Chapter 1~Whiskey in the Middle of the Night

In her entire life, this was the first time Eve had walked down the streets of Seattle in the middle of the night with no destination in her mind.

There was no destination. Yes, she had no idea where she wanted to go.

Who would have a purpose after discovering that her fiancé had just cheated on her on his birthday?

So, where does a woman with no purpose go?

Back to the apartment? Of course not.

Cry in the car and drive around the city until morning? Hell no, Eve remembered that she’d left her car keys in the bag she dropped in front of Andres’s apartment door, and she of course, wasn’t going back to his apartment just to take them.

Then, what else? Call her parents, who were in New York? They must still be asleep because it was only about 6 am there. It’s the end of the year, which means the temperature is dropping with snow that could fall at any time. Once again, Eve emphasized that normal people would choose to stay in bed, and her parents were normal people. So, they must be sleeping right now. Her call would just rush their morning, and she didn’t want that.

So... for the first time in her life, she chose to step foot in a nightclub she found down the street after she had walked down every street until she lost her way.

She knew this was a stupid decision.

First, she had never been to this kind of place. Secondly, she was alone, and she had no idea what to do there. Thirdly, it seemed that she had arrived a little late as it was now almost 3 am.

“What can I give you, Miss?” A man in a tuxedo standing behind the bar counter asked after she managed to walk over and sat down on a chair with puffy eyes and a red face because she was cold.

“Whatever,” Eve sighed—trying hard to fight her heart’s desire to run away and leave the place.

She knew she wouldn’t get anything she had been searching for in a nightclub filled with the smell of alcohol, cigarettes, and maybe even drugs.

She was a doctor. And in her entire life... this place had never been one of the places she had written on her bucket list. And maybe she should start forgetting every list she ever wrote because the truth is, not everything written there can happen in her life.

Today, she had just got a painful beat to the principles she had believed all her life.

For the first time in all the years, she laughed at an age-old principle she believed in.

No sex before marriage? Big no.

Everyone shouldn’t have believed in that odd joke.

Your fiancé, who has agreed to that since the beginning of your relationship, will surely cheat on you eventually and use that stupid excuse to justify his actions.

Hell, who agreed not to have sex? Didn’t Andres also support her decision when they first started dating two years ago? So now he threw it all away and left her in an idiotic state.

And it was that stupid situation that led to her sitting as a pathetic woman in a nightclub in a place she didn’t recognize.

“You look pretty messed up,” the man, who Eve guessed was a waiter or bartender at the bar, frowned and handed her a box of tissues—probably she was not the first messed-up-looking woman who had come there with nowhere to go and chosen to cry alone at a bar table. “Maybe a whiskey or vodka would clear your throat and make you feel better. The good news is, I have both.” He made an offer.

The only alcoholic drink she had ever had was beer. And just information, it was the lowest alcohol content. She had read that whisky has about 40-50% alcohol, while vodka has 35-50% alcohol. That’s many times more than beer, which only has about 2-8% alcohol.

She didn’t know if her body would be able to tolerate the alcohol, but who cared? It would be better if she got drunk until the morning because at least she would forget about her heart breaking a little bit—remove the painful traces from her mind when the image of Andres making out in the apartment was always spinning in her head.

“Or do you want something else, gorgeous?” the man was still waiting patiently for her.

“Give me a whiskey.” Eve broke off at last.

“Good decision,” the man before her snapped his fingers and disappeared from her for a few moments before returning with a glass of brown liquid with ice cubes.

Well, she have to drink a glass of whiskey with ice cubes when her body was shivering from the cold. Nice decision!

“Call me whenever you want another glass or choose another one,” the man said, placing the glass in front of her and walking away to continue his work.

This was better.

She didn’t know whether to drink the whiskey because the only thing she wanted when she walked into this place was to find shelter from the cold, not spend the whole night getting drunk.

However, the idea of getting drunk all night isn’t a bad idea either

“Not interested? This is the best whiskey around. You’re missing out on a big thing if you’re not interested in your drink.”

At first, Eve thought that the bartender who served her a few minutes ago was returning to her after seeing her lay her head on the table with no intention of tasting the whiskey. However, after she raised her head and found no one in front of her, she realized that it was not the bartender who had spoken to her.

“Bad day, huh?” the man commented again after seeing the tears on her face.

Once again... she was crying. And Eve hated that.

“Yeah, bad day.” She offered no denial.

“Maybe whiskey can fix your day.”

Fix her day? Does it?

“What if it doesn’t?” Eve snorted softly as she raised her glass. Her nose wrinkled when she smelled the strong smell of alcohol.

She would die if her body couldn’t handle the alcohol. She was in a strange place, and there was no one she knew here. If she lost control, who knows what would happen to her?

“Maybe I have something else that can fix your bad day,” the man replied as he gave her a sardonic smile that looked perfect on his face.

Handsome. He was indeed very handsome, with perfect eyelashes, a sharp nose, and a firm jaw like a sculpture of a Greek god.

If Eve was in her early 20s, then it is certain that she would scream as soon as she saw a handsome man in front of her. However, she is now 27 years old and has just discovered that her fiancé is cheating on her. A handsome man would have no effect on her.

“Wanna bet?” He raised his finger and gave the bartender the code to fill his empty glass. “One glass, and if you find this whiskey bad, then I’ll give you something else to fix your bad day.” One of his hands crept up to touch her thighs, which were quivering in surprise because of the cold temperature of his skin.

Eve knew what that look meant. She also knew what the touch of his hand meant. But... who cares? What if the gamble she made with this stranger could get her to finish her glass of whiskey?

“And what if I like them?” She asked calmly. One hand made a rotating motion to stir the ice water in her whiskey glass.

“You have nothing to lose,” he snorted, “if you like it, then you’ll have to give me something to make up for my bad day. It seems you are not the only one having a bad day. What do you think about that?”

Eve stared at the liquid in her glass and began to doubt her courage when she decided to respond to the strange man beside her.

Who is he? Why did Eve have to make a deal with a stranger when she didn’t even know his name? And why... does this man have so much influence that he can make Eve feel doubt about her own principles? But… who cares?

“One glass of whiskey to start the deal?” The man raised his filled glass and brought it closer to Eve.

Eve reached out and raised her glass as well, “one glass to start the deal.” She said as she banged the tip of her glass against his before taking a slow sip.

As the cold liquid slid down her throat, Eve could feel a surprising burning sensation. She almost choked but finally managed to swallow the entire liquid on her lips before she put the glass down roughly from being too surprised by the taste of the drink on her lips.

“Easy, girl,” the man touched her glass and brought it closer to her lips. “Don’t go to rush. Taste it slowly.”

Eve gave him an objecting look. Of course, she wasn’t going to drink it again, and that was enough proof that their bet ended with the consequences they had agreed before.

“It’s obvious that I don’t like it.” She said.

“One more sip.” He looked at her with conviction. An absolute command as if he would not accept a refusal even if Eve had the right to do it.

So, Eve look up and… Oh shit, he had blue eyes.

They say it’s better to trust a brown-eyed man than a blue-eyed one. Unfortunately, Eve had just gotten a painful betrayal from a brown-eyed man, and her common sense reminded her that she shouldn’t trust this blue-eyed man. The blue-eyed stranger who... looked dangerous with his smile and handsome face.

However, Eve, unfortunately, couldn’t give a refusal. She took a sip from her whiskey glass-letting the liquid burned her throat once again.

And shit, why does this whiskey taste better when she drinks it from the hands of this blue-eyed man?

***

“What’s your name?” The man ran his rough fingers along Eve’s back, which was only covered by a sleeveless black dress after she took off her cardigan just as she stepped through the club door.

“Eve. Evangeline,” she murmured amidst her ragged breathing.

This is wrong...

Even under the crazy influence of alcohol, she could still feel her heart beating fast in response to the long kiss he planted on her jaw, then down to her neck and shoulders.

Who knows who lost their bet, and who knows who decided the consequences of that defeat? Who cares about that? The only thing she knows is that she is far from the nightclub and the bar table full of empty glasses left over from her drink—their drink. Instead, kisses, hot touches, moans, and a room with a large bed were waiting for her once the large black door closed due to the push of a man’s foot that was holding her along their steps.

“Ah...” her eyes were closed, but what he was doing on her body could be clearly imagined in her head-twirling, just like an erotic dance that spread warmth in every drop of her blood.

“Not yet time to moan, little angel.” He murmured in her ear while giving a small bite on the tip of her ear.

Eve’s body stiffened even more. She knew where all this touching was going, but she didn’t want to stop whatever he was doing.

Alcohol had such a crazy effect. Unfortunately, Eve couldn’t really remember how many glasses of whiskey she had downed to lose control like this.

Maybe she would regret it...

Maybe tonight was going to be amazing...

Who knows?

“I didn’t bring a condom. I hope you’re in your pills.” He muttered while giving one smile right after he removed the black dress that perfectly fit her body.

The cold air greeted her body and made her skin crawl. However, warmth returned to her after he carried her up to the bed and continued their game, which had stopped for a moment.

The room was dimly lit, with a small light at the end of the nightstand on the right. Dark curtains cover the windows and... Eve doesn’t have time to notice any other details because right when she walks in, the stranger man in front of her immediately continues every kiss they shared at the nightclub and... some of the hot touching that happened in his car.

Such a bright blue color greeted her eyes that Eve could imagine the Caribbean sea when he looked at her in closeness in the middle of the dark night.

Once again, Eve felt her body tingle.

This was the first time she was naked in front of a man, and damn, that man was a stranger whose name she didn’t even know.

Fuck Andres and his stupid excuses for his affair.

Fuck her and all her stupid excuses for not having sex with her own fiancé. Now, she was going to prove that she could have sex with anyone, even without marriage, and all the stupid things she had been thinking.

“What's your name?" Eve stares into his blue eyes—savoring the moment his hand begins to move down and tease her groin while his eyes stare straight at her as if observing his one-night stand.

"Axel," he replied quietly, then he leaned over and gave her a kiss.

Eve opened her thighs according to his direction—doing whatever he told her like a slave obeying her master.

"Fuck," the man—Axel, growled as their penetration almost happened.

Almost...

Because Eve could feel her grip on Axel's shoulders harden along with the pain she was feeling.

"Shit, you're a virgin?" A flash of shock flashed across Axel's eyes and face.

Eve bit her lower lip. She looked so stupid under his grip in the middle of their penetration. She looked even more foolish now that she was holding back her tears.

"Fuck," Axel groaned, and Eve could see the madness in his bright blue eyes. "This is going to be a long night, little angel. And you're going to remember it for the rest of your life."

Axel did not need any approval from her because every word that left his lips sounded like an absolute command—something that could not be denied.

First, it was going to be a long night.

Second, Eve would have to remember it for the rest of her life.

Damn. This whole thing was crazier than she could have ever imagined as the whiskey flowed down her throat. And it looked like it was really going to be a long night even though it was almost morning.