Page 35 of Goldsin

“Have you been to many of her parties before?” I dare to ask him. But I’m not daring enough to look at him as he answers.

“More than I can count.”

My next words scratch at the back of my parched throat. “And when we were dating?”

I already know the answer. We started dating when I was fifteen and he was nineteen. He may have attended Victoria’s parties before then, but there’s no doubt he came here all throughout his twenties too.

When he doesn’t answer I raise my gaze to his.

“Yes.”

I nod up at him. “Right.” I try to shake off the repulsion forming in the pit of my stomach. “We should find something to drink. Watching all that has made me thirsty.”

We move down the corridor, bypassing other rooms, each one hosting a variety of sexual activities. Bondage, role-playing, orgies—all catering to different fantasies.

I can feel Adrian close by, his words taunting our breakup and what little love he felt throughout our relationship. God, how pathetic am I to feel dirty at his expense?

The low buzz of the bass filters inas we part ways in the room. “I’ll go get us something to drink,” he says and leaves.

Deciding enough time has passed, I focus on what truly matters.

I need to be quick before he comes back with our drinks.

This new room looks lifeless compared to the others. It’s still packed with people, but where the other rooms provided the guests with something to use, this one sets them free with only their bodies. This feels a lot like the parties I attended with Eleanora: just drunk people doing what they do best.

I’m making my way deeper in when I feel a pair of eyes on me.

Searching for the source of my unease, I spot a guy watching me intently from across the room. His gaze is unwavering, almost predatory, and it sends a shiver down my spine.

Yet I can’t help but stare back.

His dark hair falls messily over the silver mask he’s wearing. Ink adorns his whole chest, stretching to his arms. I can’t see his face, but the weight of his stare is impossible to ignore.

For a moment I consider approaching him, but I’ve wasted enough time already. Adrian will be back soon.

I try to ignore the nagging feeling of being watched and instead focus on talking with the guests until the right opportunity appears for me to sneak away and snoop around Victoria’s cabin, starting with her bedroom. I’d go now, but Adrian will be back soon. I need to do it at the right moment, and this isn’t it.

I attempt to engage in small talk, but my senses are overwhelmed by the shared lust tainting the atmosphere, making it hard for me to concentrate.

And I can’t shake the sense that the man’s piercing gaze means trouble.

Or how his eyes are still boring into me.

I scan the room, trying to find someplace where I won’t feel the weight of his intense gaze.

But without wanting to, my eyes fall on him again.

This time I notice the two skeletal snakes intertwining in the middle of his chest—and the hands of two barely dressed girls, both vying for his attention.

Yet he seems completely disinterested in their advances.

His focus is solely on me.

Who are you? And what do you want from me?

He’s intriguing yet annoying all at once. Can’t he just . . . I don’t know, have fun with those two deprived girls and leave me the hell alone?

He’s lounging on a plush couch, the two girls draped over him. Their hands roam his defined body as they whisper in his ear, giggling at whatever he tells them.

---