Page 43 of Hers To Keep
“Scarlett, don’t,” Ace says, snapping me out of my anger, as I lighten the pressure of my arm at her throat.
“You don’t want me to choke the life out of your precious bitch,” I sneer, pressing my thumb into the crook of her throat.
Carrington coughs loudly, exaggerating of course. I barely even touched her. “What makes you think you can tell me what to do?” she cries out, as Ace comes up behind me, placing a hand upon my shoulder. I look back to him and his gaze tells me to back off. He’ll get what I need out of her.
“Go, Scarlett. I’ll meet you outside. She’ll tell me, she’ll have no other choice. I’ll make sure of it,” he says. Not wanting to find out what it is he’s willing to do to convince her to tell him, I flip him off before leaving the room.
“Fuck you, Ace Servite, you two deserve each other.”
One minutetill we ring in the New Year, and everyone has scattered along the beach, gathering to watch the fireworks show.
I stand by a tree near the end of the path leading toward the crowded sand, watching it all unfold before me. My entitled classmates are drunk off their asses, ready to ring in a new year of equal opulence and good fortune, unbothered by the struggles of the rest of the world, beyond their town limits. Their parents, equally if not more wasted then their offspring, are toasting to anew year of prosperity and high-status. While I stand back watching, as I once again come to accept the fact that hope breeds misery, and in my case, a new year brings new sacrifices.
“Everyone’s looking to the sky to see the beautiful fireworks when the epitome of beauty stands here before me.” I turn and find Ace stumbling toward me, with his jacket gone and shirt now completely unbuttoned. He’s obviously drunk, but still looks sexy as fuck, as the moonlight illuminates him from behind, his hair looking golden in its glow. He glides closer to me, stopping only inches away from me, cupping my face in his palm. My head involuntarily tilts, loving the feel of his hot calloused hand against the cold skin of my cheek. My eyes close, as tears ask for an escape from their confines behind my lids.
“They look for beauty in all different places when it’s been standing in front of them all along. It’s unforeseen yet so satisfying,” he leans down, and I know he’s going to kiss me. His lips are red and thick, slightly parted, his breathing heavy as he looks down at mine. I should pull away. I want to pull away.
I should push him away. I don’t know what happened between him and Carrington, but her words, however ill-willed they may have been, are true.When Agent Servite orders Ace to end our relationship, will he listen? Will he once again obey his king? Or will the rebel prince revolt and continue to fight with me?
But then again, I must remember Agent Servite was the one who texted me to go upstairs, he wanted me to find Ace with her, probably even ordered her to take him up there, all so I’d find them together and doubt his intentions. It’s all too complicated, it always is, and as much as my common sense wishes I’d pull away, my need for him is too overpowering and I give in to my impulse. He takes my mouth in a torturous kiss, the endless lies he tells falling like venom along my lips, like sweet poison coating my tongue. He’s my only drug, and like an addict, I can’t pull away from his enticing taste.What is wrong with me? Am I truly this far gone?
Ace devours my mouth taking with him every inch of me and every bit left of my sanity. My fear. My rage, my pain.How can this beautiful man make me feel so powerless against him?He tastes of whiskey and something sweet that I cannot quite pinpoint. My mind plots to deceive me, the cunning bitch that she is. He’s probably been kissing her.
The sky sparks above us, thundering as the rain pours down. Screams are heard among the attendees, who instead of running for shelter, dance around basking in the rainfall.
I pull away from him pleading. “Ace, please, what game are you playing? My heart can’t take such torture.” I can’t hold back the tears anymore and they fall slowly, but deliberately against my cheeks, mixing in with the tears the sky is shedding. He reaches out to me running his finger across my cheek, catching my teardrops against the hardened skin of his fingers.
“I’m working it out, please give me time. Be patient with me. Just trust that what I feel for you is real and what you see is all part of my plan.” I pull away from his touch. The torment of his words and sting of his actions are too much to handle.
“I can’t anymore, it just hurts too much. I don’t deserve to feel so much pain. I’m not a bad person, I can’t be.” He runs a hand through his tousled wet hair and reaches for me once more, my body too weak to fight. My emotions overtake my mind every time I try to fight my fate, reminding me once again I’m not the one in charge.
“You’re an angel, Scarlett, you’re my guardian angel. I feel safe whenever I’m around you and losing you would be my ruin.” I can see true pain in his eyes, but I can also see my reflection. I don’t recognize myself. I haven’t been able to since I met him and if I don’t pull away now, I may never again. I place a soft kiss upon his cheek and with such sorrow I back away.
“You are my ruin, Ace Servite, this torturous love affair is going to be the end of me,” I whisper before leaving him there stranded amidst a sea of his people, just as the clock rings in the New Year.
Chapter
Twenty-Six
SCARLETT
“So, it’s Ace’s birthday tonight?” Jade asks, as she shamelessly steps into my bedroom, not bothering to knock. She walks over to me as I’m slipping into the faux leather miniskirt I’ve chosen for the party tonight and places a bottle of tequila and two red solo cups on the counter beside me. She hands me one cup which surely contains some kind of cocktail she’s concocted.
Taking the cup, but ignoring her obvious question, I pull a white sleeveless, cleavage baring crop top from my closet. It’s one of the sexiest pieces I own and purchased from the ritzy boutique in town. I had yet to find an occasion to wear it, so tonight seems like the perfect opportunity. I hold it up to my chest trying it on as I look in my mirror, debating on whether to wear it.
“What can you possibly get a guy who has it all?” Jade asks, as she moves behind me, looking over my shoulder at my reflection in the mirror.
“Who says I’m getting him anything at all?” I say, turning and hanging the top back in my closet. It’s a no go. I can only imaginethe glares I’d receive from the judgmental pricks and snobby bitches of the academy if I showed up in that. Not to mention, Ace would surely have some kind of aneurysm and be furious at me for baring so much skin in front of his friends and devotees.
On second thought.
“A night of unadulterated passion. Maybe the gift of submission,” she continues to speak, as I continue to ignore her. I look up at her as she smiles, winking at me and interrupting my thoughts with her chatter. Jade’s dressed in a beautiful turquoise strapless dress, ending just above her thigh. Her five-inch, stiletto heels make her look like a runway model, except with curves in all the right places, not an anorexic twig figure.
“Maybe not,” I mutter, pillaging my closet, searching for something else to throw on.
“Come on, Scar, I bet the sex is out of this fucking world. God, I can just imagine it. His demanding, dominating nature, you’re sultry, relentless defiance, a match made in hell that surely feels like heaven.” Jade moves to pull the hanger back out of my closet, throwing the provocative top at me. “And yes, you are wearing this.” I scowl at her, just as she raises a brow to me silently, letting me know she won’t back down unless I put it on.
Damn her, and the power she has to read my thoughts.