Page 36 of Grotesque
I swallowed thickly. “Ok.” I had a long list of ideas of what the dares could involve, and this time I had the good sense to be worried.
“Good girl,” he purred. The words vibrated through my bones, tickling something at the back of my mind when he finished the sound with the soft click of his teeth snapping together. “Get out of bed,” he said softly.
I clenched the bedspread before doing as he said. The night air brought chills to my bare legs. I wrapped my arms around myself as I waited for his next command.
“Turn around, Sorcha.” His voice circled closer.
I turned slowly and looked upon the most beautiful man I had ever seen. He was the same man that had chased me up the stairs the other night, but gone were the red eyes. Now, they were a pale green, slanted and angular. His face had more color in it than I remembered; some imitation of life blooming beneath the ashen skin.
He was taller than I remembered too, and his muscles more defined. He was big. Everything about him looked big and powerful. Just like in the distorted video.
His dark hair was shorter, and looked as if it had been recently cut. Stray strands feathered at the nape of his neck and across his brow. The lines of his face were somehow as striking as they were fine, as if a sculptor had taken great care in crafting him.
I licked my lips as I struggled to find words. At least the books got it right, vampires werehot. Insanely hot. But the stranger wasn’t just hot, he was ethereally, unnaturally, beautiful. Everything about him, from the breadth of his shoulders to the slant of his luminous eyes, marked him as a predator. Captivating and deadly.
“What’s the twist?” I finally asked.
Those eyes worked their way slowly up my body as he approached, unhurried, until he was standing directly in front of me. Every muscle of his that I could see was taut, like he was going to burst, or pounce. Fear’s good sense nudged me to take a step back.
“For every truth you answer you must take off a piece of clothing.” An elegant smile fluttered over his face. The curve of his mouth was as dangerous as the rest of him, it only made him more alluring. “If you refuse, your truth defaults to a dare.”
My eyes narrowed, earning me another smile that might have been charming if he wasn’t so fucking terrifying. This was a lose-lose situation. He would strip me bare and if I refused, I had no doubt his dares would be even worse.
“How do I win?”
He cocked his head. “You don’t.”
I swallowed. Of course. Because this wasn’t about me. This was about him being in control, and me being at his mercy.
“You promise you aren’t here to kill me?”
He ran a finger down my arm. No claws… yet. “Would you like to use that as your first question?”
Shit. We were starting now? I guess that was fine, since I had a million questions I wanted to ask. I nodded.
The stranger stepped back and toed off both of his boots. I swallowed again, my blood pounding as I looked down to my clothes. A T-shirt, shorts, socks, and underwear. He had on farmore clothing than I did, and it wasn’t going to take him very long to strip me down. I’d have to refuse, and take a dare instead.
“I’m not going to kill you,” he said smoothly. “That would spoil all of the fun we’re having.”
I could work with that. The very hot, wicked, man-shaped-creature wasn’t going to kill me, he was just a psycho who was going to do goodness knows what else. My toes curled as I remembered the feel of his head between my thighs.
“Have you been thinking about the way my tongue felt inside of you?”
Which time, I wanted to ask. My face burned at the idea of answering him. I clamped my mouth shut.
“Really?” He chuckled. “You’d refuse so soon?” His tongue clicked against the back of his teeth. “I dare you to climb on the bed and touch yourself.”
I should have just taken off my pants. But then that would have given him an even better view. I clenched my fists at my side, trying to be defiant but failing when he took a step forward and I moved back.
“Play the game,” he whispered.
I didn’t take my eyes off him as I shakily moved back. He didn’t follow me as I scooted my butt back on the bed, my legs dangling over the edge.
I slid my hand over my chest, my palm grazing my erect nipples. I hated the way my body betrayed me despite how hard I was trying to rationalize with it.
“Not there,” he said. “Like you did when you watched your littlefilmthe other night. Like you did in the kitchen this morning. Oh yes,” he chuckled. “I could hear you.”
Chills raced down my arms, immediately cooling the flush of embarrassment. “You didn’t specify,” I said through gritted teeth, but my mind flew to the question of whether he wasa vampire or not. If he could be awake, and close enough tohearme in the daylight, he must be something else.
