Page 229 of Blackwood

“You planning on showing me properly?”

“I’m planning on ruining you,” I whisper, teeth grazing her jaw. “Right here. On this floor. Let them all watch.”

Her breath stutters. But she doesn’t stop dancing.

Cade steps in front of her, smiling soft and dangerous in a way people always underestimate. He runs a hand down her side, just brushing her hip. “You were unreal tonight, sweetheart. Like something a man would paint and never recover from.”

She laughs. Sharp and hot and wicked. And then we’re moving with her, sandwiching her, syncing to the beat like we’ve done this a hundred times. My hands on her thigh riding up the slit in her dress. Cade’s on her waist. Her body sliding between us like we were built for this.

A few songs in, the lights flash again. Floodlights swing toward the DJ booth, and Knox cuts the track with one arm raised like a damn prophet of the party gods.

“Alright, alright, alright! Shut the hell up for one second!” he yells over the crowd. “Let’s give it up for the birthday girl!”

The room explodes. Cheers. Screams. August yells“Queen shit!”from the bar.

I’ve still got Bella in my arms, one hand wrapped around her waist, the other resting low on her thigh. She looks up at the booth, lips parted, hair sticking to her neck like silk.

“Okay, Bells,” Knox grins into the mic. “So, here’s the deal. Your boys Drake, Sam, and Josh have a little birthday challenge for you. Straight from the Roman gods themselves.”

The crowd goes nuts.

“Each one of them picked a dance. A solo. A moment. A test, if you will. And you, goddess? You’re the fire they wanna survive.”

Bella’s shaking her head, but she’s laughing. Bright. Dangerous.

“So, what do you say, Nemesis?” Knox calls, leaning into the mic. “You in?”

She tips her head back, still in my arms, and flashes the kind of grin that gets men in trouble in every mythology. Then nods.

“Alright then bitch, get out there,” Knox yells, hyping the crowd. “Sam, you’re up first! Everybody clear the floor. ’Cause the God of Fire himself, Vulcan, commands it!” Knox hits a button and fire erupts from behind the DJ booth.

The dancers scatter. Cade grabs her hand and pulls her out of my grip, spinning her once before letting her go with a quiet whisper I can’t quite catch.

She walks straight into the center of the floor. All eyes on her. Sam steps out of the dark to meet her, grinning and carrying a pair of her boots in his hands.

The lights stay low, as Knox begins again. “Now we all know Sam is the softie of the group. Don’t lie, bro, we’ve seen the playlists. So, he went a little easy on you, Bells.”

The crowd laughs. Bella turns toward Sam with a curious smile, brows lifting when she notices the boots.

“He wanted to give you a little piece of Arkansas for your twenty-first,” Knox says, and his voice drops, real low. “So brace yourselves, Wolves because the goddess of vengeance is about to go southern on our asses. Bella, switch those heels for your Luccheses real quick, and let’s show these people how y’all dance back in the country shall we?”

Ellie shrieks next to Cade. “OH MY GOD YESSSS!”

“Dancin’ in the Country”by Tyler Hubbard,full country bass and boot-stomp rhythm hits over the speakers.

Haley’s screaming. Ellie’s jumping up and down, hands on Cade’s shoulders. Bella’s eyes go wide. Sam just smiles, takes her hand, and pulls her in like he’s been rehearsing this in secret for weeks.

They start with a tight two-step, left-right-left, hips swaying, boots sliding. Bella grins full and open and blinding. He sweeps her off both feet. She lets herself go. Spins. Drops. Laughs. Sam twirls her once, then twice, then catches her by the waist and dips her like they’re the last couple on a honkytonk dancefloor at closing time.

Ellie leans in toward Cade, eyes misty, smile wild. “Look at our little country queen! Reminds me of Nashville,” she whispers, voice cracked with pride.

I can’t look away. The second the song ends, the crowd goes insane.

Bella’s cheeks are flushed, smile still lingering. She starts walking back toward me and Cade on instinct, but Knox’s voice cuts in sharp over the mic. “Whoa whoa whoa, Bella! You’re not done yet.”

She freezes mid-step.

“Drake! Get your ass out here!”