Mad, Mad World

by J. D. Sloane

  She froze as Ronan looked her over with lowered eyes and then crouched down in front of her, his dark blond hair brushing across the surface of his scars as he tilted his head at her. She swallowed hard as she realized how long his lashes were, his eyes so wide and dark they seemed to crowd out the whole room. She tried not to cringe as he brushed his fingers in front of her lips and felt a strange rush of longing as he simply tucked her long bangs behind her ear, leaning towards her as he dragged the recorder closer with a careless wave of his hand.

  “What I want to know, Alicia,” Ronan said, his low voice almost polite. “Is for you to tell me why you’re really here. I mean you certainly don’t need a story like mine to round out your resume. Not if your boyfriend keeps liking you that is. And something tells me that he will. Call it a professional intuition.”

  Her brow furrowed as Ronan cocked his head at her, his fingers biting into her chin as he tilted her head to face him.

  “I’m waiting.”

  “You already know why,” Alicia said, letting her breath out all in a rush as she twisted her left wrist in the opposite direction, a cold line of sweat rolling down the curve of her spine. “I told you. I want to write this story about you.”

  “And why would that be? There must be other things you can write about.”

  “Because it’s important. Because people will pay attention.”

  Ronan nodded, tilting her face to the right as he looked her over.

  “And you want them to pay attention,” he said, his voice smooth and reasonable.

  “Yes.”

  Alicia felt her brow furrow as Ronan considered her carefully for a moment and then released her jaw all at once, standing up in front of her. She yanked her left wrist against its cuff as he paced behind her chair, glancing over her shoulder as she heard him pause behind her.

  “And this boss of yours- Matt,” Ronan said, enunciating her name with an amused sort of dislike. “Do you like working for him?”

  “Most of the time,” Alicia said, beginning to pull her wrist again as she watched Ronan’s shadow loom across the floor.

  Come on, she thought, yanking her hand viciously as he glanced away and felt her hand slide another precious millimeter. It can’t be more than an inch of difference. And it’s not like this is my first time on the wrong side of some lunatic’s fantasy. At least here the cuffs have some kind of give…

  “Oh? Do I sense a little trouble in corporate paradise?”

  “No. Matt can just be- difficult. Sometimes.”

  “Well, all relationships have their challenges, Alicia. Maybe you’re just not trying hard enough.”

  “We’ve been fucking for a little over a year,” Alicia said tightly, the words flying out of her mouth before she could stop them. “I wouldn’t call it a relationship.”

  She heard Ronan stop moving and cringed in spite herself, wrapping her fingers around the slack of the chain as she braced herself for another attack. She held her breath as he started to pace again and yanked her left wrist frantically as he passed behind her, her panic rising as she realized that the entire cuff seemed to be stuck on the boney ridge of her thumb and wouldn’t move no matter how hard she pulled.

  “How honest,” Ronan said slowly, his low voice almost curious beneath its flat mask of boredom. “And who approached who, if I might be so bold?”

  “It was mutual. It was at a party. We were both drunk.”

  Alicia bit the inside of her lip as Ronan leaned over her and then tipped her chin up towards him, raising his brows as she shrunk away from him.

  “That’s sounds like a lie,” Ronan said, his voice hard and clipped. “Wouldn’t want to start down that road already, now would you? I can’t tell you how much it would disappoint me.”

  Alicia felt her stomach clench in anger as Ronan jerked her head to one side and leaned towards him as he smirked at her, his dark eyes spinning with a vicious kind of delight.

  “Fine. It was me, okay? I approached him.”

  “That’s better,” he said, raising his brows as he let her go. “And why did you approach him, Alicia? Think carefully now. How long did it take you to pick him out of the crowd, hmm?”

  “It wasn’t like that. I liked him. I don’t know why. He was funny and older and charming. And it wasn’t just me, okay? Lots of girls liked him.”

  “What a sweet story,” Ronan said, his low voice clipped and ironic as he paused behind her. “And I’m sure you were very convincing.”

  Ronan stepped in front of her as Alicia looked up at him, chewing her bottom lip in sudden agitation as he picked up the recorder.

  “But let’s be a little more honest, Alicia,” he said bringing the recorder up to his lips as he held her eyes. “Since it’s just the two of us. How long were you working there before you found out which of your- higher-ups had a weakness for all those innocent young interns? Did you wait a week even? Did you know before you got there?”

  “That wasn’t how it went,” Alicia said, her voice starting to shake as he held the recorder underneath her lips, his dark eyes shifting between contempt and humor so smoothly it was difficult to tell them apart. “I care about Matt. I do. It’s just that everything is on his terms. And he’s my boss so I’m starting to feel like I have to do it. Like I can’t stop, even if I wanted to…”

  Ronan laughed, his face suddenly so amused it was almost gentle and then set the recorder down beside her, his dark blond hair brushing his chin as he tilted his head towards her.

  “Oh,” he said, giving her a smile so brilliant that she paused, momentarily transfixed by the way it transformed his violent good looks into something close to beautiful. “Does that act actually work on the men you usually meet? Men like your boyfriend? Men who need to pretend you’re not exactly what you are?”

  Alicia swallowed hard as Ronan looked over her tight, gray dress and then crouched down in front of her, brushing her long hair back from her shoulders as his dark eyes searched her face.

  “You don’t have to pretend with me, Alicia,” Ronan said, brushing his fingers above her lips without quite touching them. “But you can if you want. I don’t mind. It’s one of my favorite games.”

  Alicia felt her stomach flip as Ronan inched closer and held her breath as he ran his fingers down the low V-neck of her dress, his gaze returning to her face as he tugged at the tie-front lightly. She looked towards the outer door as he tilted his head at her and tried not to flinch as he dug his fingers into her chin, turning her face back towards him as he leaned down to meet her eyes.

  “Ever been with someone you didn’t have to pretend for, Alicia?”

  Alicia held her breath as Ronan brushed his thumb over her lower lip before curling his fingers around the back of her neck.

  “Or do you like it better when they don’t know?” He whispered. “When they only. See. The lie?”

  His brow furrowed as he tugged at the tie-closure at her waist and swallowed hard as he dragged her closer, watching her expression as he pulled the wrap-front open with a tug of one hand.

  Alicia twisted her wrist wildly against her cuff as his expression changed, the sudden violent hunger in his face filling her with a strange urgent pang of want. She watched his lips part slightly as he looked over her dark lace bra and thong and felt her body sigh towards him as he curled his hand around her trim upper thigh, his wide, bottomless eyes tracing the delicate curves of her body like some kind of interesting new toy.

  She opened her mouth to speak and felt her hunger for him escalate frantically as Ronan’s eyes snapped to her face as if he had forgotten she was present. She inhaled slowly as he pressed his hand between her thighs and closed her eyes as he dragged his fingers up the line of her cunt, trying not to react as every nerve ending in her body went electric with need, momentarily rendering her humiliation biologically irrelevant.

  “Some men like to be fooled,” She said, her voice quaking as Ronan shifted her knees apart, h
is pale too handsome face pulsing with an unpleasant blend of need and a type of careful, well-hidden agony.

  “I’ll bet,” Ronan said, his gaze dropping to her thighs again as she tried to inch away from him. “And I’ll bet you’re the perfect little pupil too. So sweet. So innocent. So perfectly corruptible in every conceivable way.”

  Alicia inhaled quickly as Ronan slipped his hands inside the gossamer thin bands of her thong and dragged them down around her thighs, her heart leaping into her throat as he spread her legs wider. He leaned closer, his expression darkening with an emotion just south of compassion and shivered as he slid his hand between her legs, rubbing her open cunt roughly as he whispered against her cheek.

  “I like your real hair color better,” he said, his voice smooth and unrushed. Alicia felt her stomach tighten with humiliation as he gave her a wink, his dark eyes leaping with amused appreciation as he slid his fingers inside her. She gasped as he made a low noise in the back of his throat, trying to jerk out of his grasp and stiffened as he clamped his free hand around the back of her neck, holding her in place as he penetrated her roughly.

  “Do you have any idea how many women come here to see me, Alicia?” He asked, his voice low and urgent as he brushed his thumb over her clit, the careless turn of his fingers almost enough to bring her to orgasm. “Hmm? Any idea at all? All these little girls. Women with nothing to do and nothing to hope for. And I always wonder what they’re looking for, I honestly do. I know what they’re going to get, but never what they’re really after.”

  Alicia jerked her left hand wildly with one hand and felt her skin tear across her thumb, the cuff sliding off of her wrist with a sudden jolt. She felt Ronan jerk backwards and unwound the chain from her neck as she swung at him without thinking, a vicious thrill of victory filling her as her hand collided with his mouth. She heard Ronan let out a low noise of rage as he grabbed for her freed hand and she twisted her body around wildly as she started to scream, the entire room sliding into a confused jumble of images as Ronan shoved her onto her back and was on top of her in seconds.

  Alicia kicked at him as Ronan clamped his hand over her mouth and then pinned her left hand easily next to her head, digging his knee into the chain on her right wrist until it smacked against the floor. She blinked at him rapidly as he leaned over her, his thick blond hair falling into her face in a riot of waves and gasped as he slammed her left wrist against the tile with an expression of sudden unchecked malice.

  “Now that’s not very nice,” Ronan said, his voice low and vicious as he pinned her body against the floor.

  “Keep playing that dirty and you’ll never get the whole story about this place.”

  Alicia rolled her eyes up towards him and let out a low noise of outrage as she arched her back wildly trying to wrestle out of his grasp as he adjusted his grip with the casual amusement of a poorly matched athlete. She let her hand drop, panting quickly as his expression lit up with a surprised sort of excitement and gritted her teeth as she willed herself not to scream, his entire body so electric with want she could feel it pulsing off of him in waves.

  Don’t do it, she thought, closing her eyes as he slid his hand away from her mouth. That’s exactly what he wants. Give into panic now and you’ll never have the upper hand again.

  “Is this how you treat everyone who tries to help you?” Alicia asked, her voice shaking slightly as Ronan slid his eyes down the length of her body, knocking her thighs wider with a shove of one knee. “No wonder they never come back.”

  Ronan flinched slightly, his pale face shifting with a rush of emotions too quick to decipher and then gave her a brilliant hate-filled smile as he rolled his body closer, her skin igniting helplessly beneath the restless trail of his touch.

  “Oh, well,” Ronan said, his long dark blond hair brushing over her collarbone as he tightened his grip on her wrist. “Some of them do, Alicia. You might be surprised how many.”

  “Not all women like being bullied, Ronan. Or hasn’t your vast, personal history on the subject brought that home for you yet?”

  Ronan’s grin widened as she tried not to panic as felt his knee dig into her thigh, his gaze twitching over her lips like an electric current.

  “Bully you?” He said, his voice suddenly so amused and contemptuous she felt her entire body flush at once. “I’d never even have to force you. I bet tonight’s the first night in months you’ll go home to that surrogate father of yours and fuck him like you actually mean it.”

  Alicia jerked her head away from him as Ronan dug his fingers into the smooth line of her jaw, his dark eyes so magnetic she felt her stomach knot.

  “I’m trying to help you,” Alicia said, her voice coming out all in a rush.

  “You’re trying to help yourself,” Ronan said, leaning so close to her she felt his breath whisper across her lips. “Something tells me you’ve been doing that for your most of your life. I admire that. I honestly do.”

  Alicia heard a low noise escape her lips as Ronan arched against her on the floor and then jerked away from her slightly, turning her jaw to the left as his brow furrowed. Alicia ran her tongue over her lips as he looked over her neck carefully, his dark eyes widening with a sudden flash of understanding and blinked quickly as his expression softened, the change so smooth and abrupt it almost passed for compassion.

  “Oh,” he said, his voice low and thoughtful as he held her eyes. “You’re one of those.”

  Ronan leaned closer, dragging his finger along the curve of her collarbone and felt that same strange pang of recognition as he watched her, his dark wild eyes sweeping over her face as if deciphering a code that only he could see.

  “I think we’re going to be friends, Alicia,” he said finally, touching her neck seriously for a moment before dragging his hand away. “Good friends. What do you think?”

  Alicia froze as someone tapped at the outer door and watched Ronan’s eyes slide down the narrow length of her body, his lips curling up into an amused sneer.

  “Oh well,” Ronan said, the hypnotic intensity of his gaze disappearing into one of polite half-interest. “Looks like Dr. Dula’s JV team finally decided to get off the bench.”

  He leaned over her so rapidly she flinched, and she followed his eyes as he grabbed her wrist in one hand, jamming something into the cuff lock as his dark eyes twirled down at her. He whistled under his breath as he snapped the cuff off in less than five seconds and then tossed it to the floor, standing up next to her as he caught her expression.

  “Friends in low places, Miss Gale,” he said, his voice low and relaxed as he paced around her. “You really didn’t think I’d leave it all to chance, did you?”

  Alicia watched Ronan drag his chair over into its original position and felt her fingers twitch against the hem of her dress as she heard the muffled hush of footsteps echoing down the hallway. She dropped her hands as Ronan swung into action, moving so silently she barely could tell when he was behind her and felt the blood rush to her cheeks as he kicked her recorder across the floor and then sat down in the chair in front of the table, threading his cuffs back around wrists as if he had all the time in the world.

  “Game faces, Alicia,” Ronan said, snapping his fingers towards her impatiently as she turned away from him, reaching for the front of her dress with quaking fingers. “I wasn’t kidding about that two-minute warning. Unless, of course, you want that glorified handler of yours to yank this story out from under you before you even get started.”

  She felt his eyes on her as she tied her dress back into place and then smoothed her hair away from her face, suddenly craving a cigarette so badly her fingers trembled. She looked down at her bloody wrist, her gold eyes meeting his across the table and shook her sleeve over it as he raised his brows in her direction.

  “And what makes you think I’ll come back, Ronan?” Alicia asked, grabbing her recorder and shoving it into the front of her bag as her chin jerked with anger. “Oh right. I forget. Y
ou’re used to women just going along for the ride, aren’t you?”

  Alicia reached for her stack of notes and rapped them into a neat pile on the edge of the desk before tucking them next to her recorder.

  “I’m not one of them Ronan. I’m really not. You don’t want my help? Fine. I can run this story without you. I’ll drag my crew up to the house of every life you’ve destroyed and then some. Either way- captive audience.”

  “That’s true, Alicia,” Ronan said, tapping his knuckles against his mouth as his lips twitched with humor. “It is. But that story’s been told. Just telling them what they already know isn’t going to give you a whole lot of professional bargaining power, now is it? And isn’t that what brought you to me in the first place, hmm? A little- professional leverage?”

  Alicia turned towards the rising sound of voices and then turned her head back as he gave her a careless shrug. She pressed her lips together as his dark eyes spun over her and tried again to ignore the strange sensation it gave her. As if everything she believed about the world was built on the sandy edge of sea and if she stuck around long enough she might begin to feel her sanity ebbing away from her, one ruthless wave at a time.

  “What are you offering?”

  “Only the truth, Miss Gale,” Ronan said, something smooth and violent disappearing behind his expression before she could properly define it. “Isn’t that what your eager public wants?”

  Alicia took a step closer as she heard the hum of an internal lock and looked Ronan over, her gold eyes darting over his face with sudden excitement.

  “And Dula’s program?” she asked quickly.

  Ronan cocked his head at her, holding his finger up to his lips as he held her eyes.

  “First things first, Alicia. And I want that interview. No excuses. You tell Dula and your boss whatever they need to hear to get it. And then we’ll talk. Then we’ll see what we can do about settling up some of your old scores.”