crave | 16+

XXX

JOSIE
Ten months later

I STUMBLE INTO MY apartment, leaving sloppy kisses on the man's face, who's backing me into my apartment as well. I can't really remember what his name is, and it doesn't really matter. He'll be gone again, in a few hours. He pulls back from my face, and gives me a shark-grin, before clapping my ass through the thin material, of what some would consider a dress.

Sabrina convinced me earlier to go clubbing with her, despite my protesting. She'd come to my apartment and nearly dragged me out of my bed. Today was the only day I'd taken a personal day off, since the shitstorm almost a year ago, with my boss, and my boyfriend who wasn't really my boyfriend. Anyway, we'd gone to the club, I'd danced, this man had danced up against me, and I'd taken him with me home despite not really wanting him.

I'd tried the entire moving-on-thing, but quickly came to realize Tinder dates, and smalltalk wasn't my cup of tea. I quickly gave up on the entire dating life, and decided to focus on work. With the literal owner of the company gone for a killing-rampage for whatever he joined, the firm was busy. Zakaria was God knows where, and Malik barely showed his face, except for the weekly meetings we had with our employees.

Besides that, I basically ran the show. And hell, it's hard owning a business. At this rate, I was counting down the days of Elijah's exit from Cain's agreement, so that I could go back to working behind him. It was draining.

"I don't have any condoms," the guy from the club–I think his name is Rob–says against my mouth, and I grimace, not even in the mood for anything, and especially not sex.

"I'm a nun, I don't have sex," I say pulling back, with an awkward smile but his eyes double the size, taking my words to heart. I mentally face-palm myself. It was a joke for crying out loud. Rob doesn't say anything, but leans back against me, to kiss me again. I let him. What do I have to lose?

Rob and I stumble past my kitchen island (I had the apartment renovated. Turns out a COO makes a lot more than a sales manager), and into my open-floor living room. He pulls back, to catch his breath I suppose, and leans forward again, but stops when the sound of something cocking catches not just his, but both of our attention. My heart hammers against my ribcage, and flashbacks from a specific night swarm my mind.

I'd installed a security system, an expensive one at that too, after the entire incident. A system that alerted my phone every time someone even neared my front door, but I hadn't gotten anything the entire night. Rob looks up, not seeming bothered by the sound, and my eyes follow his face. I watch as his entire facial expression changes from a careless one to a "I'm-going-to-shit-all-over-this-womans-floor" and my heart rate only picks up.

I'm almost too afraid to turn around and meet whatever, or whoever is standing in my apartment. Despite the eternal war with my brain, I slowly turn around and gasp when I'm met with the barrel of a gun aimed right at Rob. My eyes assess the man standing before us; covered in blood, wearing a pair of black jeans and a white basic t-shirt. My eyes land on the scars that cover the arms holding the gun, the defined muscles.

My eyes move further up to the familiar face before me, and my heartbeat stays racing, but for all the wrong reasons. Not fear, no...sick twisted hot admiration. The throbbing of my racing heart seems to shift between my legs. My breathing picks up for all the wrong reasons. As if I'm drawn to the literal killer standing before me and my date, pointing a beautiful gun at Rob.

"What the f-fuck man?" Rob yells, his voice trembling. He throws his arms up in the air. I see Rob from my peripheral looking at me, almost pleading but I don't spare him a look.

I chance a look into the blood-drenched man's eyes, and warmth settles all over my body. Familiar warmth, one I'm almost attracted to. No, scratch that. One I for certainty know I'm more than attracted to...something that makes me go feral. The shadow of a grin sits on his lips, which only makes more hotness pool between my legs.