She stumbled and all her confidence vanished, leaving her small and unsure in the center of the stage. The music tapered off and the pianist waved a hand as if it didn’t matter and launched into a different aria. I saw her shoulders square and the sound that came from her was sweet, but all her fire had seeped away.
The aria finished and she conversed with her teacher for a moment before gathering her bag from the front row of seats. I kept to the doorway as she climbed the stairs. There was a sad slump to her shoulders, like she’d disappointed herself.
She didn’t see me until she reached out to open the door and her eyes locked with mine in the dim light. Her whole body jerked and she let out a gasp, her hand going to her chest.
“Peregrine, what the hell are you doing here?” she snapped.
“I came to bring you home,” I said. “But I changed my mind. Let’s go out to dinner and have a nice evening. Then I’ll terrify you just the way you like in bed tonight so you can come as hard as you did on the stairs.”
“I’m not turned on by being scared,” she snapped.
I took her chin between my fingers. “Don’t lie to me, Lia. It’s not a good look.”
She gaped at me, her eyes a blend of arousal and anger. I released her face and took her hand, swinging her book bag over my shoulder, and led her out into the hall.
It was dark and getting darker outside. I kept my hand on her waist, guiding her down the front path. She seemed confused, but not altogether displeased that I was taking her out for dinner. I opened the passenger door and adjusted the seat, taking her elbow to help her in. She looked up at me, her dark eyes wide, and I thought I saw her breath hitch.
I put her books into the trunk and got in the Cadillac and pulled out onto the street. She was quiet as we headed into the city, her slender fingers folded on her lap. The black diamond ring glittered against her pink nail polish. Around her wrist hung one of the bracelets I’d bought for her new wardrobe. I liked the sight of it.
It felt like ownership.
I pulled out onto the highway and we drove in silence for a dozen miles until we broke from the city. It was a cool night and fog lay thick in the woods on either side of the car in eerie wisps. Beside me, Rosalia sat curled up like a cat with her eyes wide, watching the cars fly past us. Until they grew fewer and further between and we were alone.
There was a ferry outside the city with twenty miles of road leading up to it, but the service station had been washed away in a flood last year. It was a rural area and no one had bothered to replace it. As I pulled off to the side and put the car in park, I could just make out the roadblocks set up across the pavement.
“What is this?” she whispered.
I glanced at her and got out of the car and shut the door, locking her inside. The air was cool and smelled of pine and damp earth. My shoes made wet sounds in the darkness as I crossed the pavement and dragged the roadblocks until there was enough space for my car. When I settled back into the driver’s seat, she stared at me with an expression like a wary animal.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m taking you for a drive,” I said.
She gave a shiver as I pulled through the roadblocks and increased my speed to forty-five. Up ahead, the road was clear of fog and mostly dry beneath the overhanging pines. I rolled the windows down, letting the cool breeze whip through her hair. The air felt thick and otherworldly and in the distance an animal chortled softly.
“Take your shoes off, Lia,” I said.
“What?”
“Take. Your. Shoes. Off.” My thumb tapped the top of the steering wheel. “Or I’ll pull over and do it.”
I glanced at her, pleased to see she was untying her heeled oxfords. All the sass and attitude was gone from her face and her dark eyes were wide. I flicked my eyes back to the road even though every fiber of my body wanted to watch her undress for me. But the other part of my mind knew I needed to do this without hurting the woman sitting beside me. And I knew I could, I knew how to handle myself.
“What are you doing?” she whispered, turning sideways in her seat. “Why are we out here?”
“Trust me, Lia.”
“I don’t want to. You hung me upside down off a five-story stairwell.”
“Did you fall? No. Take your tights off.”
“Peregrine—”
“Lia, you’re not being a good girl.”
That shut her up. We moved deeper into the deep green forest, our headlights staining the pavement yellow. I turned my head for the barest second and saw her squirm and work her skirt up over her ass. She hooked her thumbs beneath her tights and pulled them down. Baring her legs.
“May as well take your panties down with them,” I said. “They come next.”