Forbidden Romance: Dark Desires

The Dare

Friday Evening

I nursed my drink, gazing around the club with a sense of restlessness. I reluctantly agreed to go to the club with my friends after dinner with my mum and Alex, because I didn't want to go straight home and think about my mom and Alex's relationship anymore. The music was loud and the lights were flashing as we made our way to the bar.

My friends were laughing and chatting, but I felt disconnected, my mind still reeling from the conversation with my mom two days ago.

“Ella, stop. It has been almost 5 years! I need to move on, I want to move on! You should too," my mom replied unhappily.

She was upset with my reaction to her and Alexander's announcement two days ago. She had hidden the relationship from me for 5 months, and now they were talking about marriage and moving in together. Something I was completely against.

I rolled my eyes, "So what? He was still my dad, and was still your husband! How can you just move on?"

"And, it's Stella, not Ella, Mother, you know that," I added before she could reply.

She sighed, her eyes looking straight at mine. "I know this isn't easy for you, Stel, but he is gone. You and I both know that. But as I said, I need to be happy. And Alex makes me very happy, so please, try and be on board with all of this. I love you so much, and I still love your father, but he died, and we both need to move on. That does not take my love away from him, or make me forget him. Never. But I've fallen in love..."

I feel horrible now. My mother was in love. Something she hasn't felt in a long time, not since my father passed. I miss him dearly, but my mother is right. Her being with another man and loving him does not take away from my dad.

I looked at her once more, and I still saw disappointment and sadness in her eyes. I didn't want her to be upset, I loved my mother dearly. She stood by me through so many rough times, as I stood by her. Upsetting her with something that I did not want. Ever…

"I'm sorry, I feel like I should be supporting you. But, I also don't want to sit here and lie to you. I'm upset about the whole situation, I'll absolutely be honest about that. But you know, I love you. I will always love you, and I will always stand by you. If somebody makes you happy, then I'm happy. I just want to see you happy. Even if it's not with Dad." I stated.

Eventually, my mother looked at me. It wasn't the exact reply she wanted. I know she wanted my complete and total support. But at the moment, it was not something that I could get to her. I was hoping that I could give it to her soon enough, but I didn't even know the guy.

"I know you're just trying to be cautious, and I understand that. I don't expect you to get on board automatically, I wish you would. But I know that's not you. That's why I love you, you watch out for yourself. Along with everybody else that you care about. Friday, I'm planning to go to dinner with him. You're coming along, to meet him." My mother stated.

Great…

I'm definitely not looking forward to this. I have to do it, for my mother. She'll appreciate it, and it makes it look like I'm trying. I am, but I don't really want to.

"I’ll try to be there Mom. Whatever makes you happy Mom. I love you." I told her, whatever makes her happy. And this is making her happy.

Again, I love her very much. But I can't take the idea out of my mind that she's choosing somebody else over my father. I know she's not, and I know I'm reading it the wrong way, but it's all I think about.

I want her to be happy, I absolutely do. But I wish my father was still alive, I wish I could hug him and tell him how much I love him. But life is not that fair. I decided to keep my mouth quiet, and my opinion to myself.

Rachel's voice cut through my thoughts, her eyes sparkling with mischief. “Okay, Stella, I've got one for you.” My eyes narrow as my best friend says this. I knew that look, and I didn't like it. already know.

I raised an eyebrow, already knowing that my answer will be a big f*****g no. Rachel's dares always pushed me out of my comfort zone, and I wasn't sure I was ready for that tonight.

“What is it?” I asked, trying to sound nonchalant despite the growing sense of trepidation in my chest.

Rachel grinned. “I dare you to walk over to that guy and kiss him.” She nodded towards the bar, where a stranger sat nursing a drink, his eyes fixed on something in his phone. I felt a jolt of surprise - he was hot, in a rugged, bad-boy kind of way. But that wasn't the point. “She has got to be kidding right?” I thought, shaking my head.

I roll my eyes without looking in the direction she points, expecting the other girls on the table to laugh with me, back me up, or stop her from trying to get me to embarrass myself. But nope, they do nothing but look on with amusement. No way.

Rachel folds her arms, a perfect brow lifts as she waits for me to do something. Are you for real? I look again at one of my college friends but she returns the look with a smug smile.

The consequences of befriending the school b***h, the geek, and the artist. They come up with the worst dares for their beautiful and carefree friend. I grip the table with a groan, hoping and waiting for her to take back her words.

Nothing.

"Why him?" I ask.

"Don't know. Who wears sunglasses in a pub?"

The other girls nod in agreement. I swear they will nod to anything Rachel says as long as it gets me to do the dare. I love them but right now, I hate them for not having my back. This is supposed to be a celebratory evening, not an embarrass-yourself-in-front-of-a- stranger night.

Rachel pouted. “Come on, Stel. It'll be fun. And who knows, maybe you'll even like him.” I hesitated, my mind racing with excuses. But Rachel's words struck a chord. Maybe I did need to shake things up and take a chance. And what was the worst that could happen?

I make a grand show of standing up and my miniskirt flares, hiking up to reveal my thighs. I tug it down and the girls laugh. The first question they asked before we left my house was if I would be okay with something as short as this, I said yes. Well, I lied. It didn't look so short till I wore it.

"I’m leaving, Rachel," I grumble. She scoffs and my other two best friends brace their elbows on the table.

"I'm leaving. Like, I'm just going to walk up to him and give him a big, fat kiss on his lips."

Rose laughs. Ugh. Fine. I will do it. Kissing a stranger shouldn't - can't be that bad. I spare a look at the guy and my legs tingle. Boy, oh boy. He is fine. Fine? I mean, he is hot. He has this whole bad-boy thing going on with the tattoos.

Tattoos cover his upper left arm. He raises his hand in that moment to brush his curly hair off his forehead and his biceps flex. It doesn't help that he is wearing a tank top paired with ripped jeans. I can kiss him alright. Yep, I'll kiss him.

On an afterthought, I grab my ID from my purse and flip my friends off as they cheer me on to my doom. Rachel best get ready, she will be skinny dipping on our next semester school trip. Carmen will be making out with Clark - her secret admirer on the assembly ground and Tracy will be asking Lucien out. They aren't the only ones who can pull off an absolutely brutal dare.

I stop a few meters from the bar and let my hair down. The boys at school say it's a sexy move so I take my time. Hot boy doesn't look up from his drink. This might just be a bad idea. He stirs his drink with a straw and sets the glass on the counter without taking another sip. I open my mouth to speak but the words don't come out.

Usually, the boys always speak first when I approach them.

The hot boy finally spares me a glance and my throat dries up. The three pairs of eyes staring at me increase my nervousness.

"Hi," I whisper.

I clear my throat and try again. "Hi there, Stranger."

No response.

"Hi?" Nothing? Alright then. I place a hand on his knee and his head snaps up. He pushes his sunglasses into his hair and I shrink under his icy stare. He has baby blue eyes that burn holes into me. I force the nerves out of my voice. This time, I keep my arms to myself when I talk.

"So here's the deal mister, my friends dared me to kiss you." That gets his undivided attention. I flash him a smile. I've been told I have a beautiful smile.

A ghost of a grin flits across his face. That's a good sign, yeah? It has to be.

"Yep. They are watching us right now."

When his head tilts as if to search for them, I blurt out, "No. Don't look." He slides his sunglasses back on, hiding his charming eyes from me.

"I'll describe them. Just don't look. Or, don't make it obvious that you're looking."

After he gives a curt nod, I continue, "The table at the far end. Three girls. One blonde. One brunette. One redhead."

At the mention of their different hair colors, his eyes lifted to my pink hair. It was a last-minute idea inspired by Nicki Minaj's older album. Plus, it's a new year, and I am about to have a stepfather.

Mister Stranger's stare makes me uncomfortable so I ramble on to fill the awkward silence.

"It was inspired by Pink Friday."

"By Nicki Minaj. She is a cool artist," he says.

"Right?" My chest sags under the weight of my relief. My best friends don't share my opinions on Nicki, the biggest pop rapper ever according to me.

"That lady doesn't get enough credit." All I get is a blank stare and my brain works harder to come up with words.

"You're not from around here." He says with an accent. He has an accent that's not peculiar to the people of this town. And he's still staring at me.

"Am I right, mate?" I say as a half-joke.

The stranger folds his arms, flexing his biceps and I swallow again.

He notices my staring and his lips curl in a half-smile. "How old are you?"

"Here." I fish out my ID from my pocket and stretch it to him. He doesn't collect it, not even a peek at it to know my name. "I’m twenty-one,"

"Twenty-one?"

Technically, twenty-one is nineteen plus two years, so I can pass for a sweet twenty-one. “Yes."

The hot boy pulls me closer to stand between his legs. A current shoots up my arm and I jerk in surprise. My body likes him. He slides an arm around my waist to keep me steady. My body thrums at his touch and I lean forward to get more. His hand slips into my shirt to caress my underboobs and I moan softly. I am not wearing a bra, only n****e pasties. We share a glance and he smiles at this realization.

"I can do you one better." My body loves the sound of his voice, especially his hands feeling my boobs, his curious fingers inspecting the n****e pasties. Emboldened by him, I palm his bulge and he hisses out a moan. Boys are all the same. Horny as hell.

"My room is right around the corner. Behind this bar." He is right. There's a motel I never paid attention to rounding the curve. "What do you say?"

The alarm bells in my head finally trip off. I extricate myself from him, leaving a foot distance between us. What if he's a serial killer?

"How old are you?"

"Twenty-one," he answers.

A nineteen-year-old and a twenty-one-year-old isn't the worst combo. "Your ID, please."

"No." His hand reaches for me again and I swat it. He lets out a laugh. A sound as lovely as the rest of his seductive body. "You have to take my word for it, sweetheart."

One look at the girls and I nod. As far as I get my kiss. And I want a kiss from him for my sake, not theirs.

"What's your name?"

Too late. I offered him my ID and he refused it. I place a finger on his lips. “No names, Stranger." Two can play this game. He smirks.

"My kiss."

He shakes his head. "I only kiss in private."

By now, the girls must be bored or tired. A kiss takes less than a minute and I already spent more than ten minutes here to no avail. I There is no use returning to the table without getting the kiss.

"Well, my friends don't give a s**t about your preferences," I spit out.

His smug smile is starting to annoy me. I'm not going into a stranger's room because of a kiss even if he's breathtakingly handsome. I place my hands on my hips and size him up. “Are you going to kiss me or not?"

His lips brush mine. It happens so fast I don't have time to process it.

"Done."

Done? What the f**k was that? He winks. "Now run along,

Stranger."

What a prick. "f**k you."

"In my room? Yes." The hot boy laughs alone at his bland joke. This time, the sound annoys me. On noticing my annoyance, his eyes softened.

"I can give you a better kiss in private. I'm not a fan of Public Display of Affection - PDA."

Without another word to him, I storm off.