16. Chapter 16

Chapter sixteen

I f I'd known the bloodbath that awaited me at Barry (the brainless's) Summer Bash, perhaps I would've been more excited it was coming. As it was—three weeks out, with my tux now sitting pretty in my closet, I was dreading it like I always did.

Every day, I waited for a note to be left on my door last minute, changing the theme. Barry had done it to me once before, I wasn't paranoid to expect it a second time. I worried…because this was the first time Felix and I would be going to one of these events not as neighbors—but as boyfriends. Lovers. Partners. Whatever the fuck your preference is. We hadn't talked about it yet, but I was certain this would be our suburban debut.

It had to be perfect .

Or I was going to "blow my stack."

"Another date tonight?" Winnie's voice echoed through the speaker on my phone as I finished getting ready for the night. I had several packets of lube tucked into the pockets of my corduroys and I felt like such a whore my cheeks would not stop burning.

Somehow, somewhere—out in the city—I wouldn't doubt that Winnie's Marshall-is-embarrassed sense was tingling.

Which was why she'd called.

Obviously.

To torment me.

"Yes." I grunted at her as I pulled my sweater over my head. Fanning my hand along the pale blue fabric, I frowned, tugged it off, then reached for a different one. Yes, yes. This one was better. When it was on, I twisted to check out my back in the mirror, pleased to see the soft fabric clung rather nicely to my broad shoulders.

Thank you, home gym that I had installed when I moved here.

I'd been…so close to touching Felix's ass on our last date.

Literally less than a hands width away.

But after he'd admitted to me why he was hiding, I hadn't felt it appropriate to grope him. So instead, I'd snuggled him along the path, and listened to him prattle on and on and on about "St John's Wort" and "Pussy Willows".

At the end of the night, when I'd dropped him off on his doorstep with a long, searching goodnight kiss, Felix had pulled back and grinned.

He'd acted electrified —like going outside his home obviously energized him .

"You know, for a man who claims he never leaves his house, you sure like leaving your house," I groused, stealing another kiss.

Felix just cackled and kissed back.

But that was as far as we'd gotten.

Long, searching kisses.

Drugging, toe-curling kisses.

No tongue.

No butts.

No dicks whatsoever.

I needed to change tactics. Subtle was not working. I needed to go on the offense.

"What are you going to do today?" Winnie asked, interrupting my rather inappropriate thoughts. Vladimir, the cat I'd adopted, scurried by my feet, crawling onto my bed with a quiet meow.

"No beds, Vladimir," I chided him, hands on my hips. "We've talked about this."

He meowed again in protest, so I left him alone.

Before I could answer her question, Winnie interrupted me. "Is that a cat, Marshall?"

How the hell had she even heard that?

Was she even human?

"We're going to watch a film at the drive-in a few towns over," I answered her first question, then the second, "And yes. His name is Vladimir. "

"You…have a cat." It wasn't a question, but it sure felt like one. "Named… Vladimir ."

"Yes. Vlad the Im-paw-ler."

"Marshall—" Winnie laughed. "You hate cats."

"Do I?" I squinted, staring at Vlad where he lay peacefully at the foot of my bed, his tail swishing. "I suppose I do."

"And yet…"

"How about you poke your nose in someone else's business? I heard Melissa is pregnant again. You can offer her my condolences," I threw our elder sibling under the bus. Winnie laughed.

"Been there done that. What, you think you're my first call of the day?"

"Fuck off." I clipped my favorite pair of cufflinks on as I spoke.

"So. The drive-in?" Winnie smoothly segued. "Also, I need pictures of the cat, like—yesterday."

"Yes, and fine."

" Really ?"

"Yes, really." I had about a thousand pictures of Vladimir on my phone. I'd taken them because I knew something like this would happen the second my family found out I'd adopted a beast of my own. They were nosy like that.

I had not taken the pictures because he was cute.

I wouldn't do that.

If I had a gallery of him in a few little cat outfits, that was only because Winnie was bound to ask if I had any. And the second she knew I did, she'd demand to see. I was saving myself time. Being efficient.

"You use those condoms I gave you?" Winnie asked, inappropriately.

"God, you're nosy today." I picked up the phone, taking her with me as I headed into the bathroom to wash my face and shave. I whipped up the cream with a brush in a bowl as we talked, only half-listening to her as I applied the cool, fluffy substance to my face.

Damn. I should've done this before I got dressed.

I hadn't realized I'd begun to grow stubble though.

I wanted to be clean shaven. I had plans, dammit. And giving Felix beard burn was not in them—at least…not till I'd gotten a chance to stick my tongue in his mouth. I wanted him to be thinking about how sexy I was and how slick my tongue was, not that my beard hurt.

"What are you doing now?" Winnie asked, clearly amused as she listened to me rattle around.

"I'm shaving."

"I thought you shaved in the mornings."

"I did. I do. But—" I hated that she knew that about me.

"Marshall…" Winnie laughed, amused. "Why are you shaving twice? It's not like you're a werewolf. You couldn't have gotten that hairy."

"Maybe it's not necessary."

"Yeah, maybe. "

"But I don't want to scratch him with my beard." Oh shit. I had not meant to say that. Oh fuck. I'd never hear the end of this. I'd be ninety years old, still getting ribbed.

"MarMar—" Winnie gasped, delighted. "Are you planning on making out with your boyfriend?"

"Stop. No. Ew. Winnie—"

"You're worried about beard burn." Winnie cackled, the riotous wheezing laugh she rarely used. "Oh god. Baby Martian's worried about beard burn! I never thought this day would come—"

"Shut up, shut up, shut up."

"Are you going to give him tongue, Marshall?"

"Shut up, shut up, shut up."

"Do you even know how to French kiss?"

"La-la-la-la." I spoke loudly, trying to cover up her teasing. As I reached for my razor, I debated hanging up on her entirely. We hadn't spoken since she'd visited me after the car show—and I missed her, even though I hated her more than I hated Walmart. Which was saying something.

Harsh, I know.

"Marshall and Felix sitting in a tree—" Winnie sang, "K-I-S-S—"

I hung up on her.

She tried to call back so I blocked her.

I finished shaving in peace—though I did go down a mini anxiety spiral and spent a solid half hour watching video tutorials about French kissing because she'd been right. I didn't know how. I'd never done it. Swapping spit had seemed incredibly disgusting before—

And now it was…

Ugh.

Fuck .

The idea of licking inside Felix's mouth was just… yes .

I was still flushed and flustered by the time I pulled into Felix's driveway to pick him up. I opened his door for him, and his eyes flashed with warmth as he settled into the passenger side, the seat already programmed into position to fit his short gremlin legs.

He smiled at me, leaning over the console by the time I slid into my seat, so he could give me a long, lingering kiss.

"Hi, Marshall," Felix said, voice low and sweet.

"Hi, Felix." I grabbed his face, holding him still so he couldn't pull away. All nervous thoughts fled my head as I crowded in and kissed him a second time. And then a third. And then a fourth.

I wanted to ask him about the woman I'd seen going over to his place the night before—but I was too distracted by how soft his lips were to do so.

An hour later we were parked at the back of the drive-in lot. An old black and white movie was playing, and Felix was…distracted. He kept glancing at the screen wistfully, then at me, then the screen again.

"I remember this one," he said softly as I passed him the blanket I'd brought for us to snuggle under. I'd shown him how to shift his seat into position, so we were both reclined while we snuggled under the comforter. Lights danced across Felix's face, and his eyes were far away again.

"You've seen it before?"

"I've lived it," Felix sighed, shifting closer to me, though the console was—annoyingly—in the way. I shifted closer too, half-tempted to pull him over it entirely and tug him into my lap.

I didn't know what he meant. This was a ballet film. Older than his car, probably. As far as I knew, Felix had never been a professional ballerina. Though, now that I thought about it, he was a good dancer.

And he had said that he was frightened of being recognized.

Perhaps he really had been?

There was a man on the screen that looked oddly familiar, but I ignored him for now, twisting to give Felix my full attention as I tried to figure out an appropriate—and not too forward—way to ask him if he would like to sit in my lap while I sucked on his tongue.

The car to our left—that was visible through Felix's window—rocked subtly, the glass already foggy.

Horndogs.

It wasn't fair.

I wanted to do that.

I just…didn't quite know how.

I squinted at Felix, and his attention moved from the film to me. He cocked his brow in question, the lovely muscle in his jaw flickering as his lips twisted up in amusement. "Is there something you want, Marshall?"

I cleared my throat, prepared to be suave. To seduce him with flowery words and declarations. Instead, all that came out was a garbled whine.

Felix's expression softened even more, a frankly smitten look on his face as he turned away from the film entirely. "What is it, darling? There's no need to look so distressed."

Darling.

God, I loved that.

"I want to kiss you—" There. I'd done it. Amazing! Fucking, finally.

Fuck you, brain.

Felix nodded, shifting over the console gracefully, his fingers curling around my shoulder to steady himself. "Okay," he leaned down, pressing a soft, delicious little kiss against my lips. Electricity zinged down my spine. Victorious, I languished in it, a muffled groan escaping me as our lips slid together, soft and slick.

Only…Felix pulled away.

Sure, a few minutes had passed—but that was not enough. It would never be enough. When he started to move back into his own seat, my life flashed before my eyes. I was old and grayer—and Felixless. It was awful .

I snatched him.

Yanked him right into my lap again—exactly how I'd wanted to only a few minutes prior. He was a solid weight, despite being small, and a startled sound escaped him as his eyes widened. We were so close. Intoxicatingly so. The scent of his lemony shampoo filled the air and my nostrils flared. Need curled hot and tight in my belly.

"Marshall—"

I kissed him again.

No more games.

No more playing.

I might've been awful at it, but I didn't think so. Because when I slipped my tongue inside Felix's mouth for the first time, he melted like butter in my arms. His fingers kneaded at my shoulders, a muffled groan escaping him as my tongue bumped up against his peculiar, sharp little teeth, and one of my hands tangled in the back of his hair, holding him in place.

Felix made a hungry sound—mirroring my own—as I disappeared inside him with each slick, needy flick of my tongue.

The beast inside me howled.

He kissed back. It took him a moment to get over the shock of having a tongue in his mouth, probably. Hell, I was quite shocked by my own behavior too. But…the moment he did, he was kissing back with fervor. His tongue slid along mine, cool as always, rubbing, rubbing, rubbing as my cock perked up beneath his ass and I struggled not to rut against him like a fucking animal.

His scent was heady.

It filled my head, my lungs, my heart .

When I finally broke away, it wasn't because I wanted to stop kissing but because I needed to breathe or I was going to pass out.

"Fuck," I hissed out, head thumping back against the headrest. Felix made an affirmative sound. And god…his lips were swollen and pink, abused from the rough kisses. I wanted to muss him up more. Which was a wild thought from a man who ironed his t-shirts before wearing them.

"Marshall," Felix's voice was a quiet warning. "We shouldn't—"

"Why not?" I asked, genuinely flummoxed. "I want you." I blinked. "You want me."

A horrible thought occurred to me.

What if he doesn't want me?

And that horror must've been written all over my face, because Felix made a quick sound in affirmation, diving in to kiss me again before I could fully panic. "I do. I do want you," he agreed, voice low and rough. "I want you so badly."

"Oh thank God." I hadn't meant to say that out loud, but as soon as it was out, I was glad I had. Felix laughed, a melodic little chuckle.

"I'm just not sure if I can control myself. I'm not hungry right now," he admitted, lips still brushing mine, "but…"

"If you get hungry I'll feed you." I did not understand him and his aversion to eating in front of me. Did he think I'd care if he got food stuck in his teeth? Or spilled—or…I don't know, burped? Even though the idea was unappealing, I was quite aware by now that there wasn't anything Felix could do that would make me less enamored with him.

Felix laughed, though the sound was brittle. "What if I want to eat you?" he joked, a wobble of real fear in his voice. "What then? Would you forgive that?"

"Are we talking cannibalism?" I blinked, trying very hard to listen to his words when he was sitting in my lap and his lips were right there. One of my hands crept up his thigh, making him shiver. Up it slid, over the groove where his leg met his torso, and back toward—

So close

So, so, so close.

"Cannibalism is not a hard limit for me," I told him honestly, my hand twitching. Touch the butt, Marshall. Touch the butt. Do it.

"Really?" Felix looked surprised, I didn't understand why.

"If murder doesn't bother me, why would eating people?" I blinked at him, distracted from ass-groping by talk of murder.

"I'm talking about eating you , Marshall."

"If you killed me, I would think it kind of rude if you didn't."

"Fuck." Felix laughed, head tossed back, his eyes dancing. "You're adorable."

I was not adorable. Maybe he was blind.

"Do you kill everyone you sleep with?" I had not thought of this, obviously. Perhaps that was Felix's MO. I couldn't blame him. I had one of my own. My kills were repetitive. Ritualistic. I followed the same formula every time. Perhaps he was the same? I killed bullies. Bullies that reminded me of the man who had tormented my sister.

While my kills had never involved sex, I could see the appeal.

I wouldn't have been able to before—but after meeting Felix, after helping him clean up after his own murders, I'd thought many times how lovely it would be to fuck him while adrenaline was still high. We'd both be buzzing. Maybe there'd be blood. And god, he'd taste so good—vicious and gorgeous and terrifying.

Was I willing to die if it meant sleeping with Felix?

If it meant having him?

I knew then that I was crazy. Because the answer was—without a doubt in my mind—yes.

"That's also not a hard limit for me," I added, breaking the awkward resulting silence.

"Oh, Marshall." Felix melted, falling forward into another, longer, greedy kiss. This time it was his tongue that was in my mouth, flicking along mine, teasing, teasing, teasing. He coaxed me and I followed—a helpless dog chasing his master for scraps of attention.

Felix hadn't answered my question—but I didn't care. Whether he killed me or not at the end of this, it would be worth it. I slid my hand lower, mirroring the movement with my other hand, so that both of them finally—blissfully—fanned around Felix's ass.

It was perfect . Perky. Bouncy.

Better than I'd imagined.

I gave it a squeeze and Felix groaned, sucking ravenously on my tongue, his sharp teeth pricking my lip. They pressed hard—hard enough they split a little and blood spurted between our lips.

I was about to pull back—to apologize, even though I hadn't done anything wrong—but there was apparently no need. Felix whined , a needy sound as he sucked greedily at the blood, his fingers scrabbling at my body, nails digging into my shoulders.

I'd be bruised. I could already tell.

Was it odd that I liked that?

It seemed I'd finally broken Felix. Because there was no more pausing, no more waiting, no more games. His monster had finally been drawn to the surface. He pushed his ass back into my hands, fingers scraping over my chest as his hard cock pushed against my belly.

Fuck.

Yes .

I understood now why everyone seemed to be obsessed with sex.

If this was sex—if all I'd needed was to wait for the right person to share it with—then I was sold. S-O-L-D sold. Felix was a ravenous, greedy little thing. He scratched and sucked, licking, biting, pressing into me like a beast in heat.

It was like the dam had broken.

All his control evaporated the second he drew blood .

God, I loved him.

I kneaded his ass possessively, squeezing and rubbing, listening to his gasping little whines as his cock pushed into my abs. I flexed to give him something hard to fuck against, urging his hips in a steady, swiveling grind as my own dick shoved against the space behind his balls.

This was heaven.

I'd thought that about Felix's smile before—and I'd been right then too.

But now I was…oh fuck.

Yeah.

I rutted harder, rolling my hips to meet the rhythm we'd set as Felix shoved his tongue into my mouth and I groaned around him.

I knew I wasn't going to last—and neither was he.

And that was what made this all the sweeter.

Because there would be more opportunities to play together. Infinite really.

So long as he didn't kill me.

When he came it was with a broken little howl. It was muffled between our mouths, but earth-shattering all the same. I bucked against him, grinding against his sweet little body, my hands forcing his ass down, over and over, to give me something to fuck against.

I bit his lip, hard, holding tight to it as he gasped against my mouth, his red eyes glowing.

Glowing .

What the—

Oh.

Oh.

Oh .

Felix shifted back a little, parting his legs. He pressed his hand to the ceiling for balance, holding tight, his other hand digging into my shoulder as he bounced on my lap. There was blood smeared across his lips, cherry red. My blood. My blood-my-blood-my-blood.

"That's it, darling," Felix urged, riding my lap, his eyes dark with heat. "Fuck me, sweetheart. C'mon. I know you need it."

"Please—" I gasped out. I'd only ever begged once in my life, and I'd sworn I'd never do it again. Apparently that had been a fat fucking lie. Because all I needed was Felix's sweet ass grinding onto my hard dick and I was prepared to sell my soul to come against him. "Please, please, please—"

"Fuck me," Felix growled, head tipped back as he watched me through his lashes. He looked powerful like that—gorgeous and inhibited. A sexy god. A sex god.

Aphrodite's tiny, delicious brother.

"Look at you," Felix's hand ran over my chest, pushing against my hard nipples as I grit my teeth and panted. Up, up, up, I fucked against him, planting my feet into the floor so I could make him bounce. There were too many layers. Too many layers—why had I brought lube and condoms if we weren't going to use them ?

Why-why-why?

"Please—"

"Look at that big fucking chest heave." Felix squeezed one of my pecs, pinching it in his hand tight enough that for a moment I couldn't breathe. "You're all hot and bothered, aren't you, Marshall?"

I nodded, my jaw clenched tight, my lip no longer stinging—like it'd never been torn at all.

"You like to act scary, don't you?" Felix pulled his hips up and away, and my own pelvis jerked, trying to meet him—to no avail. Somehow, someway, he was stronger than me. It didn't make sense. It didn't make sense— "But you're really just a big, sweet puppy dog."

I growled at him, baring my teeth, and Felix grinned.

"You play bad, but deep down you're a good boy." I sobbed, the words bouncing around inside my head. "You're my good boy, aren't you?"

I nodded, though my jaw remained clenched tight.

His eyes were dark with heat and mischief, and I didn't think I'd ever seen anything prettier.

"You need to fuck me, don't you?"

"Yes—" I managed through gritted teeth. "Please—"

"Okay," Felix dropped his hips back down and I growled, head tossed back, my neck bulging. I clutched at his ass cheeks, yanking them apart, fingers dipping into the sweaty fabric-covered crease between them as I jerked up, over and over, and over. "Okay, Marshall. "

"Felix—" his name was a swear and prayer on my tongue. Panting, I stared at him—enraptured all over again.

"I know—" Felix released the handle above the door, both hands pressing hard to my pecs. "I know." He squeezed and I sobbed, fucking into him as his palms scrubbed against my hard nipples. "Take what you need from me, my good boy . I want you to."

It was that last little purr that set me off.

My head tossed back again, hips pumping, eyes squeezed shut. Pleasure, unlike anything I'd ever known coursed through my veins. He felt so good. So warm, and solid, and fuck-fuck-fuck. I came inside my pants, sobbing as I chased that pleasure, rubbing my hard bulge against the sweet swell of his ass, fingers still clutching him open.

It took a while, but when I finally came down from my high, I opened my eyes.

Felix was still in my lap. He was warm—probably because he'd stolen my heat, the little thief. His eyes were soft, and his fingers were rubbing distracting little patterns over my heart and shoulders, and up my neck.

He looked…at peace.

But guilty too.

Like he knew he'd done something wrong—even though I'd wanted this.

"Are you going to kill me now?" I asked, voice low and hoarse. It was the only thing I could think of that would make him look at me like that .

Felix laughed, the sound startling out of him. "Ah. No." He smiled, though there was a bit of strain around his eyes. "Not today."

"I have a request." His fingers danced up my throat again, and Felix nodded, biting his own lip as he waited. Behind him the movie on the screen was winding down, the credits rolling, their light casting him in a rather spectacular halo.

A name caught my attention at the top—if only because it was one I'd seen before.

Lucky.

Huh.

Just a simple name. No last name attached.

But then my attention flitted back to Felix, and I smiled, hoping I didn't look as manic as I felt. There was cum drying in my pants. I had a crick in my back. And my legs were beginning to cramp. Logic dictated that I should not have been as blissfully happy as I was.

But logic was a bitch, and I was ignoring her today.

The only thing that mattered to me right now was Felix.

"What's your request?" Felix asked, sweetly. There was a dazed sort of look on his face, docile—like his orgasm had sucked the life out of him too.

"If you're going to kill me, at least let me fuck you a few more times first."

Felix laughed.

And it was sunshine, sunshine, sunshine .

I leaned up to taste it, gathering him close because if I didn't, I worried he'd slip away again. There was a lot I was willing to lose in this life, but Felix wasn't one of those things. And I knew I would keep him forever if he let me.

Even if my forever was not nearly as long as his was.

On account of the fact he had not confirmed whether or not he'd kill me.

The odd thing?

I'd let him.