Lust & Lies Box Set-Sexual Awakenings, Excess, Predator & Prey

I quickly texted Rhys.

VIOLET: Please come back. He’s gone. Please, Rhys, don’t leave things like this. Please talk to me.

No reply brought a pain to my chest that blinded me with tears. I had definitely lost him.

Two weeks and not a fucking word, I was past the point of crazy. I stood frozen outside the bar that now had a closed sign in front of it. I really had to get a grip. I had signed up for an exhibition, not a love affair. That’s what I got, a taste of everything and the love affair. I was desperate to stare into those gray eyes, strung out on a man who obviously didn’t mean what he said. I had texted him for days with no reply. I didn’t show up to his house. It seemed too desperate, and if he wouldn’t respond to my texts, then he damn sure wouldn’t answer the door. Maybe I wasn’t cut out to be a mistress. Maybe I was a one-man woman.

No, fuck that. I was made for Rhys and him alone. He knew it and I did, too. I know he felt what I felt and I know I would be just as finished with him as he was with me had the circumstances been switched. This is what happens when you fucking lie. This is why you’re getting a divorce.

Lies, deception, no matter how harmless you think they are or whom it would protect, someone always gets hurt.

Okay, back to square one. I had everything I truly wanted, and had lost it. I was in between love and lust and couldn’t discern it because I was too busy mourning it to dissect it further. I wanted him. I couldn’t have him, and that’s what bothered me most.

He didn’t even give you a chance to explain.

Just as the thought popped into my head, the message came.

RHYS: The Barracks. One hour. RED.

I couldn’t help the smile that tugged the corners of my lips.

One hour later...

My elation from his sudden invitation was short lived by the three-letter word that followed it.

RED.

I knew he was angry. I knew I was about to pay for my lie. I knew I had hurt him and I had no idea what I was about to walk into. What I was sure of was that he wouldn’t physically hurt me.

RED.

I had so many things I wanted to say, an apology to make first and foremost. I also wanted to ask him why the club was closed. Surely, I had nothing to do with it. No, he might have been a little hurt by my actions, but something told me this was much bigger than me. And who the hell was I to think it could have anything to do with me? We’d had one day to explore our relationship further. Even then it was filled with light conversation and nothing heavy. Well, except for the sex. I still didn’t know much about him, but in the time that I had known him, I knew he was a man I could fall for. And I had ruined it.

I’d been too slow in leaving my worthless husband, who was now completely out of my life, divorce pending. I had filed the day after I kicked him out. All I had to do was tell Rhys the truth. I just didn’t want to lose him. I beat myself mentally until I arrived at The Barracks. Putting my car in park, I surveyed the building, instantly on edge.

What a shit hole.

If the meeting place was any indication of the feelings he now harbored for me, I was in deep shit.

RED.

The beat down shack, known as The Barracks, was located on the outskirts of Savannah. It looked to be in shambles, resembling a hideout for crack heads, on the verge of being condemned.

I can’t go in there!

I took deep breaths, on the brink of a panic attack. What the hell was Rhys doing here? This was not his style. I was tempted to text him and call it off. Walking quickly from my car, I scanned the lot to make sure I got in safely.

Stepping into the dark bar, I saw him immediately. He was standing at the far end, and as soon as the door closed behind me, his eyes were on mine. They were as cold as ice. Sweat covered me instantly, and I could feel heads turning my direction but couldn’t tear my eyes away from Rhys. There was an electrical shift in the air then a crackle, and it didn’t have the kind of pull that had me gravitating toward him. This was the kind that made my steps careful. I was just a few feet away from him when he turned and walked around the corner then down a flight of stairs. Swallowing the lump in my throat, I followed quietly. At the foot of the stairs, he continued walking down a dark hall with a set of rooms to the right and left. I stood behind him, silent, as he reached into his pocket. When he turned the key and walked through the door, I hesitated. He inspected the room as I quickly surveyed it. There was a large iron chandelier with cheap yellow bulbs hanging from the ceiling. Large black silk ribbons were draped from the center of it. I hadn’t noticed before that R

hys had been carrying a small black bag, which he dropped to the floor with a thud, making me jump, his back to me. He was waiting.

It was then that I understood exactly what RED meant. My Rhys was gone, and I was about to meet the version of the man that took his place.

I took a tentative step into the room and closed the door.

“Rhys, I just wanted to say I—”

He turned suddenly, taking long strides toward me, and gripped my neck with one hand, nailing me to the door. I gasped in surprise; his grip was tight.