Inamorato

by Keira Michelle Telford

  Ella avoids him with care, able to smell him from at least ten feet away. Inside her pocket, her cell phone chirps.

  A text message:

  I NEED TO SEE YOU. A.K.

  Ella looks up at the entrance to Kink Central near the end of the street, and doesn’t bother to reply.

  Stepping inside the bar-come-strip-club-come-casino-come-brothel, she has no idea what to expect. The first thing she sees, through the smoke of endless tobacco and cannabis cigarettes, is a Hunter receiving a blowjob from an eager prostitute—a Jade, as they’re called.

  The young girl won’t let him finish in her mouth, though. When he’s ready, she pulls back and a spray of thick, white liquid just misses her face. Outraged that she failed to perform to his expectations, he slaps her and she tumbles and falls against a table.

  Another Hunter quickly pins her there, bent over, her bare ass exposed and her naked breasts pushed hard into the splintered wood, making her wince.

  Behind her, the Hunter spreads her legs and shoves his cock deep inside her before she has a chance to object. Not that her objections would mean too much: she’s paid up for the whole day.

  Approaching the bar, Ella is caught off-guard by two young children who’re chasing each other through the room. One almost knocks into her, and the other slips and slides on the floor, trying to keep balance on the slick film of vomit and liquor that coats every inch of it.

  A woman, most likely a Jade herself, barrels into the bar after them, calling their names and cursing for them to get back upstairs where they belong.

  So far, Ella’s first experience of a Fringe District bar has fallen short of her imaginings. She orders herself up a beer and follows the lure of rolling dice into another room. Here, a roulette wheel spins in the center, and around it, numerous card games are in progress.

  Ella counts only two female Hunters, and neither of them are behaving any better than the men. Each has a Jade, though their choice of service differs slightly from that of their male counterparts. One is paid to give a lap dance, while the other is paid to pleasure herself with a dildo on the tabletop.

  Upon Ella’s entrance, the male Hunters are quick to home in on another available female target. Not only is she fresh meat, but she’s instantly recognizable as the Hunter General’s daughter.

  Amidst catcalls and whistles, Ella navigates the room.

  “Look who’s legal!” one of the Hunters bellows.

  She ignores it.

  In the next room, she finds a back room butcher shop. It’s a place where Chimera are pitted against each other in a ring surrounded by a chain-link fence. Bets are taken on the likely winner, and the creatures do battle with one another until death eventually claims the weakest. Afterward, the winner is shot and barbecued. The winning bets get to eat for free, while the losers must pay for their meal as well as for their worthless betting ticket.

  Ella clasps her fingers around the chain-link fence, watching a fight already in progress. Every cell in her body begins to tingle at the sight of bloodshed, and the unbridled ferocity and the sheer brutality of it all makes her eyes light up.

  She becomes so caught up in it, she temporarily forgets why she’s there at all. By the time she becomes aware of a presence behind her, she’s fully geared up into Hunter mode and she isn’t prepared to take any shit.

  “If you don’t back the fuck off, I’m gonna have to shoot you in the face,” she warns, without turning around.

  Instead of retreating, she senses the body move closer. She feels his warm breath against her neck as he whispers in her ear. “I’ll risk it.”

  It’s Alex.

  Stomach flip.

  She spins around to look at him, Hunter Division combat gear and all. “Shouldn’t you be at work?”

  “My shift doesn’t start until one. Shouldn’t you be in class?”

  “It’s Sunday, genius.”

  “Bed, then?”

  “With whom?”

  Silence.

  Alex doesn’t know quite what to say to that, and the moment passes. He shoves his hands into his pockets, so as not to fidget with them while he tries to commit to something in his mind. “Since you’re here, can we talk?”

  “Are we not?”

  “Not like this. Privately.”

  “I don’t know. Could you handle it? Presumably you haven’t had a drink yet today, and judging by our recent experiences with one another, it seems like you require a rather hefty amount of liquor just to bear my company.”

  Perhaps that comes out with just a touch more sharpness than she’d intended, and Alex becomes moderately defensive.

  “Don’t do that. Don’t twist the way it is to make me feel like even more of an asshole than I already think I am. Besides, I don’t think the girl who’s got a drink in her hand before noon is really in a position to lecture me about sobriety.”

  “Are you kidding me? This is my first legal drink in an actual grown-up bar, and you’d really want to deprive me of it?” She downs the rest of the beer and tosses the empty bottle away. “Better now?”

  “At least now I have your full attention.”

  Ella wipes her lips and hiccups. “You said you wanted to see me. Why?”

  “You got my text?”

  “I’m here, aren’t I?”

  “Yes, but—” Alex frowns. “Wait a minute. How did you know where I was?”

  She turns both palms to the ceiling. “Fate.”

  He draws his own conclusion. “You hacked into the tag network.”

  “No.” Ella folds her arms defiantly. “First of all, I wouldn’t know how to. Second of all, I didn’t even need to. Maydevine forgot to log out.”

  Alex is taken aback by her use of Maydevine’s actual name. “Did the two of you have a fight?”

  “As of this morning, he’s officially my boss. I thought I’d better start getting to grips with the formality of the situation.”

  That makes sense to him. “Maydevine it is, then.”

  He glances down at her Kevlar vest: Hunter Division Intern.

  “You’ve been sworn in already?”

  “This morning.”

  “And does Maydevine know where you are?”

  “Why? Do you think he’d be concerned for my safety? Or my chastity?”

  “Would you quit it?”

  “What?”

  “Making this about sex.”

  “It is about sex.”

  “No, it isn’t.”

  “Really? So last night you weren’t trying to get drunk just so that you’d have an excuse to fuck me?”

  Alex keeps his calm. “If that was what you really thought of me, you wouldn’t be here. Now will you let me take you upstairs so that we can be alone?”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  Your Pleasure

  Alex leads Ella up a staircase and to the top floor of the structurally unsound building. In a hallway lined with bedrooms, distinct noises echo up and down the crumbling walls.

  Harder!

  Yes, yes, yes! Fuck, yes!

  Somewhere, a dresser rocks back and forth into a wall.

  A cat squeals.

  Ella stops. “What the fuck was that?”

  Alex takes her by the hand and urges her onward. “It’s probably better if you don’t know.”

  Through an open doorway, Ella catches a glimpse of a male Hunter receiving anal pleasure from a Jade with a strap-on.

  “Where the fuck are we?” She grimaces.

  “Kink Central. Pick your pleasure.” He pushes open the door on a vacant bedroom and ushers her inside. “Welcome to the Fringe District, Hunter.”

  Ella keeps her distance from the bed, eyeing the soiled sheets with caution. “Charming.”

  “What did you expect? A place like this doesn’t exactly have a scheduled maid service.”

  Ella kicks at a human eyeball on the floor, and it rolls away underneath the bed.

  “They didn’t put this in the Hunter Division brochure, let’s just say th
at.”

  A rat scurries out from the adjoining bathroom and darts after the eyeball. Moments later, with the eyeball in its mouth, it leaps up onto the bedside table and chomps down on its dinner. Glaring at them sideways, its disproportionately large testicles hanging off the edge of the table, it laps up eyeball fluid like soup.

  Ella wrinkles her face at the sight of it. “Why does nature have to be so damned ugly?”

  “I’ll bet he’s the king of the rats. Other male rats look at him and weep.”

  That makes her lips twitch with the hint of a smile, and Alex accepts that as a small win.

  He takes a step toward her. “Ella, I—”

  She takes a step away and holds up her palms, ready to push him back if necessary. “How about a quick recap? First, you accuse me of trying to get you into bed as part of some fucked up, cherry popping Academy sex game. Then, you make a drunken pass at me on my birthday. Now, you bring me to the bedroom of a whorehouse. I don’t know what I’m supposed to be thinking here, but it’s not exactly making me horny if that’s what you were hoping for.”

  “I said I just wanted to talk.”

  “So talk.”

  Pretending to be disinterested, she turns her back on him. She considers shooting the smug-looking rat, but fears that the bullet might go straight through the paper thin wall and hit something else living on the other side of it.

  Alex shoves his clammy hands back into his pockets. “Last night was a mistake.”

  “You think?”

  “I behaved inappropriately, I know. I demonstrated a complete lack of regard for your feelings, or for your relationship with Luka, and I should’ve kept my hands to myself.”

  “No. You should’ve kept your lips away from the bottle and your hands may have gone where they pleased.”

  Alex begins to swell at the mere suggestion of it.

  Ella, her back still turned on him, picks up a broken vase off the floor and tosses it at the rat. In its hurry to flee, it slips off its feet and onto its side, sliding right off the table and plopping down to the floor with a small thud.

  She’s about to bring her boot down over its tail to trap it there, but she feels Alex step up close behind her and she becomes frozen to the spot. As the tiny creature makes a quick and lucky escape, Alex places his hands upon her shoulders.

  “Ella, I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. I wasn’t thinking.”

  He runs his hands over her shoulders, and she can feel his nerves.

  “Your hands are shaking.”

  “I can kill a Chimera with my bare hands and never even flinch. I can draw my weapon and fire on a target in a split second, without hesitation, and my aim has never, ever faltered.” He wraps her ponytail around his hand and gently pulls her head back and to the side, exposing her neck and whispering in her ear. “Yet, when I’m with you, I can’t even tie my own shoes without looking like a fumbling idiot.”

  His lips are hovering so close to her skin, Ella can feel his breath. His free hand runs down her arm and slips around her waist, pulling her close to him.

  “I was wrong to push you away.” He presses his lips against the soft, sensitive skin of her neck. “I let someone else put the wrong thoughts in my head, and I almost gave you up.”

  “Celia?” Ella guesses. “She said I was using you?”

  More neck kisses. “She threatened me.”

  “With what?”

  “It doesn’t matter now.”

  He pinches her skin between his teeth and nips at her gently, causing her to gasp.

  Another nip.

  Another gasp.

  Ella forces herself to keep the conversation going. “I can’t believe you let that bitch dissuade you from me so easily.”

  “Nothing about this has been easy. I was terrified of my feelings for you—I still am—and I let her derail me because it gave me a reason to be a coward.”

  “What changed?”

  “You were right: I couldn’t stand seeing you with Kinsella. The thought of you in another man’s arms … in another man’s bed … I can’t keep pretending that I don’t feel this way about you.”

  “Feel what way about me? You can’t even look at me.”

  “You drive me crazy.” Another neck kiss.

  “Say it to my face.”

  Silence.

  Alex does nothing, so Ella forces him to let her go. She turns to face him, giving him no choice but to look her in the eyes.

  She can see how nervous he is.

  “I’ve never seen a boy so scared to be alone in a room with a girl.”

  “You’re not just any girl. I’ve told you that before.”

  “I know, I’m the Hunter General’s daughter. And guess what? I’ll always be the Hunter General’s daughter. Either you can handle that, or you can’t. But you’d better figure that out damn quick, ‘cause I’m starting to lose my patience with you.”

  An epic eye-lock ensues.

  “Do you want me or not?” Ella demands.

  Still nothing.

  “Do I really have to do everything?” She sighs.

  Taking a deep breath, without leaving any time to second guess herself, she takes his hands and places them on her waist. Moving in as close as she can possibly get, she wraps one arm around his neck and runs the other hand through his hair behind his head, making sure he can’t possibly maneuver his way out of this.

  Standing on her tippy-toes, she brings her face up to his and gently bumps his lips with hers. As he parts his lips, just slightly, she runs her tongue along his lower lip.

  He’s barely breathing.

  She opens her mouth and pinches his lower lip between her teeth, teasing him softly before she closes her mouth on him and caresses him with her tongue again.

  She lets go.

  She barely waits a half-second, then reengages him. This time, she gives him a full-on kiss. Their lips meet and, in that instant, he finally begins to let go of his anxiety.

  That first taste of her is so perfect, he couldn’t possibly hold back now. He pulls her tighter against him, one hand finding her ass and the other moving to the back of her neck. She’s kissing him with more confidence and passion than he’s ever felt before, and he reciprocates with fervor.

  All of a sudden, she breaks the kiss and suggests him toward a tatty couch at the edge of the room. She gives him a shove down into it and climbs onto his lap.

  Straddling him, she urges his hands toward her hips and instigates another lip-lock, and he’s not so shy anymore. He rocks her pelvis against him, pressing her down over his erection.

  She can feel it.

  She moans.

  He gets bigger.

  She begins to move back and forth on his lap, rubbing herself up against him while he fumbles with her Kevlar vest. Sitting up straight, she helps him unfasten it and lets him toss it aside. Underneath, she’s wearing a skintight undershirt that shows off every curve of her body. Aroused by even the simple thought of his touch, her nipples are hard and prominently displayed.

  He can’t take his eyes off her.

  He strokes his hands over her waist, over her ribcage, so lightly caressing her body, preparing to touch her breasts …

  Slam!

  A drunken Hunter and his stoned whore burst through the bedroom door. She’s topless, and his dick is already out of his pants. Alex, fearful of Ella being recognized, pulls her in toward him and tucks her head over his shoulder, his other arm covering the Omega emblems on the belt around her pants.

  He doesn’t even have to say a word. The Hunter realizes his mistake and averts his eyes.

  “Oops. Sorry, boss.”

  He and his laughing whore turn and disappear back into the hallway, leaving Alex awash with relief and absolutely zero level of arousal.

  “Great.” He sighs. “Now Morrison thinks I sleep with whores.”

  “I don’t think he’s in any position to judge.” Ella laughs.

  Alex cups her face in his hands and pulls her in
for more kisses.

  Then, “I have to go to work.” Another kiss. “Let me take you home.”

  Ella pushes back from him. “No way! It’s my first day with a platinum tag. I’m going to scour every last rotten inch of this place.”

  “What the hell for?”

  She slides off his lap and gets to her feet, fixing her Kevlar vest back in place. “Don’t pretend like you didn’t do the very same thing on your first day.”

  He rises from the couch, straightening his clothes and shaking everything back into place. “Yes, but I didn’t do it alone.”

  “Worried?”

  “I get the sense that you’re not the type of girl who much appreciates another’s concern, so I’ll decline to answer that.”

  “Oh, no. I appreciate it, just don’t let it define the dynamic of our relationship.”

  “Fair enough.”

  His hands find their way back into his pockets again, and she can tell there’s something else on his mind.

  “Ask,” she urges him.

  “Ask what?”

  “About Luka.”

  “What about him?”

  “You want to know how I feel about him.”

  “Do I?”

  “I’m not in love with him.”

  “Are you sure?”

  Ella isn’t quite certain whether she should be insulted or not. “You think I can’t tell the difference between what I feel for Luka, and how I feel with you?” She can feel her cheeks turning pink and she looks away from him.

  That may just as well have been a proclamation of love, and for the first time around Alex, she feels self-conscious.

  “Good.” He hooks a finger under her chin and forces her to look at him. “Then we’re both on the same page.”

  Her stomach starts spinning in all kinds of crazy circles, and she accepts another kiss from him.

  When the kiss breaks, she’s smiling up at him. “Be safe at work. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  Much to his horror, she turns and takes a running leap out of the gaping hole in the wall where the window ought to be. All Alex sees of her is a blur of hands and feet as she tucks herself into a gymnast’s tumble and freefalls to the ground. He rushes over to the ledge, just in time to see her land flawlessly on her feet.