Chapter Text
Chapter 1:
You were staring around the club with a look of mild disdain on your face.
You liked to have a drink now and then, liked the feeling of the buzz warming your belly and easing your mind. You also liked to dance, liked to have fun with your friends.
You did not like this club.
The music was horrible, just some techno crap, you could not hear a human voice or an actual instrument behind the thumping beats. The people were even worse. The DJ thought himself too fancy to take suggestions and the bartenders flirted with green- or blue-haired people the entire night, forgetting to take other orders.
So, how on earth had your friends managed to get to utterly shit-faced drunk?
Which on the other hand caused you to stick to your light buzz. You were not an absolute alpha female, but you were somehow the social leader of the group. And since Leah didn’t know her limit, always getting drunk to the point that she will throw up and dance with every guy who humps at her from behind, which would lead to her crying in some corner by 3 am because she felt guilty towards her boyfriend, you had to stop her come the right moment.
Ronny had the problem that she had never had a boyfriend, never had kissed or made out with anyone and suddenly, maybe feeling the urgency of being in her twenties now, thought she saw her dream princes everywhere. You wouldn’t mind if she found the love of her life tonight, but she was very drunk too, and you wouldn’t let her lose her virginity to the biker who was currently trying to grab her dancing butt. What was that bad about not being a slut nowadays, anyway?
Suddenly, you felt very old for being in your early twenties. But you had also been pretty riled up from the beginning of this night, so, whatever.
You, if anyone cared, had lost your virginity at 19 to your stupid boyfriend, who apparently didn’t know there was a female orgasm and loved his two motorcycles more than you. Since that break up you had made out with a friend from college once and he hadn’t managed to get you off either and then fell asleep on your couch before anything like sex could happen. By now you were worried that maybe you were the problem: you had heard stories of women who were just too tense to actually come undone by the hands of anyone but themselves. There was no way to find out but to try.
Still, you did not want one from these silly boys wriggling around at the club. However, you would like to, at least once, have one of these awesome sexual encounters, filled with tension and heat, you read about all the time. You weren’t even averse to a relationship, should the person be the right one.
But for that, I don’t want a boy, you thought grimly. I want a man.
By that time the mood of your friends had finally changed. Ronny was trying to get rid of her biker-toucher and Leah was starting to sway, so you stuck your purse between your elbow and rips and walked intently to the dance floor.
“You!”, you barked over the loud music to the biker, “If you touch her ass one more time without her explicit consent, I will kick your ass so hard that you can floss with my laces.”
He cursed and harumphed away. Ronny threw her arms around your neck, almost making you fall, and cried: “Ah, you are the best. I looooooove you”, and started kissing your cheek with her read painted lips.
“I looove you too”, Leah screamed and practically jumped on your back.
“Okay guys, I’m feeling a little ganged up on”, you laughed, actually afraid that you might fall from the weight of too many drunk idiots on your body.
At last, you were able to convince them to just go to your favourite bar. There they served awesome cocktails and had a small corner where you could dance to the best classic dance tracks ever (like ABBA, Queen and the few really good tracks from the 2000s).
Now you could order yourself a tequila sunrise, since the bar was a neighbour to Ronny’s flat and subsequently you just had to worry about getting Leah home.
Leah was chatting with Ronny about that ugly biker guy (you really wished Ronny wouldn’t think of danger as sexy) and you could get lost in your thoughts.
Something was off about you lately. You had gotten by without sex for years before, but you felt a sort of quite desperation that burned in your veins since you had moved to Red Grave about six months ago.
Were you getting old? Was your biological clock ticking? All you knew was that you woke up sometimes, drenched in sweat and thighs wet from your arousal, in the middle of the night, having had some hot dream about someone with a face you immediately forgot when waking up, and having to get yourself off right then and there. And even worse: no one managed to catch your eye. Somehow, every guy in Red Grave seemed a little disgusting to you. Maybe you wouldn’t be so complicated with this if you had more experience. If you weren’t so selective, not so –
Your thoughts screeched to a halt when he moved in, looking utterly exhausted and utterly attractive.
_____________
Dante felt as if a brick wall had fallen down on him. Well, it had earlier.
The gig had been nothing special, some high-ass demon lord raising some other stupid demons. But it had been enough trouble that Lady and Trish had tagged along.
Dante had been in a foul mood for days, since some random guy who was apparently “just so much into occult stuff” had jabbered something on the phone about the armour made by Machiavelli and the Angelo knights. It wasn’t that guy’s fault that those thoughts reminded Dante of his brother, a place he tented to avoid going to mentally. But Dante did have a serious business and was not keeping a landline just to have a nice chat.
Vergil…
The older Dante got, the more his face changed, the more he thought about his brother. Would they still have looked so much alike by now, had Vergil lived? Would Dante have been able to fill his brother’s soul with at least some light as well, had he not let him fall into the underworld?
Would, if… Dante would gain nothing from such thoughts.
Adding to the foul mood caused by his brother’s memory was the issue that Dante hadn’t had any action in the sack for months. Something that Trish and Lady thought of as extremely funny and put on his deranged looks and advanced age. He should have never told these chicks when he turned thirty a few years ago.
And it wasn’t his fault that he did no longer dress as fancy as he did when he was twenty either: the Henley was simply more comfortable than several shirts and vests stagged on top of each other. As comfortable was his worn in red coat was, so what if the edges were getting frayed and the sun at bleached some spots on the red fabric?
Women…
Why did he have such bad luck with women lately? Sure, he had never had a shot with Trish or Lady, which was probably for the best, since one should not take a shit where they ate, but there must have been like a couple thousand other women in the city.
Yes, he knew that he had been something of a fuckboy when he was younger, jumping from bed to bed several nights of the week and he had calmed down from that phase quickly. But he still liked to have a pretty woman warm his bed once in a while, he was a man and a hunter after all.
Besides, his demon had been roaring loudly through the entire fight today and had not stopped since. There was a certain prickling sensation in his fingertips and scalp and something that told him I need without a specification.
What did he need? A woman? Yes, but that seemed to be a lost cause. A relationship? How would he get one if he didn’t get a woman in the first place? Besides, his life was way to complicated for that. He did not want to be tied to one woman, for his sake and hers.
However, it was not only that no woman seemed to want him lately, but he didn’t see anyone appealing either. What, had all the beautiful chicks left Red Grave half a year ago? Was there a beauty eating demon around?
Dante let out an annoyed huff as he pushed the doors to the bar open.
It was too late to actually pick up a girl who wasn’t shit faced yet. At least a girl that would be willing to go with a tired, unshaved thirty something guy for a one-night stand.
And then he spotted her.
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He was very tall and had a very impressive figure.
He must have been more than a foot taller than you and his shoulders were incredibly broad. You couldn’t help but think about the fact that you had never seen a dream hunk like the ones in action movies and erotica in real life. Until now. He had to be gorgeous when he was naked.
His leather pants and boots were a little off-putting to you, but probably just since you were still holding a grudge against the biker-type from your first boyfriend and the most recent run in. But the way the Henley stretched deliciously over his broad chest and was just slightly tucked into his pants, revealing the buckle of his belt, made your mouth water.
You didn’t even care that he was wearing a silly red coat and had the weirdest hair colour you had ever seen on such a young guy: Snowy white with a hint of silver on the roots and the stubble of his beard. It didn’t look as if he’d greyed early or bleached his hair, it looked natural.
You briefly wondered whether his lashes her white too, or maybe his chest hair? Or a trail that led to this belt buckle and further down …
His eyes caught yours and you felt trapped. Caught. God, you had been absolutely ogling him and his eyes were glued to your form now as well.
There was something about the stare of his pale grey eyes that gave you goosebumps and send the need to clench your thighs together through your body. You were wet already.
How could someone be that desperate. How could –
“Ouch”, you yelped when an elbow was shoved into your rips.
“That was intense”, Leah screamed-whispered the way that only drunk people could into your ear.
You finally were able to rip your eyes from his and could only mutter an unintelligible “What?”
“We’ve never seen people undressing themselves with their eyes like that, that’s all”, Ronny giggled from Leah’s other side.
You flushed a deep red all the way up to the roots of your hair. “A little louder, guys, I think the people downstairs haven’t heard”, you mumbled, hiding your face behind your hair.
“While we are on that subject”, Ronny got up and offered her hand to Leah as if she wanted to ask for a dance. “Would you give me the honour of going downstairs to pee with me?”, she asked and immediately broke out in giggles.
Leah herself barked a laugh, grabbed the hand, which she desperately needed by now to stand up straight, and staggered down the spiral staircase leading to the rest rooms.
The bar stool next to you creaked and you heard the guy ordering a beer in a hushed, hoarse voice. A tingling sensation shot up your spine, but it was outweighed by the need to hide your red face in your hands.
“Wow, your friends are loud”, he whispered as he leaned closer to you.
“And drunk”, you laughed quietly, finally taking your fingers from your eyes and peeking at him from up close.
He was sitting on the stool sideways, facing you. He had to open his long legs and spread them around your barstool since the two seats were so close to each other.
You stared at his face. His lashes were in fact snow white, but his eyebrows and stubble were a tad darker, shining more darkly silver in the gloomy light of the bar. You liked his strong jaw and smiley mouth. You had the urge to run your hand over his stubble and feel it one your neck or… oh, he caught you staring again after accepting his beer bottle and his grin widened.
“I would like to add”, you started, swallowing your pride and smiling openly at him now, “that I’m a little buzzed as well. Just in case I embarrassed myself just now, that’s that”, you waved your hand dismissively towards the empty cocktail glasses.
Wait, when had you downed your second cocktail? And when had Leah ordered one at all and downed that, you had explicitly ordered a water for her!
You rolled your eyes and groaned, moving your hands through your already messy hair.
“What is it?”, the guy asked, putting his half empty beer bottle down on the bar and rolling his shoulders back, letting the joints pop. The way you could see the muscles of his shoulders and pectorals move under his clothes did something funny to you and you squeezed your thighs tightly together.
“One of my friends his absolutely hammered”, you said, leaning the side of your face on your hand and staring dreamily at him. There was no chance that you could go home with him now (had you even considered that?), so whatever, you could at least appreciate his good looks.
His face faltered a little. “And that means…”
“That I get the glorious task to half carry that drunken turd home”, you laughed, batting your eyelashes at him. You could see his eyes trailing from yours to your lips and ran your tongue over your bottom lip for good measure.
“I could help you, if you want”, he shrugged and his grin widened. “I’ve dealt with a few damsels in distress in my life.”
“Is that so?”, you asked and giggled. What were you doing? Who was this girl and what had she done to the real you? “Does such a hero have a name?”, you asked.
“It’s Dante.”
“Oh, fancy”, you replied. “Did you ever walk through hell or was that your namesake?”
There was a certain look in his eyes and he hesitated to say something as his brows furrowed slightly.
Your smile faded and you bit your lip, flushing deeply again. “I was trying to be funny”, you murmured, playing with the little umbrella in your glass. “You know, because of Dante Alighieri and the Divine Comedy…”
“Oh”, Dante said and rubbed his hand over the back of his neck sheepishly. “Yeah, sure. Damn, now I feel unsophisticated for not getting that.”
“Sorry…”, you whispered and cleared your tight throat.
You felt his stare on the side of your face and when you chanced a glance at him again, his eyes were soft as they roamed over your face. “And what is your name?”
The answer came from somewhere behind you. “But we tend to call her carrot”, Ronny added as she slapped you hard on the back. “By the way, Leah is throwing up all over the bathroom.”
“Ah shit”, you exclaimed, climbing down from your barstool.
Dante stood up as well and the way his body dwarfed yours made you feel small in an utterly delicious way. “It was nice to meet you Dante”, you said and stretched your hand out to his. “But I’m afraid this damsel in distress belongs to me.”
He smiled ruefully at you. “Too bad”, he said and grabbed your tiny hand in his.
Dante was wearing driving gloves, but the skin of his fingertips still touched yours and you flinched. It was as if an electric current had passed between the two of you and sent a jolt right to your core.
You bit your lip hard and suppressed a moan.
“You gave me a static current there”, you said in a breathy voice as you waved your hand through the air.
“Yeah”, Dante said, staring at his own fingers in surprise. “It seems I did…”
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“I’m sorry I forced you away from the hot guy”, Leah slurred. One of her arms was slung over your shoulders while you held on to her waist tightly.
“It’s okay”, you answered, squeezing her a little tighter to your body against the cold air. “It was probably just the liquor that made me think of him as hot. You know my bad luck with the guys.”
“Nah”, she said with a passion that surprised you. “There was a spark, the entire bar felt it.”
You laughed uncomfortably. “Too bad.”
But you were almost sober now from the fresh air, cold and very, very tired. There was no way in hell you would go home with anyone now.
You fished the key from Leah’s purse to open the apartment building and dragged her up to the first floor. “Why do you have so many keys?”, you whispered as you searched her massive bunch of rings. “Which one is for your flat?”
She took a deep breath and practically shouting: “It’s that one…”
Before you could react, the door was already yanked open and David stared at the two of you with big, tired eyes.
“I’m so sorry”, you said, rubbing a hand over your face. “She got away from me again.”
“’s fine”, David answered and yawned, catching his girlfriend as she stumbled into the hallway. “As long as you guys had fun.”
You smiled and waved at him.
Back down on the street and standing in the cold air of the night, you felt even more tired than before. Actually, you felt more tired than you had ever been… what the hell was going on with you? It was as if the electric current Dante had given you or you had given him had drained you of all your energy.
You had already reached your own apartment building with slurred steps when there was a hot feeling in your chest and a tingling on your neck. Your eyes travelled to the other side of the street and all you could think was I’ll be damned.
With his hand shoved into the pockets of his coat Dante was practically stomping down the sidewalk, face turned down and hair messed up by the wind.
You already had your keys in your hand, were already on the steps leading to the front door. But all your sleepiness was gone as if carried away by the wind and you felt drunk on a certain feeling again that made your cheeks flush and cunt tingle.
“Dante”, you called, not even that loud, without thinking, and flinched that the hoarse sound of your own voice.
Usually, there would have been no way for someone to hear that from the other side of the street and with all the wind blowing. Besides, you had practically whispered his name.
But the head of white hair whipped around to where you were standing in the shadows and his posture straightened immediately as he hurried over the street.
He came to a halt in front of you with a sly grin and a certain look on his face that seemed to dull his eyes. “Hey”, he said. “Did you get the damsel home?”
“Yes”, you breathed, eyes roaming over his face. Why did you feel so tingly all over?
With you standing on the first step to the front door you were almost on eye level with him and couldn’t help but stare at his face. Since when were men made to look so beautiful?
Dante looked at you and put his weight from one foot to the other, obviously waiting for you to say something.
You smiled at him lightly and said “hi” as you threw caution to the wind, fisted one side of his coat and yanked him towards you to press your lips to his in a rough kiss.
__________________________
Dante still felt that tingling sensation in his hand when he saw you practically carrying your friend out of the bar.
Too bad didn’t seem to quite encompass the meaning of the feeling in the pit of his stomach. It was such a deep regret that he ordered and immediately downed a double shot of whiskey, sneering at the burning in his throat.
The lost opportunity hurt him more than it should. But you had been so beautiful with your big eyes, soft face and that black dress, which was short but long sleeved with a high neck. It was sexy but not slutty and he wished he could have seen that zipper on your back slide all the way down. What he had liked the most about your outfit was that you were obviously dressed up but still wore old trainers. Simple and cool, not trying too hard.
Shit, he was a goner. It had been too long since he had seen a pretty girl naked and he tried to pick up the next best thing walking into the bar, even though she wasn’t nearly as pretty as you and obviously drunk, and at his second insistent try she had actually said yes to coming home with him and he had turned her down.
What the hell?
He was hurrying home after that, feeling the slight buzz of the whiskey and the frustration of meeting you hot in his veins. Just the electric current that had passed between you had made him half hard and he didn’t know why.
Because you are desperate, that’s why, a nasty voice in his head said. He growled a curse and stomped his feet harder, faster. He was also wondering at the fact that not only his body had been so responsive to you but the demon inside him as well. Rearing its head, screaming that it wanted to take and possess and keep. Dante shook his head, blaming the rough patch and the alcohol.
It was still dark and cold, but the horizon was showing a tint of orange with the promise of a beautiful sunrise.
Dante didn’t see any of it, didn’t want to see any of it, he was too surprised at the warm feeling that was starting to form in the pit of his stomach. And then he heard it… your voice. More in his head than an actual sound, but his head still whipped around, staring to the other side of the street.
And there you stood, in the entryway of a house with pretty red brick stones, shaking and flushed from the cold, hair dishevelled and a key in your hand.
He could feel the weight from your gaze from all the way over to where he stood and practically ran over the street.
Was he being pathetic? That thought didn’t survive long in his head when he felt your warm, soft lips against this.
Dang.
Dante couldn’t help but grab your waist roughly, matching your pacing, and pulled you flush against his chest. Your hands were in his hair, a several keys digging into his scalp uncomfortably, but he didn’t care.
You opened your mouth at the same time as he did, tongues meeting in a desperate dance and you moaned so deeply that he was instantly rock hard. He lifted you effortlessly by the waist, pride elevated by your surprised yelp, and slammed you against the door.
This was too fast… what was wrong with him? He was so hot all over, as if he ran a fever, and his dick was straining painfully against his trousers. When you wrapped your legs around his waist and he felt your hot core rubbing against his aching cock, he was actually afraid that he might come right then and there.
Man, he could smell the musky scent of your arousal and hear the sheer need in the keening of your voice as he humped carelessly into you, basically on the fucking street!
“Please tell me you live here?”, he groaned as he managed to rip his lips from yours and breath into your neck.
“Yes”, you said and moaned when he pressed his lips to the soft skin of your neck. There was something about the scent of purely you there that made his mouth water in a strange way he had never felt before.
“Can I come in?”, Dante asked, as if he was able stop himself now.
“I’ll force you if you don’t”, you whispered and he could hear the smile in your voice. He grinned at you widely as he let you back down to stand on your own feet and chuckled when your knees almost buckled, not able to hold your own weight.
He steadied you with his arms around your waist, pressing his chest against your back.
There was a strange feeling of foreboding, an impending doom as he could hear the door unlock and felt you pulling him over the threshold.
Ah, what the hell, Dante thought as he stepped into the building. It felt as if he had never wanted anything as much in his life as he wanted you in that moment.