Dangerously Yours (Titans of Chicago #3)

NOAH

Everyone that was anyone was in attendance at this party, but I didn’t care about any of them. I only cared about the one woman I had been unable to stop thinking about. I knew Gabriel and Callum had their reservations. If Romeo and Daxon were paying attention, they would likely feel the same, but I didn’t need their permission or their approval. I was a grown man, and I was fully aware of what I was getting myself into. If this night went the way I hoped it would, I would be getting into something warm, wet, and so damn tight.

Knowing what I had intended, it was the reason I couldn’t take my eyes off of Lulu since I had arrived. Once or twice, I would catch her looking over at me as she mingled with the other guests, and the guilt would set in. We hadn’t done anything wrong, and certainly not even as much as Cade had done with others. Tonight, I think he wanted to stick it to his ex even more because he showed up with not only one woman on his arm, but two. The pain I could feel radiating off of Lulu was palpable, and knowing how intentional it was on the Titan’s part, I wanted to pummel him.

I finally forced myself to focus solely on the one who deserved my attention, and I knew she had to feel what I did. There was a pull between us... a chemistry I couldn’t describe, or understand. It was there, though. She was like a drug crawling under my skin, and I needed to have her again. Last time, I had tried to tell myself that it was only sex, but the thoughts that wouldn’t leave my head proved otherwise. Another night or two would be all I needed to show her what I now knew. Our attraction was real, and there was nothing salacious about it.

Maybe that knowledge was what kept her on edge. She often seemed a bit nervous at events until they got underway, and tonight, this party was in full swing yet she was still scattered. Lulu needed an outlet that I was more than happy to provide. I kept my eyes on her, and when she moved toward the coat room, I slipped into action. Slowly giving chase, I followed her while trying to keep my intentions hidden from others. I saw Daxon, but shook my head when he looked at me. I kept on my way, eventually reaching the small room Lulu had disappeared into. I entered, then closed the door behind me.

Lulu was standing there with her palms placed against the wall. I could tell that she was slightly shaking, so I cleared my throat. “Are you okay?”

Lulu turned to me, and for the first time, I could see the tears in her eyes. “I’m fine,” she lied, causing me to growl.

“I don’t believe you,” I told her.

She narrowed her eyes, then swiped at her cheek. Luckily for her, the tears had been unshed ones, but she still felt the need to check. “I don’t care what you believe,” she finally said.

She also made a move to step past me, but I grabbed my woman and hauled her into my arms. The way I had just considered her mine matched the possessiveness flaring up inside of me. “Calm down, Lulu.”

She sighed out in defeat. “We can’t be seen together like this.”

“I know,” I told her. “I just had to make sure that you’re okay.”

“I am,” she tried to reassure me, but I didn’t believe her.

When she closed her eyes, I took advantage of the moment and pressed my lips to hers. She went to pull away, but I had gripped the back of her head to hold her immobile. Lulu still tried to fight me off, but I began to weaken her resolve as I thrust my tongue into her mouth. Seconds later, she surrendered to me as I plundered her mouth. Her hands moved to my arms, then later my chest as I tried to deepen the kiss. When she pushed forcefully against me, I finally pulled away.

“Please don’t do this to me,” she told me right afterward.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to?—”

“Anyone could’ve walked in on us,” she pointed out, and I realized what was the biggest cause of her concern.

“Then let me go home with you, Lulu.”

“Why?” She asked, and I chuckled.

“If you have to ask, then I didn’t do a good enough job last time.”

Lulu shivered. “You have nothing to worry about when it comes to that.”

“Then why are you fighting what is between us?”

She shook her head. “I’m in a bad spot right now in my life. I?—”

“I understand that, and I can help if only you would let me.”

“I want to, but...” she said, and when the door opened behind me, her eyes widened. “Tonight,” she whispered, then smiled as she walked past me. “I don’t see Annette’s coat in here. I need to check in the back,” she told the intruder.

I turned and was about to leave, but I noticed who it was that had opened the door. It was one of the two women who had accompanied Cade to the event tonight. She was looking at me with curiosity in her gaze before she turned and left. I shook my head, then followed her out of the coat room. When back in the ballroom, I saw Cade watching Lulu as she smiled and talked with two other women. Something made me feel uneasy, but before I could act on my suspicions, I heard my name.

“Where have you been all night?” Romeo asked.

“I’ve been around,” I told him. “What are you up to?”

My blonde friend smirked, then pointed at a group of women gathered around Daxon. “We’re headed out to a more happening party. Will we see you later at the Vault?”

“Umm, not tonight,” I told him, then looked over his shoulder. “You might want to get them out of here though because I see a few of the other men ogling them.”

“We have a VIP room booked in case you change your mind,” he told me, and I nodded curtly. I should have gone with them, but as I looked back over at Lulu, I could see her now having an animated conversation with Cade.

“I will let you know, but I see someone I need to talk to,” I said, then walked away. I knew Romeo wouldn’t wait around to see who had caught my attention, and I was right because I saw him, Daxon, and those other women leaving. Callum and Gabriel would be busy with their own women, so there would be no one else to truly distract me. As I headed toward Lulu and Cade, I was wrong.

“Capshaw. Nice to see you again,” Merrill Carter said aloud. “How is the team looking this season?”

It was often a question I was asked, so I wasn’t surprised. “I think we’re poised to repeat as divisional champs, so from there, our potential is wide open.”

“I’ve renewed our season tickets this year, and I plan to entertain more in our luxury box.”

“That’s great—” I started to tell him until a pair of raised voices caught my attention, and theirs.

“What did you think was going to happen, Lulu? Look at the way you’re dressed. You look like you should be on a street corner instead of the?—”

Lulu always carried herself in such an elegant manner. It was something I had noticed way back when. I glared at Cade, then left the man who had stopped me, and walked closer to her in case I needed to step in.

“I think you’ve had a bit too much to drink tonight, Cade. I can get you and your dates a room upstairs.”

Cade grabbed her roughly, as he growled at her. “You fucking—” I would never stand there and let another guy manhandle a woman in my presence, especially not this man and this woman. I grabbed his arm, and he struggled for a few seconds to break loose, but it was for naught. Finally, he sneered. “Are you fucking her, too?”

I didn’t even think about what I was doing, instead I just reacted, quickly striking him. The once noisy party immediately went silent, and I knew all eyes were now on me. Cade smirked, then wiped at his mouth which had blood on it.

“Don’t you ever put your hands on a woman again,” I told him as Gabriel and Callum appeared and pulled me away.

“What the hell, Noah?” Gabe asked, and I glared.

“He was hurting?—”

“What the hell is wrong with you, Noah?” Cal asked, basically repeating Gabe’s question. “You know better than to interfere. They were having a marital spat and you came riding to her rescue and for what? I don’t know what you’re thinking?—”

I pushed both men off of me. “Fuck you both. We all know that if someone was hassling Harper or Nicole that?—”

Before I could finish, Gabe turned me around. I looked ahead at Cade and Lulu, and it pissed me off to see her tending to the wound I had given him. She looked over at me, shook her head, then turned back to him. It was a betrayal, and I quickly looked away.

“I thought she needed help,” I finally murmured, then grabbed a glass of whiskey from a passing tray. After slamming it back, I added, “I guess I was wrong.”

“It’s okay. We know you like the woman, and after seeing her in that dress, we can see why. There’s protocol that needs to be followed though, and she isn’t yours to defend,” Callum told me as we walked across the room.

“If he was physically hurting her, someone else would’ve jumped to her defense. They were just having an argument, and now they appear to be fine.”

They might be fine, but I certainly was not. I stood there for several more minutes, and each time I glanced over at her, I would see her tending to him and it only angered me further.

Had she played me for a fool all along?

No, because I knew how much he had hurt her. It had to be just because we were here in this place. I might have been able to do something more than accost the man, even though he deserved a hell of a lot more. Finally, I decided to leave. I had only truly shown up for her, but since she didn’t need me, there was no need to stay.

“I’m getting out of here. I think I will head to the Vault with the others.”

“Are you sure?” Gabe asked. “Harper and I are headed home, and we could drop you off on the way.”

I shook my head. “No, the club is four blocks away, and the walk will likely do me some good. I’ll catch up with you both later.”

I glanced once more at Lulu, and our eyes connected briefly, then I broke off contact and stalked to the exit. Once outside, I looked down at my hand. Fist fighting was my go-to, but it wasn’t wise. I could’ve broken a bone, or worse, and this close to the start of the season, it could spell trouble for me. I wasn’t thinking, but I hadn’t been since I had gotten tangled up with her.

The worst thing was that there was an obvious attraction between us. The timing evidently wasn’t right, so I needed to move on. There could never have truly been anything between us, so no need to pursue her further. I remembered the group of women hanging around my single friends, and I decided any one of them would be okay to fuck, except the blonde. I had eyes for only one of them at the moment, but she was someone I needed to forget.

I quickened my steps, and had cleared about a block and a half before my cell phone vibrated in my pocket. I pulled it out, and the sender gave me pause. There was a single sentence, but it was all I needed to hear. Turning swiftly, I headed back in the direction of the hotel to get my car. My plans had just changed, and so had my luck. Fate was working overtime, and I knew better than to ignore it.