King of Hatred | BDSM

Chapter 1 - Mr. Dalton

Maliya's POV

They say not to look danger in its face, but right now, I feel like I'm doing it and have no intention of stopping.

I want to get closer and closer and closer to him like a moth to the flame, not caring for its life as long as it can get close to the beautiful, warm light.

Except my flame doesn't look warm at all. He looked like an iceberg with that murderous expression in his eyes, and I should have run away from him as fast as I could, but I wanted to do the exact opposite.

I always thought he was the most beautiful man to ever walk on this earth, and I was convinced he could not get more handsome, but now I know I was wrong. Very wrong.

The man sitting across the room is not the Rowan I used to know all those years ago. He's not the boy who I called mine. No, he's very far from that. I can tell by the way his eyes coldly follow my every move. Nervousness stops my body from moving forward, even though I've been waiting for this very moment for years.

His head is tilted to the side, and I could almost see the dare in his eyes to go closer to him. I already know my hopes about us going back to being friends like nothing has happened is out of the window. I fidget with my fingers for a few more seconds, not sure what to do next.

Well, I came all the way here just to talk to him. The least I can do is to follow through with my plan.

I take a deep breath and slowly make my way over to him, trying not to peer at the mostly naked people around me. I knew he had a club like this, but seeing it in person has been a shock to my brain.

The closer I get to Rowan, the more I can feel his burning eyes on me. I keep my eyes on the floor, making sure not to trip. Imagine how embarrassing that would be. When I only have five steps left, I try to slow down my heartbeat, but I already know it's pointless. It was never normal around him. When I only have two steps left, I mentally go over everything I have prepared to say, but all of the words vanish when I stop in my tracks in front of him, and his scent surrounds me.

Oh my gosh.

Now I'm looking at him, my mouth opening and closing, but his face remains still, like it's carved out of stone. His dark eyebrows lift, silently urging me to start speaking, like right now, but all I can think of is his manly, earthy smell hitting my nose. Maybe if I stop breathing then I'll be able to form actual words like an intellectual human being.

"Contrary to popular belief, I don't have all day," Rowan speaks up first, his deep, masculine voice scaring the shit out of me.

My heart stops beating for a second, then picks up a much faster pace, making me feel like I'm going to have a heart attack. I rub my lips together, wetting them in the process.

Pull yourself together! You've been waiting for this ever since you had to leave him, for fucks sake.

In front of me, Rowan takes a deep breath, and I have a suspicion that he's going to tell me to fuck off - at least the look on his face suggests that - so I rush out the lamest words.

"Hi, I... It's nice to see you again." I blurt out, my face heating from the embarrassment. I can feel my heartbeat in my throat and hear it in my ears so loudly it's blocking out all of the noises around us, and it makes me feel like we're the only ones in this room. And that somehow makes me feel frightened like a deep instinct whispering to me that it wouldn't be safe to be alone with this man because he looks like he wants to slaughter me right here and right now.

A deep, sarcastic chuckle resonates through him, and I glance into his eyes, but I instantly regret it. I knew it would be a mistake to seek him out after all these years. There's a reason he wasn't looking for me, either.