Page 48 of Thirst

I feel a look of astonishment sweep across my face as I realize he's right. He has paid me every time we’ve ever spoken, and I've never objected to it. Of course not. My rent went up and I needed every dollar. But I don't know if the money is what brought me here. He offered it that night in the Viper Room, and I accepted even though I had my own interests in exploration. So I understand why it could be confusing. Hell, maybe I'm confused.

Instead of being bogged down by thinking about it like trying to figure out a complex math equation, I take a deep breath and try to allow my truth to come through without a filter.

“My interest in you isn't solely financial,” I say, trying my best to be completely honest. “I like you, Amari. You're probably the most gorgeous, sexy, intriguing man I've ever met, and I was ready to do whatever you wanted the last time I was here. We have an ability to get deep during our conversations that makes it feel like we’re so much more than a stripper and a customer. I'm actually interested in what you have to say, and I'm being real when I talk to you. I tell you the truth, not the usual stripper shit designed to lift money out of your wallet. I've already broken so many rules with you, with the biggest being the fact that I'm here. I've never done anything like this before. I'm scared I might actually like you. But if it doesn't work out and we can't be anything more than a stripper and a customer, at least the money is good. I'm sorry if that comes off harsh. I guess what you should take from it is that I'm willing to see where we can go from here, because my interest in you is as real as it gets. Does that explain it?”

Amari smirks, but tries to hide it behind his glass as he sips his wine. When he brings it down the smile has been wiped away. “Yes, it does. Thank you. Now what if I told you I wanted to take tonight further than last time?”

My cheeks heat up. “Oh. Well, what’d you have in mind?”

“Well, in the name of honesty,” he says with a raised brow and a lustful look on his face that makes my insides tremble. “I've been dying to kiss you. Not just on your lips, although they're the most delectable, enticing things I've ever seen. I want to kiss you all over your body. I've wanted to since the moment I had to restrain myself during your first lap dance for me. I had to put my hands at my sides and only watch as you showed me how perfect you are. Now I want to touch you, but not with my hands.”

By the time he's done talking, I'm biting my lip to the point of pain. My god, he's so good with his words, it’s not even fair. There's only one thing to say to something like that.

“Yes,” I reply, even though it sounds funny after what he just said. But that’s all I've got.

“Yes?” he repeats, smiling.

“Yes,” I say again. “To all of it. Do everything you planned—everything you want to do. Yes. Do it.”

“And if I want you to bleed for me again?”

“Yes.”

His grin is villainous. “Mm. Alright then.”

As I suck in a breath, Amari knocks back the rest of his wine like it’s a shot instead of a full glass, then sets it down on the end table. His gaze stays on me as he slides himself across the couch until we’re side by side, and as I suck in a breath, he finally ends our streak of meet-ups where we don't kiss.

My world tilts, shifting on its axis as his lips, at last, meet mine. They're plump and soft as clouds, albeit colder than I expected, and the feeling of our mouths together is beyond seductive. Our tongues dance together like lifelong partners, and it steals my breath. I am undone in this moment, and I know this is what a first kiss should feel like. So often women are faced with men who just want sex, and that desire is more apparent than men realize. But every now and then, we’re reminded of what it’s like to meet someone who knows how to make love. Even in something as simple as a kiss, the difference is clear. This level of passion is unmatched, and that’s what simple sex lacks. Passion. Yes, it’s hot and you can come from sex, but passion makes you moan. Passion can make you cry. Passion is life altering. Passion can make you fall in love.

As we kiss, I feel Amari’s hand slide up my body. He doesn't fondle my breasts or make a show of squeezing me inconsequentially. He just touches me, reminding me of my existence, embracing my skin and all its curves like he appreciates every inch of me. When his fingers reach my neck, he doesn't choke me without permission to display his dominance. Instead, he gently pushes me backward until I'm leaning back on the pillow behind me, then he leans forward and begins kissing my neck. His hands squeeze my hips as he slowly makes his way down, and I shudder from how good it feels. Goosebumps scatter across my flesh as he kisses down my chest, taking his time to remove my dress with tender care until I'm completely out of it. I remain patient while he slowly takes what he wants, but once I'm naked and I know for a fact that we’re about to go all the way, I lose my patience.

I sit up on the couch as he stands, unbuttoning his shirt for him so that I can hurry up and get it off. Once it’s removed, I marvel at the striations in his body—the muscles in his arms, shoulders, and chest, and the veins that wind down his arms like roads on a map that don't stop until they reach his fingers. He carries almost no bodyfat. He's like a lean animal that has been hunting his entire life, his body chiseled from repeated movements that keep him primed for the hunt. It’s stunning how good he looks up top, so now I'm desperate to see what’s down below.

Amari stands in front of me, watching as I unfasten his pants. The confidence he has in letting me do it tells me everything I need to know about what I'm going to find. Not to mention that I've already felt it during a lap dance, but seeing it isn't the same. Not by a longshot.

“Oh my god,” I whisper the second I pull his boxer briefs down. I saw the outline in the fabric before, but now that it’s unleashed, I'm wide-eyed and stunned. I look up at him, and he smiles before biting his bottom lip like he was waiting for this moment. He knew he was carrying around eight inches of thick, veiny girth, and he was eager for me to find out for myself.

Once he's unleashed, I pull him down on top of me. There's so much more I want to do. I want it in my mouth just to feel the size of it, but I also want the sensation of his body on mine. I want to feel the weight of him and his skin against my skin. So I lie back and let him lie on top of me as we kiss again and allow the moment to be what it is. Raw passion.

We kiss like lust-filled kids making out, our heads moving as we moan down each other’s throats. I feel his rock hard erection pressed against me, and shift my body to put it as close to my entrance as I can. We both had tests done before I first came here the first time, so I know he's clean and I want to feel him as naturally as possible. I'm desperate for him to be inside me, but he doesn't give me what I want. He turns the foreplay up to the max by making me wait. Instead of sliding in, he goes back to kissing my body, his lips taking a path between my tits on their way to my navel, and I breathe heavily as my thirst for him consumes me. I moan with each peck as he goes further south, suddenly remembering what happened last time. The cut. The blood.

Then the wound healed and left no mark in a matter of hours.

As the memory returns, I'm also reminded of how anxious I was about it, hoping for answers at dinner until … I just didn't think about it anymore. I wanted to know what happened … until I didn't, and just as I start to think about it again, I feel a sharp pain in the exact same spot as the last time. It catches me off guard, and when I look down to see what happened, I see Amari sitting on his knees with a narrow streak of blood gliding down the side of his mouth. He looks up at me, and for a moment, with absolute certainty, I see red in his eyes. I've seen it before, but I thought nothing of it, assuming I was mistaken. But now I know I'm seeing it. His eyes have red in them that isn't always there, but it’s as clear as day right now.

“What was that?” I whisper to myself before looking at the blood that has now run down to his chin. “Did you bite—”

My words are cut off when Amari suddenly drops down and clamps his lips onto me. I gasp, the sensation stealing the air from my lungs and making my entire body rigid like rigor mortis as he licks me. I can feel him sucking my clit as he licks it at the same time, and it sends me into a frenzy. My back arches and my mouth drops open as my moans take over the silence in the penthouse. My hands clamp the back of his head and I hang on for dear life as he eats me to the point of orgasm once again.

I combust, sending my voice through the ceiling as I come in his mouth for the second time, forgetting everything I was thinking before. He traps my thoughts in a vault of pleasure and lust that I can't break free from. Even as I come down from the bliss, I'm still too into it to think of anything other than how badly I want him. I'm so lost in it that when I grab his face to pull him up to me, I kiss him immediately, unfazed by the blood I see still smeared across his plump bottom lip. I lick it and suck it into my mouth, completely overcome with carnality as I pant like a wild animal—kissing him, wanting him, needing him … losing myself.

“Fuck,” I say in a whimpering whisper. “I don't think I've ever wanted anyone so bad in my life. I need you, Amari.”

“You need me to what?” he says, planting kisses under my chin and over my throat. “Tell me what you need me to do.”

“I need you inside me. Right now.”

“Say it again,” he commands, positioning himself between my legs.