I roll my eyes with a shake of my head, focusing back on the road.
It’s a long drive back to the estate and when we come out of the city, the roads are less taken care of, more treacherous and icier in this weather. I slow my speed, carefully taking the corners so I don’t spin on any black ice.
“I can drive quite well, I’ll have you know,” She turns to face me, curling her legs onto the seat and that damn dress rides up some more, “This baby would be in good hands.” She pats the dashboard for good measure.
“Absolutely not,” I flick my eyes to her, my lips wanting to tug into a smile at the pleading look on her face. “How about I’ll buy you one. Whichever one you want.”
“I don’t need you to buy me a car,” She rolls her eyes, “I can buy my own car.”
“Maybe I want to buy you a car,” I counter.
“No,” She orders sternly. “I don’t want your money.”
And that just makes me want to give it to her more.Keeping my eyes on the road, I reach into my pocket and tug out my wallet, handing it over.
“Well, it’s yours anyway.”
“Put it away, Malakai,” She huffs, crossing her arms over her chest.
I chuckle as I pop the wallet in the holder between the seats, settling in for the rest of the drive home.
“You look beautiful tonight,” I say after some time of silence.
She lets out a long breath, “Thank you.”
Twenty minutes later, I pull to a stop at the gates until the camera recognizes my plate and the gates begin to open, and then I let the car roll quietly down the long drive. It’s so dark out here that you can barely see much beyond the windows. It used to scare me as a child but now I just find peace in the darkness, it’s harder to see the stains on your soul when you can barely see in front of your face.
Once the car is in the garage, I walk around to Olivia’s side, opening her door and offering my hand to help her out. Her fingers slide into my palms as she climbs out and she promptly bends, unstrapping her shoes and kicking them off.
We walk in silence through the house, the staff long gone to bed in the quarters provided for them, some stay here on the estate while others choose to commute, but either way, there’s not a soul awake in the house save for the two of us.
In the bedroom, she heads straight for the bathroom, dropping her shoes in the doorway of the closet. I follow behind, picking them up to put them on the shelf.
While I wait for the bathroom, I strip out of the jacket, putting it on a hanger to place back in the closet and then slip out of the turtleneck, tossing that into the hamper for laundry.
“Um, Malakai?” I hear Olivia call from the bathroom.
“What’s wrong?” I’m immediately at the door, pressing on the handle to get inside but it’s locked. Would it be wrong to remove the lock? I wonder while I wait for her to respond.
“Um,” She says uncertainly, “My zip is stuck.”
“Open the door, Olivia.”
After a long pause, I hear the lock disengage but she doesn’t open, so I let myself in.
She’s gnawing on her lip when I get inside, her hands cradled together in front of her body.
“Turn around,” I order gently.
“It’s stuck,” She rambles, “It’s too tight for me to just pull it off and I can’t get it.”
“Turn around, kitten.”
She jerks her head in a resemblance of a nod but doesn’t turn.
I step up to her, gently taking her arms to turn her around and her eyes meet mine in the mirror. I tower above her, like a looming shadow behind her back. Dropping her eyes, I look at the zipper on the dress, seeing it’s just snagged on some material. My fingers work to free it, unhooking the material and then I slide it undone, the sound of the metal on the teeth loud in the quiet bathroom.
“Thank you,” She breathes, pushing back on the fingers that whisper across her bare back.
