My reasons for breaking into this place at 3 AM are mostly pure—If I leave off the fact, I broke the law to get into my haven....and the fact I help myself to snacks and amenities. Okay, I am breaking the law, there’s no way around that, but I really don’t care. I’m not hurting anyone by coming here. This is my safe space, I come here to hide away from the world. What I do not know is why he’s here with me. Goosebumps scatter down my bare arms and I shiver as my eyes fixate on him, taking a big gulp.
I don’t think his clothes are name brand and there’s nothing really fancy about them, but they fit his defined body like a glove. My tongue slides over my lower lip and I shake my head immediately after. I need to get my head straight, this is not a romantic movie off of Lifetime, it’s real-life shit. I have too many enemies to keep staring at him like he ripped the moon from the fucking sky and hung it only for me. There’s a very real possibility that he’s here to kill me or worse. Most people think death is the worst thing that could happen to a person, but that isn’t always the case in my opinion. At least with death there is a peace to it. You’re consumed to the darkness and you don’t have to try as hard to live because the battle is over. People’s beliefs differ, on where you go after that, but at least you’re not slowly dying and struggling to breathe as a consequence of others. Of course, if a person has had a great life, then yes, absolutely their passing is one of great sorrow. I am not one of those people with that luxury.
“I don’t give a shit what you were doing little fox.” His lips pull into a smug smirk briefly and he stares at me with intense dark eyes. I’ve never seen him before, I’m certain. I would remember him, he’s not someone anyone wouldn’t. His jawline is sharp and his nose prominent, but doesn’t overtake his face. He is the most gorgeous man I have ever seen. Hands down.
The name ticks me off, but his lack of appreciation for my art pisses me off more. I should bury my blade in his shoulder for it, but if I went around knifing every person who insulted me, most of this town would have stab wounds. Then again, the stress load I carry would be a whole hell of a lot lighter. “It’s not a fox. It’s a?—"
“Doesn’t matter. You are in my way. Move.” He carelessly talks over me right after I decide to spare him bodily harm.
“No!” I ground my teeth and plant my feet. I don’t know who he is and do not care. It doesn’t matter he is a good foot taller than me, no one orders me around, especially not a guy with a lip ring.
“I’m not dealing with this today.” He huffs, chewing on the lip ring in question. “I said move.”
“I. Said. No!” My fingers flip the lighter around in my hand, getting it into position in case I need to burn him. Normally I would have plenty of weapons with me, but I was in a hurry to get up here, I ran out of the house without them. I mentally kick myself for the lack of my arsenal. Strangers rarely see me as a threat, but I’m deadly, thanks to my dad.
“I tried to be nice, little fox.” There it was, that name again! My blood practically boiled hearing it repeated. The piece wasn’t done. It was a tribute to Monday, my dog. Not a damned fox.
I flicked the lighter as silently as possible, hoping my actions go unnoticed. If he doesn’t stop the parrot act with the name, he definitely is getting a warm welcoming from me.
His eyes glance toward the noise and he glares at me. My lips twitch, daring him to call me out on the small flame occasionally licking against my knuckle, but he does not. His eyes glare at me and then down the hallway. He could easily walk around me, but chooses to blame me for simply existing.
“I have to meet my…friend.”
“Impossible.” I wave him off, staring right back at him. If he wants this to be a standoff, he’s going to lose. Once my mind is made up, there is no changing it, and my mind is absolutely made up. He started this fight, not me. At this point, I’m merely standing up for myself.
“Impossible that I’m meeting someone?” he asks, his dark eyebrow arches with curiosity.
“No, well kind of. Impossible that an asshole like you has friends. Well, I guess you might have other asshole friends, but even if that’s true, you all don’t need to be assholing around with each other. Just let the shit go and move on. Everyone will be happier. Trust me, constipation is a bitch.” I laugh to myself and wait.
“Assholing? What? Never mind. I will do it myself this time. Next time, you will listen to me,” he growls and rakes his hand through his long dark hair.
My head falls back as I laugh so loudly it echoes around the empty corridor.
“Laugh now little fox, but you’ll run later.”
He catches me off guard and even if I don’t believe him, I’m too curious not to ask. “Why would I run?”
He leans down and I freeze, sweat dripping down my temples. He must not know who I am, otherwise, he’d leave me the hell alone either that or he’s looking to get his ass kicked. The thought infuriates me that he might be here solely to distract me, one of my father’s minions blindly following orders, but the possibility he could be telling the truth excites me. I have not met anyone who didn’t bend to my will for a very long time.
His mouth inches beside my ear. His cinnamon breath blows against my skin, he is so close. Dangerously close, in fact. No good can come from his lips drifting closer and closer to my earlobe. “Because this is your freebie. No one gets those with me. But today I simply don’t have the time to deal with you. The next time I say move and you don’t-—“
“What? What are you going to do tough guy?” I cut him off, tired of listening to his empty threats.
“I’m going to chase you down like the prey you are and when I catch you, and I will, you’re going to pay with that smart mouth of yours.”
The familiar cool metal of a gun presses against my cheek and pushes my face closer to him. His tongue slides up my neck. “Understand little fox?”
I do not move a damned muscle. This isn’t the first and will not be the last time someone puts a gun to my head, but this time is different. I did not expect him to pull a weapon on me. He looked like he had an entire bag of disgruntled chips on his shoulder not just one, but that he carries a gun? No. I didn’t expect him to be packing.
“Now, you’re going to be a good girl for me and do as I say. Nod if you understand,” he instructs in such a seductive voice that it’s hard to concentrate on anything other than him. It was not a request; it was an order. I want to deny him and kick him in the balls instead, that is what I should do. But it’s impossible to completely ignore my body instantly aching for him to use that voice again. My body quivers, imagining the possibilities this situation we found ourselves in could lead to. I’m not stupid, though. At the end of the day this man has a gun to my head and even if I could overpower and out run him, there’s no escaping the bullet that no doubt lays within the chamber with my name on it.
It is impossible to ignore the desire coursing through my trader veins, so I don’t breathe a word. I do as he expects, nodding mechanically.
“That’s right. Now fucking move before I make you. You have no idea what you’re dealing with.”
My feet happily shuffle away from the gun and I run down the hall in the opposite direction.
CHAPTER 5
