Chapter 10 #2
I had a feeling she would like this particular gift though.
“Sleeping in, maybe?” Her father frowned as I went back towards the door and stepped into the hall. My eyes went towards the end, where Arabella stood talking to one of the guards.
Almost immediately, I felt a haze of anger rush over me. The guard couldn’t have been more than eighteen, but it was way too old for this situation, and I snapped down the hall so fucking fast that it had Arabella jumping.
Jealousy and possessiveness ran rampant inside of me as I encircled my arms around her and the guard turned white with fear. I could smell Arabella’s soft, natural scent filling the space around us, and I had to fight the urge to smell her soft hair right now.
“Arabella, go ahead.” I motioned. She nodded sleepily, still not fully awake, and slipped past me. I stepped into the guard’s space and looked down at him before offering a warning.
“If you ever talk to her again—no, look at her again—I will remove your eyes and then your tongue. I will peel every piece of skin off your body and still not let you die, do you understand me?”
“Yes.” he hissed, looking like he was about to pass out as I turned towards Arabella. She was waiting for me a bit down the hall, and I had to hold in a groan at the cute expression on her face.
She was my best friend, but what I felt for her was so much more than that, and I had no idea how to handle it.
Now it had become a habit to threaten the guards, and some of them I had to take direct action on and enforce my threat.
I didn’t think my beautiful Arabella knew that, though, and it was probably a good thing because night terrors were particularly good at taking someone’s worst fear and playing it out directly for them.
Like when one of the guards had feared being eaten alive by spiders.
That one wasn’t nearly as fun for me. I wasn’t a fan of spiders, truth be told. It was worth it though, and completely deserved since they always let their fucking eyes stray on my woman.
Or maybe I was imagining it, but I didn’t think so.
I was convinced that anyone who breathed the same air as Arabella would want her. It was why I was so damn possessive over her. I had to be when protecting something that precious. At least Amun’s nickname for her was apt.
“Razar.” Arabella’s voice had me snapping my head over. I walked towards her and crouched down in front of her, two different pairs of shoes on each foot as Zain and Amun wandered the store, seemingly in search of something. I had no idea what.
“Which one do you like more?” she asked curiously. A groan caught in my throat, because both would be the absolute perfect height to bend her over in as I railed into her from behind.
I also wouldn’t mind feeling those heels dig into my skin with legs wrapped around my hips as I rutted into her like a feral animal. Either. Both. All of the above. At this point, I wanted to consume the woman.
“I think you look beautiful in both.”
Arabella’s eyes lit up. “Well, then I guess I will get both— Oh!” I frowned at the sudden excited expression on her face, as she explained, “Can you pick out a pair you like for me? Amun and Zain are, and I think it’s so fun since you guys took the time to come do this with me.”
“I love seeing you this happy; it is much better than handling any of this other shit.” I kissed her forehead, and the younger woman next to Arabella offered a small squeak and instantly began whispering to our girl as I eased my way through the aisles.
I knew jack-shit about shoes, but I had seen Arabella wear enough of them that I had an idea of what she would like.
I was completely unsurprised to see Zain walk past me with bright red heels, and then Amun with a pair that had jewels on them.
Letting out a soft chuckle and shaking my head, I realized how fucked we were over this woman. I mean, we were literally shopping for high heels for her, and the funniest part was that I was enjoying it because of how happy it made her.
I immediately went to the area of heels that were all black and found a pair that I knew she had wanted for a bit. They weren’t exactly the same, but I’d been around her enough to see what she looked up online, and these fit the bill.
Plus, I personally wanted to see her in just this, so that was enough motivation to bring them over to me.
The delicate structure with the long, pointy heel was barely visible compared to the black jeweled scorpion that would wrap around her ankles.
When I brought them to her, she offered me a knowing smile that made it completely worth it.
“You remembered the ones I showed you,” she whispered in awe, her eyes lit with excitement.
“I remember everything you do,” I murmured, kissing the top of her head. I saw her cheeks flush at the action, and I couldn’t help but love that she was so reactive to my touches and advances. It made me want to know just how reactive she could be.
Around thirty minutes later, she was completely finished, and each of us had three bags that were filled with around five boxes of shoes each. I had a feeling the store attendants were ready to roll out the red carpet for us, considering how much money that purchase had been.
I had to give the Director this—I had no idea how he managed it, or maybe he had always had wealth, but he was beyond being able to provide for Arabella. In fact, he paid all of the teams and guards at the institute while providing a place for them to live.
I frowned, wondering if he was receiving funding from somewhere. Something that would probably be important to look into.
I respected the Director, and he was the closest thing I would ever have to a father figure, but I still wanted to know what was going on, because it could affect Arabella. I needed to know everything that affected her in any way possible.
As we made our way back through the mall, I made sure to make a point to stop at the food court. Arabella eyed all the menus, seemingly undecided on what to get.
Zain was showing Amun some places as I stood behind Arabella, my arms wrapped around her as she tilted her head back, looking up at me. My eyes immediately went to her lips as a rumble broke from my chest that had her turning into me.
“What?” she asked curiously.
“Nothing,” I muttered and then looked around, realizing people were watching us. When I looked back down, hurt was shading her gaze.
“It’s not ‘nothing’,” she pointed out. “Do you not want people to see us kissing?”
I pulled back, shocked, as I frowned at her. “What? I was looking to see if there were any threats. I would never be ashamed of people seeing us kiss, Arabella. If I could, I would fuck you right here in the middle of the food court just to prove you were mine. Why the hell would you think that—”
I let out a groan as she went up on her toes and slammed her lips against mine, effectively shutting me up. I really couldn’t be held responsible for what happened next.