Chapter 12
Chapter
Twelve
ARIANA
O n Saturday night, the driver once again drops me off in front of Black Magic Bar.
The guilt felt like tar on my skin as I slid the solid gold figurine into my bag before leaving Midnight Manor. I actually felt sick to my stomach. But I reminded myself that my dad and brother are counting on me and forced myself not to put it back.
Bastion is sitting at the same table as last week, and the bartender is leaning against it while he flirts with her. His gaze flicks in my direction, and she looks over her shoulder at me. She straightens when she sees me, looking mildly chastised.
I hang my bag on the back of the chair and chuckle. “Relax, he’s my brother, not my boyfriend.”
Her cheeks glow pink. “Can I get you guys anything?”
“A whiskey on ice for me,” I say, sitting across from Bastion.
“Beer for me,” he says to her with a wink.
Her pink cheeks flare, and she nods, walking over to the bar.
“Whiskey?” He arches an eyebrow. “Rough week?”
I blow out a breath. “Sort of. My boss is really riding my ass this week. It’s getting harder to grin and bear it.”
“Well, it’s not forever, at least.”
I nod. “You able to get rid of that thing from last week?” I glance around to see if anyone is paying us any attention, but they’re all doing their own thing.
He grins. “Hell yeah. That shit was worth some major money, Ari, good job.”
When he tells me how much he got for it, my eyes widen, and the elation is mixed with that oily feeling inside me that what I’m doing is wrong.
I nod, wanting to change the topic. “You able to keep Dad in check?”
Bastion rolls his eyes. “Stop worrying about Dad, would you? You worry about what you’re here for, and I’ll worry about what’s going on at home.”
He’s right, but it’s hard when I know my father to be his own worst enemy. “Fine.”
The bartender delivers our drinks, and Bastion looks around to make sure we won’t be overheard before he asks his next question. “You case a bunch of things this week while you were there?”
I shrug. “Yeah, I have a mental list of what I think will be easy to take without being noticed.”
He grins as though I said I robbed a bank. “Awesome. See, this is why you should have never left the family business.”
I scowl. “Don’t get any ideas. As soon as this is all settled for Dad, that’s it for me… again. This isn’t the life I want for myself.”
Bastion scoffs and takes a pull from his drink. “Are you kidding me? You feeling sorry for some fucking billionaires, Ari? Give me a break. It’s assholes like that who have ruined the world for the rest of us. You know that.”
Dad’s brainwashing has worked on Bastion, for sure.
“Maybe you should try to think for yourself sometimes, Bast, before you eat up everything Dad says. His way of thinking hasn’t exactly led him to a good spot in his life.”
Bastion blinks several times, mouth gaping. “What the hell is going on with you?”
I lean over the table. “You know I want no part of this kind of thing anymore.”
He shakes his head, studying me. “No… there’s something more.” He pauses for a beat. “Ari, tell me you’re not falling for this guy or something. You don’t have feelings for him, do you?”
I scoff, though I can’t help but feel that’s exactly what’s happening. Maybe not feelings exactly, but I sure as hell am drawn to him on a physical level. The fact that we have to go away together next week has been weighing on me.
What will it be like to be on a private plane with him? A hotel? I know we’re not staying in the same room, but still. He and I will be in a different environment, including a ball. I don’t know anything about attending a ball.
I have to admit that Obsidian’s comment about my cheap clothing hit a tender spot inside of me, though I hid it. Will it be obvious that I’ve never attended anything like a ball before? That I don’t know how to dance?
“I don’t have feelings for him. The guy is a royal prick. Give me a break, Bast.” I lift my drink and only allow myself a small sip. A large one will confirm to him I’m full of shit.
He studies me for a beat but says, “Good. Keep it that way.”
I roll my eyes. “Fill me in on what’s going on with your lady love.”
Bastion accepts my change of subject, and we chat for the next couple of hours, until he has to go so that he can catch the red-eye back west. He pays the tab at the bar, and we leave together, going out to the side lot where his rental car was last week.
Once again, I pass him the item I stole from Midnight Manor, and he puts it in his own bag and sets it in the passenger seat.
“Should I be worried about you? You seem a little off.” He pulls me in for a hug, and I go willingly.
“I’m fine, Bast. I swear.” I squeeze him back. As much as I wanted some separation from him and my father, I’m realizing how much I’d miss Bastion if he weren’t in my life.
I’m still in his embrace when headlights hit us from the side. I squint and pull away, trying to cover my eyes with my hand to make out who it is and why they’re shining their lights at us.
“What the fuck?” Bastion grumbles.
I can’t make anything out, but I hear the car door open, then the silhouette of a man breaks through the beams of light. When he gets closer, I suck in a breath, realizing it’s Obsidian.
Shit. He caught me. I knew a place like Midnight Manor probably had cameras, but I looked and couldn’t find any. Figured it was because they never have outsiders here so what was the point. I’m sure I didn’t miss any, so did someone see me?
Rage and fury morph every aristocratic feature on Obsidian’s face.
“What are you doing here?” I ask.
“Could ask you the same thing,” he growls.
My stomach swoops like a bird diving down from the sky. “I didn’t call for a ride back yet.” I sound like a nervous, blubbering idiot.
“I’m your ride. Get in the fucking car.”
Bastion steps forward and opens his mouth to say something, but I turn and widen my eyes at him, giving him a look that tells him to keep his mouth shut.
“It’s fine, Bast. I’ve got this,” I say in a low voice.
Bastion’s hands fist at his sides and his jaw clenches, but he gives me a tight nod. “Text me and let me know you get home okay.”
“Will do.” I give him a wan smile and walk over to the passenger side of Obsidian’s vehicle.
With my hand on the door handle, I wait while Obsidian stares down my brother as if he wishes actual lasers would fire out of his eyes. Only when he walks back toward the car do I open the door and slide inside.
Normally, I’d take a moment to sit in awe of this vehicle that’s worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, but I’m too nervous to gawk. Obsidian slams the car door closed once he’s inside and peels in reverse out of the parking lot. I do my best to give Bastion a reassuring look that all is well, though I don’t believe it myself. But we both can’t be in jail.
What would make Obsidian this angry except knowing I’ve been stealing from him?
Figuring silence is the best course of action, I don’t say anything as he drives recklessly. But when he passes the turnoff to Midnight Manor, I stiffen in my seat, wondering where he might be taking me. Is he going to drive me to the police station? Maybe it wasn’t only Uma I had to be scared of.
I pull at the hem of my dress, wishing I’d worn something other than a cute little sundress tonight. But it was so sweltering when I left, I couldn’t fathom wearing anything else, and Black Magic doesn’t have air conditioning.
Obsidian tracks my movement, and his gaze goes to my legs before he looks back at the road and increases his speed. My heart races as I watch the speedometer go up. It’s dangerous, and though we may be on country roads late at night, if anyone pulled out in front of us, there would be no chance of us avoiding a collision.
“Aren’t you going a little fast?” I ask breathlessly, my chest tight from the anxiety this car ride is giving me.
“Shut up!” he shouts, glancing at me briefly. His dark eyes are filled with anguish and irritation.
When he takes a corner so fast that I’m afraid the door might pop open, and I’ll roll out of the car, I grip his arm. Despite my fear, I can’t help but notice the hard muscles underneath his expensive dress shirt. “Mr. Voss, slow down. You’re scaring me.”
“Good! Seems to be a fair exchange because you drive me fucking crazy!” He punches the steering wheel with the arm I’m not holding onto.
I stare at him wide-eyed. It’s alarming to see this man who is normally so put together and in control of his emotions, even if it’s anger or irritation, unraveled. My hand drops from his arm.
“Who was that guy I caught you with?”
“Caught me? What do you mean caught me? That implies there’s something between us, and newsflash, Mr. Voss, you are my boss and nothing more.”
At least he slows down the car a little at my angry outburst.
His head whips in my direction. “Is that right?” There’s a challenge in his voice.
“Yes! What I do with my personal time is of no consequence to you. It’s none of your business.”
His deep chuckle fills the car. “Do you actually believe that, or like me, is that some lie you’re trying to trick yourself into believing?”
My lips press together in a thin line. “I said what I said. It’s not your business who he was. You’re just my boss, and I’m off the clock.”
I don’t know why I don’t tell him that Bastion is my brother, but I don’t want to. Pride or defiance or maybe just being sick of taking his shit for the past two weeks.
His hand sails over the console between the seats until he’s cupping my pussy over my underwear. I suck in a breath, but to my own shame, I don’t push his hand away because it feels good. It feels right .
With wide eyes, I look where his hand disappears underneath my sundress, then look at him. My heart is a commanding bass drum in my chest, so loud I swear he must be able to hear it.
“Feel how fucking hot and wet you are… are you telling me this is for him, not me?” he growls, still looking at the road.
“It’s not for him,” I nearly whisper.
“Who is he?” He grips my mound tighter, then spares me a look before returning his attention to the road. “Who. Is. He?”
“None of your business.”
A deep sadistic chuckle leaves his lips. “I’m going to get it out of you. Now tell me who he is to you.”
This is a battle of wills I’m determined to win. “No.”
Obsidian lifts his hand, and I think that he’ll pull away. The weight of my disappointment at that thought should probably concern me. Instead, he slips his hand under the waistband of my underwear, and his finger brushes my clit.
I bite my lip, stifling the moan that wants to escape my lips, but my legs widen in supplication, so it’s obvious to him I want more.
“Who is he?” He dips his fingers lower and pushes one finger into me, then uses the heel of his palm to apply pressure to my clit at the same time.
My head falls back against the headrest, and my eyes close, my moan slipping out.
“Tell me who he is, Ariana. I want to know.” He adds another finger, stretching me in the most delicious way.
Eyes still closed, I shake my head.
He continues to work me, asking over and over who Bastion is.
My head lolls to the side, and I watch his profile while he works me with one hand and the steering wheel with his other. He’s focused, lasered in on his goal, all power and dominance, and I can’t help but wonder what it would be like to fully give myself to a man like Obsidian.
Would he care for me and help me discover heights I never knew existed, or would he destroy me?
We’re driving too fast, his attention half on what he’s doing to me and half on the dark road in front of us, but I can’t find it in myself to care. I’m barreling toward an orgasm of epic proportions, and that’s all that matters.
He pulls his fingers from me and centers all his attention on my clit. My insides contract as I draw closer to an orgasm.
“Tell me who he is.”
My back arches off the seat, and I groan.
Obsidian looks at me, eyes black as midnight. “Only good girls get to come, Ariana. Are you going to tell me who he is?”
I almost slip. I almost let the words fall from my mouth, but I won’t satisfy him. “No.”
He increases the pressure on my clit until I’m at the brink, one second from crumbling. Then he yanks his hands from between my legs, and I groan. “Then you don’t get to come.”
A wounded animal cry whips from my throat. “No!”
“Tell me who he is, and I’ll let you finish.”
What a prick.
He flicks his gaze at me with a self-satisfied smirk, probably thinking he’s got me. Not today, asshole.
I bring my own hand between my legs and rub circles over my clit.
His hands tighten on the steering wheel. He’s obviously displeased, but at the same time, he keeps peeking at me, jaw tight. His foot presses on the gas until I’m pushed back into the seat by the force, and I come on a cry, rocking my hips into my hand as I reach my peak.
It’s not as satisfying as if he’d made me come, but it’s enough to relieve the ache.
Obsidian says nothing as I catch my breath.
“Bastion is my brother.”
His body tenses then relaxes.
We don’t speak the rest of the drive back to Midnight Manor, and when he drops me off in front of the door, then races off into the night in his expensive car, I do my best not to worry about how this changes things.