Dare Me (The Nocte Trilogy 3.50)

“It’s against the rules,” she tells me sternly.

“I don’t play by the rules,” I answer, and I refuse to give it up. “Don’t even think about sedating me. You know what would happen if my grandmother found out.”

The nurse glares, but she knows I’m right.

Eleanor Savage wouldn’t tolerate that. Eleanor might hate me, but she would never allow a Savage family member to be treated in such a way. It’s bad for public perception.

The nurse leaves me alone, knowing that there’s nothing she can do.

I keep the medallion clutched in my hand.

For now, it’s all I have of Calla.

When I sleep that night, I remember our first time.

Our real first time.

We were at the beach that time, too.

“Will it hurt?” Calla stares up at me, her eyes so innocent and clear. “I don’t care if it does, I just want to know ahead of time.” She laughs and she’s nervous, but her hand is still down my pants, stroking me, cupping me. Calla can’t be tamed. That’s one thing I love about her.

“Maybe,” I tell her truthfully. “But I’ll try not to.”

She nods and she pulls me to her, and her hands are everywhere. The driftwood fire burns bluish purple in the darkness, and we’re surrounded by beautiful light. It shines in Calla’s hair, making her seem ethereal.

“I need you inside of me,” she tells me urgently. “I want to feel like we’re one, Dare.”

I tug off her shirt and her skin is pale and luminous and she’s a creature of the darkness tonight, so beautiful she’s almost unreal. She lightly touches my nipples, then slips one into her mouth, lapping at it innocently with her tongue. She doesn’t know what that does to me.

I strain against my pants, and my manhood threatens to explode.

She doesn’t know what this does to me.

But she grins and slides her head downward, and maybe… maybe.. she does.

I stop her, my hands in her hair.

“No, not tonight. We’ll do that another day.”

“But I want to taste you,” she argues. I smile.

“I want you to taste me. But tonight, I’ve got to feel you, Calla. I’ve got to feel you from the inside.”

She gulps and nods and grasps at me, and I slide into her.

There’s only slight resistance within her, a slight barrier that I break through. She winces, then her face relaxes, and I slide in and out of her, softly softly softly.

“Dare,” she whispers in wonderment. “You feel so good.”

I swallow hard, because God, she does. I want this to last forever.

This night is perfect.

With Andromeda overhead, sparkling down at us, I take Calla’s virginity and she becomes mine in every way.

We’re in the inlet for hours. I’m in her, I’m out of her, I’m all around her. We’re intertwined, I don’t even know whose limbs are whose at this point.

“I love you, Dare,” Calla tells me, and midnight is on her lips.