Bare

Chapter Twelve- An Act Of Mercy

Deacon held onto Gwen with a tight grip as he pulled her into his office in the back of the establishment. She could tell by the hold on her skin as well as the soundless space between them that he was raging inside. A portion of her had been elated by this as she knew it meant she was able to get back at him for placing Yasmine on the front lines. But as the door closed in the office and she was left alone with him, she saw the mistake on his face in the form of deep anger present and obvious in his eyes.

"Have you lost your bloody mind?" He finally broke the silence while running his fingers through his hair in frustration. She adored being able to upset him, but even she knew she had taken it too far. "On opening night! You have left me no choice…" he moved to retrieve her contract and bring it to the teeth of the shredder set at the side of his desk before she stopped him. 

"Please, I'm sorry."

He scoffed. "Batting your lashes and forcing out your cleavage doesn't do anything but make you appear like a whore." His words were cold against her as she glared at him. 

"You had me replaced by Yasmine. You could pick any girl off the street and she would have more s*x appeal than her-"

He suddenly lit up, as if uncovering a secret of hers. 

"What?!" She asked, seemingly in checkmate with him. 

"You are jealous of Yasmine."

Although he was correct with this assumption, she would be damned if he knew he was correct, and so she gave a sour expression. 

"I feel pity for my clients-"

"You feel insecure, because Yasmine is the epitome of purity. Face it, she gives you competition and you no longer have the run of the place any more…"

"I am the reason this place has regulars!"

"Any guy can pay two hundred dollars a night for a girl like you-" suddenly his cheek was hit with a great force by her hand. She couldn't believe he had been so cruel to her. She thought the s****l tension had been the cause for their animosity, but now it seemed personal. Too personal. Due to this, her eyes became present with tears from the shock in his words and gravity of their definition on her heart. 

"I may be seductive and dress provocatively but that is my job, a job I am damn good at, and one you would be idiotic to let me leave from. You think Yasmine will bring in a crowd like me? Innocence only goes so far before it dies. Those patrons want the fantasy of getting laid, not constantly teased. You and I both know she doesn't have the stones." And with that, Gwen pulled herself from the office and out of the building, until she lingered in the alleyway between two buildings. 

So many thoughts ran through her mind as she hoped she would find Deacon running after her to stop her, but she only found unfamiliar faces to pass in front of the alleyway instead. Bringing an e-cigarette to her lips, she took in a puff and leaned against the wall. She had stopped smoking for two months but found the action of it to be therapeutic, hence the 'harmless' faux existence of the stress reliever. As she basked in the sweet taste of the cotton candy flavoring, she was seen by a man who was clear with s****l intentions. The way she had been dressed did nothing to help this belief in her being easy, and although she may have dressed without morals, she was no w***e. 

The man who showed her attention had appeared incredibly high class with Abercrombie and Finch attire and slicked back hair held together by gel into a pompadour fashion. If not for his crude words of how she could "ride him", perhaps she would have looked twice, but every word he spoke had only led her to become less and less interested. His hands attempted to pin her against the wall, and although she tried to be polite, he made it clear that he wasn't the type of guy who took "no" very well-if at all. 

As soon as she realized this and the potential danger that caused for her, she tried to make an excuse to leave-but the man towered over her. His weight pushed her up against the wall as he withdrew a knife from his back pocket. The blade was large enough to make her fearful of becoming fatally injured, but small enough to conceal up until this moment. 

"Come on, I know a girl like you must have a numb gag reflex by now...so show me what you got…" he spoke upon bringing this fingers to the belt of his pants. Gwen tried to take these few seconds of his distracted mind and find a way out, but as she went to launch past him-he took hold of her. This time, he pressed the blade up against her throat. "You are making me impatient, b***h…" he spoke with an elevated tone before the edge of the blade began to dig into her skin. "Take your panties off." He demanded as he brought the knife down her chest and lingered over her heart. She could feel it race beneath his threat while hoping someone would see this and stop him. But as bodies passed by them, it only seemed to be two people stealing a s****l moment away from the busy city streets. 

"Knees." He demanded as she hesitated, only to find him press up against her body even harder. Usually an erection would be a compliment to her, losing her to know she was doing her job...but in this case, it made her nauseated. Every second of his touch on her body made her want to scream, but as she could feel the cold blade having drawn enough blood to feel her ichor leak down to her chest, she was afraid to push him any further into madness. 

"Son of a b***h…" he spoke upon being forced onto the ground by an unseen figure, being pinned by his rival's weight. Grunting and grinding could be heard until the man whom cornered her then rose from the duel and disappeared from view, leaving Deacon with a knife in his stomach. Having only ever seen this on television, Gwen tried to lift her phone to call for emergency services, but he begged her not to. Instead, he convinced her to bring him back inside. Despite her soul pulling for her to deny his wishes, she felt guilty from having been the reason he was injured in the first place, and didn't want to make it worse by angering him.

"Are you a spy or something?" She asked him as he sat in his office chair and she closed the door behind him. 

"Or something." He remained ominous before bringing a first aid kit from the bottom of his desk. The blade was protruding from him as he hesitated to remove it while also trying to continue to converse with her. 

"You aren't a cop are you?"

He looked to her with an annoyed glance before wincing while the blade seemed to hurt worse coming out than going in. "What if you bleed internally or something."

"He didn't get anything vital-"

"I didn't know you were a doctor…" he ignored her sarcasm before finally removing the blade and causing a large amount of blood to begin to pour out of him. Gwen looked away immediately, growing sick upon spotting the blood in such a quantity. 

"You work for the mafia?" His chuckle was enough for her to realize that she was incorrect, until he informed her that he needed her help. 

"I am not sewing you up-"

"I just need you to tie it off...if I bend, it will break the stitching open." He explained as she winced before turning to see his perfectly golden torso facing her directly in her gaze. Although blood tainted this, it somehow added to the allure, as she moved to her knees and bit off the edge of the string with her teeth-tying it nervously. 

"I'm sorry, I was a d**k about what I said." His humble apology rested warm within her heart as she met his gaze. "You and Yasmine both have enviable traits...both unique in your own right. But you have to learn to share the stage." He continued to explain. 

"I've never liked to share…" she lowered her gaze. Although he spoke of the stage, she meant that she didn't want to share him, and he picked up on this immediately. 

"You won't have to share everything." Her eyes met with his. "Some things will always be yours…"  she could tell he spoke of himself-making this moment rather tender, before it was interrupted by Yasmine. The sight of Gwen on her knees with Deacon shirtless and looking down to her with such a caring gaze was enough to make Gwen appear as if she was in the midst of oral s*x. However, Gwen rose as the door came open, leaving only assumptions in Yasmine's mind. 

"The police are here…" she informed them as Gwen and Deacon both grew nervous-knowing very well why they were present as he bore the marks of their origin for being present.