Before she answered, I spotted someone at a picnic table in the deeper shade of the trees.
“We aren’t alone.” I left the car unlocked – it wasn’t as if we were about to be rushed by thieves. Besides, this person was a female. I’d sensed that even before I found her with my eyes. Young, fertile, and pretty… and a collectable as most women were for me. I could take her.
I halted and let Red catch up to me.
Well now. A catch. Early twenties?
Her hair was as glossy as Red’s, though this girl had straight black not red hair. Her jeans clung to a great ass, and her white T-shirt was pertly upheld by a pair of gorgeous tits.
“No,” Red breathed next to me. “You said you wanted to be more human. Rule something or other was about doing good deeds and being kind.”
Except I was only pretending to be good.
“I gather that means you don’t want me to make her bend over and eat your pussy while I fuck her?”
I released a tendril of power, coaxing her arousal higher, stirring Red.
Red’s eyes half-closed, and she let out a shuddering breath.
“Yes or no?” I took her hand and brought it to my mouth, kissed it while she watched me with that pained, on-the-verge-of-orgasming expression.
“You promised.”
“Not to force you to come? I didn’t mean always. It is at my discretion.”
“No. Not that. Her. You can’t. Just no.” The last words were said softly. “Please? Leave her alone.”
I kissed her knuckles again, sucked on a finger then let it pop from my mouth. “I will. I just wished to torment you.”
“Jesus. You bastard.”
“Cursing is bad. It must be on that list? That means punishment.”
“Fuck. You,” she said distinctly. “So I get to spank you, if you swear?”
Sometimes she surprised me with her bluntness.
I hooked my forefinger into the neckline of her dress and dragged it down with the weight of my hand to expose cleavage. Her light-green eyes tantalized, as they always did. She stood unflinching against my challenge.
“No.”
I released her dress and beckoned, went further beneath the trees. With the leaves crushed underfoot, the scent of eucalyptus was strong. The girl rose from the seat as we approached, and her long hair swung. She kept her hand on the table as if to take reassurance from it. A bruise stood out on her cheek, another on her arm… and a dog trotted out from under some shrubs.
I recalled the breed. This was an Australian red cattle dog – with a mottled red and off-white coat and a solid wedge of a head. He was knee-high, skinny, and limping. The girl was not limping and looked supremely healthy.
Imagining getting her to strip and bare those tits made my mouth water. My cadre of selected bacchanalia-loving men and women would’ve happily played with her, covered her in come, and filled her with it. South America had possessed advantages.
It would be such a shame to leave her untouched.
Her blue backpack lay on the picnic table, and I drummed my fingers on my thigh.
Yes or no?
The equivalent of a mental shiver ran through me. That combination of power, sex, and killing had a raw, seductive taste I could never forget.
“Would you two…” Her gaze flicked from me to Red, and I registered a relief that this was not just a lone male. “Umm, I need a lift to town? I’m Tammy?” This was said as if she wasn’t sure she should tell us. “My boyfriend dumped me here. Could I? It’s getting dark and scary, to tell the truth.” She shrugged, reached out for her backpack, and toyed with the strap.
Once upon a time I’d have taken her to shock Red, and because I wanted to.
Fairytales didn’t always have happy endings.
I extended my mind toward the road and studied the approaching traffic. A car peeled away and drove toward us. “We aren’t going anywhere for a while, but my gut says you might get a lift with this lady.”
“Lady?” Unsure, she stared past me.
The car stopped moving and a door opened and shut.
“Wow. How did you know? I’ll ask.”
As she walked away, her rear end waggled from side to side inside that stone-washed denim.
I listened to the conversation, watched her get in and the car drive off. She even waved to us.
A perfect victim, and she was leaving. If she had vanished, I wouldn’t have needed to alter anything. The boyfriend would get the blame.
“This was me being good. I did not touch her. Just for you.”
Red sighed. “Thank the lord, or whoever. Really though – thank you.” She made eye contact, and I nodded.
Little did she know how close I had come to being bad. Being good was not easy.
“Of course, being good is a choice. It always is for any of us. We all see temptations. Daily ones, sometimes. Good people choose to do the right thing.”
Her smile said she was proud of me, which felt like an insult.
“I chose. Just not for the reason you think.” I had to get that in there.
“Hmmm. I’m not sure the reason matters as much as the result.” She actually sounded happy.
Maybe I should just accept her congratulations?
My lips twisted. With difficulty I suppressed the need to shut down her smug happiness.
I took hold of her upper arm as the car bearing the cute girl drove off. “It’s late. I doubt anyone will disturb us. Now, where was I? Punishment then fucking your brains out?”
I turned to the picnic tables, hauling her with me, and
