13. The Art of Stealing Champagne

I knew I wasn't supposed to be up here.

With my fingers gripping the bottle of champagne wedged between them tightly, I leaned over the balcony. Dozens of floors below me, I could make out car lights and many people passing by, even at this time of night.

And Jace still wasn't back.

I leaned my head back, taking a swig of the expensive drink. Enjoying the tingle that flooded down my throat as I swallowed, I shook my head to clear the haziness that was suddenly fogging my mind. But, wasn't that the point of the alcohol I had consumed? I was a lightweight - that was for sure. I didn't often drink such beverages, though when I did it always hit me hard.

Feeling heat begin to swirl over my skin, I hiccuped as I fanned myself with my other hand. For a summer night, the air seemed too warm. I giggled, an idea suddenly hitting me. Placing the bottle by my feet, I tugged my sweatshirt of my head. Tossing it onto the concrete beneath my feet, my sweats came of next. The red lace thong and matching bra-set I had purchased when my guards had stopped at the mall so I could pick up some clothing felt fabulous against my skin in the night air.

Swallowing another mouthful, I stumbled a few steps back. It had been hard enough to get my hands on such a bottle.

I could eyes on me. It wasn't the most comfortable feeling, knowing that someone was constantly watching you - it certainly wasn't something I was adjusted to. With no siblings, absentee-parents growing up, and a place to live on my own, the feeling was so abnormal I could feel the resentment curling in my gut.

My eyes rotated to stare at Duke leaning against the wall, staring at me stiffly. The professional expression masked any emotion that he may have felt towards the situation, though I could still feel tiny waves of resentment rolling from him. Linc and Trevor had been the same, hiding any negative emotions that they may have felt towards the situation they were now in. I couldn't imagine that looking after a woman was very enthralling. The car ride to his overly-large penthouse had been a silent one, something I was strangely thankful for. The trio wanted as little to do with me, as I them.

Turning to move my gaze around his apartment, I resisted an urge to shiver. It was nice, to say the least. Dark hardwood floors covered the entirety of his apartment, contrasting with the white walls and matching with the plush, leather couches. Windows encompassed a huge wall of the living room, giving a glimpse of the night lights of New York. There wasn't any personal items lying around and I was positive that every surface was free of dust or cobwebs. Overall, the space was huge, cold, and spotless.

I wandered into the kitchen, relief pooling in my blood when I realized that Duke not was following me. I didn't understand the necessity to have eyes on me at all times, though I had a feeling it came from the mistrust that Jace had for me.

I was still shocked at the sight of the kitchen that was laid out before me. Trevor had given me a tour of the penthouse as soon as we had arrived, though the number of rooms decorating the three floors was lost on my mind. A huge island sat in the middle of the space, fancy stools shoved underneath the breakfast bar. The detailing of the dark cabinets had me wanting to run my fingers over the beauty of them, though I resisted in fear that I would leave fingerprints upon their perfect surfaces. Coupled with the huge, high-end, industrial-sized, stainless appliances and the window also donning the wall in front of the lengthy table, it was a kitchen any chef would dream for.

Moving around the island, my eyes slid over the cabinets which stretched the length of the wall to the high ceilings. Knowing that I wouldn't be able to reach anything above the middle shelf, I continued over to the door on the other side of the room. A huge pantry stretched out in front of me, the shelves stocked full of foods that I knew Jace wouldn't have the time to buy. Shutting the door in awe, I continued to the next one, opening that to find a wine cellar, shelves of bottles expanding out in front of me.

Feeling the need for something that would take the stress off my mind, I gripped the first one I saw, sliding it under the baggy sweatshirt and against my warm body. I quickly shut the door, feeling anxiousness rise in me as loud footsteps started my way towards the kitchen. Wrapping my arms around my torso and keeping the bottle glued to my side, I stepped away from the cellar, moving around the island as Linc entered into the kitchen.

"I'm going to take a nap. Don't wake me up." I smiled sweetly, moving around him quickly, forcing myself to keep my expression neutral and my steps calm.

"Do you need me to show you where the room is?" He questioned, leaning against the counter-tops as I skirted around him.

"Nope," I steadily replied, giving myself a mental high-five for my voice not shaking. "I know exactly where it is." I lied, knowing that I exactly did not. For a penthouse, the thing was overly large and I would surely get lost in the halls as soon as I made my way up the first set of steps.

"Are you sure?" He repeated, his gaze suspicious. I had no doubt that he knew something was up. After-all, he worked for Jace - he had to be able to sense when something wasn't quite right. I knew for sure that Jace wouldn't want me stealing this drink to go guzzle it in the first room I stumbled upon.

"Positive," I replied, quickly making my way out of the kitchen before avoiding Duke's prying gaze as he watched me stiffly move towards the winding staircase up to the second floor.

Letting out a sigh of relief when I was out of their view, I stumbled around until I found the next set of stairs. Only once on the top floor, I let myself slow down, taking the time to find the farthest room possible from where they were. I knew that they would come regularly check on me, there was no question about it. Based on their cautious looks, I knew that Jace had filled them in on my 'attitude', 'tactics', and previous escape.

This was technically 'Jace's' floor as they had put it and I could tell from their expressions when they were showing me around that the trio wasn't sure whether I was suppose to be up here or not.

Skirting past his bedroom door, I continued down the hall. Picking the doorway at the end of the hall, I pushed it open.

His huge desk sat in the middle of the room. If he was sitting in the plush leather chair that sat before it, his back would be facing the french doors that led to a large balcony. A door to the left of his desk led to a private bathroom.

Not caring to know any information I could gather from snooping around his office, I made my way to the balcony, unlocking the doors as I let myself onto the space.

The warm night air hit me and I let out a blissful sigh- momentary freedom.

I knew my bliss would only last a short while before someone would ruin it.

I let out a giggle as my eyes skimmed over the name of the bottle. It was some fancy name that I would surely not know how to pronounce. I stumbled backwards, collapsing into the comfy chair.

“You’re not supposed to be here.” A low voice spoke from behind me. The voice was only slightly familiar, not registering with my drunken mind.

Not daring to glance back at the man who had caught me, I forced myself to relax against my seat, instead propping my feet up on the rail of the balcony. “Well then, so are you.” I shot back, waving the champagne in the person's direction. "Yet, here we are."

An amused chuckle left the person's mouth. "I'm sure Jace will love to see that you found his wine cellar."

I felt nervousness swell in my gut, though I refused to let that thought affect me, the alcohol in my blood making it a little easier to confidently reply. "I don't care about him. I'll drink his whole cellar if I want to. In fact, let's go get some tequila and you can join this party!" I shrieked excitedly, standing up and raising my hands in the air,

"What are you wearing?" The voice spoke, sounding absolutely horrified as I turned to face him in my underwear.

"Jared!" I squealed, waving to him excitedly. "Hi! I like you, you know that? You should have a drink too!"

Jared shoved a finger towards my discarded clothing. "Put those on - shit, Jace is going to kill me."

"It's too hot." I complained, shaking my head. "This is such fancy champagne. I bet he has fancy tequila too-"

"Did you find her?" I was interrupted by a voice coming from the office and I strained my neck curiously to see who it was.

"Don't come out here!" Jared explained, sounding frantic. "Cameron, go get her a-"

"Cameron! Come join the party!" I slurred, proceeding to move past a frozen Jared.

"Is she drunk, Jared?" Cameron spoke, his voice getting closer. "Holy-"

"Champagne?" I offered, waging the bottle in his face. "Jace has quite the collection! Is he coming home anytime soon? We should steal all his food! Let's do it!" I started marching for the office door. "Then we can make a run for it! Cameron, if he comes home, you distract him and I'll grab-"

My footsteps were halted by a hand gripping my arm. "Hold on there, Savannah."

"Or," I interrupted, whoever had been speaking. "We can stuff peanut-butter in his shoes!" I pondered the thought, before nodding seriously. "Okay, you guys get the peanut butter - I'll get his shoes."

I chugged down another gulp as I started for the door before the bottle was ripped from my grip. "Hey!" I cried out, protesting at whoever had stolen my bottle. "That was mine!"

"I think you've had enough." Cameron pressed, handing the bottle off to Jared. "Where are your clothes?" He peered over my shoulder and onto the balcony. "How did you even get in here? Jace usually has this locked."

I didn't reply, instead crossing my arms. "Traitor."

"Jared - go get her a blanket." Cameron commanded, slapping a hand to his forehead. "You're in trouble." He pointed to me. "Duke, Linc, and Trevor thought you escaped."

"Wouldn't be the first time," I grinned, cheekily. "But, I don't think any of you really want me to mention that." I winked.

Cameron continued as if he hadn't heard me, though from the way his eyes darkened, I knew he had. "Okay, you need to sober up. As soon Trevor called, Jace sent us here though since we haven't called him with any information, I know he'll be here soon."

"Stop looking so serious," I waved my hand around carelessly. "Everything's going to be okay - in fact - things are going to be great!"

"And you need to put your clothes on." Cameron ushered me frantically in the direction they were laying. "He's going to kill Linc, Duke, and Trevor." He muttered, shaking his head.

My eyes went wide and I clasped a hand to each of my cheeks. "Oh no! He is?" I cried, slurring as I shook my head frantically. "He's going to kill them?"

"No - not like that." Cameron slapped a hand to his forehead. "He'll-"

But, I didn't hear him. Dodging past Cameron, I started for downstairs. "I don't like them, but they don't deserve to die!" I shouted, hearing footsteps pound out behind me which only made me increase my speed. "We need to stop him!"

"Savannah!" Both Jared and Cameron roared out and I let out a yelp. "He's not killing anyone! You're just drunk!"

Not hearing them, I continued my dash for the lower floor. "We have to save them! Before, it's too late!" Feeling like James Bond, I practically flew down the steps.

Unfortunately, I reached the bottom of the staircase the same time Jace did, a stormy expression situated on his beautiful face.

"Oh no!" I cried, shaking my head in desperation. "He did it! He already killed them! We have failed."

When Linc, Duke, and Trevor all appeared frantically behind him, my nose crinkled in confusion. "What-"

"What are you wearing?" Jace thundered, stopping directly in front of me. "Are you drunk?"

"Oh this?" I waved my hand, feeling my confusion rise. "What's wrong with this?"

My words only made his expression more furious, so I figured that more of an explanation was needed.

"Well, you see," I began, staring up at him in puzzlement. "I was sitting alone and I began to felt very hot, like really, really hot. So, hot that I needed to strip of my clothing and Jared came in and-"

"What?" He growled out, his hands tightening into fists. "Jared-"

"She stole a bottle from your cellar and decided to have a bit too-much to drink." Jared explained, his voice tinged with nervousness.

"Why is she half-naked?" Pulling his jacket from his shoulders, he wrapped it around my frame. His eyes were dangerous.

"She broke into your office and camped out on your balcony. I don't know why she decided to get drunk." Jared explained, his shoulders lifting and falling.

"I didn't break into it!" I denied, viciously stabbing a finger into Jared's chest, though Jace pulled me closer to his towering body instead. "It was open!"

"What did you do?" Jace sighed, shaking his head.

"Nothing happened-" Jared began speaking, but Jace shot him a deadly look.

"Everyone leave." He ordered, just as Cameron appeared with my discarded clothing. "You're all dismissed."

"Okay." I shrugged, starting for the doorway, but I was quickly pulled against his hot body.

"Not you," He stressed, shaking his head as he secured an arm around my waist. "Linc, Duke, and Trevor - I'll be speaking with your tomorrow."

"Don't leave!" I reached towards Jared who was quickly walking to the door. He shot me a sympathetic look as I scrambled for a way to release myself from Jace's grasp. "I'll die! He'll eat me! Traitor!" I screamed at the men's backs as they left the room.

Once they had exited, Jace slung me over his shoulder. "You're in big trouble." He snarled out and I was smart enough to keep my lips locked shut.

Leading me up to his bedroom, I stared down at his ass the whole way up. Hanging over his shoulder the way I was really gave me a great advantage to see such a sight. It was like the ass of perfection. Letting out a blissful sigh, I resisted the temptation to reach down and poke it, though I was distracted by the fact that we were nearing his room.

The door slammed shut as soon as he had stepped a foot into it.

I gulped nervously, feeling his anger continue to envelope the air around him. He continued past his bed, moving into the bathroom. Jace placed me on the counter-top and I shivered as the cold granite stuck to my thighs. I frowned as the warmth his body had been surrounding mine with disappeared. Walking to the gigantic tub that sat in the corner of the room in front of yet-another massive window, he pulled the handle so warm water was gushing into the surface below.

Moving back over to me, his eyes ran over me dangerously. I could still see the fury in his eyes, though it was dulled with the presence of something else, something that I couldn't understand.

His hand planted themselves on the counter by my thighs and he leaned impossibly closed. I shifted as far back as I could, feeling like his prey while he the predator. "What are you doing?" I slurred slightly, suddenly distracted by his lips which were inching closer. "You-"

My words were cut off by his mouth viciously slamming down onto mine. A shiver of pleasure snaked up my spine as he molded himself to me. His lips kneaded into mine, his hand moving from the granite to the grip my thigh. I let out a low moan as he fingers massaged the skin there. This kiss had something more than the others usually did, there was a roughness in the way he moved his mouth. There was an animalistic touch to the way he abruptly clasped his other hand on my bare back, skin to skin, and pulled me impossibly close. I wrapped my legs around his waist, feeling nothing but him everywhere; his warm breath fanning against my face as I pulled away, the way his hand on my backside softly trailed lower, the way he attacked my lips again only a second later. I let out a soft moan as his grip on my thigh tightened, before sliding upwards.

One of his hands moved across the skin of my torso, over my stomach and upwards to cup my breast. I let out a slight gasp at the sensation as he kneaded my flesh, moaning lowly at the feelings he was eliciting from my lower region. I exhaled heavily as his other palm landed heavily on the back of my head, gently gripping my hair as he locked me to him.

I bit down softly on his lip, releasing a groan from him. I could feel his arousal pressing into me, the bulge alerting me to just how much I was affecting him. The thought made me smile slightly against his lips and I wanted more. Yanking his button-down away from his belt, I allowed my hands to slide over his muscular back, enjoying the warmth of his skin beneath my palms. Just as my hands brushed his belt, he let out another low groan before pulling away.

His breathing was heavy as his icy blue eyes stared into mine. He looked frustrated as he ran a thumb over my lips, dropping his other hand to his side. Casting him a confused look, I forced myself to slide my hands away from his body.

"You're drunk." He stated simply, shooting me another look full of agitation before he stepped away. He ran a hand through his messy hair.

I bit my lip, looking away. He groaned, seeming conflicted on what to do as his eyes flickered to my teeth digging into my lip. The bulge in his pants grew and he shifted uncomfortably. "Stop it," Jace finally commanded.

Suddenly, I felt embarrassed by my nakedness. I could a flush beginning to rise from my cheeks and I let my hair fall in front of my face to prevent him from seeing the stupid thing. He sighed, stepping forward to brush my hair away from my face.

"It's okay," He spoke softly. "You've had too much to drink. So, take a bath and then get some sleep."

I nodded at his commands, still feeling incredibly aroused at the sight of the man standing before me. He gave me a slow and sexy smile that practically had my toes curling. His hands curled around my waist as he helped me down from the counter. I leaned against the surface for support, feeling the weakness in my knees as his fingers lingered there before he stepped away.

"Get in the bath." He ordered once more, his eyes skimming over my body before he turned away, walking out the door.

Suddenly hot again, I fanned myself. Feeling the need to follow him out into the bedroom, I gripped the granite harshly.