Page 4 of Isle of Beauty

The best thing about him is that he never asks questions about my dating life.

I know all about his, however. In the last two years I’ve known him, he always talks about different women. Until the latest one that is.

“I’m going to ask her to marry me tonight,” Louis says solemnly, like it’s a done deal.

“And how exactly is that going to work? Are you going to do the long-distance shit? You better not quit, I need you right here.”

“Louis! Over here!” a red-head enthusiastically waves at him from across the bar. She seems to be his type, voluptuous and gorgeous. They’re not exactly well-suited but who am I to judge? It’s not that Louis isn’t attractive but he’s a sort of dark-haired brooding type and there’s always an air of danger around him where my public facade is more polished.

His girlfriend stands at the bar next to another woman whose face I can’t see. She wears a dark forest green dress that wraps around her neck but leaves the rest of her back and arms bare. A thin line tattoo is visible along the lower part of her spine, and more artful tattoos cover her arms. Snakes, roses and weapons paint a striking picture across her skin, and I’m shocked by the sudden urge to lick every single one of them, maybe discover the ones her dress doesn’t reveal.

Her chestnut hair sits atop her head in a messy bun and the muscles of her back are toned and move like water as she grabs her drink. It’s like they have been designed to be touched and caressed.

Her dress falls just below the curve of a perfect ass and I hungrily trail my eyes down her body. Her long muscled legs are perched on thin heels that match the colour of her dress. I want to skitter the length of them from ankle to hip with my hands.

She turns around and I’m in deep fucking shit.

I’m stopped dead in my tracks and get ensnared by her gaze that settles on me like morning dew on grass.

Fuck.

Her dark green eyes shimmer with gold under the dim light of the bar. I’m fucking hypnotised. I can’t look away.

We make our way to them and I still don’t break eye contact with the brunette until Louis introduces me to Giulia.

I take her hand for a shake but she embraces with a laugh instead.

“Hi Pierce.”

An extrovert who likes to hug people. Great.

I give her the same smile I usually do people around the office, when I want them to not feel threatened by my size or need extra work for them. Asshole move but it gets shit done.

“Hi Giulia. It’s nice to finally meet you. Louis talks about you a lot.”

My eyes shift back to Giulia’s friend, who’s looking at me intensely, and silence falls, heavy and thick.

“Louis, Pierce, this is Alana, my cousin.”

“You can call me Lana.”

Lana.

Her name could roll on my tongue like the smoothest whisky.

I like it. A lot.

She thrusts her hand at me to shake so I take it in mine, relishing the softness of her skin under the pads of my fingers.

Without breaking eye contact, I bring it to my lips, barely grazing them across her knuckles. Which was a fucking bad idea because not only do my hands now know how soft she feels but my lips do too.

Lana proceeds to take a sip of her drink and my gaze follows her lips to the rim of the glass. I want to be that fucking glass. Her purple lipstick stains it and a drop of liquid hangs on her bottom lip. She darts her tongue to collect it.

Heat builds all over my body. Steadily. Like a fire that will raze hectares of land.

My cock thickens in my slacks and I almost groan at how juvenile it feels to get a boner just by looking at the back and legs of a stranger.

I need to get myself under control. I excuse myself and turn to the staff door, making my way to my office. In through the nose, out through the mouth. My body’s intense reaction to this girl, Lana, is brand new.

---