12. Chapter 12
12
Grey
W hen I entered Apex that night, desperate for a distraction from the tension that was clawing at me, I was already one drink in. Still, I headed for the bar. It was against the policy of the club to have more than one drink, no matter your tolerance. So, I always made sure to have one before I came. Malak didn’t need to know.
The bartender recognized me right away, and I didn’t even have to ask. A shot of vodka was slid over and I was pouring it down my throat. I licked at my lips and slammed it down onto the bar counter.
He rolled his eyes and grabbed it before disappearing to help someone else.
My gaze shifted around the club. Bodies in the middle of the floor dancing, grinding against each other. In booths, couples and groups straddled each other, tied each other up, teased each other with denial and bent each other over laps. My eyes focused heavily on a booth that was just two people. Two men, I assumed.
One was restrained with his arms behind his back, a mask over the top half of his face, like many in the club. The other was unmasked, and drizzling hot wax down the other's chest.
I swallowed thickly and shifted in my jeans. I quickly looked over at a group of women instead. I could feel the slight buzz from my first drink and the shot of vodka kicking in. The heat and desire I felt building to a head. I looked down at the green ribbon tied around my wrist. If there was anywhere that I knew I could find a fun time, it was Apex, more so the private rooms.
I headed back, ignoring the low sound of music that grew even more vague as I disappeared from the main room. I was a turn away from the back rooms when I heard his voice. Malak. Growling low, quiet, but more than enough to keep me from hearing him. I smirked softly, wondering what he was doing. It seemed Kelly wasn’t that interesting, huh.
I peaked around the corner, and my heart squeezed in my chest. Rosalinda.
What is she doing here?
I watched the scene taking place. Malak with Rosie pinned to the wall, her skirt hiked up, spanking her. I felt my cock twitch, but my stomach also twisted in emotion. I turned away from the scene and made my way back to the bar.
My ears were hot, throat tight. I was going to get that ‘second’ drink if it killed me.
I rushed towards the bar, through a cluster of sweaty and excited people. The bartender already looked annoyed as I approached.
As I sat down on a bar stool, I couldn’t help but play over the images in my mind. Malak’s hand smacking against Rose’s ass. The look of pleasure on her face, the look of anger, arousal and desire on his.
I shifted in my seat and looked over at the bartender.
“You know the rules, not getting another with a green ribbon,” he told me.
I huffed. “I’ll go get a red one,” I insisted. People who were tagged as just watching were allowed to have more than one.
“Yeah, not gonna work,” he told me.
I slammed my fist down on the bar. He jumped and stepped back a few steps. I was about to talk when suddenly a broad hand was on my shoulder.
“Grey, stop causing problems,” Malak said.
A shiver ran down my spine. I cursed myself for it and turned to look at him. His face was still darkened with a blush. I watched as he guided Rosie to a bar stool. She winced as she sat down, her face and ears a delightful pink. Still, as I watched Malak order some water for her, and the way he looked at her, an equal measure of pain and fondness in his eyes, that ache in my stomach returned.
“Rosie,” I said, as I turned to look at her. Her gaze met mine and was laced with irritation.
“I didn’t expect to ever see your face again here,” I said, meeting her glare with one of my own. Though I couldn’t deny the arousal I felt, seeing her looking disheveled, knowing her ass was sore.
“I’d prefer not to see your face again,” Rose sassed me.
I rolled my eyes.
“He’s trying to get a second drink,” the bartender told Malak.
Malak sighed, “You know the rules, Grey,” he reminded me.
“I know, fuck off,” I mumbled and turned my attention towards Rosie.
Malak shook his head and his hand brushed against her shoulder for a moment before he leaned down and whispered something in her ear. Rose tensed and her legs squeezed together. Malak shot me a pointed look before he walked away, leaving us alone at the bar together.
“He spanked you good, huh?” I asked her.
I watched her shift in her seat, thighs pressed together tightly. Even as she drank the water, she was squirmy. I eyed her.
“He didn’t fuck you, did he?” I asked.
Rosie’s face flushed deeper. “Wouldn’t you like to know?” she asked, licking her lips.
I laughed. “He didn’t.”
She glared at me for a moment, but I watched her eyes flit down to my lap. I leaned closer to her. “You know, hate fucks are always the best kind,” I whispered.
Rosie eyed me again, seeming to consider it. “Really?” she asked.
I reached a hand forward and brushed my fingers along her knee. Body tensed.
“I thought you’d remember,” I replied.
I watched her take a heavy drink of water. Droplets rolled down her chin, and she set it back on the bar.
“Oh, I do,” she said, eying me like I was dinner.
“Too bad you don’t deserve even that,” I husked at her, and stood up from the bar stool.
Her face contorted into frustration. “Fuck you,” she hissed and turned away from me.
“When you beg, sure,” I replied, straightening my leather jacket.
“I don’t beg,” she told me, “Not with you.”
I pursed my lips. “Then never.”
I turned away from her, and my eyes scanned the room for Malak. I caught him going out the back, likely for a smoke. I growled to myself and followed after him. When I stepped outside into the crisp air, the first thing I smelled was cigarette smoke and Malak’s sweat. The breeze ruffled my hair as I walked over to him. He was leaning against a small tree, or perhaps it only looked small next to him.
“What were you thinking?” I asked.
Malak turned to look at me, unamused.
“Rosie?” I asked, and folded my arms.
“Why do you care?” Malak asked me.
I rolled my eyes. “You were just talking about keeping my ass outta trouble. Here you are, spankin’ Miss. Goody Two Shoes Lesbian in the hallway,” I accused.
“She’s not a lesbian,” Malak replied.
“Obviously,” I mumbled. I tried to ignore the knot in my stomach, thinking about it.
I wanted to turn back around, go back inside, and find someone to ease the tension I was feeling. It would be easy, and I could go off and leave Malak to his own self destruction, but for some reason, there I was. My hands balled into fists as I watched him smoke. The plumes of smoke billowed out in front of his face. He made it look so effortless, living. I wondered what it was like to just keep going the way he did. For me, it felt like a struggle every day.
“Why?” I asked him, “After she ditched you.”
Malak sighed and turned to look at me, a dark and guilty look in his eyes.
“You don’t know the whole story,” he insisted.
I eyed him. “Do I need to?” I asked. “The bitch disappeared and got married without even telling you.”
Malak tossed his cigarette butt onto the pavement and smashed it with his boot. His shoulders looked tense.
“There’s more to this than that, Grey,” he said through his teeth. “Just leave it alone.”
My brow knit. “Whatever. When she fucks you up again, don’t come to me,” I said and started to turn around.
“She gave me a choice,” Malak started.
I blinked and stayed where I was, not turning to look at him yet.
“‘Give up and let go of this shit’ she said to me” Malak told me, “That includes running an illegal club, the drugs, you.”
I looked at the pavement, my throat tight.
“She wanted me to give it all up, live some straight laced life her family would approve of. She said it was that or nothing,” Malak told me. “I told her that wasn’t happening. She walked away.”
I turned to face him, feeling for one of the first times in my life at a loss for words.
“I thought she’d come back. Everything would work out,” Malak sighed. “Five months later, I see she’s married.”
I licked my lips. “Why did you say no?” I asked.
Malak laughed once. “You kidding me?” he asked and stepped closer. “I’d never make it like that. This is all I got. This is what I know. Besides, you’d be out of some of your biggest clientele.”
I rolled my eyes. “Right,” I replied, “…cause you care about that so fucking much, won’t let people have more than one drink. Put a cap on how much I can sell in a night.”
Malak shook his head. “Just because I let you sell here doesn’t mean I want my clients falling over dead.”
I shook my head. “You could’ve said yes,” I told him.
Malak’s eyes narrowed. “Why do you care?”
“I don’t,” I insisted, “Just saying it was kinda stupid, Rosie was—she was the best thing you ever had. You said that to me, you remember?”
Malak blinked and looked to the side for a moment before looking back at me.
“Yeah, well, some things are more important,” he told me. His gaze shifted from my head to my feet. I felt hotter than ever. I tried to think about Kelly. How hot fucking her was, her face down, ass up.
It didn’t work. Not when Malak lifted a hand and brushed his thumb along my chin.
“Even your ass,” he told me.
I brushed his hand away, more aggressively than intended.
“Then what’s up with the late night spanking?” I asked him, voice rough.
“You saw that?” he asked, his posture growing more tense.
“Sure as shit I did,” I replied and stepped closer to him, “After all the bullshit you went through after finding out she was married, all the nights I had to peel your ass out of a bar stool, you just let her waltz back in and get you hot and bothered, huh?”
Malak’s jaw set.
“Or did you go after her?” I asked him. My ears are hot.
My heart lurched as Malak grabbed me by the front of my shirt and pulled me around until my back was against the tree. I could still remember the feeling of his hand around my neck, holding me on my tiptoes. My hips twitched, and I cursed myself internally again.
“You know you’re acting awfully fucking jealous for a straight guy,” Malak hissed at me. “Is there something we need to work out?”
My face and ears flushed so hot that I could barely think.
“Fuck you,” I growled and squirmed against his hand, but it only made him push me tighter against the tree.
“Is that a request?” Malak asked, and I felt his other hand move to my belt line.
I inhaled sharply as his fingers brushed against the bulge of my cock inside my jeans.
“I know you’ve always wanted to fuck Rosie. Why can’t you admit whatever’s going on inside your head about me?” Malak asked, “You know there’s nothing wrong with it, right?”
There was a dark dominance in his eyes, yet at the same time, his voice was softer than usual, husky but genuine.
It made a shiver run up my spine and my hips rolled against his hand unintentionally.
“There’s nothing to admit,” I insisted, but I was starting to doubt my own resolve.
Malak’s hand moved from my chest to the base of my neck, sliding up until it was just underneath my jawline. He pushed my head up until I was forced to look him directly in the eyes.
“Someone who isn’t jealous doesn’t come out here looking like he’s fucking ready to fight Rosie for being the one to get bent over,” Malak growled at me, low, and so sexy that I couldn’t help the soft groan from my throat.
“So what if I’m jealous?” I panted out, “Maybe I wanted to be the one to punish her, huh?”
“For what she did to me?” Malak asked, “Why does it bother you so much, hmm?”
I huffed, and my cock rushed with even more blood as his hand caressed my bulge.
“Come on,” Malak coaxed me, “You’re a big boy, you can say it.”
My face flushed with embarrassment.
“C-Cause I care about you, fuck!” I said through my teeth.
“Attaboy,” Malak cooed, and I had never felt more turned on in my life. My head swam with the realization that what I felt for Malak, the man who had been driving me nuts for the last six years, was more than I had realized. This further proved by the way my hips rolled into the touch of his hand, and I was suddenly desperate to find out what exactly Malak did to elicit the moans that I had heard from Rose not only that night, but years before.
However, before anything more could happen, Malak let me go. A wave of disappointment set over me as he stepped back and shoved his hands into his pockets.
“Now, mind your damn business next time, yeah?” he asked me, his gaze returning to that dark and almost cold look it usually had. It made me question more than just my sexuality.
I swallowed. “You really think I’m gonna do that?” I asked.
Malak tilted his head to the side. “Fuck no,” he mumbled, “Just, don’t get into anymore trouble tonight, I’m headed home.”
“No promises.” I replied.
I watched Malak go back inside the club, leaving me outside alone. For the first time in a while, I was desperate for a smoke, something to calm my nerves and my spinning head.
What a night to realize I was not only bisexual, but apparently a switch.