Shooting Scars (The Artists Trilogy #2)

I reached under her back and with a deft move, flipped her over and pulled her up so she was on all fours, back arched, ass widening beneath me. She wiggled it, just slightly, and the sight nearly made me come. I was a hair trigger.

I licked my fingers, then trailed them down the slit of her ass, feeling her pucker before dipping them down into the lake of her cleft. She was so fucking wet, so wet for me. I drew the moisture up and swirled my finger into her, one then two. I hadn’t known Ellie long enough in an intimate way to know if she was into anything anal. But it was a dream and I didn’t care. I’d have my way with her and she’d love it.

My breath hitched and she let out little fluttery moans that made my balls tighten. I slowly edged myself into her, feeling the heat and the impossible tightness, the taboo, the dirtiness. The wonderful, mouth-gaping dirtiness. We both cried out as I thrust in deep, my cock being squeezed until I couldn’t handle it anymore.

Then something changed. A wave of cold came out from the darkness and along with it, the shadowy silhouette of a man. There was only shape to him and thick substance, like a figure had been sculpted out of black tar and clay. The chill he brought made me stop dead, my fingers resting softly on the cheeks of her ass.

The man came closer and still he had no features. Ellie’s head was up and watching him, like a playful cat, while I remained lodged inside her. He stopped right in front of her face and she reached for him with one hand, taking his black erect appendage into her mouth and crying out with pleasure.

I shut my eyes tight, willing myself to be the one she was sucking off. My dreams could be somewhat lucid when I wanted them to.

When I opened them, it had worked. My cock was in Ellie’s mouth, her tongue running and up and down the underside. But now, the black shape was where I had been, pounding her hard from behind. I watched, unable to stop Ellie from sucking me off, not wanting the pleasure to end, while watching the blackness as it spread over her. I came loudly, spurting into her mouth, which she swallowed happily. Then she came, the pounding coming to a climax.

The man of black matter smiled. A flash of white teeth against the abyss.

Then he was gone.

And she was gone.

I woke up on Gus’s couch in the middle of the night, my dick in my hands, pumping myself until I was coming all over my stomach with sticky bursts. I bit my lip to keep from crying out, from waking up Gus, and once the sensation faded, I noticed with embarrassment that I’d pulled my shirt up in my sleep, avoiding a mess.

I lay back, breathing hard, staring up at the ceiling. As far as sex dreams went, that one took the cake. I didn’t feel a sense of relief and peace as I normally did after climaxing. I felt empty. I felt dirty – and not the good kind of dirty.

I wiped up the mess with a few tissues and threw them in the trash. The door to his room was closed and I could hear him snoring loudly. There was no way I’d be going back to sleep now, even though the microwave clock said it was 4AM. The dream had thrilled then scared me and I didn’t want to give it thought, to give it power, to think what it had meant. I had to find Ellie first, then I’d deal with my subconscious.

Yesterday, after Gus had put it in my head that Ellie could be suffering from “Stockholm syndrome on steroids”, I could tell he was half-expecting me to pull out. To give up, to let Gus carry on the plan. It was probably what he wanted anyway, better off him than some bumbling puppy who was wanted by the police.

But I couldn’t. I was invested, as deep as I could be and as emotionally connected to Ellie than I’d ever been to anyone. In some ways, even Ben. I didn’t quite know why but that was the thing about love sometimes. It gave you few reasons and the rest was out of your hands.

Last night, I had told Gus that I was going to find her no matter what. If he wanted to help, then great. But if he didn’t, it wouldn’t stop me. Now that I knew exactly what was at stake – Ellie’s life, Ellie’s heart – I was all in.

“Even if Ellie doesn’t want to leave and Javier dies by my own bloody hands, I’m in it to the end,” I had said.

I don’t know if it’s because my veins were bulging out of my forehead or that I felt like a thousand suns were burning through my body and out of my eyes, but Gus finally nodded and said “alright.” He would help me get Ellie back.

To be honest, I think the idea of killing Javier put a little motivation in him, like a drop of blood in a shark tank. It wasn’t something I was banking on but I was prepared to do it. To know that Gus would be there to back me up helped, and also it made me realize the lengths I was prepared to go to save her, even on my own. It made me realize that in saving her, I might lose myself, lose any morals or convictions I once had. Camden McQueen might end up a stranger to even me when it was all said and done.

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