Origin

by Chloe Adler

  I stand as well and reach the door first, opening it.

  “Doctor?” Niall stands in front of me, squinting, a puzzled look on his face. “What brings you here?”

  “Business. And you?”

  “Well I am a vampire.” He grins and juts out a hand. I shake it. “I’m not used to seeing you outside the hospital.”

  “And I’m not used to going an entire month without treating you for a broken bone or contusion. Have you discovered some sense and stopped drag racing yet?”

  “When I’m dead, Doctor.”

  “I’ll leave you to it then.” I gesture into Cheryl’s office. “And I can honestly say, I hope I don’t see you again.”

  Niall purses his lips and walks into the office.

  “Kaden?” Cheryl calls and I turn. She’s dropping an old black rotary phone back into its receiver. “You can go upstairs to room C. The girl will receive you now.”

  “Why, you old dog,” Niall says, wearing a pussy-eating grin.

  So much for discretion.

  18

  Sydney

  I step out of the shower and use a towel to wipe the condensation from the mirror. I pull my hair out of its topknot and let it cascade over one shoulder, adjusting it off my tits. I tweak each nipple until they’re hard, squirt some lube onto my hand and massage my opening in case the john wants to go at it right away. That happens a lot. They’re not paying for foreplay, or if they are, they’re paying to receive and not to give. I get it. They have their wives and girlfriends to service, no need to service the whore too. I plan to tell whoever has paid for me that I’ll pleasure them and they can screw me from behind so they don’t have to look at my bruised face.

  Because I turned Niall down a second time. Why did I do that again? Oh yeah, that’s right, the promise I made to my dead mother.

  I plaster a smile on my destroyed face, suck in a deep breath and breathe out Niall, letting him slip from my mind. Then I open the door, having switched rooms so the staff could clean up the last one. The thought makes me smile for real now—one nice thing about working in a brothel is not having to clean up my own used condoms and blood.

  The room is dark, only a small lamp on the nightstand lit in the far corner. A dark figure sits on the edge of the bed, still clothed. His head is down. I give my nips another tweak and sashay into the room, making a purring sound to alert him to my presence.

  He looks up and then away quickly, too fast for me to get a good look at his face.

  “Hey, sexy,” I purr. “Do you want me to help you out of those clothes?”

  He stands, his eyes still averted. Weird. “Actually, Sydney, I’d rather you put some on.”

  What the—? Not another talker. I bite back the laugh itching to spring from the back of my throat and cross to the closet door instead. Miss Cheryl has stocked each room with sexy robes and nighties. I rifle through the selection and pick a vintage silk number. Fuck this guy, he wants me grandma’d out? Fine. I shrug into the robe, luxuriating for a moment in the way the cool fabric pours over my skin. I peek at myself in the mirror on the back of the closet door and look away. The drop waist, beads and high-cut V-neck make me look like I just stepped out of the 1930s. But my face? There’s just no way around this.

  “I came to make sure you were okay,” the man says, and the voice finally hits me. I close the closet and walk over to where he waits next to the bed.

  “Doctor, I almost didn’t recognize you without the white coat and stethoscope.”

  He tips his head, his amber-colored eyes locked on my face. His dark eyebrows rise and he reaches a hand out to stroke my cheek. “Your bruising has lightened a lot. That’s a good sign.”

  I can’t help leaning into his touch. Just a little. “I accidentally had a drop of vampire blood.”

  His hand drops. “Accidentally?”

  I purse my lips and look down at my bare feet. “I know it’s illegal . . .”

  He cups my chin and forces my gaze back to his. So tall, so imposing, so damn sexy. “I wish you’d let them fully heal you.”

  “You do?” I close my eyes. “I can’t.”

  “I respect whatever you need to do . . . or not do.”

  “Thank you.” I open my eyes again.

  His tongue peeks out from between his lips and damn if I don’t want to suck on it. “Was it Niall?”

  Shit. If I say yes, he could go to prison, but Kaden did suggest it . . . Still, best not to say a word. I press my lips together instead.

  “I’m sure it was, and I’m sure he tried to heal you completely. He’s honorable that way.”

  Now there’s a dichotomy. An honorable john? I wave at the bed. “You paid for an hour, Doctor. I can show you some things you’ve never imagined, take you to heights you’ve never seen, drain you in a way you’ve never been—”

  He puts a finger to my lips, gentle, yet firm. “Sit.” He motions to the bed. “Let’s talk.”

  “Your dough.” I sit on the edge of the bed and he sits beside me. What is it with Distant Edge? A town full of lonely hearts.

  “Are you happy?” He shifts his weight away, turning his body to look at me.

  “Happy?”

  “With your life. With this.” He motions around the room.

  He’s not the first john to ask this and he won’t be the last. I sigh. “Am I happy being a whore? Yes, very.”

  He shakes his head. “I don’t think that’s quite true.”

  “And what would you know? Are you a psychiatrist as well as a surgeon?”

  “I’ve taken psych classes but no, that’s not where I’m speaking from.” He puts a hand on my chest, over my heart. “I’m speaking from here. You may have convinced yourself that you love this life, Sydney, but your heart says you do not.”

  I bark out a laugh. “And you can see inside my heart?”

  He nods. “I’m a warlock.”

  Huh. That’s a surprise. But it changes nothing. “So? Last time I checked, warlocks weren’t mind readers.” At least I don’t think. I look down at his hand still on my chest. So big and so bronzed, I want to lick it. He pulls it away as I tilt my head down.

  “I cast a spell.” He looks away from my face.

  “You what?” I stand up and put my hands on my hips.

  “Just a little one. Nothing invasive.”

  “Really? Just a little one that tells you I’m unhappy when I don’t even know that I am?”

  “Something like that. But the spell also told me you’re not ready to quit what you do. You’re holding out for something more and when you’ve found it, you’ll quit,” he gestures around the room with his other hand, “all of this.”

  I snort but he keeps looking at me, unmoved. Unsmiling, though his eyes are still soft and kind.

  “Your true desire is to fall in love, but you are practiced at stuffing away your feelings instead of listening to them.”

  I laugh so hard, I double over. “One out of three guesses ain’t bad,” I manage to say through my guffaws.

  He reaches for my hand and I let him take it. He tugs gently and I sit on the bed once more. With his other hand he brushes the hair out of my face, then runs a long, thin finger down one of my cheeks. “So beautiful,” he breathes.

  I part my lips and lick them. “Let me make you feel good.”

  “I feel fantastic just sitting here next to you.”

  “Are you looking for all the things you think I want? To fall in love? To quit your job?”

  He grins a little, one lip quirking up. “I’m like you, married to my job. And I’m like Niall too, no interest in love.”

  I shrug. “What then?”

  “We have a connection, of that there’s no doubt. I would be lying if I said I didn’t want to explore it further. But I’m not available for anything more than . . .” He nods at the bed.

  “Perfect.” I push him back and he lets me. I climb on top and rub my hands down his chest. He lets me do that too. “Are you seeing any of the other girls h
ere?”

  “I’ve never seen anyone here. I’ve never paid for sex.”

  The next sentence from all the johns is I’ve never had to. Bullshit, I always tell them. You pay, just not up front. But Kaden doesn’t say anything. Instead, his hands reach for my stomach, landing on my waist and trailing up to my breasts. He lifts and plumps them together, sighing.

  “I wanted you the moment I saw you last night.” His voice is a low growl. His cock pulses beneath my crotch and I grind down on it.

  “Well, now you have me. What are you gonna do?” I tease.

  He reaches for my wrists and flips me over so that my back is on the bed. “I want you in the shower.” He leans down for a kiss and I turn my head.

  “No kissing. Didn’t Miss Cheryl tell you my rules?”

  “What if I pay extra?”

  Shit. I already came for Niall, and I moved in with Jerome instead of shutting down his instalove. Am I really going to break another rule now? Kaden is so completely different from any other man I’ve been with before. He’s real. He’s not a john putting on an act or taking what he wants. I believe him when he says I’m his first whore, and although I’ve been the first for others, I know that his motivation is different. He’s here only because of me. I like that. “How much extra?”

  He gets up and rifles in his trousers pocket, pulling out a wallet. Opening it, he counts out several bills and holds them out to me. “Five hundred?”

  “For me and not Miss Cheryl?”

  “That’s right.” His voice slides over me like silk.

  “Done.” I put my hand out and he places the bills on my palm. As soon as I close my fist around them, he drops to his knees in front of me, cradles my face in his large, warm hands, stares into my eyes and then leans in to taste me. The kiss is light, almost tentative.

  Kaden’s tongue pushes between his full lips to lick mine along the crease, the touch featherlight, and I crane my neck, wanting more. The mere act of kissing him drenches me. And this is another reason I don’t allow it; it turns me the fuck on.

  “Come on.” He rocks forward, pushing his arms underneath my butt and lifting me up. I shriek and wrap my arms around his neck. Kaden carries me into the bathroom and places me down on the edge of the tub. Bending down, he puts in the stopper and turns on the taps. Hot water pours out and he adjusts them, passing his hand underneath until he’s satisfied with the temperature. Then he pours in a liberal amount of bubble bath from the container on the table next to the tub.

  While the tub fills, he lights a few of the candles that circle the tub and sit in sconces along the walls. Blowing out the match, he keeps his eyes glued to mine and flips the burnt stub in the sink.

  Then he kneels at my feet and runs his hands up my legs, pushing the silk robe up, up, up. I cling to the sides of the porcelain tub.

  His hands work their way up my thighs, slowly, caressing and squeezing each one while he gently pushes my legs open, wider and wider. He leans in and inhales, squeezing the insides of my thighs. I adjust myself on the porcelain and he stops to look up, his eyes glistening in the candlelight.

  “Are you uncomfortable? We can move.”

  “No, I’m fine. I’m good.” I smile down at him. Like I’d ever tell a john different, but in this instance, I really am good. The cool pressure of the enamel against the backs of my thighs lowers the sheer intensity of my heat and keeps me present. So I don’t lose myself in his touch. In him. What the hell is going on with me anyway? I’ve been a whore for years and working in Distant Edge for months, and now I’m having feelings for three different men? When I’ve cut myself off from feeling anything for any man for as long as I can remember? Since Connor the asshole.

  I wriggle my ass on the edge of the tub again to pull myself back to the present and Kaden stops and stands up. He turns off the taps and dips a hand in the water one more time to check the temperature. He loosens the tie of my silk gown, sliding it off my shoulders. I scooch forward and he scoops the gown from beneath me and hangs it on a hook on the back of the bathroom door.

  Kneeling down, he looks up at me and I open my legs for him again. He moves closer and takes my mouth in his. At first I turn my head away but then I remember that he’s paid to kiss me and turn it back.

  Plus I want to kiss him. What’s wrong with me?

  His lips are soft and full and he tastes like strawberries and red wine. My eyes blink open but his are closed. His long, thick lashes turn up at the ends, resting on his smooth, dark cheek. His tongue lashes out and licks my lips, then he smiles against me and opens his eyes. He looks drunk but I know he’s not. His lustful gaze heats my core and I wriggle backward, almost falling into the tub. He catches me and sets me straight, then hunches lower and proceeds to light up my inner thighs with kisses.

  He kisses me all the way up and then starts over again at my knees, this time with long licks like he’s devouring an ice cream cone.

  “Even your skin tastes like licorice,” he growls.

  When he reaches my center, he keeps on licking. When he attaches his mouth over my clit like a vacuum and starts sucking, I almost fall backward into the tub again but his broad arms catch me and hold me steady. This man may be the king of all pussy lickers. I clutch the sides of the tub so tightly my fingers start to lose feeling. It takes everything I have to keep from squirting all over him.

  Football, think about football. Shit, all those tight pants, that’s not working.

  His tongue licks up my clit in long, smooth strokes before he returns to the power suck. I nearly lose my shit and just stop fighting the moans. “¡Dios mío!”

  Kaden stops and looks up. Why do I want to scratch his eyes out right now and force his head back between my legs? I’m actually shaking. I grit my teeth, grinding them so hard I might pulverize them. He smiles up at me and I glance down at my crotch, hoping he’ll get the hint.

  “What happened to not coming with a john?” he chides.

  Fucker. “I’m not coming.”

  “Only because I won’t let you.”

  My mouth drops open in a most unladylike manner but I don’t give a fuck.

  He slips his hands up my body from my hips to underneath my arms and slips me into the warm, bubbly water.

  My pussy aches at the loss of his lips and tongue, and the warm water does nothing to soothe it.

  “You gonna join me?” I slide down deeper so the bubbles cover my nipples, leaving just the tops buoyed above the water line.

  Kaden lowers his lids and offers me a most seductive smile. I’d like to play doctor with him for the next twenty-four hours, please. He moves back to the small, ornate table at the foot of the tub and picks up a large, plush sponge wrapped in plastic. He unwraps it and dips it into the tub at my feet. Grabbing a bottle of fragrant liquid soap, he squeezes some onto the sponge. The aroma of orange blossoms fills the bathroom. Neroli, yum!

  He dips the sponge again and works up a lather with his hands. “One arm out, please.”

  I move an arm to the side of the tub. He starts at my hand, lathering the top and bottom, pausing to inspect each finger and then slowly working his way up my arm. The sponge is real, not some plastic imitation, and its rough-soft texture enflames each nerve. The contrast between the smooth viscosity of the soap and the course yellow brush sends trickles of pleasure flowing up and down my body. I shiver with delight and turn my head to watch him service me.

  19

  Kaden

  Normally, my greatest pleasure is to climb into a bed of freshly laundered linen after a hard night’s shift. Tonight, that’s nothing compared to the pleasure of teasing Sydney to a frenzy. The longer I make myself wait, or in this case Sydney, the more heightened my senses become. I can taste the orange blossom soap on my tongue and feel the heavy weight of the dense bathroom steam. My heart rate increases and sweat beads on my skin, intensifying my desire to keep her on the edge. If I could make her come as well . . . but no matter, she forbids it. So I plan to bring her to the brink of
orgasm over and over and over again but not let her explode.

  It’s true that I haven’t been with a prostitute here at Ichor before, but that’s only because it’s where I work and live. Having no time for a girlfriend, I used to use online dating apps for hookups in San Diego, but they got messy. Every woman became attached even after a supposed one-night stand. So I fell into unintentional celibacy, which suited my lifestyle perfectly.

  Until I met Sydney.

  She moans as I lift one of her long, caramel-colored legs out of the water and place it on the edge of the tub. I take my time soaping up each gorgeous toe and then drop the sponge back on the table. I perch on the edge of the tub, massaging her perfect feet. She sinks back into the water even more and her eyes flit closed, accentuating their puffy, red appearance. I wince, thankful she can’t see my reaction as a smile plays on her lips and she sighs, finally relaxing. While I work on her foot, I run my gaze along the parts of her body I can see. The bubbles have thinned and her breasts skim the surface of the water, full with dark brown nipples I want to suck and bite.

  “Are you going to spend all your time on just one foot?” She raises her other leg out of the water and places it next to my thigh.

  “Definitely not.” I pick up her other foot and start working on it, the toenails painted a pale pink. After a minute I bend down and take it in my mouth, running my tongue between each toe. She arches back, her breasts breaking the water’s surface like a mermaid inviting a sailor to play.

  Gently I put each foot back in the water and move to her head, where I lean down and kiss her. She pants into my mouth and I stand up to remove my sport coat and white button-down shirt, hanging them next to her robe on the back of the door.

  She watches me, pulling her knees up and adjusting herself in the tub. “What about your pants?”