Need You Tonight

I've never been one to party on a school night, but these drugs aren't going to sell themselves. I just finished curling my hair into perfectly beachy waves before applying a high shine red lipstick and a smokey eye. I lean back from the mirror in the bathroom, assessing my look from multiple angles.

"I'm so sorry I can't come with you Vale. I know you don't fly solo. Especially not to parties," Gabby says, coming into the bathroom before planting her ass on the toilet seat to watch me put the final touches on my makeup. I think I'm sufficiently ho-ed up.

"I know you would come if you could, but I don't think anyone would be interested in the flu you're rocking. Seriously. Did you have any of the soup I brought back for you from the cafe today? Because it's chicken noodle. Years of watching television have taught me that's the trick to not feeling like shit."

She looks up at me from her lower position. Hair awry, nose red, white flannel pajamas. No one would believe this was Gabby if they saw her out in the wild. The thought makes me laugh.

"What?"

"Nothing. You just look miserable and I feel bad for you. I won't be gone long, and then when I come back we can get together on the couch to binge whatever offensively awful old reality television show you're watching now."

Her returning smile is crooked. "I'm watching The Real World. It's a classic. It's very high brow, I'll have you know." Her voice is stuffy and she reaches down, pulling a wad of toilet paper off the roll before blowing her nose into it.

I'm wearing a kelly green hi-low dress with gold sandals and matching hoop earrings. I could almost be confused for an actual adult in this outfit. It's sexy, but not so sexy I couldn't get away with wearing it grocery shopping or out to lunch. I had to balance out the full face of makeup I put on today.

"Okay. I'll text you when I get to Phi Mu. They're just a little down the way, so I'm going to walk."

Gabby gives me a nod, following me out of the bathroom and dramatically throwing herself down on the couch with a huff.

"Don't forget to take more cold medicine in about an hour, okay?"

She rolls her eyes but agrees. "Yes, mom."

I'm enjoying the stroll to the sorority house, but it's getting to the time of year that it starts getting just a little chilly in the evenings. Since this dress is sleeveless I can feel the cool breeze wrapping me up as it blows by, causing a chill to settle over me. We truly are well on our way into the semester already.

I have a few guys that are supposed to be meeting me at the party, so I'm going to look for them first once I get inside. I have enough to maybe make one or two more sales and then I'm getting the hell out of dodge. I'm hoping I won't run into Kaden at the party. He certainly can't make time for every single one of them, right? He's bound to miss a couple and this would be a great one to skip.

The door to the house is wide open when I make my way across the dewy lawn before strolling into the open entryway. The house is older, but it's huge. Although it doesn't look Victorian style from the outside, the inside of the house has that feel to it. A lot of wooden paneling and decorative molding that is no doubt original to the house. I wonder passively what it costs sororities for upkeep on houses like this.

I make it into the kitchen where plenty of people seem to have settled. The vibe of the party seems weird and off. I'm immediately uncomfortable, but I can't tell if it's just because the crowd is off, I'm alone, or maybe it's that there's no music playing. Who has a party without music?

I see a couple of Benson's friends that I met at Baked Alaska the other night propped up against the wall holding the apropos red solo cups in their hands and make my way in their direction.

"Hey guys, how's it going?" I toss a flirty smile their way and I'm immediately rewarded with warm grins and bedroom eyes from both men.

"Hey, Vale. What are you doing in our neck of the woods this beautiful Thursday evening?" He raises his eyebrows suggestively and I laugh like it's hilarious. It's not.

I lean into the taller of the two just a little bit, making sure to make contact with him in little ways while we continue the discussion.

They're obviously Philosophy students, having a discussion that is about as interesting as watching flowers grow, and as the conversation veers into Thomas Aquinas territory, I know that I have to make my move or cut my losses. "Hey, do either of you want any molly? I have a little bit that I'm trying to get rid of. Only thirty each."

The tall guy I've been rubbing up on like a cat in heat immediately takes the bait. "Are you going to take some with us?"

I set a plastic grin on my face. "I'm allergic," I say, feigning regret as I rest a hand against my chest, "yeah, that's why I'm trying to find someone who can take them off my hands. I would hate to waste them."

Wallets come out, and the exchange is made. I turn around, still stuffing the cash into my bra when my eyes meet a familiar pair of grey eyes that hold danger swirling in their depths.

I stop. Dead stop right there. I'm so busted. He's wearing that same faded Metallica shirt he was wearing the first time I laid my eyes on him, black jeans, and a studded leather belt. He looks like nothing but trouble and I've stepped right into it.

His muscles are fraught with tension, his nose is flared, and all the signs are there that I should immediately evacuate the area, but I can't seem to make my legs move.

What's the best way to treat the situation? Fight back? Play dead? Hide in a closet and hope he eventually goes away? While I'm mulling over my choices I see him bite his lips between his teeth and toss his head to the side, motioning toward a hallway. He leaves then, expecting that I follow. Glutton for punishment that I am, I do just that.

I remember what happened last time we were in a darkened hallway at a party together, and I'm not sure that I'm going to get a different treatment this time around. He opens a bedroom door, reaching behind him and grabbing my hand before pulling me along.

He turns once we've entered, putting himself between me and the only exit in the room. I fold my arms in front of me and shift uncomfortably on my feet while his eyes run the length of my body. I can almost hear him counting down in his head, trying to quell the anger that I can see flitting on the perimeter of his expression.

"Give it to me, Vale," Kaden says, sticking out his hand, palm up, expecting what I'm assuming is my drugs. I consider him a moment before slowly shaking my head back and forth.

Rushing forward, he seizes me by the arms and swings me so that my back is against the door, just roughly enough to ratchet up my anxiety, but not so hard that it was actually painful. He wouldn't really hurt me, would he? He looks mad enough that he could. I don't want to count anything out.

His face is mere inches from my own as I look up at him and he looks down at me in turn. "Are they in your bra? I saw you put the cash in there. Either you give them to me, or I'm going fishing for them myself."

What the hell am I supposed to do here? If I hand those over they're money that I need. I've already paid for them, so I can't take an actual loss either. My traitorous nerve endings flare in excitement at the idea of him having his hands in my bra, but I don't move to help him or hinder him, instead standing frozen. "I can't give them to you, Kaden."

He lets out a growl, before dipping his hands into my bra and pulling out both the pills and the cash, and holding them up in front of my face.

"Not exactly the way I imagined getting my hands in your bra for the first time," he bites out with more vehemence than necessary.

Feeling my eyes begin to turn watery, I look away from him. I managed to contain the tears that threatened, but the sniffle was unmistakable and impossible to conceal. He reaches up with one hand, placing it on my cheek and pulling my vision back to him.

"What are you doing, Vale? Why the hell are you selling drugs?"

"That's none of your business."

He lifts his eyebrows, his eyes widening a fraction. "Not my business? It is quite literally my business. You are impeding my business. No one just up and decides to sell ecstasy. I know you don't take it yourself, so I'm going to ask you one more time; Why. are. you. selling. drugs?!"

His anger threaded through the words that he yelled in my face loud enough that I could smell the minty caress of his toothpaste, and my composure crumbled.

"Because I lost my fucking scholarship! I have no money to pay for anything, let alone the next semester, and I am not going back to Maine. I cant. I just can't, Kaden." My brows are pinched together, pained. I am pleading with a man who is known to be absolutely merciless and asking for mercy. Asking that he let me do what no one else is allowed to.

He steps back a fraction, pulling his hand through his hair. "Fuck, Vale." His exasperated sigh mimics exactly how I'm feeling.

Pacing the area, he seems to be fighting with himself over something important. I'm hoping that whatever decision he comes to is favorable to me, but I can't bring myself to say anything in my own defense.

Finally, he picks up my hand from my side, turns it palm up, and places my money and my drugs back into it before closing my fingers around it.

"Here's what we're going to do. You sell under me. You get your shit from me, you sell it at my prices. We split the money three ways, but Vale, if I'm going to do this I need to know that you'll make it worth everyone's time. You need to pull in more customers. You seem to be working for the male population pretty damn well, so keep doing that, but we're getting together tomorrow to go over logistics of how we're going to do this."

I feel the muscles in my shoulders relax slightly. I didn't even know how nervous I was until the moment that the nerves fled my body. I don't like the idea of not having control over myself. He'll basically be my boss, controlling an awful lot of my life. He would hold my very ability to attend the next semester in his hands.

He is still considering me before raising a challenging brow at me, offended I didn't immediately jump on the life raft he just threw me. I know when I'm beaten, and I'm beaten. "Ok. Yeah, ok."

We're standing uncomfortably close and he makes no sign that he intends on moving from the position in which he has me pinned against the door, unable to flee. His eyes run down my face, my neck, over my cleavage, and he makes a sound of appreciation from his throat.

He dips down to kiss me and I open to him on contact. Bringing his hands up to either side of my jaw he cradles my face, giving me a far sweeter kiss than last time. Unhurried, less desperate, but somehow it holds more intensity than last time. When he moves to deepen the kiss I give no objection, tilting my head, and lifting my arms to throw them around his neck.

His hands leave my face to trail down my body, gently, exploring the area of my waist and back, slipping his arms around me and pulling me flush against his body and the firm erection I could feel pressed against me, the evidence of his arousal spurring mine and my focus shifts.

He grabs my ass, lifting me and I take the cue, wrapping my legs around his body, allowing my center to rest firmly against his hardening cock.

He turns from the door and strides across the floor a few steps until we're at the bed, before laying me down and climbing on top of me so that I'm on my back and he rests between my legs.

He separated his mouth from mine, before trailing wet nips and kisses down my neck to my chest. My desperation for him feels all-consuming. I fought it valiantly, but now it feels like I'm ground zero for a virus that is going to spread until it consumes me completely.

When he reaches the top of my dress he tucks his fingers into the top before flicking his gaze up to mine, asking permission silently, which I grant him with a slight nod of my head. He pulls down the sleeveless top and strapless bra in a single motion, taking one hardened bud in his mouth and using his hand to explore the other.

My chills are instantaneous and my desire unfurls within me yawning out for satiation. I find myself lost in him, letting small moans of pleasure escape my lips as he works my breasts expertly, switching sides to the other one.

He starts to gather my dress at the hem, letting his hand wander beneath it, en route to my center and I widen for him, when the door opens.

"Oh, shit! Sorry!" someone says before closing the door with a click.

My hands fly to cover my exposed top, wrapping it immediately, and the spell is broken.

I pull up my dress, noticing now that Kaden has my lipstick all over his face. I imagine that I probably don't look much better. The silent laughter begins in my chest, bouncing my abs as I lift my hand to cover my mouth.

"What's so funny?"

"Come here." I stand, grabbing his hand and pulling him with me toward a mirrored closet door and standing him in front of it.

Kaden snorts at the sight, while I find my way back to the bed, grabbing my money, my pills, and the lipstick I had stowed away inside my bra as well. I tucked my drug-related items back into my bra once I had it perfectly situated on my chest, and fixed my lipstick in the mirror.

"Did I get it all?" Kaden asks, turning to face me. He has the slightest bit still at the corner of his mouth so I lift my hand and wipe it off with the pad of my thumb. When he looks down at me I see his eyes darkening once again.

"No. I just fixed my makeup. We need to go out there before someone comes back in to say something."

"Hm. Go, sell what you have to whoever you want tonight. Tomorrow, though, that ass is mine," he says before winking at me and giving me a crooked smile. I know he's teasing me, but he's not far from the mark.

I'm not sure how long it's going to take for me to get comfortable with someone else having the upper hand on me. I guess we'll find out.