“Taste it.” A faint smile tugged at his sinful lips, and his stare became all-encompassing. He moved the glass to my lips without ever breaking his stare, and I did as he’d requested. I put my lips on the exact same spot where his had been moments before and took a sip. At first blush, the drink was delicious. But then I felt the tequila aftertaste on my tongue along with an intense burning in my esophagus.
“How is it?” he asked and took another drink after me, and I lingered on the way his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down. I wanted to kiss him, and it felt like I was already drunk.
Drunk on him. On his smell.
No drink could ever have such an effect on me.
I acted on my impulses and did something truly stupid.
“I’d rather taste you,” I whispered in his ear, and he froze with his glass in midair, staring at me.
He frowned and set the drink down, giving me a mocking smile.
“Babygirl, you don’t know the first thing about…” He inched closer to my lips. “…my taste,” he continued in a seductive murmur. I looked at him, bewildered. I had been talking about kissing him, but maybe he meant…
My eyes bugged slightly, and I shifted awkwardly on his knee as I realized what direction this conversation was taking. Neil pulled me closer to him,tightening his grip around my hips. I was a genuine naïf, and now I was playing with fire.
What an idiot.
“Hey, we’re going to go dance. You coming?” Logan took Alyssa’s hand and gestured to the center of the dance floor, between the still-vacant platforms. I had forgotten those two were still present.
That was how it always happened.
Whenever Neil let me into his world, I forgot my own entirely.
We were completely defective together but, sometimes, in some moments, I felt like we understood each other completely. I could feel the energy between us, the incandescent fire that brought us together. I could feel our thoughts linked by a single thread, a subtle understanding that was slowly peeling away his armor.
“No,” Neil answered, and I agreed with him. Logan gave us a wicked look before walking off with Alyssa, as though he’d known from the beginning how this was going to end. A moment later, I turned to Neil and caught him examining my dress. Specifically the plunging neckline. I bit my lip and decided to finally ask him the question that had been on my mind for hours.
“Do you like it?” I asked, all in a rush. Even I didn’t know where I got up the courage. Neil took another sip from the margarita and licked his lips thoughtfully. No emotion and no flicker of weakness or vulnerability crossed his face.
“Yeah, it’ll do,” he said, glancing around out of boredom.
And what the hell did he mean by that?
“It’ll do?” I echoed indignantly.
“You got it. I mean, you look pretty and…” He deliberated for a few moments before adding, “Fuckable.” He tried to hand me the margarita, but I shook my head. His words had hurt me, and he didn’t even notice.
He took the last drink and left the empty glass on the bar with a sigh.
“Fuckable is an insult. You do realize that?” I retorted. It was especially insulting considering the way he’d said it.
“Is that not what you wanted?” he taunted me again. “Have you picked one yet? Oh, that’s right, I’m supposed to do it for you. Tell me what you like.” He glanced around, drumming his fingers on the bar. I watched hishand, taking note of the steel ring on his middle finger. Reflexively, I stroked it with my own finger, and he went rigid.
He wasn’t used to those little spontaneous gestures.
“Brown-haired,” I answered, resting my hands on my thighs. He didn’t want to be touched just then, so I forced myself not to.
“Lots of guys with brown hair here,” he commented, contemplating some of them. Had he lost his mind?
Neil was seriously looking for tonight’s lucky winner. I kept playing along, but the longer the charade went on, the more offended I got that he actually believed I was going to go through with it.
“Tall. Very tall and strong. With a perfect nose and full lips and strangely colored eyes,” I continued.
Neil stopped examining his surroundings and finally looked at me with that haughty frown that made him so irresistible.
“Oh, and he has to have gleaming amber skin,” I added, raising a finger while he watched me in the most devastating way. He was serious, reflective, and could turn me to jelly without uttering a syllable.
