#billy russo x reader story

[angelicwolf98]

I can easily see myself as the reader 😂 hitting her head like that! Safe to say you’ve got me hook, line, and sinker. 🥰

Teeth

Part 2!

Masterlist

Werepanther!Billy Russo x Female reader.

Warnings: Smut, Anxiety, two dumbasses doing the dumbass dance.

He's hunting.

Like he always does.

It starts with the scent, sweet and decadent, calling out to him. He's weak to his baser needs, desperate for a taste.

The front door shuts behind him, the scent stronger here, pulling him forward on an invisible leash, one he cannot hope to resist.

It's dark, moonlight streams through the gaps in the curtains, he wants the moon to watch him hunt, watch him devour his prey.

He takes a deep breath, parts his lips. He can almost taste it.

Past the kitchen, turning right, down the hall.

He passes other rooms, ripe with the same scent, an office, bathroom, studio, and yet he does not get distracted, does not slow his stedy pace.

He knows what he wants.

He knows where to look.

At the door to the bedroom he takes a quick breath, confirming the right location, before opening the door.

Strawberries.

Sweet and tart, it fills the air, beats like a pulse, saying his name in a language only he can understand.

He makes a low hum of approval.

It wakes her.

A light sleeper, the anxiety of her past experiences makes her alert to him faster. Her mouth parts in a quiet gasp when she sees him, sitting up to observe him clearly.

He cocks his head, studying her fright, the beast inside of him demanding him to protect. To keep her safe from anything... everything that would wish to harm her.

He stalks toward her, he stops at the edge of the bed.

The smell of saccharine fruit makes him dizzy with need.

He reaches, moves slowly so that he doesn't frighten her, pulling the thin white sheet away from her.

She lets him take it, lets him toss it aside, the air between them is filled with so much unsaid words, but he is in no speaking mood.

She pulls her knees to her chest, eyes wide in fear, he looks down, her cunt glistening with arousal.

Surely, she wouldn't mind if he had a taste?

How could he resist?

He presses both palms flat to the bed, her eyes are so vulnerable. The beast inside of him is pleased, satisfied by his mate so openly exposed to him.

For him.

He crawls toward her, every aspect of his predatory nature on high alert. Her body tenses, but she doesn't move. Her fear and her arousal makes him ache, a near painful throb between his legs, seeking his own release.

He drops his head, intent on a peace offering, thinking only of easing her fears as his nose brushes her thigh.

A hitch of her breath, a delicious reaction that he craves, before he's licking over her wet slit.

The taste of her cunt on his tongue makes him moan, he licks her softly at first, he wants her at ease, he wants her to enjoy.

He wants to please.

She gasps, and he takes the opportunity to delve deeper, tongue gently exploring until it grazes her sensitive bundle of nerves. She shudders in bliss.

The beast inside of him purrs, his eyes squeeze shut, his face pressing deeper between her thighs.

She's soft, supple, delicious, femininity in his hands, evidence of her pleasure on his tongue.

He licks at her, his mind calming, pleased at finding what he was looking for, simply appreciating her at this point.

Her breathing is faster, her hands clenched on either side of her. He draws her tight, like a bow on the brink of snapping.

If he could feel her orgasm, he would be able to die a happy man. He wonders briefly what else she is capable of, when just the taste of her cunt can tame the predator inside of him.

She whines, and she gasps, and she cries, she's so close, so deliciously close to peak and it's all because of him, and just a few more swipes of his tongue would make her fall apart-

The buzzing of his phone wakes him.

The anger that tears through him is visceral, potent, he cannot resist grabbing his pillow and throwing it at full force across the room.

It hits the wall with a 'thud,' louder than normal.

He watches the pillow slide to the floor, can almost imagine the look of betrayal on its inanimate face.

The beast is irritable as he reaches for his phone.

"What?" Is all he says as he answers.

Katerina, who has grown used to his venomous tone, barely bats an eye.

"Sir, calling to inform you that a team has been dispatched to the Harvey residence. You told me you wanted to know."

Billy huffs, checks the time, two a.m.

"Let team leader know I'll be on site in ten."

"Are you sure? Sir-"

He doesn't respond, ending the call.

He sits up, takes a deep breath, moves to his bedroom window.

There's a small apartment building built beside his townhouse, three floors high.

On the second floor, the curtains are drawn tight, where other patrons on this side of New York hold no distress for leaving their curtains partially open. He even knows that the woman on the first floor does it on purpose, shows off in an attempt to draw his attention, and yet he's still drawn to the second floor.

To you.

He takes a deep breath, making sure there's no sharp sounds of distress, before he turns away, looking for his tactical gear in an attempt to get ready.

~

William Russo didn't like you one bit.

Though you'd been hired to give him a consult, and he'd chosen your company despite the last few bad reviews, you knew that in the back of your head, your presence was barely tolerated.

You tried to be as sunny as possible, leave no room for him to speak to you the way you'd overheard him speaking to some of his employees.

Sure, they had made easy mistakes, but to err was human, right?

It made you anxious, everyone at your company was on edge, hoping that this job would be an end to the bad streak that had been plaguing you.

You'd almost been swapped out for someone more experienced, until Mister Russo had challenged the idea.

"If you don't trust her work capabilities then why is she on your team?" He'd challenged the night of the dinner where you'd first met.

Your boss had looked almost pale, insisting that you were capable of completing the consultation up to mark.

The comment had made you fight a smile, fully aware that your boss had only invited you along to answer technical questions, and hadn't actually planned for you to take the lead on the project.

William's insistence had ended up giving you the task, whether intentional, or unintentional, you still weren't sure.

Truthfully, he was a difficult man to get a read on. He didn't laugh, barely gave more than a tight smile, and did not engage in small talk at all.

You'd tried to get him to open up, to speak to you, but you'd gotten nowhere, and eventually you'd given up, content to work in silence then, if he would not converse.

You'd spent the last few weeks like that, in this quiet agony, feeling carefully watched everytime he was in the room.

Was he waiting for you to make a mistake?

You weren't going to, you woke up every morning at five to triple check your work, on edge with all the pressure coming at you from all sides.

The panther was the only thing keeping you calm.

After your initial bout of fear, after the shock of hearing bones snapping had worn off, you'd found that reminders of it put you at ease.

When you'd found the tiny gold pendant, nestled into the dark corners of the antique shop, you knew you had to have it.

So today, you'd happily worn it for the first time, trying to complete your job before he gets here, so that you could be out of his hair and away from his uncomfortable stoicism faster.

You were currently under his desk, tracing wires and making notes of the general conditions of things. Your job was to make an assessment of his current IT setup and consult on something more efficient, something that would match the levels of security he required for running his company.

It wasn't too bad currently, but you'd definitely seen improvements that would help strengthen security in the long run.

One of his local IT guys had been accompanying you, but he'd thankfully stepped away and gave you the space to work.

You hum quietly to yourself under his desk, crammed into the little space, trying to confirm model and serial numbers.

"Find what you're looking for?" A voice asks.

You jump so hard that you hit your head against the bottom of the desk.

Pain blooms at the back of your head and you let out a hurt sigh.

"Are you alright?" He asks, no hint of concern in his tone.

"Yeah," you say a little sadly, rubbing the back of your head, embarrassed that he'd startled you.

What did you expect? You were in his office after all, of course he'd come in eventually.

You crawl out slowly, one hand holding on to the book with all of your notes in it.

You rise to your feet, smoothing out your clothes, your sensible shirt tucked into jeans for easy motion paired with a mild formal look.

You smile up at him, touching the back of your head gently to check how much it hurts.

He's got his eyes on you, his face solemn as usual.

"How is it going?" He asks, referring to the job.

"Really well, I'm almost done with my data collection." You reply casually.

"And no problems from my men?" He asks.

Besides the occasional misogyny?

"They're fine." You answer, a little terse, smiling up at him.

He blinks.

"What is it?"

Your eyes widen.

"What's what?"

He folds his arms, leaning against his desk. He looks across the room, to the floor length windows.

"Have they been disrespectful?" He asks, not looking at you.

You watch him closely, heart squeezing at his casual dominance. He probably doesn't even know that he's doing it, a sharp spike of arousal goes through you. You watch him take a deep breath.

"Do you really want to know? Do you think you would take me seriously if I gave you an honest answer?"

His eyes flit to you.

"Have I ever given you a reason to think I wouldn't take you seriously?"

"Not yet." You say ominously, a twitch at the corner of your mouth when he raises his eyebrows at you.

You suck in a breath, looking away.

"I'm used to it, condescension. It's... irritating. I will say, that your employees could definitely use a refresher course on equality in the workplace."

"Noted."

You turn to look up at him, giving him a shy smile.

He probably wouldn't take you seriously, anyway.

"Okay," you say happily, "That's everything. My team will send a proposal within the week, and you'll be able to review."

William nods, the traces of a smile forming at the corner of his lips. Very delectable, dangerously kissable lips.

"Thank you for all your assistance."

You nod, nervously bringing your hand up to touch your necklace before dropping your hand. It draws his attention.

"No problem, have a nice day." You say eagerly, turning on your heel and getting out of there.

You only sigh with relief when you're in the elevator.

He made you feel so on edge, you think you were shaking from the stress of being in the same room as him, desperate to impress him, trying your hardest not to mess this up for the company.

It was stressful how easy it was to talk to him. Ugh why did you mention the equality thing? He probably thought you were trying to tell him how to run his company.

Fucking shit.

Anyways, thankfully, you were done with him, and you didn't have to see him again.

.

She was wearing a symbol of the predator around her neck.

The beast had almost consumed him when he finally noticed. He'd had to grip the desk tightly, fighting the urge to chase, to take, to claim.

You were his, and he knew it, and it had made him happy to see, that on some base level, you knew it too.

He could smell the paranoia coming off of you in waves, and though he wanted to ease your troubles, to soothe your mind from the past traumas, he knew this was not something to be rushed into.

No matter how many times he got lost in dreams of you.

.

.

.

A/N: I'm just playing around on this fine Wednesday morning.

[thyme-in-a-bubble]

boo! surprise bitches! i'm doing kinktober this year! finally doing it! bet you didn't see that one coming, did you hehe 🕸

there is a good mix of both short and long stories coming your way throughout this (and i will also still occasionally post other fics this month that aren't related to this). also, a handful of these fics are darker in nature, thought it was fitting for halloween, so remember to read the warnings, if there's something that's not for you then please, as always, be kind to yourself and don't read the story.

masterlist | join my taglist

day one | sore

stepbro!sirius black x cheerleader!reader + dubcon massage

day two | don't smile

steve rogers + throat fucking + size kink

day three | stuffed

devil!eddie munson & angel!steve harrington + tentecles + double penetration in one hole

day four | a little fashion show

best friend!stiles stilinski + lingerie

day five | stay still

peter parker + bondage

day six | hold up, let me record this

jj maybank + tittyfucking + sextape

day seven | the palace guards

guards!poly!marauders x princess!reader + secrets relationship

day eight | it’s practically like we’re down there with them

mob boss!bucky barnes + exhibitionism

day nine | keep that pretty mouth shut

tommy shelby + keep quiet quickie

day ten | I couldn’t find it in me to wake you

poe dameron + somno thigh fucking

day eleven | I just want you a little longer all to myself

matt murdock + secret office sex

day twelve | nothing more than a toy

rafe cameron + using you like a toy to masturbate with

day thirteen | I still got a few rounds left in me

boxer!steve rogers + bathtub sex

day fourteen | open your fucking mouth

dark!wild west cowboy!joel miller + gun kink

day fifteen | tiny

miguel o'hara x fairy!reader + extreme size difference

day sixteen | the wall between us

cult member!steve harrington + fem glory hole + breeding

day seventeen | be a rebel, be bad, stay here and cuddle with me

spencer reid + aftercare

day eighteen | pleasant pile of pillows

brother's best friend!james potter + pillow humping

day nineteen | ring ring

sam winchester x reader x bf!dean winchester + phone sex + cheating

day twenty | window

perv!neighbour!billy russo + voyeurism

day twenty-one | say yes

fiancé!bruce wayne + possessiveness

day twenty-two | i can think of something better than that

bucky barnes + anal

day twenty-three | double check

dark!professor!ben solo + power imbalance + manipulation

day twenty-four | maroon

vampire!remus lupin + biting + blood kink

day twenty-five | i want you

pirate captain!miguel o'hara + sex as payment

day twenty-six | teamwork

pro football team!avengers (bf!steve rogers, bucky barnes, pietro maximoff, clint barton, sam wilson, tony stark, thor odinson) + gangbang

day twenty-seven | my little flower

din djarin + fantasy au + cockwarming

day twenty-eight | hysteria

doctor!aleksander morozova x hysteria patient!reader + historical au + fuck machine

day twenty-nine | can't fight the moonlight

werewolf!bucky barnes x gf!reader + predator/prey + monsterfucking

day thirty | magical mimic

eddie munson x witch!reader + magical mutual masturbation

day thirty-one | you can’t put it in

stepbro!peter parker + halloween pussyjob

© 2023 thyme-in-a-bubble 

[lupinsversion]

FIC RECOMMENDATIONS

(disclaimer: none of these works are mine, but i find each and every

one beautiful and decided to share the talents of these amazing

writers!)

Aleksander Morozova:

Secret Affairs “rumors and whispers are circulating in the little palace that general kirigan has found himself a mysterious woman whom he spends his nights with” by @kasagia

Marking by @simp2537 (18+)

Billy Russo:

The Manhattan Murders Series “three years ago, you left your hometown of woodsboro for new york to start over, but when people around you start dying, you realize a ghost from your past has returned” by @chvoswxtch

Rescue Mission “during a disastrous blind date you reach out to your best friend billy, and he offers to come to your rescue” by @marvelmusing

Crosshairs “after a few months of stalking billy, you make a decision to curb your obsession, believing that he deserves better than you. billy doesn’t agree.” by @marvelmusing

Hunted “as part of a training exercise with anvil, you’re tasked with remaining hidden in the city for an entire week. when billy tracks you down on the last night, he decides to teach you a leason.” by @marvelmusing (18+)

Barber Shop “you give billy’s beard a trim, giving him the opportunity to think over how lucky he is to have you.” by @marvelmusing

Waiting “you’ll always wait for billy, and he’ll always come home to you.” by @marvelmusing

Sweetness “billy russo loves all things sweet, and you take up a particular spot in his heart” by @marvelmusing

Window by @thyme-in-a-bubble (18+)

Misbehavior “billy takes you to one of his favorite restaurants, but you can’t seem to behave how he wants you to” by @marvelmusing (18+)

Just Wanted To Hear Your Voice “billy hasn’t been able to stop thinking about you all morning, and he just wants to hear your voice.” by @chvoswxtch

Sneaking Around “you’ve been sneaking around with billy, and your brother finds out.” by @that-sarcastic-writer (18+)

Penny For Your Thoughts by @imagine-a-fictional-boyfriend (18+)

Remus Lupin:

His First Time by @ellecdc (18+)

A Couple Months Later by @rainydayathogwarts

Soft Dom by @inkdrinkerworld (18+)

Setting Up “james trying to get remus and reader together and setting them up. potter!reader x remus secret relationship au” by @rainydayathogwarts

No Boundries “bestfriend remus with no boundries” by @mallowsweetmiri

Chocolate Trope by @theemporium (18+)

Sirius Black:

The Cutest Thing “when you visit the marauder’s dorm to ask remus for help with your charm’s homework, you’re surprised to find a large black dog in the room.” by @latenightreadingpdf

Fancy Ride “sirius gets jealous when you’re sharing stories from your date with evan, so you put him in his place” by @rainydayathogwarts

Always There “sirius black x girlfriend!reader who doesn’t give up on him even when he gives up on himself” by @iamgonnagetyouback

You Are Gonna Sit There And Watch by @thyme-in-a-bubble (18+)

James Potter:

Trouble In Hollywood “after spending years as an aspiring actress, everything seems to be finally falling into place. for one thing, you landed your first lead role staring in a new tv series filming in la. the only problem: you can’t stand your co-star” by @everythingisromant1c

Kiss And Makeup “james ruins reader’s date and attempts to make it better’ by @amiableness

Lip Combo “james watching you apply your lip combo tries to distract you from your lip gloss” by @rainydayathogwarts

A Dare Too Far “james was dared to make you fall in love with him. unknown to him, he was falling for you too. but soon the truth comes out and you are left heartbroken” by @srslyblvck

Eating Out “james eating you out under your skirt in the corner of a corridor” by @theemporium (18+)

Bloody Hell “enemies to lovers, period sex” by @lizard-on-a-window-pane (18+)

Morning Sex “you need james as soon as you wake up, and he needs you” by @pretty-little-mind33

A Date? by @iamgonnagetyouback

Dad!James by @amiableness

I Think He Knows “your boyfriend promises to watch over you when you want to get drunk” by @pretty-little-mind33 (18+)

Wolfstar x Reader:

A Baby? “your worst fears come true when you realize that sirius and remus didn’t want kids” by @iamgonnagetyouback

Fit In “wolfstar x reader who feels like she doesn’t fit in” by @iamgonnagetyouback

Drunk Reader “reader gets tipsy and starts being verbally affectionate when she normally isn’t” by @moonstruckme

Caught In The Middle “sirius’ worst nightmare comes true when both you and remus get your time of the months together” by @iamgonnagetyouback

Poly Marauders:

Seer Reader by @ellecdc

Pregnancy “poly!marauders x pregnant!reader who padfoot is obsessed with” by @ellecdc

Praise Kink by @moonstruckme (18+)

Costume Shopping “you go costume shopping with your boys” by @mischievousmoony

Forgotten Series “after being the forgotten one your whole life, you thought that they wouldn’t forget you” by @iamgonnagetyouback

Guess “reader is blindfolded and has to guess which one of her bfs is fucking her” by @brokenmenswhore (18+)

Say My Name by @myfictionaldreams (18+)

Taste “reader has a very strong gag reflex, so the boys never ask her to blow them, and you love them for it. but today, you want to taste them” by @thebestofoneshots

if you are a writer and you see your fic on this post and wish for it to

be removed, please let me know and i will remove it immediately!

[waywardcrow]

All eyes on us.

Summary: This wedding needs to happen, it's the only way you can protect the ones you love, the only problem is that you're in love with your husband-to-be and he would never love you back.

Pairing: Mob!Bucky x Stark!reader.

TW: Really not so many, talks of murder but very lightly, mentions of mysogyny, implications of mafia kind of stuff, death of parents, mention of future smut, curvy!reader, no mention of y/n and reader's nickname is Bells (context coming soon), kind of enemies to lovers but not really enemies, arranged marriage, this will be a +18 story so minors dni.

Disclaimer: English is not my first language, please tell me if I make grammar mistakes.

Part of the Yours to lose series.

Pictures from pinterest and graphic and dividers by the amazing @ firefly-graphics so all credits to the creators.

Everyone was waiting for her but she kept looking at herself in the mirror.

The wedding dress was beautiful, Pepper told her it was what Maria Stark –her mother- wore in her own wedding day and she loved it, the silk was too soft, hugging her curves with an ethereal touch and it had a subtle scent that she assumed belonged to the mother she couldn't remember.

Tony swore their mother loved her, their father too, the young bride couldn’t help but doubt it, they would not love her if they could see her now about to get married to a man who didn’t love her back, a man who humiliated her once for his pride, someone who probably only wanted what this arrangement could give him back.

How would she survive this marriage when it was impossible to leave the room and get to the Cathedral?

A knock in the door pulled her out of her mind, finding Natasha smiling at her in the reflection of the mirror.

“Are you ready, dear?” her friend knew the real answer but still gave her the chance to speak.

“I was about to go” she lied and the redhead gave her a knowing look “everyone it’s waiting, isn’t it?”

“You’re the bride, honey, they can wait” Natasha walked to her, looking like a goddess in her silver dress and put her arms around the bride’s body “you can say no, we can fight Russo’s father, hell, Billy would love having one more excuse to kill him.”

She was sure Billy would do it, not only for her but for his sister, for Madani and for himself but it wasn’t time yet, the alliances needed to be settled, Stark and Barnes had to fight alongside to kill Pierce and Carlo Russo. She made all that mess before getting her family back and nobody would take them from her, never again.

“It has to be done, Nat” she put the veil in her head and took the beautiful bouquet Becca left for her earlier “let’s go.”

Her friend must have seen something in her eyes that made her nod.

“Alright, Bells. Let’s do this” her nickname, the one Yelena gave her when they met years ago, made her smile, who could ever thought that knocking someone out with Christmas bells will change her life?

Natasha guided her trough the corridors to the waiting room where Tony was talking in a hushed tone with Pepper, her sister-in-law radiant with her baby bump, reminding her why this alliance needed to happen.

“I’d be waiting outside, dear” Nat kissed her cheek and went to take her place with the other bridesmaids.

Tony was staring at her, pale like a ghost, whispering his sister's name. It wasn’t the first time in the last months Bells was told how much alike she was with his mother, their mother but this time Tony didn’t say anything, just looked at her eyes to find determination that matched his concern.

“Everything it’s beautiful, Peps, thank you” the bride said and the ginger smiled with a hint of sadness barely visible.

“It’s the least I could do for you, topolina. You deserve beautiful things” she never had a mother, not that she could remember, but with Pepper there she could feel like she did.

Pepper gave her husband a gentle squeeze in the arm and went to join the rest of the guest.

“I have Frank ready to go, say the word and we leave” his first words almost made her chuckle, he spent the last fifteen days planning ways to get her out of this but Bells always refused, a small and stupid part of her happy because she would marry the man she loved.

“I want to do this, Tony, for all of us” that part it was true, this marriage was the only way she could protect him and Pepper and the baby, Billy and Dinah, Frank and Maria and the kids, the family she dreamed about since she was a kid and that she finally had. It also would save her from Carlo Russo’s greedy hands.

Bells knew one or two things about the mob, mostly from movies and for that she was sure the respect from his brother to her choices were more part of his good soul, she heard some stories from Maria that made her want to kill Carlo Russo even more.

True to the man she met not too long ago Tony didn’t fight her, instead he straightened his bow tie and extended an arm out for her to take it.

“Then allow me to walk you down the aisle, signorina, it will be my honour” the charm went back to his eyes and Bells could breathe, if she could count on them, she could do anything.

The music started playing when the wedding planner gave the signal and every one of her friends smiled at her or blew kisses at her before marching down the aisle. From where she was she could see Maria walk with confidence, not sparing a glance to her father who unfortunately was sited next to her brother Billy and Dinah.

Natasha was the last one, looking at her with reassurance one last time before following the others, then it was their turn.

“I love you, topolina”

“Love you too, Tony”

The crowd of guest was an unfocused picture, she only had eyes for the man waiting for her at the altar, wearing a black tux with a new haircut, his long chestnut locks were gone, sending a silly wave of sorrow through her veins.

She loved his hair, in an embarrassing impulse she remembered pulling his long hair to get him to kiss her again when-

Bells stopped herself.

It was dangerous to think about those times, they were gone the minute he saw her as one of his properties and decided to punish her for something she never did.

Bucky’s eyes never left her the whole way to him, drinking her like he was dying of thirst. Steve must have noticed too because he gave him a subtle bump to get him to blink and stop looking like he would commit sacrilege in the middle of the church.

The beautiful glass windows projected a million colors around her when Tony lifted the veil and with a barely visible hesitance put her hand in Bucky’s.

“I’m confident you will protect her with your life, Barnes” was all he said, dead serious when Bucky gave him a solemn nod and her brother kissed her forehead.

With her eyes watching her step, Bells avoided looking at him until it was impossible to keep going.

A soft smile, one she thought she lost forever, resurfaced when their eyes locked and the bride could read what he was thinking.

She was his, always was and always would be and he would never let her go.

I'd do bad things with you >>>

Hiya! I'm super happy to post this story even if I don't know what I'm doing, to be honest I'm not fluent in italian, so here's the translation of the pet names I used:

-topolina: Little mouse.

-signorina: Miss.

If I made a mistake with that, feel free to correct me and tell me what you think! What do you think it will happen?

Love, Lily.

[moonyinthestars]

Ooooh turns out that they are the perfect match !! But it must be so freeing to be liberated from fear at last !!

part six: the final girl

[series masterlist] | [previous part]

pairing: billy russo x fem!reader

summary: you get to choose your own ending.

warnings: swearing, mentions of gore, explicit sexual content (minors dni), knife play, billy infinitely being a cocky lil shit, the mask stays on ;)

word count: 5k

a/n: and that is a wrap on spooky slutty season. I want to once again thank y'all for letting me have fun with this, and for having fun with me. i've always wanted to do something like this, and it warms my spooky slutty heart that y'all liked it. now, without further ado, let's give the people what they came for. ;) as always, feedback is welcomed/appreciated!

“You.”

Billy kept his hands held up in surrender as he watched you grab the bloodied award and rise to your feet, your jaw clenched as you grit that word out with pure hostility. The fire he could see burning in your eyes was exhilarating.

“I can explain-”

“Explain? Explain what? You murdered them-”

“I did it for you.”

Billy’s words caught you off guard. He said it so calmly, and with such conviction. A crease of perplexity settled between your brows, and you stared at him in outrage and disbelief.

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“I brought him here.”

Billy slowly lowered his hands to his sides, keeping his eyes locked on you. He didn’t make a move to come closer, not yet. Roman’s words from earlier echoed in your head. 

Last week, I got a picture of you with two words. New York.

Billy was the one who sent him the picture. Billy was the one who told Roman where you were. White hot rage bubbled within you once again, and you gripped the award in your hand as you took a step closer, screaming at him.

“Why the fuck would you do that?”

Billy didn’t flinch at your outburst. He didn’t take a step backwards. He didn’t physically react at all.

“Because you needed it.”

All you could do was stare at Billy in convoluted incredulity and anger. He was making the whole thing sound so simple, so logical, like he was looking at it through rose colored glasses. Taking in the look on your face and the fact that you seemed speechless, Billy took a cautious step forward and spoke calmly.

“He’s dead, sweetheart. You never have to worry about lookin’ over your shoulder again. You’re free.”

“Free? You killed Adam. God, you killed Derek and Annie, you almost killed me-”

Billy immediately shook his head no and cut you off.

“No. I was never gonna hurt you. Look, I'm sorry for scarin’ you, and I’m sorry you did get hurt, but I had to convince the police it was him after you. I didn’t see another way to do this. And look at you. Look how strong it’s made you.”

Billy’s dark brown eyes roved over your figure appreciatively, staring at you almost in awe, the ghost of a proud smile gracing the edge of his lips. There was a glint in his gaze when he met your eyes, and you could see a complete lack of remorse for what he’d done. There was no guilt, no shame, nothing.

“You’re psychotic.”

Billy took another step forward, reaching out to take the bloodied award away from you, tossing it onto the floor carelessly. He lifted his hand to brush a strand of your hair that was soaked in blood away from your face, gazing down at you in adoration.

“No sweetheart. I'm in love.”

Narrowing your eyes, you clenched your jaw and raised your chin defiantly, refusing to break eye contact as you cocked your head to the side.

“So in love with me you’re gonna get me sent to prison?”

Hearing the bitterness in your voice, Billy let out a frustrated exhale through his nose, his reverence for you shifting into pure annoyance at your attitude.

“You ain’t goin’ to prison. I made sure of that. Everything is traceable back to him. When the cops go to the motel he was stayin’ at, they’re gonna find everything they need to wrap this case up with a neat fuckin’ bow. The outfit and mask, the knife and the DNA on it, surveillance photos of you, a disposable cell phone, everything. And this-”

Billy loosely gestured with his hand towards Roman’s lifeless body on the floor surrounded by a puddle of blood.

“-this will be clear and cut self defense. I got the best legal team in the world, sweetheart. Roman had motive, and there’s a paper trail, all leadin’ back to him. None of this is comin’ back on you. I’d never let that happen.”

The implications of what Billy was saying slowly started to sink in. He planned this, down to the last meticulous detail. You didn’t know how long he’d planned it, or who he’d leveraged his power and wealth against to make it happen, but he’d directed every moment of this set up. He had carefully crafted a trap that Roman had walked right into. Adam, Derek, Annie, the cops, his own men, you; you’d all been pieces on the game master’s board, unaware you were losing a rigged match that only had one outcome from the beginning.

Billy snapped you out of your thoughts when he took your face in his hands, brushing his thumbs over the splatters of blood on your cheekbones to wipe them away.

“You belong with me. No one else, me. You know that now.”

Staring up at him, there was a soft furrow between your brows as you let out a breathless and humorless laugh.

“Belong with you? You’re a murderer-”

“So are you.”

Billy arched one of his dark brows in challenge, gesturing his head towards the dead body on the floor next to your feet. Pressing your lips together in a firm line, you clenched your jaw seeing the flicker of amusement in Billy’s gaze. Shaking your head slowly, you smacked his hands away from your face and took a step backwards.

“You’re delusional. You are absolutely fucking delusional-”

“Oh c’mon, sweetheart. We had an agreement, yeah? No bullshit. You gonna stand there and tell me you feel bad about this, huh? You gonna look me in the eye and tell me he didn’t deserve it? Because from where I’m standin’, he had it comin’. Hell, he deserved worse if you ask me.”

Billy was staring you down, daring you to open your mouth and correct him. But even as your lips parted to speak, nothing came out. No words of regret, no remorse of your own, no horror at the brutality you’d just learned you were capable of. Even though you knew you should feel guilty and revolted about what you’d just done, you didn’t. You couldn’t come to your own defense. You didn’t have to kill Roman. You could’ve knocked him out and called the police. 

But you didn’t.

You chose to kill him. You wanted to kill him. Because deep down, you knew Billy was right. It was the only way you were going to be free. It had come down to kill, or be killed. Instead of the shackles of guilt and shame dragging you down to the unknown depths of whatever hell was waiting for you for breaking the cosmic rule of taking another life, you felt light as a feather. The fear that had been weighing on your chest your whole life, but especially the last three years, was gone. You could breathe again. You didn’t feel weak or fragile. You felt…powerful.

That moral compass within you was pointing towards relief, and maybe it had always been crooked, you just hadn’t noticed until now. But the moment you watched Roman take his last breath, something changed in you. The false pretense you had existed under abruptly faded away. All at once, the girl you had been trying to lay to rest was finally dead, for good. And it was then that you realized you hadn’t been trying so hard to bury her this entire time because of Roman and out of necessity for your own safety. It was because she was never who you really were.

This was.

Billy could see the initial hesitation on your face that slowly transitioned from denial into a half step away from acceptance. He took a step closer to you, wanting to convince you to take that final leap into embracing the truth he’d always been able to see.

“Think about it. The only time you felt safe was with me. The only time you weren’t tryin’ to be someone else, was with me. Annie didn’t know you, not like I do. Neither did Adam, and neither did this motherfucker.”

Billy pointed towards Roman’s lifeless body as he spit those words out like they were acidic. He took another bold step closer, and this time he wasn’t gentle when he grabbed your face in his hand, half of his fingers wrapping around your throat possessively. 

“I've killed for you, no else can say that. You think you were gonna be happy settlin’ down with a nice guy from Jersey, havin’ to fake who you are for the rest of your life? No way, sweetheart. Face it. It’s you and me.”

Tilting your head back slowly, you looked up at Billy, not an ounce of fear in your eyes. Your face was a blank portrait, but there was a glimmer of challenge in your unwavering stare.

“And if I say no?”

The calmness in your voice sent a thrill through Billy. You were almost there. His tongue darted out to wet his lips, and he lowered his voice to a husky whisper, even though you were the only two people in the bedroom. Alive, anyway.

“You ain’t gonna do that, sweetheart. You know why?”

Billy’s question was rhetorical, and it had an undertone of amusement as he looked down at you with mischief twinkling in his eyes. His breath was warm as it ghosted over your lips.

“You know I'm right. You don’t feel a single ounce of guilt about what you just did, and you shouldn’t. He had it comin’, and no one is gonna miss this sorry piece of shit.”

Billy leaned in to nuzzle his nose against your neck, pulling you flush against his body, his other arm wrapping around your waist possessively. You swallowed thickly feeling the coarseness of his facial hair brush against your skin, making you shudder, and your body betrayed your shaky sense of morality, the lingering ache between your thighs from Billy fucking you in this very room earlier suddenly all your brain could focus on.

“You’ve always had a darkness in you, sweetheart. I knew it the night I met you. I felt it. You ain’t gotta hide it, not with me. You ain’t gotta hide period. You can go home again, see your family, your friends. There’s nothin’ holdin’ you back now. You’re not a victim anymore.”

Billy’s smooth words dripping into your ear like raw honey had a soft sigh escaping your lips. The thought of being able to go home, being able to see your mom again, being able to just exist without living in fear…it completely drowned everything else out that you should be feeling. Billy was right, you weren’t a victim anymore. And you were never going to be one again.

He’d done that for you. In his own sick, twisted way that he justified, he’d put a mirror up to you, and you were finally able to see yourself clearly. He’d pushed you to confront everything you tried to run away and hide from. He’d awoken that thing inside you that you’d always known was there, but had been too afraid to acknowledge. He’d forced you to choose between being a helpless ingenue, or a relentless fighter. 

There was no going back.

Your eyes fluttered open when Billy pulled back to look down at you. His dark brown eyes were full of awe and reverence. He stared down into your eyes lovingly, brushing the pad of his thumb along the underside of your jaw as his lips spread into a wicked grin.

“You’re a final girl, baby.”

»»———　　———««

The California sun had been something you missed immensely. New York got sunny, hot even, but it wasn’t the same. Those warm rays didn’t carry with them whispers of salt from the sea that tickled your nose or the breeze of nostalgia that caressed your fonder memories. Woodsboro hadn’t hardly changed at all in the three years you had been gone. It was exactly as you had left it.

So was your mother’s house, and your old childhood bedroom. It had been over ten years since you’d last lived in this house, but your bedroom was like a time capsule of your teenage self. The same white cotton sheets and orchid purple comforter, posters of boy bands peeling at the corners, memories with your mom and friends forever immortalized on a corkboard that were held in place with push pins. It even had the same distinct smell that it had ten years ago.

Laying in the twin size bed, you tried to conjure that teenage girl in your head, the one whose room this had been, but you couldn’t. She was as gone as the woman you had been before. You never expected to be back in this room, to get to see your mother again, but the investigation was done, and you were free to move on. Your mom had been shocked when you showed up at the front door unannounced a few days ago, and even more shocked that you’d brought someone with you, but it only took a matter of minutes before she was eating out of the palm of Billy’s hand.

The charming fucker.

The bathroom door slowly opened, the creaking of the hinges breaking you out of your thoughts, and when you glanced over, an amused laugh left your lips as your brows rose up your forehead.

“Seriously?”

Billy remained silent, his boots heavy against the hardwood floor as he took slow, predatory steps towards the bed you were laying on. Your eyes wandered over the sight of him in the black robes, his handsome face concealed by the ghastly mask. Arching one of your brows, a smirk stretched over your lips.

“What, you wanna play psycho killer?”

Billy nodded silently, taking more calculated steps towards you, building the anticipation. Grazing your top teeth over your bottom lip, you sat up slowly and moved onto your knees, looking up at him in faux innocence as your voice came out in a sultry tease.

“Can I be the helpless victim?”

Once again, Billy nodded, tilting his head to the side slowly. He slipped a knife out of the robe, the glint of the metal twinkling under the light in the room. Your lips parted as he placed the blunt edge of it along the side of your neck, gliding it down slowly, the coolness of the metal against your skin making you shiver. He continued to leisurely drag it down, over your right collarbone, and over the swell of your breasts through your shirt. 

When he reached the hem of it, Billy grasped the shirt in one of his gloved hands while he used the other to flip the knife over, dragging the sharp side of the blade in the opposite direction upwards, slicing right through the thin material. He took his time, the satisfying sound of fabric ripping filling the quiet as the knife glided through your shirt like fresh scissors through silky wrapping paper.

Goosebumps prickled along your skin as he dragged the blade across your collarbone towards the strap of your bra, not using enough pressure to actually hurt you or draw blood, but just enough for you to feel the faint sting of steel against soft flesh. A succession of two snips sounded, and severed straps tumbled down your arms. But Billy didn’t just reach behind you to unhook your bra, that wasn’t part of the fun. Instead, he cut right through the front of it, wire and all, and then your breasts were bouncing slightly as they spilled from the cups.

Billy wrapped his gloved hand around your throat and forced you onto your back, climbing on top of you, bringing his face down closer. The rubber of the mask was stiff as he pressed his forehead to yours, but you could faintly see his eyes through the black cloth covering the holes of the eye openings.

“Billy-”

“Shh.”

He held his index finger up to the mouth of the mask before bringing it down to press against your lips.

“Bite.”

A flicker of confusion passed through your eyes, but you bit down gently on the tip of his finger, and he pulled his hand back, the fabric of the glove remaining between your teeth as he slipped his hand out. Grabbing it from your mouth and tossing it aside, he traced your lips with his index finger before slipping his thumb past your lips and into your mouth, pressing the pad of it against your soft, warm and wet tongue.

“Suck.”

Wrapping your lips around his thumb, you made a soft noise in the back of your throat as you hollowed your cheeks, sucking softly on his digit and swirling your tongue around it slowly, giving the tip a gentle bite. A muffled grunt came from Billy above, and he pushed his hips forward, allowing you to feel the erection straining against his pants poking against your lower stomach.

“You feel how fuckin’ worked up you get me, baby?”

“I wanna feel more.”

Billy’s dark chuckle was muffled by the mask, his deep voice husky and full of amusement. He slipped his thumb out of your mouth, rubbing it over your lips and down your chin, spreading your own saliva over your skin.

“Greedy little thing.”

Dragging the knife between the valley of your breasts and down your stomach, the cold steel made you tense, your stomach muscles clenching slightly. In a flash, Billy had rendered your sleep shorts into shreds of jagged fabric, but he surprised you by setting the knife on the bed beside your head so he could slip your panties down your thighs, leaving them intact.

“Open your mouth.”

Parting your lips and opening your mouth slightly, you watched as Billy balled up the silky red fabric, and your eyes widened slightly when he shoved it into your mouth, gagging you with your own panties. A soft noise was muffled by the makeshift gag, but Billy ignored whatever you were trying to say. He grabbed your wrists and pinned them above your head on the mattress.

“Be a good girl and keep these here.”

Your heart was racing with anticipation, and a thrill of excitement had your nerve endings feeling like they’d just been hit with a jolt of lightning. You clenched your hands into fists above your head to keep yourself from reaching for Billy as you watched him drag the robe up to his hips so he could unzip his pants, reaching inside to pull out his hardened cock. He slipped his hand between your thighs, coating his palm and his fingers in the wetness that had your inner thighs slick, and you moaned around the gag, shifting your hips up in need as his thumb brushed lightly over your needy clit.

Billy wrapped his hand around the base of his cock, giving himself a few languid strokes as he coated his length in your natural lubrication. He didn’t have any patience left for teasing or playing his own little game, and neither did you. He pushed his hips forward, a muffled groan of satisfaction sounding from deep within his chest as he sank into your tight welcoming heat. Your back arched slightly and your eyes nearly rolled at the sensation of being stretched and filled with his thick cock.

Grabbing your wrists, Billy kept them pinned to the mattress above your head, and he languidly rolled his hips, the denim of his jeans rubbing against your bare thighs with every deep stroke. You brought your legs up to wrap around his waist, trying to pull him closer, wanting him impossibly deeper. Your moans of pleasure were muffled by your panties in your mouth, and you could hear Billy’s heavy breathing through the mask.

“Such a good little slut for me. You like it when I fuck you like this, don’t you baby?”

Billy chuckled darkly in your ear hearing the incoherent response reduced to a muffled moan from the makeshift gag. 

“I know you do. I can feel it. This pretty pussy was soaked before I even touched you, and it’s grippin’ my cock so tight, takin’ it so well.”

Billy raised up slightly, letting go of one of your wrists so he could wrap his hand around your throat instead, squeezing just a little as he kept fucking you with slow, deep strokes.

“I knew this shit would get you off. You really are as fucked in the head as me, aren’t you pretty girl? You like it when I-”

All of a sudden there was a knock on the bedroom door, and your eyes went wide.

“Sweetie?”

Billy stopped thrusting, twisting his head to look at the door before looking down at you. Grabbing the mouth of the mask, he pulled it over his head, his raven strands messy from being under the mask. His dark brown eyes were wild with lust and had a dangerous glint in them. He quickly pulled your panties out of your mouth, and you swallowed thickly before calling out.

“Yeah?”

“Are you guys hungry? I was thinking about ordering a pizza.”

Billy’s breathing was heavy, but before you could answer your mother, he swiped the knife off the bed beside your head and held it to your throat. Your eyes widened in surprise, a flash of confusion in them, but then Billy rolled his hips forward, and your mouth dropped open. He quickly covered your mouth with his palm before the moan could slip out, and he pressed the blade just a tad harder against your neck to silence you. He leaned in, his nose brushing against yours as he whispered in a husky and rough tone while staring down into your wide eyes.

“Answer her.”

Billy’s hips were flush against your own, and he was flexing them forward, his cock dragging through your tight warm walls in a way that made your brain feel fuzzy.

“Y-Yeah. That…that sounds good.”

“What kind of pizza does Billy like?”

Your hands flew out to grab onto Billy’s biceps, and your eyes fluttered shut as Billy started to fuck you a little harder, but still keeping his thrusts slow and deep. Because he’d just unzipped his pants, the rough denim of his jeans covering his pelvis was rubbing right against your throbbing clit with every move of his hips. It was maddening. 

“Any kind.”

Ever the inquisitive and talkative one, your mother continued to drone on about pizza toppings and the new Italian place in town, rambling about things you didn’t give a single fuck about right now. 

You were trying to keep it out of your voice that you were currently getting fucked into the mattress, but it was getting hard to keep your words from sounding shaky and breathless. Billy watched you from above, his lips spreading into a sinister grin, his dark eyes twinkling with delight. He leaned in and nuzzled his nose along the underside of your jaw, nipping at your sensitive skin, pressing his hips flush against yours and starting to oscillate them. A breath caught in your throat, and you whispered pleadingly.

“Billy-”

“Keep talking or I won’t let you come.”

There was an edge of a warning to his voice, and you gripped onto his arms tighter, forcing down the whine of frustration you wanted to let slip. 

“Mom, really, anything is…f-fine. Billy just…got out of the shower…we’ll…we’ll be down in a minute.”

“Okay, I’ll get both toppings and the breadsticks just in case. No one ever complained about too much pizza.”

You heard your mom’s familiar melodic laughter and the sound of her footsteps retreating, descending the staircase, and you let out a breath you hadn’t realized you were holding.

“I like your mom.”

Smacking your hand against Billy’s arm, he let out an amused laugh, dropping the knife back onto the bed as he grinned down at you.

“You’re such a dick.”

Billy let out a hum, grabbing your thigh and hiking your leg further up his waist, allowing him to change the angle and thrust even deeper, tearing a surprised moan from your lips. He nuzzled his nose against your neck, nipping at your earlobe as he whispered in a teasing tone.

“Now, is that any way to talk to the man who’s about to make you come?”

Letting out a frustrated whine, you wrapped your arms around his neck tightly and tried to pull him in even closer.

“Billy-”

Grabbing your throat once again, Billy cut you off as he captured your lips in a deep kiss, forcing his tongue past your lips to taste you. He started to snap his hips quickly, and you moaned into the kiss, gripping onto his broad shoulders and digging your nails into the thick fabric of the black robe. The worn frame of your bed began to squeak under the weight of both of you and how roughly Billy was now fucking you into the mattress. Never in a million years did you think you’d be having kinky sex in your childhood bedroom, but Billy had gotten you to do a lot of things you never thought you would.

The moan that tore from the depth of your core was muffled by Billy’s greedy lips, and he tightened his grip on your thigh when you tightened your trembling legs around his waist. Even when he felt your cunt clench around his cock, and the warmth that flooded afterwards, soaking through his jeans, he didn’t stop. He fucked you through your orgasm, and past it. He kept going, determined to force one more wave of pleasure out of you. His kiss was even hungrier, more demanding, and he could faintly feel you clawing at his back through the thick fabric. 

When a second round of ecstasy barreled through you and seeped through his jeans to drench his heated skin beneath, Billy finally let go, allowing your greedy cunt to milk him for all he was worth. The instant gratification was overwhelming, turning his vision white for a split second, making his veins feel like they were flowing with helium instead of blood.

“Wow.”

Billy chuckled hearing the breathlessness of your voice. He peppered kisses along your neck, and you could feel his grin on your skin.

“Wow, ‘I just had sex in my childhood bedroom’, or wow ‘that was the best fuck I’ve ever had’?”

“Both.”

Pulling back to look at you, Billy’s dark eyes wandered over your face, and the hazy grin and fucked out look in your eyes made a smile stretch over his own mouth. He brushed his knuckles along your cheekbone gently, just quietly observing you. After a moment of comfortable silence, he spoke.

“We can stay, you know.”

You knew what Billy was saying. When you’d told him you wanted to return to Woodsboro for the holidays to see your mom again, you’d asked him to come with you, and he’d immediately cleared his schedule to make the trip. There hadn’t been a discussion on whether this was just a visit, or a homecoming, but the look in Billy’s eyes told you everything you needed to know. If you wanted to stay permanently, so would he.

Letting out a deep exhale through your nose, you looked up at him with a soft smile, placing your hand on top of his.

“I don’t belong here. I don’t know if I ever did. It’s nice to come back and visit but…it’s not where I’m meant to be.”

“You’re meant to be whenever you wanna be.”

It was such a strange feeling having a person that would do anything for you. You had never had that before. Even your mother had a history of putting her own needs and wants before your own. But Billy…Billy was willing to do whatever it took to make you happy, and ready to handle anyone or anything that got in the way of that, without hesitation. You were still processing everything that had happened, but when you had woken up on that first morning of November, you finally felt like you could breathe. You finally felt like…you. 

There was no more running. No more pretending. No more living in fear. It was freeing, and empowering. It didn’t feel like there was anything that could be thrown at you that you couldn’t handle, not anymore. And now, you weren’t doing it alone. You never had to be alone again. 

“I know, but I like New York. I wanna be there. The coffee is better.”

Billy smirked and arched one of his dark brows, looking at you with a twinkle of mischief in his eyes. 

“That all?”

Pursing your lips, you twisted your features into an expression of mock contemplation, pretending to think it over. 

“Yeah, pretty much.”

Billy rolled his eyes, shaking his head with an amused snort. He leaned in and nipped at your neck, making you laugh.

“Brat.”

Carding his fingers through your hair, Billy tilted his head to the side as he looked at you curiously.

“You thought about that deal?”

Looking at him in confusion, you cocked your own head to the side.

“What deal?”

“About the book.”

Letting out a soft laugh, you rolled your own eyes and shook your head, a faint smirk gracing the edge of your lips as you quirked a brow.

“What, and be the next Gale Weathers?”

“Why not? You got a hell of a story.”

Billy flashed you a wink, a wicked grin splitting his lips. Bringing your hand up to smooth his raven strands back into place, you bit down on your bottom lip, smirking.

“Mhm. And what would I call this story?”

Billy gave a faint shrug of his shoulders, leaning in with a smirk as he brushed his lips against yours, whispering.

“How about a play on the original. If you’re gonna be the next Gale Weathers, you could call it…The Manhattan Murders.”

tags: @thyme-in-a-bubble @ferns-fics @danzer8705 @to-thelakes @simonsgirl @sweetserendipity65 @zomtart @day-dreaming-goddess @caroblogsthings @thomasshelbyswife @snowkestrel @hallowedtangerine @ameliaswife @dreadfulxives18 @ebsmind @lllla717 @slumnit @fireeyes-on-teller-dixon-grimes @nolita-fairytale @oliviaewl @r1kk @unlikelystarlightcowboy @imperihoe-writes @dumb-fawkin-bitch @merc12-us @moonyinthestars @sweetttart @i-caught-a-pidge @fruityfucker @strangerfromketterdam @whosprettynow @killing-gremlin

»— if you wanna get in the spooky slutty mood, listen here! -> the manhattan murders soundtrack

[hungermakesmonsters]

Love, Sick Love

Chapter One

Plot summary : Working at one of the shadier bars in Brooklyn, you have one rule; don’t mess around with the patrons. Most of them are criminals, dangerous. None more so than Billy Russo, but Billy believes that rules are made to be broken. Especially your rule. One lapse in judgement is all it takes for Billy to decide that you’re his, and he’s never been the sort of man to take rejection well.

Pairing : Billy Russo x Reader

Story Rating : R 

Warnings : [This is a fic for 18+ only, minors DNI] All chapters will deal with dark and smutty themes, including but not limited to stalking. Please check the warnings on each chapter if you choose to follow this story. 

Word Count : 5.8k

A/N : A full explanation of expected themes and TWs for this fic can be found here if you are uncomfortable with dark romance/toxic romance then this fic might not be for you.

Master List

Chapter One

“So, how was your date?”

You were barely through the door when the question was mercilessly thrown your way, the few patrons drinking the afternoon away in Sam’s lifting their heads to glance your way before quickly losing interest. Thankfully, they didn’t care how your date had gone the night before nearly as much as your co-worked Jenna did.

Sam’s wasn’t exactly the sort of place where people cared to get to know each other. The bar had a reputation, the kind of reputation that regularly had cops posted outside the door, waiting to scoop up patrons at closing time, though they rarely dared set foot through the door. And that was why it suited you just fine. Aside from the occasional drunk thinking he might be lucky enough to get in your pants, people didn’t care who you were or where you were from, a courtesy you were more than happy to return.

So, while there was a snicker or two around the bar, no one but Jenna was interested in your love life.

Or, lack thereof. 

You shrugged off your jacket as you made your way around the bar, hanging it along with your purse in the small staff room before heading out to start your shift.

“So, it didn’t go well then,” Jenna stated, eyeing you up and down as you stepped out of the back.

“Hi Jenna.” You said in an overly forced, perky tone, clearly avoiding the question. “How are you, Jenna?”  

“Wow, that bad?”

You’d often thought to yourself that Jenna would be better suited working for the FBI instead of tending bar; she knew how to get people to talk and she had a dogged tenacity when it came to things she wanted to know. But, fortunately for the criminal element, Jenna was only interested in gossip, bitching, and information that could be used to her advantage. She was your closest friend and a constant pain in your ass for all of the above reasons.

“Is it that obvious?” You finally relented, giving her a slither of what she craved.

The look she fixed you with was more than enough to answer the question.

“You’re wearing your fuck-me boots and that’s never a good sign,” she said with a knowing grin, obviously impressed with herself. “Wasn’t it the third date? Don’t tell me he left you high and dry...”

All it took was a slight look of disappointment on your face for less than a second for her to have the whole story.

“Oh - oh, okay,” she said and for a single, solitary second, you hoped that she’d drop it. But, of course, she didn’t. “So, how bad are we talking?”

“It wasn’t bad,” you answered, turning away from her, acting like you were checking stock, “just... disappointing.”

“He didn’t make you come?” She asked, loud enough that anyone close enough could hear. Fortunately you weren’t easily embarrassed. “I thought you said he was a doctor? Isn't he supposed to have a good grasp of… anatomy?”

Your eyes rolled as you threw her a glance over your shoulder.

“He’s a physiotherapist, not a gynaecologist.”

Not that that distinction made it any better. Disappointing sex was disappointing sex at the end of the day.

“Are you gonna see him again?” Jenna asked, biting back a laugh.

“And waste another evening on unappealing sex? No thanks. I think I’m just gonna swear off men,” you sighed dramatically, barely holding back a smirk.

“Or,” Jenna started, really drawing out that one little syllable, “maybe you need to stop only going for the safe guys and expecting Captain America to give you what you need.”

Your cheeks heated a fraction as you burst into laughter. It was a good thing that no one who could overhear understood that Captain America was what Jenna liked to call the dildo she’d bought you as a prank secret Santa gift last Christmas on account of it being a red, white and blue, unlicensed Captain America sex toy that claimed on the box to be an exact replica of Steve Roger’s dick.

It had become a private joke between the pair of you, though you’d never dare admit to her just how much mileage you’d actually gotten from the toy.

“Seriously, you need to lower your standards and find a guy who’s willing to just fuck your brains out,” Jenna continued, still utterly oblivious (or perhaps just indifferent) to the half dozen men trying to enjoy their drinks within earshot. “We could go to that biker bar just off the highway again and -”

“Aren’t we barred?” You asked. “Or, more to the point, aren’t you barred?”

“That’s what makes it more fun.”

Again, you rolled your eyes and, finally, you had a look around the bar. It was still quiet, but it wouldn’t stay that way for long. As soon as it started getting dark out, the place would be packed, wall to wall.

That was when you noticed him, sat at the end of the bar, slightly hunched over and with no drink in front of him. You looked to Jenna and gave a nod in his direction, and she shrugged in response, leaving you to deal with him. If he’d overheard any of your conversation with Jenna, he didn’t seem interested. For a moment, you hung back, not wanting to interrupt whatever was going on in his head but, finally, you forced your customer service smile to your  lips and made your approach.

“Hey, what can I get you?” You asked.

When he looked up, your heart stuttered. His face was littered with scars, but they weren’t the cause of the violent pounding in your chest, in fact, after first glance you barely noticed them. No, it was his dark eyes and the way he looked at you, the way he looked through you. For a few seconds you dared to believe you might drown in his gaze (and that maybe you’d enjoy it).

The moment felt like it lasted a lifetime, his gaze fixed on yours, his dark eyes filled with unspoken threats. And promises.

“Whiskey,” he said, a scratchy quality to his voice, as if his throat was raw from screaming.

“You want the good stuff or the cheap stuff?” You asked, blinking and finally managing to break his hold over you.

Instead of answering, he patted his jacket pockets before fishing out a wallet, eyeing it as if he’d never seen it before. As he opened it and checked its contents, you tried to feign indifference, but you couldn’t help but notice the stack of bills, and how he seemed just as surprised by them as you were.

“The good stuff,” he finally answered, his eyes finding yours again.

“Excellent choice,” you answered.

After grabbing a glass and placing it on the bar in front of him, you turned to grab a bottle from the top shelf, stretching as you reached for it.

Jenna jokingly called it Tip-teasing and had been the one to teach you it when you first took the job. It was simple really; tending bar was a performance, like a striptease but you got to keep your clothes on. You’d bend and stretch in ways that showed off your figure and a little bit of skin, and the customers would suddenly feel more inclined to leave you a tip. The trick was to be flirty enough to make them want you, but not so much so that they thought they had a shot.

It wasn’t how you’d envisioned earning a living, but your hourly wage at Sam's wasn’t enough to live on and, honestly, with the way some patrons behaved you felt entitled to take them for every penny they were dumb enough to part with. 

You hadn’t decided if you wanted to help empty this guy’s wallet, but you still put on a show for him as you stretched to grab the bottle from the top shelf, your skirt and blouse both shifting and revealing a little more skin. You didn’t even have to check the mirrored wall behind the bar to know he was watching your every move. It felt like his gaze was burning into your back, like he was trying to devour you whole with just his eyes.

And when you turned back he was still looking at you just as intensely, like you were the first woman he’d seen in months. His gaze flickered downwards to the low neckline of your blouse for the briefest of seconds, and you knew you had him on the hook.

“Not seen you in here before,” you said, filling his glass. “You from around here?”

“Yeah but I’ve been... away...” he answered.

Away in a place like Sam’s meant one of two things; either he was ex-military or he’d been doing time. Normally you could tell which just from the look of a guy, but not him. His clothes were a poor fit and didn’t suit him, and, honestly, the jacket he was wearing made him look like a dealer who sold drugs to teens at raves, but you didn’t get that vibe from him. And the scars on his face were like nothing you’d ever seen before. 

But you didn’t push, didn’t pry. You knew better than anyone not to ask questions.

“Well, welcome to Sam’s,” you said with a smile as he placed down a twenty and told you to keep the change. “Gimme a shout if you need anything else.”

Jenna’s eyes met yours the moment you turned away from him, obviously interested in the new customer but, more importantly, interested in how well he had tipped. Her eyes lit up when you flashed the twenty on the way to the cash register. 

While it wasn’t policy or any sort of rule, you and Jenna always split tips when you were on shift together, teaming up and taking the patrons of Sam’s bar for everything you could. The hourly was shit and you both needed to make ends meet. And, you made a great team; Jenna’s shamelessness appealed to some customers, while your subtleness appealed to others. Between the pair of you, you emptied a lot of wallets.

“Looks like someone’s thirsty for more than whiskey,” Jenna joked under her breath. “He’s practically fucking you with his eyes.” 

You nudged past her, opening the register and depositing the bill. You gave a sly glance in the mirror, confirming that he was watching you, but you didn’t think much of it. “He can look at me any way he wants if he’s gonna keep dropping twenties.”

Over the next hour or so there was a noticeable change in the man, he seemed to relax a little, though not in the way that suggested he was on his way to being drunk. It was the kind of relaxed that came from comfort and safety. You wondered if he was hiding out, if the cops were going to be waiting for him at the end of the night, but you doubted it. 

You’d seen enough guys come through after pulling jobs, high on adrenaline, but this guy - ugh it annoyed you how difficult he was to read, so much so that he became your focus and you watched every little shift and move he made. It reached a point where you were staring at him almost as much as he was staring at you.

“Just fuck him and get it over with,” Jenna muttered, watching you after your eyes followed him towards the mens bathroom and had been staring at the closed door for at least a couple of minutes.

“Oh, yeah, I’ll just follow him into the bathroom and let him bend me over in one of the stalls,” you answered sarcastically, turning back to look at her.

“I know you’re joking, but I think that’s exactly what you need.” She grinned at you, ducking out of the way as you threw an ice cube at her. “C’mon, you’ve gotta admit, even with the scars, he’s very...”

She trailed off and you didn’t think twice before finishing her thought; “fuckable?”

“Glad you think so.”

Your heart stopped and your cheeks immediately started to warm. Jenna bit her lip, desperately trying to hold back a laugh, her face reddening with the effort. Wincing, you turned, finding him sitting at the bar again, an amused smile on his lips. And there was just something about that smile, something that felt right, that made you think it was him far more than the grim expression he’d been sporting since you’d arrived and found him at the bar.

“We were just -” you tried to explain.

“Oh, I got the gist of it, don’t worry,” he said.

Luckily he seemed more amused than anything, his eyes only leaving yours for a second to watch as Jenna headed towards the door, muttering something about a smoke break as she abandoned you.

You turned from him and took a breath, grabbing the whiskey bottle from the back before looking at him again. Without a word, you refilled his glass. When he started to reach for his wallet, you gave a wave of your hand.

“It’s on the house.”

“Is that because I’m fuckable or because you’re embarrassed?” He asked, still smiling at you.

“I’m not embarrassed,” you answered automatically, not wanting to show any sign of weakness, but then you realised the implications.

“Good to know,” he said. Then he drained his glass, keeping you there a little while longer. As you filled it again, he decided to introduce himself. “I’m Billy, by the way.”

You offered your name in return, before trying to apologise; “look, I’m sorry about Jenna, she just gets a little -” you paused, trying to think of a way to describe it, “- openly horny.”

Billy laughed and, for reasons you didn’t understand, it almost sounded alien, like he’d never laughed before - or like it had been a really long time since he had. “And you don’t?”

The question caught you off guard and had an eyebrow rising.

“I try not to.”

“Then I guess I should be honoured that you find me fuckable,” he teased.

Your eyes rolled and you were about to come up with a devastatingly witty retort when the door opened and a group of guys entered. You managed to bite back a sigh of relief at the distraction, glad that you had a reason to step away from Billy for a moment. 

While most of the group that had entered made for one of the tables at the back, a familiar face headed towards the bar, grinning from ear to ear at you.

“Hi, Jake,” you greeted, leaning on the bar a little, letting him get a good look at you, “you guys want the usual?”

He nodded and watched as you set about pulling pints for him and his buddies. 

“So,” he said, “you decided when you’re gonna let me take you out yet?” 

A slight, teasing laugh slipped from your lips and you shook your head.

“You know my rule, Jake,” you responded, like you always did, keeping a smile on your lips despite your disinterest. “I don’t date customers.”

“Can’t you make an exception just this once? I’d show you a real good time,” he countered.

“If I make an exception for you, then I’d have to make an exception for every other guy who comes through here,” you answered, laughing. “I’d be on dates every night, then when would I find time to watch Grey’s Anatomy?”

Billy let out a laugh and both you and Jake looked his way. For a moment you thought there was going to be trouble.

“Don’t worry, she just shot me down too,” Billy shrugged before taking a good look at Jake, his attention fixing on Jake's army jacket. “You earn that jacket, or did you buy it?” 

“I earned it,” Jake answered, bristling. You watched the two men, ready to intervene if needed. “You earn those scars on your face?”

You didn’t expect Billy to laugh, but you found yourself relieved.

“Yeah, I guess I must’ve,” was all Billy offered in answer and a part of you was disappointed that he didn’t give more than that. He reached into his pocket, pulling three twenties from his wallet, putting them down, still looking at Jake. “They’re on me.”

That settled, you finished pouring the drinks. Jake invited Billy to join his friends and he did, leaving you at the bar, though you weren’t alone for long. Jenna decided to slink back in, still looking like she was about to burst into hysterical laughter.

“You’re not funny,” you told her, swiping at her, clipping her arm with the back of your hand.

“Please, you should have seen your face,” she said with a smirk, though she was soon frowning when she realised Billy had disappeared. “Did you scare him off?”

“He’s made some new friends,” you told her, nodding towards Jake and his crew.

And that was where he stayed for the rest of the night, save for when it was his turn to get a round and, then, he’d linger at the bar chatting to either you or Jenna, though it soon became clear he was more interested in speaking to you. For the most part you indulged him, playing along with his teasing comments and reaping the rewards every time another round of drinks was ordered.

“So, this rule of yours...” he said.

“What about it?”

“Does it apply to fuckable customers?” He asked, smirking as you rolled your eyes.

“Especially the fuckable ones,” you retorted.

“What if I never came back?”

“Sorry, there are no loopholes.” You shrugged as you placed the last full glass in front of him.

“The funny thing about rules is that they wouldn’t be rules if they couldn’t be broken,” he answered back, grabbing the glasses and heading back to his new friends before you could respond.

The night drew on and, by last call, you and Jenna had made more in tips than you had in weeks, and both of you knew it was thanks to Billy. It took some cajoling to get the group to leave, but once they were gone, you set about closing the bar.

“I feel kinda dirty,” you joked to Jenna as you counted up and divided the tips. 

“Why? Because you let him spend the night eye-fucking you?” Jenna laughed. “If he comes back, you better keep putting on a show. With tips like these I might actually finally be able to afford a better apartment.” 

“In that case, I’ll wear my shortest skirt,” you said with a roll of your eyes.

“Don’t act like you didn’t enjoy the attention.”

She knew you too well, and she was right even if you didn’t want to admit it. It had felt nice to have someone who wasn’t blind drunk or just looking to pester you for a quick fuck to notice you like that. But, rules were rules, and you weren’t going to be convinced to change your mind so easily.

“It’s a shame I can’t find a man who doesn’t drink here who looks at me like that,” was all you gave her.

“I told you, you need to stop looking for the safe guys and just have some fun... and Billy looks like he’d be a lot of fun...”

“Uh-huh, I’ll get right on that,” you retorted, “I’ll let him fuck me on the bar tomorrow night as long as he promises to keep tipping.”

The joking continued until you were both ready to leave, locking up and going your separate ways. You’d been living in Brooklyn long enough to feel reasonably safe on the streets, even late at night. So the four block walk home didn’t usually bother you, but that night something felt different.

You told yourself it was because you couldn’t stop thinking about him, Billy, and the way he’d been watching you all night, but you felt like you were being followed. Glancing over your shoulder, you checked behind you, almost expecting to find him there, but the streets were empty and, a moment later, you felt ridiculous for having the thought in the first place.

What was it about him? Why was he suddenly so stuck in your head?

(You knew the answer - of course you knew the answer - you just felt shitty admitting it, even to yourself. It was the scars and the dark eyes that went with them. He was a man with a story, trauma. There was something dark and dangerous about him, something mysterious and interesting.)

When you arrived at the bar the following evening, he was there again, sitting at the bar. His eyes found you the moment you stepped through the door the corner of his lips twitched upwards for a second.

“Back again?” You asked, smiling as you shrugged off your coat.

“I like the atmosphere in here,” he answered, his shoulder ticking upwards in a half-shrug.

“Oh, is that what we’re calling it?” Jenna remarked, barely holding back a laugh as walked to a table behind him to collect empty glasses.

You had to look away, biting back a laugh of your own, hanging your coat up in the back before moving behind the bar.

“Ignore her, she’s -”

“Fabulous?” Jenna interjected.

“A pain in the ass,” you said.

A smile appeared on Billy’s lips and you felt the full weight of his attention on you while you placed a glass in front of him and turned to grab the whiskey. You filled his glass and, as you pushed it towards him, he reached for it, his fingers brushing against yours. It felt deliberate but you didn’t say anything.

When he opened his wallet again, you noticed that it was full again, and you found yourself wondering just where he’d gone after he’d left the bar last night. If Billy noticed you staring at his wallet, he didn’t seem to care.

“So,” he started, “been working here long?”

“About a year,” you shrugged, not really interested in talking about yourself.

“You from around here?”

“Not originally.”

“No?” He continued. “Been in New York long?”

“Just over a year.”

He let out a laugh. “You don’t give much away, do you?”

“Not if I can help it,” you answered back, flashing him a playful smile.

Despite your evasiveness and your obvious attempts at keeping him from getting to know you, Billy just smiled, seeming amused by it all.

“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure you can’t help it.”

“Oh really?” You asked, almost enjoying his persistence.

He seemed a lot more sure of himself than he had yesterday, a lot more comfortable in the bar and around you. You weren’t sure what had inspired the change, but he hadn’t given you any reason for concern, so you were happy to play along with him.

“I have ways of getting pretty girls to open up to me,” he told you.

You hated the way your thighs squeezed together and you were glad of the bar between you, concealing your visceral reaction to his words, and to him. Part of you was almost ready to give in, to throw caution to the wind and let him try to open you up, both literally and figuratively.

“Aww you think I’m pretty?” You teased playfully, batting your eyelashes at him, leaning on the bar a little more.

“You’re more than that and you know it,” he answered, his gaze dropping to the low neckline of the tank top you’d opted to wear tonight for a second. “You’re trouble.”

Before you could even think to ask him what he meant, the door opened and in walked Jake and his crew. He called out to Billy, catching his attention and motioning towards the table they’d been at last night.

“To be continued,” he said, sliding off the stool.

“Can’t wait,” you replied teasingly.

As the bar got busier, you lost track of Billy and what he was doing whenever he wasn’t directly in front of you at the bar. It was a busy night, busier than it had been in a while and it was made so much worse when Jenna grabbed you to tell you that she needed to leave early an hour before closing.

“Are you fucking kidding?” You asked.

“I’m sorry,” she told you, “my idiot brother got himself in an accident and now I have to go get him from the hospital. My mom’s freaking out - you know how she gets.” Unfortunately, you did know how she got, and since you’d arrived in New York Jenna’s mom had been more of a mother to you than your own ever had. “I can call Sam, ask him to get off his ass and actually do some work?”

You practically winced; Sam’s favourite part of owning a bar was not having to work in the bar and still make money from it. He mostly did a few hours during the day when the place was empty, and spent his evenings doing god only knew what. It wasn’t that you didn’t like him, but working with him was always uncomfortable - like anyone in a management position, he was happy to criticise but less happy to actually help.

“No, it���s -” you sighed, “- it’s fine. I’ll be fine.”

“You’re a lifesaver,” she told you, throwing her arms around you and hugging you for a second before heading out, stopping only briefly to say something to Jake and Billy.

It wasn’t so much the last hour that was the issue, you hated manning the bar on your own because all the drunks liked to drag their feet at the end of the night, and having to deal with cashing up on your own always made you a little uncomfortable.

But, tonight, everything seemed to be going well.

Seemed being the operative word.

Someone stepped in just as the last customer had left and, from the looks of him, he was already wasted from wherever he’d been drinking already. He’d probably been kicked out of somewhere and wanted to try his luck at Sam’s.

“We’re closed,” you told him.

“I just want one more drink,” he said. 

“Yeah and I wanna go home.” You stepped out from behind the bar, ready to shoo him towards the door. “The Styx two blocks over is still open -”

“That’s where I just came from.”

Great, so he’d been kicked out of the only bar in the neighbourhood that had a worse reputation than Sam’s. 

“Then I don’t know what to tell you,” you shrugged, “‘cause we’re closed and you’re not getting a drink here.”

If you’d been thinking straight, if you hadn’t been so damned tired, so fucking cocky, you never would have stepped as close as you did. Before you could even think to step back, his hand was on your shoulder. Your instant instinct was to swing your arm, catching him across the face with an open palm, but that just made things worse.

His other hand grabbed your arm and he pushed you backwards against the bar, with enough force to wind you.

“I said I want a drink, bitch,” he snarled.

“She said the bar’s closed.”

Shock jolted through you the second the drunk was pulled away from you and his head was slammed against the bar. A sickening thump turned your stomach and you watched, frozen, as his arm was awkwardly twisted behind his back and his face was dragged along the length of the bartop. At the end  of the bar he was thrown to the ground.

Billy.

It took a moment for it to register that it was Billy who’d come to your defence, kicking the drunk in the stomach, over and over, as he tried to curl up on the floor and protect himself. You were shaking, stuck between thoughts of wanting to see the drunk get what he deserved and knowing that it would only cause more trouble if he ended up dead.

The change in Billy was so sudden, so severe and jarring, that for a moment you dared to think that surely this couldn’t be the same man who’d been joking and laughing with you over the last couple of nights. Now you were seeing a new side to him, something dangerous, violent, vicious.

He didn’t look like he was going to stop. It looked like he wanted the drunk hurt, dead even. For a few moments he seemed utterly out of control.

“Billy, stop,” you protested weakly, your voice coming out too quiet.

It was lucky that Jake was still around. He grappled with Billy, struggling but managing to pull him back. And, after a very brief conversation between the two, Jake pulled the drunk off the floor and led him outside to god only knew where.

When Billy turned back, you found yourself forcing a breath, trying not to look as upset or shaken as you felt.

“Are you -”

“I’m fine,” you snapped, heading around the bar, not wanting to show any weakness.

Your back hurt and you still felt winded, but what got to you most was the way your hands shook as you reached for a glass and a vodka bottle.

“You don’t have to put on a brave face,” he told you, following after you. “Did he hurt you?”

“I said I’m fine, so can you just drop it?”

You knew better than most where weakness got you and, in a place like Sam’s, you couldn’t afford to be weak. You did have to put on a brave face because that was all part of the job; you needed to be tough, you needed to be able to put up with this kind of shit happening. But try as you might, it wasn’t you. For all your bravado, it had scared you.

Billy watched as you poured a drink and knocked it back, not saying a word as you tried to still your trembling hands. After a pause, you reached for a second glass and placed it on the bar for him, pouring him a healthy measure of vodka while you refilled your own glass.

Neither of you spoke for a couple of minutes, both content to have a couple of silent drinks; you didn’t know what to say and he clearly didn’t want to get his head bitten off again. But it soon became awkward and uncomfortable.

“You didn’t have to -” you started, your voice threatening to break despite your best efforts to sound cool and detached. 

“Yeah, I did,” he said, his voice firm and unwilling to consider anything to the contrary.

You didn’t dare ask why he felt like he had to intervene. You didn’t even want to ask why he and Jake had still been there. In fact, you decided that you didn’t want to think about it anymore. All you wanted was to forget it ever happened.

After a couple more drinks, you put the bottle away. The buzz you felt was more than enough, and you just wanted to go home.

Billy stayed while you locked up, waiting out on the sidewalk, watching your every move. Once you were done, you turned to him, expecting him to leave but, instead, he just looked at you.

“Don’t you have a home to go to?” You asked.

“I’m not going anywhere until I know you’re home safe.”

“I appreciate the offer, but I don’t need an escort, Billy,” you sighed, just wanting the night to be over.

“Who said I was offering?”

Common sense told you to argue, but you got the feeling that there was nothing you could say to stop him. And, honestly, some part of you felt glad of the company, even if you couldn’t admit it. But something had dramatically shifted; he’d seen you weak and vulnerable and you’d seen him - well, whatever that had been.

With a resigned sigh, you started to walk, a slight sway in your step from the vodka you’d been necking on an empty stomach. Billy fell into step beside you, his hands in his pockets, not saying another word until you huffed another sigh.

“Have I done something wrong? ‘cause you’re treating me like I’m the one who had my hands on you,” he asked, a hint of something in his voice that you couldn’t quite place. Anger? No, irritation.

The thought caused you to falter. For all his talk, it was the most forward he’d ever been with you, like the game he’d been playing had ended and something else had taken its place. And, in a way, you felt bad. He was right, he hadn’t done anything but you were still taking your shitty mood out on him.

“Sorry,” you finally answered. “I’m just used to taking care of myself and that...” 

“I get it. When something like that happens, it makes you doubt yourself.”

You glanced at him, catching the way his shoulder awkwardly hitched, almost like he was in pain, like he’d pulled something saving you. But, of course, you didn’t ask. You didn’t ask anything. The lines had already become far too blurred for your liking; who you were in the bar and who you were out in the real world were two very different things.

You didn’t speak again until you were outside your apartment building, a creeping feeling of embarrassment and dread filling you. Putting it nicely, it was a shithole. Despite the hour, there was music blaring from the ground floor and a group of kids were hanging out on the steps, drinking, smoking and getting high. It wasn’t a great place to live, but it was all you could afford.

“I’ll walk you in,” he said before you could say anything.

You opened your mouth to protest but just one look from him told you that it was pointless and you were too tired to argue with him. 

The elevator was out of order but he didn’t comment or complain on the slow walk up four flights of stairs. You did. Under your breath you complained a lot. And, by the time you reached your apartment, you felt like you had to invite him in for just one more drink, to thank him for everything he’d done for you. And you hated it, hated letting this man that you hardly knew into your apartment, letting him see a side of you that you kept hidden.

(Worst still, you hated thinking how this would change things, how he probably wouldn’t look at you the same way tomorrow. He’d seen that you were more fragile than you let on, and you were certain that whatever interest he’d had in you was well and truly over.)

He gave you a look before accepting your invitation, an indecipherable smile on his lips, before stepping into your apartment and setting in motion a chain of events that was going to change your whole life.

End Note : Again, if you didn't see the explanation of what themes and TWs this fic will have, you can find a full list here. This chapter is pretty much set up, but things will start getting dark and smutty from next chapter onwards. As with my other Billy fics, I'm hoping to be able to post this weekly on Fridays.

As always you comments/likes/reblogs/asks/general screaming is always appreciated. I hope you enjoyed this first chapter and I hope you all have an amazing weekend!

Let me know if you'd like to be tagged in future chapters! If tagging doesn't work for some reason (aka Tumblr being dumb) I post most Fridays around 7:30 gmt.

Tag List : @xxxsweetcarolinexxx @sweetserendipity65 @dreadfulxives18 @snowkestrel @ladyblacky

@readingabouthim @cheshirecat484 @broadwaybabe18 @oliviaewl @lincerad

[fluffyprettykitty]

My sweet selene, my darling, I have missed your writing so very much. So here I am asking that you bring this conversation we once had to life.

How do we feel about book store date with Billy, followed by cockwarming, and he make her read one of the books to him. And she can't come until she finishes a chapter. The extent of the smut and other kinks is your choice, I trust you with my heart.

Besitos

Pairing: Billy Russo x female reader (no other specifications!)

Word Count: ~500 words

Warnings: cockwarming, teasing

Author’s Note: hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii lia ilysm, we can still pretend it's spring and i did these on time hello! i'll write the rest too i promise <3

PS: dividers & banners by @/saradika

Main Masterlist ・❥・Billy Russo Masterlist

Billy was always the determined type so when he picked you up from work and took you to the bookstore to pick whatever you wanted you knew that a simple gift wasn't enough for him.

You browsed through the sections and ended up lingering on the classics sections. He instructed you to pick five books and so you did. You placed them in his hands and waited outside by the car for him. Once out he took you to a restaurant for some late lunch/early dinner and then you were off to his place.

He lived in a luxury apartment in upstate New York and one of your favourite things to do was just to stare outside at the big city skylines. He seemed to be doing some work while you were sitting on the couch freshly showered wearing one of his t-shirts and reading one of the books you picked.

He came by with a smirk on his face as he watched you. The tall man observed you for a bit before he came closer and instructed you on his lap cuddling you, soon enough the cuddling turned to more, Billy not really keeping his hands to himself.

Next thing you know he has you rubbing yourself against his clothed hard-on while he's listening to your reading aloud. He fumbles with his belt and pants until he frees his cock and pushes your panties to the side sliding it right in. The sun had long been set as he looked up at you with a smile.

"Read for me..." He whispered, his lips digging into your neck, struggling to hold on to your book.

"Billy...." You breathed out feeling him occupying your walls so deliciously, you hadn't seen him for three days and you were getting needy yourself.

"Read." He said again before biting your neck. You groaned as you placed the book against the back of the couch and continued reading aloud.

He continued kissing and teasing your neck, loving and feeling the vibrations of your voice chords as he wrapped his hands tightly on your waist not allowing you to go anywhere.

You came to a halt as the pleasure was getting a little too much for you but he only tilted his head to scold you.

"Don't stop until you finish your chapter."

"There are no chapters in this book!" You protested cursing the days you chose this particular book.

"Sucks for you." He chuckled and kissed you again on your neck possesively. "I wanna know how this plays out." You groaned louder as you continued reading aloud.

You were in for a long night.

A very long night.

If you want to be notified about my future stories please follow my library blog @fluffyprettykittylibrary and turn on notifications!

[tuiccim]

Wrecked Masterlist

Pairing: Alpha Frank Castle x Omega Reader, Alpha Billy Russo x Omega Reader

Features: A/B/O Dynamics, angst, smut, flirt, love triangle

Trigger Warnings: Darkish themes, manipulation, infertility, love triangle

Summary: When Frank Castle found his way to your small town bar, you thought you had finally found your Alpha despite being a "wrecked omega" but when his best friend, Billy Russo, blows through town, your world tilts on its axis. You thought you found your happy ending but was it just more wreckage for your life?

Please follow my sideblog @tuiccimfanfiction​ for update notifications. All series and new stories will be reblogged to it. You will only receive notifications when a new part or story is out! Nothing else will be blogged to the page. I can’t thank you enough for your support!

Part 1 - 2/8/24

Part 2 - 3/7/24

Part 3 - 4/4/24

Part 4 - 4/18/24

Part 5 - 05/27/24

Part 6 - 06/20/24

Part 7 - 07/06/24

Epilogue: Six Months Later

[e-dubbc11]

Scars

Photos are not mine. They are courtesy of Pinterest/Google.

Pairing: Billy Russo x F! Reader

Warnings: Mentions of childhood trauma, attempted kidnapping, fluff, smooches

Word Count: 1.8K-ish

Summary: Billy comes home while you’re taking a nap, he notices a scar on your ankle and wants to know the story of where it came from

A/N: I found this idea online somewhere. I needed a little help with new ideas and this caught my eye. I hope you like it!

As always, thank you for reading!  I appreciate it so much and comments, reblogs are welcome and encouraged. Don’t be shy to tell me your favorite part. 💕💕 💕

The weather outside your window changed quickly from the early afternoon sun immersing the surrounding buildings in its warm light to it disappearing behind the fast moving gray clouds that swallowed up the bright blue sky.

“Where did the sunshine go?” You said out loud to yourself from your penthouse perch, gazing down at the busy city below.

This time of year could be quite unpredictable as far as the weather goes. Late summer was still very hot, sometimes less humid, and could get a little cool at night into the early morning. But also the sun could be blazing in the sky one minute and the next time you looked outside, your once blue sky was now fully covered in dull gray clouds, ready to rain down on top of you.

And then you heard it, the sound of light rain tapping against the window as you gathered everything you needed to give yourself a relaxing home pedicure. You had the bubbling and warming foot spa, the lavender bath salts, moisturizing lotion, and all of the tools you needed.

Soaking your feet after a long day at work felt wonderful. The hot water bubbled under the balls of your feet, massaging away the stress of your day. As you inhaled sharply and let out a forceful exhale, your shoulders relaxed and your eyes closed, tuning everything out except the rhythmic sound of your own heartbeat in your ears.

Hopefully, you will be finished before Billy comes home.

**********

Faintly, you could hear the rain drumming against the roof. Earlier, that sound had lulled you to sleep and it was also the first thing you heard as you were starting to stir. After painting your nails, you told yourself you were just going to close your eyes for a minute while they were drying.

An hour later, you didn’t even hear Billy come home.

The strong scent of nail polish hung in the air as he walked through the door. Billy called out to you but you didn’t hear him.

“Baby?” He said softly.

No answer.

Meticulously, Billy put his things away…his keys, jacket, gun. He loosened his tie and unbuttoned his dress shirt sleeves so he could roll them up to his elbows. He followed the scent of nail polish to your shared bedroom and paused in the doorway to briefly watch you while you slept.

Outside, the sky was gloomy and overcast but inside you were his bright spot. You were the warm afternoon sun that danced across his face and made him smile after his dismal ride home.

Billy carefully walked over to the bed, looked at your newly painted toes and smiled because you had painted them black, his favorite. They shined like patent leather even in the dimly lit room. Your hands were resting on your stomach and he watched as your chest rose and fell gently with every breath you took.

He committed to memory the way you looked at that moment, the soft comfortable shorts you were wearing, his hoodie that you constantly stole from him to keep your arms warm, and he loved the peaceful look you had on your face while you slept.

When he looked closely at your ankle, he spotted a triangle shaped scar that he had never noticed before. Billy thought he had memorized every inch of your body but he didn’t remember if you had ever mentioned how you got that one.

Reaching for you with his agile fingers, he lightly and slowly traced the outline of your scar, while desperately trying not to wake you. Billy had a very light touch but between the rain and the slight tickle you felt on your ankle, your eyes gradually fluttered open.

A sly smile stretched across your lips as you looked down and saw him tracing the scar on your ankle.

“Whatcha doin’, handsome?” You asked.

Before turning his head to look at you, Billy smiled and replied, “I was admiring your fresh pedicure when I noticed this scar and I don’t know what it’s from, I thought I knew every mark on your body. Why don’t I know about this one?”

Billy’s tone was somber and his lips pulled back over his teeth like he was upset that he didn’t know all about your scar.

“It’s just an old bicycle injury, Billy. It’s not a big deal.” You replied and shrugged at the same time as you tried to conceal how nervous you were.

Billy brought his gaze up to yours, his endless brown eyes looked like two black ink wells and the muscles in his jaw tensed when he asked about the scar.

“Tell me, my love.” He said with an uncomfortable smile, almost like he knew it wasn’t JUST an old bicycle injury.

“Billy, I don’t know—“ You had started to say before he interrupted you.

“Just tell me what happened, sweet girl.” He said calmly. “It’s ok.”

Trying to smile, you sat upright in bed with your back resting on the headboard. It had been a long time since you had thought about that day.

It was around this time of year, late summer, the sun was high in the sky so it had to have been around lunchtime or a little after when you were outside playing with your brother and your cousin. You were probably around 11 and the three of you were getting ready to ride your bikes back home from the park where you were playing.

You were the oldest, it was your job to watch out for the younger ones, so you let them ride up ahead of you. Once they had turned onto your street, you felt immense relief that you were almost home and that’s when you sensed a car slowly pull up behind you.

And then you heard that voice.

“Hey sweetheart, you lost? Anyone ever tell you how pretty you are?” He had said with an evil smile.

“Pretty…” Billy hated that word. As you looked over at him, he had clenched his fist, his face was flushed with rage, while he gripped the blanket on the bed so tight that you thought he may rip it.

You couldn’t recall what the man looked like when he called out to you but you do remember his voice. It sounded like he did nothing but smoke cigarettes all day, it was deep, scratchy and made your skin crawl, like fingernails on a chalkboard.

Nervously shaking your head, you said, “No, I’m fine.”

Your heart was leaping out of your chest and you felt the sweat on your brow about to trickle down your forehead when you decided to make a run for it. When you forcefully pushed down on the bike pedal, your foot slipped and you ended up slicing your ankle on the jagged teeth of the pedal which is when another man jumped from the car and tried to grab you.

But you managed to pedal as fast as you could to catch up to your brother and your cousin who were waiting for you around the corner from where the man tried to grab you.

They didn’t follow you and you never saw them again but the memory always came back when the scent of clove cigarettes was in the air, or heard a deep raspy male voice, or felt someone walking behind you.

It was something from your childhood that you never spoke of again until now, not even to your brother or your cousin who were with you that day. And you’ve been looking over your shoulder ever since.

Knowing what Billy had been through as a young child, your entire body tensed watching him seethe with anger. His cheeks were flushed and you could hear him grinding his teeth while still tightly gripping the blanket in between his fingers.

“Billy? Say something, please.” You said, breaking the silence.

He gently kissed the scar on your ankle and crawled from the foot of the bed up to you, pulled you into his chest and kissed the top of your head. His heartbeat pounded against your ear as you melted into his arms and closed your eyes.

“You don’t look over your shoulder when you’re with me, baby.” He said in a slightly confused tone.

You pulled away to snake your arms around his neck and look into his eyes.

With a warm smile, you replied, “Being with you is the ONLY time I don’t look over my shoulder, Billy. Because I know they’d have to get through you to get to me.”

Billy gently pressed his lips to yours which tasted like peppermint. His shoulders relaxed a little as he smiled back and said, “I’ll never let anything happen to you, sweet girl. You’re everything I’ve ever wanted.”

After finally telling someone your secret, the weight of that secret had finally been removed from your chest and you could breathe a little easier now. Your terrifying childhood experience that had been kept inside all of these years was finally out in the open but you were ok with it.

“I love you.” You said in barely more than a whisper as your eyes welled up with tears. “So much, Billy.”

Billy just smiled, lightly brushed his knuckles against your cheek, and kissed you again before saying, “I love you too, sweet girl. And I’ll pay to have that scar removed, just say the word and it will be gone.”

In that moment, you felt so loved, so seen, and understood. All he wanted to do was make sure you were happy, that you were ok, and he would do anything for you to make that happen, even going as far as paying to have your scar removed.

“Oh Billy…that’s so sweet. But my bike probably saved my life, and yes, looking at that scar reminds me of that day but I’m very thankful for that bicycle and the mark it left on me…literally.” You said, trying to smile. “Thank you, my love.”

Although your experience wasn’t the same as Billy’s, he knew it could have been so much worse for you than it was but that didn’t make him any less angry about it. Your only wish was that he had been able to escape his worst nightmare also.

He knew what kind of real life monsters existed in this world and that he may never have had the chance to meet you if they had taken you. You were the person that understood him the most and loved him for exactly who he was. He didn’t even want to think about what his life would be like without you…but he’d never have to.

“Well, if you ever change your mind…” Said Billy, pulling you tight to his chest again.

You would always be there for each other, for love, comfort, or just to listen.

Relaxing into his embrace, you kissed him on the neck, and said with a smile, “I know, baby…I know.”

It felt good to finally let go.

Tag List: @wheresthesunshinesblog @idaoftheburningmind @rafaelakelley @fakehappy27 @snowkestrel @music-indie-tv @kayhi808 @munsonownsmyass @gijos @fictional-hooman @celestialend @nutmeg17 @k-marzolf @vaguekayla @rosaleenablack @danzer8705 @fireeyes-on-teller-dixon-grimes @mysteriouslydeafeningwerewolf @aoi-targaryen @rachlovesactors @qu1etwolf

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If you’d like to be added (or removed from) my tag list(s) for the ever so handsome Billy Russo, just let me know and thank you again for reading! 💕💕💕 If I tagged you but you didn’t want to be, just let me know and I’ll never do it again.

[stvrlightgirl]

Heal me.

pairing: Billy Russo x F!reader

warnings: none

wc: 1k

summary: Your first relationship was toxic, and your ex made sure you wouldn’t forget it. But little did he know, Billy would be the only man who could heal you.

When you told Billy you didn’t really get to experience a true relationship, his heart broke a little. The way your eyes had dropped to the floor, as if ashamed of the past you had no control over, made his chest tighten with an unfamiliar ache. Billy was used to seeing pain — he'd caused plenty of it himself — but something about the idea of you, his sweetheart, never knowing what real love felt like was unbearable.

He reached out, lifting your chin with a gentle finger, his dark eyes softening as they always do when he looked at you. "Doll, you deserve so much more than what you've been given. I promise I’m gonna show you what it's supposed to be like, yeah?”

You nodded, uncertainty flickering in your gaze, but there was also a glimmer of hope that hadn't been there before. Billy smiled, his thumb brushing your cheek with a tenderness that made your heart flutter.

---

The next few weeks were a learning curve for both of you. Billy, who had always been confident in his relationships — however short-lived they might have been — found himself slowing down, being more mindful and patient. He wanted you to know, to feel that this was different. That he was different.

It started with the small things. He noticed how you would hesitate to reach for his hand in public, your fingers twitching with the desire to make contact but pulling back as if unsure. So, he took the initiative, gently intertwining his fingers with yours whenever you walked beside each other, giving your hand a reassuring squeeze.

"You don't have to ask for this, doll," he'd whisper, leaning close so only you could hear. "You can take my hand anytime you want."

And when you finally did—one evening as the two of you walked along the river, your fingers slowly sliding into his on your own accord—the smile that lit up his face was brighter than any city skyline.

Then there were the nights you spent together. You'd told him how your ex would use silence as a weapon, how the absence of words would leave you feeling alone even when you weren’t. Billy hated that. He hated the person who did this to you so much, that he wanted to kill them. So, he made sure to fill the quiet with his voice, speaking to you in soft tones, telling you stories from his childhood, asking about your day, and even sharing silly little thoughts just to make you laugh.

One night, as you lay curled up against him with his arm draped over your waist, you asked him, your voice barely above a whisper, "Billy, why are you so good to me?"

He looked down at you, his expression one of genuine surprise. "You're everything to me. Why wouldn't I be good to you?"

You bit your lip, still not entirely convinced. "I just… I’ve never had this before. I don’t know if I deserve it."

That broke his heart all over again. He shifted, turning you to face him, his thumb tracing the outline of your jaw. "You deserve this and more, doll. You deserve everything that’s good in this world. Don’t ever doubt that. No more of that toxic shit, okay? Just us, taking care of each other."

You nodded, eyes misting with unshed tears. The way he looked at you, like you were precious, like you mattered—it was almost too much. But you let yourself believe him, just a little bit more every day.

---

As the months passed, you began to see the truth in Billy's words. He was patient with you, even when your insecurities tried to rear their ugly heads. If you ever hesitated or pulled back, he was there with a soft smile and a gentle touch, guiding you through the unfamiliar terrain of a healthy relationship.

One night, after a particularly tiring day at work, you came home to find Billy in the kitchen, cooking dinner. The smell of garlic and herbs filled the air, and the sight of him—hair slightly tousled, sleeves of his white shirt rolled up, focused entirely on making something for you—brought tears to your eyes. And you realised that he came from work, probably worn out after training his men all day and still, he stood in the kitchen making you food. You had never known this kind of care before, never known what it felt like to come home to someone who genuinely wanted to take care of you.

"Billy…" you started, your voice wavering.

He turned, concern immediately washing over his features as he saw the tears brimming in your eyes. He wiped his hands on a towel, coming over to you in quick strides. "Hey, what's wrong sweet girl? Did something happen?"

You shook your head, laughing softly even as a tear escaped and slid down your cheek. "No, nothing's wrong. It's just…You. Never had someone who… who wanted to take care of me like this."

Billy’s expression softened as he gently cupped your face in his hands, brushing away the hot tears with his thumb. "You're my baby. Of course, I wanna take care of you. That’s what love is, isn’t it? Being there for each other, making sure the other person is okay. That’s how it’s supposed to be.” He smiled, a small wrinkles forming around his eyes.

You leaned into his touch, feeling a warmth spread through your chest that you were slowly beginning to recognize as love. "I think I'm starting to understand that now." You murmur.

He smiled, pressing a soft kiss to your forehead. "Good. Because you deserve to be loved like this. And I’m gonna make sure you never forget that."

And as he pulled you into a warm embrace, holding you close, you realized that you were finally starting to believe it. Billy had shown you what real love was supposed to be—patient, kind, and full of understanding. He was helping you heal, helping you learn that you were worth all the love he had to give.

And for the first time in a long time, you felt like you were exactly where you belonged.

[maretinelli]

SUNFLOWERS TO MY LOVE

Sirius Black X Potter!fem!reader

Summary: Where Sirius spends the Christmas holiday at the Potter's house and brings a little gift to his girlfriend.

Words: 1.1K+

Warnings: Reader James's twin sister, mention of the Black family, quick mention of sex, cute couple and Sirius VERY in love.

Author: Saying that English is not my first language, I apologize for any errors that may appear throughout the story. If you don't understand, notify me✍🏽 And another thing, I'm thinking about writing to the hot (sorry) Billy Russo. What do you think?

MASTERLIST

Y/n Potter was a sweet, quiet, intelligent and naturally funny girl. Unlike his twin brother. James Potter.

Sure, he was smart and super funny. But what Y/n was calm and calm about, James was the hurricane himself.

And because of that, he freaked out at Sirius when he found out that Black was dating his twin sister. Which resulted in James punching his best friend in the face in their 4th year at Hogwarts.

But, thanks to Merlin, the two get along well and James accepted their relationship.

He seemed worse than parents at the time, telling and advising his sister what she should or shouldn't do with Sirius. Unlike Fleamont and Euphemia, who LOVED hearing the news about their relationship and had decent conversations with their daughter.

Now, three years later. Everything was going from good to better in Sirius and Y/n's relationship. As one was more peaceful than the other, fights were generally avoided.

Not like they never argued, but that didn't always happen at the end of fights.

It was currently the end of the year holiday and the Marauders decided to return home rather than spend Christmas at Hogwarts.

It was December 23rd and snow was falling lightly outside.

Y/n was in the bedroom finished drying her hair, while James was talking to Sirius in the fireplace room, who had just arrived.

"Hey! Sirius, dear. It's good to see you" Euphemia was passing by to go to the kitchen to prepare dinner, saw Sirius and smiled happily at her son-in-law.

"Effy!!" He looks back and smiles widely. He gets up and gives his girlfriend's mother a tight hug. "Happy to see you too"

Euphemia smiles and puts her hand on Black's shoulder.

"And how are you at home?" She asks more softly. Because the matter was delicate.

Sirius lowers his shoulder a little and says, "You know. They'll never get better. But I was lucky to come here for the holiday."

"That is good!!" Euphemia smiles and pats his shoulder twice. "You know you're very welcome here, right?" She smiles and Sirius nods.

"Right"

"Well, I'm going to go prepare dinner. You're going to stay here for the whole holiday, yes?" The twins' mother asks, looking hopefully at her son-in-law.

Sirius scratches the back of his head shyly.

"I would just stay for dinner today and come back on the 25th"

"Capable. You can sleep here. We love your presence" Euphemia smiles.

"Even more Y/n..." James says quietly, while looking at the walls of the room, even louder for the two of them to hear.

Sirius smiles as he rolls his eyes and Euphemia looks on reprimanding her son.

"James!!!"

James laughs.

"I'm sorry, mom"

Euphemia smiles and then turns to Sirius.

"Think better, the house is open for you"

Sirius shakes his head smiling and Euphemia then heads to the kitchen.

"By the way..." she turns and the two boys turn around. "Y/n is upstairs, in her room. She must have gotten out of the shower already."

Sirius smiles from ear to ear and nods.

Then, Euphemia turns around and goes to the kitchen to prepare dinner. While James was stretched out on the sofa near the fireplace and Sirius was still standing.

"Well, I'm going up to see the love of my life. Then I'll come down so we can talk more" Sirius smiles, winking at James and then picks up a bouquet of sunflowers, which was on the armchair where he was previously sitting.

James rolls his eyes smiling.

"Come on, I'll help mom in the kitchen" James gets up and pats his best friend's head.

Sirius reflexively closes his eyes and smiles, then goes up the stairs to Y/n's room.

As he walked up the stairs, he could hear a melody coming from James' twin's room.

From the tone of the music, he could tell it was from a Muggle record player.

The door to Y/n's room was half open. Sirius stops in front and can see his girlfriend humming the song while looking in the mirror and finishing her eyeliner.

Y/n was still singing when she saw Sirius smiling and admiring her in the mirror.

"Love!!" She turns around happy and smiling. "Goes into"

Sirius opens the door completely and approaches the dressing table where his girlfriend was sitting, giving her a kiss on the head and another on the lips.

"Hi, honey" he smiles and bends down to be as tall as she was. "I missed you"

"Me too, darling" Y/n smiles and kisses her boyfriend's lips again.

"Here, I brought it for you" Sirius says and removes the bouquet of sunflowers that was hidden behind his back.

Y/n's eyes shine, and Sirius's are filled even more with love.

"Merlin, they're beautiful" Y/n holds the bouquet and smells the flowers. "Thank you, love" she looks passionately at Sirius.

"All for you" he kisses his girlfriend's forehead before getting up and heading towards the bed. "So what was the girl doing?" He sits on Y/n's bed.

"Yesterday I went out with my father, and in one of the stores I saw a magazine with a beautiful eyeliner tutorial. I was testing it on myself. I had just finished it when you came in" She says, while placing the flowers inside the vase she had in the room. "look, I think I kind of killed it" Y/n stops in front of her boyfriend and closes her eyes.

"You always rock!!" He smiles proudly and holds his girlfriend's waist, pulling her towards him and the two of them falling back onto the bed.

"AAAH" Y/n screams in fright and laughs.

With that, Sirius had his hands on the girl's waist, while she had her hands on her boyfriend's chest.

"You're beautiful, you know that?" Sirius says looking at Y/n.

Y/n's cheeks turn red.

"You're blushing!!" Sirius pokes Y/n's cheek, teasing her.

Y/n feigns offense and tries to get out of her boyfriend's arms. But it's in vain.

"I'm not, no. You are"

Sirius laughs loudly.

"Don't fool me, doll," Sirius says, with a mischievous smile on his face.

"No...nooooo!!" Y/n says slowly and Sirius tilts his head to the side.

"A is??"

Sirius then starts tickling Y/n's side as she starts laughing uncontrollably.

"Siri-Sirius" she said aloud.

Sirius turns them both around, changing position. This way, he was more in awe of his girlfriend's body, so he could tickle her more.

"Okay, okay!! I really turned red" Y/n says loudly and then Sirius stops tickling and puts both hands on the side of her head.

"Really?"

"Yes yes!!" Y/n kisses her finger and puts it on Sirius' lips.

He laughs.

"I'll only believe you if you do this eyeliner on me"

Y/n widens her eyes happily.

"Serious??"

"Yes, doll"

Y/n lets out a happy squeal and then rolls over on the bed to get out from under Sirius and grab the tube of eyeliner.

"Okay, sit there and lean against the headboard" she says, returning to the bed and Sirius obeys.

He leans back and stretches his legs. Motioning with his hands for Y/n to sit on his thighs.

Y/n walks up to him and does as asked. Accommodating himself so he could have a better view of Sirius' eyes, to better practice the eyeliner style.

"Hey, hey. Just don't move around too much." Sirius says swallowing hard and Y/n understands the message.

She laughs loudly.

"Okay, I'm sorry," she says and then leans in to do her eyeliner.

With that, James walked past the girl's bedroom door, widened his eyes and turned around.

"By Merlin!!!" He says loudly and the couple looks.

"That's not what you're thinking at all," Sirius says and they both laugh.

James turns back to Y/n's room with a frown in his eyes.

"Apparently I'm going to have to sleep on the couch today. I don't want to hear ANYTHING strange in the early hours of the morning" James says and then walks to the next room. Which was his.

Y/n just rolls her eyes smiling and turns back to Sirius.

"Oh, I'm glad he's going to sleep on the couch. That way we can last longer" Black says with a crooked smile in his eyes.

"SIRIUS ORION BLACK!!" Y/n scolds and he laughs.

Author: I'm open to requests, so if you have any, please go to my question box on the profile and ask!!! And if you liked it, like and reblog🫶🏽

[farrahda5hywrites]

Ma’am, you are the Queen of Cliffhangers, and no one will ever top you’re ability to pull an audience in for sure. This chick should just move in with him at this point. Like come on you two idiots be doing the eye freak nasty from across the street! Ugh!!!!

Anyway can’t wait for the next one

Teeth

Part 8!

Werepanther! Billy Russo x Female Reader

Masterlist

Warnings: Robbery, knives, angst.

A/N: Look, *deep breath* I'm sorry.

I should just forget about him, you think to yourself on the walk home.

It was embarrasing, you hadn't seen him in days since he left you in that elevator, and the absence of him managed to make you feel even worse.

He hadn't been home either, you'd kept the curtains parted so that you could catch any movements in his windows. So far, nothing.

It had made you feel so upset and you couldn't even figure out why. Maybe you were getting too attached to him.

Exposing yourself so intimately, sabotaging your work relationship and there was nothing to be gained from it anyway. He just wasn't interested in you like that.

You were maybe a little glad too, at least you knew you weren't in any trouble for the little show you'd put on.

Or were you?

What if his stoicism towards you was because he was planning to fire you.

No, no, it made no sense, his phone call after he'd seen you had been too intimate. If there was going to be any consequences, it would have happened by now.

Right?

Ugh, you didn't know, and you just wanted to forget this had ever happened.

You sigh, tugging your phone out and absentmindedly trying to book an appointment with your therapist. Maybe she would help you feel better about your new work environment.

Your shoulder bumps harshly into someone, and you raise your head to apologise.

You've made a wrong turn somewhere, too taken in with your phone to notice that you've turned down an isolated alleyway.

"S-sorry." You murmur, backing away, only to bump into another figure.

Holy shit this was bad.

"Give me the bag." The first man says evenly, angling his head toward the pale pink handbag hanging off your elbow.

"Please, I don't want any trouble." You say, pocketing your phone quickly, carefully pressing the power button a couple of times to send a distress signal. You had it set so that Dani and Amy would receive alerts if you needed help.

The first man, pulls a knife out of his pocket, you watch warily as the blade springs out of the handle with a wicked glint. You can feel your phone begin to vibrate endlessly as your friends try to call to figure out if this was accidental or not.

Your heart is racing, but you find that your thinking is razor sharp, only a little bit of panic swimming through you.

If there had been only one man, running would have been a good option, but with the second man at your back, you have no choice but to surrender your bag.

Your work laptop was in there, and your wallet, you really hated to lose either one of those things.

The man takes it from you and then steps closer, his knife still pointed in your direction.

"Now the jewellery and the phone." He prompts.

Your hands shake, you needed to find a way to keep holding onto your phone.

You tug your watch off easily, and your earrings, they were just cheap pieces that were your favourite, but ultimately replaceable.

The panther necklace, was not, and you would not give it up without a fight, however stupid that would be.

You extend your watch and earrings to the man, letting them slip from your hand at the very second and watching it fall.

It's that moment, with one man distracted, you turn to run.

The other man is fast, he reaches for you, pushes you into the nearby wall.

You're stunned for a moment, and you feel the scrape of his nails as he tears your necklace off your neck, and when he gets in close to grab your phone, you bring your knee up to kick him straight between the legs. He bends over in pain, and you take the opportunity to slip away, running as fast as you can out of the lonely alley. You don't stop until you're out in a public place.

You reach for your phone, pulling it out, several missed calls from both Dani and Amy flood your phone.

You update them quickly, and they direct you to the nearest police precinct.

As you head there, you dial Anvil's IT department, explaining the situation so that they can restrict access from your account to the server.

You're sitting in the precinct when Amy makes it to you. She takes you into a hug, pulling back to study your form.

Her eyes catch the two deep scratches on your neck, short red lines where the man's nails had clawed into you while ripping your necklace from your neck.

She hugs you again tighter than before, surprising you with her strength.

"I'm okay." You mumble against her shoulder.

Honestly, you couldn't feel a thing, your emotions had been shocked numb from the minute you'd seen the knife.

What rotten luck, to have experienced what you have, essentially hitting some type of morbid trifecta, a murderer, a stalker and now a thief.

You find yourself laughing into Amy's shoulder, and you can't stop.

She pulls back in shock, looking up at you.

You laugh harder when you see the concerned expression on her face.

"There's too many plot points," You try to explain to her, though you're not sure you're making any sense, "If my life was a book this would be a shitty amount of coincidence."

There's a quiet silence as she takes in your words, observing your laughter, and notes the way your eyes fill with tears.

"Oh love," She murmurs after a moment. "Multiple bad things happen to people all the time."

Your laughter turns sour, something awful fills your throat, your lip trembles for a small moment as you fight the emotion, and then like a dam breaking, it spills from you in little sobs.

"This is too much," You gasp, feeling her arms squeeze you tighter as you cry, "Why do these things keep happening to me?"

You cry harder against her, she soothes you with her embrace.

"They took my necklace." You say sadly against her.

She makes a sympathetic sound. She knew how much it means to you.

"We'll get it back, love, didn't you have a tag in your bag just for this reason?"

"Yeah," you sniffle, "there's one in my wallet, I gave the cops access to find it, and Anvil also has something on the laptop."

"See? Don't lose hope yet."

You sigh, there was a location on your wallet and laptop, but there was no guarantee that the necklace would even be in the same place. You felt so disconnected now, so unsafe. There was no panther coming to protect you here.

"Why don't we go home? If the police find anything, they can call you. Waiting here is too tedious." Amy suggests, and you nod in agreement, sniffling a little and pulling away. She tugs a tissue from her little bag and you accept it gratefully.

You don't live too far from the precinct, and a ten minute drive in a taxi and you're there.

Amy doesn't leave you, and Dani arrives when you're in the shower.

You sit with them, enjoying tea in your living room, and after a long talk about your ordeal, and the endless reassurances from them that you're safe now, they decide to distract you with Studio Ghibli movies.

It sort of works, though your most recent ordeal reminds you of your past ones.

Somehow, you think that your past experience with the murderer, made this one more manageable, it's probably why you had a clear head from the moment the man pulled out the knife. However bad this was, it was nothing compared to being hunted in the woods at night.

A knock at your front door startles you, and you jump at the booming sound.

Dani reaches to pause the movie, and for a moment you're too stunned to move.

"Who is it?" You call, pulling the sheets away from your body and rising to a stand.

"It's Billy." He answers, voice muffled through the wood.

You suck in a breath, trying to ignore the shocked expressions on Amy and Dani's face, making your way to the door and taking a small breath before opening it up.

You don't get much of a word in before you're being pulled right into his arms.

You stand there, shocked beyond reason as his arms encircle you. Your body responds eagerly to his embrace, relaxing against him so easily that it would scare you if you could be anything other than shocked.

Your arms lift, wrapping around him to return his hold, wondering how on earth you ended up in this position.

It feels so right to hold him, to pull him even closer and feel him respond by tightening his embrace, until it feels like a hug between old friends.

His scent wraps around you, and you rise onto your toes, eager to catch more of the jasmine and oak that his body smells of.

How on earth does he make you feel so safe? So protected in a way you haven't felt in such a long time.

"Are you hurt?" He asks after a moment, large hand cupping the back of your neck as you pull away.

"I'm okay." You say simply, watching the way his eyes roam down your face and stop at the scratches on your neck.

He lets out a slow breath, fingers trailing over your neck, his thumb brushing the deep welts.

You gasp when his thumb swipes a little too close, a frown forming on his face.

"I lost my company laptop-"

"-That's alright," he soothes, "It's not the first time, and my consultant helped me put some vigorous security protocols into place."

You find yourself grinning at him, and he smiles back.

"If you need anything, anything at all, please call me."

You take a moment, looking into his eyes, trying to figure out how he could be so cold one moment and so surprisingly warm the next.

"Okay."

"Promise me."

"I promise."

He lets out a shaky breath, before you know it, he's placing a careful kiss to the top of your head and your heart is doing rapid palpitations at the sensation.

You say goodbye to him as you close the door, waiting a moment before snapping the lock shut.

You turn in shock, leaning against the door, eyes wide and breathing rapid.

"Ohmygod." You rush out, turning to look at Dani and Amy in a 'can you believe that just happened?' type of way.

"I thought you said he doesn't like you." Dani says with a tone of confusion in her voice.

"He doesn't." You answer, not fully sounding quite so sure.

Amy huffs.

"I don't know about you, but that man quite clearly and obviously wants you bad." She states.

Oh how you wish it were true.

.

You're barely able to sleep all night, despite the fact that you know both your friends are asleep in other rooms or your apartment. You're less lonely than usual, and arguably a little more safe, and yet still, you can't relax your body for long enough to sleep.

The only thing that really calms you, is the reminder of what it was like to be in his arms.

You roll onto your side, pulling a pillow as close to you as possble, wrapping your arms around it and imagining that it's him.

Your brain refuses to accept the placebo, too focused on what's missing, his scent, his hearbeat, the warmth of his body- you flop around angrily, deciding to watch videos on your phone instead of sleeping.

You don't notice it's morning until you spot the sunlight spilling through the gaps in your curtains.

You let out a long sigh, sitting up and moving to your living room.

Both women are already awake too. Amy takes one look at you and sighs.

"Not a wink, huh?"

"You know me so well." You reply with a teasing smile.

They both have to get to work, and you reassure them that you're actually not doing so bad, you'd been able to get a few days off of work yourself.

"Call us if you need anything," Dani says, kissing the top of your head as she leaves, "Or call that hot boss of yours."

"He doesn't like me like that!" You call out to them as they leave, and you hear their laughter through the door, no doubt disagreeing with your words out of earshot.

You sigh, sipping on your coffee with indignation.

You spend the day lazing around, looking up the application processes for getting new identification and replacing all the additional cards you had in your wallet.

You'd already called the bank and put in a request to freeze your cards, still holding out hope that you might be able to get your wallet back instead of having to go get new cards for everything.

You frown, raising your hand to your neck, feeling for the necklace you lost, hating that you felt like something was missing all throughout the day.

When you get a call from the precinct in the afternoon, telling you that your bag had been recovered, you'd been so happy to hear it.

You'd gotten dressed, grabbed your keys and your phone with the intention of grabbing a taxi on the street, but suddenly found difficulty in actually leaving your apartment.

What was going on with you?

The idea that leaving your place meant you were at risk of being attacked again sent so much fear down your spine that you shut your door and curled up on your couch in distress.

You were scared.

Simply put, the very thought of being out in the open, so vulnerable, filled you with trepidation.

Someone could attack you again, maybe even finish the job this time. The photo of you leaving Amy's apartment comes to mind.

You didn't know if someone was still following you. What if they were? What if they were waiting for you right outside?

How many close calls could you have before you ran out of luck?

The memory of his voice comes back to you.

"Promise me." He'd said.

You take a deep breath and pull out your phone.

.

.

.

A/N: Don't hate me

[thyme-in-a-bubble]

boo bitches! we're back yet again with another year of kinktober fun, though this time around i'm turning it down a bit and just writing a handful of things and not something for every single day (though, the stories that i'm writing are pretty long, so it all balances out compared to the usual blurbs)

masterlist | join my taglist

day five | the shadow’s soul obsession

college au + demon!bucky barnes

day fifteen | snow white

fairytale retelling + snow white!reader x dark!prince!billy russo, miners!steve rogers, bucky barnes, thor odinson, miguel o'hara, marc spector, matt murdock, frank castle

day twenty-five | the butchery of the beloved, the boulder, the bimbo and the brilliant

slasher au + dark!rafe cameron this extra special fic was shaped by all of you via these polls: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8

© 2024 thyme-in-a-bubble 

[chvoswxtch]

part one: the call

[series masterlist] | [part two]

pairing: billy russo x fem!reader

summary: a ghost from the past has returned.

warnings: swearing, angst, mentions of murder, creepy sleazy boss & brief mentions of sexual harassment, billy being the cocky lil shit he is

word count: 3.8k

a/n: ahhhhhhh! i've been working on this for the past few months & i'm so excited to finally put it out. I really really really hope y'all enjoy it. this is only 6 parts, so it will not be a slow burn. it's gonna get intense fast. also, there is an oc name mentioned, but it's just for the backstory of the plot. this is still a self insert, & y/n will be used for the rest of the story! without further ado, let's get this spooky slutty season started. as always, feedback is welcomed/appreciated!

This was a bad dream. It had to be. There was no other logical way to explain why you were currently sitting in an interrogation room at a precinct, being questioned by police about a man that you had gone on a blind date with not even twelve hours ago, who had been found stabbed to death in an alley two blocks away from your apartment building.

It was just a nightmare. It wasn’t real. All you had to do was open your eyes, and this would all go away. You knew how to deal with nightmares. You knew how to escape them. You’d been running and hiding from them your whole life. All you had to do was open your eyes, and the sinister shadows wouldn't be able to sink their claws into your subconscious to trap you in the dark. Just open them, and this will all disappear. 

Just open your eyes.

“Miss Y/L/N?”

The detective’s voice swiftly brought you out of the trance of denial your mind had wandered into, and your eyes snapped open. To your dismay, nothing changed. The two detectives were still sitting across the table from you, the metal cold against your sweaty palms, one eying you warily while the other regarded you with a more sympathetic stare. The chair beneath you was still stiff and uncomfortable, the light above was still a harsh shade of artificial brightness, and the large piece of glass to your right that reflected your terrified expression still made you feel unsettled knowing there was someone watching you just on the other side of that two-way pane.

“I…I’m sorry. What was the question?”

The waver in your voice gave away how shaken you were by the whole ordeal. When the police had shown up at your office an hour ago stating they needed to bring you in for questioning regarding the murder of Adam Mercer, shock had instantly shot through your entire nervous system, chilling the very blood in your veins with an icy sense of dread. 

This was the kind of thing you heard about happening in the news. A tragedy that struck someone else’s life. A nameless, faceless person whose existence you were unaware of. It was the kind of thing nobody ever thought could happen to them, until it did.

The older detective, the more commiserating one, had said they thought it was some kind of mugging gone wrong. It wasn’t an uncommon occurrence in New York City, unfortunately. The dazzling city was also dangerous. But since you were the last person to see Adam alive, they needed as much information as you could give them about the last few hours of his life. For some odd reason, it filled you with a sense of guilt that his final moments had been spent with you, a complete stranger, instead of someone else. 

Adam had been a really nice guy. He’d seemed to enjoy the date. He’d thrown his head back and laughed like a little kid at a stupid joke you’d told. He’d flashed you a charming smile when you’d nearly knocked your glass of wine over into your pasta. He’d animatedly told you about his family’s tradition of selecting a perfect tree together at a local Christmas farm back in his home state of Jersey every holiday season. He’d been sweet and gentle and respectful. But had he been happy? 

Had he succumbed to the inevitable fate of death at his attacker’s hands without a fight? Did he even see it coming? Had he had that moment, where everything flashed before his eyes, all his mistakes, all his regrets, all the would’ve, could’ve, should'ves? 

You knew what that feeling was like. You’d been there, once before. Nothing makes you want to live more than Death deciding to show up at your door and pick the lock with its cold, bony fingers to collect a bounty early. 

Thirteen times. Adam had been brutally stabbed thirteen times. It was excessive for a mugging. It felt more personal, that kind of anger and passion. As morbid as the thought was, you hoped the first one had killed him. You hoped he that went into shock swiftly and bled out just as fast so he hadn’t suffered through the next twelve.

Holding his pen in his right hand, the tip hovering over his worn yellow pocket sized notepad, Detective Craven repeated his question.

“How well did you know Adam?”

“I…I didn’t. I’d never met him until last night. My roommate um…she knew him. She’s the one who set us up.”

“Your roommate being Miss Riley?”

Detective Williamson had his hands clasped together in front of him on the table. He lifted one of his brows while waiting for you to answer his question. Swallowing thickly, you gave a faint nod of your head and dropped your hands to your lap, fidgeting with them under the table anxiously. 

“Yeah, Annie.”

Detective Craven cleared his throat, reading over his notes with his honey brown eyes as he continued his questioning.

“Now, you said he picked you up at your apartment around eight-thirty, the two of you had dinner at Maureen’s, and then he dropped you back off at your place around eleven. He left right after that?”

“Yeah, he…um…we said goodnight, he said he’d like to see me again, and then he told me he’d call me tomorrow.”

“He didn’t come up to your apartment at all?”

Detective Williamson didn’t bother hiding the skepticism in his voice, or the implication behind his words, his icy blue eyes locked on you in an almost unsettling way.

“No, he dropped me off at the front steps of the building.”

“And you didn’t see where he went when he left? Didn’t give him one last look after a goodnight kiss?”

A flash of annoyance broke through your stunned disbelief at the invasive second question. You hadn’t said anything about a kiss. The younger detective seemed to be fishing for a crack in your alibi for some reason, trying to catch you in a lie that didn’t exist. A flicker of defensiveness crept into your voice when you spoke.

“No, after we said goodnight, I went inside.”

Before Detective Williamson could ask another thinly veiled judgmental question, Detective Craven stood up, shooting his partner a silencing look. Glancing down at you with a warmer expression, the older man gestured towards the door with his hand.

“That’s all the questions we have for now. We appreciate you speaking with us. I’ll walk you out.”

The precinct was bustling. Various murmurs of conversation buzzed in your ears. People were breezing past in every direction, but amidst the sea of chaos, you spotted a familiar head of blonde hair. Annie jumped up from the chair she’d been sitting in and forced her way through the waves of people, not once muttering an “excuse me” or waiting for someone to move out of her way. A true New Yorker.

Detective Craven placed his hand on your shoulder to get your attention and held out a white business card that had all of his information on it in embossed black text.

“If you can think of anything else that might be helpful, don’t hesitate to call.”

Taking the card into your hand, you looked up at him and forced a tight smile onto your lips, giving him a faint nod of your head.

“Of course.”

After giving your shoulder a light squeeze, Detective Craven gave Annie a nod of acknowledgement before turning and disappearing back inside the interrogation room. As soon as you turned to face her, Annie’s face contorted into an expression of pity and concern. She immediately pulled you into a hug, and it took everything in you not to crumble under the weight of your own overwhelming emotions.

“Come on, let’s go home.”

»»———　　———««

Annie had swiftly shot down your plan to go back to work before the words could even fully leave your lips. All you wanted to do was dive head first into a distraction, to immerse yourself fully in the piles of paper and black ink sitting on your desk that were waiting to transport you to another universe and into the body of someone else whose world hadn’t just been flipped upside down. Again. 

Instead, she brought you back to your shared apartment, uncorked a bottle of wine for each of you, and did her best to help you sort through the shock and the ripples it caused within you. She didn’t understand that your instinct was to run and hide, and that was because she didn’t understand you, not really. But that wasn’t her fault. She could only understand what you allowed her to, and there were huge pieces of yourself you kept hidden from her and everyone else beneath carefully crafted layers.

Pieces you were not ready to uncover and face yet.

The following morning when you showed up to work at the publishing house, it felt like everyone was looking through you instead of at you. Everyone had heard what happened, had seen the two detectives escorting you out of your office, but none of your coworkers said a word. Not to your face, anyway. You could feel the weight of their lingering stares, their hushed whispers floating past your ear like a cold autumn breeze. It was a familiar territory you’d already escaped once.

To your relief, you hadn’t been harassed by reporters wanting an exclusive on the story. Unfortunately, crimes like what had happened to Adam were a dime a dozen in this city. You felt guilty for feeling grateful for that, but not having cameras shoved in your face to be broadcast on news outlets that circulated on social media worked in your favor. You had come to the city that millions of people called home for a reason. You came here to disappear, to be invisible. The last thing you needed was to be thrust into a spotlight that would attract attention you’d gone to great lengths to avoid.

In the midst of trying to drown out the white noise of suspicious gossip and ignoring the way the stares penetrating the glass windows of your office made your insides twist in dreaded knots, you almost missed the sound of a knock at your door. Lifting your head, you were met with the sight of the last person you ever expected to see standing in the doorway.

Billy Russo.

He was significantly more dressed up than the last time you’d seen him, looking every bit the illustrious CEO, although that signature arrogant smirk of his seemed to be missing for once. His tall frame was covered in a deep navy blue three piece suit with a crisp white dress shirt beneath the matching tie, a dark charcoal gray thick coat layering over top. His raven hair was gelled back perfectly, just like it was that night at the bar, but the gleam of mischief in his dark brown eyes was absent. As he stood in the doorway of your office, nearly taking up the entire frame, he seemed to be looking at you in an expression of something that resembled concern.

“Billy.”

The surprise in your hushed tone rang clear in the quiet of your office. Billy removed the black leather gloves from his hands, slipping them into the pocket of his overcoat.

“This a bad time?”

Your lips parted slightly as your eyes flickered down to the open manuscript on your desk before looking up at him again.

“Um…no. No…I…what are you doing here?”

Billy took a step forward into your office and quietly closed the door behind himself.

“Just came by to check on ya.”

“Check on me?”

“Derek told me what happened.”

Billy kept his eyes locked on you as he explained the reasoning behind his unexpected visit, watching you closely.

Derek Becker was a friend of Billy’s. They had served in the military together, and he now worked for Billy’s private security company, Anvil. Derek also happened to be Annie’s boyfriend. A few months back, the two of them had tried to set you and Billy up. The four of you had gone out to a bar for drinks, but instead of hitting it off with Billy, you’d found him narcissistic, and you’d had no interest in pursuing anything romantic with him. Although, based on how he had interacted with you that night, it had seemed like he hadn’t been looking for anything romantic either, just a night of physical release.

Because Annie was your best friend and roommate, and Derek was often around, you’d seen Billy a few times since then, but it wasn’t like the two of you were friends. Needless to say, the fact that he’d made the trip to your office to check on your mental wellbeing was a bit of a shock.

“I’m fine.”

Billy arched one of his dark brows, and the ghost of a smile graced the edge of his lips.

“You almost sounded like you meant that.”

You opened your mouth to fire back a retort, to protest the underlying accusation in his words, but your defense got stuck in your throat. Seeing the look on your face, Billy’s faint amusement quickly disappeared, and he let out a deep exhale through his nose as he took a few steps closer towards your desk.

“I’m sorry, I’m not here to be a dick. But it’s alright if you’re not fine. Normal people wouldn’t be fine in this situation.”

“Normal people?”

Billy stared down at you for a moment silently before turning his head to look out the glass window of your office, rubbing his large palm over his mouth and perfectly trimmed beard. Looking down at you again, a flicker of amusement was back in his gaze, and there was a hint of a smile on his lips.

“I got a real good habit of sayin’ the wrong thing with you, huh?”

The self deprecation you detected in his smooth voice surprised you. You’d never heard him say anything that didn’t have an undertone of superiority or didn’t sound prideful. The guy standing in front of you wasn’t acting like the cocky rich playboy you were used to, and it made you wonder for a second if that’s what it really was; an act. A flicker of newfound curiosity had you wondering if Billy’s persona was as carefully crafted as your own.

“I don’t know if I’d call that a good habit.”

Billy let out a puff of air past his lips, giving a faint shake of his head in faux disapproval.

“Kickin’ a man while he’s down? That’s ruthless, sweetheart.”

“I think your ego can survive being knocked down a few pegs.”

Billy let out a deep chuckle at that, and his lips spread into a wolfish grin.

“Between you and me, it’s a bit more fragile than you think.”

You looked at him in faux shock, an overly dramatic gasp leaving your lips.

“What? You mean the ego you overcompensate for with designer clothes and fancy cars is delicate?”

Billy rolled his eyes and held his hand up in a gesture of surrender.

“Alright, alright. I get it. You’ve kept me humble enough for one day.”

To your surprise, and to Billy’s, you smiled. It was small, but it was real and genuine. Billy’s impromptu visit was the last thing you expected to provide a lighthearted distraction to the whirlwind of chaos that had been plaguing you since yesterday. 

As much as you hadn’t been able to stand him the night you met him, you couldn’t deny that the banter between you came effortlessly. Within the first five minutes of meeting him, you’d called him a ‘self obsessed dumbass’, and instead of getting offended, he’d smiled. It had quickly launched into a battle of wits, who could come up with the more clever retort faster, and it only took half an hour for Derek and Annie to become exhausted, realizing they’d made a huge mistake and miscalculated their match making skills. Billy seemed to enjoy antagonizing you, and you couldn’t resist putting a man like him in his place.

Everytime the two of you were around each other, it was exactly the same. Just an endless cycle of unrequited flirting and unrestrained snark.

“Humble is not exactly a word I’d use to describe you, Russo.”

Before Billy could respond, your office door suddenly opened and your boss walked in, glancing between you and Billy in a mixture of curiosity and barely concealed displeasure. He seemed to size him up before turning his attention towards you, not so subtly letting his eyes roam over your figure sitting behind your desk in a way that made your skin crawl, which wasn’t missed by Billy. John gestured his head in Billy’s direction.

“Another detective?”

There was clear annoyance in John’s voice that didn’t go unnoticed by you. It wasn’t lost on Billy either, and his posture seemed to go rigid.

“No. No, um…friend.”

Friend. Using that word to describe Billy tasted foreign on your tongue, but Billy didn’t appear to react to it. His dark brown eyes sized John up in a similar fashion as your boss had done to him, only Billy didn’t even attempt to hide his judgment and lack of impression.

“You know, most people knock before just walkin’ in.”

Both yours and John’s heads turned towards Billy. You were momentarily stunned by the way Billy had so casually called out John’s abrupt intrusion, and John looked visibly irritated, but he turned to face Billy with a forced smile on his mouth.

“I don’t think we’ve met. I’m John Altieri. I own this publishing house.”

Unlike John, Billy didn’t plaster a fake smile on his face for politeness, or speak in a faux friendly tone. Maintaining eye contact, he reached out to grasp John’s outstretched hand with more firmness than necessary as he shook it.

“Billy Russo. I own the building.”

That bombshell had you sitting up straighter in your chair and blinking a few times in surprise. Billy owned the building? Since when? That was definitely news to you.

The smile on John’s face faltered for a moment, but he quickly recovered and nodded, trying to appear unphased by that revelation.

“Pleasure. If you don’t mind, I have some important things to discuss with Y/N/N. In private.”

Billy outwardly looked calm and collected, but you swore you saw a flicker of anger in his dark brown eyes. He didn’t seem to like hearing your boss refer to you with a nickname that was spoken with too saccharine of a tone for a superior to speak about their employee. Not that you liked it either. John seemed to always maintain a balance on that tightrope of not being inappropriate enough to report him to HR, but being too friendly for you to not feel uncomfortable. 

The bastard was clever, you’d give him that. He knew what he was doing. He was careful and cautious enough that it couldn’t be classified as textbook harassment, and could be argued as a simple misunderstanding. It made you want to stab him with your pen every time you caught him staring at your chest or your legs.

After letting a purposeful uncomfortable moment of silence pass, Billy looked down at John, that signature smirk you were used to seeing on his lips spreading slowly like a sun rising over the skyline.

“Of course.”

Turning his head to look at you again, Billy gave you a faint nod of his head and a wink.

“See ya later, sweetheart.”

Giving John one last final unimpressed and cold side eye, Billy pulled his leather gloves out of his overcoat pocket and turned to leave your office with a confident stride, leaving you and John alone in your office, and your mind swirling with a flurry of questions about Billy Russo.

»»———　　———««

By the time you walked through the front door of yours and Annie’s shared apartment, all you wanted was a hot shower and a few hours of sleep. You’d spent last night tossing and turning, haunted by the nightmare your life had once again turned into, and you felt the exhaustion in every cell of your body. Tossing your keys into the little green bowl on the side table by the front door, your footsteps were slow and sluggish as you headed down the hall on the left towards your bedroom.

Dropping your purse onto your bed, you sat down on the edge of it and slipped off your shoes, letting them drop on the hardwood floor with a soft thud. Letting out a deep exhale, you closed your eyes and hunched over, covering your face with both of your hands. The muffled noise of your ringtone began to sound from your purse. Dragging your palms down your face, you slipped one of your hands into your purse to dig for your phone blindly, absentmindedly hitting the answer button and bringing it to your ear.

“Hello?”

“Hello Y/N.”

The voice that sounded on the other end of the line wasn’t one you recognized. Pulling your phone away from your ear, you looked down at the lit screen and read “unknown caller”. A furrow creased between your brows as you brought your phone back up to your ear, running one of your hands through the roots of your hair to push it back.

“I’m sorry, who is this?”

“I guess your new boyfriend didn’t make the cut.”

Immediately your hand froze, and your eyes widened. A mix of confusion, disbelief, and anger coursed through you, but the latter won out.

“Excuse me?”

Your tone quickly shifted from one of puzzlement to pure fury as you sat up straighter. A sinister chuckle from the deep mysterious voice on the other end of the line further incensed you.

“Did you really think I’d let anyone else have you, Cassia?”

The phone slipped out of your hand, dropping to the floor below with a harsh sound that didn’t even register in your ears. A pit of dread opened up in your stomach, and fear trickled down your spine as if someone had started to trace the frozen sharp tip of an icicle along the back of your neck. Panic spread through your nervous system like a lit match to a dehydrated forest, and the four walls of your bedroom began to close in around you, squeezing the last breath of oxygen from your lungs.

No one in New York knew that name. 

You’d left it back in California, along with your past. The past that had forced you to run to the other side of the country and bury every trace of who you were before. The past that you tried so hard to forget and cover up with a new identity and a new life. The past that was taunting you from the other end of the line.

The past that had come back, and murdered Adam.

He’d found you.

tags: @thyme-in-a-bubble @ferns-fics @danzer8705 @to-thelakes @simonsgirl @sweetserendipity65 @zomtart @day-dreaming-goddess @caroblogsthings @thomasshelbyswife @snowkestrel @hallowedtangerine @ameliaswife @dreadfulxives18 @ebsmind @lllla717 @slumnit

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[petertingle-yipyip]

BIGGER PERSON - BILLY RUSSO

Pairing: billy x castle!reader (established relationship)

Word Count: 1,741

Summary: When Frank’s sister finds out that a) her brother’s alive and b) her boyfriend is supposed to kill him, the conversation quickly turns bad.

Your brother, Frank Castle.

Months had passed and his death still didn’t feel real. You had seen the headstone, found a church that was willing to give the infamous Punisher his last rites. Even though Frank didn’t really care for religion towards the end of his life, your parents would’ve wanted it done so you made sure of it. You sent them the blessed crucifix from the private ritual.

You were frozen in place as the news story played out on your TV. The job Billy was working for the senator, the one he claimed was to protect from the unknown bomber, was also intended to protect him from Frank. Frank, the alleged accomplice to the bomber, was being framed - yet again - as public enemy number one.

You paused the screen when the channel was playing video from a cop car that very clearly showed your brother’s face and pulled your phone to text Billy. But as your finger was finding the conversation, you realized he would very likely lie to you again. He lied about the job to begin with, so why would he owe you an honest answer now.

So instead, you paced your living room until he finally made it home.

When you heard the door open, your grip tightened on the remote and you felt the urge to throw it. Either at Billy or close to it, you didn’t care, but you refrained from either. He walked in and said his usual greeting, moving in to kiss your cheek but you shoved him off.

“Tell me you didn’t know.” You said tightly, hoping the anger in your stare was enough to burn him.

“What do you mean?” He asked, a slight nervous chuckle pairing with the words.

“The bombings. All of it is being blamed on Frank.” You continued.

“Frank?” His brows furrowed and you had the urge to shove him again.

“Don’t talk to me like I’m stupid.”

“No, I- I’m not.” His hands went up in surrender. “I want to finish this discussion, really. But honestly, baby, I’m too damn tired. Can it wait till later?”

“So my brother is alive and I find out by chance from some news story and you want to talk about it later?” You said angrily, gesturing to the paused screen that still displayed the photo captured from a police car’s dash cam.

“Can we not do this, Y/N?” Billy sighed and dropped on the couch, covering his eyes.

“No, I think we should.” You snapped. “That is my brother, Billy. If there was even a rumor that he was still alive, you should’ve told me!”

“It was just a rumor.” He enunciated, still not looking at you. “I hadn’t heard from him so how was I supposed to know it was true?”

“You still should’ve told me!”

“I’m sorry!” He shouted, standing suddenly and. pausing you to take a small step back. “What am I supposed to do about it now? What- What- What do you want from me?”

“Jesus.” You sighed and put your hands up in surrender. “Nevermind. It’s just my brother, right? Who cares? Not like I had a right to know but hey.”

You stormed off to the bedroom and ignored Billy’s muttering as you left. You didn’t even need Billy to confess that he knew or that he was helping Frank hide. All you wanted was an honest apology, but he couldn’t even do that.

The days went on and you still said very little to Billy. You still did your usual routine, breakfast and coffee ready before he went to work. Dinner either on the way or finishing on the stove when he got home. But outside of that, or answering a direct question he asked, you were busy with a book or a new TV show. Anything really that meant you didn’t have to say anything to him.

It was right before his TV interview about the attack on Senator Ori at the hotel, which they were attributing to Frank. He had came out and asked if his tie looked okay and you said “Sure, it’s fine” without facing him.

“Jesus, Y/N/N. How long you gonna act like this?” He complained.

“I shouldn’t have to be the bigger person.” You spat back, still keeping your back to him. “I shouldn’t have to bend to keep us on track. Let me ask you this, Bill. That guy with the- the eye thing. He having you go after Frankie?”

“Y/N…”

“I swear to God I will walk out that door.” You threatened and turned to face him. You watched his eyes dart between yours as he took in your expression. “Everything you’ve been doing lately, was it all about Frank?”

“Yeah...”

“Catching him?”

“Yeah…”

“Killing him?”

You didn’t even know how you managed to get that question out but you did. It felt as if your throat had tightened and the three short syllables were rung out of your voice box like water out of a towel.

“Yeah…” He answered, voice barely above a whisper.

Your heart grew heavy in your chest and it nearly felt

like it had stopped beating.

“And you wonder why I’m pissed off.” You said flatly, pushing past  and leaving him behind you.

“Baby, it's just business, alright? Nothing personal.”

“It should be personal!” You turned and shouted. “That’s my goddamn brother!”

“You want me to apologize for doing my job?” He asked sharply.

“Yes!” You threw your arms forward. “Apologize for trying to kill my brother!”

“It’s my job!”

“Well excuse me for thinking you cared about me more than a fucking paycheck.” You put hands up in surrender and turned away, back into the kitchen.

“C’mon, babe.” He sighed, hurrying after you. “It’s not like that.”

“It’s always up to me, even when it shouldn’t be.” You complained. “You want me to take the blame for a fight and I do. I do because I love you and I always think it’ll be the last time.”

“Y/N…” He said your name softly, confused even. As if he had barely realized what the routine with you had become.

Argue about something, sometimes petty and sometimes not. Then you’ll make up when you apologize, but nothing changes. It was a vicious cycle that Billy was completely oblivious to, until now.

“I think that maybe next time you’ll be the bigger person cause I’m sick and tired of carrying the burden of every argument.” You shrugged, tears forming in your eyes that you ignored. “Keep moving my boundaries so you don’t cross lines, keep quiet when you yell. All cause I thought I had to to make it last between us.”

“I… I didn’t realize.”

“Yeah, I know.”

He took a moment to think over his next words. It felt like a very defining moment for your relationship. He never meant to make you feel that way, and knowing he had was arguably the worst pain he’d ever felt. How did he not notice? How could he do that to you?

“Tell me how to make this right.” He said softly, gently reaching to take your hand. You looked up at him while you let your hand sit in his. He looked at you with wide, soft eyes that were begging for forgiveness. “I’ll do anything.”

“You think it’s that easy?” You countered with a small challenge. “Billy, you’ve been hunting down my brother for a man who doesn’t care about you. That guy will throw you under the bus as soon as he needs to, just like everyone else. But my brother? You know damn well Frank would’ve done anything to protect you. He never would’ve don’t this to you.”

“No… He would’ve.”

“Why?” 

He looked towards the ceiling and sighed heavily. Your stomach felt tight and your blood ran warm with anticipation while you took a step back, taking your hand away from his.

“What did you do?” You urged.

“The carousel.” He began and that knot in your stomach grew tighter.

“You were there?”

“No.” He looked back to you, a silent plea in his expression. To hear him out, to believe him, to forgive him. “No, I wasn’t, I swear.”

“You didn’t shoot him? Or Maria? Or the kids?”

“No, I wouldn’t do it.” He shook his head and you could’ve sworn you saw tears in his eyes. “I said no.”

You were quiet as things began to click and you knew it reflected in your eyes as Billy’s expression changed.

“But you knew… You knew they were coming after my brother and that’s why we went out instead of me going with them.” You realized and the thick weight of betrayal slammed into your chest so hard you thought the bones would break. “How fucking dare you stand in front of me.”

“No, Y/N, please. Let me-“

“Let you what?” You cut in sharply and your hands tightened into fists at your side. “Let you explain? What is there to explain when you just admitted to knowing that your worthless fucking friends were gonna kill my family and you did nothing?” Your voice grew to a scream as you rambled.

His eyes shot to your hands and he took a step back from you.

“My niece and nephew, Billy!” You shouted. “They were kids! And Maria, she loved you. And you just let it happen.”

“I couldn’t do anything.” He spoke quietly.

“You’re kidding, right?” You laughed in disbelief. “You could’ve warned him!”

“He wouldn’t have believed me!” He reasoned.

“Y’know what.” You took a deep breath. “Just get out.”

“Y/N..”

“Aren’t you late for your interview?”

He opened his mouth to speak but the glare you gave him kept him quiet. Instead, he collected his things and went to leave.

“I didn’t want all this.” He called from the door. “It wasn’t supposed to end up this way.”

“Yeah, you worked so hard to keep it from me.” You countered. “Good luck when Frank finds out.”

The door closed soon after and you found your phone. You scrolled your contacts until Karen’s name popped up. You had met the woman when her friends were defending Frank in court and you two had stayed decent friends. You texted and said you had seen the news about Frank and asked if she could help you get in touch with him.

karen (lawyer): just put flowers in the window

[readerinsertsaremyguiltypleasure]

Hot in Herre

Pairing: Billy Russo x Reader

Rating: Teen and Up

Summary: Your insanely gorgeous boyfriend joins you in bed on a hot summer’s night, making you the envy of every woman in the city. Now if only your mind could muster up some decent dirty talk instead of playing that one song on repeat...

Story tags: Established Relationship, Lighthearted (aka silly) foreplay, Undeniable proof that the author is a cringey millennial

Author's notes: Guess who's back? Back again. ... Sorry. Wrong song. Anyways, here's a short and silly fic that came to me in the midst of our early-autumn heatwave. I wish I could say that more fics were on the way, but life is busy, so it would probably be a lie if I did.

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‘I’m going to bed,’ you said, draping your arms over Billy’s shoulders and kissing the top of his head. He was sitting at his desk in his home office, going over some Anvil reports, and would probably still be there by the time you fell asleep.

You didn’t like falling asleep without him, but such was life when you were the girlfriend of one of New York’s up and coming CEOs.

‘Night, babe,’ he said, lifting his hand to give your own a squeeze. He didn’t take his eyes off the screen, but you didn’t take it personally. He was still getting used to having someone else living in his apartment with him. Before you, Billy Russo had been a contented forever-bachelor with no intentions of ever settling down; time to adjust was to be expected.

You still didn’t know why it was you he wanted to keep – you were hardly the sort of bombshell seductress he was usually photographed with – but you were determined not to mess up and change his mind. So, you kissed his head again, and then reluctantly untangled yourself from him and left for the bedroom.

It didn’t take you long to get ready for bed. Falling asleep, however, was a totally different story. Summer was just ending, but the heat was clinging on for as long as it could, and even the solitary sheet you were using to cover yourself was too hot. You knew you could turn on the air conditioner, but without Billy, you would be too cold with it on. No doubt he would turn it on himself when he came to bed, but until then, another layer had to go.

You weren’t willing to sacrifice the sheet – you needed something covering you to fall asleep – and your shirt was little more than a tank top, so that left you pyjama bottoms the only option. You weren’t usually one to sleep in your underwear, feeling awkward even when alone, but these were extenuating circumstances.

With a bit of manoeuvring, you wriggled out of your pants and dropped them over the side of the bed. It was marginally better, but not enough to help you sleep.

You weren’t sure how long you lay there for, staring at the wall, but eventually you heard the blessed beep of the air conditioner turning on and the soft shuffle of Billy getting ready for bed. How he never walked into anything in the dark, you would never know.

Maybe it was all that marine training.

It only took a few minutes for the room to cool down, and just as you were starting to chill, the sheet lifted and Billy’s warm body pressed against you from behind.

Much better.

Billy’s hand casually settled on your thigh, and you could tell the exact moment he realised you were in one less layer than usual. His fingers stilled for a second before splaying across your skin, as if trying to reach as much of it as he could.

You made an involuntary hum of pleasure. You loved his touch, no matter how tame.

You heard a faint chuckle from behind you, and the hand on your thigh suddenly got a lot more confident, caressing and squeezing in a way that left no doubt to its owner’s intentions. ‘This is a nice surprise,’ he said, the velvet purr of his voice banishing all thoughts of sleep from your brain.

Who could even think about sleep when they had an amorous Billy Russo behind them?

‘Were you waiting for me?’ he continued in the same silky tone. His breath ghosted over the shell your ear, and the shiver you gave had nothing to do with the air conditioning.

‘It was too hot,’ you said simply, but you leaned your neck to the side and pressed your hips into his hardening groin, letting him know you were enjoying his attentions. ‘An item of clothing had to go.’

Billy attacked your neck with a flurry of kisses as his hand skirted up from your thigh to your waist, sliding under your tank top. ‘In that case,’ he said, his hand inching higher, dragging the fabric with it. ‘Maybe you should take this off as well. I have a feeling things are about to get very hot in here.’

You wished you could be as smooth as he was. You wished you could come up with a sexy reply said in a sultry bedroom voice that would have him flipping you over and ravishing you…

Instead, you giggled.

His hand froze, and you quickly turned in his arms before he could pull away. You buried your face into his bare chest.

He didn’t have a problem sleeping without layers.

‘I’m sorry,’ you said between the last few hitches of laughter. ‘You’re being very sexy and I’m very much here for it, but all I can think of is that damn song.’

You risked a glance upwards and saw that Billy was looking at you with an amused but quizzical eyebrow raised. ‘Song?’ he asked.

You wiggled your shoulders in a vague approximation of dancing. ‘It’s getting hot in here’—Billy grinned, instantly catching on—‘so take off all your clothes.’

Suddenly, Billy’s lips were on yours, cutting off your abysmal singing. By the time you both parted, you were well and truly breathless.

‘So, I didn’t ruin the mood, then?’ you asked.

Billy chuckled and shook his head. ‘Never,’ he said, eyes twinkling with an emotion you liked to think was love. It certainly looked like love.

But still, that nagging bit of insecurity remained. ‘You don’t mind that I’m terrible at dirty talk?’

You were on your back before you’d even finished your sentence, Billy hovering over you. He gave you another one of those all-consuming kisses. ‘I love that you’re terrible at dirty talk,’ he said once he had pulled away again. ‘I love that we can laugh and have fun in bed. I’ve never had that.’

You reached up and stroked your fingers down his cheek. Was that all it would take to keep this man whom you had quickly fallen in love with? Just be your idiotic self? It was hard to believe – it seemed too easy – but looking in his eyes, you knew it was true. He wanted to keep you simply because you were you.

You grinned from ear to ear as your heart soared.

‘In that case,’ you said in a poor imitation of his earlier seductive tone. You reached down to grab the hem of your tank top, and as you slowly pulled it upwards, you swayed your hips to a silent beat.

Billy’s laugh told you that he was hearing it loud and clear.

‘I am getting so hot, I wanna take my clothes off.’