16. Maddox #3
Ty chuckled softly as she went past him, drifting the other way and bumping into Hudson.
He made a low, amused sound as she tried to pull away, but he caught her wrist. “You can’t ignore us all, or you’ll get a penalty.
” I saw the blade flash a second before the tip kissed her thumb with just enough pressure to draw blood.
Hales hissed, more startled than hurt, and the room laughed like it was still a joke.
It wasn’t.
Something in me snapped. I fucking wanted to hurt him, a growl of protest rising in my throat.
She yanked her hand back, flexing her fingers once, but kept moving as if she refused to let them see her rattled.
It didn’t make me feel better.
It made it worse.
She walked again, slower now as if she wasn’t just guessing anymore, not with the stakes she’d only gotten a taste of. It could get so much worse. And would.
My mouth tugged into a firm line as she passed Torin and came straight at me. Her hands grazed my chest, and I went still. Her palms flattened, sliding slowly up, mapping the planes of my torso through my hoodie. Her fingers curled lightly at my shoulders as she tilted her head, my heart racing.
I bent the rules, closing my fingers around her wrist and lifting her hand, the one with the tiny red bead gathering at the tip of her thumb. I wasn’t thinking when I brought her finger to my mouth and drew the blood away, my eyes never leaving her face, even though she couldn’t see me.
It wasn’t about the blood.
I wanted her to know it was me.
Her breath hitched. I felt it more than heard it as she rose onto her toes, her body swaying forward into mine. I had no idea what the fuck I was doing, and it didn’t matter.
I took possession of her lips.
The room vanished when our mouths collided, a spark flaring inside me like striking a match in a dark place and realizing you’d been waiting for the light, that you’d been stumbling blind without knowing it until this exact moment.
My hands came to either side of her waist, holding her against me.
Her mouth was soft and uncertain and perfect, hesitant at first.
Lust hit me hard and fast. It was like lightning striking the beach. I wanted so much more of her, and the force of it hit like a wave, sucking me under and spinning me in its current.
I tugged her against me, cupping the back of her neck beneath her hair. She made a small sound, and my grip tightened instinctively. I deepened the kiss, her lips parting slightly, and I forgot where we were. Forgot the audience. Forgot every reason this was a terrible idea.
Somewhere behind us, cutting through the haze, Mason whistled low and appreciative. “Damn. That was hot.”
She pulled back, the connection breaking, but I didn’t release her. The fire inside me had been stoked, and I needed to feel the burn. Her breathing had gone ragged, eyes still shielded behind the blindfold. Were they glittering with the same churning desire in mine?
I leaned in, my mouth close to her ear. “This stopped being a game the second someone drew your blood, Hales.”
The fingers wrapped around my neck toyed with the hair at my nape. “Then why are we still playing?”
“Because you walked into a place that doesn’t care about rules,” I said. “And now I do.”
“That sounds like a threat.”
“It’s a promise,” I said. “To them. Not to you.” I reached up and untied the blindfold, the silk falling away and sliding to the floor, but leaving her mask in place.
Her incredible eyes found mine, the room rushing back in, the noise, the bodies, the masks, but none of it mattered.
All that existed was the way she was looking at me.
Unafraid. Intrigued. Too damn steady for someone who should’ve been shaken.
She licked her lips, taking a bottom corner between her teeth.
We were far from done, but this game…it was over. “Get out,” I said roughly, my gaze staying on Hales’s.
“What?” Levi laughed as if he couldn’t believe his ears.
“Get. The. Fuck. Out of the cellar.” I turned my head just enough to glare at the assembled crowd, letting them see exactly how serious I was. “All of you. Now.”
Groans rippled through the group. Someone muttered something about killing the vibe, about me being a cockblock, but I couldn’t care less what any of them had to say.
Mas lingered, leaning against the stone wall with his arms crossed, grinning with his I-told-you-so crooked smile.
“Two is always better than one, Freckles.”
I wasn’t sharing her. Not with him. Not with anyone. “Get the fuck out, Mason.”
He laughed, taking the stairs two at a time after the others followed until it was just Hales and me. Now that we were alone, just what did I plan to do with her? Her lips were slightly swollen from the kiss. Red and tempting and mine.
The quiet pressed in, wrapping around us and waiting to see what would happen now that we were alone. “Maddox,” she whispered, my name barely more than a breath.
“Do you want to stay, Hales?” I asked, running a finger over the edge of her lacy mask, praying she wouldn’t say no, wanting to lose myself to her.
She answered by pressing her mouth hard against mine, and whatever thread of fragile control I’d been holding on to crumbled.