently on the horizon.

He hands her back her keys, then her purse, and
asks very seriously, ‘Are you sure you want me to come in, Carmen?’
‘Yes, please.’

Large terracotta urns sit on either side of an
archway leading into the central courtyard. She caresses wind-blown
strands of hair out of her eyes as they enter the shelter of the
building, and smiles tentatively back at him before starting up a
narrow stairway. Her apartment is on the top floor.

Her kittens are awake again and wreaking
adorable havoc. In the time she was gone, they managed to knock
over a plant and spill an impressive amount of dirt across the
carpet.

Sage promptly leaves a possessive sprinkling of
white hairs on Officer Reed’s black jeans as she purrs passionately
around his ankles.

He closes the door behind him, and lifts her
obligingly up into his arms.

Carmen sets her purse and keys down on a wooden
desk in the corner, then turns to face his tall, black-clad form
standing in her small living room.

‘She’s a beautiful animal,’ he remarks, and Sage
pours out of his arms like rich cream. ‘Look, Carmen, I think you
should take a long hot shower then go to bed. You don’t have to
cook us dinner. I’ll leave now.’

She grips the edge of the desk behind her with
both hands. ‘But I don’t even know your name.’ She hadn’t even
thought to ask him!

‘William Reed, but please, call me Will.’

‘Will.’ She wants to offer him something.
‘Will…’ She just stares at him.

He glances around the room, and spots her modest
wine rack.

Without asking her permission, he slips out a
bottle, shoves it between his thighs, thrusts in the corkscrew, and
pops out the cork. ‘You need a drink,’ he informs her, setting the
bottle down on her café-style marble table before walking into her
kitchen, where he finds a pair of wineglasses without even turning
on the light. They chime against the stone, and she gravitates
towards him as he fills them.

‘I know, I know,’ he says lightly, ‘you’re
supposed to leave room to swirl the wine around and savor the
bouquet,’ he hands her one of the glasses, ‘but tonight, I say to
hell with it.’ His dark-blond hair is cut so short it makes her
think of gold glimmering in sediment.

‘Thank you.’ She takes a long, grateful swig of
the California Merlot. ‘I can’t seem to stop thanking you.’

‘I don’t mind.’

His light-blue stare is so clear; all she can
see in it is the fact that he saved her life.

She takes the glass from him, sets it back down
on the table along with hers, and walks into his arms.

It has been a long time since she kissed a man
so soon after meeting him, and the pure intensity of the experience
is overwhelming.

After a few minutes, as irresistibly as a
dangerous undertow, he pushes her back against a wall. Cradling her
face in both hands he gently parts her lips with his right thumb
and slips it into her mouth.

Moaning softly around it she sucks on his
slightly rough and salty skin with a hunger that deepens almost
painfully as he holds her eyes, intent on observing her expression
as his other hand slowly raises her dress. Apparently the way she
looks at him gives him the green light, because he empties her
mouth and whips the dress off over her head. Then he falls to one
knee before her and quickly pulls her panties down to her
ankles.

She steps out of them even as she takes a breath
to protest. He is moving too fast, yet her reflexes feel strangely
drugged, unable to resist him, and she says nothing. He straightens
up, snaps her bra open in front, peels it off her, and tosses it
away. He starts kissing her again then, possessing her mouth gently
and gradually.

Moaning, she grips the shirt over his chest.
Part of her wants to pull him into her, his tongue, his cock, all
of him. Another part of her wants to be safe and to be able to push
him away. She is completely exposed and vulnerable, yet his hands
cup her face and ignore her body as he concentrates on gently
biting her lips and teasing the tip of her tongue with his. He
kisses her with such breathtaking skill that he meets with no
resistance when he suddenly thrusts his hand between her thighs and
slips two of his fingers into her tight wet pussy. He withdraws
them, and pushes them back in, flicking them roughly back and forth
deep inside her.

She wraps her arms around his neck and holds on
to him as she did in the churchyard, because she can’t remember a
man’s hand ever feeling so good. ‘Stop,’ she begs, even though it’s
too late and she’ll never be able to resist him now.

He takes her firmly by the arm and leads her
over to the desk.

She forces herself to ask, ‘Do you have a
condom?’

He doesn’t answer. He shoves her purse aside,
grabs her by the waist, and lifts her up onto the wooden surface.
Then he pushes his jeans and his underpants down just far enough to
free his erection, and it promises not to leave any room inside her
for fear. She eagerly shoves his shirt up out of her way to caress
his hard, hairless chest, and then pushes him away. ‘No, Will, not
without protection.’

He heaves an impatient sigh, ‘I don’t have one
on me.’

‘I think I have some in the top drawer of my
nightstand.’ It isn’t easy for him to get his tight jeans back up
over his rigid penis, but he manages. ‘I’ll get one,’ he says, and
walks stiffly into her dark bedroom.

Feeling nothing as she waits for him to return,
Carmen watches her kittens playing around her answering machine.
Vaguely, she realizes its red light is pulsing with a message just
as Buffy pounces on it.