He leaned in close to my ear. “Is it wrong to want to drag the princess out of her tower?”
I laughed him off. “There’s no tower. I’m just busy.” I searched the room for Lyric, finally spotting her sandwiched between two guys I vaguely recognized from Instagram. One of them eased his hand up the front of her shirt while the other ran his tongue along the side of her neck. I shook my head and took another drink.
“Too busy to have a life?” Kyle asked.
“I guess that depends on your definition of alife.”
He looked up at me, his bright emerald gaze now dark, as he brought his hand to my collarbone, then traced a fingertip across my chest. “Doing things that make you feel alive.”
Thatmade me feel something. I just wasn’t sure if it was excitement or unease. I wanted it to be excitement. I wanted some of what Lyric had—of what the blonde on the rock had. I wanted a raw, uninhibited passion for life, even if it was just one night a year.
“Dancing makes me feel alive. I love dancing.” I started taking ballet classes the minute I could put on a pair of pointe shoes. Nothing made me feel more alive than when it was just me and the music.
“Yeah? Show me.”
“Right now?”
“Right now.”
I finished the last of my drink then handed him my empty cup. Game on. The alcohol was already messing with my head, making me fearless. I slipped my jacket off my shoulders and tossed it to him. He caught it with a grin then threw it over his shoulder. I walked backward, careful not to bump into anyone behind me, until I was far enough away from him to give him a good show but close enough to watch his reaction.
My hips rocked from side to side with the rhythm of the chants. My gaze was focused on Kyle, but my body was hyperaware of adifferentset of eyes on me. His heated gaze penetrated me from across the room, like a touch blazing across my skin. The familiar pulse I’d always felt when he was near began thrumming through my veins. A low, steady hum as powerful and deep as the bass vibrating in these walls.
I knew who it was before I ever looked in his direction. I felt him, the same way I always felt him whenever he was near. The energy was different when he was close. The air was charged. Electric.
Something dark and sinister swirled in my belly knowinghewas watching me here in this place that manifested sex and sin, in this place where morals didn’t exist. My heartbeat thrummed against my ribcage, and my hips began to dip and roll on pure instinct. Every single one of my senses peaked, magnifyingeverything. The corset hugging my body, the way it tightly cupped my breasts, the friction of black denim rubbing between my thighs, the cool air caressing my hot skin—all of it magnificently intense, all of it intimate. My hands roamed my curves, gliding from my stomach to my breasts, up my neck, and into my hair as though they had a mind of their own, as if my body knew what it wanted and was willing me to take it. I closed my eyes and tilted my head back, letting myself get lost in the rhythm, in my own touch, in the way the bass vibrated from the floor all the way through me.
When I brought my head back down and opened my eyes, my gaze landed directly on Caspian Donahue.
My lips parted in a gasp. A bead of sweat trickled down my back, evidence of the heat radiating through the room.
Beside him, a girl was pinned against the wall, her legs hooked around a guy’s waist while his thighs and ass tightened and flexed as he pounded into her. The girl gripped Caspian’s shoulder, fisting his shirt in her hand as if she needed something, anything, to hold onto to keep her from going over the edge, as if with this one carnal gesture, she was inviting him to join their pleasure.
He never gave them as much as a glance. His gaze never broke from mine. His mouth didn’t move. His hands remained tucked into the front pockets of his jeans as he casually leaned against the stone wall.
I tore my eyes from him and walked back to Kyle.
He handed me a fresh cup of blue alcohol poisoning, and I drank it like my throat was on fire.
“I could watch you all night,” he said.
I opened my mouth to respond, only to let out a yelp when my body was lifted up and hoisted over a broad shoulder. The cup fell from my hand, coating the concrete floor in bright blue liquid. Strong arms held a tight grip across the backs of my thighs and hard muscle dug into my stomach with every step he took. I reached down to grab hold of the back of his shirt. All I saw was the curve of a firm, round ass as I was carried through a crowd of people and back out the wooden door.