Page 48 of How to Flirt with a Hellhound
“Didsheknow you were dating?” Atlas asked.
Ah, there we go. That made more sense. This guy was just delusional. Nothing like me and Toby. Toby liked me.
“The bitch thought she could make a fool of me and cheat on me,” he spat out.
There it was—the evil creeping out. He ranted a bit more about how he’d been wronged, and women were awful, and they deserved what they got, and blah blah blah.
“Maybe you’re actually the problem,” I finally commented, then I slipped the gag back up and into his mouth.
“Oh goody, is it time for fun?” Atlas asked.
“Toby needs some ideas for a torture scene he’s writing in his book. Something new and interesting. I put him onto medieval torture devices, but none of those are available, sadly. Any suggestions aside from the usual fingernails and cutting and beating?” I said to Atlas.
Atlas hummed as he thought. “There’s tooth extraction. Quite painful but not even remotely fatal. We could cut off his dick and shove it down his throat. He seems to have a problem with keeping himself in check when it comes to women. There’s flaying—that’s pretty old school, and really, it’s an art.”
The man started crying and screaming behind his gag, but I felt no sympathy. He had tortured women in this very basement. I looked over at Atlas, who pulled a pair of pliers and a knife out of the bag next to him that I hadn’t even noticed until now.
“Do I get to help?” he asked.
Brothers. They always wanted to be involved in everything you were doing. I rolled my eyes but motioned him forward. It was nice to see Atlas, after all, and I wouldn’t turn down some bonding time.
Chapter 19
Toby
Idid a deep dive into medieval torture devices, and it was kind of ingenious for my book. It was also totally something ancient vampires would be into, so it fit my plot perfectly.
Was it weird that I fell a little harder for Dexter every time he gave me plot ideas? I mean, he was totally inspirational for the sex scenes, but he was also really good at helping me talk through my other plot points, and he had great ideas. Not everyone thought talking about torture and dismemberment was fun, but it was totally our love language.
Awww, we had a love language. I was so there for that. Boyfriend goals, activated.
Ok, I knew I was getting corny, but my brain was mush after all the research and writing I’d done. I put my computer down and stood up and stretched. I felt like I’d been working for days, but only a couple of hours had passed. I wondered if Dex was back from his errands? I wondered if it would be weird to go check?
I meandered out onto my front porch and looked over at Dex’s house. Corbin was sitting in a chair on the porch, and there were crows lined up on the railing in front of him.
Because, you know, that was totally normal. They all seemed to look my way at the same time, which was also super weird. I gave an awkward little wave, and he gave a head nod in my direction. I debated walking over there, but before I could make a decision Corbin called out, “Dex, Toby is done working.”
I heard a muffled sound from inside, then Corbin called over, “He’ll be right over!”
I gave my awkward little wave again and headed inside. Ok then. Dex was coming over. And he was… gonna stay the night? Hang out? Have sex with me?
Was it bad that I really hoped we were gonna have sex?
Should I shower? I mean, I’d showered this morning, and then I’d sat on my couch and worked, so it’s not like I had worked up a sweat. But, you know, if sexy things were on the horizon…
I ran upstairs to my en-suite bathroom, figuring getting myself ready was better than an unsexy moment. I rushed through some preparation and cleaned myself up. I debated throwing some ball cream on that Sebbie had gotten me as a joke, and I opened the container and took a whiff of the stuff. It definitely smelled strong, but it wasn’t a bad smell. I didn’t want to smell like I was expecting something, though, and what if Dex noticed the smell?
Yes, that was totally a weird thought, but Dex was always sniffing me, and what if he didn’t like the scent of the stuff? I didn’t always like the smell of lotions. What if he went to give me head and gagged on the taste of it? It probably tasted awful. Lotion and lube both usually tasted awful. Unless it was flavored lube, I guessed, but I didn’t have any of that.
So, definitely no ball cream. And did I even have condoms? I had lube, because, you know, of course I did. But I didn’t think I had condoms. And maybe Dex wasn’t even expecting to do anything, and I was getting way ahead of myself.
“Toby?” I heard as my front door slammed.
“Relax, Toby. If he wants to have sex, you’re prepared, and if he doesn’t, then it’s fine,” I muttered to myself.
I could hear his steps coming quickly up the stairs, and I opened the bathroom door just as he came into the bedroom.
He was freshly showered, because his hair was still damp and his shirt was clinging to his chest. It looked like he had hopped out of the shower and headed straight here, and my dick perked up at the sight of him. Fuck, he was so sexy.
