Chapter 2
“Who invited all these people?” I asked. Rian stood next to me, his eyes scanning the crowd with hunger.
“I don’t know but I’m glad they’re here,” he said, just as his predatory gaze landed on a curvy blonde in the corner with a rhinestone mask concealing her face.
“I think West must have invited more than his share,” I said. “And he’s not even here to help us filter through them. This is going to take forever. I’m exhausted already.”
“My man,” Rian said, placing a warm and heavy hand on my shoulder, “you need to chill the fuck out. Look around you, Theo. You’re surrounded by people that would kill to kneel at your feet and worship the ground you walk on. With the twitch of a finger, your every fantasy can play out in the very temple that you created with your blood, sweat and tears.”
“I didn’t do it alone,” I reminded him. As if he needed reminding. He and West had been with me every step of the way.
“My point is, you should partake in the fruits of your labor. Feast, brother! I know I certainly plan on doing just that myself. That’s the whole point of our vision, isn’t it?”
His question struck a nerve. I was sure of our vision in the beginning, but I wasn’t sure what it had turned into now. After all the drama of what we’d gone through the last few months, my initial motivation seemed to escape me. Lately, my biggest fantasy was something I’d never be able to experience.
“For example,” Rian said, gesturing towards a trio of masked women dancing together near the DJ booth. “A blonde, a brunette, and a curvy raven-haired beauty. The trifecta!”
“They’re lovely, but I’m not interested,” I said.
“That’s good, because I think I’ll take all three for myself,” Rian said, always enthusiastically adopting ‘the more the merrier’ mindset.
“I had no doubts,” I said.
“Three at once will save time, don’t you think?”
“Go get ‘em, tiger,” I said, laughing to myself as he walked away. I watched as he strolled up to them with complete confidence. They responded like he was a rockstar who’d just stepped off a stage. Rian had charisma and charm, despite his usual grumpy ass nature when he wasn’t on the prowl.
I’d seen him in action a million times before.
And there were times when I was right there in the jungle beside him. Lately, though, my heart wasn’t in it. Maybe it was because I was drowning in work, doing my damnedest to keep the club afloat without resorting to drastic measures. Or, maybe, it was because the one thing I couldn’t have kept poking her adorable head up more and more, making it impossible to pretend she didn’t exist.
And if I admitted she existed, then I had to admit that she was a problem.
Everleigh had tormented me since we were kids.
When we’d first met, she’d constantly begged to tag along with me and West. I didn’t mind at first, but West did, being sometimes more than just a little mean to her. West went from not wanting her around to being extremely protective of her. Growing up as an only child and witnessing the extreme protection West showed for Everleigh was foreign to me. After a while, I felt that same protection for her, and along with that came the occasional annoyance.
But these days, she tormented me in a much different way.
To be honest, my ridiculous attraction to her had grown over the years to whatever monster I was dealing with now. Just being around her felt like I was walking on hot coals sometimes. When she flashed her pretty blue eyes at me – usually in anger, but still – it felt like my entire body was on fire. There were nights I’d wake up in the middle of the night with a raging hard on between my legs and nothing but Everleigh’s curvy body and beautiful smile on my mind.
It was pure fucking torture.
And I desperately needed it to go away, because there was no way in hell I’d ever be able to do anything about my hunger for my best friend’s little sister.
Everleigh was strictly forbidden.
Off-limits.
Taboo.
Not only would it ruin my friendship with West, but it would ruin everything with Everleigh, too. The only thing I could think of that would hurt more than never being able to touch Everleigh, would be to not have her and West in my life.
They were all I really had.
And in the end, the fact remained that West would surely kill me if he even knew the secret feeling I harbored for his little sister.
It would just never work, for a million different reasons.
But goddammit, did that woman continue to march through my head like a runaway freight train of desire that I had no hope of controlling.
I needed something else to think about. A distraction. A replacement.
That’s just the problem though. Rian was right. I had a club full of beautiful women that, with a little charm and grace, I could entice into joining me downstairs. I’d be a fool to pass up the opportunity that was spread out in front of me, especially when I so desperately needed something to banish my unhealthy obsession with Everleigh.
With a heavy sigh, I forced myself to scan the crowd. It was my job, after all. Recruiting new temple members wasn’t something I was totally on board with, but I’d relented tonight.
Despair washed over me as I took in the crowd. Each woman in my view was stunningly beautiful. My problem was that I just happened to be obsessed with the most beautiful woman in the world. Trying to find a replacement for her was a fool’s endeavor, let alone someone enticing enough to make me stop thinking about her.
I was looking for a miracle.
I’d never find it.
I’d always known I’d have to settle for a poor substitute for Everleigh, and I just needed to stop thinking about her. Easier said than done, though.
My eyes landed on Rian, who was now leading his trio of ladies toward the door that led down to the secret temple. He gave me a pointed look as he passed me by and I nodded.
“It’s my job,” I muttered, shaking my head as I began scanning the crowd again.
My gaze fell on a woman on the dance floor wearing a long, sheer negligee. Her plump breasts were barely contained by the black lace top, her nipples fully visible through the thin fabric. The skirt billowed gently over her hips, enhancing the curves that I couldn’t help but compare to Everleigh’s curves. There was a similarity to the way the woman moved that I found intriguing.
Maybe I couldn’t have Everleigh, but maybe I was wrong about someone like her being out there.
This woman was definitely not Everleigh, though. West and Rian wouldn’t let her anywhere near the club tonight, not with us searching for new temple members. The temple was our secret, and Everleigh no knowledge of it.
I shook my head, trying to eradicate the images of Everleigh that I was constantly plagued with.
Turning my attention back to the woman, I found comfort in the contrast of this woman’s black hair, cut into a severe bob that hung just to her shoulders. It was nothing like Everleigh’s loose blonde curls that she was so famous for.
The dancing beauty’s raven hair swung in the air as she turned her head, her eyes crashing into mine. A red beaded mask concealed her face, the ruby red of the beads sparkling under the flashing lights of the club. She held my gaze, boldly swaying to the sensual beat of the music.
She was sexy, that was undeniable.
Was she what I needed? If I closed my eyes, and forgot about the differences, could I use her to banish my relentless torture?
I shook my head. It wasn’t fair to use someone like that. If I did that, what did that make me?
Just like a hell of a lot of other people on Earth, I decided.
I downed a few whiskeys as I continued to scan the crowd, my eyes always going back to the girl in the red mask. Each time I looked at her, she was either lost in her own head, dancing like nobody was watching, or intently staring my way.
Intrigued, and properly buzzed, I pushed away my hesitation and approached her on the dance floor. She saw me coming towards her, holding my gaze the whole time. By the time I was in front of her, the tension between us was quickly growing.
She smiled prettily at me, her hips still swaying as she reached out for me and pulled me close. With her hands on my hips, she bewitched me with her smile, dancing sensuously until I began moving with her. Slowly, she nodded, and we moved in sync together, the rhythmic pounding of the loud music keeping us from speaking.
But we didn’t need words to communicate, apparently, because the way our bodies moved together told me all I needed to know. Still, I tested her. I needed to be sure.
I reached up, my hand brushing against her cheek as I pressed my hips forward. She gasped when my cock nudged against her thigh. Her hips moved to the music, swaying and pressing forward, brazenly sliding up between my own thighs and pressing hard against my cock. She reached up and grabbed my hand, placing it firmly between her chest, her racing heart beating against my palm.
The lights flashed in her eyes, and to my surprise, she licked her lips slowly as she held my gaze, her boldness impressing me. She was clearly in touch with her sexuality, displaying herself with confidence and interacting with me with an intensity that matched exactly what I was looking for.
I bent my head towards her lips, pressing my lips against hers in a final test of our chemistry.
She met my every move so far, but I needed to taste her.
The one time I’d kissed Everleigh was burned into my brain.
If this woman could help with that, she would prove to be just what I needed.
She kissed me with passionate intensity, almost taking my breath away. Our lips and tongues melted together in a sexy dance that came very close to making me forget about Everleigh.
Almost.
But again, that would take a miracle, and I wasn”t much of a believer in miracles these days.
I knew I’d have to settle for the next best thing.
This woman, still sensuously dancing against my body?
She would do.
Quite nicely, in fact.
I grabbed her hand and led her towards the stairs, my heart pounding with hope that I would finally be able to think about something, someone, anything else, but the blonde that haunted my every waking moment.
Her hand felt warm and right in mine, like a promise that I dared to hold onto in the dark.
We passed the crowd, crossed the threshold of the temple and donned the required cloaks. She stared up at me as I raised the hood over her head, my fingers brushing against her shiny black hair.
Her eyes peered into mine, and my breath caught.
Yes, I thought, she just might be exactly what I needed.
I grabbed her hand again and led her into the temple, down the dark hallway, past the flickering flames of the wall sconces, and into the very heart of the temple.