Chapter 14
Chapter Fourteen
BONTE
The table is oddly quiet for having six people at it. Thankfully I have Kinsley next to me. That gives me a form of comfort because I don’t really know any of these other people. It’s only girls here.
Nix is glaring at her food while pushing it around with a fork, while Cosima keeps trying to start a conversation. Which I’m noticing isn’t the easiest when Nix is pissed, and Naomi isn’t a talker.
Then, Kins and I are so new to these people. She was the one to beg me to come. She swears everyone is sweet, but I can tell Kins is still a tad shy around them. Which isn’t her normal. If anyone can ask a million questions, it’s her, but this is different. It’s her boyfriend’s family.
Wait, am I Eros's girlfriend? He did doodle a heart on a note for me. Oh, can’t forget the kidnapping to have me all to himself. It’s likely the safe bet to claim being his girl.
“Anything new with you, Mackenzie?”
“Don’t pull me into this awkward conversation. I’m on break.”
“On break?” Cosima's nose scrunches.
“I’m always filling in conversation for this one.” She nods her head to Naomi, who is sitting next to her taking delicate bites of her steak. She’s so proper over there. I don’t know what to make of this girl. I think she might be the most interesting person I have ever met.
“Blair.” Cosima’s attention turns toward me. Oh shit. “Is that what we should call you, honey?”
“Bonte is good.” I’m not sure if I miss the name or the life that it once belonged to. I’m guessing it’s partly due to the trip down memory lane I’ve been having of my father when life wasn’t so crazy.
“Bonte is a pretty name. I think it suits you more than Blair.” I’m not sure “pretty” is the word I’d use for myself. To be pretty, don’t you need to be soft around the edges? I do everything to not appear soft.
“Thanks,” I reply as I'm unsure of what else to say.
“How are you holding up?" Concern is etched in Cosima's features. I already had to tell her five times when I came down that I wasn't mad at her about the whole putting me in the hole thing. Although I hate that I had to have that experience, I respect her for it in a way.
“Honestly, I don’t think I’ve processed everything. I’d like to say this is crazy, but I’m starting to see that my whole life has always been that way.”
“Your dad is a serial killer,” Naomi chimes in. “Think he’ll come to dinner?” Her face is dead-ass serious. I bark a laugh.
“I have no idea whether you’re joking or not.”
“Neither do we,” Nix mutters but quickly seals her mouth back shut. She’s not good at giving the silent treatment. Guess she’s still holding a grudge from earlier. I thought the girls would have smoothed it over already.
"I have no clue where my dad is to even invite him over."
"Would you want to?" Cosima asks.
"No one is going to judge your answers. Not in this group," Kins says from beside me. I suppose they have no room to judge.
"Yes, there were many things left unsaid." The idea of seeing him again has a ball of emotion forming in my throat. "I think I'm going to go lie down if that's okay." I took a nap, but my whole body feels heavy. Not only that, I miss Eros. When he touches me, I relax.
“I didn’t mean to upset you,” Cosima says. “I only want you to know that you can talk about these things openly here.” She reinforces what Kins said to me.
“Not for nothing, but my dad’s father killed his mom.” Nix shoves a bite of steak into her mouth.
“Thanks for that pep talk, Nix.” A small laugh leaves me. I push back from my chair. “When Eros gets back, will you tell him that I’d like to see him?” I want to know that he’s okay.
I think that’s partly why I feel so unsettled tonight. It’s been a long time since I actually gave a crap about anyone. Now I don’t know how to handle the thought of something happening to him.
“I will, but I’m sure the second he arrives he’ll be heading up to check on you.” Cosima says.
"Thank you," I tell her before heading back upstairs. When I enter his bedroom, I find a change of sleep clothes and do my night routine. I'm painfully slow going at it, hoping that Eros will walk through the door anytime now.
When that doesn't happen, I scoop Binx up.
"We're cuddling, and you're going to like it," I tell him, crawling into bed and pulling him into me to snuggle close.
He purrs, and the vibrations soothe me some.
I feel tired, but I'm not sure I'll be able to sleep.
I'm wrong because sleep pulls me under in a matter of minutes.
I jerk away when I feel a soft stroke on my cheek. "Eros," I mutter, opening my eyes to see him sitting on the side of the bed next to me. I start to smile, but when I get a good look at his face, my eyes adjust to the dim light. I gasp, sitting up. “What’s going on?”
“I was watching you sleep.”
“We’ll talk about you being creepy later. Who did this?” I almost reach out and touch the small butterfly bandages he has across the cut on his cheek but stop myself.
“Always touch me, Hellcat.” He takes my hand and brings it to his jaw. I stroke my thumb back and forth.
“What happened? Where did you go? Does it hurt?”
“Slow down.” He leans in and brushes his mouth against mine.
My eyes fall closed as I lean into the kiss.
My hand slips up the back of his neck, my fingers tangling into his hair.
He groans, pulling me into his lap so that I’m straddling him.
"Missed you." Now it's Eros gripping my hair, making me tilt my head back to expose my neck to him.
His mouth goes there; it always does. When I feel him start to suck, my body jerks against him, and I push my hips down, rubbing against his cock. That sucking sensation always feels like it's connected straight to my clit.
"Are you re-marking me?"
"Can't help it," he says when he releases my neck, then places a soft kiss to the spot.
"You're a barbaric Neanderthal." Which I’m finding I’m really into. I don’t say that last part out loud.
"I thought I was a sociopath."
"Right, you're a barbaric sociopathic Neanderthal," I correct. "Now stop distracting me with that mouth of yours."
“If I tell you, then can I go back to distracting you with my mouth?”
“If I say no, will you not tell me then?”
“No, I’ll tell you. I won’t keep things from you if you want to know them.” If I didn’t already know I was falling for Eros, that would have sealed it there. He knows my father kept far too many things from me. “But don’t deny me eating your pussy.”
“Eros!” Heat rushes to my face. I don’t know why I’m so scandalized. Eros actually lets his expression change to almost a puppy dog one.
“I think it would make me feel better.” A fit of girly giggles leaves me. This laughter is not typical for me, but I find myself embracing the softer side of my personality that I have kept hidden away. I want Eros to see me differently than anyone else ever has.
“Can’t have that.” I rest my hands on his shoulders. "You have yourself a deal." I don’t miss that Eros is now dressed in all black. That wasn’t what he was wearing earlier.
“It was your father.” That is nowhere near what I thought he might say.
I open and then close my mouth, shocked for so many different reasons.
First, that my dad did this to him. Second, because he saw my dad at all.
Last but not least, that he’s being so casual about it.
Well, the last one isn't so shocking. He and Naomi are good at hiding their emotions.
"Did you—"
"I didn't kill him." My stomach drops because that wasn't what I was about to ask, but it should have been. I hadn't even considered the possibility that Eros could have killed him.
"I was going to say put him in the hole."
"No." He gives a subtle shake of his head.
"I, ah—" I can't find my words. I mean, I know he's back, but it feels really real now. Tears sting my eyes. "He tried to kill you?" I get the words out but then feel as though I can’t breathe.
"I don't know."
"He cut your face!" I reach to touch it again, only grazing it softly.
"It could have been a warning. Just because you hurt a person doesn't mean you're going to kill them."
"Oh, my bad." My words are filled with sarcasm. "For thinking a serial killer would, you know. Kill you!"
“Let me tell you what happened.”
“Okay.” I wiggle in closer, and he wraps his arms around me. I listen as he tells me why they’d gone back to the condo and then on to him and my dad coming face-to-face.
“He could have stabbed me.”
“Instead, he just hit you with a stun gun.” I mean, I know that’s way better, but I still don’t love the idea of him getting hurt.
“But the bigger point is that he didn’t. Why the fuck not?” His brows rise, and he cocks his head, already knowing the answer to his own question.
“Me.” He nods. “Because I care about you or because he needs you to lead him to me?”
“Your guess is as good as mine.”
“I’m still pissed he hurt you.”
“He didn’t hurt me, Bonte.”
“But—”
“Only you could ever hurt me.” He doesn’t give me a chance to fully process that confession before his mouth is on mine. Eros flips me onto my back. “Time to collect.” I know he’s teasing, but I think I’d let Eros collect anything he wanted from me. My heart is at the top of that list.