Page 42 of A Taste of Bliss

Where Jordan was demanding and demeaning, Taser is gentle and soft, slow. We take our time adjusting to one another and he pays special attention to my needs, guiding me to a steady climax. As I finish, I can feel my body healing itself, finally feeling that fullness that comes with topped off power reserves.

I’m buzzing so much with magic that my inner succubus demands more. We end up going for another round. When we’re both done again, chests heaving, Taser looks at me and smiles and I find myself smiling back. “Bliss, can I ask a favor?” he asks, a bit timidly.

“Sure, anything.”

“Would it be alright if I feed from you?” He looks shy about it. “I don’t usually feed from strangers or humans. It’s uncomfortable for me.”

Tears erupt from my eyes, and Taser holds me close to him. “Bliss, I’m so sorry, forget I asked.”

“No, it’s not that. Jordan never asked, he just bit.”

Taser continues to hold me as I cry. Finally the tears subside and I angle my neck out for him. “Go for it,” I say encouragingly. For the first time in a long time, I’m overflowing with my magic, so I have some to spare.

He’s tentative at first, but finally he lowers his teeth to my neck and bites gently. Jordan was never, ever gentle about it. He seemed to relish in the pain it caused me, but Taser’s bite almost doesn’t even hurt. He takes a few drinks, careful not to undo all the work he put into recharging me.

We hang out for a bit afterwards until Taser starts to fall asleep. I nudge him gently and he decides that’s a sign to leave. He kisses me on the forehead. “Call me whenever you need, alright Bliss? We can take turns feeding. Friends with dinner benefits,” he adds, chuckling to himself.

He leaves, and despite knowing that everything that just happened was a good thing, I curl into a ball and cry my eyes out until there are no more tears left. I sit there waiting for sleep, but it’s taking its damn time.

Amelia slowly creaks my bedroom door open and maneuvers her way to my bed in the dark. She lets out a curse as she stubs her toe on the foot of my bed frame. As she steadies herself, she knocks over a pile of books I’d stacked on the floor ages ago. “Fuck!” she whisper yells. I reach over and turn on the bedside lamp. I arch my brows at her.

“I’m not asleep. You could have just turned the light on.”

“Well, I can see thatnow,” she mutters back. “Why aren’t you asleep?” She holds up her hand to tell me not to answer thatquestion. “Better yet, if you’re not sleeping, why didn’t you come out for drinks with us?”

“Jordan and I got into a fight.”

Amelia rolls her eyes. “Bliss, you need to kick him to the curb already. I’m serious.”

I throw the covers off my bed and get up. “I’m not going to talk to you about it. The answer isn’t always to run when things get tough.” I don’t know why I say this, instead of letting her know what happened just hours prior. But I guess I just can’t get myself to share when she’s being so judgy and bossy.

Amelia stares up at me. “Is that what you think I do?”

I start pacing back and forth, the carpet showing a path I’ve already taken many times before. “You run from anyone good. Once something gets serious with a guy, you bolt!”

“Well, at least I don’t run straight to the worst guy on the fucking planet!” she yells at me, getting off my bed. “I’m trying to help you, Bliss. You’re fucking miserable, and you won’t do anything to change it. You deserve the world, and you’re settling for fucking scraps.”

She storms out of my room, slamming my door shut, and I cringe at the noise, going completely still. My terror and anxiety from earlier in the night flood into me.

The car door slamming after we left the show. Repeatedly slamming. My legs begin to shake like they did the whole car ride.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

BLISS

We only havetwo weeks to prepare for the festival.

Travel will be easy peasy. There’s a fae district with a portal just outside of the festival grounds, meaning we’ll be there in a matter of minutes, not hours, even dragging all our gear with us.

Lodging is taken care of by the event. We’ll be staying in one of several townhomes used to house bands playing during the festival.

I’ve already signed us up to help out at a scavenger hunt for festival goers to win free stuff. I RSVP’d to the opening masquerade party and a band-and-crew-only day of games and activities. This festival is going to be a lot of work but also a ton of fun.

But unfortunately for me, Goddess’ Trance’s newly reinstated band manager, the merch situation is not idealandAmelia and Tubbs keep fighting over the set list.

As I go through boxes of band tees and CDs, making an inventory of everything we have, Tubbs taps his drumstick repeatedly against the rim of his snare. “We can’t fit all these songs in our one-hour set.”

“That’s why we’re taking ‘Glaze’ off the set list,” Amelia shoots back.