by Cece Rose
The lift dings, and the doors roll open. For a moment, I pause, convinced that we must be on the wrong floor. I glance around the empty, barren space, one that used to house a busy office. The lights aren’t even on, so only the natural afternoon rays shining through the windows aid with visibility. I check the number showing above the door on the lift, and sure enough, it says seven.
“Did we get the right floor?” Theo asks, placing his hand over the lift door to keep it open.
“I think so?” I muse, though even I hear the uncertainty in my voice. Cautiously, I step into the open-planned office and look around. There’s not so much as an old, dusty printer left behind, the place is empty. Well, almost.
I spot a door on the far end of the open-planned space and hurry towards it, forcing a cursing Theo to rush after me. I push open the door, happy to find it unlocked. We step into the large room, well-lit by natural light from the huge window covering one of the walls. Only one piece of furniture remains in the office. A big, mahogany desk. Just the kind my mother likes.
After exchanging a glance with Theo, I approach the desk and take a good look at it. The top of the desk is bare, but it looks to have two deep drawers. I open them, and I’m disappointed to find them both empty. There’s nothing helpful here at all.
“This was a colossal waste of time,” I mutter with a defeated huff, and I turn back to look at Theo. He moves past me and perches up on the desk, pulling out a hand-rolled cigarette and lighting it. He takes a long drag and then sighs, shifting to sit on the desk properly.
“Smoking’s bad for you,” I scold him as I lean down and snatch it from his hand. I step back before adding, “Plus, you really shouldn’t smoke inside.”
“I’m stressed, okay? Give a guy a break,” he replies with a smirk. “Plus, I don’t think it matters in here; I don’t think anyone will notice or care.” He gestures around at the barren space surrounding us. Nothing’s in here but the damned desk he’s sitting on.
He thinks he’s stressed?
He reaches out as if to take it back from me, but before he can, I step away from him and take a long drag of the cigarette myself. I need the stress relief more than he does.
As I breathe in, I realise my mistake. I start to cough, mostly from surprise, and Theo starts laughing at me. I sniff the air and groan. How did I not realise?
“That wasn’t tobacco, was it?” I ask him, despite already knowing the answer from the burn in my lungs and the slightest tinge of the beginning effects.
“No, it was not,” he answers, before another quick chuckle escapes him. “You just had to go and snatch it.”
“You’re saying this is my fault?” I question him in disbelief, raising an eyebrow in challenge as I stare him down. He holds his hands up in surrender, but I ignore them and continue. “You can’t really think this is a good time to get high?”
“Those guys just tried to kill us!” he defends in an exaggerated, dramatic tone. “I legitimately almost died, and you’re going to lecture me, a fucking drug dealer no less, for smoking a little weed?” He gives me a look, like he’s just waiting for the penny to drop. It does.
“We could have died.” Just saying the words aloud sends a shiver down my spine. An unpleasant chill replaces the buzz I’d started to feel. “Fuck it,” I announce, and I take another drag, holding it in for a few, before letting out a slow, deliberate breath. Theo gives me an incredulous look.
“I legitimately almost died,” I parrot back at him, voice coated in sarcasm, and take another hit. I take a smaller one this time, and then offer the joint back to him.
“There’s a lot of that going around today,” he jokes, and I laugh as he brings it to his lips, and I watch the bright orange glow on the end.
“We’re going to need to find the assassins,” I inform him, growing serious, though I still snatch the joint back from him. I can’t believe I actually just spoke those words aloud.
“How do you suppose we do that? If they got set up before, maybe it isn’t safe to contact them however you did last time,” Theo muses, snagging it back from me as soon as I’ve taken a hit.
“I don’t know,” I groan, despite the fact I’m beginning to relax and a calm is settling over me. It’s more of an automatic reaction at this point.
“We’ll find Caleb and sort this mess out, okay?” Theo promises. “And then I’ll fix my mess, well, probably. Or I’ll buy a nice villa somewhere and disappear, what do you think?”
“If you choose the villa option, can Caleb and I come with you?” I joke. “We could make a retreat for people hiding out for whatever reason. Although, advertising it may prove problematic.”
“Problematic?” he chokes on the smoke as he starts to laugh.
“I mean, just a little,” I pull a face at him, wishing I could pull my phone out and hide behind it like I’d usually do. This much talking, to people other than my brother, is a little draining. Although, it might be the assassins, the kidnapping, and the car chase that have me feeling a little worn down. Not to mention, my feet also still throb from running in bare feet to escape, after climbing out of a window, and shimmying down a damn tree.
“Say problematic again,” he requests, surprising me.
“What? Why?” I move to sit on the desk next to him.
“You say it differently. I smooth my voice out pretty well and try to adjust my accent for whoever I’m with, but the naturalness, the way you say it in that posh voice of yours, Scar, I can’t fake that.”
“You don’t need to,” I insist, bringing my legs up onto the desk and crossing them, stretched out away from where I lean into Theo.
“Easy for you to say. Say it again, come on,” he pleads in a light, playful tone. He offers the joint out, holding it to my lips for me as I take a toke. I breathe it out slowly, enjoying the moment.
“Problematic,” I repeat, trying not to cringe from the full amount of attention he’s paying to me.
“Problematic,” he echoes, trying to imitate my voice. My jaw drops in fake outrage.
“I don’t sound like that,” I tell him, deliberately playing up the superior, spoilt rich girl in my voice.
“Oh, you totally do,” he teases. I suddenly realise how close we’ve gotten and pull back a little. Snagging the joint back from him, I frown when I notice it’s nearly finished. “Are you going to steal my last hit?” he asks me, his turn for fake horror. I flash him a grin, before putting it to my lips. I breathe in, but before I can exhale, Theo’s lips are over mine. My mouth opens a little from shock, and he sucks in, stealing the smoke. He leans back and exhales slowly after a couple of seconds, smirking once he’s done.
“You little sneak!” I accuse, and he kisses me again.
I kiss him back without thought, my hands sliding over his arms as he wraps them around me. He moves, standing at the edge of the desk. He tugs me towards him, then leans down to kiss me again. I swear this guy could kiss a woman senseless. We’d kissed once when I was sixteen. But that was before. I didn’t want anything more then, but I most certainly do now. So long as there are no strings attached.
“This can’t turn into anything more,” I tell him between kisses. He grunts a sound of agreement, silencing my lips again with his. My hands travel down to his jeans, unbuttoning them in a flash. Following my lead, he pulls off my shirt, throwing it across the room without a care for where it lands.
“It would become too complicated. I’m not sticking around once this mess gets sorted,” I continue, when he steps back to look at me in appreciation. He trails soft fingertips down over my shoulder, going back up to slowly tug down my bra strap on his next descent. He does the same on the other side, before reaching behind my back and unclipping it. I tug it the rest of the way off, dropping the bra onto the floor, to be forgotten along with my shirt.
“Way too complicated,” he agrees, pulling his own shirt off, and with that, I’m distracted from pesky things like clear thoughts, common sense, or listening to whatever he was say
ing. I pull him close, bringing his head down to mine so our lips can meet.
I hold him onto him, wrapping my legs around his waist, and or grinding my body against him through our remaining clothes, making it clear what I’m after. I mean, it is my birthday. I pause for a second, caught off guard.
It’s my birthday.
One had told me my birthday was a day away, and I’d slept since then. I’d lost most of a day in the middle of everything, and now I’m officially eighteen
“What’s wrong?” Theo asks, pausing to see if I’m okay. I smile at him.
“I was just thinking that it’s my birthday, and despite everything else going on, I really want to some fun on my birthday,” I smirk, reaching up and running my hand over his short, but thick, dark hair, loving the feel of the texture against my skin. “Will you help me have some fun?” I tease, practically batting my lashes. Not that it’s at all needed from what I can feel pressed against me.
“Even if it wasn’t your birthday, I’d still be happy to oblige.” He smiles again, a wide smile that shows off his perfect, white teeth. One thing Theo’s been blessed with, despite his circumstance, is good looks. As long as I’ve known him, he’s been damned attractive.
“Such a gentleman,” I joke, resting my thumbs on the edges off his jeans and pushing them downwards. As they hit the floor, I pause, realising we’ve forgotten something. “Have you got anything?” I ask, and he frowns for a second in confusion until it clicks.
“Uh, shit, no. Do you?” he replies, not bothering to hide the hopefulness in his tone. .
“When I was kidnapped by assassins, for some reason I didn’t think to grab any.” I laugh, although I feel the tiniest bit bitter at missing out. I start to grab my shirt, when Theo presses his hand on my chest and lightly pushes me back down onto the desk, until I’m flat on my back. He tugs off my shoes, followed by my thick, black leggings. “Did you miss the part where we can’t have sex?” I question him, a little bemused by his efforts to continue to undress me.
“Maybe not, but I like to think I’m a satisfaction-guaranteed kind of man,” he says in a teasing voice. I’m about to ask what he means, when he moves and presses a kiss to the top of my thigh. With my legs still dangling over the edge of the desk, and only my flimsy underwear covering me, I suddenly feel a little exposed. His fingers trail up the outsides of my legs, up over my thighs and to my hips. As he slides his hands back down again, he tugs off the last of my clothing with them. He places them on the desk, rather than throwing them across the room, and I’m grateful to know I won’t have to wander around naked looking for my damn underwear.
His hot breath whispers against my skin as he settles between my legs, resting one hand on my waist and the other at my thigh. After a moment that drags, anticipation pooling in my stomach, he moves his hand. His thumb quickly finds its mark, and he brushes it over my flesh, moving it in slow, precise motions. I push up into his touch, a soft moan escaping my lips. His hand moves down, and where his thumb just was, I feel his tongue now. I shudder, almost overwhelmed as he begins to pleasure me.
“Fuck,” I hiss in a mixture of pleasure and pain when he nips at me with his teeth. Just hard enough to make sure I’d feel it. Pleasant tingles zing through my body. I feel a pressure building, and my hands grip his head, holding him in place as he continues to move his tongue against me. My breath quickens, and I cry out as one of his fingers presses inside of me, soon followed by another.
He continues his ministrations with his two fingers, steadily picking up the pace, all while he continues his assault on my clit with his tongue. He switches up the motions, testing my reactions, and repeating the ones that generate the best response. I moan, throwing one arm over my face to cover my mouth as I do, the sounds of desire that escape growing louder. The last thing we need is someone on another floor hearing us and coming to investigate.
The constant, steady pleasure continues to build as his hand tightens on my waist, holding me in place. He puts more pressure behind the flicks of his tongue and moves his fingers faster, putting so much more urgency in his touch. Illicit sounds escape my lips as I feel a wave of pleasure rush through my entire being. I think I may yell his name amidst the jumble of unintelligible sound. He pulls away, leaving me feeling satisfied, if a little cold lying naked on the hard desk.
Hearing a cough, I turn my head to the side. My eyes widen as I spot the receptionist standing in the doorway, staring at us both in shock. I scramble to grab my clothes and underwear, pulling them on in a dazed rush and notice Theo doing the same. She just stands there, watching us in silence. It’s more than a little creepy if I’m honest. Frowning, I give up on finding my bra. I can’t seem to find it no matter where I look. How the hell do you lose a bra in an empty room?
Mostly dressed, but panting for breath, I turn back to the woman.
“Did you find what you were looking for?” she asks, shooting me a very judgemental look.
“We did, thanks so much,” Theo answers for me, a satisfied smile on his face. He grabs my hand, dragging me out of the room before she can object. We rush to the lift, me on slightly unsteady legs, though the panic from getting caught keeps me moving.
“How long was she standing there do you think?” I ask, pressing the button for the ground floor and praying the lift doors will close us in before she can join us in here. Thankfully, they do.
“About the time you started screaming my name, I think,” he answers playfully, pressing me against the side of the lift and trapping me there with his body.
“At least she got to witness the big finale of the show,” I murmur back. He smiles at my words, before moving to steal another kiss. He keeps his lips over mine the entire way down.
Chapter Twelve
Taking a sip of my strawberry milkshake, I look across the table at Theo, watching him devour his food. As I watch him eat three times as much as I’d ordered, I wonder where he puts it all. It just seems to magically vanish after passing through his mouth, considering there’s not an ounce of fat on his delectable body.
“Are you going to eat those?” he asks, already pulling the rest of my chicken nuggets towards himself. I’d eaten half of them, but my appetite seems to diminish as my worry for my brother and how I’m going to find him grows.
“Help yourself,” I offer, after he shoves the first in his mouth. He grins. “What are we going to do now?” I ask.
“Save some of those nuggets for me,” Three—no—Two says as he sits down next to Theo. I feel someone slide into the booth next to me as I stare across at Two in bewilderment.
“Hey, One and Two. How’ve you been?” I throw out the sarcastic greeting to cover my apprehension, sure it’s their green-eyed leader sitting beside me without needing to look.
“Enjoying a nice romantic dinner?” One questions in a similar tone.
“Yes, it’s delicious,” I quip, before taking another sip of my milkshake. I’d been pleased and surprised that the milkshake machine was working for a change when I wanted one. I don’t come in here often, but whenever I do, the machine never works.
I’d convinced Theo we should come here because no one would think to look for us here. Little did he know, I’d sort of tricked him into coming here and buying me a milkshake. Thanks to not having access to any of my money right now, I’d actually needed him to do that for once.
“Why did you drive off?” Two grills me, stealing another chicken nugget. Theo bats his hand away when he immediately tries for a third, drawing the line.
“Uh, people were shooting at us. Did you not hear the gunshots?” I answer. Surely that’s explanation enough?
“Yeah, what the fuck was that?” One asks Theo, his left eyebrow raised.
“A problem for another time, and not one that concerns you,” Theo replies.
“Fair enough,” I’m surprised to hear One respond. Why does Theo get such an easier time communicating with him than I do?
“Is my brother okay?” I demand. “Can I
speak to him?”
“He’s fine, and you can see him later,” Two answers with a small smile.
“How did you find us?” I ask, curious to know how they caught up to us so fast. If I made a mistake, I need to know so that I can ensure I don’t make it again when I leave with Caleb.
“Tracker in your shoe. We had to lose them first before finding you, but then it was just a simple matter of following the map to you,” Two answers again, his intense stare boring into me. I’m surprised he isn’t looking over at One constantly for approval of everything he says.
“You put a tracker in my shoe?” My eyes widen in surprise. How the hell did they hide a tracker in my shoe?
“Just a little one.” Two shrugs.
“I’m guessing you two haven’t been in here eating this entire time, so where have you been?” One picks up with the questioning. I feel heat creeping into my cheeks, and I hope to hell nobody notices.
“We stopped by one of my mother’s businesses. I wanted to check it out, see if I could find anything that would prove one of us wrong—
“—Are you fucking serious?” One interrupts, cutting me off before I can continue.
“Well, yeah. We—
“—I don’t care what you thought you were doing. You could have been caught. How can you be this stupid and still be alive?” he demands, as if the possibility of someone like me making it in the world really is that unbelievable.
“Aw, and I thought you didn’t care,” I reply mockingly, rolling my eyes. Asshole.
“I don’t,” he answers bluntly. “But you’ve seen my face. You’ve seen the faces of Two and Three. You getting yourself caught puts us at risk too. That I won’t allow.”
“Is that a threat?” My fists clench underneath the table on reflex.
“Take it however you want, but you won’t be doing that again.”
“Whatever.”
“Did you find anything?” Two interjects, drawing my attention back to him.
“No, and that in itself is the problem,” I remark, making him frown from confusion. “The entire place had been cleared out, other than her desk. I checked it though, but the drawers were empty too. It was honestly a little freaky. I swear I would have heard if they moved offices, all she talks about at dinner is business, but she’s not said a thing about it.”
