|•| DESIRÉE DOYLE |•|"Were you just smiling?" Iris' teasing voice made me look up from the jotter I was scribbling on. Our gazes locked and the fascination etched in her taunting brownish-green eyes threw my cheeks into action. They flat-out betrayed me by growing red beneath her gaze."What? No!" I denied it immediately, unable to get my cheeks back to its normal colour. I was biting down on my lips to hold back a smile."Yes, you were!" she wagged her finger at me from where she stood beside Mama Marie who was checking the sauce on the gas cooker.The older woman chuckled."Iris, leave the girl alone." Mama Marie chided her playfully."And why would I do that?" the taller girl cocker a brow, tossing the napkin in her hands somewhere before she began making her way towards me where I was seated in front of the kitchen island."Is there anything you are not telling me?" her teasing smile still played on her lips as she sunk her fingers into her curls that were let down in their natur
|•| DESIRÉE DOYLE |•|I think longing has to be one of the most underrated emotions. We tend to overlook just how much it could munch at one's soul and make you feel incomplete. That emotion and separation anxiety was a volatile combination. And I think what made it more dangerous was how it ate at you slowly, almost unnoticeable at first until that voidness is all you can think of.I was happy. I was happy that the kind of love I wanted, I finally had it and I was sane enough to know that it was real. I knew I only just met him, but his presence had sort of eradicated any thought of being with any other person and thinking of them as an endgame for me. I knew without a doubt that he was an endgame for me. What I had with him, I didn't want it with anyone else.But then, doubts had begun creeping in because I hadn't seen him since the moment we shared that morning in my kitchen. It had lodged a lot of questions within me, stirring my insecurities like a pot of arsenic that poisone
|•| DESIRÉE DOYLE |•|I stared at the red thong in my hands, a naughty smirk creeping up to my lips. I shoved it into the drawer, deciding not to wear it. I looked up to behold my reflection in the mirror.I looked different. The good kind of different. I was more of a jeans and sweaters kind of girl but staring at myself in the mirror, it felt like another personality of mine had just been unlocked. The cup of the padded red maxi dress cupped my boobs, showing the swells of my breasts and cleavage so small, yet enticing. It had straps in the form of ropes running from its neck to my back in loops that formed intersections on my bare back. The silk material pooled at my feet but it had a dangerous slit running up to my thigh, exposing a great deal of my thigh.André struck me as an aristocratic of some sort, but I didn't know his taste was this impeccable. The man had a good eye. However, looking at it now, it appeared to me like he bought his doom with his money because I looked lik
|•| DESIRÉE DOYLE |•|A light giggle escaped my lips when he dropped me on the surface of the couch and proceeded to help me get off my slippers. The cold temperature of his fingers skimming the skin of my feet made me suck in a shiver. He pressed a tender kiss to my feet before helping me into a comfortable position."Thank you." I blushed."So, do you want to unbox your gifts?" he wiggled his eyebrows at me comically and I laughed, nodding.He grabbed one of the boxes swiftly and handed it to me. It was the biggest one because my tiny hands were barely keeping it in place. He had a lazy, urging smile that I found sexy playing on his lips. I looked away from him and unknotted the ribbons. I pried the cover open and my eyes nearly popped out of their sockets as I retrieved the first book."André!" I whisper-yelled, my voice laced with awe. Being a bibliophile had its perks because as I looked through the four books, with somewhat modern yet vintage covers in mature colours, alongside
|•| DESIRÉE DOYLE |•|"Don't worry. I'll wrap everything up, Des. You look tired. So, you go home and rest." Charlotte smiled at me, jabbing her index finger at my chest to tip me backwards so that I could leave."Are you sure?" I asked hesitantly."Yes, now shoo." She grabbed my bag off the countertop and stashed it against my chest."Goodnight, Char." I bid her farewell, throwing my backpack across my shoulder."Goodnight, Des!" she hollered back at me as I began walking out of the Café and that grabbed Tania's attention where she was seated, typing away on her system. She looked up, her unwelcoming gaze darting to me, and her scowl deepened.I swallowed and looked away immediately.I don't think Tania and I are ever going to be on the same page. To be honest, that was very fine with me. I didn't even want to be cool with someone who deducts my pay at any slightest mistake. It was as though the older woman had some kind of beef with me.The glass doors swung open and I let myself ou
|•| IRIS CORTEZ |•|"Good evening, Ma'am. Welcome to the Golden Bistro. I am Jordan. What would you like to have?" the hot blonde at the other end of the counter flashed me a smile that unfurled a grin on my lips.The clashes of desire and interest that flamed up his blue eyes made my lips twitch in a smirk and I leaned over the counter, dropping my phone to give him my full attention. I could have sworn I saw his face flush red. I didn't miss how his eyes had solely been on me the minute I walked into this restaurant. I'd have probably been irritated on a regular day but not only was he nice, he was good looking."Hello, Jordan." My voice was laced with a seductive hint that seemed to edge him on in his attempt to flirt with me. His eyes wouldn't stop zeroing in on my bold red lips. I could bet a dollar on it that I accurately knew what was going on in his mind when his throat worked up and down painfully.It gave me a sense of control. I loved it. I gently tapped my red manicured f
|•| DESIRÉE DOYLE |•|I knew that Sonia Gray was the devil's incarnate, and the bane of my existence. It was a fact that had been long established but what I didn't understand was why she had her eyes pinned on me intently, from across the lecture theatre, disregarding the professor who was by the projector, whose voice was beginning to reduce to a distant noise, by the way.I had seen her condescendingly stare at me so many times that I had already brought myself to get accustomed to it. But the raw hatred brimming in her eyes right now, alongside other negative and sinister emotions that dimmed those green eyes was a little strange. It was as though she harboured some personal vendetta against me for reasons known to her. The ire that flamed in those green orbs aligned with the constant twitching of her lips in a sneer that reeked of nothing short of disgust. If it were any other day, I'd have looked away already, uncomfortable to hold her gaze but I couldn't shake off the apathy I
|•| DESIRÉE DOYLE |•|The Parks in Nocturne Ville had one thing in common. The aesthetic view both in the day and night. The vast scene of greenery in front of me was nothing short of breathtaking, beaming with the golden glow of the sun that absorbed every inch of the surroundings. The waves of laughter and excited shrieks of mostly little kids and the adults around lingered in the air, bringing a smile to my face.I took a large bite of the burger in my hands, squeezing our interlocked hands."The littlest things make you happy and it's so amusing to watch." André's soft voice pierced the comfortable silence that hung between us, punctuated by the chirping of birds in the distance.I paused with a mouthful of burger, looking up to flash him a coy smile."Come here," he whispered, gently tugging me to his chest. While I stared at him bemused, he had his eyes lingering on my lips. He caught me off guard when he slowly brought the pad of his thumb to my bottom lip. It hovered, a little
|•| DESIRÉE DOYLE |•|“So, do you sleep?” I asked the grey-eyed man leaning against the kitchen cabinet. A curious smile pulled at the corner of my lips.He chuckled, his eyes gleaming with amusement. “You are very curious, aren't you?”“Hey!” I chided him, laughing as I chopped the bell peppers on the tray. “You can't blame me. I have had a lot I have been wanting to ask you.” I defended myself with a Cheshire grin.It was nightfall. André and I were in the kitchen in the Castle. I was staying over at his place and he told me he wanted to cook me dinner. I didn't oppose but I strongly wanted to help out. I didn't just want to sit upstairs and leave the cooking to him alone. I'd be bored out of my mind.I knew I could have chosen to catch up on the books I wanted to read but a huge part of me wanted to spend time with him.I'd have asked him since I found out about what he was but let's just say we have been too busy catching up. André was insatiable. He want
|•| ANDRÉ BAUDELAIRE |•|The classical novel in my hands dived down on the list of things that grabbed my attention when I look up for the umpteenth time tonight.A view of sheer perfection unfolded before me.Her wavy honey blonde hair was swept up in a neat high ponytail, the strands swishing sideways as she bobbed her head occasionally, scribbling down in her hitting pad as her eyes drifted between the screen of her laptop and her note.Her full perfectly glossed lips were pulled in a light frown, her thick dark lashes fluttering now and then. Her blue eyes were overly luminous because of the blue lights oozing off the screen of the device.Her fair skin that could easily suffer a mark popped with an empyrean glow that was as bewitching as it was captivating.I couldn't get enough of her just sitting there and focusing on school work.Heck, I couldn't control the dark, possessive rage that swept through me for a moment because I wasn't the object of her attention
|•| DESIRÉE DOYLE |•|“Do you want me to pick you two up later?” the chauffeur’s eyes strayed to us through the rearview mirror and I'm forced to look up from the book in my hands. My gaze intuitively flowed towards the dark-haired girl beside me as she worked her fingers through her voluminous curls that she surprisingly let down today, a black shade perched on the bridge of her nose.“No, Idris.” She met his eyes. “Just send my car over. Des and I will head back home together. “Come on.” She said to me, leading us out of the car.The car sped out of the parking lot in no time, leaving the two of us alone. My attention was fixated on the car awkwardly, watching it disappear into the busy streets of NocturneVille. “You have barely spent five minutes with me and you have a book in your hand already.” Iris spoke up sarcastically.My head snapped towards her, my eyes widening a fraction. “What? No! That's not true.”“Isn't it?” she hit me with her best intimidating yet subtle
|•| ANDRÉ BAUDELAIRE |•| I didn't think the Castle was going to be empty when I returned. As much as Ophelia liked to step out for fresh air, she hated being in town. It was contrasting because even when she knew she wasn't particularly a fan of being outdoors, she'd still step out to feel connected to the world around her. She claimed that being outdoors was always too hostile for her—for her magic. But it didn't mean that if push came to shove, she wouldn't outrightly discard that and do whatever she needed to do. Just like she had been poking her nose in what wasn't her business recently. A necessary evil, she claimed. She wasn't in the garden and certainly wasn't in the woods either. So, there was only one place she could be. A place she hadn't been in about three decades now. The church. The populace that attended the NocturneVille Church had drastically reduced over the years. Most especially since people began turning up
|•| ANDRÉ BAUDELAIRE |•| I didn't think the Castle was going to be empty when I returned. As much as Ophelia liked to step out for fresh air, she hated being in town. It was contrasting because even when she knew she wasn't particularly a fan of being outdoors, she'd still step out to feel connected to the world around her. She claimed that being outdoors was always too hostile for her—for her magic. But it didn't mean that if push came to shove, she wouldn't outrightly discard that and do whatever she needed to do. Just like she had been poking her nose in what wasn't her business recently. A necessary evil, she claimed. She wasn't in the garden and certainly wasn't in the woods either. So, there was only one place she could be. A place she hadn't been in about three decades now. The church. The populace that attended the NocturneVille Church had drastically reduced over the years. Most especially since people began turning up dead recently. So much for having faith,
|•| DÉSIRÉE DOYLE |•|I stirred awake, catching a whiff of his aftershave lingering on the sheets that were carelessly wrapped around me.I pushed my hair off my face tiredly, my eyes drifting through the room, catching my panties lying carelessly away from the bed—a blush crept up my neck to my face—before it occurred to me that he wasn't in the room with me.Unlike the first time I woke up in bed with him to find him missing, I wasn't freaking out and going out of my mind. Instead, it gave me time to come to terms with the fact that we spent the entire night exploring our bodies. But somehow, I feared that it might not have been enough because I lacked experience in bed and I might not have been able to satisfy him last night.My chest twisted, and embarrassment washed over me. I didn't know why my insecurities decided to weaponize themselves against me, conjuring an image of a dark-haired bitch pleasing André in ways I never would. A frown mounted on my face, and I shook my head to
|•| DESIRÉE DOYLE |•|The moment those words left my lips, I knew I had just allowed everything else to go up in flames. I knew I was venturing towards an edge that'd change everything, but a huge part of me didn't care.Andre's eyes thickened with want, his breath shallow and heavy. I could see the restraint swimming in his eyes, even though his hunger for me was slowly overshadowing.“You have to understand that there's no coming back from this. Do you really want to risk everything and completely blur the lines between what we have?” he whispered.“I don't care. I am not going to stay in a world where you do not exist.” The weight of my words released a sharp breath from him, his eyes conveying his surprise.“You'll be the death of me.” His knuckles glided over the skin of my face in a dainty caress and my skin erupted in flames.I inched forward desperately, brushing his lips against my tentatively. With the way he crashed his lips against mine, stealing my breath from my lungs, I
|•| DESIRÉE DOYLE |•|I drowned out the eerie silence trailing behind me from outside when I stepped into my apartment. I switched on the lights, tossing my bag somewhere in the disorganised space. My muscles and limbs ached from standing all day and I could barely feel my legs. The only thing I wanted to do was to get in bed and sleep the whole day.I shimmied out of my jeans, kicked off my sneakers, and sauntered into the kitchen to fetch myself a glass of water.I didn't miss how weird the atmosphere seemed when I came back to the living room. It flat-out felt like I was being watched, goosebumps creeping onto my skin. The coldness from the inside radiated outwards and I felt myself shiver from the effect. Even if I wanted to dismiss everything. I couldn't dismiss the sheer curtains that were blowing fiercely. I mentally cursed myself for forgetting to lock the windows.I suppressed a shiver, garnering the courage to advance forward. I hastily dropped my glass of water on the centr
|•| DESIRÉE DOYLE |•|I hummed in satisfaction, wiggling my newly painted nails under the lights hanging over the Queen-sized bed of Iris’ room. I had doubts about trying red colour on my fingers but I didn't think it'd turn out so well. I giggled, picking up my book and throwing the covers over my head to continue reading.The door to the bathroom was abrasively flung open, causing me to push the covers off my body at once. With furrowed brows, my gaze flitted to the taller girl marching into her closet like a giant alien. A worried sigh escaped me, my eyes fixed intently on the entrance leading to the closet as I patiently waited for her to step out.Iris’ mood swings can be linked to two things. Her hormones and the possibility of someone getting on her nerves. It was either the first one or the second one. It could be both at times too and it always made her a ticking time bomb threatening to go off. However, call it a gut feeling or whatever, but I strongly believed that it wasn'