Forbidden Addiction (Forbidden, Book #4)

by R. L. Kenderson

  “New boyfriend?” Levi said. He leaned toward Hunter. “We’ve been dating for over two years.”

  Hunter was trying to keep up with the conversation, but his mind was reeling with all the information he’d just taken in. “I’m sorry, but are you telling me that Quentin’s gay?”

  Everyone lost their smiles and looked awkwardly at each other.

  Zoey put her hand on Hunter’s arm. “Hon, you do know you’re in a gay bar, right?”

  Hunter didn’t know what kind of face he made, but it must have been notable.

  “Oh, hon, you had no idea, huh?”

  Noah shrugged. “Sorry, dude, we thought you knew because we thought you were one of us.”

  Hunter wasn’t gay. Am I? Suddenly, he saw his reactions to Quentin in a whole new light.

  Just then, Quentin returned with three drinks. He gave one to Zoey and set another beer in front of Hunter.

  “Sorry it took me so long. The bar suddenly got a rush of customers at the same time I went up there.” Quentin looked up from the table and took notice of the tension in the group. “Uh-oh, what did I miss?”

  Zoey took pity on him. “Quentin, I think you and Hunter need to talk.”

  ON A MISSION, Phoenix let herself into the Guardians’ compound. In light of their new relationship, Dante had told her that she didn’t need to knock anymore. In fact, he’d given her a key to make it easier for her to come and go.

  Phoenix heard some noises coming from the television room, but she didn’t run into anyone on her way upstairs to Dante’s room. When she reached his door, she knocked and waited for him to answer. When she didn’t hear anything on the other side, she opened the door to see the bedroom was empty.

  She felt a little deflated upon the absence of Dante. Kenzie had given her some advice on what she should do tonight that might make it easier to get to the sex part with Dante.

  Phoenix had pretty much told Kenzie everything. At first, she’d been hesitant, but then she’d remembered everything Kenzie had gone through to keep the shifters a secret from the humans, and Phoenix had known that she could trust her. Besides, Kenzie had way more sexual experience than Phoenix, so if she was going to get advice from anyone, it should be the human who knew what she was talking about.

  But, with Dante not around, she was starting to lose her steam and her nerve. Maybe she should go find him. He was probably in his office. But, once she got there, would she go through with her plan downstairs, or would she drag him back up to his bedroom? Now, she was overthinking.

  “Hey, you’re here,” Dante said from behind her.

  She jumped.

  Some sentinel she was.

  She turned around. “Yes,” she said, nervous now that he was in the room.

  “Sorry about that. I had some paperwork I needed to finish up.” He studied Phoenix now. “What’s going on, Red? You seem…preoccupied.”

  Phoenix glanced behind him. “Can you shut the door?”

  “Sure,” he said. He did as she’d asked. “What’s up? Spill.”

  It was now or never.

  She took a deep breath and said it all at once, “I-want-you-to-get-naked-and-let-me-explore-your-body.”

  Dante cocked his head. “I’m sorry, but you’re going to have to repeat that. You said that way too fast.”

  “I want you to get naked and let me explore your body,” she said slower as she winced.

  She understood that she felt awkward and anxious, but she didn’t understand why.

  Do I think Dante will say no? Doubtful, as the whole thing had been his idea in the first place.

  Am I worried Dante will take advantage of me once he is naked? No, absolutely not. He would never do that.

  Am I embarrassed? Okay, so maybe she was. It wasn’t every day that she asked if a male would get naked and let her touch him all over. But that wasn’t totally it either.

  Am I worried that he will judge me on my skills? Yep, there it was. She was worried that he would find her lacking.

  But what did Kenzie tell me?

  “Guys are totally different than women. If you take Dante’s clothes off and ask him if you can touch him, he’s just going to be happy that you’re touching him. He’s not going to worry about what you do as long as you are putting your hands on him.”

  When Phoenix had pointed out that her ex-boyfriend had cared and cheated on her, Kenzie had tried to explain that, if a male really cared about a female, he would never cheat on her for something like that. Instead, he would talk to his girlfriend and try to figure out what they could do to work on the problem. Together.

  So, Phoenix had been obligated to add that Dante wasn’t her boyfriend, and she wouldn’t know if he cared about her.

  Kenzie’s response had been, “Girl, he’s going to give you his baby, isn’t he?”

  So, Phoenix tried to take all the positive reassurance Kenzie had given her and tell herself that it was going to be a good night as she waited for Dante to respond to her.

  “Are you sure about this?” he asked.

  Kenzie was wrong.

  He held out his hands. “I am totally sure about this. I just want to make sure you are. This is kind of a big step.”

  Okay, so maybe Kenzie was right.

  “Yes. Ken—a friend told me that I would be more comfortable when it came time for us to have sex if I got to know your body better. Then, maybe I wouldn’t be so scared of it.” She thought about what she’d said, and just in case he misunderstood, she added, “Scared of sex. Not scared of…it.” Although she was a little afraid of the big, bad it.

  Dante laughed and pulled her close. He cupped her face, and his gorgeous brown eyes searched hers before he kissed her.

  She didn’t have much experience with this, but she was pretty sure Dante was an awesome kisser. She loved the way he tenderly sought out her tongue and explored her mouth. And, when he sucked on her bottom lip and let his fangs run over it, her knees pretty much melted out from under her.

  After the kissed ended, Dante asked, “How do you want to do this?”

  “Do you mind if I undress you?”

  He held out his arms. “By all means, I’m yours.”

  Dante was wearing a white T-shirt and jeans with bare feet. She decided it was better to start with the top and move down.

  She walked behind him, reached for the hem of his tee, and slowly pulled it over his head, not paying attention to where it landed. Dante was a beautiful specimen of a man. He was muscular with smooth skin. His back was strong and defined. She wanted to touch him but hesitated.

  What had Kenzie told her again?

  “Now, I wouldn’t normally tell someone to treat someone else like an object, but in this case, it might help you a little. Forget about what Dante is thinking. Forget about what you’re thinking. Just feel. Feel with your hands, and feel with your mind.”

  Phoenix touched Dante’s shoulders. His skin was soft, but the muscles underneath were hard and strong. She moved her hands south, down his back, touching him everywhere.

  She gradually walked around to his front. Dante had his eyes closed, which was kind of a relief. Maybe Dante was just feeling, too. His chest was also smooth but firm. He was absent of any chest hair. He was just strong pecs and small brown nipples. His oblique muscles stood out against his hips, giving him a sexy V-line that would bring out the drool in any heterosexual female.

  He could be on the cover for a romance novel, except for a long scar that started from one shoulder and ended on the opposite hip. It was harder to touch his front where he could look at her at any moment.

  Stop thinking. Just feel.

  She lightly touched his chest, adding a firmer touch as she moved her hands around, and then she got bolder. She traced his scar from hip to shoulder and back down again. She liked it on him. It added to his overall appeal, and she wanted to know where he’d gotten it. But she didn’t want to ruin the moment with talking.

  She moved on, circling around his nipples and t
hen dragging a fingertip over one.

  Dante hissed, but his eyes stayed closed, and his arms remained at his sides.

  She did it again to see if she’d get the same reaction, and she did, but it seemed like he was trying not to make any noise. She liked it though. She felt a little…powerful. She wasn’t new to the feeling. She felt powerful when fighting. But this was different. It was sexual power.

  She looked to the button on his jeans. Now, the big guns.

  Or, more accurately, the big gun.

  She’d seen Dante’s penis outlined in boxers, and she knew he was far from small.

  She unbuttoned the top of his jeans and slowly lowered the zipper. She could tell Dante was already at least semi hard under his boxer briefs, but she tried to ignore it as she encouraged herself to continue.

  Just feel.

  She pushed Dante’s jeans down to his ankles, and he lifted one leg and then the other as she removed them. Now, he stood in his underwear, and there was no hiding the Coke can he kept in his pants. His boxer briefs outlined the whole thing.

  She gave Dante a little push backward, leading him toward his bed. He didn’t protest or question what she was doing, and she cherished that he trusted her. When his legs hit his bed, he sat down. She then gently pushed him back until he was lying down.

  She brought his arms up over his head, but it was Dante who grabbed on to the rungs of his headboard.

  Before she removed his underwear, she looked at his legs, letting her bravery build up a little bit more. He had barely any hair on his legs either. She lingered as long as she dared because she knew Dante must be getting antsy.

  She paused and took a deep breath again.

  Don’t worry about Dante. Just feel.

  As she reached for the top of Dante’s boxer briefs, it almost felt surreal. Am I really doing this? Is this really happening?

  As her fingers touched the skin on the side of his hips and then his legs as she dragged his underwear down, she knew that this was definitely real.

  She kept her eyes on his boxer briefs until she removed them and tossed them off to the side. It was only then that she looked up at his penis and sucked in her breath. When she’d said Coke can in her head, she meant it. Only it was longer.

  Most females would probably love his dick. Phoenix might not date, but she hadn’t been living under a rock. She’d heard plenty of size conversations among women. Although it wasn’t as big of a deal as most men would believe. It wasn’t a deal-breaker for most women, just something to be appreciated and admired.

  Phoenix debated on how to approach it. She didn’t know if she should stand on the side of the bed or if she should get on the bed beside him. She finally decided on the bed and went around to the other side to climb on. Dante’s head turned slightly as he felt the bed move, and he registered where she was.

  Phoenix crawled toward Dante and sat on her knees when she reached him.

  She had to steady her breathing as she felt her heart rate picking up. It was probably hard to imagine that Phoenix had had sex before with two different men, but she never touched a penis with her hands. She was never interested in them before.

  But she found that she wanted to touch Dante. She wanted to know if he felt the same as he did on the rest of his body. His groin had some hair, and his penis stood out among the little he had. It lay on his belly, big and long enough to almost reach his belly button.

  She swallowed. She had no idea how she was ever going to fit it inside her.

  “Don’t think about sex yet.” Another direction from Kenzie. “If you worry too much about the future, you’re going to get caught up in your head and ruin it for yourself. Just feel.”

  Phoenix tentatively used the first two fingers of one hand to touch him. Dante didn’t move, but his penis jerked, and she squeaked as she moved her hand away. When she realized that Dante wasn’t going to go anywhere or do anything, she touched it again. It jerked again, but this time, she was ready for it.

  She applied more pressure and began touching him from base to tip. She noticed his breathing had changed, and he pretty much held his breath anytime she came to his head. Kenzie had warned that it was the most sensitive part of the male anatomy.

  The human had also told her a few other things.

  Phoenix wrapped her hand around Dante’s penis, amazed that her fingers didn’t even touch her thumb. She squeezed him, and Dante sucked in a breath. She then pumped her fist up and down once.

  Dante had tried to whisper, but she heard him mutter, “Oh, shit.”

  Phoenix smiled, feeling dominant and enjoying it. She loved Dante’s reaction to her. She needn’t worry about him not liking what she did.

  She pumped her fist a few more times, admiring the way Dante’s hips came off the bed even though he seemed to be trying to keep them still. His knuckles were white from clutching the headboard so tightly.

  She kept up the movement, watching as Dante lost control, but she didn’t stop. She knew he wouldn’t hurt her, and she liked seeing this side of him.

  People accused Phoenix of always being so in control of herself, but Dante was the same way. He was forever the leader, guiding his fellow Guardians.

  Phoenix didn’t stop what she was doing to Dante until a huge groan and a loud curse left his mouth. His already incredibly hard penis stiffened even further, and his cum shot out of him as he orgasmed. It landed on his belly and chest in an amount that surprised her.

  She hadn’t realized there was that much when males came. And, for a fleeting second, she thought it would be just that much more likely to get her pregnant. It kind of fascinated her that this was all she needed to make a baby.

  With her other hand, she touched the white fluid with her fingertips, amazed to find it a little sticky. Then, because she’d heard plenty of stories about blow jobs, Phoenix brought her fingers to her lips and sucked on them.

  She swore he tasted like cinnamon.

  “WHY DON’T WE go sit over there?” Quentin said to Hunter, pointing to an empty booth in the corner.

  “I think that’s a good idea,” Hunter agreed.

  They grabbed their beverages and made their way over to the circle booth in the corner. They both sat with Quentin putting several feet between them, so they could look at each other.

  “So, I obviously missed something while I was getting us drinks. What happened?”

  Hunter didn’t know how to answer right away. He didn’t want to sound like he was accusing the shifter of anything or that what he’d found out was a bad thing because it wasn’t. Hunter had simply been surprised.

  “Your friends seem to think I’m your date. I told them that I’m not. Am I?”

  “Do you not want to be my date because you’re unsure of where we stand? Or because you’re not gay?”

  The look on Quentin’s face was serious, and instinct told Hunter that how he answered was very important.

  “Well, to be honest, I’m not sure if I’m gay or not. Like I told you the other night, I had kind of come to the conclusion I was asexual because I’d never been attracted to females or males. You know, asexuality is a real thing, right? I actually did quite a bit of research on it. It didn’t quite fit for me though because I, uh…like to pleasure myself. So, then you entered my life, and I didn’t really know what to think.”

  Quentin nodded, so Hunter continued, “I was shocked when they told me that you were gay though. Although it makes sense why there are mostly guys in here. I guess I always thought that gay bars were…”

  “More flamboyant?”

  Hunter winced. “No, just more lively. It’s so tame in here.”

  “Well, this is a bar, not a nightclub. Just like straight bars and nightclubs, there is a difference. I like it here because it’s easier to hang and talk with friends. Nightclubs can be more for hooking up sometimes.”

  “That makes sense.”

  “Look, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you beforehand. It’s just that I didn’t want your view to
be prejudiced before you even walked through the door. It’s almost harder with guys right out of the closet than straight guys. It was for me.”

  “For you?”

  “Yeah, I was kind of like you. I coasted through high school, dating the head cheerleader who wanted to stay a virgin until marriage. It never occurred to me that it didn’t bother me until I started hanging out with Noah. I was the perfect boyfriend for her, and she was the perfect beard. I just didn’t know it until Noah asked me why I didn’t even want to have sex with my girlfriend. The rest of the pieces fell into place. I broke up with my girlfriend and started dating Noah.”

  Hunter cleared his throat. “So, do you think I’m gay?”

  Quentin tilted his head. “Would you have a problem with it if you were?”

  Hunter gave the question truthful consideration. “I’ll be honest. Yes, and no.”

  Quentin raised his brow, apparently surprised by his honest answer. “How so?”

  “Well, I say yes because vampires are old-fashioned, as you probably already know. I can only imagine how my family would react. And I have no idea what the Vampire Council would do. Hopefully, my position as a Guardian wouldn’t be threatened.

  “I say no because, while I might be accepted for being the way I am, I’ve always wondered what everyone was talking about when it came to sex. Especially when feeding. So many of my friends love to feed when having sex. It really ups the sensations. I’ve never felt it. I only feed because I need to. I always thought that maybe I just had to wait to meet that special someone. I just didn’t know that someone would be a him instead of a her.”

  Hunter caught the deer-in-the-headlights look on Quentin’s face.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to imply that you are stuck with me for the rest of my life or that we have to date or…jeez.” Way to go, Hunter. Scare the guy off. “I was just trying to explain how it feels to be me.”

  Quentin scooted closer. “So, that night we were assigned to each other…I’ve been wondering about that. You seemed like you wanted to get away from me. Was that because I was gay or—”

  “Oh, no. That was because of my reaction to you. I didn’t know what was happening, and I didn’t want to scare you away or have you think I was weird.”