Marta, my escort, followed me like a shadow. I tried to engage her in conversation once or twice, but she just didn’t seem all that interested in talking.

But she did let me walk around wherever I wanted.

As I wandered the house, I felt like I got a much better sense of who these people were than I could have from anything they might have told me. Upstairs I passed a ton of rooms, most of them containing young women. They all smiled at me, but when I tried to talk to them they usually ignored me or spoke a language back that I couldn’t understand.

“Sex slaves,” Marta commented to me after the third girl ignored me. “Not from here.”

“Really? These are the girls you saved?”

She just smiled at me, and I knew the conversation was over.

The doors to their rooms were open, and they seemed free to move around the house. I was surprised by how big the place was. It clearly used to be an old farm house, but it had been added on to over the years. The walls were old and the wallpaper was peeling, but it was clean and comfortable.

I went downstairs and found more women in the kitchen. They were cooking something that smelled absolutely amazing. A young girl with bright red hair smiled and said something to me in a language I didn’t understand. Then she held out a bowl of a dark brown soup.

I took it and took a bite. “Delicious,” I said.

She smiled and nodded and then went back to work. The women were cooking and preparing more food, probably to feed the whole house. I devoured the little meal in a second and placed the bowl in the sink. Marta stood by the doorway, watching me but smiling.

I found more guards wandering around the grounds, holding rifles, though nobody seemed to be in a hurry. They mainly just smiled and nodded at me as if I were just another guest there.

There was a large dining room, a living room with a television, several bathrooms, and another large sitting area. I moved out the back door and stood on a large porch with rocking chairs. An older woman was sitting in a chair, knitting something.

“Hi,” I said to her.

I was surprised when she looked up. “Hello, dear.”

Marta stood close behind me. “Can I sit?” I asked her.

“Of course.”

I sat down next to her.

“Marta, dear, would you get us some tea?”

Marta nodded. “Sure thing, Nan.” She disappeared back inside.

I looked at the old woman. “Nan?”

She laughed. “They call me nana because I’m old. I don’t look that old though, do I?”

“You’re the youngest person here.”

“Thanks, dear. Massage my ego.”

“What is this place?”

She shrugged, knitting. “It’s a halfway house. It’s a safe place. We take in broken women, we try to nurse them back to health, and then we release them into the wild.”

“How?” I asked her. “How does this place exist?”

“Louisa Barone.”

“But why? Aren’t you hurting her family?”

The woman just kept smiling serenely, knitting as she spoke.

“Louisa is an interesting woman,” she said. “Maybe we’re hurting her family’s business, but as far as she’s concerned, we’re helping to save them, too. What do you know about human trafficking?”

“Not much,” I admitted.

“It’s horrible. They addict these young girls to drugs, get them into debt, and then force them to prostitute themselves until they’re dead or all used up. In Louisa’s mind, saving these women is also helping to save her family’s soul.”

I nodded, frowning. I didn’t know anything about the mafia or about Louisa, but everything this woman was saying made sense to me. I understood why Brooks didn’t trust these people, but so far I’d seen nothing that made me think they were trying to do anything but help.

I stood up. “Thanks, Nan,” I said. “I’ll leave you to your knitting.”

“Tea hasn’t come yet, dear,” she said.

“Is it okay if I just go for a walk? I’ll just be in the woods.”

She looked at me, smiling. “You’re not trying to run away, are you?”

“No,” I said. “Honestly. I just need to think.”

She stared at me for a second, and I saw a hardness in her eyes. Finally, she nodded. “Okay. I’ll tell Marta where you’ve gone, but don’t go far. And come back soon. We’ll be eating in an hour.”

“Thank you,” I said, and then I walked off toward the forest.

I felt the cool breeze on my skin and realized that I had left Chicago for the first time.

I grew up in the city. I knew the streets better than anything else in my life. It was my home and I didn’t know anything else. Sure, I was only out in the suburbs, but I felt like I was lost in an enchanted forest.

The women back there were amazing. Every one of them was so strong, so much more than I could ever have imagined. I knew that if Brooks just saw what I saw, he’d understand. These people weren’t here to hurt us; they were here to try to help us.

More specifically, they wanted to help me.

But the fact that they were taking Brooks in as well spoke volumes about him. I knew he said he didn’t hurt women, but I was willing to bet that the Spiders didn’t take men in very often unless they really were special.

As I walked through the forest, soon losing sight of the house, I knew that Brooks was something special. I’d never met someone like him, and although he was a killer, he really did care about me. He didn’t trust these people, but that made sense. He didn’t know them and probably had been burned too many times by too many different people to really let his guard down.

The more I got to know him, the more I felt like I could understand him. There was an anger inside him, an anger at life. He became a killer because that was all he knew, death and violence. But I couldn’t picture him as dangerous, not really.

I sighed and breathed in the cool air as I walked, twigs snapping. I had no clue how this day had gotten me here, but I wasn’t trying to fight it. I was done fighting it. Life simply swept me up and bore me along, and I had to learn to react like water, flowing along with it. I couldn’t control it. I just had to learn to form myself along with it.

Suddenly, I heard a twig snap nearby. I looked around, my eyes wide. I felt my heart begin to beat fast.

“Marta?” I called out. “Is that you?”

I heard another twig snap and whirled around. Brooks stepped out from behind a tree.

“Fuck,” I said, releasing a breath. “You scared the shit out of me.” My heart was hammering in my chest.

He smirked at me. “Sorry. I wanted to talk to you.”

“Where’s your guard?”

He shrugged. “Looking for me, I guess.”

“You lost her?”

“She didn’t stand a chance. I gave her the slip pretty fast.”

“Why did you do that?”

“I wanted to talk to you where nobody would overhear us. Someone mentioned that you were out walking through the woods, so this is as good a time as any.”

I crossed my arms. “We’re actually alone out here?”

He nodded. “We are. Nobody for at least a couple miles.”

“What do you want to talk about?”

He stepped closer to me. “You like these people.”

“I do.”

“I don’t trust them.”

“Did you see the girls upstairs? And in the kitchen?”

“I saw a bunch of young, scared girls who can’t speak English. I’m not sure what any of that means.”

I sighed, frustrated. “I saw a bunch of women helping each other,” I said. “Maybe you don’t understand because you’re too busy thinking with your dick.”

He laughed. “This isn’t some feminist bullshit, Emma. This is about whether or not we can trust the Spiders. I’ve seen them do some violent fucking shit, and I’m inclined to run.”

“I want to stay.”

He came closer to me and stopped. I looked at him, at his body, his muscles, and his hard eyes, and I wanted to throw myself at him. I wanted to wrap my body around his and feel the way I felt the other night, but I couldn’t, not yet.

“I know you do. I can’t say I blame you.”

“Give them another day. That’s all. One more day, and if you’re not convinced, I’ll go.”

He frowned at me. “Promise.”

“I swear. We’ll leave.”

“Okay.”

I blinked. “Seriously?”

“This is as much your choice as mine, Emma. I can’t force you to stay with me.”

It hit me in that moment. He was absolutely right. Before I’d had to stay with him, because he was the only one protecting me. But now I didn’t need to stay with him at all if I didn’t want to. I was free to make my own choices, and I could stay even if he decided to leave.

But I didn’t want that, not at all. I still couldn’t imagine doing this without him, Spiders or no Spiders. Whether they could help me or not, it was irrelevant without him.

I stepped closer to him. “I’m not going anywhere,” I said. “We’re in this together.”

He grabbed me by the hips and pulled me against him roughly, kissing my lips hard. I melted into his embrace, returning his kiss with a passion I didn’t even realize I had inside me. I felt hungry, starving for his touch.

I felt his hands move along my body as I pressed myself harder against him, wanting to feel his every inch. He kissed along my neck and whispered in my ear.

“I’ve been fucking thinking about this every second since you left my bed,” he said.

“We can’t do anything here,” I whispered. “We’re out in the open.”

He laughed and pushed me back, my body pressing up against a tree. He pinned me there and kissed my neck, his hands slipping down the front of my jeans.

“Soaking wet,” he whispered as his fingers pushed under my panties and found my dripping clit. “I think your body disagrees with you.”

“Brooks,” I gasped as he began to stroke me.

“Nobody is coming,” he said.

“Except for me if you keep doing that.”

He grinned at me. “See. You fucking like it.” He pressed a finger deep inside me.

I gasped, smiling. “Maybe I do.”

“You don’t have to pretend around me,” he said, kissing my neck again, his lips so close to my ear. “Let go.”

He began to stroke his fingers in and out of my pussy, fucking my soaking spot. He rolled them up along my skin and rubbed my clit. Then he rolled them back down to press deep inside me. I gasped as he worked me like that, his skilled hands pressing against my body, moving me closer and closer.

I couldn’t help myself. I was worried someone would catch us, but that fear only heightened the sensation of his fingers working my pussy. I reached forward and grabbed his thick cock, feeling his hardness through his jeans. He grunted as I fumbled with his belt, pulling it off and then unbuttoning his fly. I reached down the front of his pants and grabbed his thick cock with both hands.

“Fuck, girl, getting greedy,” he said as I began to jerk his length with both hands.

“Maybe I can’t help myself.”

“I know you can’t,” he said. He pressed his fingers deep inside me and I gasped. “I know you fucking can’t. I want to feel you jerk this cock off, girl.”

He slowly pulled his hands from my pants and licked his fingers off, staring at me as I jerked his cock. I dropped down to my knees, my pussy dripping wet, and slowly wrapped my lips around his cock. I sucked his tip hard, pressing him into my mouth and rolling my tongue around him.

“Ah fuck,” he groaned as I tried to take all of him into my throat. He pressed my head down farther, fucking my mouth, pressing deep into my throat. I worked him like that, jerking his shaft with two hands while I sucked his cock, sliding as much as I could into my throat.

He pressed me down and started to fuck my mouth. I loved how much he enjoyed it, the moaning and his deep, passionate groans. His cock pressed between my lips as I worked him, sucking his length and jerking his thick shaft.

“Fuck,” he grunted, taking my hair and pulling my head back. His cock left my mouth, leaving a long line of saliva from my lip to his cock. “Stand up. I want this pussy bad.”

I obeyed, standing. He yanked my shorts down around my ankles, sliding my soaked panties down with them. I watched him fish a condom out of the wallet in his pocket. Then he pulled his jeans off, kicking them aside. I couldn’t help but stare at him as he rolled the condom down along his thick cock.

He turned me back around, pressing my hands against the tree trunk. I spread my legs wide for him, my heart pounding in my chest.

He tipped my chin back and kissed me as he pressed his cock deep inside me.

I gasped and moaned into his mouth as he filled me. I couldn’t believe how easily he slid inside me, but I was dripping wet and it wasn’t my first time anymore. He pressed deeper, slowly stroking in and out.

Pleasure rocked my body. I dug my nails into the trunk of the tree as he continued fucking me, working my dripping pussy, his big dick filling my every inch. I took him, gripping the tree.

He slapped my ass and I gasped. “You fucking like taking my cock out here?”

“I like taking your cock anywhere,” I heard myself say.

“That’s fucking right. You’ll take this big cock wherever I want. You’re fucking desperate for this thick cock.”

“Oh shit,” I gasped as he slapped my ass again. He took my hair and tipped my chin back, fucking me deep. I took his full length into my soaking pussy, rocking my hips back, rolling along with him. I moaned softly as he pressed deeper and deeper inside me, fucking me rough and hard.

He let go of my hair and wrapped an arm around my leg, his fingers finding my clit. He rubbed me in delicious circles, working my clit as he fucked me from behind. I was losing my mind as he worked me hard and rough, and I pressed my face against the rough bark of the tree, taking his cock.

I worked him, rolling my hips, letting him fuck me deep and rough. I couldn’t believe I was doing this, getting fucked roughly by a big strong killer out in the middle of the woods, but I couldn’t help myself. I was soaking wet and I needed it. He made me feel right, made me feel like I was safe no matter where we were.

I could feel an orgasm building deep inside my body. He kept fucking me, rough and savage, an animal fucking me in the woods. I rocked my hips, working him more, taking his big dick between my legs.

“Fuck, I want to see that face when you come,” he said. He pulled back and spun me around. Before I could say anything, he hooked my legs under his arms and lifted me up into the air. I wrapped my hands around his neck as he lowered me down onto his cock.

“Oh shit,” I gasped. He kissed me hard as he started to fuck me, pressing my back against the tree. The bark was rough against my shirt, but that only made me so much wetter. He held me there, supporting me with his strong arms as he fucked my pussy, dropping me down and lifting me up, his hips pressed up against me.

I moaned loudly, unable to stop myself as he fucked me deeply like that, kissing my mouth, grunting along with me. I took his thick cock in my tight little cunt, letting him slam deep between my legs.

I felt the orgasm building again, pulsing in my pussy. He growled as he fucked me deep and rough, slamming into my tight cunt, his big cock filling my every inch.

“Come for me, girl,” he grunted. “Come on this big dick.”

I couldn’t stop myself. I felt the orgasm break like a river over my whole body. I began to tense and shake as he fucked me relentlessly. The orgasm rolled through me, bowling me over and washing away my mind, filling me with blissful pleasure. I was amazed by how easily he filled me and fucked me and made me come, but I could barely think.

There was only his cock and my orgasm, rolling through my body.

“Fuck. That face you make as you come,” he said. “Tips me over the fucking edge.”

I felt him thrust harder, deeper inside me. He tensed as he came deep inside me, and I moaned, imagining his white-hot cum filling my little pussy.

Slowly his thrusts ended, and he put me back down onto the ground. I leaned against him as he leaned against the tree, panting, trying to steady myself.

“Holy shit,” I said.

“Yeah,” he grunted. “I agree.”

We got dressed then, even though I didn’t want to be apart from him, not for a single second. When we were done, I pressed myself against his chest and he held me.

After a few minutes passed, he spoke softly. “We should get going,” he said.

“Yeah,” I answered. “I guess.”

“They’re probably looking for us. No need to freak them out too much.”

“Okay.”

He pulled me back and smirked. “Don’t worry. I’m with you.”

“Yeah. I know. Come on.” I walked off, back toward the house. He caught up with me, grinning to himself.

I was glowing from the orgasm, practically floating on air. I couldn’t believe how he made me feel, every single second I was around him.

He was right. Things were going to be okay, because he was here and he was staying.