Arthur
Iwatched her sleep, the moon casting a beam on her face. I let myself fall for a woman I was not meant to care for, and she let me in, but would she let me break her? Would she let me destroy that fire that burned so brightly?
I stalked over to her bed and ran a hand over her cheek. She stirred, and her eyes opened. I didn’t smile down at her. Instead, I held out my hand then led her down the corridor in her thin nightgown. I shrugged off my coat and placed it over her shoulders.
“Where are we going?”
“I want you to see me for who I am, Gaia.” I led her to the elevators and held her hand as we rode down to the basement. We walked down a corridor, glass walls allowing us to see into the different areas of the dungeon. Men were fighting, they would be fighting to the death. Men were shouting out their bets. They were animals.
We walked past another room where a man was being tortured. My eyes remained on her the entire time.
And finally, I led her into a suite where a woman sat on her knees, waiting. Gaia looked up at me.
“Is she waiting for you?” She asked with amusement in her emerald eyes.
I picked up a phone and spoke into it, telling them I didn’t want this one. Within moments a man walked in with a different girl, tugging the blonde away by her arm.
The new one, a redhead, sat in the room, her eyes flickering between the two of us.
“Are they underage?” Gaia asked.
“No,” I said sternly. “I am not into that. They are all over the legal age and want to be here, Gaia.”
“Have you fucked any of them since me?” I closed my eyes.
“Not since that night in my office. But this is my life, Gaia. I don’t do love and commitment. I do none of the things girls like you expect.”
“Girls like me? What daddy’s princesses?”
“That is not what I meant.”
“Whatever, asshole. You enjoy your entertainment. I’m going to bed.”
I followed her out and led us into the elevator. I stopped it midway.
“Did you think I haven’t seen worse? Did you think what you have down there would scare me?”
“I hoped it would make you realize I am not the man you think I am.”
“I know you, Arthur.”
We said nothing more as I took her to bed, lying behind her, my arms enveloping her. She deserved better. I was too old, too bad, too wrong. I closed my eyes and settled into the vanilla scent of her hair.
