I looked behind me. “You’re right. I’ll go down there and…”
“I’m going too.” She practically stepped on me in her haste to get out. “I don’t want to stay up here anymore.”
I sprang to my feet to stop her, but she was already fighting her way past me to the stairs. “Hold it! You can’t go down there. Luca will flip if you leave the table.”
“You can come with me if you’re worried about my safety, but I’m not staying up here a second longer.” I tried to stop her, and when Dante reached us, he helped me restrain her.
“Take it easy,” he told her. “Luca could come back any time. Once he gets here, you can ask him…”
“What’s the point of coming to a club if we aren’t going to hang out and socialize with other people? I want to dance. I’m going downstairs.”
She dodged around me; she could walk a lot faster in those heels than any woman I ever saw. We hurried after her, but trying to stop her on the stairs with everyone watching would only cause a scene.
I scanned the mezzanine. Quite a few people were watching, so I just strode after her. Dante and I kept a constant eye on the crowd when she made her way to the bar.
As I expected, nearly every guy in the place turned around to stare when she strutted over and flagged the bartender. I moved my mouth close to her ear. “You don’t talk to the bartender. Dante and I will order for you.”
She rolled her eyes. “Whatever.”
“You’re Luca Fortino’s girl. You have to follow protocol. Now, tell me what you want to drink.”
“Vodka shots.”
I raised my eyebrows at her. “Aren’t you a little young to be drinking like that?”
“Next you’ll be telling me I’m too young to fuck around with guys I just met.”
Dante whipped around and gaped at her, but before he could ask what she meant, the bartender came over. Dante eased between the stools to relay her order, and the bartender left.
Ariana turned back to the bar and swayed in time to the music. Guys started to migrate in her direction. They were drawn to her like moths to a flame, and I caught her shooting seductive glances at them through her heavily penciled eyelashes. Was she deliberately trying to make me jealous?
The bartender came back with a tray loaded with about twenty shot glasses. He put the half-empty vodka bottle next to the tray and left again. I tapped Ariana’s elbow and motioned her toward the bar while I stood guard behind her.
She wedged herself between Dante and the next bar stool. She slithered her body up against his and grinned at him when she accidentally-on-purpose discovered there wasn’t enough room there for both of them.
He tried to pull away and ran into the stool behind him. She pressed her body right up against his, picked up a glass, and pounded it back with no trouble. She grimaced and sucked the vodka off her lips before she handed him a shot.
He tossed it back, and when he put the glass down on the tray, she dipped her eyelashes and asked, “Wanna dance, Dante?”
He almost protested and prepared to extricate himself from his position when a different guy arrived on the scene. He sat down on the stool adjacent to hers and tapped her on the shoulder.
She started to turn around to face him, and Dante’s expression changed in a blink. He glared at the guy, threaded his fingers into her hair, and steered her mouth to his.
Her eyes widened, and then she melted into his embrace. His fingers tightened in her hair, and he pried her head back to kiss her deep and long with plenty of tongue.
A charge of heat rushed to my crotch remembering her mouth from earlier this afternoon. If any other guy was getting near her tonight, it would be me.
I backed up and sat down on the stool right behind her. I positioned myself between the new guy and Ariana, so he got the message loud and clear.
He evaporated into the crowd, and I twirled my stool toward Ariana just as Dante was letting her go. She bit her lower lip, gazing up into his eyes. This was my cue.
I circled her perfect hourglass waist and turned her to face me. I pulled her between my knees and let my palms glide down her hips to her ass. I crammed her between my legs and kissed her.
Fuck, she tasted and felt as glorious as I remembered. I really fucked this girl this afternoon, and I would fuck her again before long. I just knew it. That succulent rubbery feeling in her joints when she relaxed against me told me she wanted it all over again.
She peeled off my lips with a sweet little smack of her lips. Her sultry eyes floated before mine, and she moaned a little at the deep, aching desire in that kiss.
As soon as I separated from her, Dante placed both hands on her shoulders and buried his face in her neck from behind. He took a big mouthful of her neck, and she gasped in excited agony as she sank back against his chest.