Christ, the things his brothers goaded him into doing. This was probably a huge mistake, but fuck it, he was committed to it now. No turning back.
****
Crystal turned in Shane’s arms as they swayed to a slow song. As they rotated around, she could see Wolf moving through the crowd toward them, his eyes on her.
“Oh, God,” she whispered.
Shane looked down at her with a frown, saw her eyes and turned to follow where she was looking.
“Please don’t fight,” Crystal blurted out, knowing what was going to happen when she felt Shane stiffen in her arms.
His eyes returned to her. “My days of backing down to Wolf are over, Crystal.”
“Please, Shane,” she begged and watched as his jaw clenched. He was struggling with caving into her request, and she knew just how much that would cost him.
“I’ve waited a long fucking time for this day, Crystal.”
“I know. I know you have, I’m just asking you not to throw the first punch.”
And then Wolf was upon them. Crystal’s eyes moved between him and Shane as Shane turned to look at Wolf. And then Wolf shocked the hell out of her by actually being cordial.
“Mind if I cut in, Brother?” And then he truly shocked her by asking, “Please?”
Shane must have been just as shocked. His eyes flicked down to her as if he were asking if that was what she wanted. She nodded, and then he was releasing her to step back as Wolf moved in.
She felt his hands settle on her waist, his palms hot on her bare skin. Hesitantly she slid her hands up his cut to encircle his neck. He pulled her closer, until they were brushing up against each other.
She looked up to see his dark eyes intent as he stared down at her. What the hell was he doing? Why was he putting them both through this? She watched as his eyes dropped to her mouth, and she couldn’t help but do the same. She studied those lips of his and could think of nothing more than tasting them again.
She wasn’t sure if he dipped his head, or if she lifted hers, but suddenly their mouths were only an inch apart. She didn’t know how long they danced like that, tempting fate, perhaps each seeing how long the other could last before they closed that last inch. Was it a minute? Ten?
They moved in a slow circle, the noise of the crowd and the music fading away until it was as if they were the only two in the room. She could feel his breath, and she was sure he could feel hers. Neither of them said a word. It was almost as if they were cast in a spell, a spell neither of them wanted to break.
“I guess I should have seen this coming.”
Her brow furled in a frown, and she whispered, “What? Seen this coming…how?
“From when I saw you the other day.”
“You…saw me?”
He nodded. “Saw you ridin’ up Main Street, bold as brass.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah. Oh.”
Her eyes moved up to his, searching between them. His dropped again to her mouth.
“You waitin’ to see how long it takes me to close this last inch?”
She swallowed, but didn’t answer. Did she want that? She did, but…
“Once your lips touch mine, girl, it’s over. You know that, don’t you?”
“Wolf, what are we doing?” she whispered.
“Playing with fire. Seems we’ve both got a thing for that.”