The Vampire Playboy - Blood and Lust

Chapter 28

Charlie's POV

I watched as her face flushed a similar colour to the glass of wine she held in her hand, I couldn't hide my amusement as she gulped down a large mouthful. Her eyes didn't move from me and I had to admit I was kind of enjoying knowing she clearly found me attractive. I could smell her arousal and that alone was sending my hormones wild, especially knowing I hadn't smelled it before when I'd walked in on her and Noah kissing.

My eyes drifted over the grey dress she was wearing, it hugged her figure perfectly and displayed her amazing curves, I watched as Liv turned around and began looking in the fridge, giving me a perfect view of her round arse, I wanted to grab a handful right now. I could hear the others laughing and messing around outside.

"Do you need a hand with anything?" I asked finally, worried if I didn't say something I'd act on the desperate urge I had to kiss her.

"No!" Liv snapped taking me by surprise, where did that come from?

"Shouldn't you be getting outside? Your special friend will be waiting for you" Liv said causing my eyebrows to raise, now I understood, she was jealous of Carmella.

"Firstly, she's not special, second she's not my friend and third, I didn't invite her, I didn't even know she was coming until she turned up, but it's cute you care."

"I don't, it's just vomit-inducing how she hangs over you" she replied through gritted teeth before pulling out some vegetables along with a packet of minced beef followed by chicken breasts.

"Does she? I hadn't noticed. To be honest, I hadn't noticed her at all, I've only noticed you, I only have eyes for you."

"Don't! Don't do that" she cautioned whilst taking another sip that cleared the glass. I felt my lip curl up and took steps towards her. Liv didn't move except to refill her glass.

"Don't do what Liv?" I asked as I brushed a stray hair from her face, using it as an excuse to close the distance between us and touch her, letting my fingers linger just above her ear.

She shook her head. "Never mind, I need to be getting on with dinner."

I nodded, "there are Bluetooth speakers in the ceiling, you can connect your phone to it, I know how you love your music" I sighed and headed to the fridge to grab some bottles of bud for everyone in the pool. "I haven't done anything wrong here, if anyone should be jealous it's me, after all, I did walk in on you and your boyfriend making out in your bedroom" I didn't wait for her reply before going outside. I knew I'd probably gone too far with that last remark, it stung to say it just as much as it had stung me to see it. I wasn't interested in Carmella, I'd told Liv I was only interested in her, nobody else but her, Carmella was nothing but an unnecessary distraction and I had no intentions of entertaining her this weekend or anytime for that matter. Liv on the other hand seemed to have the intention of entertaining Noah.

I walked to the edge of the pool, put the bottles down on the side and dropped my legs into the warm water. Sophie was currently on top of Owen’s shoulders wrestling with Carmella who was on top of Noah's. I put a bottle to my lips and took a drink. Noah noticed Mr and promptly dunked Carmella under the water before swimming to the side, propping himself up on his elbows and taking a bottle.

"Did you see Olivia?" He asked.

"Yeah, she was getting ingredients out to cook whilst drinking my £500 bottle of Bordeaux," I said with a smirk before taking another drink.

"She's drinking wine? That's interesting, maybe I'm forgiven for last week, I mean dude if you hadn't walked in earlier… that's the hottest we've been in weeks or ever."

I forced a laugh. "Sorry bro" I added with a shrug of the shoulders. "I offered to help her cook but she insisted she was fine, no idea what she's actually cooking."

"Are you coming in Charlie? I'm getting lonely" Carmella called with a sultry voice. I looked over to find her fluttering her lashes and pouting and felt irrationally annoyed. I gulped down the rest of my bottle and turned it upside down to demonstrate it was empty.

"Be right back going to grab another, does anyone else want anything?" I asked.

"More drinks" Noah called out as I got up.

"Oooohhh we should do the hot tub now" Carmella called out whilst giggling which I ignored.

I dried off my legs and made my way to the doors, I paused at the door watching Liv standing over the hob stirring a pot whilst singing at the top of her lungs to what sounded like Celine Dion. She was closing her eyes and balling her hands into fists in a dramatic gesture. She looked so relaxed and so confident. Not at all like when she sang in the bar and her voice carried perfectly causing the hairs on my arms to stand on end. I heard the others move from the pool and the hot tub fire up. I sighed as I opened the door, the last thing I wanted to do was be in a hot tub with Carmella.

The aroma of garlic and spice immediately hit me, Liv turned around, rolled her eyes and lifted her wine glass to her lips, the bottle was in the recycling pile. "It smells amazing here, what's on the menu?" I asked cautiously.

"Spaghetti with meatballs, chicken stuffed with cheese and chorizo in breadcrumbs with a tomato sauce and pasta and cheesy Hasselback garlic bread," Liv replied as though she had just said something simple like burgers and fries.

"Wow, that sounds delicious, where did you learn to cook?" I asked.

She raised an eyebrow "is this you trying to take the piss out of me again?"

"No, it was a serious question. I know you said your parents didn't spend time with you so I guess I just assumed wrongly that you hadn't been taught." I tried to sound as genuine as possible, I wasn't trying to start a fight. But I was curious to know more about her.

Liv pulled herself up onto the countertop and put the glass to her lips whilst eyeing me with suspicion.

"They didn't teach me to cook, but we had to take home skills at school, I liked the teacher and I guess she felt sorry for me as she would let me use the kitchens at night or on the weekends and would spend time with me letting me try recipes or teaching me how to cook. I discovered that I like cooking and it relaxed me. I haven't done it since I moved here I guess." Liv said with a look of sadness in her eyes.

I walked and positioned myself between her legs, with my height it brought me level with her eyes. I heard her breath hitch at my proximity and I couldn't suppress my smirk. I took the wine glass from her hands and tipped the liquid to my lips taking a sip. A smirk appeared across Liv's face followed by a blush of pink.

"Mmm, I'll have to get another bottle out of the cellar, it should go well with the food and you seem to enjoy it."

"I did," she said, sounding slightly breathless.

"Does being this close bother you?" I asked, realising that I was still only wearing shorts.

"A little" she admitted catching me off guard as she took the glass back taking a sip herself before offering it back to me. I gladly accepted and smirked as I took a sip. Sharing drinks like this was new and very very hot. It reminded me of when she had helped herself to my coffee. A jolt of electricity went through me as I felt her hand unexpectedly touch my chest, I lowered my eyes to find her palm flat against the centre of my chest. This time Liv smirked and leaned in towards my ear, I could feel her hot breath on my skin causing my pulse to race.

"Tell the others dinner will be ready in 15 minutes," she said as she pushed against me and jumped down from the worktop. I watched open-mouthed, trying to ignore the throbbing between my legs as she walked away.

On autopilot, I walked outside to the hot tub and jumped in with a splash causing Sophie and Carmella to squeal.

"Dude, did you forget the drinks?" Noah asked.

Shit. "Yeah sorry, I got distracted helping Liv for a minute."

"Does she need help with dinner?" Sophie asked.

I shook my head, "She's got it all under control, she said about 15 minutes until it's ready. She's cooking up a feast by the look of the kitchen."

"I feel bad, maybe we should have helped her," Sophie said whilst chewing on her lip. Owen pulled her into his lap and began nuzzling into her neck.

I felt a movement beside me and turned just as Carmella plopped herself down into my lap her face to mine, legs straddling either side of me.

"Mmmm someone is pleased to see me" she murmured leaning forward so I got a full view of her cleavage before she pressed herself against my chest.

I saw Noah smirk beside me, Sophie looked away clearly embarrassed by the display Carmella was putting on.

I felt Carmella wriggle in my lap and I put my hands on her waist to stop her, I wasn't about to toss her off in front of Noah but I wasn't down for this game either, any hardness that Liv had induced was now gone. But Carmella wasn't giving up easily, she leaned forward and began taking my earlobe in her mouth whilst grinding her hips up and down against me.

"We'll erm give you some primacy, while we get changed for dinner" Owen coughed as he helped Sophie out of the hot tub. Sophie gave me a look that would have landed her in jail if looks could kill. Noah slapped me on the back in a congratulatory manner.

I was about to protest but thought better of it, I could keep up this charade in front of Noah for a bit longer, when he was out of sight I'd dump her out of my lap. Carmella was now making her way down my neck as I watched the others gather their towels, I glanced towards the house and froze at the image of Liv standing on the top deck, wine glass in hand looking at me. I dumped Carmella into the water causing her to cough and splutter.

Sophie had stopped still and was looking back and forth between Liv and me. I jumped out of the tub and grabbed a towel, watching as Liv turned around and went out of view. Sophie looked like she wanted to say something to me but didn't.

"What was that all about?" Carmella asked as she snatched up a towel. "I don't know what's been with you recently" she shook her head and stomped towards the house, Sophie followed. I followed behind Owen and Noah who were talking about going to the nearest town tomorrow night to some club. Everyone filed off to their rooms to get changed, I did the same. I'd lost all appetite I had knowing that Liv had witnessed Carmella on me like that.

By the time I got downstairs, everyone else was seated at the table, except Noah who was standing behind Liv with his arms wrapped around her talking to her. I chose not to listen instead heading down to the basement to get more wine for the table. I plonked the bottles on the table with a corkscrew and took the remaining free seat which was as far away as possible from Liv but right next to Carmella. I couldn't help but think that this had been done deliberately. I looked at the table which was covered with the dishes Liv had cooked along with two bowls of salad.

"This looks great Liv, thanks for this" Sophie said cheerfully, with everyone else following with their thanks, even Carmella to my surprise.

"It was nothing, I hope it tastes good, help yourselves," Liv said with a smile.

"My girl did good" Noah boomed as he began to fill his plate with the dishes. I took a selection from each plate and watched as Liv took a piece of the chicken and some salad.

"Aren't you having more?" Noah asked.

"Oh no, I'm fine, ruined my appetite," she said whilst pushing the food around on her plate.

"So, we were thinking that maybe we could go clubbing tomorrow night in town, Noah said it's about a 30-minute car ride?" Owen piped up.

"Isn't there a bit of a storm tomorrow?" Carmella interjected.

I nodded, "there is, but that's not uncommon for here, the Range Rover should be able to handle anything, sometimes the road gets blocked if the river bursts its banks but so long as it's not too deep the range rover should be able to handle it."

"How about we get a couple of taxis instead so we can all drink? Or I'll hire a couple of drivers?" Noah said with a wink towards Owen. I was pretty sure they had already worked this all out between them.

I shrugged my shoulders and let the conversation carry on around me. Carmella rested her hand on my thigh, Liv was across the table so she wouldn't have noticed and so long as she didn't begin to move her hand I wouldn't bother moving it for now. The wine and conversation continued to flow until the food was finished. Carmella and Sophie began to clear away the plates whilst Liv excused herself to her room saying she wanted to change. I moved to help clear up and resolved to get more wine for everyone, I had a feeling that I was going to need a lot of wine to get through this evening.