Pawns of the Game

It only happened on rare occasions, one of the twins without the other. Those who saw one, always knew the other would follow. The twins were whispered about constantly and those whispers only grew when one had ventured out into the world without the other. They had established a reputation about themselves, stacked upon rumors from those who were scared of them. It didn’t take much intelligence to know that something about the two of them was different. Dangerous.

When the door was pushed open by the bouncer, heads turned to see who had stepped into the dark room. Tension was thick as her heels stepped one at a time, eyes from everyone in the club looking up to see the twist of a smirk and the dark eyes that accompanied it. Rowan Coine had a way of making an appearance whether with her brother or without. Now that she had the attention of the whole room, she sauntered her way to the bar, leaning over it to smile at the bartender who knew her well.

“What will it be today?”

“How about something…fresh.”

The bartender nodded, moving to make her drink while she sat down on one of the stools and turned her head over her shoulder. Her eyes glanced back and forth, surveying the crowd of the night and judging just how much fun she could have with the people enjoying their night. Most people had gone back to their conversations, dancing, seducing, and nightly activities since she’d resigned herself to the bar, but a few knew better. They kept their eyes on her at all times.

The drink was set down in front of her and she reached her fingers out, running the pad of her index finger along the rim of the glass before picking it up to take a sip from the liquid. She never came here to drink, that wasn’t what she really wanted and the way the bartender eyed her, she knew that he was well aware of that fact.

Smirking, the brunette set her glass down and turn around in the stool so she could lean back against the bar. To Rowan, life had always been a game. Maybe it came from her past, the events that unfolded over the years that turned the Coine twins into what they were today. Granted, it almost seemed like they were born with wickedness in them, but the past certainly allowed it to grow and flourish. To her, all the people around her were little pawns that she could play with.

Tonight, she had come out alone for many reasons. Her favorite thing about being without her brother was the attention of the naïve ones who knew to avoid her, but were far too tempted to do so. Everyone knew how protective Declan was of his sister, knew from different accounts of people how bad things could get. Those stories took ahold of the naïve people who thought they could get to Declan if she was alone, who knew she wasn’t to be messed with either but underestimated her. It was one of those silly ones who made Rowan’s job much easier.

“This is a rare sight, to see how gorgeous you are without your brother hiding you.” He was slightly tipsy, tall, frat-boyish. The usual ones who fell into the trap.

“My brother doesn’t hide me.” Rowan simply stated in her honey voice, turning her head more to look at the man. He couldn’t have been more than twenty one, even better in Rowan’s mind.

“Ah, but he does watch over you. Except tonight.”

“What makes you think that?”

“Something about the way you look, like you’ve been let out of your cage.”

Something inside of Rowan twisted, the brunette fighting the smirk that threatened to take over her face. Instead, she leaned over to him and trailed her fingers down his jawline. She was enticing, knew how to push the right buttons to get people to fall into her beauty and her voice. Rowan used all her weapons against others to get what she wanted in the end and this was just that case. He wanted her. She wanted a game.

“You could say that.”

“Then let loose, let’s dance.”

“Can you keep up?” She teased, already hopping off the stool and turning so she was facing him completely. Her fingers moved down along his shirt before she moved away from him and headed to the dance floor.

He followed, pressing closely behind her the moment they were in the crowd. It took a lot of willpower for Rowan not to roll her eyes at his eagerness, simply moving further into the throng of people until they were completely immersed. His hands found her waist, her hips moved to the beat of the music, and she let herself become lost in the high that came from the atmosphere. If there’s one thing Declan always reminded her that she actually bothered to listen to, it was to keep aware of her surroundings. They had a horrible habit of getting themselves into unwanted trouble sometimes when they weren’t looking for it.

Tonight, Rowan kept some attention on those around her. She refused to have her night ruined, especially after having her pawn come so easily to her and she didn’t even have to leave the bar.

Sweat found parts of her skin, the lights heating up the dance floor along with the body heat from so many people. Neither of them seemed to notice, dancing and completely lost in the sensation of their bodies pressed together tightly, swaying seductively with each other. Three songs has passed before she turned around in his arms, teeth finding his neck, lips finding his jaw and then his own pink petals. She laughed at his readiness, feeling him leaning desperately into her as if she was the only one who could give him what he needed, what he craved. And in that moment, she really was the only one.

Her lips pulled away, moving up to his ear as she whispered loud enough for him to hear over the music. He heard her, hand finding her own and he led the way off the dance floor and toward the back exit. It wasn’t until they had past majority of the people that her smile slowly turned into a devilish smirk, waiting to feel the rush of cold air on her skin and hear the silence.

The door shut behind them and Rowan turned to the blond, hands on his chest as she pushed him back against the metal door and resumed kissing him. His hands were desperate on her skin, dancing up her arms and to her back where one stayed pressed to the bend in her back while the other found her left thigh. She let her own hands play, one tugging on his hair while her other moved down to the skin exposed about the waistline of his jeans.

His hand was sliding under her dress, unshaken thanks to the alcohol in his system. Rowan made his hand stop by biting his lip, her eyes opening up to meet his and that’s when she knew she had him caught. Moving her hand from his hair, she kissed down his neck and let her hand come back down to her side, reaching under her dress along her right thigh. Fingers gripped around her possession, Rowan smirking into the skin of the poor foul’s neck.

“Rowan.”

The voice was the only one that could snap her out from her moments, the voice that she loved but hated in that moment because it ruined her fun. What confused her more was that fact that it was even there, present in the dark. There wasn’t ever a problem with Rowan going out alone, they did it every once in a while, but this time seemed different. It didn’t take her long to figure out what it was that made it different, her eyes flickering up to the night sky for a split second before she let go of the blade under her dress and backed away.

“If I were you, I would get the fuck out of here.” Rowan said, her tone bored as she glared at the man in front of her.

“What? But I thought…”

“I’d listen to her if I were you.” Declan growled, coming out from the shadows of the alley. It only took a few seconds of recovery before they were alone in the alleyway.

Rowan ran a hand through her brown waves, looking over at her brother with a pout. “Why did you have to ruin my fun? You know I don’t make a mess and we’re leaving in the morning anyway.”

“Shut up. Let’s go.”

She groaned and moved over to her brother but caught his arm in her hand before he could start stomping off to their current residence. Rowan knew her brother better than anyone else. She could tell when something was wrong, when he couldn’t figure something out, or when his wolf was getting the better of him.

“Declan, look at me.” Rowan said quietly, her touch turning gentle when he finally did. “If you needed me home, you could have just told me. How long have you been watching.”

“Since you left the apartment…” Declan answered, his tone filled with exhaustion that showed he didn’t want to have this conversation. Rowan left it alone.

They walked their way back to the apartment in silence, but whatever tension had been between them disappeared. She leaned against her brother, his arm wrapped tightly around her waist.

“You know, you have serious jealousy issues.” She teased after a while, earning a laugh from Declan.

“Only with you.”