18. I Might Have Ended Things
I MIGHT HAVE ENDED THINGS
Fable
Noah appears by my side as I stalk toward the Mirror that leads to the Crimson Chamber.
“What are you doing?” She bends to my ear as I speed walk.
“Getting my tray.” I snap and feel instantly horrible about it. Before I can apologize, she takes my sleeve and drags me away to a side door that leads to the prep kitchen. Trays with small plates stacked on top and empty flutes litter the counters.
As soon as the door closes, I throw up my hand. “We can’t both be off the floor. We’ll get in trouble.” She’ll be fine, but I’ll probably get fired.
She waves away the issue. “There are barely any guests left, and Ashlyn is handling it all, hoping to get the wolf to notice her. Someone leaked that he hooked up with you last night, and now she’s hoping to get a chance.
It’s weird because she’s never been interested in a Lord before. Maybe you inspired her.”
“The wolf?” Meaning my Scotsman. Anger blazes through me. “The one I hooked up with?”
Her brows go up, and she crosses her thin arms under her big chest. “Jealous?”
“No.” Maybe. “Why are you back here? I saw you leave with the serpent.”
“Why is he a serpent tonight and not the wolf? It was the same guy, but he’s wearing a different mask, but you said the wolf always wears the same mask and the serpent always leaves with Nefertiti, so what is he doing with me?”
“That’s what we’re all trying to figure out.”
Jonah, one of the bartenders, walks in carrying a box of empty bottles. “Everyone’s gone. It’s clean-up time.”
We step aside.
Noah grabs cleaner and two towels, setting them on a cart. “We can work and talk.”
I hold the door open, then follow her as she pushes the cart to a seating area in the back. The lights are all on now, and the room isn’t magical anymore. Opulent? Yes. Messy? Also, yes. But it’s just a big room in a mansion.
“You said he’s Scottish,” Noah says as she cleans. “Do you know that for certain?”
I stack plates on the tray and squirt the table before wiping it down. “His accent sounds authentic. How can you tell if it’s not?”
“Hell, if I know.”
“What about the masks? Why are they switching them?”
“I don’t know. Camila isn’t in a good mood, even though she’s trying to hide it.”
“Because the serpent was with me tonight?”
“And the other night, from what it seems. He was just in the wolf mask.”
I clean up two glasses and wipe down another table. “Am I going to get fired?”
“She can’t fire you without informing the Lords.
They have the ultimate say, and if one of them is into you, then you’re safe.
Besides, that would be unprofessional, and Camila isn’t petty.
She’s a great boss, and there’s no romance between her and the serpent.
When he’s not here, she screws other guys or other Lords.
” She pushes club chairs back in place around the tables.
“I might have messed things up tonight.”
“What do you mean?”
I squeeze the towel, cringing as I speak, “I might have ended things after the Lord gave me an orgasm.”
“Oh hell no.” She straightens and plants her hand on her hip. “Did you at least give him one back?”
“No.”
She draws in a calming breath. “Let me get this straight. He gave you an orgasm last night, but I interrupted before you could do more, and he gave you another one tonight—I’m going to want to know the details—but you left him high and dry?”
I close my eyes. “When you put it like that, it sounds really bad.”
“Because it is bad. You don’t leave a guy—let alone a Lord who’s your boss—with a hard-on after he gets you off.”
“I… I didn’t get the chance. He got mad, and I got worried.”
“Wait.” She raises her palm, looking confused. “Why was he mad at you?”
I glance around to see if anyone is watching us, talking as we clean. Everyone looks busy. “He asked how many guys I’d kissed. I said two and explained they weren’t my boyfriends. Then he got mad and asked if I ‘fucked them’.” I make air quotes.
She cracks up laughing.
My gaze darts around the room, my nerves crackling. I walk to her. “Stop.”
She sobers. “We can laugh while we work. But girl, you’ve been too sheltered, living like a hermit and cleaning houses with old folks. He wasn’t pissed. He was jealous.”
“Jealous? I did not get that.”
“Everything he’s done is unusual.”
“What do you mean?” I clean a nearby table.
“The Lords make an offer, and the person they choose meets them in a guest room. If it’s staff, you have to inform Camila, and she gets someone to cover for you.
We always have one or two servers on standby.
If it’s a guest, it’s the same, often when the party is nearing the end.
Sometimes they leave early with a guest, but it’s rare. ”
“What about the serpent and Nefertiti? Camila. I don’t know why we’re not using her name. She’s not even here.” I glance around to double-check.
“She left right after you came back.” Noah fluffs the chair pillows and cleans up more plates.
“To see the serpent, you think?”
“Probably.”
“To discuss me?”
“Or to fuck him since you didn’t.” She winces. “Sorry. That was harsh.”
“But true.” I blow out a breath and stare out the door. “I wish I could go to him to make things right.”
“Maybe you can. He did things differently with you. Ushering you from the room, all protective, like he was declaring you as his. Kicking everyone out of the Crimson Chamber so you could be alone. Tracking you down to your bedroom, where you have a pet. Instead of questioning you about the cat, he gave you an orgasm. Do you see how abnormal this is? My Lord was super attentive and kinky in bed, but we didn’t talk much.
I met him in the room like everyone else does.
When we were done, we both left, and it never happened again.
Your guy ditched his usual lay for you after seeing you without your mask, which, by the way, is romantic as hell, like your face bewitched him.
He’s giving you orgasms with your clothes on.
All mine did was tie me to the bed after he had me strip. ”
“He tied you to the bed?”
“Yeah.” She gets a look of nostalgia on her face.
“Do you think I would like that?”
Her brows arch the way a teacher’s would when asked a stupid question. “Why don’t you ask your Lord to try it out and see for yourself?”
“You think he would?”
She laughs again and swallows me in a hug, rocking us side to side. “There is no one else like you, Fable. No one in the world.”
I wiggle to get out of her embrace. “How can I fix this? I leave tomorrow and might not see him again. What if he decides to let me go after all? I really want to come back. You’re right. I’m only around old people, and after being here, it’s so clear I’m missing out on so much.”
She tilts her head with thought. “If Camila is with him, you’ll just have to hope for the best.”
I grimace.
“If she’s not, I could try to set up a run-in if he comes down from his room. I can have Gavin watch for him and text me or you. He’s working security tonight and owes me a favor. You could race downstairs and accidentally on purpose run into him.”
“Just so I could what? Apologize?”
“You could do it while taking off your clothes,” she says with a straight face.
I throw my towel at her.
She blocks it with her hand and laughs. “You asked.”