Page 7 of Stalked By Pestilence
“Just you, is it?”
I leveled a glare on him. “I don’t know why that matters, but for tonight, yes.”
I hadn’t known the asshole long, but the deadly gleam in his stare gave me pause. “Lucky me.”
An anxious coil turned my stomach in on itself, and I wondered if I’d made a mistake in bringing him back. I didn’t know this asshole, and nothing about him gave the impression of an upstanding citizen. If anything, it gave the opposite.
Had I invited trouble back to my apartment in a ditch-effort to salvage the night? Old Emily was always pulling this shit.
Thinking, I pivoted and stared straight into those obscene eyes of his. His pupils dilated the second they landed on mine. It was the first time I realized the color wasn’t from colored contacts. Contacts couldn’t do that.
Was there some new technology that gave people different colored eyes? Whatever it was, the color was off-putting. Unnatural. Ominous, even. I couldn’t fathom someone willingly choosing yellow as their first choice. No, I could. A totally crazy person would be that bold.
“Maybe this is a bad idea.”
A smile swept his mouth that oddly settled the tension in my muscles. “Oh, absolutely. But the good kind of bad idea, yeah?” His fingers drummed on the doorframe before he crowded me. “Now where’s the bedroom, love?”
I swallowed a reply, heart taking off. I needed to get control over the situation. He was too comfortable giving orders, and that wouldn’t fly when I got him inside.
Crossing my arms, I blocked the way in and stared him down. “First thing’s first.” I started the usual lecture. “Rule number one:You pick a safe word before we go in, and the minute you need to use it, all of this ends. No hard feelings or questions asked. Rule number two: Once you step inside my apartment, I make the demands. You do as you’re told. Rule number three: The minute we’re done, you leave. And before we start anything, you have to tell me what’s off limits for you. Something tells me you’re not new to this sort of play, but I’d like to know if you have anything you’re not comfortable with.”
A breath whooshed out of him in surprise, and he picked his arm up from the doorframe before locking both against his chest. Then the bastard slow-blinked at me. “You really know how to set the mood, don’t you, Viper?”
Scoffing, I leaned against the doorframe and mirrored how he’d caught me in the hall at the club. “It’sma’amto you, birdie. And yes, I don’t ever enter the bedroom without knowing how to make sure it’s safe for both of us.”
He slithered closer to me like the snake he accused me of being, dropping that massive tattooed arm on the doorframe again. A power move he no doubt used on women to seduce them, but one that wouldn’t work on this chick, so I stayed perfectly in place and unaffected by his playboy tactics.
“Is it you who’s always in charge, then?”
I scowled at him. “It is with you.”
His eyes seemed to take on a brighter yellow gleam than before, but I blamed a trick of light. “Safe word, is it? How about a safe phrase...” He leaned in, staying on his side of the doorway. “Not interested.”
This asshole was clearly a brat and would give me trouble all night if he stayed, but the acceleration of my pulse suggested I wasn’t as turned off by the idea of a fight as I thought I would be.Maybe it’d be a nice change of pace to dominate someone who clearly enjoyed giving orders.
Playing his game, I shrugged and took a step back, putting space between us. “You can leave then.”
This jerk was way too pretty when he grinned like he was absolutely obsessed with anything I said or did. “Oh no, I’m very interested. Just my safe phrase meant to commemorate our meeting, yeah? And as far as things I’m not comfortable with, nothing comes to mind.”
Part of me hadn’t expected him to answer any of my questions. I’d planned to use it as my get out of jail free card to tell him to fuck off so I could get some sleep before becoming a whole new person tomorrow. But he’d given me what I asked for, so I’d get this last time out of my system.
With one curt nod, I started to walk further into my apartment. But for some reason, the asshole stayed on the other side of the door and called out to me before I wandered too far inside.
“I do have a request, though.”
I sighed and swept a hand through my hair. After a little curse under my breath, I pivoted and crossed my arms, hip out in an act of annoyance. “What is it?”
I couldn’t wait to get this idiot cuffed, blindfolded, and ball-gagged on my bed. I’d teach him the double-finger gesture to end the play, but I definitely didn’t want to see or hear him do more than grunt and groan after he entered my room. Certainly not the safe phrase his jokester mind came up with.
I cycled through the best whips and paddles to use on him. He was bigger and more muscular than most of the men I’d been with, so he could probably take some of my heavier duty toys. If he had nipple piercings like I suspected he did, I had a few clips andchains I could use. I’d put a cock ring on him and fuck him until he begged me for release. The thought of it brought a smile to my face.
“A kiss before we start,” he cut through my momentary spiral into scenes.
The light in the stairwell was limited to a small window half a floor up. The only bit coming through the window made his figure come across far more sinister than Blue Eyes had been tonight. Songbird gave the impression of a monster in the dark, so his request put me off more than normal.
“A kiss?” I asked, trying to gauge the asshole’s aim. “Why?”
He ducked his head down to enter my apartment, and the soft click of my door caused my pulse to spike. His unusual eyes settled on me, and then he was closing the space between us in two floor-eating strides.