Page 18 of Kings of Lust
It was the only word that came to mind as I tried it on, along with a short black skirt and a biker leather jacket.
I had a badass glow sparkling in my smile, and I kind of enjoyed it. Maybe it would wipe out the scarred little Mouse vibe and get Cole to back off a little. Few chances of that ever happening, but it was worth a try, especially since the outfitfulfilledhis condition.
Sneaking out the door so that Nat wouldn’t drown me in a river of questions regarding my clothes, the hour...and pretty much every aspect of my life. I jumped straight into the car and asked it to drive me to Cole’s street.
Four and a half minutes later, I was standing in front of another lush mansion. This one didn’t seem so spectacular to me. Or maybe I’d gotten more used to their extravagances, who knows?
With a last flow of courage, I headed inside, and even though I knew no one, everyone seemed to know me. I didn’t even reach the living room and I was already waving my hand more than the Queen of England, nodding and fake smiling to everyone that I met. I was officially a celebrity and all that was missing were the paparazzi, although a few phone flashlights coming my way were suggesting to me that I wasn’t far from the spotlight.
If the earth would just split open and swallow me whole, it would have been just fine by me.
That didn’t happen. I was still there on a mission and had someone who I needed to meet.
Although there was no sign of Cole.
Was he even there?I began wondering as I kept walking through different halls and rooms in search of him.
It wasn’t like I was eager to meet him. At this point, I preferred talking to anyone else but him, but I knew the longer I stretched the time out, the bigger the chances of finding an angered king when our encounter finally happened.
And there he was. After searching through rooms and rooms, I found him in the garden, all alone with his whiskey bottle, contemplating the stars.
Who ever thought Cole would turn out to be a romantic?
‘You’re fucking late.’
So much for the romance...
‘It’s not like you were waiting for me in front with arms wide open. I had to search for you through this entire place.’
‘Oh, you wanted to be in my arms. Why didn’t you say so?’ His sarcasm was getting on my nerves. ‘Come here, Mouse,’ he stretched out his hands, waiting for me to join him.
Why couldn’t I just keep my mouth shut?
It seemed that I always had to ask myself this question around him, along with the feeling that I was in desperate need of someone who would read me my rights every time I was about to meet him.
You have the right to remain silent, everything you say can and will be used against you.
It was impossible to refuse him, and at the same time, I found it impossible to obey.
The terrace door just opened and a couple found their way close to his side, making camp on a decorative rock, without much thought of leaving too soon.
‘I said, come.’
I guess he wasn’t slightly impressed with the new company, being much more focused on me respecting his demand.
Downing a few slugs of whisky, he waited for me to approach, tilting the bottle so I could keep him company. There was no use in refusing since nothing I did around him was by my own free will.
Placing the bottle at my lips, I took a sip. And one was enough to cough the liquor out, choking from its strength.
‘You need to practice,’ he pushed the bottle back on my lips and kept it there until I took another sip.
No need to say, I cursed between my teeth as he pulled me insanely close to his chest, forcing my head to press against his shoulder while his face buried itself in the curtain of my hair and his hands began trailing on my back.
‘So this was your alternative for no bra?’ He playfully whispered in my ear, but his tone was the wrong kind ofplayful.
‘I improvised,’ I shrugged, when in fact I just tried my best to take a detour from his request.
‘Don’t remember asking you to improvise, but if you’re going to cause trouble better be prepared to attend them.’ He took me by the hand in what was most certainlynota romantic gesture, guiding my palm to that hardened part of him, probably helping me to recognize the effects of myimprovisation.
