Master of the Game

Midnight Chills

"So, not to be a cliché or anything, but what is a gorgeous girl like you doing at a bar like this?" He said conversationally.

"Just celebrating my sister's 16th birthday." She said, hiding the sadness in her voice.

"Oh cool. Is that who you were sitting with? She doesn't look much like you though." She could tell he was sincerely curious as to the reason behind that, but she couldn't answer so she only focused on the first part of his statement.

"Yea, she's my sister. We usually don't go out like this, but I figured we'd do something special for this birthday. Didn't think I'd meet anyone interesting though" She said teasingly.

"Do you think you should get back to her soon?" Elizabeth could tell he was honestly concerned.

"No," She assured him. "She's just fine. She's been on her own more than any other girl her age has." He seemed to take this in slowly because he just nodded. What he said next caught her completely off guard.

"So you think I'm interesting?" He said jokingly as he nudged her arm with his. She couldn't stop her laugh and he joined quickly, their voices mixing together. Their conversation was going great and she just loved his laugh.

"Um, yeah. You're pretty interesting. How old did you say you were again?" She glanced at him to see he was once again staring at her intensely.

"I'm 21. I don't think you told me your age though." He'd stopped walking and they just stood.

"Oh sorry. I'm 19. Just turned 19 actually."  I stared back at him with as much confidence as I could muster.

"Cool, cool. Do you go to school?"

"Yea. I go to Fortuna Charter University. I'm a freshman" She looked at him proudly. Anyone who'd heard of the school knew it was the most prestigious in the country.

"That's very weird." He said, looking more than a little confused.

"What? What's wrong?" She said with a hint of fear in her voice.

"That's the school I go to. I'm a junior and I've never seen you. Plus you just don't seem like FCU material." He said teasingly while he flashed a handsome grin at her.

"Oh hush", she said. "I have more FCU material in my little finger than you have in your entire body." She raised her little finger for demonstration. He gently grabbed her wrist and a heat overwhelmed her body til she realized he was still smiling teasingly. He started pulling her toward him and she let him pull her closer.

Her body came up against his, and as she sucked in a short breath his lips brushed hers tauntingly. Her heart pounded in her chest like she'd just ran a mile, and his smile made her think he could hear it. She raised her arms and moved them around his neck. He pulled back and his eyes locked on hers and she noticed how bright his eyes really were.

"Do you want me to kiss you?" He asked looking into her eyes. She couldn't answer, she only nodded her head, stating at his full lips.

"Say it" he said softly as his arms locked around her waist and his tongue traced the outline of her lips tauntingly. She whimpered as she said,

"Kiss me" His lips crashed on hers, stealing her breath away and  causing a moan to escape her. His fingers snaked through her hair as he pulled her closer to him and gentled his kiss.

His tongue traced her lips, a silent question. Her response was only to part her lips and whimper again as she felt the heat of his mouth on her tongue.

"Guess I really am finding my own way home tonight." A laughing voice stated from behind Elizabeth. She yanked away and spun around, Griffon's arms still around her waist.

"Raven. I thought you were inside. You shouldn't sneak up on people."

"Yeah I know, but I couldn't help it. I looked outside and saw you two and thought 'Why not?' It was definitely worth seeing the shock on your face." She laughed at the irritation on her sister's face.

"C'mon sis. You know you love me." Finally Elizabeth laughed and responded with,

"Yea I know. And you gotta know you love me little bird" Raven started walking away and responded over her shoulder,

"No duh Sherlock." As she disappeared into the building Elizabeth looked back up at Griffon. His face was amused and she could see he'd enjoyed watching the two sisters.

"You really love her."

"Yes."

"She really loves you."

"Yes." He took a minute to think  about that and it made Elizabeth curious over who he was thinking about when suddenly he looked at her again and asked

"You wanna get out of here?"

"Without a doubt," Elizabeth found her self saying, her own voice surprising her.

"So are you doing anything else for the weekend? I mean don't you go back to school Monday?" She looked at him and smiled, showing she was playing around.

"Yea I should go back Monday, but I don't know if I want to. I mean there's a beautiful girl in my passenger seat and if I'm lucky I'll be able to spend the weekend with her." He slid her a sly wink.

"Maybe. If you're lucky." She winked back at him and then they both started laughing. Griffon turned on the radio and she enjoyed the music that played. But when they pulled up to Griffon's home her mouth dropped open.

"You live here?" She asked in astonishment. In front of her was the most gorgeous Queen Anne styled house she'd ever seen. There were windows everywhere she looked and the building had been painted a beautiful forest green.

"Yes I do. Too much?" He asked, looking at her with a slight tinge of fear mixed with his excitement.

"No. Definitely not. Its beautiful." She couldn't form enough words to describe just how beautiful it was.

"Well. Do you want to come in?

They walked through the front door, and though she'd thought it couldn't be more beautiful, she was very mistaken. Each room had deep sea blue carpeting, except the dining room which had crystal tiling. The living room had three floor to ceiling bookshelves on the side of the room with the door, while a 110 inch flat screen TV was directly placed between two windows on the opposite side.

"How do you afford this? You're in college!" She cried with amazement.

"You just have to know the right people. My parents for instance are both very well off and gave me the family home for..." He paused and then continued slightly embarrassed. "Future needs. Everything here either belonged to my parents or was given to them by other family members, and they could definitely afford it."

"I wish I had this. Its beautiful." She looked at him and gave him her most charming smile, but remained standing. She feared sitting on the furniture because it was all so picture perfect.

"How about we go to the bedroom?" He suggested with a devilish glint in his eyes.

"Sounds like fun." She responded with the same smile as a demoness.