Time never stops. Time is a running list of the good and the bad, and all the moments in between.
Maybe he's right. Maybe my body remembers, but it's my mind that's holding me back. Unable to find joy in something that's connected to pain.
Manu takes both my hands and slips them around his neck. He wraps his arms around my waist and starts to lead. He steps to the side, and I follow. He steps back, and I move with him.
The music slowly begins to fill my body. It starts in my chest and works its way down through my arms and legs. Our eyes connect. There's a flash of something deep within his bright blue orbs.
Excitement?
Desire?
Longing?
I can't figure it out. But as we move across the dance floor, I finally see. I see him. The man behind the mask. The man hiding in plain sight.
Manu might be the cutthroat, uncaring, callous, cold-hearted boss. . .
But right now, all I see is the misunderstood beast.
8
Manu
“Don't be shy,” I say, sweeping her in a circle as we cross the floor. “It's in there, let it out.”
She bashfully looks off to her left, her cheeks turning pink as she adjusts her hands around my neck. “You make it sound so easy.”
“It is easy. Here, close your eyes.” I swipe one hand down over her face, forcing her to close her eyes. “Now just listen to the music, don't think about it, just listen.”
She keeps her eyes closed. Her head starts to move, tipping lightly side to side. She glides her hands down my shoulders, then back up around my neck. Her hips are starting to sway, and her body is starting to rock to the beat.
With her eyes pinched tight, she pulls my hand off her hip, and raises it chest high. I'm not leading anymore, she is. Ronda pushes her body away, and spins under my arm. I pull her into my chest, then flip her so she spins back out.
I'm fixated on her. Just her. Everyone else on the dance floor falls out of focus. I pull her back close, pressing my chest against hers. She lays her face against my chest, letting me hold her.
This girl makes every inch of my body come alive. My skin is hot, and my heart is pounding in my chest. It feels like a caged bird trying to break free. I've never felt this way before. I've always kept myself buried in my work, focused on making a name for myself and my business.
And then Ronda shows up.
I run my fingers through her hair, twirling thick locks up tight against her scalp. She nuzzles her face in deeper, pushing her face into my hand. The way she's moving, the way her body is rolling and grinding her pussy against me, fuck, it's turning me on.
My cock is twitching, growing harder and harder. I slip my hands down her back and grab her ass, tugging her in close. I want her to feel my cock. I want her to feel what she does to me. I want her to feel how badly I want her.
Ronda looks up. She bites her bottom lip, pulling it into her mouth. I can't fucking take it. I can't take one more second of this torture. I need her. Right now. Not later. Not after dinner. I need her this very second.
I guide us to the other side of the dance floor, where the lighting is darker, and the tables are sparse. No one is over here. The seats are empty. The people that are here are either dancing or eating. No one is paying any attention to us.
Pushing her into the shadows, I growl into her ear. “I want you.”
“I want you too,” she says as her hands squeeze and feel the muscles in my back. She drags her nails up my spine and over my neck, tangling them in my hair. Her eyes flutter back and forth over mine.
I can see a small flame in her pupils. A smoldering red ember that only desire and greed can breathe to life. Two things that can destroy everything they touch. Greed can make any man lose his mind, but desire, desire can turn any civil man rabid.
As for me, I'm that civil man. And I want this girl so fucking bad nothing will stop me from taking her.
There's not one thing in this world that can rip me away from her right now. The ground could be moving under my feet, the earth eroding away like sand in a storm. I'll just take her down with me as the ground swallows me whole. Because I need her. I don't just want her, I need her.
“Take me, Manu, I can't wait. Take me now,” she says as her fingers twirl through my hair. She slips flat palms down my chest, gliding the pads of her fingers gingerly over the buttons on my shirt. “Where can we go so you can fuck me?”