Alone
1103 Words
Mara
I stood in the hallway alone.
Zander's bedroom door had closed behind him with a soft click that somehow hit harder than a slam would have.
My body was still trembling faintly, still halfway unraveled from what he'd started and never finished. The words were settling into me now.
Over your p***y.
Not over you or perhaps over this.
Over your pussy
According to him, that was all this was. That was all I was… a p***y.
I pressed my back against the wall and slid down it slowly until I was sitting on the cold hallway floor, knees pulled to my chest.
I didn't cry, I was too angry to cry.
I sat there in the silence of his apartment, listening to nothing before I made a promise to myself
He didn't get to do this to me. He didn't get to treat me like I was some mistake he committed.
*****
The dress was black and tight, leaving nothing to imagination.
I paired it with red heels that clicked against the floor with every step.
I'd taken my time with my makeup to look the part, like the seductress I was playing tonight.
I knew where he would be.
Zander was predictable in his patterns, even if he was unpredictable in everything else.
If he was not at the clubhouse or the garage or avoiding me in his own house, he was at the bar with the other MC.
I'd learnt his pattern after staying with him for a week.
It wasn't hard to figure out where he would be tonight.
The bar was exactly what I expected.
The lighting was dim, leather, the smell of whiskey and cigarette smoke heavy in the air.
Several bikers in cuts covered every corner, their cuts displaying the Steel Shadows patch.
I walked in like I owned the place and the shift in energy was immediate.
Heads turned, conversations paused and I felt the weight of their attention settle on me like a physical touch .
I didn't flinch from it. I walked to the bar, ordered a vodka soda with a confidence I didn't entirely feel and waited.
It didn't take long.
Three minutes later…
"That's a hell of a dress for a Tuesday night." A voice came from my left.
I turned to find a man with dark hair and an easy smile, his cut marking him as a member.
“ I just felt like dressing up," I replied calmly, taking a sip of my drink.
The man grinned, like I'd said something funny.
"Well, you're definitely dressed. I'm Derek, by the way. Shadow's just what they call me around here." He extended his hand and I took it, my game already in motion.
Shadow’s grip was warm and his demeanor felt immediately friendly.
"Call me Mara." I offered.
"Marcus's sister," he said, recognition flickering across his face.
“ I should have seen the resemblance. You've got the same sharp eyes." He added and I just smiled.
The way he identified me reminded me of someone…Zander.
He had called me the same when he picked me up that day.
“Marcus's little sister”
The only difference was it felt bearable and innocent coming from Shadow unlike Zander's mocking tone.
Shadow and I talked for a while. He was easy to talk to unlike a certain someone.
He made me laugh at a story about a run gone wrong.
He didn't push when I deflected his questions about what had brought me to the bar on a random Tuesday.
The whole time we chatted, I felt it.
The weight of a gaze that was heavy and dark.
The kind of attention that made my skin prickle and my heartbeat quicken despite my best efforts to stay composed.
Zander was here.I didn't need to look to confirm it.
I leaned closer to Shadow, laughed at something he said and let my hand rest on his arm for just a moment longer than necessary. I was playing a dangerous game and I knew it, but I also knew that Zander was watching every second of it.
I let him watch.
I let him see that I wasn't just something to be touched and discarded.
I let him see that other men found me interesting, that I could command attention without needing him to validate my existence.
Shadow was mid-sentence when the temperature in the bar seemed to drop.
I didn't need to turn around to know Zander had moved. The sudden silence that rippled through the small crowd was answer enough.
Shadow's words trailed off, his eyes moving over my shoulder to whatever was happening behind me.
"s**t," Shadow muttered, pulling his hand back from where it had been resting near my waist.
“That's not good." He muttered.
I turned slowly, my heart doing a stupid flip.
Zander stood across the bar, and the look on his face was something between fury and hunger. His jaw was clenched so tight I could see the muscle jumping beneath the skin. His eyes were fixed on me with an intensity that made my insides crawl.
He was moving, cutting through the bar like he owned it.
His gaze never left mine, not for a second.
"We're leaving," he announced.
It wasn't a request. It was a command.
"I'm not finished with my drink," I said, my voice steady even as my pulse raced.
His hand shot out, closing around my wrist.
The grip was nothing but gentle.
"Now, Mara." He growled, looking like he could murder someone if I said no.
I could have fought it.
I could have made a scene, demanded he explain himself and reminded him that he had told me to stay away from him. But the truth was, I didn't want to fight this.
I wanted this.
I wanted to see what he'd do when his control finally snapped completely. I wanted to know if the version of Zander that had touched me in that hallway was stronger than the version that was trying to protect his friendship with Marcus.
I stood up, letting him pull me along.
Shadow didn't try to stop us. Nobody did and for some reason,I was thankful for that.
Zander dragged me toward the exit, his grip on my wrist still tight.
His jaw remained clenched tightly.
"You think you're smart?" he growled as we hit the cool night air outside the bar.
I didn't answer. I just smiled.
I didn't have to because he'd just proven exactly what I needed to prove.
I wasn't just a p***y.
I was worth losing control over.
- Writer
