Passion Follows Pain (Passion Series Book 3) (14 page)

Arissa looked up and her eyes widened in surprise. She turned to him. “Isn’t that Fabian’s wife or girlfriend, whatever she is?”

Lucian grinned. “Yes it is. She’s a singer at the club. This is where Fabian and Sirene met. She’s good isn’t she?”

Arissa turned bright eyes on him. “She has such a beautiful voice and she looks so pretty.”

“Her dress is shorter than yours too baby, see? Do you feel better about yours now? You look beautiful. You should dress to show off your beauty, not hide under shapeless clothes.”

Her face clouded at his words. “I don’t have any nice clothes. Father wouldn’t let me wear anything that he considered inappropriate. He said only tarts wear revealing clothes.”

Lucian felt rage surge through him at the mention of the bastard’s name and the crap he’d brainwashed his own daughter with for years. The prick had made her feel that she’d be nothing better than a whore if she’d worn anything pretty, yet fucking his own daughter was obviously acceptable in his sick and twisted mind.

He was so distracted by the fury he felt when he thought of Arissa’s father and the burning desire he had to choke the life right of the bastard, that he didn’t hear or see his sister’s approach until she spoke. “Well, well, well brother dearest, fancy meeting you here.” At the sound of her voice he turned and reluctantly faced her.

“What are you doing here?” He asked impatiently.

“Now is that any way to greet your dear sister? I see you’ve brought the little woman.” She turned her dark eyes on Arissa and he watched her shift nervously under Francesca’s probing gaze.

He pulled her closer to him and was relieved when she tucked in against his side, obviously feeling safe in his arms. Of course Fran noticed and one eyebrow shot up as she watched them. He glared at her hoping that she’d make an effort to exercise some control and filter that damn mouth of hers. He sure as hell didn’t need her saying anything in front of Arissa that could scare her off.

“So what are you doing here Francesca? Is there any particular reason? Are you here for Sirene maybe?” He asked.

She laughed softly. “No reason brother dear. I just wanted to see how you were going.” She turned her attention on Arissa. “Nice dress, my brother has good taste I see. Not sure about the colour. I’m kind of a dark colours gal myself, black, black and more black. Kind of suits my mood, you know how it is?”

Arissa took a big gulp of her drink before shaking her head at Fran. Lucian wanted his sister to leave them alone now. It was obvious Arissa was becoming intimidated by Francesca. He could see it in her eyes and the faint tremor he could feel running through her.

“Well, it was nice of you to come and say hello, but I’m sure you have other things to do?” He shot her a warning look and finally she seemed to get the message. She would have known she wasn’t welcome right from the start but that was Fran, she got off on stirring up shit for everyone.   

“Oh relax little brother. I’m not alone here anyway.” As if on cue two men appeared at her side and Lucian could see straight away that she had them under her control. They were still lucid and mostly aware of things going on around them but Francesca had a thing about making men like slaves. She’d snap her fingers and they’d come running. “Here they are now. Meet….” She gave a flick of her wrist at the two men. “Well, I’ve forgotten their names, but who needs to know names? I’m only interested in fucking them after all.”

Lucian silently groaned at her words and cast a quick glance at Arissa to see how she was handling the conversation. She was staring at Francesca with huge eyes and sipping from her drink like a dying woman trying to satisfy a desperate thirst.   

“Good bye Fran. Enjoy your evening.” He dismissed her and pulled Arissa away. She stumbled slightly on her heels before hurrying along after him. When he stopped to one side of the stage, but still close so they could watch Sirene perform, he turned to her. “Are you ok? My sister can be somewhat testing. As you probably gathered, she likes to go for the shock factor. She gets off on that. I hope she didn’t upset you?”

“She is a little intimidating. I can’t imagine being like her.” She gulped down the last of her drink before raising her eyes to his, her expression embarrassed. “Is she really going to do what she said?” She leaned closer to him. “You know f…fuck them? She doesn’t even know their names. How can she talk of doing…you know what with them?”

Lucian raised his eyes to the ceiling as if it could somehow give him the answer he was searching for that wouldn’t send her running for the hills. “Francesca is very confident and she does enjoy trying to shock people but you do know that a man and woman can have sex and not be in love or even know one another baby?”

He watched colour flood her cheeks at his words. “I don’t want to talk about this anymore. I...your sister makes me nervous. Can I have another drink please? I enjoyed that very much.”

“Sure you can; come with me.” He said and took her hand leading her back through the crowds to the bar to get her that next drink.

Arissa

The sound of Sirene’s voice as she sang and the music were definitely helping me to relax on my date with Lucian. The drinks he bought for me were helping to settle my nerves too and although I wasn’t so sure I could class it as enjoying myself, I wasn’t hating my time out either.

I was glad that Francesca had gone. She was a strange one to me; I didn’t understand her and she made me nervous. There was something about her. Maybe it was the pale makeup she wore with the dark lipstick and dark eyes, or the way she dressed. The way she’d spoken had really shocked me, more than I wanted to let on. She didn’t seem to care what she said to anyone. Her talk of being with both those men certainly had stunned me, but if I was honest with myself, it also roused my curiosity.

How could she say that? How could she want to have sex with those men? She didn’t even know them, she didn’t know their names and yet she was going to let them put their things in her? There were two of them so how did that work?

“What’s going through that beautiful head of yours?” Lucian asked and I looked up at him, blushing furiously. His eyebrows shot up at my reaction and he moved closer his head lowering to mine. “What is it baby? You are turning a most delightful shade of pink. Just what were you thinking?” His lips brushed over my cheek and I shivered.

“I…I...your sister…Francesca...I was wondering…I was wondering.” I struggled to express myself. “How…how can she have sex with those men? She doesn’t know them, she doesn’t know their names and…and there are two of them.” I said in hushed tones, worried someone might hear the nature of my conversation.

Lucian chuckled quietly before suddenly dropping a hard kiss on my lips. He was gone again before I had time to react. “Francesca is Francesca, she is always like that. She enjoys the shock value and it is possible for people to have sex with more than one person at a time.” He said.

I blushed again, although I think the alcohol Lucian was buying for me was making me a bit braver. “Have you ever….you know, with more than one person?”

Lucian gaped at me momentarily as if my question had shocked him but he got himself back under control quickly. “Why do you want to know?”

“I...I’m curious I guess. So have you?”

“Yes baby, I have. Are you sure you really wanted to know that?”

“How many women have you had sex with?” I found myself asking him. I gasped when the question left my lips. What was it with me tonight? Why was I asking all these questions?

“Arissa, I can’t answer that. Why are you asking me these questions now? If you’re going to ask me such intimate questions then I should be allowed to do the same. How many men have you had sex with?”

At his question thoughts of my father flooded my head, the pain, him lying on me, grunting, thrusting, his hot breath in my ear and I shuddered. God would I ever be free of the pain, the torment he inflicted? For years he’d hurt me, for years he’d raped me, beaten me and abused me. It was because of him that although I was out with a man I thought was beautiful and sexy, I feared getting too close to him. I feared him wanting to do things to me and I didn’t want to contemplate the idea at all, that even with someone as beautiful as Lucian, sex would be no better. That even with him, it would represent nothing but the same kind of pain and humiliation I’d endured for years with my father.  

I looked up at Lucian and so badly I wanted to believe that he would never hurt me, that sex with him would not be some painful, degrading, horrific act that left me feeling dirty and disgusted afterwards. I wanted to believe that he wouldn’t do to me what my father had done, but would I ever have the confidence to find out? Would I ever be brave enough to let him try?

As I stared at him while he watched Sirene performing, I wondered if it was at all possible that this man could be the one who would wipe away the painful memories of my past. Was he the one to make me believe that sex could be as enjoyable as it was depicted in the romance books I liked to read? I guess inside me, despite everything I still had that childish desire for the fairy tale ending, for that happily ever after. Again those words played over in my mind where he asked if I would let him show me how pleasurable sex could be and I said yes. Why did I keep hearing those words? Why did they feel so real? They couldn’t be real though; it had to be a dream, didn’t it?

Lucian glanced down at me and caught me staring. “What is it Arissa? You’re not going to ask me anything else about my sex life I hope?”

I blushed at his words. “No…I…I...could I have another drink, please?”

He looked at me, then the empty glass I was holding. “You want another drink? Do you feel alright? If you’re not accustomed to drinking you want to be careful of the effect it can have.”

“I feel fine, good actually. Just one more drink if that’s ok but if you don’t want to pay for it I will pay you back but I…I’m sorry, I forgot to bring money with me.”

He dropped a kiss on my head. “You do not have to pay for your drinks, you do not have to pay me back for anything baby. I invited you out. You are my date. Wait here, I’ll get you another drink.” He walked off and I stood, alone for the first time in the crowded room.

I tried to control my nerves and watched Sirene for a little while. I saw her glance down at me occasionally and her presence helped. Knowing she was there watching over me.

Someone jostled me and I gasped when arms closed around me, holding me tightly. The body I was dragged against was soft, not firm like Lucian’s body. Instead of the gorgeous scent that was simply Lucian, this body smelled strongly of beer and I gagged. That was a smell I was familiar with. That was a smell that could strike terror in me. That was the smell I would find filling my nostrils when my father would come to me, drunk, angry and eager to force himself on me.

“Hey gorgeous, wanna dance?” A voice slurred in my ear and I struggled, trying to pull free of the arms that were holding me. I could feel panic rising, my heart rate increasing.

“No, no, let me go. Please, let me go.” I cried.

“Aw girl, give us a kiss, pretty little thing like you. Come on, give us a kiss.” His grip tightened on me as I felt his beer breath, rank and hot across my face making me feel nauseous.

I cried out, my breathing becoming faster and faster until I was panting. “Let me go, god, no, please, please.” I cried, tears streaming down my face.

Suddenly the man was torn off me and I heard a masculine roar before everything seemed to fade away. The music, the yells of people, the man who had been holding me, everything disappeared and the black rolled in. I vaguely heard a man’s voice shout something and I felt strong arms close around me just before everything faded away and I let myself be sucked into oblivion.

Chapter Ten

Lucian

Lucian dropped the drink in his hand when he saw some balding, overweight man wrapped around Arissa and rushed forward, his stomach clenching at the sight of the sheer terror on her face. God that look like a wounded, cornered animal; it tore at him and he roared, a loud, angry, primal roar and grabbed the man by the back of the neck, tearing him off her.

He just managed to restrain himself from smashing the bastard’s face into the back of his head and settled for throwing him with a flick of his wrists like he was shaking his hands dry. The man went flying, knocking a few other members of the club over but Lucian didn’t care.

With the asshole’s hands off Arissa, he turned back to the poor, broken, fragile woman who was shaking so hard, her whole body vibrated with it. She was breathing rapidly, panting like she’d just run a marathon before the colour suddenly drained from her face, leaving her ashen. He saw her eyes roll back in her head and he lunged, catching her as she started to fall. He dragged her body close, holding her, tilting her face up to his and saw straight away that she’d fainted.

He was vaguely aware that Sirene had joined him, the lights coming up brighter in the room as she bent towards him. “Quick, get her out of here, she needs air.” She pushed him towards the exit as he stood with the unconscious woman in his arms. “Go Lucian, I’ll deal with all this.” She waved her arms towards where a few people had gathered around the man who had attacked Arissa. He was sitting up, his head buried in his hands so he was ok. Obviously he hadn’t killed him, although It was tempting. He was so fucking angry with that bastard for putting his hands on her.