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“Anyway, we helped set up the bar. Stock it, that is.” He burst out laughing. They obviously had done more than set up the bar. When he caught his breath, he continued, “Well, I had planned to go back to change before returning, but people were already arriving. And the music was awesome. And we were already drinking. And Thierry had poppers with him. And then we kept drinking.”

Hmm. I was obviously too late for the party.

“And now I’m glad I didn’t leave. Because now you’re here. And I’m not letting you go.”

My laugh resembled a groan. What could I say to that? “You’re drunk.”

“Right. But I still know I want to hold on to you.”

“Shane,” I tried to argue, but he was already talking again.

“Don’t even try to convince me that I’m imagining this. I know what I want. Alcohol and poppers or not.”

He pressed himself against me again and the cocktail of emotions inside me threatened to overflow.

His lips found the edge of my neck again. Finally, they brushed my skin. I pressed myself against him. It was irresponsible to throw myself at him in his condition. No matter what he claimed, he wasn’t in control of his faculties.

“I want you too. Desperately.” Apparently, I was more unscrupulous than I wanted to believe. Damn.

“If this weren’t such a stuffy event, I’d take off your T-shirt first to see that sexy hair. I’d bury my hands in it, pull your hair the way you like it. I’d wait for you to whimper, then let you go. After that, I’d go for your nipples. I’d lick them until they were rock-hard.” Shane rubbed himself against me. “As hard as you are now. I’d taste every inch of your body. Smell your skin to make sure that your scent is still hidden under all the shower gel and deodorant. Always a little sweet.”

I dug my nails into Shane’s buttocks and whimpered. He probably couldn’t hear it because the music was too loud. But his chest vibrated with a satisfied rumble.

“You can have it all,” I stammered.

Finally, Shane continued kissing my neck again. Goosebumps spread like wildfire all over my entire body. Crawled into every cell. Made me wide awake and completely submissive. All I wanted was Shane inside me.

“Yes?” he asked, as if he didn’t believe me.

“Let’s go to the restrooms,” I almost begged.

“No,” Shane whispered, the smell of alcohol accompanying the sound of his heavenly voice. “I need space and time for you.”

“Then . . . ” My thoughts raced. “Then let’s go home.” By the time we got there, he would surely be sober enough, I justified my pleasure-clouded stammering.

Shane swayed slightly and held on to my hips. He took a step back and studied me. He smiled warmly, forming dimples on his cheeks and wrinkles at the corners of his eyes. Slowly, he came toward me. I leaned toward his mouth. He had to kiss me. I had to kiss him. If we didn’t kiss within the next five seconds, I would explode.

As if in slow motion, he moved past my cheek to my ear. “No. We’re not going to do that. We’ve been there before. And then you disappeared. That sucked.”

My heart was beating loudly that I could hear Shane through cotton wool, alongside the bass and my pulse. “But . . . ” I wanted to protest, defend myself, distract Shane, beg him to continue, to do what he had announced he was going to do. But he danced back, crouched slightly to look me straight in the eyes, and then nodded. Hesitantly, he stroked my lower lip, ran his fingers over my jawbone, my Adam’s apple. I swallowed hard. He placed his hand gently around my throat.

“No. This time we’re doing it differently. Because the next time I take you, I don’t want to worry about you running away again. I want to drive my cock into you and enjoy every second of it. And the next day, I want to wake up with you in my arms, without wondering where you are and why you haven’t been in touch. And because I’ll be happy then, because I won’t have to worry about all those annoying things, I’ll give you a blow job out of sheer gratitude. That’s how I am.”

He stroked my jawline again. This time up to my ear. He took my earlobe between his fingers and massaged it gently. I gasped.

His words overwhelmed me. They made me hot all over that my cock throbbed with pain and disappointment. I didn’t understand what he wanted from me. Did he want to punish me?

Shane cupped my face with his hands. He stroked my cheeks with his thumbs.

“Instead of sex, I’ll keep gazing at you from my bed for now.” He furrowed his eyebrows. “Is that creepy? A smidge. Right?”

I imagined Shane watching me in our cabin. The thought was almost unreal. And not creepy at all. It would be nice to know that he was watching out for me. That he saw me.

Smiling, I shook my head. “Not creepy.”

“Good.” Shane smiled and held me tight. “You can stare at me too. I don’t mind. But we have to change something. Sex didn’t help us last time. Ruben, I want to do something different this time.”

The lump was back in my throat. What the hell was going on here? “Okay,” I croaked.

Shane ran his fingers through my hair, and I let the shiver that ran through my body wash over me.

He pulled me back toward him and continued dancing as if he hadn’t just turned my world upside down.

And I surrendered to the movements, letting myself drift.

Tomorrow he wouldn’t remember anything, anyway.