Kade rested a hand on the rough paintwork that coats the door and pushed. Rough wooden splinters cut into his palm; shards of black paint crumble to the floor. The hinges squeal as though they are a warning, but the plea is silence by a wall of noise. Laughter overpowers the music. Conversations swirl in a dirty cloud of smoke, the stagnant stench of cigarettes hides within the collaboration of mephitic odors.
A sharp smell of drink wafted towards him, like black plumes bellowing from the windows of a burning house. There’s even a hint of sick tainting the fragrance of the room. Ignoring the curious pointed stares directed at the two of them, blatant outsiders, Kade inhales a lungful greedily and braces a palm against the small of Inayah’s back.
“Welcome to my side of the world,” he commented with a wicked smile, ignoring the sudden weighted resistance of her body as she attempted at digging her boots into the wooden planks, leaning far back.
The crowd is all sorts of young and old men, all haggard and mean looking, watching them through dark hazes of tobacco smoke. Kade hears the skittering of the girl’s heart as her face pales white. His mouth twitches amusedly.
“Bartender,” Kade curls a finger at the beefy looking man who wipes down large glass cups, beckoning him forward. His gaze slid towards Inayah who had neither spoken nor moved from the spot he had placed her. “Calm down little one,” he patted at the bar stool, “sit.”
She does not. Her stare remains on a man who watches her from across the room, half his face swamped with tattoos, up to his scalp. She struggles to swallow as the man swirls a dagger expertly between his fingers, the blade winking wickedly back at her before stabbing it into the wooden top.
Kade grips her chin and turns her attention back to him, “You’re safe,” he stated mildly then grins pleased as the bartender finally approaches them. “Malt beer for me,” he paused, studying Inayah, “cold coke for her.”
The man grunted with a nod and lingering stare on Inayah before leaving.
“They’re going to rape me,” Kade’s attentions is averted to Inayah who now edges towards him on the bar stool, she had unconsciously gripped his knee, dull nails digging.
Kade chuckled lowly, “True.” At her horrified stare his smile dulled, “but they cannot.” Which was partially true. They would try, no doubt, but wouldn’t go as far as breathing in her direction. He would make sure of it.
Despite his words of affirmation, her fear did not subside. He watched her profile as she attempted at glancing around again, each time lowering her gaze whenever one of the males darkly met hers. Kade’s hand reached out and playfully looped around a curl that came loose from her ponytail, tugging on it. “Relax, your highness.”
When she did not, he slid a finger into the pocket of the oversized and casually pulled her towards him, between his long legs. “If it worries you that much,” Kade murmured tilting her flushed face back, doleful earthy eyes watching him. His gaze openly dropped below her nose line, tracing the full curve of her red mouth. “Perhaps I should make a public claim on you.”
He lavished in the skittering of her heart and warm breath that fanned his own mouth. The temptation to lean forward and kiss her, the briefest of intimate touches, burned him and he truly did consider throwing caution to the wind when Inayah suddenly pulled back.
“Can we go home?” She muttered, ducking her face as the bartender returned with their drinks. Kade did not reply, gripping his own beer and taking a long swig, his gaze unwavering from her.
He hummed pleasantly and stood, picking her bottle of coke in one hand whilst reaching for her hand with the other. “Not yet,” he had planned for this night and he’d be damned if the others’ presence intimidated her.
“Master kade-”
A surge of irritation sparked through him at the title, “Kade,” he corrected calmly as they weaved through tables and towards a room with pool tables, “and we will return if you play this game with me.”
Setting his beer on the empty table, Kade gestured her towards one end and, purposefully ignoring the men, curved her faint confident smile whilst reaching for a cue stick. “Shall I assume you don’t know how to play?”
Kade made a noise of impatience when she did not answer, attention fixated on a few men who rose from their tables and leaned against them, arms folded defensively over their chest. Their presence is sickeningly unnerving.
“I do,” Inayah admits, dry mouthed as Kade approaches and pushes the cold bottle of coke in her hand.
“Drink,” he commands and she does, instantly feeling slight relief, “let’s play one game,” he raises a hand, silencing her interruption, “one game, if you win we can leave.”
Inayah swallows the cool fizzy drink, “and if you win?”
He taps his chin briefly, mock thoughtfulness, “We’ll leave.”
Inayah studied him dubiously, “Really?”
Placing a hand over his heart, Kade nodded solemnly, “Really.” He watched her inhale a contemplative breath, then much to his mild happiness, reached for a cue stick. Kade stepped aside and swept a hand for her, his gaze surveying her baggy outfit as she moved not far from him.
He had expected her to lie over knowing how to play pool, therefore it came as a pleasurable surprise when her cue stuck the first balls down the holes with little to no effort.
The corner of his mouth twitched, noting the spark of victory in her eyes. Though she remained stiff, the tension was slowly lifting.
“Who taught you?” Kade inquired conversationally leaning over the table and taking his strike.
“My father,” Inayah sipped her coke then paused, willing to say something else but shook her head.
Kade straightened and took a sip of his beer, not missig the subtle flicker of Inayah’s eyes to his drink. He smiled indulgently, “Would you like a sip?” The corner of his mouth curves at her hesitant stare, watching as she licks her lips mulling.
“Okay,” Inayah replies after a moment and he hands it to her, leaning against the stick, studying her pinch expression as she sips it tentatively then chuckles when she begins to gag.
“Inayah?” A voice echoed from somewhere behind them, disrupting their moment.
Kade angled his head over his shoulder idly, the spark of dull anger wickering at the sight of a boy standing between three large men. Despite his calm exterior, his eyes held a fleeting anxiety.
“Oscar?”
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