2. Have a drink

“Kitty, I know… but please, just this once,” Yasmin pleaded, her hands pressed together, pouting her bottom lip.

“I’m not doing that. Forget it.”

She sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. “At least have a drink. He only wants to meet you.”

I huffed, crossing my arms. She knows I don’t drink. Well, I haven’t for a while.

“Fine,” I mumbled, shoving past her, and headed to the bar.

I tried to put on my best game face when I walked past the tables, men eyeing me up and down with smirks plastered on their faces. Some grabbed their dicks, rubbing them while holding my gaze.

Nothing surprises me anymore. I think I have seen it all.

Timmy was waiting for me at the bar, handing me two drinks, and gestured to the dark corner where the mystery man hid.

My breath hitched in the back of my throat, and goosebumps rose on my bare skin, every step slower than the one before, cautiously edging closer.

“Here you go,” I said, placing his drink on the table in front of him. I scanned around, noticing there wasn’t a place for me to sit.

The man patted his thigh, but I shook my head. “I’m good,” I said, sipping my drink. The liquid burned my throat, and I hummed in contentment.

“You can always sit with me, Kitty,” the man on my left whispered, inching closer until his fingers tickled my hip.

I stood frozen in place while my anger climbed. However, before I could utter a word, he stopped.

A thick silence surrounded them, tension sharp enough to cut me, but the air in my lungs disappeared when the mystery man revealed himself. Letting the red lights flow over his face.

His dark gaze, the rough stubble that covered his jaw, and the corner of his lips lifted a tad before he pressed the glass against them.

I drowned in his eyes, my legs shook, knees buckled while I tried to get a grip on myself. This sensation rushed through me, awakening something I worked so hard to push down. Keep hidden. And now, with one simple glance, he has broken my walls. The walls that took me years to build.

My core fluttered, and my arousal soaked my panties.

His nostrils flared, and his smug smile widened while his eyes darkened further.

“Kitty.” The stupid nickname rolled off his tongue, and I almost begged him to say it again.

My skin heated, and I drank the rest of my drink, desperately needing to get out of there before I made a mistake. One I couldn’t take back.

I was in a good place. I had a schedule I followed every day to keep my demons at bay. Work my body into exhaustion to save my soul, take my meds and do it again.

And now, I wanted to toss it all aside, to feel his stubble tickle my scarred thighs. To feel his warm breath over my wet core, those lips, his tongue…

Fuck…

He groaned, his eyes glimmering in the light. “Breathtaking,” he sighed.

Cautiously, with trembling legs, I sat down on the now empty seat, not having noticed his friends had left, keeping my gaze locked with his because I feared if I didn’t, I would miss something. Something unspeakable, untouchable, unbearable.

“I’ve never seen you here before,” I managed to speak. The sound of my voice was weak and shaky, not at all what I was used to. I was a strong, sassy, and sometimes annoying woman, but I only was like that to keep everyone at a distance. To keep them far away from me because I wouldn’t let anyone fall for me or dare to fall for someone myself.

He took a sip from his drink, and I watched in awe how his Adam’s apple bobbled, how a drip of the liquid left the corner of his lips, and all I could think about was running my tongue over it, catching it, knowing it would taste divine.

“We only come here once a year, Kitty. Where were you last year?” His eyes glimmered in the red light, and he wiped away the stray drop hanging on his lip before licking it off his thumb.

I gulped, my throat dry, rubbing my thighs together, hoping to soothe this building ache.

I had to blink several times to pull myself together enough to answer. “Last year,” I paused, trying to recall where I was a year ago. My ribs squeezed around my lungs, remembering why I wasn’t working.

Besides not wanting to work these specific nights, there was another reason.

“I was sick,” I said with a sigh. Knowing I had the worst anxiety attacks last year, and not even my meds gave me the help I needed to get out of bed.

He moved closer, making me freeze. His fingers twitched as if he wanted to touch me. One side of me begged for his touch, while the other wanted to bite his fingers off if he did.

He smiled as if hear heard my thoughts, making me tilt my head.

“What?” I asked.

“I never thought I would find you. All mine,” he growled.

Wait? What? Did he growl?

I rose immediately, laughter falling from my lips. “Listen, I’m not yours.”

It seemed his simple claim broke the trance I was in.

His chest rumbled, and laughter followed. “Kitty, you are.” He shook his head, emptying his glass, and I stumbled back.

“I am not…” My eyebrows furrowed together, remembering he hadn’t told me his name.

“Liam,” he said.

It seemed I had no restraints, eagerly wanting to test how his name would move over my tongue. “Liam,” I whispered, and he growled again.

“What is it with the growling?”

“It’s good you don’t fear it,” he said, rising to his feet.

Fuck, how tall is he?

I took another step back, keeping my eyes on his.

“I don’t fear anything,” I said.

“Anything?” He inched closer and gently brushed his fingers over my bare shoulder. I shivered under his touch, and I hated how good it felt.

“Anything.” I wasn’t lying, I don’t have any fears. I have seen enough, and I have been hurt enough. Nothing could shock me anymore, not even the coming of death.

His fingers moved to my neck, and his gentle touch became a firm grip. “We leave in two days.”

“I’m not going anywhere with you!” I hissed, slapping his hand away.

“But Kitty, you’re mine, and I’m not leaving you, not after I found you.”

My words got stuck in the back of my throat when he pressed his lips on my forehead. With closed eyes, I leaned into his touch and clenched my thighs harder, hoping to stop the wetness from dripping.

“All mine,” he whispered.

His warmth, his touch, his presence, everything disappeared when I opened my eyes.

He was gone.

What the hell just happened?

I scanned the crowd, and Liam was nowhere to be found. With a heavy sigh, I went to the back, stopping beside William.

“Are you okay?” he asked, leaning closer.

I stiffly nodded, trying to shake this unease that crawled under my skin, which told me someone was watching me.

“Are we still up for tomorrow?” he teased, knowing I needed to pull myself together.

“Of course.” I slapped his arm. “You’re picking me up, right?”

“Always,” he said with a smile.

Not many here knew the struggles I was going through over the years, but William always helped in any way he could. Besides having my back in this place, we also spent most of our days together. Even though his girlfriend hated me at first, he never stopped hanging out with me.

Eventually, I told her that she didn’t need to worry about me, telling her that I had taken a vow of celibacy years ago. I didn’t tell her the details, I didn’t tell her once I started, I couldn’t stop, and the only thing that kept me sane was to make this promise to myself and my therapist.

I never was like that. It all happened after the accident I was in years ago. I lost my parents and brother in a car crash and was the only survivor. This was why I don’t fear death. I would welcome it with open arms if that meant I would be with my family again.

It was a hit-and-run, but thankfully, the guy who hit us turned himself in.

After that day, I changed. I couldn’t get over the grief. I lost myself in a world filled with this need to be touched, to feel anything other than sadness. Every month, it became harder to keep afloat, but when I finally managed to keep myself from drowning, the anxiety attacks started. And I was forced to quit my job.

I knew people always said I was lucky to be alive, but a part of me died that day, and I tried to go after them, to go after my family. My fingers traveled over the scars on my thighs, and I gulped, shaking my head, trying to erase the tears that welled in my eyes.

I had changed into my regular clothes and was headed to my care when the hairs on the back of my neck rose. The same sensation as before moved through me, telling me someone was lurking in the darkness.

I quickly searched for my car keys when I heard his voice whispering with the wind.

“Two days, Kitty.”