AllFreeNovel
Share Us
~GEMINI~
“Ares,” I whisper his name as I lower onto his lap, trying not to look as nervous as I feel. “If you’re mad I volunteered to help, you can punish me later.”
I know he’s not mad at me.
He’s not upset at the fact I’m practically nude, covered with all this sticky paint, my hair somehow perfectly straight and shiny, while my lips are painted the perfect shade of red.
My presence wasn’t what contributed to that single tear that left his gorgeous eyes or encouraged those lines of hurt that were not gone from his flawless face.
The culprit of my Ruthless King’s dismay is on his way home.
Smiling from ear to ear, he was thrilled to have his father’s blessing and protection.
“Cunning Canary,” Ares quietly whispers. His hands find my hips, pulling me further on his lap like it’s something so natural. “You know how to make a King a fool.”
“Maybe,” I whisper, my hands unable to ignore the nagging need to press against his shimmering cheeks. I try to ignore the slight wetness that I know isn’t from sweat or the layers of various product of makeup that layer his already perfect skin. “Do you hate me?”
That makes him smile.
It looks so divine with him blindfolded with this color-shifting blindfold that shimmers with the flash of the lights at various angles.
“No,” he whispers. “God, no. I guess you know that. That I’d never truly despise you.”
“Your fearsome leader would,” I remind. “He’ll hate me even more… for taking you away, too.”
That makes him chuckle, so low and dangerous sounding. It sends shivers through me, and maybe that’s what makes the atmosphere between us so tense, like sparks fighting for a chance at life.
To burn, to be seen and acknowledged, until they fizzle to their last glimpse of life.
“The thief of joy,” he whispers. “Yet, the real criminal despises the savior.”
I don’t know what’s running through his mind, but he’s not focused on the various flashing lights and the obvious shutters going wild to capture “the” moment. I asked the Al man to give me a shot, with the exception that my body would be covered with various shades of paint that complimented Ares’ current artistic outlook.
That and the blindfold.
“Did you know all along?” I look at my blinded King, my thumbs moving along those highlighted cheekbones. “Is that why you ran into our lives like a bullet ready to snipe its prey?”
“At first, no,” I admit, ignoring the world around us as if it’s just us. My fingers move higher, feeling the silk smoothnessof the blindfold that I yearn to slip away, inch by inch. “But I knew you were different. Just like Zander. Not the ones Dom surrounds himself with.”
“His posse of bullies,” Ares mutters.
“Followers,” I correct him as my fingertips slip beneath the edge of the silk band. “There were seven… but one began to see the light. To see what he was doing. Tried to ignore the signs… until the cigarette burns.” I swallow the lump forming in my throat, lifting the blindfold just enough.
Waiting to see those alluring majestic set of eyes.
“Then I was stabbed… the paralysis… the lack of guilt and fear of more consequences. Out of all those bullies, there was one who realized he was no different from me.” I watch as Ares’s eyes slowly open, giving me what my pounding heart craves to see with my own eyes. “We were pawns. Sacrificial lambs… ready to be tossed… discarded… in exchange for a single move. A step closer to his ultimate goal. A move into the direction of ownership.”
Our stare screams so many emotions, yet we dare not speak.
The world of flashing lights and shutters seems to fade away, leaving us in this bubble of complete submission, our eyes reflecting the truth beating against our chests rapidly.
“The day I was released and flew back from Turkey, I was brought to the Leightons. Words were exchanged between fathers. The discussions were long and went well into the night. A boy came from the darkness. Offered to bring me home at a special request of my father.”
I swallow the lump in my throat, fear pulsing through me at the idea of sharing something I’ve yet to tell anyone else.Not even Zander.
Ares’ hand touches my cheek, the soft touch making me exhale a shaky breath while I briefly close my eyes.
“My real father… had requested this boy’s cooperation. As though… the news of my injury suddenly made him realize my situation was rather unhinged. That the bullying could do more than just break me.” I open my eyes halfway to see his intense gaze. “That it could ruin what he’s been hiding all for the sake of my debt being paid. A debt he acquired for forcing himself on another. One who was marked forbidden.”
