by Lucy Smoke
I tried to shrug. “I’m just me,” I said.
He shook his head. “No, you’re not,” he said. “You’re a lot more than whatever you think you are. You’re this blinding light – we all see it. You’re so bright and strong. You can’t see it because that light is you.” He leaned down, his chest brushing my breasts. My breath caught again, and my heart skipped a beat. Marv paused, hovering just above me. “I have to know that you’re okay with this.” I was so focused on the electricity sparking in the air around us, my brain short circuited. I wasn’t sure if he meant that he wanted me to be okay with going to the camp or if he wanted me to be okay with him kissing me. Either way, I nodded my head. I wanted both.
With that, Marv opened his mouth and his lips came down against mine. My own parted on a gasp and his tongue swept in. At first the kiss was rough and needy, like he was a fiery storm coming to me for some sort of tranquility. He kissed me with unexpected ferocity, a wild animal staking a claim on me. My stomach lit up with butterflies and sank into him like he was into me. My hands were pressed down to the bed, but, oh, how I wanted to push them into his hair, hold his head to me. Marv pulled back, letting me up for air for a brief moment before he dove back down.
I writhed on the bed beneath him, his knee coming up between my legs, pushing them out until they were spread enough for both of his knees to fit between. He released my other hand – still kissing me as he jerked me up against his chest. I was sitting on his lap, my legs spread around him. I locked my ankles behind his back and returned his kiss with just as much enthusiasm. I knew I was breathing hard, but I couldn't get enough oxygen. He was sucking it all away.
Marv wrapped his arms around me and finally – finally! – I was able to sink my fingers into his hair. I gripped his head and held him close like I wanted. He arched up beneath me, rubbing me between my legs and I moaned into his mouth. I gasped as he pulled back and those dark, glittering eyes of his took me in, roving over me with an intensity that made my breath catch in a whole new way.
The kiss was demanding and surprising, but I loved every second of it. Even when it turned into something new. Even when Marv slowed, and his kisses rained down on me like embers from a sparkling fireworks show. Everywhere he touched me – his hands on my back, running down my arms, his lips against mine – shot sparks through my skin into my veins. I shuddered in his arms, clutching him tightly to me. My mind turned a corner and disappeared. I couldn’t think, I couldn’t stop. I couldn’t freaking breathe.
"Marv..." I whispered, panting. He stared at me and I at him.
"You have to stay safe, Sunshine." He barely managed to choke out the words. "You have to take everything Knix and Bellamy have taught you when you go in there. The job is important – but you're more important. If you're in danger, you tell us, and we'll get you out. Promise me that and I’ll let you go."
I found myself stroking the sides of his face. I leaned forward and kissed his lips once...twice...a third time. I held onto him.
"I'm going to be okay, Marv," I whispered. "Everything is going to be okay."
“Promise me,” he ordered.
“Okay,” I replied. “I promise.”
He clutched me to him and when my legs unlocked from behind his back, Marv rolled us across the bed until I was spread over the top of his chest. "Don't you want to change?" I asked, leaning up.
Marv stiffened, and I felt something else stiffen as I brushed against his groin. I blinked at him, wide-eyed. "Not...no, I'm fine, Sunshine," he said through gritted teeth. I knew this time, though, he wasn't angry.
"I-I'm sorry," I stuttered, feeling uncomfortable and unsure.
He sighed and patted my head, rolling me to lay next to him. "Don't worry about it, Sunshine," he said, kissing the top of my head. "Get some sleep."
I don't know how long either of us laid there with the soft music from my laptop playing in the background, but I was sure that by the time the sun rose, and light began filtering through my bedroom window, neither of us had slept a wink. It was going to be a long day.
As we walked into the airport, my eyes strayed. I had never actually been in one before and the cool shiny floors and masses of people sprinting in every direction had me enthralled. Children wailed while their parents shushed them, and travel weary businessmen strode by, wheeling small suitcases behind them. I looked down at my own. It was light purple vintage with wheels and pale markings that looked like some sort of brand name – an expensive brand name, I was sure, because Marv had been the one to hand it to me that morning.
"Gate 6B," Knix announced.
He retrieved the printed plane tickets from his leather satchel. When I had asked why I needed a full suitcase, he had simply told me that I had to play the part and that meant nice – again, probably expensive – dresses and classic jewelry and heels. I had begged them to at least let me wear flip flops on the plane. So, there I stood in cheap white flip-flops in an Eileen Fisher shift dress that I was sure cost more than what I would have made in a pay period back at Alex's Diner. I didn't ask, though. I thought it would be better not to know in case I spilled something on it. I tried to pretend it was just a simple day dress that Marv had picked up at Walmart.
I was supposed to be playing a role, I knew. The role of Harley Hampton, Knix’s cousin. I needed to act like I already knew what being a debutante was, or at least, that I was interested in learning what it was. For the next two weeks, I would be a wealthy, southern, blue-blooded lady spending her summer vacation away from boarding school at Ms. Enders’ classic villa in upstate New York. I almost dreaded landing in BUF – the Buffalo Niagara International Airport. It would be the first time I ever set foot on a plane or outside of the Carolinas.
Knix handed a few tickets to Bellamy and asked him to wait with me to check my bag before meeting them at the gate. I couldn’t help but wonder if I would run into Michael in New York. It was a ridiculous thought – Michael worked in New York City and we would be in Buffalo. It was like thinking that everyone in New York knew each other, which was impossible. I sighed as Bellamy helped move my bag up to be weighed.
“Here’s your sticker, ma’am,” said the lady in a white and blue pressed suit dress as she handed me a slip.
I thanked her and let Bellamy take my hand as we moved towards the longer line in front of giant gray metal detectors. Men and women in TSA button-down shirts stood around large machines where people put their purses and smaller bags for x-ray inspection. We stepped in line and Bellamy looked down, specifically at my flip flops.
“Those were a good idea,” he said as he bent and began untying the laces of his sneakers.
I shrugged. “Better than walking around in heels all day.”
His eyes widened slightly. Not too much, just enough that I noticed and it wasn’t in surprise. No, it was something else. Something that made me think he didn’t quite agree. I knew he was right when he turned back and mumbled something under his breath. I leaned forward and managed to catch most of what he said. “Not with those legs.”
I shifted and looked down at my bare legs, but I didn’t get a chance to ask what he meant because soon enough we were next in line. The airport security officers had us take off our shoes and place them in a square container. Bellamy removed his belt and emptied his pockets. I laid my purse in the container next to my shoes, and we were gestured through the metal detectors. On the other side, we collected our things and Bellamy rushed to slip on his shoes and redo the laces.
“Come on,” he said, taking my hand once more. “We’ve gotta catch up before they start boarding.”
“I thought we had another thirty minutes?” I protested as Bellamy took off at a fast-clip.
“A lot of flights board well before the plane is set to take off. If you’re on time for a plane, then you’re late,” he said.
I didn’t quite understand it, but he was right because as soon as we arrived at Gate 6B, Knix, Marv, and Texas were already in line. “Hurry,” Bellamy said, pushi
ng me towards the others. “You’re sitting next to Knix.” I moved around the others in line, avoiding some scathing glares and arrived next to the rest of the guys. Marv looked back and nudged Texas. Silently, the both of them moved out of line and back to where Bellamy was.
“Why’d they move?” I asked.
“They’re in economy,” Knix explained. “You and I are in first class. I doubt anyone will check our tickets, but if someone happens to see, it wouldn’t make sense for either of us to have arrived in economy.”
“Oh…” I said. “I thought Marv was the rich one? Shouldn’t he be in first class too?”
“Marv isn’t…” A peculiar expression moved across Knix’s face. “Marv’s acting as backup for this job,” he finally finished.
I tilted my head and examined him. “You don’t want him to get too involved, do you?” I asked. “Because he’s close with the families.”
Knix smirked down at me before he settled his giant palm on my head. “Don’t let anyone tell you that you’re not a genius, Little Bit.”
My insides swelled with pride. It seemed that what had happened at the club with Erika had been forgotten. She had even texted me the next morning and promised that it wouldn’t happen again. I wasn’t sure how long that promise would last, but at least she realized that the night hadn’t been as fun as she had expressly thought it would be with alcohol.
“Wait,” I said as we stepped forward in line, “you didn’t answer my other question. I thought Marv was the rich one? Why am I going as your cousin and not his?”
Knix grimaced but answered. “I’m not a millionaire,” he admitted, “but I’m also not impoverished either, Little Bit. My mother – as much as we’re estranged – does have a blue-blooded background and my father, though he was a blue-collar laborer for most of his life, didn’t have to work as hard as he did. His family, too, was well off. Fishing boats and cruisers mostly.”
“Wow.” I hadn’t known that about him. We stepped up again and it was our turn to hand over our tickets. How Texas had managed to order my tickets under my alias, I wouldn’t ask, but as I took back my card and the fake ID they had given me that morning, I started to realize just how real this was. I was an Iris girl now. Going on real jobs, doing the kind of good I had wanted to be doing when I first joined. I only hoped I could live up to the guys’ expectations of me.
We entered the airplane through a long-carpeted hallway. It grew louder as we neared the end and stepped from the hallway directly into the plane where stewardesses gestured Knix and I to our comfy leather seats. It was just him and me and as it was my first time on a plane, he let me have the window seat. I kept my eyes glued to the window as others began to board. Even when the flight attendants did what I was told was a purely routine safety spiel, I couldn’t help but let my gaze wander back to the window.
When the plane began to taxi down the runway, my heart leapt in my throat and I sucked in a breath, gripping the arm rest until my knuckles turned white. A warm palm slid over my hand and pulled my fingers from the edge of the armrest. Knix tucked my hand in his, letting my frozen fingers warm under his. I relaxed as the plane tipped back and we rose into the sky – the bright, blue, white-fluffy-cloud-filled sky. It was the most wondrous thing I had ever seen and the most daunting. Briefly, I hoped that I would get the chance to travel with the guys again. I knew that, had I stayed at Alex’s Diner and let myself graduate as I normally would have, had I made a different decision a month ago, none of this would have been possible.
I turned my head and looked at Knix. Though he was holding my hand casually, he was absorbed in one of the magazines provided in the pocket in front of each of our seats. I wouldn’t be here with him right now, I knew, if I had made a different decision. I wanted to be thankful every day that I had taken this risk. I knew, if given the chance, I would make it again.
Chapter 12
I gripped the file in my cold hands, sucking in air as fast as I could as Bellamy pulled up to the giant, gray stone villa. It resembled an old-world mansion – like someone had plucked it out of a catalog, or better yet a country hillside somewhere in England. The sleek, dark sedan that Knix had rented from the Buffalo airport passed under the iron-gated stone archway. The crisp, summer grass in the middle of the circular driveway sparkled with health and vitality.
I hadn't even stepped foot out of the car and already I was feeling rather inadequate. I felt, for sure, they would know me for a phony the moment I walked through the elegant front doors. Bellamy had changed from his airport clothes – jeans and a t-shirt – into a clean-cut, button down and a pair of neat gray trousers. I glanced down at my strappy heels with a sigh. I already missed my flip-flops.
"Ready, Harley?" Bellamy asked, using my pseudonym, as he slid the car into park.
"As ready as I'll ever be," I replied.
“You’ll be fine,” Bellamy said quietly. “Just remember the advice Knix gave you and know that we can pull you out at any time. Keep your phone close. Keep in contact. We’ll be barely a few miles away.”
I nodded, gripping the file closer and sliding it into the purse that matched my luggage.
"Memorize it if you can," Knix had told me on the plane. "But focus on the story you're going to be telling more. The story isn't just the words that come out of your mouth. It's how you present yourself, how you speak, what you wear."
If anything, I could say that I definitely presented the story I was trying to project, the young, wealthy daughter of an upper-class Charleston family. At least, through my appearance. Marv had chosen my clothes and props with care. Bellamy got out and I waited for him to open the door for me like I was expected to. As I stepped out in my heels, the ornate, double front doors of the villa opened. An older gentleman in a pristine suit stepped out followed by two middle-aged women in refined but simple black dresses. Bellamy went to the trunk and unloaded my luggage, handing it off to one of the women who disappeared into the villa with it.
"Miss Hampton, is it?" the older man approached me with a hand extended. I took it. "My name is Earl Wallace. I am Ms. Enders' personal assistant and I help her in the management and orchestration of the etiquette courses. We're so very glad you could make it."
"I'm sorry for being late," I said with a reserved smile that Knix had coached me on. I needed to be soft-spoken, quiet, and reserved. It wouldn't make sense for me to be loud and boisterous if no one had heard of me or met me before. I thought for sure there were people in these girls' "circles", as Knix had put it, that they hadn't heard of or met before. But both he and Marv assured me that money always knew money, whatever that meant.
"It's quite alright, miss," Mr. Wallace replied. "We were informed of the delay. It couldn't be helped. Margarie here," he turned to the remaining woman and she stepped forward, "would be delighted to show you to your room. There will be a tea party at 3 pm that all ladies are required to attend. Until then, you may have leisure time to yourselves. Etiquette activities will start tomorrow morning."
"Thank you, Mr. Wallace." I followed Margarie into the villa.
No matter how badly I wanted to turn around and take one last look at Bellamy, I didn't. I wouldn't risk it. We were here for a reason and with the girl from the club's image in my mind, I knew it was a very serious reason.
The inside of the mansion was just as opulent as the outside. While the stone walls of the villa had been aged with time, they had been clean. Inside, the floor had been shined to within an inch of its life. Windows let in natural light above the front doors. The sun's rays struck the crystal chandelier above and refracted a thousand glorious rainbow shapes around the room. Margarie walked through without batting an eyelash as if it was nothing to be impressed by. I tried to contain my awe and follow her lead.
We strode towards a set of rich, dark mahogany stairs. Large paintings hung on the walls as we ascended them to the second floor. From somewhere in the house, I could hear the sound of people talking. Young female voices drifted through the hall
ways, getting progressively louder as we approached what I suspected was the camp attendee's wing of the villa. Several young girls popped their heads out of various rooms as Margarie and I strode by. She stopped at the end of the hallway and opened a door that revealed an exquisite gold themed bedroom. It took everything I had not to let my jaw drop.
"We apologize if the room is a bit small," Margarie said in a quiet, but proper tone. "This was our last room available."
"It's fine," I assured her. More than fine, the room was...a freaking palace. The high arched ceilings, the settee on the end of a king-sized bed. I stepped further into the room, noticing that my luggage had already been delivered and left open on my bed. The clothes had been removed though. I glanced around and noticed tall mirrored doors. I went over to them and slid them open, revealing a short hallway with suede seats and my clothes hung on a rolling rack.
Keeping my gaze composed, I turned back to Margarie. "Where will the tea party be?" I asked.
"It'll be in the lounge, miss," she replied. "Is there anything more I can do for you?"
"No, thank you," I said. "You may leave now. I need to freshen up. It was a long flight and an even longer drive." It had been just over a three-hour flight to Buffalo, New York and a drive that had seemed to take longer because of all of the information I had gone over. We were nearly over the border into Canada, and had merely driven completely around Lake Ontario. I wondered, briefly, if there had been a closer airport and thought, perhaps Knix had been planning it like that for a reason.
Whatever that reason, I couldn't even consider it right now, I was too absorbed in how extravagant my temporary bedroom was. If this was one of their "smaller" rooms, I couldn't imagine what their other rooms must look like.
I sat on the bed and closed my suitcase, setting it on the floor beside the nightstand. Even the nightstand, I realized, had a marble surface. If I turned, I could see out the window behind the bed's headboard. Lush green gardens circled the side of the villa. I watched as several girls in day dresses just like mine walked together through the flowers and over the cobblestone paths. One of them paused and looked up at my window. I wasn't sure if she could see me, but when another girl came along and nudged her shoulder, she turned away without a second glance. I wondered where they were going and glanced at the clock only to realize I only had thirty minutes before the tea party would begin. They were likely already heading that way. But...hadn't Margarie said it would be held in the lounge?
