Page 40 of Healed

“Hey, that’s unfair,” Vienna announced, placing a cup in front of me. I looked down to see a pale-coloured tea. “You did that one shift in the café… was it four months ago now, Divorce?”

“Divorce?” I asked.

“What the fuck is this?” Chris grimaced, looking down at my tea. “Fuck sake, lad. You can’t serve her that, it’s piss water.”

He went to take my cup away, and Vienna’s hand snatched around his wrist. “Milky tea, lukewarm water, three sugars, just how she likes it.”

I chuckled softly, wrapping my hands around the cup and pulling it away from both of the men. “He’s right. I know it’s awful but,” I inhaled deeply, closing my eyes as the heat transferred through my hands. “It’s exactly how I like it.”

I opened my eyes and met Vienna’s blue ones, staring at me with an intensity that took my breath away.

“It’s a good job you’re pretty, princess, because that brew might be one of the most disgusting things I’ve ever witnessed.”

“Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it.”

“I’d sooner die,” Vienna shuddered.

“Oh, yeah? What if I did this?” I asked, taking a mouthful of the so-called ‘disgusting’ drink, and then lowering my lips to his. The warm liquid slipped from my lips, and I used my tongue to transfer it to Vienna’s mouth, licking away any spilled drops. His tongue met my own, wrapping around mine, dancing with it, tasting what I offered.

I opened my mouth wider as Vienna’s grip on me tightened, almost spitting the rest of the tea in his mouth.

He sucked my lower lip into his mouth, biting down gently, and then licked the remainder of the tea from my lips. “I guess I could get used to it after all.”

And then his hand was gripping the back of my head, his kisses becoming feverish, his other hand lowering and lowering…

“Gabby?” I jumped, snapping back into the present and out of my memories to see Rachel looking at me.

My cheeks flamed, my breath caught, and I had to clear my throat before even attempting to speak. One quick glance at Vienna showed his own breathing had quickened, his eyes burning with intensity, and the grip on his brew threatening to shatter the cup.

“Sorry, what did you say?”

“The ladies of Sin are meeting this evening. I asked if you wanted to join?”

“Say no, Gabby,” Dante answered. “Trust me.”

“What’s the ladies of Sin?”

“Bad news, that’s what it is.”

“Fuck off, Dante,” Rachel scoffed. “It’s the old ladies club. We...”

I didn’t hear the rest of what she had to say. My body froze at the mention of ‘old ladies’.

Is that what they all thought I was? Vienna’s old lady?

Is that what I wanted to be?

I dared to peek another look at him, and once more he was staring at me—in fact, I didn’t doubt that he hadn’t taken his eyes off me for a second.

“… Imogen is in charge of drinks.”

“No,” Dante groaned. “Why is it Imogen’s turn?”

“Because it was Jade’s turn last week. You know we rotate.”

“Yeah, and Jade chooses nice drinks like cocktails. Things I can water down, and you’ll never know the difference. Imogen chooses whiskey and vodka, straight from the bottle.”

Rachel grinned widely. “She actually brought her own this time.”