Dark, tatted, and dangerous.
It had been three days since my date with James and I hadn’t heard from him since the theater. I liked the distance, and the lack of responsibility. My goal was simple: I never wanted to feel anything but lust for anyone, ever again.
After a grueling afternoon of scrubbing floors for the event, I was ready to disappear. I was well aware of when my Mother’s ranking friends were expected to arrive, and I made it my life’s mission to remain unseen. I’d do anything to avoid fake smiles and my Mother’s scrutiny.
The moment the front door creaked, I skipped three steps at a time up the stairs. Hurried voices cemented my fears as I reached the second floor. I ran as quietly as possible, avoiding the spots I knew would creak.
My thumb found the lock by muscle memory, the metallic snick the only sound in the room. I leaned my forehead against the wood, waiting for my pulse to stop drumming against my ribs. Logic said the hallway was empty, but the ghost of a heavy footfall still echoed in the back of my skull.
My pocket buzzed. I flinched, the phone hitting the mattress with a soft thud before I even realized I’d pulled it out. I stared at it—the small, glowing rectangle of potential ruin or rescue.
I didn’t head for the shower to get clean, but to wash off the scent of this house and replace it with the mental image of gray eyes and tatted skin.
By the time I reached for the faucet, my breath was already shallow, not from fear this time, but from the heat of a name I shouldn’t be thinking about: Dane.
His soft brown hair and gray piercing eyes sent a shiver down my spine.
Dane was the dark horse. Was it the muscles?
The tattoos? Or the fact I practically lived for his Snarl-messages exchanged after we connected on Mythinder to ‘get to know each other better.’ I swiped so quickly on his profile.
I hadn’t expected to match, but we had. I tried not to play favorites, but Dane…
He was dark, tatted, and dangerous.
Straightening, I rushed into the shower.
Cold turned to steaming hot as I washed myself.
Done quickly, I hopped out, threw my hair up, and tied a towel around my body.
I walked straight to my phone. I never wrote first, but I enjoyed talking to Dane more than I wanted to admit.
I snatched up my phone and sat at the edge of the bed.
I unlocked the phone, tapping the icon for SnarlChat. I swiped into my inbox, my heart skipping at the one name on the list that caught my eye: Dane.
My tongue darted out and slid along my bottom lip.
I could already feel my body reacting. Knots.
This guy was so fine and I hated that I was panting at just seeing his name.
I nibbled on my bottom lip and clicked on his message.
A blue square—a video waiting for me. I tilted my head and didn’t bother hiding the smile as it spread across my face.
Greedily, I clicked on the square and his video played.
An abnormally large cock filled the screen and went off camera. Long tatted fingers wrapped around his thick girth. I was salivating and my pussy clenched. That was not what I was used to. Knots.
I tracked his movements as fingers slid down his length, widening the lower it went until they didn’t touch. Veins ran up the side and I had the urge to trace them with my tongue. Dane made me want to do things I’d never wanted to do before.
His hand tugged up on his length, slow, as if enjoying it as much as I was.
He sighed. The phone moved, giving me a wider look at his tatted stomach.
I was in a trance as it flexed. I sucked on my fingers as his hand slid down, then mirrored the movement, slipping my fingers between my legs.
I gasped. He started to pick up speed and then the Snarl ended.
His little avatar popped up from the bottom of the screen and I knew he was here in the chat.
I pressed the camera button and lowered the phone between my legs.
I swallowed as I lifted my foot onto the bed and held the button to record.
I slid my finger into my pussy, and pulled it out at the same speed he’d jerked himself.
I fingered myself, watching my finger disappear to the knuckle.
I moaned and hoped he would love it when he played my Snarl.
The image of him tugging on his cock as he watched me finger myself had me picking up speed.
“Oh,” I whimpered as I spread my legs wider. I was so wet, the squelching sounds of my arousal filled the room and I groaned. I needed—the Snarl ended.
“Dammit,” I cursed, pulling my fingers out and closing my legs. If I continued, I’d come before him. He clicked on my Snarl the second it sent and my thighs clenched as I waited. Three dots flickered—he was typing.
Dane: Gods. Your pussy is so. fucking. sexy.
Me: You think so? I think your cock is the biggest I’ve seen.
Dane: Yeah?
Me: Hell yeah.
Dane: Mm… I need you to use two fingers when you fuck yourself. I’m at least four fingers side by side. I need you to be able to take me when we see each other. Can you do that for me?
He was lewd and I loved it. I’d never met a man who was not only the same as my book boyfriends, but talked to me the same.
I had recently started reading again after years of not being allowed to.
It was as if Dane had jumped off the page and was coming for me.
He said all the yummy sinful things. Wait.
Did he say what I think he did? Four fingers side by side? !
I lifted my fingers in front of me and lined them up, closing the space between them.
My jaw dropped. There was no way he was this thick.
My ex hadn’t been this big and just like that disgust filled me.
I closed my eyes tight and took deep breaths.
But a part of me felt giddy knowing Dane was bigger than him. The three dots popped up again.
Dane: I hope I didn’t scare you away…
Me: You definitely scared me, but I’m not running. I knew you were big, but… that’s…
Dane: ??
Another Snarl came in and I clicked on it hungrily.
My eyes locked on the screen as my legs fell open.
My fingers found my sensitive nub and I twitched.
I swallowed as I did what he said and pushed two fingers in.
I wanted to go slow but I copied the pace that he set in his video.
I thrust my fingers in to the knuckle and groaned as I took it.
I pushed my hips forward until I was at the edge of the bed. Any more and I’d fall off.
I watched as he jerked himself off, my name on his lips as his muscular thighs flexed.
His hand clenched around his cock and he lifted his hips.
With every stroke of his hand, he thrust up into his fist and I moaned.
But my gaze caught on something new, something terrifying yet beautiful: the massive, hard swell at the base of his shaft.
An Alpha knot. The first I’d ever seen. The sight stole my breath, a cold flash of vertigo hitting me.
My body knew what that was before my brain could name it.
It was too much. It was impossible. Yet, as I watched the base throb, a terrifying ache bloomed deep within me, a hollow space crying out to be filled by exactly that much violence.
My vision swam, blurred by a sudden, frantic need—and then the screen went black.
The Snarl ended. I cursed the darkness and stabbed the replay button with trembling fingers.
I angled the phone and hit the camera button to record.
I was a whimpering mess as I fingered myself to him.
The veins in his cock, the darker pink of his knot, the way the tattoos on his stomach grew taut as he flexed his abdomen.
My fingers moved fast and hard as I fucked myself as I imagined it was him.
“Yes, right there, Dane. Fuck me with your big, fat, cock,” I moaned.
I came, my body twitched as I continued sliding my fingers in and out.
I knew he’d like this. He’d chase his orgasm as he watched me clench around my fingers, my fingers glistening with cum.
I was breathing heavily but didn’t care.
I pulled my fingers out and got a close up of my pussy lips and the mole above my clit.
I sent it and he opened it automatically.
A few moments later, a new Snarl appeared, and I watched as he fucked his fist. His groan echoed off the walls as he called me a good girl and told me my pussy gripped his cock like it didn’t want to let go.
I moaned as his husky voice wrapped around me like a warm blanket and sent a shiver down my spine.
I watched as he pumped his muscular hips faster, harder, and his hand clenched his cock like a glove.
His knot throbbed and he cursed as he came.
I licked my lips as I watched it spurt from his tip.
It shot out like a firehose and oozed down his length like lava.
When the Snarl closed, the chat opened and there was one sentence.
I swallowed and knew I could never meet him in person. He wouldn’t be good for my heart.
Dane: You’re fucking perfect.
What a way to end the night.
His avatar vanished, leaving me staring at my own reflection in the black glass.
Just like that, the connection was severed, clean, clinical, and exactly what I’d asked for.
The idea of ‘more’—of dates, feelings, a man knowing my name—was a door I’d barred and deadbolted.
Panic still flared at the mere suggestion of an anchor.
Dane was a ghost in the machine, a temporary storm, and as my breathing finally slowed, the silence of the room felt a little less heavy.
It was a terrifying irony: how sex with a man I’d never met felt more real than the six years I’d spent shackled.
No, no, no. I would not go there.