"Aurelie Boswell, open up! I am not planning to wait outside forever- you have sixty seconds to let me in or I will start with the alcohol on my own."

Yeah, that nutter outside was one of my closest friends for some reason. Somewhere in between crazy student union nights at uni, painful hangovers, and many broken hearts and bad hook-ups, we had become friends for life. Scarlett had been one of my rocks over the past seven years, and was one of the few people who knew that I was adopted and that my biological parents were dead. With her crazy, bubbly personality, she was also the right person to cheer me up and bring me back from the insanity that I had just been put through.

"Okay, okay, I am coming. Don't you dare start without me," I shouted as I walked towards the front door.

As soon as I let her in, she gave me a big hug and a kiss on the cheek before she made herself at home on the sofa in my living room.

"Right, tell me what's wrong. I know we love to drink, but drinking like this in the afternoon is a tad much, even for you and me. Talk to me."

She patted the seat next to her on the sofa and motioned for me to join her. This was going to be a heavy conversation, and I needed some liquid courage first.

"Let me pour us two large glasses of wine first." I grabbed the bottles from her and made my way to the open space kitchen. A minute later, I was back and handed Scarlett her glass.

"To alcohol- helping humanity get over its problems since forever!" We clinked our glasses to honour Scarlett's toast.

"So, where do I begin?... Long story short- I have an older brother who has, apparently, been looking for me all these years and has now finally found me."

"No way," Scarlett gasped as if she had just watched some movie plot twist. All she was missing was a pack of popcorn in her hand. "Are you going to meet him? How did you find out?" She definitely sounded way more excited about the whole thing than I was.

"He showed up at my parent's house when I went over for our monthly lunch. Turns out that he was already in touch with them earlier this week and the three of them must have had the whole thing set up for today."

"And what happened when you met? Are you going to meet the rest of your family? What did you talk about?"

"I don't know... I might have kind of run away from the house mid-conversation." I gave her a sheepish look with my admission.

To be honest, my reaction was justified, especially given all the additional information that I couldn't share with her. Still, I had to admit to myself that it was not my finest moment. I had been in so many high-pressure situations at work and never once had I let the circumstances cloud my judgement or influence how I reacted. But today was different- this was not work, and it was not fighting. It was about finding out that nothing was as I thought, at least as far as my family and my origins were concerned. On top of that, it turned out that I was neither human nor shifter, seeing as I didn't have an animal inside me any longer.

A doubt crept inside my mind- was I now going to be an outcast in both worlds, never fully fitting in either?

I shook my head to make that thought disappear. It was all just crazy. I knew I saw those memories, and I saw my mother change my look with just a word and a touch, but I was still not sure that this wasn't all a dream.

A very long, emotional, complicated dream.

Scarlett must have seen how preoccupied and anxious I looked because she nudged me with her shoulder to grab my attention. "Look, it's understandable- this whole thing comes completely out of the blue. But I know you will figure it out. How about I help you take your mind off things? What do you think about hitting that new bar in Clapham? I heard that they have a dance floor. Nothing like alcohol, music, and dancing to heal the soul."

"That sounds like a bloody brilliant idea. Let me go get changed."

I left Scar in the living room and made my way to my bedroom, where browsed through the outfits in my wardrobe until I settled for a blazer mini black dress with a deep plunging neckline. I grabbed a jacket and my heels and went to get my partner-in-crime, who was now getting a bit tipsy.

"You know, Riley, the more I stare at this picture in your living room, the more it creeps me out. I feel like they are staring right at me. I really don't get why you love it so much," she said as she pointed at the painting of a red dragon and a silver-grey wolf that was hanging on the wall. I had always been really drawn to it, ever since I laid my eyes on it at an antique market.

My fascination with the wolf now finally made sense, but what about the dragon? Perhaps I subconsciously was linking it with the strange birthmark that it turned out I have?

Damn it- I was thinking about all of that again when all I wanted was to forget. What I really needed was to have some fun tonight.

A few hours later, I was happily dancing to the music on the dance floor. I had lost count of the glasses of wine that we had, although I was proud that I managed to fend off Scarlett's Sambuca peer pressure.

The bar was packed with people, and the dancefloor was pretty crowded. Countless warm, sweaty bodies pressed together while they moved to the beat of the music. As time went on, the music became more and more seductive- the DJ clearly knew that time of the night when everyone just looked for someone to hook up with.

I had to admit that I did not come out on the pull, but the lustful looks that I had been exchanging with the sexy stranger right next to the dancefloor were making me feel frisky, so my dance moves got more and more suggestive. His slim-fit black t-shirt left my mind wondering just how ripped that toned body of his was underneath. The bulge underneath his jeans was visible, as he continued to sip his whiskey, but he was still not making a move.

Madonna's Justify My Love came on and my mind was made up. I whispered to Scarlett that I had to go while I continued to sway my hips widely. When I turned to face him, I was not surprised to find that his gaze was still fixed on me and every little movement I made. Slowly, I ran my hands up my thighs, lifting my already very short dress little by little. I didn't want to be slutty- it was just to tease him. I dropped the hem of my dress and continued to move my hands up my body. As I reached my breasts, I used one hand to pull up my hair above my head while I tilted it to one side. My other hand gently caressed my revealing neckline and my now exposed neck. I closed my eyes and carried on swaying my hips seductively, moving slowly left and right in rhythm with the erotic beat of the song.

The guy finally got the message because next thing I knew, I felt his breath on my neck before he whispered in my ear.

"What do you say we get out of here?"

The moment we got past his front door, he pinned me against the wall of his hallway and kissed me hungrily, running his hands all over my body.

"You are so fucking sexy. It took all my willpower to restrain myself all night and wait until we got here," he said as he slipped his firm hands underneath my dress.

His kisses were getting more and more desperate, and I knew he wanted this badly. So did I. But after the day I had, it was going to be done on my terms- I needed to get back in control of things again, I craved it. I flipped us around until I had him pinned against the wall.

"Let's get this straight, playboy- this is going to happen, but it will happen as I tell you to or not at all, are we clear?" I spoke as I, in turn, slipped my hand into his jeans and squeezed his bulge a little. I clearly caught him off guard, but he seemed to be turned on by me being in control.

The layout of his flat was pretty straightforward, so I left him in the hallway and made my way to the bedroom, peeling my dress off as I went, letting it drop on the floor. I unhooked my bra, and I stretched one arm to drop it demonstratively as well. My black lace panties and my matching black heels were the only things still left. I was not sure if it was the alcohol or my pure arousal by that point, but the noise of my heels on his wooden floor as I walked towards the bedroom was such a turn-on. And he clearly loved the sight of me like that as well, whistling in appreciation once my bra was gone.

"You better be naked by the time you reach the bedroom," I said with a smirk on my face.

The man was like a giddy teenager about to get laid for the first time because I heard all of his clothes hit the floor in less than ten seconds.

Good, he knows how to do what he is told.

"Lie down on your back- there will be no touching, no kissing and certainly no talking from your side until I tell you otherwise, understood?" He nodded in agreement. "I need to hear you say it, stud."

He exhaled sharply as I ran my fingertips over his impressive length. "Yes, ma'am."

That was all I needed to hear before I pushed him backwards on the bed. I kneeled between his legs and bit my lip when I looked at his erection, but I wanted to tease him right now. So instead of taking him in my mouth, I began kissing and licking his inner thighs, moving closer and closer to his balls. I felt him tense as he readied himself for having them in my mouth but, unfortunately for him, I kept going further up as I moved to his firm abs and all the way to his nipples. His frustrated groan that things were not going as he expected did nothing but spur me on.

I gave each of his nipples a couple of brief, gentle licks before I circled them like a shark waiting for its prey. And then, when he least expected it, I bit down on one. I was no savage, of course- I didn't want to hurt him seriously. Just enough to show him that I was calling the shots. To my delight, he hissed with pleasure.

By now I could see that he was struggling to keep his hands away from me, but these were my rules and he had already figured out that he should follow them. The power I had at that moment was so intoxicating and arousing that I felt my nipples harden while my wetness dripped all over my underwear.

I loved being this in control right now. His pleasure, as well as mine, were entirely up to me and he couldn't do anything about it. The feelings of being lost and powerless just hours earlier made me even hungrier for total domination over the poor unsuspecting guy. Not like he didn't enjoy it though- he was loving being my dirty little sex toy tonight.

I briefly lifted myself off the bed to remove my panties and proceeded to place my knees on either side of his head. He knew what was coming- the way he was licking his lips like a man that was about to devour his favourite meal was more than a clear sign he was onto me. So I grabbed the headboard of the bed and lowered myself on his face until my pussy touched his lip before he gently licked my clit. Too gently for my liking.

"I don't want you to lick my pussy, and I don't want you to be gentle. I want you to fuck me with your tongue until I fall apart all over your mouth." That was the only order he needed. He nibbled my clit and then he started sucking hard on it. He continued to lick my folds before he attacked my core, plunging his tongue inside. My hips bucked as I bit back a moan. He carried on to mercilessly tongue-fuck me just as I had told him to.

"You can use your hands now."

I barely even said the words and his hands were already on my hips, pulling me closer to his face and his mouth like he was worried that I would run away. As I rode his face, I could feel the sweet tension inside my body build up until it exploded with pleasure, like a damn that had just burst. I felt my juices flow straight into his mouth, and he sucked and swallowed every single drop of it.

But I was not done. Sure, I was not planning to go down on him, but I was ready to give him what we both wanted. I grabbed his hair and pulled it to make him look at me while he was still feasting on my pussy.

"Fuck me now — hard and fast, but you cannot come until I do."

I had to say that I was surprised just how quickly he flipped us over and grabbed a wrapper from his nightstand. He pulled me down underneath him, put the condom on, and slid his dick inside me wasting no time. I squirmed with pleasure as his cock stretched out my pussy. And when he started pounding it ferociously, all I could think about was how good it felt.

"Harder!... Oh, fuck yes... Keep fucking going," I ordered him with the last words I could still put together.

He grabbed my spread legs, brought them closer to my chest, and placed my ankles on his shoulders. With that, he leaned forward so that he was right above me, his hands right by my head. Before I realised what he was doing, he started thrusting deeper and deeper, and I fucking loved it. I could feel his dick hit all the right spots inside of me, causing light tremors across my body. The room was smelling like sex and sweat, which was making my arousal spiral out of control. Soon the tremors turned into rumbles of pleasure, and I moaned and panted until my orgasm hit me like an earthquake. My whole body shuddered, and I screamed out in pleasure, letting him know it was finally okay to have his own release. Feeling well-fucked catching up with me.

By the time I woke up, the sun was rising outside but, luckily for me, my sexy stranger was a heavy sleeper, so I had no problem sneaking out of his place undetected. Some call this the walk of shame, I call it the just-got-laid parade. But little did I know that someone was about to rain on my parade when a low growl came from behind me as I started walking down the street.

"You can't go off with strangers like that."