could hear was my own heartbeat drumming in my ears.
“That’s the beer talking,” I muttered.
“Aye. I only tell the truth when I’m drunk.”
Damn, he had me there. His gaze held me captive, and I felt like I was sinking into a pool of quicksand, completely lost in his deep, impassioned brown eyes.
“You’re very close.”
“Need to be to do this,” he grunted, and dipped his head. His lips brushed against my neck. I gasped and trembled when I felt his tongue flick out to lick a line across my skin. Shivers encapsulated my entire body as I grew hot and flushed. His crotch pushed against my stomach, his hardness pressing into me and giving me a very clear idea of what he was packing. His hips rocked back and forth, rutting, seeking, wanting.
Wow.
Perhaps Julian was right about him fucking like a wild man.
A low moan escaped me when his hands found my neck, his thumbs pressing gently into the hollow of my throat. His hips pushed forward once more, his cock hard and ready. My hands gripped tightly to his shoulders, too shocked by what was happening to do anything else. A raspy growl emanated from deep in his throat as he licked me once more.
“Tell me what your pussy tastes like,” he rasped, the blunt eroticism of the request bringing me back to my senses. What was I doing? I was drunk and acting crazy. Breaking away from him, I fell against the wall, my chest heaving as I tried to catch my breath. Arousal made my head feel dizzy.
“I have to go,” I blurted.
“Rose,” he called after me, but I didn’t look back.
Nine.
*Rose*
The entire weekend I was in a lust-filled haze. I replayed what happened with Damon at the club over and over again, using it as material to get myself off. I had to. He’d turned me on so much that I felt like I might burst if I didn’t find some relief.
Even though I’d been drunk, I remembered every detail, from the hot, wet press of his tongue to the delicious way his body felt pushed urgently into mine. His erotic, dirty words. I hated how I’d left things and wished I had the balls to call him and explain why I’d run off.
He texted me Friday night just as the taxi pulled up to my apartment. One word.
Sorry.
He had no reason to apologise. After all, I’d hardly found what he’d done unpleasant. I didn’t respond to the text, because it felt too impersonal. I wanted to find him at rehearsals on Monday and properly explain why I’d run, why he didn’t want a clingy mess like me latching onto him anyway.
When the weekend finally came to a close, I selected my favourite Nike yoga pants and a wraparound cotton top to wear to the dance studio. We had a big day ahead of us, and Iggy wanted to get the choreography for the club scene perfected before we moved on.
I constantly scanned the room for Damon, but there was no sign of him. I only spotted him arriving a moment before Jacob strode in, and then my attention was all on our director. Or rather, the person he’d just ushered into the dance studio.
Fuck. My. Life.
There in all his perfectly imperfect glory was Blake. With shaggy dark brown hair and light blue eyes, he wore carelessly ripped jeans and a rumpled white T-shirt. A cigarette was tucked behind his ear, and he had that perennially tired “I’ve just been shagging” look on his face.
Ugh.
“Gather ’round, everyone, I have an announcement,” said Jacob, clapping his hands for attention. I watched the scene unfold with suddenly dawning horror. “As you may have heard, we’ve had to let Bob go, and here to fill the role of the Duke is none other than Blake Winters. I hope you’ll all give him a very warm welcome.”
Everybody clapped, some approaching Blake and introducing themselves. Well, he wouldn’t be getting any warm welcomes from me. I had nothing but frost in my bones for that man. When my eyes met Damon’s, I saw that he’d recognised the name and put two and two together. He was all the way on the other side of the room, but I could still make out his expression.
It asked, Are you all right?
I gave him a slight nod to say I was fine, and then quickly fled for the bathrooms to have a meltdown in private. My heart beat too quickly, and though I’d just showered