by Sam Hall
“Look at how hard he’s fighting this. Her mouth’s like a velvet vacuum.” The girl’s head twisted slightly to one side, and Johnno’s cock poked obscenely under the skin of her cheek. “It’s why we test ourselves against her. She fucking sucks the cum straight out of your balls. But, sweetheart, it’s not her lips he’s feeling wrapped around his dick, it’s yours.”
I wasn’t doing my job, as my camera hung limply between my fingers, something that had Liam grinning. He pulled back, leaning against the couch like some kind of lion on his rock.
“Show the girl how you want it, brother.”
“Fuck off, Liam.”
“You want to pretend like you’re the nice guy, but you’re not. You’re one of us, so show the girl what that means.”
Johnno stiffened at that, his eyes flashing a dangerously dark gold as he looked at his brother, then me. Something shifted inside him, I saw it in the way his head was thrown back, but his gaze did not waver. He pulled the girl off his dick for a moment, and she lunged against his hand to get more.
“Give it everything you’ve got,” he ordered the girl. “Make it wild and sensual, make it feel like my heart’s breaking and being remade all over again. Make me feel like I’m the only one, like it’s your virgin throat closing around my dick as you suck the cum out of me.” The groupie nodded, her eyes wide and shining as each one of his words sunk into her. “But most importantly, make me feel like it’s her doing it.”
The girl’s eyes glittered with a vicious light as she looked at me, but she couldn’t stay pissed with me for long. Her mouth was drawn back to the dick he held out for her like iron to a magnet. I had my camera in my hands before I’d even thought about it, capturing him, her, the moment they came together, the way she looked up into his eyes and put everything she had into sucking his dick, but his eyes stayed entirely on me. He made it clear how it felt, what she was doing to him, but that steady gaze that betrayed the slow, languorous torture of arousal drew me into the experience in a confusing tumble. I kept on clicking, desperately trying to hold on to the cool composure shooting gave me, but he tore that mask away like it was paper. Was it me on my knees before him, worshipping his dick with everything I had, or was I on the receiving end?
“Mmm…” Billy said, coming in close but not touching, his nose grazing the air at my neck. “You smell so fucking good. Like sugar cookies fresh from the oven, all ready to melt in my mouth.”
“And Johnno’s so fucking tasty when he’s torn up,” Jake said, nuzzling into his bandmate’s side. It wasn’t precisely a sexual gesture, but it wasn’t entirely brotherly. My lens caught that contrast, between Jake’s fiery paleness and Johnno’s much darker skin.
“Stop fucking about,” Lucas said, glaring down at the woman. “It’s time to bring this to a head. This game is done, and the real one’s about to start.”
“No rush, Lukey,” Liam said. “That’s right, slow it right down.”
Johnno sobbed and clawed at the girl’s head as her movements became little more than nudges.
“Fuck you, Liam,” he ground out.
“Makes you ache like a bitch, doesn’t it? You want to fuck her face so bad, just use her like a hole.”
“No!”
“Just take your fucking pleasure. Leave her gasping.”
“Fuck off!” He pushed the girl off, leaving her to stumble back into Billy’s arms, where weirdly, she started to writhe with ecstasy, like somehow the act had gotten her off as well. “Watch me,” Johnno commanded, and my eyes, my lens followed his order. His hand wrapped around his dick, the muscles in his forearm popping as he began to work it. I caught the moment his mouth dropped open slightly, harsh, fast little gasps escaping as he pushed himself higher. Jake’s fingers spidered over the other man’s chest, walking from one shoulder, down across his pecs, and then to the other side.
“This is gonna be good,” he said, closing his eyes and resting his head on Johnno’s shoulder, and then it happened.
I’d seen some weird arse shit since I’d taken this job. If I’d thought I was Alice, then I had well and truly fallen down the rabbit hole. Because the rhythm guitarist from The Changelings glowed like a fucking firefly as he got closer and closer, while every single band member focussed on him, as if Johnno’s orgasm was theirs. And it wasn’t just him. They all shone to various degrees, Billy less so than the others, Jake now incandescent. Even Lucas, when he finally looked at me, his pale blue eyes shone in the low light. I frowned at those lambent irises that burned so bright, it was almost hard to look into them, but just as I went to look away, a crackle of light passed through the blue.
Then Johnno said the words that sent the hairs on the back of my neck standing on end.
“Stay with me, Kira,” he grunted as he gave his dick those last few strokes, his hand and arm trembling with the effort. “Stay with me.”
That fucking same rasping voice, that same sound of desperation, though those eyes were brown, not blue. My fingers lost all their strength as the memory of my dream tore through me, and the camera strap around my neck was the only thing that stopped my device from smashing on the ground below us.
Johnno got what he wanted, as my focus was entirely on him as he came, great gouts of it splattering across his chest as he made sounds that seemed like a combination of pain and the most glorious of pleasures. Then came the laughter. Jake’s was that same wild, free sound, and he twisted and turned as something seemed to rocket through him, something good, if his expression was anything to go by. Liam and Billy? I looked from one side to the other, and their grins were wicked and knowing. But Lucas looked at me like he couldn’t work out why the fuck I was here.
And neither could I.
I snapped to my feet as the girls descended on Johnno’s chest and started licking up all he’d deposited there, fighting to get every scrap.
“Kira!” Johnno said, but the others just laughed at some secret, amazing joke that I was never going to be a party to. What the fuck had I done, coming here? I’d never wanted to go to one of Jen’s parties before this. What the hell made me think now was a good time? I strode out of the room, out of the whole complex the band had colonised, and out the door into what I’d hoped was clean, clear air. Instead, while I had hidden away in whatever sordid little burrow they had created, the estate had shifted, like Brigadoon, becoming the Garden of Eden. Angels, devils, monsters, and saints all watched me pass or ignored me entirely, even when I fought to get past. I felt the flounces of the dress tear as people stepped on them, never noticing, never lifting their damn feet, forcing me to rip my way free. When I stumbled out of the room packed with people into the grounds themselves, it felt like minutes and a million years had passed. I blinked, staring up at the night sky, now velvety black, and saw the moon glowing with that same silvery light Jake had.
“Kira!”
My head whipped around, searching for the owner of the voice, but I knew deep down who it was. A handsome threesome, two women as tall and willowy as weeds and a similarly lean man, paused as they stalked past, taking in my ragged appearance with a smirk, their eyes flicking back to the room when they heard my name again.
“A hunt?” one woman said, leaning towards me even as her limbs wound themselves around the man.
“And such pretty prey,” the man said, his eyes roaming only to come to rest on my cleavage.
“If you like them so…lush,” the last woman said with a sneer. “You better run, little prey. Beasts like that will tear something as plump and pink as you apart.”
I just frowned and stared at her, as if putting her face together for the first time. She smirked as I took in that ferociously pointed chin, the too sharp cheekbones, her eyes glittering purple as a lilac. Her talon-like fingers tangled in her waist-length hair, and she smiled. Did I see teeth or fangs? I couldn’t tell.
“Run,” she said, her eyes going wide, her grin carnivorous.
So I did. To where, who, I wasn’t sure. I wasn’t even sure i
f the women and her friends were on my tail, but it was as if her words had put a compulsion in my mind, and I was helpless to do anything other than follow it. I collided with partygoers, tripped over strings of party lights, staggered past tables of people drinking, and didn’t stop until finally, I stumbled into the house itself.
“Kira?”
I flinched away from the voice, my mind a chaotic swirl of impulses, and only the shake of my muscles and the frantic pump of my lungs was enough to stop me from going further.
Oh fuck, Jen, I thought as her face swam into view, her expression concerned.
“What the hell…?” Her hand landed on my arm and then jerked back. “Bloody hell, you’re…”
“What’s going on?” Mr. Rutherglen appeared suddenly at my other shoulder, making me jerk back, and only Jen’s arms stopped me from windmilling backward onto my arse. “She’s…? Jesus Christ, I thought you said she was a latent!”
“I thought she was!” Jen replied. “Whatever the hell that grandmother of hers was doing was keeping her dormant well past when she would’ve normally transitioned. I’ll need to help her through it.”
“No, you won’t,” Dave snapped. Jen’s voice rose as she started to argue, but he shut her down with a cutting look that had me quailing back against her. “You represent House Rutherglen, and until she makes her choice, she’s just some little low powered feral. Marlow!”
“Yes, sir. Just letting you know the media scrum has been organised at the steps, ready for your address.”
“Excellent. Hand me my talking points. Jennifer, you’re with me. Marlow, we have a transitioning fae, and I need it taken care of. The Hartley’s have staked a claim on her, so keep her away from others until they can bond her to them. I can trust you in this?”
“Of course, sir.” Marlow loomed above me, his eyes shining green as grass and somehow just as soft. “Come on, love. Come with me. Let go, and I’ll take care of you.”
“Jennifer!” Dave yelled as he walked off.
“Don’t let them bond her. Keep her clean skinned until she’s had a chance to choose,” Jen hissed at Marlow. “Please, Marlow.”
“Your father—!”
“And I’ll be the Rutherglen after him. Promise me, Marlow.”
“Bloody hell. Go! If he finds out you’ve circumvented his vassals…”
“He doesn’t know what he’s signing away. He’ll hear me, when this is over.”
Marlow shook his head, holding me tight when I tried to follow after Jen as she moved away.
“Just be careful. She…she draws you in with everything she is. You’ll want—”
“I know,” Marlow ground out.
She nodded with that bright, sharp, shark-toothed smile of hers, and then waved before turning to go.
“Come on, then,” Marlow said in the same gently long-suffering tone my mother used with me when I was having a turn. “You’ve made a mess of yourself.”
“I have to run,” I said, the words finally coming now that I was sure of a sympathetic audience.
“No, darling, you need to be calm and come with me.”
I straightened, feeling the horrible beating weight of the other woman’s compulsion leaving me immediately. I blinked and looked around me, saw the house and the massive tables inside, groaning with food and drink, and then I looked at Marlow.
He wore a pair of tight-fitting snakeskin pants and nothing else, and though his bare chest had a lean muscular elegance to it, that wasn’t what caught my eye. His smile was sweet, but twisted with something that seemed to hurt him a little. His eyes dropped down, and mine followed with him.
“Jesus, your dress!” I said.
“Don’t worry about that, love. It’s just fabric.” But there was something about the lift of his shoulders that said there was more to it than that. “Come on, let’s get you in something more comfortable.”
I don’t know if we’d ever really touched before now, but when he held out his hand, I took it. He felt like a blanket you’d wrap around yourself, a haven to hide within, and standing there looking like some kind of fashion train wreck with my shredded dress, I wanted that more than anything. But when our palms touched, I saw it again. Tears pricked my eyes as I watched the deep brown of his skin flare to life and his eyes glow a luminous green.
“Well, well,” he said, his tone confident and even, but his wide eyes betrayed him. “We do have something special, don’t we?” His eyes darted around before he performed a strange gesture with his hand, then his skin returned to its normal tone. “Come on, sweetheart, before the sharks realise just what kind of blood is in the water. I could barter the likes of you for a king’s ransom and more besides.” He looked me over, considering something. What, I wasn’t sure, but in the end, he shook his head and tugged me after him. He drew me deep into the house, and the thinning numbers of people along with the calm and quiet of the empty corridors helped settle me. Until she came around the corner.
“Marlow? I haven’t seen you for an age,” the woman said. She had a long mane of bright red hair and brilliant blue eyes, and was dressed in a sequined suit. “Ooh, what do we have here?”
She strode over, forcing us to come to a stop.
“Just a morsel,” he said, raising my wrist and placing a kiss there. “Need a little boost before the big night.”
“Mmm… She looks tasty. It’s been an age since we played together.” Her long fingers came to rest in my hair, stroking it back from my forehead as I retreated, right up until I connected with the hard line of his body. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you, pretty?” She nodded, and I found myself doing the same, caught on the end of her bright blue gaze until I could think of nothing else.
“Later tonight? I’d be honoured, Lady Mandrake, but as I’m about the Rutherglen’s business, I’ve only a few minutes to top myself up.”
Evidently that was the wrong thing to say. Those eyes, all warm, sweet sensuality, hardened while I shrank back against Marlow, and only his grip at my wrists stopped me from falling to my knees and pleading for forgiveness.
“You deny me hospitality?”
The words hung heavy with hostility in the air between us. I fidgeted as they beat at my mind, activating every single cell in my body, directing and organising them anew, so that I was ready to do whatever it took to serve her and only her.
“Bloody hell,” Marlow hissed. “Forgive me for this little trespass, sweetheart.”
He tipped my stiff neck back so it rested on his chest, then his lips moved to mine, and a satisfied purr from the lady allowed my body to soften into the pose and twist towards him. He looked down at me with those glowing green eyes, a tiny frown appearing and disappearing before he lent down, while my eyes were now totally trained on his lips.
“That’s right,” Lady Mandrake coaxed. “Open up for him, sweetheart.”
I think he’d intended it to be a brief brush of our lips, though my mouth watered for the taste of him, but with the lady’s urging, it became something much more. His full bottom lip wedged between mine, and I found myself sucking it in deeper on automatic. Jesus Christ! What kind of kiss was this? My head spun as his lips moved against mine, pulling me into a vortex of slightly roughened satin, flickering tongues, and gently persistent teeth. I could feel his moan everywhere, the vibration spreading out through my entire body and leaving it tingling with pleasure.
“What the fuck are you?” he said finally as he pulled back.
“Yes, I’d like to know that as well,” Lady Mandrake said.
“No, you wouldn’t.”
Marlow’s words came out like the crack of a whip, removing the hungry expression from the woman’s face completely and leaving her as blank-eyed and empty as a discarded doll.
“The fuck…” I felt him shift as he peered at her. “That’s…” He glanced at me for a second with a weird mix of lust and fear. “Fuck, whatever. Lady Amelia Mandrake, you have no interest in this person. If ever presented with the opportunity to pla
y with me, you’ll only feel mild revulsion. Go back to the party, there’s plenty of prey there.”
It was like her whole personality came back online with a jerk, the glitter returning to her eyes, her smile just as arch.
“I tire of this,” she said with a wave. “There are far tastier specimens on offer outside.”
“Of course, Lady Mandrake,” Marlow said, giving her a deferential bow of his head, but she stalked off without even acknowledging his reply.
“What the actual fuck…?” he murmured as he watched her turn the corner, but when he looked at me, there was something almost shy in his expression. “Come on, little power pack. I need to get you locked down before the others come. Through here.”
Marlow produced a key to open a room that contained a wall of monitors.
“Whoa…” I said. “What the fuck is this?”
“My HQ,” he said. “Lets me keep an eye on what’s happening in the whole estate. Look, there’s Miss J and her father addressing the press.”
I peered at the screen, and saw her speaking with absolute confidence to the assembled press, looking as remote and perfect as a goddess.
“Now, what do I have here?” he said, opening a cupboard.
No longer his focus, I sank down into a chair, feeling a terrible tension leaching out of my body as I did so. I looked up at the screens through half slitted eyes. I couldn’t have been running long, since the estate wasn’t that big, but I hurt everywhere. My muscles twitched and jumped on my bones as if fighting the rules of anatomy, especially those around my eyes. The views, of the people and the decorations, the textures and the fabrics, the picturesque intertwining of people’s bodies in dance, sex, drugs, and conversation, all of it smashed into me, one after the other. Both hands cramped, drawing a yelp from me when I watched them curl up into shaking claws. I forced the muscles to relax, and spread my fingers wide. I took one breath, then another, just focussing on that. There was too much happening—too many people, too many antics, too many stories. I rubbed the heels of my palms across my eyes, just wanting to rest them.
Because I felt filled up. No, beyond that. I was a glass of water, filled to the brim, and only surface tension was holding that last few drops from spilling down the sides, the rest ready to come soon afterward if it did. For some reason I couldn’t identify, I knew I needed to not let that happen, that something bigger, more far-reaching than a wet puddle would come if I did. I just sat there, blocking out all visual stimuli, letting everything else fade away, until I felt something soft press my arm.