Page 14 of Strange Seduction (Strange #2)

Champagne Kisses.

Still Day Two.

“You two make a beautiful couple,” an older white woman in a backless, velvet gown said beside us. Her hair was bleached within an inch of its life, and she had a diamond bracelet that probably cost more than my rent.

Not that I knew how much my rent cost. Theo paid for that.

“Thank you,” Theo and I said in unison.

She sipped her drink, then tilted her head. “Do you swing?”

Theo choked mid-swallow, coughing into his fist. I didn’t blink.

“Not since kindergarten,” I answered smoothly.

Theo pinched my side, shooting me a look.

“No, we don’t,” he said, clearing his throat.

But that didn’t stop her. “Oh. Well, my husband and I are still interested. Maybe we can watch you two?”

God, come for your world.

“I don’t think so, sorry.” Theo smiled.

“What a shame,” she murmured, completely unfazed. Then she floated away like a ghost.

I blinked once.

“What the hell kind of party is this?” I muttered, then threw back the rest of my drink.

The rooftop was stunning—an open-air lounge wrapped in golden lights, the city skyline glittering behind sleek glass railings.

Soft jazz poured from a live quartet in the corner, and servers weaved through the crowd with champagne flutes and tiny hors d’oeuvres on silver trays. Everyone here looked like old money.

I was already on my second glass of champagne and still didn’t feel like I belonged, despite the fact that Theo had been introducing me as his girlfriend all night.

His hand lowered on my back possessively. He was so tense tonight. He squeezed my hands more times than I could count, and I knew his anxiety was fighting to make an appearance. I tried to lighten his mood.

“I’m just saying,” I murmured, tipping my champagne flute toward the crowd, “we’re easily the best-looking people here. If not the youngest. Everyone else looks like they wanna fuck us or they’re waiting for their knee replacement surgeries to be approved.”

Theo glanced at me. “Baby, stop it. Can you please behave tonight?”

Random Voice: What does he mean by behave?

The voice returned uninvited.

No. No. No. Not this shit again. Didn’t I say to leave me alone?

I pushed the voice down, smiling like everything was fine.

“I’ll try,” I said sweetly. “But everyone here is looking at me like I’m some arm candy trophy wife.”

Theo’s brow ticked playfully. “Can you be that? Just for tonight?”

Random Voice: Absolutely not! You’re an intelligent, highly educated, and award-winning law school graduate! You start at a top-tier firm in a week! You’re not some airhead—

“Yeah,” I said, cutting the voice off and clinking my glass against his. “I can play along.”

Theo didn’t look entirely convinced, but he slid his arm around my waist anyway, pulling me in like I was the only one who mattered here.

For now, I let him believe I wasn’t bothered.

“Theo!” someone called from behind us. “I wasn’t sure you were coming. You didn’t mention it when you left the office.”

I turned to find a very attractive man standing with one hand in his pocket and the other holding a scotch.

“Hey, Carter,” Theo greeted warmly. “I thought it was a good opportunity to get this one outside.”

He gestured down to me, and I gave the man an awkward, sheepish grin when our eyes met.

“Carter, this is Carmen. I know you’ve been eager to meet her.”

My eyebrows shot up, “Oh?”

Carter smiled, “Just wanted to see if the rumors were true, and they are. You really are the most gorgeous woman on the planet.”

My grip tightened on the glass as I looked over at Theo. I knew how he felt about his associates flirting with me, but he didn’t seem to mind.

“Don’t worry,” Carter leaned in close. “You’re beautiful, but you ain’t exactly my type .”

Oop.

I knew exactly what he meant, but I played into it a little. “I’m everyone’s type.”

Carter looked taken aback. “Gorgeous with a gorgeous accent. Theodore hit the lottery with you, huh?”

“Of course he did.” I winked.

That made him chuckle and got a reaction out of Theo. “Alright, alright. Enough.”

He leaned into my ear so that Carter couldn’t hear and said, “Didn’t I say to behave?”

Random Voice: You’re not a damn puppy who needs to be trained! Cuss his ass out!

I squeezed my eyes shut as I felt a headache come on.

Not here… not now…

“Hey,” Theo’s voice softened. “You okay? Do you need—”

“Tee, Martin’s here.” Carter’s voice cut through. “We gotta go over there. He’ll want details about the investment ball.”

“One sec, Carmen needs me.”

“No. No,” I waved him off. I couldn’t be an issue at the event where he handled business, so I pushed through. “I’m fine.”

Theo’s eyes searched mine. “You sure?”

“Yes. Please,” I forced a smile through the pain. “Don’t worry about me.”

I didn’t know if he bought it or not, but he eased up either way.

“Okay. Well, I gotta go talk to this guy over there,” he murmured, nodding toward a group near the back. “He gets offended if I don’t greet him.”

“Okay,” I replied, brushing invisible lint from his shoulder. “I’ll grab another drink at the bar.”

“You sure?”

I tilted my throbbing head in annoyance. “I’m not a child. I’ll be fine.”

He hesitated, eyes scanning my face. “Alright. I’ll meet you over there when I’m done.”

“Great.”

“Nice to meet you, Carmen.” Carter waved goodbye.

I waved back at him and turned, already slipping through the crowd.

Alright. Who are you? I asked the voice that had been lingering at the edge of my mind since I got off the plane.

Random Voice: You can call me Doubt .

No. No, I don’t have doubts, I snapped, striding faster.

Doubt: You didn’t when you got here.

I mean. This party is awful, I countered.

Doubt: Not about the party, idiot. I meant when you got to Italy.

What? Why would I have doubts in Italy? I’m with Theo now. All my doubts should be erased.

Doubt: I’m just a voice in your head, girl. Ask yourself that question.

“Carmen?”

That voice didn’t come from inside my head.

No, this one was real. Lower, and familiar. And it belonged to Vince.

I turned slowly and found him leaning against the bar like he owned the damn thing.

“You got me in trouble,” he said, not a trace of real regret in his tone.

I arched a brow. “You got yourself in trouble.”

“Yeah, well,” he shrugged, “the conversation was worth it.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

He lifted his glass. “You should.”

I took a small step back, creating just enough distance to keep things safe—safe for me, and safe for him. Theo was already on edge, and he didn’t need another reason to punch someone tonight.

“Relax,” Vince said, noting the shift. “I come in peace. See?” He raised his hands in mock surrender. “Just two coworkers—well, coworkers adjacent—chatting at a bar.”

I eyed him skeptically, signaling the bartender to top up my glass with champagne. “Coworkers adjacent?”

“I work for your boyfriend, and you’re sleeping with my boss. That’s adjacent.”

I nearly choked.

Wow .

He just said that with his whole chest.

He grinned. “I’m embracing the new professional boundaries.”

I held my glass out as the bartender poured. “That so?”

He leaned in slightly—not close enough to touch, but close enough to lower his voice as I smelled the alcohol on his breath. “I swear. Though, if we’re being honest, I think you like getting me in trouble.”

“Vince,” I warned.

“Okay, okay,” he held up his hands again. “I’ll behave. For real this time. I’m just saying—it’s good to see you again.”

I glanced down at my drink. Before I could say anything else, I felt Theo before I saw him—the solid weight of his hand resting lightly on the small of my back.

“You good?” he asked, his voice smooth.

“Perfectly,” I said with a practiced smile.

Vince didn’t flinch. “Just saying hi. Professionally, of course.”

Theo’s eyes didn’t leave mine. “That so?”

There was no tension in his tone, but it pressed between the three of us like a slow-building storm.

“Um, where’s Carter?” I tried to change the subject.

“Still talking to Martin.”

“Martin’s here?” Vince asked, and of course, Theo ignored him.

“Carmen,” Theo said gently, but firmly, “can I talk to you for a second?”

My stomach dropped. I sipped my drink, trying to drown the tightness building behind my ribs, then nodded.

“Sure.”

He didn’t touch me again as we walked through the party; he just moved beside me with that silent intensity that always made people step aside without knowing why. The lights blurred around us—soft golds and pale lavenders melting over people in suits, laughter trailing in our wake.

He didn’t speak as he opened the door into the main building, guiding me into a quiet hallway.

He was mad. He had to be.

Doubt: He is. And it’s all your fault.

Shut up!

“I didn’t start talking to Vince, Teddy,” I said as we walked, the words tumbling out faster than my thoughts could keep up. “He started talking to me.”

“Okay,” Theo replied evenly, his eyes ahead.

“We weren’t even talking about anything important. I was literally trying to get my drink, and he started making conversation.”

“I said okay.”

“Teddy. Please. I swear.”

He stopped and turned.

“I believe you, baby.” His voice softened. “I do.”

And then, without another word, he opened the nearest door and pulled me inside.

It was a guest bathroom, dimly lit and too elegant to feel real—black stone counters, backlit mirrors, and a vase of lilies by the sink. Then he turned to me. Eyes dark. His jaw was tight as he locked the door behind us.

“No,” I said quickly, backing up a step as he turned to face me. “We are not having sex in here.”

“Of course, we’re not,” Theo said smoothly, like it was the most absurd suggestion in the world.

“Good,” I replied, lifting my chin.

“Great. Glad we’re on the same page.”

“We are,” I reverberated. “Because that’s disgusting, and we are civilized people.”

“Yes, we are.”

“Exactly.”

Without breaking eye contact, he took the champagne flute from my hand and downed whatever was left of it in one gulp.

“Exactly,” he echoed, voice lower now.

We stared at each other in the silence that followed, the air between us suddenly charged.

“Make it quick,” I muttered, already leaning in.

The kiss landed hard. His mouth crashed into mine, and my back hit the marble countertop behind me. He tried tugging at the hem of my dress, cursing softly under his breath.

“I doubt you’ll get it off me,” I breathed against his mouth. “It’s basically a second skin.”

“I don’t need it off.” His hands were already moving—hooking under my panties and dragging them down with practiced ease.

“Just these,” he murmured, voice ragged.

“Fuck.”

They hit the ground, and before I could think too hard, he was lowering himself to his knees.

“I need you to ride my face, Sweetness,” he said, kissing the inside of my thigh.

“Theo…”

His eyes flicked up, dark and pleading.

“Please. All I can taste is that unseasoned-ass white people food. I need a palate cleanse.”

Oh my God.

“Please, please, please.” He begged between kisses. “It’ll feel so good for both of us. Please.”

“So damn needy,” I rolled my eyes, playfully. “Okay. But you know I can’t keep quiet.”

“You don’t have to.”

And with a wicked grin, he grabbed my panties from the floor and shoved them into my mouth. The silk between my teeth muffled the moan that broke out of me as his mouth met my clit. Hot, open, hungry.

Theo groaned like he’d been starving, and I was something he’d been craving for days, weeks, and years. His hands gripped my thighs, fingers digging in, anchoring me to his face like he never wanted me to move again.

I braced one hand against the mirror behind the sink, the other tangled in his hair, trying to keep my balance as he licked into me with slow, devastating precision. Every flick of his tongue was deliberate.

This wasn’t just for me. This was for him, too.

His shoulders flexed as he pulled me closer and dragged me farther down into his mouth until my legs started to tremble.

I whimpered behind the panties, hips jerking against his face as I gave him what he asked for.

He didn’t ease up. If anything, he doubled down, groaning like he could feel me falling apart.

My vision blurred, my breath catching somewhere between disbelief and bliss. I was seconds from cumming, right there on the bathroom counter of a party I hadn’t even wanted to attend.

My name broke from his mouth like a prayer. “Sweetness…”

He eased the panties out of my mouth just in time to hear me cry out his name. In a sudden movement, he pulled me into his lips, swallowing my cries and giving me full access to the taste of me that lingered on his tongue.

My knees gave, and he caught me, pulling me into his chest as he stood, arms wrapped tight around me. I felt the growing bulge in his pants as he made sure no air was left between us.

“You okay?” he whispered as he pulled away, kissing the side of my face, breath still uneven.

I nodded against his chest, still trying to remember how to breathe. “You’re ridiculous.”

“And yet…” he smiled, brushing my hair behind my ear, “you love me.”

“Unfortunately.”

He grinned shamelessly. “That’s on you.”

Fair.

I stood, adjusting my dress as he helped me put my panties back on, and I leaned against the sink, legs still jelly. He tucked another lock of hair behind my ear, his voice softening. “You looked like you needed a reset.”

I stared at him, quiet now. “Yeah… I did.”

He pressed his forehead to mine. “Come on, Sweetness. Let’s get back before someone notices we’re missing.”

I caught his wrist before he could pull away.

“Before we go,” I said quietly, “can I ask you something?”

He paused. “What is it?”

I hesitated, eyes locked on the tiny gold button of his collar, suddenly unsure if I even wanted the answer. But the question had been clawing at the back of my throat since the moment he said it.

“What did you mean when you said I should behave?” I asked, forcing my voice to stay even. “Do I embarrass you or something?”

He flinched—just a little. But I caught it.

“No,” he said quickly. “God, no. Carmen.”

I folded my arms, waiting.

He sighed, raking a hand through his hair. “That’s not what I meant. It’s not you. You don’t embarrass me, not even a little. I just—I told you to behave because I didn’t trust myself not to murder someone if they disrespected you.”

That got a laugh out of me.

“You’re an idiot,” I whispered.

He grinned. “Yeah.”

I rested my chin on his chest, letting myself soften into him. “Don’t tell me to behave again.”

“I won’t.”

We stood like that for a moment. Finally, I sighed and stepped back. “Alright. Let’s go pretend we weren’t just desecrating their bathroom.”

Theo smirked. “You mean elevate it.”

I rolled my eyes and opened the door. “Uh-huh. Come on, Mr. Palate Cleanser. Let’s get you another glass of overpriced champagne.”