you’re tied to this bed? Why you’re not dead yet?”
Mike let out a breath and struggled to focus on what she was saying. She was so close now. Almost close enough to kiss. The force of his desire for her was making him almost cross-eyed. “I…I guess it…crossed my mind.”
She shifted her position on the bed, stretching her body out as she rolled half onto him and angled a thigh against his swollen crotch. “I was pleading your case, Mike. I’ve been authorized to give you one last chance to join us.”
She writhed against him, making him groan again.
Mike blew out another breath and said, “Jesus.”
“ Has nothing to do with this and don’t you forget it.” She nipped at his bottom lip and smiled at the way this made him shiver. “Would you like another chance?”
Mike thought about it. He still had no interest in joining up with a bunch of whacked out Satanists. But maybe he could play along with it for a while if it meant he could be with Marnie. He didn’t believe she would suddenly become his girlfriend if he agreed to this, but it seemed likely she would at least let him have sex with her now and then if she believed it would cement his loyalty to the group. And maybe that would be good enough. It would be better than nothing. And it sure as hell would beat being dead.
She kissed him, darted her tongue between his swollen lips, and laughed. “Come on, Mike. What do you say?”
“ What happens if I say no?”
“ You know the answer to that.”
He guessed he did. The same thing that had happened to Nicole. A staged accident of some kind. Or maybe he would just disappear. “And if I say yes?”
She kissed him again, harder now, pressing her breasts against his chest. Her face was slightly flushed as her moist lips came away from his own. “Then you get initiated into the group. You get to live.” Her voice was huskier. She peppered his neck with light kisses. “And you get to make love to me.”
Mike closed his eyes and groaned “Well…that sounds…wonderful. And it’s as simple as just agreeing to this?”
Marnie’s face came away from his neck. Her cheeks were still flushed, but her expression was more solemn now. “Well…there is a condition.”
“ Anything. I’ll do anything, Marnie. Just don’t stop kissing me.”
A small smile touched the edges of her mouth. “It’s a pretty big condition, Mike.”
“ Just tell me. Please. And then get back to what you were doing.”
There was an almost playful glint in her eyes now. “You sure you want to know?”
Mike was becoming frustrated. “ Yes. ”
Marnie laughed. It was that same lilting, almost musical tone he remembered from their many long late-night conversations. How he had missed hearing it. She was definitely playing with him now.
And he loved it.
“ You’re positive?”
“ Marnie, for the love of God, just spill it.”
“ For the love of Satan, you mean.”
“ Fine. For the love of Satan. For the love of whatever the hell makes you happy. Just tell me and end my fucking misery.”
Marnie smiled again. “Okay, Mike. Here it is. In order to earn another chance, you have to show us how serious you are and there’s only one way to do that.”
“ Which is?”
Her expression changed again, the playfulness draining away. “You have to kill someone for us.”
He gaped at her for a moment. Then he closed his mouth and swallowed. “What?”
“ You heard me. You have to kill someone. You have to take another human being’s life. And you have to do it tonight. Can you do that, Mike?” She put her face close to his again, so close the tips of their noses touched. “Can you do that for me?”
Mike couldn’t say anything right away.
His mind was reeling again.
He felt lightheaded.
“ Say you’ll kill for me, Mike.” Her voice had become husky again. Her lips were nearly touching his as she breathed the words. “ Say it, Mike. Say you’ll kill for me. ”
4.
He told her what she wanted