Both of us sat there staring at the crowd. Everyone was buzzed from the music and alcohol, and it seemed like the headcount got more and more as the night went on.
“So, you and Sienna.” Spencer shifted. “You have a thing for my little sister?”
I snickered. “You’re drunk.”
“Yes. That I am. But I don’t need to be sober to pick up on the vibes between you two.”
“There’s no vibes.”
“Liar.” He continued to stare out in front of him. “You’re much older than she is, and taking into account what you do for a living, my guess is you don’t stay in one place very long.”
“You’re quite the observant one, aren’t you?”
“When it comes to my little sister, yes.”
I nodded in Oakley’s direction, wanting to get the attention off me. “What observation did you make about him?”
“You know, I’ve never liked Oakley.” He frowned. “I knew he was a douche the moment I met him. And to be honest, I don’t think Sienna ever liked him either.”
I glanced at him with a cocked brow. “She dated him for a long time, didn’t she?”
“Three years, I think.”
“Then she had to have liked him.” The thought didn’t sit well with me.
“I dunno.” He narrowed his eyes as he watched Sienna talk to a group of friends. “She’s been this lost girl ever since our mom died. She pretends to have it all together, and this—” he gestured in her direction “—this social butterfly image she has, this shallow, materialistic princess she pretends to be, it’s not her.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because I remember the little girl who loved it when her brothers made her things instead of people buying her expensive gifts.” He smiled. “She used to love chasing butterflies in the garden, clawing her fingers in the soil searching for bugs and worms. She was always covered in dirt, giving Mom a heart attack every time she got her new clothes dirty.”
“You’re right. That doesn’t sound like her. Or at least, the Sienna she’s letting everyone see.”
“Our mom’s death was hard on all of us—but for Sienna…it broke her. Now, here she is,” he stood, “the tough, thick-skinned girl who pretends that money and status define her. And Oakley fits into that.”
“Yeah.” I narrowed my eyes as I studied Oakley. “I guess it makes sense.”
He inhaled deep. “Okay, well…I’m gonna go throw up now. Just, I know you could probably kick my ass in two-point three seconds, but I feel like it’s my brotherly duty to say,” he swallowed, squaring his shoulders, “if you break my sister, I’ll break your spine.”
I snickered. “Warning received.”
“Good. Now, I’m gonna—”
“Go throw-up. Yes, you do that.”
I smirked as Spencer plodded through the crowd. Poor guy was going to hate himself in the morning. Spencer wasn't a big drinker, unlike his party animal twin brother currently walking around with a giggling girl on his shoulders. But for someone as observant as me, it was easy to see that the poor guy carried a lot of baggage. Something he tried fucking hard to hide from everyone else.
A prickle on the back of my neck sparked awareness. I glanced at Sienna and found her staring at me. A moment passed, every other person and thing around us fading away.
It was just us. Her, me, and the fiery tension that pulsed like a life force between us. We both felt it. We both wanted it. God, it would have been so easy if I didn’t feel the same attraction as she did. It would have been so easy to walk away and not give her another thought. But it was there in every bone of my body, the ache, the hunger, the goddamn need that flooded me whenever I was near her.
Flashes of her beautiful face as I teased her body made my cock stir. The way she sucked her bottom lip right before she’d whimper with ecstasy, her body shivering—it unhinged me.
If we weren’t interrupted, I would have done wicked,wickedthings to her. Things I wasn’t sure she’d be able to handle. But the way my blood sang for her, how my insides coiled with the thought of hearing her screams while her body broke for me—I knew I would no longer be able to stop this train wreck from happening.
I straightened and caught her eye as I shot back the last of my beer, and her cheeks flushed the prettiest pink. Earlier, her body was so willing to take everything I wanted to give, her cunt so desperate for release she’d get off on a fucking glass bottle between her legs.
Sienna made it quite clear what she wanted, but she had no idea the kind of twisted her determination had stirred back to life. Maybe if she knew the level of depravity that lingered in my bones, she’d run. Maybe showing her my darkest would be the only way for her to realize that she was better off with Oakley—the guy who was the perfect fit for her social image.
I stared at her with eyes that demanded, and the way her lips parted, I knew she understood. And I knew she’d obey. The thought thrilled me, and for the first time in so fucking long I was that man again. The man who wanted to consume and control. The man who wanted more than just sex. I wanted possession. I wanted ownership. I wanted to dominate and feel the rush of adrenaline surge through my veins while I watched a woman’s body break for me. The thrill, the sense of power that filled my bones when witnessing a woman crave my touch like it’s her next line of cocaine—it was addictive.
I had denied myself that high for years. And now, as Sienna and I looked at each other, our palpable desire reaching across the crowd, I knew there was no fighting it. There was no denying it.
I will have her.
I will claim her.
I will break her.