Page 40 of Fear the Reapers
I shook my head in response. I would not be bullied into putting on another show for him. I wasn’t some fucking monkey that danced when he said dance. At least I could have some pride in the fact that I didn’t know he was staring at me before. But doing it again while I knew he was watching felt dehumanizing.
Without another word, Cyrus dunked his finger into his own chocolate souffle, crumbling its crisp cake-like surface and digging deep into the gooey fudgy parts. He held it up to my lips and nudged my mouth open, dipping his chocolaty coated finger deep into my mouth. I licked it off, running my tongue up and down his finger while keeping my eyes locked on his. He slowly withdrew his finger, and I watched with a mixture of shock and fascination as his soft tongue swiped out to lick up the remnants I left behind.
“Now fucking eat.” He said, flashing me a toothy grin as he grabbed a spoon and dug into the rest of his dessert.
And with that, I grabbed my spoon and began eating again. After a few bites, Cyrus spoke up again.
“I used to eat like that too, you know.” He said, peering up at me through his thick lashes.
“Like what?”
“Like I didn’t know when my next meal was coming.” He said, digging in for another bite. “It took years to shake it off, even when food was no longer a scarcity.”
He said it so nonchalantly that I almost thought my ears were deceiving me. I said nothing in response. It was such a small admission, but it gave me a lot to think about. I had spent all this time thinking that they were cut from a different cloth than me. That I was beneath them and we would never have anything in common. But the more I got to know them, the more I was seeing just how alike we were.
Chapter 25
Cyrus
After dinner, I walked Stevie back to her bedroom. Alessandro had set up a little surprise for her and the sappy fuck that I was, wanted to see her reaction. When Stevie was genuinely happy, her eyes turned into these glossy little almonds that I could’ve sworn fucking sparkled. It was stupid, but I couldn’t get the goddamn thought of seeing the sparkle out of my head.
“What’s all this?” She asked as she pushed through her bedroom door and spotted the bar cart.
“All the ingredients to make a Hellhound.” I said, leaning up against the door frame.
“That… is surprisingly cool of you.” She said as her hand reached out to palm one of the freshly cut 34egrapefruits.
“Yup, I’m chock full of surprises.” I said, backing away from her door. “Have a good night, Princess.”
“Wait.” She called out, halting my retreat. “You aren’t going to drink with me?”
I spun around to face her.
“I wasn’t planning on it.” I answered honestly.
“Come on, you’re going to make me drink alone?”
I could feel her chestnut eyes boring into me, willing me to stay. I knew that the moment I looked up again, my eyes would lock with hers and I would be done for.
Fuck it. If I was going to hell anyway, one drink with a beautiful girl wouldn’t kill me.
“Fine.” I conceded with a smirk. “One drink.”
???
“You’re lying!” Stevie howled as she took another sip of her hellhound and flashed me an enormous smile.
“I swear to God.” I said, shrugging my shoulders as I leaned back into the cream armchair. “If they had caught us, Tris and I would’ve been the only seven-year-olds in Caspian Valley to ever go to jail. We were some bad-ass little kids.”
“God, I could totally picture you all as mini versions of yourself.” She said, shaking her head with a smile before stepping towards the bar cart.
“Ready for another?” She asked as she swirled the half-empty bottle of vodka.
“Are you trying to get me drunk, Miss Alexander?” I joked, playfully scowling at her.
“Possibly…” she retorted with a grin, “is it working Mr. Cole?”
I shook my head and smiled.
