Chapter Three
Emily
The figure’s distinctive red hair and piercings were what gave him away first, but it was that intense yellow stare that stole all of my attention, like he was peering straight into my soul.
Songbird strolled forward, a bit too casual for my liking. I jerked my head back to where Blue Eyes was—except, he was already gone. I searched the sidewalk and street.
I hadn’t heard the asshole run off, and even if he had, there was no way he’d just disappear, right? Had he tucked into an alcove nearby? A side street? Was this asshole hiding now that he couldn’t corner a woman alone?
“Fancy finding you here, Not Interested.”
I growled under my breath. “Is it?”
“Mate of yours?” he asked, referring to the asshole who’d bailed at the first sight of him.
After another slow sweep of the quiet street, still trying to wrap my head around that weird flash of…
whatever the fuck it was, I turned to look at my unexpected savior.
“Not even a little bit. You and him have a lot in common, actually. You know, with how quick you both are to accost women and make it impossible for them to leave.”
The side of his mouth kicked up at the insult, and it sent my eyes rolling. “Come now, pet. You can’t really think that little of me when you’ve barely given me a word edgewise.”
“Oh, so you didn’t follow me out here?”
His devious grin bothered me more than it should. “Well, guess I can’t argue there, but it was well meant.”
I landed a hand on my hip, giving the asshole a skeptical eyebrow. “Well-meant stalking? That’s a new one. Well then, Songbird, by all means, do plead your case with the court.”
I could’ve sworn his yellow eyes sparked and beamed their own light at the challenge I issued. “How about I do you one better, love. How about we skip the trial and go right to the punishment, yeah?”
My pulse thrummed at his invitation, the subtle nagging of need at the back of my throat. “I told you I wasn’t—”
“Interested, yeah. I got that bit, pet. But it looks like your meal for the night scurried off on you and you’re in need of a replacement.
” He walked forward, and unlike with Blue Eyes, I didn’t feel the need to step back.
I stood my ground. “You’ve got nothing to lose, yeah?
Wouldn’t punishing the wanker who blocked your path and followed you out to your car be the perfect way to end the night? ”
I hated that he’d baited me, and worse, that I was tempted by it. Punishing guys who’d pissed me off had been a hobby of mine once upon a time, but I’d moved away from it because I couldn’t stomach being around them afterward. They always took it as interest rather than disgust.
Guys were so much nicer to deal with when they had a ball-gag in their mouth.
I got the sense that this one was only in town for a gig or two. He’d fly the coop soon enough. What was a little illicit affair with a hot singer going to hurt? Besides, I’d be New Emily tomorrow and ditching this scene, anyway.
My eyes swept his body, giving him my first real assessing glance.
His face was definitely his selling point.
Well, that and his voice. He was both conventionally and uniquely attractive.
Hard and soft angles. Perfect lips for nibbling and shushing.
Eyes that seemed to say more than his mouth did, as unbelievable as that was.
He was well sculpted. The tattoos were inviting to the eyes.
His piercings gave me plenty of ideas for activities.
And if he was a shit lay, at least I’d get to punish the prettiest boy I’d ever met.
Humming, I tossed my car a look, then knocked my head toward it. “Get in, Songbird. I’ll humor you, but only for this one night. After we’re done, you need to get the fuck out and lose my address.”
His Cheshire grin was out the second I spoke, and he politely gestured to my car. “Lead the way, pet.”
When we pulled up to my block, Songbird lost a little of his smile. I’d only noted it because the asshole had been so damn pleased with himself since I’d invited him back to my place. He’d never know how the only reason I bothered at all was because tomorrow I’d be a whole new person.
I parked and got out, leading the much-quieter Songbird to my apartment building. I keyed the code into the usual entrance box and opened the door, not bothering to check if he was following. I didn’t care if he decided to ditch. Either way, I’d be getting into bed.
His footfalls were the only reason I knew he’d come after me. I took the first two flights of stairs without once addressing him, but on the final flight, I glanced over my shoulder. I’d planned to lay out the rules, but the look on his face gave me pause. It was dark. Lethal, even.
“If you’ve changed your mind, then you can just head back down and call an Uber or something. I don’t give a shit,” I told him instead.
Songbird’s eyes sliced up to mine with violence. “What makes you say that, little viper?”
Little viper? Guess I’d been called worse.
I gave him my best are-you-serious scowl before heading up the final flight to our door.
I’d only just gotten the key into the lock when an arm landed next to my head.
I jerked my eyes over to it in confusion.
His throaty lilt was next to my ear as I freed the door after a little fight with the knob.
“Just you, is it?”
I leveled a glare on him. “I don’t know why that matters, but for tonight, yes.”
I hadn’t known the asshole long, but the deadly gleam in his stare gave me pause. “Lucky me.”
An anxious coil turned my stomach in on itself, and I wondered if I’d made a mistake in bringing him back. I didn’t know this asshole, and nothing about him gave the impression of an upstanding citizen. If anything, it gave the opposite.
Had I invited trouble back to my apartment in a ditch-effort to salvage the night? Old Emily was always pulling this shit.
Thinking, I pivoted and stared straight into those obscene eyes of his. His pupils dilated the second they landed on mine. It was the first time I realized the color wasn’t from colored contacts. Contacts couldn’t do that.
Was there some new technology that gave people different colored eyes? Whatever it was, the color was off-putting. Unnatural. Ominous, even. I couldn’t fathom someone willingly choosing yellow as their first choice. No, I could. A totally crazy person would be that bold.
“Maybe this is a bad idea.”
A smile swept his mouth that oddly settled the tension in my muscles. “Oh, absolutely. But the good kind of bad idea, yeah?” His fingers drummed on the doorframe before he crowded me. “Now where’s the bedroom, love?”
I swallowed a reply, heart taking off. I needed to get control over the situation. He was too comfortable giving orders, and that wouldn’t fly when I got him inside.
Crossing my arms, I blocked the way in and stared him down.
“First thing’s first.” I started the usual lecture.
“Rule number one: You pick a safe word before we go in, and the minute you need to use it, all of this ends. No hard feelings or questions asked. Rule number two: Once you step inside my apartment, I make the demands. You do as you’re told.
Rule number three: The minute we’re done, you leave.
And before we start anything, you have to tell me what’s off limits for you.
Something tells me you’re not new to this sort of play, but I’d like to know if you have anything you’re not comfortable with. ”
A breath whooshed out of him in surprise, and he picked his arm up from the doorframe before locking both against his chest. Then the bastard slow-blinked at me. “You really know how to set the mood, don’t you, Viper?”
Scoffing, I leaned against the doorframe and mirrored how he’d caught me in the hall at the club. “It’s ma’am to you, birdie. And yes, I don’t ever enter the bedroom without knowing how to make sure it’s safe for both of us.”
He slithered closer to me like the snake he accused me of being, dropping that massive tattooed arm on the doorframe again. A power move he no doubt used on women to seduce them, but one that wouldn’t work on this chick, so I stayed perfectly in place and unaffected by his playboy tactics.
“Is it you who’s always in charge, then?”
I scowled at him. “It is with you.”
His eyes seemed to take on a brighter yellow gleam than before, but I blamed a trick of light. “Safe word, is it? How about a safe phrase...” He leaned in, staying on his side of the doorway. “Not interested.”
This asshole was clearly a brat and would give me trouble all night if he stayed, but the acceleration of my pulse suggested I wasn’t as turned off by the idea of a fight as I thought I would be. Maybe it’d be a nice change of pace to dominate someone who clearly enjoyed giving orders.
Playing his game, I shrugged and took a step back, putting space between us. “You can leave then.”
This jerk was way too pretty when he grinned like he was absolutely obsessed with anything I said or did. “Oh no, I’m very interested. Just my safe phrase meant to commemorate our meeting, yeah? And as far as things I’m not comfortable with, nothing comes to mind.”
Part of me hadn’t expected him to answer any of my questions. I’d planned to use it as my get out of jail free card to tell him to fuck off so I could get some sleep before becoming a whole new person tomorrow. But he’d given me what I asked for, so I’d get this last time out of my system.
With one curt nod, I started to walk further into my apartment. But for some reason, the asshole stayed on the other side of the door and called out to me before I wandered too far inside.
“I do have a request, though.”
I sighed and swept a hand through my hair. After a little curse under my breath, I pivoted and crossed my arms, hip out in an act of annoyance. “What is it?”
I couldn’t wait to get this idiot cuffed, blindfolded, and ball-gagged on my bed.
I’d teach him the double-finger gesture to end the play, but I definitely didn’t want to see or hear him do more than grunt and groan after he entered my room.
Certainly not the safe phrase his jokester mind came up with.
I cycled through the best whips and paddles to use on him.
He was bigger and more muscular than most of the men I’d been with, so he could probably take some of my heavier duty toys.
If he had nipple piercings like I suspected he did, I had a few clips and chains I could use.
I’d put a cock ring on him and fuck him until he begged me for release.
The thought of it brought a smile to my face.
“A kiss before we start,” he cut through my momentary spiral into scenes.
The light in the stairwell was limited to a small window half a floor up. The only bit coming through the window made his figure come across far more sinister than Blue Eyes had been tonight. Songbird gave the impression of a monster in the dark, so his request put me off more than normal.
“A kiss?” I asked, trying to gauge the asshole’s aim. “Why?”
He ducked his head down to enter my apartment, and the soft click of my door caused my pulse to spike. His unusual eyes settled on me, and then he was closing the space between us in two floor-eating strides.
The gorgeous singer stopped just a few inches shy of me, half of his face catching the light from the kitchen window. I suddenly wished I’d turned on the lights as soon as I entered. The menacing air he put out made me feel more prey than predator.
His slow smile put me on guard, and I tightened my arms against my chest as if they’d protect me from the beast I’d lured into my apartment. When he leaned in, his luscious cologne wafted all around me. He smelled as incredible as he looked, I’d give him that.
“You can tell a lot about a person from a kiss.” His unnatural eyes dropped to my mouth. “And I’ve been thinking about those red lips staining mine all bloody night. Give me a kiss and I’ll do whatever you want, ma’am.”
My jaw clenched. “Fine.” He tried to steal one, but I stopped him with a hand before his mouth could reach mine. “But you’ll receive it on your fucking knees, birdie.”
It was just a second. Another flash where I couldn’t be certain it wasn’t some weird trick of the shadows or a momentary loss of sanity, but I could’ve sworn his pupils became reptilian and his incisors had sharpened to fangs with the little smirk he gave me.
It was gone by the time his knees hit the floor in front of my feet. Even on his knees, I wouldn’t need to bend far to do what he asked.
I grabbed a handful of his red hair, which was shaved on the sides and long on top, and yanked his head back. “That’s a good boy,” I murmured and bent in to give him exactly what he asked for.