Blue Eyes
βOf course not,β I muttered in a rushed voice.
He nodded thoughtfully. "Hmm, I see."
Anton came rushing back, alarmed and he was cussing under his breath, massaging his temples, he suddenly looked pale. The Alpha shot to his feet, panicking, but before he could reach him, Anton's nose bleed. I was suddenly feeling very unwell, my stomach twisting uneasily, blood pulsing strongly behind my ears. I closed my eyes against the pounding in my head, trying not to inhale the heady scent.
I felt strong arms grasp me around the waist, pulling me to my feet. I began to protest, to tell him to leave me alone for the moment but it was too late. The sudden movement was more than my stomach could handle and with a groan of embarrassment, I vomited all over him.
There was a long, agonizing silence.
"Disgusting!"
The Alpha's voice cut through the thick fog in my head more effectively than any paracetamol. I opened my eyes to look in his direction. He was furious. Anton was shaking his head at me, scowling. But thankfully he'd stopped bleeding and he'd also got rid of his blood soaked shirt. A cool, comforting breeze came through the window taking the sickening, bitter scent of blood along with it.
"Do that again and I will shove my fist down your throat so hard you will never be able to breathe again."
I swallowed as he confronted me with an expanse of a naked muscular chest. He was so disgusted that his face was a permanent scowling mask. I felt sweat trickle down my back between my shoulder blades. He made a disgusted sound at the back of his throat and disappeared behind the bedroom door to change, but not before glaring at me, aiming to cultivate a mass of goose bumps through low-key frights. It worked. I got a glass of water and sipped it nervously. My hands were trembling.
Anton simply walked back out. He looked like he was about to have another episode again.
The Alpha strode back into the lounge and pushed my glass away and guided me to his bedroom. I was suddenly very aware that we were walking down an empty hallway and that his hand was touching the exposed skin in the back of my nape.
"Where are you taking me?" My voice trembled with fear and squeaked. I had meant to sound strong and defiant.
"Somewhere we could be alone."
Oh shit. I hadn't even healed from Sebastian's beatings.
He pushed a door open and then closed it. He walked to the middle of the room, leaving me standing in the doorway frightened, wondering how I'd get out of this mess, he removed his jacket and waistcoat and then undid the top buttons of his shirt. If I drugged him and he found out, I'd be banished from the pack. Rogue's don't survive on their own, they end up either killed or as sex slaves.
He collapsed on his bed and I asked for the bathroom. He nodded his head to the door on the left. When I came back out I was looking much more like the stripper I was supposed to be.
Clad in a red mini skirt, leather bra β the thing barely covered my nipples and a gold chain that led to my cleavage.
He swept a look at me and then sighed. It wasn't the normal look I so often received from sick, perverted men, but his gaze held nothing of interest, he might have looked at the wall and reacted much more enthusiastically.
He got to his feet and studied me with his head tilted to one side.
"You vomited on me..." he stated curtly.
I felt like a deer locked in the hunters eyes. I whimpered in fear.
I didn't want to do this. "Please..."
"Please what? Please fuck me now? Please kill me quickly?" His voice was disgusted. "Do enlighten me, Rose. You must give me a clue."
My fear intensified. He looked like he was ready to kill me. Why hadn't I taken self defence lessons?
He took a step towards me and I scanned the room frantically. My eyes fell upon his shoes. I snatched one up, brandishing it in front of me. His raucous laughter filled the room.
"Oh this is going to be fun."
He walked slowly towards me, never letting his gaze fall from my face. I felt, suddenly, like a worm caged in a bird's eye. He was standing close beside me now and my lips felt dry. I searched for something to say, to break the tension, but found I was at a complete loss for words. His finger traced over my lips and trailed down to my collarbone, the barest of touches, that nonetheless had my heart skipping like mad rabbit.
He let out a gush of air β impatient, and then padded to the bathroom to retrieve a bathrobe. He wrapped it over my shoulders.
I tried to breathe normally. Rejection rang a sickening thud in my veins and my eyes stung. It didn't matter that I wasn't really planning on dancing for him, I couldn't even dance but the disgust in his eyes, the shame they cast over me, put a knock on me.
I didn't sleep well that night, and when I did sleep, I was in that half-asleep, half-awake state that left you irritated and tired the next day. Not fully satisfied.
I opened my eyes in the morning and the light was bright from the sun, I gasped in surprise. It was bewildering to ever see the faint glow of the sun here. Always a constant cold, dark, chilly town.
After the initial shock wore off, a fresh wave washed over me. I hadn't expected the nameless man to actually be contempt into just sharing the bed and equally surprising was that he was gone.
His apparent disgust at my site, drilled a hole in my stomach and my heart pounded. It just confirmed what I'd always suspected, when people looked up the definition of normal, I was sure they saw a picture of me next to the word. Okay, so I was prone to exaggeration, but still, it wasn't like I was anything other than practically invisible.
After I'd washed my face and cleaned my teeth, I found my way to the kitchen. I froze for a second, not particularly thrilled to see Anton sitting on the kitchen counter, eating a cold cereal. He looked up and frowned.
"C'mon in, Lilly."
"Rose," I automatically corrected even though I knew he was just probing a reaction out of me.
"Make yourself comfortable Rosy, make something to eat."
"Is... that boy... I mean man here?" He must've been in his late twenties or early thirties and there was nothing boyish about his features. He was a man, in every literal sense of the word.
"You mean Reeves?" He set his spoon down and turned those chilling black eyes on me. "Why would that be of importance to you?"
I shrugged and poured myself a cup of coffee. All this caffeine was making me insane.
"Just curious."
His expression was bleak. "That's not what I hired you for."
"Oh," I bit my lip, then looked out the window at the faint light, silently willing the man to go about his business.
He was quiet for a moment, and I wondered what he was thinking about. Perhaps not knowing was a safe option.
"I sure hope you're worth my pennies."
Apparently silent willing was not effective, so with a groan I turned and looked at Anton and replied curtly. "Sure."
My tone made him thoughtful for a moment.
"Did he do something you weren't comfortable with?"
As if he would care. I shook my head mechanically. "He's a... nice guy."
He scoffed. "Yeah. Nice, that's the word. Reeves? Nice... ? Pssh."
"What?"
"You're naΓ―ve. And that just might get you killed."
I swallowed roughly. Reeves walked in through the door and Anton barely looked up from his abounded cereal.
"Reeves," Anton greeted grudgingly.
Reeves sighed and nodded once, his curious gaze never left my face. "Rodriguez."
Anton smiled. "You are being rude."
"Hmm?" He stepped on the heels of his boots to shrug them off. He still immersed me in his could-be-pale blue eyes.
"You just interrupted Lilly, she was just telling me about last night."
My cheeks flamed all the way to my hairline. "Well... I don't think β"
"Again," Anton cut me off in a fury. "That's not what you're getting paid for."
Reeves scowled. "Stay out of this, Anton!"
"Oh no, I wouldn't miss this for the world. Please do continue, Lilly."
They glared at each other. Where Anton was heavily muscular to the point of scary, Reeves was built more like an athlete. But the aura of authority he carried made it clear that his lighter frame was not something to be taken at face value.
Reeves walked to the table and dropped his shopping bags.
Anton frowned up at him.
"You went grocery shopping?" he asked in a voice that made it obvious Reeves wouldn't readily do that.
"Not really," he spoke through clenched teeth, not as though he was mad, but as if he were fighting the cold. "Gertrude did the shopping while I waited in the car."
Anton chuckled and I gasped. When he smiled his face lit up, his eyes weren't emotionless at all. In fact, when he was talking to Reeves he was not the terrifying beast I'd initially thought him to be.
"So Lilly... continue," Anton said as he gestured to me with his hand. He suddenly remembered his cereal.
"Rose," Reeves said to Anton.
"What's that... Reeves?"
"Her name's Rose... not Lilly."
Anton shrugged, but frowned, puzzled. He raised one eyebrow, but said nothing. I just stared, somewhat shocked and thrilled.
The coffee was hot against my throat as I tried to gulp it down in one swing. At any cost, avoiding the question was fundamental.
"Lilly?" Anton probed.
"Anton..." There was a warning note in Reeves' voice, but Anton merely smirked and looked at me expectantly.
"I...um..." I looked at Reeves. He was looking at me, eyebrows raised, waiting for an answer almost as eagerly as Anton was. My face froze for a second.
"Well...?" Anton asked, he'd finished his cereal by then.
I turned my gaze to Reeves again, wondering if I should answer his friend. The disapproving, disgusted look he flashed me last night made me certain that he hadn't agreed for Anton to hire me. He didn't strike me as the type of call girls. He seemed more like a... lone wolf instead β relationship wise. Not just that, he looked like the type that didn't do anything illegal, the type always conscious about the decisions he took.
"It was okay," I finally murmured, somehow the blush managed to warm my face. Was dancing naked for a stranger supposed to be fun?
"No...!" Anton said, shaking his head in disbelief.
I unwillingly broke free from Reeves' gaze to frown at Anton.
Anton scowled. "Just okay?" He turned to his friend with a mocking smile. "Seems like you've lost your touch, man."