Chapter 7
CHAPTER SEVEN
RAMONA
I stumbled down the hallway, barely tipsy, and the darkness, pounding music, and scents were assaulting my conscious thought. It was kind of bullshit that I got these downsides of shifter abilities without the actual benefit of being able to turn into something. Though I’d come to terms with it some time ago—because what else was I supposed to do?—it was still irritating. Unless I could find really strong stuff or something designed for non-humans, regular alcohol just brought on a faint buzz at most.
The smell and smoke of weed hung heavy in the air, nearly choking me, and the body odors and cheap perfumes and cologne were giving me a throbbing headache. Following half the bar to this party wasn’t my best idea, but I would never admit to my sister-in-law that I should’ve headed home with her after the show ended. Though I didn’t expect Sylvie to come with me, the way she’d been at the bar had me kind of hoping. I didn’t have kids of my own, but I could kind of understand her desire to return home to them even after only a few hours. Even when she trusted my brother wholeheartedly to take care of them. That weird envy tightened my chest, and I spotted someone with a bottle of something in their grip.
They were already stumbling, so they didn’t put up much of a fight when I snatched the alcohol from them and took a long swig. It didn’t burn, but a warmth started blooming to chase away the pang of wanting what O and Sylvie had.
When I shoved the bottle back toward the dude I’d taken it from, he snickered and eyed me up and down, like he was impressed. Now that I’d stopped, he looked like one of the members of the band—maybe the drummer? I’d only been paying attention to the jaguar shifter, to be fair.
Two things I wouldn’t admit to anyone. That he’d been the only reason I went to the show and that I’d been searching the party for him. My sense of smell was good, but it was mediocre in shifter terms. Or else I would’ve been able to find him.
But what would I even do once I did? Yeah, he was cool at the skate spot, but seeing him on that stage was a whole different experience. He’d been intense in a totally different way. Cooly charismatic, and when he’d pinned me with those black eyes, I had to catch myself from inching closer to the stage. Again—to do what?
The drummer leered at me, pushing himself off the wall opposite and opening his mouth to say something. Before he could utter a slurred word, I turned and shoved my way into the nearest room. Luckily the door wasn’t locked, and I shut it in his face.
I sighed in relief and tugged down my mini skirt. The raging music vibrated the walls and the floor beneath my feet, and I tried to breathe through the burgeoning ache behind my brow. Sweat clung to the back of my neck, and I lifted my dense hair off of it.
Someone grunted behind me, and I stilled. Yeah, it was probably stupid to enter a room and just stay facing the door. I cursed myself in my head and whipped around, dropping my hair so that it flopped on my back.
I’d stumbled into a bedroom, looked like, and it was bigger than I would’ve thought for the small house on the edge of downtown. I still didn’t know who it belonged to, and I guessed it didn’t matter.
The curtains draped over the window on the other side of the room were closed, but not all the way, and a sliver of light from outside cut across the space. It was dark, but not nearly enough to stop me from snapping to the sight in the corner. My heart picked up, and I would’ve been embarrassed if I weren’t stunned stupid.
The shifter I’d been looking for was sprawled lazily in an armchair beside the window, which seemed a bit weird since there was a bed, made neatly, that he’d clearly bypassed. But he obviously didn’t care with his jeans opened and someone between his legs.
Whoever it was had long, lighter brown hair and was wearing a version of what most people around here were wearing. Their t-shirt, jeans, and boots looked thrifted or really worn in, and they were working over his lap. The fact that I’d missed the obscene slurping and moaning sounds was testament to how off-kilter I felt. The few parties I’d gone to in high school had been either disastrous or just uncomfortable, so I’d avoided them like the plague in college. Which wasn’t really that hard when you had no friends. But still.
The shifter had his eyes clenched closed, but I would’ve been surprised if he didn’t know I was here. The way his brow was creased didn’t seem completely in the throws of pleasure, frustration somewhere in there, too.
“Faster,” he directed and palmed the back of their head.
I didn’t think I was into voyeurism or anything like that, but there was something spellbinding about the way his limbs were draped powerfully in the seat while still holding a certain grace. Like it was a throne, but not for a king. More like a wicked prince.
His hair was down like it’d been at the show, and now that I was focusing, his unique blend of chile and clove filled my nose. My fingers twitched over my sleeve cuffs, but my feet stayed rooted to the scuffed floorboards.
He winced and opened his eyes to shoot a look at the person in his grip, “Watch the teeth.” They mumbled something back that sounded like a, ‘sorry’, but they had his dick in their mouth, so. That was just a guess.
Instead of closing his eyes again, he slid them to me, and my heart picked up even faster. Was he mad that I’d walked in on him?
We stayed staring at each other while he got his dick sucked, but it wasn’t nearly as uncomfortable as I thought it would be. No words formed in my throat, but I also didn’t feel the need to force any out, either. His facial piercings may have looked too heavy on someone else, but on him, they went right along with his sharp jaw and nose and the prowling way he moved throughout the world. On his board or on stage, he was the most interesting person I think I’d encountered. Ever.
Whoever it was that was kneeling at his feet gave a moan that seemed out of some bad porn, and I couldn’t help tearing my eyes away from his to glare at them. The noises they were making were annoying, and they obviously weren’t doing much, because he seemed pretty far away from coming. Not that I had much experience with that, but, whatever.
A snort had me looking back at the shifter, and he was smirking at me. His short fingernails, painted a deep purple that looked black in the darkness of the room, stayed buried in the person’s hair, but his attention was all on me. “Think you can do better, rich girl?”
Maybe the alcohol was affecting me more than I’d thought, because without thinking, I snarked back, “Probably.”
His brows rose, and a delighted smile made him look downright devilish. It made me relax and feel jittery at the same time. Even when the pet name still annoyed me a little bit. It was outshined by actually having one, though.
He swiped his tongue across his bottom lip in a way that was far from the leering glance I’d gotten in the hallway. He nodded down toward his lap, and the fluttering in mine was what drove me forward and around the bed.
I had been around him enough at the park that I was used to the way my shifter blood reacted to his—with wary interest. Like with like but different enough to prepare for danger. With the way I kept seeking him out, I was either a fan of that dangerous feeling or I was growing addicted to the warmth it caused. Maybe a little bit of both. I loved my brother and his family, but each moment I’d had around this guy was like pops of excitement amidst the steady calm I’d been experiencing.
And like, fuck it, I’d wanted to be alone with him. Maybe I didn’t envision sinking to my knees beside someone else, but I was going with it.
Our eyes stayed locked, and his lids lowered in want. I didn’t think I was ugly or anything, but it was definitely a confidence boost to see him look at me in a way he wasn’t looking at the one beside me. They’d pulled back on the shifter’s cock and were giving indulgent licks and tonguing kisses.
The shifter reached up his other hand and hesitated. My lashes fluttered up at him. He somehow managed to strike that balance of beautifully masculine, and I rested my touch on his leg. His skin was warm, even beneath his jeans, and when he finally caressed the back of my head with his tattooed hand, I bit at my lip to hold back a needy moan. I was out of my depth, but instead of panicking, for some reason, his black eyes swallowed me to the point that I felt tightly embraced. I’d never sucked a dick before, but with him looking at me the way he was, I felt confident in a way that I wouldn’t have otherwise.
The person beside me had a different idea of what was going on, though. They grasped my face and slammed their lips to mine. They had some kind of lipgloss on, and the remnants of cherry on my tastebuds stood out to me, along with a musky, bitter taste that was unfamiliar but easy to identify.
The kiss wasn’t terrible, and I was already turned on enough that their tongue sliding against mine wasn’t all that bad. My arousal, though wasn’t spiking because of them. My hands tightened on the shifter’s leg, and his grip stayed in my hair while I made out with the person who’d been giving him an unsuccessful blow job. They moaned into my mouth, and my hand slid to rest on their knee. Their leg was skinny, and thankfully, they smelled like clean rain instead of musty body odor like half the people at the party.
The shifter used his grip on both of us to pull us apart, and I blinked a few times to adjust to the low light again.
“Go back to the party, Alex.” I glanced back up at him, and that frustration was on his face again.
Alex pouted up at him, but he just patted them on the cheek and pulled me closer between his feet, effectively shoving them out of the way.
With a huff and a toss of their hair behind their shoulder, Alex did just that and made a point of stomping out of the bedroom and slamming the door.
The shifter rolled his eyes before settling back on me. He smirked, “You can still back out, Princess. Wouldn’t want you to ruin your makeup.”
His mocking tone had me squirming, and I sat up to better see what I was getting myself into. Though I’d never sucked one, I’d seen a naked cock in person, but his was longer than my high school boyfriend’s.
Oh, and there was a piercing in it.
The black metal was a sharp contrast against his golden brown skin. Yeah, Matt definitely hadn’t had one of those.
He palmed the base and lifted his hard dick from where it’d been resting on his abs. He had a simple black t-shirt on, but I remembered the tight muscles I’d caught a glimpse of at the skate spot.
He moved to hold my chin, and he titled my head up while he leaned over me. Unlike Alex, he kissed me with a slow, thorough claiming that made me want to melt into the floor. I sank into his control and tasted traces of beer on his tongue. Mine teased against the piercing he had in there too, and my thoughts went hazy like I’d downed the rest of that bottle from earlier and smoked a blunt or two.
When he pulled back just enough to speak over my lips, his hair shifted to brush against my cheek. It was soft as silk. “You taste sweet and sour. Like candy.” I scoffed but didn’t pull away, and that sent him into a round of low chuckles that just made more wetness pool between my legs. He licked at my top lip a few times, as if he was tasting more of that candy flavor he’d said I had. “You don’t have to, but I’m hard as fuck, so it’s either that, or I’ll take care of it. You can stay regardless, though.”
He pulled back a little more so that I could see his eyes, lined with smudgy black and cloaked by thick lashes that were totally unfair. I nibbled at my bottom lip, trying to gain hold of any coherent reasoning. His eyes softened a fraction, and I wanted to hit something. I was a goddamn adult, and I wanted this.
“What’s your name, Princess?” His voice and the gentle tapping of his finger on my cheek snapped my thoughts back to one definite path.
My throat gave a dry click, and I licked my lips to clear the way. His black stare broke to follow the movement, and I felt a bit stronger. Enough to say, “Ramona,” without my voice cracking.
I gave another moan, sank into him again when he slanted his lips over mine once more. His teeth were sharp and perfect when he caught my lip between them, and my hands tightened on his calves. He broke our kiss, and I sucked in air that, at this point, I didn’t even want. I just needed more of him.
“Mine’s Río.”
I felt my brows tighten and my lips jut out in a contemplative pout. “Like a river?”
He grinned and pet the back of my head like I was a pretty cat. “That’s me. Always runnin’.” And he chuckled at his own joke. My eyes rolled, and I gave a scoff. But that just made him laugh more. “So, what’ll it be, Princess?” He went back to staring me directly in the eyes, head tilted to the side. It was almost threatening, how much he wanted the truth. There would be no waffling back and forth with him.
I took a deep breath, trying to force in as much oxygen as possible to keep me from going completely lightheaded. Was I actually going to do this? Suck a random cock at a random party in a random town on a random Wednesday?
“I’ve never seen a dick piercing before,” I said instead. A bead of moisture rested against the barbell that ran through the slit, and it seemed to be growing as I stared. My navel fluttered again, and thrill ran back and forth from it and between my legs. I couldn’t imagine willingly inflicting that pain onto myself, but I was surprised to admit—it was hot. What would that feel like against my skin? Would it be cold or warm against my tongue?
He didn’t react to my comment, and my face heated with the knowledge that he was still staring at me. But the drop of liquid was running down the head of his cock, now, and I leaned forward. I glanced up at him, hoping like hell he wouldn’t make me actually say the words and just take my movements as consent enough.
I stuck my tongue out and swiped indulgently, wanting to feel the weight of him, the smoothness of the piercing, and the taste of his precum all at once.
He hissed, but didn’t pull it away, and I went in for another lick. And another. He tasted wilder here. Like everything stripped away to reveal just the bare essence of him. It was weirdly good—no, addictive, and all of a sudden, my brain caught up to find myself sucking him further into my mouth. His cockhead and first inch or so of his shaft weighed heavy on my tongue, and the piercing tickled my flesh. But it felt oddly comforting, and I pressed up on my legs to get a better angle.
Río released the hold he had on his shaft and transferred his other hand back into my hair. He leaned back in the chair, and I steadied myself on his thighs. Remembering what he’d directed at Alex, I made sure to shield his cock from my teeth and took more of him into my throat.
“Shit, rich girl,” he groaned.
I flicked a glare up at him underneath my lashes, hair curtaining the sides of my face. That nickname was infuriating but not enough to make me stop. Especially when he gave me a lust-filled grin and touched the tip of his tongue to a sharp canine.
My mouth sank further onto him, a little more than halfway, and I felt my body try to reject the invasion. My fingers tightened on his legs, but he didn’t seem to mind. His hips were moving in small, aborted movements, like he wanted to shove himself completely into my mouth but was holding back. Spit pooled around my lips, dripping down my chin and the rest of his length.
I shifted again, this time grabbing the base. My head bobbed, and my necklaces tinkled with the movement. The nestle of soft, trimmed hair tickled the side of my fist. It was difficult to look up at him now, so I just closed my eyes to focus on the task of learning what made him feel good.
Judging from the fact that his hips would make a larger thrust, then another small one like he was losing the battle to keep on his restraints, I was on the right track. A light touch, warm and gentle, ran along my cheekbone and to my jaw.
I felt my eyes prickle, so I focused more on taking him the whole way into my throat. None of the books or fanfics I’d read over the years could’ve prepared me for how difficultly arousing this was. My throat was already being rubbed raw, my knees and legs starting to burn with strain, but my mind had never been emptier. More at peace. How fucked up was that?
Like what I’d read, I tried to breathe through my nose, but the lack of air was growing too much. I pulled back, sucking in precious oxygen. An even spicier aroma flooded my nose now that I could breathe, and while I flicked my tongue against the jewelry pierced through him, I let it wash over me. There were notes of his but also of mine, cool and hot twining and swirling together. Who knew it could be like this?
Río’s back was thrown against the chair, but his body held a tightly coiled tension while he watched me like I was a mesmerizing snack.
He’d been about to open his mouth to say something, but the door banged open, startling me enough to make me pause for a moment before continuing to plant open-mouthed kisses on the leaking cockhead. My eyes stayed locked with Río’s.
“Tyler’s looking for you.” I recognized Alex’s deeper voice, no longer squeaking with indignation at being forced off their knees.
“Fuck off. I’m busy.” Río leaned forward at the same time he pulled me away from his cock. His lips smashed into mine, claiming my mouth once again. A faint growl rumbled from his mouth into mine, and I let him take control. My lips and tongue reacted to his, moving and molding against them, but my thoughts remained happily empty.
Distantly, I knew that the door was open, the sound of talking and music much louder than it’d been before. But Río had moved his hand to cradle the back of my head, pulling me more tightly into him, demanding it, and I couldn’t even begin caring who saw me on my knees for him. My mother could’ve walked in, screeching to high heaven, and I would’ve just gone back to sucking Río down my throat.
Suddenly, cool air kissed my lips instead of his hot ones, and my eyes cracked open at the vicious words in a tone I didn’t recognize. “Don’t make me tell you again. Get the fuck out.” He wasn’t yelling, but the way his lips pulled back in rage made me gasp.
Not in fear, though. A whimper escaped my lips, and his cock twitched in my hand. Río’s head remained turned toward the door until I heard a sharp slam, sealing us in the room once more.
When he turned back to me, he blinked a few times, and his expression softened to the drunken lust it’d been before.
He tilted my face to the side, and I gave a high-pitched moan when he dragged the flat of his tongue from the corner of my jaw up to my hairline. My fist started jerking up and down on his cock, and he rewarded me with another swipe against my cheek. The hard press of his tongue piercing amidst the wet softness of his flesh made me squirm, trying to find friction to relieve the want in my body.
Río nipped at my earlobe, hard.
I cried out, and my left hand shot to my lap. I parted my knees while he soothed the throbbing pain of his bite by giving small, tender licks.
“You’re gonna touch that pretty little pussy while you finish sucking my cock, Princess.” Another lick, and I gasped at the sweet pressure of my fingers against my clit. I didn’t even bother pulling the soaked fabric of my underwear to the side, just moved my fingers fast and released another long, high-pitched whine. “And then you’re gonna swallow every bit of cum that I give you and let me hear you scream while you come. Got it?”
It was hard to keep my eyes open at this point, let alone say anything coherent, so I just stuttered a nod while my hips and fingers moved frantically. Río gave me a quick kiss on my cheek before guiding my head back to his cock. He didn’t even really need to apply any pressure, because I licked my lips and sank down readily.
I still wasn’t able to take all of him, my throat spasming and gagging when he got too far, but I didn’t have time to get embarrassed about it or wonder if I was doing the wrong thing. Each time it happened, he groaned, let me pull back to breathe, and then nudged my head back down after a moment or two.
His body tensed beneath me, and my fingers were circling fast and hard to chase my own release. Muffled moans went from my lungs to vibrate against his cock splitting open my throat, and then back out of his mouth as rough groans.
Before I could reach the height of my orgasm—it stayed just out of my grasp—he gave a breathy grunt, “Gonna come.” I hollowed my cheeks, sucking harder, and was rewarded by a sustained growl and the heady sensation of cum shooting down my throat, straight into my stomach. I focused on swallowing, taking all the salty bitterness, but there was way more of it than I’d anticipated. I pulled back, choking a little, and some of his cum spilled out of the corners of my lips and started down my chin.
“ Fuck , that’s a pretty sight.” Río’s tongue caught the lines of his jizz trailing down my face and fed them back to me. My tongue swirled around his, taking the slightly salty cum and swallowing it down like he’d wanted.
Once my face was cleaned, and my lips were thoroughly swollen from his rough kisses, he whispered over my mouth, “Need some help, Princess?”
My eyes opened, staring at his sharp face cloaked in darkness. A sliver of yellow light slanted across his brow, down his nose to his jaw, and it was enough for me to take in the shadows dipping across his cheekbones and flowing over his lips.
His forehead rested on mine, and a gentle pass of his palm down my front made me shiver. He lapped at the tip of my nose a few times, and my mouth dropped open as the back of his hand moved under my skirt and between my thighs. I wished I could see his tattooed skin against mine, but that fantasy was quickly erased when he slipped behind the waistband of my panties and found my clit with quick accuracy.
I found myself clinging to his shoulders, nails digging through his t-shirt while I pretty much humped his hand like an animal. He dipped his fingers inside of me to wet them and alternated between circling and gently pinching in a way that made me feel like I might fly so high that I’d float away.
“ Nnggh ,” the noises I made didn’t make sense, but I couldn’t hold them back. I’d probably be embarrassed tomorrow, or even immediately after this was over, but it felt so, so good now. I’d never felt someone’s fingers besides my own, never tasted someone besides myself, and I simultaneously wanted the pleasure to fucking break already and for it to never end. To always be this.
Río didn’t bark orders, but he instead groaned assuring words over me. While my eyelids were clenched closed, I could feel his black eyes glued to me still. “That’s it, Princess.” And, “Relax, and let me feel you come all over my fingers,” filtered through my awareness as I finally crested that hill.
My face pinched, and I cried out, scrabbling my grip on his shoulders, and hips moving back and forth to draw out the pressure of his fingers. My own got tangled in the long silkiness of his hair, but he didn’t seem to care about that, either. As I fell, he kissed and licked his way down to my neck. “Fucking beautiful,” he spoke into my skin, and my chest heaved as I tried to get a hold on my breathing.
N-number Twelve.
His shoulders, corded with a surprising amount of lean muscle, were my anchors as I floated back down. Río didn’t pull back from giving wet kisses to my throat until I’d gotten my body under more control.
When he did, I heard fabric shuffling and the metallic zsst of a zipper before I was lifted into the air. My mind was still a bit mushy, and my limbs twitched with aftershocks.
Río settled me into his lap and tucked my head beneath his chin, and post-orgasm, the gesture made me feel a weird mixture of comfort and cornered. Was I so pathetic that he felt that he had to do this? Did he feel bad for me or something?
I started to move off of him, but his arms just tightened around me. “You’re not going anywhere.” He pulled back and looked down at me. His hair brushed against the side of my face, some of the strands tangling with mine. Río flicked his thumb on my bottom lip, and the pop of it slapping back against my teeth made him chuckle. “You’re going to sit here with me, and then I’m going to take you home.”
His commands had been loosening my defensiveness, but the last directive made me still all over again. We’d gotten off together, but that was maybe pushing it a bit too far. At least more than my now fuzzily sober mind could handle. Before I could protest, though, he smirked and flicked my lip again. “Not to mine, Princess. Do you need a ride or do you have friends here to take you home?”
I blinked a few times, letting his words sink in, and whispered, “Uh.” My voice was raspy, and I cleared my throat like a nervous loser, but his smirk still stayed in place. “Um, a ride would be nice.”
“Cool. We’ll go in a minute.” He gave me a final peck and relaxed us both back in the armchair. I leaned into the hollow of his throat and closed my eyes.
He circled the curve of my bare knee while another finger ran up and down my full sleeve. “You ever ridden on a motorcycle before?”