Pitiful lies, p.9
Pitiful Lies, page 9
I could help him with that. I want to.
“Angel—”
But he’s already leaving the room, and I am sitting there completely stunned.
Angel turns back to me with a wink, his eyes grazing over my body. I’m exactly where he left me, my brain having a hard time processing what just happened, or rather, what didn’t just happen.
“Two hours, Little Doll. Wear something nice. I’m taking you out to dinner when I get back.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN-ANGEL
Ishould have never told her to wear something pretty.
I can’t stop staring at her and really, I should be concentrating on the road. But I can’t. Not with the way she sits beside me, every movement sends a rustling sound through the car and fuck me, I’m jealous of her clothes.
That can’t be normal. But still, I am. I want to be the one wrapped around her warm, soft flesh like the silky fabric she’s wearing.
Goddamn, the woman is a siren. I breathe in her sweet scent and I want to groan.
Giselle is everywhere. Filling every corner of my brain.
And I like it.
I like it a lot.
She looks so goddamn good.
Sexy.
Hot.
Utterly fuckable.
If I thought she looked good before, Little Doll is setting records tonight.
She’s all decked out in a skintight black skirt that ends just above her knees, and I wonder how the fuck she can even sit down in the thing.
Her blouse is cut obscenely low, sheer black with little diamond sparkles everywhere, so she glitters whenever she moves.
Her dark curls are floating around her shoulders, and they are thick and glossy. I am dying to get my hands on them.
I know exactly how soft it feels, and I’m covetous of it.
Fucking jealous of everyone else getting to see her hair all wild and hanging down her back like this.
Fuck.
Maybe I should have had one of the guys drive us. But I’m glad I didn’t. Her cinnamon apple pie scent fills the car, and I groan, willing my dick to behave.
It doesn’t.
I’m always fucking hard when I’m around her, and instead of being pissed about it, I decide to embrace it. This woman brings out the beast in me, and I learned a long time ago that it’s better to feed that particular viper than to deny him.
“So, where are we going?” she asks, and I glance at her face.
Damn. She’s so pretty.
Her eyes are translucent. Like crystals. And her lips are plump and glistening with whatever glossy stuff she used.
I wanna lick it off.
She is temptation itself. I want tonight to be special. I’m through beating around the bush.
This afternoon, I walked away from her when we were both primed and ready, and it damn near killed me.
But I only did that so she would understand I respect her. That she means more to me than sex.
I mean, I want sex. Of course, I want sex with her.
I’m only fucking human.
But this woman doesn’t seem to understand the lengths I will go to ensure she is mine.
Body.
Heart.
And Soul.
I want to own her. To consume her. To nourish her. I want to be the only fucking thing she needs.
Sick? Maybe.
But I am what I fucking am.
So, yeah, I left her and me both unsatisfied to prove a point.
Giselle isn’t some fuck. She’s more than that.
And I am going to show her, starting with this dinner.
“You eat sushi, right?”
“It’s my favorite,” she replies with a smile, and I grin, too.
Of course, I know it’s her favorite. But I’ll take the sheer delight I see in her pretty green eyes as a victory.
I already asked Anna a million questions about her best friend over the past couple of months. Practically harassed the poor woman.
I’m not sure why she told me anything at all except for the fact I was so damn persistent. There was also the fact she threatened to have Nico cut my balls off if I hurt her friend.
Quite the little spitfire our queen is.
“Don’t touch that door, Koukla,” I tell Giselle when I see her go for the handle.
She knows better than that. But maybe she doesn’t, and that’s my fault. This woman deserves to be treated like a queen.
My queen.
I may have fucked it up before, but I’m better than that, and I mean to show her.
She sits there waiting for me and I realize I have yet to move. What can I say?
The woman turns my brains to utter mush.
My cock, though?
That she makes hard as fucking diamonds.
“We going inside or what?” Koukla teases.
“Oh, yeah, of course,” I mutter and exit the driver’s side and jog around to help her out, tossing my keys to the valet.
“This place is nice,” she whispers, and I nod.
It is nice. And it is somewhere I should have taken her before.
As much as it pains me to admit, Giselle was not wrong when she said we never did things when I picked her up from Florida.
I mean we did things. But I never took her out.
There’s no excuse. I mean, it’s not like I was just gonna come out and say I couldn’t control myself around her.
She had me panting after her like a buck in rut. Or a viper on the prowl.
I have little experience wining and dining women. Usually, women trip over themselves, trying to entice me to their beds.
But anyone I ever fooled around with knew the deal. I don’t do sleepovers, and I never come back for seconds. Hell, I never felt the need.
But with Giselle, all I feel is need.
Those other women? They meant nothing to me. Just like I meant nothing to them.
Nothing more than a temporary fix to satisfy a biological itch.
This isn’t a temporary thing with Giselle. I know it’s not. I don’t just want her. I want to know her. Every thought swimming around inside that amazing brain of hers. I want her to share them with me freely. Hell, I think I might need her to.
Christ, I need her so fucking much.
My preoccupation with this woman is such it hasn’t gone unnoticed. Nico and Luc haven’t exactly been busting my balls lately. But it’s only because they get it.
Hell, those two unhinged fuckers know exactly what this kind of thing does to a man. My eyes flick over her and I swear I feel it in my soul.
Did I say preoccupation? What I feel is more than that. It is compulsive, possessive, obsessive. It is all those things and more.
I take a deep breath and open the passenger door. Giselle lifts her peridot gaze and my heart stutters. I take her small hand in mine.
She’s so tiny and petite compared to me. I drag her out of the car, pressing my body against hers for one delicious moment before I make a humming sound of approval at the way she fits so good inside the cradle of my body.
Her curves are mouthwatering. Everything about her is enticing.
“You hungry?” I ask.
She bites her lip and nods. Excitement floods my system, and I can’t wait to watch her eat. To be the one who provides for her.
My dick gets hard just thinking about it.
“Well, Big Guy? You gonna feed me or what?”
She is so fucking perfect.
Just like that, she gets me moving. I guide her into the restaurant and the whole time all I can think about is what I’m going to do to her after all this.
Yes, Koukla, I’m going to feed you. Don’t worry your pretty little head about that.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN-GISELLE
“Here,” Angel says, pouring me the last of the unfiltered saké.
It’s sweet and delicious, and I accept the small glass.
“Thank you.”
We managed to eat our way through an entire tower of sushi and sashimi delights. They seemed to know Angel here, and we didn’t even have to order.
The head chef came out to greet us when we first got here, and they exchanged a few words in Japanese, which shocked the shit out of me. But I didn’t ask any questions.
Truth is, I don’t want him to brush me off. So I just sit and wait.
He’s attentive, which isn’t really new. But the setting is.
I bite my lip, thinking about how Angel held my hand the whole way to our table. He is the perfect gentleman, something I didn’t expect from the big brutish man.
I kind of like this side of him. And I know I shouldn’t. That I should keep my guard up. But it’s so damn nice to go out with a good-looking man whose attention seems all for me.
This place is expensive and exclusive. There are beautiful people filling every table, and I’ve noticed more than one pair of eyes taking him in from head to toe.
I don’t blame them. How often does a man like him walk through any door? He’s enormous, handsome, and with those tattoos and the thick gages he has in his ears tonight, he looks like sin personified.
I know from Maria that Luc has some pretty kinky body piercings, and I wonder. I mean, yes, technically we’ve had sex. But it’s always been rushed and half-clothed.
I’ve felt him. Touched him. But I’ve never seen Angel completely naked.
And I want to. I want him under bright lights so I can inspect every inch, memorize every detail.
Hell.
I think it’s safe to say I have a very strong preoccupation with this man.
But I’m trying to break old habits here, and even though I am a bit miffed, he denied me an orgasm earlier, I am beginning to understand.
Maybe he’s trying to woo me this time.
Hope sparks deep inside me, but I’m still afraid to grasp it.
“Your thoughts are loud, Koukla. Talk to me,” he says, and his command is clear.
“What? Oh. Nothing. This is nice,” I say, relenting under his brazen stare.
“Glad you like it.”
He turns the conversation, and we talk about family.
“So it’s just you and Resa?” he asks.
“Yeah. Mom and Dad wanted more children, but two girls were enough, or so my father always says,” I joke.
I always feel like a bad sister and daughter for trying to have my own life. Starting my own business. Moving out when I was just out of school. But independence is important to me.
Funny how, with Angel, all I want is the opposite.
I don’t want to be independent of him. I want him to possess me. And I am not sure how to feel about that.
Does it make me weak or stupid or what?
I really don’t know. But denial is getting tougher the longer we do this.
“What about you? Brothers or sisters?” I ask.
“Nah. Nico and Luc are my blood brothers, and Nico is my first cousin. But with Yiayia gone, that’s it for family. Well, now I got a baby cousin, too, I guess,” he says and grins at the mention of Nico and Anna’s son.
“So, you’re close to your sister?”
“Resa is like seven years younger, so not as much as maybe other siblings. But I mean, I would do anything for her,” I tell him.
“Of course you would.”
“What do you mean?” I ask.
“You’re the most loyal, giving person I know. The way you stormed into the Den that first time, ready to take a piece out of me,” he shakes his head and chuckles.
“In my defense I thought you were Nico,” I say, and my cheeks are burning.
“And doesn’t that make it worse? You were gonna take on the king for your best friend. I never saw anything like it. You are so brave. And you got such a big heart, Little Doll,” he says, whispering the last bit and reaching out to touch my wrist.
Damn.
His words are like a balm to my soul and his fingers, well, they just feel so good wherever they touch me. I suck in a breath, and I just try to absorb them.
“Thank you. It’s really nice to have someone say things like that to me.”
“It’s just the truth, Sisi.”
Sharing little things about ourselves seems surreal. I mean, Angel is not the kind of man I expect to open up easily. But he does.
He tells me about his Greek grandmother who raised him. How she’s the reason he is even alive today. And I wish she were here so I could thank her to.
“Is Koukla Greek?” I ask, suddenly stringing it together.
“It is,” he tells me with a grin.
“What does it mean?” I ask, and he chuckles.
“Beautiful, Little Doll. It means you,” he murmurs and lifts my hand by my wrist to drop a soft kiss on it.
Swoon.
I swear my ovaries are erupting like the fourth of July over here.
“Are you ready for dessert?”
He is asking a question that usually follows dinner. But my body has other ideas, and my blood starts heating.
“That kind of dessert you get later, Little Doll. Right now, I was thinking mochi,” he replies with a knowing grin.
“Um, sure. I’ll have the lavender green tea mochi, please,” I tell the waitress, who unobtrusively appears at our table the second he says dessert.
She bows slightly and turns to Angel.
“I’ll have the same.”
After dinner, we drive to the Den, and I feel hyperaware of everything.
My brain keeps replaying what he said earlier, and I squeeze my thighs together.
That kind of dessert you get later.
Does he mean what I think he means? I hate to just assume he’s talking about sex. I mean I know he wants me. But he’s a virile kinda guy.
What if someone else in here catches his fancy? What then?
Shit. I am spiraling. And I refuse to do anything other than have a good time tonight.
Angel took me out for a fantastic dinner. He’s giving me a place to stay. Protecting me against unseen enemies.
And I’m about to hang out with my girlfriends, which is something I haven’t done in months.
I decide to shelf the innuendo he let slip earlier. I am an adult. If I want to have sex with a man, I can.
I just have to hang on to my heart.
Easy peasy, right?
But even as I try to coach myself, Angel opens my door, holding his tattooed hand out to me, and my heart stutters inside my chest.
“You ready, Little Doll?”
Casual sex Angel was difficult to turn down. But this Angel? The attentive, seemingly sincere one. Well, he might be damn near impossible to resist.
Am I ready? There’s only one way to find out.
Gulp.
We enter from the back of the club, and I know it’s the Vipers’ private entrance.
Huge, hulking men who work under Angel line the hall and the entryways. Each door is opened for us, and I watch in awe as Angel’s mien turns from one of heated attention to complete and utter no nonsense.
I understand. These men have to respect him. He is the authority here, and he can’t go around grinning and looking soft for them the way he does for me.
There is something completely and totally sexy about the way he handles himself. He is so fucking hot.
And dumb or not, I feel special being the woman on his arm.
Angel’s presence is commanding. He moves with more grace than I imagined a man his size could.
Everything he does is with purpose.
He looks expensive.
Sexy.
Lethal.
He’s dressed in all black and the result is, well, it’s making me squirm. I feel lucky to be beside him. To be the one he chose.
His shirt and pants look like they are made of Italian linen.
They’re soft. I know because throughout our meal Angel kept finding ways to touch me. He sat beside me, not across.
The better to share, he said, and I had zero complaints about the situation.
I imagine his clothes feel nice and light in the warm September air. My skirt is tight, but the material is stretchy, and the loose, low-cut top makes up for it.
My clothes are nowhere near as expensive as his clothes, and I think about how different our lives are.
Angel looks incredible, and right now, in my heels and provocative outfit I think maybe we match. I mean, I hope we do. But then my thoughts stray to that skinny blonde, and I stumble my next step.
“Easy,” he murmurs, looking down at me with concern in his eyes as his hand grips my elbow.
Steadying me.
He’s so strong. Like velvet covered steel. His movements are so smooth as he rights my misstep.
I have one second to get my head on straight before Angel is already leading me through the crowd, to the table where Anna and Maria are already seated with their guys.
“Gurrllll! You look hot!” Anna says and stands to grab me in a hug.
Nico is watching her like a hawk, and it doesn’t escape my attention that Luc does the same when Maria tackle hugs me next.
Angel sits in an empty chair, his back to the wall, and the men all talk to each other in low voices. After we finish hugging it out, Anna, Maria, and I join them.
We sit boy girl, and I feel butterflies in my stomach. They’re both married and in love, and I am not sure what me and Angel are. But it’s not that.
At least, I don’t think so.
Don’t you dare fall in love with him, I warn myself.
“Would you like a drink, Koukla?” Angel turns his attention to me, and I freeze.
His blue eyes are so pale and light, and all his focus on me, and fuck me, I wonder if maybe I’m not already halfway there.
“Little Doll?” he prompts, his thick eyebrows furrowing.
“Yeah. Sure. Um, surprise me.” I nod as I squeeze my hands in my lap.
Angel nods his head, and one of the guards walks over. He gives them our order and I think he got me a lemon drop martini, which I am partial to, so I smile my thanks.
The music is loud, but it’s good. The six of us are sitting, talking, and having a good time. At least, the women are. The men seem on alert, but I get it.
This is their place and since they are who they are, shit happens.
I notice there are more security guards, more of Angel’s men, on the floor than usual and I think it must have something to do with the enemies he mentioned earlier.
