CHAPTER 49
WREN
∞
I’m just finishing getting dressed when a knock comes from the door. I slip on some cufflinks and grab a jacket before heading out to open it. Alex is standing in the hall, looking sharp himself. He’s wearing a perfectly tailored dark grey pinstripe, with a black dress shirt, and white tie underneath. His blonde hair is tousled perfectly, and it brings warmth to his deep brown eyes.
“You’re dressed to impress,”
I smirk, motioning to his attire.
He smiles and shakes his head, running his fingers through his hair. “You don’t look so bad yourself.”
I went with a black suit and tie, and a deep, blood red dress shirt with silver cufflinks. I didn’t do anything different with my hair, but it’s hard to tame because it has a weird natural wave to it.
“Is Chess ready?”
I ask, closing the door behind me and following him down the hall to her apartment.
“Should be. She looked about done when I dropped off the dress before coming to your place.”
Alex leans himself up against the wall while I stand in front of her door. I drag in a long breath and let it out through my pursed lips, trying to settle my nerves. I knock, and within a few seconds, she’s pulling the door open with a frazzled look on her face.
“Sorry, I just need to grab my purse. One second.”
I’m standing in awe as I watch her scurry off to grab her purse from her room. She looks beautiful. I glance over at Alex, and he gives me a smug grin. I have to hand it to him. He has good taste, and he somehow can predict the future. He bought her a deep, red toned dress, that once again, matches my shirt. I choke out a laugh and shake my head at him while he cackles quietly against the wall.
The dress is long, skimming the floor as she walks. The front is tasteful, covering most of her chest before wrapping around the back of her neck. The back dips low enough that I can see the dimples just above her ass and I swallow down the lump in my throat when she turns back to me with a smile on her face and a flush of pink on her cheeks.
“You look…”
I can’t even finish the sentence. She looks radiant…absolutely stunning with her hair pinned up in small cascading waves down her back.
“It might be a bit much, but I think it’s really pretty. Alex has good taste,”
she says quietly.
“He does. It looks lovely on you, Chess.”
I hold out my hand to her and she takes it, brushing a loose strand of hair back from her face. I tuck her hand into the crook of my elbow and walk her to the elevator with Alex in front of us.
She’s quiet the entire ride down to the parking structure, and I feel her hand tremble against my arm. I settle my hand on top of hers, and she glances up at me. I smile down at her, and she looks away as heat creeps up her neck.
I can’t figure out why she’s so nervous right now, and the silence is a bit jarring. I’m so used to her quirky and snide comments, that her not speaking, makes me feel like something is wrong.
The elevator pings and opens for us, and Alex heads over to the Porche once again. He hops into the back without a word, and smirks at me when I bend down to look at him questioningly. I help her into the front seat, tucking her dress into the car before heading over to slide into the driver’s seat.
The drive is quiet as well, except for Alex whistling to himself in the back. It’s starting to get to me, but I don’t want to force conversation and make it awkward. The twenty-minute drive feels like it’ll never end, but eventually, we’re pulling up in front.
Chess moves to get out of the car, and I jog around quickly to help her out. She gives me a strange look, but says thank you, and steps out of the way so Alex can pry himself from the back. I hand off the keys to the valet and grip her hand in mine as we make our way into the restaurant.
“Reservation is under Valkyrie,”
I tell the host, and he nods his head, leading us over to a table set in a quiet corner. Alex slips into the seat closest to the wall and I pull out the chair for Chess. She gives me that same strange look she did back at the car, and my heart starts pounding against my chest.
“Who knew chivalry wasn’t dead,”
she laughs quietly, and I finally realize why she’s been acting so strange.
“A lady deserves to be dotted on. It’s not chivalry, it’s the rules.”
“Rules?”
She snorts. “Did you make those rules recently without me knowing?”
“They should have been the rules from the beginning,”
I mumble, and I know what she’s getting at. I was a dick to her from the beginning, but she didn’t make it easy for me with her attitude and hatred and foul fucking mouth.
“Good evening. My name is Harris and I’ll be your waiter for the evening.”
I jump slightly in my seat from the fucking ninja waiter standing next to me, and Alex raises an eyebrow at me as his lips press into a line from trying not to laugh at my reaction. I was so focused on Chess, that I never heard him coming. He hands me a drink menu and I look it over before glancing over it at Chess. I know Alex isn’t particular on alcohol, but I have no idea what she likes.
“Is there something you prefer, Francesca?”
She smirks at me, bites her lip, and runs her fingers across her collarbone. “I’m surprised you’re giving me a choice,”
she says in a slightly condescending tone.
The waiter clears his throat awkwardly next to me, and I see him shift his weight. Probably trying to figure out if he should leave, since the mouth across the table from me, is making this weird.
“You always have a choice, Chess. I won’t flog you for wanting something of your choosing.”
Her grin widens, and I see a flicker of defiance in her eye. She’s enjoying this. The banter between us used to be strained and angry, but now it’s playful, even if to an outsider, it looks like we’re both certifiable. Alex is trying his best not to laugh, but he slips up and ends up choking on his own air. The waiter is horrified. This is a five-star restaurant, and the three of us, are turning it into a fucking diner.
I love it.
I love that neither of them care what others may think of them. I love that they can be themselves around me, and I’m thankful to have them here with me.
“Tell me what you want, Chess.”
My tone is playful, and my voice is low. I see her shiver slightly from the baritone of my words.
She places her elbow on the table and rests her chin in her hand. She licks her lips and her eyes dart to my mouth as I bite my bottom lip. I see her throat bob and goosebumps erupt along her arm.
My knees slam into the underside of the table in surprise when I feel her heeled shoe slip between my thighs to press against my cock.
I clear my throat. “Um…do you…like…wine?”
I’m choking on my words as she slowly rubs at me through my pants.
“We’ll just take a bottle of the best cabernet sauvignon you have,”
Alex says happily to the waiter. He drops some menus and scurries away from the table as quickly as he can.
“Chess,”
I grit out through my teeth.
“Hmm?”
She says innocently as she twirls a strand of her hair between her fingers.
I reach between my legs and grip her ankle hard. “Do you want me to get arrested?”
“Why would you get arrested when I’m the one rubbing at your cock.”
Alex snorts next to me, and I glare at him with as much hatred as I can. He just smirks and settles back into his chair nonchalantly.
“Because if you keep this up, I’m going to end up fucking you on this god damn dining table in front of everyone.”
“You wouldn’t,”
she purrs. “You’re a King, for one, and need to behave yourself in public at least. Secondly, I don’t think you would have the balls to be so bold. Do you not like it when I play with you like that?”
This fucking girl. She’s a devil. The pure sinister grin she’s giving me right now, has me shivering at the thought of what I’ve turned her into by granting her a glimpse of what true pleasure is.
She’s a fucking vixen. A sexual deviant contained by rage, a sharp tongue, and a body that can put a vampire like me on my ass. She’s absolutely fucking perfect.
“You have no idea what I’m willing to do, Chess, or what I’m capable of. I could buy this restaurant right now and order every single person in here to leave, just so I could fuck you on every table, every counter, and every inch of this floor. Is that what you want? Do you want to test me to see the limitations of my power? If you’re going to challenge me, you better be prepared for the consequences.”
“What consequences? That sounds exciting as shit. Though, I really don’t like it when you throw around money like that. It makes us poor people feel like shit.”
I can feel the feral grin gripping at my cheeks as she stares at me with absolutely no hesitation from her words. I snap my mouth closed on the comment that I was about to blurt out, when Harris comes back to the table with the bottle of wine.
“Have you had a chance to look at the menu?”
He asks hesitantly.
I can feel Chess squirming to try and get out of my grip on her, but I clamp down harder, making her gasp out a breath. “Stop,”
I growl. She presses her lips together and rolls her eyes.
“Escargot and the feta mushroom caps to start. She will have the rosemary garlic chicken alfredo. I’ll have the New York strip with the asparagus and baked potato. Alex, I’m assuming you’ll have your usual?”
He nods his head and smiles widely at me. “He’ll have the rock lobster penne with a blush sauce instead of the wine sauce.”
“O…okay. I’ll put that order in for you right away and be right out with your appetizers.”
“Pull your leg back before I yank you under this table,”
I hiss out once Harris is out of earshot.
“Fine,”
she huffs, dropping her leg away from me.
I eye her wearily as she glares at me. “What is with you?”
“I’m horny,”
she grumbles.
Alex cackles in his seat and my mouth just drops open at the bluntness of her comment.
“Are you still high?”
I ask cautiously. A twinge of anxiety creeps into my chest.
“No,”
she pouts. “I thought we would have had sex earlier, but you just left.”
“Was me finger fucking you not enough?”
Alex clears his throat awkwardly, and I realize that Harris, is in fact, back with our appetizers. His face is beet red as he sets the platters down between us and three plates for us to use.