Their Wife: Book 2

Eleven (Part 2)

I widened my smile. Sweat beaded at the back of my neck from the effort it took to keep it from shaking.

Placing a hand on the man's chest, I pushed him back so I could take a step. He moved back, but just barely. Uncomfortably, I staggered into him forcing him further back.

"Oops," I drunkenly giggled as I looked up at him.

"That's alright, baby," he smiled back.  It caused the ball of dread in my stomach to twist tighter. I could see his ill intentions in the otherwise seemingly innocent dimple on his cheek. "Come on." He banded an arm around my back, his hand firmly clutching my side as he pulled me closer. "I'll take care of you."

I hid the repulsion that had me wanting to gag from my face. The only thought that was able to make my enthusiasm seem passable was knowing that my act was saving someone who would have otherwise been targeted by him from becoming an unsuspecting victim.

I leaned heavily on him as he began to lead us through the throng of people. It was a surprise how uncomfortable I was with his hands on me. I hadn't really noticed it before, but I had become used to Ares touches and Ryder's was something, I was ashamed to admit, that I craved.

As we continued towards the back of the club I couldn't help but peek back over my shoulder one last time. My eyes briefly met Ares's darkening ones and glance over the stiff fingers that were white knuckles as he held his drink before I stumbled over my feet for real.

Catching me as effortlessly as he had been doing so throughout my act, he pulled me towards the back where a man stood before velvet curtains.

"Cydic," the man holding me greeted the other, giving him a nod.

Cydic didn't say anything in reply. He gave a returning nod before stepping to the side and pulling one half of the curtain open for us to walk through. His expression remained bored and unchanging the entire exchange, but it seemed he know how my target was.

When the curtain shut behind me, it felt as though I had entered a space vacuum. My ears rang as the noise and chaos abruptly cut off, sealed away on the other side of the curtain along with the bright lights and offending scents and sights. The ringing in my ears slowly faded, but never fully disappeared as we continued down the dark hallway.

I barely had to put on an act at this point. Out of sight from watching eyes, his gentle handling and support became rough and forceful. Instead of being the force keeping me upright, he was now the reason I was coming dangerously close to breaking character out of self-preservation. A broken nose sounded painful. He pulled me alongside him without a care if I was able to keep up or not.

He continued to pull me down the dark hallway at a steady pace that was too fast for me to comfortably walk. It was lit by a single row of lights overhead consisting of a single bulb every few meters. Under every light fixture, there was a closed door on the wall, the side it appeared on changing in intervals with each light we approached, but regardless of which side of the hallway they were on, they were always closed.

My unease grew the longer I stayed out of Ares's line of sight. I knew it would be dangerous, but I didn't realize until I experienced the change in how he behaved when out of sight. Having him constantly watching these past few days had put me under an unhealthy blanket of comfort I failed to recognize.

Wincing, I steadied myself while recovering from the harsh impact of slamming into the man when he suddenly halted. Pulling out a key from his pocket, he inserted it into the door he had stopped in front of and opened it as I clung to his arm to steady myself.

Pushing it open, he grabbed me tightly around the bicep before pushing me into the room. I had to fold over, pinwheeling my arms to keep from falling. I was worried for a moment that my sudden balance would give my act away, but when I looked over my shoulder to see the man back towards me, I let out a sigh of relief. It didn't last long though, dashed with the deafening sound of the door being locked.