Hells Gate: Santino (3 page)

He held up his hands. “Whoa! Ease up. I’m just giving you a friendly suggestion.”

“Sorry. This wasn’t my idea to come here tonight. I promised my friend that I’d accompany her since she’s been trying to get me out of the house.”

“I figured as much. You don’t seem the type for this scene.”

“You got that right. What did you want to tell me?” April asked.

The bodyguard jerked his thumb toward the curtained room. “He’s not a bad guy. I don’t talk to him much, but from what I gather he’s not a freak. He means well. For him to give you a free pass means that he senses something about you.”

“Great. Now I’m going to be stalked.”

“No. I didn’t mean it like that. There are a lot of people in this place that don’t have good intentions for those who see them. But he’s not like them. I know how it looks with the women lining up outside of the door waiting for him to kiss them, but he doesn’t think twice about them. There has to be something about you that he finds interesting. Just give him the benefit of the doubt and come back next week. Don’t blow it off.”

“Thanks. I’ll think about it. Look, I have to go meet my friend upstairs.”

He nodded. April left the bouncer behind and wandered back up to the main dance floor, where she found Cindy grinding against a man dressed only in tight blue vinyl shorts. His head and his back were tattooed to resemble a cheetah. When she walked by, April could see his eyes were honey colored from contacts and his mouth was full of sharp teeth. He caught her gaze and smiled even wider while he placed his hands around Cindy, drawing her closer until their pelvises were touching. April cringed at him. She was happy that her friend had found someone, but she wasn’t the least bit interested in dancing to music she had no idea where to find the beat in. So she went over to the bar and luckily found a free stool. She ordered tonic water. The blue-haired bartender placed it before her.

For the rest of the night, she watched the crowd dancing away and the different fetish scenes going on. The most popular she could make out was a line for women to get tied up with rope and be suspended from the ceiling, where the main man and his helpers would swing them for a few minutes and then take them down.

At the end of the night, Cindy was wobbly from dancing and drinking. April helped her into a cab and gave the man directions to her house. From there, she told him to go to her apartment.
Once home, she undressed, but her mind kept drifting back to the man in the cloak.
It would have been nice to have seen his face. She sat in bed and fingered the strip of yellow plastic, then set it on the nightstand. She shut the light off. Something moved in the darkness. Her heart stopped as she waited to see what it was. The light of a passing car shone through the blinds, playing shadows on the walls. A small chuckle left her lips as she realized how foolish she had been acting. It wasn’t like the man had followed her home.
Silly
.
I’m way too jumpy after the bizarre night I’ve had.
There’s no one there.
April sighed and pulled the covers over her head, just in case there was some kind of boogeyman out to get her.

Chapter Three

Soft hands slid along her shoulders. April opened her eyes and scanned the room. A slight fog had gathered in the corner that slowly worked itself toward the bed. It filled the space. A chill passed over her bare skin. Suppressing a shiver, April pulled the covers closer to her chest. Those silky hands trailed along her neck and someone breathed into her ear. She turned behind her and saw that no one was there. Her gaze scrutinized the dark. The mist swirled at the end of the bed and glided around to her side.

This isn’t normal. This has to be a dream.
Nothing like this happens in real life.
April sat up in bed and sensed something in the room with her. When she focused on the rising vapor, it separated and from the fog appeared a cloaked man. He stopped at the foot of her bed.

“What do you want?” she asked.

He didn’t say anything but kept staring at her. She felt his gaze on her, studying her. Her heart rate increased. There was no sound in the room, and she didn’t smell anything out of the ordinary. The man didn’t make any further moves. She reached her hand out, searching for something on the nightstand to use for a weapon. The one thing she grabbed was her phone. He flicked his fingers and her phone disappeared.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” his soft voice sounded through the room. The same one she had heard at the club. A warm puff of air caressed her neck as if he had breathed on it.

April jumped back against the wall, knowing now it was a dream because no one would make a phone vanish in real life. Her fingers shook.
I don’t have anything to be afraid of because this is all inside of my mind.
She took a deep breath and forced herself to relax.
The club is fueling my imagination. I figured that it would bring me back to the freaky people on the dance floor. Not the stranger in the cloak. Maybe my mind will make him hot.

“If you’re not going to hurt me, then what
are
you going to do to me?”
April asked.

“May I join you on the bed?”

A giggle escaped her lips. This was her dream, after all. Why not let him onto the bed? She bit her lip.
“All right.
But you have to take your cloak off first. So I can see your face.”

“If I take off my cloak, then you’ll have to deal with the consequences of what is to come.”

She crawled over to her dream intruder. He didn’t move. She touched the fabric of his cloak, thinking it would be made of gossamer or the fog that had filled her bedroom. Her hand didn’t pass through it. Instead the soft velvet cloak was firm. As she pulled her hand back, he caught it. She allowed him to place her hand on his face. Underneath her palm she felt smooth skin. It was cool, but there wasn’t any stubble. He leaned over and pressed his mouth to hers. The cloak hit the top of her head. Once his lips touched hers, she lost all thought. What consumed her
was
his silky lips. How they molded to hers. How he made her entire body alight with pleasure. She nearly fainted with the gesture and wanted it to last longer. The yearning to feel his entire body on hers went through her mind. But then he pulled away. Her eyes stayed closed until he touched her face.

“Did you like that?” he asked.

“Yes. God, this is turning out to be a good dream. Are you going to ravage me now?”

“Do you want me to?”

“
Mmmm
…awesome dream.
I don’t see why not.”

April lifted her top over her head, but her dream lover grabbed her hand. Her nightshirt fell down around her hips again. She didn’t understand why he was trying to stop her from having sex when this was her wet dream.

“Not like this.”

“But this is my fantasy. I thought you were supposed to do what I desired.”

He leaned over the bed and caught her chin. “Dreams are fickle that way. Sometimes you have to do what I say.”

“So what do you want me to do?” April asked.

“I’d love to kiss you once more, but I think we should wait until you come back to the club. Will you come back and see me?”

“Back to the club.
Really?
My dream is telling me what I have to do. That isn’t a good sign. Besides, I don’t really want to go back to Hell’s Gate. I like having you here instead of thinking about all of those other women kissing you or romanticizing about you.” She got off the bed and approached the man of her dreams. She slipped her hand underneath the cloak and felt the muscular body beneath it. She
slid
her hands along his stomach until she came to the waistband of his pants. Going a little lower, she felt his growing erection.

“I think this would mean that you want to stay and keep me company until dreamland falls away. What do you say?”

He peeled her hand away gently and brought it to his lips. “My body may be saying one thing, but I am used to controlling those urges. What about you? Do you think you can handle waiting for me?”

April sucked in one of his fingers between her lips. The taste of salt lingered on his flesh, plus that of cinnamon. He drew in a breath, but he still didn’t remove the cloak. All she really wanted was to see his face. “You taste good.”

He chuckled. “So, does that mean you’ll come to the club?”

“Make love to me first and then we can talk about it.”

“You drive a hard bargain.” He snapped his fingers.

April found herself back on the bed. Before she could say anything everything went dark. A moment of panic surged through her. Then she touched the piece of cloth. There was a blindfold around her eyes, but the terror eased out of her when she reminded herself this was a dream. A cool breeze glided over her body. Gone was her nightshirt, leaving her completely naked.
Now this is what a dream is supposed to feel like.

His hands slithered up her legs. He touched her breasts. The sweep of the velvet cloak swathed across her skin. It was smooth and ignited the pleasure deep inside of her. Her nipples hardened at the soft touch. She felt his mouth on her stomach licking her flesh. His hands moved along her inner thigh. A small cry left her lips. She arched her back and tried to feel the weight of his body on hers, but he didn’t stay with her.

“Why won’t you let me see you?”

“Because it’s better this way.
Keeps
you guessing and me hoping for the real thing. I pray this is enough motivation for you to come back to the club.”

Before she could answer, he claimed her mouth in a fierce kiss. His tongue plunged between her lips. She tried to keep up with him, but he worked his way down her neck before she could return the kiss. April reached out her hands and caught one of his arms. She ran her fingers along the bulges of his muscles. He took her fingers and guided them lower until they touched his cock. The smooth skin enticed her, so she leaned forward, hoping to have the feel of his lips on hers again. She stroked his length until he hissed in a small breath.

His mouth worked a line down her chest and stopped over her heart before taking one of her breasts in his mouth. His tongue flicked over her nipple until the pert bud hurt from how long he sucked it between his teeth. April squeezed her legs together from the building orgasm that writhed through her. She felt his hand slip lower until it cupped her wet folds. Her dream lover parted her pussy until he found her buried clit. Opening her legs wider, he continued to fondle her.

“Does that feel good?”

“Yes,” she moaned.

“Then relax. I’m not going to hurt you.” He took his other hand and held hers to his shaft. He began to run their combined hands faster over his dick while he manipulated her.

“Kiss me,” she begged.

“Not yet.”

He continued to stroke her until tiny tremors began in her legs. The bliss rushed along her nerves. Her lover started to focus on her more, but then his hand fell away. It was challenging to concentrate on working his cock, when she was so close to falling over the edge into the world of pleasure that was at her fingertips. April wished she could see him, but didn’t dare remove the blindfold now that they were both right there.

She thrust her hips against his hand and a small cry left her lips. He pushed her hand off of his cock and a moment later, he groaned as well. April lay back on her pillows and basked in the aftermath of the orgasm that still clutched her. Her dream man settled beside her. He placed small kisses along her shoulders. Then he breathed a sigh of contentment.

“Will you come back to the club?”

“Why is my dream so insistent that I go back to that fetish club?”

The blindfold vanished and April could see again. She glanced to the side where her dream lover lay. He was covered again by the cloak so his face was hidden. His hand played over her stomach going lower. He touched her clit again. She jumped from the sudden sensations that flooded her.