NINE: NERVES

NINE: NERVES
“Get in the car.”
 No other words were exchanged between Xavier and Juliet the entire drive back to his place. The only audible sound was the quiet hum of the vehicle, a stark contrast to the raging loud storm in Juliet’s mind.
 Fingers wrapped around the bottle from early, her whole body was shaking. She was shivering but not just in fear this time. In confusion. In frustration.
 One minute she was at the bar, preparing to risk it all if it meant paying her debt to him. and the next she was in his car, with him behind the wheels while she had absolutely no idea what was going on in his head.
 She had a thousand more questions for him but with his gaze locked on the road, she was certain even if she asked he wasn’t going to have a response for her. So she waited until they were back at his mansion and the minute they took their first step in, spoke up.
 “Why did you do that?” her voice was shaky but it still managed to contain equal amounts of confusion and frustration. “Why did you drag me out of the club?”
 She didn’t get a whisper in return, Xavier ignoring her as he walked further into the house. He loosened his tie and flung it on the couch, a maid appearing almost immediately as if on default to pick it up and then scurry away the second she was done.
 “What?” Juliet’s confusion immediately bloomed into anger. She felt weird. Out of place and even with the burden of her debt off her chest, she suddenly didn’t feel any better. “Would you please stop walking away and answer me?”
 He didn’t stop walking and Juliet could almost explode. She ran her hands through her hair, looking around her. She was in the mansion of an unknown man and all he was willing to give her was favors she didn’t deserve. No answers. No explanations.
 “Xavier!”
 For a second, it felt like the world stilled. A light gasp escaped Juliet’s lips as she realized what she had suddenly done and Xavier on the other hand, finally paused his steps.
 She swallowed, her eyes on his back as he flexed his shoulders and turn around. He took a step towards her and immediately took one backwards, her fingers curling as she realized she still had the bottle from earlier in her hand.
 “That’s odd,” Xavier breathed out, locking gazes with Juliet. She wanted to look away but she couldn’t, her knees suddenly weak from the intensity at which he stared at her. “I’m not pissed that you called me by name.”
 “What?”
 His expression flickered, the frown he had throughout the drive earlier slowly vanishing. She watched him massage his wrists then brush his thumb against his lips, his eyes not leaving hers as he took slower steps towards her.
 “I see the reason he thought you’d be profitable at the club.”
 His eyes ran through her entire body and the second he returned those eyes to her, Juliet recognized the look in them.
 “Then why did you drag me out of the club?” the lust she spotted in his eyes immediately enraged her. “Why didn’t you let me work? As a stripper or whatever?! Why did you have to intervene?”
 “Do you want to strip that badly?”
 “I-” the words got caught in her throat. No, she didn’t want to strip in front of men she barely knew. But if it was the only way she could pay her debts, then she was willing to. “I need to repay you. You paid all my debts and you’re asking for nothing in return. It doesn’t make any sense.”
 “Strip then.”
 “What?” Juliet didn’t realize how close he had gotten to her until she felt shivers flood her spine as his lips parted. Whether it was from his cold breath hitting her skin as he spoke or from the words she could swear had never had such an effect on her until now, all she knew was it took several deep breaths for her to come up with another word.
 “What do you mean?”
 “You cant accept favors unless there’s something attached to it, can you?” he spoke up again, Juliet’s eyes fluttering before they went shut. “Then repay me. I’m not allowing you go back to that club though so if you want to strip or sell your body, do it here. To me. Sell your body to me. Strip in my presence.”
 It took him suddenly wrapping his arms around her waist for Juliet to open her eyes once again. Her breath immediately hitched as his grip got tighter, every second spent with him pulling her closer to him until there was almost no distance between their bodies.
 Her lips parted but no words came out. All she could come up with was ragged, desperate breaths. Desperation to be freed from his grip. Desperation to be pulled closer to him.
 Her eyes fluttered until she could meet his gaze again. She could feel her heart hammer in her chest as he stared at her directly in the eye for no longer than five seconds before sending his gaze lower- to her nose, her lips, her neck, her collarbone, her chest and then the bottle she still had wrapped around her fingers.
 She could have dropped the bottle if he asked her to. Or carefully dropped it herself even without him asking. But neither happened as the bottle suddenly slipped out of her fingers and went crashing onto the floor, the sound mirroring the sound of her heartbeat as Xavier suddenly crashed his lips against hers.
 Before more than a few drops of the wine could touch her skin, Xavier lifted her up, wrapping her legs around his torso easily. She allowed him, her eyes still firmly shut, his lips still on hers.
 She didn’t kiss him back. She couldn’t. not when she was still in too much shock to process. Not when the heat that came from her was still too much for her to handle easily.
 Noticing her hesitation, Xavier pulled away from the kiss. She was still wrapped around him, eyes shut, breath heavy. Her whole body was trembling, Xavier immediately sending his fingers to her chin to force her to look at him.
 The second her eyes met the light in his eyes once again, he breathed out to her.
 “Calm down and kiss me back.”