Cool soft hands press down gently on my shoulders and startle me out of my emotional state. When I lift my head, I lock eyes with a tall beautiful woman that looks like she just stepped off a fashion runway. Her silky straight jet black hair spills freely down her pale shoulders all the way down to her midnight blue gown. Her eyes are as dark as coal and her lips are as red as the roses that adorned the main hall outside. She is draped in jewels and although she looks like she’s some sort of royalty, her eyes are as genuine and pure as anyone I have met in a very long time.
Those eyes show concern when she sees my face, but her smile soothes me. She leads me back to the padded bench, sits beside me and opens her small purse, removes a silk handkerchief and turns to face me. She’s yet to speak and I’m quite humiliated that someone has found me like this. There’s no way I can go back out there—not after this.
She extends her hand, lifts my chin to face her, and begins gently patting and wiping underneath my eyes. I don’t know why, but I let her continue. She doesn’t seem to care that she’s ruining her beautiful handkerchief, but it makes me feel guilty. Then she speaks and her accent is very prevalent.
“You know I’ve been waiting a very long time to meet you and I must say that Lucas’ wasn’t exaggerating when he spoke of your eyes. I’m sure they’re much more beautiful when you’re not crying. Are you alright, sweetie?”
“Um . . . thank you. How do you know Lucas?” I ask and prepare myself for another introduction of a former fuck-a pade. As stunning as she is, I’m sure they have hit the sheets a few times.
“I’m sorry darling. We haven’t met yet. I’m CeCe Depreve. I’ve been waiting a long time to meet the person who swept the infamous Lucas Drake off his feet.”
This is so not the way I pictured our introduction. “Oh, well we aren’t together anymore, but I’m sure you already know that. Lucas and I are just really good friends now,” I say and try to make my words believable, even though I was beginning to doubt them now myself.
“Skylar, I’ve known that man for a long time now and whether you are willing to admit it or not, you two are definitely more than friends. I’ve watched the two of you all night and there’s no denying that fact my dear. Lucas Drake has eyes for no one but you.”
“CeCe, it really is a pleasure to meet you and all, but I really think you’re mistaken. I attend these kinds of things with him all the time and we’re just business associates. Besides, I’m sure most of the women here will be on him like vultures. They usually are and I just stay off to the side. So, contrary to what you may believe, Lucas is still the same very happily single playboy he’s always been.”
She smiles at me and then waves her purse up at me.
“Let’s get you fixed up, shall we?” She offers and opens her purse to remove some makeup. She dabs a little bit on her finger and begins covering the areas where my mascara is smeared.
Doesn’t this woman get it? Lucas knows I’m not interested and I know he loves the attention from the ladies. When CeCe is done, she pats a bit of powder on my cheeks and places her items back into her small clasp purse. She looks down and then reaches for my hand that’s resting in my lap.
“Skylar, I know you don’t know me, but I’d like to share something with you. Before I met Tomas, I had been madly in love with my fiancée Raul. Jus when we were to wed, I caught him and another woman in our bed.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry! That’s awful!” I reply.
“Thing is, it never even bothered him that I walked in. He just stared back at me and kept pounding into the slut. He never loved me. He only wanted my family’s money. The cheating went on from day one, so I basically lost trust in all men. I swore I would never love again. This has happened to you, no?”
I nod and look back down before replying, “It hurts too much and I’m not willing to risk that again.”
“That’s how I felt until I met my husband. When I met Tomas, let’s just say he and Lucas were both all about chasing the women. The man who owned the gallery I did my first show at, had been both friends and clients of Lucas’. I was presenting my first exhibit downtown and Lucas had brought Tomas along with him, no doubt scoping for women. Tomas had been quite the charmer and kept trying to get me to go back to his place, but I did something he wasn’t expecting. I told him I wasn’t interested,” she says as she begins laughing.
I smile at her and continue listening to her tell her story.
“You should’ve seen his face when I told him, ‘No, thank you’. It was priceless. I figured he would go home with one of the many women that were fawning over him, but he didn’t. Instead, he hung around until after everyone had left. We talked and talked for hours and then he kissed me. It was magical and so powerful that we both felt it. It scared the hell out of me and I pushed him away and ran. I couldn’t let myself lose control to another man. In my mind, they all were cheaters and liars, plus I had already seen him in action. I knew I’d be just another girl in the sack to him.”
“What made you change your mind?” I ask, intrigued by her personal story.
“He never gave up on me. The harder I pushed him away, the harder he pushed back. For months, all he did was prove to me that he only wanted me and begged me to give us a chance. Then one day, I pushed him too far and I almost lost him,” she says as her face drops. I can see the pain in her eyes from the thought of losing him. “I love him more than anything in this world—he is the best thing that’s ever happened to me. And I almost lost him, all because I believed he would break my heart like my fiancée had.” She was silent a moment as she studied me. “I know Lucas has a past, honey, but we all do. That man loves you more than you’ll ever know. Don’t punish him for loving you. Love him back with all your heart. You deserve to be happy again, Skylar. Let him be your happiness.”
Her words hit me hard. I needed to hear this—I can relate to this girl. She knows how scared I am because she has been there too. Come to think of it, Lucas hadn’t brought anyone back to his room the whole time we’d been away from Austin. Sometimes he would even check on me before he went to bed—so does he sneak them in later? Could it be true? Could he really still love me? Had he really not been with anyone in the entire five months we’ve been gone?
I’m still trying to process it all in my head when she urges me up to stand.
“Come now. We mustn’t keep our men waiting. I’m sure Lucas is going crazy with worry. Let’s go shall we?” she says and I hesitantly smile and nod.
Once we’re back out into the open, I spot the two women that had been so nasty to me earlier standing near Lucas and another handsome tall man I assume to be Tomas. I feel CeCe’s hand tighten around mine and then she does something I hadn’t been expecting . . . she pulls me over to them. Lucas looks relieved to see me and not at all amused with the two girls that continue vying for his attention.
“Bonjour, CeCe!” The tallest brunette spoke first with a fake smile on her face. She slid her hand down Lucas’ arm and smirked at me. Lucas drew back his arm and moved away to bring me up against him.
“Cut the shit, Sasha. First of all, don’t ever show your face at another one of my events or so help me I will give you a real reason to visit that plastic surgeon of yours. Just so you know Botox for blowjobs isn’t paying off, sweetie. You and skank number two have exactly two minutes to exit this party gracefully, before I have you very ungracefully thrown out on your asses!” CeCe barked out and her husband proudly smiles and puts his arms around her waist.
“What? You wouldn’t dare!” Sasha roars and CeCe raises her hand to the man in the corner who is speaking into a device in his ear.
“Oui, madame!” The man says and then CeCe gives him orders to remove the ladies from the building.
Sasha screams and turns to face me. She calls me a few choice words and says I would always be worthless to him. I thought Lucas was about to rip her head off when I gathered my courage inside and spoke.
“Avoir une bonne nuit, chienne! Have a g
ood night bitch!” I say and CeCe throws her head back and laughs.
“Oh, I love this girl, Lucas!!” She says and Lucas whispers something in my ear.
“Yes, she’s easy to love isn’t she?”
Those words change everything in my already upside down world.
Lucas
When Sasha and Celine approach me tonight, I cringe. Yes, I shamefully had fucked both of them when I was trying to get over Skylar and now I realize it was about to bite me in the ass. Tomas stood next to me and smiled as he drank his bourbon and watched me squirm. He’s too entertained to actually intervene and help me out. Fucking bastard!
I still hadn’t been able to get free of Sasha and Celine’s claws when CeCe returns with Skylar. CeCe looks like she is about to behead me and the two girls beside me. She is such a sweet girl, but you don’t want to piss her off. Trust me—she’s more than brutal when you do.
Bracing for her wrath, I watch amazed as she has the two women thrown out. But nothing could’ve made me more proud than when Skylar told them off in French. Sweet Jesus, that was hot as fuck to witness.
We stayed until CeCe and Tomas had said their farewells to all of their guests and then we all hit a hot little club down the street. The girls are getting along fabulously and that makes me happy as fuck. I know how worried Skylar was to meet my friends and to be honest CeCe is a hard one to predict.
“She really cares about you, I can see it. Are you going to tell her that you’re in love with her?” Tomas asks me in my ear as we watch our girls make their way to the dance floor.
“I need to wait until she’s ready and then I’ll tell her.”
I look over and spot CeCe and Skylar laughing and grinding on the dance floor. Glancing over to Tomas, I watch his eyes zone in on his wife. CeCe turns to face him and wiggles her finger at him while performing a seductive move to get him to join her. One more shake of her ass is all it takes and Tomas shoves his glass into my chest.
“That woman will be the death of me. If she doesn’t stop, I’m going to end up fucking her on the dance floor,” he says as he makes his way to her. I laugh because he isn’t kidding—I’ve seen him do it before.
After watching my two friends wrapped into one another smiling like lovesick fools, I glance over to a smiling Skylar who’s now dancing alone. Suddenly, she is being tugged into another guy’s arms and I see red. I slam down the glass and make my way to her. No one will touch my angel but me. She looks relieved as I grab her arm and get her away from the guy. I ignore his anger and lock eyes with my goddess. As the music pounds, we dance closely to the beat. Every move she makes against me makes me lose more and more of my control. We dance like this until the sun comes up and we’re both exhausted. Once we reach the hotel, I see her to her room and then crash into my bed.
Tonight was magnificent. I’m in the city I love with the woman I adore. My life couldn’t get any better than this.
Skylar
Nothing is more magical than this place. Everywhere I turn I find more to appreciate about this beautiful city. I’ve never seen Lucas smile more than he has in the past week since we’ve been here. Tonight we’re having dinner overlooking the water. Maybe it’s the wine or maybe it’s the romance of the city, but I can’t help but feel myself falling for him more and more.
After another fabulous day together in the city, he takes me for dinner at one of his favorite places.
“Dance with me,” he says and I smile. I love dancing with this man.
Lucas leads me up and onto the stone walkway. We dance slowly to the music and I rest my chin on his shoulder. This is so different than the other night. I can feel desire and curiosity awakening in me. Am I ready for this? Will I ever be ready for this? I don’t know the answer, but I don’t need one. Perhaps he’s my answer to all of this.
When the song ends, I brave a glance into his eyes. The night air blows my sundress against me while he cups my face. I place my hand on his and blink up to see his emerald eyes devouring me. Slowly he inches his lips closer and I hold my breath. He kisses my mouth gently on each side before placing his lips on mine. It’s slow at first, but as his tongue finds mine we intensify the kiss. When we finally break for air, he turns up the sides of his mouth and traces my bottom lip with his thumb.
And for the first time in so many months, I feel as if I’m slowly coming back to life. This man, this wonderful man, just breathed life back into me and I’ll forever be grateful to him for it. I don’t know what this is I’m feeling, but for now this is what I need.
Leaving this place is much harder than I thought it would be. Lucas gently grabs my hand and leans in to kiss my lips. “We’ll be back soon, I promise. Next time, we’ll stay for as long as you want,” he promises.
“Be careful with those words, mister. I kind of fell in love with this place and might not want to leave,” I smile, but his look is very serious.
“Nothing would make me happier,” he replies and I try to ignore the tugging in my chest.
I want to love him. I want to be happy. Somehow, I just don’t think I’ll ever be able to let go of the man who still owns my heart.
Lucas
“Mr. Drake, sir, the pilot told me to notify you that we’ll be landing within the hour in New York,” Lucy, my flight attendant informs me and I nod in her direction.
“Thank you, Lucy,” I reply and close my laptop in front of me. I stand and stretch my arms above my head and glance over at my sleeping angel. She’s curled up in a blanket on the leather seat with her sketchpad on her lap. I walk over and gently move back the long curls that have fallen in front of her face. I don’t know what I had done to deserve her in my life. I know we aren’t officially together, but she owns me in every way.
I reach down and pick up her sketchbook and admire her artwork. She’s so unbelievably talented at this. I can’t even draw a stick figure without it looking like shit. Skylar has been working so hard lately on the new company design for Kingston Gilbert’s London office, that I know she’s exhausted. The two older men are quite smitten with her and have been charmed with her every proposal. Even if I’m being biased, it’s true that her design is phenomenal. I can’t wait for it to be revealed at their posh London party next month. Kingston Gilbert is also a client of mine and their parties are legendary.
By the looks of the invitation that had been sent out, this party will be their biggest bash yet. Themed a Mystery Masquerade Ball, each guest is to remain masked for the entire event. I’ve been to a few of these kinds of things before and it’s always fun to guess who’s behind the mask. More than anything, I can’t wait to see her in the dress that I bought for her. Actually, I had it personally designed for her, but she doesn’t have to know that part. Skylar looks great in anything she wears, but there is something about seeing her face light up when she’s all dressed up. The poor girl didn’t even get to go to her own prom, so I take extra effort with things like this to pamper her. I know she can’t afford to buy all the fancy attire these kinds of things demand and it makes her mad as hell when I always insist on paying for them. Every time I buy her anything expensive, she’ll pout and cross her arms at me. I secretly love seeing her pout. I think it’s about the second hottest damn thing in the world, actually. The first hottest thing is seeing this girl in a bikini. SWEET JESUS! (And she wondered why I made damn certain we spent as long as possible in Fiji!)
I lay her book on the seat beside her and place the blanket up over her bare shoulders. My hands linger on her skin for as long as I possible. She moves her head a bit to the side and then settles back into her deep sleep.
We would be in New York for the week and I have a huge surprise for her when we arrive. I can’t wait for her to see what’s waiting for her in her suite. I would happily give her the world if only she would allow me to, but this will be one gift she will definitely not pout about.
Skylar
When I wake up from my nap on the plane, I’m grumpy. I hate naps for this very reason, bu
t here lately I haven’t been sleeping well at all. Sure, I’ve been busy helping Lucas and making last approvals of my design for Kingston Gilbert, but lately Sebastian has been invading my dreams.
Every dream is so real . . . so captivating that I don’t want to wake up. If I stay asleep, then his touch is still real. His kiss, it’s still real. Our time together is still real. I love him in my sleep, but I hate him when I wake. I think I hate myself more for loving him at all. I have someone else who loves me and wants me. Lucas has never hurt me and he’s seen me through these dark times. Why can’t I get Sebastian out of my heart! I want to love Lucas, but I can’t. My heart won’t let me.
Rubbing my neck, I try to work loose the catch that is now there. Lucas’ hand slips over my skin and gently begins working on my muscles. Holy Shit! That feels so damn good right now.
“I wish you had taken the bed in the back instead of insisting on keeping me company all night. Now you’ve hurt your neck,” he says and I smile at him as I slide into the backseat of the waiting town car.
“No, I wanted to work on some sketches and it’s my fault for falling asleep in an awkward position. I think I’ll call it a night once we get to the hotel.”
“I’m afraid not, my pet. We have lots of work to do and I need you to work on getting ready for my meeting Thursday.”
“Lucas! We just got here and I already told you I had everything together,” I grumble at him and slouch further into the seat of the town car. Crossing my arms I look out my tinted window at the airport traffic and silently curse him all the way to our hotel.
Once we check in, I reluctantly follow Lucas up to our suites. All I want is a hot bath and to crash. Surely he can wait until tomorrow before needing my help. Lucas stops in front of my suite and hands me my card and smiles. That smile of his truly is lethal. Every bit of my anger evaporates the moment I see his eyes begin to sparkle.
Thorneless (Rose of Thorne Series) Page 5