“Is that your nice way of calling me a boring loser?” he joked.
She snorted. “I doubt anyone has ever referred to you as either of those things.”
“No?” Despite his earlier assessment that he wasn’t interested, Rin tipped his head, voice lowering suggestively when he asked, “What do people say about me then?”
Arlet answered, probably in a similar, sultry, flirtatious tone as the one he’d just used on her, but Rin didn’t hear it. The distinct sensation of being watched had drawn his gaze up and over her head, toward the back of the pool.
Where Kelevra was staring back at him.
The Imperial Prince had his arms stretched over the stone ledge, his bare chest pulled taught, crystal clear water doing nothing to hide the long length of his torso. There was a lollipop in his mouth. Now that he wasn’t wearing a suit jacket, the dark ink of tattoos over the tops of both shoulders, leading down to his elbows was visible. He was with a small group, but the second Rin caught his eye, he smirked and pulled away from them wordlessly. There was no rush in his movements as he waded through the water, coming toward where Rin and Arlet were.
The pool was packed, but everyone slipped out of his way without needing to be told, and before long Kel was sliding up next to Arlet, eyes still locked onto Rin’s like some damn missile bullseye.
“…could go grab a bite? I know this cute place not far from here,” Arlet finished saying, clearly unaware that Rin hadn’t caught any of that.
“He’s got other plans,” Kelevra said for him.
She startled and then noticeably paled, glancing between the two before backing away. “I apologize. I didn’t realize.”
Kelevra didn’t spare her a glance, planting his palms on the ledge and lifting himself with one strong push. He stood before Rin a second later, water dripping from his body, the red swim trunks clinging to his muscular thighs and the jutted bones of his hips. A finely groomed happy trail led up from beneath the tight waistband, dark hairs stopping at his navel. The gold body chain harness he had on draped over both shoulders, layers of chains cascading down his chest, the center of each swoop seemingly carefully sized so they highlighted the dips of his abs. The bottom one touched just over his navel, making it easy for Rin’s gaze to travel.
He blinked when he looked back up to find that smirk Kelevra had been wearing had reached his eyes.
Along with a hint of unmistakable heat that had alarm bells clanging in Rin’s brain.
The stare-off was thankfully broken when someone ran over and offered a fluffy black towel to Kel.
He took it and dried himself off, taking special care of his curly hair before tossing it back at the servant who was still waiting. Then he motioned with a finger at Rin, the silent order to follow him apparent when he started walking across the concrete rooftop toward a side entrance Rin hadn’t noticed.
Rin debated making an excuse and cutting out, but he’d come all the way here, and if he left now, that only meant he’d be making himself available to be summoned like this again for the same purpose. Better just to get it over with.
He’d asked around yesterday to try and get a better feel for what he was up against, and everyone had pretty much the same things to say about the Imperial Prince.
He was quick to react and didn’t bother considering the consequences. Volatile, sporadic, and impulsive. Basically, he was a ticking time bomb who didn’t even have the decency to come with tell-tale signs to warn when he was about to explode. The upside to people like that was they tended to bore rather quickly.
Rin just had to make it through this meet and greet of sorts, show Kelevra he was just a regular, average guy; ideally, that would be enough for the man to lose interest all on his own. They were both only going through with this because it was an assignment, in any case. He doubted the Imperial Prince wanted to be wasting his time talking with Rin when he could still be lounging in the pool playing court with his guests.
Kelevra led them inside and the door automatically shut behind Rin, though he didn’t turn to check if he was being followed like he’d asked. Instead, he headed straight for a narrow set of stairs that led through gray walls and up to a second floor. There, he turned left and entered the first room down the hall.
Rin stepped in after him, pausing just within the doorway when he realized they were in a bedroom.
A bed was pressed up against the right wall, the golden sheets glittering in the dim lighting and the colorful bursts of neon that flashed in through the floor-to-ceiling wall of window directly across from the door. The curtains, also gold, had been pulled back so the full swing of the party outside could be seen. They were above it by a good ten feet, the angle perfect for seeing the expanse of the rooftop and the pool.
A long, low-set white dresser took up the left wall, a holo-strip that would project videos over the blank space above it one of the few things that were there. A stack of old-looking books bound in leather, a golden apple statue, and a couple of other glass sculpture knickknacks were carefully displayed, but that was about it.
“Here.” Kelevra offered him a can of beer from a small mini fridge set by another door that led into a bathroom.
“Thanks.” Rin accepted but didn’t pop the top open, eyes catching onto the tattoos now that the Imperial Prince was close enough he could make them out.
Roses. A mixture of thick and thin delicate lines. The hint of thorns hidden beneath jagged leaves.
“That’s quite the collection,” he stated dumbly when he realized he’d been staring. Maybe he should drink after all.
“Thanks,” Kelevra said. “I’ll be adding to it shortly.”
“I didn’t know Imperials were allowed to get ink.” This was dumb. What was he even doing here?
“We’re allowed to do whatever we want.”
