Destiny Falls

Jake had the night off and wished he didn't. Time off meant time to think, time to want, time to feek the gnawing emptiness, the cravings for violence and sex that made so much sense on the one hand while scaring him a little on the other.

He'd finally met a woman who wasn't afraid of him, didn't go from orgasms to nervously hurrying off at the first opportunity. Unfortunately, she was also his boss, which meant his opportunities to take advantage of that came at her discretion or not at all. The contrast between that and other encounters was so strong that it had left him thinking about those other encounters...a lot.

What was it about him that frightened women once he got them into bed? It wasn't that he was too rough; he did whatever he could to check his strength even then. It couldn't entirely be the fact that he was built like a young giant, or they wouldn't have gone to bed with him in the first place. But something in him...some hidden thing...came out at that moment that always seemed to send them off, making excuses about their hurry.

Now he stalked Vice Alley, going from casino to bar to simply wandering the street, looking for a distraction from this...troubling little problem.

Isobel sat at a table by herself clad in a white bandage dress and a pair of dangerous silver heels, watching as the night played out in front of her. Occasionally, she brought her drink to her lips, something deep red that was probably an out of place vintage of wine, and breathed in deep.