Page 66 of Resist
She’s holding a pink cocktail in a glass in her slender fingers, her dark hair cascading over her shoulders, and a small smile is cemented on her face.
A circle of our friends are seated on various chairs around her, and Thor and Jagger are on the floor, legs outstretched. They’re laughing, chatting, and if Corabelle is playing a role, she’s doing a pretty damn good job of it. She looks relaxed, even happy.
Most of the guests have left for the evening, Michael’s wifeincluded, but he remains in the corner with a couple of his friends like a bad smell. He’s outstayed his welcome, but my darling fake wife won’t let me kick him the fuck out of my wedding.
The urge to have someone escort him from the room is overwhelming, but if I did that, he’d think we were hiding something, and that would only spur him harder to keep an eye on us. He’d probably double his efforts to try to find a chink in our marriage.
Bastard.
If he is going to stick around like a carbuncle on the ass of my happy day, I want to give him something to watch.
I stop at the bar to grab my beautiful fake bride a refill of her cocktail before meandering through our friends to the couch. “On your left.” I hold out the drink to her, and she takes it with a grateful smile.
“Thank you.” Corabelle picks up her feet, but before she can swing them to the floor, I hook my hand around her ankles, pull them onto my lap, and pop off her shoes.
If I have to be a fake husband, I’m going to be the best fucking fake husband Minnesota has ever seen. Digging my thumb into the arch of one of her feet draws a low moan from my wife. She tries to retract her toes from my grasp but I hold on tight.
Talia giggles. Addison kicks off her shoe and brandishes her foot at Thor, wiggling her toes to get his attention. He bites the tip of her big toe, and conversation resumes while I give the new Mrs. Corabelle Montgomery a foot rub.
“We should play truth or dare. Right, Lingy?”
If I wasn’t cradling Corabelle’s feet, I’d have thrown something at my sister.
“I’d rather not.” I can’t even hide the disdain and disappointment in my voice.
Tessa purses her lips. “Why? Afraid you’ll have to tell allyour friends you had an invisible friend until you were twelve?”
My face heats as Corabelle turns her attention to me. “You didn’t.”
I shake my head. “Wobblekins lives. I still see him. He’s right behind you.”
She rolls her eyes in response. “I’m too comfortable to do any dares. But I’m down for sharing some truths. Though I’m not sure I can trump Wobblekins.” She takes a sip of her drink, skilfully avoiding spilling even a single drop on her fancy dress.
“Cora loves vampires.” Phoenix throws out that little factoid as she hands my sister a drink and sits on the floor at her feet. “Obsessively so.”
“Vampires?” Tessa takes a sip of her newly filled drink. “I like vampires.”
I brush the side of my neck where the bite mark Corabelle left when we first slept together has disappeared. An ache blooms in my chest for her to do it again. There’s something about being marked, someone else leaving a bruise on your skin. It’s like a claim, a brand, an announcement to everyone who can see it that you’re spoken for.
“What kind of vampires?” My voice is tight and forced as I push the words out. There’s no way Corabelle doesn’t feel my cock hardening under her feet.
She presses her lips together, shaking her head.
“She likes wolves too. Twilight, True Blood, Vampire Diaries, The Originals, Shadow Hunters, all the way back to Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”
My blushing wife won’t make eye contact. “One of my favorite movies is The Lost Boys.”
That makes her head snap in my direction. “Mine too. I think it’s beaten only by Interview with the Vampire.”
I nod slowly. “Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, and AntonioBanderas. Quite the trio of hotties, and a hell of a lot of biting.”
Her cheeks turn as pink as the dregs of her drink. “You like vampires too?”
The way her gaze changes, her muscles release, like she was expecting me to mock her when her best friend revealed one of the skeletons in her closet. I shrug. “I don’t hate them. I have opinions on sparkly vampires, but I’ll watch all your favorite movies with you, without complaint.”
Maddie raises her glass. “You say that now, but wait until she recites every word. All of them. No matter who’s speaking.”
Corabelle flicks her hair over her shoulder. “I’m a wonderful actress.”