Skin of the Night: Book One of The Night series

by Claire D. Bennett

  Awfully frustrated, I moaned loudly. “You bastard. Have you got any idea how aroused I am right now?”

  Smug laughter spilled out of him. “Don’t worry. I’ll make it up to you as soon as you agree to go on a date with me.”

  Disbelieving, I asked, “Are you saying you won’t fuck me again unless I agree to go on a date with you? Even if I’m sober?”

  “Yes.”

  I sighed. He surely drove a hard bargain. Then again, in light of his feelings, I could understand why he was unwilling to sleep with me unless I committed to him – he was looking out for himself. Really, he was being wise. “I respect that.”

  “Until then, you can dream about us having sex instead. I do it all the time.”

  I blushed. “Oh my God, Will.”

  “Not even slightly ashamed of admitting that.”

  “You’re not right in the head. Then again, I’m guilty of the same.”

  He stiffened against me. “Have you dreamt about me, too? Actually?”

  “Night, Will.”

  Complacent, he replied, “Sweet dreams, then.”

  24

  WEAPON

  An empty bed welcomed me as soon as I opened my eyes the following morning. Though I couldn’t recall much of the previous night, bits and pieces were forming a horrid notion of it in my head. The club. William. The spot under the stairs. Kissing. His fingers inside of me. Tequila. Vomiting.

  Jason.

  “Jason,” I whimpered and pushed my duvet aside to search for him, whereupon the sight of my nightie reminded me that William and Jason had tucked me into bed last night.

  I was suffering from a tremendous hangover, but Jason and I needed to talk, and it couldn’t wait. I was desperate to clear the air and make amends. I felt terrible, and it only added to my headache.

  When I opened my bedroom door, the smell of bacon filled my nose, and it was sent directly from heaven. Was Jason making me breakfast? He couldn’t be too angry with me, then – I hoped.

  Nevertheless, I wanted to face him cleaned of any evidence from last night, so I decided I’d have a shower first. Striding across the hall, I gripped the handle of the bathroom door and turned it. As I opened it, a sight I had not expected welcomed me.

  There stood William, naked in all his glory and drying his hair with a towel. What a beautiful backside he had. Slabs of prominent muscle hugged his long spine, and dimples carved into the flesh right above his enticingly taut bum. His biceps and deltoids, as well as the muscles of his hairless, broad back, rippled with his motions. Saliva amassed in my mouth. What a bomb of testosterone. He was strikingly masculine. I wasn’t even remotely prepared for the captivating sight of him.

  With haste, I looked away and stood perfectly still. As my eyes flickered around the humid room, I saw that his clothes from last night were dumped on the toilet seat.

  His head turned towards me, and when our eyes locked, a wicked smile claimed his mouth. He looked elated. His eyes glowed with a joy I hadn’t seen in them before. Although he’d had a long night yesterday, he still looked dangerously appealing. Why? I moaned inwardly.

  “Morning, love. I’m flattered you wanted to shower with me, but I’m afraid you’re a few minutes too late. Better luck next time.”

  Blushing crimson, I felt about to combust. “Are you quite finished?”

  “Oh, don’t be that way.” He chuckled. “Nothing you haven’t seen before. Last time you caught me naked, you were rather excited about it. Quit pretending.”

  Since I was far too exhausted to tolerate his banter, I trembled where I stood, and my hands formed fists – the audacity of this man. What made matters worse was the fact that he was absolutely right. Naked, he was a breath-taking vision. Still, how could he discern my thoughts so effortlessly?

  “Care for a look of the front? It’s all yours,” he continued to tease and turned towards me, but I’d whirled around before I could see anything.

  “Cover up, you wanker, and get the fuck out! Bloody exhibitionist.”

  “Sorry, that was inconsiderate of me. The view would of course only increase your current sexual frustration since I refused to fuck you last night.”

  “That’s not it, you conceited twat!” But it was.

  He laughed, and I heard him turn on the tap. Assuming it was safe, I turned to peek at him. To my relief, he’d wrapped the towel around himself. Amused, he watched me in the mirror.

  A pout formed on my face. “Could you hurry up, please? I need to shower as well.”

  “Then do. I don’t mind. At all.” He gestured towards the glass door.

  “Without you here!”

  He rolled his eyes and raised his toothbrush to his mouth. “Then you’ll have to wait.”

  Fuming, I folded my arms and tapped my foot, but he took his time.

  “William!” I growled when I’d counted to a minute.

  With white foam around his delicious mouth, he grinned at me in the mirror. “Are you always this cranky when you’re hungover?”

  “I’m cranky whenever you’re involved.”

  “Good thing I’m weak for your bitch attitude,” he playfully responded before he spat into the basin. I gaped. After rinsing his mouth, he stretched up to his full height and turned towards me. “It turns me on.”

  Frustrated beyond belief, I raised my hands to my hair and pulled it – this man. Regardless of what I did, he twisted and turned it in his favour, and it was infuriating. No wonder he was so good at his job.

  His lips spread into a grin, and a playful twinkle danced in his eyes. “So much frustration, Cara. You look in dire need of another orgasm. Lucky for you, all you need to do is agree to go on a date with me, and I’ll be happy to oblige.”

  “Stop using sex as a weapon against me!”

  His grin was devilish. “Why? It’s clearly working.” Indeed, it was. I couldn’t recall ever having been so sexually frustrated.

  “Out!” I barked and pointed to the door.

  Still grinning to himself, he nodded and finally approached the door, but when he was about to pass me, he paused to curl his hand around my neck. Bringing me close, he planted a firm kiss on the top of my head. “Enjoy your shower,” he purred as he pulled away. “I’ll see you in a bit.”

  Paralysed, I heard him close the door. My body was complete chaos. I couldn’t make sense of a single thought or emotion. Everything lacked sense. But there was one thing I knew.

  He fuelled the fire of my soul and gave the beats to my heart. In his presence, I felt capable of glowing in the dark.

  I stepped into the shower and adjusted the temperature. After a dreadful night, my body was feeble, so I sat on the beige tiles under the stream of cold water, reviving. I’d obviously had too much to drink. Those last three shots of tequila hadn’t helped anything at all apart from offering a temporary relief from the remorse I’d experienced.

  After dragging myself out of the shower, I decided not to blow-dry my hair since I didn’t have the strength. I required food and water to recharge myself. So, after drying myself with my towel, I pulled on my white satin bathrobe and headed out to confront reality.

  William and Jason were talking in the dining room, so I paused to eavesdrop.

  “I can’t believe you eavesdropped,” William said, and my heart leapt to my throat. At first, I thought he was speaking to me, but soon enough, I realised he was speaking to his brother. Jason had eavesdropped on us last night?

  “Of course I had to eavesdrop,” Jason replied, irritated.

  “What if I had fucked her?” William countered. “It’s weird, J. You should have that looked at by a professional.”

  “Then I would have left, you tit.”

  “So you heard her moaning, then?”

  “I nearly left at that point. Then again, it’s not the first time I’ve heard her moaning.�
�

  “Don’t remind me,” William replied vehemently.

  “Sorry.”

  “Either way, it’s still an odd thing to do.”

  “Excuse you, Will, it really isn’t. You were arguing like the apocalypse was arriving and you disagreed on how to avoid it. It was intense.”

  “Interesting comparison.”

  “Seriously.”

  “Cara and I have always bickered. It’s just who we are together. Really, it’s just how we flirt.”

  “I can see why you like each other – bloody hotheads, both of you.”

  “Yes, we’re quite compatible,” William agreed.

  “I should’ve known you’d fall for her. You’re so similar it’s honestly ridiculous. Now that I think about it, I can’t believe I didn’t try to set you up with her.”

  “You should’ve.”

  “But then neither of you were interested in a relationship.”

  “Not until I met her,” William clarified.

  “Suppose that’s what happens when you find the right one.”

  “Suppose so. Though, you sort of did set me up with her by sending her to Disrepute, which you know I frequent, on a Friday.”

  “True,” Jason chuckled. “But since you’re not one to have one-night stands, and since you already had Violet and Francesca, it never occurred to me that you might end up interacting, much less actually sleeping together. Honestly, when she came home the next day, I was sure it had to be someone else – perhaps a colleague of yours or something. I definitely didn’t think it could be you, all things considered. Though, in hindsight, she did say you were really rude and forthright, so perhaps I should have suspected at that point.”

  “Very funny.”

  “I’m actually not joking. Anyway, sounded like you made up last night.”

  “I’m not sure. She was rather drunk, even at the end. And she just scolded my ear off in the bathroom.”

  “She’s probably hungover, and you can be proper annoying.”

  “True. Anyway, don’t give her a hard time when she comes out,” I heard William command. “Please, Jason. You’ll only be making my life much harder. She’s enough trouble as it is.”

  “I won’t. I can see why she would hide it from me. I’m only a bit upset because I really despised Sandra on your behalf. Safe to say I’m shocked it’s been Cara all along,” Jason murmured. “It’s been an eye-opening experience on so many levels. Not just because of Cara, but in general, too. I fell victim to bias and prejudice, and now that I know it was actually Cara, my whole perspective has changed.”

  “Understandable. I tried telling her you wouldn’t care, but she was seriously scared of losing you, Jase. Kept mentioning she knew you’d pick me and things like that. And, to be fair, I get it. I mean, my intentions with her haven’t changed at all, and she knows that. Naturally, that would make her hesitant about telling you anything, because she’d hardly enjoy being the reason for your brother’s broken heart. So, I suppose she was scared that my feelings for her would potentially force you to choose between us.”

  Jason sighed. “Yeah. It makes sense. Either way, I was livid at first. I couldn’t believe she would keep me in the dark about something like that, but after further thought, I realised that’s exactly why she did it. It’s typical of her. She never wants to drag anyone else into her mess. She absolutely hates drama, so I’m sure she did it only to protect me. Her heart was in the right place. However, if she ever does something like that again, I won’t be as merciful. She fucked up, and I mean to let her know.”

  Slight relief had found me by the time I dared to make my way into the dining room. William had kept his word and had supported me, and I appreciated it immensely because, without his intervention, I was confident that Jason would have stayed angry with me for much longer.

  They sat at the dining table, and the view made my heart jolt. Orange juice, coffee, and a full English breakfast. I could’ve kissed Jason. This was exactly what I needed.

  William appeared to have borrowed a pair of sweats from Jason, but both brothers had neglected a shirt this morning. Had I not been so hungover, I might have appreciated the view more than I did. They were a strikingly attractive pair of brothers. Their gene pool was clearly a winner.

  When they noticed my arrival, they simultaneously turned their heads to acknowledge me. In that brief moment, I seriously wondered how I hadn’t realised that William was Jason’s brother when I’d first met him. While their hair colours were different, they had nearly identical eyes, although William’s were slightly more piercing and somehow darker, even if their irises were exactly the same colour. However, William’s eyebrows always formed a slight frown, as if he was sharply judging and examining everything he looked at. Jason gazed around with an innate desire to appreciate everything he saw for what it was.

  Aside from their eyes, William’s jaw was a little sharper, but even their noses and full lips were eerily similar. I was such an idiot.

  “Morning,” I mumbled and completely ignored William’s grin to meet Jason’s patient gaze instead.

  “Morning, love. How are you feeling?” Jason responded affectionately while he pulled out the chair beside him. My heart throbbed at his tone. I didn’t deserve him. I hated that I’d betrayed and disappointed him.

  “I’ve got an awful headache,” I murmured as I descended into my seat. My eyes zoomed in on an aspirin beside the glass of orange juice then, and my heart melted. He would make a girl the luckiest in the world someday.

  He smirked at my reply and pointed towards the pill. “I’m miles ahead of you, dear.”

  Nodding, I necked it with a mouthful of orange juice. Afterwards, I faced him with a pout.

  “Jason, I’m seriously sorry about everything. I hate myself for betraying you like that. I—”

  “I know, Cara. I heard you last night. But we’ll talk about it later,” he cut me off, but his tone was forgiving. “I’d prefer if Will wasn’t here.”

  Glancing over at William, I saw that his eyebrows were arched in surprise, and surprise caught me too when he didn’t object. Instead, he recovered his composure rather quickly and focused on his breakfast.

  “Okay. Me too,” I said and grabbed my knife to smear a thick layer of butter onto my toast. William’s eyes looked about to fall out of his skull when he saw it.

  “Damn. Would you like some more bread with your butter?” he joked.

  I glared at him. “I like butter.”

  Beside me, Jason laughed. “Correction, she loves butter.”

  William’s lips slid into a charming grin. “Yes, I can see that. Duly noted,” he murmured and nodded to himself.

  I rolled my eyes and proceeded to top my slice of toast with a layer of scrambled eggs, but as soon as I did, I sensed William’s eyes on me.

  “Weak for his scrambled eggs, are you, love?” he asked. “Familiar recipe, perhaps?”

  I tensed. Seeming to catch on to William’s surreptitious comment, Jason frowned. “Right, what’s going on?” he demanded.

  I sighed. “Will made me scrambled eggs the morning after we first met. I thought they tasted familiar, but I… It just didn’t strike me.”

  “Oh my God,” Jason laughed. “This is ridiculous.”

  William’s grin endured while he sought my gaze. As soon as he caught it, he told me with a gleam in his eyes, “When you eventually accept your feelings for me, you may consider it a bonus. I’d be happy to make it for you anytime you like.”

  I wasn’t sure if it was because I was angry with his continued persistence and flirtatious behaviour, or because I felt exposed, but I turned bright red at once. “Are you actually socially inept? I can’t catch a fucking break with you ever, can I?”

  Jason reached for his iPad beside me, clearly determined to sign out.

  Meanwhile, William argued, �
�To be fair, I choose to be. Either way, it doesn’t make your feelings for me any less true,” he muttered and reached for his cup of coffee. “We could have dinner today, if you like.”

  Utterly despairing, I looked at Jason. “Jason, seriously. Can you tell this utter knob to give me a break, at least for a day? I’m fucking exhausted.”

  Jason sighed and scrolled on his screen, refusing to meet my desperate gaze. “Cara, if there’s one thing I know about my brother, it’s the fact that he doesn’t stop until he gets his way. I’m sorry, but I’ve had to live with it all my life, and now you do, too – especially when he knows you’re attracted to him. At least we can rejoice in our solidarity. For next time, don’t let him finger you when you’re out drinking together – that’s about as counterproductive as it can get.”

  “Can we please kick him out?” I begged over a tearless sob.

  Jason remained mute.

  “So?” William prompted. “What’s it going to be, Cara? Dinner?”

  I frowned. “If it wasn’t clear enough already, no! I’ve got plans, anyway.”

  His handsome head tilted. “What sort of plans?”

  “I’ve got a birthday to attend.” I abated all mention that I was going with Aaron, as I was sure that would only lead him to detonate. A caveman version of William was not something I had the strength to handle right now. I’d had enough drama – enough for a lifetime. Besides, his objection wouldn’t get him anywhere. I wasn’t about to cancel my plans with Aaron last minute for a man I wasn’t even certain I wanted to date. It was also Tyler’s birthday, and he was my friend, too. I had to show up. To add to it, who I was going with was none of William’s business. I hadn’t made up my mind about whether to date him yet, so for now, I had no obligation to him whatsoever. Besides, by not mentioning Aaron, I was sure I was sparing William from unnecessary anxiety.

  “Who with?” William asked.

  “Lad named Tyler,” I said, and I sensed Jason stiffening beside me. Meanwhile, William’s features hardened.

  “He a friend, or…?”