Lead Me Home (Fight for Me #3)(77)

Amusement was suddenly in her smile, wry as her gaze moved across all the girls, then she turned back to Matt. “Actually, all my friends would like to dance.”

Another warning in her expression when she looked back at them. “Wouldn’t they?”

She spun around, facing them as she backed away and waved for them to follow. The girl was wearing this short, frilly skirt and a silky tank, heels on her feet making her legs look like they were a mile long.

Everything about her was exotic and still as comfortable and down to earth as a home-cooked meal.

Yeah.

I wanted to fucking eat her.

Devour every inch.

Jenna clapped in excitement, while Hope passed her drink off to Kale, pecking him on the lips before she rushed to join them.

Lillith? Lillith hit me with a smirk as she let go of Broderick’s hand and then followed Hope.

Swore to God, the world was against me.

Cursed.

They edged into the thick, pushing through the raving throng. Bodies surged and swayed and pulsed. They all made their way to the dance floor at the base of the elevated stage.

Nearly choked when Matt edged up to Nikki from behind and tugged her against his chest.

In the roiling crowd, she was facing me when he splayed his hand across her belly.

From across the space, those mesmerizing eyes, so odd of a color you could vanish in the depths, tangled with mine.

Hypnotizing.

A motherfucking spell.

Black fucking magic.

That was what she was.

Rage blew in like a bleak, black storm.

Rex looked that way before he turned back to me with a grumbled laugh. “You’re so fucked, dude.”

I wiped at the bar, so hard I was pretty sure it was rubbing off the glossy stain.

Stripping it down to bare bones.

That was exactly what I felt like.

Bare bones.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I gritted.

He shared a look with Kale before he turned back to me. “If you saw your face right now, you’d know exactly what that means.”

“Don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You still gonna stand there and deny it after all this time?”

Unease rippled through me. Maybe he really had had a clue. “Deny what?”

Disappointment came out with the shake of his head before he tipped back his beer and drained the bottle. He stood and slammed the empty on the bar. “Think I’m gonna go claim my girl before some poor, unknowing bastard has to die trying. Someone else here might want to do the same.”

And he wasn’t looking at Kale or Broderick when he said it.





24





Nikki





Chaos drummed through the air. I felt caught up in it.

Elevated and lost.

My feet not quite touching the ground. Held by the sapphire gaze that ravaged me from across the space.

Intense, fierce, and blistering.

Torment and need and possession.

Crash after crash.

Matt slipped his hand around my waist and pulled me flush against his body.

A shudder ripped free of my lungs. It wasn’t even close to being elicited by Matt’s touch. It was because the only thing I could feel was Ollie covering me.

I didn’t even have to close my eyes to imagine the man was touching me everywhere, the sensation of his hands from last weekend still alive and vibrant.

Sizzling across my flesh.

Turmoil played across Ollie’s striking face.

It was possessive and wild, and still, incredibly sad.

Unable to remain upright under the severity of it, I tore myself out of Matt’s hold and whirled around to face him, turning my back to Ollie because I no longer knew how to stand beneath it all.

The sorrow and the regret and the need.

In the throbbing crush, I struggled to maintain balance where my friends danced around me as if they couldn’t feel the quake of the earth that rocked beneath my feet.

Dim lights were at one with the smoky fog that twisted and twined in the air, the bar nothing but a dizzying haze.

Bodies pulsed, a mass that toiled in the hypnotic beat.

Matt slanted me a smile, what he thought was seduction carved out on his face, and my stomach turned.

I didn’t want this.

Not tonight.

Not when I wanted to turn around, go to Ollie, and tell him I wasn’t going anywhere.

Promise him I’d stay.

Matt edged forward again. This time, he placed both his hands to my hips in a bid to bring us closer.

I set my hands on his chest, intending to tell him I was sorry but I couldn’t do this. Even if it was just a dance, it felt wrong.

But my mouth went dry, and my tongue got stuck on the roof of my mouth when I felt the energy surge over me from behind. At the same time, the waters parting as the air rushed and whirled.

I didn’t even have time to process it before Ollie was there.

Towering next to where Matt attempted to bring us together.

The man so big.

Savage and fierce.

Hands fisted at his sides and something like anger in his expression.

There was no chance I could breathe through the impact.

He turned all that intimidation on Matt. “Sorry, brother, but I’m gonna have to cut in.”

His tone was a low threat.