Rivers of blood and sand

The bramble was thicker than normal bushes, reminding me of tree branches. To make matters more terrifying, the thorns were huge, like the size of Ander’s hand. The dark brown tangled bushes lacked any vegetation but were almost impossible to see through. Which wasn’t great if any animals or monsters were hiding in them. It reminded me of a maze, with high walls and winding paths that branched off. As with the forest and desert, the sky above was still gray and gave off no light.

If our kind didn’t have such excellent eyesight, this place would’ve been more of a nightmare than it already was.

Unlike the forest, there wasn’t a lack of sound. My steps slowed when I heard rustling in the bushes. It didn’t sound like anything big, so I doubted it was the shapeshifter—unless he could turn into something smaller, which was a horrifying thought—or the other two beings.

Time made no sense here. When I checked my wristband, only twenty minutes had passed since the last time I checked in the Aurora court. What the fuck? I knew for certain we’d been here for several hours. So either my wristband was glitching, which they never normally did, or time worked differently here. I figured it was the latter.

After many forked paths, and several dead-ends that had my frustration growing, we eventually came across a building that blended into the bramble so well that we nearly passed it. From the outside, it didn’t look like much, more like a shack than anything else.

A heated discussion ensued—that I won, might I add—about whether or not we should take a look inside. Ander was the first one through the door, telling me to wait outside while he checked it out. I snorted and rolled my eyes. Like hell I was staying in this maze alone. As I entered the doorway, I was careful to avoid the thorn-covered vines crawling up the wall and door.

Ander sighed and shook his head, not bothering to look over his shoulder at me as he surveyed the interior. “Of course you won’t listen.” A smile lifted my lips, but I didn’t comment as I took in the cramped hallway.

Based on what I saw, it was a little bigger than the cabin in the Wilds, but rather than one big room, it had several tiny rooms on either side of the hall. Each room was sparsely decorated with a few pieces of furniture built from the same thorny bramble as outside. And no, they hadn’t removed the thorns.

Even the toilet and bathtub in the bathroom were made of the same material. I doubted they functioned, but even if they did, there was no way in hell I’d use them. The fucking bed was even covered in thorns. What the hell? While the kitchen table—I assumed the back room was a kitchen, even though there was a lack of appliances—and chairs were also unusable, the counters were blissfully thorn free. The surface was made of the branches that had been braided together, but the thorns were gone. Why couldn’t they have done that with the rest of the furniture?

Every surface showed a distinct lack of dust, but it was misleading. Nothing about this screamed anyone had been here recently. There was a distinct lack of scents, other than the natural rot that hung in the air, along with the scents of wood. It was like this house, this realm, was stagnant. Never changing.

The entire time we’d been in this realm, nothing changed. Not the sky, or even the air around us.

The smell of Ander’s blood invaded my senses and was all I could smell or focus on as he cast. He’d only drown enough blood to draw a couple of sigils, but to me it was strong. “No one else is here,” he confirmed once he was done.

“No shit,” I muttered, rolling my eyes and crossing my arms.

Ander wiped his hands down his face before coming to stand before me and tipping my head back using a finger under my chin. “Stay here while I add some temporary warding. I think it’s best we rest while we can.”

His eyes searched my face, waiting for my response. “Alright,” I relented.

He didn’t release my chin, still watching me. “I mean it, stay here.”

I made a sound of frustration as I tried pulling away from him, annoyed he was talking to me like I was a disobedient child. I mean, yes, I did wander off the last time I said I’d stay put, but I had a good reason.

Ander grabbed my hips and pulled me flush against him, preventing me from moving away. I didn’t say another word and neither did he, both of us locked in a stare-off, neither of us willing to back down. The corner of Ander’s lips kicked up as his gaze dipped to my lips. You’d think he touched my lips with how much they tingled. He gave my hip a small squeeze before releasing me and exiting the room. My breath released on a sharp exhale as I placed a hand on the counter to steady myself.

Good thing it didn’t have thorns, otherwise I’d be in some serious pain. By the time Ander returned, I’d somewhat regained my composure. “I don’t know how much rest we’ll be able to get here,” I said casually, waving my hand at the deadly furniture as if he could forget about it.

His arrogant smirk was full-blown and anticipation simmered in my stomach. Moving faster than I was expecting, he grabbed my hips and lifted me so I sat on the counter. The braided branches dug into my ass and the back of my thighs.

“Would you look at that, you’re resting.” His light and joking tone had my breath stalling in my lungs as flutters filled my stomach and chest. It wasn’t that I wasn’t used to others joking with me, it was that he’d never done it with me before, and I was thrown for a loop.

I shifted around, trying to find a comfortable spot on the uneven and unyielding surface. “Not to sound ungrateful or anything, but this isn’t comfortable or easy to relax on.” A vast understatement, if the floor wasn’t the same as the counter, I would’ve sat on that instead.

Ander’s amusement hadn’t faded as his hands slid from my waist to the tops of my thighs. His large hands spanned over the tops of my legs, sending heat and tingles into my thighs as if there wasn’t a barrier of denim between us. Fire pooled low in my stomach as his hands slid up higher until his thumbs were brushing over my center.

“What are you—” I began but cut myself off when he slid the harnesses off my thighs and undid the buttons of my jeans.

“Lift your hips.” His voice was a deep rumble that did dangerous things to my body.

“I don’t know if we should be doing this here,” I said hesitantly, glancing in the direction of the front door. What if the shapeshifter or one of the others found us here? It would be foolish to allow ourselves to be distracted in an unknown realm.

Ander grabbed my chin in what was becoming his signature move and pulled my focus back to him. “No one will be able to get near us without me knowing,” he promised, his eyes burning with an intensity that had me squirming.

While I trusted in him and his abilities, I still wasn’t sure we should be doing this here, even if my body was blazing with desire. “I don’t think I can get myself in the mood,” I weakly said, not sure I could turn off my paranoia even though I desperately wanted him.

I should’ve known he would’ve taken my words as a challenge.

The smirk on his face had my breaths quickening as I waited to see what he’d do to prove me wrong. Rather than return his focus to my undone jeans, he grabbed the bottom of my shirt and lifted it until it was over my chest. My nipples pebbled in the cool air as he pulled my breasts free of the cups of my bra.

His mouth closed over my nipple, sucking it into his mouth. A gasp slipped free as heat coursed through my body, starting at my nipple and trailing to my core. Placing my hands behind me on the rough counter, I dropped my head back and moaned as he bit down on my nipple, bringing forth a burst of pain melded with intense pleasure. His tongue flicked and swirled over my nipple, easing the sting. With just his mouth working against my breast, I was already feeling the swirling pleasure growing in my core.

If my words from before had been a true challenge or bet, then I already lost. I was more than ready to let him fuck me here and now. A fucked up monster could come through the front door right now and I probably wouldn’t care.

After removing all my clothes, I was completely bared to him. He adjusted me so that my legs dangled over the side, and so I could lie along the length of the counter. The braided and uneven surface dug into my back—probably snagging on my hair, but I’d worry about that later—and was far from a comfortable surface to lay on, but it beat the bed or any of the other furniture.

Ander’s shirt was thrown off to the side, courtesy of me clawing at it. I tried sitting up to fulfill my desperate urge to kiss his chest, but he made a tsking sound before pushing me back and spreading my thighs apart.

I jolted when Ander licked up my pussy to my clit in one slow swipe of his tongue. He repeated the action several more times, picking up his pace as he continued. Before long he was devouring my pussy, holding my wiggling hips in place. My left hand was clutching the edge of the counter as the swirling tension building in my stomach continued growing. The wood was stronger than I previously thought; with the way I was gripping it, I should’ve already broken off a chunk.

Ander paused mid-lick and looked up at me with hooded eyes that were filled with heat and desire. “Don’t you even think about coming yet.” My responding growl morphed into a moan as he returned his attention to my pussy.

My entire body was aflame at his touch, and I was being metaphorical, for the most part. I mean, I did accidentally summon fire in an attempt to stave off the impending orgasm. That was the moment I discovered the counter—and most likely the whole house—was spelled like the ferry in the creature’s realm as it absorbed the fire.

Ander’s chuckle vibrated against my damp flesh, not helping me hold back the crashing waves of pleasure. It all was becoming too much for me to handle and rather than try to pull him closer as I’d been attempting, I tried closing my legs and pushing him away. His hold on my thighs tightened as he pinned them to the counter and kept them apart.

“Come,” Ander ordered, his voice rougher and deeper than usual. Not even half a second later, waves upon waves of crashing pleasure washed over me. My back arched from the counter, and I no longer cared how rough and uncomfortable the surface was. Hell, I didn’t even care that my hair snagged on a part and tugged at my scalp, I was beyond focusing on anything else. At some point, I even wrapped my legs around him, holding him to me.

My body shook from the aftershocks of the mind-blowing orgasm as I stared up at the thorn-covered ceiling and tried to slow my ragged breathing and racing pulse. Sweat soaked my skin even though all I did was lay here, trying to hold back an orgasm.

If I’d been human, I probably would’ve had a sore throat for hours from how loud I was screaming. Hopefully, those temporary wards Ander put up also had some sound-dampening properties, otherwise, there was no way anything nearby hadn’t heard me.

I was limp against the counter—it may be a cliché, but I felt boneless—unable to comprehend how a single orgasm could leave me like this. I’d had multiple in one hour on several occasions, and never once was I left feeling this satiated. Somehow Ander knew how to work my body in a way that wrung more pleasure from me than I could’ve ever imagined.

“I’m done,” I wheezed, letting my legs slip from his shoulders.

Ander chuckled, the sound was rich and full of amusement. “Oh, but I’m not done with you.”