Page 49

As Tia swayed to the rhythm, she raised her arms in the air, giving me an eyeful of her midriff. Every time she looked at me, my heartbeat thudded a touch faster, and the temperature of my blood rose a couple of degrees.

Don’t think anything of it. It’s just the drugs and alcohol. I hated that I had to keep telling myself that.

Needing a distraction, I grabbed her sideways around the waist. I picked her up, holding her hip against mine, and spun in a circle, twice.

But dizziness swam through my head. “Sorry. That seemed like a good idea at the time.” I placed her on her feet, took her hand and twirled her 'round like a ballerina.

“I’m fine.” Giggling, she stopped spinning and her back crashed into my chest. Holding her hips, I froze.

Her laughter ceased. She clutched my arms. With each deep breath she took, the rise and fall of her rib cage hit mine with a hypnotic rhythm.

Shit. I closed my eyes and rested my cheek against the side of her head. Her sweet perfume filled my senses. Her body was so aligned with mine no light could pass between us.

Dancing was supposed to take my mind off Tia, not make things worse.

“Lewis?” She slid her fingers down my forearms, then covered my hands with hers. “Dance with me.”

A fevered rush shot through my veins. My dick strained in my jeans.

I’m not into her. Just fucking keep it together.

“Please?”

It was just a dance. No harm, right?

But the minute I moved, my body took on a mind of its own. Snaking my hands across her stomach, I drew her closer into my chest. When I glanced down, the arches of her perfect hand-sized boobs peeked out the front of her low-cut shirt. They taunted me, begged me to touch them. No. I snapped my eyes shut. Don’t go there.

Problem was, I already had.

FUCK!

I wanted to scream, shout, push her away, run, touch every inch of her, taste her, hold her so close until I was even more delirious than I was now. Confusion thundered and clattered around inside my head, ripping it in two. Why? The scent of her skin was a gazillion times more potent than the bourbon and drugs I’d swallowed. Why did girls have to smell so good? No. Why did Tia smell so good?

She swayed slowly from side to side.

I resisted, fought with all my might, clenched my teeth, then...followed her lead.

As the partygoers around us jumped and bounced to the beat, we danced in slow motion. Locked in a tiny trippy bubble, I ignored the world around us.

In perfect sync, we stepped in time to the music. Sweeping and roaming my hands across the soft smooth skin of her stomach, I tickled her. Her tummy muscles flinched and quivered.

She rolled her hips against mine, brushing and pressing her butt into my crotch. Tilting my hips, I drove my strained hard-on against her ass. There was no denying the effect she had on me. Crap. This wasn’t good.

“Hmm.” The moan that fell from her lips only made me harder.

She slid her hand down my thigh then squeezed it, digging her short nails into my flesh. “I like the way you dance.”

Were we moving? I didn’t know what was happening anymore.

She spun to face me. Her breath was too sharp and short. Our gazes met. Fire and doubt blazed in the depths of her eyes, just like it burned in the back of my brain. As I circled my thumbs across the bare flesh of her hips, heat blazed beneath my fingertips. She placed her hands on my chest, then ran them over my shoulders.

This...wasn’t nothing. This wasn’t normal.

She shouldn’t be this close. Shouldn’t be holding me. Touching me. Devouring me with her gaze.

I wanted this to stop, but my body and words failed me...because I couldn’t.

Everything about her hypnotized me. Cradling the back of my neck, she combed her fingernails through my loose hair. I was trapped in a bubble, unable to burst free. Every muscle in my body screamed and burned and craved more of her. Wanted her. I shouldn’t be feeling like this. Not for her. Not ever.