I wind a curl of his hair around my finger and lick my lips. The scent of him fills me, its rich, deep aroma making me giddy.
“I want to devour you.” I whisper it against his mouth, tasting his tongue with my words.
He grins and our eyes meet. Something flashes across his gaze then: humor, danger, a beckoning and a warning.
“Devour is such a pleasant word.” The timbre of his voice echoes in places deep within me, strumming strings wound tight through my core.
I close my eyes as he places his mouth over mine, pulling me into him. Heat and darkness envelop me and I am startled by the sensation of speed, the rush of wind whipping my hair. I open my eyes but it does no good; only thick blackness fills my vision.
“What—” My question is interrupted by another kiss, and his mouth tastes so good that for a moment I am lost in it, heedless of the strangeness surrounding me.
I wrap my arms around his shoulders and realize that our bodies are unsupported. No ground lies beneath us.
I gasp, pulling away again. His hands grip me firmly as they stroke me with long, gentle caresses. “There is no need to fear. Open your eyes.”
I obey his command, and now I can see him. He is the man I know, yet he is not, he is something more, something larger. His hair streams behind him like smoke, whirling away into oblivion. A smattering of dark coloration speckles his skin, not like freckles, but rather spots, like a leopard. A ripple, as though from something either very hot or very cold, flows continuously from his skin. Yet I am touching him, my body pressed against the length of his, and I feel only his warmth, not the sting of fire or ice.
And yet all of this I notice in half an instant before my eyes are drawn to the great black wings sprouting from between his shoulders. Their expanse is too much to take in without turning my head. They are thin and leathery, like the wings of a bat, but peppered with downy feathers, also black as pitch. They beat a steady rhythm, and I sweep my gaze up and down, following their tips as they cut through the air.
He watches me, I can feel the intensity of it, even as distracted as I am by his form. The wings sweep forward and back, changing our trajectory, and my feet meet ground as he alights. I stumble away from him, breaking our embrace.
“What…what is this? What are you?”
He holds out his arms and extends his wings. I notice claws where he once had fingernails. “You have seen me as I am during the day. By night, I am…somewhat different.” He lowers his wings and arms and steps toward me. A flutter of fear turns in my belly, but I refuse to run.
“But I don’t understand. Are you a demon? A vampire?” I can’t believe I’m saying those words.
He shrugs, and the gesture seems almost comical. His form is so cosmic; how can he be uncertain of anything?
“I do not have a name for what I am. I am as you see me.” He closes the space between us. He is so close I can feel the heat of his body again. He smiles. I realize his eyes are the same shade I have seen before. I reach out a hand, tentatively, and touch his cheek.
He grabs my wrist, his strong fingers gripping me tightly, his claws digging into my flesh. “I am not safe. In my daytime form I would never hurt you. In this form…I can’t make such promises.”
A wet heat stirs low in my belly. I press my body against his and slide my free hand up his chest. “How might you hurt me?” My voice is barely a whisper.
He runs his tongue along his teeth and bends his head. He kisses my shoulder, licking my skin. His teeth sink into me, piercing my flesh, and I cry out. He drops my arm and gathers me to him, letting the pain build to a dizzying intensity.
He pulls away and meets my eyes. His lips are stained red with my blood. He licks them slowly, closing his eyes, savoring the flavor. The wet heat in my belly moves lower. “More.” My voice is stronger now, but barely.
He grabs a fistful of my hair, yanking my head back, even as he pulls me closer to him. His erection presses painfully against my pelvis, crushing the tender flesh there. “You don’t know what you’re asking. I can only control myself so much.”
It’s hard to talk with my head pulled back so tightly. I stammer, “What…are you…afraid…you might…do?”
He traces my jawline with a claw. “I want to devour you.”
My knees buckle as the heat between my legs flushes across my body. He drops me, letting me crumple into a heap on the ground. Then his body covers mine, his wings beating fiercely, pressing me hard into the ground. His eyes meet mine, and he kisses me once, gently. Then his mouth opens widely, wider, inhumanly wide, and engulfs me completely.
The impenetrable blackness returns, warm but somehow comforting. I feel tightly held, bound really, unable to move my arms or legs. A warm breeze ripples across my skin, making goosebumps arise across it. A soft sensation, one I can’t quite identify, begins to stroke my belly, moving lower with every stroke. It moves into me, deeply, teasing the hot desire between my legs, feeding it. I try to cry out but an unseen force constricts my throat. The pressure on my throat builds along with the tension in my cunt, until finally I explode, a thousand fireworks dancing within the blackness that is all I can see.
The pressure on my throat eases, and his wings unfold around me, bringing the light with them, leaving me lying panting on the ground. He kneels next to me and brushes my hair away from my face. “You are absolutely delicious.”
My chest heaving with the effort of catching my breath, I meet his gaze and lick my lips. “More.”
He rises to his feet, then keeps rising, growing, his wings stretching across the horizon, his eyes becoming worlds, then galaxies. I tumble into them, and the stars and aeons swirl past, tangling in my hair, exploding into brilliant nebulae around me. He is again next to me, his hand holding mine. He pulls me to him and buries his face in my neck.
“I need to feel you.” I feel his words against my skin and hear them deep in my brain. His hands explore every inch of me, trailing down my arms, over my breasts, across the soles of my feet, all at once. I look into his eyes and see the galaxies reflected there, or maybe contained within. He smiles and kisses my mouth as he enters me. I smile, feeling the warmth of him fill me, then throw back my head and laugh with delight.
I feel him push inside me to the rhythm of the beat of his wings. Their tips brush my back with every stroke, sending shivers along my spine. I grab his shoulders and move with him as his strokes deepen, the rhythm coming faster and faster. His claws rake deep into my back, pulling apart muscle and bone. My body falls away beneath us, and I am nothing, nothing but pleasure and joy and pain. He screams, and the universe explodes around us.
I wake up in his bed, his arm wrapped protectively around me. Golden sunlight slants across the room. I snuggle into his chest, and he sighs and pulls me closer. He kisses the top of my head, his thumb tracing circles on my back.
“Good morning.”
