Where Lightning Strikes (Bleeding Stars #3)(9)

With my foot, I pushed the step stool over to the section with the different vodkas stacked on the shelves, and climbed up so I could reach a box of Grey Goose on the top.

Carefully, considering I was going down backward wearing five-inch heels, I maneuvered down, box balanced in one arm while I held on to the metal bar of the shelf with the other.

I turned around.

A yelp flew from me when I found the lone figure leaning up against the shelved wall.

My heart galloped like a sprint of horses, a riot of hooves beating against my chest.

Hands shaking so badly, I barely righted the box before it crashed to the floor.

Why are you doing this to me?

“What do you think you’re doing back here?” I finally managed, the first words just as shaky as my hands, the last filling with indignant anger.

Why?

Lyrik let that lazy smirk take over his too-pretty face. Shadows played across one side, making him appear more dangerous than normal.

“Lookin’ for you.”

I pushed off the intrigue gathering fast, ignored the beat of my heart and the want in my belly as I forced out the words, sharp and severe. “Well, you can stop looking for me, because I don’t want to be found.”

“You sure about that?”

“What is it you think you want from me, Lyrik?”

I’d spent all of last summer dodging his advances, doing my best to repel him with every bitchy rejection I could throw his way. It was time to put an end to this.

My words were hard and harsh, fueled by the desperation buried underneath. I just hoped it wasn’t the most apparent. “Do you want a quick f*ck? Do you want me to drop to my knees and suck your dick and send you on your merry way? There are plenty of other girls out there begging for the job. Do me a favor and stop chasing me.”

Riding on the rush of adrenaline, I stalked for the door.

Voice rough, his words hit me from behind, that overwhelming presence just as close. “Like those eyes chase me?”

Chills traveled my spine as the rest of my body froze.

Overtaken by this attraction.

Why did I want him so badly?

But I guess the saying was true. We always want what we shouldn’t have.

Slowly I turned. That strong, beautiful body towered over me. Mine reacted to the nearness.

Heat.

Fire.

Need.

He hooked his finger under my chin, forcing me to look up at him through the dusky confines of the enclosed room. “You think I don’t see you, Red. Watching. Wanting. Just because you refuse to let the words fall from your mouth, doesn’t mean they’re not true.”

My teeth ground, every inch of me at war, my hatred of how he made me feel—hatred of that old, na?ve weakness—up against the seeds of trust that wanted to make their way out.

It felt like a tornado gaining speed.

Lights flickered behind my eyes and a thrill rushed through my nerves.

No. No. No.

“What would be so bad about spending a night with me?”

And that was just it.

The only thing I’d ever be.

Easy, forgettable sex.

Another in a million faceless women.

A quick f*ck that didn’t even last long enough to be considered a fling. Hurt balled behind my ribs. Funny how his proposition felt like a rejection.

“Oh, I could think of plenty of things.” Like my heart and the sanctity of my mind.

I struggled to resurrect the fa?ade. To erect that rigid, impenetrable armor.

I wiggled the fingers of my free hand in front of his face and fired the words like bullets. “Believe me, I’d rather spend the night with these than with you.”

He snatched me by the wrist.

My mouth dropped open in shock. At the heat of his hold. At the weight of his stare.

The man took full advantage of my momentary stupor, those dark eyes gleaming as he slowly sucked my middle two fingers into the fever of his mouth.

A panicked, strangled gasp wheezed from my throat, expanding my too-tight lungs.

Flames ignited, a fire set to my veins, spreading fast and coalescing as a hot melting point right between my thighs.

That smirk was in full force when he let my fingers free with a pop.

Then he went and shocked me again when he pressed my hand to his chest. It felt way too strong, and damn it, his heart had to have been beating just as hard as mine.

Something flashed in those eyes. Something soft. That was all it took, and something soft inside me wanted to give.

To give up and give it all.

Then that wicked mouth ticked up at the side, and he guided my trembling hand down.

Down.

Down.

Down.

While I stood like a sucker allowing it.

He stopped just above the obvious bulge straining from his too tight jeans.

“Oh, I’m sure your hands work wonders, but honestly, I had other things in mind.”

My senses came rushing back.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

That’s what soft got me.

It left me no more than a pawn in an elaborate game.

I jerked myself free, begging my feet to cooperate as I scrambled for the door with all the confidence I had left, digging deep for the strength that was dwindling fast.

By the time I got to the door, my chin was lifted high.

Because I remembered.

Remembered who I’d fought so hard to become.