Sonata (Harry Styles FanFiction)

30. Predator vs. Prey

"And yet, here you are," he mused, raising a singular brow at me, the inflection in his voice clear as day.

"For the drink alone, Monsieur Malik. I've never professed to being an acclaimed conversationalist, such as yourself."

"You seem to be keeping up."

"Appearances, appearances," I tsked, taking a long swig from my waterford flute. I swirled the crisp champagne around in my mouth, savoring the taste of wealth. It was near addicting. It seemed that was the fashion everything in my life, lately.

This is dangerous stuff.

"Anyway, where is the interest without the threat of denial? If I had accepted as easily as you would have liked, would we be having this conversation now?" I quipped, flashing him my signature smirk. This game of verbal tennis was fun. With all of the decency rules put into place by 'high society', I was having to exclude the best of my sexual innuendoes and search for suitable, family friendly, alternatives. Every now and then I could mask my intention with something far more PG on the surface, but right now both Stella and I wanted to take this beautiful creature for all he was worth on the bar.

"Am I to infer that this is your version of 'hard to get'?" He breathed, his tone blatantly mocking.

"This is only the beginning, Monsieur, the first act if you will. You should see the finale. It's to die for," I grinned, teasing the tip of my tongue along my bottom lip, relishing in the fact that the act alone caused his pupils to dilate and his mouth to flatten into a hard line.

"And I should believe that I will be given the opportunity to experience this amazing feat?"

"That is still up for debate. The jury still hasn't reached a verdict, but this," I raised my glass at him, "is tilting the scales slightly in your favor."

"Is that true?" He mused, motioning again for Jeremy, "Another glass for the lady." Jeremy shot me a questioning glance. We both knew that I had to be back at the piano in five minutes and that a second glass would push the envelope very near to the edge.

"I really do not think that's wise, Monsieur Malik, my break is short and I cannot stumble over music that I have played thousands of times."

"If you've played it thousands of times, then surely you have it memorized and you won't need to follow the sheet music." Okay, so maybe he had me there. Even when I was black out drunk, Jas told me I still played better than the rest of the students in the music program— even a few of the professors. I'd memorized all of the selected compositions within my first week. I only set up the sheet music now for appearances; I hardly ever looked at it anymore, if at all.

Gritting my teeth, I nodded at Jeremy to retrieve the bottle and top off my glass. Maudit soit ce bel homme (Damn this beautiful man).

"How long have you been playing?" He asked, running his thumb along the line of his lower lip. The idea sinking my teeth into it causing him to release a guttural moan into my mouth filled my head— it clouded my already fuzzy mind.

Shaking my head to clear it, I fought off the surge of energy that shot through Stella; she threatened to take over my entire body yet again. My voice was thankfully even as I answered, "Since I was a little girl," I muttered, taking a long drink from my Rosé.

"Oh? And you've been employed by Daniel's for what, three years now?" How did he know that. "I'm a silent partner, the owner is an old friend of mine," he murmured darkly, "I come here quite often when I'm in the country."

"Oh," was all I could manage. How had I not noticed this magnificent creature before? Surely, I would have seen him at least once. Somehow the only thing I could think to ask next was, "Out of the country?"