Chapter 10 #8
“Maybe I’m distracted,” Luke answered, and there was something wicked in his tone.
I looked at him and caught him ogling my ass as he circled me like a predator.
For the first time, I recognized another side to him: perverse and dangerous.
I supposed that was the reason he was with the Krew.
Despite what I’d foolishly thought, he couldn’t be that different from Xavier if he was hanging out with him all the time.
Luke cut his eyes at Neil and gave him a challenging smirk while my Disaster stared at him, unmoving, not remotely intimidated.
Instead, he seemed a little antsy.
Abruptly, Luke stationed himself to the left of me and stopped checking me out like he was trying to undress me with his eyes.
“Your turn,” he smiled, and I bent forward, immediately breaking eye contact with him.
I positioned the cue where he’d suggested, but I wasn’t feeling very confident.
Our opponents were clearly more at home on the green felt.
They held the cues correctly and knew all the lingo and the rules, while I could barely hit anything.
I tried not to grip the cue too tightly, just enough to keep it steady as I took my shot.
I kept my wrist soft, just like Luke had told me, and I concentrated.
“Come on, Selene. You’ve got this,” he murmured, but my eyes immediately sought out Neil and found him watching me. His eyes crawled hotly over me and made it very difficult to maintain my concentration.
I struck, but weakly and inaccurately.
The ball didn’t go into the pocket—it didn’t even get near it. We really were losing miserably.
“Sorry,” I said softly to Luke, who just smiled at me, not at all bothered.
I didn’t know this game, and I felt foolish for agreeing to play.
Especially since Megan was amazing at it.
Even worse, every time she leaned forward to expertly position her cue, Neil would sneak a peek at her butt.
He did it very discreetly, but his eyes were undeniably tracking the woman’s enthralling form.
I had seen right away that Mr. Disaster was not immune to Megan’s wild charms. Anyone would have been captivated by someone like her: strong, confident and extremely attractive.
“Let’s swap. We’re destroying you,” Neil suggested, pulling me abruptly from my thoughts.
I didn’t know why he’d made this sudden request, but Luke didn’t object and walked over to stand next to Megan.
I stayed where I was until I caught the scent of musk in the air and realized Neil was right behind me.
“Now I’ll show you how to hit it right, Babygirl,” he whispered in my ear.
His strong torso brushed against my back, and his long arms wrapped around me, encircling me.
Then, Neil forced me to bend forward and draped himself over me, not caring about all the stares we were attracting.
I could feel his hips bump against my ass in a bold, uninhibited way.
His hands covered mine, moving them into a better position.
“It just takes patience, dedication, and precision. You’re a quick study; I’m sure you’ll get it this time,” he added, breath hot on my neck.
If he kept talking to me in that low, thrilling voice, I would lose my mind completely.
Neil—a man who could provoke such storms within me and upset my equilibrium—made eroticism into a deadly weapon, and I was his target.
In that moment he was using some strange erotic strategy to get me to yield inexorably to him.
I swallowed a mouthful of saliva, and as it burned down my throat, I looked at the end of the cue.
Neil’s fingers were long and firm over mine.
I stared at them and licked my lips, surprising myself with my intense desire to feel them all over my body.
“Come on,” he murmured. I focused on not letting him down, on striking the little colorful ball in the best way possible. I jabbed the cue forward with just the right amount of force.
I saw the ball spin, and then… It went into the pocket.
I stood frozen for a few moments, wondering whether I’d actually done it. But then my lips curved up into a grin, and I instinctively jumped for joy.
“Yes!” I let out a squeal of happiness and turned to Neil, who gave me the loveliest smile I had ever seen.
And that was the real victory: getting to see him smile.
We continued the game against Megan and Luke until we won.
United, simpatico, strong. Together.
I still knew that Neil had demons but, somehow, those demons had managed to communicate with me.
I no longer feared him.
I felt protected by him.
And it felt like each day I discovered a new part of his personality that did not require words because I was learning to read his silent signals.
I could sense the purity of my own feelings and the strength of something else that was being born within him.
Maybe this thing that brought us together would never blossom in full. Maybe we’d never have a real romance or be a real couple. Maybe we’d just keep bumping up against each other forever.
Maybe we’d keep finding each other whenever we wanted to get lost.