Allure Magnified (8 page)

             
“And?” I prompted, watching her fingers move at light speed as she sent a text.

             
“I heard a man’s voice in the background right before she hurried to get me off the phone.” She threw the phone into her purse. “And I swear to God, Dem. The guy’s voice was so familiar, but I can’t place where I’ve heard it.”

             
Her purse was on the table and it lit up inside as her phone went off. “Who is that?”

             
“No one important.”

             
So said her mouth. The angry look in her eyes said differently. She sent a reply text before discarding her phone back inside her bag. The last half of her drink was gone one second after that. “Hurry up and drink that. I’m ordering the next round.”

             
I knew right then that it was a guy. I didn’t need the proof; I could feel it in my gut. So, apparently my friend needed exactly what I did: copious amounts of alcohol in order to forget a headache caused by a man. I raised my glass. “Cheers, bitch.” And I proceeded to finish it in two gulps.

             
“That’s what I’m talking about. Let’s do shots next.”

***

“Ang, you’re outrageously drunk.”

             
A mumbled mess is what I got as a reply.

             
“Ang,
I’m
close to being outrageously drunk.”

             
This time, I was barely able to make out the words “I know.”

             
“And if you know this, why are you making me carry you down this hallway while I’m in six-inch heels?”

             
“Because you’re my best friend.”

             
We got to her door and Ang leaned pathetically against the wall as I fished her keys out of her purse. “Damn right I’m your best friend.”  Alas, I was also nowhere near as wasted as her sorry ass was. That’s why I’d taken it upon myself to make sure she got home alright.

             
“I fucking hate him,” I heard her grumble while I opened her door.

             
Naturally, I just had to try and get the truth out of her. “Who?”

             
Ang pouted, lost in her head, and of course she didn’t answer. I pushed her door open and grabbed her arm to lead her inside.

             
“Why do I even want that asshole? Because he is, you know? He is the biggest, womanizing asshole I’ve ever come across.” She yanked her arm away from me, stumbling and almost falling into her apartment.

             
“It really would help if you told me
who
you’re talking about.”

             
“Damn it, Dem.” She staggered back in my direction, grabbed my upper arms, and actually fucking shook me. “Why do I want him so much? I shouldn’t want him. He is going to break my heart if I even allow myself to really think of him that way.”

             
I latched onto her wrists and made her let go. Hell, I even shook her back just so she could feel what it felt like. “Newsflash: you already
are
thinking of him that way. Are you going to tell me who the hell you’re talking about?”

             
Ang gave me the mother of all disgruntled looks even though her eyes were slightly cock-eyed.  “
Non
.”

             
I pointed into her apartment. “Then get your ass into that apartment, drink some water, and get into bed. I have to get my own tipsy-self home.” She sneered at me. I sneered back. I’m pretty sure both our looks were filled with some form of hate or annoyance.  It didn’t matter. When she stepped back in my direction and kissed my cheek, I returned the gesture.

             
“Thank you, love. Get home safe and text me.”

             
“You won’t be awake when I get home.”

             
She gave me that cute pout of hers and deep down I knew that whoever this guy she was such a mess over was, he wasn’t doing so well himself. You’d have to be a blind and half-dead man not to fall for Ang.

“I love you,
mon ami
. You know this, yes?”

             
“Apparently not enough to tell me who this guy is. But I love you, too. Now get inside.”

             
She blew me a kiss before doing as I’d asked. I shook my head once the door slid closed. I was only fifteen blocks away from my own apartment building but there was no way I was going to walk it in my current state.

I rode the elevator down to the lobby, eyeing my phone the whole time. Dorian hadn’t text me the entire night. Not once had I forgotten about him even with Ang being such a delightful distraction. The fact that he was so ingrained on my mind
, and he hadn’t even reached out to me, hurt. I could have texted him, true, but I also didn’t want to seem like the clingy chick. He needed to take care of business, at least that’s what he said. Not letting him do so would simply show how pitifully desperate I was being inside.

No freaking way. I’d promised myself one thing the moment Dorian and I agreed to explore each other further: I would not let him see how much it would hurt the day he walked away. His behavior right now was definitely bringing up those kinds of insecurities. Maybe I was overreacting, maybe not, but something was up with him. 

I got lucky and was able to wave down a cab immediately. Once inside, I told him my address, and then leaned back against the seat. The ride was ridiculously short, of course, but I was so tired that I didn’t even pay attention until the cab stopped. I handed him the fare plus the tip.

The world was blurry from both the alcohol and the sudden fatigue that had hit me. I think I waved at the night doorman. 
Can’t be sure. Once inside my apartment, I stumbled toward the kitchen, kicking off my heels along the way.  I threw my clutch on top of the hallway side table.

Blindly, I felt my way along the wall where I knew the light switch was. Fucking hell, when did the kitchen lights get so effing bright? I’d opened the fridge and dove in for one of the water bottles inside. I was guzzling it like a dying lizard when I heard the footsteps behind me.

“Where the hell have you been, Demi? I’ve been trying to fucking reach you for hours.”

7

             
T
he water bottle slipped out of my hand for a nanosecond. I managed to catch it, drops shooting out of it and smacking my chin. Close to hyperventilating, I wiped it with the back of my hand.

             
“I asked you a question, Demitra. Answer me.”

             
I heard him walking closer. Heart still racing, I turned around and focused on him long enough to take in his expression. His face was hard, the look pissed and stoic all in one.

Alrighty.
See, Dorian had a problem on his hands and he wasn’t even aware of it, yet. I was drunk enough to be just past the point of rational. And I was definitely more pissed than he was.

             
Dear lord was I pissed off. He was still advancing on me with that look that demanded answers. I’d just spent the night getting drunk over him to try to ignore how shitty I felt
because
of him.

             
I turned to stare at the fridge with a bored expression. He stopped right next to me. I could feel him along every inch of my body. His form dominated my peripheral vision.

I didn’t even blink.

Slowly, purposely, I lifted the water bottle back to my lips and took another sip. He didn’t move, I didn’t respond, but I heard his breathing getting rougher. His eyes traveled the length of my body so intently that I felt it like a tickle. I kept drinking my water, each sip slower than the last. Eventually, I was going to have to blink, but annoying him had become my main priority.

“You’re angry.”

This time, I didn’t even try and deny it. Nor did I bother replying to him. His arm came into my line of vision, pressed against the fridge as he leaned down toward me. His nose brushed my cheek softly, setting off a round of shivers I barely held back.

“You look so sexy in that dress.”

Oh, fuck. I was too drunk to handle his husky voice saying things like that to me. Self-control was diminishing quite rapidly. I needed to stay freaking strong, damn it!

“Tell me where you went, baby.”

“Out with my friend.” Fucking shit, I wasn’t supposed to respond to him.

Dorian hummed and ran his lips across my skin. My knees nearly liquefied and took my legs with them. “I can smell the alcohol on you.”

Shit. He could?

“How much did you have to drink?”

Don’t remember.
“It doesn’t matter. I’m here. I’m fine. I had tons of fun.”

“Did you now?” The ass was still leaning against my fridge, all insolence and expectation.

“Yup.” I screwed the cap back on my bottle and nudged him out of the way so I could open the fridge. I bent down, placing the bottle inside. Dorian stepped behind me. The feel of his hands circling my hips made me gasp. When he pulled my ass into his crotch, arched his back, and fucking groaned…well, I bit my lip, grabbed onto the side of the fridge, and moaned like a harlot.

One hand slid around to my lower abs. His fingers slowly curled inward, anchoring me further to him. He urged my upper body up and pressed my back to his front. He was trembling, barely holding himself back from doing God’s knew what. He nuzzled the side of my face. I inhaled, smelling the alcohol on
him
for the first time.

“You’ve been drinking, too.”

He scoffed. “I was waiting for you for nearly two hours. You wouldn’t answer your fucking phone, and I was this close to sending a security team out to scour the city for you. Damn right I drank that bottle of Grey Goose you had hidden in your wall unit.”

He’d begun subtly rocking his hips into me, the movements barely discernible. I still felt them all over me. Without even realizing it, I was starting to melt into him, the heat in my veins rising. “Dorian,” I whined, my head resting against his shoulder. “That was the Magnum Grey Goose
that—”

Dorian exhaled against my ear. On purpose, too, I could tell.
Fucker.

“I know. I saw the cage. Real silver right?”

“Yes. And that almost cost a thousand dollars. It was meant to be Ang’s twenty-first birthday gift.”

“
You still have the cage. I’ll have another one shipped in first thing tomorrow.” And with that, he set in, his lips opening and grazing my neck.

Oh, God. We were both drunk.  It was official. Drunk, horny…

“Where’d you go looking so fuckable, baby?”

…and obviously out of our minds.

His voice was rough against my ear. The tips of his fingers ghosted down to my thighs, trailing beneath the edge of my skirt. “Just looking at you in this dress is making me feel like an animal. Do you have any idea how angry it makes me to imagine you out there, dressed like this, flirting with some other man?”

I’d been damn near Jell-O-status, liquefying all over him and his clothes. Until he opened his fucking mouth and had the nerve to say what I think he said. “Excuse me?”  It didn’t matter that the fridge was in my way; I went rigid and pushed away from him as much as I could. “Is that what you think I was up to?
Flirting
with other men?”

Dorian caged me in, hands on either side of the fridge. His face was harsh as he answered me. “You’re young, you’re
gorgeous
, and I’ve been disappointing you since I got back from my trip. Why wouldn’t you go out there and find someone else, Dem?”

I almost slapped him, pulled his hair, and gouged his eyes out. Growling, I pushed at his chest. “Fuck you! Just fuck you. I
—fuck this shit. I’m too drunk to deal with you right now.” For his own sake, I attempted to push and get away from him. I managed to get around him and began heading for the living room.

“You’re right. You really have been behaving like an ass lately and I’m sick of not even being told why.”  I heard the low warning sound he gave. Not that it really mattered. “I fucking
wish
I could flirt with other men that aren’t you. Trust me, sometimes I really wish!”

I got two more steps after that.

Two.

In all honesty, I don’t why the hell I said that. I’d wanted to piss him off, yes. But not turn him downright homicidal.

I didn’t even make it out of the kitchen. He all but tackled me, his form an unyielding line of muscle that pressed me mercilessly into the wall. I exhaled a shaky breath, felt one of his hands splayed across my back, almost spanning from shoulder-to-shoulder.

Fear surged through me, followed closely by a shot of arousal so strong my knees trembled and I clawed the wall. His hand slowly closed in a fist around the material of my dress. He braced his other hand right by my face. He was shaking, small growls reverberating through his ribcage.