Savor (41 page)

He whipped me around until we faced each other, my camera between us. I gasped. Then

he placed his hand behind my back and balanced the other with mine on top just above our

shoulders. He grinned at me and I smiled back before we started moving.

As Dray and I moved with the crowd, half my heart wanted another band member to be

leading the dance. I hadn’t seen Luka anywhere.

“Where’s Demitri and Phoenix?” I asked because asking where Luka was stuck in my

throat. Yet my gaze kept searching for a white mask with black lips and a teardrop on one eye.

Dray scanned the guests over my shoulder. “They must be here somewhere. I ran into

them before you came to stand with me. Most of the time they play host at these events

because Yana is too busy making sure everything runs as scheduled to bother speaking with

guests.”

“Ah, that’s why I haven’t seen her.” My lapse in concentration caused me to stumble.

Dray’s sure hold kept me from falling. He’d promised to lead and that was what he did.

When we’d completed our second revolution around the dance floor, a fast walking Yana

came to our side. Instead of a dress, she wore a green suit with white trim and feathers and a matching jacket that reached her knees. Her spike-heeled boots clicked on the marble floor.

The only reason I recognized her was that she had her white mask dangling around her neck

the same way my camera hung from mine. The wild worry in her eyes caused Dray to stop.

We inched out of the dance floor before Yana started speaking.

“It’s almost midnight—”

“Already?” I interrupted her, searching for the grandfather clock to confirm her statement

only to realize it had been removed along with the rest of the furniture. All my enjoyment

dissipated, leaving behind a void easily filled by nervous stomach knotting.

“That’s not what I came here to say,” Yana said, a bite to her tone.

I shut my mouth before I said anything that would force Yana to turn her rising annoyance

at me. Dray smartly stayed silent the whole time. Some warning would have been nice. I

slanted a glance his way, but his attention focused on the woman in her green suit. The only

Gothic Lolita thing about her was the boots.

“Have you seen Luka anywhere?”

At the mention of his name, my heart skipped. “What about him?”

“I saw him walk out of the main room with a bottle in his hand,” Dray said.

Yana’s eyes widened further. “Tequila?”

Dray shook his head. “Gin.”

“Fuck.” She nibbled on her thumbnail.

“I don’t get it.” I sounded calm yet Yana’s nervous energy was catching, skittering beneath

my skin like ants.

“Luka drinks to have fun,” Dray explained. “Hence the tequila.”

“But when he drinks gin, it’s to get drunk,” Yana continued.

“Why would he want to get drunk?” My forehead creased, totally not following the

conversation like someone left out of an inside joke.

Dray and Yana shared a loaded glance then she said, “That’s not important. What we need

to do is find Luka before he causes a scene. There are many camera phones here tonight.”

She didn’t need to say more. I completely understood. If something happened, it would be

all over the internet in a matter of hours, if not minutes. My Wi-Fi access may be restricted, but the guests? Yana’s worry confirmed my suspicions.

“But the fireworks,” Dray said.

Again Yana brought her thumbnail to her teeth. “I need to check on those guys.”

“Dray and I will look for him,” I volunteered, getting an affirmative from the mad scientist

drummer at my side.

“I’ll see if I can find Demitri and Phoenix on my way to the fireworks display and ask them

to help with the search.”

Dray closed his hand around mine and pulled me out into the terrace just as Yana walked

away from us in the opposite direction. The bracing cold did wonders to calm my

overcompensating heart. Dray ducked just as a burst of flames came from one of the fire

breathers. I ducked with him, but didn’t stop moving. We dodged fire dancers, jugglers, and

guests alike until we reached the garden. Left and right couples kissed and groped in the

open, not caring to find a dark corner for privacy.

I let go of Dray’s hand and we spread out, calling Luka’s name in hissed whispers. Dray

went right and I scoured left. I circled one of the fountains and came up with nothing. I was

just about to move further into the woods when Dray jogged to my side.

“I’ll go check the lake,” he said. “He likes hanging out there.”

“Be careful.”

He nodded once and headed in the direction of the lake. I watched him disappear into the

night before I resumed my search of the grounds. With each minute that passed, my worry

grew tenfold. Sweat covered my palms. My gaze darted from one shadow to the next. By the

time I reached the mighty oak, I worried my lower lip so much that I thought I’d drawn blood

from the coppery taste in my mouth.

“Wha’re you doin’ ‘ere?”

The slurred question startled me. I dropped my gaze and noticed Luka slumped against the

tree, a litter of bottles surrounded him. A couple more steps and I would have stumbled into

him and fallen face first.

“Luka?” I whispered, as if to speak in my natural volume would spook him. I inched closer.

“Are you okay?”

“D’I luk ok’y?”

At first I didn’t understand the question because of the slurring. “Yana’s been looking all

over for you. Dray went to the lake to find you.”

He snorted, which ended in a hiccup. He brought a half-empty bottle to his lips and took a

swig. “Scr’w dem.”

Having been the one to bring a slobbering drunk Silvia home after covering a club on

several occasions, I took matters into my own hands. I took the gin from Luka’s hand and

threw it down with the others. I counted three empty bottles.

“He-ey!” he reached for the bottle only to fall on his side.

“Come on.” I swung his arm over my shoulder and snaked my arm around his waist from

behind. Spreading my legs and using my knees, I lifted Luka to his feet. Not easy in a two ton dress made of feathers. We stumbled to the left a couple steps until I managed to regain my

balance.

“Where we goin’?”

I cringed at the hot alcohol breath that wafted into my face. “We’re calling it a night,

mister.”

I made light of the situation, but as Luka and I stumbled back toward the manor, my heart

sank. This was not how I pictured the night would go. My contract would expire at midnight

and Luka wouldn’t be sober enough to remember anything I’d tell him.

Chapter Forty-One

Confession

We skirted the manor perimeter in a crazy zigzag pattern. Luka got away from me twice.

Wrangling him back to his quarters made me wish for rope. I didn’t know how to string up

cattle, but I’ve seen documentaries on cowboys. How hard could it be?

“Come on, Luka,” I whisper-hissed, adjusting my hold on him. After the second time he’d

gotten away, he became content to just hang there like a limp noddle. Having at least fifty

pounds of muscle on me, his Drunken Highness made my life so much harder. “You’ve got to

help me out here. This is not how I imagined my night going.”

“I don wanna…” Luka slurred, losing his train of thought. It started when we reached the

shadows of the manor. He’d begin a sentence then forget to finish it. He burped on me, his

alcohol breath making me gag. Not sexy at all.

“I know you don’t,” I cooed, humoring him while continuing to weave our way toward the

far side where I assumed the east wing was. We avoided sloshed revelers, lip-locked couples,

and a guy on stilts. I’d stopped hoping Dray would find us and lend me a hand. “But we

always don’t get what we want.”

Luka snort-laughed. “Yeah.”

Who knew the rock god could lose his shit after several bottles of gin? I shook my head.

My respect for him lowered for every minute it took to get to his room. Every time I saw

something flash in my periphery, I froze. My heart beat so fast, my head felt like it floated

and only my body held it down. When no one laughed or asked questions after the flash, we

moved again. The fear of our miserable mugs being plastered all over the Net pushed me to

keep going when the idea of dumping Luka’s ass on the ground tempted me by half.

His weight added to the heavy dress hunched me over. I gripped his waist and arm and

adjusted him again just so we could keep our balance. If we fell over now, I didn’t think I

could get him back up.

A woman screamed in the distance, sending my heart to tumble down to meet my

stomach. I looked over my shoulder. The screamer ran across the grass barefoot, a bottle of

champagne in one hand and a torch in the other. A couple of servants ran after her. That

didn’t strike me as ending well.

Rolling my eye and saying a silent prayer for strength, I lugged Luka like a sack of

potatoes. Something told me he wouldn’t remember a thing come morning. My only

consolation would be the monumental headache he would wake up to. I took pleasure in his

pain. It gave me the last burst of strength I needed to get him up the stairs of our terrace.

I exhaled a huge sigh of relief when I saw he’d left the terrace doors open from when I’d

visited him a few hours ago. Thank God for small miracles. My makeup ran from the sweat.

Every breath felt like a heave. New Year’s resolution number one: hit the gym more.

Once we entered his living room, Luka pushed away from me and stripped off his jacket.

Dropping it to the floor, he pulled out his dress shirt and that joined the jacket. I rushed

forward when he started on the pants. The concept of a zipper baffled him.

“Alright,” I sighed. “No need to perform a strip tease here. Bedroom’s that way.”

“I know where it is.”

I stood shocked. Luka didn’t slur anymore. In fact, he sounded almost normal. Only the

fact that he didn’t move from where he stood told me he was still drunk. The walk must have

burned some of the alcohol in his system.

“Your room’s this way.” I stirred him to the right.

The squiggly pattern he followed to get to the sliding doors also affirmed his state. I would

have laughed if I wasn’t so pissed at him. Not how I pictured my night going. I kept repeating this to myself since I’d found him.

Luka stared at the sliding doors. “They’re not opening.”

“They’re not mind-controlled.” I huffed, grabbing my molting skirt and stomping to his

side. My camera thumped against my chest. “You need to use your hands to part the doors.”

“Hands?” He looked at his palms. “She has the nicest hands.”

I pushed the doors aside. “Who has the nicest hands?”

Luka dropped his hands to his sides and padded to his bed then just stared at it.

“What now?” I asked when I reached his side.

“I forgot how to sit down.”

This was worse than any of my experiences with Silvia. She remembered how to use her

body. The puking, on the other hand… I’d blocked those episodes out. Turning Luka around, I

pushed him back gently until his knees hit the edge of the bed. Gravity handled the rest. He

groaned as he lay down. At least he remembered how to do that.

Spotting the mud caking his shoes, I moved toward the end of the bed and removed them.

Luka’s breathing evened out. Finally, he’d fallen asleep. I let out another relieved sigh,

dropping the shoes on the floor. Someone would come pick them up in the morning. My gaze

flicked to the digital clock on the dresser. Its red numbers announced five minutes to

midnight. So much for telling Luka I wanted to extend my contract tonight. I’d have to wait

until the morning. Then my flight back home came to mind. My mother wouldn’t be happy.

But she’d just have to understand that I did this for my career. Not just anyone got the chance to live with one of the most popular rock bands right now. I would milk this experience for

everything it had.

I glanced down at the peace on Luka’s face as quiet snores escaped his slightly parted lips.

He was so beautiful. I ached just looking at him. I couldn’t let go of spending time with him.

Not just yet. Tonight was a fluke. Something had upset him and he drank his sadness away. It

happened. I’d seen it before. Nothing to worry about.

Instead of leaving so I could finally remove the cumbersome dress he’d given me, my legs

brought me back to where he lay. Without hesitating, I sat on the edge of the bed and

smoothed away the curls that fell over his forehead.

“I’m sorry,” Luka mumbled, taking a deep breath.

“Sorry for what?” I continued raking my fingers through his hair. Even with product, the

strands maintained their silky texture.

“For hurting you.” He didn’t open his eyes when he reached for my hand and placed it at

the center of his chest. Beneath my palm beat his strong and steady heart. The warmth of his

hand over mine travelled up my arm to settle against my own chest. He needed help tonight

and I was glad to have been the one to give it.

I tilted my head to the side. “Hurting me? You didn’t hurt me.”

“Yes.” He exhaled. “Yes, I did.”

For a long minute, he said nothing else. I thought he’d fallen asleep again, but his grip on

my hand never slackened. I stayed seated. If he needed me to stay with him, I would.

“Why doesn’t she love me anymore?” he finally mumbled.

At first, I didn’t hear him properly. He repeated his question, as if waiting for me to ask