HATE ME HARDER ( a dark revenge romance)

CHAPTER 3 RAVEN'S POV His fingers hover at the edge of the lace, so close I can feel the heat from his skin brushing mine like a threat. The room is a cocoon of dim red light filtering through heavy velvet curtains, the bass from the club below thrumming up through the floor like a distant heartbeat. Private suite 12 smells of leather and bourbon, his bourbon, the kind that's aged in barrels worth more than my rent. The window behind him overlooks the writhing bodies on the dance floor, but up here, it's just us, predator and prey, though he's got it all wrong about who's who. "Not yet," I repeat, my voice a low purr laced with steel. I tilt my head just enough to let the wig's waves shift, obscuring more of my face. My hand moves, slow, deliberate, brushing his away like I'm indulging him, like this is still a game he paid for. But under the skirt, my fingers itch toward the sheath on my thigh. One quick draw, and I could have the blade at his carotid before he blinks those damn storm gray eyes. Damien's mouth quirks, not quite a smile, more like the ghost of one, the kind a wolf gives before it lunges. "Feisty. I like that." His voice is velvet over gravel, the same timbre that echoed in my nightmares, grunting and commanding in that hotel bathroom. He steps even closer, crowding me against the door, his body a wall of tailored muscle and entitlement. 6'5 ft, easy broad shoulders that block out the light. I remember how they felt pinning me down, unyielding. The scent hits harder now sandalwood and leather, twisting my gut with a cocktail of hate and something sharper, unwanted, that coils low in my belly. He reaches again, insistent, fingers hooking under the lace. "I paid for the full show, Raven. Mask off." I let him pull it halfway, just enough to expose one eye, my gray one, hidden behind the hazel contact, but close enough to risk it. His breath catches, a micro-falter in that iron composure. Does he see it? The flicker of familiarity in the shape of my jaw, the curve of my lip? No. Not yet. His memories are blurry, he said once in an interview I stalked online, youthful indiscretions, blackouts from too much champagne. But I remember every detail, every tear in the fabric, every bruise. Before he can tug it fully free, I move. My hand snaps up, gripping his wrist in a vise that's all assassin training, pressure on the radial nerve, just enough to make his fingers loosen without screaming pain. Yet. "You paid for an hour," I say, leaning in so my lips brush his ear, breath hot. "But I decide the pace. Touch without asking again, and the show's over." He doesn't pull back. If anything, he presses closer, his free hand sliding to my waist, fingers splaying possessively over the corset. "Bold. Most girls here fold like cheap cards." His eyes search mine through the half-mask, probing. "But you... you're different. Like I've seen you before." My heart stutters, sixty-eight beats spiking to eighty. Recognition? Already? No, can't be. The wig, the makeup, the contacts, it's a fortress. But that "something worse" from earlier surges, a dark undercurrent that makes my skin hum where he touches. Hate, yes. But laced with a twisted pull, the way a flame draws the moth even as it burns. Ten years of fantasizing about this moment knife in his gut, twisting slow, and now, with him this close, the emptiness cracks wider, letting in flashes of what could be: not just death, but destruction. Make him want me, need me, then shatter him from the inside. I release his wrist, trail my fingers down his arm instead, turning the power play. "Maybe in your dreams," I murmur, voice dripping honeyed venom. "Or your nightmares." He chuckles, low and dark, but his eyes narrow, intrigued, not amused. "Nightmares? Darling, I make them for others." His hand tightens on my waist, pulling me flush against him. I feel the hard lines of his body, the evidence of his interest pressing insistent. It should repulse me, trigger the bile from that night. Instead, it fuels the fire, a tool to wield. I arch into it just enough to tease, my thigh brushing his, the hidden knife a secret thrill. "Then let's make this memorable," I say, and before he can respond, I spin us, quick pivot on the heel, using his momentum against him. He stumbles back a step, surprised, ass hitting the edge of the leather chaise. I straddle him in one fluid motion, knees pinning his thighs, hands on his shoulders. The mask stays half-on, shadows playing games with my features. "You like control, Mr. Blackwood? Try letting go." His hands roam up my sides, bold now, thumbs brushing the undersides of my breasts through the corset. "Call me Damien." It's a command, but there's a hitch in it, curiosity, desire. He tugs at the lace again, gentler this time. "Show me your face." I grind down once, slow roll of hips that draws a sharp inhale from him. Distraction. "Earn it." My mind races, plan shifting on the fly. Kill him now? Easy. Blade out, throat slit, gone before security checks. But torture... that's slower. Make him suffer, draw it out. And something in his eyes, that stormy gray mirroring Lila's, tugs at the void. What if I burrow deeper? Infiltrate his world, become indispensable, then rip it apart. He flips us suddenly, strength I remember all too well, pinning me to the chaise with his weight. Breath hot on my neck. "I always earn what I want." His lips graze my collarbone, teeth nipping just enough to sting. The "something worse" ignites, hate twisting into a dark heat that makes me arch involuntarily. Fuck. This wasn't the plan. But then his phone buzzes in his pocket, insistent vibration against my thigh. He ignores it at first, mouth trailing lower, but it doesn't stop. With a curse, he pulls back, fishes it out. Glances at the screen, expression shifting from hunger to cold calculation. "Business?" I ask, voice steady, using the moment to readjust the mask fully. "Always." He stands, adjusting his tie, but his eyes linger on me. "This isn't over, Raven. I want more than an hour." I sit up slow, crossing my legs like a queen on her throne. "Everything has a price." He smirks, tapping something on his phone. "Name it. But first, work for me. Exclusive, no more auctions. I need someone like you, sharp, fearless. My world eats the weak." The offer hangs there, a lifeline or a noose. Recruit me? Perfect. Get closer, learn his weaknesses, strike when he's vulnerable. And that dark pull... I can use it, weaponize it. "Exclusive?" I echo, standing, hips swaying as I close the distance again. "What's the job?" Discreet tasks. You move like you know how to handle yourself." His eyes rake over me, appraising. "And I like having beautiful weapons at my side." I let a smile curve my lips, small and sharp. "Deal. But on my terms, no unmasking until I say." He nods, once, sealing it. "For now." Then he turns to the door, but pauses. "Meet me tomorrow. Blackwood Tower, penthouse office. 10 AM. Don't be late." The door clicks shut behind him, leaving me alone in the red lit silence. My pulse thunders, not from fear, but from the widening fracture. This game just got longer, deadlier. I'll play his recruit, let him think he's winning. Maybe he'll fall for me. Then, when the time's right, the knife. But as I slip out the back exit, melting into the night, a new shadow creeps in. Something about his offer feels like fate's cruel joke.