The Taking

Chapter 1

Sex was all I wanted.

Nothing else mattered.

Only sex.

The feeling wasn’t soft. It wasn’t sweet.

It was wrong.

Very, very wrong.

A pressure bubbled under my skin, tightening and coiling through me, like something alive. I took a deep breath. But it didn’t help.

The feeling spread and grew stronger until it was the only thing I could focus on. Whatever it was, one thing was certain.

It was in my blood.

It pulsed through me with every heartbeat, growing stronger.

My eyes sprang open, and then-

I saw them.

Four dark, shadowy silhouettes. Four sets of bright eyes.

Looming above me. Watching me in silence.

Until one of them spoke.

“She’s the one.”

A few days ago, my life was very different.

Before The Taking. Before my kidnapping.

Before I experienced my moment in sex paradise.

Everyone knew about The Taking. Once a year-they came.

The demons.

What did they want?

To taste a human.

Female humans. Young and pretty ones.

Unlucky enough to be seen-or stupid enough to be out on the night of The Taking.

They never chased their prey. They didn’t need to. They simply walked through your city or town and chose. And if they chose you, you went. And no one stopped them.

No one even tried.

So, on the night of The Taking, you stayed inside with locked doors and closed windows.

Because if they saw you, it was game over.

And on the night of The Taking, I should have stayed home. Like a sensible person. But I didn’t. The demons had not been to my town in over a century. Why would they? It was a small town in the middle of nowhere.

The menu wasn’t as…diverse as the big cities.

We were safe. Or at least—that’s what everyone told themselves.

I’d lived in my small town for my entire life. But I had plans. Big ones. I wanted to move to a massive city and just...live. Find a new adventure. Meet some hot guys and figure out what the hell I wanted to do with my life.

I’d just turned twenty. I was too broke to go to a university, but I’d taken some classes at my local community college. My parents had offered to pay all of my expenses-but I wanted to do it on my own.

And the biggest problem? I didn’t know what the hell I wanted to do with my life.

Everything had always been decided for me. I’d grown up in a nice house with a white picket fence. My mom had signed me up for soccer and dance, travelling around the state to take me to every competition and class. I’d done well in school, earning straight A’s and B’s in every subject. Not perfect scores-but not bad ones either.

My mom was a doctor, and my dad worked in finance. I didn’t have any siblings, so their attention had revolved around me their whole lives.

And I kind of think that even though my life sounded ideal, it had been a bit too...vanilla. Many of my decisions had been made for me, but of course, my parents had done this out of love.

Now I was bored with everything. Because I had spent my entire life just rolling with whatever plan my parents gave to me.

This backfired.

Because now I was clueless about what I wanted to do. And I wasn’t sure that I was passionate about anything, really.

I didn’t even know what I wanted—until that night. Until…they came along.

So tonight, I was at a packed club, in the middle of the dance floor. Pretending like it wasn’t the night of The Taking. Pretending like I wasn’t scared. Just like everyone else.

“Here, Quinn,” Madi said to me, pressing a cold drink into my hand.

I took it and brought it to my lips, as my hips swayed. The music was loud. The lights were flashing. Sweaty bodies bumped and rubbed against one another.

Madi danced away, her brown ponytail swinging as she made her way towards a guy in the corner of the dance floor. Madi was my best friend-and the total opposite of me in every possible way.

While she had curly brown hair and brown eyes, I had wavy blonde hair and green eyes. Tonight she wore a short black mini dress with fish stockings and boots, but I wore a pastel pink sundress with nude heels.

I kept dancing, the liquor beginning to really kick in.

Then I felt it.

Something.

Like a pull. I blinked in confusion and looked around the dance floor.

Then.

I saw him.

Standing in the middle of the dance floor. His eyes were an emerald green, framed by a thick mane of curly brown hair. And for a moment, I swore I saw his eyes change.

A flicker of red.

Like fire.

He wore a solid green shirt, tucked into a pair of jeans. He was tall and muscular with a sharp jawline and perfectly soft lips.

He was hot. There was no doubt about it.

And he was staring at me, as if I were the only person in the room.

Then it hit me like a tidal wave of heat, coursing through my body.

I gasped.

Something low in my body stirred.

Something heavy and hungry.

I blinked, and he was gone.

I tried to even my breathing. But...God, my pussy was aching like never before. My body felt like it was burning from the inside.

What the hell just happened?

I turned and walked towards where I had just seen him.

Then I felt it again, the pull.

I turned my head.

A different man. White-blonde hair, bright blue eyes. Like ice. Just as beautiful as the one before. He wore a white button-up shirt, tucked into neat khakis, with a tailored brown blazer.

Why the hell were all the men in this place so stylish and attractive?

The desire. The pull.

It smashed into me again, like a wall of ice. It chilled me to the bone, relieving me of the burning sensation.

I cried out softly as my core tightened.

My panties were damp.

Relief shouldn’t have felt like that. It shouldn’t have made it worse.

“What?” I gasped.

He was gone. I hadn’t even seen him disappear.

I needed to get the hell out of this club. I spun around towards the exit.

But.

Another one.

Clean-cut, sandy blonde hair. Golden amber eyes. He tilted his head and smiled at me. And it was easily the most beautiful smile I had ever seen. He wore a stylish tracksuit and white sneakers.

It was back. Shooting through me like a bolt of lightning.

I moaned. Right in the middle of the club.

I was sweating now as I pressed my thighs together. As if that was going to stop me from feeling like an animal in heat.

People brushed past me, completely oblivious to the fact that I was in the middle of a sexual crisis. No one noticed. No one cared.

My eyes darted towards the exit, and I began to walk-no, run-towards it. I needed fresh air.

Then I ran into something hard. I stepped back in surprise.

A fourth one. He peered down at me with a pair of the darkest brown eyes I had ever seen. He had thick black hair and wore a long dark trench coat over a set of dark jeans and a black t-shirt.

There it was again.

It rocked me. It felt heavy and dark.

I moaned again. While this stranger stared down at me.

Like he knew exactly what I was feeling.

Finally, I reached the door to the club and pushed it open, stepping into the cold night air. I hadn’t even remembered to take my jacket.

I gasped for air, as if I were choking. I stumbled down the sidewalk.

All I wanted was for this burning desire to go away. The desire for someone, anyone, to fuck me senseless. I looked around.

The sidewalk was clear.

Fuck it.

I slipped into the nearest alleyway and leaned against its brick wall. I looked left. Then right.

Then I slid my hand under my dress, slipping my fingers under my panties.

I had to do something about this. Anything.

It didn’t matter what. It didn’t matter who. I just needed it to stop.

“Delicious.”

I froze, just as I was about to finger myself into oblivion. My head snapped towards the voice.

There they were. All four of them, standing side by side.

Watching with hungry eyes.

And in that moment, somehow, I knew. I knew exactly what they were.

Demons.