Page 20 of Cryptic Dreams
As discreetly as possible, I adjust my dick and shift the bugger around so he’s uncomfortably pinned under my belt, then go as far as to pull my duster closed around me.
Might as well call meLestat.
Then I roll my eyes because I am a daft moron who is well and truly fucked over this entire thing.
“Wraith.” Aries smiles brightly, his piercing blue eyes dancing with amusement. “I wasn’t sure if you were still coming out tonight. You’re almost twenty minutes late.” He smirks as he adds, “Again.”
He gives me a hug I don’t reciprocate, the male overly affectionate and not giving one single damn that I tense up and hold my breath every fucking time he does it. Aries then tugs me toward Orion, who shakes my hand much more acceptably, smirks like he knows a secret, then nods toward the female who is staring daggers at him and needs no introduction.
“This is my cousin, Zephyr.” Orion ignores her death stare and smiles in her face. “Z, this is our good friend, Wraith.”
My god, she is just so fucking beautiful. From afar she is stunning, but this close? Bloody hell she could make angels weep while they sing her praises.
Those golden eyes flick to mine, and for the briefest moment time stands still. There is no one but her, no one in the room, the club, the entire world. Only Zephyr.
“Wraith?” A dark brow quirks as recognition flashes in her eyes.
Zephyr holds out her hand as manners dictate, and no matter how badly I want to touch her, to remove that glove and put us skin to skin even in the most insignificant way, I cannot. Not if I want to keep her safe. Not if I want to keep Orion and Aries safe. Not if I want to overthrow the Great Counsel and take back what is ours, restore balance and order to a world so corrupt and twisted it's blind to the things happening right under their noses.
So I repeat my mantra, deny my personal truth, and glance down at her hand with the most disgusted look I can muster. I meet her eyes briefly then ignore her and her outstretched hand in favor of looking directly at Orion.
“It’s just you two as I requested?” I see Zephyr’s hand drop out of my peripheral, my heart plummeting in the same way, but despite my inner turmoil, I was not expecting the wave of hurt that rolls off of her and slams directly into my chest.
I’m such an arse.
“Yes...” Orion nods slowly and crosses his arms against his chest. “Z needs to study so she won’t be staying here long. We were finished with our conversation anyway.”
“Hardly,” Zephyr mumbles, and god, her voice is like music to my ears. “You just think what you say goes, but we aren’t done discussing this.”
Orion grins sarcastically, adopts a rather irritable posture and I’m suddenly envisioning driving my fist through his face for his obvious disregard of her wishes and that condescending attitude.
“We are done, Z. I told you what needs to happen and that’s how it’s gonna go. Period. You disappeared for way too long this time, and now that I know why, I’m not changing my mind.”
Oh god.
Her own cousin didn’t even know why she was holed up in her home, clearly had no contact while she was, and if that’s the case then it must mean one of the many worst case scenarios I entertained has some truth to it.
Not that I care.
No, I don’t care at all.
This female is a complete stranger to me and therefore holds no more place in my life than an ant on the sidewalk.
Zephyr means nothing to me and that is how it shall remain.
“Don’t be an ass,” she all but growls at him, the tone making my dick twitch in my slacks. “You don’t get a say in how I handle things and I’m not about to let you try to dictate your way into fixing this. I—”
“If you don’t mind, gentlemen, I’d really like to get on with things,” I say, ignoring the way Zephyr looks at me, ignoring the second wave of hurt laced with annoyance I feel resonate from her. “I didn’t come here to participate in any family drama, and quite frankly, my reason for requesting your company outweighs it tenfold.”
Aries scowls at me while Orion’s grey eyes grow stormy, but they know I’m an arse, they know I could give two shites about whatever is going on. And they also know how important it is that we move this along.
The shift in all three of them is obvious, though. The two males now harboring an irritation toward me, an annoyance that borders on anger, but the shift in Zephyr, fuck, that has me seconds from crumbling.
She is still hurt, still slightly annoyed, but it’s the defeat I feel coming from her so strongly that has me rethinking everything about how I’m behaving.
“I didn’t mean to interrupt,” she whispers, her head down and arms wrapped protectively around her waist. “I have to study anyway.”
“Yes, you do that and leave us to more important things.” My tone may be uninterested and a touch snide but inside I’m a bloody mess. “We don’t need any interruptions, especially over such trivial things that I’m sure can be handled with little effort.”
