Beau Knight’s apartment was pitch-black when we entered. Slowly, my eyes adjusted, taking in the high-end steel kitchen and the smooth leather sofa. A few feet away stood a large black bed. It was like a bachelor style apartment, in hues of rich browns and black.
Everything was in one big room, which left little to no privacy.
I walked inside slowly, eyeing the full-length windows at the back of the apartment. I knew Beau had a good wage from Scorpios for patrolling us low bloods, but I hadn’t expected such a clean, modern apartment. Of course, from the money he made at the Pit, that probably gave him a decent amount of cash to live off.
The comparison between our two places made my stomach drop. He had seen my life. Everything I owned fit into one tiny, dusty backpack. My neck flushed at the thought.
Beau moved past me, shrugging out of his leather jacket and tossed it on the back of the couch. With just his t-shirt on, I could see his back muscles twisting underneath the fabric.
And my heart squeezed tight at the memory of his dark features when he saw me, pinned down, helpless.
Anger and power had radiated off of him as he stormed the Pit and made his way toward us. Those same emotions still clung to him like a heavy cloak.
I swallowed thickly, the hunger for more of his essence aching deep in my chest. I brushed it off. I usually was able to go for weeks without feeding off of someone’s soul, but since I tasted Beau’s, the need had grown and intensified. His soul had been too much, too powerful as if my body had already chosen to anchor itself to it with one simple taste.
“I’ll take the couch,” I said, walking around the leather sofa and sitting down.
“Fuck no,” Beau said, turning to face me. “Take the bed, I’ll take the couch.”
My lips parted, the desire to refuse, to argue with him strong but I straightened and stood, his dark, heated eyes on me the whole time.
I moved past him, making sure our bodies didn’t graze and walked to the large bed. I stared at the black sheets, crisp and clean. I sat down on the edge, letting my fingers spread over the covers. The mattress was firm, not soft—just like Beau.
“The bathroom’s there,” Beau said, gesturing to a door in-between the living room space and the bedroom area. “Use whatever you need.”
I thought of showering, of washing the man’s hands off of me made me shiver but seeing me naked…all the bruises on my body would hurt me. Another monster who had touched me, who had beaten me. Did I attract these men? Did I deserve this? Was this some kind of punishment?
“Lex?” Beau’s voice pulled me out of my thoughts. “Did you hear me?”
I had been staring at my fingers, tracing the smoothness of his sheets.
I nodded, unable to speak as I watched him sit down on the sofa and untie his black boots, his inked fingers skillfully, aggressively pulling at the laces. I followed the curve of his back, his black t-shirt riding up to expose his tanned, tattooed skin. It was a large, horrifying skull. His dark hair swept to one side, rich and thick. Something to hold onto.
I swallowed thickly at that thought and my mouth watered.
I could taste his soul now and it still was tinged with anger. It always would be I figured, but now it had the heaviness of bitter honey. Rich and thick.
My hands went to my thighs and I rubbed my knees vigorously, trying to get ahold of myself.
“I’m hungry,” I whispered, ignoring the flush to my cheeks.
Beau kicked off his loose boots, not bothering to look up at me. “There’s leftover pizza in the fridge.” I watched him grab a joint of belladonna and light it, a thick cloud of smoke escaping his sinful mouth.
I paused, letting a shiver run through me. “No…I’m…” Beau’s dark eyes glanced up at me, his head still tilted downward. “I need to feed.”
Understanding what I meant, Beau’s nostrils flared, and I noted his hands rolling into fists on his legs, his knuckles turning bright white.
“Fine,” he hissed out through his teeth, the belladonna still in his mouth. He gripped the joint and puffed out another few drags. He leaned back into the leather sofa, his thick thighs spreading wide open. “Come feed on me, cucciola.”
I took a deep breath and stood, my legs weak, my hands shaking as I neared the beast lounging in all his sinful glory.
He blew out another puff, his chin tilted back, two inked fingers at the base of the joint and I breathed in the belladonna. I stood in front of him, unsure what to do next as he considered me.
“Sit,” he ordered, his free hand leaving his thigh, indicating to sit on his lap.
I swallowed, rolling my bottom lip between my teeth and slowly, moved over him, my knees on either side of his strong thighs.
I glanced up through my lashes at him, his eyes heavy and heated to the point I felt like he was burning me with his stare.
“Simply platonic,” he whispered. Clouds of smoke blew from his mouth and entered my parted lips, coating my tongue with the rich essence of belladonna. He took the joint out of his mouth and let it rest between his inked forefinger and middle finger.
I leaned in closer, allowing my chest to graze his. Slowly, carefully, as my mouth neared his, he blew out the rest of the belladonna and I closed my eyes, soaking in its high.
“I used to fear you,” I whispered into my own darkness and invading his own. All I heard was his heavy breathing, low and steady. “But I still imagined how it would feel if you touched me.”
His body grew still beneath mine.
“I always wondered how your hands would feel on me.” The tip of my index finger caressed the underside of his hand. “Hard, warm and rough,” I muttered, opening my eyes to take in his full mouth. “I wondered if you’d be prone to oblige by your instincts. If you’d dominate me. If you’d take and take and take—and how I’d probably let you.”
My top lip met his bottom one and I sucked it in, letting myself savor the sweetness of him there. He didn’t touch me, he didn’t move, but I so badly wanted him to be rough. To flip me over and use me.
But we both knew so far, I’d been the one doing all the using. And he was letting me.
I moved closer, letting his bottom lip go, a gasp leaving my own mouth as I pressed it to his. My fingers trailed up his chest, feeling the ridges of his steel body and up to his neck, tangling in his dark, thick hair.
I wanted him to react. I wanted him to be unable to not touch me back.
I nipped at his mouth—not sweetly and opened my eyes to see him glaring down at me.
I licked his bottom lip gently and deepened the kiss. My tongue met his and just like that, his flavor overwhelmed me again.
It was the elixir no one had warned me about before I’d already poured the whole damn thing down my throat. The kind you got addicted to with a mere sip. But I hadn’t just taken a sip, I’d gulped it down like the depraved souleater I was. And now, here we were.
Both of my hands cupped his jaw and I sucked at the bittersweet power of his chaotic soul.
I was using him. I was feeding from the very mouth of a god and I wanted more. I drank his poison and I let it burn me. His sins. His demons. Everything toxic and powerful about Beau.
I rocked once—and he moaned low in his throat, his hands going to my hips to stop my movements. I pushed against his hold, managing to rock again only to feel his hardness against my inner thigh.
“Fuck,” he breathed out and his hands moved to each ass cheek, squeezing.
His soul was a tidal wave, consuming me.
I let my head drop and his chest moved rapidly, trying to catch his breath. I had fed enough to know the dangers of not stopping when it was time to. Of taking too much of someone’s soul. I’d heard of demons passing out or even dying. Because their entire essence had been sucked dry from them.
Beau gripped my forearms and shifted us so he could stand. He was angry again, the emotion stronger than before. He made his way to the bathroom, slamming the door behind him.
At the sound of water running, I closed my eyes.
BEAU
I fisted my hard cock and rested my other hand on the tiled wall, the water rushing down my back. She had fed on me twice now—and each time I remembered how she felt against me, how her mouth had nipped and sucked and used me—my cock swelled.
If she hadn’t stopped when she did, I would have fucked her so hard her knees would’ve left an imprint on the leather of my couch forever.
I had wanted to try and let her feed on me without touching her. Without involving myself, letting her use me to get what she needed. But her breathy voice speaking those vulgar words had aroused me.
And when her tiny body had rocked against me, she had moaned, feeling my own arousal.
I jerked my wrist aggressively, needing another release before I ventured back into the living room with her sleeping in my bed a few feet away.
My beast wanted to fuck her. He wanted to dominate and use her and claim her as his.
I couldn’t let that happen.
I shut my eyes and tried to think of something, anything, but my mind only pictured her. Her full pink lips and how her hard nipples brushed against my chest and her body weight on top of me.
How I’d squeezed her ass and how much I wanted her to suck me dry, to use her mouth to make me come on her tongue.
And ask her how filthy my soul tasted.
At that final thought, I came, spluttering onto the tiled floor, the water washing away the evidence of my desire.
I shut off the shower and grabbed a towel, rubbing myself dry. I slipped on some grey sweats and ran my fingers through my hair, pushing it out of my face. I braced myself as I opened the door and found Lex lying on the couch.
I paused, scanning her relaxed features, realizing she had fallen asleep. I sighed, moving to the couch and carefully lifting her up, letting her head rest against my shoulder as I carried her over to the bed.
I laid her down gently, pulling the blankets over her tiny frame.
She sighed softly in her sleep and rolled over, hugging one of my pillows tightly.
I glanced back at her again once I walked over to the couch. The spitfire souleater looked peaceful in her sleep. Her mouth relaxed, parted slightly.
As I laid down, my neighbors’ grunts filled the apartment and their headboard banged against the wall.
I ignored them and focused on my ceiling, putting one hand behind my head.
Their moaning increased, and I turned over to Lex—to find her watching me.
I didn’t say a word and neither did she, but she didn’t look away either.
My stomach tightened when Lex’s mouth parted slightly, her thumb grazing her bottom lip, as she still stared back at me.
The glint in her eyes seemed to taunt me closer, to beckon me.
I turned away, giving her my back because if I continued to watch her, I’d fuck her.