Page 53 of Allure
“Excuse me, this area is cut off. You can’t be here.” A cop car pulled up next to him, and he made sure to block the driver’s side window of his car. He knew they wouldn’t be able to see inside, so long as they stayed in their car but just in case, he didn’t want to have to explain why there was blood on the window.
“I know, I just needed to stop real quick to grab a water bottle out of my trunk.” He waved the bottle in front of his face. “I’m getting ready to head out now.” They nodded, and he waited till they were down the block before he got back in his car. He grabbed a wipe from his glove compartment and made quick work cleaning his window. He hadn’t expected her to be a fighter, and she made sure she got her hits in, causing him to lose control. Something he prided himself on. He never got violent, never lashed out. He planned for everything, and it really pissed him off that she decided to try and change her fate.
Joel’s phone rang, and when he saw whose name was across the screen, he prayed the asshole had gotten what he wanted. The camera footage he had of Syra in her home wasn’t anything that would put fear in her; he needed something more.
He hit the answer button and didn’t spare time on pleasantries. “Meet me in an hour, and I hope you have something good for me.” He hung up, not bothering to keep playing the role he needed to with Colton. Things were moving fast, and the need for him would soon come to an end.
Asli drummed his fingers against his steering wheel, willing the light in front of him to change from red to green. He hated the drive back into Lockwood from Orchard Tree; it seemed longer than the drive there. Usually when he worked as a performer he spent the night in one of the hotels nearby to get some shut-eye before he made the trek back, but that wasn’t the case this time. He’d been all too eager to get home, back to Lockwood, and back to the little star whose taste still lingered on his tongue.
Syra had been unexpected in the best possible way. He marveled at how easily her body opened up for Marco with just his voice. She had bloomed under his words, coaxing her deeper into the arousal that Asli drowned in when his tongue was inside her. Her climaxes had been powerful; he felt them down to his bones when he watched her come apart because of both of them.
She simply took his breath away at how quickly she owned her power over them. She may have spent half the time on her knees for them, but it was Asli and Marco who had been brought to their knees because of her.
Asli rubbed his jaw, groaning when the sweet scent of Syra filled his nostrils. He had taken a quick wash down, but it hadn’t been enough; he could still feel her in his system. He could still feel the way her sweet cunt wrapped around his cock while Marco helped bring her to another climax with his hand.
“She’ll have your little artistic soul dancing. You’ll be crafting masterpieces in her honor.”
He cursed under his breath, fighting back a smile at his friend’s taunt. Marco had been right, of course. He had experienced Syra in all her glory and passion. He knew the spell she’d be able to weave and tried to warn Asli about what was to come, but he hadn’t truly believed it. He glanced at his empty passenger seat, envisioning her there. He could see her smooth legs shifting back and forth as the sexual tension around them built. He could see her nibbling on her plush bottom lip as she mulled over anything he told her. He could see the mischief in her eyes when she talked about her art and how it bled out of her.
He now understood Marco’s warning. He knew how potent the allure of Syra was because one taste wasn’t enough for him. He wanted to be near her now and was annoyed that he hadn’t been able to leave with them when they left. He wanted more time but also understood Marco’s need to have her to himself for a little bit. Plus, Asli’s prior obligations with Orchard Tree and making sure her friends got home okay made him stay back.
The sound of his phone ringing made him chuckle when he saw Link’s name on the screen. He switched lanes and then hit the answer button, connecting the call to his Bluetooth.
“They get home okay?” Asli asked as soon as the line connected.
“Yes. I dropped Ms. Lopez and Ms. Santiago at Ms. Santiago’s house and made sure they made it through the door before I drove away.”
Asli nodded, even though Link couldn’t see him. “That’s good. Thank you, Link, for everything tonight.”
“No problem.” Link disconnected and Asli continued his drive, wishing he was already back at Marco’s penthouse. He was almost there, but the drive had been so long that these last ten minutes were starting to feel like hours.
His phone rang again. When he saw it was Evelyn, he cursed. The good mood he was trying to hold on to slowly started to slip away. The fact that she was calling him wasn’t a good sign. He’d heard the news about the fire in Industrial City and the one on Elm. He saw the email exchanges between her and Marco while he waited for Ms. Santiago and Ms. Lopez at Orchard. There was something going on—an attack no one had been aware of until now—and it didn’t bode well for the company.
He turned down his block, thankful to see his building in the distance and hit the connect button.
“After this call, Evelyn, you need to schedule a vacation and go to sleep.” Asli made a mental note to put in a request for a raise for her—if the company was still in good standing. She had always gone above and beyond for the company.
“I might take you up on the vacation, but after we get to the bottom of whatever is going on.” She sounded sharp, not like someone who probably hadn’t slept yet, although Asli knew she hadn’t, going by the time stamps on the emails she had sent. “Are you with Mr. Garrison? I’ve tried to call him a couple of times, but he’s not answering. And before you say anything,” she cut him off, “he told me to keep calling him with updates as well as sending him any information I find.”
Asli circled the block, stopping in front of Marco’s building. Something in her tone made his stomach tighten—a sense of foreboding filled the space in his car. For a split second, he felt a tingling of fear creep up his spine that something had happened until he saw Marco’s car parked out front.
“I should be seeing him soon. What message do you need me to pass along so you can go to sleep and then plan your vacation?” Asli’s fingers drummed against the steering wheel, a nervous energy coursing through him as she spoke. He kept his gaze on Marco’s car, eager to get into the penthouse though, something told him Marco wasn’t upstairs.
“I’m sorry you said what?” He looked down at his radio system, wondering if his Bluetooth had picked up someone else’s morbid conversations.
“The police are going to want to question you and Mr. Garrison. They found a body in one of the buildings.”
Syra stirred in her sleep. She felt a feather-light touch across her face, and she leaned into it before burrowing farther into the warmth that surrounded her. Something kept tugging at her to wake up but she refused. She didn’t want to leave the comfort she was in—it felt like she was floating on a cloud. All her worries were forgotten, her body felt so relaxed it should have alarmed her, but she ignored it. The light murmur of someone talking to her filtered through her mind, but her sleep-fogged brain pushed the words away, forcing herself deeper into her slumber until she heard what sounded like a door opening and closing.
She shot up, a little disoriented. She looked around, taking stock of where she was, and a slight flush worked its way through her body as memories of the previous night came back to her in a rush. She squeezed her legs together, fighting off the ache that swept through her, and when she brought her hand up toward her face, she closed her eyes, wondering if she had imagined the touch of either Marco or Asli against her skin in her sleep.
The sunlight was bright, and when she peeked her eyes open to look at the time, she groaned until she saw the note sitting on top of the sketch pad Marco had given her. She reached for it, emotion filling her and making her eyes water. It was beyond silly that she got misty-eyed over a gift, but Joel had never understood her art—no one had, really, but Raven and Marco. Now that extended toward Asli. It made her feel appreciated in a way she tried not to let get to her. She wasn’t sure what happened next, and she didn’t need small things like remembering her favorite coffee drink or getting her one of the best brands for art supplies to confuse things between the three of them.
Syra looked at the note scrawled in Marco’s handwriting:
If you’re awake before I get back, don’t worry. I needed to take care of some things and didn’t want to wake you. If you hear or see Asli roaming around, don’t be alarmed. He has a key and always uses it. Honestly, I should take it away. He’s always here. He’ll have breakfast, though, if he’s not knocked out sleeping. I hope you dreamed of me, estrellita. We’ll talk when I get back.
Syra ran her fingers across the note, wishing he was already here. It would have been nice to wake up next to him and not have to rush out like the last time they were together, but she knew he had things that needed his immediate attention.
