Manwhore 3 (A Ferro Family Short Story) Read Online Free

alluring and frightening at the same time. “Tell me what to do.”
    I turn and look up at him. His body is tense, with every muscle corded tight. “I can’t. It doesn’t work that way, Sean. You have to find it—something that makes you feel free and in control. It’s not going to be something we’ve already done, or you’d know. It’s going to be something different every time, something I wouldn’t want to face in the daylight, never mind at night.”
    “Explain.” He sets the glass down on top of the bar, and then walks over to me. He takes my hands and pulls me toward the bed.
    I move slowly, one foot and then the other. “I don’t know how it works, but when I was with you the other day—it was like that. It freed me for a while. It’s almost as if your fear fed my peace.”
    “It’s a parasite relationship.” He rubs his thumbs over the back of my hands, down by my wrists. He glances up at me from under his lashes, wanting to hear more.
    “In some ways, yes, I guess it is. What I did to you—it was something you didn’t want. If you hadn't been chained, what would you have done?”
    He blinks and drops my hands, ready to step away, but I reach out and take hold of his wrists. “You know, so tell me. You had a clear thought—something that wasn’t kosher.”
    He pulls away and turns his back on me. “It was far past kosher, farther from sane than anything I’ve ever thought before. It was an image, something that I couldn’t do to anyone, especially not you.”
    “Why?”
    “Because it’s cruel.” He looks over his shoulder and swallows hard. Those eyes that have been so cold and unfeeling fill with an unreadable emotion.
    “What I did to you was cruel. I stole something from you—something you intended to keep for her—right?”
    He turns toward me and nods. “What you did was not fucking, what you did was sex—and sex is like food, it’s a necessity of life. You destroyed an act I wanted to keep pure.” Anger seeps into his voice, and he does little to hide it.
    “I wanted it, so I took it. That’s the way this works. It requires more trust than anything else. I’m giving you permission to take me to the edge and hold me over the side—just don’t drop me. That’s the only rule. Don’t push me so far I can’t come back.” I touch his arm and look up at him.
    He pulls away and shakes his head. “I can’t. It’s too much. It’s over the line, a line I don’t want to cross.” His voice fades on the last words.
    I walk up behind him and speak carefully. My hands hover over his back. “It’s something you need to do, something you want, or you wouldn’t have come looking for me. You don’t need a fuckbuddy, Sean. You need someone who can both dish it out and take it. You need me.” I rest my hands on his shoulders and trail my finger along the back of his neck, knowing he’ll hate it.
    Sean rounds on me faster than expected and shirks me off. “Don’t.”
    “Do it.” I step closer to him.
    Sean shakes his head and backs up. “No. Let me think.”
    “There’s nothing to think about. It’s an instinct. Act on it. Do it.” I reach for him again, trying to bait him. I touch his cheek, tracing my finger along his jaw before his hand grips mine hard and throws me off.
    Sean sits down on the bed, grabs his head in his hands, and pulls at his hair. “I can’t accept this. I shouldn’t have come here.” His voice is barely audible. He runs his hands through his dark hair a few more times before gritting his teeth and shaking his head.
    He’s fighting his moral compass. It’s telling him not to cross this line. Maybe I should listen. Maybe I should leave, but I feel I owe him this. Before I know what I’m saying, I tell him, “It was me. I’m the one who suggested you’re a monster. It was my idea to make people think you were laughing when you called 911. The woman who spit on you today—I can take credit for that. Everyone hates you because of me. It