The tingling in my lips exploded and my response to her was immediate as my hands abandoned the wheel
“Oh, God,” I breathed. “I love this.”
“Me too,” she whispered back before biting my earlobe. “Do you know what would make it even better?”
“What?” I asked, suddenly and carelessly willing to perform whatever she asked.
My eyes rolled into the back of my head again when she ran her lips up my throat.
“This,” she said, her eyes blowing wide and her smile growing serpent-like before her heel jammed into my foot on the gas.
I sucked in a breath as we surged forward. She brought her mouth in closer to mine and kissed me deeply, distracting me yet again and bit my lower lip hard, drawing blood. The iron coppery tinge filled my mouth and woke me up, reminding me to steer.
I tried to pull away from her venomous kiss, but she held fast, driving her lips more firmly against mine.
“Stop,” I spoke into her mouth but she continued to ignore me. “Stop,” I said again, more emphatically, but she refused to move.
I yanked her hair back, making her squeal in delight, and peered over her shoulder while attempting to get her heel off the top of my foot but it was too late.
“Oh, shit,” I breathed.
As if time stood still, Piper glanced over her shoulder, her hair whipping around with her to see the damage she’d done before turning back toward me and leaning into my neck. “Do you feel alive yet?” she whispered.
I breathed in sharply.
Time sped up once more and the car made purchase with something substantial throwing us forward then back. Glass spun around our heads in colorful jagged shards reflecting the lights of the Strip. I held onto her with everything I had, cradling her head against my chest, while our bodies lashed brutally toward the passenger side, then back toward the driver’s side window where the back of my head cracked the glass.
Blackout.
“Come on,” she whispered into my left ear.
I groaned, in terrible pain, wishing I would die and soon.
“Come on,” she insisted, dragging me by my arms out of sharp splintered piles of glass. “We have to go before the police come.”
“What?” I asked, still coming to.
Sirens split the perpetual horn blaring from the car. She helped me to my feet and wrapped an arm around my waist. We stumbled away from the crash, much to the confusion of onlookers.
I startled from the memory and shook my head, examining the top of my foot and noticing a deep gash where the heel of her stiletto had bore through. My hand went to the back of my head and I winced at the soft spot where my skull had met glass.
“Oh my God,” I said.
I watched red imbued water swirl around the drain and suddenly felt dizzy.
“What in the hell have I done?”
I sat back down and ran my hands down my face once more, once again recoiling from the ache in my bottom lip from where she’d bitten me.
“Spencer?” I heard her deceivingly angelic voice call out.
Fists clenched at my knees.
“Leave,” I ordered.
Her slim, blood-colored lacquered hands wiped away the condensation built on the glass shower door. Her smile was the first thing I saw, and I trembled at how disturbing I found it in the light. Her eyes burrowed into mine, and I noticed how soulless they looked now that I saw her for what she was.
“Leave,” I demanded again.
She moued her counterfeit pout and opened the shower door before stepping inside in her gown. She watched me and began to tug down one strap but I stopped her.
I snorted in disbelief. “Absolutely not. Get the hell out of here right now.”
“Oh, Spencer, I don’t think you want me to do that.”
“Like hell I don’t! You’re certifiably insane, you know that?”
She sighed and leaned against the shower wall as if she wasn’t wearing a satin gown. “It’s coming back to you then,” she stated rather than asked.
I gulped. “I remember it all.”
She studied me with furrowed brows. “All of it?” she asked. I watched her. “Even the money?”
My heart quickened. “What money?”
“So...not all of it.”
She seemed to get some sort of sick thrill out of knowing this part of the night I couldn’t recall.
“What happened?” I asked her.
She began to laugh, cackle really, and escaped the shower. I jumped up and tossed a towel around my waist. I followed the wet trails of her dress all the way into the bedroom but couldn’t find her.
“Piper,” I called out, searching the room. “Piper!” I called again, scouring the closet, but she wasn’t there.
I ran from the room, sprinting down the hall to the top of the stairs and peered over the edge. “Piper!” I shouted down, but she didn’t answer.
I descended the stairs and inspected the living area as well as the kitchen. She was gone. I threw open the villa doors and scanned the balcony, but no Piper. I ran back through the living and practically tossed the front door off its hinge.
“Piper!” I yelled into the empty hall.
I stumbled back into the room and closed the door, resting my back against its flat surface. “Where in the…”
My hands began to tremble as a thought came to the forefront of my mind. Slowly, ever so slowly, I walked back through the living room, hesitating to step over the threshold of the balcony. My breaths deepened.
“Oh, please, God. Please, God,” I prayed under my breath as I reached the balustrade.