Dining Tension
Kieran’s POV
I took the stairs one at a time as my feet slowly went in front of the other. Usually, it was standard practice for me to always race down the stairs, but for some strange reason today, I just wasn’t feeling it.
I ran my fingers along the banisters as my thoughts went into a million directions all at once. No matter how hard I ttied to focus, I just couldn’t do it. Why? Because a particular thought kept on haunting my consciousness.
Xander.
If I was being honest, up until this moment, everything still felt like a dream. A beautiful dream I wasn’t sure I wanted to wake up from. I subconsciously brought my fingers to my lips and a shudder rushed through my veins immediately.
That was how Xander had touched me last night.
Shit.
I shook my head immediately, willing the thoughts to go away, but they didn’t. Instead, it lingered at the back of my hand. With his tall and broad physique, one would think Alpha Xander was as rough as anything, but the man who gazed into my soul and touched my skin was far from rough. He was as gentle as ever and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t craving his touch all over again.NôvelD(ram)a.ôrg owns this content.
The sound of pans hitting the wall caught my attention. I blinked back a couple of times, just to realize I was in front of the kitchen.
“Sabrina?” I called, before peering into the room. A heavenly aroma wafted through my nose and my stomach churned. “Is everything okay?”
“Kieran.” She smiled, before turning her attention back to the pots again. “You came here just in time. Could you help me set these at the dinning?”
“Sure.” I nodded, before stepping inside. Carefully, I raised the two plates Sabrina had set on the kitchen island before heading to the dinning. Sabrina and I always ate in the kitchen. The island was spacious enough for both of us and if I was being honest, I actually liked it. We rarely used the dinning except for something special, so perhaps she was having a guest over.
Bright lights from the chandelier illuminated the huge dinning the moment I stepped in. A grand table stood at the centre with a couple of flower vases with spaces between each other. A fresh wave of fragrance wafted in to my nostrils and I took them in, enjoying every bit of it. After I’d had my fill of it all, I got to work.
I carefully placed each meal in front of one seat, before arranging the cutlery by the side. It took a while, but I was eventually done. I decided to go back to see if Sabrina needed more help when the unthinkable happened.
I spun on my heels, just before knocking something over. The sound of ceramic smashing against the cold tiled floor reached my ears and I jerked back immediately, fear crawling up my skin. Maybe if I wasn’t so scared shitless, I would have thought it through and realized that jumping on a slippery surface wasn’t exactly the best idea.
A loud yelp bubbled in my throat as I threw my hands in the air, desperate for something to hold on to. My heart leapt up to my throat as it dawned on me. I was going to fall flat on my butt and come out with a severe injury if I wasn’t careful. All because of my sandals, my carelessness and this stupid floor.
Time seemed to slow down as I fell, slowly anticipating my fall. I pressed my eyes shut before steeling my back and bracing myself for impact, but it never came. Surprise had me opening my eyes immediately when someone’s hands wrapped around my waist, steadying me immediately.
I heaved a sigh of relief as I slowly got my balance before standing up to my normal height again.
“Sabrina.” I breathed out wordlessly. “Oh gosh, thank you so much for…”
The rest of my words dried up on my tongue as I locked eyes with my savior. Bright blue eyes stared back at me, pushing my heart into overdrive. I was not sure which had my heart racing more, the way his gaze lingered on me or the fact that his hands were still wrapped around my waist.
The skin around my waist tingled as I tried to look anywhere but at his face. Unfortunately for me, that was an impossible feat I wasn’t sure I would be accomplishing anytime soon. My insides flared up, heat rushing to my cheeks.
I wanted to speak, but no words came out. He’d just saved me and the least I could do was say thank you right?
I parted my lips, but I still couldn’t bring myself to speak. It wasn’t helping that his eyes held the same emotions as last night.
Was he going to kiss me again? Or would he chicken out before someone interrupted us again?
Xander hadn’t said a thing in the past few minutes and if I was being honest, he honestly didn’t need to. I understood each and every bit of his silence. His eyes said it all and all I could see in his orbs was nothing but want.
“Kieran?” Another voice filtered in through the dinning. ” I heard you call my name and…”
Sabrina halted in her tracks upon seeing us. I watched as her gaze darted from me to Alpha Xander and back to me again. I watched her eyes hood over as an unreadable expression clouded her face immediately.
“I didn’t know I was interrupting something.” Sabrina’s voice was low, too low for my liking. Call me crazy but I could swear I saw her fingers trembling underneath her plate. “Sorry about that.”
“No, it’s fine.” Xander cleared his throat before slowly peeling his hands from my body and taking away the heat radiating from his body. ” Kieran almost got herself in an accident and I caught her just in time.”
“Right.” Sabrina quipped, and without sparing me so much as a glance, she walked towards one of the dinning chairs.
The air crackled with an awkward aura as we all sat down to eat. The sound of cutlery clicking against ceramic plates was the only sound that filled the room for a while.
I hated awkward silences like this and it didn’t help that I could feel Sabrina’s eyes on me all the while. She didn’t say it, but I could tell that there was something on her mind.
A loud buzz from the table beat me and any one of us to talking. With a quick glance at my right, I realized it came from Xander’s phone.
“Excuse me.” He chimed as he glanced at the phone. Then with an annoying and a loud screech, he pushed the chair back.
“I have to take this call. It’s important business.” he said before walking out of the room.
If I had thought the air was filled with tension earlier, then this was definitely a discovery. Unease nipped at my skin as I slowly stirred the plate of food in front of me, occasionally swallowing a few mouthfuls.
It was delicious, don’t get me wrong but I couldn’t help but feel something off with the cook, and it was weird because Sabrina was never moody unless one of the maids messed something up.
“You know.” Sabrina started out of the blue, her voice cutting through my thoughts. “Xander is a good man right?”
“Yes.” I nodded slowly, not exactly sure the direction this conversation was heading to.
“Good.” Her response was abrupt. “But that doesn’t mean you can try to play smart with him.”
Wait what?
“I don’t understand…” I mumbled, clearly taken aback. “What do you mean?”
“Keep on trying to seduce him, and you’ll find out.” Those were Sabrina’s parting words to me as she got out of her seat, totally abandoning her lunch. Without so much as a glance in my direction, she stalked off, leaving me with the sounds of her footsteps receding and a million and one things running in my mind.
What the hell just happened?