Chapter 5 : Use Me

A heaviness settled over my body as I curled up in bed. I sought escape. To forget about the events of that afternoon. The humiliation I felt when Deacon showed up at my place of work and dug into me.

I would rather he just hit me instead of playing with me. But I didn't know how to play the game because he held the rulebook over me. Laughing behind my back when I didn't understand something. It was always more fun for him when there was an audience.

"So you live," A silky smooth voice greeted me. "Fascinating."

Instantly, excitement flooded through my veins. Heating like liquid fire.

Orion.

The invisible weight over me vanished, allowing me to open my eyes. My mouth felt dry, a hunger churning in my belly. My core clenched in anticipation. An ache I needed to have filled. His bright amber eyes met mine, the dull light of the moon the only illumination.

Arms folded over his chest, shirt unbuttoned down the middle, sleeves rolled up to reveal strong golden arms. Veins bulge around his muscles, the perfect path to trace with my tongue.

God, I wanted him.

I've never wanted Deacon like this. Ever. The desire I felt ebbed away at the memory of the afternoon. I was so pathetic. I ripped my gaze from the gorgeous man standing in the middle of my room. My knees pulled up to my chest.

He wasn't real.

All that existed was the pitiful excuse for a life I had. The disgusting scars on my face.

"At least I don't have to fuck Nova with the lights off."

Pain seared across my chest, branding me from the inside. Orion was so silent, I thought he vanished until he snapped his fingers and the lights came on. He appeared in front of me, leaning over the foot of my bed, eyes narrowing like he was trying to piece me together.

Like he didn't know what to do with me.

His plush lips beckoned mine as my own parted, inhaling how good he smelled. I didn't realize I was leaning in until he grinned, revealing those dimples. A shiver of desire reignited inside of me.

"He's a waste of flesh, pet," Orion murmured, reaching out to touch me again. As he stroked the uneven skin, I trembled, but it wasn't out of anxiety. It was hunger gnawing inside of me. Wetness pooling between my legs. "Why do you let them talk to you like that?"

Shrugging, my eyelashes fluttered as he caressed my face, fingers delicately brushing my hair from my face so he could look at me. "I don't know how to speak up," I murmured.

Orion leaned closer, inclining his head slightly. "Then don't speak. Let the knife do the talking." A coy danger lingering on his tongue.

I was about to ask him what he meant when I jolted backward as a long golden dagger materialized in my lap. I shoved it off my lap and onto the bedspread.

Orion started to laugh. A dark sound. He sat on my bed, stretching out his long frame. His eyes brightened, clearly enjoying my discomfort. He picked up the blade, rolling it between his fingers like he had a thousand times before.

"What? N-No! I-I-I…" I couldn't get the words out.

"Too soon?" he asked. "Fine. Fine. Don't fret." He tossed the dagger up slightly, and it vanished right before my eyes.

"How?" I started.

He grinned, wiggling his fingers. "Magic."

"Your name isn't really Orion, is it?" I asked, voice soft.

"That's what I told you my name was?" he tilted his head back and laughed.

Well, that answers that question.

His amber eyes drifted back to mine. "Will you feed me tonight, pet?"

"Will you kill me tonight, Orion?"

The ever-present smirk on his face fell, eyes narrowing. "You should already be dead." Like a snap of his fingers, his eyes lit up again. "I guess I'm not trying hard enough." His eyes followed a sultry finger grazing down my throat as if he was debating whether or not to grip it in his fist and strangle the life out of me.

Part of me wanted him to.

But I didn't think any of this was real either. I'd wake up in the morning, rested. Free from nightmares, but I didn't consider Orion a nightmare. He helped me escape from them.

"Of course, I'm real, Adira."

Suddenly, his hand fisted around my throat. Gasping, my hands flew up to release me from his grasp. He dragged me toward him, a breath away from his lips.

"Does any of this feel like a dream?" he growled, spearing me with his hard gaze.

I should fight. Claw myself out of his grip. But there wasn't anything left in me. I slumped against his hold, my hands falling to my sides. I breathed shallowly.

That did nothing to please him as he snarled, "Perhaps I've been too soft with you, pet." He pushed me back onto the covers, hovering over me, a thin strand of control keeping him from strangling me. "I'll use you up until there's nothing left. And even if you survive, you'll feel me for days. I won't feel like a dream then."

I shuddered, eyelids fluttering. "Then use me," I rasped. "I'm already a shell."

A sound of pure frustration sprung from his lips, his hand tightening before he shoved himself away from me. He turned away from me, both hands fisting his black hair. I remained on the bed, body thrumming with lust.

Unadulterated lust straight from the source.

"What are you waiting for?" I asked, sliding off my mattress. I approached him slowly, watching his toned shoulders rise and fall. "If you're so real, then you're the one coming to me."

He spun on his heel, eyes absolutely blazing. Without hesitation, he grasped my oversized shirt with both hands, tearing it down the middle. Instantly, delight pricked my skin.

"Don't hide this skin from me," he growled, devouring my marred flesh with ravenous eyes.

His words sent a bolt of heat through me. My thighs quaked as he cupped my breasts, his touch setting me on fire. His thumbs brushed my pebbling pink nipples. A moan slipped past my lips as he stroked the sensitive tips.

I arched my back, giving into it. "Kiss me," I whimpered.

"You can't handle a kiss from me, pet."

This time, I was the one who laughed. "Worried it'll kill me?"

He smirked, a single dimple formed where his lip upturned. He didn't answer, but I didn't expect him to either. His head dipped toward my throat and he ran his tongue along the skin. I gasped, tilting my head back to give him more access to it.

Then he bit down, hard. I jolted, eliciting a dark chuckle from his chest. Even if it wasn't hard enough to break skin, it still surprised me. His hands left my breasts, trailing down further to my knee.

He looped my leg around his hip so I could feel how hard he was, pressed right against where I trembled. Unbelievably hungry for him. He bit down on my neck again. I cried out, fisting his button-down shirt in my hands.

"Stop playing with me," I ground out between my teeth, wanting to taste him, feel him everywhere. I ached, so fucking hungry. My throat felt thick, desperation sinking into my bones. He said he was hungry, but all he did was kiss my neck. Either he was a liar or…

This was a game.

"No," he whispered against my throat, a smile on his lips.

A flash of anger bolted through me and I shoved him off of me into my bedroom wall, my leg falling back to the ground. "Don't play with me. I don't like it."

His eyes flashed. The smirk stretched into a full predatory grin. Like I was a lamb presented before a wolf. It should have scared me. Hell, everything about this should scare me, but it only turned me on.

"Take your clothes off and get on my bed," the demand slipped off my lips, power fizzling around me.

God, it felt good.

Again, he closed in on me, eyeing me not unlike a panther cornering prey. "You don't make demands of me, pet. And you definitely don't get to be on top." He stared down at me like Deacon did at the diner. Commanding submission from me.

But Orion didn't make me feel small at all.

My belly quivered and he snapped his fingers, absolving him and me of all clothing. Instantly, I ate him up, devouring all that golden skin. A shiver of delicious desire coursed through me, igniting a ravenous blaze.

In an instant, he was on top of me, my back on the carpet. My legs parted and without much warning, he entered me. He felt perfect. The fat crown of his cock caressed my insides, seeming to know exactly what buttons to press. Seemed to know exactly what rhythm I liked.

I threw my head back into the carpet. He breathed in, absorbing the energy radiating from me.

My stomach coiled as I watched his eyes darken until they were nearly black, shudders of pleasure raising the hair on his arms.

He pistoned his hips into me, harder and faster, fucking me so hard, I could feel the carpet rub burns onto my back.

It felt so real…like I'd have rug burn when I woke up in the morning. But I knew I wouldn't. Orion growled deep in his chest above me and lowered his head, biting my throat hard, suckling hard enough to leave a mark.

Fuck…several marks.

I moaned, eyes rolling back. "Yes…mark me."

Orion's arms quivered around my head at my demand, but he didn't say anything, focusing hard on rutting me like an animal, spinning me further and further into my orgasm. My body tensed, teetering right over the surface, but I held onto it with white knuckles.

"Oh…God," I sobbed.

He pulled back from me, baring his teeth. "There is no God here, pet. Only me." He grasped one of my legs, opening me further and driving in even harder. "Let go. Feed me."

I bit my lower lip, muttering, "No," behind clenched teeth. "Give it to me. Give me everything. I want it all."

For the first time, the rhythm of his hips stuttered. "Let go," he growled, lifting my hips before resuming his mind-bending tempo.

"Kiss me," I replied, stubbornly holding onto my climax even as goosebumps rose and fell across my body. My walls clenched hard around him.

He groaned loudly and the noise spurred me on again, squeezing his cock, dragging a noise of pure agony from his lips. He closed his eyes tight before opening them again, staring at me with an inferno burning there.

Finally, his hand snapped around my face, tilting my head up. His hot mouth enveloped mine, and he tasted as good as he smelled. My eyes rolled back, the taste of him imprinted across my tongue.

Metallic, sweet, and painfully powerful. So much power.

My mouth moved against his, kissing him back. Devouring just as much as he was. He breathed hard against my mouth, tongue coiling around mine in a messy dance. Finally, I let go, my jaw falling slack as the orgasm took root, flooding into every crevice in my body.

My body took on a mind of its own, milking his cock hard.

"Fuck." He shuddered above me as my body took what it wanted, forcing an agonizing orgasm from him. I couldn't feel him the way I could that first night. Swelling, filling a condom as he pulled out of me.

There was nothing between us, but somehow it still felt like there was.

I slumped onto the carpet, worn out, but also thrumming to the brim with energy.

"What is it about you, Adira?" Orion muttered softly, his hand still tight around my face. He was out of breath but softened inside of me enough that he removed himself. He stood back and I got one last look at his glorious body before he got dressed in a blink of an eye.

I sat up, my back feeling rubbed raw from the carpet. "How am I awake?" I asked.

He rolled his sleeves up around bulging forearms. "The kiss broke the thrall."

I tilted my head to the side, not knowing what he meant.

He didn't elaborate. "What are you?"

I crossed my arms over my chest. "I should be asking you that."

With a wave of his hand he replied, "A dream."

"That's real rich considering how much it pissed you off earlier."

He glanced at me, vaguely surprised. He bowed at the waist, analyzing me intensely. "Can you blame me? The one mortal who's survived three feedings assumes I don't exist. Am I that forgettable?" He pressed his palm against his chest, mocking pain.

"Can you blame me when I've only ever seen you in my dreams?" I shot back. "Were you even there at the club that night?"

Those two dimples formed around his mouth when he smiled again. "Oh, I was there, pet."

I wanted to kiss him again.

He drew back, narrowing his eyes. "Not going to happen. You already broke the thrall. What else would you want a kiss for?"

"I want to taste you again," I admitted, eyes growing hooded. I watched his Adam's apple bobbed for a moment before I added, "But perhaps I should save that for when I see you in person. Really know how you taste on my lips."

He turned away. "No."

I laughed humorlessly. "Spoken like a true figment of my imagination."

His eyes shot over to me, lowering to my throat. "Look at how I marked you in the morning and tell me I'm not real, pet."

Then he was gone.