Glitch (Next Level Book 1)

Glitch is a unicorn demon. Have I said that already? Probably, but it bears repeating. This man is a wet dream come true, and I’m going to bind myself to him for life. I’ve never given marriage much thought before. I’m hardly thinking of it now. If that’s not something he wants, I won’t press it. I just want him. Forever. I don’t need to sign some contract for that to happen.

But I will sell my soul to the devil to make it last an eternity.

He drives my car back to his place and keeps his hands on my thigh the whole way. It’s a little possessive and calming at the same time. I feel like a live wire that’s been zapping for hours. When will it fizzle out?

I have a feeling the answer’s never as long as Glitch is around.

We pull into a cul-de-sac that’s all townhouses. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but this surprises me a bit. “You live alone?”

“Yeah.” He opens the garage door and drives in. Cutting the engine, he gets out and opens the passenger door for me. I’m grateful because my limbs are heavy. My body’s spent. Glitch guides me inside his home and flicks on the lights.

It smells amazing in here. Like lemons and clean laundry. And it’s immaculate. Glitch drops my key fob on his breakfast bar and grabs my hand. There’s a lot going on—electronics, artwork, books. “You read?” I pluck the first novel I see and glance at the title. It’s a vampire romance.

“Love to when I’ve got the time.”

“You read romance novels?” I can’t believe it. Why can’t I believe it? I should. The man is a fucking devil on my body, he must have learned these tricks from somewhere.

“I do more than read them.” He tugs me along. “Come here.”

I follow Glitch into his bedroom and towards a closet.

Oh, here it is. The moment the bubble will pop.

If he opens that closet door and puts me in some kind of cage because he’s a serial killer, I’ll be so damn mad. Instead of chains and a dog bowl dish for his captives, I find one hell of a recording setup—complete with soundproof pads on the walls and ceiling. “Whoa. You turned your walk-in closet into a recording studio?”

Glitch shrugs. “It’s a side hustle. Trey talked me into it. Said my voice was perfect for audiobooks, and since he knows a lot of authors, he was able to help me get a foothold in the business.”

I can’t even believe this. “You narrate audiobooks.”

“Smutty ones, mostly.”

My eyebrows lift to my hairline. “I want to listen to one.”

“I was hoping you’d say that.” He pulls out his chair and taps the seat. “Put your sweet ass right here.” As I do, he grabs a set of headphones and places them on my ears. His monitor lights up and he starts clicking various files and hits play on one of clips.

His voice hits my ears with a deep, raspy, “Heyyyy, Kitty.”

My thighs clench. My pulse races.

“Why don’t you crawl over here? That’s it. Nice and slow.” I glance up at Glitch. This is what audiobooks are like? How have I never listened to one before?

“Did you miss this cock?”

I stare at his crotch and see he’s hard. Leaning against the desk, arms crossed over his chest, Glitch smiles down at me.

“Open your mouth so I can give you a gift.”

I pull the headphones off. “Someone wrote this in a book?”

Because. Take. My. Money.

“I wrote that,” he confesses.

It’s a good thing I’m sitting down because otherwise my knees might have buckled.

“I wrote that and a lot more.” He hits the computer keys again. “See?”

I glance at the screen. The folder is titled Kitty Series and there are a ton of tracks.

Glitch massages the back of his neck and looks a little uncomfortable. “You showed me your works that are still in progress. Thought I could share mine with you too.”

I hold the headphones up to my ears again, hit play on another track, and listen to his dirty words. It makes me break out in a sweat.

He shuts off the recording. “They’re about you.”

All oxygen evacuates my lungs. They’re about you.

He pulls the headphones off.

They’re about you.

“I’ve been in love with you for a long time, Ara. Even if that doesn’t seem possible or sound true, it is. I’ve fantasized about you so often, I needed to channel it somehow because I didn’t think this,” he says, waving his hand between us, “was ever going to happen.”

I can’t swallow. My throat’s too tight. “You call me Kitty.”

He calls me Kitty. Holy shit. I look at the files in the folder and try to count how many there are. He’s recorded dozens and dozens of dirty talking ear porn about me for months. I’m equally flattered, turned on, and super confused. “But you didn’t ever talk to me,” I whisper. “Even in Discord, you kept our conversations so general.”

“A mistake I’ll regret for the rest of my life.”

I believe him. I wish Glitch had acted sooner. Shit, I wish I had acted sooner. I should have thrown myself out there but didn’t. I let my insecurities get in my way and keep me from going after what I wanted most.

This man.

I wish there was a way I could plug a wire between us and download everything about him. “What’s your real name?”

“Sean.”

My favorite name. I’m so not saying that out loud, because he’d probably never believe me, but Sean is my most favorite guy name in the world. What are the odds? “How did you get the name Glitch?”

“My sister gave me that when I was a kid. Every time I got too nervous or worked up about something, my brain would short-circuit. I couldn’t speak or think straight. She’d say I was glitching, and it stuck.”

I love it. “Can I meet her someday?”

“You can meet her today, if you want.”

Are we moving too fast? Or are we not moving fast enough? I can’t figure my shit out and anxiety starts to bubble in my belly.

Glitch sees it happen and acts fast. “Hey. Whoa.”

I don’t know why I’m freaking. I don’t know why I’m tearing up.

“Ara, look at me.”

He’s blurry because I’m about to cry.

Glitch cups my face and kisses my forehead. “We’ve got all the time in the world, Kitty. We don’t have to rush anything. You can meet her some other time. We dragged our feet, but we still made it to each other. I meant what I said in your studio. You’re mine.”

Annnd now I’m really crying. This is pathetic.

“Is that bad? Did I say something wrong?” He tilts my face so I’ll look at him. “Talk to me, Ara.”

I feel horrible already for what I’m about to say. “If I hadn’t been so stupid, I would have had you longer.” And not ever had to experience the nightmare of my last boyfriend. But I can’t say that part out loud. I don’t want Glitch to know how awful Jason was. I don’t want to ruin this new, shiny relationship with the ugliness of that jerk.

“Never call yourself stupid again, understand?”

I don’t react.

“Ara.” He dips his face to mine and holds my stare. “Never call yourself that again.”

I nod because I’m not sure I can speak. My mind is swarming with a million thoughts at once, and all of them are awful.

You’re lucky you found someone who’s willing to date you, Ara.

You’re so pathetic.

You call this art? A pig would be a better model than you. Look at yourself. You’re lucky I can see past your flaws. Who did you paint those nudes for, Ara? Your gaming buddies?

Why can’t you keep your hands off yourself? You’re a filthy fucking whore. A pig whore. You’re disgusting. It’s a good thing I love you because no one else will.

I see Glitch’s mouth move, but I’m not able to connect the words or process them because all I hear are the mean, awful things my exes have said about me. And Jason’s horrible voice makes my blood freeze when I remember him saying, “You only ever go online to be with those losers because you’re too stupid for real conversation. Those paint fumes go to your head, Ara? Be glad I have a real job so we can still go out and afford dinner when all you do is play with your paint all day. Maybe you should suck my dick to show how you appreciate having a real man.”

Suddenly, Glitch is smashing his mouth to mine. His smell, his taste, his touch, his control over me vanquishes every bad thought from my brain. Burns them with the heat of his desire and I’m left floating in the chair, breathless.

He eases back, worry forcing his brows to dig down. “What just happened?”

I don’t want to explain it. I don’t want to say. But I promised myself to not hold back with Glitch, and so far, so good. “I have a lot of insecurity.”

He doesn’t react. At. All.

“I’ve dated a lot of shitbags”

Still no reaction.

“I sometimes can’t keep their nasty words out of my head. It makes me panic or freeze, and I’m trying to not let them in because I don’t want to ruin what we have going, so I just freaked out a little bit and I swear I’ll do better. I just need a minute to reconfigure.”

I just need a minute to reconfigure? What the fuck am I, a computer program? Oh my God, I want to crawl under a rock now.

Glitch has yet to move.

“Say something,” I whisper.

His jaw clenches. The tendons in his neck become more defined. He stares and stares and stares at me. His voice trembles when he asks, “Which one?”

“W-which one what?”

“Which sorry ass, piece of shit do you want me to kill first?”

I let out a small, exasperated laugh.

“I’m not joking, Ara.” He blindly reaches behind him and snatches a pad of paper and a pen and slams them on the desk. “Names, addresses, places of business.”

“Glitch.”

“Ara.”

“Glitch!” I smack my hand on the notepad. “It’s not funny!”

“And I’m not laughing.” He keeps his tone calm, but I can see in his eyes he’s close to boiling over. “You just fritzed out because you’re haunted by the hateful words of men who didn’t deserve you, and you expect me to not address it?”

I’m not sure what to say. “You can’t just go after them.”

“The hell I can’t.” He spins my chair and plants his hands on the armrests. “I’m so fucking sorry. I’m sorry I took so long to get to you. I’m sorry you had to ever be around an asshole who couldn’t appreciate what he had. I’m sorry you don’t see your beauty like I do, or that you can’t grasp how truly insanely amazing you are.” He jerks the chair, making my heart leap in surprise. “I’ll spend all day, every day, telling you the truth. I’ll growl them in your ear, carve them into your dreams. You’re the most beautiful creature I’ve ever met. You’re funny and talented and built like a goddamn wet dream.”

I start to cry again.

Glitch cups my face and wipes away my tears. “You’re witty and sweet and silly.” He kisses me tenderly. “You drive me wild with your laugh, did you know that? I’m gonna have hearing damage from how loud I turn up the volume whenever we play online. I can’t get enough of your laugh. Your voice.” He kisses me some more. “The way you hand Carson and Trey their own asses.” He kisses down my neck. “The way you make me hard when all you do is type ‘Hi’ to me on Discord.”

He lifts the hem of my shirt and pulls it off me. “I dream about you every night. Have for over a year.” Glitch lifts me off the chair and I end up bracing my hands against his desk while he pulls my shorts down. “I’ve jacked off to the image of you every day for months.”

My nipples harden instantly.

“Do you like knowing that, Kitty?”

I do. I really, really fucking do.

“Answer me.”

“Y-yes.”

“I imagined what you’d look like. I tried to find you online and couldn’t.”

I swallow through the tightness in my throat. “And… now that you’ve seen me?”

Glitch wraps my pink hair around his fist and bends my head back a little. “My imagination did not do you justice, Ara. Not by a fucking longshot.”

I want to say he’s making it up to make me feel better, but his hard cock shuts me up because erections don’t lie. He presses his length against my ass cheeks and says, “I want that fucking painting of you. A want a house filled with paintings of you.”

I hear his buckle release and the whooshing sound of his jeans dropping. Glitch stands behind me, getting naked while I’m reeling with his confessions.

“I can’t stand the idea of someone else getting a glimpse of your magnificent body.” He palms my tits, roughly, tentatively. When he pinches my nipples, I cry out. “And if you gain weight, lose weight, dye your hair, shave your head, or change in anyway, I want a portrait of it. I want all of you. All your phases, all your transitions.” He bites down on my shoulder, making my toes curl. “I want to see your belly round with my baby. I want to kiss your stretch marks. I want to take care of you when you’re exhausted and even when you’re full of energy and life. I want to pop into your studio whenever I want and watch you be deadlocked on your paintings, so lost with your muse you can’t even see me standing there admiring what you are and what you create.”

“God, Glitch.” He’s making my heart unfurl.

“I want you to come to me for anything you need.” He lets go of my hair and grips my waist. “And I want you to always be able to handle yourself with confidence.” He spits into his hand and rubs it along the head of his dick. I’m slick enough already, but knowing he just did that makes me even more needy for him.

“You’re mine, Ara. And I always take care of what’s mine.” He spreads my ass cheeks and I bend over to give him better access to my pussy.

I clench my hands and hold my breath. He means every word he says. If I’ve learned one thing about Glitch, it’s that he doesn’t waste his goddamn breath. Not even online when we’re playing games.

This isn’t a game.

This is real.

Glitch is mine.

He leans forward and growls against me, “I hope your muse is prepared, Kitty.” And before I can ask what that’s supposed to mean, he hits a button on his computer and the entire walk-in closet fills with this sound of his deep, dirty voice talking to me.

“Heyyyy, Kitty.”