Prue didn't know what to say. That was a joke. Wasn't it? Or was she so out of touch with modern conventions that she was the only one who thought having her panties seen in public was a big deal?
The thought made her head pound, which consequently reminded Prude why she wanted to talk to her cousin in the first place. "Um, Alta? I think we need to go home."
Alta was visibly irate. "Excuse me?"
"I feel sick—-"
But her cousin only laughed this off. "Is that what's bothering you?" Alta flipped her hair over her shoulder. "You're just drunk, not sick."
"I'm serious. I really don't feel good—-"
"And clearly, you're not drunk enough since you're still acting like a killjoy." Alta reached for Prue's martini glass and forcibly wrapped her cousin's fingers around it. "Just finish your drink," she urged the other girl, "and you'll feel a lot better in no time."
"But I really don't—-"
"Oh my God, Prue. Will you please, please stop being a party pooper?"
Alta's voice rose with each word, and Prue felt like sinking in her chair as a couple walking past their table gave her a pitying look.
"We're here because Klaus's friends think you're boring, and we want to change that," Alta reminded her cousin. "That's why you asked for my help. You wanted to learn how to have fun, and guess what? That—-" Alta pointed to the glass her cousin was holding. "—-is the key to having fun. So will you please quit acting like a baby and just drink it?"
Prue's stomach churned at the idea of having to drink the entire thing, but since Alta was also right, and tonight was about learning to let loose and have fun—-
After taking a deep breath, she chugged everything down in one gulp...and lived to regret it in the next moment. Her body felt like it was on fire now, but when she tried to tell her cousin she felt even sicker, the other girl only threw her a look of scorn.
"My God, Prue. Do you have to complain about every little thing?"
"I'm not complaining. I just feel really—-"
"Oh, for fuck's sake! If you want to throw it all up, then just go and do it."
Alta flounced off before she could say anything in return, and Prue slowly got to her feet when her body continued to feel as if it was being roasted alive from within.
At this point, there was nothing to lose if she did give her cousin's suggestion a try, and Prue struggled to ignore the weird flashes of heat that tingled through her body as she made her way to the ladies'.
It was thankfully empty when Prue got in, and she sank to her knees as soon as the door swung shut behind her.
She tried getting her gag reflex to work, but all she ended up spitting out was saliva, and by the time she gave up and got back on her feet, bile was all she could taste on her tongue. She was also feeling even more feverish and dizzy, but when she tried to recall if she had eaten something bad, she couldn't think of any. Perhaps it was the amount of secondhand smoke she had inhaled? Maybe all she needed was some fresh air?
Prue's legs were trembling as she walked out, and every part of her seemed to just burn hotter and hotter.
Am I dying?
The thought made Prue feel like hyperventilating, but just as she attempted to run in search of Alta, she bumped into something hard, and every cell in her body came to life the moment she stumbled back and Prue realized she had crashed straight into a stranger with the most...incredibly...muscular chest.
SHEIKH KHADEM AL-MASRI, youngest son of the King of Huzna, wasn't surprised when two o'clock came and went, and their eldest brother had yet to show up with his promised bride in tow. The man had been celibate for an entire year. Khadem had a feeling a few more days would come to pass before Saif was able to sufficiently satisfy his needs.
"Shall we call it a night?" Rashad asked.
Ilyas nodded. "I have work to do, anyway."
"I'll take care of the bill," Khadem told his older brothers.
They parted ways soon after, and on his way to the bar, Khadem saw a girl stumble out of the ladies', her lovely cheeks flushed, and her slender body noticeably shivering under her remarkably modest dress.
She went on to walk with wobbly legs, and Khadem raised a brow when the girl ended up bumping straight into his chest.
Prue could only blink once, twice, and then once and twice again when she found herself gazing up at the most beautiful man she had ever seen in her life. The short dark curls of his head made her fingers itch while his eyes were a mesmerizing shade of blue. But what robbed Prue of speech was the sensual perfection of his mouth. That mouth was made for kissing, and when her mind suddenly conjured an image of this man's mouth pressing against hers—-