Page 24 of Because the Night

He pins my wrists behind my back with one hand, the other hand already undoing the buttons of my coat. “I can’t remember much about my mortal life. But I can remember so clearly how on that first night, the whole sky seemed to come to life.”

“Leave the buttons alone. You’re getting blood and ash on my suit.”

“I’ll buy you another,” he says. “I’ll buy you whatever the fuck you want. Of course, there were no city lights to compete with back then. Still, it was awe inspiring. More than the strength and speed, it was being able to see the stars like that.”

This isn’t like when Henry held me. My awareness of him physically was next to nil. Don’t get me wrong, he’s an attractive boy. But that’s exactly what he is, an extremely old fuckboy.

Lucas, on the other hand, feeds the lust higher. The way he holds me is both firm and gentle at the same time. His body is bigger and stronger, and his voice…there’s something hypnotic about it. When I struggle and get nowhere, part of me almost doesn’t mind. Proving once and for all that my hormones have terrible taste. Just the absolute worst. Giving in, however, is not an option. Not with him.

“I don’t care if you haven’t gotten laid in seventy years,” I say, turning and tugging on my wrists to try and escape. “Get your pity sex elsewhere.”

His laugh is low and rough. “No one talks to me like you. Even Henry respects my limits. But you just say whatever comes to mind, don’t you?”

“Lucas…”

“Relax. We’re not fucking. I don’t think that would be a good idea,” he says. “You strike me as the sort who takes intercourse too seriously.”

“Wait a minute. You think I’ve never just hooked up? Really?”

“Hooked up?” he repeats. “What an interesting phrase. As I was saying, I have no interest in suffering through the infatuation of a newborn discovering vampire sex. This is purely a one-time thing. I’m just going to deal with your little problem and then I’ll let you go.”

“How about you don’t do me any favors and let me deal with it on my own.”

“Hm. No.” He undoes the last button and pushes my coat open, baring my breasts in the black lace bralette. The hold on my wrists tightens as he sighs. “Skye, look at you. Fuck. You’re so pretty.”

“You thought I was homely.”

He pauses. “I never said that.”

And that’s the truth. I heard the thought inside my head. But I am not in a mood to talk about it right now. “I don’t want this, Lucas. Do you hear me?”

“Oh, you want it.” He presses his nose against the side of my face and inhales the scent of me again. And the way he groans. “Your body is practically screaming for it.”

“My body is an idiot and my brain knows better. And if we’re not having sex, why are you undressing me?”

“Like I was saying, I’ve always enjoyed a view.” His fingertip trails from my throat down, down, down. Between my breasts and over my stomach. Just when I think he’s going to put his hand in my pants, he smooths his palm over the front of my suit pants. Which is absolutely a relief. Any other thought is an anomaly. “What Henry said reminded me,” he says. “You wanted to talk about consent?”

“You’re not funny.”

“I have to agree with you. Humor has never been my talent. But Ihavebeen told I’m good with my hands.” His hand curves over my crotch and presses firmly. And the pressure is wonderful. Like my favorite vibrator and showerhead working in tandem.

My insides squeeze tight, and oh wow. This is so wrong. He is still the asshole who killed me. I go up on my tiptoes, trying to escape him, but it’s useless. He can probably feel how wet I am even through the material of my panties and pants.

The pad of his thumb finds my clitoris and applies the same delicious pressure. I can feel myself coming already. And I am never this fast and ready. It must be a vampire thing.

Heat shoots through me from top to toe. All of it centering on my sex. My nipples ache and every inch of skin feels oversensitive. Like the night air on the sides of my breasts and belly is enough to push me over. But it’s his damn touch and his voice that does it.

“So beautiful,” he whispers into my hair.

A sob catches in my throat and it’s all too much. The moon and stars could disappear from the sky and I would neither notice nor care. My head falls back on his shoulder and my body shudders as the sensation goes on and on. Another vampire benefit, apparently. Orgasms that are out of this world. It’s as if I’ve been born anew to pleasure and sin. And throughout it all, he holds me so tight it’s like nothing bad can touch me. Nothing can ever hurt me again. With the exception of him, of course.

How embarrassing. It was so easy for him to decimate me. I didn’t feel an ounce of shame before, but for some reason I am full of it now. I push out of his hold and this time he lets me go. Just as well. Then he just stands there in the dark, looking as handsome as sin, watching me with those immortal eyes.

I do my buttons back up with fumbling fingers. The horrible thing is, he’s taken the edge off the lust. But I could so easily fall to my knees and beg for more. And I bet he knows it too.

“What?” I snap.

“Honestly?” He shrugs. “I was half expecting you to try and hit me.”

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