I led her into the ballroom. Small tables were set up with black tablecloths and cushioned chairs, two per table, set close together and angled toward the stage. We sat down toward the back just as the lights dimmed, and I helped her hang her jacket on the back of her chair before doing my own.
I leaned in so close I could smell the fresh scent of her shampoo. “I hope you like this.”
She didn’t have time to answer. Soft lights hit the stage as three guys and a girl dressed in classy punk took position behind their instruments. A sultry melody started, highlighted by the haunting strings of a violin. Five beats in, and I was lost to the music. The singer stepped up to the mic, a rugged-looking guy around my age. Raw and full of angsty pain, his voice filled the room. Chills broke out all over my body, and I couldn’t take my eyes from him.
My arm was resting on the table, and I felt Ailee take my hand and squeeze. I glanced at our joined fingers. She felt it, too.
Another glass of wine appeared in front of me, and I absentmindedly picked it up and took a sip. The sweet notes of blackberries and chocolate slid down my throat, warming my insides and loosening my muscles. I switched the hand holding hers and put my arm behind her shoulders. She leaned back against me as I sang quietly along with the song. Words of heartache, and want, and desire, and loss.
The song ended, and for a moment, no one made a sound. Then earsplitting applause filled the room. I didn’t join them. I didn’t want to move. I had one of my favorite artists in front of me and the woman I wanted more than anything in the world snuggled up against my side. My head was quiet, and though I was halfway hard, my soul was at peace. I wasn’t about to do anything to fuck that up.
The pianist played a few notes, and the room quieted again. The next song was different. Just as haunting. A controlled kind of chaos, like good sex, and I felt my body responding to the melody and the feeling of Ailee against me.
Music always affected me this way, especially when the songs call to the deeper, darker part of myself.
I pulled Ailee in even closer. She turned her face toward me, so close our lips would touch if I moved just a fraction of an inch. Her breath was warm on my face, sweetened from the wine.
I couldn’t take my eyes off her. In the light of the candle, she was both darkness and light, calling to the shades of my soul. My hand drifted up to cup her jaw, and she turned into it and kissed the center of my palm.
I felt the heat of her lips all the way to my cock.
And took her mouth with mine.
CHAPTER12
Ailee
“Do you like it?”
I didn’t know if Tyler was talking about the music or his kiss. Either way, the answer was the same. “Yes.”
He smiled, and our eyes connected. He was barely touching me, and yet heat flared between us that rivaled the flame of the candle. Somehow, we’d gone from goofing off like a couple of kids to being on the verge of spontaneous combustion if I didn’t get his clothes off. And soon.
“Dance with me.”
It wasn’t a request.
I allowed him to guide me out of my chair and out to the cleared space in front of the stage. One other couple was already there, swaying to the sultry beat of the music. Tyler took me into his arms, pulling me tight against his hard body, and wrapped one arm around my waist. I placed one hand on his shoulder, the other entwined with his against his chest.
He was a good dancer, and he sang softly to me as we moved around the floor in tempo to the beat. I was lost. Lost in the music. Lost in the words. Lost in his smell.
Lost in Tyler.
And for once, I let it happen. I didn’t think about the other people there, and what they might be thinking of the two of us together. I doubted anyone was paying attention anyway, not with the show the band was putting on. They didn’t jump around the stage, didn’t try to work up the crowd. They didn’t have to. They were completely mesmerizing because you could hear and feel their pain and passion within the music. And the singer not only had an incredible voice, but an almost inhuman charisma. From the moment they’d started playing, I’d felt as though I were intruding on something very private and very personal.
On the dance floor with Tyler, with his voice harmonizing with the lead singer’s in my ear and the music pulsing through my blood, I felt part of it all. With each note, every painful moment of my life came bubbling to the surface, every passion I kept firmly sequestered, every fantasy I was always too afraid to make a reality. I was living it all. Here.
With Tyler.
We danced for two more songs. By the end of it, my pulse was pounding, and I was nearly moaning with need every time Tyler’s muscular leg slid between mine as we stepped in time around the floor. He adjusted his hold on me slightly, and I did moan a little that time when my breasts pressed against his chest. I wanted our dance to go on forever, and at the same time, I couldn’t wait for it to release me from its lustful hold.
“Let’s get out of here.” Tyler searched my eyes in between songs.
I didn’t even stop to think about it. “Okay.”
Grabbing my hand, we went by the table and both grabbed our wine glasses, finishing off what was left. I didn’t know about him, but I needed the courage. Tyler threw some cash on the table, grabbed both our coats, and dragged me behind him as he pulled me from the ballroom and out of the casino.
A light rain had started up again, but neither one of us paused. He didn’t take me to the place the bus would stop, but around the side of the building. Once out of sight, he threw my jacket around my shoulders and pressed me against the wall. I groaned as he took my mouth, our teeth and tongues clashing. When that wasn’t enough, I raised up on my toes, slid my hands down to his narrow hips, and pulled him closer to my aching core.
