Chapter 424: Loss of Control with Maribel [1]

"Thanks, Maribel."

She nodded and tipped her face toward the sky.

For a while, neither of us said anything.

The garden was quiet except for the faint noise drifting in from the Boardwalk.

I tried to focus on them.

It did not work.

My hands had started trembling again.

I tucked them against my legs before Maribel could notice, but the movement only made me more aware of the restless heat crawling through me. It had not eased after stepping outside. Sitting beside her in that red dress was making it worse.

I should have told her to go back inside.

No.

I should leave.

The thought came with a sick feeling in my stomach. I could not stay at Carmen’s house tonight. Not when Summer was inside. Not when Maribel was sitting right beside me. Not when Carmen had only touched my cheek to wipe off some cake cream and I had nearly lost my mind over it.

I should sleep at the little shop again. It had been my temporary home in the Boardwalk to begin with before Carmen invited me to sleep in her home.

"Hard to believe there are other civilizations up there."

Maribel’s voice pulled me out of my thoughts.

She was still looking at the sky.

"Yeah," I said. "And one of them is trying to conquer worlds with a dangerous virus."

She gave a quiet scoff.

"It would’ve been so much simpler if this was only a zombie apocalypse." Her fingers traced the edge of the swing seat. "You know, just some mutated virus from Earth. Something horrible, but something human."

"I get what you mean."

The Infected were already bad enough. We had spent every day trying to avoid them, kill them, or keep them from getting through the barricades. People had built shelters. They had formed groups, shared supplies, guarded streets, and tried to carve out some small version of a normal life.

None of it felt like enough anymore.

There was no real safety if the Starakians were out there. No wall was high enough to matter against an entire race that had crossed worlds and turned people into monsters through a virus.

Maribel folded her arms over herself.

"Your life must be tough," she said. "Being a target for the Starakians every day."

"Just a reminder," I replied, "you might not be a full Symbiote Host like me, but you have part of one inside you now. That still makes you a target. Probably a smaller one, but still."

"So convenient."

She smiled, though there was no real happiness behind it.

Her eyes moved back to me.

"So..." She leaned a little closer. "When do I get superpowers?"

I blinked, then couldn’t help smiling.

"I knew you’d be looking forward to that."

"I am not!" She replied, shoving at my chest.

I caught both of her wrists before she could pull away, holding them gently but firmly. For a moment I just looked at her, those beautiful eyes, the soft shape of her lips, the way the night air played across her skin. Heat surged through me so fast it almost hurt. I snapped my eyes shut, trying to force it down.

"Ryan—"

The sound of my name on her tongue broke whatever thin control I had left.

I crushed my mouth against hers.

"Mmmh—!" Maribel’s eyes flew wide, but I didn’t stop. I pressed harder, tasting her, feeling the soft give of her lips under mine while my grip stayed locked around her wrists. I leaned into her, deepening the kiss until she made a small, muffled sound against my mouth.

When I finally pulled back it was only to trail my lips down the line of her jaw and onto the warm skin of her neck. I sucked hard enough to leave a mark, breathing her in.

"Ry—Ryan... haahn—!" Her moan spilled into the night, breathy and shocked.

I released her wrists and let my hands slide down, palms skating over the curve of her hips before settling on her thighs. My fingers dug into the soft flesh just beneath the hem of her dress, squeezing as I dragged my mouth higher along her throat again.

"R—Ryan!"

The sharper edge in her voice brought me back fast.

My eyes snapped open. Reality slammed back into me so hard it felt like electricity. I jerked away, hands flying off her body as if burned, stumbling back a step.

Maribel stood there flushed and wide-eyed, lips parted, breathing hard, a fresh red mark already blooming on her neck. She looked completely dumbfounded.

I clenched my fists in the empty air, jaw locked so tight it ached, then forced myself upright.

"Ryan—wait—"

I was already moving.

I stepped back inside the house and went straight to Carmen, keeping my voice as even as I could manage.

"Carmen, sorry—I feel a bit off. I’m going to head out."

"Oh, it’s fine. You can sleep upstairs if you want—"

"No, it’s alright. I actually need to grab some clothes, so I’ll just go back to where I usually stay," I cut in quickly.

"Okay, but—"

"Thanks." I didn’t give her the chance to finish.

It was rude. Carmen had done nothing except welcome me into her home, feed me, and let me take part in Shannon’s birthday. I still could not stay long enough to explain myself.

I headed toward the front door.

"Ryan?" Shannon called from behind me.

I did not turn around.

If I looked at her, she would ask me to stay. She would probably come over and grab my arm, complain that I was leaving her birthday early, and make it impossible to walk away.

I opened the door, put my shoes back on, and stepped out into the street.

The night air struck my face.

I shut the door behind me and started walking before anyone could follow.

Fuck this.

I needed to get away from Carmen’s house.

For a moment, I considered going back to the Whitesun Hotel. Sydney would understand what was happening to me. Rachel and Cindy might too. They knew me better than most people did, and I trusted them.

Still, the thought of showing up there in the middle of the night because I could not control myself made my skin crawl.

I could not go to them expecting them to deal with a problem I had created.

That was not fair to any of them.

I stopped beneath a broken streetlamp and stared down the empty road ahead.

At night, the Boardwalk looked like a different place.

I stood there with my hands in my pockets, looking in one direction and then the other.

The Whitesun Hotel.

Or the little home shop of mine.

The hotel meant people. Sydney, Rachel, Cindy. A proper bed, warmth, and somebody around if I started feeling worse.

The shop meant being alone.

It was cold. The bed was uncomfortable.

Still, it was empty.

And emptiness was probably what I needed right now.

I needed to cool my head, sleep, and wake up without somebody sitting nearby in a dress that made my thoughts go completely wrong. By tomorrow morning, maybe whatever the Symbiote had done to me would settle down.

At least that was what I kept telling myself.

I started walking again, scratching the back of my neck as I moved through the dark street.

Maybe it was because of the collar.

The thought had been bothering me ever since I left Carmen’s house.

The collar had been suppressing my Symbiote abilities. Every time I wore it, I felt weaker, slower, less connected to the thing living inside me. Then I removed it, and the Symbiote came rushing back like it had been trapped for years instead of a few hours.

Maybe my body was reacting to that.

Maybe it was trying to evolve, and the collar had been interrupting the process. I had felt stronger afterward. More alert. My senses had sharpened. Even my emotions felt harder to keep under control.

That did not explain why I had become so obsessed with ’touching’ people.

It did not excuse what I had nearly done to Summer either.

But I could not ignore the possibility that the collar had made everything worse.

If I had not worn it that afternoon, maybe I would not have ended up acting like some desperate idiot at a child’s birthday party.

The thought made my stomach twist.

I kept walking.

The isolated shop came into view after a few more minutes. Its old sign had fallen halfway from the building months ago, and the letters were so faded I could not remember what the place had sold before the outbreak. The front windows were still intact, though someone had covered part of them from the inside with cardboard.

I pushed open the glass door and stepped in.

The cold hit me immediately.

"Damn," I muttered.

My breath almost showed in front of my face.

The shop looked exactly as I had left it. My bed stood near the side wall, taking up most of the narrow space. A few bags of supplies rested beside it, along with spare clothes, a water bottle, and the small flashlight I used when I needed light.

It felt strange coming back.

I had spent the last several nights at Carmen’s house, sleeping in an actual room with walls that did not shake whenever the wind picked up. A comfortable bed and warmth.

This place had a mattress, a blanket, and silence.

The shop was not even that small, technically. Its rectangular shape just made everything feel tighter than it was. Once the bed took up one end, there was barely space to move around without bumping into something.

I walked over to it and knelt down.

Using the battery lamp, I filled the room with a weak white glow. The light made everything look washed out: the cracked floor tiles, the stacked supplies, the cardboard covering part of the front window.

But I kept it clean.

My personal bag with my hand axe were also there.

I reached for the folded cover at the end of the bed and spread it over the mattress.

At least it was clean.

That was something.

I stood again and bent down taking off my sneakers.

Then I stood and kicked off my sneakers.

Footsteps outside however made me flinch.

I turned sharply.

Maribel stood on the other side of the glass in her magnificent red sleeveless knee-length mini dress, a little breathless, one hand braced against the door as if she had run the whole way. Our eyes met.

There was a brief silence and once I got the confirmation, I didn’t hesitate.

I closed the distance in two strides, pushed the door open just enough to pull her inside, then shoved it shut behind her with a solid thud. The moment it closed, I dragged her against me, one arm locking tight around her back, and crushed my mouth over hers.

"Hmmm—!"

The sound she made was soft, surprised, but nowhere near as shocked as the first time. She didn’t stiffen or push me away. She had come all this way in the dark, knowing exactly what might happen when she found me alone. That knowledge sent a hot, dark surge of delight straight through me.

I kissed her harder, deeper, tasting her, feeling the soft give of her body against mine. My free hand slid down the curve of her waist and settled possessively on her hip, fingers digging in just enough to claim.

I wanted her.

Right here and right now.

No more holding back.