Chapter 2 #7
“No, on both parts. I’m questioning your being real purely out of the disordered chaos that I call a mind.
Surely someone like you who deigns to walk these halls isn’t here for any reason but to intimidate all who seek their desire unconventionally.
I feel as though your pleasure is found in proving to them that they would never measure up to someone like you.
” I waved my hand around the room allowing my eyes to linger on a woman who was forming a five-pointed star with men making use of both her hands and orifices.
There is no way that feels good.
When I turned back to him, his smile had only gotten broader, those full lips of his not losing their plumpness despite how he was smiling at me.
And strangely enough, I knew this wasn’t something he did often by how awkwardly charming the gesture was.
That made me feel something I wasn’t about to put a name to.
“Again, it sounds as though you’re flirting with me.”
I was struck at the course he seemed to want to chart with me and my attempts and shooing him away were proving futile.
“Trust me, I’d never have that inclination.”
Five minutes ago I would’ve been far more assured of that stance than I currently was but he didn’t need to know that. Frankly, I wasn’t well-versed in how to flirt but this banter felt like something akin to it. And again, I had no idea why it came so naturally.
“You seem to have a disdain for the people here and what they’re doing.
Are you curious or are you here to remind yourself that you’re above this type of thing?
” He folded his broad arms across his chest and that’s when I realized he was wearing the type of clothing that emphasized every muscle on his body but would prevent anyone from being able to detail what his skin looked like beneath.
He must have recognizable tattoos or birthmarks.
He was either government, military or a criminal.
I laughed because it wasn’t like those worlds were mutually exclusive.
Hell, the creators of the laws did so in order to be in the positions of power to break them with no repercussions.
He seemed to ignore my laughing so I followed up his question with a question. If he wasn’t thrown off by my madness maybe I needed to let it out in full display so he had a reason to be.
“What type of thing?” I wanted to elaborate but refused to. The desire for our banter to continue was my primary focus.
“Being so gauche as to desire something as base as pleasure.”
His description had my interest piqued, which was infuriating but this was the most fun I’d had at Explicit since I’d become a member so I played with him for a while longer.
“You find pleasure a base endeavor? That’s a fascinating concept if that’s what you’re admitting. I would think someone with your height and build didn’t need to be in a place like this to seek attention.”
“And somehow I know you’re making a simple observation yet it still seems like flirtation to me.”
He was witty. Besides my father, I hadn’t known anyone who I could tolerate being around and even he had his moments where masking my disdain was the only way to keep me tolerant of some of his movements. I broke another rule as I felt the sides of my mouth lift into a smile.
“You’re right, it is a simple observation. Nothing more.”
His mouth quirked again, as if he knew I refused to admit that I was flirting with him.
The last thing I wanted was for him to think something more was going to come of this.
My social battery was going to hit zero soon because a place like this was a drain on my spirit.
For some reason, I wasn’t eager to run away from him like I should’ve been.
“I would believe that if I hadn’t seen how easily you’d dismantled a man that is very close to being a billionaire. No one in this place tends to so easily dismantle a man of that caliber without there being more to you than simple observation.”
The way he knew so much about my little pet beneath his mask had me curious about his other observations.
I knew a lot about the people here. Like the woman being made into a star was the very unhappy wife of a politician who was very well known.
The thing was he was here, watching her being bargained away and used.
I didn’t know if he desired being a cuckold or if having the information that his wife’s frequently used caverns gave him access to were his true kink.
It was probably a mixture of both. Political marriages in this city were normally about power and nothing about love so I was sure that she was a useful tool in his arsenal and she got the pleasure he was probably unable to provide from others without causing a scandal.
All while they boasted about their family values and strong religious convictions.
Hypocrisy made my skin crawl but whatever worked for them.
“Hmmm.”
It was all I could respond with because this man needed to be handled with more regard than anyone else here.
I’d normally walk away from a conversation that got too intense but rarely had one ventured into territory that I found titillating before.
It was always centered on what they wanted to do for me so they could do whatever they wanted to me and those conversations made me drier than the Sahara.
His brows rose and he crossed one arm over the other a move that made the broadness of his arms and chest all the more obvious.
He’s a bloody gladiator.
“What’s on your mind?” That was the only thing I could think of to say, since he seemed amused by my lack of a previous response.
“You sound intrigued.”
Refusing to avoid the obvious I spoke candidly. “Mildly. Which is far more than I can say about any man I’ve come in contact with in some time so you should be honored, honestly.”
His mouth quirked again clearly signaling I amused him. “A feminist or a full-blown misandrist?”
“Just like a man. Believing that a woman is incapable of multi-tasking.”
His grin was now a laugh and it was amazing how deep his voice actually was.
I thought I’d imagined it simply due to the noise in this place.
But his laughter didn’t rumble like thunder.
That sound was too airy to describe his voice.
His tone was in a much lower register, to the point that it quaked like the earth did when the tectonic plates shifted.
His voice sounded primal, ancient, as though he could command the mantle to break through the crust and destroy entire cities with a simple call to action.
Volcanic. That was what it felt like hearing him speak.
As though lava was rushing through my body and a puff of air from his lungs could incinerate whatever it touched.
There has to be an intoxicant in this air here to be waxing poetically about a man.
“I assure you that in this brief interaction I don’t doubt that you’re capable of achieving whatever you set your mind to. The last thing I would ever do is underestimate a woman.” His tone changed losing some of its playfulness from before.
“You sound bitter.”
Another observation I could’ve kept to myself had I been one for polite conversation. Since I wasn’t, the question came out without a care to his feelings. Probably rude but the way his face softened when he looked down at me showed he wasn’t really offended.
“No. But in my line of work I’ve seen how things can play out with any gender. A man underestimating his opponent simply because of their sex has been one of man’s greatest downfalls since time began.”
And despite this peek into his profession I still wouldn’t decipher if he was government or criminal.
I was leaning more toward the latter because of how long his hair was but times were changing thanks to the Crown Act.
It was slicked back off his face but the simple fact that he could keep it in a tie meant it was longer than was traditionally accepted in those fields.
“You’re sounding like a borderline feminist yourself, sir.”
His massive shoulders lifted with ease. “A title I wouldn’t be ashamed to wear.”
My cheeks were hurting and it reminded me that I’d been smiling at a man for all this time. I rarely smiled and certainly not for long periods of time. My brain recoiled, despite my body not moving at all.
“All of this lead-up has been for something. Is this where you tell me you desire to have me in your bed and you’ll do anything to get me there?
” I was off guard realizing that I was enjoying spending time with this stranger had my brain scrambling.
I was being defensive for sure but I felt as though it was necessary.
He had me on unstable ground and my level of intelligence made that an infrequent occurrence.
“No.”
My brows shot up and I was thankful they were hidden behind my mask. With the way his features shifted, I felt as though he’d noticed. “No?”
“I don’t have to see the entirety of your face to know that you are a strikingly beautiful woman. And yes, pleasure is always a desire for anyone. You seek your pleasure from dominating those whom society would deem superior to you.”
And now he thought he knew me well enough to speak on what I wanted? Damn him, he might be on to something but I wasn’t about to provide him with the satisfaction of confirming it.
“Oh? How would you gather that without knowing who I am? Is this your way of telling me that we’ve interacted before and you’ve been waiting for your chance?”