Chapter 4 - Marella #3
"Just trying to find somewhere quieter." I took a sip of the new wine. It was truly exquisite. Wine, thankfully, was one of the few pleasures the witch’s curse hadn’t completely destroyed. We could still taste and enjoy it, unlike water, which would eventually kill us in large enough quantities.
Even in the dark, I could see Brian’s erection growing hard behind his shorts. Human men were so easily manipulated.
By that point, we’d reached the back of the crowd. A black, dusty curtain lined the wall, slightly muffling the sound around us. When we reached it, I whipped around to face Brian, letting my back press into the musty velvet. The drink in his hand was already half-empty.
Good.
I took another sip of one of my drinks and did my best to look up at him through my eyelashes, despite the fact that we stood eye-to-eye.
"So," he said, stepping closer to me until I was fully flush against the wall. "Are you from here?"
"Oh yes," I whispered so that he’d have to move even closer. "My family has lived here forever."
"You don’t sound Italian." His free hand began stroking the exposed skin of my arm. "You speak English almost perfectly."
I smiled, because it was true. Centuries spent encased in stone, watching and listening to tourists surrounding me at all times, had enabled me to pick up all the most common human languages. English was the easiest because its speakers tended to be the loudest.
"I studied in America," I lied. "Harvard."
I’d picked a random university that I’d heard Americans mention in previous encounters. I wasn’t expecting his excited response. "No way," he exclaimed too enthusiastically. "I just graduated from Harvard."
I swallowed hard. "Oh, really?"
"Yeah, me and my buddies." He gestured around vaguely, as if I’d be able to ascertain which of the crowd belonged to that group. "We’re on a post-graduate trip around Italy before we start jobs."
"How exciting for you," I took another sip, and he eyed me curiously.
"When did you graduate?" he asked. "You don’t look much older than us, but I don’t remember seeing you around campus." His cocky grin returned. "I definitely would have remembered you."
I shrugged, strongly regretting the direction of this conversation. "I didn’t get out much. I studied a lot."
"So you were a nerd?" he teased.
I bristled. "You could say that."
He laughed. "I’m just kidding." His voice dropped low again. "I like smart girls. They’re always filled with surprises."
There we go.
"You have no idea," I answered softly.
Brian’s drink was now completely empty. I let my face inch closer to his as I reached forward and took it from his hand, setting it on a nearby table.
"Follow me." I inclined my head towards the corner of the room, where I knew there was an exit door. Taking his hand in mine, I pulled him along. I saw him take out his phone as if to check a message—or maybe the time—but he didn’t resist in the slightest, and in just a few short seconds, we were outside in a dimly lit alleyway, the smell of piss and trash thick in the air.
At the end of the alley, the sounds of late-night revelry could still be heard—partiers leaving the club or wandering home.
But our little alcove was dark and private.
There was no reason for anyone to join us here.
It took me by surprise how quickly Brian moved to take advantage of our seclusion.
Before I could even turn around to face him, I felt his lips on my neck and his hands on my hips.
He pushed me forward into the stone wall with so much force that I dropped my glasses of wine, hearing them shatter on the cobblestones beneath our feet.
His weight settled against my back as he traced a line of kisses from my shoulder to my ear. I tried my best to arch back into his touch, even as it made my stomach churn.
Distantly, I tried to remember what it felt like to enjoy a moment like this. The surge of pleasure that used to build in my stomach when a man flattened his palm against my waist or pinched my nipples, the intoxicating feeling of being wanted…
But Brian’s hot breath reeked of too-sweet alcohol, his groping entitled rather than worshipful, and I froze beneath his touch. He was too drunk to feel my muscles tighten, too caught up in his own arousal to notice my arm coiling like a snake.
I felt my canines elongate behind my lips, running my tongue across their points in anticipation. As I readied myself to turn and strike, I heard a sound from behind us.
At first, I thought it might be a dog—or perhaps several. There was a series of crashes followed by a chorus of loud whoops. Brian’s grip on me loosened just enough to allow me to spin around and face the commotion.
Spilling from the same door we’d used were his friends.
All of them.
Fuck. The thought echoed through my head. I was confident that I’d be able to handle all of them, but the chance that one might slip away to report what he’d seen was far too high.
And I knew it was only a matter of time before the sun began to rise.
"I hope you don’t mind," Brian whispered wolfishly into my ear, "but I invited my friends to join us."