novelxo Unhinged Desires: Chapter 17
Her taste is on my tongue. It was only a little, and yet I’d love nothing more than to crawl under this table, spread her thighs, and fucking feast on her cunt. Somehow I don’t think that’d go over too well, considering the current company.
The smile that lights up her face when she looks at her phone piques my curiosity. I’m tempted to pick my own phone up and find out what she’s looking at. It’d only take me logging in to the app that mirrors her device. I have full access to all of her messages, call logs, social media accounts.
I don’t do that. Instead, I sit here and sip on my glass of water. I’d love to have a hard drink, but I can’t afford to lose my inhibitions any more than I already have tonight. So water it is.
“What are you studying at university, Lucy?” Mum asks her.
“Business. I have big shoes to fill,” Lucy replies. I don’t think business is where her heart is at.
“Oh, I could only imagine. Dom is a business major too. You two must have some of the same classes.”
I glare at my mum. Her lame attempts at matchmaking are not going unnoticed.
“Probably, but I’m not overly social at school. There are too many spoilt jerks looking to take over Daddy’s company in those classes,” Lucy says, and I can’t hide my own smile at her answer.
“Lucy,” her mum scolds her.
“What? It’s true.” Lucy shrugs.
“Sometimes being born into money isn’t what it’s cracked up to be,” Mum adds.
“Speak for yourself. I happen to like my money,” I counter, removing an invisible piece of lint from my coat.
“Your daddy’s money, don’t you mean?” Lucy smiles at me.
I purposely eye the three hundred thousand dollar diamond she’s currently wearing around her neck. A diamond my ‘daddy’s money’ bought her. Lucy’s fingers wrap around the chain.
“That’s a beautiful piece. Is it a family heirloom?” Mum asks, noticing the necklace.
“No, it was a gift. I just haven’t had time to return it yet,” Lucy replies.
“Well, I wouldn’t be so quick to return that.” Mum smiles.
“I wouldn’t either, but I’ve just started dating this guy and he wouldn’t appreciate me taking gifts from random men.” Lucy smirks in my direction.
“You’re dating? Who?” Lucy’s mum practically pivots in her seat, the shock evident in her tone.
“Like I said, it’s new, but we’re planning a trip next week once school ends.”
“Does this person you’re planning a trip with have a name?” I question her, my fist gripping the butter knife in front of me.
“He does, but you wouldn’t know him. He’s not from school,” she says.
I haven’t seen her talk to anyone in particular, but whoever it is that she thinks she can go away with, I’ll have him buried quicker than she can pack a bag.
“Wait, Xavier said you’re going to go work for him over the break?” Mrs Christianson shatters the silent stare down.
“Shar is, not me. He just doesn’t know that yet.” Lucy laughs.
“Right. Oh, Ella, I’d love to invite you and Dean to dinner next Sunday. And you as well, Dominic, of course,” Lucy’s mum says.
“Count me in,” I reply, my eyes still locked on her daughter.
“Great, I look forward to it.” Her mum beams.
A heap of waiters come out and place plates around our table. It’s odd that it’s only us four sitting here, when all of the other tables are filled with ten people. I don’t mention it though, as I push the food around on my plate while watching Lucy do the same thing. She keeps looking at her phone. Checking the time. Probably counting down the hours until she can leave. Both our mothers chat amongst themselves while we sit in silence. Lucy glares daggers at me every now and then. To which, I do my best not to let my lips tip up in response.
All I can focus on is how much I want to fuck that glare right off her face. My cock has been in a constant state of hardness since she first walked in.
At the end of the night, Mrs Christianson’s phone rings. She takes the call while her eyes lock on Lucy. “Oh, honey, I have to rush over to Grandma’s. Can you get a town car to drop you home?” she asks.
“Ah, yeah, sure. What’s wrong with Grandma?” Lucy’s brows knit together.
“Nothing. She can’t find the lamingtons she made yesterday,” her mum says. There’s a despondency in her voice I don’t quite understand. “Sorry, my mother is in the early stages of dementia. Most days are still good but we get the odd one where it’s not going well.”
“Completely okay. Don’t worry, we’ll ensure Lucy makes it home safely,” my mum promises.
“Thank you. Dominic, it was lovely meeting you. I’ll see you both next Sunday night.”
“Looking forward to it,” I tell her.
“Dominic, you take the car and drop Lucy on your way home. Your dad is coming to pick me up,” Mum says to me once Mrs Christianson has left.
“Oh no, it’s okay. I can get a town car. I’m fine,” Lucy is quick to insist.
“Nonsense, let Dominic drive you. I promised your mother I’d see you home safely,” Mum says. Leaning in, she kisses my cheek. “Don’t do anything stupid,” she whispers to me.
Like finger-fuck the girl I’m stalking in the bathroom? That kind of stupid? Of course I don’t say that part aloud. I just nod and wait for my mum to walk away.
“Come on.” I take Lucy’s hand. That same zapping feeling—just like the first time—runs right up my arm at the contact.
“Wait, no. Seriously, you do not have to take me home.”
I don’t bother answering her, just continue to lead her out of the building where the McKinley limo is waiting. The driver has the door open. “Get in,” I tell Lucy.
“No.” She shakes her head from side to side while attempting to pull her hand free.
Leaning in, I whisper in her ear, “You can either get in on your own, or I’ll pick you up and throw you in the fucking car while all these paparazzi capture the whole thing on camera.” I stand back and smile like we just shared a personal joke. Lucy’s head pops up as flashes upon flashes illuminate the evening air.
I can only imagine the stories that will be in the gossip rags tomorrow.
“Fine, but if you so much as touch me, I’m screaming bloody murder,” she hisses as she brushes past me to slide inside the car.
I climb in after her, and instead of sitting in the seat opposite hers, I sit right next to her. Lucy scowls at me before she moves to the other side. “You know, I’m probably not going to hurt you,” I tell her.
“Probably? Well, that’s comforting.”
“I don’t make promises I can’t keep.”
“And not hurting me is something you’re not sure you can do?”
“What can I say? I’m a complicated man.”
“I bet. Can you ask your driver to drop me at my brother’s penthouse please.”
“Why?”
“My apartment’s getting sprayed for bugs,” she lies to me with a straight face.
I pick up the phone and call through to the driver. “John, my place.” Then I hang up.
Lucy’s eyes widen. “No way. No. OMG, this is the part where I die, isn’t it?”
“You’re not going to die. If you can’t sleep in your apartment, you can stay with me.”
“You’re insane, like full-on straight jacket insane.” She shakes her head at me. She’s not the first and won’t be the last person to tell me that. Coming from her though, I don’t fucking like it.
Even if it is the truth.
I have no idea what I was expecting her to think. She makes me more unhinged than I usually am. I have little control on a good day. But add Lucy Christianson to the equation, and I’m a fucking loose cannon.
“I can’t stay in your house,” she says.
“Why not? I have plenty of guest rooms. You won’t even know I’m there.”
“Just take me home. To my apartment.”
“I thought it was getting sprayed for bugs?” I raise a brow in question.
“I lied, okay? I just didn’t want to stay there tonight.”
I tilt my head and look at her, really look at her. There’s fear in her eyes. It’s fucked up but that fear makes my cock twitch. “Why?”
“Because I have a crazy psychopath stalking me.”
I don’t say anything else. The rest of the car ride consists of Lucy demanding I call the driver and have him take us to her apartment. When the car pulls to a stop outside my house, I don’t wait for the driver to open the door. I take her hand and pull her out of the limo, not letting go even as I start up the front steps.
“Stop, no. I need to go home.”
I turn around and look at her. “It’s late. Just take a fucking guest room and I’ll drop you home in the morning.”
“How do I know you’re not going to chop me up into pieces while I sleep?” she counters.
“Because, one, nobody would be able to sleep through having their limbs chopped off. And, two, you don’t. You don’t know what I am capable of doing to you. You don’t know anything.”
“That doesn’t help.”
“I know.” I lift a shoulder in a half shrug and continue to the front door, before tugging Lucy inside with me. “My parents are staying here at the moment. I’ll give you the quick tour.” I lead her through to the first open space. “Kitchen, help yourself to anything. If there’s something you want that isn’t here, let me know and I’ll get it.” Then I make my way to the stairs that lead to the wing of the house where my bedroom is located. I want nothing more than to force her to sleep in there. I won’t though. Not tonight. Instead, I open the door next to it and show her the adjoining guest room and bathroom. “You can sleep here.”
“Fine, but I’m locking the door as soon as you leave,” she huffs.
“Whatever makes you feel better, Little Bee,” I tell her, opening the doors to all the cabinets inside the room.
“What are you doing?” she asks me.
“Checking the cabinets so you don’t have to.”
Her mouth hangs open as she silently stares at me. Once I’m finished her ritualistic safety check, I turn back to her.
“You’re good. They’re empty.” Then I walk out of the room, leaving the door ajar. It doesn’t take long before she slams it shut and I hear the lock engage on the handle.
I smirk. As if that would be able to keep me out…
I TOSS and turn in my bed. I can’t fucking sleep so I get up and head to the gym. Maybe a midnight workout is what I need. Anything to distract myself from the house guest currently obsessing my thoughts.
Before I make it to the gym, I see a shadow slinking down the hall. I follow behind her, watching as she helps herself through the house. Inspecting every detail. She picks up a little red glass apple that sits on the mantle of the living room before placing it back down. My fingers twitch and I can’t help but make my presence known as I grab the apple and reposition it in its correct spot.
“Everything has a place,” I tell Lucy as she stares back at me.
“Funny you say that, because I have a place and it’s not here.”
“Here is exactly where you belong, Little Bee.”
“Mmhmm,” she says, walking around the room. She starts picking up random objects and setting them down in random spots. I shadow her movements, adjusting everything she touches and returning it to where it belongs. “You have issues.” She laughs.
“I know,” I admit.
“What exactly do you think is going to happen here?” she asks, pointing between us.
“I have no idea.” I shrug.
“I do. I’m going home. You’re going to stay here and keep away from me.” She reaches up and unclasps the necklace from her neck, before setting it down on a side table. “Stop sending me shit, Dominic. It’s not right.”
“Okay,” I agree, with no real intention of following through. But I can see how tired she is. If my acceptance helps her sleep tonight, then I’ll give her that. “I’ll have a driver take you home.”
“Thank you.”
I pause before exiting the living room. “I’ll try to give you what you want, Lucy, but I won’t promise to stay away.”
“Because you don’t make promises you can’t keep,” she parrots back to me.
I nod my head and walk out, making my way to the kitchen, where I call a town car company and arrange for someone to come and collect her. I don’t know what I was thinking bringing her here. I didn’t want to let her go, but I also didn’t want to force myself on her. I guess, in my fucked-up head, giving her the guest room was a good compromise.