Chapter 2
CHAPTER
TWO
SIENNA
"Sienna, I know I always say it's okay to live once. In fact, that's what I think you should do, but you can't keep doing this to yourself." Rose’s palm reached for mine in the space lying next to her as the cab driver drove us to the club.
"If I say no, would you let him turn around and drive us back home so I can go back to snuggling under the covers?" I batted my eyelashes innocently at her.
"Are you crazy?" She glared at me. "I didn't get you dolled up for nothing."
I rolled my eyes.
"He dicked you down real good, so what?" Her nonchalant tone flowed through the air, widening my eyes. "He's not the only good fuck out there."
"Rose!" My cheeks burned furiously. I cast a glance at the driver, who looked away sharply when our eyes met.
I got nasty with a man I didn't know, but that didn't mean that I wanted to announce it to the whole world.
"What?" She feigned innocence. "Point is, you need to get over that man and start fucking someone else."
My teeth clenched. "One, I don't want to sleep with anyone else, and two, I'm over him."
She scoffed. "Yeah, that explains why you are still stalking that empty profile on the dating site and going to Arancini every Friday night to see if you run into anyone who looks remotely like a man you don't even know."
Her sarcasm stung.
"Those were just…" I swallowed. "Momentary lapses. They won't happen again."
I lied.
They weren't momentary lapses.
They were haunting me like nightmares, only these nightmares were something I craved to relive.
Every time I shut my eyes, I was back in that room, blindfolded, brutally claimed and used like a whore.
I had stroked myself to the thought of it and tried to use objects that could inflict pain on myself just so I could feel that way again.
But every time I tried, I never got the satisfaction I craved. It just left me feeling emptier.
Hell, sitting in this car and thinking about it made my thighs clench together. I could feel my panties getting drenched.
"He really did a number on you, didn't he?" Her voice turned quiet.
I locked eyes with my best friend, wondering whether I should tell her the truth. Even then, I knew that even if I told the truth, she wouldn’t believe it.
"For what it's worth, I'm glad you got to experience the other side of your sexuality, but you have tried to look for him. He's nowhere to be found because he doesn't want to be found, Sienna." Her green eyes softened.
I tried to speak, but the driver was already pulling over in front of the building.
"Now"—she reached for my dress, adjusting my cleavage to look more enticing—"we are going to go in there, have the night of our lives, and fuck any hot man available, should the need arise. You in?"
I rolled my eyes, biting down on my lip. "Such a slut."
"You know you like it."
We squealed, nudging each other as we alighted from the car. The bouncers at the entrance scanned our IDs before letting us into the chaotic space.
The club looked like a rave, with the loud, thumping music in the background, neon lights that bathed every inch of the space in a colorful glow, and sweaty bodies gliding against one another on the dance floor.
A wide grin spread across my face as Rose grabbed my hand, leading us to the bar.
"Whiskey. Neat. Two glasses!" I yelled at the top of my lungs at the curly-haired bartender.
"Coming right up, gorgeous!"
The bartender handed us our drinks with a wink that made me blush. Rose and I clinked our glasses together. After we asked for a refill, I dragged her to the dance floor when my favorite song came on.
Rose and I giggled, nudging each other. Our bodies fell in sync as we rocked and ground against each other. It was freeing, liberating, and consuming all at once. The sweaty crowd faded into oblivion, and soon, it was just me, the music, and the movements of my body.
My fingers went into my hair, my hips swaying softly as my eyes fluttered shut.
And then, I felt something else.
My breath slowly hitched. I didn’t know. Maybe I was imagining being watched, or someone was watching. Every inch of my nerves came alive, my vision tipping slowly to the edge until I was surrounded by nothing but darkness. My edges sharpened.
Something in me wanted to let go, and that was what I did. My legs quivered slightly from having to clench my thighs so hard because of how wet I was. My tits felt heavy, and when I ran my hands over my chest, I could feel my nipples stiff and hard.
It was dirty, repulsive, and twisted.
I shouldn’t be imagining someone I didn't know what he looked like looking at me, but I did.
A hard object hit my ass, causing my eyes to snap open. I looked over my shoulder only to be hit with the smell of alcohol on the person’s breath.
"Your ass looks so good in this dress." He grunted.
I fought back the urge to puke, spinning around swiftly.
"Get away from me before I crush your dick with my heels," I seethed.
He glared at me, but then his lips slowly twisted into a sadistic smile as his hands went up in a mock surrender.
"Sorry, princess."
"Scram."
I heaved a sigh of relief once he was gone. Rose’s gaze locked on mine when I looked over my shoulder.
"Are you okay?"
I nodded. "Yeah, I just need to get some air. I’ll be back." The club suddenly felt suffocating, and I needed to get the hell out of Dodge.
My vision was clouded with tipsiness when I stepped out of the club.
Moans and groans of pleasure reached my ears from the parking lot, and I shuddered from disgust. But I wasn’t one to judge, not when I was drugged and kidnapped a while back, and I was blindfolded and fucked in different ways that I was ashamed to admit that I enjoyed as the depraved little whore that I was.
Rose made moving on sound so easy but therein lies the problem.
I didn't want to move on.
I didn't want to forget the explosive connection I had with that stranger. I didn't want to forget how terrifyingly exciting it was to be bound, claimed, and used. Every time I closed my eyes, that was all I could see.
My eyes burned with tears, my chest tightening with every breath I took.
I didn't know I had been walking unconsciously until I stopped to take in my surroundings. I was away from the club parking lot, now in the lonely, quiet streets. An alley was right down the right side of the road, slashing a wave of fear through me.
The air that brushed my skin felt sinister, making me wrap my hands around myself. I guess it was the wrong night to wear a short, sleeveless dress. I took that as my cue to head back to the club.
My heart almost spilled out of my chest when I turned around and saw the same guy from earlier who was trying to grind against me.
I gasped, staggering backward.
"Hello again, doll." His grin was sadistic and unhinged. "I didn't scare you, did I?"
"Piss off," I ground out through my teeth, clenching my fists.
His eyes were dark and hungry, taking in my cleavage and every curve of my body with a twisted fascination. It made my skin crawl and caused bile to rise up to my throat.
"I’m not going to hurt you. I just want to talk." The grin on his face didn't falter as he raised his hands.
"It's kind of hard to believe that when you keep looking at me like I'm a slab of meat." My voice tried to maintain its confidence, but the slight tremble in it must have given me away.
"He's lying." Another voice came up behind me.
I gasped, turning around.
"Yeah, he's going to hurt you." The third guy smirked.
He had a weird tattoo that ran up his neck and was very bald with hooded blue eyes. The other guy had a beanie on, probably to downplay how dangerous he was, but the maniacal glint in his eyes told me otherwise.
"But you are going to love it, and you'll scream for us," he added.
"I don't seem to see that friend of yours who was glaring at me." The guy from the club stared intensely at me, his eyes darkening with rage.
"Let me go, or I'll—"
"Or you'll glare at us to death?" The second guy cocked his head to the side.
Shivers snaked down my spine. "Please, just let me go."
"Not so tough now, are you?"
They started closing in on me.
"You pissed our friend off real good. You should have been a good girl when he wanted you to. You know what they say about bad girls. They get punished," the bald guy seethed.
I tried to take a step backward, but he latched a tight, punishing grip on my wrist. Tears stung my eyes, my heart pounding harshly against my chest.
"Someone help!"
A wicked slap landed on my face, the force sending me crashing to the ground. I screamed, trying to crawl away from them, but they yanked me by my legs.
"Whiny little bitch!"
"Let her go."
A deep, gravelly voice cut through the air, thick with command.
Their attention strayed from me, and I followed their gazes, only to land on a towering, intimidating man. His black ensemble enhanced his dark, terrific aura. It made me swallow thickly.
"Why don't you piss off, man?" the guy from the bar fumed, glaring at him.
"If you want her so bad, you can have her once we are done," the beanie guy chipped in.
"I said, let her go." He wasn't raising his voice, but I could see how intimidated the guys were.
"You think I'm fucking with you, huh?" My eyes widened when the beanie guy whipped out a pistol, eliciting a scream from me.
I scrambled backward harshly.
If my savior was scared, he didn't flinch. He only stepped forward, and the beanie guy faltered a little. He took that as his cue and closed in on him, wrestling him until he took the gun out of his grip. He didn't hesitate. A shot rang out in the air.
My piercing scream followed right after.
The two guys surrounding me backed away, nearly tripping over their feet when he pointed the gun at them.
"Get out of here."
They spun around, dashing right down the alley, but I didn't think they made it far because multiple shots rang out afterward, the dropping thuds of their body fading into the distance.
I stiffened with trembling lips.
If he could kill three men without blinking, what was he capable of doing to me?
We stood there—me, with my trembling breath, pounding heart, and pain that resonated through every inch of my bones from the fall, and him, with the gun in his hand, lacking remorse, and his eyes utterly void of emotions. If he was fazed, he was doing a very good job at hiding it.
But his eyes—ominous charcoal-gray eyes—they looked so familiar. Like I had seen them somewhere.
It hit me like a ton of bricks when I realized where I knew him from. He was the passenger from the plane. The one who wouldn't stop staring at me.
I winced as I tried to rise to my feet. My legs threatened to give me away, but I didn't stop staring at him.
I knew him. Not just as the passenger from the plane, but the gut feeling I couldn't shake off told me he was the one I had been trying to find.
I whispered, my lips cracking into a smile. "It's you…It's really you…"
My world turned into a spiral in one fell swoop, and darkness swallowed me whole.