Page 64 of Worship

The woman is on her knees, and the man towers over her.

“Please. Let me suck you.”

Her hands reach for his waist, and he swats them away, but she tries again. He pushes her away with more force, but she goes back again. He’s making her work for it. This time I hear the sound of his pants being opened, and my heart speeds up.

My thighs press together at what I’m watching. He grabs the back of her hair and her head shoots back. My fingers dig into my thighs. I should leave, but there’s something about what’s happening that has my feet planted in place. I’m remembering Luca from earlier tonight.

“I want to make you come. Make you feel so damn good. I can make you feel that way—nobody else,” she pleads as the man pulls her to her feet.

The man’s voice booms through the room.

“Is that what you want? You want me to feed my cock into that dirty little mouth? Make you suck me until you choke? Make you swallow me down?”

“Yes.” The words fall from both the woman’s mouth and mine at the same time.

There’s silence, except for my ragged breathing. Is he going to make her suck him off? Is he going to fuck her? A soft breathy moan escapes my lips while I wait with her to find out her fate.

“Luca, take me.”

My fingers reach to my lips as if I’m the one who said the words and not her. Those aren’t my words. But his name is mine to say. I don’t understand; my mind struggles to process what’s happening.

Then it hits me all at once. My head starts to shake, and I break from the shadow I’m hiding in and walk directly to the wall of glass. My eyes search the room, and against the wall I see the set of buttons I hit to reveal the glass the first time. So, I start pressing all of them rapidly. And the glass goes clear.

His eyes meet mine at that very moment.

Luca is standing over Shelby, her hands on his chest and his buckle undone, his face full of regret.

Bile rises in my throat.

He told me he would ruin me. He said he wouldn’t be there to comfort me when I felt ashamed. But he never warned me that he would lie to me. He could never love me and do this. Luca King only loves himself.

FUCK!MY MIND IS RACING. How did she get down here? How did she know what room I was in? How do I explain this? She has to trust me.She’ll never believe me.I won’t entertain the alternative.

I shove Shelby aside and race to the door, and the moment I throw it open, Gretchen is staring back at me from the room she’s exiting. We’re frozen for only a moment, until she slowly moves from her door, allowing it to close. Her eyes never break from mine. We’re in a standoff, and one misstep, one wrong answer, could make her cut and run.

My voice is cautious, unnerved by the quiet rage she’s emanating.

“Trust me, Angel. You need to trust me.”

By the look on her face, that was not what she wanted to hear.

She shakes her head, backing away from me. Her arms hug her body, and I see her hands trembling.

“I’ll never trust you. I know what I saw, Luca. I saw what you were doing with her.”

“You don’t understand. I love you, Gretchen,” I coax, tilting my head to try and keep her eyes to mine.

When she looks at me, it’s fierce.

“Your love takes and takes.” Her voice is strained and raw. “I hate you with everything left inside of me.”

My jaw tenses. I can feel how much I’ve hurt her, and I want to take it all back, but I can’t.

Shelby grabs my arm from inside the room, her profile peeking out from the door. She’s a fucking bitch—she wants Gretchen to see her.My hand squeezes the wood, wishing it was her throat, as she speaks seductively.

“Luca, why are you leaving me? Let me finish what I started…”

My head snaps to her, and I rip my arm from her, looking at her with a disgusted expression.