Page 41 of King of Justice

When the guitar solo began, she put her instrument aside and stepped down from the stage, taking the hand of the first man who stood in her way, banging her head and throwing it back in a feverish succession.

And to the rhythm of her sways, my heart danced.

thirteen

Surrendering

Sophie

I couldn’t believe my eyes. What was Nathan Wright doing in this dump, and more curiously, why was he filming me? At first, I defiantly kept my eyes on his phone lens, smiling confidently as my hands moved to the beat. But soon, his ludicrous grin forced me to look away. He had the body language of a mom filming her son’s first soccer match, which confirmed to me that he was drunk.

“We’ll take a short break and be back for more!” the band announced. So, I put away the tambourine and made my way through the small crowd in Nathan’s direction.

As I approached, all I saw was the buoyant smile on his face.

“So, you’re here.” I tilted my head, aiming a piercing look his way. His eyes searched mine for something I couldn’t quite discern, so I added, “How come you’re not at some fancy party feeding on an endangered species?”

“Is that what you really think, or are you going out of your way to hurt my feelings?”

“Is it working?”

“If I say it is, will you dance with me?”

“You don’t want my pity dance.”

“I don’t know.” He drew a deep breath as his eyes looked at a spot behind me. “You must’ve flipped a switch in my head.”

“How did you find me?”

He widened his eyes as they linked with mine once more. “Accident.”

“Liar.”

“I must’ve lied about a million things, but not this one.”

In the background, more seventies songs played while the band and guests melded into one prancing frenzy. Looking around, I felt like we must have been the only ones not dancing.

And so I let him put his arms around me. I bobbed my head and swung it from side to side, getting lost in the music. I must have gotten so lost that the tracks of time and place eluded me. Suddenly, we were in his car, making out.

“I don’t think I should—” I whispered in an attempt to stop myself from getting naked in a car while the dawn threatened to bring on the day.

“No?” He leaned over, pulling me closer as his fingers reached out to trace my bottom lip, caressing it ever so softly, taunting me.

Before I could negotiate with myself on whether or not I should stop him, he lowered his lips to mine, and I parted my mouth, responding eagerly.

He moaned in the back of his throat as he shifted in his seat, tugging on my hand. Slowly, his mouth moved from my lips, trailing a path up to my ears, biting gently before he opened his mouth, hot breath dancing across my skin, and bared his teeth, lightly grazing the sensitive skin.

A thick, dark cloud of desire surrounded me, compromising what was left of my judgment. In the back of my mind, I was aware that this was a bad idea, but I couldn’t seem to bring myself to care enough to do something about it. Especially when his hands moved up, one of them cupping the back of my neck while the other touched my breasts over the fabric of my flannel shirt.

I made a low whimpering noise and squeezed my eyes shut. Nathan’s hands moved up and down my arms, leaving a trail of heat in his wake. I threw my head back, and he brushed his mouth against my neck. Once, twice, and the third time he nipped, teeth piercing the sensitive flesh there.

Holy shit.

Dimly, I was aware of the rustle of my jacket as Nathan shifted and pulled me closer. I threw one leg over him then the other, so I was straddling him. His arms came up around my shoulders, his heavy breathing doing strange things to my insides.

Part of me was screaming, yelling at me to stop when I had many reasons not to be with him. But the harder I tried to stay away from Nathan, the stronger the pull felt. So strong in fact that I didn’t mind getting naked in the middle of an abandoned parking lot, with the only privacy being the tinted glass of the windows.

Fuck.

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