TOP OF THE ROCK

☆ | 15.0

☆

"I NEED YOUR HELP STEALING SOMETHING."

Her brows rose. Well fuck, this just got interesting. "Mmm. Yeah?"

"Yeah." Blue twisted the cigarette between his fingers teasingly, and in the layer of darkness, the shadows of midnight, the simple motion seemed sinful. "I need your help."

A laugh threatened to bubble up. This asshole was fucking with her. "Okay, Nicolas Cage," she snickered. "Are we planning to steal the Declaration of Independence?"

Annoyance flickered in his eyes. "Watch better heist movies, baby."

That spiked something in her blood, that carefully concealed challenge, that beautifully manipulative edge in his voice. Heat rushed through her, but she masked it with a cool smirk. "Cut the bullshit. What the fuck do you really want?"

"Star," he breathed, and the one word was barely a word, spoken so fucking softly that she leaned closer, closer, closer. "I want to steal a star."

"Take me, baby," she teased.

A loose smile tugged at his lips, irresistible in all the wrong, wild fucking ways. "I want you."

And in that moment, in that fucking moment, the beginning of the end, they froze, together, suddenly together, lost in an icy night of too many promises.

"You want me."

"Mmm." Blue moved in closer, pressing a hand beside her head to cage her against the window of the liquor store. Those blue eyes found hers. "I do."

Their hands brushed, cold fingers grazing to pass a dwindling cigarette, and as she put it to her lips an inhaled, the ember burned slowly. When she exhaled, her lips parted, soft breath tangling through wisps of smoke, seductively drawing him in closer, closer, closer.

Two could play this fucking game.

Those tendrils of smoke kissed his cheeks. Blue cocked his head to the side, stole another inch, leveled her with a slow-burning gaze, crystallized and clear, fierce blue eyes that could strip her into nothing. "Don't tell me you don't want me."

Men.

"I've already had you," she said with a shrug.

Surprise traipsed across his expression, but it was fleeting, vanishing before she could indulge in that crack in his armor. That mask. "Fair." His lips twitched in amusement. "What if I could give you more?"

There was something secretive and sensual in his voice, descending into a low rasp that nearly unraveled the temptation into blinding need. A shiver wracked down her spine, and she straightened, refusing to give him the damn satisfaction. "Be careful," she whispered. "Don't make promises that you can't live up to, baby."

Blue snickered. "3 million Swarovski crystals, Star."

Yeah, okay. She rolled her eyes, shoving at his chest lightly until he stepped back. "Fuck off, cabrón."

A hand caught hers, whirled her around, and then her back met the glass window. A soft, surprised gasp tore through her, but Blue was so close, inching forward, their chests brushing, their breath mingling, their lips meeting. The cigarette tumbled from her fingers to the sidewalk.

"3 million Swarovski crystals," he repeated, a hot murmur burning the kiss into something dangerous. Because in the cold, in the December air, Blue could make her feel like she was on fire. "Is that enough?"

They parted silently, lashes fluttering, eyes clashing, gazes colliding defiantly. A warning lurked somewhere in the depths of that crystallized blue, tainted by the lights and shadows of a sleepless city.

"3 million Swarovski crystals." Suspicion lined her throat as she mulled over his words, too fucking distracted by the slight of light that sparked mischief in his eyes. "I'm not following."

"3 million Swarovski crystals," he drawled, "for us. Only us."

What the fuck was he talking about? Was he going to rob a fucking jewelry store?

"For us."

She didn't know him, and she sure as hell didn't trust him.

His gaze skated away, searching the sidewalk discreetly before he leaned in closer. Their lips met again, a kiss disguising the soft, soft, soft confession: "I want to steal the star from the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree."

Oh.

"Oh, Blue," she dragged out that fake name, so fucking fitting, pulling away slowly. Another cold breeze snuck between them. "Blue, Blue, Blue."

Nothing. Blue gave her nothing.

Only that infuriatingly blank expression.

"Bah Humbug." Her fingers crawled up along his jaw, desperate to crack something in that icy exterior. "What's wrong? You're not feeling the holiday spirit? So you want to ruin it for everyone else?"

"You and I," he said, ignoring the slight taunt in her voice. "We could do it. We could take it."

This motherfucker was crazy if he thought the two of them could steal the star Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree. Alone.

"Not alone."

"No," he admitted with a curt nod. "But a crew is... expendable."

There it was. A perfectly premeditated betrayal.

Blue blinked expectantly, and she laughed, a coy smile toying at her lips. "I think you've been watching too many heist movies."

"I think that you want this."

"You don't know what I want. You don't know me."

"They'll be strangers, Star," he said softly. "They'll be strangers, and I don't think it would hurt you for a second to let them take the fall."

She cocked her head to the side curiously, pressing palms to his chest, moving in on him slowly, like a predator, breaking through the cage that was Blue. A thrill chased her to his lips. Strangers. "Hmmm. You're a stranger," she challenged. "I don't know you."

Blue hummed. "I know."

"I don't trust you."

"I don't care."

"Blue," she murmured, the kiss softening with the faint word. Again, they parted, separated, soothingly stilling just inches from each other, and she peered up at him through dark lashes, dead-set on keeping him there. Right where she wanted him. "Blue. What do you need this for?"

"I don't need anything." Those icy blue eyes held her hostage. "I want it."

Fuck. "You want it."

"It's beautiful. It's fucking beautiful."

"So you... want to..."

"Some people want to destroy beautiful things," he said slowly, "but some people just want to steal them."

☆

**Today, I have NO WORDS FOR THIS SHIT. There are only a few chapters left before the end, and I'm ready. They'll probably be pretty short, but things will come together pretty quickly. I hope. 😅😅