Chapter 3 #3
His cut is still fresh, and there’s a tiny bead of blood that escapes when he pulls back and lifts his brows again.
I can’t help myself. I swipe my thumb through it, then gently blow when he winces.
He holds my gaze like a magnet, then takes me by the wrist, parts his lips, and sucks my thumb into his mouth.
“You should get that looked at,” I say, like a moron.
His lips twitch as he lets my thumb go. Not into a smile, but something close. “I’ll be fine.”
“But—”
“Trust me,” he rumbles as he lowers my wrist without letting it go. His eyes narrow as they look me up and down, and it’s almost like I can feel his gaze. Like it’s a physical touch.
Oh hell. I’m either about to get murdered or about to get fucked, and of course, my dick doesn’t seem to care that I might be in danger because I have never been harder in my life.
“I want to fuck you,” he finally says, like he can read my thoughts. And hell, maybe he can. Maybe he really is some kind of day-walking vampire who has gotten deep into the dark shadows of my mind.
My breath comes out in a wheeze, and it takes me a second to form words he’ll be able to understand. “We’re at a church.”
His lip quirks up. “Even better.”
I gasp as his finger moves down to the button on my shirt, and with a flick of his wrist, it pops off, disappearing into the blades of grass.
My body shivers—just once—a single tremor starting in my feet and rushing upward until my hands are shaking. My dick kicks in my pants, and a small dribble of precum soaks into my panties.
He dips his finger down, dragging it against my sternum, and the fabric of my shirt stretches as far as it can go.
Then he stops.
My breath catches, and I’m waiting on a knife’s edge for what’s coming next. And oh god, please let there be something next. I don’t know if I can live if he decides to leave me here like this. I’m burning and not brave enough to reach out and ask him for what I want.
Hell, I’m not even sure what I want him to do.
Between one blink and the next, his hands move from my chest to my ass. He lifts me up, and as my back hits his truck for support, a high-pitched noise escapes my chest. I should be fighting him off, but that’s the last thing in the world I want.
I let my body take over, let instinct drive me, legs wrapping around his lower back as he pulls me away from the truck and strides back toward the cemetery.
He walks with purpose, like he knows exactly where he’s going, and he steps between two large headstones near the back of the property.
They’re nestled behind some overgrown trees, and he sets me down, staring at me with his impossibly observant eyes.
My heart’s throbbing as hard as my dick, but for the first time since we spoke, I’m actually a little worried. We’re out in the open, even if we’re shielded from the main road, and I know for a fact that my career won’t survive an indecent exposure charge.
“What, ah…what are you going to do to me?” I see then that his cock is hard in his jeans, so I’m pretty sure murder’s off the table.
He doesn’t answer my question. Instead, he draws a line down the front of my flushed throat. “You’re very pretty.”
“Oh, um. Thank you?” The blush rises to cover my cheeks. “You are too.”
His lips twitch again, and then he grins, looking like maybe I’m the first person to ever call him that. My heart suddenly aches because why hasn’t anyone told him that before? Why haven’t people fallen to his feet in worship?
I shift on my feet, and then he reaches out and flicks the button of my pants open. My breath hitches in my chest as he twists his hand and, with extreme purpose, slides the zipper down.
His eyes follow his own movements, and when my fly is gaping open, he wets his lips, not bothering to mask his hunger. His gaze flicks back up to mine as both hands slide up to my waistband, and with a single tug, they fall to my ankles, and Arhe’s hands immediately move to cup my ass.
I realize now he’s able to see what I’ve got on underneath my teaching clothes, and I’m waiting for him to respond.
I’ve had lovers in the past who knew I did drag but didn’t realize there are pieces of that life I carry with me all the time.
They don’t understand why I like it—why I crave it. Why it’s part of me.
And I’m not sure what I’ll do if Arhe turns away from me the way they did.
The pink lace panties sit against my skin like a beacon, cupping my hard cock like they’re putting it on display. Arhe’s eyes darken as they take in the sight, and then I see something feral move across his face as he traces his fingertips over the lace.
“Turn around,” he says and signs when he pulls back. He points behind me. “Hands there.”
I peer over my shoulder and see a headstone. It has the words Now Entwined in Eternal Embrace. Seems a little too sensual for a burial plot, but it’s just right for this moment.
I obey him like I was born to do it, my body slightly bent at the waist as my fingers curl into the cool marble.
And then he walks around me, crouching down behind the headstone so I can see his lips.
“I’ll be back. Don’t move, little rabbit. If you do…” His eyes twinkle. “…I’ll have to chase you.”
The way he enunciates that makes my pulse triple, and goose bumps move across my skin. Does he want me to run?
He doesn’t give that thought an answer. No, instead he leans over me, takes a big lungful of air from the crook of my neck, then turns and stalks off until I can’t hear his footsteps anymore.
The woods around me seem to settle—not quite silent, but not loud enough for me to pick up individual sounds.
My hands start to ache as they press against the hard stone, and my knees are aching from holding this position. How long do I wait? Is he watching me now? Is this some kind of test?
Minutes pass, and I wonder if maybe he gets off on humiliation, but no. That doesn’t seem like him at all. Maybe he really did want me to run. Maybe that was an instruction, and I’ve failed him.
Shit. Warmth blooms in my chest as I straighten my back and look around, but the profound realization hits me almost instantly: he’s not here anymore.
He’s long gone.
I sink deep into the feeling of rejection and shame as I grab my pants, pulling them on with slightly trembling hands.
My heart kicks up a few paces as I yank my pants back up around my hips and secure the zipper and button.
I’m acutely aware of the missing button on my shirt, so I tug it down tight in hopes it won’t be obvious, then turn and head toward the church.
My stomach twists with anxiety as I turn the corner, not sure what I’m going to find, but I immediately see that his truck is gone. He really did leave me alone.
He stripped me down and abandoned me like I was worth nothing.
Anger wells up inside of me, and my entire body heats.
I’m shaking as I stalk toward my car and slip inside.
My fingers clench the steering wheel, and a thousand scenarios run through my head.
I imagine finding him again, tying him up, stripping him down, making him feel the same way I do right now.
But god, something tells me he’d like that.
Something tells me this is part of his game.
Except…what if it isn’t? What if I’m imagining things to cover the pain of him leaving me practically bare-assed in a cemetery after he got me all worked up? Christ, did he take one look at me and lose all interest? Or was he ever interested at all?
I’m a little too aware that I might have read too much into that rescue and have now stalked a man who couldn’t give two fucks about who I am or what happened after I left that alley.
That kiss might have just been for fun. That kiss might have been the reason he walked away that night and didn’t look back.
My ego fizzles into ash, and my eyes sting.
Fuck him. Because he won’t be fucking me. Ever.
Whatever that was, whatever lapse in judgment, I won’t be doing this again. I will forget about him entirely. Arhe isn’t special, damn it.
He’s nothing.
Now I just need a little bit of time to convince my brain that I actually believe that.