Dominance

"Are you coming tonight? Like I said?"

I rolled my eyes. Ugh. I could hear his wiggling eyebrows and confident smirk in his smooth, honeyed voice.

"Of course," I replied, attempting to put as much enthusiasm into my response as possible.

"Alright."

He drew the two-syllable word out for longer than necessary. In the process, his voice went slightly deeper as well as adopting a sort of husky quality. I imagined his tongue running over wolfish fangs, every ounce the predator waiting patiently, hungry eyes and drooling mouth, for his prey.

I hung up and shoved my phone back into my pocket. I then tossed a sidelong glance at my roommate. He was twiddling with his pocketknife, as always.

"You're not coming," I barked.

He heaved a sigh and rose to his feet. He pushed the chair in before turning to face me.

"And why not?" he growled as he strode up to me and puffed out his stocky and solidly built chest.

I raised my brow, unimpressed at his stony, chiseled face and the rippling muscles in his giant arms, before replying, "You're going to take it too far. Again."

Jorrin crossed his arms. "I think my methods do the job just fine."

"You go far beyond whatever's required."

"And?"

"You're a sadist," I said with a scowl.

"You're no different than me. There's just the way we dirty our hands."

I flashed him the finger before storming out of the trashy apartment. His borderline psychopathic nonchalance about everything made the whole place reek. Other than the overflowing laundry baskets and trash cans. Ugh, if only I could move out of this dump.

Once in the rickety old truck lurking beside the curb much too similar in vibe to a white van, I slammed the key into the ignition and twisted it. The engine coughed itself into life like a lifelong smoker hacking his lungs out on his deathbed, and the exhaust belched about ninety percent of the planet's pollution. I slammed my foot on the pedal kept in place with the power of duct tape, and the heap of junk fired into the streets.

I heaved a sigh as I gazed longingly out the window while navigating traffic like a GTA pro. I looked beyond the gray, smoky haze and to a clear blue one. Maybe one in Sante Fe or Kansas. Yeah, a clear blue sky free of worries and responsibilities...

I glanced back to the road and spotted the cheap-looking motel just ahead. I grimaced and skidded to a stop in front of the door the creep had given me directions to. I jumped out of the vehicle and scowled a moment at the crumbling, vine-infested brick walls before trudging over to the door.

I knocked and didn't even get a second one in before the guy slammed the door open. I smiled the best I could as his cold, callous eyes traveled from head to toe as they undressed me. The dead black things became alit with a hunger that nearly made me gag.

"You know, with the amount of money you rake in, I would've thought you could afford a better wardrobe. If you're really good tonight, I'll buy you some pretty dresses."

Nice compliment and insult in one, I thought sarcastically. Let me guess, dresses of the short and revealing type?

I smiled sweetly at him, fluttering my eyelashes. I tilted my head and added an innocent twinkle to my eye to really sell it.

"Oh, you're too kind. Just please go easy on me, mister." I would've inserted an "uwu" at the end if I wasn't already fighting the bile that rose in my throat. "I'm kinda new here," I instead added.

The man wrapped a hairy arm around me and pulled my dainty form closer to him. Ugh, the oaf was suffocating me with his Old Spice. Not to mention he'd already slipped his hand under my shirt. Couldn't wait five minutes, huh.

He practically dragged me inside, grasping my arm with birdlike bones way too tightly. He kicked the door shut with his muddy boot while moving his hands down to my waist. I could feel the lust his gnarled monster fingers were tingling with as they began creeping toward my rear.

I rolled my eyes. "Alright, this has gone on long enough," I hissed before shoving him away.

His now stormy eyes narrowed at me as he took a step toward me. "Hey, I'm paying you to do whatever I want you to do."

"Yeah, yeah, you're paying someone to fulfill your dominance fantasies because you can't get yourself into a relationship with a subservient partner. I've read the script countless times before."

"Jesus Christ, what's your problem," he grumbled as he grabbed my arm once more. "I'm dealing with one of those feminist nutjobs, aren't I." He then flung me toward the bed. My head hit the sheets, making them fly up around me. He lowered himself down to the bed, pressing his body up against mine, and he pinned my arms down. "Look, all I want is what you owe me. Ninety dollars worth of it."

I only grinned at him, excitement billowing up inside me at what was coming up, before bringing my knee up right into the sweet spot. He moaned, his grip loosening greatly, and I scrambled out from underneath him. I swiftly pulled out a roll of duct tape tucked away in my oversized sweater's pocket. I grabbed his arms and pinned them behind him. I proceeded to wrap them up with the inescapable sticky shackles at lightning speed. Before he could react properly, I bound his legs as well.

"What the hell!" he finally shouted, a bit slow to the party.

I slapped tape over his mouth, and he mmphed at me, presumably some type of muffled slur. There was the sound of metal sliding against leather as I unsheathed my dagger previously hidden. I laid the blade gently against the delicate skin guarding his throat. I leaned forward so my lips were less than an inch away from his ear.

"You know, you're right about the nutjob thing. However, I'd hardly call myself a feminist." A bead of sweat ran down his face, and I pressed the blade slightly into his neck. Blood trickled down from the tiny wound, and the wolfish hunger that'd come off him in waves just a minute before had morphed into fear. Or perhaps terror. Terror would be better. "I don't give a damn about equality. Didn't have it then, and I don't need it now." I twisted his head around so he could see the glint of malice in my steely gray eyes that had been a soft baby blue before. "In fact, in a way, I'm just like you."

His eyes widened right before I slit his throat. I released him, and his head fell forward. His body slackened as the life drained out of it, and I rose to my feet. I cast one last disdainful look at his corpse before sauntering out.

I clambered up into the centuries old truck and started up the old man engine. I took a moment to clean the crimson off my tool before putting it away. I glanced in the rearview mirror. No one running out screaming or running out to stop me. It'd take them at least a few days to figure out the sucker was dead. I smirked at the irony only I understood before speeding off.

I glanced in the rearview mirror again. For a second, I glimpsed a petite, little sobbing teen stumbling out. Her face was streaked with mascara and tears, and her pretty little red dress ripped and ruined. My eyes narrowed. She vanished, replaced with an empty parking lot.

"Dominance," I muttered under my breath. It was maybe an unconscious urge to give the dead guy's ghost some closure/explanation. "Just like you, I'm in it for the dominance."

His fingers wrapped themselves around my throat as he placed his lips against my delicate, porcelain skin.

Yeah, dominance. That's what I was after.