-"Lethal Lust."-
______________________________
Tension.
So much tension.
It was a game of who would speak first in this pressure of silence.
She smelled like lilac, sage, and vanilla. Spicy yet sweet. Strong yet balanced. Earthy...yet rich.
She had to stand 5'7 at most...maybe 5'8, making her eye-level with his chest. Eye-level with his heart.
But he had yet to hear her voice.
He couldn't find any other word to describe her than perfect. Her level of authority certainly matched his. She was utterly his equal in every aspect.
No, she wasn't his equal.
She was above him, and he was more than okay with that.
He couldn't take it anymore, the silence.
But now there was the obstacle of coming up with what he was going to say. His mother always told him that first impressions were the only impressions and he usually was good at meeting people but she just made it so hard.
"Why us?" he asked. His voice was like the sharp edge they needed to cut that tension and it seemed to work.
But she couldn't resist the goosebumps on her spine when she heard his voice.
It was deep. Very deep.
Husky, low, and butter-smooth.
It was velvet but silk. Dark yet exciting. Alluring yet stoic.
It had a hidden undertone of provocative pleasure and her ears were left in a trance.
It was exactly as she imagined and so much more. It was unearthly in the most desirable way and she couldn't get enough.
"Well, it isn't every day that your only enemy proposes an alliance. I had to see if it was too good to be true for myself," she retorted calmly as if she wasn't close to ripping his clothes off just moments before.
The second he heard her tone he knew he was fucked.
It was smoky yet silvery and melodic. It was sultry just like he imagined but her tone was something you would hear at the gates of heaven. It was something he had never heard before and he was craving for more like another drop of water after a long drought.
"And what do you think? Is it too good to be true?" he asked, with an ulterior motive just to get her to talk again.
"I think I'll have my answer at the end of these 6 months," she responded. A small smirk made its way onto his lips and she knew that he was up to no good.
"So I'm guessing the King approved this alliance," he stated with the smirk growing. Or she approved this alliance since she could very well be the King.
"Don't get your hopes up but it does mean you're going to see me a lot more often," she stated with zero feelings in her words. Her voice seemed emptier than her eyes.
His eyes glinted with an undecipherable emotion as he licked his lips...agonizingly slow as his eyes dragged over her frame.
"I wouldn't have it any other way," he husked as he laced his fingers together, making the sexual tension return, stronger than before.
She felt as if a pit had formed into the bottom of her stomach and was invaded by a twisting sensation and a zoo of animals running around in entropy.
She didn't like it at all.
"There's a club that's a few blocks away from 'The Lux' is called 'Night Sins' and is where we hold most of our meetings along with the base that Blade will give you a tour of tomorrow," she monotoned as she got up from the leather chair and headed towards the door.
"It was a pleasure, Mr. Black," she said as she put her hand on the door handle.
"The pleasure was all mine," he smirked as he said his words slowly with seductiveness dripping through his tongue.
The way he said his words was all it took for her to open the door and calmly walk out of there.
That rattling in her stomach was something she wasn't used to and she needed to stay focused.
She knew that it would be a death wish if they got involved in that way. One of them would only end up dead and that blood would be on her hands like it always was.
The Don of the Italian Mafia shouldn't get entangled with his number 1 rival's right hand.
It was a massacre waiting to happen. It was unnecessary bloodshed.
That night she vowed that it would be strictly business between them and nothing more or nothing less.
"Stupid gets you killed," she whispered to herself.
She had come too far to die now.
And he was going to be the death of her.
Literally.
~
He took off his blazer and loosened his tie as he strolled out to the balcony. He leaned onto the glass railing and took in the smell of pollution in New York.
The glistening and blinding lights put him in some sort of insensibility while putting him on edge, ready for danger. He hated the city.
He took out a single cigarette from his pocket and lit it with the lighter as he put it in between his dark pink big lips and held the flame in his tattooed hands. As he slid the lighter back into his pocket he inhaled the smoke and his shoulders slumped and the stress lines on his forehead eased.
His questions about Midnight were put to rest as he relaxed with the cigarette. But he still couldn't get her alluring and numb face out from his mind. It was permanently imprinted in his brain.
The way she moved in the arena like it was easy. So skilled and cultivated but...unrelenting.
The way she commanded death and wore blood like a second skin.
No man could compete with her. He couldn't compete and he would never try. She knew grace and sin...and that was very dangerous. She was the best kind of monster. A nightmare that felt like a dream.
And so was he.
It takes a monster to destroy a monster.
And that's exactly what he was going to do.
He was going to destroy her.
Bit by bit. Until he found what made her...her.
Inch by inch until he had worked his way into her heart.
He was going to have her mind, body, and soul.
And he was going to show her how he wasn't much different from her.
~
Midnight's POV
"What'd you think?" Thea said over the phone. Sighing, I went over the encounter again in my head.
"He's...interesting, I guess," I muttered. I heard her audible sigh over the other end of the call.
"A good interesting or bad interesting?" she asked. She just wanted to know if I was going to kill him.
"Both," I shrugged, unlocking my Porsche door and getting in the driver's seat. Connecting her call to Bluetooth, I took out a cigarette.
"Are you smoking? You better not be fucking smoking. I swear-" she started ranting. Looking around me frantically, my eyes widened. How did she know?
"I wasn't!" I retorted, lowering the cigarette and putting away the lighter.
"Sure you weren't. I almost believe you," I could almost see her roll her eyes.
"That's one thing you to have in common. You guys are obsessed with those fucking death sticks," she scolded.
"It's not like I'm addicted. They just make me feel-"
"Calm. That's what Luca says too,"
"He's right,"
Starting the car, I pulled out of the base and started driving to the airport. I was going to France for a day with Oscar to check out a new order of weapons. I couldn't tell Thea though. Talking about Oscar to Thea was a sensitive subject.
"If he does something stupid, just give him a second chance okay? He's a man. He's stupid like the rest of them," Thea told me.
"No promises. I might have to bruise him a bit, though," I smirked.
"I bet he won't mind. He's probably whipped already," she said it like it was a normal thing to say.
"What do you mean?" I asked. He probably acts like this around every woman he meets.
"Have you looked in the mirror? If I wasn't straight-" she trailed off with a whistle. Rolling my eyes, I couldn't help the small smile that made its way onto my face.
"It's never going to happen. I'm his enemy and he probably wants to kill me," I shrugged.
"Whatever helps you sleep at night," she hummed.
Sure he was absolutely the finest man I've ever seen, but it was just physical attraction. Nothing more. I couldn't get involved with someone like him and he couldn't get involved with someone like me. It would be devastating for both of us.
I couldn't afford to get sidetracked with everything going on. I hurt people and people hurt me. It's what I do best.
I'm better off by myself.
And I don't have a chance either. He probably wants some supermodel or someone like that. And I would never last with him. He looked controlling and possessive and I had my fair share with men like that.
Love and companionship just weren't in the cards for me and I was fine with that.
I just hope he knows that.