Selena

 

My head was whirling. It was hard to process it all at once. From being blindfolded, to being towed out in the middle of the clearing, to seeing Daddy gunned down, to having the man at my front rip his mask off and reveal himself as Ember. It was too much for any one person to handle, much less someone who had been through all the things I had been through since I left my house in the middle of the night just a week ago.

 

I looked up at Ember as I lay next to him, huddled against his warm body. His eyes were the same bright green they’d been since the moment I met him in that godforsaken Mexican desert, when he’d leaned back against his bike and stared me up and down without ever losing that smirk, that infuriating, sexy, king of the world smirk. I could lose myself in those eyes. I pretty much had already, if I was being honest. I mean, we were crouched in a hole in the middle of the woods, while God knows how many men ran around shooting each other and looking for us. Even now, I could hear bullets piercing the night air and the sounds of men dying.

 

I started to shiver. I didn’t know what caused it – the cold or the fear or the crazy emotions that had overtaken me ever since Ember first laid his hands on my body. But it didn’t matter what the root cause was, the cure was the same regardless – Ember’s touch. As I gazed up into his face, he rested his fingers gently on my chin and pulled me forward to kiss me.

 

It was the softest kiss, the lightest kiss, so fragile in contrast to the insane violence erupting above and all around us that I almost wanted to laugh. Everything about this was insane, and yet here I was, kissing a man while part of my brain screamed at the top of its lungs that I already loved him.

 

It was true. I did. There was no denying it, any more than there was denying that I wanted more of his kiss, more of his hands, more of the body next to me. I pushed my tongue between his lips to find more, and he pushed his tongue right back between mine, to let me know that I was in his hands and I was safe there.

 

I knew I was safe here. He didn’t have to tell me anything. All he needed to do was kiss me.

 

I broke away and looked at him. “I’m yours,” I said. “All of me is yours.” Our breath escaped in hot mushroom clouds, fogging the air between us.

 

“I won’t let anything happen to you,” he replied. His voice was firm in spite of everything. I believed him. How crazy was that? A hundred men wanted to take me, and this one stupid, irritating, stubborn, psycho man looked me in the eyes and told me I would be safe, and I believed him.

 

Our lips crashed back together. He was as hungry for me as I was for him. I took his hand and pushed it on my belly, slid it up to my breasts which were desperate for his touch. He kneaded them in his palms, coaxing little groans from the pit of my stomach. I moaned into his mouth as he pinched my rock-hard nipples between his fingertips.

 

My thighs rubbed against his. I felt the beckoning bulge of his manhood rising on my leg. I loved knowing that he wanted me and that my body could make his respond. I wanted to be dominated by him, but at the same time, the power to bring him pleasure was an intoxicating thrill. I let my hand wander down to free him from his clothing. Zipper down, belt unlatched, and then he sprung into my grasp, as full and intimidating as he had been the first time we’d ever undressed each other.

 

I savored the heft of his dick in my hand while I started with slow, easy strokes up and down its length. My fingers rested ever so lightly on him, so that my stroking was just a suggestion, just a hint of what was to come. Even so, I felt the sighing rasp of his breath easing into my mouth while the tingle swept over him.

 

My skin was cold but his hands moving over my body were warm and tender. “Touch me,” I whispered to him. “I want you so badly.” He responded without a word, slipping a hand down the front of jeans to tap delicately at my mound. Already, my juices were flowing. My whole body was longing for Ember. The first swipe of his thumb on my clit was like a rock into the surface of water. Ripples scattered all over me.

 

He pulled me over so that my weight rested on top of him. Our bodies were aligned perfectly, head to toe. My breasts pressed heavy against his chest while he began to finger me with excruciating patience. I wanted more, dammit, I wanted it all at once! But he was making me wait, drawing it out, forcing me to grind at his touch and whimper for release.

 

“Please, Ember, don’t tease me. I want to come for you right now,” I gasped as loud as I dared. Every aspect of this was insanity. His hand inside me while murderers searched for us overhead? But it didn’t matter. I could die right here and that’d be fine with me. I didn’t need anything beyond this earthy little space. I had it all here.

 

I took a firmer grip on his cock and worked it up and down. He pushed back against me in a silent reply, stroking the rough patch inside my tunnel that squirmed at the sensation. My hips bucked involuntarily as my whole body begged for more.

 

I wriggled my jeans down my hips and lined his throbbing erection to my entrance. Before I let him inside me, I looked into his eyes one more time.

 

There they were – green, bright, unwavering. Everything I wanted was in them. All the freedom I needed was in them. So now, I needed him in me.

 

Without a word, I sat back and felt myself stretch to accommodate him in my aching pussy. I hunched over so I could mash my mouth sloppily into his, all restraint and caution thrown to the window. I didn’t give a damn if they caught me or killed me. I was too gone in this.

 

Our hips met like a soft whisper. Each motion was slow, painstakingly slow. The clash of flesh and fabric and the dirt falling in sprays around us, the roots on every side – it all added up into a cocktail that brought me ever higher. Ember’s hands kept squeezing my breasts like he needed to hold onto something or else he would drown. I knew how he felt, because I felt the same way. My hands on his muscular chest were the only thing tethering me to reality. Nothing else felt as solid as this man beneath me, except for the part of him that thrust into me, inch by agonizingly beautiful inch.

 

“Fuck me, Ember,” I whispered.

 

He growled back, “Work your pussy on my cock, Selena. You’re mine, all mine, every inch of you. Every drop of juice and every tiny spread of skin. Now show me what it looks like when you come.” As he talked, he snuck a hand between our grinding bodies to press at my clit. The twin sensations of his hand and his cock wove in and out of each other. It felt like a cocoon was being wrapped tight around me, and any second now I would burst through. Our kiss was open and wet as we smashed against one another.

 

I bounced frantically on top of him, sobbing in pleasure at the top of each stroke, all while I rested my head against his chest and held myself as tight to him as I could.

 

I was on the verge, so damn close to coming that my mouth fell wide open, practically drooling, and one long “Ohh” fell unending between my lips. It was only a few strokes away – then just one more – then all the threads of feeling that were winding through me broke loose and I came, quivering, squeezing my walls around Ember inside me. He came too, and the sensation of his hot, splashing come was added reason for a second wave to overtake me, resounding from the root of me all the way out to the ends of each hair. My whole body shook in unison with his. The smell of sex and sweat and dirt were overpowering. The smell of Ember was overpowering.

 

I collapsed against his chest. His hands held me close while our breath slowed to normal. It had been so hard not to scream while we fucked and my jaw rang with pain from clenching so hard. I pressed my lips against his neck, as thirsty as ever to have him that much closer to me.

 

I didn’t know how long we were laying there, breathing in and out at the same time, before we realized that it had been forever since we’d heard footsteps. The night had dropped its veil of silence back over everything. No more gunfire, no more howls of pain. Just an owl hooting here and there, and little animals rooting around in the bushes.

 

“Do you think we can go?” I asked.

 

“We gotta be careful, but we can’t stay here forever. I’ll look around.” Ember eased one of the branches aside and pushed his head above ground. I watched his body as he spun in place, checking every angle. After a moment, he leaned back down to offer me a hand. “Let’s go,” he said.

 

I twined my fingers between his and let him pull me to the surface. We clambered to our feet, brushing the dirt from where it had fallen in the folds of our clothes. I was still ringing with pleasure. I could’ve stayed down there riding him forever while the earth crumbled around us. But we had to keep moving, or they’d find us eventually.

 

I followed Ember through the forest, clinging tightly to his hand. We moved between trees. Every so often, there was another corpse, riddled with bullet holes and cold to the touch. None of them were alive. Soon, we reached the edge of the clearing. I looked out and saw my father’s body. My breath seized in my chest. A dark red blossom of clotted blood had taken root in the middle of his torso. The eyes looking out of his face were as black and beady as ever, but there was none of the malice lingering behind them.

 

He was dead. Daddy was dead.

 

I didn’t know how to feel. Part of me was happy. All these years spent writhing under his thumb, so desperate to get away – that was all finished now. But at the same time, he was still my Daddy. He’d raised me, taken care of me, and now he was dead. It was his own fault. Even this close to his death, I recognized that he had been the cause of his own undoing. Still, how could I not feel something? A tear trickled down my cheek.

 

Ember pulled me into a powerful hug. His lips brushed against my ears as he whispered to me, “He’s gone. I know he was your Daddy, and part of you must have loved him, but you gotta see that you’re free now. You can go wherever and do whatever you want. He did this to himself.” Ember’s words echoed my own thoughts, but it was tough to poke holes in the wave of sadness that had crashed over me.

 

There wasn’t time to sit and mourn, however. After a long embrace, Ember released me. “We need to get out of here,” he said. I nodded and wiped the dried tear from my face.

 

He turned and we crossed to the other side of the clearing. Five hundred yards into the woods, we reached a pile of branches that Ember pulled apart to reveal his motorcycle hidden below. Just like in Mexico, he plucked me up between his hands and settled me onto the back. Then he threw his own leg over the seat, started the engine, and we peeled off onto the road that snaked past just a few yards away.

 

I hugged Ember tight. My wrists were bruised, but my hands were free. Free to touch, free to hold.

 

Free, free, free.

 

* * *

 

A Few Days Later

 

“You’re sure you want to do this?”

 

I had to swallow hard before I could reply. My head felt weirdly light when I nodded. I’d cut off nearly eight inches of hair, after all. The dyed black bangs dangling in front of my eyes were far darker than the blond locks I’d had my whole life, which was another shock to the senses. Then again, nothing was ever going to be normal again, most likely.

 

Everything that had held me to my old life was gone, dissolved. Daddy was dead. The cartel didn’t know where I was, but just in case, Ember had helped me dye my hair and buy a new passport to hide who I was. I had enough money to live off for a long time, thanks to the briefcase full of cash that Ember had taken from beside my father’s body. There was only one thing left to do before I left it all behind.

 

I tucked the plane ticket in my back pocket and looked up at the man in front of me. Those eyes, goddamn. I was going to be dreaming about them for a very long time. The rest of my life, probably. They were the kind of green that haunted me every time I dozed off, every time I daydreamed. It wasn’t such a bad thing. They were beautiful, after all, just like the face that held them. I reached up a hand to touch his razor-sharp jaw just one more time. My eyes were hot and wet with tears.

 

How had he done this to me? It hadn’t been so long, although it felt like centuries. Only a couple of days ago, I’d thought he was just the next asshole in line to take advantage of me. He’d thrown me on his bike like garbage, teased me, ridiculed me, left me cuffed and embarrassed. Yet here I was, crying in an airport, about to leave Ember forever and feeling like my heart was being ripped in half.

 

Part of me would stay here with him forever, no matter how far I went or how fast I flew. He’d taken me and made me his. I wanted that; I’d asked for that. But that didn’t stop it from hurting now.

 

I opened my mouth to talk, but the words just wouldn’t come. Ember said nothing, for a change. He looked at me, hands by his sides, eyes gleaming. I pivoted on my heel. If I couldn’t say anything, I wasn’t going to stand around like a damn teary-eyed fool and feel ashamed of my inability to hold it together. I started to walk away.

 

Before my other feet could even hit the ground, I felt his hands on me. He grabbed my arm, spun me back towards him, and enveloped me in his embrace. His lips descended into mine, as wet and warm and full of life as anything else I’d ever come across. I wanted that kiss to last forever, just like I did every time he touched me.

 

My breath went through my lungs and into his. I drank him in, breathed him in, swallowed him in, and as I did, I gave everything I had back to him. I loved him.

 

I looked up and told him. “I love you, Ember.” He didn’t have to say anything back, and I knew he wouldn’t. He didn’t need to. His eyes told me everything.

 

“Have a safe flight, Mrs. Parker.”

 

I laughed and wiped another tear away with the back of my hand. This new name was going to take some getting used to. Luckily, Berlin was a twelve-hour flight away, so I’d have plenty of time to practice settling into the identity I would carry for the rest of my life.

 

“Don’t go falling in love with the next girl you rescue from Mexico,” I warned him sternly, trying not to cry harder. How was this so hard? It had only been a couple days. Just a couple days. I repeated that to myself over and over again in my head, but it didn’t make a difference. This was never going to be an easy goodbye.

 

“You’re one of a kind, Selena. I hope you’re happy. I hope you’re safe.”

 

And that was it. He kissed me one more time, just a light flutter of his lips on mine. It would have to be enough to last me the rest of my life. He put on his aviator sunglasses, turned, and walked out the double glass doors. I watched through the panes as he mounted his motorcycle and twisted his wrist to bring the engine crackling to life.

 

“Wait!” I screamed. I burst through the doors, running as fast as I could. The engine roar was deafening, but somehow he managed to hear me. He looked up, surprised. I came to a halt in front of him, hands on my knees as I sucked air in and out of my lungs. When I had caught my breath, I looked up at him.

 

“I can’t go. I want to stay with you.”

 

He smiled, the same cool, smug smile that enraged me and turned me on at the same time. “I love you, too, Selena. Get on the bike.”

 

I climbed on and wrapped my hands around his waist. I breathed in his scent, felt his warmth, his bulk. This was where I was supposed to be. Not Berlin. Not anywhere else. Here.

 

We started to pull out. “Wait, what about my luggage?” I asked.

 

“Where we’re going, you don’t need clothes,” he replied, giving me a wink over his shoulder. The engine growled again and we took off down the road.

 

That beautiful bastard. I loved him.

 

THE END