Chapter 167 GOOD LUCK, CEO.
KAI’S POINT OF VIEW.
I walked out of the room so fast you’d think the floors burned the soles of my feet. What the hell just happened? The sound of my heart racing convinced me that I wasn’t dreaming… that what I’d just witnessed was very real.
Aurora….my Aurora moaning as she clutched a pillow between her thighs, her cheeks flushed as she wiggled against the silk sheets with my name on her lips. “Kai….please.” she’d whispered….more than once. When I’d heard it, I thought I was fucking dreaming, and all I wanted in that moment, to the point where I would have gone on my knees, begging whoever could grant the wish, was a moment in whatever dream she was having.
I had to get her awake, because if I didn't, I would have damned my resolve, my restraint these past three days, and I would have lived every single fantasy plaguing my soul in that single moment. For the past three days, I have been stroking my cock at the thought of Aurora. It was either that or cold showers…..cold freaking showers so my ever-hard cock could go flacid, unless….I would do something I wouldn’t regret. But I’d made a promise, and I cannot break it.
Marching with fast steps to the kitchen, I walked as fast as I could away from the door so I wouldn’t go back in there, and transferred the noodle dish I’d warmed up to the dining room. I couldn’t cook to save my damn life, so I warmed up something my housekeeper made for me instead of risking giving us food poisoning.
My phone’s sharp ring drew my attention; the name on the screen caused me to groan and smile simultaneously. Lucien fucking Ravenscroft.
My best friend from high school was requesting a damn video call… and I knew he wouldn’t be alone. “Hello.” I’d barely gotten the damn word out when his fat ass head propped up, along with that of the other guys; Cassian, Ace, and Theo….the crazy bunch of assholes that never let up with giving me hell over being single.
“Ahhh shit….look at you,” Lucien drawled, leaning closer to the camera so his perfect bed hair was in view. He looked to be in bed, and I could hear the sound of water running in the background. “Why do you look like you just walked out of a crime scene?”
Cassian snorted, his thick skull also appearing in the frame. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Beside him, I clearly saw the outline of a woman’s back….the crazy bastard was getting around again like the man whore everyone knows he is. The idiot had his personal array of models and escorts he fucked weekly, going through women like they were a pack of candy for his stupid sweet tooth. A part of me recognized the emptiness in his eyes. It was because of his lost love, Sienna. He was just like me, searching for the little light in his life. The difference between us is that I found mine already. “Or a bedroom.”
Ace lifted his glass, his eyes scanning my facial expression. He, on the other hand, wasn’t in a bedroom. Instead, he was at a boutique….his wife, Amara’s boutique. “Definitely a bedroom.”
Theo squinted at me, his eyes narrowed on me as if he were investigating, and it only made me want to pinch the bridge of my nose. If there was a team of annoying fuckers that could pick through my moods even through a screen, it was them… the horsemen from Ravenscroft High. “Is that guilt on your face, or are you finally getting laid?”
Everyone except Cassian and me was married, and rarely in the country, especially Lucien and Theo. They took their wives on monthly vacations; it was why they were always pregnant. Amara and Ace, on the other hand, barely left their house unless work was extremely important or if a building was on fire. But since the latter hadn't happened, they only left for the former.
I dragged a hand down my face and dropped into the dining chair, pinching the bridge of my nose with a groan. “None of the above. Shut the hell up, all of you.” Just as I expected, the response was boisterous laughter from all of them as they cackled like a bunch of old ladies, and not the thirty-year-old men they were.
But just as the laughter started, I heard Aurora yell, “Kai….um….could you wait a couple seconds?” Shit….they heard that, and now, they won't let it fucking go.
Sure, take your time.” I replied, contemplating the burning nudge to hang up so I could avoid their incoming incessant questions as if I were in some radio interview.
“Kai!” they yelled at the same time. “YOU HAVE A WOMAN OVER….YOU….THE KAI MERCER, what the hell is going on?” they yelled at the same time.
“Are you the real Kai?” Theo narrowed his eyes, this time in a suspicious manner.
“I knew it! He's been taken over by an alien…they’ve invaded our planet, guys. I should have believed the nudge when Sera said she wants us some ‘space’….whatever the hell that means.” He scoffed, and it made me chuckle.
“Oh, please, it's because you barely let the woman breathe unless you’re near her.”
“Well, she doesn’t need to breathe without me…Even I can't breathe without her.” The idiot grumbled like a fucking child. \\
“Back to the main topic; who’s got that fine voice I heard?” Cassian flashed me a suggestive smirk. “Care to share with me? I can have her over in less than thirty minutes if-“
“Do you want to fucking die?” I growled before I could stop myself.
“Ah…so it’s who I think it is!” he yelled, and I knew he’d got me. I walked right into his trap there.
Cassian, Ace, and Theo burst into a roar of alighter…. However, Lucien… he had a different reaction. Lucien’s eyes sharpened, though. He knew me too well. “Quiet guys……She’s there, isn’t she?”
My jaw clenched, as I looked away…., letting silence stretch for half a second before chaos erupted all over again.
“You found her?” Cassian barked, his eyes wide. Only they knew about Aurora and the hell she’d brought into my life the second I didn’t see her the second day at school.
“In your house?” Ace added.
Theo leaned back with an observant gaze as Cassian howled. “Holy shit. The stripper?” Of course, only he would know…the fucker was one of my best customers. I gulped at the thought of him knowing Aurora, him seeing her dance… no… he would have informed me the second he saw her there.
“She’s not…” I stopped myself and released an exasperated breath. “Yes. Aurora is here.”
Lucien’s grin vanished. “Aurora…..THE Aurora?”
“The one and only,” I muttered, looking in the direction she would pass in any moment from now.
Their teasing died instantly, replaced by something heavier as they observed me quietly for a moment.
Ace whistled low. “That explains why you look like you’re about to snap.”
“Is she okay?” Cassian asked, surprisingly serious for once.
I stared down at the table. The image of her flushed face, the way she’d whispered my name in her sleep, burned behind my eyes. “No,” I said honestly. “But she’s safe….at least, for now.”
Lucien tilted his head. “And how long do you think you are going to survive this? Having her in your home and all…”
I scoffed. “Fourteen days.”
Theo laughed. “You’re fucked…..you can barely hang on when she's around. Remember high school days?” We all groaned in unison. I was insufferable at that time, and there was some distance between us.
Cassian smirked. “Good luck keeping your hands to yourself, CEO.”
“Fuck you guys.” I ended the call without another word before they could give another retort at the sound of Aurora’s room door opening.
The apartment fell quiet again, and walking towards me was the woman who could ruin me or save me.
And I had only thirteen days left to find out which one it would be.