Where Lightning Strikes (Bleeding Stars #3)(25)

Like the rest of the guests, I should have been watching them.

But I couldn’t.

Because Lyrik leaned in and finally pressed his sensual mouth close to the mic and began to sing.

He was singing Ed Sheeran’s Thinking Out Loud.

But his voice.

His voice was raspy and low and filled with emotion so thick I could taste it. Filled with what I could have sworn was prominent in those lonely hours of the night when his songs wept with pain.

I swallowed hard. Desperate for my armor. For all the shields to come up so I could block him from my mind. From the places he was seeping, sinking and submerging and overwhelming.

I was going under.

His entire body tensed as he sang.

Wind whipped through his hair.

Those dark, dark eyes opened and they landed directly on me.

Was it possible he felt this, too?

His voice traveled the air, wrapping me in soft, soft ribbons. Spinning and spinning and spinning. Until they got tighter and tighter.

Suffocating.

Like he was the only thing I could breathe.

Tremors of panic rolled through my body. My heart galloped as he peered at me in the darkness and continued to pour himself into the song he sang for his friend.

He held his voice as the song came to a close. Awe filled the night. Voices silenced.

And I wondered if they could feel it, too.

Lyrik stood, and I remained frozen beneath his gaze.

The hired band reclaimed their spots. Their singer spoke into the mic. “We’d now like to invite the wedding party to share a dance with the bride and groom.”

This…this was what I’d dreaded.

But now that dread shivered through me in little shocks of excitement.

Dazed, I took two steps forward onto the dance floor.

At the same time, Lyrik strode down the three stairs, dark, dark beauty radiating from each step.

Tattoos peeked out from beneath his tailored suit. The perfect opposition of gritty and straight-laced.

God.

No man should look that good.

He stalked my direction as the band struck up.

I trembled. Fisted my hands. Hands that seemed desperate to touch.

Was I really going to just stand here and let this happen? Whatever this was?

Hot hands landed on my sides.

I felt as if I’d been electrocuted.

A bright burst of light flashed behind my eyes.

Body alive.

He tugged me closer, up against his heat and hard and destructive beauty.

I pressed my hands to his chest, desperate for space. For a way to keep from feeling like this. Instead, my fingers curled into his suit jacket.

He pulled me tighter, wrapping me in strong arms.

They felt safe.

His breath tickled across my face, lips brushing the shell of my ear.

“I have never seen a girl look as good as you look tonight,” he mumbled at my temple. “Stole my breath when you stepped through that church door and started down the aisle. So f*cking sexy, dressed up like an angel when I know you’ve got a little bit of demon hiding underneath.”

He splayed one hand across the small of my back. The other set a trail of flames as he ran it all the way up my spine until he was cupping the side of my neck. Forcing me to look at him. Long fingers twisted through the curls that had been ironed into my hair. “Can’t stop thinking about you. Can’t stop watching you. Can’t stop wanting you. What is it you think you’re trying to do to me?”

That palm at the small of my back drew me closer. Up against his cock that pressed hard into my belly.

Oh God.

My knees wobbled, and that fear trembled free. But it was overshadowed by the want roaring through my veins. Stomach tight. Legs quivering.

“This…this is what you do to me. One f*cking look, one touch, and I’m dying for something I know I shouldn’t have. Because you,” he chuckled darkly, “you do things to me you shouldn’t. It’s driving me damned near out of my mind knowing you’re just a few footsteps away, right outside my door, and I can’t have you.”

I fought for my senses, clutched his jacket a little tighter. “We’re a terrible idea.”

Hard, harsh laughter rocked from him, so low that only I could hear. It came at me like a warning. “Make no mistake, Red. I don’t want an us. I’ll be the first to admit it. I’m an *. I’m not wired that way. Not anymore.”

Not anymore.

God, I was a fool. Self-preservation floored. Because right then? All I wanted to ask him was what that meant. To dig deep and sink in.

Discover who was hiding underneath.

I knew it. Felt it.

He was just like me.

His voice dropped lower, a wisp at my ear. “But what I want is you. I want to take you back to my place, unwrap you like a gift, and look at you laid out on my bed. I want to touch you and taste you and explore you. Make you lose your mind, kinda the way you’ve been making me lose mine. Tell me what you want, Red.”

Shivers slid down my spine.

He pressed his mouth to the side of my neck and mumbled the words at my skin. “All you have to say is no. Say no and I’m gonna walk and never going to look your way again.”

I got the feeling he was begging me, begging me to say no.

A loud guitar strum reverberated through the speakers. The song played out. Over.

“All right, all right,” the singer shouted, his voice amped up as he spoke into the microphone. “It’s time to get things shaking around here. Everyone on the dance floor.”