“And you were usually the winner.”
“Not always. You were all legs back then. Still are, just with a little extra muscle.”
“Your legs are longer than I remember.” He trails his gaze up my body, and my skin heats. “And you’ve got more in other places, too. Curves that are positively delicious.” His claws drag against the stone edge of the fountain. “I think the stakes are a little higher than a kids’ game of tag. Have you thought about what happens when I catch you?”
I’m burning up, my heart pounding faster. You’ll fuck me. Fuck me hard, make me scream when I come… But I just flash him a smile, then run straight for the opening of the maze behind me.
I only get a few paces along the passage before his body collides with mine, bearing me down to the grassy path. My breath leaves my lungs in a half laugh, half shriek. I’m on my stomach, with him half on top of me, bracing himself on both arms. I stay there for a moment, relishing the press of his hardness into my bottom, savoring the thrills racing through my lower belly.
I can hear him panting heavily above me, each breath thickened with a growl, and for a second I tremble with anticipation of what I’ll see when I roll over to face him. This isn’t a fairy tale. The beast doesn’t turn into a prince through the power of love—it’s the other way around.
I always preferred the beast anyway.
With a quick inhale, I twist, rolling over beneath him until I’m face up, staring into his brown eyes. They’re shot through with white, and they blaze with triumph and desire. He ducks his face against mine, nosing along my cheekbone and temple, and I go perfectly still except for my frantic breaths. A louder growl grates from his throat, and there’s the lightest scrape of a fang against my cheek. His claws travel along my collarbone, over my shoulder, snagging the thin strap of the dress.
“Jay,” I whisper.
“Daisy.” His lips press lightly against my neck, right over my pulse point.
I’m trembling, not with terror but with the frenzied hunger tearing through my blood. I need him. I need him so badly I think I might scream. I’ve needed him for years, for ages…forever.
One claw hooks into the strap, and—pop! Jay rips through it. His claws slide across my chest to the other strap and slit that as well. Then he drags the bodice of the dress down, inch by inch, looking into my eyes the entire time. My heart thunders through my ribs and my skin is incandescent with heat. It’s all I can do not to lunge for Jay, not to writhe and arch to get my body against his—but a primal part of me recognizes the predator in him, awake in this moment, and I stay still, so very still, because any movement could make him snap.
Maybe I want him to snap.
I’m not wearing a bra under the maxi dress, and when Jay rakes the material down to my waist, his gaze drops to my breasts. A low moan issues from his lips. “Fuck,” he whispers. “God, Daisy, you’re beautiful.”
His fangs skate along my skin, and my nipples tighten to eager nubs. Jay chuckles, low and breathless. “I love the way you react to me. I could tell, you know. Right from that moment under the magnolia. You’ve been wet for me ever since.”
My body clenches in response, and my hips surge upward, an involuntary movement.
This is different from anything else we’ve done so far. My need for him goes deeper this time—it’s ferocious, visceral. Even if someone came to interrupt us, I wouldn’t want to stop. I’d let them watch while I fucked him anyway.
“Come here,” I hiss at him. “Stop playing around.”
He grins, a glittering vision of fangs, and my breath stops. But the next second his fangs recede, and the swirling white of his irises alters to black again. His lips look fuller, swollen and flushed, as he ducks his head and mouths my breast, teasing the nipple with his tongue.
With an urgent whimper, I sink my fingers into his hair, drag his face up to mine, and yield to the bliss that is kissing him. His fragrance soaks into my consciousness—pine, leather, and a fresh hint of basil. His crisp shirt presses against my bare skin, and I can feel him burning, burning through his clothes, his body hard with tension. He’s as feral for me as I am for him.
The evening air breathes over us, stirs my hair as Jay slips his tongue into my mouth. He’s cautious about it at first, until I tighten my grip on his hair and thrash my tongue against his, releasing a hoarse whimper into his mouth. I want him so badly I can hardly think. The sweet soreness in my pussy is so much worse—I ache to have him there. I can’t wait another second.
“I want you inside me,” I gasp. “I want you deep, as deep as you can get. I want you to fucking break me, Jay.”
“In a minute,” he whispers. “Just…give me a minute.” His fingers glide over my bare skin, flexing, caressing my flesh as if he wants to memorize the feel of me. I shove my hands under his shirt, running them up his sides and around to the muscled expanse of his back.
Shifting his position, he rakes the maxi dress up my thighs and his fingers nestle at my core, probing my soaked underwear. The claws return, their sharp points dancing along the hollow of my hip, and then there’s a raw rip of material as Jay destroys the panties.
I gasp with momentary terror that he might plunge those sharp nails into me—but I know he won’t, because it’s Jay. He stops kissing me for a moment while he focuses on retracting the claws—and then his fingers are back, sliding through my folds, swirling and circling. I arch into the touch, struggling to get the pressure I need, but he just keeps teasing, relishing my neediness.
“I’ve wanted to do this to you for so long,” he whispers. “To watch you come undone for me, Daisy. I loved making you come in the VR room and on my bed, but this is even better. I can see you now, all the tiny changes, the expressions of your sweet face as I touch your clit, as I stroke your pussy right through here, and then down here…ah, you like that better, don’t you?”
I can’t form coherent words, but I lace my fingers at the back of his neck and pull him down to me. I crush his mouth to mine, swirling my tongue between his teeth. When he relaxes against me, bracing his hands on either side and settling his hips against my center, I reach down between us and graze my fingers along his length, through his jeans. I capture his throaty gasp with my lips, savoring it.
“Take these off before I bite you myself,” I whisper.
He climbs off me long enough to shuck off his clothes and expose his entire lean, beautiful body to my sight. I prop myself on my elbows to get a better look at him. “Jay Gatsby, you are goddamn gorgeous.”
Jay grins, his eyeteeth glinting. That feral smile of his prompts a naughty impulse, and I rise, sliding off the maxi dress so I’m entirely naked, just like him.
He’s hard for me, dripping for me. I want to lick him so badly, to taste the desperation beading at the tip of his cock. But he made me wait, so I think I’ll do the same.
“Looks like the chase isn’t over yet,” I say, and I flee into the maze again.
The air has cooled, but it’s still soft and warm from the heat of the day, like cloudy fingers brushing my bare skin. Part of me can’t believe I’m racing naked through a garden. I never do things like this—I never get any kinkier than doggy-style and spankings. I was always afraid that if I went any further with Tom, if we tried any of the other things he wanted to do, he’d take me deeper than I wanted to go. Some secret part of me never trusted him enough for that.
So why am I so trusting with Jay, who is an actual vampire with claws and fangs? Running naked from him through a hedge maze is the most reckless, erotic act I’ve ever indulged in—and yet I feel completely safe. He showed incredible control when he tackled me a few minutes ago—retracting the claws and fangs at precisely the right moments. I know he won’t hurt me.
And if he does, I think I might like it.
Maybe that’s the difference—the trust. Even when I loved Tom, some deeper instinct of mine kept me from yielding completely. The pain that came from his hands stemmed from rage or selfishness; but any pain Jay delivered would be laced with tenderness, sweetly synchronized with his love for me.
As I pelt past the opening of another corridor, Jay rockets from the adjoining path and slams into me, his bare skin hot against mine. We tumble into the soft, short grass with him heavy against my back.
“Got you.” He bites my earlobe lightly.
I shift under him, lifting my bottom, trying to position myself so he can slip inside.
“No.” His hands close around my body, turning me over. “I want to see your eyes when I make you come.”
