Where Dark Things Wait: Night Creatures Book One

Chapter Twenty-One - Public Displays of Lust

Physical training was a walk in the park after the previous evening's competition, and Kalyna felt relieved when Eorl focussed on putting her through her paces without placing her in direct competition with the other trainees. She needed some time without being compared to those around her; to people she was more like than she'd ever guessed, and apparently more different from than she wanted to acknowledge.

In truth, she enjoyed training, on focussing on pushing her body rather than worrying about her heritage or what it meant for her... and perhaps what it had meant for her children. What if someone else had guessed what the OTF now confirmed? What if her scent, which had given away her mixed heritage before anything else, also drew the attention of those factions who would want her eradicated? What if it drew their attention towards her children as well? What if their murder hadn't been random?

She couldn't think about that, so she threw herself into training her body to move. She had the supernatural strength and stamina, but she wanted to learn the same sure grace that Dunstan possessed, always perfectly balanced, always confident in himself. The more she watched him, the more she appreciated his poise when shifting through stretches and exercises. He had a precision about every movement that she suspected came from training to fight, and she looked forward to the day he taught her the hand-to-hand techniques which she would need for fighting in the urban sprawl. It surprised her how enjoyable she found training. It felt good to be occupied, to have purpose, and for a while she let exercise calm the concerns plaguing her anxious mind.

Unfortunately, drill practise quickly erased her inner piece. It didn't even matter that she wasn't yet expected to co-ordinate with others, focussing on learning the commands instead. Eventually she would need the timing and spatial awareness to stay in formation, but the other trainees had already covered the basics, and she had some catching up to do first. And boy, did she have a long way to go. Her feet didn't want to stay in time with the swinging of her arms, and if she tried to do anything else, turn, or salute for example, then she misstepped, and even Dunstan's counting couldn't prevent that. Apparently, her body had no rhythm, not while marching and saluting, at least. The longer they practised, the more frustrated she got. The more irritable her mood, the more mistakes she made, like a snowball of errors that just kept on rolling.

"I think we'll call that it for now," Dunstan said after she turned the wrong way for what felt like the hundredth time. "You'll get it. The more you practise, the more instinctive it will become. Once you know the commands, we'll get you practising with the other trainees, and you might find it comes easier when you're in formation."

"Why is this even necessary? Do we ever go to parade grounds? Is there a cross-species version of trooping the colour," she grumbled, although she directed more of her anger at her failure than at the task itself.

"It teaches recruits to obey commands and to function as a unit," Dunstan explained, as he ushered her away from the training yard and towards the building. "Or it will, once you know the commands and move on to practising with the other recruits. Most of our funding for defence comes through the military and so we are expected to train as a military unit. It doesn't matter that we currently don't perform for the Queen or at the Edinburgh Military Tattoo."

"My feet and my arms don't want to behave, though," she complained, because she had no idea how to get them to follow orders.

"They will," Dunstan replied with too much confidence, but then he asked, "When you learned to swim, did you instantly know how to coordinate the rotation of your arms, the kicking of your legs, and the lifting of your head from the water to breathe? Or did it take practise before you felt as 'one with the water' as you looked and felt the other day?"

"Well... yes... of course it took practise. But this is mainly walking. Fancy walking with timing, yes, but still predominantly walking," she insisted, wilfully ignoring the point he made.

"And you will get the hang of it. I have every faith in your abilities, beautiful," he insisted, and just like that, he soothed her frustration and slipped under her defences.

They were alone, out there in the darkness, which probably explained why he'd willingly used the endearment. It felt dangerously close to a public display of affection, and something about the risk that posed sent tingle of excitement through her.

"Interesting," Dunstan mused, his nose flaring at the subtle shift in her scent. "One day, I might explore your exhibitionist streak."

She hadn't realised she had an exhibitionist streak, but something about the statement prompted a flare of curiosity and a frisson of desire. Though maybe the idea of exploring anything with the vampire next to her was enough to cause the latter. She didn't seem to have anything resembling control around him.

"You're incorrigible," she said.

"I prefer irresistible... Although what I have in mind would take trust. A lot of trust. More than you're ready to give," he answered, molten amber eyes watching her with a breath-taking depth of hunger.

At that look, heat pooled in her core, and she breathed, "Tell me."

Leaning in, his lips almost brushed her ear as he whispered in a low growl, "There are clubs you can go to explore all your most sinful desires, and to revel in all the pleasures of the flesh. Places to explore every kink and fetish. Some enjoy the vulnerability of being tied up, others enjoy the bite of the crop or the sting of a paddle against skin. Some go so that others can watch as their lover makes them scream over and over, until they are so spent they are unable to come again. It takes trust to let another person tie you up, to let them do what they want to your body as others watch, trusting that only they will touch you, and that they will only take what you are willing to give."

Kalyna's breathing deepened, heat flooding her body as she looked up at him in wide-eyed shock. It didn't surprise her that he frequented fetish clubs, but it did surprise her that the idea intrigued her. He was right; it would take more trust than she was currently willing to give to anyone. Yet, as far as fantasies went... She pressed her thighs together, because the idea of him pleasuring her in a public space called to the hungry, sexual part of her which seemed interwoven with many of the supernatural elements within her.

"Fuck," she breathed, flustered by her own reaction as her skin flushed with tingling desire.

A slow smirk lifted the corners of Dunstan's lips as he watched her reaction. He circled her, gripping her wrists behind her back in a way that had her breath hitching, even before he murmured, "I could have fun binding you, course ropes digging into your wrists, marking your flesh with tell-tale indentations. Your perfect body would be stripped, naked for anyone to admire, but only I would be allowed to touch. I'd cup and squeeze your heaving breasts as others watched you squirm and moan in need, and I'd spread your thighs so that everyone could see your hot, wet sex. My fingers would tease your swollen nub, stroking, bringing you to the edge of orgasm over and over again, until you begged me to fuck you, right there in front of an audience, and you wouldn't care, because it would feel so good when I finally filled you, each rough thrust pounding against your sweet spot, until you're aware of nothing but how perfectly my body stretches yours..."

A moan escaped her, and she couldn't help pressing back against him as need knotted low in her belly. God, she wanted him. That seem to be her new normal. Her body was under his command, and not just because he was her superior. She could imagine exactly what he described, and fuck, she wanted it. She didn't think she'd ever have the confidence to do it, but she wanted it.

"Christ, you're fucking exquisite," Dunstan groaned, kissing down her throat to the crook of her neck, not caring that they still stood outside, where anyone could find them. "Would you trust me that much, beautiful? To have that much control over what happened to your hot, needy body?"

He kept a hold of her wrists with one hand while the other trailed upwards, fingertips skimming over her skin as they traced up her arm and then down her chest to squeeze her breast. Her insides clenched, already desperate, even before his hand slid under her waistband and his fingers pressed against her apex, sending a burst of hot need through her.

"I want to. God, I want to. Please, Dunstan..." she begged.

A low chuckle rumbled through him as he nipped her throat, his fingers circling the sensitive bundle of nerves between her thighs, but he reminded her, "You have a lecture to get to."

She made a frustrated noise, and pouted in spite of any good intentions she might have had.

"That's cruel," she admonished, then gasped as his fingers slid into her, stretching her, but not enough.

He laughed again, but he didn't give in. Tugging his hand free of her waistband, he turned her towards him and kissed her hungrily, right there on the path that led between the training yard and the main building. His tongue stroked hers, his teeth worried her lip, and he held her tight against his front as he made the most on their risky moment alone.

"I'm just ensuring that you'll still want me after you've spent hours in lectures," he told her, his voice rough with lust. "I want you imagining it, being bound as I pleasure you, whilst strangers watch... Though I'd be lying if I said your brash exhibitionist streak didn't surprise me. The possibilities it provides..."

"You were expecting vanilla as well," she mused, pressing closer and nipping his jaw with her teeth.

"As well?" he asked, and she realised she'd almost put her foot in it, revealing that Maloney had spoken to her about him.

"Everyone always expects a 'good girl'; not someone who is the seductress on the dance floor or anything other than missionary in bed," she clarified, trying to salvage her faux pas. "It doesn't matter that my experience is limited; it doesn't mean I'd never try anything else."

Dunstan bit his lip, scrutinising her expression before murmuring, "I'll have to remember that, beautiful. I could enjoy finding where your limits lie, and I promise you'd enjoy it too... But right now, recruit, you really do need to change back into uniform and get your behind to class."

She made a discontented noise, but in truth she'd been obvious enough recently without skipping her first lecture too. If she turned up late, everyone would guess why.

"Fine," she grumbled, and headed inside.