Autumn & Winter (A Villains & Monsters Novella)

Chapter 9

It took many, many minutes for Simon's head to stop spinning.

What the fuck just happened?

One moment, he was ransacking another one of the heroes' bases and awaiting Daija's arrival, looking forward to more of their banter and hopefully getting another kiss or two. The next moment, he was tied up, teased without being touched, and brutally edged. He let her have her fun, but every minute that he kept track of was both tortuous and incredible.

Daija's voice echoed in his memory, taunting and wicked. "You should see yourself right now. You do remember that you have henchmen right at the front door of this place, right? How would they feel if you -- their boss, the most powerful man in Kunross -- were in here, all tied up and moments from coming in your pants?"

He took some breaths to calm his still-racing heart before resting his head against the wall, his face flushed and his blood rushing.

He had never begged before, but when she told him to, he did. Not once, but three times. She had gotten him off without even touching him, and he didn't know if that was more impressive on her part, or more embarrassing on his part. Between that and her stealing the flash drive not too long ago, she was ahead now.

Not good. He needed to find a way to get back at her, and soon.

When he finally left the warehouse, he heard the sound of someone wheezing. Austin. He approached his best friend, his face scrunched up in confusion at the sight of him hunched over and laughing so loud it could be heard from anywhere.

"What's going on?" Simon asked.

Austin tried to take a deep breath to calm down, but it didn't work, because he only ended up laughing harder.

Simon looked over at the two henchmen beside him, and they remained straight-faced, almost like they were afraid to laugh.

"For fuck's sake... You... You-" Austin attempted to talk again, but couldn't. Simon sighed, leaned against the wall and waited patiently for him to finish laughing. "She came out here-"

That made his heart drop. "She came out here and did what?!"

"I don't know, you tell me," he wheezed. "Based on what she said, it got a little sticky."

Simon gasped, and Austin practically roared with laughter. The other two henchmen next to him turned away to hide their tiny smiles, but didn't make a sound.

Daija, are you kidding me right now? Simon thought to himself as he slowly dragged a hand down his face. "Okay," he said quietly. "You can stop now."

Austin's eyes widened. "So it's true?!"

"Austin-"

"Oh, my god, wait until Luca and Tony hear about this-"

"They will not hear about this," he said as he crossed his arms.

"But they have to," Austin said as he shot him a shit-eating grin. "You know, mission reports and things like that."

Simon raised a single brow. "I will literally set you on fire."

"Wouldn't be the first time."

"I'll make sure you won't come back from it this time."

He snickered, "Kind of like how she made sure you came in your-" his reply was cut short when Simon punched him on the arm.

-----

The next afternoon, Simon took a break from his day to check on Sierra. He took the elevator from his base to her lab, and whistled a tune on the way to her office as he texted a certain heroine back and forth.