Tonight, it looked like Marcus had foundhisway.
The crowds shifted again, filling the gap Sterling had been using to observe the play scene. He didn’t mind. The moment Marcus shared with his new lover was his to enjoy, and Sterling had other matters to tend to. Clarissa needed help. When the front doors were locked and the music had died, Sterling would take the time to assess the standing of Marcus’ membership. Playing with a staff member meant an instant revocation of membership privileges, but technically, Lucian wasn’t a staff member anymore. He’d quit the week before. Still, there was a gray area there that Sterling needed to consider. The look he saw in Marcus’ eyes wasn’t one born from half a week ofdating.
A flash of bright white light cut through the shadows and drew Sterling’s eyes before he’d taken his first step down the hallway. On the outskirts of the crowd clustered around the door to room nine was a shirtless young man, his back to Sterling. Tight black jeans rode low on his hips and hugged his ass like they’d been molded to his body. Golden-brown hair shone as it was struck by the bright light emitted from the device inhispalm.
Sterling recognized himimmediately.
For the last two years, Adrian Lowe had been a fixture at The Shepherd on weekend nights. He knew better than to use his cellphone while on clubgrounds.
Clarissa would have to wait—Sterling was neededelsewhere.
Without hesitation, Sterling crossed the hall. The sharp clack of his dress shoes was drowned out by the thud of the bass from the dance floor downstairs, the mass of bodies separating him from Adrian making his approaching shadow inconspicuous. Adrian, unaware of his approach, remained hunched over his phone, shoulders pinched. Sterling took hold of one of them and spun him around, and as the whites of Adrian’s eyes broadened and locked on his, he shoved Adrian againstthewall.
In the two years that Adrian had been visiting the club, Sterling had engaged him in polite conversation once or twice—never long enough to get to know him on a personal level. Most omegas who came to The Shepherd were in search of the same thing, and Sterling had grown tired of the narrative. Entertaining those who wished to mindlessly submit had been fun for the first few years, but constant reiterations of the same tired dynamic turned it bland. Sterling was hungry for something more, and he didn’t expect to find that something in a delicately beautiful omega—at least, not until the wide-eyed fear in Adrian’s eyes turned into unmasked, unmitigatedhatred.
No omega had ever looked at Sterling like thatbefore.
Sterling’s hand tightened not out of anger, but out of surprise. Adrian’s glare didn’t falter, and his mouth remained a straight, stern line. There was no guilt in his expression, no desperation, and no shame. If anything, he looked upset that Sterling wasinconveniencinghim.
“Can Ihelpyou?” The question tore into Sterling, all fangs and teeth and snark. Those same words ripped down Sterling’s spine, leaving behind a tingling, thrilling sensation that came to a stop in his groin. One venomous look was allittook.
Adrian wasn’t like Sterling had imagined from their brief conversations—not by a long shot—but kitten claws weren’t enough to keep Sterling from addressing his blatant infringement of clubrules.
Keeping his tone low and steady, Sterling spoke. “What were youdoing?”
“Nothing.” Adrian’s gaze didn’t so much as flicker. His pale irises were gray, tinged darker by shadows. They were the kind of eyes that locked Sterling in and refused to let himlookaway.
“Nothing?” The repetition afforded Adrian the chance to correct himself before Sterling did it for him, but Adrian didn’t take it. Sterling watched his lips for the telltale twitch that preceded speech, but itnevercame.
Adrian was going to stick tohislie.
He left Sterling with no choice but tocorrecthim.
The offending phone was still clutched in Adrian’s hand—Sterling hadn’t given him time to put it away before pinning him to the wall. Without breaking eye contact, Sterling’s free hand darted forward and tore the phone from Adrian’s palm. Adrian’s gray eyes widened, and he struggled against the hand on his shoulder to snatch thephoneback.
If Adrian wasn’t going to behave, Sterling wouldn’t behave,either.
His hand left Adrian’s shoulder, and in one deft movement, he pinned his forearm across Adrian’s collarbone and pushed. Adrian hissed, not with pain, but with frustration. Sterling read it as plainly in Adrian’s eyes as he did the tone of hisvoice.
So Sterling pushedharder.
A puff of air escaped Adrian’s lips, and he looked up at Sterling with such outstanding hatred that Sterling began to doubt his recollections of their previous encounters. Was Adrian really an omega? Eyes like that didn’t belong to bashful, subservient creatures—they were too wild, toounpredictable.
Sterling didn’t realize his heart was racing until his next breath wasn’t deep enough to sate his starvedlungs.
“This doesn’t look like nothing.” Sterling held the phone up so Adrian could see it, but Adrian refused to look. He kept glaring directly at Sterling, unafraid. “This looks suspiciously like aphone.”
Adrian narrowed his eyes. “And you look suspiciously like an idiot, holding me here, telling me what aphoneis.”
Themouthon him. Another pulse of arousal struck Sterling square in the gut and made it hard to cling to stern dominance. It wasn’t often anyone talked back to him, but anomega?
He’d never met an omega with a lashing tonguebefore.
What other things could a tongue thatcleverdo?
“Really?” Sterling’s hand tightened around the phone, and he lowered it until he knew it was outside of Adrian’s line of sight. While he kept Adrian pinned, he leaned forward until their noses were almost brushing. The scent of rain clung to Adrian’s skin. His cologne was subtle, but paired with the sweet notes of his underlying scent, it hooked Sterling like a fish to a lure. “I wouldn’t have to look like such an idiot if you were honest. What’s in my hand,Adrian?”
Adrian’s eyes flashed, the anger behind them captivating. His irises darkened like storm clouds, not so much because of a change of pigment, but because of the emotion that charged them. Energy arced through them, untamed and dangerous. It made Sterling want to come closer, if only so he could discover for himself how uncontrollable the storm raging in Adrian’ssoulwas.
