Lush Seduction

by Layla Arts

  “If you need help you can always ask me, babe,” Hadrian confessed. I shook my head promptly, rejecting the offer as soon as it was laid on the table. I didn't want anyone else's money. I know he was genuine in wanting to help me, but if I couldn't do it on my own, then I was a failure.

  “I don't want your help, Hadrian,” I assured him. “I appreciate it a lot, but I want to do this on my own.”

  “I understand that, babe. But I don't want you stressing yourself out, spreading yourself too thin when I can help.” Hadrian kept a hold of my hair-tie, and he progressively forced it off. He trailed his hand through the hair that was now shamelessly falling down my back. “When you're with me, do not wear your hair in a bun, ponytail, or braid. I like you having your hair down.”

  “Okay,” I said as I got up from my perch on Hadrian's lap. I adjusted my dress, and Hadrian got up as well. He snatched his car keys, and we both walked to his vehicle.

  It was exciting to be driven to V's Café by Hadrian – in his Bentley. A perfect example of the two contrasting worlds that collided every time we were together.

  He was the prosperous kid with everything that he wanted, and I was the girl who moved all the way from Texas to make her childhood dream come true – with only a few hundred dollars.

  Despite our – what I would say are evident – differences, Hadrian was perfect for me.

  Hadrian had his hand placed gracefully on my upper thigh as we were seated in his car. I felt the heat exuding from his fingers, and coming in contact with my unprotected skin. Sometimes I felt him shift his fingertips a bit, and I couldn't help but think of how hot it would be to do it in this car. I didn't know what Hadrian thought about doing to me – sexually or otherwise – but whatever it was, I knew I would thoroughly enjoy it.

  We arrived at V's Café, and I was anxious to get to work because the quicker I started, the faster I would get home. Hadrian parked the car relight out front of the café, so I didn't have to walk half a mile to get there. He knew me so well.

  Hadrian didn't turn the car off after he had parked, and I opened the door to get out.

  “Forgetting something?” Hadrian grumbled before I had placed a foot on the pavement. “Can I have one of those love story goodbye kisses?”

  He didn't have to ask me again. By the time he took another breath, my lips were placed on his. The kiss was melodious and faithful. It was disheartening to stop, but I had to get inside for my shift. Hadrian quickly pecked my lips before playfully pushing me out the door of the car.

  I shut Hadrian's car door and headed toward the café entrance. Before I had a chance to get inside, I had to turn around at the sound of Hadrian calling my name repeatedly. He was leaning over the center console, the window rolled down, as his beautiful eyes locked on mine.

  “Tell my favorite human being, Kent, that I said ‘hi’. Hadrian teased.

  I groaned at his words. “That is not going to happen.” I protested.

  “Please do it for me, Vicks. That would be so fucking funny.”

  “Do it yourself,” I said.

  “All right.”

  I thought he was joking until I saw him shut his car off and open the door. He casually strolled toward me with a satisfied smirk on his face. My arms were folded against my chest as I waited for Hadrian at the door.

  I heard the beep of his enables alarm before he shoved his key in his back pocket, and he attuned his hair with his right hand. First, he shook his head, and then he pushed his locks back. He placed his Ray-Ban onto the neckline of his white polo, and we got inside together. His hand was resting on my bum while we made our way into the café.

  Hadrian disappeared to God only knows where as I changed into my work clothes. My apron was tied around my back, and I put my hair in a high ponytail. It wasn't sanitary to work with my hair down, and it wasn't allowed either, so Hadrian would have to suck it up.

  I passed Clarity on my way to the cash register, and we addressed each other appropriately. We hadn't really talked for a long period of time, and I assumed that my job at the Empire was the reason for it, but I wasn't going to bring it up in the middle of our workplace.

  I heard my name being called by Veronica, who was now standing behind the cash register, and I walked over to her. Hadrian was standing in front of Veronica with a smirk on his face, and I wondered what he had done this time.

  “Who is this, Vicky?” Veronica questioned me peculiarly. “He keeps asking for you,” she questioned me curiously, and I snorted mutedly because I could already foresee Hadrian interrogating Veronica for me.

  “This is Hadrian,” I introduced Hadrian briskly to Veronica.

  “Boyfriend-in-training.” Hadrian cut me off as he took Veronica's hand, and placed a courteous kiss on her skin. I rolled my eyes at him, and I started to prepare some of the orders. “But I have to go since Vicky won't let me stay.” Hadrian pouted.

  “Get your ass out then,” I said sassily.

  “Surely that's not any way to treat a customer is it, Miss West,” he said, putting his hands up in mockingly.

  I quickly agreed with Veronica when she told me I had to say goodbye to Hadrian outside. The wink she gave me – after Hadrian turned around – had me convinced she had seen us kissing in his car.

  Hadrian pulled me into a suffocating hug, and I inhaled his cologne. I liked how he always smelled the same – so warm and familiar.

  “Like we would fight,” I said. “You need to go now,” I declared as I pulled out of Hadrian's embrace. “I will see you tomorrow.” I said, and I kissed his cheek.

  “I am fine with that for once,” Hadrian said, and he pressed his lips on my forehead in a sweet gesture. I saw him walk away, and it was sexy. Don't ask me why, but the way Hadrian walked was hot. I heard the beep of the disarmed alarm when he arrived next to his Bentley. I wish I could just get back in the car and go home with him.

  “Don't be naughty!” Hadrian yelled from across the parking lot.

  He had no shame.

  I pretended that I hadn't heard him, so I returned inside. I got back to the spot I had been standing before Hadrian and Veronica interrupted me.

  The counter was covered in spots of spilled coffee and cupcake crumbs, so I grabbed a cloth to clean it off. Veronica was diligently making milkshakes for a group of hormonal teenagers.

  “He looks delectable,” Veronica told me when I returned without Hadrian. He looked lovely, but once you got to know him his personality made him less desirable, but I just nodded my head in agreement. “Boyfriend-in-training I heard him say.” She beamed zealously. Well, she didn't know.

  “Sort of? I actually have no idea,” I confessed. Were Hadrian and I something? The only relationship I saw between us was that he was my boss and I was his employee. We often had an intercourse, and we saw each other habitually, but there has never been an actual talk about being in a relationship with one another.

  “Well, he has character, so you better not let him walk away from you.” Veronica informed me in principle.

  I couldn't have quarreled with that because she was right. Hadrian was quite a character; I had never met someone who could be so sexual, comical, freehearted, and academic at the same time. I had dated douchebags, and Hadrian could definitely be a douchebag, but he managed to be it in a way no one else had ever been it, and it was incontestably amusing.

  I was over the moon when Veronica let me leave early. I threw my dirty apron in the laundry hamper, and I walked over to my locker. I opened it, and I got my bits and pieces out. I checked my phone in hopes, but I had no missed texts from Hadrian or anyone else. I was fortunate enough to hail a cab after I left, and I rested my head against the windowpane as I hummed the lyrics that flowed through my headphones.

  As I was driving back to my apartment, the foreboding of lonesomeness didn't suit me at all. I had done such glorious things to make my apartment homelike, that spending time with Hadrian made me want to have him there as well. It felt like coming home minus Hadrian was
n't right. I yearned for someone who cared for me, and who would do everything to see me just for a minute. Hadrian was that person.

  My thoughts got the better of me, and I took out my phone to text Hadrian.

  Vicky: “I know it's stupid to ask, and you'll probably think I'm clingy for even asking, but... Will you spend the night with me?”

  And I wasn't disappointed when I read his reply to my text. It was like one little text from him silenced all my doubts.

  Hadrian: “I'm already at your door.”

  ***

  I reached my apartment, and I saw Hadrian's Bentley parked just outside the entrance. I felt my cheeks flush in excitement, seeing him was the best part of my day. I opened the door to the apartment complex, and I ran right past the elevator to the stairs – the elevator would take too long. My feet came in contact with the steps at a rapid pace, the sound of my trainers hitting the concrete echoed through the stairwell. Maybe I was being crazy, but the stairway was empty, so no one saw me, and this was Hadrian Smith waiting for me – who wouldn’t be crazy?

  I gasped for breath when I finally reached the landing on my floor. I swatted the matted hair from my forehead before proceeding into the hallway. I slammed the doors open anxious to break the only thing left standing as a barrier between Hadrian and I. When I was standing mere meters from my door, I stopped to think about what was happening to me.

  My heart hammered in my chest, more from excitement than the three flights of stairs I just sprinted. My mind was clouded with thoughts of Hadrian, the haziness that had once been there – the exhaustion from working today – was replaced with nothing but Hadrian. I knew I had turned into someone who was falling extensively and overpoweringly in love with a person she never thought she could fall for.

  I could see him sitting on the ground by my door, patiently waiting for me to come home to him. It was if he could feel me staring at him – admiring him – and his eyes flickered to mine.

  A breath-taking smile painted his face, and I couldn’t help but think of how lucky I was. Hadrian consumed me – bewitched me – and I couldn’t have hoped for anyone better.

  I was standing on a precipice, that I was sure to fall from if I wasn’t fortunate enough to have him catch me, but I wasn’t afraid. I know that this was it, I could feel the choices resonate in my bones – to my core – it was like I was standing at a crossroad, but I no longer had a choice.

  My hands became clammy with perspiration, but it was a wonder as to why I felt nervous all of a sudden. Hadrian pursed his lips before clasping his bottom one between his teeth. My breath hitched when Hadrian reached out his hand for me. I quickly took his outstretched hand, and carefully intertwined our fingers. His hands were bigger than mine, but somehow they fit together perfectly.

  I moved closer to Hadrian and wrapped my arms around his torso. His arms snaked around my shoulders, his hands entwined and rested on my lower back. The bitter wind howled through the open courtyard at the center of the complex, but I didn’t make an attempt to move, nor did Hadrian.

  “Vicky.” The sound of his voice came into my ear, and it was so close, that goosebumps appeared on my skin. I felt Hadrian squeeze me tighter before he slipped his hands down to skim my arms. “Does it sound stupid when I say I fucking missed you for those three hours?”

  “No, not at all,” I said while I looked at Hadrian. He was delighted with my answer, because his dimples appeared at once. I rested my hands on his chest while we stood in front of my apartment. I didn't mind that we were outside, I just wanted to be with him right now. “Why were you sitting on my doorstep?”

  “I got world-weary at home,” Hadrian replied.

  “You have a whole playground, and you get bored?” I raised an eyebrow in question.

  “Yes, I do,” Hadrian answered me. “I don't have anyone to play with,” he added while he rested his forehead against mine.

  “Can you two please be dormant? Folks, like me, are trying to catch some sleep.” I chuckled lightly, and I could see Hadrian feeling a bit chagrined when we heard my neighbor. This time she didn't want some refined sugar, just for two people to shut their mouths. Hadrian rested with his hand on my lower back when he turned around to face her.

  “I am sorry, Miss…?”

  “Berch,” she spoke, clearly peeved.

  “Well, we want to apologize, Miss Berch,” Hadrian said considerately. I needed to hold in my laughter when I felt Hadrian grab my bum now and then. We looked like two teenagers who just got caught by their teacher. I held the keys to my apartment in my hand while we stood here waiting impatiently for a reply from my elderly neighbor.

  “Not tolerable,” she said.

  “With all due respect Miss Berch, I think-”

  “I think we should get inside.” I cut Hadrian off while my hand covered Hadrian's mouth. “Have a divine evening, Miss Berch,” I wished her nicely. She huffed in exasperation and went back inside of her apartment with a scowl on her face. I pushed Hadrian inside of my apartment so that he couldn't go back and attempt to communicate with Miss Berch. “It is for your own safety,” I said when I closed the door behind me.

  “She seems like a pleasant person,” Hadrian remarked sarcastically.

  “She can be nice,” I told Hadrian. “However, she was tremendously crabby today.”

  “That’s putting it lightly,” Hadrian emphasized. “Can you make me some milk with anise? I have been waiting for it since I got here.” He told me. I looked at Hadrian in shock; he has been waiting for me for a while then. I nodded my head, agreeing to make him something warm to drink, but then I noticed a bag hanging over his shoulder.

  “Why are you carrying a bag?”

  “Oh, this old thing,” he said while holding it lazily. “I thought ‘I’ll just crash at Vicky’s tonight’, if you don’t mind?”

  “Awe, that is cute,” I said while pinching Hadrian's cheek.

  “That is enough of intimate touching today,” Hadrian said flippantly, and he escorted me to my own living and kitchen area. Hadrian's type of 'escorting' consists of one of his hands lazily hanging by his side while the other has a firm grasp on my ass, not very gentlemanly – if I do say so myself.

  “That is enough of intimate touching today,” I quoted Hadrian. “But let's grab Vicky's ass because that is appropriate.” I said while I was standing behind the kitchen counter. Hadrian placed his bag away, and he made a bun on the back of his head. It looked attractive how he did that. When he got up, I saw that Hadrian had placed his glasses on.

  “What?” he asked me straight off.

  “I like those glasses on you.” I complimented him.

  “Where are yours?”

  “They are on my nightstand.” He adjusted his pair of glasses when he reached for a book. I could see him open it, and read a few pages. He licked the pad of his index finger, using the newly acquired traction to flip the page. He kicked his boots off and laid on the couch. Hadrian was relaxing on my sofa – the inner me fangirled at the sight.

  I prepared two cups of warm milk – like he had asked for - and padded over to the couch. I took a seat beside Hadrian before bringing my knees to my chest, and I giving Hadrian his cup. I could feel the warmth radiating through the porcelain of my mug, and the fragrance of anise was dominant in the room.

  Hadrian was so preoccupied with his book, that I decided I would change into something more comfortable. I grabbed a pair of sweatpants, and an oversized University hoodie. I stumbled into the room, seeing that Hadrian was still fixed to the book, but when I sat next to him, I could see that he was reading.

  “Since when are you interested in reading a romance novel?” I asked Hadrian with a chuckle.

  “It makes me look smart,” Hadrian remarked, his eyes still focused on the words printed on the page.

  “It doesn't,” I said, and I pull the book down. “Because the book is upside down,” I announced, and I saw Hadrian grin widely. “Nice try, Hadrian, but that doesn’t make you any smarter
.”

  I loved these evenings; doing nothing, and being with the person who you liked to be with. Hadrian was playing with my curly locks. He wasn't laughing at me, but he was focused on my face. His eyes looked at me intently, and I wondered what he was thinking.

  “What are you thinking about?”

  “Life,” he spoke, his voice devoid of any trace of emotion. “Just things in general.”

  “Care to share?” I asked Hadrian when I leaned closer to him.

  “Everything has happened so fast since your audition at the Empire,” Hadrian muttered faintly. “I saw your audition, Vicks. You were so captivating.” His compliment made me blush immensely. “How you swayed your hips playfully. You had me back then, Vicky, and there was nothing that I wanted more than you.”

  “Hadr-”

  “And I know it sounds ridiculous, because I am not romantic – mostly I’m just a pervert, but I have my manners, I really do. I know I don’t really show it, but that’s because I feel like I don’t need to fool you to get you, I can be myself. There is no scandal, no barrier, and I love that. It’s just me spending time with my favorite person. I’ve been searching for that for so long, mostly in the wrong places, but I don’t need to anymore.”

  Hadrian tugged at my oversized hoodie to bring me closer.

  “I keep thinking about that time we were driving in my car, going on a date.” I swallowed the lump in my throat when Hadrian mentioned the word date. “We talked about how you hadn’t been camping for a long time, and that you deserve a holiday. And I know I was upset that you said you couldn’t just go for a holiday because you need to work for your money.”

  I nodded my head at what he was saying, I remembered this, but he wasn’t done, and I didn’t know where he was going with this.

  “I know it’s only a month away, and maybe I’m just bad at planning ahead, or maybe you don’t want to go with me, or maybe you have other plans.” He started to ramble, and it was clear he became apprehensive since he wanted to ask me something big.

  If it were just a small get-together, he would easily ask me to go somewhere with him, but this was something that was important to him.