Page 55 of Angel of Light (Lords of The Commission: New York #5)

We slammed them back, liquid fire scorching our throats. Jamie was a fucking machine. Unrecognizable. She dropped her glass first, slamming it down on the counter like she’d just won a championship.

“Boom!” she cheered, pointing at me. “That’s one for Mama Jamie.”

Adrianne coughed so hard she nearly fell off the stool. I rubbed her back, laughing as we prepared the next round.

“You okay?”

She nodded through watery eyes. “I didn’t know vodka and whatever else is in that could… burn that much.”

“Oh, sweet girl,” Francesca said dramatically, “welcome to sisterhood.”

We played two more rounds. Jamie won again while I managed a single victory, and Adrianne was gloriously, gigglingly drunk by the end of it.

“Who are you and what did you do to my sweet and innocent Jamie?” I asked between our fits of laughter.

“You can’t win them all, Babe. Besides, I’m not telling you anything about my sex life.”

“This goes straight to… you know.” Adrianne said, her eyes averting to her lap as the three of us burst into laughter louder than before.

I felt it, too, if I was honest. The numb hum of vodka in my blood. The slow, welcome haze pulling a curtain over my heart.

“Dirty secret. And J, you did lose one,” I said.

“Oh, fuck!”

“You can go first since you finished first. I might cover my ears, cause… my brother. Ew.” I motioned to the bartender, asking for another shot, “On second thought, I need another drink for this.”

“We did, ahem, do, stuff in places. Public, I mean. That wall back there was the first.”

“Oh no! I’ll never look at this place the same way again.” I washed that thought with the drink, sipping on it slowly. Purposely, I kept to anything but rum tonight. I wasn’t sure I could ever drink the stuff again without thinking about him. About what we’d done. “Addy?”

The little nickname didn’t go unnoticed and Adrianne smiled candidly, even above the haze I saw taking over her. “I uh… I’m not sure there’s anything to share.”

“Oh, common. I’m sure you have at least one sordid detail,” Francesca pushed.

Adrianne sat there, looking at us, swallowing the lump in her throat.

“YOU’RE A VIRGIN?” I shouted, incredulous.

“Shh. Come on! Write it on a fucking billboard why don’t you?”

“You owe us, then. I’m not sure we'll ever be this drunk to hear it, but we’ll hold you to it then,” Jamie stated.

“Deal,” She laughed, embarrassment covering her face. “You’re up, Alison.”

“Max fucked me with a rum bottle.” The words were out of my mouth before I could hold them back.

A beat of silence fell over the table before an explosion of laughter and cheers followed.

“That’s fucking insane!” Francesca cooed, her eyes popped wide open in disbelief.

“Well, Fran, I think that since you didn’t drink, you lost, too. Your turn.”

“Oh, God! I’m too sober for this.”

“Franny! Franny! Franny!” Our drunkenness was starting to show as we cheered her on.

“If it’s shock factor we’re going for here, I once fucked a man and ruptured his stiches that were more like staples, and he passed out after coming.”

I closed my eyes in disgust, knowing she was talking about my brother. “Oh, no no no! The image! I need a lobotomy now.”

“Was that Matt?” Jamie asked, making me squirm.

“Yes.”

“I can’t take this. I’m going to dance.” I got up, my legs immediately telling me that the booze was definitely starting to hit. They were ghost-like and tingly.

I walked down to the dance floor, trusting that the tight crowd wouldn’t let me stumble. I knew he’d be following my every step with his hawk gaze.

Closing my eyes, I allowed myself to forget. To deliver my body to the rhythm and just dance it all away. I managed for a few minutes before I made the worst mistake I could have made for someone craving peace for at least one night.

I looked up and saw him.

Max stood at the railing of the VIP area, overlooking the dance floor, watching me as I knew he would.

His eyes burned down the curve of my legs, over the dip of my back.

His jaw was tight, his hands gripping the metal like it was the only thing grounding him and keeping him from charging right at me.

He stood there, regal. Possessive. Devastated.

Max didn’t move a single muscle. I don’t even think he blinked.

I hated how my body responded to that stare that promised destruction.

I hated that I danced for him without meaning to. Every sway of my hips, every roll of my shoulders, every lick of my lips. It was all for him.

And worse? I hated that I liked it. That I needed it, like an addict licking the blade that cut her.

I knew what I was doing as I sank deeper into the crowd. I was provoking him, and even if I should know better than to allure the angel who came to destroy me, I did it anyway.

Max would have lost me in the crowd by now. I stood there, rooted to that blind spot as I danced in the middle of a sea of people having the time of their lives.

I was counting the seconds it took him to come down and get me. How shattered would I be if he never came?

As soon as that thought sank into my head, Max’s fingers sank into my hip.

“I thought you’d be watching me all night until I got drunk enough to forget how much I hate you,” I said, the vodka in my voice making it softer than my words suggested.

His grip tightened before he pulled my back flush against his front. “I’d watch you for the rest of my life if you’d let me.”

Fucking bastard.

Max pressed against me like I was gravity. His hand slid over my lower stomach, guiding my body to his with the same hunger I remembered. Our hips moved in time, slow, dark rhythm melting against the grind of regret and longing.

I felt his breath on my neck. His fingers brushed my jaw.

“I still love you,” he whispered into my skin, almost angry about it. “But right now, all I want is to hurt you. Leave my marks all over you.”

I didn’t respond. Because if I did, I’d shatter.

I just danced. One last song. One last moment. Pretending I wasn’t already breaking, despite the heady amount of alcohol buzzing through me.

“Go back to your pedestal,” I said instead. “There’s no version of tonight that ends with you in my bed.”

“That’s okay. We can go to mine.”

“That’s not what I meant,” I snapped, trying to hide the snicker under my tone before hardening my voice again. “I heard you have better things to do than guard me. I best get acquainted with my new bodyguard before moving, and there’s no better time to start than right now.”

I pulled away from him, walking towards the side door of Dea Tacita. I didn’t even manage three full steps before Max was pulling on my wrist, making me crash into his chest. His hand was on my jaw next, forcing my gaze to bury into his.

“I get that you’re pissed. I get that you hate me.

I even understand that you’re too drunk to consider what happens if you dare to speak to another man while dressed like that.

” His lips are on my ear now, my skin erupting into goosebumps as he whispers, “But let me spell it out for you to get the full picture. I don’t care who he is or what happens after, but he will die. ”

Slowly, I pried his hand from my jaw and turned my back to him again, but this time, instead of leaving, I stayed and danced.

Before my body could cool down from his touch, Max was pressed behind me again. I could feel every part of him. Every mass and ridge of his muscles. Every hot breath of both frustration and need. Every inch of the length of his growing erection.

I let my head fall back to his chest, the sensation of his hands trying to keep themselves in check, keeping to innocent places, was the tension I never knew I craved.

“You shouldn’t even be here. It’s a hen party that you helped plan, to see me off into marriage with another man. Boys are not allowed.”

His grip on my hip tightened, and if I was pressed against him before, the way he pulled me into him fused us together as one.

If there were any dance labeled as erotic, it wouldn’t have a pole or one-dollar bills.

It would be exactly this. The man I shouldn’t crave, swaying his hips in time with mine, his hands sitting on appropriate places while his dick told me how much he needed to claim me right here.

“I am not a boy.” His voice dangled off the edge of darkness, tone low and angry, sending those damn shivers right down my spine, but he kept on dancing.

It didn’t help that his cock was fully hard now, straining against his slacks, snuggly tucked between my ass cheeks.

“Oh, I’m so sorry. Did I bruise your manly little ego?” I taunted. It meant to be mean, but the way my ass pushed against his crotch to feel more of him made me lose the edge to my reply.

“A boy wouldn’t fuck you in the middle of a dance floor.”

“A gentleman wouldn’t, either.”

“It’s a good thing I’m neither.” His right hand squeezed between us, under my dress, tracing his fingers along the fabric of my thong.

“Why are you wearing this slutty lingerie, Alison? What fucking plans did you have for tonight?” The jealousy and possessiveness in his words made my pussy clench and I knew there was only one answer that would get me what I wanted without having to let go of that anger and ask for it.

“I’ve told you before. I wear these whenever there’s a chance someone might see me naked. Tonight seemed promising.”

The growl he released straight into my ear made my thoughts blur, and before I could understand what was happening, Max’s cock was pushing into me.

“Oh my God, what are you–” I looked around frantically, but everyone around us was completely oblivious to the fact that Max had his cock inside me. The flashing lights, the music, the crowd, it all worked perfectly in sync to hide the depravity of what we were doing.

“Is this what a boy feels like? Hmm?”

“I’m still angry at you.” Jesus Christ, the booze and his cock buried inside me turned me stupid.