Insatiable (The Edge of Darkness, #1)

by Leigh Rivers

For the good girls who like to dance in the dark while being watched by the devil.

“You should go back inside. It’s too cold out here, Freckles.”

My breath is slowly being ripped from my lungs as she draws closer. In fact, I don’t think I’m breathing at all. Her hair flows down her back in curls, freckles dusting over her skin, and those eyes are fucking killing me. They aren’t blue, maybe a light green mixed with silver, like a forest in winter.

She smiles at me, and shit, I’ve never liked someone’s smile before. I find myself faintly smiling back at her.

Ah, fuck. Freckles is even prettier when she’s mad. The butterflies are going fucking wild, and I have no idea how to repress the feeling. She barges into me with her shoulder, and I can’t stop the grin pulling at my lips as she marches away with my sister. Her scent lingers, her dark hair bouncing down her back, but she keeps facing forward, refusing to give me that one last look at her I’m desperate for – until she’s about to vanish down the pathway among the trees, when she turns and gives me the middle finger. Fucking hell. Why am I smiling?

Kade snakes his arm around my waist, already making me feel safer. His other hand is wrapped around the neck of a beer bottle, a joint between his fingers. He blows a cloud of toxic smoke towards Chris. His arm tightens around me, his hand fisting the material of my dress at my hip. In a deep, threatening tone, Kade says, very slowly,

“Walk away before I make you one sorry motherfucker.”

Kade hasn’t released me, but I haven’t moved away either. My core twists with a deep sensation I haven’t felt for a while as he brings his mouth to my ear, whispering,

“Who was your friend, Freckles?”

“No ...

I manage to answer, holding in a gasp as the tip of his nose traces the shell of my ear. As I tilt my head to give him better access, my chest heaves as the delicate yet powerful touch travels to the sensitive area of my neck that has my inner ...

“No… No...

When Kade’s fingers tug at my chin, forcing me to look at him over my shoulder, I lick away the metallic taste on my lips, trying to hide any evidence of Chris hitting my face against the gate. So close. His mouth is so close to mine. If I tilt my head, our lips will collide. When he turns my body to face him, his eyes are burning into my soul. He backs me up against the gate with a palm on my chest then moves it to my throat, holding me in place. My pulse is hammering against his hand, and as he squeezes slightly, a whimper slips from my mouth. My entire body is on fire with his touch. The total opposite of when Chris tries to manhandle me. His pupils dilate under the moonlight. He releases my throat and grasps a handful of hair, roughly tugging it to tip my head back.

I pack my Pleasers and fishnet tights to wear with my bodysuit. The last time Kade saw me dressed like this, dancing with fire for a competition I never got to participate in, I ended up bouncing over his cock on the studio floor until three in the morning.

Kade comes in as I connect my phone to the speakers, and I can feel his eyes on my back. It’s distracting me from searching through the notes for my routine. As I glance up at the floor-to-ceiling mirrors that span one side of the hall, I can see him staring at me. More specifically, he’s looking at my legs, dragging his gaze upwards. He might as well have dragged his tongue over my skin with how hot it makes me.

I slowly walk around the pole, then pivot around it twice, one hand exploring myself as the other grips the cold metal. My eyes lift to the mirrors, and I nearly stop moving. He’s no longer in the ceiling – Kade’s leaning his elbows on top of the ladder, watching me as I slide my back down the pole to squat, twirling my hips as I descend. I wrap my long ponytail around my fist.

He slowly eats up the distance between us, and my heart beats harder in my chest. My breathing becomes laboured, deeper, especially when he takes my hip and my throat, backing me up against the mirrored wall.

His thumb strokes the side of my neck, and he might as well have shoved his face between my legs and sucked on my clit with how wet it makes me. His jaw ticks.

His grip tightens on my throat, and my eyes flutter with the sensation.

My knees shake, but as he goes to release me, I stop him, pressing his hand to my throat. It’s not the same as when Chris does it, and it feels good – ...

He stresses his words by cutting off my oxygen momentarily. All I manage is a nod, and his eyes flash with something dark and sinister. As he applies pressure to my throat, his thumb to my pulse,...

The hand that was on my hip is travelling up my side, burning a trail in its wake. Every touch from him is scorching; every touch goes straight to the coiling sensation that begins at the base of my spine. Our chests rise and fall in rhythm as we wait for the other person to speak, to fill the silence. Our bodies are so aware of each other, remembering all the times we’d been joined as one. Seventeen minutes until class starts. I must be insane, because although I want to slap Kade and call him every name I can think of, I also want him to lift me into his arms and fuck me senseless. I want all his anger pushing inside me. His rage. His harsh words against my ear as he makes me scream his name.

“If you’re going to do something, then hurry up.”

“I don’t want to go n...

he replies, lowering his forehead to mine, his dilating ey...

“I can’t stan...

His fingers tighten around my throat, and my pussy clenches. My hand drops between us, feeling the hard ridges of his cock through his shorts. He’s so big and thick, just like I remember. My heated body also remembers, and it tenses along with Kade’s, a hiss dropping from his mouth as I squeeze the l...

“If I disgust you so much, then why a...

He uses his grip on my neck to push me harder ag...

“It means no...

Kade’s face comes closer to mine, his breath hitting my lips as his thumb presses j...

“It’s a...

He doesn’t stop me from rubbing my palm up and down the length of his cock through the material of his shorts. He twitches against my hand, and his breaths hit my cheek as they become heavier the harder he gets. Kade’s grip grows tighter on my throat; his other hand stops at the strap of my bodysuit, and he curls his fingers under it and drags the strap down my shoulder with haunting slowness. My breast bounces free as the material slips beneath it. Reaching under his waistband, I take his hard c...

“Does this make you sick, Kade? To have me touching you this way?...

He swallows, but the way he moves into my hand tells me he’s lying when he rep...

“...

I continue stroking him, swiping away the bead of wetness from the tip and lifting my thumb between us, so he can see me lick the precum. His lips part gradually, his eyes heavy as he watches my tongue run up my thumb. I close my eyes to revel in the taste and lower my hand between us again, wrapping it around his thickness. A moan slips from my lips as he pinches my nipple, my underwear drenched from the sting. ...

“Will I ...

Right now, as he nudges my nose with his, pushing himself into my fist with a deep groan, I think he might kiss me. His lips are close to mine. But even though I’m touching him, I will never let him kiss me again. I slant my head to put distance between our mouths. He grabs my jaw and shoves his thumb into my mouth, pressing on my tongue, before lowering his head and taking my nipple between his teeth. He sucks so hard, I think I might explode. Kade sucks my breast into his mouth, his tongue circling ...

All I wanted to do, when her hand was wrapped around me, was rip her clothes off and remind my dick what it feels like inside her. I wanted to have my fingers between her legs, to hear her moans in my ear as I sank into her. I wanted to bend her over and twist that idiotic ponytail around my fist while she screamed for me.

As soon as her students leave, I’m going back in. This is just an itch to scratch. That’s all. I’ll fuck her against the wall and tell her to stay out of my way until I have to leave town again.

“Bryan Tiernan,” she says, flipping it open to an image of his broken face, “filed two charges against you this morning. Assault and arson. I had to pay him off and tell him not to speak a word of it again. Care to explain why you’re attacking random people in their homes then setting it alight?” I stay silent. Tap my fingers on the armrests. I should’ve killed him like I killed the last guy she slept with. No one fucks Stacey and gets away with it. I can’t have her, but nobody else will.

I shouldn’t look at my sister’s best friend the way I do, but when Stacey Rhodes walks into the room, you can’t not look.

For a second, I look at her, as if I haven’t a million times already, allowing myself to study each freckle close up, her perfect cheekbones, the way her dark hair curls around her face and cascades around her. She licks her lips, and my eyes are drawn to the act. They’re naturally plump, a deep shade of pink, and she always bites the bottom one. My breaths are heavy through my nostrils as I lean forward, closing my own eyes. Heart racing to a dangerous rate, my nose glides against the side of hers until our lips are aligned, and I hesitate. I’m going to fuck this up. Heat is radiating around us, and I can’t fucking breathe. There’s a pain building in my chest. Panic slams into me, and I ease back an inch, about to tell her we’ll just pretend to everyone. But Stacey pushes forward and presses her lips to mine, and the world stands still, time halting. “Broken” by Lovelytheband fades, and so do the giggles and chatter of the group nearby, until it’s just me and Stacey. Her palms slide up my chest to rest on my shoulders, and I bristle from the touch, unsure how I feel about it. She notices the way I freeze mid-kiss and removes her hands. “Sorry if I…” I grab her before she can shy away, pull her back to me and reciprocate the kiss. It’s firm yet gentle, and as I go in for a second, more relaxed kiss, her tight grip returns on my shoulders. I’ve wanted to do this since I was fifteen but never had the balls to approach her. As hot as she is, she’s terrifying when it comes to ...

Despite what happened, I’m drawn to her so much that I’ve climbed up to her window four times over the last two years and watched her sleep. Even contemplated sneaking in once.

I turn down my music, pull out my phone and stare at her contact details. Freckles

After two years of keeping my distance, I broke my rules by following her to the front gate, by watching her dance, by approaching her and letting her touch me, by letting myself remember every sound she’d ever made for me. When her hand wrapped around my cock – the lie that wasn’t a lie – I forgot what she’d done. But I remember now. And I refuse to let her fuck with my head again.

Her bedroom light turns on, the curtains opening to reveal her glancing down at me in only her bra. My skin prickles with goosebumps at the fresh memory of my mouth on her tit, heat rushing up my spine and making my dick twitch. After a longer second of our eyes clashing without looking away, she gives me the middle finger and vanishes from my view. Little shit.

After I was dared to kiss her years ago, I lasted all but a few days before cornering her in my kitchen and daring her to kiss me again while no one was around. I pulled her onto the countertop and let my hands roam her body, close to having a panic attack from thinking I would do something wrong.

She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear then leans down to grab something from her handbag at her feet. My eyes fall on our initials woven together on the exposed part of her back. I shake my head and look away. I light another cigarette and turn up the rock music.