Shadow's Kiss (Monstrous Hearts: Fleur's Story)

Chapter Twenty-One

"It's been a month since we got stuck together. Are you tired of me bitching about my life yet?" said Fleur. It was an idle question, asked more to hear Dario's voice than to get an answer. Still caught up in the aftershocks of a climax, her brain was in no state to absorb anything.

"Why would I be?"

Unlike her, Dario was still clothed, his dress shirt and slacks telling her to expect a new way to play. By now, they both knew the fastest way to keep her wet was whenever she was naked and he was elegantly dressed. As those strong fingers squeezed her nearest breast, he added, "At first, I had to coax you to say anything. This is much better."

"That's true. Usually, I don't talk at all. Now it's like I never shut up." Anything and everything on her mind crystallized into words, as easy and unfiltered as it had once been with her family and old friends. Then she realized how pleased he looked by the admission and quickly added, "Don't get smug. It's only with you. I still don't like people in general."

"You say that as if it's a flaw." He sounded relaxed instead of critical.

"Isn't that the point to all this? Socializing me like a nervous dog? Going out to restaurants, farmers' markets, car shows, and movie theaters..." Anywhere with crowds that she could get away from if it all grew to be too much, as well as food to sweeten the deal, although she suspected the movies were more for his benefit. He turned into an open-mouthed spectator in a theater, caught up in the pageantry and excess of modern movies. She enjoyed the huge tub of popcorn.

"I never walk you on a leash. You wouldn't like it—in public, anyway." His hand skimmed along her stomach before veering off to her hips as they arched at the thought. "You're doing better than before. More confident. Less nervous under attention."

"Maybe, but I don't feel natural. It's always an effort. I'm not comfortable with others."

"Some people never are. I'm one of them."

Her surprise was so strong that she jerked against his touch. "You can't be serious. You're right up there with my aunt in terms of charisma."

"Making others feel pleasant isn't the same as enjoying yourself." He soothed her into relaxing back against the bed with a long, lingering stroke that ended at her swollen cunt.

As his fingers moved in slow circles over her clit, he added, "I distrust others as much as you, Fleur. I face them without worry from knowing what they want and what I'm willing to give. It's practice, nothing more. You'll learn this same confidence."

The words sounded pleasant, but the hard cynicism behind them almost broke through her lust. Almost. "You really don't like people? Why?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Do you want to keep asking questions, or do you want to find out what I have in mind?"

A shiver of anticipation ran through her as his hand cupped her slick folds, the slight pressure igniting a deep, sweet burn between her hips. "Um, the second one."

His smile widened. "Good girl."

Her cunt clenched from the strength of the orgasm, and her next breath came out as a moan. Before she had a chance to recover, his thumb stroked along the length of her labia and back up again, lightly pressing against her clit to draw out the aftershocks.

Her eyes were still closed, enhancing her other senses. Velvet brushed against her skin—a dress already bunched around her thighs. The fabric didn't quite mask the cold stone beneath. Her arms were now above her head, held in place by manacles around her wrist. Heavy, loose enough for her to arch and strain. She knew where she was even before looking up to find an increasingly familiar ceiling of cavernous rock that faintly glimmered with reflected firelight. Another of her fantasies was about to come to life.