Water’s Edge (A Series of Sharp Edges #1)

16. Mattie

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

mattie

T he gravel crunches underneath my car’s tires, a stark contrast to the dirt road leading to my cabin. The relief I should feel making it back to the safety of solitude is absent. Instead, my hackles rise, and dread washes over me. As my headlights illuminate the front porch, I slam on the brakes. The screech rings out into the silent night. There’s someone sitting on my fucking porch.

My heart pounds out of control, and I close my eyes, hoping whatever’s there will disappear before I open them again. I lift one eyelid slowly, then the other. Nope, still there. My muscles knot together, my knuckles white against the steering wheel.

There’s no other car in sight, and I’m too far back for anyone to have walked here. My eyes, hazy with adrenaline, attempt to focus on the man sitting casually in the rocking chair. I will myself to loosen my grip on the wheel enough to pull the hunting knife from below my seat. My other arm trembles as I open the door, and I let out a long exhale through my mouth.

“This is private fucking property,” I shout, raising my head out the door. Nothing. No movement or response greets me. “I said, this is private property, and if you’re still on my porch by the time I get up there, I’ll gut you like the shithouse rat you are.” Lord, Mattie, you’re fit to be tied. Way to escalate the situation.

I charge towards the porch after being greeted with stone silence again, my footsteps heavy underneath my work boots. There’s something familiar about his face, but his skin is blue, his eyes white and unseeing. “Holy shit,” I whisper, recognition punching me in the face. The knife slips through my hand and clatters onto the old wooden planks of the porch. It’s the creep from the bar— was the creep from the bar. Now, he’s a bloated poke of bones. An obscure necklace of purple teeth marks circles his throat, too large to be from any animal. Cold drops of sweat run down my back and my vision swims. I reach out and grab the railing, pleading with my knees not to buckle. I mash my molars together, waiting for the spinning to subside. I need to get a grip. This was the man I was planning on killing tonight. Now, he’s sitting on my porch, practically gift-wrapped. Gift . Someone left him here for me. Nausea quickly gives way to annoyance, and I stomp back down the porch steps.

“You asshole!” I shout at nothing and everything. “I’ve seen neither hide nor hair of you for days, and you leave a mess of trouble on my fucking porch!” My cheeks heat as anger burns through me. I kick a load of gravel out towards the trees and watch it skitter in all directions. Whether it’s the lack of sleep or my blood boiling over from the “gift” I’ve been left, I give in to my body’s urge to crumble. The gravel hits my knees, and pain radiates up my legs. The necklace against my chest threatens to burn a hole through my skin. I fold over, covering my head as a scream rips through me. I exhaust the air in my lungs until all that is left is dry heaves.

“I thought you’d be more grateful, little bug.” His presence coats me in a wave of comforting darkness, and I uncurl enough to see his arctic eyes staring down at me.

“You thought I’d be more grateful?” I grit my teeth and seethe out every word. I stand shakily, rising to his chest. “More grateful!” I shout. My fist instinctively reels back, and the air pulls back around my arm as I swing at him. It never connects, because suddenly, he’s two feet back from me. What in blue blazes is happening?

I lower my head and charge at him like an angry bull ready to gore a cocky farmhand. Just before I reach him, arms curl around me from behind, and I’m slammed back into his hard chest. My legs kick out in the air, and I scratch at any bare skin I can reach, hissing and spitting. I know it’s useless, but my body is in survival mode now, and I won’t let myself go down without a fight. If only I had grabbed the knife again before I headed out to throw a tantrum. My stranger laughs behind me, enjoying my struggle.

I let my weight sag in his arms until I feel his grip loosen and his breath fan the back of my neck. A shiver racks my nervous system, and I fight the urge to turn into him. Instead, I kick both legs back, and his knees crack on impact. I use the momentum to propel myself out of his hold, and I land clumsily on my feet. Without pause, I take off into the darkness.

A maniacal laugh explodes behind me andthen echoes all around me. “Run, little Mattie,” he calls. “I was created to chase you, but when I catch you, I’m going to ruin you.”

My legs pump harder and faster with every labored breath that sears my lungs. My feet sting as my boots hit the ground. Yet, I force them to do it over and over again. The only noise around me is the crunching of the brush and branches as I crash through the trees. Why isn’t he chasing me? I can’t look back, though. The overgrown brush claws at my legs as I break through it. I have to keep going until I can reach the only place I can think to hide. Memories flood my body. It all feels so familiar. The hound’s howl fills the woods, even though I know they’re not there. The hounds are dead, Mattie, and so is Pa .

I’m almost there. I can see the moon’s reflection off the water through the trees. My mouth is dry, and each breath feels like I’m swallowing glass. My heart beat drums loudly in my ears, but suddenly, a new noise mixes with the erratic thump. Footsteps crash through the woods behind me, taunting me like I never stood a chance. My breath catches in my throat. It can’t be my stranger, because this beast barreling towards me is running on four legs, steadily getting closer. I’d forgotten to be afraid of anything other than him.

Just as I break through the tree line, a heavy body tackles me face first to the dampened earth. Mud invades my nose and floods my open mouth, the wind knocked out of me. I gasp for breath against the pressure of the weight pressing me down. Adrenaline tries to sputter my aching muscles to life, but they twitch uselessly without oxygen.

Sharp claws work their way up my back, and I scream into the ground, silently pleading for anyone, even the stranger chasing me, to save me. I squirm against their touch, trying to get enough space for me to move my arms underneath me. I spit and groan from the loose dirt stirred by a sudden breeze, but as the gust dies down, I realize there are now fingertips trailing down my spine. A pair of hips thrust down into mine, and his thighs grip my sides.

“Tsk-tsk,” my stranger clucks at me, as if I’m a disobedient child. His fingers sink into my right arm, and he pulls it towards him, easily flipping me over while still keeping me trapped beneath him. A noise somewhere between a grunt and a growl forces its way out of me. Liquid heat pools in my core, forcing my body to betray me, and my hips rise to meet his. Keeping one hand firmly wrapped around my arm and the other thumbing the waist of my shorts, he leans down into me. His breath, hot and earthy, pants in waves over my face. “I told you what I’d do when I caught you, Mattie.” His voice comes out husky and split between breaths. “Do you remember what I said?”

I close my eyes and shift below him, trying to loosen his hold. “Look at me,” he commands, moving the hand around my arm to my throat. My eyes widen, and he chuckles. “There you are.” My stranger gazes at me through hooded eyes. His thumb traces back and forth beneath my chin as that familiar coil of need tightens in me.

He inhales deeply, his mouth widening in a wicked smile. One finger dips below the fabric of my shorts and traces the top of my folds. I feel my wetness trail against my skin, and he brings the same finger to his mouth. He wraps his tongue around it and moans as he tastes me. My breasts heave with each wanting breath, pressing against his arm still firmly around my throat.

“You taste so fucking sweet,” he groans, thrusting his hips into me between every word. Even through our clothes, his cock grazes my throbbing center with each motion. “But you still haven’t answered my question.” One eyebrow lifts, and his grip on my throat tightens. “Do you remember what I said I’d do when I caught you, little bug?”

I nod, the movement stifled by his hand and the ground below me. “Yes,” I choke out. My hunger for him is burning a hole through my chest, and I struggle again, arching my back into him. “Say it,” he whispers, nipping at my cheek. “I want to hear you accept your fate.”

“Ruin,” I croak, my throat struggling to form the words against his hold. “Ruin me.” With my admission, he tears through my shorts, leaving my lower half bare. I close my eyes to keep my heart from pounding out of its cage, and when I open them again, he’s naked on top of me. The tip of his length runs through my wetness before he lines himself up at my entrance. His eyes swirl with something primal, and he howls as he plunges into me, slamming inside until our hips meet. A shudder whips through me as my walls stretch to take him all in. I’m driven to the brink of madness, closer with every thrust. White spots cloud my vision, and unfamiliar noises escape me as my moans bleed into his growls.

My hands clasp around him, digging frantically into his back. I use this new leverage to pull myself into him. The heat from his chest warms my face, and I’m overcome by his earthy, smoky scent. I lick my way up his chest, coating my tongue with his saltiness. His moans deepen with each roll of my hips to meet his. Electricity builds low in my core, lightning ready to strike. Sparks shoot out through every nerve ending, and I bite down on his chest, letting a shocking taste invade my senses. Instead of a metallic tang, my mouth fills with bitter sweetness. My stranger howls again, and his movements quicken to a demanding pace. My inner walls pulse around him, chasing release. My heart beats in overdrive.

“Your body responds so beautifully to me,” he hums in my ear. “Let your mind go.” His grip around my throat tightens again, and the white spots fade to black. His other hand comes between us, and he thumbs my swollen clit. The extra sensation sends my eyes rolling, and my body explodes. My vision blacks out completely as the storm building inside me unleashes itself. My release downpours, and lightning strikes across my body as thunderous waves of pleasure roll over it.

He releases his hold, and we both collapse to the ground as his ecstasy chases behind mine. He licks lazily at my neck in slow strokes, following with his fingers. “You’re marked now. Everything in these woods knows you’re mine.”