novelraw Chapter 124: Not Scared
Chapter 124: Not Scared
Oliver’s POV
"She is serious," my wolf growled, pacing so hard I felt my muscles twitch with the need to shift.
"Damn it!" I roared, slamming my hand against the stone mantel. I didn’t have an hour; I had minutes.
I moved fast, with sharp, practiced movements, ripping off the "Oliver" clothes as if they were too heavy. I ran the black dye through my hair, turning the red strands dark, then put in the emerald lenses. I cleaned the concealer hiding my tattoos, pulled on the black leather, the heavy boots, and finally, the mask.
I didn’t take the car. I took the Ducati. The engine screamed as I sped out of the packhouse gates, pushing the bike so fast I definitely broke every traffic rule.
I reached the club in twenty minutes. I didn’t park—I left the bike on the sidewalk and walked straight past the line. My presence made people move aside without even thinking. The bouncer didn’t ask for ID. He just felt the cold, dangerous aura around me and stepped back.
I stepped into the loud, humid heat of the ’Underworld.’ My eyes scanned the shadows, the VIP booths, and the cages.
And then I saw her.
She sat at a high table, holding a glass of amber liquid. She looked small, but her chin was raised, her eyes searching the room with reckless hunger.
A man was already there. A Dom named Mike—known for being rough and cruel. He leaned into her space, his hand sliding across the table toward her wrist, a dark smile on his lips as he whispered something that made her flinch.
The world turned sharp and red.
I crossed the room in seconds. Before Mike could react, my gloved hand slammed his wrist into the table with a brutal thud.
"She’s taken," I growled. The rasp in my voice wasn’t fake anymore. It was raw, filled with a possessive anger that made the air turn cold.
Mike looked up, his eyes widening as he recognized the green lenses and the mask. "I didn’t see a collar, Raymond," he said, though his voice shook.
"You won’t see the sun if you don’t leave," I hissed, tightening my grip until I felt his bone strain.
He didn’t wait. He ran into the crowd without looking back.
I didn’t look at Mike as he fled. My eyes were only on Aurora. She looked up at me, her chest moving fast. She looked scared, but I could see something else in her eyes. She was glad I came. She had called for the Dom, and I had come.
I leaned down close to her and gripped the edge of the table so hard the wood groaned.
"You have five seconds," I whispered. My voice was deep and rough. "Tell me why I shouldn’t take you home right now. Tell me why I shouldn’t punish you for trying to give yourself to a stranger."
She didn’t back away. She reached out and touched the leather of my jacket. Her fingers were shaking.
"Because you came," she breathed. She sounded as if she were in a dream. "I knew you wouldn’t let anyone else have me."
I growled, the sound vibrating in my chest. I grabbed her waist and pulled her off the chair. I held her so tight she had to gasp. I didn’t care about being gentle. I didn’t care about being the "safe" King she knew as Oliver. Right now, I was the man she wanted—the Dom she craved.
"You’re right," I hissed into her ear. "I won’t. But you’re going to learn that playing with me is dangerous. You don’t threaten me, Aurora. Ever."
I turned and started walking out, pulling her with me. I didn’t wait to see if she could keep up. I was angry, I was jealous, and I was going to show her exactly how a jealous, angry Dom reacts. She wants rough Raymond? She will get him.
I dragged her through the club, my boots thundering against the floor. I didn’t look back to see if she was tripping or struggling to keep up. I just felt her small hand in mine, and the heat of her skin against my leather glove was like a match to a fuse.
We reached the heavy, soundproof door of my private room. I unlocked it with a sharp click, pushed it open, and stepped inside. She didn’t hesitate. She walked right into the lion’s den, her head held high even though I could feel her trembling.
I slammed the door shut, and the muffled thump of the club’s bass was the only sound left. The room was dark, the air thick and smelling of old whiskey and cedar. Even though it was afternoon outside, in here, it was always midnight.
I didn’t say a word. I walked over to the large leather armchair and sat down heavily, my legs spread wide. I stared at her through the green lenses, my chest heaving. I was past angry. I was hurting. Just an hour ago, I had held her as Oliver, offering her my heart and a quiet life, and she had pushed me away. She had looked at the "real me" and felt bored.
Now, she stood before the mask, her eyes bright with a hunger that broke my heart even as it fired up my blood.
"Do you have any idea how much trouble you’re in, Aurora?" I asked. My voice was a low, angry vibration that seemed to shake the very walls.
She bit her lip, her gaze dropping to my boots before traveling slowly up to the mask. She didn’t look like she wanted to run. She seemed like she was waiting for the storm to hit. She seemed excited.
"You threatened me," I hissed, leaning forward. "You sat at a table with a man who would have broken you just to get a reaction out of me. You played a game with your life, Little Bird."
I stood up slowly, looming over her. The shadow I cast swallowed her whole.
"You are going to be punished," I growled, my hand reaching out to tilt her chin up so she had to look at the cold, green glass of my eyes. "I am going to make sure you never even think about looking at another man again. I’m going to leave marks that will remind you exactly who owns every inch of you."
I let go of her chin and stepped back, giving her one last chance to escape the monster I was becoming.
"If you don’t want this—if you want ’safe,’ if you want ’gentle’—then walk out that door right now," I commanded, my voice flat and hard. "Because once I start, there is no going back."
She didn’t move an inch toward the door. Instead, she took a step toward me, her breath hitching in her throat.
"I don’t want to leave," she whispered. "I want it. I want you, Raymond."
My wolf let out a dark, satisfied snarl. I reached behind me, grabbing a pair of heavy leather restraints from the table.
"Fine," I spat. "Then give me your safe word. One word to stop me when I go too far."
She looked me dead in the eye, her voice small but certain.
"Red."