P.S. Sorry for any mistakes I may have missed.
Chapter 1: Garden of Wolves
Captivated. Enthralled. Mesmerized. Hypnotized. No words that could be spoken can properly express the way he feels watching her, what he becomes just about every night when his attention is solely drawn to her. Only her. Everything about her is enticing. So much so, he never wants to avert his attention from her; doesn't dare to stop watching in fear of missing one of those secret inviting smiles she saves just for him while she dances on stage under flickering lights—entertaining the lust starved men surrounding her.
Tonight, she's dressed in all black as if she were her inner Witch counterpart. Her laced top stockings were connected to a matching garter belt that had a violet bow on each strap, and her bra snuggled against her chest tightly for a more cleavage and promiscuous look. From the bar where he sat far enough, silently watching her, he knew she had been lost in her own world with the way her hips swayed seductively to the music, and her eyes blissfully closing while a small Cheshire grin crossed her lips when the crowd began cheering her name.
Clearly, she enjoyed herself... she enjoys what she does.
But he knows by the end of the night... she'll feel dead inside.
From the depths of the darkness of the club, she belongs to only one man.
One man lucky enough to call her his.
But on stage, she belongs to all—all the men with itchy hands and loose grips as they throw their dollar bills in her direction. They'll howl in laughter or whistle in encouragement with each trick she performs on the silver pole, teasing them in their gutter minds with her skimpy lingerie and platform heels that made her smooth legs appear longer and more irresistible.
The man with raven-hair tossed back his drink and slammed it down onto the wooden surface of the bar before returning his attention to the temptress on stage. He watched as she flipped her long green tresses and lured the men closest to the stage with her untouchable body. She silently begged them to touch her as she inched closer, but they never did satiate their wishes to feel her, to cool their burning hands since she would walk away with a sense of pride in her steps before turning over her shoulder to give them a wink.
What a tease.
She'd always been that way.
Then before he had prepared for the moment he's been waiting for all night—it happened.
Past the heavy crowd and through the dark lighting of the club, she spotted him, and their eyes connected.
His heart skipped more than he'd liked.
The only sound he could hear over the thundering music was the pounding of his heart. She always has this effect on him—making him no better than the men whom she's dancing for. Though the only difference between him and those faceless, nameless men is that she's his. At least in this moment. Because right now while their gazes are clashed, nobody else exists in the club except them and he knows this dance is for him.
And it will always be.
The Witch wrapped a leg around the pole and did a couple small turns before stopping with her back against the cold metal. She slowly slid down and dangerously spread her legs open for him to see then turned around to show her backside to him while looking over her shoulder with a small bite to her lower lip. Oh, yeah. She knows what she's doing and he's not going to fall for her little trick.
Lelouch crossed his arms over his chest and smirked, and seeing how she did the same, he's already anticipating for their alone time.
Their eyes continued to stay connected while she danced for him a little longer before it abruptly broke when he felt firm taps on his right shoulder and she quickly looked away. Irritated for being pulled from his trance with the green-haired Witch, Lelouch turned to his side where his attention had been grabbed with a frown, but then smiled when he saw who the intruder was.
His twin brother, Julius.
The man was clad in black dress pants with a matching coat, he had a white dress shirt underneath and a gold tie. Lelouch also noticed that his brother decided to wear his favorite eye patch—large with a luxurious silver design that concluded with a single hanging amethyst jewel. Without a doubt, his twin is arrogant beyond reason and loves to flaunt his wealth whenever he can by the way he dresses.
Partly because it helped others tell the difference between them—at least... that was true before the accident.
"Beautiful, isn't she?" Julius asked with all-knowing grin and took the empty seat beside Lelouch.
Bringing his newly refiled drink to his lips, Lelouch chuckled, "You'll have to be more specific, brother. There are lots of beautiful women here."
The midnight-haired man smiled and grabbed the drink he was offered from the bartender then took a heavy gulp, allowing it to relish his taste buds before setting down the glass to eye his brother in amusement. "You're, right… There are lots of beautiful women here… But I'm referring to the one you've been staring at all night." Julius said smiling then looked to the stage where the beautiful emerald woman danced—standing out among all the dancers around her. "Have you finally developed a sweet spot for my wife, Lelouch?"
Yes. The one man who could proudly call her his, is his twin brother.
Her Husband.
His Wife.
Lelouch tisked, "A woman like her? As if… Just because she's beautiful doesn't mean I see her any more than a skilled dancer or my annoying sister-in-law." The brothers snickered in unison. "I don't know how you do it, Julius. Sure, you're a lucky man to have married C.C., but it's too bad her personality is too rotten."
"Heh, she isn't nearly as bad as you make her." Julius chuckled then gulped down the rest of his drink then raised his glass for the bartender's attention, so he could have another refill. Lelouch watched his twin take another swing of his drink before idly gazing back to the stage where the beauty had just finished performing and is now collecting her money from the stage and generous audience members.
True to his words, he firmly believes his brother is lucky to have married her before anybody else had gotten the chance to… Somebody like—
"You know," Julius started, reverting Lelouch's attention back to him. "I've noticed lately that you've taken quite a liking to the new girl." The man's voice laced with a sense of scheme and his eyes had turned mischievously dark.
Lelouch rolled his eyes then glanced over to the left of the main stage where a smaller stage is currently occupied by a dancing red-haired woman with a disapproving frown on her face. He internally cringed at how painfully obvious it is to see in her expression just how uncomfortable she feels dancing up there. Her blue eyes raged with a furious fire and her body language screamed in proclamation that the next guy who reaches on the stage to touch her will receive a black-eye.
Kallen Kozuki.
Not exactly an exotic dancer, but as of now… she has no other choice but to get used to being one until her family's debt is paid.
The debt they owe to his brother—more like their entire family.
"What makes you believe I've come to like this woman?"
"You can't hide anything from me, Lelouch. I've seen you two being friendly on more than a couple occasions." Julius scoffed and lightly patted his brother on the back. "If you want to date one of the dancers—that's fine. But you know the rules if you do."
"Yeah, yeah. You don't have to preach it to me again." Lelouch mumbled then took another sip of his drink.
"Excuse me, Sir Lamperogue?" A man called from behind and both brothers with amethyst eyes turned around in their seats to look at the man who called them. Quickly realizing his mistake, the man choked and he turned to Lelouch and bowed apologetically. "Please forgive me, Mr. Lamperouge. I meant to call for Mr. Kingsley."
'He must be new'. Lelouch thought.
Everybody who works for either the brothers personally or the family all together, knows to refer the twins by different last names to lessen the confusion—especially when they're both in the same room. Julius decided to go with the surname, Kingsley, for business and Lelouch felt content sticking to their birth name.
Waving his hand, "Don't worry about it, you're in no trouble." Lelouch said then faced back to the bar. He glued his eyes to the glass that hanged on the wall along with the expensive alcohol and heard his twin chuckle before speaking with the new assistant. Subconsciously he listened to the near incoherent murmurs of his brother and the man, and judging how quickly the conversation had taken a turn from normal to panic, he figured it must be an urgent business matter.
Of course, why else would their father send someone here to retrieve Julius?
Although Lelouch purposely made sure he's not as involved in the family business like his twin, he occasionally takes matters into his own hands if needed.
He doesn't have any interest in what his family does, but since he's 'second-in-command' behind his brother, he will continue to work discreetly in his brother's shadow until fate forces him to take his brother's place.
Hopefully... that day will never come.
After about a minute of tuning in their conversation, Lelouch sipped down the rest of his drink and decided to check-out for the rest of the night when suddenly... he heard her cold voice over the chatter and loud music, grabbing his attention. Chills ran down his spine when he turned to his side to see her approaching them with a smirk on her lips. They briefly made eye contact before she wrapped an arm around Julius' waist and kissed him on the cheek—interrupting his conversation.
"Hey, Honey. Did you see my performance?"
"I didn't get to see all, but with what I did—I thought you danced beautifully. Just like you always do." He kissed her lips then pulled her closer to him.
If there was one person in the world who could bring this soft side from Julius out… it's C.C.
"Oh, C.C... I'm sorry to cut this short, but if could excuse me for a few minutes... I have important business to handle." He kissed her quickly on the lips and said, "I'll be right back, okay?"
Before the woman could mutter another word, he escaped through the crowd and disappeared—leaving both Lelouch and C.C. alone in each other's company.
Sitting in her husband's now empty seat, she took note of Lelouch's refusal to meet her gaze which surprisingly brought a devious smile to her lips. Tossing back of what's left of Julius' forgotten drink, she trained her golden irises on the reluctant raven-haired man and giggled.
Lelouch turned his head to see what exactly she's laughing at.
"So… did you enjoy the show?" she teasingly inquired.
"Hmm, it was alright. You can't a good view of the stage from here at the bar."
A grin plastered onto C.C.'s lips when she looked back at the stage to where she had previously performed not ten minutes ago. A dancer had already taken her place and from what she could tell, it's a very nice view from the bar.
Of course, why did she expect him to tell the truth?
Lelouch is nothing but a faithful liar.
Averting her attention back on the raven-haired man, she saw the bartender refill his drink and when Lelouch brought it back to his lips— "I'll take that." She sang then snatched the drink from his hand and tossed down the alcohol in one gulp and slammed down the glass.
Impressed, Lelouch looked at her in amusement.
"Would you say you were an unsatisfied customer?"
"Very much."
"What was wrong with the performance?" she innocently asked.
"Absolutely nothing. The place is too crowded—I couldn't get a good look." He lied.
Leaning dangerously close to the man, she placed a hand in his lap and asked, "What can I do to make it up to you?"
"What can you offer me?"
C.C. scanned the area to make sure they haven't grabbed a nosy person's attention before replying, "Anything you want. I'm on break now, but you're more than welcomed to a private dance, in a private room where we can be alone if you want." He smiled, and she leaned in close to his ear, "Just so you wouldn't be bothered by the crowd… Lelouch."
"Are you sure you won't go over your break time?"
C.C. shrugged her shoulders.
"Don't know, but it's not like it should matter. You are the co-owner—you and my husband make the rules, so I'm sure you can excuse them if they were bent a little." Lelouch hummed and idly began playing with the tiny bows on her underwear. "What do you say? A private dance for a special customer?"
C.C.'s heart missed a beat when he chuckled and gave her a smirk. She watched him stand from his seat and pat down his clothes before nodding his head in the direction of the private rooms. Happily, C.C. held onto his wrist and directed him through the sea of people and past stages the where a new set of half-naked women danced. As they shuffled closer to the back, for a short-lived moment Lelouch made eye contact with Kallen before they disappeared through a curtain of beads.
Just like they've done many nights before.
A/N: Julius Kingsley isn't on the CG character list, so… yeah… he's his own person in this story! First, I would like to say that I'm currently working on updates for my other fics just in case you read them, so please don't think I'm abandoning them. I'm just struggling a bit because I've written myself in a corner with a couple of stories, and I'm having a hard time finding my way out of it, but I should overcome it soon (hopefully). Now, I hope this was alright. I'm not 100% familiar with Julius, but I'll get there one day. Feel free to let me know what you think, comment, ask questions, review, etc. They're always appreciated! Until next time! XD
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