Chapter 4
Dante
IT WAS ALL A LOAD of bullshit.
Bradley and his dynamic with Serenity.
The group of mortals who felt superior enough to spit vitriol at Serenity.
What gave them the right? They were mere humans on the same level as Serenity, yet they acted as though they were somehow above her. I couldn’t wait to put them in their fucking places, especially Bradley.
I’d followed Serenity and the fucker from the bar, staying in the shadowy realm between their world and the demonic one. Doing so allowed me an unobstructed front row view of my prey.
And goddamn was it a fucking ride. That interaction was so embarrassing, I almost couldn’t stomach watching.
I’d been standing behind Bradley while Serenity tidied up his place.
He’d been texting Cassidy about coming over once he managed to “get rid of the nuisance.” I wasn’t surprised to see him attempting such a thing, but then Serenity revealed how long they had until the car arrived.
His sexual desire had spiked, and I knew what was coming.
I’d settled on the couch, hoping to get a feel for what my human target enjoyed when it came to sex. But instead of learning what turned her on or what made her vibrate with dizzying desire, I discovered what she didn’t like.
She had no sexual interest in her boyfriend. Not a damn flicker.
The lack of desire in her gaze, stiff posture, and even her essence had my jaw dropping as I watched the minute-long fuck between the two—if it was even a full minute.
It was no wonder she had zero sexual pull to the prick. If that was what she’d been dating, I’d wager her pussy stayed drier than the fucking sun-soaked desert. His approach at romance, his dirty talk, his performance—all of it was lacking.
Not to mention, the dickhead didn’t even try to get her off. He got his pleasure and was satisfied with that. There was no regard for Serenity or her needs.
As a sex demon, I couldn’t let that slide.
She’d been used tonight.
She’d been her boyfriend and his friend’s punch line for their joke.
She’d been sent away like a fickle annoyance.
I didn’t give a damn about humans, but even I couldn’t stand the treatment of this girl.
My blood burned with the exciting prospect of stealing her away from that bastard, showing him how small and insignificant he really was.
While I couldn’t outright begin that task tonight, I could do something else.
Remaining in the shadows, I got out of Serenity’s car by passing through the door and followed her up to her apartment. The human was none the wiser to the monster lurking behind her, nor could she anticipate what said monster had in store for her tonight.
Her apartment was small but perfect with its gothic yet whimsical aesthetic.
There was a black couch, a purple velvet chair in the corner with fairy lights strung around it, a wall of bookshelves filled with books, dark art on the walls, and candles everywhere.
Her bedroom, which I followed her into, was similar.
A dark bed stood in the center of the room with a dresser and TV across from it. A desk stood adjacent to the bed, which was covered with notebooks, pens, a computer, and little figurines. More dark art of flowers or the stars and moon adorned her bedroom walls.
Serenity sighed when she entered her room and turned to fall back onto the bed. She stared up at the ceiling, and the longer she laid unmoving, the longer time felt suspended. I couldn’t help but wonder what was going through her head as she remained frozen, staring at nothing.
I took the chance to rake my eyes over her legs, which were draped over the edge of the bed.
I balled my hands into fists to keep myself from reaching forward to run them up her calves and onto her thighs.
I wasn’t going to lie. I was fucking wound up tight, and my dick was already springing to life from just the sight of her on the bed.
Serenity finally sat up. I peered over her shoulder as she shot Bradley a text that let him know she’d made it home. No sooner had she sent the message than she got up and moved around the room.
Seeing her send the text reminded me of my own that I needed to send. Within my shadowy veil, I pulled out my phone from my pocket and opened the contact she’d created. I quickly sent her the photo we’d taken tonight with a single text to go with it.
Nice meeting you, Star
She stopped her trek across the room to look back at her phone, which she’d left on the bed.
When she looked at it, her gray eyes brightened, and a vibrant smile lifted her lips.
The sight made my body heat with pride. I’d made her smile brighter than her dumbass boyfriend had all evening. Bradley couldn’t compete with me.
That hunger inside of me grew as she returned the phone to her bed and put her back to me, pulling her top off. I bit my lip to stifle my groan at the sight of her bare back. She didn’t have a bra on, so when she slipped out of her skirt and tights, all she wore was a pair of lacey black panties.
“Fuck,” I growled, palming my rock-hard dick.
Her ass looked divine in that underwear, and I held my breath, hoping she’d turn around so I could see her tits.
Sadly, it seemed the universe wasn’t on my side.
She plucked an oversized white shirt from her dresser and slipped it on, turning after it covered her breasts.
With her nightwear in place, she climbed back onto her bed and grabbed a notebook from her nightstand.
She wrote for a few minutes with a small smile before replacing it and grabbing a book.
She settled back against the pillows and started reading.
Which meant it was showtime, the main reason why I’d followed her here. Serenity was about to learn what real pleasure was, and I wasn’t even going to have to lift a finger to show her.
I hadn’t done a shadow seduction in centuries.
With an endless supply of bodies to feed off of these days—especially given my current career as the lead guitarist in Sinners Do It Better—there was no need to lurk within my hidden veil at the foot of someone’s bed, pleasuring them with my shadows in order to consume their sexual energy.
This method was from the days of old when sex was considered taboo to most, a tool used only for reproduction.
In order to get a meal on days when seducing didn’t work, Incubi could consume human’s sexual essence by pleasuring them from the dark world we resided in.
Despite not needing to feed this way, I was willing to dip back into old habits just this once. How could I ignore a woman as beautiful as this after she’d been denied the sweetness of real sexual release? As an Incubus, it was my duty to give that to her.
Plus, I couldn’t wait to see what this human looked like when she lost herself to pleasure.
Like a predator lying in wait, however, I settled on Serenity’s desk chair, watching her gray eyes grow heavy. She kept trying to read, even as she yawned and settled deeper into the blankets.
That was when I started.
Waiting until the human grew drowsy wasn’t required for a shadow seduction, but I liked doing it this way.
It loosened up the prey’s inhibitions, and it made them pliable to Incubi whims and coaxing.
They were more willing to pretend that what was happening to them was more in line with a kinky wet dream instead of some invisible force making them climax in a way no one else could.
I stood and returned to my place at the foot of the bed.
The spot provided the perfect view, allowing me to look down at the pretty girl.
With a silent snap of my fingers, the temperature in the room slowly began to grow.
As the minutes passed, Serenity began to shift under the blanket, no doubt trying to find a cool spot to lay.
Her cheeks grew pink, and eventually, once the room was warm but not stifling, she kicked the covers off.
She spread her legs and hiked one up, probably in an effort to cool off.
I licked my lips as her white shirt rode up to expose her stomach and that little piece of black fabric.
With her legs bare to me, I got to see the tattoos that decorated them.
An arrangement of different flowers stretched up the side of her left thigh, over the swell of her hip, and onto her side.
She even had another design near her right ankle.
I leaned in closer and quirked my brow. It was some ugly looking animal sitting on a stack of books.
Refocusing on the task at hand, I stared at the apex of her thighs and blew out a slow breath. Cool tendrils of shadow left my lips and drifted to the intended target, brushing over her core. She twitched and shifted on the bed, clearly trying to ignore the sensation stirring between her legs.
“You’re hot,” I whispered, letting my words echo in her mind, disguised as her own.
Her eyes shut, and she dropped the book to drape one arm over her head and lay the other down next to her. Her lips parted, and the red on her cheeks deepened. The smell of her sweet arousal muddied my mind, and it only got me higher when she subconsciously opened her legs wider.
I blew another shadowy caress her way, but this time, the faint touch didn’t disappear. Shadows broke away from the veil I resided in to slither across the sheets toward her. One brushed along her ankle. Another trailed over her inner thigh and stayed there. More threaded through her fingers.
“You’re wet, and your pussy aches like it hasn’t ever before,” I whispered into her mind.
She bit her lip, and her back arched slightly as her heels dug into the mattress. The shadows woven around her fingers barely needed to coax her hand into moving. She fisted the hem of her shirt at her stomach, and with a fierce tug, she pulled the garment off to toss across the room.
“Goddamn,” I growled, careful to keep those words to myself and not place them in her head.