Page 7 of Piper

“What do you think, Ollie?” Piper calls from the bedroom.

Opening the door, I find her wearing the most stunning black dress that looks like it just slides down her body and over those curves of hers that I love. The almost inappropriately high slit in the right side of the dress, reaching up to the thigh is what she loves the most. Her tattoo is on display. Halloween is the only time she is allowed to show people the ink that adorns her leg. It's something that I, as a tattoo artist, have always found weird. My designs are works of art, and, with the exception of a few minor vulgar requests, I want all of my art to be on display. To be seen by as many as possible.

I know why Piper hides, not just the tattoo but her whole personality too. I just can’t really put into words why she needs to feel like that. She craves control, but more than anything, she wants a family. I think that's how we connected. Two lost souls seeking a place in the world and that is exactly what I got here with Piper. Is it perfect? Fuck, no. But I can’t imagine what my life would be like without her, my only worry is that she doesn’t feel the same.

“You look fucking gorgeous, as always,” I say to her as I move closer to her perfect body. There is literally nothing about her that I would change; she is the epitome of a wet dream and I am one lucky fucker to call her mine.

My instinct is to reach for her and to pull her hard against my body, but I know better than that. Piper doesn’t like to be touched without permission. We have developed a silent communication system which seems to work for us. My eyes bore into her with a fiery passion that lets her know how much I am struggling to control myself, every nerve cell beckons to be closer to her.

Seeing that passion, she inclines her head slightly into a barely there nod. Accompanied by the sexy little smirk that appears on her face, I know that’s her giving consent. But I still know I need to be a bit careful with her. So, I take my time as I walk forward and pull her flush against me. I try to look her in the eyes so she can see how much I truly do desire her, but, as always, she looks away. At first, she used to hold eye contact with me and used it as a way of exerting her authority over me. Yet, recently that has changed. Instead, she struggles to maintain eye contact with me and I have no idea why. My stupid heart hopes that she has finally developed the same feelings as I have, but my more realistic side knows that there's more of a chance she is pulling away. I am determined to make sure that doesn’t happen. I can’t lose her.

As our bodies remain flushed together and I can feel the heat of her breath on my neck, I slowly raise my hand and curve it gently around her neck. Once my hand is in position, her breath hitches. I know in this position, I have power over her airways and therefore, she must trust me to allow me this, but Piper knows I would never abuse her trust. That's why she doesn’t move, or speak up, to object. So, I use my grip to lightly tilt her face upward to meet my gaze. She blinks to try and avert my stare, but I take advantage of the opportunity and press our lips together.

It’s gentle at first, just two soft lips connecting with the briefest of kisses, but that's not enough for either of us. I pull back slightly to give Piper the chance to withdraw consent, but, of course, she doesn’t. Instead, she fists her hand in the front of my t-shirt and roughly pulls me back towards her until our lips collide. This time is so different. This kiss is bruising and powerful, almost as though our lips are assaulting one another, desperate for power. It is frantic and hurried.

Piper deepens the kiss first by licking her tongue across my lip, demanding access. I hold out, desperate to win the power battle, so I return the gesture against her lips. I should know by now that Piper always wins. In response, she bites down hard on my lower lip, eliciting a growl from me. She utilises that by invading her tongue into my mouth and so begins another battle as our tongues stroke against each other.

When we eventually pull away, both of our lips are plump and bruised, our eyes are bright and wide from the lust, and our breaths are escaping in rapid pants as we try and control our breathing. It’s always been this way with Piper, ever since the first time we had sex. There has always been this fire between us, but I would be a fool not to notice how much more excited she gets on these nights. These are the nights when I get to see the real Piper. The one that scares the shit out of me, but also makes my cock harder than ever before. She is an enigma but I can't deny that a piece of my soul belongs with hers and that is why I put up with these evenings. I quickly realised that I would do anything for Piper.

“It’s time for me to go. Do you remember the plan?” Piper asks, back into professional mode again. How she flips between faces genuinely amazes me. I am still focused on how hard my cock is straining to get out of my jeans and how much I want to do so much more than kiss her, but it’s too late. She’s moved on and now we are all business.

“Of course, I remember the plan,” I say grumpily. Blue balls really do bring out my irritable side.

Piper just tuts, completely ignoring my irritability. She is focused and determined. The plan so tightly thought out, it baffles me why she would even think that I would forget it. She doesn’t bother with goodbyes, or any of the society norms that usually occur when people part ways. This is when I am reminded that Piper is different from anyone else. She is so focused on her plan that the idea of saying goodbye, or giving me a goodbye kiss, is pointless. Unless she gains something from it, or it is for show, she doesn’t bother. I do fucking admire that about her because not many girls think like that.

I watch Piper climb into her car and I know that I have about an hour to spare before I need to start enacting my part of the plan. Overwhelmed by the idea of what is to come and jealous of what Piper has to do to fulfil her end, combined with my blue balls, my mind is tipping over the edge. I feel like my whole body is rippling with nervous energy and if I want to go through with this plan, I need to get my head in the game. So, I do what I do before every night like this, I run.

Runningthrough the edge of the town, ensuring that I am not seen, I run fast enough that my brain doesn’t think anymore. I have been using running as a way to cope with my intrusive thoughts since I was a teenager, but it is even worse on these nights. Piper flourishes on these nights, but I feel like I am at war with myself.

When I reach the car park of Compendium, I see Piper’s car parked exactly where she said it would be. It’s my job to take it home and make it look like she drove herself home. But as I approach the building, I can’t help but be drawn to the club. The bass of the music ripples through my body and my heart starts to beat to the same rhythm. I can feel it pounding in my chest and it’s almost like I am hypnotised.

Piper is inside; she is seducing her mark as she has planned perfectly. I know why she has to do it this way for the plan to work, but that doesn’t stop the macho, possessive, alpha male side of my brain from raging about the idea of my girl with another guy. I have asked her many times if we can do it a different way. Take a homeless person off the street, someone nobody would miss. Why does it always have to be good looking young men that she seduces first? Piper dismissed my suggestion immediately and, as usual, provided me with no answers or explanation. It was clear that she had no concept of jealousy, or why I would be pissed at the idea of her being with someone else.

At times, I even question whether Piper sees us as in a relationship, if she would openly call me her boyfriend. We never really talked about it, it just happened this way and at first, I was scared that if I questioned her then maybe she would run. So instead, I put up with it and just follow the plan. At least that is what I have done every other night, but for some reason, tonight is different.

Following my heart instead of my head, I do something that I have never done before and I go into Compendium. I need to see Piper for myself, see how she works, and who he is. Why did she choose him as a target? He's so much more high risk than normal, yet she dismissed that instantly. She chose the targets and I did as I was told. Until now.

I twist the baseball cap I am wearing so that the front is now covering my face. I always run with it on backwards, holding the hair out of my eyes as I run. Now, I get to wear it to hide my face as much as possible. I can’t let anyone see me here. It could fuck up the plan but, for some reason, I just don’t care. I need to see how Piper does it.

Making my way to the end of the bar closest to the door, I quickly assess my surroundings. I know that Piper will be in the crowd of people because it's easier to remain inconspicuous when surrounded by people, according to her. I don’t think she realises that her beauty stands out a mile.

As I look over to the crowd in the middle of the dancefloor, I see what I knew I would, Piper dancing with her mark. I sit there, mesmerised, as I watch the sway of her hips and the way she throws her head back in laughter that I know to be fake. But the way her hands travel over the contours of her body, as she feels the silkiness of her dress, knowing there is nothing beneath is a heady sensation for her. I can see the fire in her eyes and I can’t deny that seeing her move like that has my heart beating like a drum and my dick begging to get free.

These feelings are quickly replaced by ones of anger and sheer rage as I watch the guy she is with put his hands on her. Even from here I can see that Piper freezes, even for the minutest of seconds before she puts her mask back into place. But it’s the way he runs his hands over her body, the way he kisses her, and the way she clearly responds to him in a way that most definitely is not faked.

I knew what the plan entailed. Piper always told me honestly about the type of things she would need to do in order to gain control over the mark, but hearing about it is completely different to seeing it with my own two eyes.

I can’t pull my attention away from it, seeing them together is like looking at a disaster and yet, I can’t seem to look away. Until a gentle cough pulls my attention and I find the woman behind the bar staring at me.

“Can I get you anything?”

It’s obvious that she has asked me more than once because she has a look of impatience on her face. I turn to face her fully, to make it less obvious what I was really doing. I’m shocked to find such a young girl behind the bar. She barely looks old enough to work here. Her naturally red hair is pulled back into a bun, but there are wisps of hair flying around her face giving off the truly dishevelled look. Her cheeks are flushed red and there are beads of sweat dotted across her forehead.

As she waits for me to acknowledge her, she stretches and winces as though she is in pain and has been standing for a while. I try to ignore the way her arched back pushes her cleavage out further in her white tank top. She’s no Piper, but there’s no denying that she is a good looking girl. Who right now is staring at me like I might be having problems understanding what she is saying. I can see the war in her eyes as she glances around the mass of patrons trying to get served, getting more and more irate the longer she spends with me. I realise I’m being a dick and I snap out of my anger at seeing Piper in that way.

“Sorry, miles away. Can I just get a Diet Coke, please?” I ask, throwing her a smile that I can see momentarily stuns her. She smiles back at me and I’m shocked to see the way it lights up her face, making her look a lot older now than before.

“Coming right up.” She busies herself getting a glass, filling it with ice and a slice of lemon before taking the soda dispenser and holding it over my glass. She doesn’t even look as she fills it slowly, instead her eyes are boring into mine.

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