Avriel Kaplan: Well dressed, well groomed, beautifully handsome, quiet and brooding and exactly the kind of man Ariel Declan doesn't need to know. But, that is not for her to decide.
Alexander Kirk: wickedly handsome, well known and well liked, egot...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Ice ran down his spine as a chill touch slithered across his shoulders.
"Avriel," a cool and sultry voice purred his name as a thin dark-haired woman dressed in an elegant black jumpsuit with a split down the front to her belly button and an open back slipped around to stand impossibly close to his side. It took all his energy and strength to not jump up and run from that familiar slithering silky touch. "Avriel, my sweet, sweet gentle, Avi. Whatever are we to do with you?"
He hid well the shivers that cascaded down his spine. He lockdown his mind as tightly and quickly as he possibly could, guarding against the woman's mental intrusion. Not that he left himself open, he just needed extra precautions when she was near. Her thoughts felt slimy and out of place in his mind. They certainly did not belong in there. He fought to maintain a calm and cool demeanor, but the truth was her very presence was enough to set his anger ablaze. He couldn't be bothered to look up from his glass, he just stared at it and held his tongue for a long precious moment, then simply stated, "Nothing." His eyes were the only things that betrayed his anger at her very presence by his side. They burned and blazed, more golden than green, as the golden ring around his pupils expanded and pushed the green and blue to the outer edges of his irises. The edges took on a red hue. His mouth was held firm in a straighter line than usual, as he continued to stare angrily at his half-empty glass. Slowly, Avriel raised his angry eyes and looked at her in the mirror. "Leave." He commanded in deep hushed tones, his mouth didn't move yet the woman heard him clearly.
"Very well. Have it your way, Ah-vee." The woman ran taunting cool fingers along his neck and down his jaw while he glared at her through his reflection.
"NOW!" He growled. She sauntered smoothly away from him, one elegant hip at a time, and on down the bar to order her drink. By being near him, let alone saddling up right next to him and bringing herself to the side of the bar, or to the bar at all for that matter, she was violating their agreement. Anger hot and wild threatened to boil out of Avriel as Esther moved away from him.
Pretending not to have noticed that fine little exchange between a man that obviously fascinated her and a tall beautiful woman that clearly knew him and lying to herself, Ariel was internally torn. She smiled softly as the woman approached her.
"Would you like your usual tonight, Miss Esther?"
"Not tonight Ari." She purred as she shot Avriel a smug look. He no doubt heard that. "I'd like to try something new. Maybe one of your drinks? What do you think? Do you have a drink for me?"
Unfazed by Esther's unfathomable beauty and deep brown eyes, Ariel just smiled. "I believe I do," she said with the glass she needed already in her hand, the rim of it both salted and sugared. She set it on the counter and moved gracefully to get the bottles she needed from the shelf behind her. Bottles flipped and spun, and liquor poured into the martini glass. When the last ingredient was added to the salt and sugar rimmed glass, its contents smoked, and electric blue swirled throughout the liquid. Expertly Ariel garnished the drink and set it on the small black square of a napkin in front of Esther.
Esther examined the blue and white liquid swirled in her glass with a genuine look of surprise stamped across her beautiful face and through her eyes. "What is it?" She asked quietly her agenda momentarily forgotten.
"Blue Lagoon." Came Ariel's proud and short reply. She scanned Esther's card and added the drink to her tab. She gave her back her card and smiled before nodding and moving away. She didn't wait for Esther to taste the drink, she didn't need to.
Esther picked up the glass and touched the cool liquid to her lips and nodded in approval as she casually raised her glass to Avriel. He rolled his eyes and turned his attention away from her and back to the woman that had come to sit beside him. She was beautiful, like most of the women that joined him at the bar. This one was a busty blond with a thin waist, long legs, and a healthy smile, elegantly dressed in black, of course. She was smooth and elegant but desperate. He despised such desperate people. Despite the appearance of having it all together, the women that were drawn to him were pretty much either somewhat or completely broken and apparently looking to him to resolve their problems. This one was very unhappy in her marriage and was looking for a way out. Disinterested, he gave her a small portion of his attention while he tracked and noted Esther's movements from the bar and through the club.
Esther moved smoothly, full of grace and skill that he knew to be precise and deadly, around the bar and up the stairs, turning every head as she went. She turned at the top of the stair and headed to the lounge area of the upper bar. A tall beautiful blond boy with blue eyes so bright Avriel could see them from where he sat greeted her. Naturally, he knew him. Unfortunately, he knew him well.
