CHAPTERTHREE
A biting wind had recently arrived, chilling the nights of New City. The glitter of the well-developed and stunning metropolis couldn’t halt the creep of cold. It was Mother Nature rearing her head to all mortals. Soon the days would start to chill too, my favorite time of year.
I’ve come, Mother Nature says.And there’s nothing you can do to stop me.
Bring it, Bitch. Bring it hard.
My thoughts wandered to a man with golden eyes who knew how to bring it hard. If the sweet ache between my thighs was any indication, I would remember that stiff ride into tomorrow. I pulled my black sweater tighter around me as I walked another block closer to my apartment. The train I’d taken from work only took me so far—only so much cash to use. The dark night didn’t bother me, though. I was used to the shadows, having lived in them the majority of my twenty-one years of existence.
I brought two fingers to my lips, realizing I was smiling. I touched the soft flesh, pleasantly surprised, giddiness adding an extra bounce to my step. It had been a long while since I’d been happy. Who knew all it would take was an excellent fuck and some flirting for a half hour afterward—before he and his friends had left.
We hadn’t made plans to see one another again. Not right then. He was intelligent enough to know that was too fast for me.
The man-god had been very careful during our entire encounter. I never once panicked. He didn’t scare me or make me want to run away or push him to the curb. I don’t know why, but he was cautious. He didn’t do relationships, and neither did I. We all have our reasons, and I didn’t need to know his. But, damn, our time together had been enjoyable. Electricity had flown like a live wire between us, even after we’d had sex. I wouldn’t mind seeing him again—just not too soon.
We simply…got along. Our dirty humor was the same, as was our bluntness.
I didn’t know much about the man besides that, and that was all right. I didn’t need to know more. And I certainly didn’t care about his business dealings. He was one of the most powerful men on this planet, and what happened behind closed doors could stay that way. As long as he treated me well when we were together.
A not-so-simple girl with simple expectations in men.
And, yet, no men had truly impressed me. Except for him.
My brows puckered as I glanced behind me. Under the iron streetlights, the path was clear. No one was there, but a sudden chill had tiptoed up my spine, an instinctive feeling of being watched. My eyes narrowed on the shadows of an alleyway, my fingers dropping from my lips to finger one of the knives I had hidden in my pants. But I still saw no one.
The sick life I’d lived made me paranoid half the time. I knew it.
This was one of those times.
Thank you, Father. Foryouhave sinned and made my life hell.
I sighed and cracked my neck before turning back around. Almost to my apartment. To a place I could actually call my own—for the first time in my life. It wasn’t the backseat of a rusted car. It wasn’t a hard floor and a dirty pillow at a friend’s place. It wasn’t a hard squeeze behind a dumpster for safety throughout the night. It wasn’t a penthouse either, not by a long stretch of the imagination.
But it was mine.
I couldn’t help but glance back once more into the night before I stepped into the simple atrium of my apartment building, my eyes scanning the streets lit by a white glow. Trains passed by in the air, their clean blue energy cascading down on the road. A few wayward and chatty groups walked between the trains, crossing the lane to their destinations. The metal of swords gleamed on their backs while their colorful outfits swooshed around their bodies with each step. Nothing was amiss to the trained eye—and I had two good ones.
I shook my head and shut the glass door behind me. I yawned and stretched as I strolled to the elevator that would take me to the eighth floor—to my apartment.
That would never get old.
My.
Mine.
I loved just thinking it. I didn’t even need to say it aloud.
Work tomorrow would be hell, but all was well. For once. I was working a double, and it would pay well. Tomorrow was Friday. The busiest day of the week to drink.
I grinned, showing my teeth in the mirrored reflection of the elevator doors.
The tips would be plentiful. Mama just might get a new pair of knives.
* * *
My spine stiffened as I rubbed spots off a clean glass the next evening, the white rag in my hand brushing even harder. I watched the tall, muscular man who entered the bar with a narrowed gaze. It was already dark outside, so the brightness of the streetlights was a bizarre spotlight as the glass door shut behind him. I wasn’t the only one to notice him, either.
At a bare minimum, half of the male occupants turned in his direction. Eyes widened. Brief flickers of fear passed over their expressions. Then it was as if the sea parted, most scattering aside as he walked forward.
