Dylan's POV

The car suddenly turned cold even though it was summer outside and the sun was blasting us with its heat. I kept my eyes on the road, not daring to even look in Zach's direction. I thought it would help to get out of that fucking school. How very naive of me. Of course Tobias wouldn't stop, he never had before.

The way he said Zach's name almost turned my determination into regret. It was my fault that Zach was a fresh target for Tobias. I had no idea what the man would do, or what he could do. Tobias thrived on fear and control achieved by highly developed mind tricks. It took me months to realize what he was doing, and when I did, it was already too late.

"Dylan."

My fists tightened around the steering wheel. I was too tense, too out of control. Taking a deep breath, I tried to find my center—if I even had one of those these days.

"Yeah," I replied, sounding just as tense as I felt.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No, not really."

"We make a good pair."

I snorted. "Yeah, fucking great."

"Hey, calm down."

He was right, I needed to calm down before I drove us off the road or into a passing car. The anger and worry that possessed me muddled my senses.

"Let's just get to your grandparents' house, then we can deal with this, or we can shut up about this mess and have a good time."

I liked that suggestion. That was exactly what I wanted. A night far away from every shitty problem seemed to surround us like flies. Persistent fucking flies.

"I'll drive by someplace to eat first." I never worked well on an empty stomach, apart from early mornings.

———

Two hours later, we got out of the car, and I found the key where it was supposed to be: hidden beneath one of the old flower pots. It was a mystery why no one had broken into the house yet as the hiding place was blatantly obvious. I guess the house wasn't nice enough to bother with.

I unlocked the door and was attacked by a wave of memories, not all of them good. I'd spent an entire summer here after Dad left us, and Mom didn't have the energy to take care of her two confused children. She had lived here too from time to time, but Gran had actually told her to stay away. I hadn't understood it at the time, but now I knew that it was because Mom hadn't been able to even look at us without crying and falling to pieces.

"Hey, what's the matter?" Zach asked tentatively, gently tucking strands of hair away from my eyes.

"Just memories, I haven't been here for a long while," I answered, a bit taken aback by this change in behavior. I thought we agreed to stay away from problems. Maybe it was because he was smart enough to realize that this wave of sadness had nothing to do with Tobias.

He put his other arm around my back, urging me closer. My stomach fluttered, and when he pressed his soft lips against mine it turned into a wildfire, igniting every nerve inside my body. In the trace of his hand small goosebumps appeared, making me shiver despite being too warm.

So this is what he meant by having a good time, I thought. I could deal with that. This was gloriously distracting.

He deepened the kiss and all I could think about was how the hell I would remain standing. My knees were close to giving up, my limbs a total mush. He took over me completely, nipping at my lower lip, exploring my mouth with his soft tongue. I'd never received a kiss like this one, so perfectly consuming. I whimpered as he slowed down, I moaned as he pressed deeper, I shuddered when he tugged my hair, and then finally whined as he pulled away.

"Where is that bed?" he whispered close to my ear, his breath heating my damp neck.

I didn't answer, I didn't have it in me; I was far too unfocused after our kiss. Instead, I pulled at his hand, urging him to follow as I led us upstairs, the stairs creaking beneath our feet.

Was I ready for this? Were we?

My thoughts quieted, and I jolted a little when his hand slithered in under my shirt, touching my sensitive side as we walked. I was close to shirking away as I was extremely ticklish and now with my skin sizzling from desire...well that didn't mix well together. Before I knew it I had fallen into the wall, holding myself up, panting.

I could hear Zach chuckle behind me, then closer as he stepped up to me. He let go of my hand and put his ones on the wall, forming a frame around me.

"If you keep this up we won't even reach the bed," he purred. I didn't have time to respond before he dug into my neck, kissing, sucking mercilessly.

"Ahhh," I moaned, overwhelmed by a kiss... How the hell would I survive going further? I thought, but the thought didn't last, it didn't survive because Zach was taking possession, I could think of nothing else than his body against mine, his mouth, his hands, his chest, his erection lined up against my own, both straining against our pants.

"Bed," I stuttered, finally able to struggle out of the haze that held me.

"You sure?" he asked, and I almost became angry at hearing how damn calm he seemed. I made a mental note to make sure that calm voice didn't stay calm. I would have him scream my name before I was finished with him. We were in this together.

He attacked me again, and that thought was lost.

"Yes, yes I'm sure," I breathed.

"How sure?" he asked again, smiling mischievously.

"Zach, for fuck sake...please!" I yelled in frustration, half way to shoving him off—or better yet shove him into the wall.

"Okay babe, then show me the way before it's too late."

Babe?

I tripped up the last few stairs and scrambled up to walk. Forcing myself to focus on the door to the bedroom. That was my goal, I had to get there, and he wouldn't dare to stop me again. If he did, we wouldn't make it there.

I shoved the door open and suddenly I didn't know what to do. I had no further plan. I stopped, and within a second Zach came up from behind, pressing his body against mine, tracing passionate kisses from my shoulder to my ear, not missing a single spot. His arms squeezed around me, his hands roamed and that's when my erection became painful, unbearably painful. I needed release. I needed him. I needed him on top of me, pushing into me—screaming my name.

Those thoughts didn't help, and instead it made my insides cry out in raw, untamed passion.

"Fuck me!" I groaned, "Please fuck me!" I couldn't hold it back. I had to make him understand. He had to. He didn't have a choice now, not after doing this to me. Perhaps it was too soon in our relation ship, but who the fuck gave a damn?

"You're falling apart Dylan, want me to stop?" he whispered, sending new shivers down my spine.

"No..." I pleaded. "No, don't stop."

"Then get on the bed," he ordered. Then he released me, and it was almost like a relief, like I was able to breathe again.

I rushed forward, falling into the bed head first, not bothering to turn around. I mean, I couldn't really move in my state of mind.

I heard Zach chuckle again, the sound incredibly sexy. The bed sank down when he came down on top of me, one knee at each side. "Turn around babe," he said. Couldn't he see that I couldn't move?

When I didn't make a single movement other than raising my head and then letting it fall in defeat, he did it himself. He rolled me over and bent down to give me another mind shattering kiss.

"Let's get you out of this," he mumbled against my lips, and I felt his hands pull at my shirt. He sat up and dragged me with him, making me sit up with him in my lap. He pulled the t-shirt over my head and threw it on the floor. The cold air attacked my burning skin and I snapped back into focus, deciding to relieve him of his shirt as well. I tugged at it and he helped me get it off, flashing his toned chest, his pert nipples. I sucked one of them into my mouth, swirling my tongue around it and I finally got a moan from his lips. I nipped at it carefully, and his hands flew to my hair, grasping it. I was close to losing track again, but I continued, I managed to continue and made it over to his other nipple. He moaned again and slowly started to grind his hips into mine.

If he stopped, I would kill him with my bare hands.

———

No regrets.

I was sated. Thoroughly wrapped up in the numbing comfort only achieved by sufficiently wild sex. I turned my head around, faced Zach and gave him a kiss. In some ways, it was completely different from the ones we had shared so far. All of that tension had dissipated or had been consumed during our out-of-control session. All that was left was a tender movement, lips touching lips, tongues dancing slowly and lovingly. It was a kiss that made me realize that I was so much deeper into this mess than I'd thought. Whatever Tobias threatened me with, I wouldn't let go of this guy.