by Nora Flite
I knew instantly that this wasn't a place people just walked into. Pure Pleasure didn't sell their products here, they made them here.
I probably look like a tourist. But tourists didn't have the singular intensity in their eyes like I did.
The statuesque and painfully gorgeous red-head behind the front desk waved at me. “Can I help you?” she asked.
Stepping forward, my eyes tracked along the nearby hallway. Was he down there? “I'm looking for...” I nearly spilled the name Silver. “Keswick. Is he here?”
“Mr. Silverwell?” she asked, her pouty lips scrunching tight. She flicked her eyes down to the jacket I was holding. Did she recognize it? Then, she gave his location away by peeking over her shoulder. “Um, let me just make a call and see if—”
I was already marching down the hallway.
“Hey!” she shouted, following behind me. “Wait! You can't just go down there!”
Watch me. Clenching my hands, I moved faster. I was done not understanding his motives.
I was going to get answers.
And I was getting them now.
Rounding the corner, I entered a new room. It was big and wide, a long staircase crawling up the other side. Computers filled several counters, people hunched and typing away. Some were drawing on gigantic screens, and one look had me blushing.
Dildos are obvious from any distance.
Everything was a whirl of faces and colors, a low murmur of music and voices. This was no sweatshop, people were smiling and joking from their chairs as they worked.
“Excuse me, Miss!”
Ignoring her, I spun on my heel, head swinging. Where is he? He had to be here, I was sure. So why didn't I see him?
“You need to...!” She reached for me; I darted away, infuriating her further and not caring one bit. I didn't feel like myself, I'd slid out of my own skin somewhere along the way. The old me, the shivering and traumatized me, was on the sidewalk outside.
His face was turned away, speaking to someone who was hunched over their laptop.
But I knew him with miles between us.
Silver lifted his eyes, catching me from the corner of one. I watched with amazement as his sure smile shattered. I saw it drip lower and lower, almost sliding from his jawline.
The person sitting next to him perked up, sensing Silver's sudden change in mood. The other man twisted his chair, looking between us curiously.
Pet, Silver mouthed, but no sound came out. It should have felt so fucking good to see him shocked. But standing there under his powerful stare, I began drifting.
Hold on, I told myself. My internal voice was hollow. Focus, get angry! He ruined everything you were! You need to hate him!
In my chest, something clutched my heart and squeezed.
Neither of us had moved. His toes pointed at me, his hands—hands that had always been unexpectedly soft—clenching at his hips. He was coiled all the way to his eyebrows, and even so, frozen to the ground.
I could feel every breath he took, my own body swelling simultaneously.
“What are you doing here?” he asked, danger flashing through his tone.
“I'm sorry, sir.” My red-headed pursuer came around, her phone lifted calculatingly. “I tried to stop her, but she just ran back here! I'll call the police.”
“Wait,” he said, motioning for her to stop. “It's fine.”
I felt a twinge of delight at how her mouth flapped. “Sir?”
Silver hadn't stopped watching me. I was rooted to the spot, digging for any fragment of the strength I'd stormed in with. Remember who he is. Cutting into my own palms with my nails, I steeled myself. “We need to talk.”
He eyed me closely. I could feel his pupils trying to slip into my head and understand why I was here. “My office,” he said, gesturing at the stairs. Then he turned enough to talk to the man at the computer. “Florian, send that data to me and I'll finish looking it over.”
“Alright,” the blonde stranger said. He squinted at me again, like he could grasp what was going on if he looked hard enough.
The woman from the front desk stood there another minute. I think she kept expecting Silver to change his mind and tell her to call security after all.
Of course, he didn't.
The office was gorgeous, high ceilings, tall windows, and a black couch that glistened in the corner. Silver shut the door behind us; the lock clanked through the air pointedly. “How did you find me?” he snapped.
“I thought you'd be happy,” I said, not hiding my sarcasm. “You wanted to see me, here I am.”
“You know I didn't mean like this.” Running a palm over his hair, he stayed by the door. The tension in his face made me realize that as big as this office was, there was little space between us.
“Your business card,” I said, shaking his jacket. “It was in the pocket, Keswick.” I spit his real name out, then threw the garment onto the floor by his desk.
Silver's shoulders slid down. “Of course.” He relaxed enough to prop himself on the wall, one knee bent—oddly casual. “I'm guessing you didn't come here just to return that.”
“Of course not!” Filling my chest, I threw my arms down. “I told you to leave me alone, but you still keep trying to reach me! More letters, more fucking gifts? I never wanted to see your face ever again, Silver!” Lies. “But I'm here, so talk. Tell me why you're risking your safety by contacting me—me, who you know has been talking to the detective who wants to put you in prison!”
His mouth became a thin line. It was his only reaction.
I said, “I need to understand. I can't handle knowing you're out here, waiting for me... thinking of me... until I know why you came back in the first place.”
His next movements were too fast, his body rushing forward until he had me backed against the polished desk. “You don't understand yet, do you, Pet?”
“Don't call me Pet.” It was a frail demand, so I narrowed my eyes. Fuck, he was too close. His heat was washing over me, and with the sharp edge of the desk behind me, I was trapped. “Hostage is better, isn't it?”
I meant to piss him off. Amazingly, a slow smirk spread over his lips. “I'll call you that if you want. My hostage, I fucking love that. It means you're mine.”
Hot ripples made my lower belly squeeze. No, don't let him get to you. This man was a demon crafted from sexual desire. I had to be strong, I needed to understand what was going on. “I remember everything, you know. That means I remember how you nearly killed me.”
His eyebrows scrunched.
I didn't let him speak, my lips curling back as my anger returned. “You put a gun to my fucking head. I thought I was going to die, Silver! I was ready to go out into the world and live my life and you stole that away from me!”
My muscles bunched, I shoved forward and pushed him off of me. The baffled light that entered his eyes was glorious. I'd never felt so powerful, so... so right.
“I was never going to pull the trigger—”
“How could I know that? Why does that even matter?”
“You weren't in real danger, Pet, I—”
“I said don't call me that!” I jabbed a finger at him. “Because of you, my whole life went off the rails!” Infused by fury, I pushed him back further.
Hard fingers coiled in my hair. My world spun, his force spinning me so that I bounced against the door. I felt the hinges rattle along with my teeth. It didn't hurt, but it left me stunned.
Silver's nose ground on mine, his searing words kissing my ears. “You're accusing me of planning to kill you when you won't even listen to my side.” He tightened his hands, breathing faster—deeper. “You said you wanted to know why I came to this city, why I came back for you.”
Hot tears of exhaustion prickled the corners of my eyes. “Was it to destroy what was left of me? Is that why you've been playing with me, so you could twist me up inside and fuck me over? You broke me, you fucking broke me! Why did you come back?!”
His teeth bruised me
as his kiss smothered my mind. Pleasure and pain sponged through my skin. I was ready for war, not for this. I wanted to hate him, and in a way, I still did. But betrayal wasn't enough to lock my senses away from someone like him.
I gasped for air when he freed me. The fervor in his eyes was disorienting, I had the strangest suspicion that he was just as lost as I was. “You,” he hissed out, the word as permanent as a tattoo on his flesh. “I came back because of you.”
My blink was sluggish; I struggled in his grip, yet he just squeezed me harder. “That isn't an answer, I want a real answer!”
His whole face crumbled, I saw his molars as he shouted. “I couldn't stop thinking about you! Is that what you need to hear?”
Quicker and quicker, I was floating away from my own body.
What does he mean?
He spat out more words, each coming hotter—more furious—than the last. “I couldn't get you out of my mind!” Laughing, Silver cupped his temples and backed away. “And then you went and forgot about me.”
I slumped on the wall, my knees giving out until I sank to the floor. “I don't... I don't understand.”
“Neither do I.” Rubbing the bridge of his nose, Silver backed up into his desk so violently it shook. His nameplate fell to the floor, ignored entirely. “Why would a girl I'd met for a few mere minutes be hammered into my skull?”
He wasn't watching me. It was one of the few moments where he wasn't. Able to study the curve of his nose and the way his hair faded down his temples, I thought he looked exceptionally tired.
Then he jabbed his eyes back at me, and I jumped. “Do you want to know what I figured out?” he asked.
“Please,” I said on impulse.
He smiled with one side of his mouth. “I like that word on your lips.” His chest flared, like he was gathering himself. “This is what I know. That day we met—that fateful little moment? I was at the climax of finally getting the revenge I'd been desperate for. I had no intention of staying in this city once I was done. I was ready to forget everything.”
Every answer he spit just gave me new questions. I didn't want to stop the flow of information I was getting, so I sat on my hands and listened quietly.
Silver said, “A year after robbing those bastards, you still lingered in my thoughts. Fuck, it was frustrating!” Laughing without humor, he hung his head. He was speaking to the floor, or maybe himself. I felt like an observer. “You were no one, and I was becoming someone. I used money and my growing power to invest in more of both. It was easy, and finding women to distract myself with was even easier.”
A splinter of disgust stabbed into me. Stop. Fucking stop. I was here for answers, not to question if learning the truth would divide Silver and me even more. I didn't want to be connected! He'd wronged me... and I had to keep that in my heart.
I had to.
“No matter how many girls I screwed, though... at the end of everything, as I fell asleep or my mind wandered, you were there.” He lifted his eyes, burning me like an ageless sun. “You, Alexis Willow. The girl from my past.”
My blood flash-flooded my veins, making my heart pound.
In the recess of his voice, I sensed his sincerity. “I knew I had to make you my present.”
Clutching at the sides of my knees, I summoned pain, fear, anything to smother my rising delight. No matter how I tried, I couldn't get my rage to clog the path to my soul.
My voice cracked. “You came back just to be with me?” A wave of light-headedness made me sway where I sat. “How did you even find me?”
“I had your name.” He cracked a wider grin. “I've got some talent with using information, remember? I'm the infamous hacker that got away.” It should have felt like he was bragging. It didn't. “I've been watching you for so long, trying to grasp what made you so chronically addicting.”
“So you were stalking me,” I whispered.
“Yes. When you asked me that on our first date, I was surprised.”
First date? “I still don't understand. What did I do to you?” How had I affected this bold, impossibly forceful man?
Silver leaned forward. His fingers crushed the rim of the desk, knuckles turning white. “That day in the bank, do you remember what we talked about?”
“I don't know. I really don't.”
“Money, right?”
I breathed out through my nose. “Yes. You were robbing the damn bank, of course it was about money.”
He chuckled, and the sound made me stare at him. “Not my money. Yours. Alexis, you offered me everything you had.”
Had I done that? Digging back, I remembered what he meant. I'd handed him my bank info, imploring him to take the money I'd set aside. I'd wanted him to leave everyone alone, flee before an errant bullet was fired from him or a brave cop.
Silver gripped the desk harder, I waited for the wood to splinter. “You needed that money, didn't you?”
“It was going to be for college. For leaving the city.” Acid bubbled on my tongue. “I spent it all on therapy instead. It took me forever to handle my anxiety well enough to get a fucking job.”
“Because of me.” It wasn't a question.
“Because of you, yes.”
His eyes were hooded, no light touching the black centers. The sun hit him from behind, extending his shadow so that as it stretched over the room, floating an inch from me on the rug.
Finally, he must have realized what he'd done to me years ago. What he was still doing by continuing to reach out to me. Did he feel regret? Did he feel anything at all?
Silver's voice was so low that I had to strain to hear him. “You were the first person I'd ever met that knew that money wasn't as important as someone's life.” His chin touched his chest, I couldn't see his expression. “I'll say it again. I never planned to hurt you that day.”
With great effort, I kept myself steady. “What about now?”
His eyes shot up, raw and wild. “Excuse me?”
Silver had hacked another bank, the radio had told me. If the first hadn't been enough, why was this one any different? There was a chance people would get caught in the middle the longer he was on the streets.
People who might not be lucky enough to survive with just emotional scars, like me.
My stomach ate itself as I weighed my question. “Do you even think about anyone else, or do you just want more money?”
“Why would I...” He locked up. “Ah. You've been watching the news.”
Pulling my numb hands up, I gestured around the luxurious office. “You have all this, why are you stealing more?”
“You're right, I'm rich. Why would I rob anyone?”
He was challenging me to come up with a reason. As I hunched there, my hands balling into fists... I slowly let my arms drift to the floor. He was right, why would he risk robbing another bank if he didn't need the money?
Licking my lips, I said, “You wouldn't. You're saying it's not you.”
A flicker of relief glowed in his handsome face. He was happy I believed him. “It's not me. Though I'd love to know who it is.”
Rattled by all this information, I cradled my head in my hands. Silver had led me on the road to hell, he'd stolen my confidence and I'd wallowed in the despair of that for years. But who I'd been back then... and who I was now... was as different as night and day. I'd changed again and again.
What about him?
Before I could react, his long arms curled around my huddled body. Everything in him flexed, he lifted me like I weighed nothing. The front of his shirt brushed my cheek, his scent comforting me.
Sitting back on the desk, he held me tight in his lap. “Do you believe me, that I wouldn't hurt you?” His lips were so close. So damn close.
He saw me staring, following the energy that connected between our bodies. “I'm not sure.”
Silver cracked a surprising smile. “That honesty again. Then how about this.” The same fingers that had dug into his desk gently rolled down my cheek. “I'm going to prove
to you that you're safe with me.”
A layer of tingles moved with his hand. “How?”
“By spending every waking moment—and some non-waking ones—at your side.” The sunlight flared behind him, finally catching the edges of his perfect teeth. “I told you before. Now that I have you back, I'm never letting you go.” He nuzzled my ear, eliciting a whimper. “My beautiful hostage. My Pet.”
“I have so many more questions,” I said, turning his way.
“You know so much already, what else is there?”
I watched him from under my eyelashes. “You said I forgot you. But the you that I knew back then... he was a monster. Did you really want me to remember that?”
“No, not at all. Selfish or not, I never wanted you to remember that day. In just a few months, we've created something so hot, so addicting between us.” He nuzzled the hollow of my throat. “For awhile, I'd hoped I could satisfy my curiosity with you... and then forget you.”
I hugged him harder.
“But I couldn't do it. I couldn't shake you off. When you remembered who I was, I was distraught, and also happy. You finally knew me. I didn't have to hide anymore. What finally jogged your memory?”
The reminder of the video on my phone had me tensing up all over again. Silver sensed it, embracing me like he could squeeze the pain away. “That guy who was facing off with you outside my work, Detective Roose? He sent me a video of the robbery.”
“Is that so,” he mused softly.
Eyeing him, I was reminded of one of the reasons I'd come here. “He's been talking to me for weeks. He really wants to find you, Silver.” Ice settled in my veins. “You have to be more careful.”
“I'm very careful.”
“No you aren't! You kept talking to me even when I told you not to!” Under my barrage of words, his expression was calm. The corner of his mouth was begging me to kiss it, his eyes warm as an Indian summer. “Weren't you worried I'd turn you in to the police?”
Running a knuckle across my forehead, he brushed my earlobe. “When you're in love, you stop caring about the risks.”
Love.
My heart took all of my focus. It spun and swelled, it possessed my mind.