VICIOUS MEN: THE COMPLETE VICIOUS CITY COLLECTION

by Renard, Loki

  “I know why,” she whispers.

  “No, you don’t. You might think you do, but you’re not eve close.”

  I don’t have time to argue with her, but Kitty is already pushing me toward the front door. I try and whisper the truth to her as quickly as possible.

  “He’s not what you think he is, and what happened to you wasn’t even…”

  “Well this sounds like an interesting story.”

  Goddamn I hate that voice. I could happily never hear that smug, self-controlled drawl again. When we turn around, the bedroom door is wide open. Vicious is standing there completely naked and evidently unashamed of his morning erection. I’d say he was being inappropriate, but I did just break into his home and I guess sometimes when you do that, you see things you don’t want to.

  I can see what Kitty sees in him. Or more specifically, what she sees in herself. He’s impressively endowed. His body is hard, muscular, and tattooed. Naked, he looks like every sexy bastard I’ve ever fucked. I don’t know how Kitty ended up with a man like this. I thought she was better than this. I know she’s better than him.

  “Hello Blaze,” he drawls the words in that menacing English accent of his which makes a simple greeting sound like a dire threat.

  “Uh…”

  I swallow. Last time I was in here, he put a gun to my head. This time the only gun he’s got is shooting something a lot less immediately dangerous.

  “That conversation sounded interesting,” he says. “Very intriguing. Do tell.”

  I look him in the eye to avoid looking at the rest of his impossibly hard, stupidly hot, perfectly tattooed body. He’s daring me to do it. To give his little secret away. And I know why. He wants me to tell her and put the final nail in the coffin of our friendship.

  It hits me like a cudgel to the face. I shouldn’t have come. This was a huge mistake. If I tell Kitty now, and she doesn’t believe me, then this is over. She’s fallen for him, and she’s not going to believe a word against him. She thinks he’s going to save her, when really, he’s the thing she needs saving from.

  “Uhm, I mean, now I think about it, I don’t know…”

  Kitty is looking at me, confused and a little annoyed, but most of her attention is on Vicious. She looks at that guy as if he is in possession of the sole penis on the planet.

  “Oh, do tell, Blaze. What is it you could possibly have to say?” He cocks his head to the side and I see previous threats flashing through his eyes. Vicious has never actually hurt me, but he’s threatened me plenty. One day that might tip over into real pain, but today isn’t that day.

  “I, uh, I think I hear Slick looking for me. See ya.”

  I leave, feeling flat. Kitty was always the level-headed one of the two of us, but now my friend is head over heels for a fucking psychopath who engineers entire death scenarios just to teach her a lesson. Vicious takes manipulation to a whole other level. Everything about him is a lie.

  He has Kitty wrapped around his little finger. And there’s nothing I can do. I know he’s a liar. I know he’s a psychopath. I know he can’t be trusted. But if I want to stay Kitty’s friend, I have to keep my mouth shut. I have to wait this out. And I have to be there to pick up the pieces when she falls harder than I would have if I’d fucked up that jump.

  Because that’s what friends do.

  2

  Kitty

  I’m as happy as I’ve ever been. Maybe danger does lurk around every corner. Maybe people are trying to kill me. Maybe that doesn’t matter because I’m loved by a man named Arthur. At least, I think I am.

  Last night, we made love. Intense, passionate, mind-blowing love which I can still feel aching between my thighs. It was our first time, and I very much hope that it will not be our last.

  Now he’s sitting on the couch, reading the paper while I eat a bowl of cereal and daydream about what the future might hold. He reads an actual paper, not a tablet like most people do these days. Or, admittedly, like most people don’t. Personally, I get my news 140 characters at a time and wildly out of context.

  “So what’s happening today?”

  “Nothing,” he says, glancing up at me with that dark smile. “We’re taking the day, Kitty. We’re going to relax.”

  “Oh okay. Cool.”

  I let the silence draw out a little, then ask another question.

  “How many kids do you want?”

  “What?” He jerks the paper down and looks at me as if my hair is on fire. I think this is the first time I’ve ever seen him look surprised. Vicious is collected and in control, even when he’s burning with passion, but apparently, the mention of starting a family is enough to break that veneer.

  “In the future,” I say. “I mean, when you have a family.”

  His brow quirks and he shakes his head vigorously, reminding me of a dog shaking water from itself.

  “None.”

  “None? Not even a little one?”

  “The little ones get bigger, Kitty. And they grow into people. Real people, who can be hurt. They’re not just toys to play with.”

  “I don’t think they’re toys,” I say, insulted at the insinuation.

  “Many young women your age do.”

  “How would you know?”

  “I’ve seen a few things in my time,” he says, going back to his paper. I sit there quietly for all of a minute before I can’t help but ask another one of those fated questions only desperate girls ask. I wish I wasn’t saying this, I can sense the answer already, but I have to.

  “Okay, so you don’t want kids. What about marriage?”

  He doesn’t even look up from the paper this time. “Hardly, Kitty.”

  “So, where does this go? We spend the rest of our lives just like this?”

  I sense an eye roll I can’t see, but I hear the sigh he emits as he turns toward me. “Are we having this discussion, Kitty? The, where is this going, conversation?”

  “Yeah, we are.”

  “You are,” he says. “I’m still working on the part where I ensure that you have a future.”

  I sense the sting of what feels like rejection. I know the world is a dangerous place, but I don’t see why that means we can’t make plans for when the danger is in the past. That is what I need right now, to believe that the future will be different, that it is worth going through this now so that we can be happy later.

  Vicious is still a closed book to me. I don’t know what he wants in his life. I don’t know if he even wants me. We slept together, but maybe it doesn’t actually go any deeper than that.

  “What do you want, Kitty?” He turns the question back on me.

  “I want to go back to school. I want to get a law degree. I want to be a lawyer and have a family. A big one. Four kids at least.”

  He snorts and I see the corner of his mouth lift in one of those infuriating smirks of his.

  “What?”

  “You don’t want that, Kitty, not any of it.”

  “How would you know? Are you a mind reader?”

  He folds the paper in his lap and looks at me, giving me the benefit of his full green gaze. My breath catches in my throat. It’s the little casual moments like these when Vicious makes my heart flutter the most.

  “I know, because you are yet to take a single action which would lead to any of those outcomes. When I took you, you had been working for shady people for well over two years. You were single. You hadn’t put in a single application to any college.”

  “I was thinking about it though.” It sounds lame when I say it that way.

  “Thinking does not make it so,” he says with a curt shake of his head. “What you want, Kitty, is to live on the wrong side of the law, to avoid commitment, and to play little fantasies in your head of the white picket life you’ll never have. You’re a criminal. Every choice you make leads you deeper down the wrong path.”

  “You’re right, I guess,” I say bitterly. “I chose you.”

  “No you didn’t,” he says. “I ch
ose you. Because, Kitty, you don’t know what the hell you’re doing. And frankly, the fact that you’re even thinking about dragging a baby into the middle of this just shows how immature you are.”

  I stare at him, tears pricking my eyes as he scolds me like a silly teenage girl. He’s an asshole. I knew that, but I forgot it when I found myself in his arms, relieved just to be alive.

  “I’m not talking about dragging one into it now. I’m talking about what I want for the future, but I can see what you want for the future, easy sex and more crime.”

  He drops his paper and cocks his head to the side. “I mean, when you put it that way, does it really sound so bad? The corner of his lip turns up in a seductive smile. “A life of freedom from all the restrictions of society’s expectations? Truly being able to exist as you please, not being beholden to anyone besides yourself?”

  “Sounds lonely,” I comment.

  “It isn’t.” He shakes his head. “It’s real. The modern American lives in a loop. Groundhog Day. Get up. Work. Spend money. Sleep. Get up. Work. Spend money. Sleep. That work can be paid work or the work the world has turned having offspring into, but it’s the same loop for all concerned. I don’t live in that loop, Kitty. Neither do you. And that is a good thing. Neither of us know what the next day will bring. We live real lives, full of chaos and possibility. You want to give all that up for some pipe dream clipping from a 1950’s magazine?”

  When he says it that way, I feel silly. I fall silent and go for more coffee. Of course Vicious doesn’t want to marry me and have babies with me. He’s only known me a week or so, and we’ve only even had sex the one time. What the hell am I doing talking to him about this stuff? It would be enough to make any other man run.

  Vicious isn’t one to run. He’s one to painfully vivisect my pipe-dreams and lay their still beating hearts out for me to see what a silly girl I am.

  3

  Blaze

  When I get back from the complete waste of time that was attempting to be a good friend, Slick is waiting for me outside the door of my apartment. Weirdly, he fits right in with the general ambiance of filth and decay my neighbors have been working on for generations now. Those chiseled male model features of his can make a trash bag visibly crawling with maggots beneath the black plastic look somehow chic.

  “You followed me home? Good puppy.”

  “Where have you been?” He asks the question in tones which are casual and yet demanding.

  “Hmm. Let me see…” I snap my fingers. “Oh right, I’ve been wherever the fuck I felt like being, that’s where.”

  Slick sighs and folds his arms over his chest. “You went back to Vicious’ place, didn’t you.”

  “Yep.”

  “Well, you’re in one piece,” he observes keenly.

  “Yep.”

  He draws in a breath. “So, did you tell Kitty?”

  “Nope.”

  “The thing I like about you, Blaze, is that you’re an excellent communicator.”

  “The thing I like about you, is that you can fuck off.”

  I’m done with these people. Kitty will call me when she needs to, and as hot as Slick is, I don’t need to get laid that badly that I’m going to go running back to him for another one of his weird discipline sessions. Just remembering what he did to me makes me feel squirmy as hell, and I’m too damn badass to squirm for any man.

  “You should be more careful how you talk to me. You want more ice cream, right?”

  Those innocent sounding words make me blush.

  “No, Slick, I want you to leave. Go back to running around after Vicious and leave me the hell alone. I’m done,” I turn to unlock the door. His voice comes from behind me.

  “You’re done?”

  “Mhm.”

  “What if you don’t have the option to be done?”

  “What if I kick your head off your shoulders and shove it up your ass?”

  “Blaze,” he says, in that infuriatingly kind and calm manner he has. “I’m not letting you out of my sight. I know your tendency to get involved where you shouldn’t, and I know you’re not going to be able to resist sticking your nose in again.”

  “Actually, you’re wrong. I’ve lost a week’s worth of work to this bullshit. I’m going to look after me. If Kitty wants to fuck a psycho, that’s on her.”

  “You don’t mean that.”

  He’s right. I don’t mean that. Watching her make this mistake is damn hard. Kitty is kind of innocent. She didn’t grow up in the city. She takes things at face value. She’s not stupid, but the difference between her and stupid isn’t much. I’ve been looking out for her since we met, but now she’s met a guy, and I’ve lost enough friends to relationships to know how this goes.

  Turning around, I face him again.

  “Seriously, Slick. I’m not interested. Not in any of this drama, and not in you. So fuck off, and leave me alone. I’m not interested in playing Kitty to your Vicious.”

  “I’m not him,” he says. I see him bristle as he says the words. He really doesn’t like the comparison. I wonder if he likes Vicious at all. If I cared, I’d try to find out, but I don’t.

  “Blaze…”

  The rest of his words are cut off when I shut the door in his handsome face.

  4

  Kitty

  It’s been a week since Vicious took my dreams apart and basically told me the apex of my existence was being his fuck toy. I need to get out of the apartment. Being near Vicious makes me stupid. He warps my mind when I am around him. I crave him. I need him. I want him so badly, and not just in the twisted way that he wants me. I can’t look at him without starting to daydream about futures we’ll never have.

  Blaze hasn’t been around, and she hasn’t been answering my messages. I can’t really blame her. She’s been chased off so many times I sometimes wonder if I’ll see her again.

  Looking at Vicious, I find myself wondering if I made the right choice. I’m addicted to him, but what future do we have? He doesn’t want what I want. Anything wholesome or emotionally rich is anathema to him. When we have sex, we fuck. He pounds into me and rips orgasms from me. I surrender to his brute animal strength and the ferocity of his desire.

  We’re fucking now, joining in rough play where we push the boundaries of what we can take. Close to climax, he cradles my face in his hands, his cock pounding into me, the room full of the wet sound of his dick sliding in and out of me and the grunting moans we share between us. His eyes sear into mine as we connect at my cunt, him stretching me wide with stroke after stroke until we scream release and collapse, panting and sweating on the bed, momentarily drained of pain.

  “I have to get out of here,” I breathe, one arm behind my head as sweat runs between my breasts and cum from between my thighs.

  There are very few places I can safely go. Vicious doesn’t want me roaming loose, and I don’t want to be exposed to the general public either. I used to feel invisible when I was out in the world. Now I feel as though every eye is on me, and most of them feel malevolent.

  “You can go to the salon,” he suggests, his voice rough with post-coital relief.

  “The salon? That’s where I was taken from. You do realize Coco wanted to kill me.”

  “Coco was only trying to distract the doctor,” he says. “She’s a very useful, very resourceful woman, that one.”

  “Not resourceful or useful enough to stop me from being taken in the first place.”

  “She was outmanned.”

  “There was just one guy!”

  “That you saw.”

  I scowl at him. I never want to see Coco Shantay again. She let me be kidnapped under her nose. I even sort of suspect that she helped me be kidnapped. Vicious won’t hear that though. According to him, she was a hero in the piece.

  “What’s to stop her being outmanned again?”

  “Me,” he says. “You don’t go anywhere without several of my guys with you.”

  “Like, bodyguards?”
<
br />   “Not like bodyguards. Actual bodyguards. Four of them.” He reaches out and draws a finger down the side of my cheek. “You don’t need to be frightened of the world at large, Kitty. I’m going to keep you safe. Just make sure I know where you are and what you’re doing.”

  “I’m not going to be a very useful courier for you if I have to be accompanied everywhere.”

  “Oh don’t worry about that,” he smirks. “I’ll find a use for you.”

  I’m sure of that.

  * * *

  I don’t know if Coco is my friend, my rival, or something in between. Last time I saw her she had a Desert Eagle in her hand and she was cursing me out, but I do trust Vicious’ assessment. He wouldn’t let me go anywhere he thought was dangerous, so I grab a shower and I leave the apartment alone for the first time since I found myself on a madman’s medical table.

  Four bodyguards turn out to be a lot of bodyguards. Two ride in the car with me. One is ahead. Another one is behind, both in separate cars. I am driven to the salon in a cavalcade of stoic men, none of whom make conversation with me. I get the sense they’re almost afraid to. I am stamped in some intangible way with Vicious’ mark, and it makes me untouchable.

  The salon has seen some additions since I was here last. It’s now fortified with bars on the windows and the doors, and a big pink sign which reads NO SOLICITATION OR BRAIN SURGERY. Given recent events, it’s probably fair, but I doubt it makes things clear to her usual customers. Assuming she has any. Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a customer in here, let alone a usual one.

  “Hello?” I call out as I go through the front door. Two of the bodyguards come with me, their broad shouldered bodies making the small salon feel even smaller.

  Nobody replies, but I can hear a clattering in the back.

  Going through a bright rainbow beaded curtain, I find Coco hunched over an old laptop. Her platinum hair is thrown back over one shoulder. Her eyes are locked on the dim glow of the fly spotted screen. Her long, heavily jeweled fingers are stabbing at the keyboard as if it owes her money. She’s dangerous. I know that about her. I don’t know why Vicious trusts her and right now I’m not sure why I even came, but here I am. I remind myself that there are guards this time. I’m safe.