25. NEED

25

NEED

T he bass thumped and red lights swept over a crowded dance floor filled with bodies grinding to the strains of a techno and metal mashup. Flashing lights and fog from machines in the corners made the dancers look like they moved in slow motion.

Charlotte had been in the gothic nightclub Haven once before, when she turned eighteen the fall before last. Blaire hadn't been able to go, but the other servers at the diner took Charlotte one weekend. There was always a theme with colors to suit it. Tonight, red dominated the space, making it look like a seedy castle.

She stood at the top of the set of black stairs lined with red strip lights and black candles on wrought iron candelabras. Her gaze swept the room, scanning for familiar faces. The dance floor offered limited visibility, so she switched her attention to the lounge area where tiered candles flickered atop hardwood tables. Patrons in various states of inebriation sat in black leather booths, drinking, making out, and having a good time .

The song shifted to something with a heavy beat as she descended the stairs into the throng of people.

She hadn't seen Aiden in two days since they left the diner. His mother had roped him, Lukas, and Seth into doing some house repairs for her, so they only had the nighttime to FaceTime with each other. It became a challenge before the end of each call not to stoop to the level of phone sex.

Her need for him had become a problem. She felt like a fiend. Never had she yearned for someone as intensely as she did Aiden.

Gentle hands came to rest on her shoulders as she reached the bar area lit underneath with red lights. Her eyes darted up to see Blaire's reflection in the mirror wall behind the bartenders.

She turned to face her friend and smiled.

"About time you got here!" Blaire shouted over the music. "You look amazing!"

Charlotte looked down at herself with a smile. "That was the plan," she said, more to herself than Blaire. She knew Blaire didn't hear her.

She'd worn a pair of black, high-waisted, leather shorts that came down a couple inches below her backside. The shorts had an open-front, mesh maxi skirt that flowed behind her when she walked fast enough. A black, slinky cowl halter put her entire back on display. She paired the outfit with strappy heels. Wearing her hair up on top of her head, she secured her curls with pins and two black hair sticks. She finished the entire ensemble with a smokey eye but left her lips bare. She wanted them free from anything intrusive.

The goal was to appeal to Aiden, but she wasn't too confident in her look until Blaire's expression set her at ease.

"You look awesome too," she said as Blaire led her away from the bar .

Blaire laughed. "This is all Riley's doing." She smoothed her hand over the long blonde waves cascading down her back.

Riley had dressed her in a long-sleeved crop top fitted to her like a second skin and a miniskirt with a slit up the front of the thigh.

Blaire led her over to a table next to the dance floor where Lukas sat with Seth, Riley, Layla, and a handsome guy with dyed platinum hair showing dark roots and sides. His eyebrow piercing caught her attention. She always thought those looked cool on guys. Blaire caught her looking and leaned in. "That's Dom. He's a new student."

Charlotte nodded. She remembered Aiden mentioning him. "Where's Aiden?"

An animalistic growl behind her made her spin around with wide eyes. What in the world? Her curiosity died when she saw Aiden standing a couple feet away, resembling all her wildest fantasies made flesh.

He wore a pair of fitted black slacks that hugged his muscular thighs. His black, button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up his tight forearms was tucked neatly into his slacks, accented by a black leather belt with a simple metal buckle. The top two buttons of his dress shirt were undone, giving a peek at the muscles he hid beneath.

Her lips pressed together before her tongue could run over her lips.

Blaire leaned in to whisper, "He never dresses like this for the club. Always T-shirt and jeans."

Charlotte wondered if he had the same idea as her when he planned his outfit.

He approached her, his eyes heated with a promise of all the things she wanted him to do to her. She could still feel the marks on her skin, even though they were long gone.

"You look amazing," he said, voice gruff .

"You don't look so bad yourself." She smiled up at him and then turned. He settled his hand on the bare skin of her lower back. She shivered.

"Dom, this is Charlotte," Riley said, hopping up, her layered tulle skirt almost swallowing her. "Charlotte, this is Dom."

"Nice to meet you."

"Likewise," Dominic said, lifting his glass in a toast. "Cheers."

She turned to Lukas. "Happy birthday."

He shook his head and sat back in the seat, pulling Blaire down on his lap. The corner of his mouth twitched, but he tucked his face into Blaire's hair before anyone could see the embarrassed smile.

He didn't like birthdays and wasn't used to attention. They'd had the conversation once before. But he never went against Blaire's desire to celebrate with him because of how she felt about it. They compromised with smaller celebrations or celebrating multiple birthdays together, so he wasn't the sole focus of attention.

Aiden guided Charlotte over to the empty side of the booth, letting her slide in first, moving to sit close to her, his thigh pressed alongside hers.

She hadn't told Blaire or Riley about the development in their relationship. Hadn't told them about how they slept together again or how Aiden seemed to openly acknowledge there was more between them than friendship now. She wondered if Aiden wanted anyone to know—besides Noah.

His arm went over the back of the booth and his fingers grazed the back of her neck, making her shiver.

After several drinks, she felt good. Sitting with Aiden touching her, even if only through hidden brushes of his skin against hers, made her body feel hot. No longer did she feel sick, she felt needy.

The mood in the club shifted, and the lights lowered as the fog increased on the dance floor. The heavy bass cut through the air followed by a sensual beat.

"Dance with me," Aiden whispered in her ear, making her skin pebble as his breath caressed her ear. He slid out without waiting for her to answer, and she followed, glancing once over her shoulder. No one paid them any attention, lost in conversation with each other.

Once he led her to the dance floor, not too deep into the mass of writhing bodies, he pulled her close to him. She gasped when his hard length pressed against her lower stomach, straining against his slacks. Her eyes met his, and he slowly turned her to face away from him so he could wrap his arms around her from behind.

Hands splayed across her stomach, bunching the fabric of her slinky top as they swayed with the music. His lips trailed over the side of her neck, moving over her shoulder where he scraped his teeth across her skin, making her moan. She didn't have to worry about anyone hearing her, the music was too loud.

"You were made for me," he whispered into her ear. His breath fanned over the back of her neck as his lips ghosted over her skin.

The line would sound cliché and overdone coming from anyone else. It sounded like something a dudebro might say to sweep an unsuspecting girl into a one-night-stand. From Aiden, it sounded like he believed those words with every fiber of his being. Maybe he did.

She was starting to believe he didn't see her as beneath him, even though their social status was leagues apart.

He bent forward, and his hands moved down over her hips and back up, sliding beneath the slinky material of her top. His fingers brushed along her ribcage until he took the weight of her breasts in his firm hold. He massaged the sensitive skin, making her moan. She laid her head back against his shoulder.

Her skin prickled with awareness of their surroundings. Heat made her skin tingle in response to the bodies close to them. To anyone around them, unless they looked hard enough, they'd never know what he was doing. Her top gave easy access, but the dark fabric hid any of his movements.

"Did you wear this for me, Kitten?"

The nickname murmured with reverence in her ear made her shudder with desire.

She pretended to hate it. Fought him on using it. But since he didn't waver when he discovered she enjoyed hearing it—wanted to be his kitten—she didn't protest anymore.

It wasn't like she was into pet play. This was different. She wanted to belong to him, to be taken care of by him. To give him what he needed. She wanted him to praise and lavish her with attention. She loved being his kitten.

"Tell me," he rasped, nipping her earlobe.

"Yes." Her voice sounded breathy, and she squeezed her thighs together against the pulsing sensation in her core.

"That's my good kitten." He ground his cock against her backside as if rewarding her admission. She liked being rewarded. "Fuck. What are you doing to me, Charlotte?" His grip tightened on her breasts.

Her heels made it possible for him to position his length against her ass and not her back. As he nibbled at the skin on her neck, her eyes fluttered open. She caught Blaire's eyes first, then noticed the others were watching them with varying degrees of surprise.

Well, the cat's out of the bag now.

She didn't care if they watched. Part of her had invited someone to catch them. Now they had, and the rush went straight to her head.

Blaire lifted her hands, turning to everyone as if to make them stop staring. As they looked away, Charlotte's eyes slid closed again as Aiden's teeth sank into her skin .

Would he make her bleed again?

She hadn't talked to him about it since it happened, but she knew when he bit her before that he broke skin. She had felt something wet trickle over her skin, and it wasn't his saliva. He drank her blood. She didn't know he was into that sort of thing, but for some reason, it didn't put her off.

It made her curious and more than a little aroused. The realization startled her when the haze of lust over her mind cleared, but only because it didn't repel her.

She didn't think she would be into something like blood play, especially with what she'd witnessed back in Athens. Something about Aiden consuming her in more ways than one, taking a piece of her inside of himself that would never go away, made her mad with need.

She needed to tell him.

Gasping when he pinched her nipples, she pushed back against his thick length. She was ready to go home and take him with her. But it was his best friend's birthday. She couldn't do that to them.

His lips trailed up her throat as his hands slipped away from her breasts, sliding down to rest on her hips, fingertips digging into the leather of her shorts.

"If we don't stop now, I'm going to end up taking you on the dance floor," he growled against her ear.

She turned in his arms and looked up at him. His pupils were so large they overtook his irises. Only a sliver of the dark green on the outside glimmered against the red light.

He stooped and captured her lips with his, tangling his tongue with hers for only a moment before he pulled away from her. "Come on, let's go see the birthday boy." His voice remained strained, but he encouraged her forward with his hand on her back .

"I need to go to the bathroom first," she said. "I'll be right back. Go ahead."

The bathroom wasn't as crowded as she expected, but she was still hot, so she decided to step outside to get a little fresh air before she joined the others. After what happened on the dance floor, and the tipsy feeling buzzing through her veins, she needed a breather.

"Hey, Charlotte!"

She spun on the stairs and saw Noah approaching in black jeans and a black T-shirt. "Noah?"

His eyes swept her body, and his upper lip curled. His eyes narrowed. "I didn't think you'd be here." His voice sounded rough.

She frowned, but instead of addressing his statement, she asked, "What are you doing here?" He wasn't at the table in the diner when they talked about Haven. Had he heard when Aiden asked her?

"Just hanging out." Something sounded off in his voice. She couldn't pinpoint it, but he sounded nervous and uncomfortable. "Wanna come over and sit with me?"

"No, I can't. I'm with some friends who are waiting on me."

The muscles in his jaw worked as he looked to the side. Looking back at her he said, "Only for a little bit. I wanna catch up without your boyfriend hogging all your attention." He tried to laugh it off like a joke, but it sounded choked.

"I don't think that's such a good idea. He's waiting for me."

Without letting him say anything else, she turned and finished the quick jog up the stairs out into the open night air of the plaza. Moving over to the side of the building on the sidewalk, she rubbed her hands over the sides of her neck, laying her head back and sighing.

"Charlotte!"

She dropped her arms and watched as Blaire, Riley, and Layla came toward her .

"You okay?" Layla asked when they reached her.

"Yeah, just a little tipsy. Needed some air."

"I bet you did," Riley said with a huge grin on her face. "I didn't know things were like that between you and Aiden."

Charlotte lifted one shoulder in a half-hearted shrug. She couldn't deny it.

"I want to know everything, " Blaire said, grabbing her by the arm.

Riley held her hands up. "Whoa. Hang on. I do not want to know everything. You're forgetting that's my brother."

Layla giggled.

They all turned toward the alley beside the building when the sounds of a fight echoed in their direction.

"Drunk idiots," Riley muttered.

"I don't think…" Charlotte squinted as the light caught the face of one fighter. "Are his eyes—" She couldn't say it. If she mentioned she thought the guy's eyes were glowing, they would think she was crazy. This was merely the residual association of alleyways with the vampire she thought she saw. Nothing more. Nothing less.

"Charlotte! Where are you going? Don't get involved."

"What?" She turned to look at Blaire, and that's when she realized in her curiosity about the person's eyes, she had stepped toward the alley.

When she looked back, a man was approaching her, but not any man—Noah . Had he exited through the side door?

His eyes were wide, and the blue in them seemed to glow beneath the streetlight.

"Charlotte, you need to get—"

He grunted as a blond man slammed into his back, snarling. Noah crashed into her, making her lose her balance and stumble. The man zipped around Noah and grabbed Charlotte by the arm, yanking her up with surprising strength.

"Sweet Cherry, so good of you to join us."

She knew that voice. The nickname made her shudder in fear.

Her gaze met the eyes of her stalker. An obvious amber glow dominated his irises as his canines elongated.