Black Clover

by Celia Crown

  My pulse skips a beat under his thumb that’s rubbing circles on my neck, it’s a hold that determines where I stand. He has power and strength, and he will use it to establish that he’s the one in control and he expects nothing but complete obedience.

  “It’s a long story,” I stammer out, peering at him through my lashes as his grip doesn’t falter. It’s not too tight, but there’s no escape either.

  His fingers are making distracting patterns on my jaw, I try to close my hands around his wrist, but I couldn’t do it.

  “You really don’t want to hear about it.” I try to reason with him, “It’s boring and not interesting at all.”

  His lips twitch at the corner and tighten his grip just a touch, “Tell me.”

  It doesn’t hurt but the warning behind his action is clear.

  Maybe he just wants to know why an underage girl is in his casino, it would put bad press on his name and it’s best to come clean now since I don’t want to end up beaten up in an alley.

  Omitting some unnecessary facts sounds good too.

  “Fawn, my friend, wants our spring break to be a blast so here we are.”

  It’s not what I had in mind, but whatever comes out of my mouth is what he gets. His green eyes darken and if it doesn’t make him sexier then it would be frightening, especially with a hand around my jaw.

  “But, you’re eighteen.”

  A noise stumbles out of my throat and the guilt matches my frantic thoughts.

  “Well, yes, but—”

  He leans in until our noses touch, I have no choice but to gaze into his green eyes. As romantic as that sounds, it’s not even close because his hand makes my jaw sore and aching.

  “You have guts, little girl,” Damon sneers and fear boils in my stomach.

  His laugh is velvety, a disguise of the dark demon behind his eyes. “Coming into my territory by yourself, I can do a lot of unimaginable things to you and no one would hear you scream.”

  My heart hammers frantically as my ears burn with fear, he must feel the shaking in my hands from how scared I am. This isn’t the vocation I had imagined, and I have never met anyone who made me this scared with just words. His hand on my jaw doesn’t strike a factor of fear in me, it’s his whole demeanor.

  “You want to get hurt, is that it? I’d be happy to help you.”

  A soft and broken gasp tumbles out of my mouth as the uncontrollable tremors in my hands locked and I clamp down on his wrist.

  “But I won’t.” his hand drops from my jaw and the darkness recedes back into him as if it just evaporated into thin air.

  I strongly will my heart to calm down before it beats itself into a full three-minute song with its uneven rhythms.

  “Are you scared?”

  His question is simple, and I can’t find my voice to answer him back so I nod quickly and firmly.

  “Good,” Damon use the same hand to brush my cheek tenderly, “This is only meant to make you understand. It’s a dangerous world with dangerous people, don’t follow strangers to places you don’t know.”

  I hesitate before nodding.

  All this for a life lesson about stranger danger?

  Oh dear, what did I get myself into?

  Chapter Four

  Damon

  Just as I lean into her pink lips, the elevator door swings open.

  A spark of impatience flares in me as I glance over to see who the hell dares to come into my space without my permission. The only person has access to my floor is Falcon, and I can already feel the words forming in my head as I’m about to berate that fool.

  How dare he interrupt my time with this pretty little girl?

  “Darling girl, what happened to you?” the pink-haired girl that arrived with Chloe steps off the elevator with Falcon right beside her.

  Chloe jerks her head back and her brown eyes widen at her friend. I can see the relief in her eyes and the barbaric side of me purrs in satisfaction. She knows now that I’m in charge and the things I can do to her is probably swarming in her head, but I would never hurt her.

  “What happened to you, pumpkin?” Chloe asks back, and I look at the other girl.

  Her dress is wrinkled, makeup smearing messily on her face. She is still a beautiful woman, but her beauty doesn’t hold a candle to Chloe. My Chloe is a beauty that tests my control, it’s a type of beauty that only I can understand while other men chase after her friend’s skirt like desperate dogs. No, no. My Chloe is a precious little flower hidden amongst a bouquet.

  As if it’s a snap of a finger, Chloe is focused on someone else and I hate that bittersweet taste in my mouth. Her attention should be on me, I shift my eyes to the pair of newcomers and glares at them. Falcon cocks an eyebrow at me and subtly shrugs his shoulders.

  “I was attacked by a ferocious bird.” the pink-haired woman cast a knowing look to Chloe, but the message goes over her head.

  Chloe opens her mouth and closes them with a bewildered gaze, “What?”

  I believe the other woman is Fawn, the girl that is friends with Chloe. The same girl that dragged her to my casino even when she is clearly underage. I want to thank her for bringing Chloe into my path, but I also want to yell at her for putting her friend in such dangerous situations.

  Someone would have picked up my Chloe if I didn’t see her first. Chloe is mine, I’ve decided that the moment I saw her and no one will be able to stand between her and I.

  “It was wild.” Fawn hums with a twinkle in her eyes.

  Chloe doesn’t pick up on the innuendo and blinks in confusion. I want to smooth the little crinkle between her eyebrows and kiss that thoughtful look away, she’s so adorably confused before her eyes widen like a lightbulb just went off in her head.

  “What—oh. Oh.”

  The blush on Chloe’s round cheeks is delightful, she looks younger with that innocence glowing on her supple skin. So young, so naïve, and absolutely mine.

  “Don’t worry about me.” Fawn waves a hand and fans it over her face with a grin, “I feel great.”

  Chloe’s about to speak when her friend interrupts her, “We’re going to be late, come on.”

  Fawn waves my Chloe to her and my hand shoots out to hold her waist in place, forcing her ass on my couch. Her lashes flutter at me and I can see the turmoil in her, my little act gives her a base level of my wrath and she doesn’t know that I would never raise a hand to her.

  I like that power over her, this way, she knows I have the mentality to do anything to protect her.

  “Where?” I ask the other girl without taking my eyes off Chloe.

  Fawn pause for a second, “Downstairs, obviously.”

  My guard and friend jump in, “He means what are you late for.”

  Falcon always know how to read me after years of being by my side. I’m grateful for a friend like him, even when his obnoxious womanizing ways leaves broken hearts and clingy women.

  “You’ll see,” Fawn chimes and pounces towards us, I narrow my eyes at Falcon. He better keep his new toy away, if she’s thinking about taking my Chloe away, then she has to get through me first. I don’t take lightly to what’s mine being taken.

  “Babe,” Falcon calls, clasping his hand over the girl’s elbow and it successfully stops her. “We’ll go first, they can come after us.”

  “Oh, no.” Fawn scoffs, smirking with hidden plans behind her deceptive smile. “This is something only Chloe can do.”

  The muscles under my palm shifts and I jerk my gaze back to Chloe to see her leaning forward in a motion to stand up from the leather seat. I let her get on her feet as I stand with our bodies mirror each other, her eyes are on her friend and I demand her attention through a squeeze on her waist.

  Her big brown eyes fly up to mine and she tries to move away from my touch as if she just notice it. I harden my frown down on her and she obediently stays where I keep her. Then, she snaps out of her thoughts and runs to her friend who chortles gleefully. My hand wasn’t holding tight enough, an
d I look down at my palm, I curl my fingers in a tight fist before releasing it.

  “Let’s go,” my Chloe says, her body is stiff and she doesn’t look back to me.

  A wicked grin plays on my face, excitement simmers in my stomach as my cock throbs painfully in my pants. I want her even more now; every little thing Chloe does spark a reaction in me that I have trouble concentrating on anything else other than having her little cunt wrapped around me.

  I just know she’s untouched; her demeanor and inexperience around me tells a story of an impressionable virgin. My cock will be the first and only cock to stretch that tight little pussy apart, she will only cum for me and I will watch her fall apart in the greatest pleasure through my hands.

  She’s adamant about avoiding me, but there’s no hiding when I have already declared ownership on her pretty little head.

  “I’m concerned about that insane look on your face,” Falcon’s voice is low beside me.

  We both watch the girls talk to each other, but Chloe hasn’t turned her head once.

  “Isn’t she a bit too young for you?” he continues, crossing his arms over his chest and inspects the girls with perceptive eyes.

  Chloe is barely legal and she’s vulnerable to the real world, I can provide everything for her as long as she is mine. Desire clouds my mind as I imagine her small hands shyly intertwining with mine, it would be a reality soon.

  “I’d call you a pervert if she isn’t legal, but I know you. This is either some love at first sight shit, which I highly doubt because all you care about is your casino business, or you are a pervert going after young and unsuspecting girls,” Falcon comments and I hate his narrative, so I jab him in the side with my elbow.

  I made sure to be as subtle yet forceful as possible. Falcon has no expression on his face, but I hear the air bursting out of his nose. Falcon clears his throat and straightens his posture, he decides to keep his mouth shut.

  Good, or else I’d bruise another rib.

  “I just want Chloe.” my cock gives an interested twitch as an agreement.

  Falcon coughs, “I know you do.”

  Finally, Chloe turns her head and glances back at us. I make sure she knows that my eyes are on her, she shifts her gaze shyly away and my primitive reaction wants to have her on her knees and lips sucking the cum out of my cock like a greedy little whore.

  Fuck, I push down a groan as her wide eyes drop down to my cock. Her small pink tongue darts out and swipes across her bottom lip, I’m positively sure my cock is leaking. It’s such a waste to not be used in her cunt, I have plenty to give and she will thank me for breeding her pussy.

  The girls begin to walk towards the elevator and I follow Chloe’s steps as Falcon takes after Fawn. My eyes sweep down to her ass and between those creamy thighs is my hidden treasure.

  Chloe stands close to Fawn, occasionally glancing my way as she doesn’t know what to do with me. Nothing she can do will get rid of me; once I set my mind on something, I will get it, and this time is with my heart too. That alone sets Chloe securely in my life as a permanent fixture.

  The ride down is quiet, no one makes a noise when the slow descent comes to a stop. It’s when the obnoxiously bright-haired girl turns to me and Falcon with a hand on her hip and the other hand putting a stop motion to us.

  “We can’t have everybody thinking we’re cheating, so you both stay back,” Fawn says and drags Chloe out of the elevator.

  I see the door that got slammed into Chloe’s face, and I make a mental note to demolish that piece of wood.

  The girls step into the bright ground floor with gamblers still not accepting defeat as I keep my eyes on Chloe. I made the mistake of looking away for a brief moment and I had lost her into the crowd even with her bright ass green shirt that screams fluorescent radiation.

  The four of us gets a lot of attention as Falcon’s woman guide us to the exclusive poker table. We all have different reasons to get the attention of people around us. Fawn has men staring hungrily at her while Falcon is getting attention from women who had been his one-night stands or wants to be his night mistress, people stare at me because they know I’m the owner of this place and I will not tolerate any bullshit that happens on my territory.

  I don’t care why people are staring at Chloe, but they don’t deserve her beauty. I bark out an order to remove their eyes or I’ll do it for them. Chloe looks back at me when she hears my voice and her cheeks flush pink when I look at her, she throws her head back to the front as the tips of her ears are red.

  My heart pounds with the need to nibble on them.

  “Here we are!” Fawn exclaims loudly, her giddiness catches more attention. “I’ve already paid for the seat, darling! There’s three hundred thousand here for you to lose with, my sugar daddy was really generous this week.”

  Chloe stares at Fawn with a dumbfounded face.

  She pushes Chloe onto a chair at the poker game, Chloe looks uncomfortable and I’m about to drag her out of this ridiculous idea when Fawn grins toothily at me.

  I glare, and she smiles even wider.

  “Oh, you’re going to want to see this.” Fawn crackles like a madwoman, “I’ve got Chloe’s luck down to a science.”

  I don’t care how this is of any relevance or why it needs to be explained through a poker game, but this is unacceptable. My Chloe is too young to be subjected to this environment built for professional liars.

  “Just watch.” Fawn tries to convince me, and it’s not working.

  The players at the table watch us with confusion and the card dealer shifts her attention away. Good, I don’t need another pair of eyes on Chloe.

  “No.” I won’t budge, my fingers take Chloe’s shoulder and yank her back to my chest.

  Her sweet scent fills my nose as she squeaks in shock, she stays where she is without a complaint.

  Fawn shoots out her hand and takes back Chloe, she pushes my pretty little girl down on the chair and nods proudly to herself. I would have held onto Chloe, but I didn’t want her to be yanked too hard since I know my strength outmatch Fawn’s.

  I’ll watch for a bit and if I see anything I don’t like, I’ll take Chloe away and Fawn can deal with Falcon.

  I walk up to Chloe who sits like a statue in the chair, I stand behind her and glares at the players to keep their curious eyes on the table. I may be the owner, but I will never use my influence to cheat and I don’t condone cheating either. Every card machine is checked at random times, people are screened through metal detectors and facial recognition before coming in, and my employees are trained to spot schemes.

  I allow and new innovative games; on a rare weekend, I allow one exclusive game to be played with rules made up from players beforehand, but they must be approved by me before it begins.

  This is a game of mixed poker with more complicated rules than a regular gambler can comprehend.

  The game begins with Fawn grinning like a maniac.

  Chloe follows Fawn’s words as to how much and when to put down chips, she also listens when to flip cards and when to stop.

  The players watch each other like hawks with their best poker face on while trying to find any tells on their competitors. Chloe is a first-time player and she has no idea what’s going on, she can’t control the nervousness etched on her face and I don’t want her to. I want to be able to read every thought that comes to her mind.

  Her rich expressions allow others to win.

  She lost every game.

  On this one particular game, the stake is climbing higher and higher that breaches one million. Other people are feeling sorry for my Chloe at her losses from their whispering. It’s fine, all the money in the pot right now is my money, she can spend as much as she wants.

  Fawn doesn’t say anything in this game other than to tell Chloe to raise the wager. I, along with Falcon, focus on the five cards the hadn’t been flipped once in front of Chloe.

  “Are you going to flip, sugar?” Fawn giggles and Chloe blink ou
t of her daze.

  “Flip?” Chloe looks down at her cards before looking at Fawn, “I’m supposed to flip?”

  Fawn flicks her pink hair away as they fall off her shoulder, “I think so, I don’t know.”

  “Go ahead,” I pat Chloe’s head, she tilts her head up at me and nods blindly at my instruction.

  Once the betting is done, the players are to show their hand. Every player has shown their hand and they are all amazing sets, each person flips their cards over and gains an upper hand on the previous player.

  All eyes are on her as she clumsily flips her cards with graceless fingers, I soothe her nerves through a series of rubs on her shoulder with my fingers. No one has expectations from Chloe because she’s lost every single game.

  Then she shows all her cards.

  Five of a kind.

  A spectator sputters, “What the fuck.”

  What the fuck indeed.

  Fawn hollers with tears.

  Chapter Five

  Chloe

  “Your luck is legendary, sweeting. Black Clover lives up to your reputation.” Fawn snorts in laughter as she hugs the silver case to her chest like it’s her baby.

  I’m still trying to understand what had happened just one hour ago. Everyone at the table stared at me like I’m some miracle creature that they can’t believe their eyes.

  “Is that a compliment?” I ask, choosing to not mention the body heat radiating from behind me.

  Damon has been in my personal space for so long that sometimes I forget that he’s the source of toasty warmth that surrounds me. After the unbelievable poker game, I found out that Damon is the casino boss and I have been losing his money in a game that I have no idea how to play, and the dealer only looks at Damon for instructions.

  Now, we’re up in the fancy office again where he had attempted to bruise my forehead even more with his rough efforts.

  Fawn lifts the case above her head, glee is evident in her face. “You just won a million dollars in poker, it’s a good thing.”