Chapter Nine
The Devil's Tongue
Braeden
I'm in the security room with Apollo when my attention is caught by the image of Lark in the corner of the room by the fireplace reading on the couch. I watch her while wild thoughts of the rift in our relationship run through my head. But then Marcus walks into the room, and I see him talking to her, although the audio isn't on. He's supposed to be getting her to come see the setup while Apollo and I wait. But that's definitely not what happens, and when things start to get heated, I consider turning off the feeds.
"Dude, is that really happening?" I glance over to Apollo, who is just as glued to the screen as I am when I venture to check, and he nods without comment.
I can't believe that she would choose Marcus to be the first after everything, and that kind of hurts my feelings as I watch him pleasure her right there out in the open. Surely, she has to know they could be walked in on. I have to admit though, it's hot as hell, and I'm hard as a rock in my pants. I'll need to be taking care of it later, as I know I’m not going to get the images of what's happening on the screen out of my head anytime soon.
When it gets intense, I worry for a moment that Marcus is being too hard on her, but she seems to enjoy it, so I don't go to intervene. That would be embarrassing on both our parts, especially if it's not warranted. By the time Marcus is done, my face is slack with shock at his actions, but Apollo is laughing his ass off. I can't decide whether to give the guy props or go chew him out for the predicament that my best friend is very clearly in, and I find I’m not quite so upset at her choice anymore— after all, it’s what we’ve been encouraging her to do. I decide that a little frustration is good for her in this case and excuse myself from Apollo's presence to sneak off to bed before she can come out and find me in the hall. From the way her lips are moving and the set of her features, she is not amused whatsoever.
Lark
I went to bed a frustrated mess, kicking myself in the ass for forgetting to pack something to help me take care of my issues and not feeling up to doing it manually by hand. Waking up, I'm in a slightly better mood but no less frustrated. Apparently, that was the kickstart my libido needed to start getting back to normal. I even consider getting frisky with the shower head but don’t know if Braeden is on the other side of the door, and it would be pretty obvious what I was doing by sound alone. Instead, I go on a Marcus hunt after getting ready for the day. I don’t find him though before I run into Braeden in the kitchen.
“Who pissed in your Cheerios, Birdie?”
“Fuck off. I'm not in the mood for your shit.” I say it good-naturedly enough but with an edge of lethality as a warning to remind him that I'm not a morning person.
He just chuckles at me and goes and gets a bowl of yogurt with fruit in it, covered in plastic wrap, out of the refrigerator. When he goes over and pops bread in the toaster, I thaw a bit more toward him at the fact that he’s getting me breakfast and give him a shy smile in thanks. Hopefully, we can make up soon and get things back to normal on that front as well. I hate being at odds with him.
I'm drinking the coffee he's just slid to me when he tells me about the assistance he’s been giving and going to be giving all the guys. Keeping an eye on Brent, which relieves me, but also that Apollo is showing him how to review the footage as well as the live feeds in the security room. I wheeze a bit after coughing when I choke on the liquid that goes down the wrong way. Brade just gives me this indecipherable naughty look. From the teasing glint in his eyes, I highly suspect he knows something about what went on, and my own narrow at him.
“Spill. Now.”
My shithead best friend just shakes his head and says, “I don't know what you're talking about, but if I had to guess, I would say you'll find Marcus at the scene of the crime.”
My face flaming red, I go and snatch the bread from the toaster to butter it myself before I slink back off to the dining room to eat. Braeden decides to make himself scarce by staying in the kitchen while I'm busy wallowing in my mortification and trying not to think of how much he may know and if it’s worth chancing finding out.
When I go to put my dishes in the dishwasher, he asks me one question that pretty much tells it all.
“Did you know Apollo was showing me how the security works only yesterday? And the schedule that they check them on, which is several times a day… and night?”
He makes his great escape before I can figure out which kitchen implement to impale him with, and now Marcus is a total dead man if Braeden means what he implied. I'm pretty sure he did, and now I don't know if Braeden and Apollo saw what happened, or if just one of them did and then told the other.
I find Marcus just where Brade suggested I would, and walking directly up to the chair he’s reclined in, I pounce. I don’t cave and laugh at the look of shock on his face even though I really want to. He’s got some explaining to do, and if I have my way, he’s going to finish what he started last night.
“Besides failing to tell me that there’s a camera in the room, and others could see what was going on, you left me in quite a state. With that declaration you gave, you sure neglected the follow through.” I glare into his stormy hued eyes while I wait for his response.
“But did I? Neglect the follow through, that is?” He grasps my hips to center my body more fully over his lap, where I’m straddling him, and grinds up against me. He chuckles at my reaction, when I gasp and arch into him. “I think that means my follow through has you chasing me down for something you want. In my experience, it’s called playing ‘hard to get’. I chase you until you catch me, if you get my drift?”
Well, shit. He’s not wrong. Devious little fucker.
As if he can read my thoughts, he gives me a satisfied smile and starts rocking our hips together where I can feel he’s grown hard. To my dismay, he thwarts my plans again, and it takes a second to interpret his next words.
“I’ve been waiting to show you the security room like I originally was supposed to do last night. You’ll have to wait and maybe beg some, Solovey, to finish.” He gives me a peck on the lips before putting the foot down on the chair and setting me on mine. Well, a Marcus peck anyway, complete with a little tongue slippage.
Marcus shows me how everything works, then leaves me in the room with the monitors on to go take care of something. I continue to check over the different feeds while I wait for him to come back, but he doesn't for awhile, and I figure he's gotten sidetracked. I'm about to leave when one of the monitors clicks to a view of a man in a room marked 'basement 1'. Even though the angle only shows his back, I can tell that it's Apollo, and from the furniture, that he's in a bedroom. To my surprise, Marcus appears on the screen too, and the audio kicks in by itself.
"Did I not tell you to be ready when I got here?" Marcus sounds stern, but I can't see his face to gauge his mood— he'd been fine when he left me.
Apollo turns to face him, giving him a smirk. "And what exactly are you going to do about it?"
Marcus steps forward, turning enough that I can see most of a devious smile, before saying, "I think you're asking to be punished, Apollo. It wasn't a request. Strip, now."
I can't decide whether I'm annoyed he left me hanging again to go play with Apollo, or if I'm more into what's going down in the basement.