Page 13 of Queen of Ruin

I blink back the water and adjust my vision, locking eyes with her. The water ripples around her pert nipples which are floating above the line; a dusky pink, the color of one of the roses in the garden. She’s playing with fire when she relaxes her legs, letting her thighs fall open and giving me a better view of her pussy which is just begging for me to pull back the layers and sink my tongue inside. A deep groan works its way up my throat, and I pull at the collar of my shirt. The air is thick and humid, and I can feel the hairs at the back of my neck curl.

Despite everything, knowing that she omitted certain important information, and the fact that she may still be in love with my father, I still feel I made the right decision in marrying her. No debutant would spread her legs like this, giving me a view of her bare cunt, and by the look on her face, love it.

She knows I’m staring and I couldn’t pull my eyes away even if a train ran right through the middle of the bathroom. She surprises me by throwing the soapy sponge in my face. Right in my fucking eyes.

“Shit!” I blindly feel around and find a towel to wipe my eyes.

She stands, wraps a towel around herself, and leaves.

“You didn’t tell me why you didn’t leave!” I call after her.

“Five million dollars!” she says.

5

IT’S A LONG LIST

EVANGELINE

I pull the door open to the cafe and see a familiar silver-haired, elegant woman at the counter. I thought taking a walk through the park would put some distance between me and Darren, but running into Audrina squashes that.

“Evangeline,” she beams.

I let go of the door handle and take my place in line.

“Audrina Ellwood.” She holds her slender hand out to introduce herself to me again, as if I could forget meeting her. The mental image that Darren put in my head of her wearing a dominatrix outfit whipping donations out of D.C.’s upper crust almost makes me laugh.

Goddammit, Darren.

“So nice to see you again.” I extend my hand to take hers. “Sorry it’s cold, I was just out for a walk,” I attempt to explain my disheveled appearance. My hair has started to come undone from my ponytail and my jacket and sweatpants don’t compare to Audrina’s elegant red cashmere coat and designer heels.

“Ah, well, the only refreshing walk I get is rushing across Pennsylvania avenue without getting run over I’m afraid,” she teases.

The line moves up. “Excuse me,” I say and order a flat white, digging into my jacket pocket to pay and then notice Audrina waiting for me by the pick-up counter.

“I’m so glad I ran into you.”

I’m beginning to doubt it was a coincidence.

“I wanted to talk to you about the foundation.”

I can feel my cheeks heat at the thought of what happened at the charity event, and I can only imagine what she thinks of me. “I’m sorry about ruining the event,” I apologize.

“Oh please, you didn’t ruin anything,” she brushes me off.

“I don’t know what got into Darren, but he’s very sorry for causing a scene,” I make an excuse – more for my sake than for Darren’s.

“I think the evening was a bit more emotional for him then he anticipated. In fact, I probably shouldn’t have pushed him into making a speech so soon after Merrill,” she pauses, taking a breath.

“Anyway, I wanted to ask what role you’d like in the foundation. I mean, I understand you wouldn’t want to take on everything right away, but at least get your feet wet,” she starts to explain, but before she can finish, the barista calls out her order to be picked up.

“Oh, I wasn’t planning on…” But what am I going to tell her, that my marriage is an arrangement?

“But you must,” her voice is shrill. “You’re a Walker. Certainly Darren explained things?”

“Explained what things?” I ask, confused.

“Oh, I thought he would have…” she pauses, shaking her head. “I’m sure he’s been busy. He has my number. Call me and we can go over everything.”

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