Page 9

REID

M y heart pounds away in my chest like a runaway stallion.

I’ve been chasing danger for years, playing Russian roulette with my life to see how many times I can tempt fate before it finally takes.

Now I’ve got this dangerous god standing over me with the fires of hell in his eyes. How did I get so lucky?

Dante screams danger, but something primitive inside me knows that he would never actually hurt me. Not enough to kill me. Maybe just enough to give me unbridled pleasure. I’m rotten to the core. Maybe Dante can replace everything decaying inside me with something good, something worthy of desire.

“I’m not an expert at this,” Dante mumbles, a small sliver of doubt filling his eyes.

He rubs his face with one hand while placing the other atop my head, fingers gently working their way into my hair.

“Green means good, yellow means slow down or give me a minute, and red means stop. If I do something you don’t like, you say red immediately.

I’ll stop everything, no questions asked. Got it?”

“Yeah.”

“Just so we’re clear, you hold the real power here. You know that, right?”

I blink slowly up at him because I don’t understand. I’ve got no power. He’s standing over me, all six foot plus inches of him, two hundred and some pounds, all dark eyes and tattoos, I don’t feel like the powerful one when on my knees.

“I don’t feel powerful,” I mumble.

Dante sweeps his hand down my face, thumb pressing against my mouth until I open it and take his thumb inside. His skin tastes salty and it’s warm when it presses against my tongue until I open my mouth further. My jaw aches a little, but it’s worth it when Dante’s eyes go even darker.

“We really should work this out outside of the bedroom,” Dante says, voice raw and dripped in need. “But I don’t have the patience to wait any longer.”

“Fuck me?” I ask breathlessly.

Dante shakes his head. “Not tonight.”

I move to stand, suddenly pissed off, but Dante replaces his hand on top of my head and holds me down.

Being held down lights me up and everything blurs again.

Dante’s smile is small and mean as he sees my reaction.

My eyes track Dante’s other hand as he reaches into his back pocket, tugging out his wallet, then fumbling one-handed for a condom.

Irritation sweeps through me at the sight of the foil packet.

Dante shushes me when he notices my reaction again. “Just for tonight, we’ll get tested so we don’t have to use condoms from now on, okay?”

I nod slowly even though I’m pissed that tonight I won’t get to taste him.

My thighs ache where I press my fingers into them.

The pain settles while I watch Dante unbutton his jeans and push them down enough to slip his semi-hard cock out of tight boxer briefs.

I sway a little closer but his fingers in my hair hold me from veering close enough to touch.

He rips the foil with his teeth, then clumsily fumbles to get the condom on with one hand, all so that he can keep his other hand firmly on top of my head.

Saliva pools in my mouth just at the sight of Dante’s cock.

Once his dick is encased in the condom, he steps in a little closer, his fingers curling in my hair to tug my head back slightly.

His cock slaps against my lips in a clear demand for me to open further.

The heat in Dante’s eyes makes the base of my spine tingle and a shiver rolls through my body.

“Can I choke you on my cock?” Dante asks, voice thready.

I nod eagerly, no longer able to form words.

He slides his cock in slowly and I moan at the way it fills my mouth.

I could do without the taste of latex, but it’s only for tonight, that’s what he promised at least. Everything in my brain goes silent when Dante thrusts deep into my mouth without any warning.

My eyes water and I lift my gaze to his once my nose is buried in his groin.

I swallow around him, enjoying the warmth of him on my tongue, loving the way all my nerves settle as I’m giving him pleasure.

The way Dante looks like he’s perilously hanging on to control sends another shiver through me, this time from the need to see him lose said control.

It seems when I’m a brat, when I push boundaries, that makes him go crazy.

So I lift my hands from my thighs to grab his hips tight and take him somehow even deeper into my throat, until I can’t breathe through my nose from how close it’s pressed against his warm, musky skin.

“Fuck, you little brat,” Dante swears from above me.

If I could grin with my mouth full of cock, I would, simply because of the reaction I elicited from Dante.

Tears form in my eyes and slowly slip down when I can’t catch my breath at all.

I’m choking on his cock and I love it. Dante tugs painfully at my hair to slide himself halfway out of my mouth, then he slams back in and holds there so that I can’t get my bearings at all.

He repeats it over and over until I’m convinced there’s no air left in my body.

My head is floaty and my body vibrates as Dante takes his pleasure from my mouth.

He swears softly, groans, and then I feel him swell against my tongue as he comes with a low growl.

I close my eyes tight to imagine his taste, imagine the warmth of him sliding down my throat.

He’d tell me I was a good boy then, surely he would.

I’m bad every single moment of the day, but I can be good when I’m on my knees for Dante.

Dante pulls out of my mouth, letting go of my head.

I fall to my hands when he steps away to get rid of the condom.

I feel loopy in a way I’ve never felt before after sex.

Almost like I could sleep and cry at the same time.

Dante reappears just in time before I crumble to the ground.

He scoops me up in his arms and manhandles me to the bed. I can’t even fight him.

Feeling out of my body, I distantly watch him tug his jeans all the way off, then remove his shirt one-handed, which is sexier than it has any right to be.

“I’m gonna take care of you, Reid,” Dante says as he joins me on the bed.

My limbs are loose and weak, making me feel like a rag doll when he takes my shirt off, then my own pants.

He tugs me against the curve of his body and takes my mouth in a toe-curling kiss.

I hadn’t even realized my heart was racing until it slowed under the onslaught of his lips.

Dante’s kisses are all-consuming. No one has ever kissed me the way Dante kisses me, like I’m his sole focus, like the whole point of his existence is to take me apart with his mouth.

When his hand wraps around my cock, my entire body detonates. Warmth rushes through me as I shake from my orgasm. It feels like flying. Dante’s mouth presses close to my ear as I float down from the most intense orgasm of my life.

“I’ve got you, you’re alright,” Dante murmurs over and over again.

His hand still gently cups my softening cock, but I can’t feel remotely embarrassed about it.

I just need him to keep touching me. A quiver rolls through me, followed by another one, until I realize I’m shaking like I’m coming down from a fever.

Dante swears roughly and removes his hand from my cock, making me mewl at the loss of his warm touch.

Bundling me up in his arms again, he quickly crosses my bedroom to push into the bathroom.

He sets me on my feet but doesn’t stop touching me even as he fumbles with my shower.

I blink slowly and he’s tugging me along with him to stand under the warm spray of the shower.

Oh, that feels lovely. Between the hot water and the warmth of Dante’s skin, the shivers stop and my mind quiets once again.

That’s nice. Dante’s hand tenderly pets down my back when I slump against him, unable to hold myself up one moment longer.

I’ve never had a hookup take care of me like this afterward.

Usually, I suck or fuck and get left alone immediately after. Works better for me that way.

Dante turns the shower off, then proceeds to tenderly dry me off.

I can’t meet his gaze, so I keep my eyes trained on the wet floor under my feet.

Strong arms swoop me up again. I let myself be carried into the bedroom, let myself be gently laid on the bed, even let Dante curl up behind me, cradling me close to his strong body.

He smells like chai tea and my woodsy body wash. It works.

His lips press against my neck, forcing my eyes closed in a rare sense of comfort. Who am I? In Dante’s arms there is danger, but there’s also an odd sense of freedom that I can’t really explain.

“Do you feel better?” Dante asks softly, fingers rubbing just under my belly button in a maddening motion.

“Mmm,” I hum, unable to speak full words.

Dante gently leans his forehead against the nape of my neck. “I wanna give you what you need, but I don’t know if either of us knows what we need. No more clubs, okay? No more drugs.”

“We’re not dating,” I mumble, voice sounding slurred to my own ears.

“That’s okay,” Dante says roughly. “That’s okay. You can still be mine, Reid.”

“I can?”

“Yeah, for a little while. I’ll be your fix. No more clubs.”

“No more clubs,” I promise just before sleep overtakes me.

Soft, early morning sunlight slashes across the comforter when I blink awake.

I’m curled up on my side, something hot and alive pressed against my back.

The night returns to me in shattered pieces, like glass on a subway floor.

I’d gone to the club to seek out a hookup, knowing that someone had made it impossible for me to get laid and also to get any sort of illicit drugs.

I’d known that either Dante would show up, or whoever was tailing me would barge in.

But I hadn’t thought Dante would be everything I needed.

And also everything I fear.