Unreal 2 Cold Illusion - Winter's Chill: (Adult Suspense Thriller) Read online

“Let’s see what you got, cunt.”

  Julie stirred in her nightmare. She felt a soft hand against her cheek, but she could barely register the kindness as she returned to the dark place of the dream.

  “Here we go.”

  She screamed and pleaded for any kind of mercy as Carter McCord and his hazel eyes hauled her body from the mattress and pressed her against the wall. Julie tried to twist away, but he held her hard with one hand and grazed his hardness about her bare thigh.

  “No! Please!”

  His cock started to plow into her rear, and he pulled her hair hard as he forced her head around to face him.

  “First time up the back, bitch?”

  She nodded. It was stupid, but she hoped that he might make this easier for her if he knew that she was still a virgin there.

  “Please… please don’t.”

  Carter McCord stepped way and stroked his hardening cock.

  “Relax, slut. You just might enjoy it.”

  She closed her eyes and turned her head from side to side, longing to wake up in her familiar room of lavender curtains on the eve of this trip into hell. Somehow, she would know that leaving meant disaster, and she would find a way to talk Kim out of the adventure that became this. Julie could see Kim and could hear her own voice making the case for staying when a fist crashed into her jaw. Julie clutched the spot quickly growing sore, and she knew that there was no escape from whatever he was going to do to her.

  Julie grabbed her bleeding mouth and tried to scramble away. But Carter McCord was fast and caught hold of her ankles. Julie screamed futilely as she reached for the wall, and then she sank into the floor as he climbed on top of her and pinned her shaking body to the floor.

  “No! Please!”

  He spread her legs wide and pressed his ankles to hers. Julie still squirmed under his horrible body, but as one palm expanded about her waist and another set of fingers held her hand over her head, she knew that this was going to be more painful than anything else she had suffered. She pleaded for mercy as Carter’s one hand left her middle and reached past her stomach.

  “Let’s feel if you’re wet.”

  She was not. Julie kept crying for him to stop as his cock plowed into her rear. She felt her soft, tight flesh tear, and she screamed like mad as he lowered his lips to her neck and licked up to her ears.

  “Nice. I like the way you feel, all over.”

  As he sodomized her from behind, Carter’s fingers moved to her center, and she screamed as his nails started scratching the soft flesh of her mound. Carter was raping her from every direction, and the only chance she had for some kind of freedom was her dry mouth crying for help.

  “Keep quiet, cunt”

  Carter blocked her desperate cries for help. He tugged her head towards his and forced his rough tongue down her throat. Julie gagged at the taste of him, and as she tried to yell, she felt new tears trickling down her face. He had her pinned from all sides, and there was no way out.

  When he finally left her mouth, she gagged for air.

  But then his lips were at her ear.

  “Look at me.”

  She could not stand it, and she shook her head no. His fingers reached around her face, and he forced her eye to his.

  “I’m getting married. But she’d never let me do this.”

  He pushed her face into the carpet, and she released a muffled scream as filled her horribly, and when he released all that was awful inside her, Julie sobbed at the feel of his lips on her neck, trailing towards her ear.

  “It won’t be the same. But I’ll think of you on my wedding night.”

  He winded her arms around her gasping throat.

  “And we’ll still have our special visits.”

  “No. Please leave me alone! Oh please!”

  She formed fists and banged them into the chest of the closest man that she could find. It was easier to strike him than her dream had imagined, and she felt no resistance as she pounded into the person now at her side.

  “Go away!”

  “Juliet---”

  “I don’t want you!”

  “Juliet. Look at me! Just me!”

  She was roused from her nightmare at the feel of his hands surrounding her face. Julie kept struggling, and she banged her small fists into his chest even as she felt strong arms trying to bring her back to a place of safety. When she blinked and caught his gaze, her breath stilled to a low pant.

  “Ethan?”

  He nodded and eased her eased his body back to the bed.

  “You’re safe here. I promise.”

  After he guided her arms to her sides, Ethan craned his face closer to hers. Julie’s eyes blinked fast, and her lip trembled. Even knowing that he meant her no harm was not enough to stop her from shaking her head away from all of him, and she continued to tremble until Ethan’s hand found her cheek and stopped her furious twisting.

  “You don’t need to look away, Juliet.”

  The sound of his voice stilled her thrashing. But she still trembled as he grazed his fingers down her cheek.

  “Look at me.”

  With a gulp of fresh air, Julie swallowed and finally met his eyes. They were kind and patient, and she felt his hands across her face. Any need to twist her head again was surpassed by the feathery feeling that was his hand on her tear-stained cheeks. She was finally able to shift her weight from her pillow and lay her head against his chest.

  “Juliet, are my eyes so bad?”

  She furiously shook her head, and the force of her movements brought his arms even closer around her body. Ethan caressed the back of her neck and found her eyes again. She knew that hers were teary and full of every bad memory, and for a second, he was right there with her. He seemed to feel all that she suffered and wanted only to absorb her misery in an effort to free her from more bad dreams. Even as she appreciated the effort, Julie knew that what he longed for, what she longed for, was impossible. She started to pull away from him when Ethan reached into her face and started to whisper into her eyes.

  “Look… can you look at me, Juliet. Please.”

  With a great effort, Julie brought her eyes back to his. His tender glance excited and scared her in the same moment. Julie was about to wrench her body away. Too many men had fallen on top of her and never asked if it was okay. If it had hurt. It was pain that she never knew existed, and she wanted to forget the feel of it.

  She would forget them tonight. Julie could do it for him.

  Julie placed plates on the table alongside candles. Before striking a match, she rushed back to the bedroom and found the dress with the high neck and the black lace sleeves. She would hide within its folds until it was time. And when she had to show him her scars, she would do so without trembling. Only Ethan’s hands would touch her, and she would be happy and safe to return to his embrace.

  Julie discarded the locket with the picture of her father and kissed the medallion. This night, she wanted to be his alone.

  She waited until she knew he was near. When Ethan announced an arrival time in the early morning light, whether it was dusk or darkness, he always followed through and appeared on schedule. This morning, this night, he promised to be back as soon as he was able. And that meant now.

  Julie lit the candles and stirred the vegetables more than she needed to. She had not had the head to bake the cake, but she could rise at dawn and see to that that task. Maybe it would be their breakfast. Cake worked for any meal.

  But that was tomorrow. And she had to make tonight perfect to bring them both to that point.

  The sound of the door opening and closing a flight below her feet cause her to shake, but she smoothed her hands through her hair and turned to the door. The sound of Nick’s voice on the first floor made her want to scream. Julie needed him here. Now. The muffled tones just put of earshot were torture. Julie could do this, but he had to come now. The longer she had to sit with the memories translated to too many moments where she might fall back on terror and forget how
much she wanted and feared this all at once.

  “See you, Nick.”

  The sound of their small talk ended sent a surge of strength into her veins, and she adjusted her collar as the door eased open.

  “Juliet, I’m… oh. Hi.”

  Ethan dropped his briefcase and stared at her waiting form. His eyes barely met the candlelight as he focused on her sleek dress and the hair of soft curls that hung around her neck.

  She could do this.

  Stepping forward, Julie reached for his face and held his cheek in her hand.

  “Happy Birthday, Ethan.”

  For a second, he was too stunned to do anything but look. Julie smiled as Ethan appreciated her coiffed form just waiting for his hands. When he touched her side, she fought every urge to flinch.

  They strapped me down. They took turns. I couldn’t get away.

  “Juliet, you okay?”

  Do you want me to stop? Keep talking to me.

  Both memories rang true.

  “I… I want to give you your dinner. Your birthday feast!”

  She sat him down at the table and presented the fruits of her toil.

  “Juliet, you didn’t have to---”

  “Stop.”

  She leaned forward and laid her lips on his brow. Ethan relaxed against her kiss and wrapped his arm around her shivering waist.

  “Are you sure you’re okay?”

  “What do you mean?” she asked as she moved away from him.

  “I can… I can feel you shaking. Juliet?”

  If he knew what she had to do on Morales’ orders, he would be up and looking for a way to stop it before any further harm came to her. Julie might need that. No. Not might. She would need his righteous anger for what was about to come. But Ethan did not need to know that.

  Not just yet.

  “I’m… I’m excited,” she said as she cracked open a bottle of Chablis.

  “Let’s have a drink.”

  She poured out two glasses, and as she sat across from him, Julie lifted her drink in a toast.

  “To…”

  Where were the words that could hope to thank him? Julie hand languished in a hell from which she never thought she would escape. Then he appeared and pulled her out of the nightmare. She should have started to heal once she was free. If her father was alive, that would have been her reality. But Julie had to learn that her stepfather played a part in the torture, and Kim never broke free of the terror.

  But she had.

  “To you,” she whispered. “To my friend. And my hero.”

  Ethan looked as if he might cry in the wake of her compliment. But then he just downed his drink and smiled over his empty glass.

  “Same here.”

  Julie did not deserve the titles. At least not the latter. She was no one’s hero. Her friend’s body, wherever it was, cold and rotting, was a testament to that. But it was nice that Ethan made her his equal.

  He never did anything less.

  “Well this looks good.”

  His compliments extended to the meal.

  “And I’m starved!”

  Ethan started to dig into the meat, and he ate heartily. Julie picked at her plate and watched him chew and swallow. This felt normal. It felt right.

  “Please don’t tell me you’re working thought the weekend,” she said as she tasted the chicken and choked it down.

  Ethan shook his head.

  “Nope. I’m all yours. So whatever else you have planned…”

  And Julie had a plan. She was going to show him that their night after the romance of the weeding had not been a fluke. She would hold and know him again. And that would seem normal. It would be her gift to him.

  She watched him finish his meal and wash it down with another glass of wine. When he seemed satisfied, Ethan pushed his plate aside and took her hand with a smile.

  “Juliet?”

  The feel of him was sweet, but memories engulfed her and she felt as if she could burst into tears under his hold.

  No. It was his birthday.

  “Come with me.”

  Julie saw his eyes cloud over with confusion at the seductive tone in her voice. Keeping his hand in hers, she stood slowly and turned towards the bedroom. The feel of his flesh comforted her, as always, but she let out a small sigh at the chance to turn her head away for the few steps needed to reach his room. This would never work if he saw the fear in her eyes. Inhaling sharply, she nudged the door open.

  “Wow. I…”

  The quilt was already turned down, and only the low light from the bedside table gleamed in the room. Maybe if it was off, if they were in darkness…. But she knew him. He would want to see her. He would want to make sure that she was “okay” for every moment. Stepping away from him, Julie focused her eyes on the lamp. If the bulb flickered and died when they were already wrapped it each other’s arms, that might help. Ethan would be so enraptured that he would agree to keep moving in the darkness. But it would not be long after any climax that he would fix the light, and he would see her again. The thought of him seeing her fighting back tears after what he believed was something she wanted as much as he did would destroy him. The only thing was to swallow the horrid images down deep. Later, in secret, she would cry until the poison leaked away. Right now, she had to forget. The past was something she had to live with forever; the future loomed with more horrors. But she could keep both worlds at bay and give herself to him tonight as if the only thing that mattered was the fact that she cared about him in ways that required more than words.

  “Juliet?”

  With another deep breath, she turned to him with a bright smile.

  “Sit.”

  She pointed towards the bed, and Ethan obeyed without another order. He loosened his tie and watched her step to the center of the room.

  “I have another present for you,” she whispered as she reached her hands behind her neck and unzipped her dress.

  “I’m getting that. But, Juliet---”

  Ethan was stilled into silence when he saw her wearing a silky black teddy and thigh highs. Julie kicked off her heels and slid back to the bed.

  “I---”

  “Shhh.” Julie lowered herself to his knees and ran her fingers up and down his legs. When she stopped just below his waist, she could feel him twitching but not yet hard. It was as if he was as scared as she was. Maybe even more so.

  “I want… I want this to be nice for you.”

  Stretching her body up his chest, she stared hard at his lips. It was easier to look there than his eyes. Ethan’s mouth was a straight line. He had to be wondering if he should smile or frown, and before he could decide, Julie kissed him gently. It took him a second to respond, but when his lips finally relaxed against hers, she pressed him close and enjoyed the kiss. His fingers started to move through her hair, and then his palms fell flat against her back. His touch was light; he knew all too well where her scars lay, and it was as if he was working hard to stop any old wounds from reopening. If not for Morales’ request, she would have thought it a tender gesture. But now…

  She left his lips and tried to shake away the memory of the cop’s most recent visit.

  “Juliet? Everything okay?”

  Julie nodded quickly and clasped his shoulders. Falling with him to the bed, she felt his hands, soft and unsure, on her sides. He started to stroke her face, and Julie silently cursed herself when she was unable to suppress a flinch.

  “No.”

  He started to sit up, and she briefly caught his eyes again. His desire was replaced by concern. Julie was giving the show way without even trying. Or maybe she was not trying hard enough to make this everything he deserved.

  “Juliet, if you’re not---”

  “Just stop talking, Ethan.”

  She sat up and took his face in her hands. Now her kiss was urgent, intense, and when he kept trying to break away, she wrapped her arms around his back. Needing to replace the bad memories with a better one, she focused her entire
mind on the one night they had shared. Forget Pete and Matt. Forget Carter McCord and the countless other deviants that had used her like a toilet, dumping vile fluids in her body and laughing at the sound of her screams and tearing flesh. Being with Ethan was her first time, warm and sweet. The feel of his body was rivalled… no. It was surpassed by his words as he spoke as he made her feel like a woman who could finally know love.

  It’s me, Juliet. I’ll never hurt you. I couldn’t.

  It was still him, and the words remained true. Julie reached for his belt and eased his piece under her silk.

  “I want this,” she said. “I want you.”

  Belief failed to color his eyes, so she started to run her hand up and down his cock until it finally hardened in her hand. Ethan sweated and kept telling her that she didn’t have to. But once he was erect, when she was sure that he could no longer resist, Julie parted her legs and eased him inside her body.

  You’re beautiful. You’re strong. You’re… everything.

  The memory was enough to make her moist, and she moaned as his head fell to her scarred shoulders.

  “Juliet?”

  She kissed him again. It was easier to keep her eyes closed when their lips met. Leaving his kiss, she moved her mouth to his ears and lowered her lids with a whisper.

  “Stay with me, Ethan. I want this. I… I want you.”

  He started to throb within, but he still tried to look into her eyes. Julie longed to settle in his gaze. His eyes… always brimming with patience and understanding were like a balm that soothed her soul. If she could just have them for a second, she would show him that she really was everything. Biting down on her tongue, she found his blue eyes and finally smiled at the sight of his love.

  Love for her.

  “I’m okay, Ethan. Make it like last time. Please. I need you to do that for me.”

  He hesitated for a second before he started to take her again. Julie sighed at his delicate thrusts and settled her head against his shoulder. Her fingers curled around his arms, and she let her mind drift.

  This is normal. This is right. I want him. I want him like this. I know he wants me. It’s fine. It’s fine. It’s…

  Ethan’s heightened his pursuit, and Julie tried to lean into it. Digging her nails into his back, she nearly reached a place where he was the only man that had ever touched her. How she wanted that to be true. Her mind drifted into the fantasy.