This Darkest Man (7 page)

He
opened the door and then stepped aside, motioning with his hands for me to go
ahead. Swallowing, I stepped through.

I
jumped as the door closed behind me, twisting to look at it and taking a step
back.

“Relax,
Mattie.”

I
paused, and then turned slowly to face him. He sat behind a desk, dressed in a
tuxedo and his hair was cut short just like in the magazine photograph. He
leaned back in his chair, with his hands behind his head. He looked absolutely
relaxed and calm, nothing about me disturbed him. I wished that I could say the
same.

I
clasped my hands in front of me to stop from fidgeting nervously. I had
expected rage to rise within me, but instead I felt anxious. The only anger I
felt was at myself, for letting that feeling of lust return. I tried to push it
down, as I narrowed my gaze to stare at him.

That
only served to make him laugh. “Mattie,” he cooed. “You look like a nervous
school girl. What shall I do to make you relax? Quote the “Fall of the House of
Usher, perhaps?” he mocked. “Or should I use another method?”

Then,
right then, the rage returned. “Who are you?” There was not even the hint of a
stutter in my voice.

His
lips quirked up into a smile. “Don’t you read the business pages?”

I
gave a small humorless laugh. “Forgive me. I should have asked
what
are
you? What kind of person goes sneaking around, lying and stealing and
pretending to be someone else?”

The
smile remained on his face but I could read nothing else that was there. “All
you say is true. They don’t call me the Snake for no reason.”

I
shook my head at him. “What kind of high powered businessman takes a week off
to go to the middle of nowhere and pretend to be someone else. You already had
every legal right to take my land. It wasn’t necessary to go to such lengths.”

He
shrugged. “I don’t get to take vacation time very often. I decided to spend it
with you. Although, I must say, I didn’t expect it to be so pleasant.”

“You’re
a special kind of fucked up, you know that?”

He
laughed softly. “Swearing now, Mattie? Normally, you only do that when my mouth
is on your—”

“Shut
up,” I seethed. “I want to forget that all those awful things ever happened.”

He
arched an eyebrow. “Awful? You didn’t seem to think so at the time. All I
remember is you begging for more…”

“I
want my ring back.” It was time to get to the point. “You’ve taken everything
else from me. I want it back.” My hands were bundled into fists at my side, and
I welcomed the pain from my nails digging in viciously to my skin.

He
slowly removed his hands from behind his head and straightened his back, his
face was serious now. “It was never yours to begin with, Matilda.”

“That’s
crap and you know it. I was the only heir. It belonged to me and—”

“It
was stolen.”

I
frowned. “What? How could you possibly know that?”

“I
don’t have to explain myself to you, Mattie.”

Ouch.
Those words hurt more than I liked to admit. For a moment, I didn’t know what
else to say, but I wouldn’t give up yet. “I-I just want to know. Why are you
acting like this? Why are you being so mean? What did I do to deserve this kind
of treatment?” My voice sounded raw and desperate, exposing everything that was
inside me.

“You
need to calm down, Mattie,” he said quietly.

I
sucked in breaths, trying to stop the rapid beating of my heart, which felt
like it was going to thump its way out of my body. “It’s true what they say
about you, isn’t it? That you’re a snake, a sadist. You enjoy causing pain.” I
was trembling now, and I wrapped my arms around myself to try and stop my body
but it seemed to have a mind of its own, just like my mouth. The worse thing
was how he was looking at me. There was no emotion there; it was like I was
some creature that had slightly caught his interest. I could almost feel him
dissecting me with his eyes.

I
nearly jumped when he stood and moved from behind his desk. All I could do was
stare at him in wide-eyed horror as he approached me. He gripped my upper arm.
“Nice dress.” Then he pulled me to the curtains and pulled a rope to open them.
They revealed a wall of glass looking down on the club below. He stood behind
me, holding both of my arms in his grip. “You see that stage there?” How could
I not? A blindfolded woman was on her knees licking at a man’s penis while the
woman behind her entered her with a strap-on. I wanted to look away, but found
I couldn’t. “If you do something for me on that stage in front of everyone,
then I’ll give you something that you want.”

I
could feel his heart beating behind me, and I was surprised to find that he had
one. I twisted my neck to look at him. “Like what?” Not that I was
contemplating it, of course, but I had a desire to know how his apparently
twisted, cruel mind worked.

“You
choose,” he said casually. “You can either have the ring back, or an answer to
one of your questions.” He moved a hand from my arm and stroked my hair in a
way that made me feel even more like a pet. “All you have to do is get up on
that stage and
cum
,” he whispered.

I
shoved him away. “You’re sick.”

“What
I am is horny, Mattie. The thought of you naked on that stage really turns me
one. You may not know it, but you have an exquisite body.” He grinned, showing
white teeth and I couldn’t tell if he was mocking me or not. “I could just eat
you up. Maybe I’ll smother your pussy in cream, dip your breasts in chocolate,
place a strawberry in your mouth and then I’ll have you served up on a platter
for everyone to have a taste…”

I
twisted my face in disgust. “I’m going.” I spun on my heel and headed for the
door.

“I’ll
have my driver meet you outside. Your little puppy dog had to leave. You were
the only reason he was ever invited anyway,” he called.

I
stopped and turned back to him. “Why? Why invite Josh?”

He
was still grinning. “I told you what you had to do if you wanted me to answer
your questions.”

“
God
,
I just want to wash you off of me.” I shook my head at him and strode for the
door.

 I
was met at the lift by one of the gladiators who pushed the button for me. “The
driver will be waiting for you, ma’am.”

“Thank
you,” I managed to whisper, and once the doors closed, I collapsed against the
mirrored walls. I felt like fainting. How could my wonderful Clay turn out to
be someone so…disgusting?
Yet he turned you on, Matilda,
voices sneered
in my mind. I shook my head, trying to shake them away. I was met at the bottom
by a driver in a dark car with tinted windows. I should have thought twice
about getting in, but my mind was in too much of a confused daze. I didn’t tell
the driver where I lived, but it didn’t matter because he already knew. When I
exited the car, I felt like I had finally returned to reality. My legs still
felt like jelly as I made my way up to my apartment, and my head was spinning
like I had just been on a wild ride.

All
the others in the office giggled with excitement as the flowers arrived. The
delivery guy was pointed toward my corner of the floor, and I watched nearly in
horror as he came straight for me.

“Matilda
Larsen?”

I
nodded as my heart sunk.

“Sign
here.”

I
scrawled my signature. They must have been from Josh, he had tried to call me
last night but I had turned off my phone in avoidance. The delivery guy placed
the flowers on my desk before leaving. They were a large bouquet of red roses;
the petals were the darkest red that I had ever seen and they reminded me of
blood and garnets.

“That’s
so romantic!” squealed the girl at the desk next to me who had never seen fit
to speak to me before. “Who are they from?”

“Just
an annoying ex,” I muttered, reluctantly opening the card, expecting Josh’s
bold scrawl. But instead, in neat print, it said:
Which is it? The question
or the ring?
and beneath it was a cell phone number.

I
peered at the stems of the roses, expecting thorns, but there were none.
“Here,” I said to the girl. “You can have them. Tell everyone they were
delivered to me by accident.” I passed them to her over the half wall that we
shared, and she gave me a puzzled look but took them anyway. I left the card on
my desk and strode off to the bathroom. I felt a sheen of sweat on my skin, and
when I looked in the mirror, I saw a pale girl who looked sick.

How
could I let him have this effect on me? And what was I upset about the most?
The ring, the questions I had, or, and it shamed me to admit it, never having
his hands on me again? This was beyond pathetic, even for me. How could my body
possible want someone whom I loathed so badly? He was a bad person. A horrible,
cruel,
bad
man. For some reason, he just made me want to act like a
wanton slut.

I
nearly groaned at that realization, and remembered how my aunt used to call my
mother names like that. I didn’t want to be like my mother, but I also didn’t
want to be a prim and proper old maid who never had any fun.

“What
would be the harm?” I asked the girl in the mirror. “No one would know you.
Everyone in that club would have done far worse. Take a risk.”

Someone
entered then, and I promptly shut up and returned to my workstation. I couldn’t
concentrate, of course, my mind continuing to play ‘what if?’ The day wore on,
and eventually, I took a card and wrote on it.

Why?

That
was it. With shaking hands I called a courier to come and collect it as I
slipped it into an envelope and wrote the address of Hellman’s head office.
There was no reply back, and I hurried home, desperate to get to the safety of
my apartment.

I
wasn’t home long when a parcel was delivered to my door. The writing on the
card was familiar, and I ripped it open.

Be
ready at 10. Wear this and nothing else.

I
pulled the ribbon from the accompanying box and slipped off the lid, hooking
the fabric with one finger and warily pulling it free from the tissue paper. I
sat there for a long while, holding the items as my mind raced. Did I want to
do this?
Could
I do this? In public? Risking humiliation?

But
other thoughts intruded as if a little devil were sitting on my shoulder and
whispering in my ear.
Do it, Matilda. How could this be worse than any other
humiliation that you’ve ever suffered?

I
found myself undressing, discarding each item of my boring corporate wardrobe
and letting it fall to the ground. And then I stood completely nude in front of
the full-length mirror. This girl was pale and innocent. She was…boring. She
had never done anything interesting in her whole life.

My
eyes moved to the scarlet garments that lay in a pile. They nearly had more
life than I did with their vivid color dominating the room and making
everything else, myself included, pale in comparison. I took a breath, and
reached for them.

The
minutes ticked by and the hour of ten drew closer. I stood dressed in scarlet
and was almost unrecognizable. The bra and panties were scarlet lace, with
matching stockings and garters. Over the top of these, I fastened the cape. It
was a rich scarlet velvet that skimmed just below my bottom and had a large
hood. I tried to adjust it so it sat over my shoulders, but it wasn’t designed
for that and kept slipping to my back so I was uncovered. The shoes matched as
well; they were dangerously high stilettos but they weren’t uncomfortable. They
seemed perfectly molded to my feet and I managed to take a few steps without
falling flat on my face. I pulled the hood up over my head; it was large and
hung over my face in such a way that left my features in shadow. That was
better. You couldn’t tell that it was me like that.

I
jumped as the doorbell rang, nearly falling in my heels. I took a deep breath.
This was it. I grabbed my coat and securely belted it around my waist before
opening the door. It was the same driver who had taken me home the night before.
He nodded at me, and without a word turned to lead me out to where the car
waited.

My
heart started to beat more rapidly the closer we got to the club and I felt a
cold sweat come over me. What the hell was I doing? I should just jump out
right now…

The
car came to a stop at a red light and my hand instantly went to the door handle
and I pulled on it. But nothing happened. It was locked and I couldn’t figure
out how to unlock it.

“Is
everything all right, ma’am?” the driver asked. My hands dropped from the door
like it burned and I nodded. The light changed and we were moving again, and
all I could do was stare out the window at the normal world passing me by.

Once
inside, I was escorted to Daniel’s office. The driver left me outside the door,
before giving me a nod and walking away. I was almost sad to see him go and
watched until he had disappeared from view. Then I swallowed, and nervously
tapped on the door. I felt like a school girl about to be punished; which I
was, I just didn’t know why.

“Enter,”
came the order from inside. I pushed the door open and stepped through. Daniel
was at his desk working at something on his laptop and his eyes briefly flicked
to me before returning to the screen. “Sit down.”

I
nervously sat in front of his desk; the chairs were large and I felt tiny in
comparison. I imagined they were meant as some kind of psychological device to
make Daniel’s associates feel small and powerless. They certainly had that
effect on me.

He
continued with his work, completely ignoring me while anticipation and dread
began to grow in me, along with anger that he was treating me as if I were no
more important than—

Than
what? This was how everyone treated me. The anger died, and was replaced with a
resigned sadness.

“I
told you to only wear what I sent. I didn’t say that you could wear a coat.”

My
eyes snapped to him as I realized that he was speaking to me.

“But
everyone would see me.”

He
shrugged and a small smile played on his lips. “Everyone’s going to see you
anyway. Remove the coat.”

I
hugged myself and the security of the coat. “No. I’ll take it off when—”

“You
see this?” he interrupted. “You see this office, this club, this building…this
is my world. I’m God here. The rules of the outside world don’t apply here.
What other people want
doesn’t
apply here. Now take off the coat like a
good girl, Mattie, or I’ll take it off for you.” His tone was so soft, but
there was no mistaking the steel behind it. The way that he was staring at me
made me feel like an animal, and I wondered if he wanted me to defy him so he
could attack.

I
stood, and with shaky hands fumbled with my belt. It seemed to take forever to
undo, but finally it fell free. I gripped onto the coat to remove it from me,
but my body seemed to freeze and I couldn’t move. Taking off the coat and
revealing myself would mean losing my last object of comfort, and I just couldn’t
do it.

But
as it happened, I didn’t need to. Daniel stood and walked over to me, circling
me before standing at my back. His hands pulled the coat from my shoulders and
peeled it from me. He threw it onto a chair, before standing before me and
appraising me. His eyes raked up and down, and I waited for him to say
something. My heart hoped for the kind, flattering things that he had said to me
at the farmhouse, but he said nothing. I had no idea what he was thinking.

“Let’s
go,” he said, taking my upper arm gently and pulling me along with him.

“Wait!
You haven’t answered my question!” I protested.

“This
has to happen first, Mattie.” He was unrelenting as he propelled me along to
the lift, never releasing his grip as we descended down.

“What
will happen?” I asked desperately, sure that my heart would beat out of my
chest. “What will you do?”

The
lift came to a halt and the doors opened. We stepped out and went down a narrow
corridor that led to a small room where a variety of people in costume waited,
and through that, I realized with dread, was the stage. A few half naked men
wearing loincloths and headdresses that looked like animals — wolves perhaps—
grinned at me.

“Me?
I won’t be doing anything,” Daniel said.

“What
do you mean?” I looked at him in alarm.

“I
just said that you had to cum on the stage. I didn’t say it would be me that
would do anything. I’m a busy man, Mattie. I can’t play all the time.”

I
stared at him, open mouthed, but before I could say anything, an older,
matronly looking woman came up to us. “Here’s the blindfold. It matches the
outfit perfectly.” She smiled at me. “Sweetheart, you look gorgeous. You really
do. Are you sure you want the blindfold? Don’t you want to see them all
admiring you?”

“Mattie
feels safer in the dark.” Daniel took the blindfold and stepped behind me,
drawing the soft item over my eyes.

“Suit
yourself. You’re on in one minute.” I heard footsteps as she walked away. A
small amount of light peeked through the blindfold, but I couldn’t see anything
or make out any figures.

“I
didn’t agree to this. I’ve changed my mind,” I breathed.

“Too
late,” he whispered in my ear, before pulling the hood up. “This nearly covers
your face. No one will know who you are.” Then I heard his footsteps walk away
and I was left in the dark.

“This
way, mind the step. Just walk forward when the announcer says. Don’t worry; the
wolves won’t let you walk into anything or off the stage.” The older woman had
taken my wrists and was gently guiding me.

“Ladies
and gentlemen,” boomed a man’s voice through a microphone. “I give you Little
Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolves.”

“Off
you go,” whispered the woman, giving me a tiny push so I had no choice but to
walk forward blindly. There were catcalls and cheers as I began to stumble
around the stage, with no idea where I was going or what I was supposed to do.

Something
furry brushed against me and I jumped, gasping in surprise. The audience
laughed. And then something behind me touched me and I jumped again, breathing
heavily. Then it was constant, light touches that made me whirl around in
confusion, completely surrounded.

“Look
out, Red Riding Hood. The wolves are about to eat you up,” boomed the voice.

Panicked,
I tried to run but was caught by strong hands and carried backward until I was
deposited into something that must have been a chair. A light kiss started on
my neck, while a hand ran down my stocking clad-inner thigh. Someone else
slipped off my shoe and began to kiss at my foot. Slowly, my stocking was
peeled from me, just like my dignity. I felt my toe sucked into a hot wet
mouth, while the hand that had been stroking my inner thigh slowly moved upward
to lightly stroke against my panties.

That
caused a slight wail of surprise to come from my mouth, but I was silenced by a
mouth coming down on mine. That mouth began to kiss me seductively, as if trying
to seduce me by tongue alone and I found myself kissing back. I felt hands tug
my bra down so that my breasts sprang free. I tried to raise my own hands to
pull it back up again but they were held together in a strong grip. My nipples
began to be pinched as I arched my back in response. I moaned into that mouth
that was on mine.

My
panties began to be pulled down, and I struggled for a moment but someone
whispered to me, “Just relax. You’ll enjoy this, I promise. He says you have to
cum. We can’t let you go until you do.” Then a tongue began to lap at me,
teasingly and lightly at first, running over my folds and circling my clit. I
couldn’t help but arch myself up toward that delicious mouth.

I
heard laughter and my face must have flamed, but I couldn’t help it. I needed
that mouth on me.  It had moved away now, and I whimpered.

“Horny
Red Riding Hood,” whispered that same voice. “He said you were shy and
inhibited, but right now you’re acting like the dirtiest, hottest woman.”