Chapter Twenty-Three #3
He licks his lips slowly, then prowls the edge of the stage like a predator scenting its next kill.
He makes eye contact with each girl like she’s his only obsession, his eyes burning with sinful promises as his mouth hints at all the filthy things he’d whisper if this weren’t a public performance.
The room vibrates with female hysteria, and I feel like I’m melting.
One girl faints when he crawls toward her and brushes his hand along her cheek, his lips ghosting so close they almost touch.
Another woman screams when he grabs her hair, yanking her head back as he drags his nose up her throat, pausing an inch from her lips.
She whimpers as she shoves bills into his thong, hands sliding down his abs, desperate to feel more.
Then he turns toward us.
His eyes rake across the crowd before locking with mine, and I freeze.
Our gazes collide as something inside me unravels.
That lazy smirk plays on his lips again like he remembers.
Like he can smell the desire soaking through my panties.
He moves with devastating control, dancing just for me now, hips rocking in time with the beat as his hands slide up and down his chiseled torso.
Memories flood in.
I can see it all… the hotel room… the bed… those exact moves performed on me but horizontally, flesh smacking against flesh, heartbeat battling heartbeat as I fight to catch my breath.
The pounding bass disappears beneath the rushing pulse in my ears. The man’s fucking me long distance, and I’m way too close to combusting.
He drops to his knees, water splashing as he humps the stage over and over, never breaking eye contact as he focuses on me. His look’s possessive and burning through me like he already knows how I’ll taste tonight if I let him.
I grip the back of a chair to keep from collapsing.
He reaches out. My hand lifts on its own, drawn to him like a magnet.
Our fingers touch, his hand sliding around mine as he gently pulls me closer to the stage. The heat of his palm against my skin nearly buckles my knees. He lifts his other hand and cradles my cheek, his thumb brushing over my lower lip.
I swear to God my soul leaves my body for a hot breath.
He leans in, eyes never leaving mine, lips parting like he’s about to kiss me.
I can’t move.
I’m frozen in stone like a statue of Medusa.
His breath grazes mine, the heat forbidden and alluring.
But before our lips can touch, the music cuts and the emcee’s voice explodes through the room.
“Give it up for RYDER!” the emcee booms as the room erupts into screams I can barely hear.
Ryder.
The name slams into my chest like a wrecking ball.
He pulls back, hand slowly dropping from my face. The heat lingers, thick and cruel. His eyes never leave mine as he retreats, walking backward toward the middle of the stage, smirking like he’s already won something I haven’t agreed to give him yet.
He points down at me, then makes some kind of gesture to someone offstage, and I flinch.
The lights strobe across his body, turning him into something untouchably sinful. He’s already halfway gone, disappearing into the shadows as the other dancers crowd the stage before I can even muster a breath.
I stand there, frozen, clutching a glass I don’t remember taking, the tequila biting at my throat, the floor tilting beneath me like the entire room’s gone crooked.
Mallory grabs my wrist. “Holy shit. Do you know him?”
I nod slowly, my voice incredibly weak. “Yeah,” I breathe, bile creeping up the back of my throat. “That’s him. That’s the Vegas guy.”
Pippa’s laugh cuts through the chaos behind me like a razor.
I don’t want to know if she planned this.
I don’t want to know what’s in my drink.
I just want to get out of here before everything collapses again.
“I need to go,” I mutter, stumbling back, the room swaying around me.
Poppy’s arm wraps around my shoulders. “Come on, Amber. Let’s get you out of here before something crazier happens.” She looks past me and glares at Pippa, who smugly shrugs as if she had no idea he’d be here.
Her smirk tells me everything I need to know.
She absolutely planned this shit.
We’re almost at the door when a large man emerges from the shadows, blocking our path.
“I need you to come with me,” he growls, grabbing my arm.
I yank it back with a stumble, blinking hard. “I’m not going anywhere with you. I haven’t done anything wrong.”
Poppy tries to push in front of me protectively, but he doesn’t move.
“I have orders,” he says, tone flat. “Do me a favor and don’t make this harder than it has to be.”
I cross my arms, wobbling on my heels. “Fuck you, Behemoth. I’m not going anywhere.”
He sighs, more annoyed than anything, before he grabs me around the waist like I’m nothing, tossing me over his shoulder.
“Amber!” Poppy screams. I see her reach out for me just as two other men appear, blocking the girls from following.
Kicking and thrashing, my fists slam into his back with everything I have left, my stomach threatening to empty its contents down his backside. I swear, if I puke on this man, I hope it burns like fucking acid.
“Put me down, you big ape! Put me down or I’ll sue!”
Who I’m suing? I have no idea, but it sounds good in my drunken brain.
“Where are my friends?” I yell, my voice cracking. “I want my friends!”
He doesn’t answer.
A moment later, he’s pushing me through a door at the side of the stage, leading me into a quieter, darker hallway. The music and chaos fade behind me as the door slams shut.
People backstage pause as he storms through, forcing me into a side room before locking the door.
My fists slam against the metal. “Let me out! Please! I need to go home!”
No answer.
“Goddamn it, don’t lock me in here! I need to leave before…”
Then I hear his voice cut in behind me.
“Leavin’ me so soon, Amber?”
The voice curls around my spine like seductive smoke, blood’s the only thing moving through my body as I freeze.
Slowly, I turn, facing the dark room as Ryder steps out from somewhere in the shadows with a towel draped lazily around his neck, another clinging to his hips, soaked and heavy from the stage’s rain.
His chest glistens under the dim light, droplets trailing over the hard lines of his abs like they belong there.
A lethal grin slowly crawls from one side of his face to the other, dimples appearing like mini grenades.
My stomach drops and clenches at the same time.
“Don’t tell me ya’ve already forgotten me.” He cocks his head to the side, studying my expression with strange fascination.
Swallowing hard, I stutter out, “Y—Your name is Ryder?”
He chuckles, obviously amused. “Did ya forget it already?” He moves closer, water seducing the sharp contours of his jaw.
“Bloody hell, that stings a bit. After all the ways ya screamed my name that night… now ya wanna act like ya don’t remember me?
That’s alright, love. I like a good game.
Just know, when I play, I play to win.” He crowds closer, inching toward my body that feels like a hypnotized moth.
Fuck that Australian drawl. Fuck it right to hell. Simmer down, ovaries, he’s not your man.
But he was… at least for that night.
I open my mouth to argue, but nothing comes out. Heat creeps up my throat, desire flooding me like an aquifer hidden beneath the surface.
“Don’t remember?” he goads, tilting his head.
“Let me help.” He closes the distance in two slow steps, gaze never leaving mine.
His scent hits me hard… it’s musky... clean…
deeply forbidden. His hand finds my hip.
“I was on me knees…” he murmurs, hand fitting around my throat as he gently gives it a squeeze.
“Cock slidin’ between those perfect thighs, poundin’ into ya till ya back arched so hard I thought it’d snap. ”
My breath hitches.
“You begged me not to stop, remember that?”
“No,” I answer truthfully, though memories were starting to sputter to life. Back arching… the thickness of his cock spreading me wide. I blink the memory away as my breathing increases.
He laughs wickedly. “How about the first time ya coated my tongue? That ravenous moan ya wailed as my tongue slithered down your slit, toying with your clit that ya so recklessly gave me.” His hand slides into my hair.
“Ya clawed at me hair just like this,” he whispers, snapping my head back, his breath battering the flesh of my neck in an outcry of war.
“You held me there until ya legs were shaking, your trembles only fueling me need for more.”
My thighs squeeze together, arousal soaking my panties instantly. My body fucking remembers, even if my brain doesn’t compute.
He leans in, mouth brushing over my ear. “And when I finally fucked ya?” His voice deepens. “You said ya’d never been filled like that. That ya’d feel me for days.”
I gasp, every nerve firing at once.
“You said it was the best you’d ever had.”
He pulls back just enough to see my face, smirking like he owns every breath I take. His towel slips a little lower on his hips, exposing that dangerous V line to his crotch, wisps of hair starting to peek above the wet fabric.
My eyes betray me, flicking down. God help me, he’s getting hard.
“You feel it now, don’t ya?” he says, grabbing my wrist and placing my hand on the front of the towel. “Go on, love. Give it a squeeze. Might jog ya memory.”
I should pull away, but I don’t. My fingers twitch against him, the heat of him pulsing through the cotton as he goads my hand to curl around him.
The tension between us is combustible, but I refrain, retracting my hand just enough to break the torturous snap.
“You wanted it slow at first… then begged me to go rough. Said ya wanted to forget. Did I help ya forget, baby?”
He steps between my legs, nudging me back against the wall. I don’t even realize I’ve let him until my thighs part for him instinctively, and I feel the weight of his cock pushing against my center.