Pulse racing, I suppress a shudder as goosebumps ripple across my flesh.
Everything about this place oozes sex.
It’s the strangest mix of sophistication and sin, so far from the rough-and-tumble yet friendly bar scene I’m familiar with.
But even around all the rowdy, alcohol-brazen men who frequent my family’s establishments, I’ve never felt more vulnerable than I do now.
At my family’s bars, everyone knows who I am.
No man would dare touch me—not even a hand on the small of my back—and my brothers are always there to ensure that.
Perhaps that’s why Raf’s touch feels like it’s searing into my flesh now, despite the thick layer of my jacket that still separates us.
It makes my stomach quiver with nervous anticipation.
“We’ll take my usual room, Victorio,” Raf says as we reach the far end of the hall.
The guard grunts, pressing the call button and waving a key card in front of a black pad.
The numbers tick down above the elevator doors, indicating its descent, and I glance back down the hallway, toward the exit, as we wait.
This could be my last chance to turn back.
But I don’t want to.
That’s when I hear the muffled sound of a slap and a high, pained cry.
I flinch, my skin turning icy, and I spin in search of the door it came from behind us.
Raf’s watching me closely, and that crooked grin tugs at his lips as he runs the back of one knuckle along my cheekbone. “It’s alright,dolce. I can assure you, she wants it.” Then he leans inclose. “And I promise I’ll only do the same to you if you beg me for it.”
The resounding moan that follows would confirm his assessment, and my body warms at the overtly sexual sound that unleashes a molten heat between my thighs.
The elevator dings, interrupting my moment of mortifying arousal, and I quickly spin to step inside, pressing my knees together once I’m facing the hallway once more.
Raf follows me in, pressing the button for the top floor, and the doors slide closed behind him.
The oxygen vanishes from the room as we’re left alone together.
Then the doubts start to creep in.
I don’t know what I was thinking, joining a complete stranger in an elevator that’s now taking me ten stories away from the men who are supposedly here for my protection.
Raf could do any number of things to me now that he has me all to himself.
But isn’t that what I wanted?
To know what a man like Raf could do to me?
To understand the hidden pleasures this club can unleash?
Kelly and Hannah must have done the same thing, and clearly, they came out of it safe and sound—and apparently more satisfied than when they had slept with any of the men who work for my family.
So, why can’t I stop my knees from shaking?
Maybe it’s the devil I can see in Raf’s eyes.
He’s watching me like he can see into the very depths of my soul, and the aura that surrounds him makes me feel like he could shatter me with the lightest touch.
