Page 14 of A Love So Deadly (Kissed by Darkness #1)

Chapter

Thirteen

Elliot

I take a moment in the bathroom just to caught my breath. I need to get myself under control. That was… I don’t even know what that was.

Certainly not just a kiss.

It went deeper, broke me open and my head reeling. It was like having the best sex of my life and I’ve had his cock in my mouth and his fingers on me.

“What the fuck’s wrong with me?”

“You want Lucian’s dick. I thought it was quite obvious.”

The voice is low, melodious, sensual, but lacking…something. I’m not sure what. But my head snaps up, and I come face to face in the mirror with the gorgeous pale redhead dressed in blood red.

“I…” I narrow my eyes as she watches me. Even though she’s stunning, all I can think of is how she reminds me of an alien thing, something cold and heartless that is waiting for her chance to eat me up. I shiver. “You work at VMR.”

“I’m the other half of VMR.” She doesn’t introduce herself. “You’re Lucian’s new…helper.”

“Personal assistant, and no, I don’t want?—”

“Save it,” she snaps, approaching, stopping right behind me as I straighten. She’s a lot taller than me, thinner. Did I mention gorgeous? She has that otherworldly air that Lucian has, and I can’t help but think what a perfect couple the two of them would be.

Wait… Did she say she’s the other half of VMR? Does that mean… Are they… together?

“I really don’t care what he does.” She leans in, smelling the back of my neck, and I almost scream as her nose almost skims my skin.

If this were Lucy, I’d be shaking, melting, but this is like a violation.

“No wonder he’s borderline obsessed,” she purrs. “You smell fantastic.”

I’m about to speak when the door opens and a third person starts to come in but stops when they see the redhead.

“Not. Yours.” The redhead stares the woman down.

She immediately steps back. “Sorry, Ms. Hart.”

Then she turns and takes off.

“We’re going to join Lucian, and you’re going to stay close to either me or him when we get to the next floor.”

I bite down a retort but just nod and hold out my hand for a friendly handshake. “I’m Elliot.”

She stares at it, lip curled up in disgust. “Vittoria.”

With that, she turns and leaves the bathroom, giving me no choice but to follow.

I expected a glittering show of red carpets and flashing cameras.

Instead, we ascend into a decadent world money and decaying morals.

The girls are sleek, almost naked, their curves impossible and their faces more so.

Even though I’m dressed like a movie star, I’m in a potato sack near the women here.

Vittoria has disappeared, and I’m a little relieved. I want to say something to Lucian, but what do I say? His business partner, or colleague or whatever the fuck she is, sniffed me?

I’d lock me up for saying something like that.

Her ‘not yours’ haunts me. There’s something I’m missing, something my mind slips away from.

“You all right?” Lucian asks, his hand on the small of my back.

“Just dandy,” I mutter.

“Just relax and stay by me,” he says. “I’ll keep you safe.”

It’s a strange thing to say, but as I look around, I sort of get why. The people in here aren’t what I’d ever label as nice.

The men in here ogle the sleek, almost naked girls; some of them touch them in ways that makes my skin crawl. Others play card games or smoke cigars and talk. This is a place where old corrupt men from government and the lower echelons of society rub shoulders.

Lucian’s attentive, though, passing me drinks and making the kind of small talk that feels like exceptional finger food—delicious but nothing to sink teeth into.

In a way, I’m grateful for it. He’s letting the room know who I’m with and I don’t mind. The people in here give off the kind of vibes that make my journalistic senses twitch. Like it’s all bad juju under the layer of expensive perfume.

Then there’s Lucy who’s like a safe harbor. He seems like one. Until he looks at me. Because when Lucian turns his gaze on me, I tremble.

I don’t understand how my whole being is drawn to him, wants him, even though a part of me tries to scream he might be the worst of them all. I’m drowning in a sea of red flags. And yet… Yet there’s no one I’d rather be with than Lucy. Especially in this other world.

It’s obvious he’s in his element. I’m sure he could take down everyone in here in one move.

I stop.

Where the fuck did that come from?

When I glance up at him, I find that he’s watching me with a melting stare. “I’m glad you’re here,” he murmurs.

Spiders to flies, cats to mice, predator and prey come to mind. Or maybe there’s magic involved. I certainly feel bewitched by him.

Is this what happened to Kayla? So entranced that it was easier for her to fade away to nothing?

“I’m not sure you need me,” I say.

The air throbs.

“There’s need and need . And,” he pauses and takes a small hors d’oeurves from an almost naked waitress as she passes. Lucy doesn’t even look at her. “I may not need you here, but… there is a need . Or is it want?”

I can’t breathe. I’m not sure I want to. Because he’s looking at me the way I have looked at double salted caramel ice cream before.

He feeds me the world’s tiniest tart, his fingers dipping it into my mouth, and I can’t seem to stop myself from licking his finger. Then when he smiles.

“Ms. Montague…Monty…” His gaze dips down to my lips. “Elliot.”

A shiver races through me, sending my temperature rising. That smile contains a wicked knowing, and he takes my chin tenderly.

“Wh-what are you doing?” I pant. “This is part of my job. I’m not your lover.”

That only makes him smile more. “I beg to differ.”

If I worked anywhere else, I would’ve reported him to HR faster than a blink. But all I want is to jump his bones and fuck him senseless.

“I’m confused. Why do you look starved? I’ve fed you,” he says. “You’ve eaten.”

Another odd thing to say. “I’m not starved.”

Not for food anyway.

He leans in a little, within kissing distance, and I can see the vivid dark blue of his eyes. They seem to grow more intense, darker, almost black, as he looks at me, and my heart flutters. I’m hooked on him, my senses utterly drowned in him.

“I know someone who’s starving,” he whispers, breath dancing against my lips.

“What am I then? A meal?”

The air shifts the moment I say it, coils tight around us.

“I always like to bring something delicious with me to these things.”

“I’m not a snack.” I try to breathe. “I bite back.”

His one brow lifts. “Oh?”

Oh, hell… He’s hot. It’s a thought I can’t stop thinking. Hot. Gorgeous. Utterly fascinating and compelling with that edge of mysterious darkness around him.

I’m not, however, sure how much I like him.

Lucian’s smart, amusing, and part of my curiosity is for the man that seethes beneath the surface.

Predator.The spider. The cat.

Lucian runs a finger along one of the spaghetti straps of my silvery-black sparkling dress. “You look perfect.”

He must know what he’s doing to me. “For your sacrifice at midnight?”

“You’re going to attempt to kill me?” he asks. “How delightful. You’re a pretty little doll with sharp teeth.”

“Watch it, Lucy.” The words are snaps of sound.

He brings his mouth close to my ear and the subtle spice of him wraps about me. It’s evocative and wild, ancient and sophisticated. Elemental sex.Dark desire itself.

My head swims. He makes me want to offer myself to him, to tip my head and bare my throat, to take his cock and guide it into me.

“There’s no fun in that, Monty.”

I had been hoping the nickname I’d given him—Lucy—would’ve pissed him off. Annoy him. But, much to my dismay, he’s seemed to embrace it.

For me, Monty drives me crazy.

He Uno-reversed me. The bastard.

Even still, there’s an intimacy to using the nicknames for each other, a connection that I want to wrap myself in, and?—

“Lucian, ah, Mr. Vale.” An oily man interrupts my thoughts and heads our way.

“Vincent.” Though I swear he doesn’t move, Vittoria shifts into his line of sight and nods like she’s received a signal. The man seems to be caught in the timbre of Lucian’s voice, his body almost swaying.

Vittoria moves in closer. “Vinnie.”

Then he snaps out of it, eyes now on me. “Mr. Vale, I see you brought a vision.”

“Watch out. She bites,” Lucian says.

I narrow my eyes, but all Lucian does is ask Vinnie to point out someone even I’ve heard of.

Benicio de Santis.

A crime boss, a vile man in an expensive suit. He’s handsome, though next to the dark beauty of Lucian, he looks cheap and tacky.

All my senses tingle because no one goes to these things without not just having power but criminal interests. The crimes stacked against the politicians in here are breathtaking.

That makes me vibrate with an instinct that always gets me into trouble.

“Vincent, I need you to watch Ms. Montague for a moment,” Lucian says. “Only for a moment.”

Oh no. There’s no way I’m letting him talk to Benicio without me. “I’m coming with you.” And then add on for emphasis, “Lucy.”

He stares at me a long time, then he sighs.

“Fine.” We cross the room, including Vincent and Vittoria, who gives of bodyguard vibes, which is ridiculous.

When we approach the man in question, Benicio, at one of the poker tables, he looks at me with dead eyes. Everything about him is flat, like a marionette doll waiting for its strings to be pulled. Or maybe something waiting to be inflated.

His entire being wakes up when he sees Lucian, though. Even I can see the hate and greed.

“It’s good,” Benicio says as he sucks on the end of his cigar, “to finally meet you.” His gaze swings from me to Vittoria and to Lucian.

“I just wanted to make my apologies in person since that the project won’t be going ahead. Changing audiences,” Lucian says.

Audiences my ass. This is something else other than a project for TV.Every single innocuous word tells me that and the project bullshit is just that. Bullshit. Whatever it is, it’s big and no doubt highly illegal.

Benicio’s face twists into something cruel and ugly. It’s his turn to show his hand to the other players at the table, and when he turns over his cards, he reveals royal flush all in hearts. He glances at Lucian to make sure he sees.

Lucian, who’s expression’s remains neutral, says, “Tonight must be your lucky night.”

“Oh, it is.” Benicio sweeps the massive pile of chips to his corner of the table and puffs on his cigar again. “How is your grandmother, Vale? Penelope? Is she doing well?”

If I wasn’t watching Lucian so closely, I would’ve missed the flicker of malice. He locks eyes on Benicio, and the dark blue darkens to black.

“Vincent,” Lucian orders, his voice sharper. He never breaks eye contact with the crime boss. “Take my date and get her a drink. Now.”

Wait, what?

But Vincent is suddenly at my side, grabbing my arm, and tugging me away. I don’t want to go, but the growing tension between the two men tells me that whatever conversation they’re about to have wouldn’t be said if I was there anyway.

As I let Vinnie lead me to the other side of the room, I notice that Vittoria isn’t by Lucian anymore. Within the brief exchange, she’s disappeared.

I don’t like this Vinnie, but compared to the stink from Benicio, he’s a teddy bear. He grabs me a drink, pushes it into my hand, and stands beside me, silent. It’s clear he doesn’t want to be babysitting me either, but I take the moment to sip my prosecco and look around.

Most people are eating and drinking.Talking.

A small group of men have gathered in the middle of my line of sight of Lucian and Benicio, but I can just make out Lucian lips moving at a rapid pace.

Oh yeah, he’s pissed. He may not appear to be to a stranger, but I know him.

He’s always so calm and control, but even this far away, I can see his body vibrating with his anger.

And all over the mention of Lucian’s grandmother? A Penelope?

Hmm… I hadn’t found any mention of a grandmother when I had researched him. No relatives at all. Especially not living ones.

How strange.

I peer over at Vinnie, who is rocking back and forth on his feet, for only two seconds, but when I look back across the room, Lucian is gone and Benicio is alone.

A dark, vital beat strums the air, and my body responds like it’s got a mind of its own.

Lucian’s nails skim down my spine to my bare lower back, and a delicious shiver chases his touch.

I’m about to ask him what happened with Benicio, when he says, “Let’s get out of here.”

I blink. “Why?”

There’s a glimmer of something in those dark eyes. “Maybe I want you to myself.”

He doesn’t give me a chance to reply. His hand takes mine, and I swear the people in the room part for him.

Tenebris is dark, stormy tonight, and once we’re out on the street, Lucian makes a call.

“Up the security on Penelope. Immediately,” he says into the phone in clipped, measured words. “And send over Andrew.”

Then he hangs up.

Right then, the Bently pulls up to the sidewalk. Lucian doesn’t even wait for the driver to open the door for us. He does it himself and helps me into a car.