I saw the change in the man’s eyes, the decision made moments before he grabbed the hair at the back of my head and hauled me in. The kiss was rough as our lips smashed together and teeth clicked. When his tongue forced its way inside, I wanted to bite him too. Not to keep him, though, but to chase him away.
My hands flew up to brace against his chest, but he pressed in despite them, sweeping the inside of my mouth until I squeaked in protest.
When the man pulled back, his flavor coated my tongue, cigar smoke and alcohol that burned as I forced myself to swallow. But he wasn’t done.
“I don’t taste anything,” he told Maslow, sounding accusatory.
There was nothing on my bare back for the wraith tograb, but his palm anchored me as he hissed, “Did you give it to him?”
I shook my head, rattling the chains that swagged from the golden choker.
“I-I don’t know how,” I sputtered.
Maslow’s bloated features wrenched, and he barked at the other man. “Try again.”
Regripping my hair, the man dove into me. He swallowed my yelp of surprise and leveraged his other hand around my arm, pulling me snugly against him while he ravaged my mouth.
Desire trickled off him like the drip of a faucet, and god, I was thirsty. It was almost subconscious the way I relented to his touch, imagining that I was held by more familiar hands, kissed with passion instead of persistence, and that I was gagging on Beck’s fingers instead of this stranger’s liquor-slicked tongue.
Then he broke away, and there was reality. Not just one man, but his friends too. They swarmed around me while lust thickened the air.
“It’s sweet,” the first man said.
Another voice boomed from the back. “Let me try.”
Maslow grinned. “Go ahead.”
I leaned back with a whimper, and Maslow pinched my side. While the next man shouldered his way to the front of the small crowd, the wraith bent to whisper in my ear.
“Listen here, baby boy. You only know one word tonight. Do you understand? Whatever these nice men ask, you say yes. Start now and tell me: are you gonna be good?”
My head dipped in a weak nod. “Yeah…” Maslow’s reproachful scowl started me stammering. “Y-yes, Mazzy.”
With his smile reaffixed, the wraith consulted the waiting men. “Who’s next?”
I didn’t dare backpedal when the next man crowded in and grabbed my chin, squeezing his fingers into my cheeks to lever my jaw open.
“Lemme see.” He peered inside like a dentist checking for cavities. “There’s some sharp fucking teeth in there. Like vampire fangs.” He tipped my head back so I had no choice but to meet his narrow eyes. “If you make me bleed, I’ll punch you in your whore mouth. Got it?”
My heart hammered, and my cheeks ached where his fingertips sank in, but I managed to nod.
When Maslow pinched my side again, tears pricked my eyes.
“Yes,” I said, a bit garbled with my mouth forced open wide.
The man holding me snorted, then reached into my mouth. He poked and prodded, touching everything from the insides of my cheeks to the soft palate under my tongue.
I was panting by the time he pulled free, then he held up his fingers and licked them clean.
“My turn,” a third man growled, edging toward the front.
A blink freed twin tears to race down my face.
“Fucking love this, don’t you, baby boy?” Maslow gave me a shake. “Soon they won’t be able to keep away from you. They’ll be like animals chasing your scent back to the club where they can have you all to themselves. Night after night. Next!”
The last word was a shout that left my ears ringing. I was still reeling when I found myself snatched up again. My arms were folded in half and squeezed by big hands, my breath stolen by a brutal kiss.
Maslow’s palm never left the dip of my back, and as this new assailant poured into me, the energy flowed straightthrough. It poured into my mouth like a drink I had no choice but to guzzle, only to be siphoned out by the wraith’s persistent touch.
