Chapter 15
Chapter
Fifteen
ARIANA
“ W e need to talk,” he barks. Then, seeming to remember that we’re not alone, his public fa?ade slides on, and he says, “Care to dance while we do it?” He looks over my shoulder and gives Brandon a smile.
I turn back to Brandon. “Sorry. I’ll come find you after I take care of whatever he needs.”
The hand on my back squeezes me. “Looking forward to it.” Then Brandon nods at Obsidian and leaves the dance floor.
Obsidian’s hand is on my upper arm, spinning me around to face him immediately, then he pulls me into his arms. He doesn’t say anything as he spins me around the dance floor, and I’m loath to admit that he’s much smoother than Brandon.
“I thought you needed to talk to me?” I ask after he hasn’t spoken for a minute.
He doesn’t respond, but he grips me closer.
The press of my body against his feels impossible to ignore. Every time we move, my breasts slide against his hard chest, and a few times when I misstep, our thighs brush. Slowly, his hand snakes farther down my back until it’s resting just above my ass.
Is he trying to drive me mad?
“Obsidian, what did you need to talk to me about?”
He stops us from moving and pulls back enough to look at me. An unnamed emotion swirls in his eyes. “That’s the first time you’ve said my name.”
My cheeks heat. “I’m sorry, it was inappropriate. I’m just frustrated because you interrupted and said we needed to talk and then?—”
“No, I want you to use it when no one else is around. No more Mr. Voss.”
Our gazes lock until it feels too intimate, and I look away. I don’t know what to say to that, especially because it feels like it means something. As though it’s moved our relationship forward in a way I can’t understand. And so, I say nothing, no longer bothering to ask what he wanted to talk to me about.
He spins me around the dance floor, holding me closer than is appropriate, and his breaths make the fine hairs that have escaped my bun ruffle against my bare neck. My eyes drift closed, and I imagine the heavier, deeper breaths he might exhale if he were over me, ruthlessly fucking me.
My nipples pebble beneath the silk of my dress, and I grow wet between my thighs. I’ve never felt like this around another man. It’s not like I’ve never been turned on before, but I’ve never been turned on just by being around someone. Never imagined myself being with him just because he was near.
As if he can sense the change of my thoughts, Obsidian’s hand clenches my lower back, pulling me closer to him. I don’t dare turn my head to look at him because I know it would put our mouths millimeters apart, and I don’t trust myself not to kiss him.
The more we dance, the more my yearning builds and builds. When the song finally ends, all I can think to do is run from it, from him.
I step back, looking at the floor. “I need to use the restroom.”
Liar.
Turning, I dash off the dance floor, pushing a little impolitely through the mass of people. I need to remove myself from his orbit before I do something stupid. Something even more stupid than stealing from the man.
I turn to look over my shoulder to make sure he’s not following, and as I’m turning back around, I run into someone.
“I’m so sorry,” I rush out.
Large hands settle on my upper arms to keep me from stumbling back. “Where’s the fire?” Brandon says with a smile.
My gaze dips down, not sure what excuse to give him for why I’m hurrying off the dance floor. But he doesn’t make me give him one.
“Want to get some fresh air somewhere quieter?” he asks.
I nod. “Yes, yes, that would be great.” Anything to get away from Obsidian and everything he makes me feel.
Brandon takes my hand and leads me through the crowd, out of the ballroom, and down the hall.
“Where are we going?” I ask, second-guessing my decision.
“Somewhere less crowded, like I said.”
When I hear the ballroom door open behind me, I turn and look over my shoulder, panicking that maybe it could be Obsidian. But it’s just a woman heading in the opposite direction down the hall toward the bathrooms.
We turn a corner and walk down another hall toward a wall of glass I realize leads to a balcony. Good, I need fresh air.
He opens the door, and I step outside, drawing in a deep breath in an effort to calm my mind and my libido.
Brandon comes up behind me and places his hands on my shoulders, squeezing. “You’re tense.”
“Long day,” I say as an excuse. I’m about to ask him to remove his hands, but then he massages the muscles, and it feels so good the words die on my tongue.
“You look wonderful tonight,” he says.
“Thank you.” I wish his complimentary words made my heart pick up speed the way that just a look from Obsidian can.
“Is this helping?” he asks.
“Very much.” My chin drops toward my chest, and I enjoy the tension leaving my muscles. When he removes his hands, I turn to face him. “Thank you. That feels much better.”
“It’s a grind working for these people, I know.”
I give an exasperated sigh and shake my head. “I’m starting to see that.”
“Maybe I can help take the edge off.” He places his hands on either side of my face and brings his mouth to mine.
I’m so shocked that it takes me a moment to register what’s happening. I mean, he seems like an okay guy and all, and we’ve enjoyed a nice conversation tonight, but what gave him the idea that I wanted to make out with him?
I turn my head to the side, but instead of taking it for the polite rejection it is, he kisses his way down my neck.
My hands move to his shoulders in an attempt to push him away. “Brandon, wait.” When his tongue runs over my collarbone, I push harder. “Wait, stop.”
He brings his mouth up to my ear. “It’s okay. No one is going to catch us.” He nibbles on my earlobe, and my eyes squeeze shut.
I attempt to pull away, but he holds me there with the hand on the other side of my head. “Please stop.” I again try to push him away, but he won’t budge.
“What did you think was going to happen when I led you away from the party?” His lips crash against mine.
I try to turn my face away from the kiss, but his hand grazes over my dress, clutching my breast, and I freeze. He takes that as acquiescence, and his touch gets rougher as he moves to kiss my neck again.
“No, stop!” I cry, beating on his shoulders with tears in my eyes.
“Stop pretending you don’t enjoy this.” He yanks down one side of my dress, revealing my breast, and gropes me.
Panic flares in my chest, and when he brings his mouth back to mine, I bite down hard on his bottom lip.
“Fuck!” He pulls away with his hand to his lip and looks at me with fury in his eyes.
Unlike when Obsidian has looked at me in anger, there’s something different about this, and instinctively, I know this man will have no problem hurting me.
Before he can say or do anything, I bolt around Brandon and race through the door. I try to remember how we got here, tugging my dress up over my breast as I run as fast as I can in my heels while he calls my name from behind me.
I will the tears in my eyes not to fall, at least not until I’m alone. Somehow, I end up coming in on the opposite side of the ballroom than the one we left. As soon as I’m inside, I look frantically for Obsidian. I’m not sure why, but he feels like a safety net. All I want to do is leave this place.
It takes me a couple of minutes, but eventually I find Obsidian chatting with a group of men. I stop several feet away, unsure how to interrupt and unsure whether I can keep myself together enough not to let on how upset I am. But I don’t have to figure it out because Obsidian must sense my presence. He takes one glance at me, and alarm flashes across his face before he schools his features and says something to the men to excuse himself, then prowls toward me.
He doesn’t slow down as he takes my elbow as he passes, turning me around and leading me toward the exit. “What happened? What’s wrong?” He nods politely at someone who says hello as we pass by.
I shake my head and sniffle, unable to push out the words.
He stops us outside the ballroom and studies me for a beat. “C’mon, we’re leaving.”
He leads us to the valet and hands him our ticket. We wait in silence while the valet retrieves our vehicle. Even though it’s a warm summer evening, I shake—shock maybe? I wrap my arms around myself to try to keep it together. Warm fabric slides over my skin, and I find Obsidian wrapping his tuxedo jacket over my shoulders.
“Thank you.” For some reason, that gesture of kindness makes me want to bawl. Instead, I wrap the jacket tighter around myself, inhaling deeply because it smells like him and that feels like comfort.
I nestle into the fabric warmed by his body heat, and by the time the valet brings the car to a stop in front of us, the shaking has subsided.
Obsidian waves off the valet and opens the passenger door for me, helping me in and closing the door before taking a seat behind the wheel. He looks at me with concern, then puts the car in drive and surges forward.
We don’t speak on the ride back to the hotel, which I’m thankful for. I wouldn’t know what to say. I think I’m still in shock at what happened.
I’ve been involved in a lot of shady shit in my life, but I’ve never felt threatened in that way until tonight. I can’t help but think back over all my interactions with Brandon and wonder whether I did something to lead him on.
“We’re here.”
Obsidian’s voice cuts through my thoughts, and I realize we’ve arrived at the hotel. He exits the driver’s seat and comes over to my side, helps me out of the car, and leads me by the hand into the hotel.
He continues to hold my hand across the lobby, and I can’t find it in me to pull away. It’s not until we’re inside the suite, and I hear the door click and lock, that I burst into a sob, unable to hold back the rising tide of emotions inside me.
“Hey, hey, hey.” Obsidian wraps his arms around me and draws me into him. The scent of his cologne and the feel of his warm body is welcoming, and I nuzzle into his chest.
The tears come harder as he rubs my back. Somehow, him being so nice and gentle with me has me even more upset.
“Whatever it is, it’s okay. We’ll figure it out.”
I shake my head against his chest, unable to stop the tears.
I’m lucky I got out of the situation when I did—otherwise, who knows what would have happened? It’s relief, shock, and the reality that if Brandon had more time, there’s likely not much I could have done to stop him that makes the tears keep coming.
My chest squeezes painfully, and it takes a moment for me to register that Obsidian has picked me up and is walking us over to the couch. He sits and settles me on his lap with one arm wrapped around my back.
He wipes the tears from my cheeks with his large fingers, gentler than I would have thought he could be. “Will you tell me what happened?”
Embarrassment makes my face flush. The idea of explaining it to him has me shaking my head.
His gaze roams my face, and there’s no judgment, only genuine concern. “Are you sure? It might make you feel better. Maybe I can help.”
My lips press together, and tears gather in my eyes again, but I do tell him. Because the truth is that this is the first time I’ve felt safe and protected in a long time. I love my father, but I never had that feeling growing up. He was always dragging us into trouble, not rescuing us from it.
By the time I’m done explaining what happened, Obsidian’s face is a mask of cold fury, though I know instinctively it’s not directed at me. He just stares at me, unblinking.
“Say something,” I whisper.
He blinks, coming out of whatever trance he’s in. “I’m resisting the urge to bolt from this room, track him down, and show him what it’s like when someone puts their hands on you when you don’t want them to.” In juxtaposition to his words, he runs his knuckles lightly down my cheek.
A part of me would take great satisfaction in letting him do just that. But I don’t want any more attention on what happened than what Obsidian’s already giving me, so I shake my head.
“You can’t do that. You’d get in trouble, and then everyone would know what happened.” I turn my head to look away from him.
“Don’t worry about me getting into trouble, Ariana.” Obsidian gently uses his thumb and forefinger to turn my head back in his direction. “I’m not going to tell you how to feel about what happened, but you shouldn’t feel shame. Do you want to report it to the authorities?”
I look at him, horrified. “Absolutely not. It would just be my word against his. And I don’t know… maybe it’s partly my fau?—”
“Don’t you dare finish that sentence,” he growls. “That’s bullshit. I don’t care how tempting you look tonight, how much you smiled at him, or how good the conversation was. The minute you told him to back off, he should have. End of. Don’t you dare take on any responsibility because he felt entitled to help himself to something that wasn’t his to take. Understand?”
“Okay, I know you’re right, it’s just…”
“I get it. But you did nothing wrong, okay?” He tilts his head so our eyes meet.
“Okay.”
The tension in his body dissipates. “Why don’t you go take your makeup off and get changed? Have a shower if you like.”
The idea of a shower sounds divine. “Good idea.”
He helps me off his lap, and I stand awkwardly.
“Thanks for…” I want to say thanks for being so gentle and kind and sweet, but I stop myself. “Getting me out of there so quickly.”
He shoves his hands in his pockets. “Of course.”
I turn to walk away.
“Ariana,” he calls, and I circle back around. “If you want to talk to someone, a professional, about what happened, I can arrange that.”
“Have a therapist on speed dial, do you?” I smirk, knowing there’s no chance this man is regularly baring his soul on some doctor’s couch.
“What do you think?” he says wryly. “No, but I can make it happen if you think it would help you.”
I give him a small smile. “I appreciate the offer, and I’ll let you know.”
He nods reluctantly, and I continue to my bedroom.
After a long hot shower, I emerge from the bedroom back into the main part of the suite. I asked Marcel to get me some proper pajamas before the trip so that I wouldn’t be sleeping in a T-shirt and panties like the time I ran into Obsidian in the garden.
A movie is cued up on the TV, and on the coffee table in front of the couch is a tray of delicious looking apple crullers.
“Where did these come from?” I sit on the couch, looking at Obsidian where he sits in the chair off to the side.
“I made a call while you were showering.” He shrugs as if it’s no big deal.
“But how did you know I wanted to try these?” I pick up one and take a big bite, moaning when the sweetness hits my tongue.
“You think I didn’t notice the way you looked longingly at them in that bakery when we grabbed a coffee the past two days?” A small smile tilts the corner of his lips.
He’s not wrong. I have been eyeballing them each time we’ve grabbed a coffee at the bakery near where all our meetings have been. I just didn’t want sticky hands and the sugar crash, which is why I refrained from ever grabbing one. But the fact that he was paying attention makes my chest squeeze.
“Well, thank you.” I take another bite, not sure what his nice act says and not wanting to read any more into his small act of kindness.
He reaches for the remote off the coffee table and hits a button that starts the movie on the TV.
“Didn’t figure you for a rom-com guy.” In fact, the idea feels ridiculous.
“Figured you might enjoy something light and entertaining.”
Our gazes hold, and I nod in thanks, then turn my attention to the TV, wishing that Obsidian’s reaction to the awful thing that happened tonight didn’t make me want him more.