Her Soul to Take (Souls Trilogy)

Outside, the air was crisply cold, my breath forming clouds of condensation as I exhaled. The music from the bar was muted, and the scent of weed was sour and sharp on the breeze. I stood near the corner of the building, the silhouettes of Leon and his friend dark in my peripheral vision down the alleyway. I took a drag on my vape, and the scent of strawberry cream mingled with the odor of weed.

From behind me, the low murmur of the men’s voices sent a little chill up my spine. Then Leon’s voice called, “Are you just going to stand there and hope we bother you, Raelynn? Or are you going to come get what you want?”

I whirled around, my free hand shoved in my pocket so they wouldn’t see my fingers clench. Leon leaned against the side of the building, passing the joint to his friend, who smirked at me before he took a drag. I didn’t appreciate him reading into my actions like that.

I didn’t appreciate him being right.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” I said. Leon shrugged.

“It’ll be easier for you to eavesdrop on our conversation if you come closer,” his friend said, exhaling smoke with his words.

If I’d actually thought they were a threat to me, I wouldn’t have taken another step closer. But that was the weird thing. They should have been frightening, but instead, I felt this bizarre trust. This completely unfounded belief that they wouldn’t lay a hand on me unless I wanted them to.

And fuck, I did want them to.

I walked closer, standing next to them in the alley’s dim light. It was warmer down there — not only because of the building’s closeness, but because the two of them emanated heat. It was weird, but it stopped my shivering. Leon nodded at his friend. “That’s Zane.”

Zane threw up a peace sign, joint at his lips. “Brothers?” I asked.

Leon chuckled dryly. “I don’t think most people fuck their brothers.”

“Some do,” Zane said quickly. “Bros with benefits.”

“It’s frowned upon.”

“As if you give a fuck what’s frowned upon.” Zane laughed and passed the joint back to him.

Neither of them looked high, and the joint was nearly gone. The only noticeable difference was that Leon’s piercing gaze had slightly softened, making it almost bearable as he watched me take another drag from my vape.

“What is that shit?” he said.

“Strawberries and cream.” I offered it up for a hit. He shook his head.

“Won’t do anything for me.”

Leon took a long drag on the joint, the ember at the tip flaring brightly with his inhale. He blew the smoke in my face: piney, sour-sweet. ‘Better than that sweet vapor, isn’t it? That shit you tell yourself is enough…” He shook his head. “Just doesn’t satisfy.’

Zane leaned closer. ‘You need something harsher, with a little more bite.’ His teeth clipped together on the final word.

Ignoring Zane, I glared up at Leon’s smug face. ‘You’re a dick.’

‘Oh, Rae.’ He stepped closer, closing the already small gap between us. My choices were to take a step back — and press my ass up against Zane — or stand my ground. I didn’t move, and Leon’s hips brushed up against mine. Inches from my face, he took another drag, and the smoke coiled from his lips as he said, ‘You have no idea just how much of a dick I can be.’

I gulped as the smoke caressed over my face. The touch of his body was hot, hard, and utterly tempting. Part of me wanted to grind up against him, really show him that I could be a tease right back. But another part of me wanted to slap him, leave him there in the alley without the satisfaction of knowing just how much he’d gotten in my head.

Without ever knowing how much he’d made me want him.

“Why did you come out here, Rae?” he said casually. But nothing could be casual when he was pressed that close.

“To smoke,” I muttered.

“No, no, no. Why did you come out here?”

Zane was chuckling behind me. I wasn’t about to lose my courage. “I was curious.” Leon tweaked an eyebrow at me, expecting more, and I managed to get out, “About you. I was curious.”

Leon nodded sagely, as if he’d just been told the secret to the universe and realized he’d known it all along.

“Curiosity is dangerous,” Zane said softly. His voice was inches from my ear, enough to send a chill up my neck. “I’ve heard it kills pussies…Is that the phrase?”

‘Close enough. Tell you what, sweetheart,’ Leon flicked what remained of the joint down and crushed it under his shoe. ‘I’ll make this game a little easier for you, a little safer. Because I like this game. I like playing with you.’

Zane put his arm casually around my shoulders, making me jump. ‘It’s too dangerous to play with Leon without a safety net. I would know.’ He smirked as if the declaration was a badge of honor. Between the two of them, my mind was a flurry of uncertainty and my body was determined to further betray me with every passing second. There was something ungodly hot about feeling so small between them, skirting the edge of playfulness and danger.

I didn’t know what game we were playing exactly. But I was ready.

‘Yeah?” My voice squeaked. “How will you make it easier?”

Zane snickered. ‘Oh, so she does want to play!’

‘Of course she does,’ Leon said, his voice smooth as honey. ‘I knew she’d be good sport.’

Not a good sport. Sport. I was the game, the toy. My heart began to race, my insides tensing with arousal. Fuck, how could this feel so dangerous and yet so sexy?

My breath hitched as Leon’s fingers grazed up my neck. I expected him to tip up my chin, but his fingers stopped where my heart beat pulsed, right beneath my jaw.

‘Mercy,’ he whispered. He made that simple word sound beautiful, like poetry, like something tender. ‘That’s all you have to say, and the game will stop immediately. Make sense?’

‘You’re giving me a safe word,’ I said softly. ‘Jesus Christ…’

‘Christ isn’t here.’ Zane’s voice tickled against my ear, the snake’s whisper to Eve. ‘Only the Devil, and he enjoys willing victims.’

“Your heart is beating so fast,” Leon said softly. “I think you’re excited, Raelynn. Do you want to play? Or do you want to leave?’

Zane pulled his arm from my shoulders and stepped aside, bowing as if to permit me an exit from the alleyway. But I didn’t move. Holy hell, I was actually considering this. My body craved Leon’s touch, craved the dangerous game he promised.  My fantasies were running wild. But there wasn’t much time. The others would wonder where I was soon and start looking for me, if they weren’t already.

But the simple, soft touch of Leon’s fingers against my throat kept me hooked like a fish on a line. 

‘You’ll stop if I say it?’ My voice shook, but it wasn’t in fear. I couldn’t remember ever being this excited, or this painfully turned on.

‘You have my word.’ Leon’s voice was firm, so confident that it left no room for doubt. ‘And I know we’re short on time. I know you have friends inside, good friends who will come looking for you if you’re gone much longer. But I don’t need long. I only need a few minutes.’

‘A few minutes for what?’

I could have sworn fire flashed in his eyes when he gave me a wide grin. ‘To make you come.’

I blushed red from head to toe. Zane wagged a finger at me. ‘Tick-tock, girl. What’ll it be?’

‘Does it sound like fun?’ Leon’s eyes hadn’t left my face. He was examining me, watching carefully, absorbing my reactions as he waited for my answer.

He wanted a willing victim, and I was goddamn willing.

‘Yeah, that sounds fun.’ My voice didn’t shake now. All my jitters were inside my stomach as I returned his cocky smile. ‘But we’ll see if you can actually make good on only needing a few minutes.’

His fingers, first so soft where they laid against my throat, tightened as he pressed me back to the wall. He was firm, controlled — it stopped my words and took my breath away as he stood over me, so close I could smell him. His scent was warm like a summer bonfire, crisp like cold lemonade. Citrus and smoke.

‘Keep watch, Zane,’ he said, as his free hand caressed down my side. He brought his mouth close to my ear, as his fingers traced the edge of my jeans along my hip, and he whispered, ‘Making you come won’t be a challenge, sweetheart. You’re already turned on by your own imagination and the few words I’ve said to you. So consider what my fingers will do.’

Those wicked fingers slipped under the waistline of my jeans. Oh my God, what was I doing? I was about to let a near-stranger finger-fuck me in an alleyway and all I could think was, Yes, God, yes, please! His fingers teased along my inner thigh, over my trembling flesh, sending goosebumps down my legs. My breath was shuddering, my hands pressed against the rough bricks behind me. His fingers reached my cotton panties and stroked along the edge.

“Remind me again, Raelynn,” he growled, his nose pressed against the hollow behind my ear. His body was so close, melded against mine, hot and heavy. “Remind me again how badly you want me to make you come.”

Fucking hell, I’d come from his words alone if he kept talking like that. My tongue seemed to have forgotten how to form words, and it took me a moment to compose myself enough to speak. One long, torturous moment, where his fingers kept teasing so close and his lips brushed against my ear.

“I want you to make me come,” I whispered, for if I spoke too loudly it would come out as a moan.

Leon hummed appreciatively, and his fingers began to rub over my panties. “Put your arms around my neck. You’re going to need to hold yourself up somehow.”

I did as he said, wrapping my arms around his neck and clinging to him. It immediately made the moment feel more intimate, more desperate. I had to reach up to hold onto him, so it meant my face was buried between my arms and nestled close to his chest. 

His fingers slipped into my panties. He rubbed over my clit, then over my folds, then he chuckled. “Oh, so wet for me. So soft.” His fingers circled my clit, slick with my arousal, moving over the bud until my breath began to come in little gasps. Fuck, he was right — I was already so turned on, my body was eager to orgasm. He began to use two fingers to massage me, and a tremor went through my legs.

“Ah…Leon…” I began to pant, my forehead resting against his chest. From under my upstretched arm, I saw Zane watching us with a sardonically satisfied smile on his face. When our eyes met, he held a finger up to his lips. Ssshh.

Then Leon’s fingers slipped inside me, and the ability to control my volume was utterly lost.

“Shh, shh, Raelynn,” Leon chided me gently, his hand moving from my throat to cover my mouth instead. My moans were muffled against his palm as he cupped between my legs, his two fingers pumping into me as he used the heel of his hand to massage my clit. “Not too loud now. If someone comes along and sees us, I’ll have to stop. And you don’t want that now, do you?”

I shook my head, eyes fluttering with ecstasy. His fingers were so slick, pumping in and out of me as my pussy clenched greedily around him. My weight rested against him, my arms clinging tighter around him as the pleasure built and my legs began to shake too much to hold me up alone.

“Such a noisy little thing,” Leon said. “I love how pretty you moan.”

I was in an absolute daze of pleasure. Endorphins made my mind hazy. The maddest thoughts consumed me, thoughts of having his cock inside me, of tasting him, kissing him, and weeping from how good it felt. There was no other high in the world like those few precious swelling seconds right before tipping over into orgasm. My nails dug into his back and I cried out against his palm, my body coiled like a spring as every muscle tensed tighter and tighter until —

Release. Fuck. My head went light. I closed my eyes as I shook against him, his fingers pushing me through the waves of pleasure. I felt the briefest touch of his teeth against my neck, as if he wanted to bite, as if he was resisting the urge to hurt me, to consume me.

Leon withdrew his fingers, and I leaned back heavily against the wall in the afterglow. I had no words that would suffice for the rush of that experience: the frantic pleasure, the fear of being caught, the disbelief at what I was doing. Without my noticing, Leon had taken my vape from my pocket, and he held it up to my lips as he also held up his slick fingers to the streetlight’s glow. They glistened as I took a slow, light-headed drag from the pen.

“Beautiful,” he said softly. He put one finger into his mouth, and sucked it clean as I exhaled. The smoke swirled around his face as Zane came to his side.

“That was fucking gorgeous,” he said, slinging an arm around Leon’s shoulder and looking me hungrily up and down. Then Leon held up his middle finger, still glistening, and Zane took it slowly into his mouth, licking it clean.

Holy hell, I nearly orgasmed again from that alone.

“Always the middle finger,” Zane muttered, straightening his jacket as he licked his lips.

“For you? Always.” Leon stepped away, looking me over as I buttoned my jeans with clumsy fingers. He held out my vape. “Thanks for playing. See you on campus, doll.” He gave me a two-finger salute, and he and Zane left the alley side by side, chuckling as they went.