Dirty Seduction

She didn’t take her glasses off as she got settled under the covers. Her eyes were all on me as I stripped off my shirt, socks, and trousers. I was positive she could see my swollen cock in my boxers, but I slid into bed beside her and pulled the covers up high, trying to play it down.

She handed me her glasses before I got the light. I put them gently on the bedside table as she sighed and curled up against my side.

It was the most natural thing to hold her close and plant a kiss on her head once I’d turned the light off.

“Goodnight, sweetheart,” I said in the darkness.

“Night,” she said back. “I don’t want to be your sweetheart, though. I want to be the girl in the photos.”

I didn’t respond to that, just kept her in my arms.

The curtains were aglow with both the orange of streetlamps and the white of the moon as her breaths deepened. I waited, staring up at the ceiling as she fell into the depths of sleep, glad she was finding some solace in this place.

There was no way I’d be sleeping tonight, though.

As Rosie calmed, my senses heightened. I was worth nothing in comparison to her being worth everything. She was a pure lightness against my pitch-dark filth, and there was no way I wanted to bring her down with me into my seedy rabbit hole. I wanted to set her free and up high, without being shackled in hell with the idiot her mother was at the mercy of, and I’d do it. No matter the consequences.

When the sweet little angel was intoinamland, I was able to slide away without waking her up. I stood and watched her sleeping awhile, the glow from the window lighting her up like a masterpiece.

I knew what I needed to do.

It was gone four a. m. when I left the bedroom, picking up my clothes from the floor on the way. I eased the door closed behind me, being careful not to make a sound as I got myself dressed in the bathroom. My eyes were hollow and cold as I stared at myself in the mirror, and they needed to be because I was determined to go through with saving Rosie, whatever the cost.

I took three swigs of whisky from the bottle while I had another cigarette in the living room.

I was going to do this. I was going to set Rosie free from the idiot downstairs.

Crenham Drive was still dark outside as five a. m. approached. I felt like an alien, deranged version of my previous self as I slid open my kitchen drawer. I was more insane than I’d ever been, but I felt surprisingly calm alongside it. A pair of opposites in myself magnetized.

I was extremely careful as I made my way downstairs to the alcove by the main entrance door. I ensured I was concealed in darkness, hidden from the puny flickering overhead light by the time I heard thumping footsteps sounding on the stairs.

I knew who they belonged to.

My efforts at camouflage had been worthwhile. The cunt known as Scottie had no idea I was lurking in the shadows when he passed me by. The rage was rife in my limbs as I slammed up against him from behind and shunted him into the alcove, spinning him to face me. I slapped my hand straight over his mouth, picturing the vile piece of shit up close to Rosie.

That would never happen again.

He tried to struggle, but it was useless. He stopped deadly still when I pressed the point of the knife into the base of his ribcage.

“Don’t even think about moving. Or I swear to God, you’ll fucking regret it.”

My chef’s knife was still threatening him as I let his mouth free.

“You’re fucking mental!” he said. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?!”

He was shaking like a leaf. Not such a badass after all.

“I don’t think I’m doing anything,” I said calmly. “I know exactly what I’m doing, and that’s giving you one chance. You have one tiny chance to save your life, or believe me, I’ll be taking it from you. Call it mercy and give me fucking thanks.”

He likely didn’t believe me, until he saw the true depth of hate in my stare.

His common sense didn’t believe his heart, though. His idiocy still battled the truth.

“You’re a fucking headcase!” he said, but his tone was weaker now.

I pulled the knife away because I wasn’t scared of him in the slightest. I’d have had him in a chokehold within seconds if I needed to.

“I fucking mean it,” I told him, eyes cold as ice. “If you ever so much as look at Rosie again, I will kill you.”

His pitiful eyes widened as my threat registered. “Rosie? What the fuck?! What did she say to you?”

I pressed my arm up tight to his neck.

“I’m sure you know what she said to me, and I can assure you, I’m not fucking playing. If you have any sense in that thick skull of yours, then you’ll pay heed, because I won’t be telling you again.” I smiled down at him. “You know, believe it or not, I used to do jujitsu when I was younger. I’m a bit out of practice, but I’m still perfectly capable of breaking someone’s limbs one by one, and I’m also capable of putting a knife in your ribcage. If you go near Rosie again, I’ll be showing you.”

“Are you out of your fucking head?!”

“Most likely,” I said. “Who cares? The outcome will be the same, regardless. Rosie will be free of you, and so will Beverly. That’s worth both of our pitiful souls. I’ll give mine gladly, to take yours.”

“You’re joking, right?” he said. “You are fucking mental. You’re hardly a fucking killer!”

He was wrong on that. The tension in my veins sang to a very different tune. At that moment, in the craze of the plummet to my true, honest darkness, I felt my soul being set free. One final light in the depths of my miserable end.

I watched my words penetrate his measly excuse for a brain.

“There’s nothing more dangerous than someone who has nothing to live for,” I said. “Believe me, I’ll kill you quite happily on my way out. I’ll be leaving anyway.”

Scottie didn’t speak after that, just kept his eyes locked on mine. My stare won. He lost the battle of wills as I gave him the instructions.Content protected by Nôv/el(D)rama.Org.

“I think you’ll have a pressing reason to leave this place before you’re due to come back tonight, won’t you? Who knows, maybe you’ll get an irresistible job offer from far away. A job overseas, perhaps? Something too opportunistic to ignore?”

He gave the slightest hint of a nod, which only confirmed it. He was too weak to fight me.

I carried on talking.

“You wouldn’t want to upset Beverly, of course. No, no. I’m sure you’ll address your sudden career exit in a way that doesn’t destroy her confidence. I’m positive you’ll be able to convey just how much you love her, despite you being away for the foreseeable.”

At that, I crushed his windpipe with my arm until he was retching. He sucked in a huge, desperate breath when I threw him to the floor.

“I’ve left no marks on you, of course,” I said, as he crawled away from me. “I can’t imagine the police would take any allegations you might make all that seriously. Karma is one hell of a callous bitch, isn’t she?”

Scottie didn’t try to protest, or fight, just kept on crawling until he reached the front door.

“Farewell, you pitiful cunt,” I said, my adrenaline pulsing as he climbed to his feet and scrambled away.

He didn’t look back, and that merely confirmed it. I’d succeeded. My dark soul had slammed against the ice of hell, and I’d fulfilled the remains of a purpose. I’d negated the threat of the man who’d chewed up the faith of the sweet little angel upstairs.

I smiled at the morning as I lit up a cigarette outside, with my knife buried inside my suit jacket. It was the first sliver of pride I’d felt in years.