Consume Me (A Burning Desire Novel) (17 page)

Soon I was under a loop, the two strangers
touching my hair my skin.

“Beautiful hair, but no control, too much
volume."

Antonio had his fingers through my
strands, speaking with a loud Italian accent.

”Very misbehaving Mi Amor."

I shrugged, glaring at Landon for putting
me in such an uncomfortable situation.

"Well, I'll leave you to it."

Landon gave me a swift kiss; his lips
trying to hide his amusement. He disappeared up the stairs, leaving me with two
mad persons, speaking their own language, about my hair, my skin, my body; they
exchanged numbers that translated perfectly to my measurements.

“You’re a 5'7 right?"

The woman asked me.

“No, I think its 5'6"

She nodded, and headed to another room.

“You can start Antonio, I'll be
back."

She said quietly.

“Follow me? Yes?"

Antonio walked through the corridor, and
into one of the rooms. It was another bedroom, nothing like Landon's, very modern
decoration, a big beautiful quilted white bed, and glass night stands on
beautifully designed wrought irons. Delicate baby blue crystal organza drapes
hang from the ceiling, giving a beautiful shade addition to the view.

Antonio had his equipment settled on the
top of a table in front of a mirror. He sat me down and started to work on my
hair.

I got
lost in my thoughts, apprehending the charity event, his father and friends,
and being exposed to Landon's crowd. I was accustomed, as to how to behave in
that type of events, but it had been a long time. Almost like another life. I
was glad my friends were going to be around.

But what really worried me, was what was
going to happen after the party and how it will go.

“Hopefully nothing like the last time you
tried"

I muttered to myself, brushing off the
memory of that awful night.

I didn't want to think about it, it had to
be different, and it felt nothing like last time. It felt right.

It was true, that I didn’t know much about
Landon, but I was certain about how gentle and passionate he could be. He makes
me feel special. I was his ‘Ad Hoc’, his exception. Every time I was around
him, I could see it in his eyes, the way he looked at me and talked to me.

He had the choice; he didn't have to look
for me after last night. Or way before that, back in New York when he’d first
kissed me at the club; and he didn't have to come to my house. He wanted to; he
wanted to see me and do all those things, and even after the way I left him
last night, he still came looking for me, and decided on a relationship, with
me.

He had been generous to the people I loved
most, and to me.

Yes, that time would be different... It
had to!

“Bellissima!"

Antonio's voice got me out of my trance
and turned me back to face the mirror. I blinked at the reflection in front of
me. I looked nothing like I’d expected, the man had me thinking he'll go crazy
and I'll have to go and fix it on my own. My tan was natural, peachy and
glowing. Thin-lined brown eyeliner beautifully shaped my too-big-eyes.

My hair was flawless, faked in shorter
curly strands, and two twisted strands secured with a hidden pin.

“Thank you Antonio, this is perfect."

I said grinning at him.

“Prego Bella, do you like it?"

“A lot, thank you."

I stood and gave him a hug and he gave me
three-Italian-style-kisses.

“Now go, time to get dressed."

I went to see Melinda in the other room;
it looked very much like the other one; an exact replica.

She was watching a collection of beautiful
gowns that would make Ryan go head over heels. She noticed me and gestured to
the dresses.

“What do you think, like any of
them?"

She asked.

I walked to the bed and looked at each of
the pieces. I noticed some of the brands, but saw no tags.

Probably offensively expensive
.

“They will all fit you perfectly, just go
and try them on."

I didn't need to; I knew exactly which one
I was picking, the only one that spoke to me.

It was an ivory strapless metallic dress
with a sweetheart neckline; it fell into a discreet mermaid shape.

I picked it up.

“This one.”

I announced.

"Well you're easy to work with, I
like that."

She said smiling for the first time.

"Now, the shoes, I'm thinking nude
platforms."

She strode to a suitcase at the other end
of the room and got me six-inch nude suede pumps, and I fell in love with them.
She nodded and excused herself after offering to help. I locked the door and
walked back to get ready.

I sat on the bed and stared at everything
around me.

It was all so surreal.

I opened my purse and got my things out. I
wouldn’t need the bra, the dress held a corset, but I got the rest out and put
some moisturizer.

I started getting dressed smiling and
thinking about the moment he would see all of it. When I got to the dress, I instantly
regretted not letting Melinda stay to help.

Thirty breathless minutes later, I looked
at the mirror and puffed my relief. I’d never felt nor looked that way. I hoped
he will like it, added some lip-gloss, and then slid it with my phone in my
little clutch.

I got
out, walked to the living room, and froze; Landon was talking on the phone; I
only got a glance of his back, but still lost my breath; his broad shoulders
covered in a white tuxedo jacket, he was all lean and enticing.

I looked at the kitchen and saw Calvin
standing with Melinda. I walked to them.

“You look stunning Miss Dane."

Melinda said with an appreciative nod.

“Mr. Davis is waiting for you in the foyer
Miss Dane."

Calvin interjected, still avoiding my gaze

“Thank you Calvin, I wanted to apologize
for earlier, and I don’t like that we’re back at Miss Dane."

I started trying to get him at ease.

After all it wasn't his fault and I hated
making him uncomfortable.

“No apology necessary, Miss Clea.”

He offered a kind smile.

I turned back and found Landon standing at
the door; if I couldn't breathe earlier, I was positive I stopped getting any
kind of oxygen altogether.  He looked dashing; three button tuxedo, a
black vest and bow-tie and a white shirt. His hair just the way I loved it,
disheveled, freshly shaved, and smelling like heaven.

His hot gaze traveled all over me,
sparkling eyes.

“You look divine baby"

 He breathed and I flushed at the
endearment in front of the two other people standing behind us.

“Thank you, you don't look so bad
yourself"

I beamed at him.

“Shall we?"

Landon offered his hand and I took it,

“Yes we shall"

He turned to Calvin and asked him to get
the car ready and Zee to drive Melinda home. I thanked her and we said our
goodbyes.

We rode in the elevator and he held my
hand the whole time, squeezing it from time to time.

“Don’t be nervous, it will be fine, just
enjoy yourself with me and your friends, and the moment you want to get out,
just say the word"

“I’m not nervous."

I lied; I really was, mostly about the
party now, the rest I was excited about.

“Rule number two Clea."

He turned to face me and I looked down.

“Okay, I lied, I'm nervous; and you look
more than not so bad."

I blurted out, and laughed at myself.

He laughed and kissed me

“See, I knew all that already."

I was relaxing by the second.

“Oh did you now Mr. Davis?"

“I most certainly did baby."

He gave me a wicked smile and walked us
out of the elevator. I was looking around for my friends, but we were stopped
by a woman, Landon presented her as the hotel manager, she gave me a fake smile
and talked with him in codes, he asked her to send him updates.

I got a glance at Ryan and Jude smooching
and Jenna laughing, they all looked fairly elegant, we walked to them. Landon
didn’t let go of my hand.

“Guys! You look fabulous."

I grinned at them

Jude stood and took me in a hug.

“Look at you Boo! You are breathtakingly
sublime."

He said, pressing a kiss to my cheek

“We do look fabulous, don't we?"

Ryan stood and Jenna bowed next to him.

We walked to the limousine and I glanced
at Landon.

 “Too tacky?"

I laughed at our inside joke and followed
the boys. The ride wasn't long, we talked and thankfully Jude wasn't on edge
and cool with Landon.

The charity
took place at a manor, the interior looked like a real casino; gambling tables
with croupiers, slot machines, everything was perfect; men in tuxedos and women
in beautiful gowns. The moment we got inside the ballroom, people walked to
Landon and he had to excuse himself.

Jenna and Jude stopped one of the waiters
for some champagne, and offered Ryan and me sparkling flutes.

We started walking around. The charity was
for the children of the night, I knew little about the cause, but heard about
it when a group of student during first year raised money for an organization
with a bake sale. I remembered that the disease was genetic; the children
couldn’t get out in the sun, because even the slightest amount of sunlight
would cause their skin to burn. It also increased the risk of cancer.

“They are raising money for research;
apparently a specialist in Sweden made a breakthrough. That would be great, the
climate change is hurting our cells by the day, and helping people with this
disease would be an astounding improvement in science, especially since, in the
recent years, it started affecting people in Africa; as if they needed that, on
top of everything else."

Jenna explained.

"I'm glad I brought money to
play."

She said

“Oh shit I forgot my checkbook in my
purse."

I scolded myself.

“Hey it's ok, I can lend you some."

Jenna offered. I thanked her, and then we
all went to get some playing tokens.

Jenna,
of course stood unbeatable. All those long hours playing poker with my dad, had
paid off over the years. I tried my luck at the blackjack; I doubled twice then
chose not to gamble anymore for the sake of the charity. I gave the winning
tokens to one of the hostesses assigned to take the donations and made my way
to the bar with Jude. We ordered our drinks and he sat me on one of the
Barstools.

“You enjoyed your day Honey?”

I asked him sipping my tasty fruit
cocktail.

“Yes. I was in definite need for a
massage, and that race was a great adrenaline boost.”

"I’ll second that. It was
amazing."

 I said cheerily.

“Things definitely changed since the
afternoon between you and Mr. Davis.”

He commented, eyeing me curiously.

“Are you guys dating?"  

I shrugged and smiled.

“Wow.”

Jude breathed out.

“Ok. That’s a good thing; I mean you’re
happy, right?”

I shook my head yes and hugged him.

“Oh; he’s going to invite you guys to
taste some exceptionally tasty burger.”

I announced.

 “A lunch date around a burger?
Sounds like fun to me."

“Apparently, it’s not just any burger.
Landon actually calls it the best..."

“The best burger on the planet."

He came out of nowhere and pressed a kiss
to my exposed shoulder.

“Well then, I need to taste this burger
before we leave.”

Jude said cheerily.

“Yes definitely!"

“Dinner is about to be served, I'm sorry I
had to take care of some details for later."

Landon winked at me and I smiled.

What was he planning?

“It’s okay, we played a little around the
tables, and Jenna is probably ruining every man at the poker table. She has a
serious poker face."