Page 92 of When Darkness Calls

“Just…not like this. It was once…really quick at a party with a guy I had just met and a long time ago and this is so different. Everything feels…different…with you.” I whisper in the space between us. He exhales, the air rushing from behind his mask, placing his forehead against my own. I thought the mask would be cool, but it’s warm, just as warm as his hand on my cheek.

“We don’t have to do this—”

“I know, but I want to. I’m just not sure what to do.” I admit sheepishly.

“You don’t have to do a thing. Just lay there for me, sweet girl, while I prove I was right all along,” he whispers to me, his tone teasing.

I nod, smiling at him.

“I’ll start slow, but then I won’t be. But I promise you, I won’t hurt you.”

My brows furrow. “Won’t…won’t it be uncomfortable having sex…since it’s been a long time…and—and I heard that it can also be painful the first couple of times, and I’ve only done it once, and—”

“No, baby.” He interrupts my rambling, shaking his head. “We’re not having sex tonight, sweet girl. And when we do, I promise I will do everything in my power to make sure you aren’t uncomfortable. But, for now, just let me make you feel good, okay? Tell me to stop and I will.”

“Okay.”

He leans back over me, placing the mouth of the mask against my temple, and I can hear his lips leave a small kiss.

“Be a good girl, don’t move.”

I lay back against my pillows, and he rises onto his knee. His hand moves from beside my head down my throat, over my breast, ghosting the moth tattooed on my breast bone, tracing down the slope of my waist, and dancing over the rose vine before gripping my hip tight.

My breath hitches. A noise makes its way through my throat. A whine. I need more. I need him more. Harder touches, quicker movements, his body pressed hard against my own. He’s so warm, so strong. What would his body feel like moving against my own, each movement tensing a new muscle for my hands to explore. I want to memorize him— every small detail. I want to know everything.

“Shadow,” I murmur, and he shushes me.

“Be patient, Dani,” he whispers to me in a hushed voice, like speaking any louder would burst the bubble surrounding us, isolating us from everything beyond my bedroom.

Shadow continues the slow caress of my body, and it’s then I realize what he’s doing. He’s memorizing me too. The curves, creases, each individual dimple, tattoo, and mark that make my skin.

“You’re a piece of art, sweet girl. Forgive me for wanting to appreciate such a beautiful work.”

I rub my thighs together, my face heating. A tingle runs through my body, making me shudder under his piercing gaze.

“Please?” I whisper, pleading with wide eyes. Goosebumps have dotted my arms and down my chest.

Shadow grips my thigh tight, pulling it open to one side. “Patience,” he demands. His fingers trail my inner thigh, much like I did myself. Each pass increases my need for him.

When he finally brushes gently against my clit, it’s not his fingers. The cool metal wrapped around his knuckles causes me to gasp trailing into a moan. My hips lift toward him.

“More. Please, I need more. That felt so good,” I whimper.

He tuts, tilting his head. “Like this?” He does it again, harder, but agonizingly slow. I feel each bump of his knuckles tucked into each ring. It’s fucking amazing, and horrible, and taunting. It’s so much and not enough.

“Please, Shadow. Please. I want you inside me. I need to feel you inside me.”

“I’m not going to be inside of you, Dani. Not until your greedy little pussy sucks my fingers inside from how badly you want me.” I could hear the smile hidden in his voice from behind the mask.

Shadow looms over me, the picture of someone’s worst nightmare, but my darkest fantasy came to life. There was nothing I could do but submit to my own desires. Want pours from me building higher and higher. Another whimper escapes my lips.

“Oh. What’s wrong? You had lots to say earlier. What was it? You could make yourself feel better than I can. Tell me. Use your words.”

I groaned. How am I supposed to speak when I can’t even form a single thought?

“God–”

Thwack!