Smoldering dark brown irises held mine.
No smile.
No amusement.
Just an intensity that nearly burned me alive.
I swallowed, uncertain of how this all happened. It was as if he’d woven a spell over me, controlling my actions and dissolving my hesitation.
His fingers trailed up my spine to caress the back of my neck while his opposite hand settled on my hip. “Now they see the real you, Ella,” he whispered. “A glistening jewel in a sea of darkness.”
I blinked at him. “You say the strangest things to me.”
“And I’ve only gotten started, sweetheart.” His mouth settled over mine so quickly that I didn’t understand what he was doing until his tongue parted my lips.
The world froze around me.
Because that brush of his mouth in the hallway before was nothing compared to this. He kissed me as if his life depended on mine to survive. I couldn’t breathe beneath the intensity, the ownership of his touch.
Some part of me knew to fight.
While the other part sighed at the rightness of his caress.
I’m going insane.
I shouldn’t be embracing him, yet I was. Vigorously, too. I even had my fingers in his hair. My damn body taking charge without my mind’s permission. But I was too wrapped up in his touch to stop it, everything and everyone lost to the white noise of my thoughts.
His tongue moved against mine with the same skill he’d used to guide me around the dance floor, hypnotizing me into submitting.
A loud ding sent a jolt down my spine, drawing me back to reality like a slap across my face. It came from a clock somewhere in the ballroom, announcing the time. Midnight.
My eyes slid open to find a circle around us.
Just like that night freshman year.
Dread pooled in my belly.
A foreboding sensation crawling across my skin.
Tray smiled at someone over my shoulder, and my heart stopped. Three, two…
“Well, this looks cozy,” Ryan said from behind me. “I barely even recognized you, Cindersoot. What with the makeover and all.”
Carmen cackled, the sound sending a chill down my spine. “Still can’t hide the trash beneath.”
One of them fondled the skirt of my dress, and I knew what they planned to do next. Even before I heard the telltale sound of a rip.
Shit.
Chapter Eight
Ella
“Ladies,” Tray greeted, his palms falling to my hips to hold me in place. “Have you come to collect?”
“Hmm, depends on what you’re offering,” Ryan replied as a nail slid sharply up my back to the top of my zipper.
Tray spun me in his arms before I could react, my dress remaining upright as a result. “I owe your stepsister a dance,” he murmured against my ear. “Go grab us some drinks.” He pushed me to the side, stepping forward at the same time to draw Ryan into his arms.