by Chloe Adler
His sigh was deep and long. He didn’t stop rubbing me as he shifted in his seat. “Your man from Promise . . .”
Palms sweating I snapped, “Ryder’s not my man.”
Jared rolled his eyes at me. “Yeah, okay, whatever. Your boy toy then.”
“What about him?” I didn’t want to sound as eager as I felt.
“He may be bad news.”
I twisted out of his grasp. He was irritating me. “What the hell does that mean? I don’t do lead-ins. Spill.”
Burgundy chose that moment to make her entrance, and the music, which had been lightly thumping, began to swell. If we didn’t stop to watch her, she would make us pay for it later, a chance I had to take.
“Hey,” I leaned toward Jared. “Spill.”
I waited, sucking in a deep breath and raising an eyebrow.
He held his hands up in a placating gesture. “I don’t know for sure but I think Ryder may be mixed up in something.”
“What does that even mean?”
“He lives—“
“You found his house?”
“Yup.”
“I didn’t know your cougar form could really track. That’s amazing! From the scarf?”
“From the scarf, yes. But not my cougar.”
That confused me. Every shifter could shift into three animals. A small one, a medium one and a large one. Most shifters knew all three by the time they hit puberty, but not Jared. And I couldn’t imagine him stomping around the Edge in his griffin form undetected.
“Your third shift?” I couldn’t hide my excitement and found myself dancing on my barstool.
“Yes,” he offered a big grin. “I’m a fox.”
“I know you are but what’s . . . oh. Really?”
He nodded, that grin getting bigger and bigger, spreading out to his ears.
“And you were planning on telling me this when?”
“Now.” His smile was beguiling.
“I wonder why it took so long.”
“It didn’t appear until I needed it, I guess, like my other two.”
“That’s so cool. I’m thrilled for you.” I leaned over and kissed his cheek. His chest puffed up like he was on top of the world. I knew it must have taken a load off his mind to finally discover who he truly was. “Not to change the subject back to me, but . . .”
Jared reached for my vodka cranberry spritzer and took a small sip. “Ryder, yes. First of all, I don’t think he lives by himself, which is neither here nor there. But when I was watching, he was alone.”
“So?”
“Well, for one thing, it’s the nicest houseboat on the docks.”
“He lives on the docks?” My eyes widened and my head jerked back.
Jared shrugged. “The worst of the Gates. And, he never went to work. His entire day was spent online. Maybe he’s a private investigator. But . . .” Jared swiveled back and forth on his bar stool and took another sip of my drink.
“But?”
“He was looking up information about other dimensions. Then he took a phone call that seemed to upset him and he . . .” Jared looked around and then back at me. “He was doing some research on your family.”
“My family?”
Jared nodded. “Aurelia mostly, but he also looked up Chrys and Iphi.”
I plucked my drink off the bar and took a long swallow. “Maybe he just wants to know more about me because I’ve bewitched him.” I winked at Jared but we both knew I was grasping at broom fibers.
“Why did you want me to track him anyway?”
“He ran out of Promise after our tryst and unless I am completely wrong at reading people, I don’t think it was because of me.”
“Why don’t you ask him?”
Men were always so practical. “I don’t have his number. Maybe he was embarrassed after our sexytime, but then I wondered if he had a girlfriend he forgot to mention.”
“I don’t think he has a girlfriend,” said Jared. “No photos of anyone in his room. Didn’t check his email or texts, but the call he got was definitely not loving.”
Jared picked up my drink and raised his eyebrows at me. There was barely enough left for a last sip and I grinned.
“You finish it, Mr. Fox.” I reached out and playfully tousled his hair.
“Why don’t you take your mind off Mr. Tall, Dark Hottypants by exploring the back rooms tonight?” he teased, the glimmer in his eye impossible to hide.
It wasn’t a bad suggestion. I needed a distraction.
“You sure?” I looked around. The club was in full swing.
Jared jutted his chin toward a very handsome guy sitting alone at a table, not watching Burgundy. “I’m sure.” That grin said it all.
“Don’t tell Burg I didn’t stay for her entire act,” I said, sliding off my bar stool.
“Have fun,” Jared leered at me, swatting my ass as I crossed in front of him.
Dozens of customers were appreciating my roommate in all of her infamous glory as I sauntered by, trying to be discreet. The long hallway off the main room was a place for diversions and perversions alike. Not surprisingly, it was one of my favorite areas of the V.
Walking down the hallway, I peeked into the rooms along the side wall, looking for something, anything to keep me from thinking about Ryder.
Peeking into the first open doorway, I got an eyeful. A very attractive, blindfolded man was spread out on the vinyl-covered bed, getting flogged by two men and one woman, all wearing masks. His penis was hard and throbbing. I was momentarily distracted by its size as one of the masked men turned to me and beckoned for me to join in. I shook my head and proceeded on.
The next open doorway, the blue room, boasted a woman bent over a leather horse, being penetrated by a giant dildo. Her large breasts were swaying and the man pumping her was playing with his engorged cock. I stood there long enough to watch him come on her back, slide on a latex glove and slip a finger into her backside. She moaned and writhed. I moved on, looking for some fun of my own.
The next open doorway was dark. There were no lights and I couldn’t see anyone inside but I felt someone there. I stepped in, waiting for my eyes to adjust.
After a moment or two I could barely make out a figure in the corner. It was a man, that much was obvious, but he blended into the darkness well. He was naked, sitting on a hard chair, and his legs were spread. His hand moved up and down on himself.
“Come in.” His voice was thick, raspy. Almost guttural.
“No thanks.” I turned to leave.
“Don’t move.” His tone was so commanding that I paused.
In a moment he was behind me, pressing his hard cock into my back. Those large hands placed a blindfold over my eyes. Moving my hair aside, he bit down hard on the side of my neck, his hands moving down to caress my body. It was responding. My nipples perked up and I grew damp.
“I can’t,” I whimpered.
“Do you want me to gag you too?”
I shook my head and leaned back into him to let him know I wanted to continue. No one had ever been able to top me, only Burgundy. Until I was at the Promise with Ryder, I hadn’t realized how badly I longed for it. But could I let go with a complete stranger?
“Down on your knees.” He pressed me down by my head and my knees slammed into the floor. I let out a squeal.
“You shriek again and I’ll gag you, understand?” This was hot. I nodded as he circled me.
Standing in front of me, he grabbed my hair again and pulled me toward him. His other hand was on my chin, pulling my mouth open, and before I could think to insist on a condom, his cock was pressing into my mouth. Luckily, he was already wearing one. I didn’t want to pull us out of the scene. This guy was huge and I almost gagged. He felt my reflex but instead of pulling out a little to accommodate me, he pushed himself in deeper.
“Your safe word is ‘paradise,’ “ he instructed me. “Nod if that works for you.”
My head bobbed up and down on his magnificent cock. “If
you accidentally bite me or gag on my cock, you’ll be punished.” I nodded again, feeling the warmth spread between my own legs.
“I like teeth but only when I tell you to use them.” He didn’t pose it as a question or wait for my consent.
I worked his cock with my mouth and tongue, leaning forward to push my breasts against his legs. He let me and then bent forward and reached around me from behind, lifting my skirt and pushing my G-string aside to touch my pussy.
I writhed against his hand as he expertly maneuvered my button and channel. His fingers dipped in to massage my G-spot and then pulled out again to rub my clit, swollen and ready. The sensations built as I tried to ride them. Ryder’s face popped into my head and just as quickly the wave of excitement crashed. I wasn’t used to losing an orgasm. This was new and I didn’t like it. Pushing thoughts of the dark prince out of my head, I tried to focus on the task at hand and yet, I couldn’t concentrate.
I stopped losing myself to the ecstasy of his cock pushing hard down my throat and his hand rubbing me. In my moment of realization, he pulled away. I tried to protest. If I just had a little more time, I could get back into it—
He brought his hand down hard on my ass. I yelped and bucked, but he held my head firmly on his cock, which he pushed even deeper down my throat. He massaged my ass roughly where he’d hit me for just a second before spanking me again. All thoughts of the human subsided as my ecstasy returned. If he kept that up, I would come without him even touching me. I moaned around his dick.
“You like that, you little whore?” It was a rhetorical question, but I stuck my ass out farther anyway. Who knew my body would respond so well to sadism and humiliation? Made sense, given my history.
He hit me again, harder, and I opened up, ready to come if he continued. What a delicious precipice. My moans escaped and he laughed, not unkindly.
“You belong to me,” he rasped, his member growing even larger and firmer in my mouth.
But the words he spoke were like a switch suddenly turning me off. I didn’t belong to this man. I didn’t belong to anyone. I didn’t want to. Anonymous sex should be just that, without ownership or emotions. They’re just words, I told myself. Who cares what he needed to say to get off?
I brought myself back by thinking about how the sex addict in me liked not having to deal with anything messy, like faces or names.
Mr. No Face let go of my head and reached for my breasts. He pinched one of my nipples harshly. That was reserved for Burgundy alone. I hadn’t been expecting it.
Letting go of his cock, I breathed in sharply and that’s when I smelled it, a very light hint of juniper. That was Ryder’s smell. Was this—? No, it couldn’t be. Ryder wouldn’t trick me like this or be so forceful. Would he? Then again, the “sub” had turned the tables at Promise. Maybe if I pretended it was him, my excitement would return. I wrapped my mouth around his cock again.
“You’re shirking your duties.” The top—or maybe the switch—slapped me hard and I accidentally bit down.
The silence that followed was worse than any scream would have been. He pulled his cock from my mouth and dragged me by my hair across the floor. I kicked and yelled, but only a little because I actually liked it. I was lifted and then thrown onto the vinyl-covered bed, where I bounced.
He didn’t say a word as he flipped me over and spread me facedown on the bed. My arms and legs were pulled apart and cuffs settled over each one in turn, pulling tightly.
“Ryder?” I gasped. I hadn’t imagined that he could be so rough but the scent of juniper was starting to overwhelm my senses.
Without a word my head was gently lifted and a gag placed around my mouth. He tied it behind my head and pulled it tightly so that my mouth was forced open and closed over it.
“Since you can’t use the safe word with the gag, I want you to squeal if you want me to stop. Make one now so I know what it sounds like.”
I did as he asked.
“Good girl,” he growled, close to my ear.
A moment later he threw up my skirt and spanked me again. The extreme difference between the gentle lifting of my head and the force of the gag being tightened left me reeling and confused.
I humped the bed but he spanked me again.
“Stop.” His voice was rough and deep.
I lay there and waited.
Hot breath laced my ear as he bent over me and snarled, “Think about your behavior.”
The only senses I had available were heightened. I listened as his footsteps faded.
There was no way a responsible Dom would leave a woman tied up and vulnerable. It couldn’t be Ryder.
I was bucking and writhing on the mattress, trying to free myself. If Mr. No Face were still in the room, watching me, he would say something. But there was complete silence.
I breathed in deeply, the juniper scent still clinging to the air. On my skin or his? Either way, it settled me as I pretended Ryder was there, watching. I took deep breaths, focusing on my breathing as I relaxed. After a few moments, I began to drift off. His hands, petting my hair, brought me back. I let out a tiny moan as his body draped over mine.
Warm hands stroked my curves, moving languidly down toward my center. They stopped at my ass, dipping between my legs.
“I love how wet you are,” he whispered gruffly into my ear. A moan was my only response.
“Good.” He ran a hand down my back. “Nod if you like anal.”
I nodded and the thought excited me. It had been a while.
He massaged my ass while rubbing my pussy, bringing the wetness from my front to my back. Fingers penetrated me in both places and I squirmed.
“I’m going to add a strap-on dildo so I can do you right, okay?”
I nodded.
When he got off the bed, it seemed like a cold breeze blew through. The sounds of straps and buckles echoed in the small room, then the squirting of what I assumed was lube.
He straddled me and rubbed the gel on my ass, massaging it in and out with his fingers. It felt amazing and I pushed my ass upwards into his hand.
“I’m putting on a fresh condom,” he told me over the sound of ripping foil.
In a moment he was back, pushing himself into my folds. A leather harness scraped along my sensitive skin, a wet dildo lying perpendicularly on top of my ass. He pushed himself deep inside, and I gasped around the gag. His cock was amazing. He pumped himself in and out several times before pulling back a little and positioning the dildo over my ass. Slowly he inserted it while pushing his cock back inside.
I barely had a moment to think. Double penetration had always been a fantasy of mine and now it was a reality.
The sensations were strong and unfamiliar. One of his hands snaked underneath me to play with my clit, building my release. This man knew exactly what he was doing. An expert. My body responded to his touches.
But what about Ryder? Thoughts of him slammed into my head again, catching me totally off guard. Used to my sexual satisfaction taking precedence over everything, I floated above my body, looking down.
“Sub, you’re not in your body.” His voice was not unkind.
How had he known? I tried to bring myself back, focus on the present and feel the mounting pleasure. He thrust harder and harder into my orifices. My jaw clenched as I twisted my hands around to grab hold of the cuffs. The orgasm, which had been building again, suddenly died in a receding wave.
I tried to force Ryder’s name out through the gag. It sounded almost like his name, only the R didn’t translate. I wanted to know if this was him. Needed to know. I couldn’t fully focus on my pleasure. But if it was him, if I knew it was him . . .
“Quiet, sub. Stay with me,” he said gently, almost lovingly.
His pressure on my clit increased. I focused on it, the sensation holding my attention rapt, the subtle movement such a contrast with the pounding I was getting elsewhere. The combination of his movements built and I knew I was only a minute away from bliss. But then something wet d
ripped onto the side of my face at the same moment Mr. No Face pulled out, howling in pain. Orgasm lost and not sure what was going on, I struggled to turn around, squeaking my safe word.
Chapter Eight
Ten minutes later, I was sitting at the bar, nursing a drink to Band-Aid my bruised ego, half watching a hot, naked girl getting flogged on a Saint Andrew’s cross in the center of the room.
Burgundy was finishing her second dance of the night. I tried to watch for support and distraction.
Her discarded Mad Hatter outfit littered the stage. A short, black skirt of tufted crinoline, a lace bustier and a short, gold-threaded jacket.
Still donning her tall leather boots with spiked heels and the top hat sporting a playing card, she was strategically covered in the most important places. The red G-string left nothing to the imagination from behind, which was good, since that was one of Burgundy’s most delicious attractions.
She was amply supplied with an abundance of feminine parts. The front of the thong was intricately lacy and, were those sparkles? They caught the eye and kept it there. How the manufacturer also managed to incorporate fringe and feathers into such a small piece of fabric was beyond me. The bra top was a darker shade of red, closer to her namesake.
Having finished with a flourish, Burgundy danced over to me, waving a ring-covered hand in front of my face. “Where were you?”
I looked up, trying to focus on her and ignore Jared making out with the hot guy from earlier at the table next to the bar.
“Getting sexually frustrated, apparently,” I growled.
“What?”
I looked away. “I finally experienced the double P and got topped by a man.”
“Wow, that sounds hot! Where the hell was I?”
I laughed. “You were out here, entertaining the masses.” I waved my hand around the bar, which was filled with humans and Signum alike.
“Sounds like you had a better time than all of them,” she said, smiling, a little twinkle in her eye.
“It sounds better than it was. I didn’t come.”
Burgundy looked like she’d swallowed a bug. “Excuse me? I think I heard you wrong.”
