Stalkers: A Dark Romance Anthology

by Ally Vance

  “Hey, do you want to grab dinner?” Ruby asks, placing her hand gently on my arm. I’d zoned out for a moment, but now I was hyperaware. I could smell her soft scent of orange blossoms, it must be her shower gel or her shampoo because it always seemed to linger when she was here. The warmth of her touch made me waver, I wanted to go, but if I went...I’d only be feeding my obsession. She was already occupying too much of my headspace.

  Chapter Two

  Ruby

  Carter frowns and shakes his head softly. I shrug, trying to hide the fact that I’m hurt. He never wants to come for dinner with me, but I know he eats with the other girls when they finish their filming. His dark eyes leave mine as he looks over some of the images we shot earlier this evening. The maid outfit was such a popular request we’d decided to take some pictures ready to be signed and sent out to some of the VIP members on the website.

  Grabbing my bag, I give him a small wave before leaving the studio, the cold night air washing over me as the darkness calms me. There’s something about walking home at night, when the sky is black and everything is shrouded in shadows. I mean, I should be scared, it’s common sense, but my brain doesn’t seem to be wired like that. Instead I feel oddly empowered, like I’m daring someone to come and take me. I’m playing a game with whoever may be lurking in the shadows, watching me. It’s the same when I’m on camera, enticing the viewers because I want them to fall in love with me. The hearts they send validate me somehow. The money is a bonus. And I know that’s fucked up. But the way my skin begins to warm despite the temperature makes me straighten, and I virtually strut home, swaying my hips, pretending that someone has their eyes on me until my front door clicks shut behind me. I love the thought of someone watching. Following me. Hungry eyes stalking my every move. Under the hot jets of my shower, I’m lost inside my mind again, pretending I’m still on cam in the studio as I soap my tits, paying careful attention to my nipples before moving my hand lower. My fingers follow the curves of my body as I imagine the camera panning in on my hips, focusing on the way my skin is covered in glittering droplets.

  “Rebecca, are you going to be long? I’ve just come back from my run, and I want a shower!” My fantasy shrivels up and vanishes as my roommate, Emma, shouts through the bathroom door. “Rebecca!”

  “Yes, I heard you!” I yell back. “I won’t be long.”

  My mood is soured by the interruption, and I know it’s partly my fault, but sometimes I wished that I didn’t have a roommate. Student accommodation is cheaper than a flat, and having a roommate makes food shopping cheaper too, which was a necessary evil when I was paying my tuition fees myself and trying to save a little money on the side. I had plans for my future, and that meant being careful and making preparations now. I wrap my towel around my body before stepping out of the bathroom in a cloud of steam.

  Emma’s sat on the sofa, waiting with her towel as she gives me a concerned look. “Did you only just get home? Did the astrology club keep you out this late again?” She has a habit of grilling me, and while her mothering was mildly irritating, tonight my sexual frustration made me that much more grumpy.

  “Well, it’s not like we can look at the stars in the daylight, is it?” I say with a grin, loving the way the lie tumbles from my lips. My camera work is a secret. A dirty secret just between Carter and I. Well, and Hugh. I raise a brow at her. “Besides, you’re only just coming home now.”

  “Yeah, we have a tournament soon, so the coach is making us practise more than usual.” She sounds tired, and for a heartbeat I feel guilty for lying to her, but then it fades. She always wants to know where I’m going, and who with, but I rarely ask about her hobbies.

  Emma is a sport major, who’s also the captain of the girls soccer team, which means she’s frequently not home. And that suits me just fine, I can come and go as I please. The astrology club is a useful cover for the nights when she is home, since I tend to do camera work three nights a week just to keep my cash flow steady, the occasional afternoon shoots crop up too—but I just tell her I have class.

  “Oh, by the way…” She stands and grabs a box of chocolates. “These are yours.”

  “For me? Thank you.” I take the fancy red box with the black ribbon. “What’re they for?”

  Emma watches my face carefully. “I don’t know. They were left at the front desk for you, apparently.”

  Our accommodation is a large building, with shared all-girl dorms and a reception at the main entrance that’s manned twenty-four seven, which is great when you’re having parcels delivered, but not so great if you want to bring a guy back. We have our own bedrooms, but shared living space, bathroom and kitchenette.

  “They’re not from you? There’s no note...” A shiver runs down my spine, and once again I’m conscious of how I should be scared. I should be suspicious. That would be normal behaviour, instead I’m curious. Someone had left me roses last week, there was no note with those either. And a teddy the week before that.

  She shakes her head. “Do you have a boyfriend you’re not telling me about?”

  Rolling my eyes, I push the lid off the chocolates. They’re expensive, from a luxury boutique near the university campus. “When do I have the time for a boyfriend?”

  “Maybe you have a secret admirer?” she pushes, waiting for answers I don’t have as I pop a praline into my mouth, the heat melting it as I flick my tongue over the moulded heart shape. A small part of me enjoyed the gifts, the attention from an unknown paramour. And I know how twisted that is.

  “Maybe.” I shrug and wander over to the window, peering out into the night as if I expect to see someone waiting in the courtyard below.

  Emma sighs softly. “Be careful, Becca, it’s a little creepy.”

  I hate the name Rebecca, or Becca. It always made me feel so old-fashioned, like I was being chained down by my name. I liked Ruby, I wanted to be Ruby all of the time. Maybe one day I’ll change it, I muse as I read the inside of the box for the descriptions of the fillings.

  “Are you listening, Bec?” she says again, her voice gentle as if I’m a frightened animal who’s about to bolt. “You need to pay more attention to those around you.”

  Sometimes I wonder if I give off a ‘damaged’ aura, do people think I’m broken? Is that why they tread around me lightly? Why Carter wouldn’t have dinner with me? They act as though I’m nothing more than dandelion seeds floating on the breeze, that they were trying to capture in between their clammy hands without ruining them.

  I wasn’t made of porcelain, I wouldn’t crack under the weight of her friendship. The way she was always cautious of me is what made me lie, it’s what allowed me to push the boundaries of our relationship. Nodding, I choose the next chocolate, ignoring her concern.

  Someone, somewhere, was watching me.

  Chapter Three

  Carter

  Click.

  Click.

  Click.

  Another perfect picture, another tremble of excitement spreading through my body. I liked to watch people. To capture everyday fleeting moments in totally ordinary places. Click. That’s why I loved coming to this coffee shop, it was near the college campus and had an intimate atmosphere. It wasn’t because of her, I tell myself, even though I can taste the lie.

  I look back at the screen on the camera, recognizing a familiar face in my shot. Zooming in, I realise it’s Ruby. She looks almost ethereal, with the light streaming in behind her as she stands outside the coffee shop window with some friends. I wonder what it would be like to know her during the day, when she was just a normal girl?

  “I thought it was you,” a soft voice murmurs as she suddenly stands before me.

  “Oh, ah. I didn’t notice you there,” I mumble, my hands beginning to get clammy as I lower my camera into my lap.

  She frowns, but it’s gone in an instant, replaced with a cheery, friendly expression I’ve never seen on her before. And I thought I had seen all of the faces she made, I mean, I’ve seen every inch
of her body, I’ve seen her in intimate situations...and yet she still has more to uncover. Interesting.

  “Can I join you?” She makes a motion to sit in the armchair opposite me, her cool blue eyes glued to my face. I was the only person who knew about the other side of her, the dark side. Here she looked wholesome, like a normal twenty-something year old, studying, dating, making friends. She didn’t seem like a vixen who made love to a camera on a regular basis. Her duality fascinates me, and covertly, I press down the shutter button once again, coughing to cover the click, hoping to have captured a clear candid shot.

  “I was just leaving, to be honest,” I explain, leaning forward to put my camera back in its bag. If I stayed...I’d ask her to pose for me. I’d take pictures that I had no right taking, and it still wouldn’t be enough. I’d want all of her.

  “Oh.” She raises a brow at the full cup of steaming coffee on the table before me.

  “Are you coming to the studio this evening?” I try to keep my tone casual as I stand, pulling my jacket on.

  “Yeah, I’ll be there around eight.”

  “Was there a theme for tonight’s show—just so I can prepare?”

  “I have everything I need for it. If you can just use the black satin sheets, that will be fine.” She taps out something on her phone, before looking up at me. “I’ll be bringing someone with me.”

  I nod, not sure what else to say. Sometimes the girls brought ‘extras’ to their shows, it wasn’t anything I hadn’t seen before. That doesn’t stop the strange feeling I have, as I find myself in an odd predicament where I don’t want to leave but I also don’t want to stay. If I stay, she’ll seep further under my skin, fusing herself to my core. And when I leave, I want to be back by her side.

  “I guess I’ll see you later then.” Biting the inside of my cheek, to force myself from saying anything else, I leave, passing by a small dark-haired woman who rushes over to Ruby, and just before I’m out of earshot, I hear her whisper, “Who is he? How do you know him?”

  Looking over my shoulder, I give Ruby a small wave as she nudges her friend and murmurs something I don’t catch. What I can’t miss, however, is the cold way in which the woman regards me as she places a hand on Ruby’s arm.

  “Hey, this is Dex.” Ruby waves to a tall man with broad shoulders and a smirk that makes me want to punch the slimy shit. He was good looking, but he fucking knew it.

  He shakes my hand and something nags at me before I figure it out. “Dex Laurent, right? Don’t you have your own show with DIX?”

  Dex was one of Hugh’s biggest earners. People always associated porn with men but women were just as eager to devour the visual feast laid before them, especially if it looked like Dex Laurent.

  He grins, and gives me a wink. “Yeah, you seen it?”

  “No,” I deadpan. I don’t need to feed his ego, he isn’t one of my regulars, and I don’t like the way he begins undressing as he’s still talking to me.

  I make a face at Ruby, who shrugs. It hasn’t escaped my notice that she’s already got her wig and contacts on, and that makes a smile tug at the corner of my mouth. Even sex-on-a-stick Dex hasn’t seen the real Ruby.

  Putting his belongings by my desk, he strides over to the large bed and lays back on the satin sheets. “Well, we’re doing a collaboration tonight. A little something to boost our followers.”

  Adjusting my lighting, I test the angles as he poses. “Don’t you specialise in BDSM?”

  When he gives me another cocky wink, I turn to Ruby. She’s pulling on a short pleather pleated skirt and harness over her demi-cup bra. Dex pulls out a paddle, some handcuffs and a few other little toys from a bag next to the bed. There’s a bitter taste in my mouth. I don’t like where this is headed, and I can’t distinguish if I’m jealous or just concerned even though I have those same tools, and worse hidden under the very bed he’s laying on. Ruby was the sexy siren, but she never did anything hardcore or too kinky, it was part of her charm, and he shouldn’t be the one to lead her astray.

  The way Dex licks his lips when he glances her way makes the hair on my arms rise. “Ruby…Are you sure about this?”

  She crawls onto the bed beside Dex, oblivious to his leery expression. “Relax, Carter, we’ve discussed it at length. I want to do this.”

  Biting back my discomfort, I take a few shots of them together since you never know when they’ll come in handy for advertising, the bitterness getting stronger as she straddles him, her hands on his chest.

  Chapter Four

  Ruby

  I don’t know what possessed me to invite Dex. No, wait. I do. It was because Carter was avoiding me at every turn, pretending to be busy. Something inside me snapped, and I accepted a proposal that I had been hesitating about because I wanted to see exactly how far I could push Carter. I wanted him to snap. To bend beneath the weight of my need.

  Since the chocolates, little notes and roses have been arriving at my dorm all week, each proclaiming to love me, and claiming me as theirs, a small part of me hoped that it had been Carter leaving them, but the way he shuts me out in person tells me rationally that it wasn’t. I was just getting my hopes up because of the way he makes me feel when his eyes are on my body.

  “Are you ready for this?” Dex almost groans in my ear as a hand snakes around my waist as a red light on the camera indicates we’ve gone live.

  Swallowing, I nod. I invited Dex here for some light spanking, and a little rough play. We’d had a conversation about boundaries and creating a safe scene for the filming, but as I knelt in front of Dex, facing Carter, everything felt wrong.

  Avoiding my gaze, Carter frowns and focuses on the monitors he has set up on the desk. Dex’s hands roam over my stomach as I give our introduction, smiling into the lens and pointing to where I know the heart and subscribe buttons are.

  Nudging my hip, Dex gestures to Carter, who’s concentrating on the computer, deep lines setting in on his forehead. “What’s up, man?”

  “We appear to be having a system malfunction.” Carter’s voice is quiet, but if I didn’t know better, I’d say he sounded almost smug as he presses buttons, trying to fix the issue.

  “What?” Dex’s warm hand rests on my shoulder as he kneels behind me, I can feel his erection against my back.

  Carter sighs, clacks some of the keys and shoots Dex a cold stare, as if his patience is running out. “The server is down.”

  “Can’t you fix it?” Dex’s fingers tighten, digging into my skin. I know he was eager to work with me, he’d been asking me for months. I just didn’t realise he was this eager. His hot breath tickles over my skin, and I squirm.

  Narrowing his eyes, Carter glares at us. “I’m the man with the camera, not a fucking technician!”

  I’ve never seen him angry before, but this still isn’t quite anger...it’s something else. There’s no doubt that he dislikes Dex, but the way he’s watching us makes a shiver run down my spine. I’ve never felt uneasy around Carter, he has this quiet way of calming me normally, however in this moment it feels like the tension is rising steadily in the studio.

  “So, what about the feed?” I ask softly, shrugging off Dex. Tonight's show was supposed to net us all quite a bit of money. But if we couldn’t stream, then no show. No show means no money. It was a loss for all three of us. I mean, it wasn’t the end of the world, but it would have been a nice little pay-out.

  “Look…” Carter turns the screen, and there’s nothing, just a ‘This stream has ended’ message. “I think we should call it a night.”

  People were going to be annoyed. We’d started something, and it had stopped abruptly. We’d just have to issue an apology tomorrow with some exclusive images and hope that was enough to keep the viewers happy.

  I turn my head, not realising that Dex has leaned closer and his hand has found my hip, once again his fingers gripping onto my flesh. “We can try again when you have space in your schedule.”

  My words come out breathier than I intended, a
nd he shifts a little closer so that his mouth brushes over mine gently. “I will always make time for you, Rubes.”

  Carter coughs, interrupting us, crooking a finger at me. “Ruby, a word.”

  “What’s up?” I shimmy off the bed, ignoring Dex as he starts pulling his clothes back on. Whatever he thought was happening between us, was not. This was work.

  With a dismissive wave, Carter growls, “Take your wig and contacts off first, it’s strange looking at you like this. And tell that octopus to pack up his shit.”

  Titling my head, I watch him for a moment. He was on edge, and I wasn’t sure why. Was it jealousy? I give him a small nod and approach the bed again where Dex sits, wide grin making me unsettled.

  “Dex, I think maybe you should head home first. I’ll call you,” I lie smoothly. I wouldn’t be calling for a while. There was something in the way he kept invading my space that set me on edge and not in a good way. I liked being watched, I liked being touched, but even so, I couldn’t relax around him, not when he kept clinging to me.

  The corners of his mouth drop momentarily, before he zips up his hoodie. Cancellations in this industry weren’t unusual, we were a streaming service after all, and technical issues were common. Once he’s dressed, he steps towards me and leans in, lips brushing against my wig. “I’ll be waiting for your call, Ruby. So don’t forget.”

  He runs a finger down my cheek as I force a small smile, before he winks and gives Carter a salute, vanishing through the studio doors into the night. Exhaling slowly, I head over to the bathroom and remove my contacts and wig, as Carter requested. With Dex leaving, it’s like some of the tension dissipates. What was I thinking inviting him here? Carter didn’t seem jealous, so my little scheme had backfired anyway. I wasn’t going to be in a rush to bring in another partner for a while, that was for sure. Dex earlier had even sniffed my hair, he tried to hide it, but I’m sure that’s what he did. The joke was on him, because even though it was human hair and I regularly washed it...it still wasn’t mine.