Page 35 of Vow of Revenge
His steps pounded the pavement, mine trotting behind a beat slower than his own. Rounding the street corner, he swung my body around and pushed my back against the brick wall of the neighbouring building.
I watched his nostrils flare as he looked at me with a serious, dark glare. I had no idea what he was going to say, or do, until his mouth dropped to mine. Large palms gathered both my wrists, raising my arms to the sky. The pressure of his groin digging into my hip bone only made the control of his kiss hungrier. I panted, groaning as the savage sensation of his lips obliterated my thoughts. He growled before sucking in my lower lip and tugging it lightly between his teeth. His hands released my arms and his fingertips drifted to my jaw, angling my head upwards. A merciless squeeze turned to a gentle but firm caress, with the pad of his thumb stroking my chin with sensitivity. He gazed into my eyes with a thoughtful stare. The touch was firm and wanted, hot and bewildering.
Jerking back with an abrupt sharp jolt, he tore his hand away and marched to the edge of the footpath. Kaleb removed his phone from his pocket and held it to his ear. “Around the corner. Now.” He didn’t look back at me, which was just as well, because my legs were weak and my pulse volatile.
The town car swerved in and stopped in front of him. Keeping his eyes low, he looked back over his shoulder. “Freya. Get in the car,” he called out to me with a coolness that felt distant and torn.
I stumbled forward with my fingers lightly touching the burn from his lips. This time, Gavin stayed in the driver seat and Kaleb yanked the door open. I couldn’t bring myself to look at him, so I slid onto the back seat with my head lowered. Kaleb leaned into the car, his frame illuminated by the streetlights, shadowing his features. The pad of his thumb dragged down my lips and he looked directly into my eyes. “The next time I see you, little mouse, these pretty fucking lips will be on my dick.”
He pulled back, shut the door and watched as Gavin drove me away from him.
Syrah was pacing a path in my bedroom carpet, dressed in only a sexy lavender lace bra and matching panties. Her hair was curled and pinned on top of her head in a messy bun, her eyelids darkened with smoky grey eye shadow and long fluttering false lashes.
“You’re treading a track in my carpet, Syrah.” I chucked a rolled-up sock at her head.
Spray tanned arms wrapped her chest. “I’m so nervous, Freebie. Brett and I have messaged back and forth. It’s been a couple of weeks since we meet at the club, and I’ve only seen him a handful of times. He’s been so busy with work. What if he’s not interested in me?” She nibbled the side of a French manicured nail.
“Surely he wouldn’t be escorting you to the Gala if he didn’t want to see you again. Syrah, you’re fucking hot. Stop worrying.”
I applied a final layer of rouge lipstick, blotted my lips with a tissue and turned to face her.
“Wow, Freya, you really suit that shade of red. If I’m not careful, Brett will want you instead.” Her lips curved upward. “Just for the record, you know I’d do anything for you, like when I swam to the bottom of Sam Peter’s outdoor pool to find your diamond earring, but I won’t share my guy.” She pouted, resting a hand on her jutted hip.
A blast of air shot down my nose. “I don’t want your guy! That’s just gross. His mouth has been places on you that I don’t even want to think about.”
“Oh, I think about it daily, hourly in fact.” Syrah cackled, her hand fanning her face as she batted her lashes.
“TMI, sister. Stop with the weird sex face.” I covered my eyes.
“You don’t need to hear about my wild night when you had your own hot and steamy session with Kaleb!”
My heart revved like an engine. We’d been out for drinks over a week ago, and I’d heard nothing from him since. I still thought on how he made my stomach flip with his gentle laughter and harsh kiss. “Let’s not talk about him.”
“Oh, Freya, your cheeks have blended in with your big red lips. You would so do him again.”
“I would not. He’s messed up. I don’t need that in my life.”
Syrah stepped into a sparkling silver gown and pivoted her shoulders so I could zip her up at the back. The dress clung to her waist and fell loosely to the floor like a dazzling waterfall.
“Tell me this, if the opportunity presented itself to you again, would you screw his brains out?” She glanced back over her shoulder.
I wanted to say no. I hated how he had kissed me with so much passion and then left me on simmer, but I couldn’t lie to Syrah, or myself. “I don’t know. I guess I’d like to have more amazing sex with him, but he’s just so…”
“Sexy?”
“Angry.”
The buzzer sounded.
“Holy crap, Brett’s here. Quickly, Freya, put your dress on so I can zip you up.”
I hauled a silky black dress over my round hips and fixed the plunging neckline. The golden zip easily brought the back together, cinching me in at the waist.
“You look smokin’!” Syrah blew me a kiss before she sashayed out of my room to greet her date.
I purposely left my hair down; it was my social shield. The hairdresser softened it with loose barrel curls, giving it more volume. I kept my makeup simple with black eyeliner, two coats of noir mascara and a lipstick that shouted, ‘sexy vixen on the lose’. I was trying to embrace this new sexual awakening, tapped into by the conundrum that was Kaleb De Courcy.
Ever since that night, the guy went everywhere with me. The memory of his rough touch blazed my skin, his violent lips unknowingly kissed my every thought and his eyes, those glacial eyes, intrigued and warned me in equal measures. I tried to tear out the pages to erase the chapter of our time together, but I secretly wanted to leave each memory untouched. He’d become my lesson, my secret fantasy and personal obsession.
