Page 78 of The Wickedness of Man

Danny’s eyes widened when he caught sight of me, his mouth dropping open.

“I’m going upstairs with my other guests,” said Katie as she passed me, slapping a hand on my ass cheek, squeezing it briefly. “Behave, you two.”

I glanced over my shoulder at her, about to say something, when Danny stepped toward me.

“H-how are you?” Danny asked, his expression still nearly slack jawed as his eyes roved over my body, leaving a fiery, nearly physical ache in their trail, which surprised me. His lust was instantaneous; it was sharp and hot like cinnamon. “I’m sorry, Mags, I really?—”

“Please… don’t,” I said lightly, trying to come up with a reply that wouldn’t cause more questions. “I wasn’t avoiding you on purpose. I left my phone at a friend’s house on Saturday. I wasgoing to go pick it up later, so I actually haven’t gotten any messages or calls yet.”

“Oh,” said Danny, blinking as he tore his eyes from my bosom back to my face. “Uh, then that makes this a lot more awkward.”

I laughed and took another step toward him. He mirrored my movement, almost subconsciously.

“Should I just delete them without reading any, or maybe make you read them all aloud to me here instead?” I asked, twisting my hands coyly behind my back. “You know. As penitence?”

A shiver of desire ran through me. I was flirting with him. Me! Flirting, like a pro! I’d been so convinced of my lack of skills, I’d rarely ever tried, and I’d always been aware of how awkward I came across when I had. Danny’s pupils were so dilated they nearly swallowed up his face. Even in the darkened café, I could register that minute change.

“If it would make you feel better,” he said, his voice dropping, breath catching. “Have you… uh, have you done something with your hair… or something? You look… different.”

The playfulness in my belly faded a bit.Right, I recalled.Demon attraction.I stood upright, crossing my arms over my chest.

“Something like that,” I said. “So… Katie said you wanted to talk…?”

“Oh,” Danny blinked as he recalled, sheepishly scratching his head. “Yeah. I want to apologize. About the… your birthday. It was a really shitty, dumb thing to do. Especiallyonyour birthday, but especially because I owe you better.” He cleared his throat and tossed the rag Katie had handed him down on a nearby diner table. “I also realized that it probably seemed like I was suggesting sex was the reason that we weren’t going to work out, and I didn’t want you to think that was the only thing. Youremember how I told you I had to stay late a couple months back for the project my team was working on? Finalizing some stuff with my boss? Well, it was actually a meeting to let me know I’d been picked to be one of the team leads for the new branch my company’s opening. We were going over the terms and contract, and figuring out some final details… I start next month.”

I smiled from ear to ear despite myself. “Danny, that’s incredible!” Without meaning to, I ran forward and wrapped him in a hug. “I’m happy for you.”

He leaned back and looked guiltily into my face before looking away. “The office is up in Canada. It’s in Victoria, actually… on the west coast.”

“British Columbia?” I asked, frowning at him. I took a step back, let go of his arms. “Wait… why didn’t you tell me any of this? We were still going out then. I was…” I paused, recalling. I’d been shopping for a cute piece of lingerie to wear for the “big night” of our one-year anniversary and looking for hotels. I felt my breath catching in my throat.

“You were planning on breaking up with me,” I whispered. “You were going to have sex with me and then break up with me after.”

“Mags, please, it’s not like that.” Danny reached for my arm, but I wrenched myself out of his grasp, glaring him down. “No, no, okay? I wasnotgoing to sleep with you and then dump you. I was…” He grimaced. “I was going to ask if you wanted to come with me, and if not, I was going to ask if you wanted to do a long-distance relationship, but?—”

“But you never brought up any of that,” I said. “Because you knew I’d opt for the long-distance relationship, and because you knew you’d have to either break up with me or you’d end up sleeping around behind my back, and it would make you feel guilty.”

“Mags, that’s not fair,” Danny said, leaning back against a table and sitting on it. I mirrored his movement, the emotional distance between us far greater than even the six feet of physical space. “Look at what happened on our anniversary! I mean, listen, I know you can’t help it. I still love you. I do. If you and I could have worked out, we would have, right? But if we can barely touch when we’re sitting in the same room, what would it have been like when we were across countries…?”

“So, to you, our anniversary was a test,” I said, my voice catching. “One that I failed. You decided to break up with me that night, didn’t you? Why make me wait for two weeks, then?”

“I didn’t want to hurt you. I really didn’t. Please know I was being honest with you when we started dating. I said I would wait—that you were worth it. Youare, Mags, I promise! I’m the one who was fooling myself. I thought I could handle it, and I couldn’t. As cliché as it is, I have needs, and when we couldn’t… y’know … I figured it was a sign that I should just end it. I fought my want for youconstantly. I didn’t want to just tell you the next day and upset you, so I thought maybe a break might be good… but then I found out I’m moving next week, and I figured it couldn’t wait any longer.”

“You mean you didn’t want to upsetyou,” I told him. “You didn’t want to deal with me crying and being sad, so instead you ‘officially’ broke up with me on my birthday, in front of a room full of people so we wouldn’t be able to talk about it and you could run away.” My anger was stoking a heated fire within me. “Do I have that right?”

Danny licked his lips, opened his mouth, then shook his head. “Mags, I’m an asshole, okay? I’m sorry. I don’t know what else to say. I’ve been beating myself up over my own cowardice for days—for weeks. I should have told you. I should have been honest with you. I know that. If not for the fact that we’d been dating a year, then at least for the fact that you’re my sister’s bestfriend, and you’re one of my oldest friends, too. I hope… I hope you can forgive me. Even if you don’t want to be my friend. I just. God… Mags, I just?—”

Danny launched himself across the room and grabbed hold of me, kissing me so deeply it stole my breath momentarily. His hands moved up and down every inch of my body, and when he squeezed my breasts, I threw my head back as pleasure spilled through my core, gasping at the sudden lightning that ran across my lower abdomen.

“I’m sorry,” he said against my neck, kissing me so hard I was afraid he’d leave a hickey, “please forgive me. I’ll do anything. We’ll figure it out—you can come with me, and we’ll get everything fixed… You’re incredible. You’re?—”

Danny unclasped my bra beneath my shirt with the speed of man well practiced at the motion, and pulled my tank top and bra off, then tugged my shorts down, staring at my black panties, running his fingers reverently over the lace along my vulva. I moaned, spreading my legs to allow him further access before I even realized what I was doing. My brain was spinning. I was still hurt; still angry at him, but when he ran his fingers along the cloth over my sensitive spots, I felt a myself getting wet; practically flooding out to meet his questing hands.

“Danny,” I breathed. He cut me off with a kiss, pushing his tongue deeply into my mouth. I felt my body quivering with need. Distantly, I found myself comparing the differences in the way he and Caleb tasted… and longing for someoneotherthan the man touching me so intimately.

Oh no… does that mean that it’s already too late…?

I realized suddenly that I knew what Carmilla was talking about when she’d mentioned that bonded partners would need someone else to feel satiated.

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