Chapter 1: Introduction
The pulsating beats and the lust-driven air clung to my skin like powdered sugar. The glaring neon lights in this dive bar seemed to bleach out the world outside, leaving me drenched in an inescapable, sanctified haze. Each man's covetous stares pierced my mind like razor blades, and they lingered there, suffocating me with their desire.
My heart pounded against my chest as a protracted tale of shameful memories entered my consciousness. But it was his voice that ultimately broke through the cacophony of lust-fueled piercing whispers.
"Alice," he drawled, knocking the air out of me like a punch to the gut. I blinked at him as if waking from a hypnotic trance only to find myself stuck in a sordid dream once more.
"Mr. Thompson?" I choked his name out like the bitter seed of a pomegranate. "What the fuck are you doing here?"
His oily eyes crawled over my exposed skin, and an obscene leer crossed his face, a nauseating mockery of the genuine pride he'd once taken in me. I tried to recoil, but my body was still trapped in the allure of a well-rehearsed dance routine.
My mind, however, was no longer lost in the eroticism of undulating limbs and a seductive beat. It reeled in horror as I recalled who was leering at me like a predator sizing up its vulnerable prey. Mr. Thompson, the man who leered over me, told me I was good for nothing.
His mouth curled as he took in the way I was dressed, the glint in his eye now downright lecherous. "You're a vision, Alice.