Chapter 6
CHAPTER 6
SILVER
R oom service was handy for many things. Currently at the top of Silver’s list was ordering an assortment of desserts to ease the sting of rejection from a man she had no business wanting in the first place.
Seated cross-legged on her bed, surrounded by no less than six different varieties of cake, Silver scooped up another bite of tiramisu and shoved it in her mouth as she watched the players in a romantic comedy she couldn’t remember the name of yell at each other over some grand miscommunication.
Too bad life wasn’t like the movies. If it was, she’d be able to march herself back over to Ice’s place, tell him what an asshole he was and how much he meant to her, and everything would magically work itself out. It wouldn’t matter how messy, or complicated, or just plain wrong it all was. They’d get their happily ever after and nothing else would matter.
Which was a ridiculous fantasy for multiple reasons. Number one being that she wasn’t even sure she wanted happily ever after with him. Or anyone, for that matter. The only thing she was absolutely sure of was that she didn’t want it with Ace. If she could, she’d go the rest of her life without ever seeing or talking to him again.
As if on cue, her phone lit up on the bed. Another text from Ace, probably, demanding to know where she was, why she wasn’t answering him.
Who are you whoring yourself out to now, bitch?
The cake she’d been enjoying lodged in her throat as she reached for her phone.
But to her surprise, the message wasn’t from her asshole ex. It was from an unknown number, and despite her general melancholy, she found herself laughing as she read it.
Unknown Number
Hey! It’s Lottie. Don’t tell Daddy, but I got your number from the club records. Hope you don’t mind. Are you coming to the club tonight? If you are, we should grab some dinner upstairs. My treat!
It was such a normal, everyday sort of text, it made her ache with longing.
She had friends. Mostly ‘industry’ people, but also a few friends back home she’d kept in touch with over the years as well. And Ice, of course, who was still her closest friend despite this… whatever was happening between them at the moment.
But over the years, she’d let herself get so wrapped up in Ace and his drama, she’d neglected most of those friendships. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d gone out to dinner with a girlfriend. Or gone out to dinner, period, without it being business-related in some shape or form. Other artists to collab with, record executives to schmooze. When was the last time she’d just done something for the fun of it?
She hadn’t planned to go to the club tonight, because she wasn’t sure she was ready to face Ice again so soon. But maybe if she went with her new friends and just stayed out of his way it wouldn’t be too bad.
Just to see the auction, of course. No ulterior motives here. Not a one.
Silver
I’d love that. What time?
Lottie
Awesome!! Frankie will be there, too, if that’s okay.
The more the merrier.
Perfect. Meet you at seven?
Sounds like a plan.
Ahhh, yay! I’m so excited. But, um, seriously. Don’t tell Braden. He’ll totally have my ass if he finds out I snuck onto his computer to get your number.
Your secret’s safe with me.
With her plans made, she tucked the rest of her emotional support desserts in the fridge and headed for the bathroom. Even if she wasn’t going specifically to see Ice, he would still be there, and if there was one thing she was almost as good at as drumming, it was making a big fucking impression.
Ice
“Fuck. Are you sure your trainer is even human?” Rolling his head to the side, Ice pressed a hand against the growing ache in his shoulder.
“Absolutely not,” Beckett said with a grin as he rubbed at his stomach. They’d finished their workout an hour ago and were now seated in one of the plush booths at Club BDE, but the aches lingered. “She’s definitely a demon sent from some torture dimension who has a preference for rich little shits like us.”
“Why do you sound so fucking cheerful about it?”
Beckett shrugged. “She gets results.”
There was no denying that. Ice was in the best shape of his life after just a couple months of training with Beckett’s demon-trainer. And that was after he’d spent almost a month binge-drinking himself into oblivion before Beckett had hauled his sorry ass up out of the bourbon lake he’d been rather successfully drowning himself in.
Saying Beckett had saved his life would just serve to piss the other man off. But it was the truth, and Ice made a point not to forget it.
“Hopefully your arm isn’t too sore.” Smirking, Beckett raised his water glass in a toast. “It’s auction night.”
“I already told you, I’m not bidding.” Even if he’d been weak enough to give into Beckett’s needling, just knowing Silver was on the same coast was enough to put a damper on any desire he might have to scene with someone else.
“Spoilsport.”
Ice gave a noncommittal hum as his gaze scanned the crowd upstairs. It was a bit thicker than usual, even for a Friday night, likely due to the auction.
Knowing how much that had to be pissing off Braden brightened his mood considerably.
Right up until his gaze landed on a familiar set of multi-colored curls bobbing through the crowd. She was wearing her hair up tonight, like she did when she was prepared for some serious play. Red crept into the edges of his vision and before he knew what he was doing he was up out of his seat, shoving his way through the sea of people.
He reached her just as she and her entourage claimed a booth. Frankie and Lottie slid onto one bench, but he grabbed Silver’s arm, forcing himself not to think about how smooth her skin felt beneath his fingers as he hauled her to him.
“What the fuck are you doing?”
Fear flickered in her eyes, just for a moment, but it was enough to have guilt and self-hatred joining in the riot of emotions churning in his gut. Then the fear was gone, replaced by a fiery defiance that had his cock aching inside his suddenly too-tight leathers. “Having dinner with my friends. Let go.”
She jerked against his hold, but he couldn’t have released her even if he’d wanted to. His fingers were locked tight of their own will. “Why are you dressed like that?”
The fire in her eyes turned to confusion as she glanced down at her dress. The one she always wore to clubs, with the slits clear up to the hips, giving a man access to all those sweet, forbidden parts of her. “Dressed like what?”
“Like you’re ready to play.”
“Ice, I’m wearing the same goddamn thing I wear all the time.”
Because it was true, and the fury he’d felt when he’d first spotted her was slowly giving way to the realization he might have overreacted, he loosened his grip, but not enough for her to pull away. “Your hair is up.”
The look she gave him was full of such feminine scorn he wondered how it didn’t reduce him to ash right on the spot. “If you must know, it’s up because I’m between wash days and the curls were looking a little lifeless this evening. No other reason.”
“Oh.” Jesus. He knew that. He knew everything about her routines. And if he’d taken a few minutes to think about it, he probably would have come to that realization on his own.
But the sight of her, looking like some goddess of seduction ready to suck the soul from every man in the room, had triggered something in him. Something dark he’d successfully kept locked away for years. Until that night he’d finally had her at his feet, her mouth full of his cock and her dark eyes pleading for more.
Whatever she’d unlocked that night wasn’t quite ready to go back in its cage. And that was a big fucking problem.
But it was his problem, so he tucked it away and focused on the woman currently glaring daggers at him. “You’re not playing tonight?”
This time when she pulled her arm away, he forced himself to let her go. And like a spell being broken, he was suddenly, painfully aware that they had an audience. Not just Lottie and Frankie, who were giving them their rapt attention, but several bystanders were sending curious looks their way as well.
Nobody, however, was looking more curious than Silver herself. Head tilted just to the side, she was watching him with eyes that he was certain saw far more than he was comfortable with. “Would that upset you, Sir? If I played with someone else?”
Her voice had dropped to that sultry tone he remembered from their night at Black Light. The one that practically begged him to claim her as his own and never let go.
But that way lay madness, as she’d proved that night. And as far as he knew, nothing had changed between then and now, nothing to stop her from ripping the fantasy out from under him yet again.
Fool me once, and all that.
“It’s none of my business who you play with, Silver.”
“Really?” Her eyebrows rose in feigned surprise. “Then why did you come storming over here, demanding to know if I was playing tonight?”
“Just looking out for a friend.”
It was a damn lie and they both knew it—a fact confirmed by the snort of derision she gave in response to said lie. “Right. Well, since I am, as you so helpfully pointed out, ‘dressed to play’, maybe I will. Lottie here was telling me all about her Daddy’s auction. Might be just what I need.”
Don’t you fucking dare. The words burned on his tongue, and judging by the way her mouth tilted up in a smirk, she heard them as clearly as if he’d actually said them.
“You’re playing with fire, girl.”
Her smirk vanished into a scowl. “Better to get burned by fire than iced out, don’t you think?”
Stepping closer, he cupped the back of her neck, those darkly primal parts of him thrilling at the slight widening of her eyes before he lowered his head to whisper in her ear. “Ice burns just as badly as fire under the wrong conditions. Don’t test me, Amanda.”
“ You’re the one who said it was none of your business who I play with.”
“It’s not.” And he had no right to keep her from playing with anyone else. She wasn’t his to claim, and they both knew it.
“Then with all due respect, Sir, fuck off.”
Oh, how he wanted to make her pay for that. To put her on her knees so she could choke on his cock right there in front of her new friends. She’d always been a brat, and he’d spent a lifetime dreaming of all the ways he could tame her.
But she wasn’t his. So he pulled his hand from her neck and stepped back, though the effort cost him more than he cared to admit. “If I see you up on that auction block, you’re going to regret it, girl.”
Her growl of frustration brought a smile to his face as he turned and headed back to his table with Beckett. At least if he had to spend the night being horny and frustrated, he wouldn’t be alone.
And he was just enough of an asshole to enjoy that bit of petty revenge.