"Pain is a friend. It's a tragedy. It's a blessing."
. . .
Alexandre Monet
Her apartment, as adorable as it was, was as unsafe as a place could be. The building was on the bad side of town, there was a club nearby where the crowd didn't seem like the civilized type.
While I didn't consider myself better, I was no threat to Dahlia - even though in the starting I had been reluctant about all of this. Even back then, I wouldn't have hurt her. I wasn't fond of hurting people who didn't deserve it. I simply didn't have time for that.
Hedeon and I had been reluctant. Lucian and Andros had always been ready to snatch her away. Only Noah had been keeping them away, but now he wasn't here.
Her head was snuggled into my neck, her breath hitting my jaw. She was laying on top of me, and she fit quite...naturally into my arms.
And her thighs were straddling one of mine, pressing a very interesting part of herself against it. I could feel her warmth, and that was not helping my hard cock. At all.
I, contrary to how I appeared to be, was not a man of patience. I didn't deny myself what I could have.
But Dahlia...I couldn't have her. I knew she didn't trust Lucian and me as much as she trusted Andros and Hedeon. It pissed me the fuck off, and not out of jealousy.
I just wanted her to look at me too the way she looked at them.
I had, initially, expected her to easily give in. She seemed shy and a bit reserved. Just a woman wound too tight, ready to cut off the ropes holding her hostage.
But Dahlia loved her ropes, and all the restrictions they bought with them. Dahlia thought she was no more than her misery, and that...
That broke whatever was left of my heart.
I rubbed my hand on her back, as I had been the whole night whenever I woke up. Which I did just once because Bobby and Vaness were fighting. Or Bobby was just throwing a fit.
She woke up late. When she did, I was sitting up, typing away on my phone with her still in my arms. Lucian demands regular updates, and I decided to comply because I didn't want him to show up and disrupt Dahlia's sleep.
Her face, was slightly red, looking up at mine. She moved, removing her thighs from around mine, and pressed them together. Well, would you look at that? There was a slight tremble to them.
I could see her nipples through the t-shirt, and the redness of her face traveled down to her neck.
How could someone so angelic be so fucking tempting?
"Now you're shy?"
"Hush it," she grumbled, tugging the edge of her t-shirt down, hiding her thighs. I held back a protest. "I was sleeping. You can't blame me."
"Oh, believe me, Dahlia. There's no blame to give. I quite enjoyed you humping my thigh through the night."
She had humped just a bit.
Her cheeks were bright red now, and her fingernails dug into her thumbs which were covered in bandaids. I took her hands in mine and kissed her thumbs. "You need to stop doing that."
"It distracts from anxiety."
"Does it?"
She nodded.
"Do I make you anxious?"
"I..." She gulped, looking too vulnerable as the sunlight swept through her hair and fell on me. She was a sight to behold. I wanted to pull her into my darkness, to devour her till she forgot everything. Control, Alexandre. "I don't know. I am always anxious." She gave me a grimace. "I never really know if it's just normal nerves or anxiety. My gut feeling is fucked."
I pulled her closer. She didn't protest but gave me a dirty look which reminded me of Bobby who, from what I had gathered, loved getting petted but looked miserable while getting petted. I held back a chuckle.
"What can I do to make it better?"
"There's nothing." She gave me a sad smile. "This is something I'll just have to figure out on my own."
"What can I do to make sure I never make you more anxious than you already feel?"
She frowned. "You want to know?"
"Yes."
"Well..." She hesitantly put her hands on my shoulders as I pulled her even closer. "Raised voices make me anxious. Loud sounds do, too."
"Okay, and?"
"Don't be monotonous. You do that."
"Do I?'
"Mhm."
"I won't, then."
She gave me a slight smile. "You won't?"
I shrugged. "It may be hard. I am used to it."
"I don't want you to change to accommodate my stupid anxiety," she said. "I can deal with it. You shouldn't have to."
"It's not about should or shouldn't, Dahlia. If there is anything I can do to help you, I want to do that. Not doing anything would feel bad."
"It would?"
"Mhm." I mimicked her.
She smiled again. "Okay," she whispered. "There's not much else, except the usual. Public places, new people, you know?"
"Okay."
She sighed, looking all over my face. "Why?"
"Why what?"
"Why do you care?"
"I don't know," I said, truthfully. "You're a beautiful and smart woman, Dahlia. But you're something more, too. I can't quite put my finger on that something more, and I don't think I ever will. You just...make sense to me. You have since the day I saw you."
She tilted her head and then let out a chuckle. "You...You don't know me."
"I'd love to know you."
I did know her.
. . .
Dahlia
"You're like a leech," I told Lucian. "A blue-eyed, tatted leech."
"You could have just said a handsome leech, Dahlia."
"Leeches can't be handsome. Have you ever even seen one?" I bit into my cupcake. "Besides, isn't it time for Andros to be here?"
His eyes narrowed. "You like him more than you like me."
"Well, I found out your name three days ago. Andros has always been super nice to me, and I never had to refer to him as 'one of the Kozlov twins'."
He chuckled, picking up my cupcake and biting into it. My eyes narrowed. "But, wasn't the wait worth it?"
"You're not the quee- king of England, Lucian." I took the cupcake back from his giant hands and finished it before he could steal more. His eyes were filled with amusement that made me feel warm.
"I'm not," he said. "I'm just a businessman."
I paused. "What kind?"
He gave me a smile. So secretive. "Protection, ships, and a few other things."
"Protection?"
"Yes."
I frowned. "What on earth are you doing in this sad little town, Lucian?"
He picked up my second cupcake and bit into it before I could snatch it away. He bought the cupcake close to my lips. "Bite."
"I'll bite your head off-"
He laughed. "Just take a bite, Dahlia."
I bit into it, only because it was so close I could smell it and it smelled too good. This bakery, owned by someone I didn't really know but managed by Marie's mother, was amazing.
He put the cupcake down. "Well, we were called here for a protection job. They required many guards, so my brother and I decided to check out what exactly was needed before we sent anyone in."
"Who?" I asked in a whisper as I leaned closer. It felt like a secret. He smirked, amusement again filling his eyes. "Is it the mayor?"
"No."
"Of course, who'd want to kill that bland bastard? Is it someone I know?"
"I don't know everyone you know."
"Is it someone you know I know?"
"I don't know enough about you to know which people you know. How about you tell me?"
I paused. "This feels like you're getting information out of me."
"Or, I'm getting to know you."
I made a face. "Why? Think of an average small-town girl with strict parents. That's me."
"Okay." He made a very exaggerated thinking face. I smiled. "Nah, can't do it. The thing is, Dahlia..." He took my hands in his, eyes suddenly darkening with intent. I gulped. "I've had a glimpse of your complexity. Putting you in a box is near to impossible now."
"Is it...before impossible or after it?"
"After."
"Damn."
"Yes."
Something caught my eye. I turned my head and saw a man emerge from a car almost two blocks away. I could barely see him. It was dark because of the never-ending storm, but a streetlight helped. Something in his hand glinted as he pulled it out of the car. He rotated it, the light bouncing off it almost hitting me in the eyes.
My hands froze in Lucian's. There was no one in the shop beside me, him, and one staff who was half asleep behind the counter. My body froze, panic seeping into my blood.
"Dahlia."
I was being pulled out of my seat. The man was walking. He paused in front of the door of the bakery. I was getting pulled to the back of the shop. But the car is in front! I wanted to tell Lucian that, but I couldn't. Lucian was yelling at someone on the phone.
He picked me up when he was done. He tucked my head to his neck.
"Breathe."
I couldn't.
He walked out of the backdoor. There was a car waiting.
Lucian stuffed me inside and followed.
Then, when he made another call, I could finally hear what he was saying.
"Get the ship ready. We need to get her the fuck out of here."
. . .
20 chapters down. Idk how many to go. But we'll get there soon.
Thots?