Page 61 of Wicked Ends
I wandered around the room, checking the bathroom last, again making sure the bag wasn’t here, when a sound tugged me back to the bedroom. A figure moved toward the window. Ari was awake. I kept to the shadows for a couple of beats, watching her. I could spend my whole fucking life watching this woman. It was thrilling. Watching her when she didn’t know she was being watched? Addictive.
I reached into my back pocket and pulled out a folded piece of cloth. Thanks to Asher, and his recent obsession with the girl who’d told the whole school they were dating (despite them hating each other), I was prepared for tonight.
The sedative smelled like burned cotton. I didn’t let myself inhale it too much as I stepped up behind Ari and grabbed her.
She spun, and her eyes met mine. I felt a jolt right down to my balls, like I always did. It was like the woman had a direct line to my cock.
She panicked, the sleep jumping from her eyes as I tossed her onto the bed and quickly followed. I took the opportunity to straddle her when she bucked, and pressed the cloth against her nose and mouth.
“Shh, I’ve got you…”
She glared up at me, trying not to breathe. I chuckled. She was fucking entertaining, I’d give her that. There hadn’t been a dull moment since she’d walked into The Clutch and turned every head in the house.
“So, this is where you’ve been hiding from me? It’s pretty depressing, I’m not going to lie,” I teased. “You know, I’ve thought a lot about what to do with you… the woman who stole from me. People don’t cross me and get away with it. It doesn’thappen… I don’t allow it to happen. So, the real question is: what am I going to do with you now?” I tilted my head to the side.
Her eyes widened at my implied threat.
I could see her thinking furiously, trying to anticipate my next move and work out the right things to say to de-escalate the situation. She yanked her head to the side and tried to speak around the cloth.
“Mr. Bailey,” she started, clearly trying to remind me that she was my teacher, trying to put distance between us. It was too fucking late for that. The sooner she accepted that, the better. Her lids were growing heavy, though, every blink slower and slower.
“Call me Marcus, Professor… like you did the night we met, or better still…” I leaned in and ran my nose up the side of her cheek, breathing in the smell of her skin. “Scream it.”
I pressed the cloth more firmly against her nose, and her eyes fluttered shut.
Arianna
I came to slowly.Drifting into consciousness. The warm glow of a lamp on the desk shed enough light to reveal that I was still in my room at the Night Owl. I was sitting up in a hard, wooden chair, it seemed. I was also gagged. I went to pull the material out of my mouth and stiffened. I couldn’t move my arm. I looked down, horrified to see that my arms were bound to the arms of the chair and my ankles were tied to its wooden legs, forcing me into a spread position. Luckily, I still had my underwear on, but nothing else.
What the hell?
I barely had time to fully freak out before the main door opened.
“Awake, birthday girl?” Marcus asked, stepping into the room.
I knew him by his muffled voice. He was wearing a black biker helmet, a leather jacket, and dark jeans. He also had black leather gloves on, like some kind of hired killer. Fear flooded me. Hot and burning through my veins.
Holy shit.What had I gotten myself into? But it wasn’t just fear burning through my veins. There was also something much more dark and twisted.Anticipation.
He was holding a bucket of ice in one hand, which he promptly set down on the table, along with his helmet. He positioned the other heavy wooden chair across from me and sat. Then he reached out and grabbed my burner phone, turning it this way and that in his hands. “You want to tell me why you’re using a phone like this? On the run from the mob?”
I stared at him; it’s not like I could answer with the damn gag in my mouth.
He shrugged and tucked the phone into his pocket. “Fine, keep your secrets. But that means there’s no reason not to use the one I gave you. I’ll be keeping this until you do.”
I rolled my eyes at him. He was having far too much fun with all this, and I waited to see where he was going with it.
“How are you feeling? I didn’t want to use too much, but honestly, I’ve only used it once before.” He reached out and tugged the gag off.
“Who did you use it on before?” I blurted out, immediately regretting my words.
“Why? Jealous, baby?”
No. Yes.“Of course not. But, Marcus, you’re going to get in trouble for this. If you stop it now, I’ll let it slide.” I was trying to sound confident but failing miserably.
He smirked. I hated that smirk. I loved that smirk. Even now, he could be amused. The playful arrogance he wore like a secondskin was so natural on him, I couldn’t imagine him any other way.
“I’m sorry, Professor. I wanted to do this the easy way, but it seems like you’re forcing my hand.” He tilted his head.
