Skins & Needles (COMPLETE)

Blood and Wine Part 2

Arsen

I started toward Charlotte, carefully ducking out of view of one of my regular Solstice hookups, and found her talking to the Llywelyn girl from the shop and someone in the Hayato circle. Her dress was a deep blue, with a plunging back that showed every tattoo above her hips. One went down her spine and fanned out between the dimples of her hips, and I had the sudden urge to trace it. Each geometric line, each swirl that disappeared just inside her dress...

She seemed to be having fun with the other women, and so I hung back. It didn't take long for her to find me, though. The Llywelyn girl noticed me first, and all Charlotte had to do was follow her gaze. They exchanged a few more words, but Charlotte hardly turned back to them. It was as if once our eyes met, our gazes were inseparable.

Snap out of it, I scolded myself, though all thoughts of doing so were lost once she began making her way toward me.

Charlotte took her time, her luscious hips swaying as she moved in my direction. She stopped along her way, picking various things I didn't notice off of trays, before she finally stood before me.

"I thought you'd never make it," I greeted, her scent enveloping me as she moved to stand close.

"I just like giving you a hard time," she smirked, one of her hazel eyes winking from beneath her glasses. Fuck, her attitude is amazing.

"Well it's working." In more ways than one. "You look amazing."

We continued on like this, me almost ruining the mood by telling her how skeptical I was to see her at Solstice, until I discovered she had never been to a casino, and convinced her she needed the full experience. I always grabbed some tokens for the lower-stakes games, and figured I would let her blow them on a classic slot machine.

Her first attempt was a flop, but that was the charm of slot machines. Any spin could be the one.

"You know, I'm not known to be a very lucky person," she told me seriously as I urged her to try again. I smiled, an idea coming to mind that could very well get us both in too deep with this little dance of ours, but it would be worth it.

"Then, let's see if we get lucky together," I suggested in a voice that screamed double meaning.

"Arsen!" she gasped, nervous laughter bubbling up, until I took her hand and led it to the lever. "Oh, you meant literally—"

"Shh," I hushed, trying very hard not to laugh myself. "Just wait."

This time, when we hit stop, it was all cherries.

Charlotte's reaction couldn't have been more perfect, as she leapt up with her hands over her mouth and then cheered with her fists in the air. Her eyes twinkled as she smiled back at me, and I couldn't help matching her expression. We piled tokens into my pockets, and I took a seat in the chair. This was way more fun than playing alone, and it was a harmless way to spend more time with Charlotte. I would do this all night if I could. She intrigued me more than was healthy.

"I can tie cherry stems in a knot with my tongue," she told me seductively as I went to pull the lever, and then in a lighter tone, "I'll show you sometime."

The mental image of her eating a cherry, and then doing completely unrelated things with her tongue had me barely noticing the next round.

Or the figure approaching us from behind.

Thane.

It was time to go.

I cut Thane off before he could say too much about our meeting between circles, and then told Charlotte goodbye in a rush. It occured to me as I walked away how impersonal I had sounded, and how I had registered Charlotte's face falling too late to fix it. I felt like a dick, but I deserved it. It was my fault for entertaining the thought of her and I on any level, when my world was so distant and so twisted right now.

I knew the second I approached the group that things would not be going the way we wanted. Thane's jaw was already set, as if no matter what we said, the answer would be "no."

We started off with our proposal. We would allow access to one another's land surrounding the Pass for patrolling purposes, and nothing else would change. Nothing in the city, and nothing outside of just watching for sorcerers.

Thane was not having it.

"I can't believe you would even go as far as to suggest something so... so..." he hissed, his face reddening and his fists clenching. His second-in-command, Lyle looked equally displeased.

"Look, it's a small trade if we are going to protect—" Kase tried.

"A small trade?" Thane shouted. A few nearby guests were starting to turn their heads, so Kase made the decision to move the conversation outside.

"I don't want you sniffing around us," Thane said once we were outside. "It's our property, and we can keep watch on our own."

"I don't care about you fucking snakes and your supposed property," Kase snarled, a hint of his wolf trying to claw its way out. "It's not like you use it for anything we would affect."

"The matter is, it's ours," Lyle argued stubbornly. It was as if neither of them cared what was at stake. I didn't want them near us either, but still.

"Even the Llywelyns have agreed to—" I tried, but the Nathairs wouldn't let up once on the defensive.

"We are not them," Thane spat.

"This matter is greater than all of us," Kase pushed in one last attempt to get the Nathairs to understand. "If we don't at least make a temporary agreement, then the—"

Kase cut off as we all heard a light splash in the pool to the right of us. Landscaping scattered through the courtyard had made it difficult to tell we were not alone, but that splash had certainly given it away.

Sitting with her feet in the pool, eyes as wide as the great night sky, was Charlotte.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Thane move, and realized moments too late that he was drawing a gun.

On instinct, I dove for the weapon, but it had already been fired by the time I knocked it from his hand. I froze, and so did the other four. I could hardly make myself turn toward the pool. And when I did, the sight made my muscles lock up and push me forward simultaneously.

Charlotte lay face-down at the surface, her blue dress a sharp contrast to the red wine spilled in the water.

The red wine mixing with blood.

---

LMK if you're an original S&N reader or stumbling on this for the first time! I'd love to know <3

Happy reading!

-Haybails