“You’re trembling. Your breathing is erratic. What else could it be?” His voice was almost playful. As playful as he got anyway. I was coming to learn that Prudence had about two emotions. Blank and horny.

“Excitement.” I swallowed, my throat bobbing as I felt the tickle of his hair brush my cheek. So close and yet so far. The baseball caps blurred. “You make me so fucking excited.”

“Fuck,” Prudence hissed, low and throaty. A hand closed around my neck, fingers digging into my windpipe. He squeezed in a soft pulse that had me breathless for a few agonizingly glorious seconds before he slackened the grip enough I could breathe again. “You know just how to push my buttons, don’t you, Pinkie?”

“I’m not trying to.”

“Liar,” Prudence tsked almost fondly, pressing his teeth threateningly against the sensitive hollow beneath my ear for the second time since I’d met him. Liar was quickly becoming my favorite insult. I melted, tipping my head invitingly to the side as much as I could with him holding my neck in place. Slutty. Overeager. All the things I’d been too self-conscious to be with anyone else.

I’d worn the bruises he’d left behind with pride, though they had sadly already started to heal splotchy yellow. Soon enough they’d be gone altogether. Maybe, I’d be lucky he’d leave more.

There were no masks between us. All his sharp edges fit against mine. It wasn’t fair that I’d met my perfect match and he was already dead.

And yet…I couldn’t stop myself from craving him.

“Are you ashamed?” Prudence hummed, his teeth digging into my jugular hard enough I was sure their impression would be left behind, his voice turned to rubble. The promise of pain was all I needed to let go. Like a string had been cut, I sagged into the possessive, familiar grip he had on my throat, my lashes fluttering. “Are you ashamed that you let me touch you like this? That you let me talk to you like this? That you like it?”

“What do you want from me?” I asked, my voice barely a whisper, croaky and weak as I felt his teeth slowly release the grip they had on the tendon in my neck. A shudder ran up my spine and I couldn’t suppress the breathless whimper that left me. He was a predator, it didn’t take a genius to figure out that one. I was willing prey.

Tingles. Tingly. Tingly-tingly-tingles all over.

My belly flipped, my cock weeping—like just feeling the cool grip of his fingers, the bite of his teeth, the whisper of his breath, was enough to make me sex-stupid.

“I want you to take your cock out.” Prudence almost sounded bored. The possessive grip he had on my neck betrayed him.

“No—” I whimpered, because what the fuck? But also—why was I saying no? “No, sorry. I don’t—I don’t mean, no. I just mean…that’s not what I was asking.” What had I even asked?

Right. I’d asked what he wanted from me.

Prudence was silent and I squirmed. He made no move to continue without my permission though, and a giant green flag flared as I trembled. Shit. Why was I saying no again?

Clearly, I was stupid.

Or Violet’s words were getting to me.

I swallowed, too aware of the way my Adam’s apple pressed against the scratch of his cold palm. “I want to know more about you than what it feels like to be bossed around.”

“‘Bossed around?’” I could practically feel his amusement making the air between us flicker with static before he gave my neck a playful squeeze and spoke again. “You would rather chat than let me touch your cock?” Oh. Oh. Fuck. Was he offering? God, what was I doing, passing up an opportunity like this?

“How about chatting and then cock touching?” I offered hopefully.

“Pick one.” Prudence cut off my air supply, and my whole body lit up like a firework. Sex, sex, sex, it chanted. But my stupid-whore mouth betrayed me again.

“I want you to answer my questions,” I managed.

Idiot.

God, I was an idiot.

Prudence sighed, his grip slackening as he pulled back, fingers still teasingly brushing the sensitive goose pebbled flesh. A rush of air filled my lungs and I gasped. Prudence stroked appraisingly over the bob of my Adam’s apple and I immediately missed the restriction of his tight grip. How fucked up was that?

I could feel his saliva drying on my neck, the chill made me shiver all over.

How was that even possible? How could he have saliva at all? How…how…how…?

“You get three questions.”

There was no way in hell that was enough.