Page 13 of Guarded by the Hellhound (Accidental Monsters #3)

KATHERINE

S unlight streams into the room through the gap between the curtains. A gap that’s usually meticulously closed because I know what’s hiding in the shadows. I shiver, and a firm hand wraps around my body, pulling me towards him.

“You are thinking very loudly, Katherine,” Raider says while he nuzzles my neck. “I bet I can make you stop.”

Raider’s gaze dips to my mouth, lazily kissing me, ending the kiss with a nip to my lower lip.

His thumb replaces his teeth, and with an agonizingly slow pace, he moves his hand down.

His thumb grazes the side of my neck until he settles his hand low on my throat.

He grabs me firmly, pulling my mouth to his again, taking the kiss from sweet to hot with just the touch of his hand.

It’s a firm touch, one that’s making my pulse speed up.

He moves his big body over me, pushing my thighs apart with one leg before his other hand dips between my folds. “Do you like it when I hold you like this?” he whispers in my ear.

I swallow with effort. “Yes,” I say with a husky voice I don’t even recognize as mine.

A gleam appears in his eyes as he wiggles his body between my legs. His grip on my throat is firm, and I’m afraid to move. At the same time, I know he will never ever hurt me, and I shudder when he nips my earlobe.

“Are you wet and ready for me, Katherine?”

“Yes.”

Grinning, he pushes his cock in. Sliding smoothly until he is seated to the hilt.

I moan, pushing my hips up. I can’t help it; it just feels too good.

The movement tightens the grip Raider has on my throat, causing me to shiver all over.

“More,” I moan. He starts thrusting lazily.

“Like this?” he says innocently.

“You know what I mean,” I pant. Barely able to have coherent thoughts, let alone speak a sentence.

“Maybe if you ask nicely?”

The asshole knows I’m not above begging, and if it’s begging he wants, it’s begging he gets.

“Please, Raider. I need your cock, and I need you to fuck me hard. I need to feel your knot pulsing inside of me. Need your cum inside of me.”

He groans and cuts off my words with a claiming kiss. My hands claw at his back, but he releases me and takes my wrists, securing them above my head .

“Are you going to be a good girl?” he asks. I buck against him in response, making him groan through gritted teeth.

“I guess not…” he says, and then he starts pounding.

His rhythm is punishing; deep, hard thrusts aimed to show me who’s in charge.

He is dominating me like the alpha he is, and I am loving it.

I whimper, moan, beg. Honestly, when I feel his knot pulsing at my entrance, I lose all control.

I may or may not have screamed at him to ‘KNOT ME,’ but my thoughts and words are all hazy in my mind.

Only the way he makes my body feel is clear to me, and he makes me feel so, so good.

His knot is pulsing inside of me, I feel his cum against my inner walls, making me spasm, and when he pinches my nipple with his free hand, I cum, screaming his name.

My orgasm sets off another round of his, making him collapse on top of me.

I wrap my arms and legs around him and bask in being surrounded by him.

After a while, he lifts his head, slowly caressing my cheek. “I really, really like it when you beg,” he says with a content smile.

Morning sex turned into lunch sex, and by late afternoon, we are both sated and exhausted. Using Raider as my personal pillow, I fall into a deep sleep.

I wake up coughing. Something isn’t right. I lift my head, but it feels heavy, so heavy, and when I open my eyes, I see why. There is smoke coming into the room from under the door.

“Raider!” I shout out, tugging on his shoulder to wake him up. “THE HOUSE IS ON FIRE!”

He immediately jolts awake. “How, why didn’t I wake?”

“Doesn’t matter, we have to get out of here!” I cry. We are both naked, and even though we don’t have much time, I quickly pull on yesterday’s discarded yoga pants and a dirty sweater.

I open the curtains and lift the window to get some fresh air.

“We need to jump,” Raider growls behind me, but I look back and shake my head.

“No, no, we can’t,” I cry, tears streaming down my cheek. “You might live, but it’s way too high for me.”

“You can,” he says. “It’s the second story. You’ll probably break a bone or two, but you’ll be okay. And I can catch you!”

I look towards the door again. The smoke is pitch black. We don’t appear to have a choice.

Before I can tell him, though, a loud cracking sound comes from below us, and Raider yanks me back just before the side of the house collapses, and flames flare up high.

I scream, but Raider doesn’t waste a second. He pulls me towards the door, but before he does, he runs into the bathroom and returns with a wet towel.

“Put this over your face, and it will help with the smoke. Let me lead you.”

“I’m so scared,” I whisper, but I let him tie the towel over my face.

“Do you trust me?” he says, and I nod. “Good, hold on to me. I’ll shift back to hound before we exit the house. If anything happens, keep going, okay? I will be fine, I swear.”

I shake my head, and he grabs me with both hands.

“I’m a hellhound, Katherine. I will be fine.” Then he yanks open the door, pulling me with him into the inferno that was once my house.

Flames are licking at the walls, making the wallpaper flake, and I feel like I’m in a dream —a surreal, terrifying one. It’s hot, so hot, and I don’t know how I can continue walking here. Raider pulls me through effortlessly .

We make it towards the stairs only to see a sea of flames waiting for us at the front door. I hear his muffled curse, but don’t know what to do next.

“WE HAVE TO RUN THROUGH!” he yells. Crying, I nod; the heat is overwhelming. I’m almost sure I’m going to die here, but if there’s even the tiniest sliver of hope, I’m gonna make it out alive. I’m gonna fight for it. I have not been running from this creep all year to end up dying in a house fire.

We obviously can’t make it to the front door; instead, we have to push through at the edge of the fire and get to the back door through the kitchen.

I close my mind down, and I run with Raider.

He never lets go of my hand, and when we reach the fire, there is no momentum to hesitate.

He pulls me through so hard I can only follow.

Screaming, I jump through the flames, almost certain my hair just caught on fire. I keep running, though; I don’t want to think or look until we’re safely outside. There’s a small path in the kitchen, and I can see the back door.

Crashing sounds come from above, and for a moment, time stands still. I don’t dare to look up, but I’m freakishly certain that the ceiling is about to collapse.

“GO!!!” Raider shouts, and he shoves me forward towards the door. I fall into the door. My weight crashing it down, the wood already weakened by the inferno.

I turn around and see the ceiling coming down on Raider.

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” I scream. I want to jump back in, but strong arms pull me back.

“No, ma’am, you have to stay here. You’re safe here. You can’t go back.”

“No, you don’t understand!” I cry out, ripping the towel off. “Raider! Raider is still in there!” I’m crying and struggling as he carries me towards the edge of the lawn, towards a crowd of first responders and onlookers .

“Ma’am, I am so sorry, but we can’t go in there. The house has collapsed. Anybody who was in there surely is dead.”

“NOOOOO,” I wail, refusing to believe. “No….” I cry out again before I slump into the arms of the firefighter.

There is no point in resisting when he brings me back to the paramedic.

They put me on a gurney, and I’m handed an oxygen mask as they cover me with a blanket.

I’m in shock, just sitting there. I can see the paramedic’s lips moving, but I don’t really hear what he’s saying.

He figures as much because he just checks me out and then touches my cheek.

“You were really, really lucky, miss…”

“Thorne,” I croak, voice hoarse from all the smoke.

“You only have mild superficial burns, no severe ones, and I believe the most significant damage is from smoke inhalation.”

I nod, but I don’t feel lucky, I feel empty.

He walks away, leaving me alone, and I look around.

My house is ablaze; the firefighters do their best to put it out, but the house can’t be saved.

We would be lucky if it didn’t spread to the neighbors’ houses.

And Raider… I close my eyes and wipe away the tears with the blanket.

When I open my eyes, I realize I’m as alone as I feel. A shiver runs down my back when I hear footsteps to my right. I turn my head, and a man approaches; I don’t recognize him, but he seems to know me.

“Hello, Katherine.” He gives me a creepy smile, but before I can scream, he plunges a needle into my throat, and my world turns black.