Chapter 3
three
RAE
"Your turn," Darius said. "I get to know why you're bartending."
Shit.
I sighed. "It's stupid."
"It's not stupid."
"You don't know what it is."
"I don't think you have a stupid bone in your body, Rae."
"Back to the ridiculous compliments already, Scorch?"
"Keeps things lively."
"It is stupid," I said. "But I've been thinking about the offer you made."
Dare tensed. Just the tiniest bit.
He was going to turn me down.
I added quickly, "You said you'd be willing to bargain for sex.
I've never done it before. Sex. I'm not really comfortable with people, but I'm kind of comfortable with you.
I wanted to try it once, just to check it off the list. See what all the fuss is about.
Theoretically, with you, I might hate sex but still feel good because of your magic, right?
If you don't want to, I obviously get it, but—"
"I want to."
I waited for a but.
And waited.
And waited.
It didn't come, though.
"Okay..." I finally said. "Where? When?"
"Here. Now."
I blinked. "Oh. Okay. I don't really know how we would go about starting it, or..."
"Rae." Dare's voice was soft. "Come here."
I turned toward him. "You're going to have to be more specific."
Darius held out a hand, and I reluctantly took it.
He grabbed the back of my thigh with his other hand, and lifted me onto his lap.
My knees hit the bumpy cement of the roof on either side of his gigantic thighs.
"You're really big," I whispered.
"Yup."
"Are you sure we could physically—"
"You're a demon, Shadow. You could take a guy's knot, and I don't have one."
"Right." My face was now burning. "Do you think that will be a problem, or..."
"No. Give me your hand." He held his palm out between us, like he was ready for a handshake.
I reluctantly took it.
"I'll give you the best first sexual experience of your life," Darius said. "But you'll owe me a favor afterward."
"What kind of favor?"
"Anything I want, to an extent."
My face flushed. "You don't call in favors, though."
"Nah, not usually. I'm just looking for my mate."
"I'm not your mate. So, yes. I agree."
"It's a deal." I felt a ripple of magic.
The sensation was light, at first, then a hell of a lot more painful as it blazed through my body and over my hip and left thigh.
As quickly as it hit, it was gone. I was too busy staring at Dare's face to look down at my leg and check out the bargain mark that was obviously there.
Darius let out a long, slow breath.
It worried me, just a little. "Is your skin itching again?" He'd said he had too many bargains, before. When he gave me the corn dog and propositioned me in his kitchen, while Merrily was there. They made his skin itch.
He cleared his throat. "Yeah. Always is." Dare slid a hand up the back of my thigh, squeezing lightly, and I sucked in a breath.
Darius eased me closer. His lips brushed mine. My mouth parted for him instantly, and he dragged his tongue over mine lightly.
My toes curled as his taste flooded my senses. My fangs throbbed, too, descending rapidly.
I jerked back, lifting a hand to my mouth in alarm. "Oh my god, I'm sorry. They never do that. I—"
Dare swatted my hand away and lifted my lip, checking out one of my fangs a little closer. My lipstick was supposed to be smearproof, but there were a few dark smudges of it on his mouth too. "Fuck, that's hot."
I swear, my entire body flushed. "Don't lie to me."
He cut me a look. "I've never lied to you. Never would, either." He refocused on my fangs, and slowly dragged his finger over the sharp tip of one. How he avoided being cut, I have no idea. "When was the last time you bit someone?"
"Before the cellar," I admitted, my lips brushing his finger as I spoke.
He gave a soft rumble that sounded like satisfaction. "Want to bite me?"
Yes.
God, yes.
"I can’t,” I said quickly.
"Why not?"
"If I drink from you, I don't know if I can stop." My confession was soft, but honest. "You smell really good."
"Do most people smell good?"
"No."
"I could stop you if you took too much. You're like half my size, so you could drink your fill without killing me, too."
I blinked.
That was a decent argument.
"I don't know," I said.
"Think about it." Dare tipped my head back and kissed me again, slower.
He'd felt and tasted good before, but now? He was using my fangs against me. He knew they were sensitive, so he teased them.
My hips rocked, grinding my core lightly against his erection, and I ripped my mouth away from his again.
"Fuck, I'm sorry! I—"
Darius took my face in his hands. "I'm only going to say this once, Rae.
I want you more than I've ever wanted anyone.
I want your fangs in my throat. I want you dripping on my hand while I fuck you with it.
I want you desperate to the point of losing control over and over.
Stop apologizing. Stop overthinking it. Let go, and let me give you what you need. "
I stared helplessly at the man in front of me. I had no idea what to say. What to do. How to feel.
I just... wanted him.
"Okay," I whispered. "Tell me what to do."
His lips curved slowly. The smile made his eyes gleam. "Give me permission to have my way with you."
"Alright. I'll tell you to stop if I'm uncomfortable."
"Good." He took my hips in his hands and pulled me closer, until the length of his erection pressed against me in a way that made me inhale quickly. "You like that?"
"Love it," I breathed, my eyes widening when I realized I'd just said that.
Darius tipped his head to the side, and tapped his throat.
My fangs throbbed in my mouth like they had a life of their own.
"Bite me, here. No shame. It's going to make you horny. Let it. And remember, you told me I was in charge."
My face burned. "Okay, but if I take too much—"
"Vampires always feed when they fuck, Rae. You won't take too much."
Him knowing that ignited a rage in me that I couldn't control. He was mine, and someone else had bitten him. Tasted him. Fucked him.
My ridiculous, possessive fury had me driving my teeth into his skin so viciously, it must've hurt, but he just groaned.
His taste flooded me alongside his blood. My entire body thrummed with need and pleasure, to the point of fucking ecstasy.
I nearly climaxed on his blood alone, but it wasn't quite enough.
I needed more.
Dare groaned, low in his throat. "Yeah, just like that." His hand slid up my thigh, thick and strong. "I'm going to touch you, now. I want you to soak my fingers in your pleasure."
The sound I made was nearly feral.
He slipped his hand beneath the leg of the shorts on my romper. It was skintight, but stretchy. His knuckle skimmed my core, and my hips jerked roughly.
"No panties? Fuck, you're perfect." He slowly replaced his knuckle with his fingers, and I gasped against his throat as he dragged them over my clit lightly.
I came on the third brush of his skin on mine.
My fangs buried deeper, and I basically inhaled his blood as I fucking writhed on his hand.
I'd never come like that.
So... intensely.
I forced myself to release his throat, and lifted a shaky hand to his neck in horror. It was wrecked. The wound I'd left him was savage, so much worse than the usual two pinpricks vampires left on the people who fed them, and my black lipstick was smeared all over him too.
"Lick it for me, Shadow. You'll fix it." Dare's voice was way too calm for what I'd done to him
"I don't think that's a thing," I whispered.
"It is. Try it."
I leaned forward, and slowly licked the wounds I'd given him. The taste of his blood rolled through me, and I almost thought I could've come again.
Instead, I watched in fascination as his skin began to knit itself back together.
"How do you feel?" Darius asked me, his hand still between my thighs. His fingers pressed lightly against my clit, but he wasn't moving them.
"Good," I admitted.
"Just good?"
"Incredible." The admission was quiet, but grudging. "Thank you."
He chuckled. "We're not done."
I blinked.
"One orgasm? Do you really think that's all you're getting from me tonight? You offered me a piece of your soul for this, Rae. I'm going to wring every fucking ounce of pleasure I can get from your body."
He dragged a finger over my clit a little rougher than before, and I grabbed his shoulders. That grip was the only thing holding me up as he worked me in a way that made my entire world shrink to his hand, and my body.
I came again so much faster than I thought was possible, and leaned more of my weight against him as the pleasure crashed into me. His erection was beneath me, but I couldn't feel it. Not when he was touching me like that.
"We're going to need to get this sexy little getup off," Dare murmured, hooking a finger in the strap of my jumpsuit while he was still stroking my clit, already working me up again.
I pushed the strap down my arms, and he released my core long enough to help me tug the fabric down my breasts and over my hips.
"Do they invent these things to make sex difficult?" he joked.
A breathy laugh escaped me. "I don't know, but that's definitely why I bought them."
"Liar." He finally tossed the fabric aside and grabbed my hips again, pulling me back down on his lap with nothing but my combat boots on.
His eyes dipped to my breasts, then core. They blazed as he watched himself tease my nipples, then my clit.
My entire body flushed as I watched the same.
"How does it feel?" he asked.
"So much better than I thought it would.”
"Good." He recaptured my mouth as he worked my clit.
When the tip of his finger found my entrance, he grabbed my chin, tipping my head back and kissing his way down my throat with my lipstick smeared on his mouth. He sucked lightly on my skin as he went, making me rock a little.
My body fucking buzzed as he slid his finger inside me, slow and smooth.
The stretch was light, but noticeable.
Dare pulled his finger out and replaced it with two.
A soft moan escaped me as he filled me with them, working my clit with his thumb at the same time.
My body rocked harder, my back arching a little as I tried to grind against him, to take him deeper.
He dragged me back to the edge of my pleasure way too easily.
I came on his hand with a quiet, desperate cry, my body squeezing and tensing around his fingers.
His chest rumbled fiercely. "There you go. Let me hear how much you want this."
He added a third finger, and I choked out a curse, balling my fists in his shirt. His mouth was still on my neck, and my fangs had started throbbing again.
I moaned as he brushed some sensitive spot inside me with his knuckles. He nipped at my throat, and I gasped, burying my fangs in his skin again and drinking.
The taste of him filled me once more, and I was on fire.
My body squeezed Dare's hand fiercely enough to make him growl at me as I cried out loudly against him when he got me off again.
Someone called out, "I think I heard him!" and I froze.
"We're good. No one can see us up here," Dare gritted out, but the damage was done.
I released his throat, dragging my tongue over the vicious wounds I'd left and shoving myself off his lap. I grabbed my romper, but it was all twisted.
Putting it on would take time I didn't have.
Completely and utterly disoriented, I scooped up my phone, and my stupid cheery beer bottle too for some reason.
"Bargain's done. Best sexual experience of my life. Ten out of ten. Thanks."
I focused on my apartment, and thankfully, my shadows responded right away. I was home in a heartbeat, crashing into the side of my bed wearing nothing but my combat boots with fuzzy socks hidden beneath them.
I plopped down on my back and stared up at the ceiling. My own pleasure literally soaked my inner thighs.
Holy fuck.
We hadn't technically gone all the way, but maybe I liked sex after all.