Opaque Melodies (Coveting Delirium Book 1) Page 3

  Swallowing, I slid myself across the seat and exited the car. Demetri was kind enough to not say a word, remaining at by side with my suitcase grasped within his hands. Both of us gave our attention to the man making his way down the stone pathway.

  Brows furrowing, I watched him approach more than a little confused. Who was this? A tightening in my chest had me leaning slightly towards Demetri.

  “Um, does Alaric have any kids?”

  “No…” he replied slowly.

  I already knew the answer to my next question. I asked it anyway, just to clarify that I wasn’t freaking out inside for no reason.

  “Is that him?”

  Demetri finally looked over at me, a small smile coming to his face. “That is Mr. Schuyler, yes.”

  I nodded more to myself than him. I was going to kill Chloe when I got home.

  CHAPTER THREE

  He was completely unexpected and nothing like I’d been imagining.

  Gradually, he came closer, a small grin aimed at my person as I took him in. Chloe had said I wasn’t wrong about him being older, which was clearly a lie because there was no way to correctly guess his age. But to have a house as massive as the one behind him, a car like the one in front of the garage, and live in California?

  He was obviously old enough to be established. This was the only thing I knew about him so far. Well, and the fact he was my sister’s husband.

  None of my assumptions about his physical appearance were panning out. Not even the hair. There wasn’t a speck of gray to be seen, just tampered locks of pretty brown.

  The pop-belly I’d been picturing was just that, a figment of my imagination. Dressed in a fitted black button down with the sleeves partially rolled back and a pair of tan slacks, it was easy to see he was nicely toned.

  “You made it.” His baritone voice rang out, reaching me a few seconds before he did. I detected the slight hint of an accent. He came to a stop a few feet in front of me. A good six-three to my five-two, I had to tilt my head back to see his face fully.

  Now right in front of me I was able to see his skin had a natural golden glow while every inch of his face could have been carved from stone.

  He was like a Greek sculpture plucked right from a prestigious museum of art. As I continued to stare at him without saying a word, his small smile stretched a little wider, showcasing his smooth stubble and the dimple in his right cheek.

  “Yeah. I made it,” I finally replied lamely.

  A hand with a large silver watch wrapped around its wrist, stretched towards me. I couldn’t recall the last time I’d been greeted so formally, but it seemed appropriate given the situation. I gave him my hand. Instead of shaking it like I thought he was going to, he turned it, so my palm was facing down.

  His grip was confident and firm as he raised my hand to his mouth and placed a kiss on the back of it. Whereas I’d have found the interaction completely creepy had any other strange man attempted to do this, I barely batted an eye at him. That may have had more to do with the fact that I couldn’t look away from his face.

  His eyes were seriously blue.

  Almost sickeningly blue.

  The kind of blue you wanted to paint the sky with. There was something else there too, something that glistened in the depths of them that I couldn’t place. He released me and slid his hands into his pockets.

  “It’s nice to finally meet you, though I wish we could’ve done this under better circumstance.”

  His words had a pang of unexpected guilt crashing into my gut.

  As if he felt it himself, he was quick to offer an apology.

  “Sorry. I didn’t say that to make you feel guilty.”

  “You didn’t—I don’t,” I objected a tad harsher than necessary.

  His smile didn’t fade away, but his dark brows lifted slightly.

  “Come inside, I’ll give you a quick tour.”

  A barrage of refusals gathered at the back of my throat ready to pour from my mouth. He turned a bit and held out a hand to motion me forward. With a mind of their own my legs began to carry me up the path to his front door.

  I swallowed down my protest and went with it, offering him a quick smile I knew didn’t reach my eyes. Demetri followed wordlessly behind us. I almost felt bad he was carrying my bag.

  I’d take the tour and pretend I cared what Alaric’s house looked like, and then then I would ask to be taken to a hotel. Alaric opened the door but let me enter first.

  I stepped inside a large foyer, sweeping my gaze over immaculately polished oak floors. There was a round table in the center of the room, a large vase filled with white flowers placed atop it. The walls were concrete, beige with a swirled pattern.

  Off to the far left there was a staircase, the top half concealed entirely. Alaric went right, telling me about the home’s architectural design as we proceeded to go from room to room.

  “Me and my father mapped out the entire layout together,” he explained.

  Given the house’s location and now knowing it was a custom build that included high-ceilings and large windows, this added another tier of wealth to what I already knew was a large scale.

  So, not only was he supposedly successful in whatever his profession was, he came from money too. At least this information aligned with one of my earlier assumptions. Meg would have married a man well-off.

  As we continued the tour, I tried to picture her living here. If only I knew enough about who she was to play out a daily routine, know where she liked to spend most of her time.

  There was one room that made the whole tour worth it. Alaric referred to it as the “great room.” I honestly couldn’t think of a better term for it.

  I stepped in, barely concealing my awe. The whole back wall was glass with a pair of French doors in the center that led out to an open-air pavilion. There was a bar and large in-ground pool surrounding it. Beyond all that lay a land of turquoise. The sun glistened off its waves. Seagulls soared low, skimming its surface in search of fish.

  While this was all beautiful, it wasn’t what had my heart fluttering in my chest. The main focal point of the room was the grand piano, angled to face the same direction.

  The black, glossy surface was shined to perfection. Its keys were in pristine condition.

  “Do you play?” Alaric asked.

  I jumped, too caught up in my own head to remember I wasn’t alone.

  I glanced over my shoulder, seeing he hadn’t even come all the way into the room. He was leaning against the arch of the wall, watching me.

  “Not really,” I lied. It’d been a while, but I could never forget how it felt to be seated behind one of these beautiful instruments. Playing had always been an outlet for me. Even now, the bench beckoned me to sit.

  Alaric continued to regard me silently, an indecipherable expression on his face. I fought against the urge to squirm beneath his icy gaze. Biting my lower lip, his eyes tracked the subtle movement and he finally spoke.

  “That’s too bad.”

  Once more, words failed to present themselves. It was boarding on ridiculous, even for me. I’d seen attractive men before.

  Granted, none came close to him, but I never got tongue-tied. Majority of the time I avoided men like the plague. Most offered nothing but audacity.

  Something told me Alaric wouldn’t have been an exception, and after seeing the lower half of his house, I figured now was as good a time as any to find out where I would be staying.

  “Is there a hotel nearby?”

  At my question, he straightened to his full height. “Unless your idea of a hotel is pitching a tent in all those trees you seen on the way up, no.”

  I couldn’t tell if he was joking or being serious. “I don’t want to be in the way.”

  “You’re not staying at a hotel.” His tone transformed from friendly to harsh. I was thrown off enough by it that I couldn’t immediately respond.

  Staring me down, he moved a few inches closer, making the room feel ten times smal
ler. If intensity was a person, it would be Alaric. I crossed my arms and resisted the urge to retreat.

  “There’s no reason for you to stay at a hotel. I have more than enough space. It’s just me and Demetri now.”

  The latter part of his sentence seemed to be added as an after-thought, as if he’d just remembered my sister was gone. I didn’t know what to say to comfort him. I sent my gaze to the waves outside, weighing my options.

  “I would feel better knowing you were here. It’s what your sister would have wanted,” he persisted, his tone warm again.

  I took a quiet breath and relented. Partially so he would stop mentioning Meg, more so because I was exhausted.

  The nap in the car had done nothing for me.

  “If you’re sure…” I trailed off, letting him know I agreed, albeit reluctantly.

  “One thing you should know about me Catalina, is that I never say what I don’t mean.”

  “Um. Okay”

  “Follow me, I’ll show you to your room.” He turned and began to walk away. With no other option or reason to linger, I did as he asked.

  The upper level of the house was made up of long hallways lined with art—erotic and disturbingly macabre art. All the women were naked, their vividly painted bodies being fucked or touched by some type of evil entity.

  The painting centered at the top of the stairs was of a woman playing the piano, a horned beast sat between her legs, spreading them apart.

  His nails were digging into her thighs so severely they were bleeding, his abnormally long tongue lost deep inside her. The pinched expression on her face wasn’t one of fear or pain. It was of obvious pleasure.

  Realizing I’d stopped, Alaric did the same. “That’s one of my favorites,” he commented, making his way back towards me.

  “It’s…different.”

  “It’s beautiful,” he corrected. “Imagine how the artist felt bringing this to life, the state of mind he was in.”

  “There’s a demon giving a woman oral, I’m not sure his state of mind could be considered sane.”

  His pouty bottom lip disappeared between his teeth for a moment, and then a slight smile came to his face.

  “Insanity and art go hand in hand.”

  I turned that sentence over in my head. “Who said that?”

  “Alaric Schyuler.”

  I scratched my temple with my index finger, withholding a smile. “That would explain why I’ve never heard anyone say it before.”

  “Very few people understand what it means. Most, they never will.”

  “I think I may be one of them.”

  “No,” he retorted, the surety in his tone causing a breath to catch in my chest. “You get it, you just don’t allow yourself to embrace it.”

  He moved closer to me. His cologne enveloped my sense of smell, the scent a mixture of citrus and spice.

  “Look again Catalina.”

  Partially distracted by the way he kept saying my name, I hesitated a second before doing as he said.

  I narrowed my eyes and studied the image more critically as he narrated.

  “Her pussy is being thoroughly ravaged by a demonic beast, yet she still continues to play, lost in the pleasure of it all. Caught in his web of insanity.”

  Shifting my attention from the painting to the man beside me, I met his steely gaze head on, and a shiver swept down my spine. His voice had been impassioned with every word he’d just spoken.

  I’m not sure how long we stood like that, staring at one another without saying a word. Could have been hours or minutes. Maybe seconds.

  A sudden burst of air from directly above us had me looking away from him. There was a metal vent in an upper portion of the wall, the grates slanted to cool the hall. I was grateful for the interruption.

  “My room?” I queried, eager for a slight reprieve from this whole situation.

  “This way.” He replied after another beat, turning and continuing back the way we’d been walking.

  Trailing behind him, I tried not to overthink what had just happened. It was undeniable that Alaric was a gorgeous man, but I had no right to think of him as anything more than an extended family member—a brother even. Illicit thoughts of him didn’t belong in my head.

  I began to count the evenly spaced doors. I’d just gotten to four when he stopped and pushed it open.

  “This is your room,” he announced.

  I peered inside, unsurprised to find it as large and put together as the rest of the house.

  My suitcase was already here, resting on an ottoman that had been placed at the foot of a large sleigh-bed.

  “There’s a private bath through there.” Alaric pointed to a door on the far side of the room. “Feel free to use the dresser and wardrobe.”

  I nodded even though I was fully intending to live out of my bag. I wouldn’t be here long enough to unpack.

  “I’ll let you get settled. Come find me when you’re ready.” With that, he brushed by me, walking in the direction we’d just come from.

  I twisted around at the last second. “Find you where?”

  My question was met with silence. He was already gone.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  I didn’t know I’d been holding my breath until I realized the air seemed to flow in and out of my lungs a little easier. With an internal groan, I shut myself inside the guest room and walked over to the dresser.

  The large mirror affixed to the back of it reflected an abhorrent image. I pulled the ponytail from my head, allowing my thick waves free-fall to the middle of my back.

  The stylist I saw referred to their fresh color as beeline honey, while the ombre was a dusky pink. Chloe had suggested the look upon my first appointment. She said it went great with my fawn complexion and made my eyes pop.

  I wasn’t too convinced about the last part. I took after my mom. Same oval face, same light brown hues. A short build with average sized breast, and a flaring set of hips.

  Regardless of all that, though, the switch up from my natural coloring had somehow managed to stick. Unfortunately, it did nothing to hide the heavy bags beneath my eyes. If I were paler, I’d have a mask like a racoon.

  Turning away from the pitiful person in the mirror, I pulled my cell from my pocket.

  I had three missed calls. Two from Mom. One from Chloe. I had forgotten to take it off silent. I went to sit on the bed, dialing my mother back first. Beneath the stormy grey comforter, the mattress meshed to my body like an extra plush beanbag.

  “Catalina,” Mom answered, sounding more than a little perturbed.

  That made two of us. “Didn’t I tell you I wanted to stay at a hotel?”

  “The man insisted.”

  “Are you sure it wasn’t you who insisted until he agreed?” I retorted.

  She sniffed, and I could picture her checking over her nails. “What does it matter now? You’re there, and settled in I take it?”

  The urge to scream at her almost got the best of me. Of course, it mattered.

  If she finagled things so that this man felt inclined to let me stay here, it was no wonder he reacted the way he had when I tried to decline. God only knows what she said to him.

  “I seriously can’t believe you sometimes,” I griped, leaning all the way back.

  “Everything I do is for you. Remember that, always.”

  I attempted to discern what exactly she meant by that. Her tone alerted me that she was up to something. I prayed she wasn’t planning on dragging Alaric any further into some crazed plot she’d thought up. The uneasy feeling in my gut told me that was exactly the case and had been from the moment she found out Meg was gone.

  “Be honest with me kitten, what do you think of him?”

  This. Woman.

  “I think he’s my sister’s husband,” I snapped.

  “There’s no need to get upset. I know you can’t understand my motivations, or don’t care to. Just remember what I told you.”

  “Mom,” I drew the word out, letting t
he sigh behind it speak for itself. “What are you planning?”

  “I have to go, alright. Call me before you turn in.”

  “You didn’t answer my question.”

  “Don’t forget to call. Love you.” She hung up before I could, ensuring she’d gotten the last word. I was getting tired of her doing that.

  She was becoming more exhausting than usual. I knew she wanted me to have security, but money couldn’t buy my happiness and no amount of dollar bills would fix me.

  I was in no way shape or form ready for a relationship, and maybe I never would be. I couldn’t fathom willingly bearing my soul and letting someone see the darkest parts of it. It was impossible to envision myself looking into someone’s eyes and telling them what I desired.

  The possibility of me finding what I needed was slim to none. It was more likely for a man to discover my dirty truths and decide I had to have more than a tiny bottle of pills to help me. Not to mention gold-digging wasn’t one of my aspirations.

  I dialed Chloe next, shooting her a text when she didn’t pick up. Checking the time and doing the math, she’d be at work right now. With no one else to talk to, I pushed myself up using one elbow, debating what I should do now.

  I kinda wanted to curl up and sleep the next few days away but hiding out in Alaric’s guest room wasn’t feasible. I would have to deal with him sooner than later if I were to accomplish what I came here for.

  Catching a glimpse of myself in the mirror again, I decided I needed a shower before I went to find him. Rising from the bed, I carried myself across the room to the door Alaric had said led to a private bathroom.

  He’d left out the details of it having a massive spa-tub with an unobstructed view of the ocean. Adjacent to that was a rain-forest shower, completely open concept. The bath beckoned to me, but I wasn’t up for soaking right then. I’d never want to get out once I got in.

  I explored until I found a large closet full of plush, fresh towels and washcloths.

  The first door I’d opened had revealed a toilet in its own private space.