Chapter 5 #3
Countless bodies thrummed against one another, not as if at a rave, but gentler dancing that mostly came in pairs.
I rolled my shoulders back and realized that it had been a little too long since I’d had a woman.
If I was continually thinking about Sophia as I had been this past week, I needed to find someone.
So I sipped my drink, then set it down, nodded at the wait staff nearby—they would make sure nothing happened to it—and headed out to the floor.
With one look, the woman next to me opened her arms, and I grinned.
“Hello there.”
“Hi, I’m Melissa.”
“Carson.”
Then I wrapped my arm around her waist, and we danced.
After Melissa there was Lacey, and then Dylan, and Megan. And then two more women whose names I couldn’t remember. It didn’t matter. I just needed a night that had nothing to do with her.
And as if I had dreamed her up, a familiar layered scent washed over me, and I turned to see Sophia dancing in the corner with Harper, her dark hair flowing down her back, and a small smile on her face.
She had a slight limp as she moved to the side, and I knew she had to be tired.
What had Dorian and the others said to pull her out of her house at night?
Because I knew she never left. But the fact that she was even out, considering everything that had happened, I was so fucking proud of her.
As the song ended, I said my goodbye to the other woman, and knew it was time to go.
My cock was threatening to push against my zipper, and that meant I needed to leave.
Because it was Sophia that did that to me. One look at her and I couldn’t fucking breathe.
I moved down the hallway, needing a breath, and realized I hadn’t been the only one to make that choice.
Sophia looked up at me then, and her face paled.
“Carson.”
“Fuck this,” I growled, and then I moved forward and took what I wanted.
Because that’s the kind of man I was, apparently.
She didn’t protest as I cupped her face and crushed my mouth to hers.
At this edge of the hallway, we were the only two here, and nobody could see, and I didn’t care.
I pushed her against the wall, and she didn’t resist. Instead, she grabbed my suit jacket and pulled me closer.
She tasted of sugar and sweetness, and I knew she hadn’t been drinking tonight. She was clearheaded, unlike me.
Two sips of whiskey and I wasn’t gone over. No, it was all her that brought me to the edge.
I cursed to myself as I deepened the kiss, needing her taste, needing her. She wore a flowing lilac dress, and I slid my hand up her thigh, caressing the soft silk of her skin. When my thumb brushed against the side of her panties, she stiffened and pushed on my chest.
I let out a deep breath, my chest heaving as I rested my forehead against hers.
“No.”
“Okay.”
I wouldn’t force, and hell, I shouldn’t have even kissed her. But I couldn’t stop myself from needing her. If she’d said no, if she’d pushed me away, I’d have stopped. I wasn’t that man. But I still wasn’t a good man. I wanted her, but that was my problem.
It always had been.
“I...I came to dance. I needed to dance.”
I brushed her hair from her face and slid my thumb over her swollen lips.
“You wanted this though.”
I needed to make sure. It might have sounded as if it were an order, an accusation, but it was a desperate need.
She licked her lips, her tongue darting out against my thumb, and my dick pulsed.
“I wanted a lot of things.”
Her eyes filled with something I couldn’t read, and then she ducked under my arm and limped down the hallway.
I cursed under my breath and hoped to hell I hadn’t hurt her more.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” a deep voice snarled, and I turned to see Dorian standing there, empty glass in hand, and a scowl on his face.
“She’s a grown woman, Dorian.”
I hadn’t meant for anyone to see. Fuck. I hadn’t wanted the Cages to find out. But now, there was no going back.
“You know what she’s been through. And you attack her and put your hands on her in this hallway?”
“Like I said, she’s a grown woman. And when she wanted it to stop, I did. I would never force her. Don’t fucking put me in the same column as that man.”
“That’s my sister.”
“Get over it,” I snapped. “She’s a woman. A fucking gorgeous woman. And I didn’t do anything she didn’t want.”
I sounded like an asshole, but then again, I was.
“Fuck you.” Dorian shook his head. “Get out of here.”
“I’m already damned, so why not? But talk to Sophia. Don’t be the asshole brother who thinks he knows what’s best. I did that once, and I almost lost Cora.”
Dorian took a step forward. “I’m not going to ask you twice. Stay away from my sister.”
“I’ll do what she wants. You and I are friends, Dorian. Don’t cross that line.”
“You already crossed it.”
“Dorian,” Harper whispered. “Stop. Sophia wouldn’t want you to act this way.”
“Sophia needs someone to take care of her.”
“Maybe she can take care of herself,” Sophia said from behind them, and I cursed. “Dorian, don’t.”
“Sophia—”
“I’m gone. Don’t fight over me. I’m not worth it.”
And then, I pushed past both Harper and Dorian and moved towards Sophia. She tilted her head up at me but didn’t say a thing.
“I won’t say I’m sorry.”
“You told me to never apologize,” she whispered.
My lips quirked up into a smile, before I turned on my heel, and walked away.
Knowing I had once again probably ruined another good thing I’d had in my life.