by J. D. Sloane
“Hamtramck, right?” She asked, her voice sweeping towards him as he ignored her. “My roommate’s grandmother used to live about ten blocks from here. I remember because of the factory…”
“Don’t touch it,” Ronan said mildly without opening his eyes. He heard Alicia drop her hand away from one of the candles on the window sill and cracked his eyes open as she looked at him quickly, drawing back her arm as Ronan closed his eyes again.
“Aren’t you going to ask me how I found you?”
“I assume Alek put you on the right trail. Nice hair by the way. Looks like you can follow directions after all, Miss Gale. What a surprise.”
“How do you know that if I can follow your trail, the police won’t?”
“Because anyone else who shows up at Magda’s doorstep asking for me won’t live long enough to make a second mistake, Miss Gale.”
Ronan opened his eyes and rolled them towards her with an amused sort of dislike, the light from the candlelight dancing in his eyes.
“It’s actually how she wanted to handle your request, to be honest. She considers that sort of thing a- professional courtesy.”
Ronan watched the fear skitter across her face, skipping across the façade of her unruffled tough girl mask like a stone pitched across a smooth, clear lake and then her eyes narrowed as she turned her back on the abandoned block below them, her full red mouth turning down as he tipped his eyes in her direction.
“So what stopped her?” She asked, flipping her hair behind her ear with a flick of her long, manicured nails.
Ronan rolled his jaw as Alicia ran her fingers around the edge of his desk and then slid her body behind his chair, brushing against him so lightly he gritted his teeth. He felt his face tighten with irritation as she stepped up alongside him and leaned against the wood and glass table top, her gold eyes sweeping over his expression like some sort of challenge.
“Good question,” he said, his voice low and annoyed as he scratched the back of his neck in light annoyance. “Maybe you should go ask her yourself.”
Alicia rolled her eyes away from him, leaning against his desk as she toyed with her strappy black heel and he bit back a light sneer as her skirt slid up her trim white thighs, his eyes darting over her thin, girlish body before he could stop himself. He saw her dance her fingers over the two large candles next to her, glancing at him as she refrained from touching them by mere millimeters and closed his eyes again as he rolled his neck to one side, his hunger for her beginning to hum along unhealthy corridors.
“Lance sent over the footage you taped,” she said, blinking down at him through her long lashes as she pressed her fingers against the glass. “It’ll be all over the news before morning.”
“And is that why you’re still here, Alicia?” he asked, dragging the phrase out until it hung between them like a taunt. “So you can find a way to- thank me for it?”
Ronan looked over her parted legs pointedly for a moment, and then leaned forward as Alicia froze, humming under his breath quietly as he leaned close to her lips.
“Because I’m flattered,” he said, his low voice soft and malicious. “I really am. But as far as I’m concerned our accounts are all settled up.”
Alicia flinched as he leaned close to her ear, brushing his fingers through the ends of her hair without quite touching her.
“You don’t owe me anything anymore. Not that I won’t occasionally miss the unparalleled pleasure of your company, Miss Gale.”
Alicia blushed as Ronan stood up in front of her and he felt that strange uncontrollable surge of lust for her again as she tried not to cringe, her eyes rolling over his body with such a sharp blend of anger and hunger that he raised his brows at her.
“Anything else I can do for you, Alicia?” Ronan asked, turning away from her as he walked over to a dark built in fireplace mantle and pulled down a half empty bottle of vodka. “Because I’m sure that ivory tower of yours has a much nicer view than this place does.”
“I was there when you escaped,” Alicia said quickly as he poured himself a tall shot and threw it back in one swallow. “You wanted me to find you. I could tell that you did. That’s why you sent me that message. You gave me just enough information to know where to start, who to go to…”
“Just holding up my end of the deal, Holly,” Ronan said, his dark eyes dancing with a wave of sympathy so amused it was practically contempt. “You really aren’t used to getting paid full price for services rendered, are you?”
“Right,” she said, her voice quaking with anger as he shrugged in her direction, topping off his glass before sending the bottle skittering back into the alcove. “Because that’s all I was to you? Just some other girl you used?”
Ronan snapped his head in Alicia’s direction, his brow furrowing with surprise and tried not to react as she approached, his fingers tapping on his glass lightly as he watched her with narrowed eyes.
“I thought what you wanted was control,” she said, her voice low and vicious. “But it isn’t just that, is it? No. What you really want is someone you can hurt. But who won’t see you any differently because- because they can’t.”
Alicia stood in front of him, the spoiled schoolgirl triumph in her face igniting him in a dozen different directions, each uglier than the last. He watched her run her eyes up and down his body hungrily, and then walked towards him, enunciating each word carefully as held his eyes.
“Is that all it was?” She asked, her voice beginning to pulse with confidence. “Is that why you liked her? Why you choose her?”
Ronan rolled his jaw as she approached, his fingers beginning to twitch with agitation as his temper took a sudden erratic upwards spike.
“You want someone who can take anything you dish out and will just keep on wanting you. Because then you know. That’s your test, right? And Brooke is just the only girl who ever passed it…”
Ronan took two quick steps forward and shot his hand out before she could speak.
“I already told you once about that,” he said, digging his fingers into the hard line of her jaw as he turned her face up to meet him. “A good prostitute always knows her customers, Alicia. From the moment she walks through the door. Those who don’t can get themselves into a lot of unpleasant situations. You can’t begin to imagine how unpleasant.”
Alicia tried to squirm out of his grasp as he pulled her closer, dragging out his words until they were practically a caress.
“And like I said. Our accounts are all. Settled. Up. You don’t have anything to offer me, Alicia. Not anymore. And believe me when I say that I’ve given you your very last byline.”
Ronan let her go with a rough shove and picked up his glass as she rocked back on her heels, her face darkening with embarrassment. His felt a rush of malicious triumph as he saw her try to bury the emotion behind her usual wall of defenses and then headed back for the window, his expression becoming so polite and unreadable it was almost serene.
“So long, Miss Gale,” he said, his voice suddenly bored and disengaged as he whistled under his breath. “Don’t forget to write. You know how much I hate disappointing all those sad, lonely hearts out there.”
He watched her reflection in the window as she stared at him without moving, her pale face shifting quickly between humiliated anger and a bewildered sort of pain and felt that unhealthy quake of hunger again as she turned on her heels, her fingers trembling slightly as she headed for the door.
“Sorry,” she said, her voice low and bitter as she threw him one last hate-filled glace over her shoulder. “I forgot. Enjoy your monastery, Ronan. I’m sure your former girlfriend will appreciate how little you cared for all the girls you fucked in her absence.”
Ronan snapped his head in Alicia’s direction, his brow furrowing with an unexpected flash of pain and closed the distance between them in a matter of seconds, his face hardening with an anger so deep and cheerful that Alicia took a quick, instinctive step backwards.
“Now that’s not very nice, is it?” Ronan said, slamming his hand against the door as he cut her off smoothly. “I’m going to need you to apologize for that, Alicia.”
“Good luck with that,” she snapped, and Ronan threw his hand out to grab her, his pale face twisting with an amused sort of rage as she jerked her arm away from him.
She took another step backwards as he began to smile, his wide eyes darting over her pretty, overly made-up face with a sudden hate-laced throb of want.
“Why should I? Because you can’t face how much you want me here? How much you need me here?”
Ronan ran his tongue over his bottom lip as he took a step closer, tracking her movements like a cornered animal as he raised his brows in her direction.
“Is that what you tell yourself?” He asked, tilting his head towards her as he cut off her retreat with a casual tilt of his shoulders. “That I need you here?”
He threw his arm out to grab her again, a low hiss of annoyance escaping the back of his throat as she darted out of his grasp and looked around the empty hall pointedly for a moment as he threw up his hands, his dark eyes beginning to spin with a sudden unhealthy light.
“Then why not prove it, hmm? Go ahead, Alicia. Show me what I’m missing. Maybe I’ve been wrong about you all along. First. Time. For everything.”
“Keep pretending that I’m just someone else you used, Ronan,” she said, her voice soft and vicious as she side-stepped him quickly, trying to widen the gap between them as she held his eyes. “Isn’t that what you want? To pretend I’m just some whore like the rest of them? Someone who never meant anything to you so you can keep on waiting for her? Keep on pretending that she’s out there somewhere…”
Ronan’s face twisted with a sudden flash of fury and he lunged for her all at once, his fist closing around arm as she started to run. He yanked her around like a ragdoll, jerking away from her smoothly as she swung on him and caught her wrist in his other hand as her fingertips sailed past his face, giving her a rough shake.
“I don’t think so,” he said through clenched teeth, his expression lighting up with a delighted sort of rage. “Not a second time. You should know better than that.”
“Let me go!” Alicia screamed as he shoved her backwards, her thighs smacking against the back of the glass desk.
He felt his hunger for her take a violent, upwards spike as she scrambled backwards unto the desk, trying to break his grip and reached for the front of her throat as her skirt slid up the smooth line of her thighs, pinning her thighs a part as he yanked her back towards him.
“Need is a strong word, Alicia,” he said, digging his fingers into the gentle arch of her neck as he dragged her forward, his lips grazing her cheek as he spoke. “Very strong. I wouldn’t use it lightly if I were you.”
Ronan looked down at her as her eyes fluttered wide, watching that sly undercurrent of arrogance disappear from her face as he dug his thumbs deeper, his excitement escalating wildly as she clawed at his wrists, struggling to break his grip. He closed his eyes as she gasped, a yawning compulsion of need filling him as he shoved his hand between her legs and rubbed her with rough, thoughtless violence as her frail body quaked, his hunger to kill her so acute his vision seemed to begin below a thin membrane of red.
He shoved her body backwards, her open thighs sliding against his cock with a sudden painful throb and froze as he felt her hand brush his cheek, her nails grazing the deep groove of his scar so delicately he flinched. Ronan opened his eyes as Alicia blinked quickly, her hand dropping and felt a sudden pang of panic as her eyes shifted from gold to green, her eyelids sliding closed as her head tipped backwards. He opened his hand without thinking as an image of Brooke burned though his mind like the negative of photograph and waited for the pain to hollow him out like a nuclear blast as Alicia took a sudden startled breath.
Ronan watched her eyes fly open, running towards him like a child that been dragged out of a dream and ran his hand around the back of her head, dragging her towards him roughly as she coiled her fingers around the back of his neck.
Ronan kissed her without thinking, trying not to break the spell as Alicia ran her tongue into his mouth and he closed his fist into the back of her hair as he sucked it hard, shoving his hand between her legs with a burst of violent, unchecked hunger. He jerked away from her slightly as he felt her nails dig into his back and felt his cock buck against her thigh as she reached for her mouth, her fingers fluttering against her lips as they came away dotted with blood.
Ronan reached for her as she touched his face, the fear in her expression eclipsed almost completely by the strange wild excitement in her eyes and then paused as she slid her hand down the front of his pants, the jolt it gave him catching him so off guard that he snapped his hand around her wrist, holding her palm in place as he leaned over her.
“Apologize to me,” he said his voice low and raw as she blinked up at him, her fingers twitching in his grasp. “Go ahead, Alicia. Say you’re sorry.”
Alicia rolled her tongue over her lower lip, her eyes never quite leaving his cock and sighed up at him as she shifted her hips on the desk, the sudden hungry submission in her face moving him in spite of herself.
“I’m sorry,” she said, her voice low and sweet as her wavy red hair brushed her lips.
Ronan stepped closer, tightening his fist as he ran her palm down the hard line of his cock, and rubbed against her slowly for a moment as her lips sighed open. He let her hand slide forward slightly, closing his eyes as she tried to close her fingers around his cock and looked down at her a little more kindly as he bit back a low moan, a sudden shock of freedom passing through him as he realized that for the first time in months touching a woman didn’t remind him of anyone. No one at all.
“For what, Alicia?” He said, watching her mouth carefully as she closed her eyes. “You’re going to have to say it out loud. Go ahead.”
Alicia exhaled quickly, her eyes widening and leaned closer to him as she pressed her other hand between her open thighs, the sudden adolescent look on her face so urgent and corrupt he froze, momentarily transfixed.
“I’m sorry I mentioned her,” she said slowly, her hungry, half-lidded gaze shifting smoothly from his eyes to his lips. “I won’t again. I promise.”
Ronan tilted his head at her, his face softening slightly as he let her hand slide out of his grasp and bit back a quiet sigh of surprise as she dropped her eyes, unzipping his pants as she slid her fingers around his cock. Alicia fisted him gently for a moment, letting him buck against the loose coil of her hand and he watched her with sudden fascination as she licked her bottom lip, pulling him out of her pants with the tips of her fingers as she dragged her other hand down the length of his cock.
Ronan brushed his hand against the back of her neck as she pumped him with one hand and felt his body give off a low, unhealthy shudder as she rolled her tongue around the head slowly, her eyes snapping shut as if she was sliding backwards into some drug-induced dream. He bit back a low moan as she played with him prettily for a few seconds, watching her red mouth close around him with a shameless open hunger and pressed his hand against her cheek as her eyes fluttered open, running his thumb beneath her jaw as he slid himself deeper.
“That’s good, Alicia,” Ronan said, holding her head in place as he pumped in and out of her mouth slowly, his cock running up against her soft inner cheek. “You like to touch, don’t you? I like that. I do.”
He looked down at her as she met his eyes, tipping her chin back as her lips sighed wider and gritted his teeth as he shoved himself deeper, his hand coiling into the back of her hair as pumped himself between her lips in smooth, brutal bursts. He closed his eyes as he felt her wince, knocking her hand away impatiently as she tried to control the quick, urgent pulse of his rhythm and tilted her head forward as she curled her hands around the front of the desk, dragging her over his cock by the back of her hair. Ronan rocked against her quickly, the
sudden, empty submission in her face driving his excitement higher and tightened his fist in the back her hair as he heard her gag lightly, moving her over his cock slowly for a moment before he pulled himself out of her mouth.
Alicia took a quick breath as he tapped against her lips and she rolled her eyes up to meet him, reaching for his cock with such simple hungry greed that he smiled slightly, his dark eyes almost gentle as he brushed her long bangs away from her lips.
“That’s good, Alicia,” he said, his brow furrowing as he felt her fist his cock quickly, her genuine, girlish urgency moving him on some deep, half-buried level. “Now. Tell me you like it.”
“I like it,” she sighed, her voice soft and rushed as she wrapped her hand around the collar of his shirt, trying to drag him closer as she leaned up to kiss him. “I do. Tell me what you want. I’ll do it. Whatever you need…”
Ronan held up his hand, pressing her backwards impatiently as his face tightened with annoyance and watched her tilt her head at him as her eyes narrowed with sudden mischief, sliding onto her back as she slid her tight dress up around her thighs.
“You don’t have to kiss me,” she said, hooking the side of her dark lace thong with both hands as she slid them down to her knees. “You don’t have to be nice. Be as rough as you want. You don’t have to teach me anything.”
Ronan watched her with sudden focused fascination as she dragged her fingers down the wet line of her cunt and then swung her heel up to his thigh, brushing her fingers across her lips slowly as she shoved him away from her playfully.
“Still want me to say I’m sorry?” She asked, giving him a sly smirk as she rubbed the front of her foot beneath his cock. “Because I am. I’m very, very sorry…”
Ronan looked down at her, his hand snapping around her ankle with a sudden, violent hunger and tossed it away lightly as he pushed her knees apart, shoving her back against the desk as he pinned her wrist above her head. He forced his cock inside her in one sudden, brutal shove, closing his eyes as he heard her cry out, her frail body quaking beneath him, and wrapped his free hand around her hip as he felt her body quake, thrusting in and out of her with quick, thoughtless violence.