Page 25 of Hardest Hearts
Why would I think I belong here with them?
But Julie and Theo didn’t shun me, and they know everything. Michael…I guess I will have to tell him eventually.
I duck my head and bury my tongue in her already slick and swollen pussy. My tongue thrusts in a few times before I use the forks to tease her clit. She moans around Michael’s dick. It’s enough that I can’t hold mine back anymore. They both pop free, and I want to coil around her and fuck her in a writhing mess.
As I give into that little fantasy, I imagine that every noise she makes is because she is riding my dick. She grinds against my hand and comes with a near silent shudder. Then she rears back, grabbing at her throat with her black tipped claws.
I catch her before she can fall over.
Even Theo moves as if to help before pulling back and getting his claws out of the way. “What did you do?”
Did Michael shove his dick in too deep?
Her eyes are wide as she gasps for air.
Michael grabs her arms. “What is it?”
“She can’t answer if she can’t breathe,” I snap. I pull my tail away from Theo, taking the opportunity to get out of the cold.
Her eyes roll up to look at me, and her gasp becomes a smile. “I can breathe.”
Her voice is rough, like it hasn’t been used for a very long time, not just a day. I stare at her. She came and got her voice back.
“Fuck me,” Michael murmurs, like he can’t believe it.
I’m not sure I do and I’m looking her in the eyes. “Say something else. Did it hurt?”
That’s a stupid question. Of course it hurt. She was clutching at her throat.
“Yes, but I knew what was happening. It was different from when I lost it.” She touches her throat. “It worked.”
“What were you thinking?” Theo demands.
Her cheeks darken to pink, then a red that spreads down her pretty neck to the hard peaks of her nipples. I think we can all guess what she was thinking, and it wasn’t about the changes or Under.
“Please,” Theo presses.
I hiss at him to leave her alone.
“It’s okay. We need to share,” she licks her lip. “Information.” She struggles to get up and I help her, so she is upright. Like that she is so close to straddling Michael’s dick, but she turns to look at me. “Without the deal, you guys could have left me and made your way to the center. It would be safer without me. But you guys chose to stay, so you might actually like me and don’t think that I’m a useless bitch.” She glances at Theo and then Michael.
“That’s what your ex called you.” I remember the way he screamed and carried on, and when she didn’t do as he wanted, he called her a bitch. When he was ripped up by monsters, that was when she lost her voice…because she thought she was a bitch for leaving him to die.
“And I thought he was right, but I only realized that I believed him after I lost my voice.”
We are our own worst thoughts about ourselves. My father thought he was god’s gift to the world. There was no way he’d end up being dragged to Under to spend the rest of his life questioning his worth.
Michael lifts her hand. “You still have claws.”
She studies her fingertips. “Yeah, I don’t know why. And I don’t care about the claws. I have my voice back.” She touches her throat again. “I thought I might never talk again.”
She turns to Theo. “Thank you for reading everything for me. For being my voice.”
He wavers like he’s on the verge of dissipating. “So you don’t need me?”
“We are a team,” she repeats his words and holds out her hand.
Theo doesn’t reach his claws toward her. Instead he folds in on himself, so she can put her hand on his head. I lean a little closer. What kind of head does he have? Horns? Ears? Dozens of eyes? Antenna? I’ve seen so many changes, though he is the only shadow. He must have a head since he has limbs and can talk.