Beautiful Lies (Dark Secret Society 2)

“I have my reasons as well,” she mimicked.

The towering oak trees on each side of us caused a pattern of shade then sunlight, shade then sunlight, in a nauseating repetition that forced me to stop running in order to not vomit. Portia continued to jog in place as I bent over and braced my hands on the tops of my knees. I knew she had to be loving every moment of my misery, but I couldn’t focus on her right now because that would have required me lifting my head enough to look at her, which wasn’t an option.

“Do you plan on being drunk at every Trial?” she asked.

“I plan on doing whatever the fuck I want,” I snapped, not appreciating her passive-aggressive judgment.

“Yeah,” she said as she spun on her heels. “I already figured that out about you.” She continued on with her jog, not caring if I ran with her or not.

I walked over to a large oak tree and sat down against the trunk. What I really needed was a Bloody Mary to take the edge off, but I didn’t see that in the immediate future. Although once we went back to the house for breakfast, I was pretty sure I could convince Mrs. H to make me one… or not. I wasn’t exactly on her “good boy” list as of late. She had told me countless times that I had a bad attitude…

And she was right.

I watched Portia reach the end of the long road, turn around, and start her jog back toward me. Her body moved effortlessly, but her facial expression appeared tense and even… sad. There was more to this Barbie than I wanted to give her credit for.

She wasn’t weak. I had to give her that much.

She didn’t bow down to me like I had hoped she would, and in fact, I had a feeling she was going to drive me fucking crazy.

I couldn’t read her. I couldn’t put my finger on the exact reason why I chose her, and why I actually felt she would be able to handle each and every Trial that got thrown our way.

I would be lying if I didn’t admit how hot the sex was last night. Well, except for the creepy-ass old men lined up watching us. But regardless of the situation, she lit my body on fire. As far as fuck partners went, I would say I chose wisely. But other than that… I couldn’t say much more. We had a long, long road ahead of us, and I wasn’t sure if the two of us could do what it took.

“You want me to go get a staff member to carry you back?” she asked as she approached and jogged in place in front of me again. Her bare shoulders glistened but she barely sweat. The Georgian heat wasn’t bad, and the humidity was low since it was January, but still… “You could lean on me if you need to.”

I bit my tongue because the things I wanted to say were not appropriate to say to a lady, and I still was a gentleman… sort of.

Rolling my eyes, I stood up and started to run back toward the manor without saying another word. Luckily, I was able to make it back, and couldn’t have been happier when the smell of eggs and bacon met us at the door. Mrs. H had remembered my favorite breakfast, and right now, the grease was extremely needed for my abused body.

“Oh, laddie,” she said as she exited the kitchen, surprised to see both Portia and me enter the house. “I wasn’t sure where you both had gone, so I put your breakfast on trays and had them brought to your room. They should still be warm.”

“Thank you, Mrs. H,” I said, trying not to sound like I was in the middle of an asthma attack.

“Yes, thank you, Mrs. Hawthorne,” Portia said, not sounding like she had gone on a run at all.

When we entered the bedroom, my mouth watered for the food. I saw a large box on the bed, but really didn’t care what was in it at the moment. I had one focus only.

Bacon.

Portia, however, looked at the box, ignoring the food. “What’s inside?” she asked.

I smiled as I bit into my food. Montgomery told me what the first night would most likely consist of. “That, my dear, is going to be your outfit for the night. I just have to decide what color will look best on you.”

6

Portia

Sully wouldn’t show me what was in the box, not until right before the “event”. He just smirked at me every time I asked what it was, or he physically moved between us when I tried to grab for the box myself.

He even took it with him into the bathroom as he took a shower to get prepared for the evening, leaving me to stew and wonder what the hell I was going to be in for tonight.