Watch the Bed Burn
These stories can be read in any order you want! There is no plot to follow.
Manon’s heart usually kept a steady rhythm. Danger, violence, and death, she could face all three without a second thought.
But standing in that motel bathroom, steam-covered mirror blurring her overbright eyes until she swiped a hand over it. She felt her heart rattling against her ribs as it raced ahead of her tangled thoughts.
Jake was on the other side of the paper-thin wall, in her bed. She was very aware of how little she wore.
Nought but a silk robe that skimmed her thighs cloaked her, and she realized she was nervous. Nervous to unlock the bathroom door and walk out to face him again.
It had taken a lot of convincing to bring him back here, and now that he was… she didn't want to pretend she was his friend when she wanted so much more than that.
She'd looked at him in the harsh light of her phone's torch the night before and knew he would either be the best thing she'd ever tasted or a pretty poison, killing her slowly.
She was enough of a masochist to understand the pain would feel like heaven.
There was something between them; the late-night chats they'd shared over the last few weeks had proven that, but in reality?
She felt as if she were handling a livewire every time he came near, her body instinctively turning to his no matter where he was, and those eyes. Those fucking eyes.
All she wanted was to see them locked on her, changing from blue to black as lust took over.
The need ran under her skin like a current, filling her with restless energy she hadn't experienced outside of a good fight. It was thrilling. She knew he felt something too.
Saw it in his fisted hands whenever she invaded his personal space, the deep inhale he took as she brushed past him on the way to the shower. Or how his eyes seemed tuned to her already and tracked her every move until she was out of sight.
Now, they had to share a bed until the house was ready. They'd met only a day before, but time wasn't on their side.
She was determined to find out if their chemistry would fizzle out after or ignite a wildfire the likes of which Duskwood had never witnessed. No time like the present, Manon thought, drew a deep cleansing breath, steeled her spine, and strode for the door.
She almost jumped when she opened it and found Jake standing there. Hand raised to knock, and neither of them spoke as they took in the other. His eyes traveled over her diminutive form. From her braided hair to her bare feet.
She realized too late that her damp skin had rendered the white robe covering her chest almost see-through as he cleared his throat and stared over the top of her head.
Choking down a laugh, she broke the silence as he seemed determined to pretend he hadn't seen anything.
"Is everything okay?" She asked innocently, forcing him to meet her gaze and smiling softly when he did.
He nodded, swallowing thickly before he said, "Yeah... I was going to check on you. You were in there a while,” he shrugged, lifting a hand to scratch at his neat beard.
"I see... Do you want to shower? There are more towels in there,” she said lightly to ease his nerves.
Jake only nodded, and she padded out of the doorway, laying a hand on his arm to ease past him as he still hadn't moved.
It felt like a static shock as their skin connected, and even he was wide-eyed as he blinked at her.
She had nothing to say for once and was glad when he recovered and disappeared into the bathroom. Her breath whooshed from her as she went to the bed and plopped down.
A recklessness she knew too well was settling within her. Her heart palpitated furiously. Her impulsive side wanted to snatch, tear and grab.
Take what she wanted, and damn the consequences.
The practical side wanted to wait and protect herself from possible hurt when the inevitable end came.
She wasn't made to be careful, though. It was simple to ignore that whispering voice telling her to hold back.
She glanced around the room and noted his things neatly piled on the floor beside her chaotic mess of bags and clothes spilling from them. The shower turned off after five very long minutes. She heard him curse, the sound crashing through the heavy silence of the room.
Her heart was in her throat, blood roaring in her ears as the door unlocked. He walked out wearing nothing but a towel slung low over his trim waist.
Water droplets traversed the peaks and valleys of his broad, muscled chest, and her eyes were glued to it like it was the best show she'd ever seen.
Gods help her. She was fucked. Hopefully in the way she liked, she would find out soon enough as he caught her staring and arched a thick brow.
"Did you forget to take a change of clothes in?" She teased despite the flush creeping up her neck and face.
He gave her a no-nonsense look that made her want to laugh.
"I can turn around. I won't look... unless you want me to," she said and smirked, noticing a small dark smudge on his forehead that he'd missed while he'd washed.
She was on her feet, moving toward him before her brain caught up. All her attention trained on that smear.
He went still at her approach and didn't flinch as she reached up to wipe the mark away. He hardly seemed to breathe, and it made her brave.
Pushing up on her toes, she whispered, "There. You missed a spot."
Neither of them moved, staring at each other as time spun out like a reel of thread. The heat pouring off him was enough to scald her as he leaned closer, eyes locked on her mouth.
She wanted to kiss him and see how he'd react. But she'd bossed him around enough and refused to force him into something he didn't want.
Everything in her screamed to touch him, but she slowly lowered her hand and made to turn away, knowing if she didn't, she wouldn't be able to resist testing his restraint.
Regret hovered at the edges of her mind before she'd made a complete turn.
She was already disparaging herself for daring to think this awkward, reclusive man would match the fantasy she had of him. Her heart stalled and picked up a marching beat as a large firm hand wrapped around her upper arm. He pulled her to a stop, twisting her back to face him.
"And if I wanted you to look?" He rasped, his voice sounding rusty from lack of use or lust.
She didn't know for sure but felt it slip over her skin like dark magic, goosebumps scattering over her body in the wake of it.
Shaking off her surprise at his directness, she said, "I can't promise I won't do more than look..." she felt stumbling drunk as his eyes darkened and a spark caught in their midnight depths, matching the one in her gaze.
The hand on her arm flexed, tugging her against him, and she wanted to melt into him.
"I don't see the problem,” he said, and she could have punched the air but refrained.
He needn't know she was insane just yet.
Every sound was magnified as they waited for the other out.
The quiet rumble of the next room's TV and the slow drip from the bathroom tap crashed like cymbals through her ears. Every nerve was alight and primed for him, nipples hardening to stiff peaks as desire kindled low in her abdomen.
She could've spent forever in that moment with him. She gave a slow blink. A challenge in her eyes as she stared up at him. Fortunately for her, his flaw of sensing emotions did not translate to the language of bodies, teeth, and tongues.
He crushed her against him, capturing her lips in his before she could brace herself. A tide of feeling and lust swamped her until she was drowning, but she'd never felt more alive as he breached her mouth and his tongue swept inside.
A deep shuddering groan rippled through him as they tasted the other and liked what they found.
It was a messy, clumsy thing that soon turned into a possession of her mouth so sweet and stirring she moaned. She threw her arms around his neck and rose up to get in closer, nipping at his bottom lip to make him tighten his grip on her and sighing into his mouth when he did.
Kissing was just the prelude to what she really wanted.
Usually, she'd hurry it along, but this wasn't just a necessary preliminary.
No, this was something new, something she feared she'd become addicted to, like those besotted with alcohol or some other vice.
Her fingers curled into his damp hair and pulled, smiling into the kiss when he grabbed handfuls of her ass. She wriggled against the hard length of him trapped between their bodies.
She was growing slick with his rough handling and bruising press of his lips, wanting more, needing everything he could give her.
The flick of his tongue in her mouth and the scratch of his beard on her blushing face was beyond everything she had dreamed up in her wandering mind all those times they'd danced around their growing attraction.
He was backing them up to the bed, and she had no hesitations as she let him lower her onto the mattress and silently urged her to shimmy up so he could crawl over her.
They were panting, eyes hazed with smoke as desire took over. She nodded as he reached for the tie on her robe and clumsily undid the knot, letting it fall open and revealing all of her for his perusal. She searched for the usual insecurities whenever she found herself in this position and found none she wanted him to see.
If the scars littering her body bothered him, he didn't show it. It only made her want him more. Her hands itched to touch him.
She gave in as he lowered his head to steal her breath before mouthing his way down her jaw and neck. Mapping the skin of his shoulders as he took tiny mouthfuls of her skin, sharp teeth making her jolt.
She couldn't believe her luck.
Hooking a leg around his hip, she arched and flattened her hands on his shoulders, pushing and surging up to roll them so she was on top. He'd lost the towel at some point.
He gripped her hips. She moved in a slow slide of her slick folds against the rigid cock beneath her, chasing friction as his smothered desperate noises made the wetness between her legs turn to a flood.
Somehow, she found the strength to break free of his mouth and settled back on her haunches.
Manon eyed him, her palms flat on his bare chest as she straddled him, his pretty eyes watched the sway of her breasts intently. She wondered how long it had been since he'd had someone in his bed.
Curiosity won out, and she had to ask, bending to tug at his earlobe with her teeth, drawing a hiss from him.
"How long has it been since you've had a woman touch you like this?"
She trailed her hand down the side of his face, his neck, wrapping it loosely around his throat as she nipped at his lips. Her tongue darting inside to play with his when he let her in, getting lost in the feel of him before pulling back to hear his answer.
She gently scraped her nails down his chest, enjoying the play of muscles jumping under tauskin.
"A while." His voice was husky and threaded with a familiar yearning, making her smile, satisfied.
"Good. I don't like to share, Jake."
He smirked, eyes hooded and focused solely on her, watching her revel in being in control, but it wasn't to last. He flipped them, so quickly she squealed in surprise, purring when he settled on top of her, his hips cradled in hers, giving her the promise of friction. Her skin felt too tight, like she would burst if he didn't touch her, anticipation making her tremble.
He braced his arms at either side of her head, nuzzling his nose along her jaw to turn her head to the side and biting down on the fragile skin over her hammering pulse, her hips bucking in reaction and sending a lick of nerves down her torso.
He chuckled darkly against the skin of her neck, soothing the hurt with a sweep of his tongue, and she moaned too loudly, idly wondering if the entire motel would know his name by tomorrow. When he looked into her eyes, she wanted to die, the hunger in them so consuming she feared she'd be nothing but ashes in the wind by the end of the night.
"Tell me, Manon, how long has it been since a man has heard you scream his name?"
Her dirty mind skipped into the near future to hands, teeth, and fingerprint bruises on her skin, a whine of impatience leaving her at the compelling visual. Jake noted it immediately and smiled so wickedly she whimpered, the need to taste it rode her hard.
She tried to lean up to do just that, but he pulled back, watching her face as he took her wrists in hand, the delicate bones bending and twisting as he raised her hands above her head and pinned them.
Her breathing was harsh now, her chest heaving as the fire in her core cascaded through her body, sweat already beading on her skin. He watched her every reaction, memorizing them, and she struggled against his hold to make him hold her down with strength.
"It's never happened, Jake. If you try your best, you might be the first... if you can make me forget my own," she answered him finally, challenged him, sounding braver than she felt. His answering smile was a promise.
"How should I start?"
She rocked her hips against him, a whine slipping from her when he refused to give her what she wanted to stop the fiery ache between her thighs, satisfied to feel he was hard as steel, and they both groaned. Still, he didn't move to touch her, just watched her as she rubbed herself in a slow slide along the length of him, the tease maddening and not enough to ease her.
"Just touch me, Jake, please, just - there, oh god."
She tossed her head back as his free hand slid between them, and he felt just how much she wanted him, cursing blackly under his breath at the mess he found her in.
"Fuck Manon," he growled, the sound adding to the mess his fingers had dipped into, "is this all for me?"
She could only nod in reply as two long fingers slid inside her, easing the ache a little so she could think past it, her hips rocking as he crooked his fingers and her mouth opened on a warbling moan. More, more, more, the word echoed in her mind as his thumb grazed her clit, once, twice.
Only giving her enough to make her growl in frustration as her inner walls fluttered around his fingers, his words and lust-blackened eyes sufficient to have her clinging to the edges of sanity as she lost herself completely. Her hands twisted in his grip, struggling to grab hold of anything to keep her tethered to the bed. Jerking her hips to take the invasion, sobbing as a warning pulse flared under his touch.
He just watched her react. Another finger added, stretching her, the tinge of pain sending her wild. She was so close, hips riding his hand, and the crazed sounds coming from her only made him work harder.
He drew out her torment for an age, it seemed to her, and she was near to begging when finally, his thumb circled her clit, the fingers in her cunt pushing farther in. His whispered words were the trigger, "Come for me," and she shattered, incapable of speech as she thrashed under him.
His hand never ceased as he wrung her pleasure out of her, her mouth still open in a silent scream, eyes heavy-lidded as she watched him sit up, withdrawing his hand from her and letting go of her wrists. Her hands tingled as she tried to reel herself back in, but he wasn't finished.
"I didn't hear my name, Manon. We'll have to try something else."
Manon could only blink, desperate for more but terrified too. If he could make her feel like this with just his fingers, how could she ever face letting him go? She pushed it aside and refused to acknowledge it or ruin their time together with tomorrows problems. Instead, she grinned at him, her freed hands fisting the sheets, brow quirking as she loosed a shaky breath.
"I guess so. You better get to work then."
"I want to taste this," his hand cupped her sex, and she whimpered, the thought of his mouth on her cunt so hot she felt she'd combust.
Fucking hell, he was going to kill her, and she'd thank him for it. He looked through her as though waiting for her to back out and end this now. She would do everything but.
"Quit playing, Jake. Fuck me," she demanded, unwilling to wait anymore, and his black chuckle told her she was in for it.
"On your back," He ordered. Manon shivered at the dominance in his tone, her body going loose as she did as told, pressing her thighs together in a vain attempt to dull the burning emptiness in her core. He arched a brow, "Spread them wide for me... Good girl,” he said as she followed his instruction, and she preened.
Something inside her perked up at the unexpected praise and wanted more of it as he eyed her glistening cunt and licked his lips. Her breath came in short gasps as he knelt between her parted thighs, unyielding fingers pinning them to the bed.
Heat shimmered through her as his mouth... God, that mouth settled over her clit, and he sucked it into his mouth. She was so sensitive after her orgasm that he barely had to work on her. Alternating between soft taps of his tongue and long, languid licks that had her crying out.
Frustration nipped at the frayed strands holding her together at the sight of his dark head between her legs. He was entirely in control while she was vocal and utterly at his mercy.
As his tongue pushed inside her, she clutched at his hair, unsure if she wanted to drag him nearer in or shove him away as her inner walls clenched and sweat trickled down her face. He sensed she couldn't take much more and rose up on his knees, swiping his hand over his mouth soaked with her essence.
A thrumming under her skin made her quiver as he wrapped his hand around his rigid cock and stroked himself, the weight of his gaze on her breathless face almost too much to bear. She reached out to touch him, wanting to replace his hand and put him in the state she was in, but he batted it away, his eyes all smokey darkness that pulled her down as he stared into her.
Her essence flowed down her thighs as he let go of his cock and grabbed hold of her legs, arranging them as far apart as he could get them; her feet curled into the mattress so her hips were tilted slightly, her hands fisting the sheets to stop herself from snatching hold of him.
Once happy, he checked in with her, making her heart soar, "Are you sure?"
"Positive,” she managed, and he muttered, "Thank fuck,” making her laugh, but soon it wasn't funny anymore.
He was between her legs and gripping her hips before she could blink, the fat head of his cock teasing her entrance before he dragged her twitching body onto his cock, gliding into her depths effortlessly until he was buried so deep inside her she whined in distress. Her legs lifted and closed around his flanks, his stomach flat against hers in a deliberate grind that made them fit perfectly.
He bit and licked at her lips in an attempt to calm her and gain entry. She opened as he made slight movements to let her acclimate to him. Each slight drag of his cock against her oversensitive flesh was devastating to her then. She was very close to combusting as she clawed at his back and babbled incoherently, digging her nails into his lovely ass to urge him deeper.
Gritting her teeth as he denied her, she moved her legs back until her heels dug into the small of his back and changed the pressure, centering him within her to hit that spot high up inside her that she knew would send her into ecstasy. Jake took the hint; her left leg was drawn up and straightened against his shoulder, and his gentle thrusts were replaced by brutal, punishing snaps of his hips.
The muscles under her hands bunched and relaxed as he filled her, twisting her into a position that ripped the air from her lungs as pleasure seized her like a trap and raced through her bloodstream, feeling it in her fists, feet, and eyelids as she slammed them shut.
There was pain now, a sting of tender flesh as he drove into her. Still, it was the type of pain that had her keening and scrabbling for purchase as she clung to his back, deliberately tensing around his thick length to pull a ragged moan from him.
Then it started, the low drawl of stirring, carnal words that she had never imagined could come from him as he pleaded with her to fall first as he wouldn't last much longer. Every plunge of his hips caught her clit. They were so closely tangled. Circular movements flush against her split folds made her open her eyes with a choking wail, his mouth cutting off the noise she was making.
It started with a prickling of her skin creeping up her body, over her breasts and face, inner walls tightening around his cock, and she came hard. Her muscles were tied in knots as he freed her mouth, and she gave a savage cry of his name, a curse, and a prayer that made his eyes turn black as coal.
He fucked her through it; the solid girth of him and the torturous waves of her orgasm gripped them both, stealing her wits and ability to form coherent sentences. She was relieved when he gave a guttural cry and stopped holding it back, slamming into her one last time and holding her down as she thrashed until he was spent. The pulse of her release and the blood hissing through her veins in a dizzying rush deafened her to his jagged whisper of her name.
Utter delirium held her captive, the tiny spasms as aftershocks jumped under her skin making her feel crazed and like she was dreaming as he fell over her at long last and silenced her soft whine with a kiss so lush and insistent she happily gave him the last of her breath.
She was only dimly aware of him gathering the strength to slide free of her and arrange them in a more comfortable position, too lost in how quiet her mind was to worry about any awkwardness. They were sweaty and sticky, both in need of another shower.
Still, her legs were boneless, and her body was too heavy to pull herself away from his comforting warmth as he dragged her across his chest and wrapped an arm around her.
She was in that half-aware state between sleep and waking when he finally spoke, "I win."
It took a moment, her brain sluggish and slow on the draw, but she laughed low and rough, throat raw as she replied, "I think we both won."
"Call it a draw? We can settle it tomorrow if you like,” he murmured, and she heard the delicate but reluctant hope in his voice as she closed her eyes and hummed.
"Tomorrow, Jake."
