Page 4 of Trick Me, Treat Me
As the chef disappeared, I cut into the steak and almost moaned at the first bite. Tender, buttery, seasoned like magic. “Okay,” I said with my mouth full. “You’re definitely not a regular client.”
“Never said I was,” he answered, sipping his wine.
I narrowed my eyes playfully. “So what is this?”
His gaze lingered on me a little too long before he answered. “A night you’ll never remember.”
The way he said it made me put my fork down for a second. My heartbeat ticked up, but I laughed it off, lifting my glass to him. “We’ll see.”
We talked while we ate. Not the small-talk bullshit men usually fed me. He asked me real questions. About music, about what I wanted out of life besides money, and about the first time I realized I had power.
“You ever regret it?” he asked halfway through, leaning back in his chair, tattoos flexing across his chest as he dragged on the blunt.
“Regret what?”
“Being the fantasy.”
I took a sip of wine, smirking. “Why would I? I built this life myself. I get paid to be wanted. That’spower.”
His eyes lit up faintly, slit and glowing in the dim. “That’s what I like about you. You know what you are.” And damn if the way he said it didn’t sound like a compliment and a warning at the same time.
By the time dinner ended, I was warm from the wine. The blunt had me buzzing. The mansion’s heavy air felt like it was pressing us closer together.
He stood and extended his hand. “Dance with me.”
I laughed, shaking my head. “Dance? Who do you think I am, Beyoncé?”
“You’re Spirit,” he said simply. “And I said, dance with me.”
The authority in his tone made me move without thinking. My hand slid into his, and the moment our palms touched, heat shot up my arm. He pulled me close, one arm sliding around my waist, guiding me slowly in front of the fire. The music shifted, old R&B filling the room. He didn’t grind or rush. Just led. His scent wrapped around in a comforting way.
“You don’t talk much,” I whispered, looking up at him through my lashes.
“I don’t need to,” he said, lips brushing my temple. “You feel me, though.”
And I did. Every nerve in my body buzzed like a live wire. My thighs clenched, my head spun, and I hated how much I wanted to sink into him. The song faded and he pulled away, leaving me alone in the dining room. A few moments later, hecame back with a black velvet box. He set it in my hands, heavy, deliberately.
“What’s this?” I asked, brows furrowed.
“Open it.”
I flipped the lid, and my breath caught. Inside were neat stacks of hundred-dollar bills arranged in rows, bands tight, edges crisp. Way more than I made from a client. My mouth went dry. “Wait… I don’t understand. You already paid me.”
He sat back at the table, leaned back, and lit up another pre-rolled blunt. I watched as he took a slow drag from his blunt, smoke curling around his face. His eyes glowed faintly, fangs flashing behind his grillz as he smirked.
“That money ain’t for what you think,” he said, voice calm, steady, dripping with BDE. “It’s for something different.”
My stomach twisted, nails tapping against the velvet. “Different how?”
His grin widened, sharp and knowing. “You’ll see.”
The fire popped, the chandeliers flickered, and the mansion seemed to exhale all at once. My pulse thumped in my ears, and my body was hot and cold at the same time. For the first time in a long time, I wasn’t sure if I was the one in control anymore.
Hallow
S h eh a dn oi d e a.That was the part that almost made me laugh as I leaned back, blunt smoldering between my fingers, watching her sip her wine like she was the one in control. Spirit thought tonight was another booking, another trick with deeper pockets than the rest. She thought she was playing her usual game, but this night wasn’t about her power. It was about mine.
I had been waiting for her long before she ever walked through my front doors. Her name stayed on my tongue, her face in my head, her scent drawing me in from a distance I could never explain. I didn’t choose Spirit by accident. My body chose her. My blood chose her. The werewolf in me knew she was the one before I even saw her up close.
