Chapter 1
Let's Dance
EPOV
Emmett opened the front door of the house at the same moment that I groaned and dropped my head into my hands. Rubbing my scalp, I moaned, "I need a break!"
Emmett laughed. He clapped me on the shoulder, almost pounding me into the edge of my desk. "Let me clean up, Edward, and we'll head out. I think I have just the thing for you!"
"Not a strip club, please!" Please, anything but a strip club. Skanky girls in thongs didn't really sound fun, just painful. Emmett just snorted.
"Not strippers, Edward, a new dance club. Come on, you'll love it."
I considered for a moment. Anything had to be better than grading papers from the Bio 101 lab I teach, or crunching data from my own research. Today had been particularly intense, and between computer issues, data issues, and territorial issues with my office mate, I felt the need to let off some steam. I hadn't seen anything besides campus and the inside of our cottage for at least two weeks, and if there was a grad school equivalent to cabin fever, I had it.
It's not that grad school was hard for me, just encompassing. Aside from my piano and running, I had no hobbies, no outside activities. No girlfriend. I didn't have the time and more so didn't have the interest. Not that I had ever had a serious girlfriend. I hooked up from time to time, but none of the girls I met really appealed to me beyond a short-term relationship. I never had to try hard to get laid; for some reason women found me irresistible, and I had always had my pick. I saw, I came, I went. Lately, however, I didn't feel like I had time or energy for women.
Maybe a distraction was exactly what I needed. I hadn't so much as been on a date in nearly three months. I scrubbed my face with my hands and sighed.
"Fine, but I need a shower. Should I shave?"
XXXXX
Lestat's Daughter had a Goth theme with black walls and blood red furnishings, but with a music selection that spanned from rock and even some punk to ska and emo-goth, it attracted a strange crew. Besides the usual college crowd, there was everything from rockers with long-sleeved tattoos mingling with Goth girls. The stick-thin bartender had blonde-white dreads to her waist and a black leather corset. Wearing a black knit shirt and black jeans, I felt almost invisible, average.
We were on our second round of whiskeys, admiring the girls, when Emmett leaped up and wove through the crowd. He returned a moment later with two girls. He had his burly arm tight around the waist of the stunning blonde, but the girl behind her took my breath away. She was smaller than her friend, slender, with a mane of strawberry blonde curls. She was wearing black leather boots that came up over her knees, fishnet tights, and a red sleeveless dress that clung to her curves in a way that made my mouth water. Her burgundy painted lips curled into a wry smile as she looked at me. She looked delicious, like sex on legs.
Emmett waved an introduction, "Edward, this is Rosalie, and her friend here is Tanya. Rose, Tanya, this is my brother, Edward. Rose, do you want to dance?"
Rosalie nodded, and she and Emmett made their way to the dance floor. Despite his size, Emmett is a great dancer. Mom made both of us take dance classes as kids, and between that and sports, we have the confidence to dance; a rare skill for straight white guys. That may be part of our popularity with women.
I was left with Tanya. Despite her light red hair her eyes were soft and brown. Her heavy eye makeup made her eyes look dark, nearly bruised. She looked after Emmett and Rose for a moment, then turned back to me. Her expression seemed expectant. I drained my whiskey and stood up. "Tanya? May I?" I held out my hand as if we were going to waltz.
"I suppose, if you're Emmett's brother, you can't be too dangerous, huh?" Her words were wary, but her eyes were dancing.
"Safe as kittens," I vowed.
She smiled a bold and nearly feral smile, and took my hand. I felt some kind of spark pass from her hand into mine. I wrapped my long fingers around her small ones, delighting in their feel.
"I trust you, Edward." The way she said my name sounded divine, like she was caressing it with her mouth.
I led her to the dance floor and pulled her in close to dance. With the low heels on her boots, Tanya barely came to my shoulder. She put her hands on my shoulders and moved along with the music that throbbed through the club. I danced, guiding her without grinding into her. She swung her hips to the heavy bass line.
It's you that I adore,
I will always be your whore.
Her eyes were nearly closed and she was smiling. The smell of her was intoxicating, clean and warm. It reminded me of summer. I didn't notice anyone else on the dance floor; I just looked down into her face. Once she slipped and nearly went down but my arm around her waist kept her upright. The song morphed into another.
You took a white orchid,
You took a white orchid,
And turned it blue.
Get behind me…
By the fourth song, a faint sheen of sweat had appeared on her neck and chest. I leaned in and said in her ear, "Is it time for a break? Can I get you something to drink?"
Tanya nodded and we left the dance floor.
"Cosmo," she said as I left her at the booth. I returned a little later with her vodka drink and my whiskey. On the way back I saw Emmett and Rosalie still dancing. They were dancing slowly, despite the fast music, heads together.
I gave Tanya her drink and slid into the booth next to her. She thanked me and took a sip. She had regained her breath, but her skin was still flushed. I had to mentally poke myself to stop staring and make conversation. "I love your boots, Tanya." I smiled at her, and then looked down at her slim legs.
"Thanks, they go well with the Vampire theme." Tanya's dainty white hand stroked the top of her boot, shifting the hem of her dress upward. I was looking at her hand. Her skin was so white, like bone, and so smooth. She moved her hand from her leg to push at her hair, and the movement sent a wave of air towards me. She had a warm, clean smell, like summer. "You know, Lestat, Anne Rice…"
"The Interview with the Vampire. Yes, our waitress looks very Night of the Living Dead … in a good way, of course." We grinned at each other. If she had a flaw, I couldn't see it. I took a swig of my drink and then just held the glass, to keep my hands from reaching out and touching that silky pale skin.
"Of course! It's that whole sex and death thing. Erotisme." She sighed. I recognized the reference, it was a book I had come across as an undergraduate, and found strangely earthy among all the dry, bloodless philosophy readings.
"Bataille?" I said, and felt my eyebrows inching up. Beautiful, sexy, and smart? It's not fair.
"Exactly. You've read Bataille?" Her eyebrows shot up just like mine.
"Why the surprise? I read deconstructionist theory in college." It's not as if I never get out of the lab.
She leaned forward, her hand on the table only inches from my own. "But …Bataille?" Tanya's heavy-lidded eyes watched my hands fidget with the glass. "He's not all that popular."
"It fit with my own research: sexuality, attraction …"
"Your job is sexuality?" she laughed; it sounded like bells. "What kind of work do you do?" Her hand reached out to stroke the back of my neck, lightly touching my hair. It made a shiver go through me. Her fingers felt like they were igniting my skin.
"I research why people get aroused, why one person is more arousing than another..." I'm getting aroused, just being close to her. Her fingers were soft.
"Really? What does the research suggest?" Her tone was light, but when I looked up into her face, her lips were parted. I wasn't the only one getting aroused.
"Well, scent, of course. But it's not just that one person smells good, but smells best to the mate who most closely balances their genetic makeup." Her other hand touched the stem of her glass, stroking it up and down. I touched the tips of her fingers with my own, gently. She moved her hand from the glass to my hand, putting each delicate fingertip to each of mine.
"So someone might smell better to one person than another?" Her voice was getting breathy. Graduate school has gotten me accustomed to talking about my area of expertise; I responded almost automatically.
"Not only that, but a man who smells repulsive to one woman may smell wonderful to a different woman." I wrapped my fingers around hers, and lifted her hand to my face. I breathed in the smell of her skin.
"What about the way women smell to men?" I looked up into her wicked smile.
"Well research suggests that men are much less selective, but that arousal has to do with a woman's fertility as well as her …other attributes." I turned her hand over and gently put my mouth to her wrist. I could feel the warm pulse through my lips. Her fingers tightened in my hair and she gasped.
"So, Edward…how do I smell to you?" Obligingly I leaned in close to her, my nose just under her jaw, and inhaled her scent. Like summer and sunshine, warm and clean. I wanted to eat that smell. My groin tightened, and I felt my dick stirring. I told her the absolute truth.
"You smell better than anyone I've ever met, Tanya."
XXXXXX
Much later, more dancing, more talking, and far more drinking later, Emmett pulled me aside and told me he was going back to Rosalie's place, and asked would I drive Tanya home. I said of course.
Tanya seemed quite happy to get in my silver Volvo. As I helped her into the car her hand brushed against my crotch, and when my cock twitched, she smirked. I took a deep breath before getting in and starting the engine.
"Where to?" I asked.
"Do you know La Bella Italia, near campus?"
"The restaurant?" Of course I know it, I live only few blocks away. I'd eaten there a few times.
"I live there."
"You live in a restaurant?"
"No, my apartment is upstairs."
Tanya took my right hand from where it was resting loosely on my leg and placed it on her leg, under her dress. I was surprised at her forwardness, but I didn't mind. I had never been so immediately turned on by a woman.
With her hand on mine, I slid my hand higher under her skirt. The fishnet tights were only thigh highs, and above them I felt the skin of her thighs. I moved further up and stroked her through her panties. I could feel how hot and damp she was right through the thin cotton. I tugged at her panties, hard. Tanya lifted her hips and slid them off, kicking the black bit of fabric under the car seat.
I slid my hand back and forth, pushing inside her, using my palm to cup her. Tanya's hips moved up to meet my hand, and she moaned with each movement of my fingers. Good thing the Volvo's an automatic. I drove as slowly as I could, trying to draw out the moment, but too soon we're pulling up in front of the already closed restaurant. It was very late.
I turned off the car and looked at her. "We're here, Tanya." I drew my hand out from under Tanya's dress and she blinked, coming back to Earth. She looked at me, her lips still parted.
"Edward," she said, and then paused, biting her lip. I had a feeling I knew what she was asking, but I didn't want to pressure her.
"Tanya?"
She looks up shyly. "Would you like to … come up?"
"Yes, I would." I reached over and tipped her face up to meet me. I brushed my lips across hers, then kissed her. Her lips were soft and warm and moved gently under mine. She tasted so sweet, I wanted to devour her. So strange, that the girl who just put my hand up her dress would kiss so softly. I ran my mouth down her neck, and then her hands are in my hair, my hands are on her waist, and all thoughts vanished in the feel of her skin.
XXXXX
We stumbled into her apartment, our lips locked together. Despite having had an uncountable amount of whiskey, I was ready for her. As soon as the door of her apartment closed behind us I pinned her to it, my hands on each side of her head, my body pressed full-length against hers. "Tanya." I breathed into her neck. She smelled divine, like sunshine and sex. I kissed my way down her neck and across her collarbone, pushing the strap of her dress off her shoulder as I went, kissing the mole at the base of her throat as I came back to do the same to the other side.
Enough playing. I pressed back into her again, kissing her mouth like I would eat her, and she matched me, sucking my lip and groaning as my hips moved against her.
"Wait," she said. I drew back and looked down into her face, watching her flushed chest heave.
"Why?"
"Come," she said huskily and pushed me backwards into a dim room, lit only by the restaurant sign outside the window, shining weakly through the gauzy curtains. When my legs hit the edge of the bed I fell backwards onto it, but Tanya didn't come with me. She stood over me and smiled, then slowly stripped off the red dress. I propped myself up on my elbows to admire her. She wasn't wearing a bra. Her breasts were high and perky enough where she didn't need one. All she had on were her tall boots and thigh highs. She brushed her red hair over her shoulder and got onto the bed, straddling me. With her dainty hands, she undid my jeans, and stripped me, then came up to pull off my black knit shirt. She smiled down at me.
God, she was gorgeous, her delicate face with slightly too full lips, high cheekbones, her slender body, and creamy ivory skin. Her nipples were tight and dark pink, like fresh berries, and her hips were thrust forward. Her pubic hair was chestnut brown, much darker than her hair, just a dark triangle disappearing into the sweetness I already knew was there, had already explored.
I pulled her down to my face, and Tanya moaned and ground against my mouth. Impatient little bitch! She tasted as good as I knew she would, better. I grabbed her hips and devoured her with my mouth, fucked her with my tongue, until she screamed wordlessly and clenched her hands in my hair. After the waves had subsided I pushed her over and rose up, catching hold of her hips from behind.
"You're delicious, Tanya. I want you." I pushed between her legs, not yet entering, just stroking back and forth. My hands ran up her belly up to her breasts and I pinched her nipples hard. She leaned away from me, reaching into a bedside drawer and pulling out a rubber. Tearing open the wrapper, she reached under her legs and rolled it on me. Then she leaned back against me.
"Then what are you waiting for, Edward?" Her low voice was like silk. I pushed her down and thrust into her. She was so tight, I sighed. Like coming home, sweetheart. I was gentle for the first few strokes, finding her depth, then my hands slid from her ribs to her hips and I pulled her onto me with long hard thrusts. She dropped down on her hands, and pushed back against me hard. I could feel her reaching her climax, her muscles clutching and pulling at me as I continued to ride her. When she peaked, her body jerking up and against me, I came as well, collapsing over her back. She quivered under me, both of us breathing hard. I stroked her hair away from her shoulders. Her hair was oddly textured, stiff -- too much hairspray? I pushed it out of the way and kissed her shoulder blades.
I reluctantly pulled out and removed the condom. I got up in search of a wastebasket. I may not be a gentleman but I am a bit of a neat freak, and throwing a used condom under the bed just isn't in my nature. I found the trash in the tiny but tidy kitchen. I went back to the bed, realizing this was a studio, there was no bedroom.
Tanya was sprawled out on her belly when I returned, propped up on her elbows. She was still wearing the boots and stockings. She watched me walk naked to her bed. I wasn't self-conscious; I had been naked in front of enough women. I sat down and stroked her back, and patted her ass. She rolled onto her back, away from me, and I lay down next to her, up on my elbow, stroking her flat, creamy belly.
"So beautiful."
She smiled. "So are you." She touched my lips with a forefinger, then stroked my jaw. I shivered.
"I don't want to leave yet."
"Then don't." She leaned into me for a kiss. Not a nice afterglow kind of a kiss, but a hot and angry kiss, pushing her tongue into my mouth. Although I had just come moments earlier, I felt myself rousing back to attention. I pulled her roughly to me and we started again.