#specopfic

[dickd0c]

STRIKE

a lil book about our specops babes. expect smut and maybe love <3

MASTERLIST

chapter one, chapter two, chapter three, chapter four, chapter five, chapter six, chapter seven, chapter eight, chapter nine, chapter ten, chapter eleven, chapter twelve, chapter thirteen, chapter fourteen, chapter fifteen, chapter sixteen, chapter seventeen, chapter eighteen, chapter nineteen, chapter twenty, chapter twenty-one, chapter twenty-two

[dickd0c]

oops

[dickd0c]

STRIKE

CHAPTER TWENTY — “day six”

Nic woke up covered in popcorn.

She was half under a blanket, Alpha's arms and legs tangled with hers. Groaning, she picked her head up to see the bowl was upside down and buttered popcorn was flailed everywhere. the laptop was dangerously close to the edge of the bed, threatening to fall and break at any moment.

Nic carefully got out of the bed, picking the laptop up and putting it on one of the nightstands. She gave a glance to the asleep Alpha before she grabbed her phone and made her way to her own room. There, she brushed her teeth twice since she'd fallen asleep before she could do that the night before. She then took a shower, scrubbing extra hard where she was feeling especially buttery.

Nic quickly dried herself off and dressed casually as usual, putting on her pair of Nike pros that hadn't been ripped and a loose green t shirt that didn't seem very familiar. In fact, as Nic frowned at her reflection, noting how the shirt fell below her shorts and hung so loose on her, she was pretty sure it was someone else's. She shrugged—it was comfortable, and that's all she actually cared about.

Nic walked out her room and down the hallway, back towards Alpha's room. She figured she'd wake him up and help clean up the massive mess since she was partially at fault for it too. However, when she opened the door, he wasn't in bed. Walking inside, she could hear the shower running in his bathroom.

Shrugging, she made her way over to his unmade bed. She picked the bowl up and started the long process of finding stray popcorns to toss them back into the bowl. Huffing as she walked back and forth along the bed, she started cursing herself for being empathetic and wanting to help him out. When all the visible kernels were in the bowl, she set it down and grabbed the blanket to shake it out. Immediately, more popcorn cake falling out, making Nic groan again. She didn't notice the sound of the shower turning off in the bathroom.

She got back to work quickly, scooping the smushed food up and tossing it into the bowl until the whole end was free of popcorn. Smiling proudly, she scoured the floor for stray kernels before setting the bowl down on the nightstand.

Nic turned her attention back to the bed, recoiling at the bitter stains she was just now noticing. She ripped the blanket and the sheets off of the bed, about to go and find him some clean ones when the bathroom door opened.

"Fuck."

Nic whipped around, and the sight made her jaw dropped. She shamelessly dragged her eyes up and down Alpha's body. He was dressed in nothing but a white towel around his waist, hanging low enough for his v-lines to be visible. His tan skin was damp and dewey, and his wavy hair was wet. All around him, steam from the bathroom billowed, making him look like a sultry model from a magazine. When Nic finally looked into his grey eyes, she saw that they were focused on the hem of her shirt.

She glanced down, realizing it probably looked like that shirt was the only thing she was wearing.

"I think," Alpha said slowly, taking a small step forward, "from now on, you should only wear my shirts."

Nic's jaw dropped further.

"And I mean it. Nothing else."

Alpha took another few steps forward until he was right in front of her, so close she could feel the steam coming off his skin. His hand slowly inches forward, making Nic's breath hitch when it slipped just under her shirt to tug gently on the bottom of her shorts.

"Not even these."

"I didn't know it was yours," Nic mumbled, grasping at the green material. "It was just in my closet."

"Keep it," Alpha said with a smirk, placing his two firm hands on her hips and pulling her against his body. Nic liked the feeling of his hard, damp abs against her hands. "Looks better on you than it did on me."

Nic's eyes dropped to the top of Alpha's towel, unable to pull away from the sight until his hand tugged her chin up. Her eyes widened for a moment but soon fluttered shut when he bent down to meet her lips with his. Unlike usual, instead of rough and aggressive, his kiss was slow and sensual. Nic's hands roamed his feverish shoulders and chest. Alpha's hand on her chin moved to the side of her neck, his warm fingers resting gently on her cool skin.

Nic's cheeks tinged when she felt their tongues touch. Alpha dug his fingers into her skin, tilting his head a little before slowly pulling away. His breath was calm and steady unlike Nic's soft pants.

Alpha's fingers fluttered down to the hem of her—his—shirt, slowly lifting it up Nic's torso, letting his hands drag across her skin. All the while, he kept steady eye contact with her, a small smirk playing on his lips.

Nic's hands grabbed his to stop them right before he pulled the shirt above her bra. There was an uneasy expression in her face as she averted his gaze and bit her lip. "Alpha..."

"What?" he asked, face dropping. He tilted his head to get a better look at her, hands flying to her face. "What's wrong?"

"I can't..."

His face dropped further, a serious look in his eyes. "Nica, you know you don't have to do anything you don't want with me."

Nic couldn't help but laugh at that, making his serious expression turn confused. "No, what I'm trying to say is... I'm on my period. I really can't."

She had started it the day before. Her birth control was wonderful, and it shortened her period by three days, but she was still stuck with two days of mild flow but shitty cramps.

Nic watched his face carefully, waiting for him to say "well your mouth isn't." That's what her ex boyfriend would always say to her.

Not like Alpha was like her ex.

Well, not like Alpha was her boyfriend in general.

His lips parted as her words washed over him, and his grey eyes lit up in mild amusement. "Oh," he said, scratched his wet hair. "Oh, that's okay. I mean, hope you're not feeling too shitty." His eyes drifted behind her to his bare bed, empty of popcorn. "Did you do that?" he asked, a small smile playing on his lips.

Nic turned around, her hands slipping form his, and she smiled slightly too. "Yeah—you're going to need new sheets, by the way."

Alpha chuckled lowly, his fingers gently clasping around her jaw to make her look at him. His stormy eyes dragged across her face, as he said in that raspy voice, "How do you always manage to ruin my sheets?"

Nic flushes bright red, worming here way out of Alpha's grip and moving towards where she dropped the dirty sheets and blanket. "Shut up," she mumbled, picking them up with a scowl on her face.

Alpha grinned before making his way over to the dresser. Nic glanced at the closet next to him, blushing even deeper as she remembered what was in there. With a deep sigh, she bounded out the room to drop his dirty sheets and blanket in the laundry room. When she got back to his room, he was already dressed and putting clean sheets over his mattress.

Nic watched him finish and throw a blanket over the band haphazardly before placing his surprisingly unharmed pillows back on. She smiled when he turned to look at her and was surprised when she got a big smile back.

"Hey, you need anything?" he asked her, smoothing out a little wrinkle on his bedsheet.

Nic tilted her head, frowning, and Alpha must have seen the look on his face.

"I mean for your period. Are you comfortable?"

Nic tried not to show her surprise when he said the actual word "period." Her ex never did. He'd always recoil when she brought it up or refer to it as "that" if he absolutely had to.

"I—" Nic couldn't find the words as she looked at him with lifted eyebrows. "I'm okay, but thank you, really. I took an Advil for my cramps an hour back, though I don't know if it's doing anything..."

Alpha hesitated before he spoke, his eyes darting away from her momentarily. "Okay, this is going to sound bad, but... are you wearing a pad or a tampon?"

Nic's mouth dropped open as she stared at him with wide eyes. He wouldn't even meet hers, knowing how weird and frankly creepy his question sounded. "Tampon?" she squealed unsurely, wrapping her arms around herself.

Alpha lifted his eyes to her, a wary smirk on his lips. "I think I know how to help with your cramps," he said with a soft chuckle, climbing into the bed so that his back was leaning against his pillows. "C'mere."

Nic climbed onto the bed, kneeling down in front of him with a confused expression playing on her face. Alpha urged her forward, meeting her in the middle with a deep kiss that made Nic forget where she was for a second. He pulled away, smirking slightly.

"Turn around," Alpha ordered, though his voice was less commanding and more comforting than usual.

Nic did just that, feeling his hands grab her and pull her so that they were in the same position as when they were watching the movies. Nic could feel Alpha's chest heaven against her back with his rapid breaths, and she could feel her heart threatening to burst through her chest.

"Relax," Alpha whispered against her ear, bending his knees so his feet lay flat on the bed and urging Nic to do the same with her legs. He moved her legs so they rested against his. "You can stop me at any time, okay? Are you comfortable so far?"

Nic nodded, closing her eyes.

"Words, babygirl."

"Yes," she exhaled, tilting her head back to rest it on his chest.

Nic felt Alpha's hands slowly slide up and down her nearly naked thighs, sending goosebumps all around her body. One hand snakes upwards to lay flat over her hips. The other snaked inwards, gently brushing against her clothed center. Alpha's head dipped down against her neck, and she immediately tilted her head to give him space. His lips, tongue, and teeth worked together to make small marks on her soft skin. His lips pressed warm kisses on her, his teeth nipped are her most sensitive spots, and his tongue left a wet trail from the base of her neck to her jaw and then all the way back down.

Meanwhile, his fingers slowly started moving against her shorts. Nic whimpered softly when they began rubbing circles over her, sending shots of electricity up her body. Her hands darted up behind her to grab Alpha's hair.

"How's this feel?" he whispered, warm lips pressed to her ear. "You want more?"

Nic nodded slightly, eyebrows furrowed in concentration as she willed herself not to make too much noise.

"C'mon, Nica, I shouldn't have to keep reminding you," Alpha warned, his fingers suddenly pressing harshly against her core, sending thrills crawling up her spine.

"Yes, please, more," Nic moaned quietly, tugging his hair harshly when he delivered.

Alpha groaned in her ear, sending shivers down her body that were met by shivers crawling up form the stimulation at her core. She twisted her fingers in his damp hair, feeling his fingers speed up over her clothes, wishing more than anything that he could just rip them off.

"Damon," Nic sighed happily, tugging on his hair.

Alpha groaned again. "Fuck... I think I like that almost as much as 'Daddy.'"

Nic flushes slightly, though her face was already red from from the magic Alpha's fingers were working between her thighs. She gasped despite herself when his fingers pushed down hard on her covered clit, knowing instantly as that familiar swirling boiled up in her stomach that her finish was near.

Alpha's fingers stayed there, rubbing harsh circles and occasionally dipping down to palm her center where she so desired to be filled by him. As his hand moved in steady patterns, she could feel his abdominal muscles contracting and moving against her back. She opened her eyes just slightly to watch his hand working at her, licking her lips at the sight of the muscles in his string, veiny arms dancing with every move he made.

Nic twitched, whimpers spilling out of her lips as the first wave of her orgasm slowly filled her up, followed by the rest of it hitting her like a massive wall of water, leaving her thrashing under Alpha's strong arms.

His hand didn't stop working at her, pressing all the right spots and making her feel so damn good even while separated by two layers of cloth.

He finally pulled his hands away from her when her body went limp and her breathing slowed down. With gentle but strong hands, he turned her around and positioned her so that she was straddling him. Alpha cupped her face with his hands, leaning in to meet her with a rough kiss. Nic kissed back, but slower, still dazed from her orgasm, vaguely making a mental note to go clean up in the bathroom. But, as Alpha kissed her, she pressed her palms to his chest, feeling his abs through his shirt.

She could also feel his pounding heart, threatening to leap out of his chest cavity at any moment.

Nic pulled away from the kiss, a weak smile on her lips. "Thank you," she said bashfully, eyes dropping to his neck.

"Anytime, babygirl."

[dickd0c]

this is uncool

wattpad took my specops fic down at abt 55k, so for those of u that are here from wattpad, 👋 hi babies i love you.

imma start putting it back up on here and on ao3 whenever i get sent an invitation but yeaaa msg me if ur from wattpad i want friends

[dickd0c]

richard 🥺 ok these shoiod b the last LOL

[dickd0c]

richard!!! love u

[dickd0c]

STRIKE

CHAPTER NINETEEN — “day five, part two”

A while later, Nic found herself walking out of her room and down the hall. There wasn't much to do. She didn't want to text Lucas—she'd just met him and didn't want to come off clingy. Riot was gaming (loudly) in his room. Tank was still at the gym and probably would be for a while, and Athena was definitely still pity shopping.

So she wound up in front of the door to Alpha's room, asking herself why her heart was pounding so fast and her chest was growing so tight. She slowly pushed the door open a few inches, peeking in to see Alpha seated on his bed with his laptop a few feet away from him. He had a massive bowl of popcorn beside him. The lights were off and the curtains were drawn, so the only light illuminating his face was the flashing from his laptop. It had been hours since he'd popped into her room to annoy her, so she wondered how many movies he had watched in that time.

Nic pushed the door open a bit more, sidling in before quietly shutting it behind her. She walked over to the side of the bed, Alpha not even glancing over at her, and lifted the covers so she could sit with him underneath. As she lifted her knees on to the bed, she glanced up at him, noticing something different.

On top of his nose sat a pair of black-framed glasses that reflected the movie on his laptop. Nic had never seen Alpha with glasses before, but she had to admit, he truly pulled them off. Biting her lip, She slid under the covers, sitting up with her legs extended.

Wordlessly, Alpha wrapped his arm around her waist and tugged her towards him. Nic nearly fell over, surprised, but she steadied herself and found their bodies so close together their legs were touching. She was angled a little so that her back rested on the side of her chest, and she was nearly sitting on him. He then moved the laptop so it was balancing on top of both of them. Nic didn't fail to notice the arm that stayed around her waist.

It was odd sitting with him like that. He wasn't the most touchy guy in normal situations. He barely cuddled after sex, he didn't even tapped her shoulder if she was in his way. Nic's body stayed tense, feeling his arm get comfortable. He pulled her a little closer so that his hand could rest peacefully on her thigh, but that just forced Nic to resist the urge to squirm.

Nic forced herself to zero in on the movie playing on his laptop. It seemed like a comedy, which kinda surprised her. She figured that he would be the type to watch action or thrillers, but hey, everyone can use a good comedy every now and then. An actor on the screen cracked a joke, and next to her, Alpha let out a humored breath. Nic smiled to herself, feeling her body slowly relax against his.

Between scenes, the screen went black. Though it was dark in the room, it was still light enough for her to be able to see their vague reflections. She looked at Alpha, watching him adjust the glasses resting on his nose. She really did like those glasses on him.

"Damon," Nic said suddenly, as if testing the name out on her tongue. It clearly startled him, though.

"Yeah?" he asked, his eyebrows furrowing behind those glasses.

"Nothing. Actually, how old are you?" Nic asked quietly, reaching for the popcorn.

Alpha quirked his eyebrows, as if caught off guard. Nic had to admit, it was a bit random. "Uhh, twenty-one."

"Oh. So you just graduated college, didn't you? Congratulations," she said with a smile, watching him nod and shrug. "What did you major in?"

Alpha gave her a weird look, like making normal conversation was new to him. "Nursing," he said, and Nic could feel his abdomen tense up against her back.

Nic's face brightened. "Oh, that's great! I have a friend who's doing nursing. She says it's really hard. Wow, so you've got your bachelor's?"

Alpha made that face again, looking steadfast at the flashing laptop screen. "Yeah... why are you questioning me, again?"

Nic huffed, turning her face away from him with a small scowl. "Because... I know Tank, Riot, and Athena's ages. I know what they're studying. I know their favorite colors too. But you? I didn't even know you wore glasses."

It was true. She knew a lot about those three. Tank was nineteen, like her, and an athletic training major. Riot was twenty and a communications major. Athena, twenty as well, was a compsci major. Nic learned all of that in one or two weeks, but she just found out the same information about Alpha after nearly two months.

"You didn't even know any of their real names until today," Alpha pointed out in a snarky voice, his abdominal muscles shifting against her back.

Nic rolled her eyes but stayed silent. Partly because he was right and that was awkward, and partly because she wasn't in the mood to get him angry.

Alpha sighed, long and loud, and Nic nearly turned around to tell him off for being unreasonably irritable when he spoke again.

"Green," he said in a quiet and raspy voice.

Nic smiled to herself. "Mine's purple," she said softly, leaning comfortably into his chest. His arm tightened around her and his thumb started rubbing circles on her thigh. A brief glance at Alpha told Nic that he was doing so absentmindedly.

"So..." Nic thought out loud, thinking of a question to ask him. She just wanted to keep him talking. "Are you going to be getting a job?"

Alpha cleared his throat, clearly unfamiliar with talking so much with someone he didn't already know well. "I'm going for my master's actually, so I won't have time for a full time job."

Nic didn't know jack shit about nursing. She had made up that friend she had mentioned.

"You really like nursing, huh?"

Alpha just shrugged, but Nic could see the small smile that he swallowed back.

Nic slowly let her head fall back to rest on Alpha's shoulder, feeling his body tense under her before it slowly relaxed. She watched the movie, smiling slightly as the actors cracked corny jokes and managed to get into sticky situations every ten minutes. Every once in a while, Alpha would chuckle lowly, making her let out a small laugh of her own. She hadn't heard Alpha laugh this much in...

Ever.

There were still so many questions she all of a sudden wanted to ask. There were so many things she didn't know about him, so many things she didn't even know about the others. Come to think of it, she'd never had a single conversation with any of them about their or her family life. Maybe a few brief ones, but the fact that Athena had homophobic parents was honestly the most she knew.

Nic looked down at the strong hand resting on her thigh, wondering what Alpha's family was like. A heavy pit in her stomach told her that it was probably a bad idea to ask.

A few minutes later, the movie came to a sappy end, where the short balding man finally kissed his stunning, sweet ex-wife. Alpha chuckled, a rumbling sound that made his chest vibrate against Nic's back as his fingers reached for the laptop and fiddled with it.

"What do you want to watch next?" he asked her, catching her by surprise.

"Um... something horror, maybe," she replied.

"Alright, try not to hold my hand too hard," he said, sounding amused as he scrolled for movies.

Nic rolled her eyes. "I don't scare that easily," she proclaimed, and Alpha's hand tightened around her thigh.

"We'll see..." he mused, clicking on a movie and letting it play. He then moved the lap top between his legs. His hands shifted to Nic's hips, catching her by surprise when they lifted her and pulled her over with ease.

Nic landed between his spread legs, feelings arms wrap around her torso to pull her back tight against his flexed chest. Alpha's head dipped to the side of hers, mouth brushing against her ear as he whispered.

"If you get scared, I'll be holding you."

Nic's heart pounded against her chest, and she was sure that he could somehow hear it. She sat there, slightly dazed, trying to figure out if his words were supposed to be sexual or sweet.

The first scene played out on the screen, sharp blades slicing a woman's head clear off.

Stomach churning, Nic hoped it wasn't sexual.

As the movie progressed, Alpha's arms seemed to grow tighter around her. Nic wasn't sure if that was for her comfort or his, because every time something gory took place on screen, she'd flinch violently, but he'd gasp in shock.

"Oh, I don't think I'll be touching the popcorn," Nic nearly gagged when the killer cut open a man's abdomen and took an organ into his hands.

Alpha nodded, briefly moving an arm away from her to push the popcorn bowl away. He wrapped his arm back around her, resting his chin in the crook of her neck. He still hadn't shaved, so his light scruff scratched the sensitive skin on her neck. Nic tilted her head and rubbed her face against his ever so slightly, enjoying the feeling of his scruff against her cheek.

"What are you doing?" Alpha whispered, his hands moving to grab hold of her waist, fingers digging into her skin.

Nic froze, grateful for the dark room covering up her pink cheeks. She shifted her head away from him, feeling her embarrassment pool up in her tightening chest. She cleared her throat—"Sorry."

She couldn't see it, but Alpha frowned, looking confused. "No, I didn't mean it like that," he said, dipping his head back down to rest in her neck. He then winded as a body fell from forty stories up in the movie, flinching as it landed with a loud thud. "Shit..." he muttered into Nic's neck, burrowing nearly his entire face into it so that just his eyes could peek out and see what happened next.

Nic laugher lightly, moving her hands to rest on top of each of his and give them a light squeeze. "Look who's scared now," she teased, feeling his hands tighten their grip on her.

"I was just pretending to make you feel better," he responded arrogantly, and Nic could practically hear his smirk.

"You keep telling yourself that," she cooed, moving her hands back to rest in her lap.

Alpha didn't respond. He just pulled her tighter against him, if that was even possible. Nic grinned to herself despite the gory scenes before her eyes, catching herself sometimes flinching on purpose so that his fingers would rub circles on her skin.

She never thought he'd touch her like that. It was new, it was different. It was nice.

[dickd0c]

STRIKE

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN — “day five, part one”

"Who's Lucas?"

Nic's eyes shot open. She turned her head to see Alpha standing by her side of the bed, looking down at her phone that was resting on the bedside table. She frowned and turned onto her side, grabbing her phone.

"Were you going through my phone?" she asked accusatively, sitting up as she rubbed her bleary eyes.

"No," Alpha shrugged, face stoney. "I was just checking the time and saw his notification. What was he doing texting you at 1:00 AM?"

"Why does it matter?" Nic replied, giving him an odd look. "He's a friend, that's all."

"If he's a friend, why are you getting defensive?" Alpha retorted, narrowing those cold eyes down at her. He then shook his head and straightened his back. "Know what? Never mind, you're right. It really doesn't matter. But get ready, Athena wants to talk to all of us."

Nic watched Alpha walk away before she pulled her phone out and swiped it open.

Lucas Received 1:17 AM you there?

Lucas Sent 9:06 AM hey :) how was your interview btw?

Nic waited a few moments, about to turn her phone off and get up when the three little dots at the bottom of the screen popped up.

Lucas Received 9:07 AM morning :)

Lucas Received 9:07 not bad, they didn't seem to mind that I smelled like coffee

Lucas Sent 9:08 AM good, I hope we get to work together then

Nic smiled and turned her phone off, hurrying to her room to get ready. She didn't waste time just basking in the shower like she normally would, but got right to work scrubbing her body and washing her hair. She got dressed in the usual lounge shorts and sweat pants, choosing not to put any product in her wet hair as she walked out her room and towards the living room where she assumed everyone else would be.

She walked in and saw Riot and Athena already sitting there, and she plopped herself down on the empty loveseat.

"So... what did you wanna talk about?" Nic asked Athena, cross her legs and getting comfortable.

"Let's wait for Tank," she responded, looking a little irritated, though not at anyone in particular.

Alpha walked over from the kitchen with a glass of water, nestling into a seat beside Riot as he raised the cup to his lips. "What's taking him so long?" he mused, eyes momentarily flicking to Nic.

"You know how he is about his hair," Riot said with an amused smile, leaning back into the sofa.

Nic frowned, a confused expression on her face. "But it always looks messy," she noted.

"Floppy," Tank corrected, sounding clearly offended. Nic turned her head to see him walking into the living room with a pout on his face, giving a glare to everyone else. "It's floppy, not messy, and it takes effort." He plopped down onto the loveseat beside Nic with a grunt, sighing as he leaned into it.

Nic rolled her eyes, which made him nudge her playfully.

Athena cleared her throat, catching everyone's attention. Nic saw the distressed look on her face and frowned, concerned.

"Are you okay? What's going on?" she asked, leaning forward a little.

Athena sighed, glancing away before looking back and making eye contact with Nic. "My parents are throwing a party," she said mournfully, as if she had told Nic that her grandmother had just passed away.

Next to Nic, Tank inhaled a sharp breath like a hiss. Riot reached over to pat a comforting hand on Athena's back. Even Alpha had something close to a sympathetic look on his statuesque face. Meanwhile, Nic was sitting there befuddled.

"Is that a bad thing?" she asked, sounding dumb as hell.

Tank leaned over to mumble in her ear. "They're not on good terms," he explained, using his hands while talking. "Her parents aren't the type of homophobic parents to disown her. No, they're still in denial. And they're still trying to send her to conversion therapy."

Nic scowled fiercely, as if she were scowling to Athena's parents themselves. "They sound absolutely shitty," she decided, softening her gaze when Athena looked at her.

"Yeah, um, they're making me come," Athena sighed, massaging her temples with her hands. "Well, not making me, but I have to go. It's their anniversary, you know? But I can't go alone..."

It took the rest a few moments to realize what Athena was asking for, and then the room was filled with "of course!" and "anything for you" and "we'll make sure you don't have to talk to them." Nic smiled as reassuringly as she could as she watched Riot pull Athena into a side hug.

Then something struck her.

"Wait," she said suddenly, turning to Tank as her mind was filled with memories of the first time she talked to the four of them. They had told her that they couldn't tell her their "real" names, and somehow, Nic hadn't questioned it (I usually hate when ppl interrupt the story with their notes......but I can't......someone let me know how I forgot to bring up the whole real name shit....please don't rip on Nic in the comments RIP ON ME LMAO).

"What?" Tank turned to her, eyebrow quirked.

"Did your parents... really name you guys Tank, Alpha, Athena, and Riot?" she asked, an incredulous expression on her face.

Tank grinned that lopsided grin, a bellowing laughter escaping from his mouth attracting the attention of the other three people in the room. He turned to them, wiping a tear with his thumb, and said, "She thinks these are our real names!"

Nic quickly scrambled for recovery, trying to talk over the amused comments flying at her, saying, "No! I'm just wondering what they really are!"

Athena, now grinning widely, choked out a response amidst her laughter. "These are not our real names, how thick would our parents have to be? Though Athena is my middle name, so that's where we got mine from."

"So you guys chose these nicknames?" Nic asked, frowning.

"Yeah," Riot nodded, "and they kinda stuck. So we use them as aliases in protests, and even with each other. "

Kinda like the Marauders, Nic thought to herself. She was a bit of a Harry Potter nerd back in middle school, having bought the entire book series. They were soft covers, not hard covers, so she wasn't that crazy (yes, I am talking about myself).

"So... what are your names?" she asked softly, tilting her head.

Tank stuck his hand out for her to shake, doing so firmly when she slipped hers into it. "Kaden Slater! You can call me Kade, though I prefer Slater. Or just Tank. Tank's good too."

Nic grinned, shaking her head a little.

"Ivy," Athena said with a distracted smile. "Ivy Athena Fischer. Everyone usually calls me Athena, except for my parents." A distasteful look came on her face, but she quickly shook it away.

"Miles Forrester, pleased to meet you," Riot said with a friendly wink, making Nic laugh softly. "Riot's a childhood nickname."

Alpha cleared his throat. "Damon. Damon Hale," he said gruffly, making Nic strain to hear him clearly.

Damon. She liked that name, it suited him.

"I can remember this," she said with an uneasy chuckle, earning her small chuckles from the others. "Slater, Ivy, Miles, and Damon," she said, pointing at each respective person. "So when's the party?"

"This weekend," Athena replied glumly, pulling her knees to her chin. "In three days, on Saturday. It's a thirty minute drive, forty-five with traffic."

"We'll be there the whole time," Riot said, rubbing her back.

"I know, I know—but so will they."

After a few more minutes of comforting Athena, they all disbanded to do whatever they needed to do. Athena ran to the grocery store, saying she needed to distract herself, but Nic could just tell that she was really heading to the mall. Tank went out to the gym, complaining about how Riot made him miss his workout the day before he kept asking him to play video games. Riot rolled his eyes and retreated into his room to do who knows what—maybe play more video games. Damon did the same, closing his door with an excessively loud slam that made Nic jump in her spot and roll her eyes.

Nic followed suit, going into her room and shutting the door far more gently. She tossed herself onto her bed, whipping her phone out of her pocket and looking at her text messages. She ignored all of them, except for Lucas's.

Lucas Received 9:10 AM same. I  wonder who the third could be

Lucas Sent 11:28 AM probably not the girl who stormed out crying

Lucas Received 12:29 AM 😂😂 no probably not

Lucas Received 11:29 AM hey Nic?

Lucas Sent 11:29 AM what's up?

Nic frowned at her phone when she didn't get a reply back for a minute, then two minutes, and then three minutes. She sighed, about to toss it to the other end of her bed, when it suddenly started ringing. She squinted then brightened up when she saw the name displayed. Immediately, she pressed the little green button and brought the phone up to her ear.

"Hey!" she exclaimed, eyes bright, and then immediately started wondering if she sounded too enthusiastic. Perhaps a simple "hello" would have been better.

"Nic!" Lucas immediately greeted back. "How are you?"

"I'm good, thank you," Nic responded. Lucas was silent on his end for a few seconds, and Nic facepalmed as quietly as she could. What did you expect , huh? "I'm good, thank you," you're about as interesting as drywall.

"Listen, I was wondering..."

Nic straightened up when Lucas's warm voice met her ear again. She coughed out, "Yeah?"

With closed eyes, she could imagine him rubbing the back of his neck.

"Are you free this weekend? I thought maybe we could go out for coffee or something," he chuckled, sounding a bit nervous even through the phone.

Nic's mouth dropped, her eyes wide. She shook her legs in the air like a crazy person while racking her mind for the right thing to say.

"Uhh... hello?"

"Yes!" Too enthusiastic. She cleared her throat and sat up straight. "Yes, I am free, at least on Sunday. And I'd love to go out for coffee."

"Great! We'll probably know if we got the job by then. If we did, it'll be celebratory, if we didn't... let's turn coffee into drinks."

Nic laughed softly, rubbing her own neck with her hand. She was surprised to find her cheeks burning a little.

"I like your laugh," Lucas said quietly into the phone, making her cheeks tinge darker.

"Thank you," she said meekly, laying back down with her now-dried curly hair flailed around her head like the rays off the sun. "I like yours too."

"Nicy, I don't think I laughed." No, but he laughed while he was saying that, voice muffled by something that was probably his palm so he didn't embarrass her too much.

Nic paled, not even noticing the nickname, just completely horrified by her terrible brain-fart. "Oh..."

Lucas laughed again, clear and light-hearted, making Nic smile to herself shamefully. "Don't worry about it. I'll text you, we'll work the details out."

"Okay," Nic said, rubbing her hand on her forehead. "Have a great day," she said with a smile he could probably hear through the phone.

"You too, Nicy."

There was a click and the line disconnected. Nic hung up on her end, letting the phone fall out of her hand and beside her. She closed her eyes and smiled peacefully, thinking about Sunday when the door creaked open. She shot her head up and opened her eyes to see Alpha standing in her doorway with a quirked eyebrow.

"Who was that?" he asked, dragging his eyes up and down her body, eyes steely as ever. When they made eye contact again, Nic shivered. His jaw clenched before he spoke again. "Luke?"

Nic rolled her eyes. "Why do you care? And why were you eavesdropping?" she spat, sitting up with a huff and tugging the sleeves of her sweatshirt down to cover her hands.

"I wasn't," Alpha said with an annoyed huff, rolling his own eyes at her. "I was coming to ask if you wanted to watch a movie with me and heard you." His eyes looked a little offended, which was a new look on him.

"Oh," Nic said, eyes averting to the side awkwardly. She felt a little guilty, snapping at him like that, but he was clearly trying to provoke her.

"Whatever," Alpha said, his default smirk back on his face. "If you plan to keep that attitude you can keep taking to Luke. Maybe he'll cry on your shoulder. Find me if you wanna have some fun."

Nic threw a pillow at Alpha right as he ducked out of the doorway and closed the door, resulting with the pillow just hitting her door. She groaned in frustration, pummeling her fists against her mattress.

[dickd0c]

richard ❤️ as alpha ❤️ gives me hope

[dickd0c]

STRIKE

CHAPTER ONE — “kidnapped”

Nic couldn't hear herself shout, but everyone around her was yelling the same words anyway.

"No justice, no peace!" she shouted repeatedly, waving her sign in the air. She couldn't see much ahead of her, what with the balding man standing in her way.

The protesters were so crowded Nic could feel other people's sweat rubbing off on her. They started out pretty much social distancing, until the cops came and they all pressed together out of what was probably collective fear.

"Oh!" she exclaimed as she stumbled forward, throwing a glance back at the person who hadn't even noticed they had pushed her. Sighing and rolling her eyes, Nic steadied herself and decided to make her way to the front of the crowd. She cringed and she slinked between people, feeling their back sweat rub onto her arms. One of her hands was still up in the air holding the poster, leaving her in an awkward position as she moved.

God, D.C. people were so sweaty.

Nic slowed to a stop as the full White House finally came into her view. She glared up at it, imagining the president sitting in there, typing out some racist tweet to make peaceful protesters look like criminals.

Her brown eyes dropped to the pigs in front of her. Some of the cops were on the other side of the gate, but some of them were lined up, staring straight ahead as if they didn't notice the hordes of people.

She scowled at a particularly tall one, tilting her head to try to look at what she could assume were his evil eyes from behind the shield of his helmet. "What's with the getup?" she sneered, eyeing his riot gear up and down. "What, you're scared of a twenty-year-old girl?"

The cop didn't say a thing or even look down to her, but Nic swore she saw him shift uncomfortably.

"You're a piece of shit," she said under her breath, looking around at the people near her. Most of them were white or white-passing, keeping a barrier between the cops and the black protesters. However, one of them was a black man—no, a black boy. He looked like a teenager, though it was a little hard to tell with the yellow bandana tied around the lower half of his face. His finger was practically in a cops face, and though Nic couldn't hear anything over the chanting, she could practically imagine the impassioned speech he was giving.

Shooting one last nasty glare at that tall cop, Nic sidled over to the teenager, straining her ears to hear his words. She barely got within two feet of him when the cop he was talking to suddenly grabbed the teenager's hand.

Panicking, Nic froze for a second, watching the cop tug the poor teenager away from the rest of the crowd. The next thing she knew, Nic had lunged for them, tugging the teenager away as much as she could. A few other protesters realized what was going on and started pulling at the teenager too, but the other cops had stepped in as well. Some were trying to pull Nic off of the boy, and she was about to turn and push the cop holding on to him, when something hit her over the head. Hard.

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

Everything felt fuzzy when Nic finally started waking up.

Her head felt fuzzy. She so desperately wanted to lift her hand and feel the throbbing spot in the back, but her body refused to move. From what she could tell, she was sitting up. Her hearing was a little fuzzy. There was a distinct humming in the back, but it didn't sound human. Though she did hear some voices, but the words weren't clear. Nic tried to pry her eyes open, but it seemed like her body just wanted her to go back to sleep.

Her hearing was starting to clear, though, and people seemed to be arguing with each other.

"It's not too late to put her back!" The voice was male, gruff.

"Put her back?"  Another male. "No way. Anyway, we're already an hour out. We're almost there."

"Then we never should've picked her up."

"Is that a joke?" a third voice asked. "Because I'm the funny one for a reason."

Though Nic was still frozen, she could feel herself beginning to panic. Her heart started speeding up, blood rushing through her ears. Her body tensed up a little as she racked her mind trying to remember how she might have gotten into this situation. All she remembered was that teenager and then blacking out. Were they the ones that hit her over her head? Her breath got caught in her throat—what were these men planning to do to her?

"Can you guys stop arguing for one minute?" Nic nearly let out a sigh of relief hearing a woman's voice from in front of her. "Anyway, we'll be there in fifteen minutes, so you better change unless you want to walk into the apartment looking like that."

"Change... in the van?" the second male spoke, his voice clear but confused.

Van. That explained the humming.

"Where else?"

"In front of the girl?" the third voice piped up.

There was a moment of silence before the woman spoke. "She's knocked out. Now strip."

The girl forced herself to stay still and "asleep" as she heard rustling from around her. She tried not to flinch every time someone made a loud noise. As far as she knew, these were her kidnappers and were looking for some money from her family.

Something that felt like cloth fell on Nic's foot. Instinctively, she pulled her foot away, only realizing what she did far too late.

"The girl's awake!"

Immediately, the van swerved to a stop. Nic braced herself, expecting a crash, but felt nothing. After a few awkward moments, she forced her eyes open. She had to blink a few times to get rid of those spots, but slowly she lifted her head to see two of the male voices she heard beside her.

Nic honestly didn't know how she didn't scream. Her jaw dropped, though, when she saw them. They were dressed head to toe in riot gear, complete with helmets that left literally everything about them to her imagination. She shifted her eyes to the front, seeing the third male in the passenger seat and the woman in the driver's, all four people dressed the same, though the woman didn't have her helmet on.

"What's your name?" the man closest to her bent down just slightly, probably because he was too tall to stand in the van. As he bent, his long brown dreadlocks fell over his shoulder.

Mouth opening and closing like a fish, she finally blurted out, "You won't get much of a ransom out of me. My family isn't that rich."

The man stared at her—or at least that's what Nic was guessing, considering she couldn't see his eyes. He glanced at some of his friends before looking back at her, hands up in surrender. "We didn't kidnap you. Well, not really. You passed out or something and nobody else was picking you up."

"Did you go alone?" the man behind the one with dreadlocks spoke up.

Nic nodded slowly, letting her tense body loosen up. Her eyes rapidly switched between each helmet clad person before glancing out the window, realizing just how late at night it was.

"So what's your name?" the dreadlocks man asked again, his voice respectful as he sat back down. Even sitting, he towered over Nic.

"Anica," she croaked, before clearing her throat. "Anica Jean."

"Okay, well don't worry Anica. You can stay at our place for the night. You got a nasty hit on your head," the man said, and his voice told Nic that he was smiling.

"Call me Nic," she replied quietly, shrinking away from him.

"Oh, for goodness sake," the woman sighed, turning around so Nic could see her face. She looked around Nic's age with her black hair worn naturally, dark brown skin blemish-free, and brown eyes fierce. "Are you dim? Take the helmet off, you're freaking her out."

"Is that a good idea?" the man asked somewhat nervously.

"Just do it."

Nic watched cautiously as he took his helmet off, trying her best not to react when she finally saw his face. He was attractive, no doubt, as he brushed a dreadlock out of his browned face. He had a little stubble on his jaw, but it looked good, not gross. His hazel eyes searched her, as if trying to gauge her reaction either his face or the entire situation.

The other two men took their helmets off as well, though Nic didn't catch a great look at them as the van started up again.

"You promise you're not kidnapping me?"

"Believe me, this is the last thing I wanted," the man in the passenger seat muttered.

[dickd0c]

STRIKE

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN — “day four, pt two”

Nic felt badass the entire car ride home. She was 90% sure she was going to get the job, and that exhilarated her. She was a powerful woman, she could do anything.

"How'd it go?!" Athena leapt and practically screeched in her face when she opened the front door.

Nic grinned. "Oh, not so bad," she said in a floaty voice. "I don't find out until the next few days, but I'm feeling confident."

Tank locked her in a loose chokehold, ruffling up her hair and saying, "My girl's got brains."

Riot wrapped her in a hug, murmuring a muffled congratulations into her hair before letting go.

You are a strong, independent woman, Nic complimented herself smugly as she walked down the hall to her room.

She opened her door to see a shirtless man standing and looking out her window, his insane back muscles rippling as he raised an arm to mess up his hair. When Alpha turned his head just the slightest to look at her, she could see a smirk dragging across his pink lips.

Nic's heart skipped a beat, but she walked into her room as confident as ever, tossing her portfolio onto her bed. She locked her door quietly before stepping in front of her mirror, pretty much checking herself out in the business casual clothes she'd be wearing more often soon enough. She turned to the side, checking out how her behind looked in her pencil skirt.

"That's a tight skirt," Alpha notes in his raspy voice, but Nic pretended she didn't hear it.

She pretended he wasn't there.

Nic untucked here blouse from her skirt, pulling it over her head to leave her torso bare except for a plain nude bra. She didn't even glance at Alpha, who sucked in a harsh breath, before dragging the zipper on her skirt down til it loosened. She shimmied the skirt down her thighs until it fell on it own and looked around her ankles. Nic stepped out of the skirt and picked it up, grabbing her blouse as well. She threw those onto her chair, figuring they'd be good for at least one more wear.

So then Nic stood in front of her mirror in a nude bra and black panties, feeling sexy and powerful even without a matching set of underwear. She dragged her hands down her sides, dipping them with her waist.

"Nic, what are you doing?" Alpha said in a low and dangerous voice, taking a few short steps away from the window and towards her.

Nic took one last look at herself before turning to her dresser where she kept her more comfortable clothes. She bent down more than what was necessary, dragging a draw her open and picking out a nice pair of grey lounge shorts and a black sweatshirt to pair.

"Nic," Alpha pressed, taking another few steps forward. He clearly didn't like being ignored.

Nic threw the clothes onto her bed, reaching to her shoulder for her bra strap. She's be wearing a sweatshirt, so nobody would be able to tell if she was wearing a bra or not. With steady fingers, she pulled her bra strap down her left shoulder and pulled her arm through. She did the sane on the right.

"Anica."

Nic reaches behind herself for the bra clasps. With nimble fingers, she undid the clasps, and her bra fell to the ground. She swiftly kicked it away, turning her eyes back to the clothes on her bed.

A strong hand grabbed her jaw, forcing her head to turn and face Alpha. His pupils had dilated, making his steel grey eyes look pitch black and dangerous. Nic was surprised that his eyes didn't drop lower than her lips, even with her breasts out in the open. No, they were skimming her face and examining each and every detail of it, making her feel just as exposed as if his hands were traversing her body.

"How'd it go?" he asked her, his eyes distracted by her lips when she wet them with the tip of her tongue.

"Fine," Nic said, tilting her head up a little more. "Though your constant notifications didn't help."

Alpha gave her a warning look, but it didn't phase Nic. His hands moved to wrap around her bare torso, pushing her against his. He bent his head down to press his lips against hers, and Nic couldn't help but to loosen up in his grip. His lips worked at hers hungrily, feverish against smooth. He seemed to have forgotten to shave that morning, because she could feel a light scruff scratching against her soft cheeks. One of Alpha's hands dipped down her back to grab her ass, squeezing it harshly. Nic gasped, and his tongue pushed through her parted lips to wrestle with hers.

Too soon, he pulled away, leaving Nic's lipstick smudged.

"I'm going to make you feel good. Is that okay?" he asked her, but for some reason it sounded like a command.

"Yes," Nic replied instantly, lifting her chest in mild pride when her voice didn't come out as a whisper or a whimper.

"On the bed, panties off," he ordered simply, turning around to face the wall opposite the bed.

Nic wasted no time scrambling onto her bed, positioning herself so her back was against all her pillows. She took the panties off and threw them in the direction of where her bra was laying on the floor, closing her legs immediately. She looked up to see Alpha's back muscles contracting as he unbuckled his pants and pulled them down, leaving him in briefs.

He turned around to face Nic, mercilessly dragging his eyes up and down her naked body. He then set a knee onto the bed, leaning forward and grabbing her by the ankles to pull her body closer to him. Nic yelped as she felt her entire. body being dragged a foot or two forward, propping herself up onto her elbows to see.

Alpha set his hand on the inside of Nic's thigh, keeping steady eye contact with her as she slowly dragged the hand higher and higher. One of his fingers dragged a slow, torturous stroke up her center. Nic bit her lip, her head falling back and her eyes rolling shut.

"Wet already..." Alpha mused in a quiet voice that barely reached Nic.

His fingers continued stroking her, avoiding the one place where she really needed him. Alpha slowly climbed further up the bed so his hand was still between Nic's thighs and his face was inches from hers. His head dipped down until his lips met Nic's collarbones, kissing that spot right above them. His lips worked a wet trail from her collarbone, up her neck, under her jaw, and stopped at her ear.

"You know what I did this morning?" he rasped against her ear as his fingers finally rose higher to press against her most sensitive bundle of nerves.

Nic immediately arched her back, one of her legs slowly rising off her bed as she felt his sturdy hands rub circles around her clit. Keeping as quiet as possible, she started panting, feeling warmth spread through her.

"I came thinking about you," he groaned against her ear, pushing his clothed member against her thigh at the same pace his finger rubbed and flicked her clit.

Nic's mouth hung open as she shifted her hips against his hand. Her chest grew tighter, her speeding heart picking up its pace.

"I was thinking about your long legs wrapped around my waist," he muttered, warm breath spreading over her ear, "or my cock shoved between those pretty little lips... or your tight pussy clenching around me. Fuck, it makes me hard just thinking about it now."

Sure enough, she could feel his clothed cock on her thigh grow harder and bigger. Nic gasped when she felt two fingers slip into her suddenly, tightening herself around them.

"Relax," Alpha whispered in her ear, and trembling, Nic did her best to relax her muscles.

Alpha's fingers pumped in and out of her, curling up inside of her to hit that one specific spot. Nic writhed under his touch, making him pull himself off of her so that the could balance on his knees. He put his free hand on her stomach, forcing her body to stay on the bed. His other hand picked up its pace, pumping so fast and so hard that with each movement, a small whimper left Nic's mouth.

And then his hand was gone, making her open her eyes and look to see what was wrong. When she looked, Alpha was kneeling on the ground. He grabbed her legs and pulled her closer to him again so that her ass was nearly hanging off the bed.

"Don't worry, babygirl, I'll let you come this time. But not just yet. I can't make you feel good until I taste you again..."

Alpha gave her a cruel smirk before his face dipped between her thighs. He moved her legs to rest over his shoulders before his lips finally met her dripping center. Nic let out a small cry, gripping behind her desperately for a pillow as his warm tongue flattened against her clit. She grabbed a pillow, holding onto it desperately as she clamped her teeth around it.

Alpha's fingers dug into the flesh of her thighs as he groaned against her core, sending vibrations up her body that made her nipples harden and cut into the air. His tongue began moving in a slow pattern, flicking her nerves. Nic let out her frantic moans into the pillow, pressing it so close to her face she could barely breathe.

His tongue started lapping her up more aggressively, his mouth moving like he was devouring his favorite and last meal, like he couldn't get enough. Every muscle in Nic's body tightened and loosened in a repeated cycle as she curled her toes up tightly, legs starting to shake. She whimpered with every growl, grunt, and groan he made against her, the thrill shooting up her spine similar to the fingers he slowly slid back into her.

Nic's fingers grasped the pillow cover as she pushed it against herself, feeling overwhelmed in the best way possible as she felt his mouth suck on her hypersensitive clit while his powerful fingers worked wonders curling up inside of her body. Nic opened her eyes with a gasp when he scraped his teeth ever so slightly right above her nerves, but found her vision blurred. Her entire body felt like she was riding down a rollercoaster with nothing tying her down to it.

She blinked a few times, lifting her head to look at Alpha as her vision slightly cleared. You're a strong, independent woman, she reminded herself, but that view of Alpha's thick, messy waves peeping out from between her thighs was enough to make her consider being a weak, dependent cock-sucker.

"Fuck, Nica. You taste fucking amazing," he mumbled against her, his tongue resuming a flicking pattern against her bundle of nerves.

Nic groaned into her pillow in response, back arching as that familiar swirling sensation in her belly started to boil up. The feeling roaming throughout her entire body and gathering up especially in her core felt reality warping, like nothing else she'd felt before.

Alpha's fingers picked up their pace, hitting her most sensitive spot inside her with each and every thrust.

"I can't wait until it's my cock and not my fingers drenched inside of you," he groaned quietly, his voice making Nic's abdomen tighten and muscles constrict, her entire body trembling.

She couldn't control it. Her body was shaking, her legs were practically spasming, and her muffled moans were increasing by octave. She vaguely registered Alpha saying something to her, but she couldn't hear shit over the sound of her own blood rushing through her ears and her heart thumping against her chest. She threw her head back and screamed silently into her pillow as the pressure that had been building up in her body felt like it finally exploded, sending euphoria, adrenaline, and ecstasy like battery acid all through her veins.

If this was what drugs felt like, she truly couldn't blame the addicts.

Alpha didn't slow his face, though he lifted his head to watch Nic's body contort in pleasure while she rode out her orgasm on his fingers. The ringing in her ears didn't subside even when her intoxicating orgasm came to a slow. She faintly felt Alpha's fingers slide out of her body and his body disappear from her legs, letting them fall down and hit the side of her bed. She closed her eyes and let her head fall to the side, waiting for the ringing in her ears and lightning shooting in her veins to slowly subside.

When she finally felt like moving too much wouldn't give her tunnel vision, she opened her eyes to see Alpha standing against the wall, staring down at her in amusement. Somewhat embarrassed, she closed her legs and pushed the pillow that had been her lifeline down to cover as much of her body as she could.

Her eyes fell down a little to see Alpha's hard-on still straining against his briefs, and she gulped, remembering what he said about his cock inside of her. It sounded wonderful, but there was no way she could take it after the orgasm she just had and manage to come out in one piece.

"I'm gonna go take a shower," he said in that raspy voice, making Nic gasp when his hand slid down to his crotch and lightly started palming himself. "You're welcome to join—it might make things faster."

He smirked at her mischievously before turning and walking away into her bathroom. Moments later, Nic heard the shower turn on, and she closed her eyes to think about what he must be doing to himself in there. She realized quickly that he never locked the door, and the thought itself was enough to make her break out in embarrassed giggles.

Goddamn.

[dickd0c]

STRIKE

CHAPTER FIFTEEN — “day three, pt two”

To Nic's frustration, they didn't go back to the apartment after lunch.

Since she said the safe word, he hadn't turned the vibrator back on, but knowing that it was in her and could switch on at any moment infuriated her. He thwarted her every attempt of taking it out, including physically dragging her away from restrooms.

It was two o'clock when they finished lunch and when they decided to watch a movie in the theater before going back to the apartment. Alpha was the one who enthusiastically suggested the movie they ended up watching. He didn't mention anything about it being three and a half hours long, but Nic had a feeling that that was it's biggest appeal to him.

The movie started at 2:30, so they had to speed to the theater. Despite arriving only five minutes before it started, they were able to get tickets with ease. Probably because nobody in their right mind would opt to watch a movie that long. Upon entering the theater, Nic quickly realized that she was right. It was practically entirely empty, most of the viewers in the front.

Alpha grabbed her wrist as they walked in, forcing her to trail further behind the others. He walked slower, watching then get seats further down in the middle before dragging Nic into seats at the top.

"What are you doing?" Nic hissed as the lights went out.

"I like these seats," he smirked, making a point out of turning to face the massive screen and watching the advertisements with great interest.

Nic rolled her eyes to herself, knowing full well that he made her sit fifteen rows behind the closest person so he could torture her. And she knew she wouldn't want to stop him.

As the advertisements and opening credits faded away, the movie began. Nic flinched at how loud the volume was, not expecting the movie to start out like that. She watched the roaring cars race past each other on an empty highway, frowning as she wondered why in hell the drivers were doing that.

Next to her, Alpha chuckled lowly, but Nic could barely heard him over the volume. He leaned in close to her ear, lips brushing against it as he spoke, "That's cute, princess, you really think I'm going to let you concentrate on that movie."

Nic's stomach flipped, but she forced herself to focus on the screen. Objects and people flew past her eyes, but she honestly didn't register anything that was going on. Her mind was occupied with the strong hand slowly edging from her knee up to her thigh.

"You're so annoying," she whispered, trying to ignore his burning gaze.

His hand squeezed on her thigh. "Take that back."

"No."

"Take it back, Anica," he voice dropped an octave, raspy in Nic's ear. She shuddered, but wouldn't relent.

"Make me, Alpha."

"One last chance, or I promise I'll make you regret it."

His husky voice was warm on her neck but sent chills down her spine.

"Didn't I say make me?"

Alpha chuckled darkly, almost as if he'd been hoping she'd say something like that. Nic watched out of the corner of her eyes as he stepped out of his seat. He swiftly moved to stand in front of her, blocking her vision of the screen. Nic moved her head, trying to see past him. Her heart was pounding in her chest. Despite her blatant avoidance, Alpha leaned down and out two fingers under her chin, forcing her to look up to him. He leaned in and pressed his lips to hers, kissing her deeply for a few seconds before pulling apart.

Even in the dim lighting, Nic could see the raging fire in his eyes.

"Say the word and I'll stop. And if you don't..." He hesitated, eyes lingering on her lips, "I'll do anything and everything I want to you."

Alpha knelt down in front of Nic's legs which were pressed together. With surprisingly gentle hands, he eased them apart, letting him move his body between them. Nic clutched the arms of her seat tightly, barely blinking as she stared at the screen. What was even going on in the movie? All she was registering from it was the loud noises. Loud enough to cover up her noises.

Nic bit her lip when she felt him hook his fingers around her panties. She lifted her hips up slightly, letting him peel them off her. He lifted her feet one by one to completely take them off. Alpha then grabbed her legs, pulling her to the edge of her seat. He pulled her legs over his shoulders, glanced up to give a smirk to the girl who refused to look anywhere but at the screen, and picked up the hem of her dress to duck his head under it.

Before Nic felt lips on her heat, before she felt a tongue in her nerves, she felt that familiar vibrating feeling. She cursed silently, knowing that Alpha was probably playing with the settings. Nic grasped the arms of her seat tighter, clamping her lips together as the vibrating rocked her core. Then, and despite herself, she let out a pleased sigh.

Alpha's lips had finally found her pussy. Nic curled her toes as his tongue dragged painfully slowly through her slit. She forced herself not to buck her hips towards him. His tongue dipped deep inside of her, moving in precise circles that hit each and every side of her inner walls, making Nic bit her lip so hard she drew blood. She lifted her hips just slightly.

Alpha's hands immediately found her hips, pushing them down to the seat forcefully. Nic let out a gasp as the vibrating inside her sped up, one of the vibratory humming against her g spot. She arched her back, lifting one of her legs higher than the other. Alpha turned his head just slightly, the new angle making all the difference as a soft whimper left her lips. His tongue worked faster, lapping her up as her pussy grew wetter and wetter. Nic couldn't stop herself—her trembling hands left the sides of her seat and grabbed Alpha's hair, tugging as hard as she could. Alpha groaned in response, sending sublime vibrations all the way up Nic's body.

Then his lips latched onto her clit.

Nic ground her hips in Alpha's face, whimpering and twitching every time his tongue flicked her clit. She felt the vibrators speed up once more. The combination of the vibrations and Alpha's mouth working amazing wonders on her clit was too much for her to handle. A small moan floated past her lips, and if she had been somewhere where nobody else could hear her, that moan would have been loud and full.

A few moments later, Nic could feel it coming. That feeling of euphoria was starting to build and build, and Nic could tell that this orgasm was going to be one of the best of her life. Her legs began twitching, her hands tugged on his hair tighter.

"Oh, I'm gonna c—"

The vibrating stopped. His tongue pulled away. That built up feeling of absolute pleasure drained dawat, leaving Nic panting, wide-eyed, and very upset.

"What?" she whispered, watching Alpha rising from his spot on the ground. "Why?" she asked, her voice cracking.

Alpha smiled at her coldly, in a way that was half a smirk. He leaned down to her, grabbing her jaw tightly and smashing his lips against hers. Nic's tongue played with his for a few moments before he pulled away.

"Do you regret it?" he asked in his raspy voice, cold grey eyes burning holes in her head.

"What?" she whispered, bewildered and frustrated.

"Not taking it back."

Nic's eyes widened, but she said nothing.

"I swear, Nica, if you don't start using your words..." Alpha said in an exasperated voice, letting her imagine what the rest of his sentence might be.

"I regret it," she whispered, heart pounding wildly.

"Good," Alpha smirked, sitting back down beside her all casually.

"Wait," Nic suddenly remembered, pressing her legs together, "my panties, where are they?"

"Oh, they're safe in my pocket," Alpha replied casually, taking great interest in the movie.

"Oh. Can I have them?"

Alpha's smirk spread broad across his face, his finger tip dragging across his lower lip.

"No."

[dickd0c]

STRIKE

CHAPTER THREE — “reciprocate”

Breakfast wasn't fun.

Nic pretty much waddled out of Tank's room and into the kitchen, where Athena and Riot were already there and clearly trying their hardest to muffle their laughter. Glowering, Nic plopped herself down onto a chair, wincing when she hit it hard.

"Sleep well?" Riot asked, his voice wavering as he tried so respectfully not to laugh at the girl he just met.

"Wonderfully," Nic grumbled, resting her head in her palm as her eyes drifted off. Closing her eyes briefly, she remembered what Tank looked like hovering over her with a hand enclosed around her throat and his dick wrecking her pussy. She opened her eyes with a shake, clearing her throat as she hoped nobody could read her mind.

"Protest was cancelled today," Athena said glumly as she slid a bowl of cereal over to Nic, who gladly took it. "There's going to be shit weather all day."

As Nic looked outside, she nodded at the heavy rain rattling the windows.

"Which means we can't bring you to your home either," Riot pointed out, though he didn't look too upset about that as his hazel eyes sparkled at her.

"I think I lost my phone in the protest," Nic sighed, playing with the ends of the shirt. "I'll have to buy a new one."

"Morning, everyone!" Tank strolled into the room, clearly happy. "How did everyone sleep? I, personally, had a wonderful night."

Riot let out an amused snort, finishing up the milk in the bottom of his bowl of cereal.

Biting her tongue to keep from saying anything rude, Nic glared down at her cereal. She didn't regret any of the events that took place the night before. No, if anything, she wouldn't mind reliving them. But all the other occupants of the apartment now knew what her moans sounded like.

Nic looked up at Athena, who was wearing a low-cut top, at Tank, with his bulging muscles, and at Riot, with his towering height.

And they were all attractive. Nic wasn't sure if that made it worse or better.

Alpha walked into the kitchen, stretching his back. His wavy black hair wasn't sweaty like yesterday, but messy in a stylized way. "Can you try to be quieter next time?" he asked bluntly, not even sparing Nic a glance as he opened their fridge to take out the orange juice.

"I'm going to go shower!" Nic yelped, nearly stumbling over herself as she escaped the kitchen as quickly as possible, not wanting to stay long enough to hear more embarrassing remarks.

Face burning red, Nic slammed the bathroom door shut behind her. Eyes closed, the girl slumped against the door, calming herself down. With an exhale, she pushed herself off the door and began to strip herself of her—well, Athena's—clothes. Naked, the girl turned the shower on, waiting for the temperature to become nice and scalding, before she stepped inside, washing the sex from the night before off of her skin.

Once done cleansing herself, Nic turned the shower off, reaching behind the curtain for her towel. After a few moments of aimlessly patting around for it, she froze in realization.

She had forgotten a towel. And fresh clothes.

"Shit," Nic cursed quietly, putting her hands on her hips. Hopefully, someone was out in the hallway and could hand her a towel, right?

Sighing aggressively, the girl stepped out of the shower, shivering at the cold air biting her skin and hardening her nipples.

Carefully, Nic cracked the bathroom door open, peering out into the hallway. Nothing. Not a single noise nor a single person. She figured they must have all still been in the kitchen. Forcing herself not to panic, she crossed her arms around herself, wondering what else she could do.

Across the hallway, she saw a door. Brightening up, Nic realized it was a door to a bedroom. Nic wasn't sure whose, but that didn't matter if everyone was still in the kitchen.

Making sure nobody was about to go down the hallway, Nic made a run for it, opening the door and closing it behind her as fast as she could.

"Nic?"

Nic swiveled around, cursing when she found herself face to face with riot. He was only four feet away, and like a gentleman, he kept his hazel eyes above her collarbones. Nic smiled awkwardly, using an arm to wrap around her chest and her other hand to cover her lower bits.

"I'm so sorry," Nic stuttered, giving him a pained look as she pressed herself against the door.

Riot have her an awkward smile back glancing around the room before heading into his bathroom. When he walked out, he tossed Nic a towel that she caught and pressed against herself as quickly as possible, noticing it was oddly short.

"Did you forget to grab a towel?" he asked, eyes dropping to Nic's now covered chest.

"Yea." Nic said shamefully, crossing her arms, "and I forgot to get clothes from Athena."

Riot smiled, chuckling softly. "Wait here. I'll grab you something."

Nic nodded, smiling slightly as Riot walked past her. Her eyes followed him out the door, taking note of their height difference. He wasn't as tall as Tank, but tall nonetheless.

Nic looked around the room. It was mostly barren, but Riot had some things put around. There was small picture frame on top of his bedside table. Nic walked over, hands placed tightly on the towel, and bent over to look at the picture. In it were four people Nic recognized to be Athena, Alpha, Riot, and Tank, but all maybe a bit younger. Nic wondered how long they had been friends.

From behind her, Nic heard the sound of something dropping.

Turning around, she saw Riot with his jaw dropped and his eyes lowered. Nic immediately blushed, realizing with her bent over like that he must have seen more of her than expected.

Though not nearly as much as he saw when she first walked in.

He bent down to pick up the clothes he had brought her, and when he straightened back up and looked Nic in the eye, she saw a glint in his eyes that she had never seen before. His hazel eyes which were usually so bright and rather innocent, had darkened.

"It's almost as if you do this on purpose," he scoffed, smiling slightly as he walked over to Nic with the clothes.

Nic opened her mouth to speak, but she didn't have any words to offer.

"You know, I heard you last night," he said in a light voice, but his eyes were still dark. "You were really loud."

Nic pushed herself back against the nightstand, watching Riot stalk over to her like a predator. One of her hands clutched her towel tightly.

"Was he really that good?" he asked, tilting his head as he stopped just a bit in front of Nic. She tried to reach for the clothes clutched tightly in his hand, but he simply tossed them onto his bed. "Tell me. Was he?"

Holy shit, Nic thought to herself, quivering under Riot's intoxicating stare, why is everyone in this house so... horny? Not that I'm complaining...

"I said, tell me."

Nic gasped when Riot slammed his hands down on the nightstand, just inches away from her body. There was something burning in his eyes, something in between fury and passion, and it was making that spot below her stomach churn.

"I—" Nic was at a loss for words, trying to figure out what Riot wanted to hear from her.

"He made you moan pretty loud, didn't he?" Riot pressed, suddenly lifting Nic up and setting her down so she was fully sitting on the nightstand. One of his hands was snaking up the edge of the towel, brushing against her thigh.

Nic swallowed, her throat dry, as she nodded tentatively. Her eyes dropped to her thigh, where Riot's large hand was pushing it away from her other leg.

"But did he make you scream?" he whispered in her ear, nibbling gently on her earlobe. Nic shivered, pressing her chest up against his.

"N-no," she said weakly, so consumed by the man in front of her she forgot to hold onto the towel. It didn't fall down, but it hung loose on her.

"No, sir," Riot corrected, tightening his grip on her thigh.

"No, sir," Nic said breathlessly.

Riot smirked before pulling away from her. He took a few quick steps to the door, closing it and locking it. When Nic blinked, he was right back in front of her, eyes on her chest.

"I don't think you need this anymore," he said, peeling the white towel off of Nic's body before she could even respond.

Nic shuddered when he lifted her up to remove the towel, throwing that on the bed along with the clothes. When he looked at her again, she was fully naked and exposed to him.

Normally, in a situation like this, Nic's first instinct would be to cover herself with whatever is nearest. However, Riot had already seen her naked just moments ago, not to mention her experience last night that left her wishing for more of it.

"Do you think I can make you scream?" he asked innocently, reaching behind Nic to remove the lamp and the photo from off of the nightstand, placing those on the bed as well.

"I'm not sure," Nic replied truthfully, squeezing her legs closed as she leaned back to rest her palms on the nightstand. "You might just have to prove it, sir."

With a smirk, Riot knelt down in front of Nic, parting her tightly squeezed legs with ease. Nic curled her toes, watching Riot examine her most sensitive body part. Carefully, he moved her forward a little, positioning her legs so they hung over his shoulders.

"Did I do this to you?" he asked quietly, taking one of his long fingers and dragging it through the wet folds of Nic's pussy.

She gasped slightly, curling her toes and wishing for more. Nic tightened her legs over his shoulder, pushing closer to her center.

With a chuckle, Riot let his finger slip into her. He curled it inside her body, making her arch her back just a little. A moment later, there were two fingers inside of her, then three, making a small moan tumble past her lips. Riot's movements were slow, pumping his fingers in and out of her pussy at the most excruciating rate possible, all the while watching Nic's face contort with massive pleasure and mild pain.

All of a sudden, his thumb found her clit, eliciting a yelp from Nic's mouth. As he started to pick up his pace, his thumb rubbed circles around her nerves, making her grip the edges of the nightstand like it was her lifeline. He pressed hard against her clit, and Nic threw her head back in pleasure.

"Fuck," she moaned, grinding her hips against his hand as best as she could. All of a sudden, his mouth was on her clit while his fingers pumped in and out of her at a faster pace. His scruff rubbed against the inside of her thighs, sending shivers up her body. One of Nic's hands found his dreadlocks, twisting them in her hand as he sucked hard on her tender clit. He sucked it, flicked it with his tongue, even gently ran his teeth against it. "Please," Nic begged, tugging as hard as she could on his hair, making him hiss against her.

This only made Riot slow his pace again, smirking against her.

Nic groaned in frustration. "Please, sir," she repeated herself, feeling as though she were close to tears.

"What do you want, baby?" Riot asked, pulling his fingers out of her. He reached a hand up and moved Nic's chin so she was forced to watch him. As soon as her heavy-lidded eyes met his, he stuck his fingers in his mouth one by one, licking them clean.

Panting, Nic moved one of her hands up to her breast. In the cold hair, her nipple was hard as she played with it. "Make me scream," she pleaded, squeezing her nipple with a whimper. "Make me come."

That was all Riot needed to hear. His head buried back in between Nic's legs, he picked her up with ease, slamming her back against the wall next to the nightstand as she stayed up only by his hands right above her ass and her legs tight over his shoulders.

Nic buried her hands back in his hair as his tongue started lapping up all of her juices, eliciting a non-stop moan from her mouth. She thrust her hips forward, trying to get Riot's tongue as deep inside her as it could go.

"Shit," she groaned, her breathing shallow. One of her hands leaving his hair to move to her clit. Slowly, she rubbed in circles, shaking at the stimulation.

Immediately, Riot smacked her hand away, roughly scraping his teeth against her hypersensitive bundle of nerves. Nic shouted, tugging on Riot's hair as he alternated between lapping up her dripping pussy and roughly scraping or flicking her clit.

"Oh, I'm so close," she sighed breathlessly, massaging her breasts with one hand as Riot's hands on her ass tightened their grip.

Nic's legs started shaking as her orgasm began to come near. Loud moans filled the room, slowly turning louder and louder as she was screaming incomprehensible words, feeling Riot suck on her clit.

"Riot!" she screamed, bucking her hips, throwing her head back, and curling her toes as the orgasm took over her entire body. Riot didn't seem to care, only attacking her clit more aggressively, over-stimulating her. He kept going, giving her what must have been the longest orgasm she had ever head, until Nic couldn't take it anymore. With one hand, she pushed his forehead back, panting loudly.

Looking slightly dazed, Riot dropped Nic onto the floor carefully so that she landed on her feet. He pushed her against the wall and kissed her deeply, letting her taste herself all over his lips and tongue. One of his hands snaked up, giving one of her nipples a painful squeeze, before he pulled away, leaving Nic slumped against his wall.

"Normally I ask girls to reciprocate," he said, picking up the clothes he had brought her from his bed. "But I think I want to save something for next time."

[dickd0c]

STRIKE

CHAPTER TEN — “vanilla”

"I-I thought Athena said no fourth base," Nic gaped, the tiredness suddenly leaving her body.

Riot smirked. "I never said anything about fucking," he corrected her, slowing standing up onto his feet. "I just said to sleep in his bed. That's all."

Nic tried to move a hand to brush a stray lock of her hair out of her face, but she quickly remembered the handcuffs around her wrists. Cautiously, her eyes drifted over to Alpha. His jaw was pressed tight, the muscles flexing, but his light grey eyes were bored as ever.

"Sure," he shrugged, standing up as well.

"Good, then," Athena chirped with a smile. "Goodnight everybody!" She leaned in to wink at Nic. "Sleep well."

With shaking legs, Nic followed Alpha to his room. He walked fast, making it hard for her to keep up. When he opened the door, he walked in a few feet before turning around to look at her.

Nic became extremely conscious of how she looked. Her hands were cuffed behind her back—with his allegedly stolen handcuffs—her breasts were basically exposed through her skimpy lingerie, her nike pros were barely hiding her bottom half, and her hair was a wild mess.

Alpha glanced down at Nic's chest not bothering to hide the way he licked his lips. "You can borrow one of my shirts," he said in his deep voice, retreating into his bathroom.

Nic stood in the center of his room for a few moments, taking in the scent. It smelled like his cologne mingled with sex, which reminded her of the way those noises woke her up early in the morning. The lighting in the room was also dim. Shaking her head, she walked over to the closet next to his dresser, wondering how massive his shirts would be on her.

As Nic slid the closet door open with her door, her mouth fell open at the sight. Embarrassed by what she was praying was a trick her eyes were playing on her, Nic went bright red, raking her eyes over the closet's contents.

Rather than clothes, the closet was filled with sex toys. It made her little box look like child's play. Nic took her time looking at each handcuff, some made of normal metal and others made of leathery material. She blushed at the several paddles hanging from a rod neatly. They came in different sizes, ranging from as small as her hand to as long as her thigh. There were more designs of nipple clamps than Nic imagined could possibly exist, her eyes catching on a delicate butterfly pair in particular.

There were blindfolds made of all kinds of materials and colors, including a silky red one and a lacy black one. There were more riding crops than Nic could count, one shaped like a little heart. There was a tassel whip, next to which were more rolls of bondage tape than Nic could imagine a man could ever need. There were a few vibrators accompanied by a metal bar that made Nic frown. What was that for?

"That's not where I keep my clothes," a raspy voice whispered in Nic's ear.

Nic froze, eyes widening in horror. She didn't want to turn around and face that steely eyed man.

His strong hands were suddenly on her hips, squeezing tight, and before Nic realized what was going on, he had practically thrown her onto his bed.

"Ah!" Nic cried out, landing painfully on her cuffed hands. She scrambled to get up to a sitting position, looking up to see Alpha at the foot of the bed.

His stance was powerful with legs planted firmly, one hand on his belt. Nic looked down at his belt in confusion before realizing he was unbuckling it. Her eyes widened, flickering between his eyes and his hands.

Alpha tossed his belt to the side. Nic saw him walk over to his open closet, examine it for a full five seconds, but he didn't grab anything. Alpha then turned back to the bed, his eyes dark and dangerous.

"Tell me you don't want this, and we'll both just go to sleep," he said, slamming both his hands down on the railing.

Nic's mouth dropped. She really wanted to say, let's fucking do it, but it seemed that she was too shocked to form any words.

Alpha narrowed his eyes at her. He looked painstakingly casual just standing there at the foot of the bed, his massive hands gripping the railing. Meanwhile, Nic's toes were curling up just from being under his gaze.

"Do you want this?" he asked calmly, but his raging eyes didn't match his voice.

Nic's lip quivered as she pushed her legs together, unable to look away from him.

"I'll take that as a yes."

In three swift movements, Alpha was at Nic's side. Her breath hitched when he forced her onto her side. Hearing a click, relief spread through her body as she realized he was unlocking her handcuffs.

The relief didn't last long.

Alpha forced her arm upwards, locking the handcuffs around her wrists again, but this time looping the chain behind one of the bars of his headboard. Nic's eyes widened as she tried to pull her wrists chained up above her down towards her body, but found herself chained to the bed.

"Alpha," she said in a wavering voice, but he wasn't quite paying attention.

"You might want a safe word," he said casually, walking back to his closet. He stood there for a while this time, running his hands over some of his sex toys. "What's your favorite flavor of ice cream?"

Taken aback, Nic made a face. "Vanilla?"

Alpha froze, his head dropping and his back shaking with silent laughter. Nic wondered what she said that was so funny to him.

"Vanilla," he reiterated, grabbing something from the closet, "that'll be your safe word." Nic craned her head up as much as she could, seeing in his hands two things. The first was that metal bar that had confused her. The other was a riding crop.

Nic could feel her breath getting stuck in her throat and her heart beating roughly against her chest. Alpha stopped at the foot of the bed once more, placing one of his hands on her ankle.

"Spread your legs," he said, his voice coming out raspy and seductive.

It only made Nic press her legs together tighter. Alpha grey eyes grew cold, his jaw clenching. His grip tightened on her ankle, making Nic cry out.

"You'll learn pretty soon that it's better if you just obey me," he all but growled, sending goosebumps from where his hand was on her ankle all the way up to her neck.

Quivering, Nic slowly spread her legs a foot apart.

"Good girl."

Nic watched warily as Alpha set the riding crop to the side and brought the metal bar into her view. She could see now that on either end, it had little black straps. Nic wanted to pull her feet away as Alpha slid the straps over them and tightened them, but she had a feeling he wouldn't like that.

After he fastened the bar to her feet, Nic tried to squeeze her legs together to no avail. She scowled, saying, "What the hell?" Panicking, she spread her feet apart to try to escape from the bar. Unfortunately, spreading her feet only made the metal bar expand, leaving her feet three feet apart rather than one.

"I was hoping you'd do that," Alpha said in that sultry voice, dragging his eyes across Nic's spread legs.

Nic whimpered in response, her chest heaving as she studied his every little movements as if she was going to have an exam on them. "What are you going to do to me?" she whispered hoarsely, a strand of hair falling over her face.

"Whatever the hell I want, babygirl."

Nic let her head fall back on the bed, closing her eyes tight as she imagined all the things Alpha could do to her with her chained up like that. She kept trying to squeeze her legs together, but they remained spread far apart for Alpha to examine her. The girl flinched when she felt cold hands at the waistband of her Nike pros. She gasped when she felt them ripped off of her. She really liked those shorts, but they were the least of her concern. In that moment, Nic wasn't sure whether she was glad or annoyed that she had decided to put on her crotchless lingerie that day, because her bare, wet pussy was exposed to the cold air. More importantly, it was exposed to Alpha.

"You came prepared," he chuckled, and Nic could hear his voice from the side of the bed. She felt it dip down as he presumably sat down. Keeping her eyes shut, she could feel him drag a single finger down from the valley between her breasts, to her stomach, all the way down below her belly button.

Nic thrashed right before Alpha could reach her center, his touching leaving cold burns down her skin.

"Watch it," he growled, grabbing her hip and digging his fingers in, making Nic bite her lip. "I could leave you like this all night."

His weight suddenly disappeared from the bed, only to come back as he fully climbed onto it. Nic warily opened her eyes to see him kneeling with his legs on either side of her, the riding crop in his hands waiting to be used. She gulped, feeling the urge to get away from that dark look in his eyes, but she couldn't.

She remembered the screaming she heard from this room several hours ago, the girl he was fucking that woke her up because of her sounds of ecstasy. The memory made her clench her walls, wondering what Alpha must have done to her. Nic's eyes wandered to the open closet, wondering which of his toys he used on that girl. Her eyes wandered back to the riding crop.

"I was going to blindfold you," Alpha said casually, gently running the tip of the riding crop down Nic's thigh, making her shudder. His grey eyes then shot to hers, a smirk spilling over his lips. "But I want you to be able to see me destroy you."

Nic curled her toes, wishing Alpha wouldn't take him sweet time. It was infuriating and just making her soil his covers with her wetness. Right as she threw her head back with a sigh, she heard a crack followed by a painful stinging feeling on the outside of her thigh. With a cry, she looked back up, seeing a red mark on her thigh where the crop must have hit her. With a flick of his wrist, the crop came down on her again, hitting lower on the inside of her thigh. Nic bit her lip, but that didn't stop the shout from leaving her lips.

"Be quiet," Alpha ordered, the crop coming down again on her inner thigh, dangerously close to her pussy.

Nic couldn't help herself, arching her back and crying out louder. In response, Alpha brought the crop down on the side of her breast. Nic gasped, tears springing at the corners of her eyes. That one hurt the most, yet for some reason, these painful lashes were making her feel good. Again and again, Alpha brought the riding crop down on Nic, occasionally rubbing the spot when he hit her extra hard. Nic tried her hardest to stay quiet, for whenever she made a noise too loud, he'd strike her harder. Whenever Nic would squeeze her eyes shut, he'd order her to keep them open. In the dim lighting of the room, there was a shadow cast over Alpha's face.

In between lashes, a thought struck Nic.

"I thought you hated me," she panted, her breasts nearly spilling out of her lingerie. "Didn't think you wanted to fuck me."

The crop came down hard on her other breast, making Nic shout louder than before. Tears spilled down her eyes, blurring her vision, but she didn't say the safe word.

"Are you crying, you slut?" he scoffed, lightly trailing the end of the crop over her body. Nic shuddered when it grazed her pussy. Her pussy was dripping, demanding attention. "You came in here whoring yourself out to everybody, I didn't think you'd care what I'd think."

The crop landed on her thigh again, making Nic tense up.

"If you want me to stop, you know the word," Alpha said, though his voice was teasing and condescending.

Nic clenched her teeth. She didn't want to give Alpha the satisfaction of saying the safe word. She could handle him. She wanted him.

Nic felt his strong hand clamp down at her thigh, his fingers digging into the flesh a little too hard. His hand rubbed up and down her bruised thigh. Nic had to hold herself back from squirming under his touch.

"God, I've been thinking about this since the day I heard you moaning in Tank's room," he murmured in that raspy voice, dragging his fingernails down Nic's skin.

Nic couldn't help but just shut her eyes. Looking at him like that was too much for her to handle.

"Do you know how angry that made me?"

Nic flinched, waiting for the crop to come down on her again and give her that mixture of pain and pleasure, but nothing came.

"Fuck, I just want to get inside you."

Nic moved her hips forward, trying to get some form of friction from him against her pussy, but she was just met with air.

"I want to feel your wet pussy tightening around me. I want to fuck you senseless like the whore you are."

Nic whimpered, wishing Alpha would do exactly that. Anything; his fingers, his mouth, his cock, anything would feel good. But suddenly she heard the noise of straps loosening. Bewildered, she finally opened her eyes, seeing Alpha take the metal rod off her feet. She bent her knees and stretched her legs out, watching curiously as the man returned the crop and the bar to the closet and closed the door.

When he returned the the bed, Alpha tugged his shirt off, revealing his immaculate abs. He took his pants off too, leaving him in briefs that showed off his massive bulge. To Nic's surprise, he didn't climb on top of her and start fucking her raw. No, he pulled on the covers, covered her practically naked body, and slipped under them beside her.

Nic's mouth dropped open as her arms, still chained above her head, went limp. She watched Alpha turn so his muscled back was to her.

"Night, Nica."

[dickd0c]

STRIKE

CHAPTER TWO — “hear you”

The apartment was big, but it wasn't that cozy. It looked like those four had just moved into it or something, because there were a few boxes piled up against the walls, and the only decor was a picture frame with no picture in it.

The four seemed at home though.

As Nic tentatively walked into the kitchen behind them, she finally got a good at the other two males' faces. When they were changing in the car, she was quick to look away as soon as one of them started pulling their top off.

In the yellow light of the kitchen, as they stood around the kitchen island, she could see them perfectly. The grumpy one that was sitting in the passenger seat was near a bowl of fruit. He had black hair stuck to his forehead from sweat (those suits must have been heavy). His eyes were piercing grey and always seemed to be glaring at her every time they made eye contact.

The third male had sandy brown hair, dark blue eyes, and a goofy grin. Buff and extremely tall, he was definitely the biggest of the three guys, with his abs straining his grey t-shirt.

"Come eat," the only girl said, tossing a fifth paper plate onto their tiny kitchen island.

Nic walked over, carefully pulling a piece of cold cheese pizza from the box, slapping it onto her plate. She didn't pick it up and eat it, however, as she eyed her odd company warily.

"Who are you guys?" she asked. "What are your names?"

The four all glanced at each other before the blue-eyed guy cleared his throat.

"We can't really tell you that," he said with an apologetic smile, waving his pizza around to point at her.

"So what am I supposed to call you?" Nic replied, giving them a scrutinizing look.

"We go by many names," the one with brown dreadlocks said, nudging Nic's plate toward her as if to tell her to eat. "We can't tell you our real names."

"Okay, so what do you go by?" Nic replied, picking up the pizza a taking a bite off of it.

"Riot," he said in a low voice, his eyes flicking up and down Nic's body, making her want to cross her arms over herself.

Normally Nic would laugh at how edgy that name was, but it suited Riot so well. Muscular, tall, tan Riot.

"I'm Tank," the blue-eyed one said, grinning at her as he flexed a bicep proudly. Nic couldn't help but smile back as she shook her head.

"Alpha." Nic's smile faded away when she saw Alpha's grey eyes pierce through her. She squirmed in her seat, eyes dropping to his strong hands as they started peeling a small clementine.

Gulping, Nic looked at the woman, who gave her a reassuring and confident smile. "I'm Athena," she said, and Nic couldn't help but think how fitting the name of a Greek goddess was for the woman standing before her.

After they all took their showers, it was so late that they could've fallen asleep standing. Athena, Riot, and Alpha had all gone to their respective rooms.

Nic wandered around aimlessly, realizing quickly that none of them bothered to tell her where she'd be sleeping. She walked down the hall until she reached a door with light peaking underneath it. Carefully, she cracked it open, peering inside to see who it was.

Nic's eyes widened when she saw Tank at the far end of the room, drying his hair with a towel. Though he was in his boxers, the rest of him was very much bare. As his arm moved to dry his wet hair, his shoulder and back muscles rippled. There was no questioning why he of all the boys was called "Tank." He was built like one.

All of a sudden he turned around, tossing the towel off to the side. He started lifting the covers on his bed when his blue eyes suddenly met Nic's shocked ones. Completely unfazed by the fact that a girl was standing there seeing him mostly naked, the male smirked, dropping the covers.

"Well, come in. Don't be shy."

Nic glanced down at herself, taking in the tiny shorts and massive shirt she had borrowed from Athena, before she pushed the door open and took a tentative step inside. Without looking away from Tank, Nic closed the door behind her.

Tank's eyes dropped to the hem of the purple shirt she was wearing. It completely covered her shorts. His eyes rose slowly, stopping again on her chest, making Nic extremely aware of the bra she wasn't wearing.

"Um," Nic said loudly, making his eyes go back to hers, "I was just wondering where I would be sleeping."

Tank's smirk widened as he gestured to his bed. "How about here?"

Nic's lips parted just slightly. Was she meant to share a bed... with him?

"Plenty of room for both of us," he said casually, sitting down on his head and putting the grey covers over his legs.

"O-okay," Nic replied, cursing herself mentally when her voice shook. She felt the wall for the light switch, turning it off before making her way over to the bed. The windows on the wall let in a fair amount of moonlight, illuminating the room despite how late it was. Nic slipped herself under the covers, feeling Tank's body heat that was trapped underneath them.

She could feel Tank turning on his side to face her, and biting her lip, she did the same. All of a sudden, Nic could feel a rough hand on the side of her hip. It stayed there for a few moments until Nic places a hand on Tank's chest. In response, his hand slowly moved behind her, resting gently on her ass.

"Tank," Nic murmured, feeling the hand suddenly slip away. Next thing she knew, the mattress was dipping and there was a big looming figure above her, holding itself up by his palms on either side of her head. Instinctively, Nic reached up, feeling his hard abs under her soft palms. She then let hands fall down onto the pillow as she peered up at the man through her eyelashes.

The next thing she knew, his lips were violating her. Chest heaving, Nic didn't hesitate to kiss Tank back, feeling his tongue aggressively explore her mouth. His teeth pulled at her lower lip, making her push her thighs together.

His hand pushed her oversized t-shirt up, dragging the tips of his fingers across her stomach in a way that made her shiver. He gently dragged his fingernails from just bellow her belly button all the way up to the valley between the breasts. Before his hand even reached her breasts, he suddenly pulled away. Nic frowned when he pulled away from their kiss, rubbing her throat gently as she watched him start to lower himself.

Nic felt her shorts getting pulled off. There was a quiet thud, the sound of them flying and landing somewhere in the room, leaving Tank inches away from her panties. Nic hummed happily when she felt him place aggressive kisses on the inside of her thighs, unafraid to bite the tender skin. He placed his hands on either thigh, forcing Nic's legs apart.

Shuddering slightly, the girl hooked her fingers on the sides of her panties, edging them down a few inches. Below her Tank chuckled lowly, sending a jolt up her spine. He picked up the panties with one finger and brought them down to her knees, positioning his face directly next to her pussy.

"What do you want me to do?" he asked quietly, placing a kiss on her thigh dangerously close to her heat.

Nic groaned out of frustration, placing both her hands on Tank's wet hair, pulling harshly on it and making him groan. She squeezed her legs together just slightly, trapping Tank's head between her thighs.

"God, you're so wet," he mumbled against the folds of her pussy, making Nic buck her hips against him. With another sly chuckle, his mouth was finally on her, licking up her dripping juices, leaving Nic a moaning mess. Every time the tip of his tongue flicked her throbbing clit, she'd let out a whimper.

Nic let go of Tank's hair when he suddenly started sucking on her swollen clit. She struggled to pull the pillow out from under her head, using it to muffle the loud moans escaping from her mouth.

Nic cried out when she suddenly felt Tank's absence from her pussy. All of a sudden, he grabbed the pillow off her face and threw it to the side, glowering down at her. He lowered himself, making Nic's breath hitch when she felt his hardened cock push against her stomach, his boxers the only things in their way.

"Don't worry about being too loud," he groaned in her ear as he thrusted into the side of her stomach. "I want them to hear you."

Panting, Nic slid her hands into the waistband of his boxers, biting her lip when she felt his cock spring out and hit her stomach. Tank smirked slightly, using his hands to force Nic's thighs further apart before slowly sliding into her.

Nic closed her eyes in pleasure, arching her back when she felt his thick cock fill up her insides. She released a loud moan as he started thrusting inside of her, slowly picking up the pace as he was encouraged by her moans getting higher and higher. His hand found its way back to her throat as he balanced on the other hand. He squeezed on her throat a little harder as groans started leaving his own mouth.

As Tank repeated hit her g-spot, Nic's walls tightened around him, making a guttural groan leave his mouth. He lowered himself so his mouth was next to her ear as he continued fucking her pussy, his breath warm as he hissed into her ear.

"Faster," Nic whimpered, happy to say that Tank complied immediately. After just a few strokes, Nic felt herself shake with a prolonged orgasm as Tank kept thrusting in and out, nearly screaming as he brushed up against her hypersensitive clit.

Tank paused, tightening his grip on Nic's throat as he shook slightly with his own orgasm, filling Nic's insides up. He pulled out with a sigh, dropping down onto the bed with an arm draped lazily across Nic's torso. Nic's eyes were closed and lips were parted as her tired body heaved with her each breath. Her panties were still at her knees, but she couldn't possibly care less.

Tank lazily moved closer to Nic's ear, making her shiver when his lips brushed up against her. "We should do that more often."

[dickd0c]

STRIKE

CHAPTER SIXTEEN — “day four, pt one”

Nic woke up at about 11:00 A.M. the next day. She checked her phone and frowned seeing how late it was, rolling over to turn onto her other side.

On the other side of the bed, Alpha was sound asleep. Nic had noticed for the past few nights that he never held her or cuddled when they went to sleep. It was like while they were having sex—or more specifically, while he was teasing her, considering he hadn't given her a single orgasm yet—he was openly flirty and humorous among other things, but as soon as they were having any other interaction, he was back to cold and distant.

Nic rolled her eyes. She was in no mood to deal with his volatile behavior. She swung her legs off the edge of the bed and plopped down onto the hardwood floor, adjusting her wrinkled clothes before heading to her room. There, she brushed her teeth and took a refreshing shower. Nic hadn't told anyone, but she had applied for a job interview a few days back, and the interview was today. Despite waking up so late, she still had time to make it if she didn't stall.

Nic quickly dressed herself in a white blouse, black pencil skirt, and a blazer. She grimaced at the blazer before putting it on, noting to herself that she should get a new one—she'd had that one since her debating days in high school.

Slipping on some modest heels and checking to make sure her hair wasn't too unruly, she grabbed her phone and portfolio folder. Nic quietly walked out of her bedroom and into the kitchen where Tank was leaning against the island shirtless. When he saw her walk in, he dragged his eyes up and down, quirking an eyebrow.

"Why are you dressed like that?" he asked her, setting his phone to the side.

"Job interview," Nic replied shortly, her voice giving away her nerves. She flattened her palms out on the sides of her skirt to hide their slight shaking. She really wanted this job—as nice as it was to simply lounge around the apartment all the time, she wanted to get out sometimes too.

"Oh, what's it for?" Tank smirked.

Nic opened her mouth, but she was interrupted by the rumbling of her stomach. Tank moved around the island to get to the fridge, pulling out some milk and grabbing the box of cereal that was already sitting there. Nic smiled at him gratefully.

"It's for this European makeup company. They have a location pretty close by, and they're looking for lab assistants," Nic said, smiling nervously as she grabbed the bowl of cereal from Tank and set it down in front of her on the island.

"Oh, I think I vaguely remember you telling me you do science shit in college. What's your major again?"

"Material sciences," Nic replied, muffled by the bowl she pressed to her lips to down the rest of her cereal.

"Sounds smart," Tank said thickly, a goofy grin on his lips.

Nic rolled her eyes, smiling as she placed her bowl in the sink. "I have to leave now, though. Would you let everyone know I'll be back in maybe two hours?" she asked, straightening her skirt.

"Sure," Tank shrugged. "I think everyone decided to sleep in, they might not even be up when you get home."

With a nod, Nic was out the door with her phone clutched tightly, walking down the steps of the apartment building to see her Uber was already waiting for her. She opened the door to the back and climbed in rather ungracefully, giving a small smile to the driver before he took off. Nic spent the twenty-five minute ride rubbing her sweating palms on the side of her dress, glancing out the window every five seconds expecting to arrive. She'd occasionally pick up her phone to aimlessly text someone or play a stupid game, but then she'd drop it and go back to being nervous. She opened up her portfolio and checked to make sure her resume, references, pens, and notepad were all in there, and then ten minutes later she did the exact same thing again.

Nic's phone vibrated against her thigh, and she picked it up instantly. What if the company was calling to tell her the interview was off?

She looked at the screen to see that Athena was texting her, and sighed out of semi-relief. Using her thumb, she slid up on the screen to see the message.

Athena Received 12:06 PM good luck bitch! ur gonna kill it

Nic grinned, shaking her head.

Athena Sent 12:06 PM i'm so ducking nervous literally shoot me

Athena Received 12:06 PM they'd be idiots not to take u. tho idk how ur lab skills are but still

Nic sighed, glancing out the window. As she looked back down at her phone to respond, the speeding car hit what must have been a road bump, making her phone fumble in her hands before it flew to her feet. The driver didn't even mumble an apology as Nic rolled her eyes and bent down to grab it, seeing the screen was still on messaging. She typed out a quick "i don't deserve you babe" and pressed send, turning her phone off and sliding it inside her portfolio.

A little later, the phone vibrated again. She pulled it out and swiped the screen open.

Alpha Received 12:09 PM what?

Nic frowned, wondering what his issue was. That was until she looked up just a bit to see the very first message in their conversation, sent by her just moments ago.

Nic's jaw dropped open as her fingers fumbled to type out a response.

Alpha Sent 12:10 PM shit. sent that to the wrong person sorry

He responded quickly.

Alpha Received 12:10 PM sure you did

Alpha Sent 12:11 PM it wasn't for you

Alpha Received 12:11 PM are you really that insecure around me

Nic rolled her eyes and turned her phone off. She was already nervous, so she didn't need Alpha making her annoyed too. A minute later, when he probably realized she wasn't responding, her phone buzzed with another text from him.

Alpha Received 12:12 PM what time is your interview?

Alpha Sent 12:12 PM 12:30

Alpha Received 12:13 PM what are you doing?

Nic huffed—what was with all the questioning? It was like she had already begun her interview.

Alpha Sent 12:13 PM sitting in a car.

Alpha Received 12:13 PM you should sit on my face instead

Nic barely had time to gasp at the message, because just as she started choking on her spit, the Uber pulled up to the make-up company she would be interviewing at. Shooting a smile and a thanks at the driver, she stepped out of the car with her phone and portfolio, watching him zoom away like he couldn't wait to get away from her. Nic frowned, slightly offended. She wasn't even a bad passenger.

You get three stars for attitude, she thought to herself, tapping at her phone as she turned and walked into the main entrance of the building.

Tucking her phone into the pocket of her skirt, she walked up to the receptionist typing away at her computer. When Nic got closer, she could see the screen reflecting on the forty-some year old woman, cringing when she saw the main screen of a popular dating website on it.

"Excuse me?" she cleared her throat, seeing the receptionist click the screen away.

The receptionist peered at her over her glasses, scanning her up and down with a scrutinizing look. "Here for an interview for lab assistant?" she asked monotonously, as if she were tired of Nic's presence already.

Damn, why are strangers so annoyed around me today?

"Yes, I am," Nic replied, straightening her back. She felt her phone vibrate against her thigh, but she ignored it.

The receptionist pointed to the hall on Nic's right, a long manicured finger waving in the air. "The third door on the left. Good luck."

Nic thanked the receptionist, turning on her heel to walk slowly down the hall. She noticed that with every step she took, she could hear her heels clicking on the floor. It made her straighten her posture and lift her chest up—that sound always made her feel like a powerful woman.

She pulled the third door on the left open, peering inside to see a few people about her age seated on their phones before she stepped inside herself. A few of them glanced up at her as she walked past them, but nobody said a word. Nic took a seat at a wall where nobody else was, looking up as she sat to see two doors on the other side. She presumed that's where each interview was taking place, two at at time.

Nic pulled her phone out to check the time, while at the same time it buzzed again with another notification. She swiped up with a scowl, seeing two new messages from Alpha.

Alpha Received 12:14 PM i woke up with morning wood and you weren't there to help me :(

Nic nearly laughed out loud at the sad face. It was truly astonishing how Alpha's behavior changed when the topic was about sex versus when the topic was about literally anything else.

Alpha Received 12:16 PM are you ignoring me?

Alpha Sent 12:16 PM yes

Nic shook her head at her screen, tapping the sides of her phone as she waited for his next messages. She couldn't wrap her head around it—he could be intimidating, terrifying even, one moment, but annoying and overly sexual the next.

Alpha Received 12:17 PM that's rude. might just have to punish you

Alpha Sent 12:17 PM do you ever think about anything other than sex?

Alpha Received 12:17 PM do you?

Touché.

Nic glanced up around the room, getting an odd feeling that someone was watching her. However, all the other people were just like her—staring down at their phones. Someone sniffed, and Nic turned her head instantly to see a girl with straight black hair blowing her nose.

Shaking her head, she looked back down at her phone.

Alpha Sent 12:17 PM yeah, I'm thinking abt my interview

Alpha Received 12:18 PM hmm. I'm thinking about you

Before Nic could even finish reading his short message, he sent another one

Alpha Received 12:18 PM *your ass

Alpha Sent 12:18 PM what did I do to have to put up with you?

Alpha Received 12:18 PM oh didn't you just say you don't deserve me though?

Alpha Sent 12:19 PM shut up

Alpha Received 12:19 PM make me

Nic stared at her phone, twiddling her thumbs, unsure of what to say.

Alpha Received 12:20 PM nica?

Alpha Sent 12:20 PM yea?

Alpha Received 12:20 PM good luck

Nic smiled small to herself, tucking her phone back into her pocket just as one of the doors swung open, a girl with wild blonde hair storming out the room without giving a glance to anyone. Everyone waiting looked up at her with open mouths, watching her leave the waiting area with furious tears down her eyes.

Nic gulped nervously.

"Anica Jean?" a woman peeped through the open interview door, scanning the seated people with tired eyes.

Nic stood up, straightening her pencil skirt, catching the woman's attention. She gave her a small smile and a wave, following her into the interview room.

The room was a little small, making Nic feel a little claustrophobic, but that was probably her nerves. She sat in a comfy little chair in front of a table, behind which the red-haired woman joined an older looking man.

"How are you, Anica?" the man asked, sounding much more awake than the red-haired woman looked.

"I'm great—Dr. Chaves, right?"

He nodded, smiling. "And this is Dr. Yanovna."

"Good afternoon, I hope your days have been fine so far," Nic greeted, hoping her nerves didn't show through her smile.

"Thank you—so to start off, would you mind telling us why you want this position?"

And just like that, her interview began, a circle of them asking her questions and her responding in ways she hoped made her seem smart but modest at the same time. Slowly, her nerves seemed to ease. All the questions they were asking her were questions that she had expected and prepared for.

"So, Anica, what would you say your greatest weakness is? How are you working on them?" Dr. Yanovna asked, twirling a pen in her fingers.

Nic opened her mouth right when her phone vibrated against her thigh. The people in front of her just smiled at her, probably because this has happened in other interviews as well. She cleared her throat. "Well, I guess it's both a strength and weakness. I'm good at following rules and guidelines, but that also means sometimes I'll follow people's words blindly—"

Her phone vibrated again, catching her off guard.

She cleared her throat. "—especially when I think highly of them. It's something I'm working on, both in professional and daily situations—"

Another buzz.

"—by forcing myself to take a moment to think over the possible consequences—"

Again, her phone vibrated.

Dr. Chave cut her off before she could continue. "Ms. Jean, perhaps you should check your phone. It may be urgent."

"Thank you," Nic hushed gratefully, slipping her phone out of her pocket. It lit up, displaying one name.

Alpha (3)

Nic bit her lip, forcing herself not to glower at her phone. She quickly silenced it, slipping it back in her pocket, swearing to herself that she had silenced it that morning before she even left.

She looked up at her interviewers rather warily, glancing between them. "Anything else?"

"Actually," Dr. Chave cleared his throat, placing his hands over each other, "I think we've heard everything we needed to." He glanced at Dr. Yanovna, who nodded in agreement.

They both stood up, holding their hands out to shake hers.

"Oh," Nic said quietly as she stood. She shook Dr. Yanovna's hand followed by Dr. Chave's, making sure her handshake was firm despite the crushing feeling in her heart.

Dr. Yanovna seemed to catch the look on her face. "Don't read into this," she said, a reassuring smile on her lips brightening her tired eyes just a bit, "your interview went well. You should hear back from us in a few days."

Nic instantly brightened, so obviously so that Dr. Chave chuckled at her. "Thank you, really, thank you," she said, gripping her portfolio to her chest as they opened the door for her. "And have a wonderful day!"

She didn't even hear the next name they called out, deafened by her rushing blood, a grin on her face as she walked to the door to leave the waiting room.

"Wait!"

Nic turned around to see a blond man stand up from his chair and approach her. She frowned, wondering what he wanted.

"Yes?"

"Were you at that protest? Where the old man fell?"

Nic's frown deepened. "Yes... who are you?" she questioned in an accusative tone.

"Don't you remember me? I got dragged away with you?" he chuckled, and Nic got a good look at his puppy brown eyes and floppy blond hair.

Nic's eyes widened. "Oh! Yes, yes I do remember you. Did you manage to get away? One of my friends pulled me away."

The man shook his head, a frown playing on his lips. "No, I got arrested for assaulting an officer—which I guess I kinda did, but he had it coming. Anyway, they let me go after a few days. Their evidence was more incriminating towards them."

Nic winced slightly, eyeing the man and memorizing his face. "How are you going to explain that in your interview?"

He shrugged. "I'll just be honest, I guess. I'm Lucas," he said with a sweet smile, holding his hand out for her to shake.

Nic took it and shook, smiling herself. "I'm Anica—Nic," she introduced herself.

"Can I get your number?"

Nic's eyes widened slightly, her hand slipping from his.

Lucas rubbed the back of his neck with his hand, keeping eye contact with her as his smile turned bashful. "There's something attractive about a girl who'll attack cops with me."

Nic smiled, which instantly made him brighten up. "Sure," she said, taking his unlocked phone and typing her number in. "Good luck—it's funny that we'd be interviewing for the same position," she said with a small laugh, passing his phone back.

"Yeah—but I heard they're taking three people. Maybe we'll be two of them," he said with a small smile, dropping his phone into his pocket.

Nic tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear. "Maybe. I know I wouldn't mind. Listen, I have to get going now, but shoot me a text, yeah?"

"Yeah," he said with a soft laugh, and Nic could feel his eyes on her as she opened the door and walked back out into the hallway.

Nic was glad to see a different Uber driver on the way home. She watched the houses pass through the window, still riding a high from being told that the interview went well. Her phone buzzed all of a sudden, lighting up to show two tames.

Alpha (3)

Unknown (1)

Nic slid up, opening Alpha's messages first.

Alpha Received 12:40 PM so have you considered the whole sitting on my face thing?

Alpha Received 12:42 PM wait are you in your interview right now?

Alpha Received 12:42 PM crap sorry. you got this

Nic then moved her fingers to open her message from who she assumed was Lucas.

Unknown Received 12:51 PM hey this is Lucas. just thought this would make you laugh—I got up to get a coffee from the hallway and managed to spill it down my shirt. now they're going to think I'm a criminal AND dysfunctional.

Nic smiled down at her phone before turning it off and looking back out the window, a deep sigh flying past her lips.