My Valentine

  I smirk. “One thing at a time, David. This is huge! Thank you.”

  He smiles like I’ve just given him the best news ever. “It was no sweat. I’d do anything for you. You know that.”

  A part of me feels bad about that. “After everything I’ve done.”

  “Hey,” he says, clasping his hand over my arm and giving it a squeeze, “we’ve already talked about this.”

  I sigh. “I know. I still feel badly about it, though. I broke your marriage apart.”

  David laughs. “Some marriage that was! You did me a favour.”

  I stare for a little, wondering what he’s thinking since my mother dropped that bomb on him about me yesterday. He hasn’t said anything to me yet. I’m starting to wonder if he ever will. He’s certainly treating me a little differently since. It’s like he doesn’t want to be too close to me. All it does is make me want to be closer to him.

  And what does that say about me?

  I glance back at the newspaper, and I’m amazed at how real it all looks. “This is … it’s …” I look up and catch him staring at me, and I smile. “Thank you,” is all I can muster. I am genuinely grateful. I’m also pretty impressed with how he’s managed to do it.

  “No sweat,” he answers, fixing me with his dazzling eyes. Today, they do look pretty dazzling. In fact, everything about David looks dazzling lately. As my eyes trail from his eyes to his neck, I watch as he swallows hard, and the desire to lick from his chest up to his chin overtakes me.

  Without saying a word, I slide my hands around his waist and lean my head against his chest. At first, he stiffens, but when I snuggle my head in more and voice my gratitude again, he relents, placing his arms around me. He doesn’t move at all, but I can feel his heart beating rapidly. Is he nervous? Aroused? Panicked? Whatever emotion it is, it’s strong enough to cause his heart to thump against his ribcage.

  My loins waken, and the desire to kiss him is so strong that I pull my head away and look up. David is frowning. His face is in definite turmoil. Despite knowing why, I can’t help wanting to push the boundaries—just to see how far I can take it.

  I move my lips close to his and kiss him gently on the lips. David stiffens, unmoving. He’s not kissing me back. A part of me wants to push further, but another part of me thinks it would be cruel.

  That’s not like me.

  I’m no saint, and I’m definitely not one to back down from a challenge just to save another person. Just as I’m thinking to move in again for another kiss, David pulls away, sighing. “I have work to do.” He stands up, picking me up with him before walking away without looking back. “I’ll be in my office if you need me,” he states, walking out of the kitchen.

  Reid

  I’m fucking hammered. Out of my fucking skull in fact. In an effort to stop thinking about what I did to Scarlet, I started drinking. Then I started smoking the joints Akilah had supplied me with. I became so fucking inebriated that Akilah had to take over the bar on his own. Luckily, it’s quiet tonight—so quiet, in fact, that we were able to lock up just after midnight.

  “Are you sure you’re going to be okay, brother? I can stay behind if you need me.”

  I shake my head—which is a major effort on my part. I’m fucking drunk and stoned—two things that don’t mix well. “I’m fine,” I manage, waving my hand at him. “Go home. I’ll finish this drink and go to bed.”

  “As long as you’re sure.” He hesitates, and when I don’t say anything, he says, “See you tomorrow.”

  I wave my hand and grunt in his direction. Akilah disappears and all that I’m left with is my drink and silence. A deafening silence. My head spins, but for now I don’t care. For now, I haven’t got this constant fucking hole in my heart over what I did to Scarlet.

  Scarlet.

  My precious Scarlet.

  “Fucking hell!” I scream, grabbing the bottle and throwing it across the bar. It shatters against some glasses and liquid drips from the other side of the bar, but I don’t care. It’ll wait until morning.

  As I pick my drink up and sip, I glance across the bar at my reflection in the mirror. It’s only a little slit of a mirror, but it’s enough to see my stupid fucking mug in it. I have this overwhelming urge to throw my drink at my image, but the call to finish off what’s left in my glass is more pressing.

  I down the drink, and when my head pops back up to the mirror again, something moves behind me.

  As quick as lightening, I throw my body around to catch whatever the fuck that was, but when I turn, I see nothing. I’m so drunk I’m starting to see shit.

  On a smirk, I shake my head and turn back to the bar to pick up my glass and go to bed. It’s then that I see something move again. Again, I spin around, but this time, my heart is fucking racing. I never get frightened, but this is starting to scare the bejesus out of me. And that fucking pisses me off.

  “Hello?” I call, thinking I may be going crazy. Am I hallucinating?

  All I’m met with is silence again. Nothing is seen or heard. Everything is in its place. I turn again, picking up my glass this time, but when I do, I hear a bang coming from the fantasy room. Frowning, I put my glass back down and cautiously walk towards the door. Akilah can’t have checked everywhere, which can only mean there are people still here. Once at the door, I freeze.

  “Reid,” a voice whispers. A voice that sounds a lot like Scarlet’s.

  I spin around to find where the voice is coming from, but I see and hear nothing. My heart is starting to beat frantically against my chest. I hear another bang coming from the room again, so I open the door up and walk inside. Everything is dark including all of the fantasy rooms. There’s no one here. I check around the spectator area, but all is quiet—all is how it should be.

  As I turn around, I stagger back towards the door when I hear another bang. This time it’s coming from one of the blackened rooms.

  “Reid,” a voice whispers again. I turn and keep turning wondering where the fuck it’s coming from.

  “Who’s here?” I scream, getting fucking angry. Shit, I’ve never been so scared in all my life.

  Then I hear something which makes my blood run cold—a knocking sound on one of the glass-walled fantasy rooms. The sound echoes around the whole room. At first, I’m rooted to the spot. I can’t move I’m so afraid. In fact, I’m scared shitless.

  “Whoever’s here, this isn’t fucking funny. Come out before I call the police,” I scream, racing towards the switch that lights up all the rooms. I’m still drunk and high, staggering all over the place, but I need to know what the fuck’s happening.

  With a quick flick, I switch the lights on and turn. When I do, all the blood rushes from my face. Scarlet is hanging from one of the bondage machines, but instead of her hanging from the wrists, she’s hanging from her neck. Her eyes are wide open, staring at me. She’s completely naked and has blood running down her mouth.

  I start running towards the room, but when I do all the lights go out. “Fuck!” I scream, turning to switch the lights off and on again. The lights flicker, but they don’t come on enough for me to see Scarlet in the room. I curse, switching them on and off until eventually all the lights come on again. Quickly turning, my eyes fix onto that same room only to find it’s completely empty.

  “What the fuck?!”

  I stagger towards the room and open the door. I don’t know what I’m looking for, but I glance around it nonetheless. There’s nothing here that immediately calls out to me. All looks as it should.

  Closing my eyes, I rub my hands over my face. Maybe I should just go to bed. I’m obviously that fucking stoned that I’m starting to see things. I thought it was bad enough that Scarlet was haunting my dreams. Now she’s haunting my fucking high.

  Feeling dizzier than ever, I stagger back out of the room and shut the door. I walk over to the lights and shut them off. Then, the fucking shit starts to get even weirder. The loud speakers around the whole bar start to buzz and crackle. A static sound st
arts and then all goes silent until I hear something that makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

  “One, two, she’s coming for you. Three, four, she’s out to settle a score. Five, six, better run away quick. Seven, eight, prepare to meet your fate.”

  “What the fuck’s going on?” I scream again.

  Moving as quickly as I can towards the sound system in the main bar area, I start to shake. Adrenaline courses through me as fear races up my spine. When I get near to the step that leads up to the sound system, I trip on something and fall, hitting my head against the step.

  I’m out like a light.

  Scarlet

  “I knew you would eventually come to your senses.”

  I’m lying next to Richard in bed, a small smile lining my lips. He’s caressing my bare arm as he leans his head on his hand with the other. He’s looking down at me with an expression I have come to love lately. Over the course of the last couple of weeks, he has been loving—attentive even. It wasn’t so long ago that he revealed he was in love with me. He hasn’t retracted his statement yet. In fact, he’s said it four times since, and every time, it’s during sex. He knows it drives me to the edge—he feels my orgasm racing with just those three tiny words. I think a part of him loves the fact that he has the power to make me come with one sentence.

  “What is that supposed to mean?” I ask.

  “You and me. We’re meant to be together. We always have been. And now,” he says, stroking his hand down my arm until he reaches my belly, “I’m going to put my baby inside there, so we can become a family—just like we always should have been.”

  “Why are you so desperate to have a baby with me?”

  “Because then you would always be mine. We would create something which belonged to you and me. No one could ever take that away from us. We would be bound forever—until our dying breaths.”

  “What if I change my mind?”

  He suddenly grabs me by the chin. “You won’t change your mind because I won’t let you. You came to me, remember? You promised me a baby, remember? Now, I expect you to keep that promise.”

  Rolling on top of me, he takes my arms and pins them above my head. “You were mine since the day you were born.”

  I smirk. “So you keep saying.”

  He looks down at my lips before looking back up and into my eyes. “Open your legs. I’m going to fuck you, and I’m going to come inside of you.”

  I diligently comply, slowly opening myself up to this tyrant of a man. “Since you asked so nicely,” I tease, knowing this will rile him up.

  Bending down, he kisses me hungrily on the lips. It’s fierce, passionate, crazy, and sets my soul on fire. My hips move, bending to his will. I want him to enter me. I feel it with a passion.

  “Fuck me,” I whisper, my breath coming away in gasps.

  Keeping my hands pinned, I feel him kissing my neck. I close my eyes on a deep moan. “Fuck me,” I implore again, wanting to feel him inside me so much it burns.

  He’s going slowly, and this is so unlike him. It’s frustrating. “Fuck me!” I shout, urging him on more. I feel like my insides will burn if he doesn’t enter me soon.

  I scream, waking myself up from my dream. I’m panting and hot. In fact, I’m burning with a desire so strong, I feel like I may just combust any moment.

  “Scarlet, what’s wrong? Are you okay?” David rushes to my bedside. It has been three days since the revelations, and for three days, he has been acting strange around me, but not once has he revealed to me the reason why. He has been trying to keep his distance, but the more he does, the more I want to go to him and push his boundaries.

  I don’t do rejection well. I need to be loved.

  I need his love.

  My father’s love.

  Still reeling from my dream, I writhe about the bed, moaning from the loss of contact. I may have hated Richard, but I still miss him. I still crave his touch—in whatever way he could give it.

  “David,” I whisper, holding out my hand in the dark.

  I feel the dip on the bed, followed by his hand in mine. “Are you sick? Do you need me to call the doctor?”

  “No,” I answer, pushing the covers off of me. All I’m wearing is a long t-shirt David provided me for sleeping in. Apart from that I’m bare.

  I pull myself up, straddling David’s lap. All I want to do is recapture that dream—and I don’t care about the consequences.

  Placing my hands to David’s face, I cup them before capturing his warm lips with mine. David pulls away slightly. “Scarlet, we can’t.”

  “Why not?” I ask, breathing heavily into his mouth. I kiss him again, more hungrily this time, and David accepts it at first. But then, just as suddenly as it had begun, he began to pull away again. “We shouldn’t be doing this.”

  “Why not?” I ask again, wondering if he’ll finally tell me.

  Knowing the possibilities, I should stop myself, but I’m too far gone now. Lust is taking over every square inch of me.

  “You’re vulnerable right now. You’ll only regret it in the morning.”

  “Would you?”

  I start kissing the side of his neck. He doesn’t respond, so I grind myself against his hard shaft and revel in the glory when he moans. I start trailing my hands across his chest, kissing and nibbling the side of his neck. I can tell he’s highly aroused. His heavy breathing combined with the fact that his cock is more solid than I’ve ever felt it before tell me so.

  “Don’t you miss me? Don’t you remember all those times when you had your cock inside of me? I want to feel it inside me, David. My pussy’s burning for you. Please, David, please,” I whisper in his ear before feeling braver and reaching around toward his lips. A part of me thinks he’ll reject me again, so I’m surprised when he kisses me back just as hungrily. We’re so out of breath that we have to keep stopping to take in air before seeking each other’s mouths out again.

  “I can’t ever say no to you, Scarlet. You’re making it so hard. I never could resist you.”

  “Then don’t,” I reply, pulling him down to me. I grab his hand and push it down to my pussy. “Feel how wet that is. It’s for you. It’s all for you. I’m ready, and I need you to fuck me so badly. Give in to your desires, David. Give in to me. Come down the rabbit hole with me,” I whisper, pushing his fingers into my wetness, coating them until they’re stacked with my juices.

  “Fuck, Scarlet.” He lies on top of me, kissing me back with relish, but not making a move to fuck me. It’s getting me more and more frustrated.

  Needing to move this on, I push up, whisking my t-shirt over my head before kissing him again. I push his head away from my lips and down toward my nipples making him suckle them until it drives me crazy.

  With my hands free, I yank down his boxer shorts until his cock springs free. “Jesus, Scarlet. I can’t stop this. I should stop this, but I can’t.”

  I lie back down, cupping his face in my hands. “Shh,” I say, lifting my hips up to meet his cock. As we stare into each other’s eyes, he lowers himself into me, closing his eyes on a moan as he does.

  “Fuck, I’ve missed this,” he breathes, opening his eyes back up to meet mine again.

  On a smile, I kiss him and cry out when he starts moving inside of me. My insides burn in celebration at the thought that I have managed to get him to give in to me—give in to the sickness. Despite everything that’s transpired, and everything that could be, he still wants me. He can’t deny that he still desires me.

  And I’ve never felt so turned on.

  As he thrusts his way inside me, I cry out, screaming his name. “Yes!” I cry. “That’s it, David. Give it to me. Give me what I need. Fuck, you feel incredible.”

  And he does. I never remembered us having sex being this explosive before. Every move he makes and every grunt he utters has my head spinning and my body shuddering with want.

  “I can’t keep away from you,” he confesses, his voice a strangled cry.

/>   I snap my eyes to his, and the feel of his intense stare hits me harder than ever. “Can you feel it?” I ask. “Is it just me?”

  “It’s not … just … you! Fuck, Scarlet!” He starts thrusting harder and harder into me with each flex of his hips, and my head finds its way back into the pillow. I can feel it. That orgasm I was reaching for.

  My ultimate goal.

  It’s there, taunting me with success. In an effort to spring him into action, I grip his arse cheeks—one in each hand—and I cry out. “Fuck me,” I urge. “Give me what I need.” I squeeze hard, pressing his arse into my groin, and with every thrust, I feel it pressing hard against my clit. “You’re going to make me come!”

  I scream his name, knowing I’m going to blow at any second. I’m at that beautiful point of no return.

  “I can never get enough of you. I can’t resist. I don’t even want to resist.”

  Knowing what David is referring to causes my orgasm racing to the surface.

  Yes, I am a sick, sick bitch.

  “Say you want me,” I urge, grinding him inside me more until he grunts.

  “I want you. By fuck, I always want you.”

  “Say you need me,” I scream, knowing it’s there and holding me hostage.

  “I need you, Scarlet. I can’t say no. I can’t. Fuck, Scarlet, I’m going to come!”

  And with that, my orgasm rolls over that surface, crashing down like a tsunami wave. “David!” I scream, moaning and scratching his back like an animal.

  David’s pace quickens as he races to find his own release. “Shit, Scarlet! You feel so fucking tight.” With one more deep thrust, he throws his head back groaning as he comes inside of me.