A short story inspired by a song and written to include a picture prompt.
3755 words
Song Prompt:
Say My Name (male nightcore remix)
*mild mature content warning*
Red wine swirled in crystal glass, moved by slender, pale fingers which rose the glass to thin, curved lips. Blue eyes sparkled as the wine slid smoothly down his throat before he gently set down the glass again. “Drink, darling. I picked your favorite kind, as always.”
His cold, calculating gaze pierced her green eyes from across the table and she smiled sweetly. “I’m not thirsty for it tonight.” She made a point to push the glass away from her, causing a him to take in a sharp breath. But rather than let it show, he grinned slyly.
“Of course, love. Would you rather have the champagne? Or perhaps some brandy?” He pushed his chair back and slid out from between it and the table. Slowly, he stalked around the table and behind her chair, his long fingers wrapping around the chair’s back. His words and lips barely tickled her ear when she didn’t answer. “Darling?”
She sucked in a shaking breath. “No, thank you. I’m just not in the mood tonight.” She turned her face to his and smiled, her gaze locking on his.
His ice blue eyes searched hers, their faces mere inches apart. Slowly, gently, inquisitively, his fingers trailed her cheekbone and down under her chin. Her skin was so smooth, so flawless, so tempting, and he knew every inch. But there was something … his fingers brushed under her hair and touched a small welt. She winced but quickly covered it with a yawn. Is that … His teeth ground against themselves, but again he refused to let her see. “Not in the mood …” he drawled. “And how shall I fix this? With a cigarette perhaps?” While his left hand trailed down her neck, his right deftly pulled her favorite brand from his coat pocket and waved it in front of her face.
Her breaths shaking and controlled, she nodded. “Yes, I do think that might work.”
Quickly he pulled away from her and slyly peered down at her from under his thick, black hair. “Splendid. I shall have them sent to the bedroom and I will meet you there to smoke to our health and happiness, no?”
Nodding almost too eagerly, she broke his eye contact and slid out from her chair, quickly disappearing from the room.
When the door shut behind her, his cold demeanor disappeared as passion filled his being. “I feel you breaking my heart,” he hissed, his hands sweeping her uneaten food off the table in a clatter of metal and shattering plates. “Don’t think I wouldn’t notice.”
Taking deep breaths to slow his anger, he pulled his gloves from his pocket and proceeded to picking up the majority of the shattered glass beneath his feet. His eyes which had blazed violently on seconds before were now cold and distant once again like the tips of an iceberg of pain.
When he had finished, he brushed his hands off and coolly turned to leave. His strides long and sure, he made his way through the dark corridors of the dark, renovated castle he called home.
Barely seen in the shadows, maids and butlers bowed low. When they rose, his eerie eyes met theirs but he did not find fear in any of their faces … only respect. He was a firm master, but he was just. There was no reason for anyone to fear him. But the woman he loved … her green eyes staring back at him from across the table flashed before him and his fists clenched. She had been afraid. And there was only one reason for her to be afraid of him.
—…—…—
“Why’re you acting like a stranger, darling?” Long pale fingers reached out to her caramel skin and for a moment, she flinched away, but suddenly caught herself and let his skin touch hers. She wouldn’t meet his eyes. “What’s with this behavior?”
“It’s nothing,” she whispered breathlessly and took his hand in hers, pressing her lips to each finger tip.
His skin burned from her touch, but he forced it down.
“Let’s toast, shall we?” She pushed his hand back to him and turned to the small table at the foot of their luxurious bed. Her hands ignored the cigarettes as she hastily uncorked a bottle of wine and poured two glasses.
His eyes narrowed as she handing him one glass and kept the other. “You are thirsty now?”
A blush raged on her cheeks. “I didn’t want to disappoint you.” Her eyes wouldn’t meet his again.
He snaked a hand around her waist and guided her to the sitting couch nearby. Making himself comfortable, he took her small hand in his and pulled her down beside him, his arm wrapping around her. Her head rested against his muscular chest. “Disappointed? Darling, you could never disappoint me by simply stating your desires. Everything I have is yours, you have only to say a word and I will bow my whim to you. Drink or do not. If it pleases you, it pleases me. Understand?” He felt her nod against him and watched as she raised her glass to her lips and let a bit of the strong liquid race down her throat.
He took a sip as well, but not anymore than the small one she had just taken. He made it a point to never drink more than one glass a night. Being drunk would make him vulnerable, and he was never vulnerable. His jaw worked against itself. She knew this, and yet she had pointedly poured him a second glass. His strong arm tightened around her.
“Say my name,” he hissed in her ear and she shivered against him, but said not a word. “Say my name.” he couldn’t mask the husky desperation in his voice.
Shifting, she set her glass down and quickly straddled his lap, her hands tangled in his hair, her lips crushing his in an effort to silence him.
Overwhelmed with her, he responded just as hungrily and felt as she bit his tongue, eliciting a moan. His grip around her tightened, the frustration of having one hand dedicated to holding his wine hanging somewhere in the back of his mind. Heaven and hell he wanted to claim her …
“You’re the only one,” she moaned against his lips but when their eyes met, he saw only dishonor.
“If you love me, than say my name,” he growled.
“Darling, you’re the only one.” She tried to silence him with her lips again but he quickly pushed her off him.
Her eyes widened in shock.
“I am dying to believe you.” In one movement, he set down his wine and stood up in front of her, his gentle but firm hold pinning her to him. “So, if you’re being honest, say my name.”
A scowl replaced the strained seduction on her face. “I am being honest. This is ridiculous.” She pushed against him but the coldness had returned to his eyes and despite her efforts, she didn’t move an inch in his arms.
“If it’s true than why are you running?” His heart slammed in his chest when she didn’t answer. Horror, fear, anger, depression, and betrayal settled in him. When their eyes met, it felt like he was staring down into the face of a stranger.
She plastered a smile on her face and laughed. “I’m just tired. If it’s a wild night you’re looking for, then you’d be better off searching the red light district. I’m afraid my head hurts.” Her green eyes glinted as if she were challenging him.
A stab of hurt pierced his heart and his voice hardened with offense. “Oh but don’t you remember, darling, I don’t go around taking girls for wild nights. I once vowed I would claim only one woman, and that when I did, she would be mine forever, and I would be hers forever.” His fingers found her hair and the small of her back and with deft touches, he caused her to melt into his arms. “I had thought you wanted to be that woman. Have you changed your mind?” He pressed his lips to her hair and breathed in the sweet scent of her.
She shuddered and shook her head. “No. I haven't.”
“Then say my name.” His lips found her ear and then trailing down her neck. She moaned but said nothing. He snarled when his fingers traced the bruise he had found earlier.
“Tomorrow,” she whispered and then suddenly moved from his embrace. “Tomorrow.”
Hiding his boiling blood, he bowed low and brushed his lips against the back of her hand. “Tomorrow then, darling. And tonight we will rest.” He watched her as she dressed for sleep, just as he knew she watched him as he did the same, but for the first time, he didn’t feel that rush, that desire, that he usually did. Instead, his eyes were fixated on a certain spot on her neck that she seemed to try too hard to cover. For a moment, her hair moved and he snarled. It wasn’t any bruise. His fists tightened and he quickly looked away. It was the mark of another lover’s passion.
He quickly turned off the light, wishing the darkness could erase everything. For a moment he stood completely still, listening to the silk sheets rustle as she slid between them, and he realized he didn’t want to join her. But he forced himself to make his way over to her. “I don’t believe a word you said …” he whispered quietly as he laid down beside her and pulled the covers up over his bare chest. She flinched against him but then relaxed. “And still I let you in my bed.” He chuckled darkly as she wrapped her arms around him.
For a long time, he lay in the dark, struggling past the rage and desperation that rose in his throat. Her arms were warm around him but he had never felt so cold. “I feel alone in your arms.” Slender lips brushed against her cheek. “Say my name, darling. Let me hear you say my name. Let me hear you say you love me.”
But only silence spoke to him.
—…—…—
The sunlight from their window was the only thing that greeted him when he woke to an empty bed next to him. He snarled and threw the covers off himself. “And now you leave me in this room.” His sardonic laugh echoed chillingly through the room. “I got darkness in my head and demons in my eyes and yet you never had to fear me until now!” He roared to the empty room, his eyes flashing violently. “You’ve got too many different sides, darling. Something has to change tonight.”
That morning he took great pains to make himself irresistible. When he had finished, his black hair shone, his skin was silky smooth, his clothes pristine, his bright blue eyes dark with passion, seduction, and desperation.
When she came, he was waiting for her. One arm was thrown casually over the back of the couch, the other pulled the cigarette from his mouth. His leather clad legs were crossed and his eyes, cold as ice, full of enticement.
Her face radiated shock when her eyes met his. Her hair was mussed—something she would’ve never let slide if it had just been bed hair. Her lips were red and slightly swollen. Another red mark peered out from under her shirt collar.
She stuttered on her words as he stood and strode over to her, his eyes never leaving hers. “Welcome back home, darling. I didn’t realize you had planned on leaving so early this morning. I would’ve been up with you to help you and order breakfast.”
“I—I went to see a friend.”
He laughed darkly and caressed her hair. “Looking like this?” he clicked his tongue and shook his head. “No, not you.” Slowly, he circled her, his fingers trailing her shoulders. She shivered but didn’t move. “I know you better, darling. I’ve made it my duty to know everything about you, to understand you better than anyone, and to love you deeper than anyone because of it.”
“It was an emergency,” she quickly shot back at him and he stared down at her in mock horror.
“Darling, whatever was wrong? You should have awoken me! I could’ve helped! You know everything I own is yours, you only have to say what you need. You know that, right?”
Her dark skin pale and she nodded. “Y-yes.”
His gentle, naïve pretense melted off his face as he drew her to him, forcing her chin up so her gaze met his. “Than why didn’t you, darling?” His voice, gaze, posture, aura demanded she tell the truth.
She swallowed and tried to look away.
Abruptly, he let her go and stalked away from her, his voice a low hiss. “You’ve been dressing up the truth, and I’ve been dressing up for you. You know the only thing I have ever asked in return for all I give you is the truth. I would sell my soul to the devil for you. Is being honest simply so hard to ask in return?”
“I want you to claim me.”
He froze at her words and slowly turned around, his body tense like a cat about to pounce on its prey. “What?”
She threw her chin up and met his eyes. “I want you to claim me. Make me yours, forever.”
One foot in front of the other, he stalked closer to her, his breath ragged in his chest. “Are you sure?” His fingers trailed her cheeks and then down her neck. He had waited so long to here those words from her, but he had wanted to be sure, fully sure, that she was as committed as he.
She nodded.
A dark grin swept his face. “As you wish, darling.”
It only took a few minutes for him to be addicted to their passion. It was hard to tell where he ended and she began as their lips crushed against each other, their hands explored, and their legs entwined.
“Say my name,” he hissed throatily as he gently bit her neck. “Say my name!” But she only groaned in response. His frustrations rose.
Soon she was on the bed and he hovered over her, his lips tickling her ear. “If you’re being honest. If you really want this, say my name.”
“Just claim me,” she growled as she dug her fingers into his back but he shook his head.
“No. I won’t until I know, truly, fully and honestly that this, spending the rest of your life with me, is what you want. Once you are mine, by all the pits of hell I will never let you go, but I wouldn’t ask it against your will. Say. My. Name.”
Tears glistened in her eyes as she opened her mouth and then closed it, and opened it and closed it, slowly shaking her head.
“Say my name!” He roared and crushed his lips against hers. Heaven and hell he wanted this, but if she didn’t …
“Please, darling. If you love me, let me hear you say my name.” His heavy breath mingled with hers as he pressed his forehead to hers, choking back the tears that rose in his throat.
“I—I,” she turned her face away from his. “I can’t,” she whispered so quietly he thought he didn’t hear.
“What?” Ice cold shock ran down his body. Why was he surprised? He had known if for a while now. So why did it hurt so much to hear it?
“I can’t do this. I don’t love you,” she swallowed and pulled the covers over her bare body as he quickly moved away. “I love … someone else. I just wanted you for …” her eyes roamed around the richly decorated room and then landed on his chiseled chest.
He burned with anger but shoved it low. He wanted to hear everything she had to say. He had to, if he wanted to be justified. “For how long?” Though his heart was rotting, burning with the fiery passion of rejection, his voice was cold and unfeeling. “Was it all just a lie?”
“No. No. Not always.” She gathered the blankets around her and let her legs dangle off the bed as she sat next to him. “I think I cared about you. Once. A long, long time ago.”
“So why?” He stared down at his pale hands, wondering if she only felt coldness when he touched her, or wondered how long she had shrunk away from his touch.
“Because …” she let her words trail off until her eyes met his.
His piercing, harsh glare caused her to swallow hard and quickly explain. “At first it was endearing, how much you doted on me. I finally felt loved and cared for. I finally had a place to stay, something to look forward to, someone to wake up to. But then I started realizing, you aren’t … normal.”
His blue eyes narrowed and he tilted his head down, letting his black hair cover the darkness that had formed in his eyes, but he did not interrupt.
“You’re possessive, temperamental, controlling, obsessive. I couldn’t go anywhere without letting you first know. You knew everything about me, even things I didn’t even know. I could never be alone. And you demanded such … commitment. I was scared. Scared that if I agreed to be with you, you would never let me go.”
“And would that have been so bad?”
She hesitated. “I don’t know.”
“Did I ever hurt you?” His fists tightened.
“No—”
“Did you ever once lack anything?”
“No but—”
“Did I ever raise my hand against you or raise my voice in anger at you? Did you ever once feel threatened that I would abuse you or let you be in harm’s way?” His voice shook.
Tears flowed down her face and she buried her head in her hands as if trying to block out his words. “No, no, no,” she sobbed.
“Then why?”
“Because I never loved you!” she cried out their eyes meeting.
“Never?” His heart shattered in him as he watched her bite her lip, wrap her arms around herself, and shake her head. “You just wanted to use me. You wanted my money, my safety, my love, the warmth of my skin against yours, and the pleasure you thought I could bring you. And when I offered you love, you rejected it.” The shattered pieces of his heart hardened in him as he suddenly saw her in a much different light. This was not the woman he had fallen in love with. This was a traitor.
“I guess.”
“And even after all the good I had done for you, you still wouldn’t give me the honor of at least telling me the truth that you were sleeping with another man behind my back and you didn’t want to be with me. Do you really think I would’ve been angry with you? Do you really think I loved you that little?”
“I don’t know.”
“So you never trusted me either.”
She didn’t answer.
“And what shall I do with you?” He stood and turned to look down at her. She only met his gaze for a moment. His fingers snaked under her chin and forced her face to look up into his. His cold gaze swept her features. “Perhaps I’ll give you everything you wanted, as a parting gift. And after that, I will never see you, speak to you, or spare you a second thought ever again. You will be free from me forever.”
A spark of greed flashed in her eyes. “Everything I wanted?”
He didn’t let his revulsion show. “Yes, everything. Did you really expect anything less?”
For the rest of the night he doted on her, praised her, worshipped her, and gave her everything she had wanted, except for the one he could not give. And he did it all with a coldness he had never felt before. He exceeded everything he had ever done, but never had he done anything so soullessly, for he did not do it out of love, but out of revenge.
“You will be addicted to me,” he hissed in her ear as she moaned, her breath reeking of alcohol. “You will never be able to forget me. And when you lay in bed with the man you cheated on me with, you will not be able to whisper his name without remembering mine.”
—…—…—
“So no hard feelings?” The meek man with tousled brown hair and sleepy eyes stuck his hand out, a sheepish grin on his face.
Looking down on it in disgust, he smiled slyly anyway and shook it anyway, his blue eyes glinting through the locks of his black hair. “Of course not. I want her to be happy. And she seems it with you.”
“Well thanks, chap. You sure are taking it well. I know how long you two have been together, but I guess nothing lasts forever.”
A demonic grin spread across his face and he winked. “No. It doesn’t.”
“Ah there she is!” The younger man ran to the railing of the dock and waved down the cliff to where she was waving back, her long hair blowing into her familiar green eyes.
He clapped the young man on the back and waved down at the woman he had once loved. “Go. She’s waiting for you.”
Without a second glance back, the man ran down the flight of stairs and caught her in his arms before leading her hand in hand away across the beach. She spared one glance back, her green eyes meeting his blue and he smirked.
“Nothing lasts forever,” he repeated before turning away and laughed sardonically. "Don't be surprised when she says my name."
Though he never saw her again, he heard through those who thought it worth their time to tell him, that only a few months after that day, she broke up with the new, softer man, claiming she was restless and he hadn’t been enough.
And then, early one morning, the man with the ice blue eyes with a heart of fire awoke to find a single letter stuck beneath the big oak doors downstairs. There was only one word on the page, one that caused a sinister smile to spread wide on his face.
“Silas.”
—…—…—
Thank you so much for reading! Let me know how you liked it in the comments below. I'm hoping to do one picture prompt short story a week alongside Katie Marie!
This week's picture prompt did not inspire anything for me at all but I found this male nightcore version of Say My Name and I couldn't resist! I did work in a little cameo of the picture prompt however! Here it is:
So it sort of makes an appearance. Sort of …
Special thanks to @theglorywriters from Instagram whose reel we are getting our prompts from.
May the suns smile upon your presence
—Effie Joe Stock