The Bound Angel (Sacrilege Rising: Book 1)

Chapter Sixteen

In through the nose, out through the mouth. Meredith sat at her desk, palms flat against the cool surface, taking long, deep breaths.

She’d been having trouble sleeping lately. Her brain just wouldn’t shut off. The videos said to focus on your breathing, but her thoughts kept drifting back to those hazy memories. Instead, she tried to focus on something else, work, friends, anything, but it didn’t help.

When she thought about work, her mind would find its way back to that night when she was alone in the office. The hand in the dark picked up her glowing phone in an unending loop.

When she thought about friends, she inevitably thought of her newest, closest friend, and his strong hands and kind eyes. Or of the two new friends she’d just made. So she turned to the internet for help and found a guided sleep meditation video that promised to make you fall asleep in minutes. And yet, here she was, back at work, exhausted and trying to recover from another flood of hormones.

Because that had to be it. Hormones had to be the cause of her lack of sleep and these sudden cravings for something thick and solid. Nothing else made sense. She looked at the calendar, again, did the math, again, and shook her head. This shouldn’t be happening right now.

That was the other thing keeping her up at night. It wasn’t just that she couldn’t quiet her mind, she was also turned on. All the time. She felt it the first night back in her own bed. It was a full body rush. She was wet, her breasts were swollen, and the heat in her core was making her sweat. For a few minutes, she ached to be back in that room with his hands and his mouth and his cock. Then it disappeared before she could do anything about it. Meredith blamed it on hormones and went back to her life.

Then it happened again, except in the middle of the day. She was at work and suddenly the room was sweltering. She was covered in a light sheen of sweat and every little brush on her skin was electrifying. Then it was gone again.

These cycles of intense, fleeting desire kept coming and going. The biggest one yet came this morning in the shower. It hit all at once and buckled her knees until she had to hold the wall for support. The others were mild tremors compared to a massive earthquake.

The one hitting her now wasn’t quite like that, but it was still overwhelming. She checked the clock. It had been a full fifteen minutes this time. Fifteen minutes of her insides tingling. Fifteen minutes of her poor vagina throbbing, like it had a heartbeat all its own. Fifteen minutes of torturous sweetness. But now, finally, it was beginning to fade. She took another slow breath, opened her eyes, and wiped her forehead.

Meredith looked around anxiously to see if anyone was watching, but nobody was. Tom was in his office on a call. Andy and John were taking turns flicking a paper football back and forth and making fun of each other. She was somehow alone in this room full of oblivious men. Alone with a racing heart and sweaty palms. Alone with wet panties and an aching pussy clenching empty air. She didn’t want to move, afraid the dampness between her legs would make a sound. There was backup underwear in her purse. She just needed to make it to the bathroom without anyone noticing.

Tom set his office phone down, which tipped her off. He barked, “Mere!” and she didn’t jump this time.

“What’s up?” Did he notice the quiver in her voice?

“Mike’s coming in to go over his schedule. Try to give him some real hours, okay? I’m sure he could use the money.”

Meredith froze. Who was coming in? Did he say Mike? Her Mike? Like, in, in? She tried to sound casual and asked, “When?”

“Now. He’s on his way.”

She hadn’t seen him since they left the warehouse. That had been, what? Three, four days ago? What would she say? What would he say? Meredith felt sick. Everything had been going so well between them these last few weeks. She had the perfect balance of freedom and companionship. And the sex was… otherworldly. Then a bombshell dropped right in their laps and she was still reeling from it.

Demons were real.

The phrase repeated itself in her head whenever she turned off the lights. How were you supposed to handle news like that? She hadn’t told anyone, because who would believe her?

“Earth to Mere,” Tom said.

“Sorry, yes, I’ll take care of him, er… I’ll take care of it.”

He eyed her curiously. “You feeling okay? You look a little green around the gills.”

Was she feeling okay? She was hot all of the sudden, like the heat in the building was cranked up all the way. Only, it was the middle of summer and the air conditioner was shuffling the papers on her desk. Nobody else seemed to mind it, but the back of her neck was damp and her shirt was clinging.

“Fine,” she said to get Tom off her case. “I just haven’t been sleeping well lately.” Another one was coming just as the last one ended, and she didn’t want him watching. She was desperate for someone to touch her, anywhere, everywhere, and she would do whatever they wanted in return because she needed it so bad. Whatever else Tom said faded into the background, because that’s when Mike walked in.

The moment he stepped through the door, a wave crashed over her. If her panties were wet before, now they were soaked. He looked around the room, his gaze stopping for a moment on each person, before finally landing on her. Their eyes met. He gave her a soft smile. It seemed to say, ‘Hi. I’m sorry. Can we talk?’

Meredith was embarrassingly wet and frustratingly empty. She needed something big, something that would just barely fit and stretch her in that perfect way. Her pussy felt like an empty stomach that wouldn’t stop growling. And she was hot. Like she ate the spiciest food in the world and now sweat was dripping down her neck, hot. She gave him a tiny nod toward the bathroom, then carefully stood up.

As soon as the door closed behind her, she tied her hair up in a ponytail and started fanning herself. The woman in the mirror was a mess. Frazzled hair, tired eyes, flushed cheeks. She just had to talk to Mike. He would know what to do. And if he didn’t, she would tell him in no uncertain terms. She wondered if the walls would be thick enough, or if he would have to cover her mouth to muffle her screams.

Where was he? It felt like she’d been waiting for hours. If he was out there chumming it up with the boys or, god help him, playing that stupid paper football game she would rip him a new one.

As soon as the door handle started to turn, she yanked it open, pulled him inside, and locked it behind him. “And where have you been?”

“I know. I’m sorry. I-“

“You’re sorry? It’s been four days. No calls. No texts. Four days of my head spinning. Where have you been?”

He put his hands on her shoulders and looked her in the eye. His big, strong hands. They grounded her just enough. “Meredith, I know and I’m sorry. I’m here now. Tell me how you’re doing.”

The built-up anger and resentment bled away. The well-practiced barbs fled. Now she just felt tired and horny.

She ran her fingers through her hair. “I… don’t know. Something’s going on with me. I think I’m having a mental breakdown. What happened out there?”

“Hey, look at me,” he said, touching her chin and bringing her eyes up to his. “You’re not having a mental breakdown, it’s just a lot. I get it. We’re all going to be okay.”

Meredith nodded and exhaled. “So? What was it all about then?”

“I was fooled by someone I thought was a friend. And you all paid the price. I’m so sorry. If you never want to see me again, I understand.”

“Shut up,” she snapped at his idiotic suggestion. “What do you mean fooled?”

“There was a woman in that room with us, if you can remember. Long black hair. Beautiful. Seemed to blend in with the shadows.”

The woman from her dreams. “I remember,” Meredith said softly as Mike’s kind eyes were replaced by cold sapphires for an instant. “Who was she?”

“She’s not from around here.”

Meredith swallowed. “You mean she’s a demon.” There. She’d said it.

Mike nodded slowly. “I wasn’t sure how much you would remember. There are blank spots for me.”

“Me too. Okay, demon. What does that mean?”

He shrugged. “Pretty much what you think. She’s from Hell. Or close enough, I think.”

“Wait.” Something was coming back to her. Pieces of a conversation. “She said she was bound to you. She listened to you.”

“Right,” he snorted. “If only that were true. Or, at least, if only I knew how to control it, then she never would have done those things to us.”

“I don’t remember you complaining,” Meredith said with a look and a wry smile. God, he smelled good. She judged how long they had until someone came looking. “Screw it. Come on, let’s do this.” She started on his belt, fingers moving swiftly.

But his hands caught her wrists. “You’re okay with everything? With the others? After what happened to you, because of me, you want to keep seeing each other?”

He meant the other women. She hadn’t really processed that yet. “I don’t know. Maybe? Is that okay? I don’t know if I can handle, um, others, just now, but what happened isn’t your fault either. It sounds like you got pulled into this along with the rest of us. But Mike,” she stared into his eyes. “I need you. Right now.”

He looked like he was in physical pain. “We shouldn’t. Not now. I’m sorry. We need to give it some time.”

Meredith let out a long, slow breath, trying to soothe her inflamed… everything. Her hands were still agonizingly close to what she craved, but he was right. She hated him for it. But he was right. “Fine. What do we do then? Just wait?”

Mike nodded. “I just want to make sure you’re all yourselves and that there are no lingering effects, before we, you know.”

“Have sex?” Even saying it out loud felt good. A glass of water poured on a forest fire.

“Yeah.”

Her mind turned to the next most pressing matter. “Do we have to worry about, like, demons, or whatever, coming after us again?”

He spoke slowly. “I don’t think so. It seems like she’s pretty high up, and she can’t let us get hurt. Or, me, at least,” He had the grace to look sheepish. “That’s part of the bond.”

She nodded and chewed her lip. “I don’t know how long I can just wait here, Mike.” Just being this close to him was driving her crazy. Her panties were absolutely drenched, and she was having trouble breathing. She needed something, anything, to fill the aching emptiness. It was like she hadn’t eaten in weeks and now a big juicy cheeseburger was in sight but just out of reach.

“Mere,” Mike groaned. His eyes were heavy and his voice low. “Please stop that.”

Stop what? She looked down. One of her hands was softly stroking the bulge in his pants. The other was rubbing her clit. His cock was getting stiff in her palm, and she couldn’t stop rubbing it or tear her eyes away from it. Maybe if she just got him a little harder, a little hornier, he would scratch her itch.

Meredith moved in close, pressing her breasts against him while she continued with her hand. She caressed his length like it was the most important thing in the world, circling around the head, stroking from base to tip. Afraid that speaking would ruin the moment, she stood up on her toes and leaned in to kiss his neck. The instant her lips touched his skin, she moaned. Finally, she could put her mouth on something real, something hot. He smelled fresh, clean, like he’d just put on expensive cologne. It went straight to her groin.

She lifted her leg to his hip, leaning into him harder, pressing herself against his bulge. When he didn’t push her away, she deftly finished with his belt and opened his pants. Her lips moved up the side of his neck, leaving a trail of kisses along his blazing skin until she was just beneath his ear.

“Let me make you feel good,” Meredith whispered, leaving her lips pressed to his skin as she spoke. “I can make you feel so good, baby.”

Her tongue snaked out and licked that most sensitive spot behind his ear. Finally, his pants were undone, and she carefully dropped them without letting go of his length, until it was just thin boxers separating her from the steel in her hand.

“So much stress. So much tension. I can feel it,” she accented the word with a squeeze. “Let me take it away. Let me make you feel good.” She slipped into his boxers, but was afraid the touch of skin on skin would scare him away, like a deer from the crack of a rifle. Slowly, carefully, while whispering filthy words in his ear, she wrapped her fingers around his shaft.

It was so hot. He was like the handle of a cast iron pan on the stove that hadn’t finished cooling down. But he didn’t flinch. And holy shit was he hard. Cast iron didn’t do him justice. Just thinking about this thing filling her up was making her drip.

She inched her hips closer while she breathed heavily into his ear. Her pants and panties were forgotten somewhere on the floor. “It must be so hard to hold back. I can feel the pressure. But now you don’t have to anymore, you can just let go, you can let it all out, just… mmm.”

With her leg wrapped around his waist, she carefully lined up his head with her sopping entrance and sank down. But he was so big. Even as wet as she was, it was an incredibly tight fit. She needed to start slow. Just for a minute. She just needed one second to get used to him and then she could…

The door handle turned.

They both jumped, breaking the tenuous connection. The door rattled against its frame. Someone was trying to get in. Meredith’s eyes flicked to her clothes on the floor and Mike’s cock slipped out of her hand. Before she could reach for it again, he pulled his pants up and re-fastened the belt.

Her stomach dropped. Her mouth hung open. She was so close. It was actually in her, barely, for a second. And now it was gone. It was like she’d been walking dry-mouthed through the desert, on the verge of collapsing, and somebody offered her a cup of water. Not a cup, a pitcher. A swimming pool full of cold, clean water. And then they took it all away and she was left to bake in the sun. She wanted to scream and cry and pull her hair out.

“Just a second,” Mike’s voice cut through her despair. “Hey,” he said, quieter for her. “I’m really sorry, but we shouldn’t do this right now. I should go. Can you text me my schedule?”

His what? Was he really thinking about work right now? She just nodded numbly and waved her hand. “Fine. Whatever. Just go first, okay? Take whoever it is away from the door for a second so I can sneak out.”

“On it,” Mike agreed.

Meredith scrambled to pull her clothes back on. A few seconds later, their eyes met, and she nodded.

“John!” Mike’s voice was frustratingly jovial as he stepped through the door and put his arm around their coworker. “Come on, Andy says you’re terrible at paper football and I have to see for myself.”

When their backs were turned, Meredith snuck out and returned to her desk. There was a wet squishing noise when she sat. Nobody noticed.