"I thought I would go back home with Evie in her car," Jade said, walking out of the hotel with her hair wet from the shower and into the cold air. Who knew that in a beach city like this it would be so cold after midnight?
"Where's Frank?" Zeth asked, opening the door of his golden Rolls Royce for her, even though the tuxedoed chauffeur offered to do it first.
"On his way home I guess. He asked me if I wanted to jump into his car, but I said I would go back home with Evie."
"With a trained assassin asleep in the back seat? I would never allow it, and I don't think Evie would either." Zeth laughed as he closed the door.
After he walked around the luxurious car and got into the back seat, Jade immediately inhaled his cologne. His masculine scent was familiar enough that she could pick it up in the middle of a crowded city street. It smelled like a mixture of man and gold, if that made any sense, and she didn't mind that at all.
"You took a shower after having sex with Frank, right?" Zeth asked out of the blue.
"What? Yes, of course I did! Why do you think my hair is still wet?" She grunted, shaking her head. “But he didn’t, he said he’d shower at home.”
“Good...” He rubbed his palms on his thighs and looked away from Jade, then cleared his throat, “And how was it?”
"I guess okay, hotel showers are always..."
"I mean the other thing," Zeth said, and seemed to laugh a little, but Jade wasn't sure.
"Oh! Well... It was very... Intense."
"Did you enjoy yourself?" He wiggled his eyebrows, "Did you like losing your virginity to a boy way older than you?"
She blushed, staring blankly at him.
"Well... First of all, Frank is twenty-eight and I'm twenty-one, he's not as old as you.”
“And why mention me?” He bit his lip, “Why, Jade?”
Oh! Her subconscious betrayed her.
“Just because. Secondly... Well we... We were both surprised how good it felt to be in each other's arms, how well we fit together... It was a great.”
"And how do you feel now?" He looked too curious for Jade's liking.
“I am happy." But she didn't look happy, and she wasn't happy with Zeth asking these questions, but not because she was offended by his curiosity, but because she knew him enough already, and he was, maybe not jealous, but being competitive. Maybe Zeth wanted to know if he was still Jade's favourite, which was true, as a singer and as a person, but there was nothing beyond that... Right?
"As long as you're happy..." Zeth smiled, looked out the window, and shook his head a little.
"I'm sleepy, Zeth," she said, "Do you mind if I sleep on our way back?"
He seemed bothered by this. Maybe he wanted to talk to her. But she didn't want to talk to him.
"Well, I will make sure we are back home before sunrise in one piece. Get some sleep. I'll let you know when we are outside Lyonfort."
"Thank you." She smiled as she laid down on the soft leather interior of the car, resting her head on Zeth's warm and somewhat hard thighs.
He widened his eyes and chuckled.
"What's so funny?" She asked, grumbling.
"It's no big deal."
"Tell me," she looked up at him from below, and the way he looked at her was, to say the least, curious.
"I just... You look good down there on my thigh," he bit his lip, "Although that's not how I imagined it, you know? To have your face so close to my..."
“Oh shut your mouth,” she rolled her eyes, "In your dreams."
"I guess only in my wet dreams," Zeth laughed, but she grunted.
"Most likely," She turned to avoid his eyes, settling herself comfortably on his thigh to sleep long and hard.
As she shut her eyes, she heard the hum of the engine starting up and then the car began to move.
A year ago, the thought that she would be in the same car as Zeth leaning on his leg would have seemed like something out of a fanfic, but now... It was normal now, as normal as brushing your teeth or seeing your friends from school.
Maybe the magic was gone.
Maybe the boys had already become an everyday thing.
Because at this moment, she no longer saw them as world-famous artists, no.
Now they were just 'the boys' and that's it.
And Zeth was just another boy she knew.
Perhaps Zeth had already become irrelevant.
Soon, she drifted off to dreamland where everything was quiet and perfect, and she could breathe normally again...
Her dreams were filled with glee.
It was a concert in a jungle, full of people jumping and cheering on the boys, who were dressed as bikers. There was a jaguar resting on a tree branch, watching all the fans at the concert, keeping an eye on them, and for some reason, the jaguar was green, and next to it on the same branch was a little blue bird.
Finn was dancing inside a water tank with chains around his torso, and Zeth was riding a black mechanical bull.
Frank danced with a blonde girl in a golden dominatrix costume, and she was holding a whip in one hand and a golden spear in the other. Frank suddenly fell face-first on stage, and it was strange, because his legs were suddenly normal prosthetics, not the advanced ones he had before.
Everett was singing but lifting weights on a bench, and there was a bipedal white bear watching the audience by his side, and Draco was drinking coffee on stage... Spanking a woman? Why?
Alex was in the back, holding his face with one hand. He emerged from some kind of broken screen. Jade wasn't sure, but she thought she saw blood and a long cut on the left side of Alex's face when he took off his hand.
The song ended, and the band started playing another one. It was a song Jade hadn't heard before, some kind of electronic mix with pop music, very shouty, and she was sure her voice was playing on the backing track, but it was like a whisper. Jade looked down and she was suddenly dressed in a green battlesuit with electric weapons in her thigh holsters, performing bodyguard duties.
There was applause for the performance, and Jade was sure she saw Melody among the people with a blonde cat sitting on her shoulder, like a parrot, and this cat had bright blue eyes.
The guys bowed and smiled. Her lips parted slightly, and she was ready to go back to work in case someone needed help or if she had to fight against a group of enemies.
Just then, someone grabbed her arm, pulled her around, and shoved her face into their chest. The world went black, and all the sounds of applause faded away. There was no music anymore.
No.
There was only her with her face buried in someone’s pecs, almost suffocating. Were these Kevin's pecs?
Oh Jesus!
The suffocation was real!
“Oh Jesus!” She opened her eyes quickly, realising that she was, in fact, suffocating on Zeth's thigh.
She rose up quickly, trying to catch her breath, fixing her hair. Zeth chuckled softly, looking at her through heavy-lidded eyes.
"Are you alright?" he asked, and his voice was so low that she shivered. He reached over and caressed her neck, running his fingers through her hair.
"Yeah, I'm okay," she nodded. "Are we almost there?"
"I was going to wake you up. We're already in the Forest of Catalos," he said. His phone was in his hand, close to his ear. "Jade, I'm on a call. You don't mind, right?"
"Oh! Of course not," she said, moving away so that he wouldn't feel uncomfortable.
"Sorry... Yeah, it’s Jade, she’s awake now... Where were we? Right! I also think she wanted us to capture her," Zeth said to the person on the phone, probably Evie. The chauffeur was driving fast along the long dusty road, "Yeah, I got that, thanks," Zeth then hung up.
"Why do you think the blonde wanted to be captured?" Jade asked, and Zeth shifted his shoulders, huffing.
"She made sure her face was on camera more than once, her alias was the name of a famous huntress, and she waited a whole year to approach us at the same hotel? It sounds suspicious." Zeth reached into his pocket to pull out the phone he had taken from the blonde. "I think she wanted us to find this."
"Is that hers?" Jade cocked her head.
"It was," Zeth replied. "And judging by what we have found here and the waiters who attacked us at the restaurant, I think someone wants to kidnap Monster Mash and a different person wants you to stay away from us. There was no evidence of anything useful regarding the hunters at the restaurant, but there was evidence of someone who paid the blonde to scare you, but her client's phone cannot be traced. I think whoever sent the waiters is someone wealthy, but who sent the blonde?"
"Did you fight with waiters?" Jade laughed.
"Hunters disguised as waiters," Zeth said. "But as much as I like to talk about myself, let's talk about you... Your first time with Frank, did everything go well? You didn't finish telling me and I want to know everything."
"I beg your bloody pardon?!" Jade crossed her arms. "I mean, yeah, it was amazing. Do you want details too?"
"Yeah, pretty much," Zeth smiled and leaned closer, putting a hand on the back of her head. Why the hell did he have so many calluses?! "So? Tell me everything. I'm all ears. I want to know what you and him did, you know, to surprise you when I make you mine, Jade."
"And what makes you think I want to do it with you, Zeth?" She took his hand away, "But if you must know, the first try wasn't exactly a success."
"What do you mean 'the first try,' girl?" Zeth frowned.
"We, uh..." Jade looked outside at the green scenery passing by. "He, uh... Well, the first try was just with his finger," Jade turned red. Was she really going to tell Zeth everything?! "Then, you know, we did it properly."
"Oh, good for you! And you liked it when he put his finger there?”
“Y-Yes, Zeth.”
“I see,” his voice was so low, so raspy, "I'll keep it in mind. What else would you like me to do to you, Jade?"
"Again. What makes you think I want to have sex with you?"
An awkward silence stretched between them, but their gazes never drifted.
"Wow, so it's true. We've drifted away, huh?" he moved away a little.
"I don't think we have chemistry between us anymore." She said, almost a whisper, "Zeth, you were my first kiss, maybe my first love, but I no longer feel anything for you."
"I guess so," Zeth nodded, and put distance between them, looking out the window.
"Aren't you going to fight for our love?" Jade asked and Zeth laughed, making a face of mocking confusion. Then he looked straight into her eyes.
"Jade. I'm not the stalker type or the type to cross boundaries that I shouldn't," Zeth looked her up and down, biting his lip, "You know I want you, Jade. But if you don't feel the same way, I'm not going to...”
"Are you going to give up?"
"I never give up," Zeth was turning a little red, "But if you don't feel anything for me, if you're uncomfortable with me making advances, I'll stop doing it. I'm going to respect your decision, but tell me something... Is it really your final decision?"
"Why do you say that?"
"Because you want me to fight for us, maybe?" Zeth tilted his head with a look that said a lot and nothing at the same time. "Tell me something, Jade. Am I still your favourite?"
“Y-Yes,” She was already losing control of herself again.
"And do you love me, Jade?" Zeth moved a little closer to her, but there was no reply after a few punishing seconds, "I see."
He was going to move away again, but she grabbed him by the forearm and he seemed...
Disgusted?
"You want me to tell you that I love you, don't you, Zeth?" She asked, but he pulled out of her grasp quickly.
"I don't want you to tell me what I want to hear," Zeth looked away, "Don't give me hope Jade. I'm a direct man, so I want you to tell me if you have feelings for me or not, and I want the truth."
"If I say no? Will I lose you forever?"
"If you say no, we can be friends, and who knows? Maybe time will bring us back together again, like before."
"And what if I say yes?" Jade asked and Zeth laughed a little, avoiding her gaze, "Zeth? Zeth!"
"Well, is there anything else to say? Tell me, do we need to go into details?" Zeth looked her straight in the eyes, and what a penetrating gaze he had!
"And this is exactly why I think you and I aren't compatible," Jade avoided his blue eyes, "Being with you seems promising, but it really doesn't promise anything."
"I can't promise you anything you don't have now, but I can promise you that..."
"Don't make promises you can't keep, Zeth," Jade said, and he nodded, blushing, looking down, with a boy-in-love smile.
"No promise lasts forever," Zeth looked her straight in the eye, "Sooner or later they expire."
"I want you to promise me something that you can keep," Jade said firmly, "Don't promise me eternal love, or a happily ever after. Don't promise me your heart because you don't even have it. Tell me something that will make me want to stay by your side."
"If you say you love me, I’m going to make you mine tonight, Jade," Zeth said, firm and strong, and she swallowed hard. “In thousands of years, I have never wanted to be on top of someone as much as I want to be on top of you. I have never wanted to make love to someone as much as I want to make love to you. So I can promise you that.”
Jade was stumped, not knowing what to say.
Sex? Again?
She already felt like a complete whore.
Two men in one night, Zeth would be the third.
Was she being slutty for exploring her sexuality?
Did that make her an easy girl? Willing to throw herself into bed with any man who...
No. They weren't just any men.
It wasn't their fame, nor their beauty, nor their abs...
She loved them all for having seen in her something that no one, not even herself, could see.
And now there was only one question to answer, and not to Zeth, but to herself.
Did she still love him?