CHARLOTTE My mind felt groggy. As the fog of sleep cleared, I blinked my eyes open slowly, squinting at the bright light seeping in through the open curtains. I was somewhere I didn’t recognize. My gaze drifted from the white ceiling slowly, taking in my surroundings. My body shifted over the white sheets of a massive bed, and my heart stopped as I pulled back the covers. A breath of relief escaped me once I saw that I was still fully clothed. Last night was a blur. I furrowed my brows and looked up, and then my heart stopped for another reason entirely. I wasn’t alone. And from the fact that he was walking around bare-chested, with bare feet, and with a certain ease about him—I knew this was his room. And I was alone in it. With him. Caeson moved to a dresser on the other side of the room, his back to me. I watched him carefully, trying to figure out how I could make it to the door before he even realized I was awake. He pulled out a paper plate and two small brown
CHARLOTTE“Oh my gosh!” Madeline exclaimed, leaning out the open window to get a better view of the beach resort.“Mads!” Sean said worriedly, eyeing his girlfriend as he drove.I laughed at her antics, but I couldn’t help leaning out the window a little as well. The beach resort looked like everything I expected it to and more.Lavish would be a mild word to use here. The beach house itself was large, nearly the size of the triplets’ mansion, and almost matching its opulence. Even the sand here seemed richer than it normally did.The moment we got out of the car, I could hear the sound of calm water flowing a few miles away. Palm trees swayed in the wind, a cool breeze hit my face, and the staff were all over us the moment our feet touched the ground.Sean’s car was taken away by a valet, and our bags were wheeled off by the waiting staff.Madeline stretched exaggeratedly and looped her arm around mine with a wide grin.“Oh, we’re going to have so much fun, I can sense it!” She turne
CHARLOTTENot a word was exchanged between the three, but I could practically taste the displeasure hanging in the air.I didn’t know Macrieve, other than the incident at the restaurant, but going by that and the way everyone acted at the mere mention of his name, I’d say it wasn’t too much of a stretch to deem him the textbook definition of a douchebag.“This wasn’t our agreement, Anton,” Sean said. He worked his jaw, clearly trying to keep himself from saying anything more.Anton lifted his hands in the air, seemingly unshaken by the annoyed stares he was getting. He began to walk further into the kitchen, completely disregarding the annoyed sound that came out of Madeline at that point.“Anton,” Sean gritted out, glaring daggers at his back.“I know, I know,” Anton said, pausing briefly to examine the kitchen. “My lawyer handled the issue pretty swiftly, and now I have time to kill.” He turned to look at Sean with a dry grin. “I’ll be out of your hair before the weekend is even ove
CHARLOTTEEven though my eyes were shut, the glare of the sunlight somehow managed to gleam through my closed lids.I let out a loud groan and opened my eyes to squint at the open window. My head hurt, and my mouth was dry. If I didn’t feel like my headache was going to split my head in half, I’d probably have curled right back into a ball to fall asleep.“I shouldn’t have listened to Madeline,” I muttered under my breath.Even though my memory was foggy, I could still remember last night: Madeline and Sean cheering for me as I tossed back shot after shot of liquor.I almost laughed at the memory, but laughing would have made my headache worse. It was amusing, though. I didn’t recognize this version of myself—the one that downed shots just for the hell of it and woke up the next morning with a raging hangover.I buried my face in my pillow and groaned. I was much too tired to think too deeply about the person I was turning into.I could still feel the sun on my skin, so I got up and s
CHARLOTTEWhen I finally had enough energy to open my eyes, I was met with darkness and a violent headache.Bile climbed up my throat quickly, hurried on by the odours that irritated my senses the moment I sucked in a breath.I’d gag, but I felt like I was underwater, my reflexes weren’t mine and I couldn’t feel my limbs.When I tried to see beyond the splotches of darkness in my vision, I failed miserably and only aggravated my headache. I paused and gave my body a few minutes to relax. I still couldn’t feel my limbs and that sent panic rolling down my spine in an instant. My breaths became short, unconsciousness loomed over me, and darkness took over my vision for a moment before I could see again.Breathe… I told myself.And I did. I sucked in a breath and released it, that was when I finally identified the pungent smell that clouded up the entire room, cigarette smoke.I couldn’t move my head, but the way I laid gave me a somewhat okay view of the room around me. I was lying on
CHARLOTTEI was crashing, and I was crashing and I was crashing. I felt myself going under again. “We need a blanket! Someone get me a fucking blanket. A sheet, something, fuck.” And then I was swallowed whole. I didn’t feel myself being lifted up. I couldn’t tell what was happening around me. I willed myself to peel my eyes open, to shake off the ringing in my ears. I blinked slowly, fighting the impossible urge to groan out loud at the harsh sunlight streaming in from the sky. In that split second, that single moment where my eyes fell open, eyes the color of a midnight sky obstructed everything else in my vision. Immediately, my eyes pressed shut again. Was that… Taide? I felt myself being maneuvered again, and then my nose fell into the crook of someone’s neck. Mint and sandalwood aftershave filled my nostrils. A large hand cupped the back of my neck, pressing me harder against them. I heard his heartbeat. I felt his heartbeat thumping against my own. Fresh air fi
CHARLOTTE The car ride back to the mansion is purposefully silent, other than the hum of the air conditioner and my shaky, unsteady breaths.I don’t think, I don’t move, I don’t speak, and I don’t let go of Taide the entire car ride. Not when we get out of the car, and not when he carries me up the stairs to my room.I cling to him like he’s the only thing keeping me tethered to reality. And I tell myself he is because I have a sinking feeling that if I let go, I’ll be tossed back into that room with the cigarette smoke and the hard bed, at the mercy of Anton and his friend’s vile intentions.I don’t realize when we’ve entered my room, but I do notice when Taide slowly starts to lower me onto the bed and pull away.I let out a small sound of protest and keep my fingers buried in the skin of his arms, desperate to maintain any form of physical contact.Taide pauses and stares down at me with an unreadable expression on his face. Even though my mind is still half gone, I realize how aw
CHARLOTTE I felt warm. And soft. My breathing was light, so light that it was sometimes worrying whether or not I was still alive. I was deep asleep, and that’s good. I needed to rest. After what happened to me… The thought trailed off, tunneling into a pool of darkness. A sudden wave of anger surged through me. My body shifted slightly, and just as suddenly as the wave of emotion came…it vanished. Every time I moved, my hair tickled his nose. But he didn’t mind it, because it smelled divine. Wait… what? Those thoughts… weren’t mine. My eyes slowly peeled open and suddenly, I was hit with an intense awareness of my surroundings. The room was dimly lit, and judging by the sounds coming from outside, it was probably still the early hours of the morning. I didn't know how long I'd been asleep, but I felt somewhat rested and terribly stiff. I tried to move my body around to stretch a little, I realized I was pressed up against something solid. My head rested on his chest