Chapter 7 Nyx
NYX
What in the world is this reality I am living in currently? These men are exact opposites of each other. Hutch, the angel sent from heaven to tempt me into the world of sin. And then there is my Demon. Why do I keep calling them mine? I don’t own them. Fuck, I’m not even with them.
Demitri is the walking version of every morally gray dark romance book guy.
He is tall, while Hutch is a few inches taller, he still towers over me.
Those eyes are so deep chocolate that when the sun isn’t shining in them, they could be as dark as onyx.
Black holes I just want to get sucked into and not be let out of.
Just based on how easily he flung me over his shoulder and walked out of the precinct, I know he is chiseled from marble underneath that long sleeved Henley he was wearing.
That ass though, I’m pretty sure you could crack a walnut between those cheeks.
I am also dying to get my eyes on the ink that is just barely peeking over the collar of his shirt.
Coming out of the daydream about those boys, I realize I am running down the street in downtown Detroit.
Where in the actual fuck am I? Thank goodness when Cap called I just threw my leggings and running shoes on to head to a workout after the meeting.
Guess I’m going for a run today instead of the gym. Setting my pace, I just keep running.
It’s a beautiful day for early October. You never know what you will get in Michigan this time of year. Luckily, I see the river up ahead, so I figure I can run the river until I get to the shop where I left my car.
With no music blaring in my headphones, my mind drifts back to the ice-blue eyes that could give me frostbite, but there is such warmth and sweetness that emanates from Hutch’s golden retriever energy, they just send chills coursing through my body.
I hate when guys try to “protect” me or do protective things like wrapping an arm around me to stake their claim.
When he did it at the pub, it just felt right, like I was supposed to be nestled into his side.
The only thing missing was Demitri on the other side.
I would be willing to be the filling in that sandwich, or I guess they would be filling me. Same difference.
The view along the river is absolutely gorgeous.
I can see the Renaissance Center off in the distance, towering above everything else.
The sunlight reflects off all the glass and metal.
Taking a few moments just enjoying the pavement pounding under my shoes, and the breeze in my face.
I admit to being a treadmill girly, but this is just what I needed.
The river is fairly quiet for such a beautiful fall day, but there is a large freighter heading upriver.
“NYX FUCKING BENNETT.” I freeze mid-stride. I recognize that voice. No, it cannot be him, can it? I left him four years ago, with Julia. The last I knew, they took off up north somewhere. Once I left, his family found out about his discretions, and disowned him from what I heard.
I whip around to face the direction that I heard his annoying voice come from.
There he stands, Nick, all five foot ten of him.
Still scrawny as hell and not able to deal with a strong-willed woman.
His suit still looks off the rack, and ill-fitting.
The shoulders look too large on his small frame and the sleeves hanging down almost to his knuckles.
The tie wrapped around his neck was a god-awful Cleveland Guardians tie, something Julia probably picked out, because she thought she was funny.
I swear he looks like a middle schooler in his first suit his mom bought a few sizes too big to “grow into”.
“What do you want, Nick? I am not out here running hoping to see your sleazy mug.” Tapping the pocket on my leggings, making sure that I still had my phone tucked away after my getaway.
He strolls so casually up to me, like he has the right to talk to me after what he did.
While he might not have physically abused me, he was not a good man.
Julia was best friends with Kyra and I. Or at least I thought she was, but who sleeps with their friend's fiancé?
I met Kyra in elementary school, and we instantly became best friends.
She is definitely the yin to my yang. Where I am all dark edges and I like the peace night brings.
She is all brightness and rainbows. She will forever be my sunflower, despite her colors being dulled by her bastard of a fiancé.
While, I have no idea what is actually going on in her life, because she refuses to tell me, she has not been herself.
I need to steal her for a girls’ night soon. I’ll ply her with rum and she’ll talk.
Julia, on the other hand, is one hundred percent a pick-me girl.
She saw the friendship that we had and instantly tried to insert herself.
Kyra met her in college, at Grand Valley State.
They shared a marketing class while I was active duty in the army.
I came back home on leave for a little bit when Kyra introduced us.
Julia hated when the two of us just had bestie time, not realizing that being in group settings was draining on our mental health.
Time with just Kyra and I was more for our sanity than anything.
“Nicky baby, why are you going to talk to her?” The shrill voice I will never be able to forget meets my ears.
Oh joy, Julia is with him. “Come on baby, we have to go meet with the Head Start for Avery, there is a wait list a mile long.” I finally spot the bleach blonde Barbie doll, with a toddler in her arms, following just behind Nick.
Her hair is so hair sprayed that I’m sure an F4 tornado wouldn’t move it.
The pink skirt and blazer combo looks like a cheap version of Elle Woods, and Lord knows Julia failed out of college.
She was hoping to snag herself a finance man anyway, not actually get an education.
Avery was an adorable toddler, unfortunately, they were born to these two demons from hell.
“Nothing fucking changes around here does it?” I say under my breath and turn to finish running back to my car.
“Don’t go, Nyx, I want to talk to you.” He pleads, before turning around. “Julia, take Avery to the car, I will be there in a moment. I just want a second alone with Nyx.”
“There is absolutely nothing you could want or need to say to that woman. You know damn well that she didn’t make you happy when you were with her, why bother trying to fix things four years later?
” The sneer on her face shows me that she is still threatened by me.
I can see the unsureness in her eyes, not willing to leave Nick alone with me for fear I will take her precious Nicky.
”Julia, I can promise you that I have zero interest in your precious asshole.
Keep him, he's all yours.” Lord knows I want to throw Demitri and Hutch in her face, but knowing her, she will run off and try to find them just to make sure she gets them too.
Making direct eye contact with Nick, since I remembered how much he loved when I glared at him, “Nick, I have absolutely nothing I want or need to say to you. Please escort your skank to the Head Start meeting you have and leave me the fuck alone.”
Turning to run again, why is running all I seem to be doing lately, when I am yanked back to his body.
Fuck how did I not realize he was that close.
Feeling his breath on the shell of my ear, causes chills to run down my spine.
“You will stand here and talk to me, you little cunt. When you told my mother what happened with Julia, she disowned me. Not only for cheating on their sweet Nyx, but also because I had gotten Julia pregnant. I lost every dime to my fucking name.” His menacing growl, causing every muscle in my body to tense trying to figure out how to escape this situation.
He isn’t much bigger than me. But he has my arm pinned behind me. “Your mom called me and asked us to come to dinner,” I groaned. “I had to tell her we were no longer together. She would have found out, eventually. What did you want me to tell her?”
“You could have just said I broke up with you. You didn't need to tell her why.”
”Get fucked Nick, your family was always good to me.
I am not going to lie straight to her face.
” His grip tightens on my arm. Damn it my mouth is going to get me killed or at minimum, a broken arm.
Trying to wiggle myself out of his hold, but he grasps even tighter, causing a whimper to leave my throat.
“You will step away from my woman.” A deep growl emanates from behind Nick.
Suddenly he releases me to turn around and stand face to face with my own personal demon or savior in this instance.
Demitri grabs Nick by his tie, practically lifting him onto his tiptoes to look him eye to eye.
“Would you like to tell me why you had your hands on something that does not belong to you? Didn’t your mother teach you to look, not touch? ”
I can visibly see Nick shaking in Demitri’s hold. When movement from the corner of my eye startles me. It’s Blue coming to soothe me and make sure I am okay. I snuggle into his side, while trying to stretch my arm out to make sure there is no damage.
I definitely should not be this comfortable in a stranger's arms.