Survivor

by Sam Hall

  “Sen—”

  “It’s OK. I’ll be back, I promise.”

  He probably would, I thought as I watched him walk out the door. From what they were saying, my pheromones would be flooding the town, triggering the single men. He’d smell my receptive scent wherever he went. But my hands rubbed at my arms, feeling that cold, shaky sensation Sen had described. More cake, I assured myself. There’s not much that can’t be sorted without cake. But when I put another spoonful in my mouth, the rich sweetness was cloying and slightly sickening. I dropped it with a clatter and then poured myself a long glass of water.

  “Flick…”

  My ears pricked at the moan. I moved towards the bedroom door, assuming it was one of the guys, but then I heard it again. My name, repeated over and over in a sigh, barely above a whisper. I tiptoed up the hall to see the spare room door half open, and there—naked and gleaming in the moonlight—was Snowy. Not as broad as the other guys, but his body was still a masterwork of lean muscle as he worked his cock. His mouth was open, panting my name, his eyes closed, and he looked almost angelic in the light streaming in through the windows. He sat there, butt bouncing against his heels as his hand got faster and faster.

  This was wrong. I’d relegated him to the spare room, and for good reason, so he deserved a little privacy, but I couldn’t bring myself to move. Heat washed over my body, making me aware of the dampness on my thighs, the hard pebbling of my nipples. Button up your shirt, turn on your heel, and walk away, my monkey brain shouted, but she wasn’t running the show right now. My Tirian watched the little display with a hungry smile, taking in the guy’s stamina as he just kept going. The bouncing obviously had some sort of effect, as he groaned on the downstroke, his hand getting faster, then slower, as he edged himself.

  “Flick…” My name was so drawn out, it became just syllables, sounds that pleaded, begged for me to leave my spot and come closer. “You feel so good. So tight and…” He swivelled his slickened hand around his dick with exaggerated care. “You’re strangling my cock,” he growled, his teeth flashing as he bared them. “C’mon baby, give it to me. Faster, love.”

  He snarled when he did just that, his muscles standing proud as he thrust himself into his hand, his hips flexing.

  “Goddess, love. Wanna fill you with my cum, feel you fluttering around me as I make you come over and over. I want to taste every inch of you, drown myself in your scent. You make me so fucking hard.”

  I remained pinned to the spot, able to imagine every bloody thing he mentioned and more. Him, a complete stranger. I knew his name and what his smile looked like, but that was it. Oh, and what he was packing as well. But I couldn’t look away, track back, open my bedroom door, and nestle down in between my very sweet lovers, because right now, I understood what heat fever meant.

  Our bodies apparently ran a lot hotter, and our minds became a whole lot more focussed. That he was a stranger only added to the allure. He was beautiful, hard, and completely undone by me. The fact it was just my scent, my hormones, didn’t register right now, and I supposed it wouldn’t. This was about instinct—bringing people together and then letting the human side of us sort things out once the heat died down.

  I wasn’t surprised when his eyes flicked open and slid straight to me, a slow smile spreading across his face. Nor when he took in all of my barely clothed form, those pale eyes seeming to pierce the near darkness. “Come in if you want to look,” he said, his voice a low purr. “I want to come, and it’ll be so much better if you’re here.”

  “I should—” The words froze in my mouth as he shifted into a cross legged position, and a small black circle let me know he was wearing the butt plug he’d taken from the bag. He shivered as he settled, his long slender fingers running lightly up and down his shaft.

  “Mm…” he moaned, his eyes falling closed as he began to work himself harder, faster. “God, your scent. And you’re watching me play…” His mouth fell open as he moved, and his forehead creased as whatever wave he was riding was starting to crest. “This feels so good when you’re near. It’s like every damn inch of me is aching for you. Open your shirt.”

  “What?”

  “Unbutton a few buttons… Oh fuck, it’s only fastened at the top. Slide your leg up or out. Please. I’ll lick every drop of cum from your pussy if you just show me…”

  I didn’t know why I did it. I told myself it was the heat, because it was such a small thing to shift my stance so I could feel the cool air play over my slick cunt. I’d only created the tiniest of gaps in the shirt I was wearing, but his gaze remained transfixed by it as he worked himself closer and closer.

  “Oh, Flick…”

  His voice was almost boyish as those eyes flicked up to my face, searching it for god knows what and looking almost heartbroken as he finally came. And came he did, gouts and gouts erupting all over his stomach as he leaned back to catch it all on his torso.

  He sounded like he’d run a marathon when he finished, sucking in great lungfuls of air before reaching down and scooping up the mess, then he stared at me when he licked it all up. He settled back on the bed in a more comfortable position.

  “Fuck, that was amazing. Like, I’ve scented heat pheromones before, but never this close. It felt like you were all around me, touching every inch of me.”

  Which was quite a few by the look of his still rigid form. He wasn’t as thick as the other guys, but he was longer. His smile was slow when he caught me looking, a curious mixture of shyness and sensual pleasure. He was still twitching, looking just as hard as he was before he came.

  “I’m Noah, by the way,” he said, holding out a hand. The one he hadn’t licked clean. I moved in and shook it on automatic. He let his thumb rub along the outside of my hand for a second and then pulled away. “We haven’t had much of a chance to get to know each other.”

  “Considering this is the first time I learned your real name, then yeah.”

  He scooted back on the bed and then patted the mattress surface.

  “Take a seat. I won’t touch you or anything. It’d just be nice to find out a bit more about the woman whose house I’m staying in.”

  I frowned, but found myself stepping forward and sitting down on the mattress. Further than where he’d patted, but he didn’t seem concerned. Like all the beds—except Kade’s—this could have fit seven or eight people comfortably, so there was a reasonable distance between us. He just lay there in all his naked splendour, looking pleased when I did what he asked.

  “So, how’re you finding your first heat? If the noises I heard from the bedroom were anything to go by, you were getting it good.”

  “You want to hear about the sex I was having that you were excluded from?”

  “I want to hear everything. People interest me. Hot women coming multiple times with their mates are even more interesting.”

  “So, what? You want sexy little stories to get you off?” I asked with a frown.

  “Everything in this house gets me off,” he said, eyes closing as he flopped onto his back. His fingers ran idly over his stomach. “I haven’t been able to get soft since you chose me. It’s like I’m drowning in this pool of woman. I can feel her all over my skin, like a million little kisses all at once, and I can’t escape it.” His eyes opened and slid around to look at me. “But I don’t know anything about her, except for what Ophelia told us.”

  “And what did Ophelia tell you?” I asked, stiffening.

  “That you were tough, that you did something amazing coming here, that you weren’t to be messed with because you were a fricking badass.”

  “She didn’t say that,” I scoffed.

  “Not the badass thing. I’ve seen her swear plenty, particularly when we’re pissing her off, but I don’t think she used the word badass. It was all noble and heroic and shit, what she said.” He nodded, as if in recognition. “But that’s not all of what you are.”

  “So what? Do we do a speed dating thing where we ask each other questions?
” I snorted at that. “Seems we’re a bit past that point, since I’ve seen you swallow your own cum.”

  “Did you like that?” he asked.

  “I…I don’t know what to make of you, Noah. You’re gorgeous.” He smiled so wide then, looking almost innocent, in spite of his previous debauchery. “You’re obviously into…whatever this is. I…” I was about to ask something I knew I shouldn’t, but seeing as we were both naked or semi naked and covered with cum, I figured the time for standing on ceremony was over. “Are you gay?”

  That wasn’t quite right. He’d been calling my name as he worked himself but my mind struggled to get my head around it.

  He laughed at that, going limp on the mattress.

  “Well, the butt plug, the cum licking… Look, I’m sorry I asked. It’s really none of my business.”

  “Sure it is. Like, don’t go up to random dudes asking that, because you’re right, that is none of your business. But you invited me into your house, let me stroke one out for what felt like hours on your spare bed, and I’m lying here, dying for you to straddle my face and let me lick you clean. I figure you can ask my sexual orientation with impunity.”

  His hands strayed to his stomach again, stroking the smooth skin, holding himself from stroking something else, I’d bet.

  “I’m not into guys. It was you I was imagining as I came, not some guy. I don’t hate them or anything, and being in a group scene is fucking hot, but while I love the taste of cum, I don’t want it straight from the source, if that makes sense. My favourite fantasy has always been a woman that completely surrenders to her heat partners, just lets them tease her and touch her and fill her with everything they’ve got, trying to make her cum just one more time. And then I want to drop down between her legs and worship her, kiss every tender, twitching inch until she's nice and clean, and then a little more until she bursts all over my face.”

  “You’re pretty kinky,” I said, stating the bloody obvious. “Have you done any of this before?”

  “Nope, just me and my imagination.” He shrugged, back with that sunny smile. “If I just end up in here, edging myself until my cock is raw, drunk on your scent, that won’t be a bad week away from work.”

  “But you want to.”

  He reached out across the bed, knowing his fingers wouldn’t reach me, just leaving them there—an offer for me to accept.

  “More than anything. Are you sore?”

  “What?”

  “Wiggle your hips for me.”

  “What the fuck are you on about?”

  “Just do it. I’m not coming any closer.”

  I grit my teeth, feeling the enamel grind, but he just watched me as if daring me to do something silly. So, to turn that lambent gaze away, I wiggled slightly, then gasped.

  “Does it hurt a little? Like deep inside, but it's a good hurt? One you wanna go rushing towards and repeat over and over? I like that, Flick. I like women being drenched in pleasure, tipped over into a surrender that’s nothing like their day to day life, and dazed by it until they forget their own name. I like being the one to do that, and I like tasting it. At least, I think I do.”

  He frowned slightly, looking down at his still throbbing cock, a thin stream leaking from the tip.

  “You seem like some kind of warrior goddess, and those mates of yours are great guys.” His eyes dropped down. “They’ve never got involved in all the blokey shit that goes down. I haven’t met your kid, but I hear he likes Star Wars. That stuff is kinda my bag. Maybe you’ll let him meet me at the end of this, maybe you won’t.” He frowned, his fingers picking at his skin. “Especially when I’ve shown you I’m kind of a freak. But, Flick, I’ve never been picked before. Women here always overlook me. So, if you want me, in any capacity, let me know. If I’m walking back to the singles quarter at the end of this, I wanna know I’ve put everything on the line before I go.”

  I didn’t know why I did it, but I reached over and took his hand. Maybe it was to see his eyes widen when I did, because hope looked so good on him. It was probably cruel. I’d had no thought of adding him to my pack beyond that feel of him at the petitioning ceremony. As if to remind me why, a slow, steady stream of heat pooled in my hand, sliding up my arm and then throughout my whole body.

  Our groans were synchronised as it flooded us. It was the feeling of rich chocolate ice cream on your tongue, or Sen’s mum’s truffle trifle, the sensation of satin on your skin. Sinking down into a hot bath when you’re cold or aching. Being held close when you’d cried everything you could out. It shouldn’t be like this, the touch of a near stranger, but it was.

  “Fuck, Flick…” he groaned, rolling over and looming above me. “Can I…can I kiss you?”

  Fear, that probably should have been there when I walked up the hall and stood in the doorway, came roaring in. This should have been the moment that Snowy—no, Noah leaned down and pressed his advantage. Just because no one had been touching, didn’t make what had happened in here less of a sexual act. But instead, he jerked back, an answering look of alarm in his own eyes.

  “Shit, I’m—”

  I rose into a sitting position and touched my lips to his, for just a moment. They were soft and dry and yielding beneath mine. I watched his eyes go wide, then pulled away and was out the door in the next second, scuttling down the hall to the sound of his long, drawn out groan.

  29

  Peter’s hand slid up my thigh. We had decided this morning that underwear was a waste of time. They’d reached for me when I slipped into bed with them and again in the morning. That ache Noah had described was well and truly present now. Not a pain so much as a constant reminder of my emptiness.

  Something Peter was going to fill temporarily if his hand kept up the current trajectory.

  “What happened to Sen?” Aidan asked, bringing a pan of bacon over to the table.

  We were sitting at the dining table, finally about to have some breakfast. Half the dishes stashed in the fridge were spread across the table, but Aidan was definite about wanting some bacon. Peter seemed to have other things in mind. His fingers dug into my thighs, pulling them apart, then burrowing between them.

  “Did you want any…” Aidan’s words trailed away as he regarded us from across the table. A slow smile spread when he heard my gasp. God, right now I was wondering if my clit was a little punch-drunk. It’d taken quite a beating, but it couldn’t seem to stay down. Heat was delicious, I’d decided. I’d never been so bloody responsive in my life.

  Peter played me, knowing just what I needed and giving it to me with a slow, sure hand. The two of them smiled as they saw me writhe, Aidan crunching on his bacon, peering over the table like he could see through the wood at what was happening. And it was damn lucky he couldn’t.

  Those lovely fingers were whipped away when footfalls were heard down the hallway. Noah! I’d forgotten all about him. Probably on purpose, his little display…confronted me when I thought about it. He liked things I hadn’t known any other man to like, his confessions disarming, but alien. I’d forced myself to stop thinking about him when I went to bed and had been more successful than I’d realised.

  “Is it OK to grab some breakfast?”

  We turned around to see him standing there in yet another pair of stretchy sleep shorts. Did guys realise that grey jersey fabric was like lingerie to women? It hung so well on their muscular bodies, the way the fabric draped giving everyone a real nice view of what was underneath. His hand went to his erection poking through the fabric, and pressed down on it before letting it spring back.

  “Sorry about that. I can’t seem to…”

  “None of us can, mate,” Aidan said. “Have a seat. I’ll get you a plate.”

  And now I knew what I wanted, Aidan’s dick bobbing around at the perfect height for a blow job as he walked back into the kitchen. I thought I’d gotten sprung drooling after my mate, but when I turned back, Noah watched Peter licking his fingers oh so thoroughly.

  Alrighty then.r />
  I quickly scooped spoonfuls of god knows what onto my plate in an attempt to avoid any eye contact and started eating.

  “So how’re you coping?” Aidan asked Noah.

  “It’s…stimulating. Better than having to front up to work with a never-ending supply of boners.”

  “You work in the IT division, yeah?”

  “If by division, you mean two guys, then yeah. I started there when I was eighteen and never really found anything else I wanted to do. You’re in transport and logistics, right?”

  “Both of us are. It’s how we met Flick. Bringing a load back from the outside.”

  “And she bit Peter.”

  When I glanced up, those pale eyes, even lighter in the sunlight, were staring at my mate with something that looked like wonder.

  “Yeah, she did.” Something about his voice drew me to him. He studied me, despite having seen my face most hours of the day, every day, for over a month. “Bloody transformed my life. Having a mate… Nothing they tell you about it even touches it. It’s like having two hearts, three really, with Kade.”

  “So I don’t rate a heart,” Aidan said with an exaggerated frown. “And I made you bacon.”

  “Which you’re eating,” I said, grabbing the tray. I held it out for Noah. “Did you want some?”

  “Thanks,” he said after a short pause, spearing a couple of slices. “I’ve got something for you too.”

  He put what looked like a small remote on the table next to my plate. I picked it up, turning it over and back again as he ate. I slid the wheel on the side up and then to full bore but got no reaction, then Noah’s cutlery went crashing down on the table, his hands slapping down on the table and digging in. I dialled the remote back again quickly, much to his relief. We all watched him pant wildly, waiting for him to catch his breath and provide an explanation.