Chapter 5
Clara
My heels clacked sharply against the stamped pavement outside my parents’ house as I rushed from the wide double doors.
Chloe popped out of the car, opening the rear door for me before jumping back in the front, yelling, “Go, go, go!” as I dove into the back seat.
Sadie stomped on the gas, the tires spun and squealed, and she careened down the driveway as if a hellhound was on our tail.
“My God!” Chloe turned in her seat to look back at me. “Took you long enough.”
I righted myself, adjusting my dress over my legs and breasts before I drew my gaze to the front seat. “I swear, my mother has been clingy as hell since classes got out.”
In the driver’s seat, Sadie scoffed. “Is she feeling bad that she sent you off to your sugar daddy’s house?”
A grin ripped across my face and Chloe laughed. “You’re pathetic.”
“What?”
“Your little crush.” She made air quotes as she spoke. “Why don’t you forget grandpa and get some good dick tonight?”
A scoff left my chest. As if. “Why would I do that when I’m already getting the best dick in the world from Zeno?”
Chloe gasped, and Sadie spun in her seat. “Shut up!” The car swerved to the right, and I heard a thunk as we passed by too close to a car parked at the curb.
“Sadie! Eyes on the road!”
My friend rolled her eyes, then turned back to face the street in front of her before suddenly slamming on the brakes at a stoplight. She turned back. “You slept with your doctor?”
Shrugging, I fingered the low collar of my dress. “Well, yeah.” Something pushed the next words from my tongue before I could even think to stop them. “We’ve been sleeping together all year.”
My friends gaped, only turning away when a car behind us honked. Chloe shoved her hand through the open moonroof, flipping them off as Sadie slammed on the gas.
“Why didn’t you tell us?” Sadie asked, eyes barely on the road as she maneuvered through traffic, trying to grill me through the rear-view mirror.
I shrugged again, giving myself time to come up with something to go with my lie. “I didn’t realize I needed to call you every time he stuck his dick in me. Ten phone calls a night might be a little much.”
Chloe spun back around, eyes wide and a wicked grin on her face. “So grandpa has the dick to match his big dick energy, huh?”
“He’s younger than my father.” I scowled, but then let my own grin curl my lips. “And he’s better than anything I’ve ever had.”
The two jabbered on, obsessing over my lies, and I sank into my mind, ignoring them to wrestle with my thoughts.
Zee and I might not have had sex two nights ago, but I’d never forget waking up naked in his arms. The way his cock felt pressed to my back, to my stomach.
The way his lips felt as I pressed mine to his.
He hadn’t pulled away quickly, just like he hadn’t immediately stopped me when I took his hard length in my hand.
It was like he wanted me as much as I’d always wanted him.
Like he enjoyed my touch too much to make me stop.
His lingering gaze didn’t go unnoticed. The way he stared at my breasts, stared at my pussy. Like he was imagining himself pressed deep inside me. Like he wanted to see me writhing on his cock.
Heat flooded my body. Wetness pooled between my legs, the same way it did whenever I thought of him touching me. That night together, waking by his side, kissing him, touching him…
It gave me fodder for my dreams.
“Hey, bitch!” I shook off my fantasies and found the car parked at the curb and my door wide open. Chloe and Sadie were staring in at me, hands on their hips and toes tapping impatiently in their heels. “You coming, or what?”
With a quick glance at the valet seated in the front, staring at me with equal parts impatience and amusement, I smoothed my hands over my skirt and swung my legs out the door.
The girls each grabbed one of my arms, and they led me to the front doors while we ignored the scoffs and catcalls from people waiting in line to get in the club.
Club Sentinel.
The hottest club in all of New York City.
At the partition around the front doors, a beast of a man blocked our way. Chloe and Sadie tightened their grip on my arms. Any tighter and it would have hurt.
The bouncer glared down at me and me alone, his thick cheeks and lips pinching like he didn’t like what he saw. Then his features relaxed as he crossed his massive arms over his wide, wide chest.
“Does your brother know you’re here?”
I gave the imposing man a smile as big as his chest. “Of course he does.”
Kylo’s lips curled at one side, and he shook his head before reaching for and unclipping the rope. “Just don’t tell him it was me that let you in.”
Chloe and Sadie rushed through the small opening without a glance back at me. But I paused at Kylo’s side as the big man’s thick hand around my arm stopped me. He lowered his face toward me, then pointed to his cheek.
This was one ritual I didn’t mind a bit.
I smacked my lips against his skin, laughing when I pulled away and found a perfect kiss stamped across his cheek in my favorite lipstick.
“You’re the best, Kylo.”
“You know it, kid.”
Kid. Kid.
Kid.
My mind spun around the word as I pushed my way through the entrance. I had to blink away the images that flashed in front of my eyes.
Zeno, naked, his hard cock pressed into my stomach, his soft lips a cushion under mine.
Zeno, standing before me, his skin so smooth and velvety against my palm.
Zeno, chasing me through his house, and my disappointment when he stopped at the foot of the stairs instead of tackling me, taking from me what I would freely give the only man I’d ever loved.
Instead of Zeno in front of me, it was a hoard of men and women—nothing more than a bunch of boys and girls—all vying to be seen as they danced to the pulsing beat of the music pounding through the club.
Chloe and Sadie were nowhere to be seen.
Winding through the crowd, I made my way to the stairs at the back that led to the VIP section and my destination for tonight.
I hadn’t wanted to come out with my friends. I’d much rather have sneaked out, then sneaked in to Zeno’s bed. I knew the code to get in through the Fort Knox of his front door. I could have done it. I could have been there right now, picking up where we’d barely begun the other day.
But there was something I needed more than I needed him at this moment.
And I hoped he was upstairs.
“Clara!” Sadie’s whining voice cut through the loud noises swirling through the club.
I found her without issue, her heel stomping into the deep red carpet at the base of the stairs.
She was closer to toddler than girl as she did it again, pointing over her shoulder at the bouncer blocking her way. “He won’t let us in!”
Jimmy’s stiff posture relaxed slightly as I pulled to a stop in front of him. I mimicked him, crossing my arms over my chest, then breaking into a smile when he did.
“I take it these two belong to you?”
Instead of answering right away, I crooked my finger at him, gesturing for him to lean closer. When he did, I pressed a lipstick stain into his cheek.
“Of course, they do.” I squeezed his thick biceps, and he surprised me by wrapping his arm around my waist and pulling me close.
“Your brother’s going to kill me someday.” Jimmy peered down into my eyes, and I tried to shake off my discomfort when he wet his lips with his tongue. “And some days, I think it could be worth it.”
“Ok, eww. Enough with this little love fest.” Sadie stomped her foot. “Are you going to let us in, or what?”
Jimmy released me, the strange softness in his eyes turning into hardened stone as his gaze dripped over my friends and returned to me. “You promise to keep an eye on them?”
“Of course!” Of course, that was a lie.
I was here for one thing and one thing only.
He nodded, then stepped aside. My friends darted past me, up the red carpeted stairs. I tried to follow but got stopped the way I had out front.
“One more for the road?” He pointed to his cheek.
I gave a tight smile. Leaned in to give him his kiss.
And got his lips instead of his cheek.
Gasping, I jerked away, but Jimmy just laughed. “You asshole!”
“Totally worth it.” He squeezed my arm, smoothing his thumb over my bare skin. “You let me know if you ever want a real man to show you the ropes.”
“Yeah. Sure.” I tugged free from his grip. “I’ll let you know.”
Racing up the stairs with his hungry eyes following me wasn’t the same as when it happened with Zee. My heart was racing, but for an entirely different reason. My mind spun tales, but they were closer to nightmares than my fantasies.
My gaze danced across the room when I finally reached the top. I heaved out the breath I’d been holding and tried to breathe normally as I searched for what I’d come here for.
I found Chloe and Sadie; they each already had a fruity drink in hand as they stood at the railing and looked down upon the common people. The same people they’d be stuck with if it hadn’t been for me.
Part of me knew they were only using me for what my name could get them. It’d been that way all my life. Between my father’s riches, my mother’s good looks, and now, my brother’s club, there was much I had to offer that was more important than me or my friendship.
I tried not to let it bother me, even when it did. I tried to focus on the good things about having friends my age. My mother didn’t hound me every five minutes when I was around them. She wrongly believed they were good for me, that they kept me out of trouble.
They dragged me into more trouble than I ever would have gotten into by myself. If I’d had it my way, I would have gladly befriended people twice my age. At least then, conversation wouldn’t be confined to school-aged gossip or talking about the size of random men’s dicks.
At least then, what I had to say might matter, and the things I’d accomplished might have meant something to them.