The Bound Angel (Sacrilege Rising: Book 1)

Chapter Twenty Three

Her hips rolled as she moved, slow and sensual and seductive; a goddess among mortals. But Mike didn’t want to be caught staring so soon, so he turned his attention to the rest of the room. Dim light and hazy smoke obscured his sight, until everyone more than a few paces away became blurry shapes in the fog.

A staircase with hand-carved railings were chipped and splintered. A thumping bass shook the floor. Old hardwood stuck to his shoes, squelching with each step. An oily sweet chemical scent made the cheap keg beer smell good.

The women at the party were an eye-catching mixture of styled hair, expensive jewelry, and dresses designed to blur the line between formal and slutty. The guys were all dressed alike; slacks, blazers, sunglasses perched on buzz cuts, and shirts with too many buttons unbuttoned. The look said, I’m a douche but my family is rich, so it’ll all work out for me.

It was Mike’s first time at a formal Greek life party, but the scene wasn’t surprising. A drunk guy was hanging on a girl with a short dress, screaming into her ear over the music, oblivious to the boredom on her face. A group of girls were dancing together in a circle trying to keep red cups from spilling. Blazers moved in a pack, prowling for unsteady legs. When someone with clear eyes entered their orbit, they smiled with too many teeth, shook hands, and made small talk, before turning back to the hunt.

One person stood out through the haze. She wore a black, strappy dress that barely covered her ass and left most of her back exposed. Where she moved, the crowd parted like minnows around a shark. The girls by her side were trying to talk to her, but she ignored them as her dark eyes scanned over the crowd, searching, not unlike the pack of blazers. She seemed to fit in with the vibe of this place. The dim lighting and hazy smoke made her all the more mysterious. Her dark hair and deep tan were exotic and seductive. She did more than just fit in; she commanded the room.

Heads turned in her wake, and with the alcohol flowing, social etiquette was ignored. Guys looked her up and down with unchecked desire. Women frowned and crossed their arms when she walked by. But everyone looked. And in her search, she ignored them all.

Her dark eyes continued scanning as she slowly turned toward Mike, hunting, until they met his, and finally stopped. The corner of her mouth curled ever so slightly.

Something in Allie changed when she saw him, so subtle he would have missed it if he wasn’t staring too. Her shoulders pulled back a bit. Her head lifted a little higher. Her hips swayed as she placed one foot in front of the other. Graceful and confident, like a house cat about to steal food. The fact that he was watching made it sweeter, the threat of consequence more thrilling. Before she finished her approach, she turned, stepped around a girl in a blue dress passed out against a wall, and intercepted a pack of blazers.

The one in front was scowling, annoyed at whatever one of his minions was shouting over the music. But when Allie stepped in front of him, the mask of the affable good old boy returned with a wide smile that showed too many sparkling teeth. He said something. She responded with a coy look. Ice broken, his hand settled on her bare back as he guided her to a corner where they could talk privately.

Mike tried not to fume. She was an adult. She could talk to whoever she wanted.

The lead blazer said something else that made her laugh and, in that low-cut dress, drew every eye in the room. She touched his arm, and his hand drifted lower down her back. She was still pissed off that he’d ignored her texts the other night when he was with Meredith. Just like everything else, this was a game to her. One that Mike wasn’t in the mood to play. So he turned his attention back to his surroundings. There was plenty of skin on display, after all.

A red dress with blonde hair was accepting a cup from the polo behind the bar. When she turned away, the polo glanced down at her ass, shook his head, and whistled to himself. She took a sip from a cup that matched her dress and made a face. Fraternity beer was more an accessory than something you were supposed to enjoy.

Then she saw Mike. Her eyes raked up and down once before stopping on his. Her lips parted slightly, and she took a little breath. Then she started moving, looking surprised to be doing so. Mike took one last look at Allie. She was standing close to the blazer, one hand on his arm, laughing at seemingly the funniest joke ever told. It made his blood boil.

“Hi,” a voice said. “I don’t think we’ve met. Are you in Phi Delt?”

“No,” he answered simply.

The red dress was clearly expecting more. She probably had the opposite problem of guys never shutting up around her, but between the alcohol and Allie’s performance, Mike wasn’t in the mood. He took a long sip of cheap beer. She tried again. “First time here?”

“Yeah. Not sure I’ll be back though. These mixers aren’t really my thing.” His foot squelched again when he tried to lift it.

She laughed like he’d made a joke. “Isn’t the smoke machine so extra?”

Mike really looked at her then. Her dress left little to the imagination. Where there was fabric at all it was tight and thin and showed off a fit physique. In its absence, a spray tan and lean curves held his attention. He found himself wondering what her body would feel like in his hands, how her lips would taste, what her voice would sound like whimpering in his ear.

Normally he wouldn’t stare so openly, but the cup in his hand wasn’t his first, and Allie’s little game was clouding his mind like the fog in the air. He didn’t notice the change that came over the blonde. It started in her eyes. Then her face flushed. She shifted her weight and bit her bottom lip. To his surprise, she suddenly stepped closer, all pretense of casual conversation fading into the smoke.

“I’m Sasha.”

Oh yes, that voice in his ear would do nicely. “Mike.”

“Do you want to get out of here, Mike?”

He was about to say yes when they were interrupted by a new voice. One he was intimately familiar with.

“Sasha!” The blonde turned to see Allie approaching with the pack of blazers in tow. “You look incredible! I knew you would lose the weight. How long did it take?”

Sasha blushed and fidgeted, caught off guard by the insult disguised as a compliment. “Um, hey Allie. Well, I started Pilates-”

“That’s great,” Allie interrupted. “Who’s your friend?”

Sasha suddenly looked defensive. “This is Mike. We were just-”

“I don’t think I’ve seen you around, Mike. Are you friends with one of the brothers?”

He sipped his beer. “Something like that.”

“Josh,” Allie turned to the blazer whose arm she was holding. “Do you know him?”

He gave Mike a once over and said, “No,” before he went back to ogling Allie. Even his voice sounded stupid.

“Thank god for that,” Mike said, too low to be heard clearly over the music.

“What was that?” Josh asked.

“I said we’ll have to change that.” Mike turned back to Sasha. “I would love to get out of here. What did you have in mind?”

The blonde looked relieved and took his hand. “Come on. I know a place.”

Before he finished his turn, someone else grabbed his other arm.

“What are you doing? The party’s just getting started.” Allie’s narrowed eyes were on his now, clearly annoyed at his refusal to play her little game.

Mike snorted. “We’re going to find our own party. If I have to stay in this shit hole any longer I’m afraid I’ll catch something.”

“The fuck did you say?” Josh interrupted and grabbed the front of Mike’s shirt.

His comment must have come out louder than he thought. Now the three of them were pulling him in different directions, and he shook himself to get loose. The alcohol had dissolved his restraint. Frustration at Allie’s game, his general dislike of rich kids, and specific dislike of this rich kid, was bubbling over. “I said you turned this place into a land fill. The only thing worse than how it looks is how it smells. Haven’t you learned to shit in the toilet yet?”

Josh gave him a hard look. “Who invited this dickwad anyway?” He lifted Mike’s tie and looked him over, before dropping it with a sneer. “Dollar store suit, dollar store manners.” When Mike didn’t respond, he decided to keep pushing. “Listen, asshole, we’re having a nice time here, so I’m going to do you a favor and let you walk out of here in one piece.” He glanced to Sasha and flashed a toothy grin. “Hey baby, if you’re looking for a real man, I’ve got just the one for you.”

On cue, one of the blazers stepped forward to smile at Sasha. Mike had been poor his whole life and had already heard all the insults. This one barely even registered. He just smiled back and said, “Oh, I don’t think she’s your type. She’s a little too… conscious? That one looks to be right in your wheelhouse though.” He nodded to the girl in the blue dress slumped against the wall. Two blazers had peeled off from their pack and were now squatting at her side. “Better hurry before your buddies get there first and tell everyone she invited them upstairs.”

The next few seconds happened in slow motion. Josh’s fist curling into a ball, his snarling face graduating from pink to red, his hand reaching back, then driving forward. Mike didn’t have any formal fighting training, but he’d grown up in a rough neighborhood and could identify the real thing. This guy wasn’t it. He was as slow as he was stupid. Mike easily ducked the haymaker, hooked his foot into Josh’s ankle, and shoved, sending him sprawling to the floor from his own momentum.

The lead blazer struggled to his feet with a look of disgust. Whether it was from getting embarrassed or at the stains on his expensive suit, Mike couldn’t tell. He rose with a snarl and clenched fists.

Then someone stepped between the pair. An older man with gray hair. Probably an alumni left over from a posh dinner fundraiser that usually preceded these kinds of parties.

“That’s enough, now,” the man said, stopping Josh’s momentum. He turned to Mike. “Son, why don’t you get out of here. And Josh, go get cleaned up. No sense in ruining the night over a pissing contest.”

“Sure,” Mike agreed. “It smells like they’ve already had a few of those in here anyway.” Sasha covered her mouth to hide a snort, which made Josh’s face screw up even more and his fists clench again. But he didn’t move.

Mike stopped in the doorway and turned back. “You coming?” he asked. But not to the blonde, though he imagined a night with Sasha would be one to remember.

Allie didn’t answer. Instead, she simply ignored the blazers and sauntered across the floor to take his arm. She drew the attention of every warm-blooded man, and more than a few women, in the room.

The walk back to his apartment was short and quiet. Now that it was over, pumping adrenaline was being replaced by steadily darkening thoughts. She’d flirted right in front of him, out in the open. It was on purpose, of course. She wanted to tease and see how far she could push before he pushed back.

Mike could have handled it better, but rich kids always got under his skin. Now he’d have to keep an eye out for that idiot every time he was on campus. Should he worry about anything more than a fight? That mouth breather probably had connections. His thoughts simmered just beneath the surface while they stood in the elevator, not having spoken a word since they left the party. When his apartment door clicked shut, he turned and blocked her way.

“What was that about?” The question came out low and hard.

Allie’s eyes glittered when they caught the light, but her voice was full of confused innocence. “What do you mean? I just wanted you to meet my friends.”

“That asshole was your friend, huh?”

“Well,” she answered with a little smile, “maybe not a close friend, but-”

“Then what was it about?” Mike repeated, his voice hard, cutting her off. He wanted to hear her say it.

Her tone flipped from innocence to indignation. She crossed her arms. “Fuck you. I can hang out with whoever I want. And if you don’t like it-”

“You were the one who interrupted me and your blonde friend, remember? Not the other way around.”

“Well… I…” she sputtered, not having an answer ready and not happy with the way her little game was turning out.

“And you’re the one standing in my apartment. I didn’t follow you home. What I can’t figure out is if you just wanted me to trail you around like a puppy, or actually see me fight that douchebag.”

With neither answer particularly good, Allie stayed silent. She stared up at him in defiance. When the silence and tension grew to a breaking point, Mike carefully reached out to touch her. Holding her gaze, the backs of his fingers ran over her slutty dress, brushing her hip, stomach, breast, until they reached her shoulder. He lifted the strap and let it fall loosely down her arm, enjoying the touch of bare skin and the thrill of removing just that little bit of clothing.

Allie didn’t move to stop him. She licked her lips when his fingers brushed her bare shoulder. She made one last attempt. “You could have been nicer. Josh didn’t mean anything by what he said. You really were an ass to him.”

That lit a fire in Mike’s core. A now-familiar shadow stretched over his thoughts. It mingled with the alcohol until the gloom shrouded his mind like the night shrouded his apartment. He was oddly reminded of that woman at the church. The one the angels referred to as the Dark Lady. He pictured her again in all her haunting beauty. She was riding a man lying prone beneath her the same way she rode the line between thrilling and terrifying. The same line Mike was struggling to walk himself just now.

His eyes flicked up to meet Allie’s. She let out a little breath at whatever she saw in them. Maybe the idiot’s words had cut deeper than he thought. Mike growled, “You want to play games? Let’s play a game. You don’t get to wear clothes,” he reached under her dress, gripped her panties, and pulled. There was a tug, and then they were suddenly light as a feather in his hand. “Until I say you can wear clothes.”

Allie’s knees gave out. She would have collapsed if he hadn’t caught her in his arms. “Oh fuck,” she breathed. Once she was standing upright again her hands started fumbling at his waist, trying to get his belt off. “Oh fuck,” she repeated, her voice so soft he could hardly hear it. She slid her leg up his thigh and pulled him close while she freed his length. “Oh fuck,” it was a moan now that she’d found his cock. The dress had ridden up over her waist, and now her bare hips were writhing in shallow little circles. “I know I was bad,” she purred. “Teach me a lesson. Tell me how bad I was. Punish me. Yeah baby, choke me.”

Mike hadn’t realized his hand was around her throat until she spoke. He blinked the fog away and stepped back out of the pants pooled at his feet. Allie looked like she’d just run a marathon, hands back against the wall for support, breathing hard, eyes wild. She was his. He could do anything he wanted with her. It felt like the shadow over his mind was now tied around his ankle, trying to pull him down into the dark while he fought to keep his head above water.

He grabbed her by the hair, dragged her through the hall, and shoved her into his bedroom. “Let’s play another game,” he growled, following her in and forcing her hands behind her back. He tied her wrists together with her torn panties. Once they were secure, he spun her around to face him.

Mike was breathing hard himself. Adrenaline was racing through his blood. He shook his head to clear it. This wasn’t right. He pushed the shadow back. “Are you…” the words were hoarse in his throat. He tried to ask, “Is this…” but his voice broke. Instead, he looked into Allie’s face and asked with his eyes the question his voice wouldn’t let him.

She slapped him in the face. Hard. The crack echoed in his little bedroom and snapped his head around. She whispered five words, like a knife being pulled from a sheath. “Don’t you dare stop now.”

Mike snarled as he let the darkness consume him. He pushed her down to her knees. Allie’s eyes were glassy, cheeks flushed, lips wet and glistening in the dim light.

“You don’t get to breathe,” he growled, grabbing the other strap and yanking the front of her dress down, exposing her full, perfect tits. “Until I say you can breathe.” He stuffed every inch of his length into her mouth.

Vibration immediately ran through his shaft as she moaned around his cock. For a long moment he just held there, one hand tangled in her hair, the other circling her neck, while he felt himself stiffen in her mouth. Then he pushed harder. Allie leaned forward and relaxed, opening her throat and taking the rest of his length. The remaining inches of his cock disappeared between her lips, and he was fully sheathed. “Holy shit,” he gasped.

He looked down, and it was exactly what he fantasized. Allie was staring up at him with those dark, smoky eyes. Her lips were circled around his base. Together, through that connection, they acknowledged the moment.

Then he began to rock his hips. Slowly at first, he didn’t know how hard he could push. Then faster, firmer, until his balls were slapping against her chin and her nose was driving into his belly. It didn’t take long for her eyes to start watering.

When she squeezed his leg, he pulled out. Allie caught her breath while he slapped his wet cock against her face. When she looked up at him and opened, he pushed back in. They repeated the cycle. Mike fucked her mouth until she squeezed his leg. Then he wiped himself on her face and mauled her heaving tits, waiting to lock eyes again. He watched her sultry face become a mess of spit and smeared makeup.

When a familiar pressure began to build, he took her head in both hands and fucked her throat for all he was worth, until she was digging her nails into his leg and he felt like a rumbling volcano ready to erupt. At that moment, he pulled back and jerked himself over the edge.

He exploded onto her face while she caught her breath. Each pulse sent white ropes across her nose and over her eyes until she was covered in a shiny glaze from forehead to chin. And still he kept going, thrusting forward, milking every last drop, pushing until he was finally spent.

As the urgent need to relieve the pressure faded, Mike looked down at his work and basked in the afterglow. It was as erotic a sight as he’d ever seen. The terror of his hometown kneeling at his feet, covered in his orgasm. Her eyes were closed, but when his cock touched her lips, she nuzzled against it. “Clean me up,” he ordered. She opened and welcomed him back into her mouth, this time using her tongue to bathe every inch of his length, making sure she didn’t miss a drop. When she was finished, he retrieved a towel from the bathroom and carefully cleaned the sticky residue from her eyes until they were clear enough to open.

They were still dark and wild. She was still breathing hard and her hips hadn’t stopped writhing. This was normally when the edge to the evening softened. He’d take care of her needs, and they’d spend time lying together and talking. But tonight, he was pissed off.

“The rest stays,” he growled.

Allie rolled her eyes. “I guess I deserve that. But now it’s my turn. I’m fucking dripping.” Without the use of her hands, she struggled to her feet, one leg then the other. “Come on. Let’s fuck. Untie me.”

“No,” Mike answered simply.

She froze. “What do you mean, no?”

“I’m not untying you. In fact,” he continued, and went to the kitchen. He returned with scissors. “The rule was you don’t get to wear clothes until I say so. And I don’t say so.”

“Whoa,” Allie said. “What the fuck. No way.” She retreated from his menacing approach while her hands squirmed behind her back, trying to get loose. “I didn’t agree to you cutting my fucking clothes off.”

He continued advancing until he was right in her face, opened the scissors, and held them against the fabric of her dress.

“Hey, what the fuck. Stop. Okay. Fine. Wait, just wait,” she sputtered. “Just take the dress off, don’t fucking cut it, and I won’t wash this shit off and I’ll just ride you, okay? You can lay there and I’ll do the work.”

Mike paused, holding the scissors steady, until she was bouncing from foot to foot.

“Come oonnn, I like this dress and I see the way you’ve been looking at me so I know you like it too. Come on. I’ll blow you again just as soon as I get off.” When she rubbed her legs together, her upper thighs glistened with arousal. She stared openly at his flagging cock. “God, I need that thing in me.”

He relented, placed the scissors on the desk, and said, “Deal.” Then he peeled the dress down over her hips, taking every opportunity to squeeze and grope her naked body. He helped her into bed and lay down on his back.

Allie said, “You’re a real prick, you know that? I should have just let Josh kick your ass.”

When he glanced meaningfully at his flagging cock, she rolled her eyes, bent, and brought him back to life with her mouth. Mike snorted, then closed his eyes to focus on the sensation. “That guy was a joke,” he sighed.

From his groin, she asked, “You think you would have won?”

Mike knew enough to be able to tell who he could take and who he couldn’t. He said, “You probably could have kicked that douche’s ass.”

It didn’t take long to get hard again in Allie’s loving mouth. As she struggled to line herself up without the use of her hands, he took a moment to think. Was this really good for her? Could this actually count as one of Lana’s good deeds? If plastering your wet dream’s face counted as a virtuous act, he’d been taught all the wrong lessons in life. He was certainly enjoying it, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that this was all so one-sided.

Mike’s attention was drawn to the perfect body settling over him, and his apprehensions melted away like ice in the sun. His eyes traveled over smooth, strong legs, to the glistening flesh at their apex.

Allie was almost in a frenzy trying to line him up without her hands, and she whimpered in frustration. With what she ached for so close, the uncontrollable rocking of her hips was making it near-impossible. He decided she could squirm a little longer, and let his eyes travel up, over her lightly rippled stomach and full tits, to her face.

It was a face that could boil his blood with the hint of a smile, and eyes that promised dark pleasure. A face now covered in his cum. The sight made him twitch, and she looked like she might start weeping if he wasn’t inside her soon.

For a moment, the thought crossed his mind again that he was getting much more out of this than she was. Then he reached for her hips to steady them, and carefully guided her to his cock. As Allie sank down, her eyes widened. Her lips parted. Her breath caught. For a moment that lasted heartbeats but felt like much longer, she froze. Then her eyes became heavy. Her toned stomach unclenched and she let out the most satisfied sigh. It sounded like she’d been shivering from the cold and was finally settling into a steaming hot bath. Maybe she was getting more from this relationship than he thought. Unaware or uncaring that he was selfishly mauling her tits, she started to rock against him.

When her screams died down and she was resting on his chest, when her body unclenched from her latest orgasm, when her breathing recovered from broken gasps, Mike untied her hands. He cleaned her face while she was a helpless puddle in his bed. He didn’t remind her of her agreement to get him off again. Instead, he climbed in next to her, covered them both with a blanket, and stroked her hair until she was herself again. Allie lay in his arms while they shared quiet whispers of appreciation and encouragement, and Mike considered how he was changing.