AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The man was sex on a stick.
Not that the little shit didn't know it. The guy was full of himself, a fact that only became more apparent as he dared a wink in my direction before stepping aside to reveal the dark shadow lingering behind him.
Tristan nodded at me, his eyes quickly rolling over my form before looking away, disinterested. He was dressed in a suit blacker than sin, the rich fabric shielding his tattoos from the public eye except for a select few that chose to crawl up his neck like snakes. The swirls teasing the skin where his black dress shirt touched his collarbone. He was darkly handsome in a way that screamed “Get the fuck away from me before you hurt yourself” and yet grossly enigmatic, the kind of guy that left you wanting to know more. It was painfully obvious why a dark crime lord would want someone as dangerous as Tristan in their corner.
The man was, after all, deadly.
But it wasn't the broody sinner that held my attention, no that would be too easy. Like the prey who was about to get caught, my eyes were drawn to the lion. The innocence in me bleeding out at the sight of those dark eyes. Eyes that were currently honed in one me and me alone. He looked at me like he was a dark hunter who had just caught his dinner, the blood of his kill dripping hungrily down his cheeks.
The darkness in his eyes scared me and lit a fire in me all at once. And I found myself drawn to the very thing that could kill me. Unable to help it, my eyes roamed the dark form hiding in the corner like I was starving, ignoring the fact that it was me who was the one caught in his teeth, bleeding out.
“Kaleb.” I started and then instantly regretted the greeting when his eyes darkened. The icy depths screamed murder and possession. Tonight was not a night for games it seemed. At least not the kind of games we usually played. No tonight was darker, tinged in blood, and it seemed tonight I was the prey on the monster's menu.
“I need to borrow something, Blondie.” He whispers the words, his dark eyes never leaving mine,
“And by ‘something’ I mean you. As in you. Me. Leaving. Together. Now.” His eyes roam my body and a faint smirk twists his mouth to one side, causing my insides to shiver.
“I thought you weren’t picking me up?” The accusation is out before I can stop it and it's hard to believe this cruel shell in front of me is the same boy whose arms were wrapped around my waist all those nights. That softness is gone. Any sign of vulnerability having evaporated from him like a swimming pool with no water, the droplets disappearing until there was nothing left but the pool's hard outer edges.
But he was still my Kaleb. Still mine to hold and mine to crush and I wouldn't let him talk down to me. I wasn't his to possess. I wasn't anything to him but a piece on his chess board. He let me believe I was a queen but we all knew I was a calculated pawn.
Replaceable. Sacrificable.
I meant nothing to him and this ice facade was just another example of that.
“Don't you want to hold my hand before entering the wolves' den, Goldie Locks?” The patronizing question makes me scowl, my cheeks turning red, and for the first time tonight, I see Kaleb's eyes light up the way they usually did when he pissed me off. A flickering of red that told me the cold monster wasn't completely in control of his mind.
He was still barely looking at me. His eyes focused solely on my face. It was as if he refused to let himself look at my body. To let himself see the dress he made me wear. I wonder if he's thinking about the lingerie he gifted me. If he's wondering if I’m wearing it or not.
I am.
I wonder if he thinks I’m wearing it for him.
A shudder crosses my body at the thought and I watch Kaleb's eyes zone in on the movement.
His question simmers between us until the air turns sour. Our eyes refuse to leave one another's, and it’s almost like we’re playing a game to see who will break first. A fucked up staring contest between two stubborn souls but fuck it I’m determined to win. I won’t let him pull another one over me and if that makes me petty as hell then so be it.
Grunting, Kaleb looks away first, his stride becoming angry as he tears open my apartment building’s exit doors, and storms out. He never once bothers to look back, to make sure we’re following him. The smug son of a bitch just thinks we’re on his leash. Waiting for him to make a move so that we can follow, pouting at his feet.
Asshole.
The thought races through my mind and I hate the part of me that burns from the falseness of the insult. Kaleb was many things: A player, a criminal, a smug shit, but he wasn’t an asshole. At least not towards me, not anymore.
I ignore the way my heart squeezes in my chest and follow the demanding dark-haired boy out into the night. The air is crisp and a fresh set of goosebumps cover my skin.
“Need my jacket princess?” I jump at Jayson’s question, having forgotten Tristan and him were following me. I’m already shaking my head, refusing the request, when his voice fills the night sky, fucking up everything per usual.
“I told you not to call her that.” The words are dark and I look up to find Kaleb, cloaked in shadow, leaning up against the door of his Ford 150. His eyes lock on mine and my cheeks immediately flush from the heat in his gaze.
That boy’s fire was bound to burn me in more ways than one.
“Get in.” The words are more a demand than a question and I glower at his tone.
“The princess doesn’t take orders from you.” Jayson teases and I barely have time to blink before Kaleb’s storming towards us, his arm arching back before throwing a fist directly at Jayson’s jaw.
“Don’t. Call. Her. That.” I step back and nearly trip before crashing into the back of something solid. Turning my head, I find Tristan watching me, his eyes curious as he takes in the scene of Jayson and Kaleb pummeling one another like school boys on the playground. Kaleb punches Jayson in the eye and I physically recoil from the sight.
“I haven’t seen them fight like this for years.’’ The words are barely a whisper and if I wasn’t so focused on Kaleb, I would have thought there was a trace of amusement in the tattooed fighter's comment. A dark chuckle vibrates through my body, and I feel more than see Tristan step around me, his fingers grazing protectively over my lower back before releasing me,
