Alpha Black

Alice Forrest

If you asked me when I first started drinking, why I liked spiced rum, I couldn’t have given you an answer beyond ’because it doesn’t taste like alcohol!’’, which is not true. When you dilute anything enough, the smell, the taste, the colour, it loses its punch.

But as I got older, I fell in love with the flavour, the smell, the warmth, and the fire it provides to my mouth. When you take a shot, or a swig of it straight, even in a strong mixed drink, it leaves this feeling running down your throat, a tingle like sparks and fire. As the flames burn out, you’re left with a mark in your mouth where the alcohol burns, where it keeps you warm, where it fuels you. Making your mouth eventually water and salivate for another.

It is addicting.

It was that smell and feeling I currently longed for, amongst the mess inside my mind and the hell that raged around me, I longed to feel numb, yet on fire, to feel the hunger for life. To be drunk.

I sat with my chin on my arms and stuck my arse out from the bar, taking the weight off my feet - where my strappy black heels cut and blistered against the skin on my heels and toes. They hurt like hell, but they looked stunning and the good five inches of heels made my legs look twice as long. I felt someone’s hand graze my backside and I stood up straight, ignoring the creep - who lingered on to find someone else.

I tugged at my short black dress and pulled the neckline up, suddenly aware of the amount of skin I was showing, it made me feel exposed. I shot him a glare over my shoulder but turned to my friend and swung my arms around her perfect body instead, “Shit, Alice!” she said as I almost knocked her over.

“Sorry Angel,” said with a smile and rested my head on her shoulder, I could hear her heartbeat pumping along to the tune of the music that vibrated the entire club.

“Just watch it, or we’ll both end up with broken legs,” she said with a laugh, and wrapped an arm around me.

“Please,” I said, looking her up and down, “You never get injured, only a God could clip your wings,” I added with a wink.

She giggled and a light blush flushed her porcelain skin. Angelique was an angel, hence the nickname, Angel. She was tall and slim, with dead straight blonde hair that cascaded down past her waist. With a steady career in modelling, she dominated every room that she was in with her powerful personality and dangerous looks. Tonight, she donned a tight cami dress which was fittingly white and heels just like mine but they sparked from the silver and glitter.

She gave me a light squeeze as the bartender made his way towards us, “hello ladies, what can I do for you this evening?” he said offering a dazzling white smile.

“Gin and tonic, two rum and cokes, and an apple cider,” I said while he made eyes at Angel.

“Oh, and two shots of vodka, please” Angel added with her stunning grin and gave me a wink.

The bar tender gave us the two shots first and we lifted our drinks, “to my horrible taste in men!” I cheered and I could barely hear the sound of the glasses collided before we cringed our faces and swallowed, fire and sparks burning down our throats.

We thanked and paid the bar tender, before weaving through the crowd of hot sweaty bodies, dodging dancers and couples who littered the dance floor.

“Your drinks ladies!” I announced as I slide the other rum and coke towards Jenny and Angel slid the cider towards Steph.

“Thanks Al,” Steph said, barely having finished her last drink and I knew that she would nurse this drink for the rest of the night, probably wouldn’t finish it.

“Do you want to dance?” Jenny asked, taking her rum and coke and grabbing me by the hand. She tossed her deep red hair over her shoulder as she sparkled in her sequin dress which matched her dark blue eyes. I latched onto her hand and let her take me to the dance floor and we seemed to inhale our drinks as we twirled and twisted becoming one of the many, hot, sweaty, bodies that trampled the dance floor.

I would never call myself a particularly beautiful person, but I wasn’t completely unfortunate, however the way that men shamelessly hit on Angel and Jenny made me feel like a duff sometimes – the less attractive friend who people befriend, just to get with their attractive friends.

However, I felt his eyes linger on me with every step as I returned to the bar, I felt the hunger in his eyes and the way his gaze burned into my back made me blush as I flagged down the bar tender.

“Hey lovely, where’s your friend?” the bar tender asked, looking over my shoulder for Angel.

“Drowning her sorrows with a gin and tonic,” I replied with a smile.

“Another coke and rum then?” he asked.

“Yes please, give me another shot while you’re at it too.”

He looked at me with a raised eyebrow, “how many have you had?”

“Not nearly enough,” I replied with an innocent smile, “I need my buzz back.”

“Oh, why is that?” he asked, barely paying attention as he made my drink.

“Relationship problems, ex-relationship problems.”

“Ah, well the shot is on the house then,” he said with a smile and slid me the shot.

“Thanks,” I said, taking the shot and tapping my car on the paywave system on the counter.

I turned around, as he slid me my rum and coke, and scanned the room for the man whose eyes were fixed on me. I had left Jenny dancing with an attractive, European looking man, surprisingly he was able to keep up with her energy and excitement.

The crowd pulsed with the music, and smoke blew off the stage where the d.j. was bobbing away, headphones on, and hyping up the crowd. I felt the vibrations of the bass hum through the bar, and I sent my gaze further up the club.

Steph and Angel wer where we left them, sitting in a comfortable, low booth, a stranger had taken up Jenny’s spot and was unsuccessfully trying to hit on Angel, but she just brushed him off and seemed deep in conversation with Steph. Who, I will admit, seemed to somehow match the red velvet seat cushions. Yet, while Angel and Jenny had this sexy, skinny, girl allure to them, Steph was like forbidden fruit. She was short with cropped dark hair that sat in waves above her shoulder, she had sparkling brown eyes and curves in all the right places, she wasn’t eye catching and head turning gorgeous, but once you looked at her, once you got to know her, the kindness and warmth seeped out of her soul, and you could just never avert your eyes.

I sipped at the coke and rum, enjoying the sweet and smooth taste that brought pools of warmth to my chest. That’s when I saw him.

It was as if the music had suddenly stopped in the club, and I made eye contact with the most beautiful looking man I had ever seen.

He sat at the back of the club, perched on a stool with a friend, who had his back to me. His gaze was strong, unwavering, and intimate, it sent chills down my spine, and I felt like he was undressing me with his eyes.

I let my gaze drop and admire the mystery man whose stare seemed to have followed me from the dancefloor. He had one hand above his drink, tracing the rim of the glass and seductively swirling the honey-coloured alcohol inside, while his other hand rested on his jaw, supporting his head. He looked like the type of man who was not only tall and well built, but his muscles were earnt through hard work and devotion, not some gym junkie who flexed in front of a mirror.

He wore a black suit and dark shirt with the buttons undone so that it exposed his chest, and of course the sleeves were rolled up, it was like he was trying to be seductive. Without breaking the intense staring contest we seemed to have going on, he said something to his friend who turned back and looked at me, before resuming his position and having a drink from the beer in front of him.

He stood and I swear my heart jumped from my chest as he gave his friend a pat on the shoulder and exited the VIP section. I blinked and he stood in front of me, the swirling smell of citrus and pine filled my nose and he leaned against the bar next to me, taking a sip from the glass he carried with him.

“Hi,” he said innocently, his voice like hot caramel, so sweet that I could have melted right there and then.

“Hi,” I replied, and I felt redness begin to creep up my chest and cheeks.

His eyes glimmered with light and life, and I felt like I was staring at the most luscious rainforest, with warm greens and flecks of deep emeralds, each time the lights changed, and the music pulsed a new arrangement seemed to flicker in front of me.

“What’s your name?” he asked, and I felt his fingertips brush against my skin, sending a tsunami of fire across my neck. His hand continued and he brushed the hair out of my face, tucking it behind my ear with the utmost care.

“Alice.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Alice,” he said, his eyes snapping back to my own. “My name is Nate.”

Author’s Note:

Please enjoy this rewrite of Alpha Black.

I’m trying to make the chapters a but smaller and changing the style. Let me know what you think because I love to hear from you.

Revision – 29/06/2021

Purpose – Spelling and Grammar

Revision - 23/07/2022

Purpose - Grammar and General