* * *
Cady’s eyes flew open, sucking in a gasping breath as her body filled and expanded, so great, she thought she might burst. She’d been dreaming – of what, she couldn’t remember – but as she gripped the sides of the tub, she had the distinct feeling she hadn’t returned to reality.
Everything felt… wrong. The light too dim, the water neither hot nor cold, her limbs heavy and sluggish. Everything felt soft and subdued, as though she watched a dream sequence on TV. And something else. Something she couldn’t quite put her finger on.
“Hello, beloved.” The voice sounded in the stillness of her mind, caressing and intimate in a way she couldn’t retreat from.
“Ash?” She splashed, drawing her knees up as her head whipped around, but there was no sign of him in the bathroom with her.
“Of course, who else would it be?”
“How are you here? Am I dreaming?”
“I’ve joined you, just as you wanted.”
“As I wanted? I never invited you here,” she protested, addressing the open air.
“But you did, you called to me, else I wouldn’t have found you so easily.”
Had she? Christ, has she actually called to him in her sleep? What about the protection symbols? What about the protective pendant Ethan had given her? Her eyes fell to the pile of clothing on the floor, the amulet forgotten in her haste to get into the tub.
“They don’t shield you.”
Cady realized she hadn’t mentioned them aloud and her fear ratcheted up another level. “Can you hear my thoughts?”
“Of course, we are one now.”
“One?”
Her hands moved of their own accord, and Cady flinched from her own touch as they slid across her abdomen under the water. “I am joined with you, body and soul. Everything you feel, I feel. Everything you think, I know.”
Cady fought with everything she had to regain control of her body, but it didn’t even slow the slick exploration of her curves. A whimper escaped as her hand cupped the fullness of her own breast, fingers rolling and pinching the nipple until it pebbled and hardened.
“If you can hear what I’m thinking, you can tell that I don’t want you in here with me, and I don’t want you touching me like that.”
“You’re only afraid of what you don’t understand.” Her hands delved lower, fingers seeking. “Shhh, let me love you, Cady,” his voice purred, thick with excitement as he probed deep.
“This isn’t love, this is…” And then she had no voice as he took utter control of her body with strong, knowing fingers, stroking intimately in her most secret places. Nothing but the impotent scream inside her head as he used her for his own satisfaction. Cady heard her own voice gasp in enjoyment, lips parting on a sigh of rapture as he wrung the pleasure from her traitorous body.
A sensual counterpoint, his velvety voice murmured a string of endearments, riding the sexual energy higher and higher as he swept her along, his moans of pleasure curiously echoing her own until they reached the pinnacle of simultaneous release, sharing one body, one mind. Heart thudding madly, ecstasy mingled with dread as her body shook from the spasms again and again.
With instant access to what delighted her the most, he drew her to one shuddering peak after another, leaving her weak and ashamed. Because on some level, Cady knew she must crave his touch or she wouldn’t have enjoyed it.
The water was cold now, but Cady had no control over getting out of the tub. She retreated to the far corner of her mind as fingers stroked lazily.
“I can’t wait until I can feel you beneath me, taking you the way you deserve to be taken.” His voice was dominant now, speaking aloud, relegating her to the shadows.
“Yes, that would be better,” she agreed. Anything had to be better if only to get him out of her. It was too intimate, too invasive. Ethan would be back soon, and then maybe… would he know that Ash was inside of her?
“That’s a good question, my love. Best we not be here when he returns.” Her body stood, toweling off with loving care. “It’s a shame to cover up your loveliness, but I can’t have you walking around like this, no matter how beguiling a picture you make.” Donning her discarded clothes, Ash scowled briefly at the sting from her pocket, drawing out the hematite pendant and flinging it aside with a hiss when it burned her fingers like a hot coal.
Cady caught her reflection in the small mirror over the sink, hair in a sultry tangle, eyes bright, cheeks rosy, practically glowing with satisfaction and contentment. It was the strangest feeling, looking out of her body, but not feeling present within it. If it showed even a hint of what was in her soul, she’d have the decency to weep.
Her hand froze at the door, unable to reach the doorknob from the spells that lay on the other side of the wall. “I’m not sure how we’ll manage this,” he admitted, testing the edges of the barrier. “I can’t easily break through this.”
“You could let me go.” Even as she said it, she didn’t expect him to, even if that left them trapped in the bathroom until Ethan came back.
“No, not until I know we can be together forever.”
“I’ll come to you again.” There wasn’t a need to hide her true thoughts on the matter, she would have gladly promised him anything if only he’d release her.
“It’s not enough, not anymore. Now that I have you, I’ll never let you go.”
The thought chilled her, and Cady felt her heart lurch through the bond they shared. At least she still had the ability to influence something in her body, that had to mean something. “Listen to me,” she tried again. “I don’t want you inside of me, not like this. It’s… invasive, degrading.” She got the distinct impression he wasn’t listening to her, despite sharing the same headspace, too intent on finding a way out of there. “Creepy as shit!”
“I understand, you want me to be a proper man to you.”
“Yes, I would much rather have that.”
“Alright, I have an idea.”
Why did that not make her feel any better?
“Ah, that should do nicely.” His gaze fell to the small window over the bathtub, prying it open. It wasn’t large enough for a person to crawl through, at least it wasn’t until he pulled back her hand and smashed it through the pane of glass on the other side, shattering it.
Cady felt no pain as her fist destroyed the window, though she could clearly see the split knuckles. “Sorry, my love, it will only last a moment,” he assured her, catching up the discarded towel to press to her hand. True to his words, the wound healed after a few minutes, leaving only a trace of reddened skin. In that time, he managed to pick aside all the loose glass and brush it into the alley below. Without pausing a beat, he hoisted her up into the window, looking for the best handholds on the cracked brick façade.
“We’ll fall and die.” No sooner did the protest come than she welcomed it. What had she told Ethan? She’d rather be dead than his plaything. This definitely constituted being his plaything, more than she could have imagined.
“Shhh, trust in me, I won’t let you come to any harm.” Moving with confident strength and agility, he scaled the side of the building, drawing her up onto the roof with ease. Once there, he looked around, but there was no roof access to the stairwell.
“Please, just let me go. There’s no way down,” she tried again.
“There is always another way.”
Her gaze fell to the neighboring rooftop, spotting what he needed. There was no way she’d make it over there, the building was easily fifteen feet away, but Cady made no protest. Instead, she was caught up in the flex of muscle as her body broke into a dead run. Raw power surged through her as she pushed away from the building, soaring through the air with impossible speed to land on her feet on the other side. The feeling of freedom… the power… it was…
“Indescribable, isn’t it?” He swelled with pride. “I told you, I won’t
let you come to harm.”
Cady watched in fascination as her slender, five foot five form easily bust through the locked door and gave them access to the stairwell below. No wonder he was able to resist Ethan so easily. What couldn’t she do with that kind of power?
“What indeed,” her own voice chuckled aloud.