I moved forward, planting my elbows on the table and leaned my head on them. “I’ll tell you mine if you tell me yours.”
The left side of his mouth pointed up. “Deal. You first.”
“Okay. I ran away, because I want to get away from my father. He controls my life and I’m sick of it. Your turn.”
“Whoa, hold on. Your dad controls your life? In what way? And do you mean you ran away for good or …?”
I lifted my finger and shook it from side to side. “Ah, ah. That wasn’t part of the deal. I told you my secret, now tell me yours. If you want to know more, you gotta spill it first. That’s how this game works.”
He sniggered and took a slurp. “Right.”
“Well, come on, tell me.”
He sighed. “I wasn’t reading that book.”
“Okay, then what were you doing?”
“I was looking at the pictures.” His neck grew red.
“Why? Do the pictures tell you more or something? You were holding it upside down.”
“Isn’t it obvious?” His entire face turned red now.
“No, I don’t get it.”
Finn heaved a sigh. “I can’t read.”
For a moment I was dumbstruck. My hands dropped to the table and I gaped at him. I wanted to ask him if it was a joke, but the avoiding eyes and his flushed skin showed otherwise. This was real.
“Don’t look at me like that.” Finn said and gulped down his second coffee.
“I’m not. I’m sorry, I wasn’t aware of it.” I fiddled with my fingers under the table. “Do you mind telling me how come?”
“Nope, but first it’s your turn.”
“What?”
“I told you my secret, now tell me more. That’s how this game is played.” With a smug on his face he set his mug down, while staring at me.
“Are you sure you want to know? So much details being shared here and I’m just a stranger to you.”
“Well, you started it.”
“Oh, isn’t that mature.” I shook my head, he gave me a sly smile in return. Guess he was finally warming up to me. I wasn’t sure what I was doing, since I knew my father would eventually force me to pick one of his men, but I was determined to find my own. Now that I found one hell of a guy, I was sure I needed to know more about him.
“How old are you?” he asked.
“Twenty three, not that old. You?”
“Twenty eight.” He laughed.
I nodded.
“So you still live with your parents,” he began.
“Parent. One. I only have my father.”
“Oh, I’m sorry …”
“It’s okay, my mother ran on out him when I was four, so I have little memories of her.”
His pupils dilated and he cleared his throat.
“But that wasn’t a question,” I said. “So pick another one.”
“Okay … Are you running away for good?” he continued.
“No … Not yet,” I said, smirking.
“Not yet? What do you mean?”
“My turn! Do you have a girlfriend?”
Finn’s eyes widened when I asked.
Then I heard footsteps and another worker came in, this one much older, somewhere in his forties. “Go play lovebirds somewhere else,” the man said and stomped through the bus, making my seat tremble.
Finn cleared his throat, looking annoyed. “Let’s go,” he said, ushering me to get out.
He quickly stood behind me and placed his hand on my back. The big, warm hand left a damp spot on my skin. His touch was gentle, yet his fingers rugged. We walked down the steps, only to face the fence to the surrounding land of my father’s house. Louis was standing in front of the gate, looking around.
“Shit, shit shit!” I muttered and pulled Finn’s hand.
“Hey, what are you doing?” he stammered, when I pulled him across the construction site, running somewhere so Louis couldn’t see me. A small shack stood in front of us and I rushed toward it, still holding onto Finn, slammed open the door, pushed us both inside and rammed the door shut.
“What the hell are we doing here?” Finn muttered. I shushed him and put a finger on his lips.
“Hiding,” I muttered. “From my father’s help.”
My breathing was ragged and we were in a very narrow space. I looked through the tiny window in the door and set my eyes on the fence. Louis stood there, gazing around the city, most likely looking for me.
A warm breath soothed my skin and I remembered my finger was still placed on his lips. I turned my face toward Finn. He was standing not an inch away from me, his emerald eyes on me, our legs constrained. His broad biceps twitched, the veins pulsing underneath. I admired the sculpted shapes of his body. Our feet, arms and chests touched and I could hear the thumping of his heart, the rate increasing.
I didn’t think twice, removed my finger and planted a firm kiss on his lips. Salty, but oh so delicious and he tasted of dark, bitter coffee. He was sexy and hot and I wanted him right there and then. But I realized I’d just attacked this guy out of nowhere.
I pulled back and looked at him, breathing shallow breaths. He stared in disbelief then gripped my upper arm, dragged me closer and kissed me. His rough skin grazed mine as his lips moved with gentle sucking motions. The moisture building up between us was hot and tasty and I wanted more of him. My hands drifted up along his arm and my fingers entwined behind his muscular neck. Desire stirred in my most inner parts.
But then he pushed me away and gazed at me, frowning. His eyes shifted from left to right and his grip became firmer every second. “I can’t do this,” he said.
“What? What are you talking about?”
He opened the door again and stepped out. “You. Me. This. Whatever you’re doing, don’t.”
“Why not? You kissed me back.”
“I did, but we shouldn’t.”
“Finn, I like you. I thought we clicked.”
“We do. Just … never mind.” Finn sauntered off, kicking a nearby bag and left me here alone.
Chapter 3
My stomach churned as I walked past the gates of my house, returning to that dreaded place. I didn’t want to go back there, but what choice did I have? I didn’t have anything to support myself. If I ever ran away, my own earned money wasn’t going to be mine. My father made sure of that. And worse, he would definitely pull me from his heritage and that would leave me with nothing. Nothing at all. I wasn’t anything. I was just a puppet on a string played by my father. Nothing was mine to keep and I was only what he demanded me to be. His daughter: a pawn for more money, that was all.
I stepped through the door, hoping that nobody noticed I was gone. Of course Louis knew, but he wouldn’t have told my father, would he? He wouldn’t do that to me.
“Welcome home, Grace,” he said, creeping up from behind the door, almost giving me a heart attack.
“God, Louis!” I gave him a slight smack on the chest and he coughed. “You scared me.”
“Sorry, I never meant to, Miss.”
“Oh, stop calling me Miss already. I get so sick and tired of not being able to just talk to you normally. You’re the best bud I have and that says a lot,” I said and gave him a friendly slap on the back.
“I will. Have you not seen the messages I sent you?”
I took my cell phone from my pocket and pretended to check. “Nope, sorry.”
“Your father was very worried about you.”
“Damn right I was!” I heard my father before I even saw him. He barged from my office, clenching a handful of papers. “Have you lost your mind? I told you to stay and pick one. Now I had to send them all home.”
“Good!” I clenched my fists against my waist.
“You cost me a tremendous amount of money, Grace, and how do you repay me? Like this?”
Tears welled up in my eyes. “I’m your daughter, but I’m also a human being. I need my own life.”
“Have you no respect for your heritage?”
“I do, but I’m twenty three and I’m a grown woman who can decide for herself what she wants to do, you know.”
“This is my house and you’ll live by rules. Go to your room. Now! We’ll speak about this tomorrow,” he said, pointing at the stairs, the stern look in his eyes unforgiving.
I sniffed and forced the tears away. This man didn’t deserve to see them flow.
I ran up the stairs as quick as I could, forgetting a few steps in between. Barging into my room, I slammed the door and flopped down onto my king size bed, whimpering. I stayed there all day, feeling like a princess locked away in a high tower. The girl who had everything and nothing at the same time.
During dinner I refused to speak to my father. It felt like a small victory, something I could control, though he didn’t seem at all bothered by it. On the contrary, he seemed to enjoy the unusual silence between us.
When the night set in, I decided I wouldn’t take this any longer. This was my life and I was supposed to be the one in charge of it, not him. It was time for me to take it back. I had to get out.
I dug under the bed and rummaged in an old box where I kept my mother’s belongings. In the bottom I’d stashed away some money, for emergency cases. Well, this was definitely a bad situation, so I took it out and filled my pockets.
I gathered some clothes, toiletries and the usual stuff, like my wallet and phone. Everything was chucked into a big suitcase. I stuffed my bed with fluffy pillows and opened the window. Peering over the edge, I pushed my suitcase through and let it drop to the roof below. It came down with a smack and I hoped nobody heard the noise.
With haste I clambered through myself and jumped down onto the roof. I repeated the entire thing until I reached the ground and then heard the doors of the mansion creak open.
Shit!
I picked up my suitcase, now covered in grass and sand, and rolled it to the nearest wall. I’d done this so many times before, when I sneaked out to visit a hotty, but never with a heavy suitcase.
Mustering all my strength, I hurled the suitcase over the fence and heard it crash down on the other end. Then I climbed over myself, but the sound of rushing footsteps coming closer made my muscles twitch. The sun hadn’t set yet and I could be seen easily, which wasn’t supposed to happen. I was anxious, afraid to be discovered, and lost my balance because of my nerves.
Head first, I flopped down onto the ground.
Ouch!
My face landed in sticky, green grass, the taste of it was like dry seaweed. Yuck. Spitting out the grass, I heard muffled voices behind the fence and immediately sprung into action. Pulling up from the ground, I felt some goo covered half of my face. It wasn’t something I should be worried about right now. I needed to hurry and get out before they found me.
“Grace?” I heard a familiar voice behind me.
I turned around and saw Finn standing there with a look on his face as if he’d seen a monkey escape from a zoo.
“Finn!” I shouted, too loud, and slapped my hand in front of my mouth. I skidded to my suitcase and snatched it from the ground. It felt even heavier than before, now covered in wet grass, like myself.
“What are you doing?” he asked, jamming his lips tight to prevent laughter from spilling out, but I could still hear it.
“No time to explain,” I said, rolling the suitcase off the grass to the nearest street. Finn followed me. I didn’t know what he was doing here, but I couldn’t focus on either things happening.
With big steps I barged through the street, trying to get as far away from the mansion as possible. I didn’t know where I was going, but anywhere was better than here. Maybe I could rent a room in some hotel somewhere, but that would mean spending all the cash I had. Meanwhile, Finn was still on my heels.
“Grace, hold up,” he said.
I continued, but my eyebrows slowly lowered into a six ‘o clock position.
Then he placed his firm hand on my shoulder and twirled me around with any trouble.
“What?” I said, the pitch in my voice fluctuating.
“Where are you going?”
“I could ask you the same thing,” I said. Maybe I was a bit too harsh on him. It wasn’t his fault I had to run, but he was holding me up now and I needed to get away from the house, quick.
“Following you. I’m worried. You looked like you were in trouble.” The look on his face turned from curiosity to concerned.
I snorted. “Spot on, dude.” Tugging myself loose from his grip, I tried to walk further, but he blocked my way. “Let me through,” I said.
“No.”
I bit my lip, anger boiling up inside me. “What do you want from me Finn? Can’t you see I’m trying to get away here?”
“I want you to be safe and you don’t seem you are.”
“No shit, Sherlock. I thought you didn’t want me around, so why are you coming after me all of the sudden?”
“I only just finished my shift and then I saw you flopping down onto the grass like some acrobat. Sorry if I was a bit confused, you know.”
“Well … Well, it’s none of your business,” I said, swallowing away the upcoming tears.
“Hey.” Finn grabbed my upper arms. “Are you alright?”
I sighed. “No. I’m not alright. Far from it.” The look in his eyes, compassion, or pity, I don’t know what it was, but it set me off. Tears dripped from my eyes, down onto my shirt and I knew he’d seen it.
He pulled me in and embraced me. His muscled arms were around me, pushing me into the cushions of his pectorals, but it felt warm and comfortable. And then the whimpering came. I cried and cried until my tears had his shirt so wet I could see right through it, exposing his nipples. The green crap on my face smeared across his shirt, but he didn’t seem to care for any of it. Finn shushed me and placed his hand on top of my head, caressing me softly.
“If you want somewhere to crash, you can stay at my place,” he said.
I looked up at him, a gentle smile appeared on his face. “And you could take a shower, ‘cause you’re covered in dirt.”
I laughed. “Just like you.”
“Oh, I’m dirtier than you can imagine.”
I gaped at him. “Finn! You womanizer!”
With a smug face he said, “I’m only telling the truth. So, are you coming to my place or what?”
I giggled. “Alright, I’ll come with you.”
He gave me a sly smile and picked up my suitcase like it weighed nothing. Then he held out his arm and I gladly hooked my arm around his. I didn’t understand why he changed his mind about me, but it was nothing to complain about. I was hanging onto him, peeking glances at his buffed body. He was too hot not to look at.
“So … you live there? In that castle?” he asked.
I swallowed. This wasn’t something I wanted to talk about. I nodded, not knowing what to say.
“Why would you want to run away from a place like that? Seems fantastic to live there.”
“It’s not. My father controls every part of my life. It’s not fun when you can’t decide a single thing for yourself.”
“True, but at least you never had to worry about money. I wish I grew up like that …” His eyes glided to the floor, avoiding my gaze.
“Then how did you grow up?” I asked, curious.
He turned his head away from me. “Not something I want to talk about right now.”
“Oh … sorry,” I said.
Finn peeked at me with a tiny smile on his face. “Don’t want you to get any more depressed.”
I smiled and flushed. “I’m not. I’ve got good company.”
The smile on his face grew larger and we both just walked ahead, grinning the entire way to his house. Even though I barely knew him, I was going with him, planning to crash at his place. He was a stranger, yet I knew him better than I knew anyone else in my life. I wanted to get to know more about him.
Chapter 4
Finn’s house was a one-bedroom apartment with a musty smell to it
. The door and floor were dirty of his muddy footsteps and a faint dripping noise was audible, coming from the sink.
“Well, this is my home. It’s not much, but it’ll do,” he said and kicked his shoes to the side, sliding the sand across the floor. He didn’t seem to care much for being clean.
“It’s cool,” I said, even though it was tiny and grubby, it was his and his alone. He had this place all to himself and could do whatever he wanted. My dream.
“There’s the bathroom,” Finn said, pointing at a door to my left, “you can wash up there. Take a shower if you like.”
“Okay, thanks,” I replied and took my suitcase with me into the bathroom. It was small, only just large enough to walk through, but at least I could clean myself up. Making sure the door was locked, I undressed and stepped under the hot water. The streams were a welcome relaxation for my body.
When I was done, I wrapped a towel around my waist and opened the door a tiny bit, to let some fresh air inside. Prying open my suitcase was hard, the lock was jammed because of the fall it made earlier. I pushed and pulled, but it wouldn’t come loose. As I tugged, I lost my balance. Squealing, I dropped to my butt, catching myself with my elbows.
“Ouch!”
“Grace, what happened?” Finn yanked the door open and stormed toward me. “Are you okay?”
“It hurts a little. I couldn’t get my suitcase open and then I fell,” I said, as Finn helped me up. His strong, calloused fingers were clenched around my arms, dragging me up with no problem. His eyes drifted down to my boobs. When I looked at him, his face reddened.
“What?” I asked.
He bit his lip then said, “Might want to fix the towel.”
My gaze dropped to my boobs and noticed I’d flashed one.
Shit!
I shrieked, blushed and pulled it up. My face was still pointing down, too embarrassed to look at him, but then I noticed the bump in his jeans. It was growing. Oh my God.
I looked up into his emerald eyes and saw hungry lust staring back at me. He was lying when he said he didn’t want this with me.
I threw myself at him, hooked my arms around him and kissed him full on the lips. He was still rugged and delicious, and I could feel my nipples brushing his chest. It was a turn-on and I wanted so much more from him.
Doing It Wild (Erotic Romance) Book 1 Page 2