SEXUAL CONTENT WARNING

Chapter 10: Fever Dreams

My scream tore my throat raw, only for the sound to turn to a gargling choke as my attacker sunk sharp fangs into my neck. Skin gave way with a sickening pop, then a crunch of bone, followed by the sickening sound of bubbling blood. The iron taste of it spilled from my mouth, coating my lips, my chin, my neck. . .

Pain radiated like fire, scalding my veins, sizzling at nerves, blinding my sight in flashes of orange and white.

Again and again I banged my fist against the cold metal of the garage door at my back, waiting to for someone to come, waiting for the pain to ebb, but in this reality, no one came.

No one saved me.

In the end, the cold touch of death steals me away in a mess of bony fingers clutching my flesh, and lips frantically pulling at the last drops of blood.

A sharp pinch to my inner thigh brought me flying upright, eyes snapping open to an unfamiliar bedroom and an unfamiliar duvet twisted between my legs, the sheets sticking to sweat slick skin. Panting so hard the air burned down my throat, panic tight around my chest, it wasn't until a pair of dark eyes came into my vision that my mind stopped whirring enough to come back to me.

I was in Taran's room. His bed. And it was his pale face tugged into a concerned frown, his fingers stroking the stinging spot he'd pinched to rouse me from my nightmare.

"You're safe, Little Mouse. Breathe with me, slower, in and out." He sucked in a deep breath through his nose, and for some reason my body was compelled to copy, holding it in starved lungs before following him as he let it back out his mouth.

Two or three more times he had me do it, the soft circle of his fingers on my thigh both soothing and electrifying all at once. My gaze fell to watch the affectionate way he touched me, so unlike his usual self, as was the reflection of that affection and worry in his normally coal cool eyes. Fingers of fear still scratched at my spine, images of my attack flashing in my head on a reel.

Acting without thought, I threw myself at Taran so hard that when my lips crushed against his, our teeth clicked together. A sound of confusion left him, his hands lifting to press my shoulders back.

"Sorcha, no."

"Please," I whispered against his lips, kicking the duvet away so I could practically crawl into his lap, still too drowsy with sleep to feel any shame. "Please, I can't. . .I don't want to think, please."

Again he tried to push me away, but with far less determination than the first time. "We should talk about what you dreamt about. You can't push away what happened forever."

But one more night wasn't forever.

He sighed as my fingers crept down his naked chest to play at the band of the boxers he wore, but it was the nip of my teeth at his throat that broke his will. He growled, and at first I thought I'd pushed too far and was in for swift retaliation, Taran shoving me so my back hit the bed so he could prowl over me.

"Did I not warn you about biting vampires?" he asked roughly, his hands pinning my wrists by my head, nose brushing mine as those dark eyes threatened to devour. "It's an invitation I am not gentlemanly enough to refuse, brazen little mouse. No matter how sweetly you scream."

Oh gods, how could such words elicit anything but fear? How did it make the fire in my belly grow so hot I began to squirm.

And scream I did.

Once again I was forced to listen to the sickening pop of flesh giving way to fangs, and to watch the sight of my blood drip down my skin. Pain overwhelmed any spark of arousal the touch of Taran's lip on my inner thigh might have lit. The agony of refusing to relax to a vampires bite was all to familiar a nightmare to be dredging up. Panic took hold, my hands jerking out to tug at silky soot dark hair, hands that were then engulfed in his grip.

"Stop," I managed to gasp out.

Of course he didn't.

He had warned me.

I tried to wrestle my hands free, caught in the burning sensation spreading across my leg as hungry sounds emanated from the man I couldn't decide if I wanted closer or further away. The sounds he made, the lecherous moans as if he was feasting on the most expensive of delicacies, should have made my stomach turn. Except Taran stole my inhibitions from me with creeping fingers that used my splayed legs to his advantage. Lifting my hands out of his way, he must have been determined to draw out another scream, the way he explored every inch of hot flesh between my legs except for the spot he inspired to ache.

When he groaned again, I groaned with him.

I didn't realise he'd released my wrists, that I'd stopped fighting to instead curl my fingers into the creased bedsheets, my hips chasing his fingers the more he denied the stretch of his fingers or the electricity of his touch on my throbbing clit.

When he finally gave me what I needed to tip me over the edge, I was a writhing mess he had to pin still so his fangs wouldn't tear at my flesh. Not that I cared when pleasure tightened every muscle and locked every bad memory back into their boxes.

The moment he pulled his fangs free, I was able to suck in a proper breath that caught again when he removed his touch from me too. Back arched, mouth gaping, coming down from being so high was a shock to my system. I fell back to the bed so hard the mattress bounced, eyes glued to the twin pinprick marks on my thigh, blood still leaking a trail down, gathering to drop to the bed.

"Ah ah ah." Taran caught my leg in his grip and lowered his head, dark eyes holding mine as his tongue flicked out to catch the drop before it hit the bed.

A strangled sound escaped my throat.

His tongue swept up over the bite marks and I watched in amazement as they scabbed over before my eyes. Taran nodded, murmuring more to himself than me, and with an edge of unease, "That's a good sign."

"Then why are you frowning?"

"Healing quickly means you're no longer on deaths door."

"But?"

"That quickly means there's still a fair amount of vampire blood in your system."

Wren's blood, to be more specific.

"I shouldn't have fed from you so soon. I don't want to complicate things further."

How his feeding from me would complicate things anymore than they were, he gave no explanation for. Muscled chest expanding with a heavy breath, he kept my leg cradled in his hand, my ankle resting on his shoulder, still very much positioned at his whim despite conversation.

It was telling in more ways than one.

"Such greedy eyes," he muttered, almost accusingly. I got the feeling he didn't mean the way my gaze raked over his impressive form, and the inked artwork that decorated it.

I squirmed on the bed.

This wasn't the distraction I'd had in mind when I'd initiated a kiss.

Being under his gaze felt like a baring of the soul with nowhere to hide.

Was that what this was; a punishment for trying to use him? If it was, the pain and irritation in his expression said that he wasn't enjoying this either. Why? What wasn't I giving him that he wanted? Something his other bed buddies did, because suddenly, with fingers twitching where they held my calf, I got the feeling he wanted me anywhere but his bed.

Then hesitation was gone in a flash of a smirk, Taran leaning over my body with my leg still caught on his shoulder so he could sweep his thumb along my bottom lip. He pushed the warm digit into my mouth with little ceremony, pressing down on my tongue. His smirk grew wider when he slid his thumb further back until he found my limit.

I gagged, gripping his wrist as tears filled my eyes, but he relented quickly, pulling his thumb free and allowing me to sit up on my elbows to cough.

I shot him a glare.

"Three taps on my arm tells me to slow down, four tells me stop immediately in the same way your safe word does," he explained, the roughness of arousal coating his tone.

This was what was missing. Me at his mercy. He didn't appear put off as I wiped escaped saliva from my chin. Even through the blur of tears I tried to blink away, his deep breaths, and the tent in his boxers, I could tell he liked seeing the struggle as I fought between the humiliation demanding I say no more, and the throbbing between my legs whispering that deep down, a dark part of me enjoyed it.

His smirk was gone, but when I didn't move, his expression was undeniably pleased. Perhaps even softened by a measure of surprise. "I gave you pleasure after your punishment last night, and denied myself any." Slowly lowering my leg back to the bed, he took my hands in his and tugged me to kneel as he was.

He didn't have to say anything else. What he wanted was obvious. I felt heat rise to my face all over again.

I'd done it before, of course I had. It was probably the first sexual act I'd performed on someone else in my fumbling teens. But Taran wasn't a horny teenage boy, or a straight-laced man of my father's ilk. There was also the fact that Taran was by no means of a. . .manageable size.

So why was the heat between my legs growing tenfold at the nasty images my mind conjured up. My tongue stroked along the back of my teeth, knowing fine and well that I would not compare with the women he'd had before.

As if he sensed that, his hand cupped my cheek so his wet thumb could trace the curve of my lip with his nail.

"I'm not asking for perfection, Little Mouse," he murmured. "Just obedience."

Settling my breath, I relaxed my posture and placed my hands on the tops of my thigh. The look of approval he gave me, the flash of pleased delight in his eyes, I would have done it sooner if I knew such a look would warm my skin as much as it did, a smile tugging at my lips that mirrored his own.

"Good girl."

I nearly moaned around the thumb still lingering at my lips, as if he was the one hesitating now. He didn't for long. The moment I could no longer stop my gaze from darting down to his boxers again, he threw whatever caution he had to the wind. Once more I wondered about my inner self, about why the fear that flipped my stomach as he yanked his boxers down and gripped my hair tight, also caused a flood of wet heat to soak my inner thighs.

He didn't shove me like I thought he would, like one of my exes had before while waving his dick in front of me. No, despite him being in control, he waited for me to make the first move, which didn't take much encouragement when the sight of him holding and stroking his own cock was enough to make my mouth water rather than cower back.

"I can't be gentle."

I nearly rolled my eyes at his husky words.

That was a warning he didn't have to say out loud, though it did make the prospect slightly more daunting. I had to trust him. That was how this worked. I had to trust that he would stop when asked and he had to trust. . .well, I wasn't quite sure yet what I was getting from him in return.

He wasn't gentle, but he was forgiving.

The moment I looked down, he took it as permission, or submission, angling my head back so he could push past my lips, the hard length of him sliding along my tongue, reaching the point my eyes began to stream before pulling out. When he slid in again, I sucked in my cheeks, feeling my own burst of satisfaction when he answered my efforts with a rough groan. He let me get used to a few more shallow strokes, murmuring in approval at the pressure of my tongue stroking the underside of his cock, then he uttered a harsh order to swallow; my only warning before he thrusts himself down my throat.

My hands pressed firmly against his thighs, panic blurring thought as I fought not to choke, instinct telling me to cough.

"Swallow," he ground out, fingers knotting all the tighter in my hair.

He chuckled when I complied, my gaze darting up to his when the panic subsided. A tug on my hair brought my head back until the hot head of him barely rested against my mouth. I blushed furiously at the drool I wasn't quick enough to wipe from my chin, not that it mattered when he was plunging deep into the depths of my mouth, setting up a pace to fast to keep up with. So I knelt there, thighs pressed together to ease the throbbing of arousal, with my nails digging into his thighs for purchase, sucking in air through my nose and swallowing every time he hit the back of my tongue.

"Fuck, Little Mouse, take it."

I moaned despite my embarrassment, and Taran must have found the sensation pleasing because suddenly he slammed to deep for me to breathe. Eyes squeezed shut, I was barely ready when I felt the first hot lash of his orgasm hit my throat, his body tensing beneath my fingers and a guttural cry scraping past his lips that sent my senses haywire. My palm was hitting his leg three times before I realised, and he pulled back enough for me to breathe, spilling onto my tongue instead.

My first thought was to immediately run to the bathroom, but when the blurry vision of Taran cleared up, hooded eyes still misted with pleasure as his cock pulsed in my mouth, I overcame that prudish urge and forced myself to swallow.

I was rewarded with a slow curling grin.

The cat was pleased.

He stared down at me, shoulders heaving as his fingers stroked over my cheek, with a stunned look, the words he spoke seeming to surprise him as much as they did me when he found his voice. "There will be something for you on the table in the kitchen downstairs, a reward for just how obedient you've proven to be, but I want you to wait for me to open it. I want to see your face when you do."

"Are you going somewhere?" I was embarrassed by the husky tone of my voice, and the way I had to clear it of phlegm, but Taran's lips twitched and he crossed the room to pour me a glass of water.

"I need to report your attack," he replied, returning to hold the cool glass to my lips and tipping so I had to swallow, leaving me unable to ask what he meant as he added, "Then I need to sleep. Laura will be here soon to keep you company and bring your things. You should confide in her about what happened that night, and about how you're really feeling. With her you dinnae have to worry about what you say. She's your friend, so you can be honest."

Jeez, did he want to be my protector or my therapist? I didn't want to inspect how I really felt anymore than Taran probably wanted to speak about his feelings.

"Another rule before I go - Beyond Laura, beyond those in this pub, and any I choose to include, our relationship is. . .private."

I wasn't allowed to talk about us? Maybe he wanted to drive me to therapy. He was waving so many red flags again that I should have been reconsidering our arrangement. It felt like he was waiting for me to do just that, to back down and say no more.

But what was not telling anyone about him anyway? Apart from Laura, I had no real friends who would pry about where I was sleeping at night, and my family were too far away and probably too angry with me to care. If they found out. . .well, it was better for everyone if Taran and I weren't photographed out together. The last thing I needed was to make another headline, this time for dating my boss; especially when – in my parent's social circles – he was a low-class pub owner. . .with a sex club downstairs. And a vampire at that.

If my mother found out there really was a way to freeze her looks for eternity, she would probably start throwing money at him in return for his blood to add to her weird smoothies.

"Something funny?"

I pressed my lips together and shook my head. "No, Sir."