Blowout

Adrian had plenty of time to contemplate what he’d done to Faith as he waited in the passenger seat of Amira’s cruiser later that night. Araqiel’s vassals had loaded her up with kinks, and he’d pressed every one of her buttons: exhibitionism, submission, humiliation, and size. The consequences of that remained to be seen. He hadn’t liked putting her marriage in jeopardy, but he’d be lying if he said he hadn’t enjoyed their little tryst. Faith was gorgeous, and the power he wielded over her was intoxicating. He tried to tell himself he had just been doing his job, that he couldn’t afford to have a squire running loose, that it may even be in Faith’s best interests to be in the fold, and all of that was true, but it did nothing to change the fact that he had liked doing it.

Now was not the time to introspect, though. The darkest deed of the day had yet to be done. Adrian watched the shadow-draped parking lot outside of Gilt from across the street, carefully scanning for signs of movement.

“You going to tell me what we’re doing here?” Amira asked, annoyed, but not nervous. Adrian couldn’t say the same.

“You’re going to get a call on the radio soon,” he said, telling her only what she needed to know. “When you do, you’ll be the closest squad car. Tell them that you’re responding, but hold off.”

Amira narrowed her eyes. “If there’s a crime, I’m going to stop it.”

“Nobody is going to get hurt who doesn’t deserve it,” Adrian told her.

Amira was not reassured. “What the hell does that mean?”

Adrian didn’t get the chance to respond; he spotted two figures walking around from the alley out back of the club into its parking lot. Adrian tensed. Any second now.

Just as the two figures rounded the corner towards the club’s front door, shots rang out across the empty street. Immediately, one of them jumped back around the corner and put his back to the wall, pulling out a gun of his own. The other sprinted directly for the alley.

Amira had her own gun drawn almost as quickly, and by the time Adrian had finished processing that things were in motion, she had it trained on the man taking cover in the parking lot.

“What the fuck is this, Adrian!” Amira yelled.

“That man’s the leader of 14th Street,” he told her, trying to talk her down. “The shooters are Eastside Locals. You need to let them do this.”

“You’re orchestrating a fucking gang hit?” she shouted, furious.

“Fourteenth Street was trying to extort me,” he explained as quickly as he could.

Another pair of shots rang out, and Amira’s eyes scanned the street as she hunkered down below the steering wheel. “No,” she spat. “No way. Put an end to this now, or I will.”

“Just hold off for another minute,” he pleaded. “When it’s over, there’s an arrest all teed up for you. But let them do their job.”

Amira’s gaze locked with his, and for a brief moment, he could see that she was tempted to give in and do as he was told. But then her brown eyes darkened to steel. “Fuck this.” She snatched the radio off her center console. “This is Officer Vare. Shots fired at 22nd and Jefferson. Requesting immediate backup.”

“God damn it, Amira!” Adrian shouted. “Wait in the car!”

But her door was already open. Amira slipped out and took a shooter’s stance, peering over the head of her car. “Police! Drop your weapons!”

The man hiding behind the wall, Sebastian, turned to look their way, then raised his gun. Adrian dropped down as low in his seat as he could, flinching at the retort of Sebastian’s gun and the metallic thud as his bullets connected with the front of the cruiser. Adrian was almost deafened by Amira’s reply, as she calmly squeezed off several shots of her own.

“Put the gun down!” Amira screamed. “On your fucking knees!”

Adrian peeked up just enough to see Sebastian whip his head back and forth in panic. He was alone, without cover, being shot at from both sides. The decision had to have been an easy one. He ran.

“Shit,” Amira growled. A moment later, she was off after him, racing across the street, gun held at her side.

Adrian’s heart hammered the inside of his ribcage. If Sebastian got away, he was fucked. This was all going to shit.

Making a decision, Adrian threw the passenger door open and bolted after Amira. His feet pounded the asphalt, new muscles carrying him quicker than he was used to, but Amira was faster still. By the time Sebastian was rounding the corner back into the alley, Amira had closed the gap down to only tens of feet. Adrian flinched as several more shots rang out, from where he didn’t know. He caught his foot on a loose patch of gravel and skidded out onto the ground, landing hard on his elbows. He looked up to see Amira disappearing into the alleyway after Sebastian.

Adrian picked himself up as quickly as he could, terrified that at any second a bullet would find its way to his back, and pushed on. He couldn’t afford to let Sebastian get away.

Gasping for breath, he managed to make it to the alley without being shot. Turning his head to the left, he caught sight of Sebastian and Amira further down. With no time to waste, he took off after them.

“Last warning!” Amira called out, thirty yards ahead of him as she dashed through the unlit darkness.

Sebastian didn’t stop. He flung his arm behind him and fired two shots blindly. Adrian dove to the side, but Amira didn’t break stride.

The gang leader was nearing the mouth of the alley. He had only a dozen feet to go. Amira skidded to a halt and raised her weapon in a familiar grip. There was a heartbeat’s pause, then, with cold precision, she squeezed her trigger three times. Two of the bullets went wide. But the third hit home.

Sebastian crumpled, his gun flying off, clattering to the ground somewhere in the shadows. Amira stalked forward, gun trained on her prey as he began to wail. Adrian picked himself up and hurried over, body aching from the rough treatment it had endured.

“You fucking shot me!” Sebastian cried. Now that Adrian was closer, he could see that Sebastian was desperately clutching at his thigh, and a small, dark pool was beginning to collect underneath him. If Amira had hit an artery, he wouldn’t last long, but Adrian didn’t think there was enough blood for that. Then again, Adrian was no expert.

“On your stomach!” Amira barked. “Hands on your head!”

Sebastian writhed in agony, ignoring her orders.

“I said hands on your head!” she screamed.

Sebastian finally got the wherewithal to comply, rolling onto his stomach and doing as she’d said, sniveling and moaning in pain.

“Nice shot,” Adrian commented as he approached Amira’s back.

She jumped, whirling on him, and Adrian threw his hands up into the air. Recognition dawned on Amira’s face, and she lowered her gun before resuming guard over Sebastian.

“Back away,” she ordered. Then she unclipped her radio. “Officer Vare. Status report. Need an ambulance at 22nd and Ruth. One male, GSW to the thigh. Other suspects still at large.”

Her radio crackled confirmation. In the distance, Adrian could hear sirens.

“I said back away,” Amira repeated.

Adrian did as he was told. Amira’s temper was up, and he didn’t want to make things worse for himself.

Just then, a pair of figures stepped into the mouth of the alley, each with hot steel in their hands. Amira’s gun was trained on them in an instant, but neither seemed worried.

“Damn,” said the first, a dark-skinned man with close-cropped hair and a plain black shirt. His name was Devon, and he was the leader of the Eastside Locals, 14th Street’s biggest rivals. “Didn’t know you had a cop in your pocket.”

“I don’t,” Adrian warned him.

“Oh,” he laughed. “Well, then that’s just bad luck.”

Amira stared down her sights. Devon didn’t seem nervous, but still, he left his weapon at his side.

“Drop it,” Amira growled.

“The fucks going on here?” said someone at Adrian’s back. He and Amira both spun to find Diego, Sebastian’s number two, strolling down the alley. Three muzzles snapped up at Diego’s chest.

“He’s with us!” Adrian rushed out. Thankfully, nobody fired.

“He’s 14th Street,” Devon said darkly.

“He’s in on it!” Adrian explained.

Devon paused. “For real?”

“That’s why I could promise that there wasn’t going to be blowback for this,” Adrian hurried to explain.

Diego laughed. “Sebastian goes away, I step up.”

“Traitor,” hissed Diego’s boss.

“Man fuck you Sebastian,” Diego snapped off.

“Everyone needs to drop their weapons now,” Amira warned in a steady voice.

“I’m sorry, Miss Piggy,” Devon drawled, “but I came here to do a job. And it ain’t done yet.” The man at Devon’s side pointed his gun at where Sebastian lay on the concrete.

“Unless you’re willing to kill a cop over it,” Amira said coldly, “and enter a world of shit you are not prepared for, everyone in this god damned alley needs to throw their weapons away and drop to the fucking ground.”

Devon and Amira stared each other down, neither willing to break. The tension mounted, and Adrian could feel that they were one wrong word away from a pile of bodies.

“Everyone listen,” he began, doing his best to keep his fear from strangling the words in his throat. He pushed through. “Walk away, and the deal’s still on.”

“Bullshit,” Devon replied. “If this fucker’s still alive, he calls for payback. Even if he’s behind bars.”

Adrian turned to Diego. “Can you stop that?”

“Piece of cake,” Diego said, eyes darting between Amira and Devon. “The whole crew hates his bitch ass. Won’t be hard to convince them.”

“There,” Adrian said. “See? Let’s all just go our separate ways, let her arrest him, and it’s wins across the board.”

“They’re not going anywhere,” Amira stated firmly.

Devon narrowed his eyes, but Adrian spoke first. “Amira,” he pleaded. “This is not the time to press our luck.”

She looked around at the three other shooters in the late-night standoff. “They started a gunfight in the middle of downtown.”

“And we’re not in a position to do anything about it,” Adrian argued, trying to get her to see reason.

“She knows we done this,” Diego said. “We walk away, she just comes and finds us tomorrow.”

“Very true,” Devon agreed.

Adrian felt cold sweat on his skin. “You’re not going to do that, are you, Amira?”

“They tried to kill a man,” she said quietly, words hard.

All three gangsters tensed.

“This is insane!” Adrian told them. “You kill a cop, and things will only get worse for you. And Amira, if you don’t make them believe they’re walking away from this, all that your backup is going to find are three bodies on the pavement.”

The alley was quiet, except for the steadily approaching sound of sirens.

“She gives us her word,” Devon said, “we walk away.”

“You willing to trust her?” Diego asked.

“I don’t know,” Devon answered, “but he’s right. Dropping her doesn’t get us out of this shit show, it just turns up the heat.”

“Amira,” Adrian demanded.

Her eyes burned, but finally, she lowered her weapon. “Fine,” she grimaced, face hateful.

“What about my boy?” Devon asked, tilting his head towards the man at his side.

The original plan had been to have one of the Eastside Locals get ‘caught’ by Amira. The gun on him wouldn’t match any of the ballistics, so he’d only catch a weapons charge at worst.

“Just get out of here,” Adrian told him. “We have Sebastian now. We don’t need him.”

“And I’m still picking up the territory?” Devon asked.

Adrian had brokered an agreement between Devon and Diego that if the former took Sebastian out, the latter would relinquish control of the blocks around Gilt to the Eastside Locals.

“He’s not dead, is he?” Diego responded.

“You really don’t have time for this,” Adrian told him. The sirens were almost on top of them. “You still get control of the gang. Give up the blocks like you promised and get the fuck away.”

Diego mulled it over. “Whatever. Sure.”

Devon nodded. “Then like the man said. Let’s get scarce.”

Everyone but Amira, Adrian, and Sebastian backed away, breaking into sprints once they gained enough distance. Once they were alone, Amira dropped down next to Sebastian, ripping off her uniform top and using it as a tourniquet for the gang leader’s leg. He’d been quiet for a long time now.

Adrian tried to slip away.

“And where the hell do you think you’re going?” Amira called, tying off her shirt.

“I shouldn’t be here when the rest of the cops arrive,” Adrian hedged.

“Oh no,” Amira said, standing. “You’re giving a statement.”

“And what should I tell them exactly?” Adrian asked, an edge in his voice.

Amira stopped, realizing the problem. She wasn’t sure how much of the truth she should have him share.

Her ruminations were cut short as the blaring sirens finally arrived. In no time flat, the alleyway was crawling with uniforms. Adrian stepped to the side, temporarily forgotten, as Amira filled in her fellow officers. Sebastian was quickly loaded up onto a stretcher and rushed into the back of an ambulance, while the police set up a perimeter. Adrian’s time out of the spotlight soon came to a close, however, as Amira stalked up to where he leaned against the brick alley wall.

“You and me need to talk,” she said darkly.

---

Amira followed Adrian into the empty club so they could get a little privacy. There was a faint odor in the air, and the walls looked like they hadn’t been scrubbed since the place opened.

“You really bought this dump?” she asked.

“It’s a bit of a fixer-upper,” Adrian replied.

Amira shook her head, though Adrian couldn’t see it. Who the hell was this man who had stormed into her life?

He led her along the walkway past the dance floor into a back office. The desk had been cleared during the search a couple of days previously, and even in its sorry state, Amira had to guess that this was the cleanest it had been in a long while. Adrian shut the door behind them.

“You’re going to tell me exactly what the hell is going on,” Amira demanded, “or so help me God I will throw you in a cell.”

She watched as Adrian licked his lips, waiting to hear what he could possibly come up with to justify the disaster that had just unfolded outside.

“I was in trouble,” he began. “We were right about Rocco laundering money through this place for 14th Street. When he sold, the gang wasn’t willing to give up the gig. They were…pressuring me. To keep laundering for them.”

“And this was your solution?” Amira asked incredulously.

“They know where I work. They know where I live!” Adrian explained desperately. “I didn’t know what else to do! When they tried to shake me down, I picked up that the rest of the gang wasn’t on board to partner up with me. They don’t know me, and they don’t trust me. It was only their leader who wanted to press on.”

“The one on the way to the hospital right now,” Amira said with condemnation.

Adrian nodded. “I figured…a change in leadership would solve all my problems.”

“Looks like you got what you wanted,” she sneered.

“It didn’t exactly go down like I’d planned,” Adrian said defensively.

“Yeah,” Amira replied. “Your street execution didn’t go off without a hitch? No shit.”

Adrian winced, looking dejected, and, despite herself, Amira found that she felt sorry for him. For a brief moment, her protective instincts flared, but she shoved down that urge, choosing to focus instead on her anger.

“How dare you involve me in something like this,” she told him.

Adrian put on a funny look, and Amira realized that he was only now considering the position he’d put her in. “I’m sorry,” he said, somewhat deflated.

“You didn’t think to just report it to me?” she asked, a little shocked at how far he’d been willing to go.

“What? So you could take a report, then wait to pick me up in a body bag?” he laughed with scorn.

“I could have helped,” she said firmly.

“Tell me that your precinct would have done fuck all other than file away what I had to say.”

Now it was Amira’s turn to feel a little taken aback. He was right. A report alone wouldn’t have been actionable. They wouldn’t have placed anyone under arrest, and he wasn’t important enough for a protective detail.

“That doesn’t justify ****,” she said, standing her ground.

“They were going to take me out if I didn’t go along with them. It was self-defense. Me or them.” There was a steel behind his words that shook Amira, impressed her even. She was beginning to understand that Adrian wasn’t the kind of man who would ever lie down, nor place his fate in someone else’s hands.

“Do you really care that some gang banger got shot?” he asked. “Why? That man is garbage.”

“It’s not about that,” she told him. “I couldn’t care less about him. But what if someone else nearby had gotten caught in the crossfire? What if I had?”

“You were supposed to stay in the car,” he said, looking away.

“That,” she said, “was never going to happen.”

Adrian sighed. “Yeah, I see that now.”

“I guess we both underestimated each other,” Amira grunted.

Adrian snorted. “Yeah. You were impressive out there. No hesitation, just…” Adrian whistled, clapping his hands together and shooting one off.

“I was just doing my job,” Amira deflected, a little embarrassed at the praise.

“No,” Adrian said, shaking his head. “I’ve known a few cops in my time, and none of them would have done what you did. I don’t think I’ve ever met somebody who could have stood their ground like that.”

“You didn’t do so bad yourself,” she told him. “Things might have gone differently if you hadn’t managed to talk us all down. Of course, things definitely would have gone differently if you hadn’t created the problem in the first place, but thanks, I guess, for de-escalating.”

Adrian swallowed. “I was scared shitless,” he admitted.

Adrian gave a small laugh to cover his sincerity, but there was a haunted look in his eyes. Then she noticed a slight tremble to his hands and a weakness to the confident grin he was trying to affect.

“Shit,” Amira said. “I should have let the paramedics take a look at you. Here, sit down.” She motioned him over to the rolling office chair, and at her prodding, he took a seat. She squatted next to him so that she didn’t seem to loom.

“I’m fine,” he told her. “I didn’t get hit.”

“Not what I’m worried about,” she said. “You need to catch your breath. That was some hairy shit back there.”

“You seem fine,” he noted.

“I was trained for that kind of stuff,” she replied. “You weren’t. Now shut up and take a breather.”

The truth was that she was shaken up. She could still feel the remnants of adrenaline coursing through her veins. But Amira knew how to handle herself. She’d be fine. She was less certain about him. People had gotten PTSD from less.

“Take it slow,” she instructed him. “Let the tension go naturally. Don’t rush it, but don’t hold onto it either.”

“I’m fine,” Adrian insisted.

“You just talked down three trigger-happy men,” she said calmly. “You don’t have to prove how macho you are to me. But situations like that let a lot of chemicals out. So do as I say.”

Adrian hesitated, but must have seen the sincerity in her eyes, because he relented and took a deep breath.

“There you go,” Amira said.

“We really could have died back there,” Adrian sighed.

“We didn’t, though,” she told him.

“This fucking job…” he mumbled, shaking his head.

“I don’t think this is going to be a regular thing for you,” Amira said skeptically. “At least not if you clean this place up and stop bringing in dregs for clientèle.”

“Right,” Adrian said. “Yeah. Shouldn’t happen again.”

“You were great out there, though,” she told him. “Maybe you should go into hostage negotiation instead of owning a club.” She meant it. His current jitters notwithstanding, it took a certain caliber of man to do what he’d done. It was the sort of thing men like Andres wished they could do. Only…no. Andres probably would like to believe he’d have single-handedly fought all the others off. Adrian had been collected enough to see the bigger picture. It was impressive.

Adrian laughed. “Little late for that now. What about you? Big collar tonight, right? Taking down a shot caller?”

“Huh,” Amira said. “Guess you’re right. Hadn’t really thought about it yet, but yeah. They might let me go for sergeant off the back of this.”

“There you go,” he said with a grin. Amira was relieved to see him acting more like himself. “Officer Vare. Taking out the trash and climbing the ladder. Guess we’re both going to be ok.”

Amira returned his smile, wondering where her anger had gone. She hadn’t been willing to let him suffer in silence, she supposed, and helping him calm down had done the same for her. He had been reckless, but she could at least see where he had been coming from. He took big swings; she could say that about him for sure. His problem was certainly not a lack of bravery. Amira patted him on the leg reassuringly, but afterwards, her hand lingered.

A strange silence developed. She’d let the touch go on for too long. Amira tried to pull her hand back, planning to stand and quickly move on to taking his statement as a way to smooth over the awkwardness, but Adrian intervened.

“Leave it,” he said a little quickly. The words seemed to catch him off guard as much as her, like he’d said it before thinking. Amira hesitated, her hand still resting above his knee. A small warmth blossomed in her muscles.

Why did she let him tell her what to do like that? She’d noticed it before. Little things. He’d tell her to do something, and she would. Sure, he didn’t exactly have her wrapped around his finger. She’d defied him plenty of times, leaving her cruiser earlier that night being a prime example, but still…there was something off here. It worried her.

Nonetheless, a strange energy crackled in the air between them, and Amira’s heart picked up its pace. She knew what was happening here. She’d heard plenty of other people talk about it, though it had never happened to her before. Events like what had happened in that alley had a way of making people want to…affirm life, so to speak. Once the dust had settled, of course. She should turn him down easy.

“Move your hand higher,” Adrian told her. And she did. Another fuzzy feeling bloomed through her body.

What was this hold he had over her? Maybe the after effects of the day were hitting her too, because her hand was now resting on his mid thigh. Was she into him? She didn’t think so. At least not romantically. But she had to admit to herself that he looked good. Handsome. Fit. Confident. Was that what this was?

“Adrian…” she said nervously, “we need to get our stories straight for your statement.”

“Right.”

But he didn’t move. At least not immediately. For a pregnant moment, they both stayed still, Amira crouching in front of him, her hand resting too high on his leg for propriety.

“No,” Adrian finally said, leaning back casually in his chair. “You’re right. We need to handle this now, before anyone starts asking questions.”

Amira took her hand back and stood up. Adrian seemed to have recovered quickly from the strange moment, but Amira’s mind lingered. She took a few deliberate steps back and leaned against the wall opposite him, crossing her arms.

“We’ll need a reason why we were both here,” she said.

“That’s easy,” Adrian told her. “Just say you had some questions for me about Rocco.”

“That works, I guess,” she admitted. “But what about the shooting?”

“We say that Sebastian opened fire on me. Maybe he didn’t know you were here.”

“We can’t just leave out the Eastside Locals,” she warned him.

“No,” Adrian argued. “What we can’t do is point a finger at them. We struck a deal.”

“Sebastian is going to talk,” Amira explained, “and when he does, he’s going to mention the other shooters.”

“They’re going to take his word over yours?” Adrian asked skeptically.

“No,” Amira admitted. “But if our stories are too far apart, someone might ask questions, and we don’t want that.”

“Alright…” Adrian thought aloud. “So we say that we don’t know who started the shooting. There were other people here, but we didn’t get a good look at them. Sebastian can claim they were whoever he wants, so long as we don’t corroborate.”

Amira nodded. “Alright. For the alley, I’m thinking we stick mostly to the truth. I chased him, you followed, I shot him as he was running away.”

“And we saw some people near the end of the alley as we got close to Sebastian,” Adrian continued for her, “but they ran away before you could confront them.”

Amira mulled the story over. It wasn’t airtight. Sebastian would dispute it. But there was nothing so suspicious there that any of her fellow officers should start digging around. It would be just another scumbag making up stories. No red meat for internal affairs to sink their teeth into.

“I’ll write it up like that then,” Amira sighed. She couldn’t believe she’d managed to get tangled up in this. Where had she gone wrong? What choice had led her down this path? Should she have avoided Rocco’s case? No, he had been guilty. Should she not have come along tonight? No, then no one would have been nearby enough to stop the shooting. Should she have tried to arrest all of the shooters? No, Adrian was right; if she’d tried that, she never would have made it out of that alleyway.

The outcome seemed inevitable, but even though she had no clue what she should have done differently, she still felt guilty. She couldn’t shake the feeling that if she’d done her job right, there wouldn’t be a need to lie.

Amira gave the man across from her an evaluative gaze. Adrian was a mystery. As much as the earlier incident had shaken him up, this, the intrigue, didn’t seem to bother him at all. Then there was the fact that, as messy as everything had become, he had seemed to get everything that he wanted in the end.

There was more to this story. She was convinced of it. She wasn’t buying that he was just a random person trying to get into the club business. Normal people didn’t operate like he did. There was a piece to this puzzle she was missing.

Something else worried her, too. Amira stared down at her leg. She had been idly massaging it, ready for the pain that always followed physical exertion, only it wasn’t coming. In fact, her leg had held up perfectly during the foot chase. She couldn’t imagine why.

“By the way,” Adrian said. “I’m going to a little get-together tomorrow at a friend’s. It’d be fun if you were there. Tell me you’ll come.”

“Sure,” Amira replied, still distracted by her previous train of thought. She’d agreed before she’d fully processed what he’d asked. Well, not asked, told her. It hadn’t been phrased as a question. And sure enough, her answer was accompanied by a light, warm pulse.

“Good,” Adrian replied, locking in her answer before she had time to walk it back. “I’ll text you the details. Is there anything else we need to take care of? Or am I free to go, officer?”

He asked it with a little smile. It didn’t slip past Amira’s notice that he’d smoothly moved the conversation away from the topic of his ‘get together’. She could tell him no, even if it would be awkward. Or not say anything and just not go. But as the idea settled, she decided she’d keep her word. She was curious about him, and more than a little suspicious. This would be a good opportunity to see what she could turn up.

“We’re done,” she told him. “I don’t suppose I could convince you to see an EMT on your way out, though?”

“Not likely,” he chuckled. “I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

---

That night, Amira slept restlessly, visited by a strange dream. In it, she was back at the club, reliving her last conversation with Adrian in that dingy back room. The walls were fuzzy and wavering, but Adrian was crystal clear before her. She was crouched down in front of him, her hand on his leg, at the moment when in real life she had pulled away.

This time, she didn’t. Instead, her hand inched up slowly to his belt and began to undo it. A distant part of Amira’s mind knew that this wasn’t how things had happened, that there may have been a small spark of temptation somewhere deep inside of her, but that it wasn’t something she had, or would ever have, acted on. Dream Amira didn’t care, though. She was a woman on a mission.

The scene skipped ahead, and suddenly, Amira was holding Adrian’s cock in her hand. Warm, thick, pulsing. Her mouth started to water. This was what she needed.

Needed?

The rational part of Amira’s mind attempted to kick-start itself. This wasn’t like her, even in her fantasies. She recognized that she had been hornier than average the past week. Ever since the night she’d given Andres a handjob. A small part of her tried to wrest control of the dream from what she could only have assumed were the scattered, half-formed urges of her subconscious, but the effort was beaten back by a craving deep inside her.

Wherever Amira would have chosen for the dream to go, it instead continued with her looking up into Adrian’s dark brown eyes. She held them intently as her mouth opened wide and her neck craned forward to bring him into her mouth. Adrian moaned, and Amira’s heart fluttered to hear it, satisfied at the pleasure she was giving him and excited for the reward that would follow.

The dream skipped forward again. She had the impression that she had been taking her time, savoring the cock head in her mouth, languidly luxuriating as she licked around it. Adrian’s hands found the back of her head, and she understood it was time for more.

She began to press her face down into Adrian’s crotch, more of his length sliding between her lips and across her tongue. His dick slowly came to rest at the back of her throat, but several inches more remained.

“Cumsluts hilt the entire cock.”

The dirty words were whispered from Adrian’s lips, but it wasn’t his voice. The rational part of Amira’s mind again protested. Down on her knees, worshiping the cock of a man she barely knew, was not who Amira was. That resistance was quickly overcome as the taste of pre-cum bloomed on her tongue, reminding her what all this was for.

Amira’s throat began to tingle with a pins-and-needles sensation, and as it did, she pressed down further. The pressure built in her throat until, finally, it relented. Adrian let out a groan at the tightness, and Amira replied in kind. This was something she had never thought to do in the real world. She would have expected to find it uncomfortable, but she didn’t. Shouldn’t she be gagging?

“We have removed those hurdles,” the strange voice whispered from Adrian’s mouth. “Your throat should be a nice home for cock.”

Enervated, Amira pressed down until her nose was deep in Adrian’s pubes and his dick deep in her throat. She began to lift, marveling at the new sensation of a cock withdrawing itself from behind her tonsils. Adrian’s hands pressed down, and she repeated the maneuver, impaling herself on him over and over.

One final skip in the dream brought her towards its inevitable conclusion. She pumped her fist on Adrian’s cock, slick with her saliva, and stared up at him with burning eyes. He needed to find his release so that she could get what she came for. He moaned deeply, and his legs twitched as Amira brought him to the edge. He reached down and positioned her face so that she was staring directly at the tip of his dick. They both knew what she wanted.

With one final grunt, Adrian pushed himself forward in her hand and splattered thick ropes of cum across Amira’s face. She let out a long, slow moan as his seed blanketed her cheeks and nose. Her eyes rolled back in her head as she delighted in the sensation of his hot sperm on her skin.

“You love cum,” Adrian whispered to her. “You can’t get enough of it.”

Amira knew that it was true. That night with Andres, a desire had awakened in her, and now it was coming to fruition. She had once thought that cum was gross, messy, an unfortunate consequence of otherwise fun sex. She realized now that it was anything but. It was her treat, her special surprise, the hottest thing that sex had to offer.

Amira reached a hand down into her pants and began masturbating, Adrian watching her from above while his cum slid down her face. A trail of it dangled off her top lip, and only as it fell onto her eager tongue did her orgasm crest.

Amira shot awake, breathing hard, covered in sweat, and unbearably horny. Her mind reeled. She hadn’t had a dirty dream since high school. And this one had been so vivid. She burned with embarrassment at both the way her dream self had behaved and also at the notion that somehow Adrian had been chosen as her imaginary consort.

She decided to get up and get a glass of water, too ashamed to see to the burning desire between her legs. She told herself that it was only a dream, that these things happened. It didn’t mean anything, it was just the insane delusions of her subconscious being cooked up by a mostly non-functioning brain. As she sipped her water, she had no idea that the changes her alter ego had undergone would last, and that the escapades of her dream-self could soon become her reality.