by Lindsey Iler
It’s right there, teetering on the edge for both of us.
Who makes the first move? Which one of us sends us to the unknown?
My tongue runs the length of the inside of my bottom lip. He’s watching me for a sign or reassurance, but I’m not sure I’m ready to give it to him. I’d love to stay in limbo forever, to experience the way it feels to want something so bad but know I shouldn’t take it. That’s a sensation I can survive on.
Edric leans down, dipping his head close to my collarbone. “The way you felt tonight, when you slit his throat, is the same way I feel whenever you’re around.”
I still from his words. How does he know?
“I told you I know what you are, but before we dive over this cliff together, you should know who I am.”
As if they have an agenda of their own, my hands creep into his hair, tugging at the ends. The need to feel something more takes over.
“I don’t care who you are. My entire life is out of control. I have no say in anything that will happen from this day forward, but I can control one thing.” I pull him away from my skin, biting the corner of my lip and watching his jaw tick. “Don’t tell me who you are or what you are. I’m afraid it’ll change everything, shift everything too far to the right, and then I’ll be left with nothing.”
“You have the world at your fingertips, Lennox Callahan.”
“That may be true, but all I want is to feel you at the end of them.”
At my declaration, Edric removes my legs from his waist and pulls away, circling the space in front of me, worry wrinkling his brow.
“What’s the sudden change? I barely could get you to grab dinner with me, and now you’re here, looking undeniably fuckable with blood thirst in your eyes.”
“Do you need me to explain why I’m desperate to feel you, touch you, taste you?” I jump from the ledge and walk past him to the doorway, spinning to glare at him. “Because we can talk about that, or whatever else you want, but this heat isn’t going anywhere. You and I both know it. It’s built and built inside both of us, so why don’t we stop denying it.” I start to descend the stairs to his room when I feel him behind me. Slow. Seductive.
“Little Wicked, I’ve never denied anything when it comes to you.” His finger brushes over the palm of my hand as he passes me to close his bedroom door.
He turns, his eyes a shade darker than moments before, taking steps until he’s right in front of me. One hand on my waist, he backs me up until we hit the foot of his bed.
“You want to feel me?” he whispers, leaning over me, forcing my lower back to the mattress.
I stretch out until my elbows prop me up, watching for his next move.
“Touch me?” His nose grazes along my neck, quickening my breaths and heart rate. “Taste me?” My neck is dampened by his delicate tongue. “I’ll take all of those things, but not until you give them all to me.”
His words hit me dead center, and I fall to the mattress. He’s quick to cover my body with his own, straddling my lap. Both his hands wrap around my wrists, tugging them over my head, pushing them into the mattress with an authority I never believed I could find sexy. It’s just that. Edric is a god and a monster, all at once, and I’m at his will.
I gave myself over the moment I walked in his room tonight. He grins because he knows it.
“Don’t move,” he commands, leaving my body, only to return with his headphones. He smirks, placing them over my ears. His lips ghost over mine, barely touching them together, and I push up with a need. “Not yet.”
The way he slips down my body, his hands everywhere and nowhere at the same time, is a sensation to revel in. Nothing has ever felt as intense or restricting. A fire burns just under my skin, and the only thing that can extinguish the flames is Edric. This much I am certain.
My shirt lifts, and I feel his tongue trace along the band of my jeans. Not a single inch is ignored. He gazes up at me through hooded eyes, and my lashes flutter shut.
Music begins to play through the headphones.
He’s not going to take this further without kissing me, is he? Who does that?
“You need me to kiss you,” he says, reaching over me and flicking on the other bedside lamp. The room illuminates the amusement in his eyes.
He can read my mind. That’s impossible.
“Little Wicked, nothing is impossible. How do you think I knew about your tryst with Mr. Smelks tonight?”
“Holy shit.” My bones jump, and I pull the headphones away. His eyes follow my now free hands, no longer shackled to the mattress.
“I thought I said for you to keep your hands above your head.” His head tilts slightly to the left, just enough to prove his dominance.
This is when I’d back away, get the hell out of his destructive path, but he smiles. It’s the kind of smile that makes me buckle at the knees. So, instead, I lie back and place my hands over my head like the obedient Angel I am.
Edric crawls his way back up the bed, straddling my body again. He lowers onto his forearms, his warmth like a blanket over my chilled skin.
“Sex is fantastic,” he says, brushing his fingers through the hair at the crown of my head, then cupping my cheek and bringing out an awfully eager grin from inside me. “But it’s not going to even compare to this.”
Edric had mentioned following me into a storm, but damn, he delivers it to my front door and forces me into shelter.
With a sweep of his tongue across my bottom lip, I open to him, mingling mine with his. It all starts out sweet and tender but quickly grows to something wild and uninhibited. Never in my life has anyone ever kissed me like he’s truly present with me, as if he were to let go, he’d float up into the wide-open air.
He pulls back, and at once, my lips miss his.
“Like I said, nothing compares.” He shakes his head, appearing pained. He then smirks, telling me he isn’t finished with me.
“I felt you,” I blurt. “In my bedroom. At first, I thought it was a dream. It was after we first met. It isn’t a coincidence we didn’t see each other for almost a week. I meant to avoid you, because maybe I didn’t want to admit what I already knew. You blanket me with this warmth, and I don’t like to admit how much I like it.”
“You felt me.” His words sound like a question. Back on his haunches, he stares down at me, and this wicked smile breaks free. It’s typically held in the confines of all the seriousness he tries to hold so steady. He knows what I mean. “I was wondering how long it would take you to realize it was my hands on you, digging into your skin, touching you in places no one else ever has. You liked it though.” He nods his head, pleased with himself. “Want to see what else I can do?”
I sit up and nod, eagerly, desperate for him to make me feel like that night in my bedroom. A man’s touch is unmistakable. I know when it grazes across my thigh. A warm breath across my skin is like feathers falling from the sky. There is certainty in the way a man can make me feel treasured, wanted.
Edric scoots until his body slips from the bed. He backs up to the gold desk in the corner. His eyes still on me, he brings the laptop to life with a simple touch.
“Now, lie down. Hands above your head, like before.”
“You’re bossy.”
“Something tells me, Lennox, you won’t accept me any other way.”
I do as he says, satisfied by the way he thinks he knows me.
“And let’s be honest, you and I both know you’re the one in charge.” He grins.
Without warning, my shirt tears from the top to the bottom, only a small tug felt against my skin. I’m left in nothing but my bra. Instinct tells me to cover myself. I glance at my hands above my head then to Edric and decide to keep them in place. The need to see what’s next is too good of an incentive to do otherwise.
“Is that the best you can do?” I taunt, smiling at the ceiling.
“That sensation in your bones”—a growl bubbles up from deep within his throat—“the one which brought you to my b
edroom tonight, it doesn’t get easier.”
At his words, warm, wet lips hover on the frail fabric outlining my bra, almost fulfilling my skin’s needs. I close my eyes, sensing Edric above me, all while knowing he’s in the corner of the room.
“It’s a blood thirst.”
The top button of my pants pops.
“And blood thirst only beats harder in your veins when you haven’t satisfied it, Lennox. It’s a high you’ll want to replicate.”
And there goes the second button.
“You’ll get a small glimpse of it tonight under my watch, but it will never satisfy you quite like a killing.”
My breathing is erratic and unsure. Trust doesn’t come easy, and he’s given me little reason to tear down my walls. And still, here I lie, handing over the one weapon I have.
My eyes spring open. He’s right there, across the room, silently asking me for permission to go deeper, to dig his nails into me, to make me his. A slight nod, all he needs, and my pants slink from my body like an alligator escaping into the water. His eyes track the fabric, and it holds his attention for a little longer. Does he like the way they look on his floor?
I squirm, pressing my knees together, desperate to feel his hands on me again. He grins, reading my mind. My legs fall limp to the sides.
“Being out of control of your own body isn’t something people usually ask for. Here you are, soaking your perfume into my sheets, asking me for just that.” He takes one step forward. “I’d like to watch you come undone.”
The lamps illuminate the perfection of his face. No one so rugged and mine, if only for tonight, has ever looked my way. The way his head tilts from side to side as he inspects me like I’m a puzzle to solve. His lip twitching enough to tell me his fingers are about to be all over my skin.
It’s enough to drive me mad.
“Why torture me?” I ask, lifting just enough to look him in the eyes.
At my question, my center clenches as his fingers graze against every sensitive spot my body possesses.
“Let me make myself clear, Lennox Callahan.” His fingers curl inside me, and I buck. “You may be in control of everything else in this town, but here”—he glances around his room—“this is all me. I will taste you, touch you, whenever I damn please, because whether you like it or not, even if it’s against our families wishes, I will devour every last inch of you.”
I nod, my chest rising and falling in pace with his finger’s movement. His thumb presses against my clit, and suddenly, I’m standing on a cliff, looming close to the edge.
“Or in this case, by the way your face is flushed, and your skin kissed with sweat, I’d say you prefer my hands not being on you.”
At the mention of what he’s capable of, I fall over the ledge.
I no longer look down at the dark depths of the ocean. I clench my eyes shut and revel in how it feels to be out of control.
Control brought me here; a little chaos is making me stay.
Chapter Thirteen
Edric
Lennox curls to the side, slipping her back to my front. My arm drapes over her middle. Getting her out of this house should be my priority. We are on borrowed time. Her breaths even out, and I know she’s asleep.
With my head beside hers, I stare at the ceiling. Things tonight went way further than I’d ever expected them to, and now I’m not quite sure they’ll ever be able to go back to what they were.
In the back of my mind, I know we can never be anything, and still somehow, we feel like everything.
I heard the warning in my mother’s tone. She meant what she said. She wants the girl out, and as I lie here smelling Lennox’s perfume, acquainting my fingertips with the ends of her locks, our time is running out. Nothing happens under this roof without my mother knowing.
If only we weren’t born to be enemies.
If only we didn’t carry our own dark secrets.
“Tell me something good,” Lennox whispers into the pillow. She rolls to face me, and I shiver under her touch. “Your face is scruffy.”
“I had every intention of shaving, but you barged in here like a girl on a mission before I had the chance.” I lean over to check the clock. “It’s already eleven.”
“Do you have a hot date?” She chuckles, a cute as hell grin peeking out from under the blanket. Her body wiggles when my hands grip her waist.
“Unless you consider this a hot date.” I pull the covers off her face.
“No, this isn’t a date.” She twists, putting her back to my front, once again, tucked close.
“What is this, then?”
“Are we really going to do this, Edric?”
“No, I’m curious, Lennox. What are we doing?” There isn’t a quarry deep enough to hide how desperate I sound. The thing is, I also can’t dig deep enough to care. Lennox waltzed into my room tonight, ready for anything I was willing to give her. I’ve been under her spell from the moment I caught a glimpse of the cute way her lip curls when she’s annoyed.
It was a game when it first began. I’ve never been one to become attached to the company a person can provide, but she is different. There are moments when she isn’t around, when her presence is absent from my life, where I wonder how I ever survived before her. She brings something to my life I never in a million years could imagine lacking.
Possibilities. Endless possibilities.
“Can I take you somewhere?” She sits up, tucking my blanket under her arms, hiding parts of her I’ve already had in my mouth. She’s adorable when she tries to play innocent. We both know she’s anything but.
I slip off the bed and grab a pair of pants. Her eyes are glued to me like flies on sugar, and I grin, knowing I have her. They widen as she watches the denim slip up my legs, and my chest swells when she intakes a lungful of air as I zip them up.
“You think you can do anything, say, seductively slip on your jeans while biting the corner of your lip, and I’ll melt at your feet, don’t you?” She bends down, grabs her tank top, and slips it over her head. Her hard nipples pucker against the thin material for my enjoyment. Thank fuck. “I’m not that easy.”
“It worked, didn’t it? Now, where are you taking me?” I lean forward, inches away from connecting our lips again. “If I wanted, I could have you squirming underneath me without gracing your ivory skin with a single finger.” My middle finger presses down on the gaping hem of her tank top, revealing the skin between her breasts. “And the thing is, I know you’d love it, beg for it, but I won’t do that.”
“You won’t . . .” Her words are breathy, desperate.
“No, I won’t, and do you know why I won’t?” My grin spreads wide, every bit as cocky as I feel.
She shakes her head. Her eyelids hooded, eager to hear my next words.
“Because I know you want it. Deep down, even though your brain has told you countless times it’s a horrible idea, I’m a horrible idea, you still feel driven to be touched by me.” I bend just enough, and her fingers grip into my hair. The smell of her perfume and my cologne on her skin is enough to make me hard. “As much as you love a little torture”—my lips gracefully touch her skin— “so do I, and you are my brand of crazy, just as I’m yours.”
It isn’t until those words leave my mouth that I realize I mean them. Lennox and I apart are forces to be reckoned with. Together, we are unstoppable. Most men would flinch, seeing the thoughts she has roaming her creative brain. Not me. Nothing she shows me, everything I steal from her, will never turn me against her.
“And here I thought we were just having a little fun.” The tip of her tongue sticks out of her mouth, and she presses her teeth into it with a sweet smirk just for me.
I back away from the bed. “This will be an uphill battle for you and me, sweetheart.”
“Nothing worth having . . .” She sits up on her knees, looking every bit a dream and a nightmare in those sexy as hell black panties and white tank top.
“It will come with a price,” I add, pul
ling a shirt from the dresser and slipping it over my head.
She lunges from the bed, trusting I’ll catch her midair. Her legs wrap around my waist, and her arms drape over my shoulders. A shiver runs up my neck, her fingers toying with the ends of my hair.
“Good thing we both have deep pockets, Edric.” She tugs hard, forcing my head back to look me in the eyes. “You’re my brand of crazy, too.”
Like a kid who’s just been told they’re going to Disney World, excitement overcomes me, and I twirl her in my arms. What is this feeling coursing through me?
In my hidden world, we don’t do joy. We definitely don’t do happy. We aren’t allowed anything resembling normal. In this moment, her in my arms, a soft giggle against my shoulder, maybe my family has been wrong this whole time. Perhaps, normal is worth something.
My parents’ marriage is one of convenience, which isn’t exactly the best example for true love. What Lennox and I have going on isn’t true love, though. I’m not sure what it is, actually, but I like the way her body feels against mine, and sometimes, she’s the only person I can be myself around, even though she doesn’t know what I am. It’s better that way, safer for both of us.
“So, where are you taking me?” I remind us we can’t play house all day.
My mother is fully aware of Lennox’s presence. Although she is giving me the courtesy of not breaking down my walls, I can only imagine how hard she is chomping at the bit to wrap her dreadful hands around Lennox’s throat.
“You’ll see.”
We finish dressing and head out of my bedroom. I lock the door behind us. Lennox inspects my actions.
“Can never be too guarded.” I shrug.
The halls are quiet. We walk hand in hand, hers tucked behind me as I guide us through the darkness. A door creaks behind us. Fear strikes Lennox’s mind, her heart racing. Maybe she isn’t as strong as she allows others to believe she is. Clearly, my mother has rattled her with her disapproval.
