Page 86 of The Monster of Hotel No. 7
I drink more.
Icy sludge slides down my throat.
“Fuck it,” Cosmo says quietly, then he drops his empty cup to the ground, the one that cut him, and he reaches for me, the girl who hurt him. He grabs my wrist, then jerks me forward, punch sloshing from my cup and running icy rivulets down my hand. Before I can think or breathe or get my bearings, Cosmo’s fingers tangle in my hair and he leans down, then presses his cold lips to mine.
I am aware of one thing.
The volume of the dining room.
Aside from the sensual music playing in the background, there is no light chatter. No hushed laughter. No sounds of utensils on plates.
There is nothing.
“Open your mouth for me,” Cosmo says against my lips. His own mouth is so familiar. He has traced every inch of my body with his tongue, his fingers. We have been fucking one another casually for years, and he is the only person who knows my darkest fantasies. I joked about it once to Von and Isadora, but I don’t think they believed me, the way I like to be violated when I’m intoxicated or sleeping, maybe both.
But Cosmo knows.
“You’re kind of pathetic and you’re just waiting around for Mommy and Daddy to find some asshole cult member to sell you off to so you can suck his dick while he does the important shit.”
No matter what he fucking knows,that’swhat he said to me.
That I’mkind ofpathetic.
“Open for me, Karia.” His fingers are in my hair and his hand is still around my arm.
Go fuck yourself for me, Cosmo.I twist my arm free, lift my cup up, then dump it down his back, wiping the knuckles of my hand along his shirt the second after, from where punch got on my skin after he grabbed me.
He sucks in a breath as he pulls back immediately, letting me go. He yanks at his shirt, his brows dug in, eyes narrowed into slits on me, jaw clenched.
But before he can say a word as he glares at me with my empty cup in hand by my side, dripping punch onto the cement floor, someone else speaks at my back before stepping closer, their arm brushing my shoulder.
“What did he just say to you?”
My pulse slams harder inside my chest. Sullen is standing beside me but he is looking at Cosmo so blankly, I’m frightened for my friend.
Only… I’m not so sure he is that anymore. Is he?
I glance at Cosmo’s hand by his side, the one with blood along his middle finger. More of it snakes across his nail now, then drops off to the dark cement floor.
I take a breath in, icy air from the cold room frosting my lungs. Sullen is so still beside me and when I turn my head to look at him, I see his lips are curved upward into some strange sort of smile.
“He said a lot of stupid things,” I answer Sullen, trying to grasp his attention again. “But mostly he said he’s going to let us leave quietly.” I cut my gaze to Cosmo. “Didn’t you?” I ask, arching my brow.
But Cosmo is grinning at Sullen, and it isn’t a nice smile. “No. That’s not what I said at all. But you’re right. I did say a lot of stupid things. What I really meant was,leave the freak alone, and let me fuck you again.”
I drop my cup and grab for Sullen’s arm. It seems the wisest thing to do, my hand wrapped over his hard bicep, his muscles tense beneath my fingers. My heart is galloping inside my chest, so fast it’s hard to breathe.
I open my mouth, wanting to cut at Cosmo, the way he just tore Sullen down, but before anything comes out, I see Sullen’s face.
And he’s looking at me now.
I suddenly feel incredibly stupid I’m holding onto his arm like I thought… What? That he would attack Cosmo for kissing me? Punch him for the words he just spoke about fucking me?
My face flushes hot and I wish I hadn’t poured my drink down Cosmo’s back because the alcohol might help ease the embarrassment flaring warm in my cheeks.
Sullen issmilingat me. Lips closed but eyes shining, dark brows lifted from under his brown hair and that hood over his head.
“You can let go of me now, Karia,” he says, and I feel a small stab of pain somewhere near my heart that he didn’t call meLittle Sun.
