5. Defiance, Obstinance, and a Pink Vibrator
THAT TOOK WAY longer than it should have.
Shoving my way into the tiny condo I’ll call home for the next handful of days, I deposit my bag of food onto the desk before going into the bedroom. I”ve been awake for over twenty-four hours and, even though I can, I don’t want to sleep on the floor.
Dropping the rest of my bags onto the carpet, I start opening packages, tearing into the box of the self-inflating air mattress first. Once I have it spread out, plugged in, and inflating, I move on to the sheets. The air mattress has a fuzzy coating on the top so I could sleep on it as it is, but again, I don”t really feel like it. This trip is aggravating enough as it is, I should at least be comfortable while I sleep.
Once the sheets are in place, and I’ve covered them with a fleece blanket and pillows— completing my little respite from the thorn across the lot—I leave the room and close the door. Sleep will have to wait a little longer.
Food is next. Like sleep, I haven”t had any in over twenty-four hours. Partly because I”ve been too busy getting shit in order, and partly to show I can. This trip isn”t just about proving something to my team. Deep down, I recognize it”s about proving something to myself.
I was in a dark place the day Julieanne showed up on my computer screen. Questioning everything. If GHOST served any real purpose. If the world was already too fucked-up to be saved.
But then she smiled at me, and I realized I had bigger problems to deal with. Because I almost hired her on the spot. Not because I thought she”d be good for the team, but because I wanted her to smile at me again.
No one had smiled at me in years. Maybe not even since—
I scrub one hand over my face, rubbing roughly at my beard like I can wipe away the thoughts—the memories—trying to creep in. They only make everything worse, and I can”t let that happen.
They only came that close because I”m tired and hungry. Once I eat and take a quick nap I”ll be fine again. Refocused on the woman who fucked everything up instead of the woman who always made everything better.
Dropping into the desk chair, I kick off my boots before pulling out the burger and fries I settled on. I haven’t eaten a meal like this in years—shit gets harder to maintain as you age—but it was quick and easy to grab and, considering it”s the first calories I”ve consumed in over a day, I can probably afford the splurge. Unwrapping one end of the paper around the burger, I take a bite. Even though it’s only half-hot, it’s still good as hell, so I swallow quickly and take another bite before waking up my system.
I try to anyway. All four of the screens in front of me remain black.
Continuing to chew through the bite in my mouth, I quickly check all the cords, making sure everything is properly linked.
Still black.
I drop my dinner to crawl around on the floor like a dog, making sure the plugs are secure in the outlets. Everything looks fine.
Everything except the fucking black screens still staring back at me.
I tap the keyboard, but still nothing. Shoving enough of the burger into my mouth I can hold it with my teeth, I free up both hands and fall back on the standard control-alt-delete. All four monitors light up, the screens flashing white for a split-second before displaying a shockingly familiar scene. I spin in the chair, looking behind me even though I don”t need to confirm it’s the same thing I’m seeing.
Swinging back to the monitor, I lift one hand to wave in front of the camera even though it”s obviously not a live feed since I”m not sitting in the chair on the screen.
But before I can try to figure out what”s going on, someone else is.
The burger still pinched between my teeth drops to my lap as Julieanne slides into the same chair I”m parked in now. It’s so much like that first time, I don’t even blink as she smiles at me, looking every bit as sweet and soft as she did that day over six months ago.
Only this time I know she’s not nearly as sweet as she looks. And fuck if that doesn’t make me lean even closer, drinking her in like I’ll never see her again.
The dark curls of her hair fall past her shoulders to frame her perfect tits, openly displayed by the low cut of her dress. The thing is practically indecent and has my mouth watering. It also has me smirking. She didn”t wear it for her date with doughboy last night, which proves she wasn”t really into him.
But she”s wearing it for me.
”Hi, Vincent.” Hearing my name come out of her mouth has my dick hard in under ten seconds. Especially the way she says it. The way her tongue curls around the last letter has me imagining all sorts of other things she could curl her tongue around.
”I have to admit, I”m a little surprised you’re here. I thought you decided you didn”t want me.” She keeps talking, and I”m hanging on every word, eyes fused to the screen.
This is why I never went after her. This woman has some sort of a hold on me. Has from the start. It”s a miracle I had the strength to stop myself from hiring her all those months ago. But that miracle gave me a false sense of hope. Made me think I”d be able to come here, treat her like the problem she is, and fly back to continue my life.
It”s what I should be able to do. What I have to do. But hell if it”s not gonna be a whole lot harder than I thought.
Julieanne keeps talking, one hand smoothing across the surface of my desk in a slow stroke that has my cock straining, wanting the same sort of attention. ”I”m assuming you”re either here because you changed your mind and decided I”m a good fit for your team after all, or I pissed you off by doing what I did, and you”re here to punish me for it.”
I’m definitely here to punish her, but the methods I’m coming up with now that she’s right in front of me are much different than the ones I planned. Watching her with that goddamned pink vibrator ruined me. I didn’t want to accept it, but now that I’m sitting here, considering rubbing one out to the sweet sound of her voice, there’s no avoiding exactly how fucked I am.
“I still absolutely want to be a part of GHOST. I know I have what it takes to be an asset to your team.” She leans forward, the move pushing the smooth skin of her tits even closer to the screen. I can’t look away, and I press down on my aching dick, looking for some sort of relief. “So, if you are here to hire me, that’s fantastic.” Her full lips twitch into the tiniest smile as one dark brow barely lifts. “But, if you’re here because you want to make me pay for hacking into your system, you should know I plan to make you work for it.”
She holds my gaze a second longer before standing up and moving off camera. I’m about to finally release the air frozen in my lungs when she pops back into view, a bright smile on her face. “Also,” she holds up the pink toy I swiped from her bathroom, “I’m taking this back. If you wanted to borrow it, all you had to do was ask.”
I’m still staring when the screens all go black again.
I wanted Julieanne to know I was here. Obviously, she does.
But I expected my presence to scare her. To make her rethink the choices she”s made. Instead my little thorn has met me at every turn, pushing back against each move I”ve made.
And it”s fucking bullshit.
I shove up from my chair—the one that”s now tainted because I know she sat in it—my forgotten hamburger dropping to the floor as I get to my feet and storm to the door. Flinging it open, I don”t bother closing it behind me. I”ve got tunnel vision, and it”s leading me right to her stoop.
Julieanne needs to understand. She needs to know how dangerous I am. How dangerous what she”s doing is.
I need her to fucking stop.
I”m halfway across the parking lot, the cold dampness of the snow littering the blacktop sinking through the socks on my feet, when I realize what”s happening. I”m reacting. She”s making me do it. I”m allowing her to control me and I have to get it together. Otherwise, I’m proving everyone doubting me right. That I”m not what I used to be. What I have to be.
What I am.
I rock my jaw from side to side, glaring at Julieanne’s townhome. After staring it down a second, letting the cold sink deeper into my skin, I turn and walk away. Slamming the door behind me, I stop just inside the apartment to peel off my soggy socks, letting them drop to the tile before going straight into the bedroom.
This is only happening because I”m tired. That”s all. Exhaustion is making it impossible to think clearly.
Dropping to the mattress, I sling one arm over my eyes to blot out what remains of the afternoon sun. I just need a couple hours to reset. Then I”ll be ready to make my next move.
And it will be a big one.
TWO HOURSLATER I”m back in front of my computer, rested and ready to do what needs to be done. What exactly that is, I”m not entirely certain, but I’m starting to think this might require a more hands-on approach.
Julieanne”s made it perfectly clear she”s missing whatever gene makes people want to stay alive. Discovering I”ve been in her house—not only when she wasn’t home, but also when she was—didn”t seem to faze her. She also didn”t seem to be bothered by the realization that I witnessed the show she put on with her little pink friend.
If you wanted to borrow it, all you had to do was ask.
I rake one hand through my hair as the hard-on I’ve been fighting since last night springs back to life. That pink fucking vibrator. Torture device might be a more accurate description.
Of it and its owner.
Julieanne was supposed to be exactly the way she appeared. Sweet and soft and fragile. Instead, she”s a fucking menace.
I grab my keyboard, dragging it closer, preparing to come up with a plan. That”s when I notice Julieanne didn”t just take something while she was here. She also left something.
I pick up the business card. It”s the complete opposite of the cards I”ve left at her house. The white stock has her full name, work phone number, and email address printed in gold foil across the front. I already know all three—had them all within minutes of our first conversation—but it”s not what”s on the front of the card that has me clenching my fist. It”s what I know is going to be on the back.
I flip it over, glaring at the single word written in flowing script.
Three
”Goddammit.” I shove away from the desk, the rollers of my chair sliding across the wood floor. Then I start to pace, rubbing at my face and eyes as I come to terms with the gauntlet she”s thrown down.
That was a threat and she knew it. Now I”ve got to follow through. I”ve got to make good on the threat I made.
The primary issue is, I didn”t expect to have to make good on the threat. I expected my little thorn to cave the minute she knew I was here. The minute she knew I came for her.
I anticipated an apology. Maybe some tears. Promises she would never be so fucking stupid again.
Instead, I got defiance, obstinance, and a fucking pink vibrator.
That goddamned pink vibrator.
I already know why she took it. The plan she’s concocting. I gave her too much power when I stole it. Showed too many of the cards in my hand. But I knew I wasn’t strong enough to watch her through the window again. Especially not now that I know whatever happens will absolutely be intended for my eyes. Done to prove she’s not intimidated or afraid. And denying how that affects me is as impossible as the vicious need it sends crawling up my spine.
I thought I”d be fine. That I could come here, do what needed to be done, and go back to Alaska with my head held high.
I still think I can, but I”ve got to do it fast. Julieanne threatens everything I”ve spent a lifetime building. Every bit of it could come crumbling down because of her, and I can”t let that happen. I won”t.
That means I’ve got to push back. Hard. No more tiptoeing around. No more calculated moves. I have to shove her past her breaking point and I have to do it now.
It”s time to show her the worst of me.
I gear up, methodically collecting everything I might need before bundling up against the cold and going out the back door. It”s a safe assumption to believe she”s watching the apartment, so I slink through the shadows, taking the long way around before tucking into the same spot I sat in last night. It gives me an unobstructed view of her place, but also allows me to ensure no one else is around. She can be stupid if she wants, but I”ll be damned if I let someone else see her that way.
That”s another thing I”ll do. I”ll make sure she understands just how bad of an idea it is to display herself the way she did. To tempt anyone watching into coming closer.
To tempt me.
I press my binoculars into place and I wait.
And wait.
And wait.
From my vantage point I”m also able to peer between the buildings, seeing just enough of the condo I rented to know Julieanne hasn”t tried to pay me another visit. I”m also fairly confident she hasn”t left, but even though I can see nearly her entire townhome, there hasn”t been any sign of her for hours.
Maybe she”s working late. Maybe she”s hacking into some other poor sucker’s system. The thought has me grinding my molars and considering going back to my desk to see exactly what she”s up to. To make sure she”s not putting herself in yet another dangerous situation.
But then the light in her bedroom flares to life, the glow stretching out over the balcony where I stood twenty-four hours ago. She crosses the room, still wearing that fucking dress, coming straight to the glass. Her eyes move over the landscape, slowly sweeping the area outside.
She”s looking for me. She knows I”m out here. My pulse pounds in my ears, sending too much of my blood south as my little thorn rests one palm against the window. Her other hand lifts into view. She squints down at the cell phone in her grip, raising it higher. Her gaze lifts away from the screen, following a slow path to my exact location. She can”t actually see me, I know that, but the way her eyes practically lock on mine makes it seem like—
I drop my binoculars but continue to stare at where she stands. ”Fucking hell.”
I can”t see perfectly now, but I could swear Julieanne smiles, her chin barely lifting higher. She might not be able to see me, but she knows exactly where I am.
Because my little thorn is tracking me.