Chapter 44 You Are My Sanctum
“Dude, that’s great! She’s gonna love it,” came Taron’s booming voice.
“Scream a little louder, why don’t you?” Myles chastised him.
Taron scowled. “I wasn’t screaming; I was excited,” he fired back. “But now I just wanna kick you in the balls.”
There was a pause as Myles shifted on his feet, then responded to Taron by saying, “Don’t you always wanna do that, though?”
Paul and Greg shook their heads at the brothers, and I narrowed my right eye against the peephole as I continued to watch the four of them talking just below the stairs of my house.
I’d opened the door enough so that their voices could filter in, but not enough for them to catch me spying on them like a slightly bloated and short version of Natasha Romanoff.
I’d come running down to the living room a few minutes ago – hair still wet and dripping water down to my t-shirt – when I’d gotten the Knock-knock text from Myles.
But, as I’d made to open the door to usher him and the others inside, I’d heard him asking Taron to keep his mouth shut because he ‘didn’t want me to hear anything about it yet’.
That bit had, of course, piqued my curiosity, and I’d hence decided to investigate the scenario before announcing myself to the guys.
Av? was at the shop, so I didn’t have to worry about him finding me leaned over the door, and most probably coming to the conclusion that I’ve finally ended up losing every last one of my marbles.
Small mercy, if you ask me.
“It looks really cool, man,” Greg told Myles. “She’s going to love it.”
“Yeah?” Myles shifted again, and this time, I could see a slim rectangular jewelry box in his hands.
“Yeah,” Greg said, and Paul nodded in agreement.
Myles scratched the back of his head and smiled sheepishly. “I’ve never really given anything like this to someone, so I’m a bit worried,” he admitted. “What if she’s not into this kinda stuff? I mean, I’ve never really seen her with one, so I guess getting this for her was a gamble of sorts.”
I needed to know what was in that box, stat.
“Worried that she’ll think you’re trying to keep her roped in by giving her expensive shit?” Taron quipped.
Paul laughed, Greg snorted, and Myles kicked Taron in the shin.
“Can you not be a dipshit?” Myles asked him.
Taron smirked. “I was genuinely happy about it until you all but ordered me to keep my voice down.”
“You’re a humanoid megaphone with grizzly bear similarities; of course I asked you to keep your damn voice down. I don’t want Rina to find out about this,” he waved the box in front of his face, “before I can surprise her with it.”
Okay, now I really wanted to know what was in that box.
A watch?
A pen?
A necklace?
No, wait…
A WAND?!
“You two belong in a damn circus,” Greg said to Myles and Taron, pulling me out of my dream fest. “Fucking clowns, both of you.”
“Screw you,” Myles said to him, and Taron flipped him off.
Myles then glanced at his watch, and my eyes landed on the box in his left hand. Whatever was inside of it was clearly for me, and because I was an impatient bitch, my brain automatically began coming up with ways to attain it.
Paul struck up a conversation about some potential client who wanted to sign Reyes Constructions to design their new home in Anthon Avenue, and Myles immediately got swept into it.
I knew it was now or never, so I whipped open the door at lightning speed, ran down the stairs, and tapped Myles on the shoulder. When he turned around, I grabbed the box from his hand and practically leaped back into the house. My heart was pounding; my entire body was thrumming with adrenaline.
I heard Myles curse, and it was followed by laughter from Taron and the others, and the former’s hurried footsteps.
“Rina, stop!” he called out. “Stop!”
I grinned and looked back briefly, then shook my head before running further into the living room.
“I was going to surprise you with it, goddamn it!” Myles’s footsteps got closer. “Don’t steal my fucking thunder, Rina!”
I chuckled and swiveled in order to take a U turn of the room, then started running straight ahead.
“Stop shaking that ass!” he groaned as he continued to chase me. “It’s distracting me!”
I wasn’t exactly doing it on purpose, but because he’d pointed it out, I did put a sway in my hips as I bypassed the stairs and rushed further into the room.
Myles groaned again. “God, that ass will be my demise,” he all but panted. “I can’t wait to taste it later.”
I wasn’t sure whether he’d said that to throw me off, or whether he actually meant it. Either way, I didn’t let that comment get to me.
My heart was thrashing against my chest when I reached the leather couch – Av?’s couch – in the middle of the living room, before stopping behind it.
My legs were burning; sweat was trickling down my temples, neck, and spine.
My breaths were icy in my throat, my nose, and when Myles stopped on the other side, just as out of breath as me, I wiggled the box at him.
“Give it back,” he all but ordered.
I shook my head again, and took a step back when he marched over to me in just two long strides.
Oops.
His eyes gleamed as he looked down at me. “Give it back, Rina,” he whispered.
No, I signed.
He bunched the side of my t-shirt and pulled me to him, and I stumbled against him before raising a brow at him.
“You really love working me up, don’t you?” he asked slowly.
I rose on my tiptoes and brushed my lips against his. I didn’t kiss him proper; merely touched his mouth faintly in a way I knew would affect him just the same.
He smirked as he shifted, then gently pressed his hips against my stomach.
“I’m going to fuck that smugness out of you tonight,” he promised, his gaze dark. “And my God, I’m going to cherish every damn second of it.”
I swallowed, and felt heat rise between my legs.
“You want that, don’t you?” Myles asked, then ran his free hand over the side of my waist, up to my left breast, my collarbone, and then…
He snatched the box from me before I could even blink. “Gotcha,” he said around a grin.
Dammit.
I scowled and shoved at his chest. Asshole, I signed, to which he chuckled.
“I meant every word, though,” he told me sincerely, then gave me a chaste kiss. “I want that ass, and I want that pussy – so bad that it’s driving me nuts right now.”
I pressed my thighs together when I felt an ache between them. Then take me, I signed.
He shook his head. “I have to work, remember?”
I clicked my tongue. Then show me what is in the box, I told him.
He pursed his lips. “No?”
I glared at him, but he kept his expression neutral as he stared back at me.
I huffed in annoyance, then decided to just let it go as I made to walk away from him.
I’d only just passed by him, though, when he grabbed my wrist to stop me.
A small smile tugged at my lips. Gotcha, I wanted to sign to him, but instead, I maintained the anger on my face as I let him drag me back towards him.
Myles frowned at me when our eyes met. “I didn’t mean to upset you,” he said. “I’m sorry, babe.”
I cupped the sides of his face and kissed him. I am not upset, I signed. Because really, I wasn’t.
He sighed. “Good.” He then playfully tapped the box he was holding, against my forehead. “I’d planned on taking you to dinner tonight before giving this to you, but…” He opened the box and turned it around so that I could see what was inside. “Here you go; I hope you like it.”
I looked down, and gasped when I saw what Myles had gotten me.
It was a flat, fluorite-studded bracelet made of white gold. It was chain-like, and glinted brightly against the sunlight streaming into the house through the slightly open kitchen window.
I licked my lips and looked at Myles. It is beautiful, I signed. Very beautiful.
He smiled. “I’m so happy you like it,” he said. “I was worried you’d think I was being a materialistic bastard by giving you something pricey, but I’m glad you don’t. Here,” he took the bracelet out of the box and handed it to me, “flip it over.”
I ran my thumbs over the flat fluorite pieces etched onto the front of the bracelet, then turned it around, only to suck in a breath after reading what was carved on the smooth surface of the jewelry.
YOU ARE MY SANCTUM.
My eyes stung as I brought them back to Myles, who was still smiling at me.
I love you so much, I signed.
“And I love you,” he answered, then took the bracelet from me. “Now, let’s see if this even fits you.” He dangled it between us and winked at me.
I gawked at him. Seriously? I signed, then pushed at his chest before stomping away from him.
What an asshole.
“Rina!” There was regret in his voice, but it did nothing to soothe my anger. “Baby, I’m sorry!”
I heard him following me as I raced up the stairs and into the storeroom.
“Rina, wait,” he urged. “Please.”
I walked into the room, my back to him.
“Rina! Listen to me, you stubborn woman. The flooring in there is fucked; slow down. Please.”
I put my left foot forward, but then set it down so that I could turn around and face him.
And that’s when it happened; that’s when I realized the full scope of Myles’s warning.
I swiveled, not realizing that my sneaker was pressed next to a jagged piece of tile. My body shifted, but my foot refused to, and I felt a sharp crack in my right ankle. The pain that shot through me right after that – it was so fucking blinding that I wanted to throw up.
I heard Myles calling my name, but it sounded more like an echo in my buzzing ears as my body fell forward against the debris-strewn floor. I managed to bring my hands in front of me, so my palms ended up taking the full impact, and not my face.
Scared – I was so scared. And hurt. And…
My God, everything was hurting. Every damn inch of me.
I looked at Myles, who was standing at the room’s entrance, completely ashen-faced, his eyes wide.
I sniffed, and realized that hot tears were sliding down my cheeks and onto the harsh ground. I tried to shift again, but before I could sign something to him, or even make a gesture of some sort, something heavy fell on me from behind. Fell strongly against my back, my thighs.
My already broken ankle.
That’s the moment it ripped out of me: a scream so sudden, so loud, that it not only shocked Myles further, but also threatened to pull me under against the weight of my pain, and of my fear.
How the hell had things gotten so out of hand in a matter of seconds?
Just…how?