Chapter 16
CHAPTER
SIXTEEN
Stephan
I do another fifteen minutes of weights, and then I hit the treadmill in my apartment. I’m here until I can get my beach house livable, and it’s taking longer than expected. At this rate, it’ll be finished by the time I’m ready to leave Sabine and go back to Emporia.
Finally, when I decide that’s enough, I get off and head to my bathroom for a shower.
I could call Heath to set up the Violet date, but he’s a stubborn, cantankerous bastard these days. He’s just lucky I hadn’t socked him in front of Violet yesterday. He’d been pushing at my patience since I’d showed up at his doorstep.
And here I was trying to be respectable and do the right thing by his sister.
Well, the fake right thing, but still. It counts .
Maybe I should have told him the truth.
No. He wouldn’t have allowed it, and things would be worse for Violet.
We’ll pull this off. I know it.
But first, I need to get the rumors working in our favor. And that means swallowing my pride and meeting with the battle-ax herself.
After getting dressed, I head out to the waiting car and get in.
“The Council Estate,” I tell the driver before he steps on the gas.
When we pull up to the massive building with a circle driveway and picturesque fountains, I get out and walk up the marble steps without even a second glance by security.
I find the battle-ax on the very top floor of the mansion, in her quarters above the stupid throne-like room. She’s barefoot, her silver hair down, and in the kitchen cooking like she’s some domestic goddess.
“Stephan. You came to visit? Or are you here with an ulterior motive?”
I watch as she chops vegetables.
“I need to speak to you about something.” The words feel bitter as they fall from my tongue. “I decided to take your advice and look for a mate this Season. I’m going to be courting.”
“Ah, ulterior motive then,” she says and stops her chopping to look at me fully. “Courting an Omega this time, I hope.”
Anger flares in my chest, but I push it down. “Yes. An Omega. ”
“Alicia?”
“Who?”
“The blonde one you shacked up with on one of your first nights here.”
A shock runs through me. How did she know?
“No, not her. Violet.”
Her brows lift. “Violet Gardener? My Luxe?”
I hate giving her this, but I nod.
She’s still holding the knife, and she points it at me. “What are you up to, Stephan?”
“Up to?” I say. “I came here to tell you I think I found someone. That you were right.”
“I saw you dancing with her at the ball. But is it serious?”
“It is for me. And she seems to enjoy my company. I’ve already talked to her brother.”
She studies me. “The Luxe stands above all others. She’ll have the pick of the lot this Season. You’ll have some serious competition.”
“I don’t mind a little competition,” I reply.
“You can’t sully her.”
“What do you think I am?” When she opens her mouth to respond, I say, “Don’t answer that. But this isn’t a joke. I’m doing this the right way. Violet is…well, she’s nothing like I’ve ever expected or knew I wanted.”
“Wow, Stephan. You seem really taken by this Omega. She’s bewitched you.”
“You could say that.”
She smiles. “I’m glad you’ve finally come to your senses and listened to me.”
Perfect. She bought it. Relief floods through me .
“Maybe we’ll have a mating ceremony before the end of the summer after all,” she says with a wide grin. Then she turns and starts chopping her vegetables again.
“Thank you, Monarch.”
“Please, Stephan. Call me Sophine. You know you can.” She looks at me from over her shoulder. “Lunch?”
But I’m already halfway out the door.
It’s a whirlwind week of walks, lunches, and trips to galleries, all with Violet Gardener, all chaperoned by one of her sisters or her mother, of course. But we have to show our faces to make our charade seem real. Although the tagalongs make it hard for me to talk to the princess—really talk to her—besides the normal formalities.
It’s annoying, especially since I can’t touch her, which I’m finding damn near impossible as days go on. So I settle for what I can get. An accidental brush of our arms, or a quick swipe of her hair behind her ear when her sister isn’t looking, and then I take my fill of Violet in my dreams, which have only grown more erotic and realistic. I find myself having to jerk off multiple times a night just to get some relief, but it’s never enough.
My body is craving the real thing.
But I can’t do that to her. Violet isn’t just a quick fuck and dump kind of woman. Even if she wasn’t my friend’s sister, I don’t think I’d be able to do that to her. She’s gotten under my skin.
After visiting the battle-ax, news of my courting Violet spread like wildfire through Stitch. As expected, the socials are delighted with what they’re calling “a trembling bud” of a romance. Which is exactly what we want.
The garden party is tomorrow, and I decide to risk going out for an early predawn run. There aren’t many people about, and with a baseball cap and ear pods, I create a private little world as I pound the path to full-on rock and roll.
When I’ve run for an hour, I cool down to a walk on one of the lesser used paths. A runner is heading in my direction, and even if I didn’t smell her, I’d still know her. The long dancer legs, the graceful way she moves…
But there are violets everywhere.
“Princess.”
She stops and almost stumbles, and pulls the pods from her ears, her hoodie still on, big hazel eyes wide. “Stephan. It’s a little early to stalk me.”
Shit. I like private Violet. A lot. “ You’re stalking me .”
“No,” she says. “That’s just your ego talking.”
A beat throbs between us in the air, subatomic and everywhere.
“Oh, god. I’m sorry,” she rushes to say. “This is the only time I can sneak out to get some exercise, and I think my brain’s still half asleep. I didn’t mean it.”
“But you believe it’s true.” I step closer to her and lead her off the path to one of the overgrown willow trees.
It’s still predawn and in minutes light will start to fill the spaces, but I can see her perfectly. And she’s beautiful early in the morning.
She’s fresh, untouched by the day and all the worries it brings.
And there’s something else, too .
Violet seems free.
“I’m clearly hanging around Heath a little too much,” she says. “His bad attitude is starting to rub off.”
“It’s okay. In my line of work, you need to have a thick skin. Critics can be brutal.” I pause. “You know, when we go out or others are around, you’re the perfect little pleasing creature. Which could be hot. But you do it to make yourself small, to make sure everyone else is happy with no thought for yourself.”
She’s silent.
“You hide yourself away.”
“No, I don’t.”
“You do.”
“Bullshit.”
I snap my fingers. “That. Right there. Real.”
Someone runs by and looks over, trying to peek through the branches, but eventually gives up and keeps on going by.
“I’m just me,” she says and steps back.
I follow. “But that’s the thing. You’re you, but only a part of you most of the time,” I say. She moves back again, only to be stopped by the trunk of a tree. “With me, alone, you’re so much more. You’re funny, unexpected. I like that about you.”
“Is this where I stumble accidentally into your arms like in some kind of scripted scene?”
Oh, she has a bite.
“Only if you want to.” I close the distance between us and slide a hand down her torso. “I like this side of you.”
She tries to slap me away. “What are you doing?”
“Seeing if your pants are on fire, Princess. ”
“They’re not!”
But I move closer still, noting the way her breath quickens, how she pushes into me instead of going the other way. “Maybe it’s your mouth.”
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“Neither does this.”
I know I shouldn’t, but fuck it. My head is swimming with violets. And somehow, kissing her is wild, exhilarating, and in this particular place, dangerous.
It’s been too long since I’ve tasted her…
My lips touch hers, and Violet moans. She grabs me, pulling me into her fully. Her mouth opens, her tongue strokes over my lips and…talk about fucking fire.
That touch sets off a bonfire of sensations. She doesn’t taste like early morning. She tastes like late nights, like sex, like everything my dreams have conjured, and I slide a leg between hers, pushing her against the tree harder. In her leggings, her pussy’s hot and damp on my thigh.
She moans louder, suddenly biting my lip like she can’t help it. I can feel the panic flutter in her, but she doesn’t pull away as I coax her back into the world of the kiss. Of heat and wetness, of promises and trysts, and she tugs at my hair, demanding more.
Fuck, she makes me see bright flashes of light. She stirs up a wild cacophony of noise and?—
“St. James! St. James!”
Oh fuck .
The flashes of light? Cameras.
I break the kiss, bury her head in my shoulder, and make sure her hoodie is up.
“Asher St. James! ”
More lights flash.
“Are you two in love? Can we expect a mark soon?”
“What about Felicity?”
Shit. Shit. Shit .
I tug my cap down, and ignoring the cameras pointed in my face, I grab Violet’s hand. “Run!”