veiled hearts

eight

"I win." I bit my lips at the statement of the man whose cards seemed to me a falsehood, throwing my deck over the table, knowing I hadn't even bothered to play. I didn't know how to either way, and I had all the money in the world, so I could really lose nothing against these men.

I had escaped that night, wearing a dark coat with a hood that didn't allow many to see my face if it wasn't from the front. I had grabbed a mask from my wardrobe, one of many that were given to me before the masquerade, to choose which one I liked the most. The one I wore was red, making me stand out a little, but I was lucky that I walked into a club where many other women wore a mask as well, rather because they tried to conceal their identities in case any familiar person were to walk in and find them maybe cheating on their partners or in a place they shouldn't be found in. The latter one could be seen as relatable when it came to me.

The cards were being dealt for the third time since the moment I joined, but just before we got to start another round, a strange man with a heavy scent sat just across the table, right in front of me, staring at me blankly as he took off his dark-coloured jacket, it looked almost black, but some shades of green still shined across the heavy fabric. I couldn't truly tell many colours because of the red lighting in the club.

Silence swarmed our table, as everyone looked at each other unsettled, some even laughed. I just smiled at him, having the feeling that this game would be fun. Mostly because the more players, the better it got, but I may include the fact that this man, was relatively desirable from the little I could see of him.

His hard muscles pressed against his tight-collared shirt, and his presence gave me a sudden feeling of warmth, arousal and... Darkness?

His lovely shadow moved in front of me as he grabbed each and every deck from all players, handing them to the one who dealt them before so he did it again, now including him into the game.
Alcohol always made me feel so flamed, so hot at every matter, or at least that's what I'd just realized because of this sudden feeling that I had, it felt exactly the same as the one I felt at the masquerade, but make it four times wilder.

I grabbed my glass of wine that matched my red-painted lips that I managed to paint on my way to the dark room that enabled me to get here. My lips were already a bit smudged from the contact they had with the glass, maybe I had drunk the whole bottle already, no one knows.
The thin glass sat between my lips and the warm liquid rushed down my system, leaving a burn-y feeling against my throat.

"She's gone down another glass, Maven." I heard one of the men that sat at the table whisper, he talked to the guy who was next to me, but I didn't truly care, my eyes were plastered on the man who had recently joined us, and I realized his attention had shifted to the guy who'd spoken silently just now. The club was quite loud, there were many performers near us, singing non-stop, dancing in very inappropriate clothing, but everyone enjoyed watching them, many loved this. I liked the performance, and the music too. The club was filled with people, there were multiple tables full, and others stood up to watch the performance or chat.

I held up my deck, hiding it as I was surprisingly served another glass of wine. Gods, they were clearly trying to tear some pockets with the check.

"Ooh... I'm coming for you guys!" I jokingly warned, accommodating my ass into the chair I had been sitting on for at least more than a whole hour.

"Are you, princess?" My eyes widened. The man beside me was the one who spoke.

"I'm no princess,"

"Really...?" His voice sounded seductive. This blonde-haired man whose eyes were as deep green as fresh thorns of roses was trying to seduce me. I was too drunk to realize this, I didn't care.