Chapter Fifteen

MICHELLE

I found myself flattened up against a marble pillar, the cold stone kissing the naked back of my halter top. One of the custodians shot me a one-eyed squint as she pushed her toiletry cart into the next room. My feet were rooted to the ground and wouldn’t budge. I only slunk out of my spot when I heard the click of Cas’ door and dashed toward the closing doors of the elevator. As the droning elevator started moving down, I rested the back of my head against the corner, thinking about how I had gotten here.

This morning, I had woken up to find Cas gone. After my shower, I decided to drop by his room to see if he was inside. I managed to get as far as approaching his door, but I chickened out before I could bring myself to knock. It had suddenly occurred to me that he vanished from my room for a reason. His reaction to my birthmark was a little peculiar, and though I lost count of how many times he brought me to sweet climax, he seemed distant. There was nothing I needed to say to him anyway, and I didn’t want to look like I was hunting him down after what might have been just another night for him.

I heard the sound of his mother’s voice as I turned away from the door. It sounded like she wasn’t in the room, but her voice was strikingly clear. The call was entirely in Yarian and I couldn’t follow most of the conversation. I did hear him refer to her as “enya” – one of the few Yarian words I did know.

Before I knew it, I found myself eavesdropping. The mild-mannered way the rugged alien addressed his mother brought an unconscious smile to my lips. But when I heard Cas’ heavy footsteps drawing closer towards the door, I quickly realized I had been creepily lingering outside his door for over a minute. I didn’t want Cas to catch me in an embarrassing position, so I leaped behind the pillar. It was the first thing I saw that could hide me.

The elevator slowed to a stop. As I walked out of the ringing doors, I reached into the pocket of my denim shorts. My phone was vibrating. I swiped right on my screen. “Hello?” I crossed the lobby, making my way toward the dining room.

“Michelle, how are you feeling? It’s Richie.”

“What’s up, Richie? Hold on a minute.”

The host stopped me before I could enter the doors. “I’m sorry, ma’am, but there are no phones allowed inside the dining hall.”

“That won’t be a problem. I’ll finish my call out here.” I smiled at the host before settling a few feet away from his podium. “What were you saying, Richie?”

“I’m sorry to bother you on your vacation. Lord knows you deserve it. I thought you’d want to know that you’re running out of room in your cubicle for all of these gifts.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me. Did more stuff come in today?”

“Yup. But don’t worry, we’re having a field day over here. We finished three boxes of the European artisan chocolates on your desk, but there’s still about twelve left. The barbershop quartet that came by last night really livened up the office. They were stand-up guys. They finished their song set even though you weren’t around, so we invited them to eat some of your chocolate cake. You know, so it doesn’t go bad. We’re looking out for you.”

“Have at it. I’ll be back the day after tomorrow. I plan on throwing everything out, so make sure you tell everyone they’re free to take anything they want.”

“Are you sure about that? We’ve put away some of the jewelry already, and I know some of this stuff is worth a fortune.”

“Yes, that too, I suppose. Feel free to take some home for your wife.” My words trailed off as I noticed someone at the hotel entrance and I did a double-take. To my horror, it was none other than Tate. Even though it was over a hundred degrees outside, he wore a cashmere sweater with his collar popped and an expensive maroon scarf wrapped around his neck.

“Michelle, that’s generous of you, but I’m not sure if I’m allowed to do that.”

“I insist you take it. Sorry, Richie, but I have to go.”

I stuffed my phone back into my pocket and snuck behind a folding screen next to the restaurant entrance. With one hand holding onto the bamboo edge of the partition, I was able to spy on Tate. His bodyguards shadowed him as he walked up to the front desk, engaging the receptionist in a muffled conversation.

My stomach rumbled, and I frowned. I hadn’t even eaten breakfast yet. It was too early in the day for drama. Tate wasn’t just a manipulative, lying narcissist. He was still trying to smother me even after we had broken up. It was like he wanted to outdo himself every time he interacted with me.

I asked for no money, none of his things, and none of his time. All I wanted was for him to give me some space. Even after I had specifically asked him to back off and threatened to call the police, he was ignoring what I wanted, like he always did. I wasn’t sure if I would ever be able to drill my message into his dismally thick skull.

Thoughts rattled off in my cluttered head, one after another, until I remembered Tate shouldn’t have known my location. The last thing I told him was that I was staying at Allison’s place temporarily until I could find an apartment for myself.

“There you are, my friend!”

I took a step back, blinking furiously at the unexpected sound of Prince Jethro’s voice. He came out of an elevator, adjusting the open neck of his designer button-up shirt as he approached Tate in the lobby. An extravagant emerald pendant dangled from the thick gold chain around his neck and swung from side-to-side with every step he took. Tate pushed his aviator sunglasses to the top of his head, leaning in for a double-hand handshake with the prince.

The pair said something to one another before Tate turned around to address his bodyguards. In response, the guards exchanged questioning looks, but the one on the far left of the line nodded silently. They hung back, looking uncomfortable on the lobby sofas as Prince Jethro led Tate towards the elevators.

With all the xenophobic bullshit Tate had continually spouted in the past, there was something off-putting about the way he interacted with the alien prince. I supposed it was possible for Tate to have a change of heart, but it seemed unlikely. The air hanging over the unlikely pair stunk of fish, and I could smell the stench from all the way over here.

“Good evening, ma’am. How can I help you?”

“Do you guys happen to do takeout?” I supported my weight against the edge of the bar countertop. “Sorry, I know you’re busy, but I think I might have gotten food poisoning from the breakfast buffet this morning. I’m not feeling too good, and there’s not much of a soup selection on the room service menu.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” the waitress apologized, her short ponytail bobbing. “Of course. What kind of soup would you like?”

“Let me get some of the chicken noodle soup. It’s all I can stomach today. Have any other guests come forward to say that they feel sick after breakfast?”

“No, ma’am.”

“Must just be me then. I mean, I did devour four shrimp cocktails first thing in the morning.” I brushed away the sweat on my forehead with the back of my hand. “You can go ahead and put it on my tab. The room’s under Elizabeth Fletcher. I’m staying in the Ivory Jade Suite.”

“Let me put in the order for you. Would you like a few slices of plain toast as well? It might help your upset stomach.”

“Sure. Thank you so much.”

When the waitress left to place my order, I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror behind the glassware. My skin was waxy, and my lips looked chapped from my dehydration. I decided to head to the drink station for some water. When I arrived, a blonde woman in a short leather dress stood at the end of the long table, fixing herself a glass of juice.

“Hi. Indira, right?”

The Keeper gave me nothing but a sidelong glance.

“I don’t know if you remember me. I’m Michelle Fletcher.”

“I know who you are,” said Indira tonelessly. “What do you want?”

“Oh. Okay. Good.” I frowned at the unexpected animosity. “I was wondering if you knew where Cas was. I haven’t seen him all day.”

“He’s at the shop, overseeing the repairs on the ship. Are we finished here?” Without waiting for me to answer, Indira spun around and flounced off in her leather stilettos.

“I wonder what crawled up her ass and died,” I mumbled to myself, grabbing a clean glass.

“Ms. Fletcher, your soup is ready!”

I finished my water on the way back to the bar, thanking the waitress as she handed me a brown bag. But as I prepared to exit the dining room, I found myself eye-to-eye with a giant emerald. I took a step back, rubbing my throat.

“Prince Jethro.”

“My apologies, I didn’t mean to frighten you.” The prince shortened the gap between us with another half-step forward. The aroma of his booze-riddled breath washed over me.

“That’s fine,” I said slowly, taking another step backward. “Now that you’re in front of me, I wanted to ask you something. I saw you and Tate in the lobby earlier this morning. I didn’t know you had become such good friends.”

“Aye, but I don’t feel like talking about Tate right now.”

My skin prickled as the prince took another step toward me. I had to find an excuse to get out of here.

“In that case, if you’ll excuse me, I’m feeling a little sick. I’m going to head back to my room now.”

“What’s your hurry?” The prince took hold of my wrist, pulling me toward him and up against the counter.

“Whoa. What do you think you’re doing?”

“I understand you and Tate are now separated.” The dirty look in his narrow, unfocused eyes appeared menacing with all the black smudged around it. “And I believe my brother Cas has taken quite a shine to you. In fact, anyone can see he was the cause of your relationship’s demise.”

“This is a highly inappropriate conversation, and you need to let me go right now.” I pulled my arm away from him.

“I know what Cas sees in you.” The prince stepped in front of me, blocking my path. “On my world, brothers are taught to share.”

I leaned back against the counter, wincing as I felt his cock push up against my thigh. When I saw movement from the corner of my eye and realized he was reaching up to touch my face, something in me snapped. My hand snapped up and grabbed his wrist just as I felt the light wind of movement against my cheek.

My hand seemed to move with a mind of its own, twisted his fingers back with all the force it could muster, making sure to grab tightly around his multiple rings. The prince flinched, withdrawing his erection from my leg almost instantly. He opened his mouth but quickly shut it, looking around him furtively.

“I don’t care how things happen on your planet, and I care less that you’re a fucking prince.” Smiling through my words, I tightened my grip around his rings, taking advantage of his sluggish, inebriated state. “But that’s not how men treat ladies around here. If you touch me again, I’m going to slap your ass with a sexual harassment lawsuit so fast not even your Daddy will be able to save you.” I released him and snatched up my bag of soup. “Now if you’ll excuse me, my soup is getting cold.”

Whirling around on my heels, I stormed out of the dining room with a pair of sweaty armpits and a heartbeat gone haywire.