𝐕𝐄𝐗𝐄𝐃 ❷

𝟗. ✭ 𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐄𝐘 ✭

Darkness. I'm surrounded by it. It's a black void that I can't climb out of. Every time I try to make my way to the surface I'm pulled back under, sucked into the inky quick sand of despair. I always find myself here. Where here is I'm not really sure. It's definitely not heaven but it sure seems a lot like hell.

Screams. So many screams. Whether they belong to me, others, or are a symphony of both, I'm not entirely sure. I can't feel anything. I'm completely numb but there's a part of me in this abyss that knows there's something... something out there... someone...

A face flashes before me in the darkness. I know this woman. I have to know this woman. Forbidden. Yes. She's forbidden. Temptress. So much so. Those looks she always gives me with that flirtatious smile. She has wanted me from the first time she saw me. You have wanted her just as badly, if not more. More. Definitely more. But you can't have her. I know. She's off-limits.

The image around me changes and I am no longer in the darkness. I am sitting at a hotel bar— the hotel bar, sipping my... I glance down at the glass in my hand. Ah yes, vodka. I am sipping my drink of choice. Glancing around I see more men in suits, as well as family members and friends of the boss. Your boss. Anger flares somewhere inside of me but I can't pinpoint why. Today is a special day though. Today is someone's birthday. It's her birthday.

As if on cue she walks into the room. I'm just barely able to swallow the drink I had just taken. She looks fucking beautiful. Drop-dead gorgeous. Head to toe darkness personified in a feminine form. Your perfect counterpart. But she could never be. She could never— those grey-blues scan the crowd and then land on me. She stops. Just stops and stares. Everything in that look says I want you. Make me yours. Take me. Use me. Fuck me. She tears her gaze away from me and meanders over to her father— my boss. Another bout of anger courses through me.

The night felt like it lasted forever. I watched her dance with several men, hating every single one of them who were able to put their hands on her. We hadn't had so much as a single conversation. I had distanced myself as much as I could from her but I'd still caught those stolen glances, the way she'd look at me, never as boldly as she had tonight though. That look told me that she wanted me as her birthday present. It is taking everything in me to try and convince myself not to, that this is a bad idea. This could ruin everything. But there is a part of me, too much of me, really, that doesn't give a single fuck and knows that tonight is going to be the night I break that unspoken rule. I am going to give in to temptation regardless of the amount of evil I am delivered. 

Before she leaves for the night she shoots me a meaningful glance and fuck me does it have me standing directly to my feet. I push my empty glass toward the bar's keep which has him raising a brow. "Already calling it an evening, Torey?"

"I've got places to be and shit to do." Like fuck the woman that just walked out of the room senseless. I look over to my boss and see that he's completely shit-faced, as are the rest of the men. They're celebrating something, speaking in Albanian, and I have no fucking clue what they're on about. I quickly make myself scarce, not giving a goodbye to anyone.

Upon exiting I look for a trace of her. I know where her room is but there's camera's all down that hall. It's not like I can just saunter right up to her door. I'd have my brain matter all over the hallway if I was found entering her room. My room though... my room is at angle next to the staircase that you can't see on the cameras.

She wouldn't... But maybe she would.

On the off chance that she would, I get into the elevator and punch the number to my floor. The entire ride my stomach roils around with a mixture of trepidation and excitement. I feel like a kid again, skipping class so he can get laid in the high school parking lot. The doors ding open and I walk all the way down the hallway, which seems longer than it ever has, and round the corner. To my happy surprise she's leaning on my door.