He sighed, shaking his shadow-darkened head. “I was hoping to be wrong about that.”
“Well, you weren’t.” I let out a bitter laugh. I was getting sick of the games these guys played. Showing up at my house in the middle of the night, leaving invitations to parties, only for those invites to lead me straight into the arms of a Demon. I had a feeling that they set me up, that they wanted me to get attacked by the Demon. It was odd though, because I didn’t feel like I was in any real danger. I did, however, feel like I was out of the fucking loop. Like I was the only one who wasn’t in on the big secret. I wanted them to just come out with it already. “So? Want to enlighten me, oh Dark One?”
At that, he chuckled and stood up. He moved toward me with lethal grace as I watched from the bed. His tall frame was perfectly balanced, wide shoulders, thick thighs. I couldn’t see everything, but I was still able to see the cut jawline and sharp cheekbones, the outline of his plump lips. He dripped swag and confidence all over the floor with every step he took. He was beautiful, even in the darkness.
I watched from my place on the bed, my eyes not giving anything away. If he thought he could intimidate me, he was a damn fool. He was torn about something, though I had no clue what it could be.
Or how I knew that in the first place. Ugh.
“Let’s get you downstairs.” He stopped at the edge of the bed, looking down at me. God, his eyes. In the nearly black room, I could only see the brightness of the green in them, making him look like a villain.
He was the kind of villain whose team I’d willingly join, just for one night alone with him.
“Downstairs to what? Why can’t we just talk here? Tell me what I need to know, and then I’ll be on my way,” I pushed. “I have no interest in being here longer than necessary.”
“Get up, Annalise,” he ordered, ignoring my questions. I stayed still on the bed, glaring at him. Challenging him. He sighed. “I’m not giving you answers until you get your snarky ass out of this bed and downstairs where I can talk to you with my brothers present.”
Brothers. Interesting. They didn’t look related. Blue Eyes and Seafoam could pass as brothers, but even then, they were yin and yang. Dark and light. Soft and hard. But Quint looked nothing like them.
“And if I go downstairs, what happens then?” I asked, deciding to play. My stubbornness clearly riled him up; I could feel his frustration as it dampened the room. I had to hide my smirk.
His eyes were so bright I could see nothing else. The darkness concealed the rest of his face, but the green of his eyes was enough to keep my undivided attention.
“Coffee, a meal, and answers,” he stated, refusing to give me anything else.
It was enough though—I’d get more information if I went downstairs with him.
I could do that.
I didn’t reply. Instead, I just slowly pushed my body from the headboard and scooted toward him. He tensed at my closeness, forcing me to hide my smile again. Fucker didn’t want to touch me.
I wished I could’ve said the same. My body, even beaten and broken, ached for his touch. Somehow, I knew he would be able to help me sort out the mess that raged within me.
Everything felt different. My skin, my hair, my teeth, my hands. I felt powerful and whole while at the same time, confused and shattered.
I didn’t want him to know how affected I was by him, didn’t want him to know that I craved his touch even though he was still a stranger. Deep inside, I knew he didn’t feel like a stranger. He felt like the missing part of me. Like I was breathing new air since I met him.
This couldn’t get any fucking weirder.
Using my weakened legs, I got myself to the end of the bed and wiggled down until my feet hit the soft carpet. My shoes were gone, thank god. Those heels would do nothing for me now.
It was then that I noticed my clothes were different than I had on last night. Now I wore a man’s T-shirt and loose sweatpants that were rolled at the waist and ankles, clearly too long for my short frame.
“Hmm, these must be your clothes,” I pointed out, looking up into his gorgeous eyes. “What do you think? Should I keep them? Make this my new regular attire?”
I was baiting him, using his reaction to gauge what kind of situation I was in. He didn’t seem flirty or playful like Quint, but he also wasn’t soft and secretly sentimental like Blue Eyes. No, he was surrounded by a glass house.
He allowed people to see him, feel like he was there with them, when in reality he had them blocked out in every sense of the word. I understood that life, I knew the strength it took to keep people at arm’s length, to never really connect with another person. I lived it every day.
For some reason, I wanted to send a knife through his house. I wanted to watch as it exploded into a million pieces at my feet.
His eyes narrowed to slits as he took inventory of my body, his breath coming out just a little quicker. So he didn’t hate me wearing his clothes; maybe a small part of him liked it? But I knew he wasn’t going to admit that.
“Let’s go, Annalise,” he finally replied with a small roll of his eyes before walking out of the room with tense shoulders and a stiff back.
Oh yeah, I affected him alright. He was barely holding it together. His energy was mixed with hate and lust, swirling around me like a lazy tornado. He hated me, for some reason, but he also wanted to fuck me.
Interesting.
I looked down at my hands, seeing the ink I had done on the outside of my left wrist, just above a four inch rose that started on my hand and stopped just before the quote began.
A not-so-gentle reminder to myself that I was strong and bold, but I was also broken and dangerous.
I wanted to shatter his house just to prove that I could. I wanted to get a rise out of him; I wanted to see what that anger turned into when lust got involved.
I could always recognize a compatible sexual partner. I’d had enough incompatible ones to get annoyed and make myself a system. I knew the signs of a solid performer, and this guy was showing every one of them.
He’d be a good fuck. Rough and mean, he’d push every one of my boundaries, down to the final thread.
Just how I liked it.
I stood on shaky legs, laughing openly. This was going to be fun.
Well, not the walking part...that shit was gonna suck.
But once I got down there? It was on.
I walked gingerly to the door he exited through and turned right toward the stairs that sat just outside his bedroom. I followed the delicious scent of…bacon? Who was cooking bacon at this time of night?
They deserved a kiss. Or a blowjob. I was down for either.
Taking my time, I took in the dimly lit hallway around me. Navy walls, white furniture, it was all very sleek. When I hit the bottom of the steps, I looked around, shocked. A humorless laugh bubbled out of my mouth just before a snarl took over.
Of course these fuckers owned a goddamn penthouse. They were rich.
My ghetto ass did not belong here. I was going to eat that bacon, get my answers, then get the hell out of Dodge. Hopefully before I gave into my strange desire to fuck one of them. Or all of them.
“Pup is awake! The party can begin!” Quint came barreling down the short hallway toward me in nothing but gray workout shorts, his ashy hair even sexier at this time of night. I fought the urge to drool as I swiftly took in his glorious body. Abs on abs on abs. Yum.