Page 21 of Dark Seduction

“Obviously,” I reply. “You’ve been boxing with StoneFace,” I ask, wiping the blood from my face with the sleeve of my shirt. “Your right hook has improved.”

Burnt shoots me a glare. “Seriously, man. After everything that just happened, you want to talk about how my bare knuckle boxing has improved?” I look at him, unsure of what to say. His frustration is palpable, but it’s misplaced. Mack and I planned nothing. Sleeping with her was a spur-of-the-moment thing. I had no intention of doing anything. Mack showed up, and shit happened. She was so angry about our pact. Shit, it had done things to me. For the first time, she was experiencing what she’d been doing to the two of us. But I can’t tell Burnt that, not when he’s already so angry. I wanted her to feel an ounce of the frustration she’d been inflicting on us. I just didn’t expect him to be collateral damage.

“Look, Burnt,” I start before he hushes me.

“You don’t get to talk first. Not after all this bullshit,” he warns me. Backing down, I give him the floor. “Four days, V. Four fucking days. That’s all it took for you to break the bro code you insisted we need to have for Mack.” Burnt paces as he airs out all his grievances.

“I know,” I mutter before he hushes me a second time.

“Not another word until I get this shit out.” I nod in agreement, and wave for him to continue.

“As your prospect, it’s my job to follow your lead. To follow your fucking rules, but this, V? This is fucked up. You asked me to back off. I did. You asked me to stay away from her. I did that, too. What I want, no, need to know is this is something the two of you planned.” “No, it’s not like that,” I double down. “It just happened.” “You expect me to believe that? This shit between you and Mack, it’s not just about breaking the bro code. It goes deeper than that. You know it, and I know it,” Burnt says, his voice filled with emotion. “You can’t just expect me to sit back and watch you two dance around each other like this. Either you tell me what’s going on, or I’m out. I’ll walk away from the two of you, and the club.” I take a deep breath, trying to calm the nerves racing through my body. Burnt’s threat is serious, and it’s not something I’m willing to risk. I need him, and the club needs him. But more than that, I need to figure out what’s going on with me and Mack.

“Look, Burnt. I get it. This has been hard for you, and I appreciate that you’ve been following my lead. But this isn’t something I can just explain away in a few words.”

Burnt looks at me, his eyes filled with anger and frustration. I can tell he doesn’t believe me. “Try.” “She came here seeking me out after you told her about the pact.” “You expect me to believe that?” he spits back, his voice barely above a whisper.

“I swear to you, it’s the truth. She came here, hot and bothered that we were moving on, and shit just happened. One second she was reading me the riot act, the next we were in the back of the car. Dude, if she had said on my knees, I’d have done it,” V admits. “That’s how much she was in control.”

He scoffs at my words. “So you’re blaming this all on her?”

“No, I’m not. I’m man enough to admit that I could have said no, but I didn’t.”

“You’re the one who wanted to put this all the rest, and move on, but yet here we are, you taking that pact and blowing it all to hell.”

“I’m sorry, man. I really am. I know I messed up.”

“You’re damn right, you did. Do you know I had her naked in my arms last night in her apartment? Do you know what I did? I walked the fuck away. I did that because you told me to move on,” he points angrily at me. “I walked away because of you.”

Shock must register in my face because he notices how his words hit their mark. I feel my heart race as I listen to him speak those words. My mind is reeling with thoughts of what could have happened if he had taken advantage of the situation. I knew deep down that he is a good man, but I couldn’t help but feel a twinge of jealousy at the thought of him holding her naked body, and guilt for knowing that they had put me in the same situation, and failed him.

“So, what happens now?” I ask, trying to keep the bitterness out of my voice.

“I don’t know,” he replies, his voice low and uncertain. “I don’t have a fucking clue.”

“I think you should talk to her,” I whisper. “Tell her how you feel and see what happens.”

“I think we both need to talk to her.” He nods slowly, his eyes filled with uncertainty and fear. “We both can’t chase after the same woman. If this has any chance of working, it’s the three of us, or nothing.”

“Is sharing something we can do?” I ask him honestly. “I’m a selfish bastard, but for her, I’d consider it. You know she will not want to do this vanilla, right?”

“Just to be clear, I’m not touching your dick,” Burnt declares with a grin on his face.

“Ditto,” I agree. “There are things I would do for Mack, but that is not one of them.”

A pregnant pause settles between us. Burnt peers over to me, a quizzical look on his face. “You don’t think she really meant that she was going back to Vanilla Villa, do you?” “She was pretty pissed off, man. If she wanted to get back at us, that’s the one place she knows would set us both off.” Burnt turns, without another word, and heads towards the door. He pauses just before the exit and yells back over his shoulder.

“Are you just going to stand there, or are you going to come with me to get our girl?” I hesitate for a moment, unsure of what to do. My mind is racing, trying to process everything that had just been said. But ultimately, I knew that Burnt was right. We needed to go after her. I hear his bike roar from across the street. Fucker wasn’t kidding. “Shit, wait up!”

MACK

I sit aloneat the bar at Vanilla Villa, a seething anger still coursing through my veins. My frustration with V and Burnt simmers just beneath the surface, a volatile mixture of disappointment and disbelief. I can't believe they actually fought each other over me, as if I'm some sort of prize to be won.

The neon lights above the bar cast an eerie, shifting glow over the dimly lit room, and the pulsating beat of the music threatens to drown out my thoughts. I take a sip of my drink, the sharp burn of alcohol momentarily distracting me from my seething emotions.

The atmosphere in Vanilla Villa is electric, a heady mix of sensuality and desire. Couples dance on the dance floor, lost in each other's arms, while others engage in whispered conversations in the corners of the room. It's a place where inhibitions are shed like second skins, but right now, I'm too wrapped up in my own anger to fully embrace the decadence of it all.

I close my eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath, and I can feel the tension in my shoulders slowly begin to ease. I came here to escape the turmoil that V and Burnt have brought into my life, to find some semblance of enjoyment in the sensual pleasures Vanilla Villa offers. It's time to put their jealousy and possessiveness behind me, at least for tonight, and reclaim the freedom that I cherish.

---