Four years ago.
Lexii sat across the couch from me, a shit-eating grin crawling across her freckled face. "Birthday tradition," she crooned, waggling the bottle of elven wine at me before pouring a glass for each of us. "Truth or dare?"
"We're getting too old for this," I protested weakly. I secretly loved the games that we played on our birthdays since we were little. ‘Truth or Dare’ was mine, and ‘I Never’ was reserved for Lexii’s birthday.
Her expectant gaze told me she did not intend to abandon our age-old tradition. "Well?" she asked, waving a hand at me to get a move on.
With an exasperated huff, I answered, "Truth."
Giddily, she asked, "Will you explain what a Bond is?"
That wasn’t the question I expected for my first ‘truth’. ‘What is your weirdest turn-on?’ or ‘What was the nickname you gave yourself that nobody else knows?’ Maybe. But not that.
"It's a blood bond. Similar, but not the same as a blood-magic spell that a witch might do.”
When Lexii blinked at me and sat in silence, I added, “It's more prevalent in a mated or lifelong sexual relationship. Without a mate, it can occur between platonic friends or acquaintances out of necessity. Generally, you don’t form a Bond until you’ve found ‘The One’. Once you form one, you must keep an active Bond with someone, or you will wither and die." I sipped my wine before continuing. "Why do you want to know? You've never shown interest before."
Evading my question to ask her own, she pondered, "So, why is it more common for mates, and not friends? Wouldn't it be like a promise of loyalty?"
"The Bond is—"
How do I explain this?
Picking at a loose thread on my skirt, I sighed and trudged on. "Okay. Short answer. It is an intensely arousing bond between both parties." I leveled my gaze with hers. "Why the sudden interest?"
She pouted playfully, a wine-fuelled blush coloring her cheeks. "I need to know what I'm getting into when I finally meet Miss Dark and Dangerous."
This bitch.
I’ll love her until death, but she hasn't had a stable relationship in years. Hook-up culture is strong with this one.
"So tell me," she added. "Have you and Ray, ya know, made a Bond?"
Ah, there it is.
She’s always in my business. "It isn't your turn," I replied playfully. I finished my wine and set the empty glass on the coffee table. "Truth or dare?"
"Dare."
The sounds of Rayvn yelling at his online game and partners filtered through the closed door of our bedroom. "I dare you to tell me about this ring you asked about when Ray went to our room."
Lexii clapped a hand over her mouth, her fiery red curls bouncing at her exaggerated movement. "I wasn't supposed to say anything yet. Please don't make me say it. Ray'll kill me."
I rolled my eyes. He'd never hurt a fly. "Spill bitch."
"Just don't tell him I told you, okay?" Lexii sighed heavily, opening another bottle of wine from the case she'd acquired for my birthday. How she’d procured it was beyond me. There were still four and a half months until her twenty-first. Witches. They get away with everything under the moon, I thought to myself endearingly.
She stalled like she always does. I held my hand out expectantly and waited for her to drum up the courage to rip the Band-Aid off her trepidation.
"Ray was supposed to propose today," she finally said after downing half her wine.
"He hasn't yet. Obviously."
Is he going to propose?
I did my best to keep my mental squeal of excitement out of my tone. I’m not sure that I did very well. The words sounded like a combination of a whiny child who’d been told ‘no’ and an excited schoolgirl who’d been told she could see her favorite pop artist in concert.
Lexii poured more wine into my glass to deflect from the sudden, uncomfortable silence. We were on the third bottle. Was it the fourth? It was all starting to bleed together. The wine swirled around in my glass as I stared into its deep purple depths, lost in thought.
Always one to try lightening the mood, Lexii chirped, "Truth or dare?"
What could go wrong?
Not looking away from the violet vixen berry wine, I sighed. "Dare.”
I could hear the devilish smirk in her voice without seeing it. I swear she takes her patronage toward Loki, God of Mischief, too seriously. "I dare you to demonstrate a Bond."
Fuck. I couldn't do that. I’d yet to drink directly from the source and was hesitant to. An indirect feed couldn’t form a Bond. I had an open account at the blood bank for sustenance for that reason. Your first Bond had the potential to sign your death certificate if anything went wrong. Besides, Ray and I hadn't officially declared each other as mates, either. I was determined to wait until I knew for absolute certainty that he was “The One”.
"Lex. I can't."
"Rules are rules, bitch."
That smug look was so fucking irritating. "I'm not bugging Ray. He's busy. Pick a different dare." I spared her the details of my internal battle on the whole subject.
"I never said it had to be with Ray."
Oh. Oh. "I can't do that to him." I can’t do that to myself either. The risk was far greater than the possible reward. Despite the alcohol making everything fuzzy in my mind, I knew for an absolute fact that it would destroy Rayvn. Our relationship was strictly monogamous. A Bond could jeopardize everything. Our relationship. Our lives.
Lexii rolled her emerald eyes and shoved my wine glass at me, now filled to the brim. "Our clothes will stay on. I may only be into women, but I don't like you like that."
Damn. When she put it that way, it made me feel… something. Self-conscious mixed with relief, maybe. Having genuine sexual attraction thrown into the mix of our friendship would be hard to process. Well, attraction both ways would be, at any rate. I drank the wine she offered and steeled myself for what I was about to do.
Was I really going to go through with it? Where was my strength of will dissolving to?
I was aware of what we were in for, but she wasn’t. "Alright. But keep quiet."
"Okay. So, what do I do?" she asked tentatively.
"Just sit there and hold out your arm," I explained.
I can't believe I'm doing this.
Alarm bells and flashing red lights went haywire in the back of my mind, but I couldn’t seem to stop myself.
It is a dare, after all.
Lexii scooted closer to me on the tan leather of the couch and held out her arm, swaying slightly. Maybe we should do this when we’re sober? Nah. We’d never have the tits to do it sober.
I took hold of her outstretched wrist and breathed in her sweet scent. "You smell like vanilla and coconuts."
Lexii smiled, her cheeks heating, "I still use the same lotion you got me for my birthday last year. I love the smell, and it makes my skin so soft."
I smirked back, pleased that she enjoyed the gift. The prospect of tasting it wasn’t ideal. "This might sting for a moment." I drew her wrist to my mouth and gave her velvety soft skin a gentle graze of my teeth. Although I knew what to expect, I was sorely unprepared for what happened next.
Teeth meeting flesh, my friend's blood flowed slowly into my mouth, and desire exploded within me. All self-control ran away from me, screaming like a banshee. I knew she felt the same. Electricity zipped through my body, heightening my senses and sensitivities.
Her blood was sweeter than the wine we'd been drinking; her arousal flowed through her body and into mine. A moan on her lips, she grabbed a handful of my hair with one hand and yanked my head back, snatching the wrist I was feasting on away from me. She stared back at me with wide green eyes, panting breathlessly.
Exhilarating, primal hunger burned inside me like never before. A low growl erupted from my lips.
My hair still clutched in her hand, Lexii pressed her lips against mine. Her Bond-fuelled need flowed through me as I pricked her lip with my teeth. The more her metallic sweetness met my tongue, the more I felt like a wild and bloodthirsty animal. I pulled her onto my lap and slid my hand under her shirt without breaking our kiss.
Our tongues fought for dominance, swirling around each other in a dance as old as time. Lexii slid the hand connected to the still-bleeding wrist up my stomach, leaving a faint trail of red along my skin. She squeezed and kneaded my breasts through the thin material of the bralette I wore.
A groan rattled from my chest. Lost in the bloodlust, I caressed the tops of her breasts before forcefully pulling the bra cups down, exposing the hardened peaks of her nipples. Lexii came up for air with a gasp. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes bright. I pushed her back against the arm of the couch, placing my knee between her thighs to hold my weight above her.
She let out a soft moan as I kneaded her supple flesh, trailing kisses from jaw to earlobe and down her neck. I took the opportunity to pull her top over her head when her back arched away from me. My hands snaked underneath her to unclasp her bra, freeing her full breasts from their prison.
"Do you like what you see?" she rasped at the sight of my goggling.
"They're magnificent," I answered before I wrapped my lips around one pebbled nipple, suckling until she moaned. A wisp of a thought flickered through my mind. I shouldn’t be doing this. It dissipated quickly, like smoke under a fan.
I moved to the next breast and did the same, making Lexii groan slightly louder. "Shh. Ray'll hear you," I giggled, wine-drunk. Chest heaving from the tension, she nodded. I returned my attention to her peaked nipples and pulled both into my mouth at once, sinking my teeth into the soft skin around them. This new flow of her blood into my mouth pushed her closer to the edge.
She whimpered and wriggled under my touch. "Roz."
I slid my hand down her stomach and into the front of her jeans, the denim’s seam saturated with her need. The heat radiating off her slick flesh was just as intoxicating as the wine and her blood combined. I continued nursing her life force from her breasts, desire pumping from her bloodstream, straight through the Bond we were forming, and into every vessel of my body.
She panted under me as I grazed the pad of my thumb across her clit, making her hips grind against my hand and thigh. Just the slightest touch sent her head back against the arm of the leather couch as release found her.
Despite aching for the same release, I couldn't resist making her come again and again. I plunged my fingers deep inside her, curling them to stroke her G-spot. Her arousal soaked my hand as I pumped my fingers in and out, making her whimper and moan at my touch. She was putty in my hand, pliable and boneless.
Lexii’s renewed hold on my hair yanked my mouth away from her body and up to her lips again. Our tongues sparred for dominance. She nibbled my lower lip and wrapped her arms around me to unfasten my bralette. She pulled it off with my shirt and glued her lips back to mine with one fluid motion.
I pulled her bleeding lip back into my mouth as she pulled and tweaked my nipples, kneading and caressing my breasts. Her blood flowing through me made everything ten times more sensitive. Made our frenzied movements sweeter.
My aches burned hot and strong as I continued to pump my fingers into her. She moaned with every thrust, her inner walls growing tighter with each thrust, gripping me. “Come for me," I gasped for air, groaning, completely uncaring if we were loud enough to draw Rayvn’s attention.
She clamped down on my fingers on cue, soaking my hand and her jeans. Yes. Keep coming for me! She was so beautiful when she came undone. Red hair spread around her head in wild curls. Her eyes clamped shut, and a tiny wrinkle formed between her brows as her body shuddered around my hand.
She panted while her muscles released from the tension her climax had built. She protested, her lip quivering, as I pulled my hand free from the crotch of her wet pants. I brought my glistening fingers to my lips to taste her. She watched me in awe. It was bliss, unlike anything I’d experienced before.
Seeing this must have refuelled her desire anew. She shoved me onto the floor with a soft thud. My sexy best friend ripped away my remaining clothes in such a clumsy haste that I couldn’t help but giggle. She left me bare to her probing gaze. Her mane of hair framed her face. A predator, ready to pounce. I was more than willing to be her prey.
I gasped as she lowered her sultry lips to my belly. I lived for the sensation of her lips traveling down my body. She held my thighs apart and kissed the soft skin between them. Teasingly, she skipped over where I wanted her, where I needed her the most.
Finally, she took mercy upon me and kissed my clit, looking up at me from her vantage point between my legs. Her emerald eyes blazing with joy, she dove in and feasted. I gasped and panted, lifting my hips to push myself harder against her mouth, chasing the orgasm that threatened to send me tumbling down into the pit of Tartarus.
Swirling her tongue, licking, suckling away, she bombarded me with stimulation, never quite allowing me to reach the peak I desired so. The pressure building inside me was so intense I feared I'd come apart at the seams. "Oh, Gods. Yes. Suck harder.”
She did, and I rocketed to the moon, flooding her mouth, gushing with each pulse.
"You never told me you were a squirter!" she exclaimed a little too loudly, raising her head to meet my gaze fully. Her face sparkled with my arousal. "I love it. I want to try it again."
And so she did, continuing her barrage of tricks.
My internal aches grew painful. I needed something inside me.
I pushed my hips harder against her face and moaned when she inserted two fingers into my dripping pussy. Ah. Yes. OH. She pumped her hand as I had done for her, curling her fingers upward into the most sensitive spot.
The pressure quickly began to build once more. "Hold it. Don't come yet," came her muffled command. The vibration of her words against my clit was almost enough to make me orgasm if I hadn’t actively beat it back.
I held onto my orgasm to the point of pain. My dripping pussy was a vice on her fingers, yet her thrusts continued. In. Curl up. Out. Again.
Oh. Oh. Uhh!
I couldn't hold it anymore. My body took over. Control went out the window. My hips bucked against her fingers and face. My back arched as I clamped my legs around her head so tightly that I had to back off so I wouldn’t crush her skull.
I don’t know if it was the wine or the Bond, but I swear my consciousness left my body for a split second and came crashing back as my muscles unclenched.
I couldn't take it any longer. Not only that, but I needed to taste her again. Her blood called to me with such renewed force that I didn’t recognize myself. I jumped upright and tackled her, attacking her with my kisses. She moaned into my mouth as I nipped and tasted her blood on my journey down her body between her massive breasts. I squeezed them and pinched her nipples until a gasp left her lips.
Making my way down her flat belly, I ripped her jeans down around her rounded ass and wide hips, eliciting a giggle from her. Likewise, I savored her dips and curves. Her glorious body was almost too much to take in.
I nibbled and tasted along the top of her thighs to her pussy. Nipped at her clit and tasted her sweet arousal.
I was done for. I nicked her clit with my teeth and suckled away at her wine-sweet blood while pleasuring her with my fingers and tongue at the same time. She moaned and thrashed continuously. One climax bled into the other. Time stood still, or it was barrelling down the tracks like a runaway train. Either way, I was oblivious to it all.
I fed away on her most vital fluid and her pleasure, enjoying every moment of it. With each orgasm, her blood became richer, sweeter, and flowed into my mouth faster. I lapped it up as if my life depended on it.
With one final breathless moan, Lexii relaxed on the floor, completely spent. I lifted my head from between her legs and asked, "You alright up there?"
When she didn't immediately respond, I crawled up the length of her body and asked her again.
She still didn't answer, her breathing so shallow, her chest barely moved.
"Lex? Are you okay?" I squeaked, shaking her body violently.
Panic settling low in my chest, I screamed, "Rayvn! Come here. Help me!"