The lights continued to darken, leaving the room in nothing but a dark void as music began to filter through the sound system.
"Cause baby now we got bad blood,
You know we used to be mad love,
So take a look what you've done,
Cause baby now we got bad blood.
Hey"
The centre of the stage lit up a rotating platform in the centre as Kendrick Lamar stepped up, flowing with words that set the stage for the show. The stage went dark once again, the back of the room lighting up, the runway extended to reach the front entrance, slow blinking LED lights showcasing Taylor Swift as she stepped out singing, dressed in a short jump suit, loose gold chains wrapped around her waist and neck, a loose gold chain hanging loose, as if a leash, gold spiked shoes on her feet, no doubt a piece from the collection.
She walked up towards the runway as she sang, turning when she reached the platform to stand where Kendrick Lamar had disappeared from.
As the chorus began, the room had a moment of darkness again, the sides of the room lighting to show extensions of the runway as they weaved through the rows of guests leading all the way to the main runway floor, amber hues casting the models in shadowed light as they ambled down their stage, various outfits on display, some more risqué than others. A floor length black dress accentuated with see through sections running down the back, a black choker on the model's neck, a red dress, the chest piece fashioned as a bondage corset, a silver spiked necklace adding domination, a one-arm knee length dress, sections cut out to show hints of skin down her front, a spiked bracelet on her arm. Another dressed in leather dress shirt she held open at her chest, a red and black Mercedes hat tilted on her head, tall leather boots on her legs and sheer lace gloves on her hands.
Kendrick Lamar appeared again as the models finally reached the stage, circling him as he sang once again. A hand appeared on his shoulder as he continued singing, the model walking around him to reveal Genevieve, wearing the first piece of the lingerie section of the line. Her chest was wrapped in a black and white corset that ran down and connected to silver chains that were brandished on her waist, ripped fishnet stockings that ended in tall boots that had belts weaving through them, one arm in a ripped glove, her other arm sporting spiked bracelets that ran down her forearm, a simple silver choker on her neck. Genevieve stepped around Kendrick Lamar, her other hand revealing a whip thrown over her shoulder.
When she was almost at the end of the runway she waved the whip, snapping it in the air. The stage darkened slightly as if on cue, the whip lighting up, cerulean glowing from it as she continued to whip it.
Lingerie models weaved from behind her, one dressed in a bondage Angela dress, constructed to create bodycon girdles, strips of fabrics combined and embellished with symmetrically placed gold oversize rings, a bondage Perspex cuff on her wrist, a touch of S&M deluxe exhibited. Following was a model donning white lingerie accentuated by a voyeur harness with shoulder pads and oversized gold rings all across the straps attached to her abdomen, sheer tulle glove handcuffs on her arms, followed by a model dressed in a silk kimono paired with briefs, a detachable silver harness across her waist, an ivory bondage lasso in her hand, half of it dragging across the floor. Next was a model dressed in an ivory sheer silk scarf covering tied to a studded leather collar, a webbed suspender belt over briefs, ivory panelling the front all around the back with silver plated details attached. The exquisite designs continued to pour out onto the stage.
The music tempo slowed down, Taylor Swift's voice still drifting through the sound system as all the models returned once more to take the stage, the runway becoming dimmer except for the indigo light that began to emanate from the back wall, illuminating nothing but the showpieces and their chosen wearers. As they all lined up across the front of the stage, the centre left vacant the indigo light began to dim more.
The first thing to be seen was the silvery light that showcased a leg upon which rested purple sexy suede heels. Purple heels that ran up, stopping halfway up, silver studs and laces adorning the front, the front cut out to reveal her foot. As the model continued to step forward, each of her steps lighted up the area of the stage she stepped on, and still, her form was kept dark. The background light from the stage began to brighten.
Bill's breath stopped.
His obsession continued to walk down the runway dressed in the showstopper, quite the sensual ensemble…
Black and silver lace lingerie graced Steffy's frame, braces attaching straps all across her abdomen onto her back, to connect and wrap over the suspender wrapped around her lower midriff, webbed garters with silver plated rings at the centre front, on her legs, white and silver satin handcuffs adorning her hands, black sheer braces on her forearms. She ambled down the runway, hands wrapped around the straight whip that ran across her neck, her hair falling in waves down her back. And all across her left, running from her waist, reappearing and disappearing underneath the flimsy material that covered her, was a design of intricate thorns weaved around white and black roses, the petals falling off as the tattoo descended down towards her hips, a fragmented sleek tachi sword slipping through the petals of the vine that held the flowers.
"Hot, freaking, damn." Wyatt whispered.
Bill barely heard his son's voice, as his beast reared up, urging him to pounce, to take, to claim…
She was a vision…
One to behold…
She came to a halt at centre stage, next to Genevieve, her face domineering in its intensity. Her eyes scanned the crowd, as if searching for a victim, the floor underneath her the only section of the whole stage that was lit with an azure light. As her eyes passed over their section, they paused…
As she looked right at him…
In a dark room…
Eyes locked…
His fist clenched as he took a deep breath, her effect on him even from afar…
Beyond belief…
Her eyes left his and he felt disconnect the moment they did.
She lifted her hands over her head, the silver cuffs holding her wrists captive as she brought the whip in front of her, bending it until it snapped, the cuffs following suit.
She held the two broken pieces in her hands, a cunning smirk as she did. Turning around she sauntered away.
The models all turned around and departed from the stage behind her as the performers song wound down, leaving nothing but silence, a dark room, and the hints of sexual dominance.
The clapping erupted seconds later, as the lights came on, the whole room standing in ovation.
The whisky in his hand some minutes later did nothing to assuage his nerves.
His beast was clamoring to see her.
The savage in him had been pacing ever since he had laid eyes on her on that stage.
All he could think of was how breathtaking she had looked…
How her eyes had flared when she had seen him…
How his heart had become a staccato when in the obscurity of a room this pull that was between them had her finding him…
He wanted her near, close enough to…
His gaze swept the room as he spotted Katie talking to her sisters. She had arrived for the fashion show at some point, no doubt wanting to see if it would actually be a success. Looking at her, he waited for that guilt to come knocking, for that reality to come sweeping in, for that common sense to take hold.
It didn't.
And he didn't seem to care.
The former love of her life was next to him in conversation with his brother. The man he had helped her to be with, the one everyone had said was meant to be her happily ever after when they had separated ways. The one if everything had gone its way would have given him a grandchild by the woman whose face was currently an imprinted image in his head.
All that mattered to him in that moment was setting sight on the woman that had efficiently taken over him.
"I have to ask you this question."
"Just don't," Liam responded to his brother, annoyance in his tone.
"If you know what it is I'm going to ask, why not just give me the answer. Because you know I will ask it if you don't, and continue to, until you give in and tell me what it is I want to know."
"It's none of your business."
"That makes me even more curious. Are you sure you want me more curious right now? Are you positive that is in your best interests Liam?"
"All I will say was it was complicated."
"It always is with you. But just so I'm clear, you're telling me, that you let that go," Bill vaguely noticed Wyatt's fingers point towards the side. After a moment Wyatt added, "Are you senile?"
Bill knew they were talking about her, and his beast continued to get agitated at this, despite his efforts to rein it in.
"Just shut up," Liam snapped at Wyatt, as they both grew silent.
He continued to watch the amber liquid as it swirled in his glass.
That tendril…
Awareness across his spine…
She was near…
Head rising, he saw her approach them, her eyes averted from him, her body language giving her away to the fact that it was assuaging her too.
She stopped in front of them, her eyes taking in her sons, his glued to her as she presented herself as a vision of beauty once again, an orchid purple cowl neck Dress clinging to every curve, the front dipping to show a hint of skin.
His beast growled…
Touch…
The breath he took in a mistake…
Her scent assaulting him…
Her stance shifted when her eyes landed on Liam.
His beast scratched at his chains.
He tightened their grip…
"Liam," her voice, though soft, held a hint of remembrance, and that irked.
"Steffy," his son's voice, equal in its tone.
His son moved forward as if to embrace her.
The beast scratched harder.
Mine…
Claim…
Dammit.
He tightened the chains further.
Steffy placed a hand in front of her, holding it out towards Wyatt and stopping Liam in his pursuit of an embrace
"And you must be Wyatt," her tone friendly, she reached out and shook his hand.
Wyatt smiled at Steffy, taking her hand and placing a kiss on her hand.
Steffy giggled, pulling her hand away as she noted, "Such a Spencer you are."
Wyatt shrugged his shoulders in response.
Her eyes finally turned to his, a flicker of fire in them. He knew his eyes held the same.
"Bill," her tone maintained a neutral tone.
He nodded his head in return.
"So are you going to congratulate me or not?" she asked teasingly.
A snicker escaped him.
"Only when I see the figures, no sooner." He replied.
"Always such a hard man to please, aren't you?"
He shrugged.
Her lips curved.
Realism intruded.
"Mon cher," words uttered in a low voice before he saw hands wound around her waist.
His beast raised its head swiftly teeth bared.
The stranger, the one he recognized from the club, placed a kiss on her cheek before moving to stand beside her.
"So it was a success no?"
"What do you think?" Turning to face the three Spencer men once more she introduced him as André, a man she had met in France sometime after she had met Genevieve.
"André, this is Bill Spencer and his two sons Liam and Wyatt." The man held out his hand greeting his sons, meeting Bill's eyes as he shook his, a knowing edge in them that bothered him.
"It's nice to finally meet you. Steffy is not forthcoming with information about her life here, so it is always a pleasure to put faces to the few characters in the stories she has told me."
"André," she chastised him.
"Oui, Oui. Si méfiant. I'll stay quiet, yes?" he had an unrepentant look on his face as he said to this Steffy, who found this amusing, as a laugh bubbled out of her.
None of the men replied, Bill choosing to focus once again on the drink in his hand, as he continued in his vain struggle to bank the possessiveness that was sweeping through him. If he kept his eyes on the way André's hands lingered on her arm every time he addressed her, how he leaned in to speak to her, as if to whisper in her ear, as a lover would, as a lover had a right to, he would give into the violence that was riding his beast as every single second passed by. Justin arrived to join them, standing next to him as he began to strike up a conversation with Steffy and André.
"Bill?" his friend asked him, shaking his shoulder to garner his attention.
Bill looked up from his glass to look at Justin.
"Uh huh?"
His friend's eyes gave nothing away as he asked without pause, "Are you ready to go so we can discuss the projections you wanted to chat about?"
Downing his drink, still looking at Justin, he nodded, "Yeah sure."
He turned to face everyone else, "I'll see you boys at the office Monday morning. Enjoy the rest of the night. André it was nice to meet you."
He couldn't help but look at her as he spoke then, "Bring me those numbers Steffy and I'll call it a done deal and sign the paperwork making you CEO."
The gasps around the group were expected. The only people who had known of this plan were himself, Justin, Steffy and his board of directors. Even his wife didn't know, and he knew her reaction would be quite colourful.
"But remember, it's only if you can get her to stay as well." He had added a clause to their agreement, telling her that Genevieve was now a part of the package or there was nothing to discuss. He was determined to keep her around. Seeing her dalliance with Justin would prove amusing for him. She had a way of keeping the man on his feet. Win-win.
"Dad?" Liam asked him as Bill began to turn away from the group.
"Liam," he answered in a brusque tone that held no room for confrontation, a hint of the brute leaking out.
His son's chest rose with restrained fury, he knew that Liam hadn't expected this outcome.
"Congratulations Steffy," Wyatt said, attempting to break through the tension that was beginning to seep in.
"Thank you Wyatt." As she said this, her eyes were on Liam, anger swirling within them. Liam turned to face her, his body slumping when he saw that he was unintentionally saying she did not deserve the position they all knew she would make the best of, even if he had wanted it for himself.
"Now then, I must be on my way. Goodbye." He turned and walked with Justin over to the Logan sisters.
"Congratulations Bill," Brooke said, but he could tell she wasn't happy about the power he held over the precious Forrester Creations and his son, who they both knew he was not a recent fan of, even if she did understand his drive.
"Thank you." The fashion show would be a success, there was no doubt of it, and he knew this was the beginning of a new market base, one that would increase Forrester's presence on the map. And he knew that they all knew it was, like it or not.
"Well done sweetie," Katie added, her hand coming to rest on his forearm as she came to stand next to him. His mind played back to the argument they had had before about him taking over Forrester, how he had done it, and why he hadn't involved her. He had told her the truth. That she would have tried to use her morality compass to make him back out of it for the sake of her sisters, and her nephew. She hadn't argued with him because she knew what he had said was the truth, because she knew that he was who he was, even if she claimed to accept it as she sought to fight with the fabric of what made him Dollar Bill Spencer.
"Thank you," his voice hiding the truth of what he felt at that moment; disappointment that his wife knew him no more than the acquaintances that called themselves his friends.
Confusion that the only person he wanted to actually be standing next to him did not wear his ring, or bear him a child.
Longing that she wasn't next to him at that moment, ensuring this moment of victory would be unforgettable.
"I'll see you at home. Stay and enjoy yourself, I'm going out with Justin for a bit." Bending his head as he looked at his wife, he placed a chaste kiss on her lips, hoping that he would feel a spark of something, anything, as his lips made contact with his.
All that met him was feelings of familiarity, no passion, no longing, no ferocious need.
"See you later." She replied.
Justin let him dwell in his silence as he drove. Bill had no idea where they were going; just that he said it would be somewhere low key, private and soothing. They ended up in a jazz club on the upper side of the city. Justin led him to a booth at the back far corner, sectioned off from the rest of the room, gauzy material rendering it a little cove in its design.
"You gonna be okay?" Justin asked his first statement since they had left Forrester.
"I have no choice but to be," he responded, thinking that it was the reality that he would have to come to terms to.
Steffy shouldn't and couldn't be with him, be his.
He needed to eradicate these thoughts of her.
And he just had to accept that and focus on his marriage, one he had recommitted to, despite whatever was twisting him seven ways from Sunday on the inside.
As they sat there listening to the sultry voice of the performer, Bill quieted his chaotic mind, grateful his friend knew better than to try and pry information out of him. Justin seemed quite preoccupied himself, if Bill was being honest, constantly staring at his phone every ten minutes or so. Bill knew it had to do with Genevieve. If it was pertinent, he had no doubt he would have informed him of it.
A sensual tempo began to emanate from the speakers, the performer's voice blending with it to create an amatory atmosphere. Bill found himself relaxing to her voice further as the song played on.
Lost in the music, he only felt it when hands ran down his chest from behind, the touch sending explosions of burning heat through him.
Her voice, so soft and low, she sang …
When you put your arms around me
I get a fever that's so hard to bear
Her hands stretching out in front of him, fingers snapping lightly…
You give me fever (fever)
When you kiss me and fever when you hold me tight (fever)
A hot whisper in his ear…
You give me fever
In the mornin' and fever all through the night
A soft breath on his cheek, gentle brush of lips
My baby's so damn sexy (oh)
My baby put the fever on me (oh)
Fingers tracing down his arms, a sensory caress
My baby knows just what to do (oh)
You got me boilin' past a hundred and two (oh)
You give me fever
Her fingertips on the edge of his jaw, urging him to look into her eyes as the last words left her, her lips a hairbreadth away.
He leaned in…
Compelled beyond reason...
Gentle touch of lips…
Eruption of flame…
Shackling of chains…