Read Online Challenge by Montgomery Mahaffey - Free Book Online

didn’t
you?”
    “Because you were screaming and woke me up.
What else was I supposed to do?”
    The girl sounded as bored and detached as
always. For once, the Wanderer welcomed the bitter hardness to
pulse inside him, anything to make the terror go away. But his rage
wasn’t enough. His limbs were overpowered with a violence of
trembling he couldn’t stop. He didn’t know who he despised more,
the girl for her indifference or himself for needing her not to
be.
    “I’d like to know something about you,” he
snapped. “If you don’t mind my asking.”
    “Go ahead,” she said. “Ask whatever you
want.”
    “Do you ever hate yourself?”
    He savored the sharp intake of her breath.
He had actually gotten to her. The Wanderer knew for certain when
she didn’t answer right away, a victory he hadn’t foreseen.
    “Well,” he persisted. “Do you?”
    “All the time,” she said. “If you must
know.”
    “I dare you to try something different. You
might surprise us both.”
    “I have no idea what you want of me,
Wanderer.”
    “ That’s crazy,” he said.
“Hasn’t anybody ever calmed you down when you were
upset?”
    She fell silent, but the Wanderer didn’t
push her to answer. The thrill of cruelty was already wearing off
and left him ashamed. It was strange talking to the girl without
being able to see her. The blackness made their dialogue a specter
floating in the abyss where it would be forever suspended.
    “Yes,” she finally said. “Once, there was
somebody who did.”
    There was weariness, even sadness, in her
voice he never heard before. The Wanderer was surprised by the
flush of sympathy pouring into him. He was even relieved. His
compassion brought him back to the man he had always been, whose
kindness and goodwill made him friends all over the world - the man
his grandfather had raised him to be.
    “All right,” he said gently. “Why don’t you
start with that and go from there?”
    The Wanderer couldn’t believe it when the
girl did as he asked. She leaned into him and wrapped her arms
around him, her head falling to his shoulder and nestling against
his neck. She gave a long sigh when he pulled her close, her body
melting into his and her hands slowly stroking the length of his
back. The Wanderer gripped her until the shaking subsided in
smaller waves. Then he loosened his arms and they continued to hold
each other, their breathing merging and rolling in mirrored
rhythms. His lungs expanded with the air she pushed out and, every
time he exhaled, his breath flowed into her.
    Then his trembling was gone. His face was
still buried in her neck where her scent was lighter. He inhaled
deeply and let his hands roam over her back. The girl didn’t
resist, returning his caresses with her own. Before the Wanderer
knew what he was doing, he brought his lips to the flesh below her
ear. He felt the offering she made of her neck, her sighs longer
and louder as he nibbled down the canal to the base of her throat.
In a swoon, the Wanderer collapsed to the ground and the girl fell
with him.
    Her head rested on his chest, and her
moaning reverberated into him before her lips pressed his left
nipple. The subtle bite of her teeth made his heat surge, and the
Wanderer clutched at her blouse, the rough fabric irritating his
skin and keeping him from the flesh underneath. Her arms gave and
stretched above her head when he pulled her shirt off, her breasts
crushed against his chest. The Wanderer pulled her head down,
bringing her mouth to his. Her lips were surprisingly soft, her
taste hinting of salt and savory.
    Then the girl spread her legs and opened
those lips, moving along his shaft. He could feel her through the
cloth of their pants and groaned. The pressure was exquisite,
making him harder as he clawed his hands down her spine. Her scent
was changing to pure musk and her back arched into his fingers. The
girl cried out, but she hadn’t reached her peak yet. Her taut
muscles still quivered under his