—right next to a hand.
Oh fuck. Oh fuck.
The hand is spattered with blood, the palm facing the sky, the fingers half-curled. It's a man's hand, and as I look up the tattooed arm, I see even more blood, and then a dark, huge body nestled amongst the trash bags.
The whole guy is covered in blood.
"Oh my god," I whimper, pressing my fingers to my mouth in horror. This guy's been murdered. Even as I think I'm going to be sick, I'm horrified to realize that my nipples are pricking and my pulse is throbbing between my legs. What the fuck is wrong with me? Why am I reacting like this?
The man groans again and to my surprise, he opens his eyes and looks right at me. I stare into a pair of stunningly silver eyes, so intense that it takes my breath away.
"Carly?" Charlie calls from the bar's back door. "Are you out here?"
"There's a man over here," I call back. "I think he's hurt! He's covered in blood!"
The stranger just looks at me. His hand on the asphalt twitches, and then he lifts it toward me, as if asking me to take it.
Automatically, I reach for it. "You're going to be okay," I whisper to him. "You—"
The moment our fingers touch, my entire body shudders. To my horror…I orgasm.
Then, I black out.
2
"Carly! Carly? Wake up, please."
A hand taps me on my cheek, over and over again, and I groan, opening my eyes. My pulse is throbbing through my entire body and I feel both exhausted and curiously blissful.
I'm lying on something hard, and there's a stink of garbage all around me. I squint, trying to make sense of the shadows, and see Charlie's frantic face.
"Oh thank god," he breathes. "Are you all right?"
"There's a man," I murmur, memories flooding back. "A man covered in blood."
"What? Did you hit your head? Can you sit up?" His hand moves to my shoulder, tugging on me.
Slowly, I sit upright. I don't feel…bad? If anything, my pulse is throbbing and my head fuzzy, but I don't understand why I collapsed. I put a hand to my forehead, trying to remember what happened. The man in the alley was covered in blood….silver eyes…he touched me…
Oh boy.
I shift my hips a little, and the sensation of my pussy, wet and slick and sensitive, hits me like a ton of bricks.
I totally orgasmed and passed out. What the ever-loving fuck?
Swallowing hard, I look around. It's as dark as ever, but I don't see anyone nearby. "How…how long have I been out?"
"I don't know. A few minutes? You were taking a while and I came out here to see what was wrong and found you sprawled." Charlie's face is full of worry. "Do you need me to take you to a hospital?"
"There's no…man?" I blink at him. "There was a man here."
"Did he hit you? Attack you?"
I glance down at my hand, and there's still blood on it. I didn't imagine things, then. How do I explain to my co-worker that a stranger touched my hand and I came so hard that I blacked out? "Uh…"
"That does it," Charlie says. "I'm taking you to the nearest doc in the box. We're going to get you looked at."
"I swear I'm fine," I protest. God, what am I going to tell a doctor? That I spontaneously orgasmed because of a bloody hobo? "Help me stand up, please?"
Charlie wraps an arm around my waist and helps me get to my feet, and oddly enough, his touch bothers me. I think of Charlie like a sibling—a little annoying at times, but harmless and friendly. But he's standing close, trying to help me stand, and…I don't want him to touch me. I don't want anyone to touch me.
Well, no, that's not completely right, I realize. Because I imagine the silver eyes of the stranger, and my pussy clenches all over again.
"I'm good," I say to Charlie, a bit more abrupt than I should. I push his arms away and take a step. Then two. I brush off my clothes. "I think I'm fine?"
My co-worker just stares at me as if I'm insane. "I'm not sure you are, Carly. Have you been getting enough sleep? Have you—" He pauses, his eyes going wide. His storky, long throat moves, Adam's apple bobbing. And he blinks. And blinks again.
I turn around, looking over my shoulder to see what he's staring at.
There's a large figure at the end of the alley, hidden in shadows. He stares out at nothing, and I dimly see tail lights on the neighboring street. He turns back toward us, and then begins to head in our direction.
Maybe I should feel fear, but weirdly enough, all I feel is a prickle of anticipation.
"Is that your attacker?" Charlie asks in a hushed voice, moving to stand closer to me again.
I discreetly step away, because again, Charlie's nearness is bugging me. It's like I don't want anyone to be close to me except…him. The stranger striding in my direction. "He didn't attack me," I tell Charlie. "I think he's hurt. He was covered in blood."
Charlie cups a hand to his mouth. "Who are you?" he calls out.
The man doesn't answer. He just moves toward us with purpose, and as he moves closer, I find myself frozen in place.
And I feel…strange. Languid. Happy. Pleasant.
Sexy.
I watch him move, and even as he comes into the light and I see just how filthy and plastered with blood the man is, he looks…sensual. He moves like a panther, a predator…a sexy damn beast.
My pussy clenches again.
"Oh…" Charlie breathes, and when I look over at him, he's got an utterly besotted look on his face. Okay, so it's not just me. There's something about this man, I think.
He approaches us, all bloody hair and naked chest. His pants cling to his legs, soaked and outlining his muscles. His hair looks long, his beard clinging to his jaw, and his eyes are such a bright silver in his face that they're positively overwhelming. As he comes closer, I realize just how massive he is. He's big and muscled, his shoulders broad and intimidating. When he comes to stand in front of me, I don't even make it to his shoulder.
The man completely ignores Charlie, his attention focused entirely on me. "What's your name, my light?"
I don't know if I want to giggle with glee or drop to my knees in front of him and beg to let him fuck my mouth. "Carly," I breathe, swept up in his spell. "I'm Carly."
And I'm all yours.
I don't say that part out loud. I'm not crazy. But I mean it. There's something about this man that is just making my hormones scream awake. I'm both horrified and fascinated, because I've never felt like this before, ever. I enjoy flirting. I enjoy getting to know a guy. I've never been so viscerally attracted to a man that I wanted to have sex the moment I saw him.
Especially not a man I found in an alley covered in blood. Yet…here we are.
The stranger puts his hand out to me again, palm up.
I reach out…and then pull back. "I'm not falling for that again." I sound breathless and apologetic as I say it. "Sorry."
His face broadens into a perfect smile, all white teeth and cocky tilt to his lips, and I get weak in the knees all over again. I think Charlie does, too. He makes a weird noise behind me, but the guy doesn't even look over at him. He's looking at me and only me, and I'm entranced by that beautiful grin. "I am called Kassam."