Page 15 of The Price of Power

Every rational instinct in my head screamed that trusting him was the worst decision I could possibly make, but my body disagreed. My carnal side heard the wicked promise in his voice and melted even deeper into his touch, surrendering completely.

“That’s right,” he purred into my ear when he sensed my surrender. “Let me show you what’s possible. Let me show you what you really want.”

I bit into my lower lip, anticipating another kiss or caress—but instead, after another half-second of holding me tight, he released his hold on me completely.

Until that moment, I hadn’t realized how deeply I’d been leaning into him, relying on his strength to hold me steady. The instant his arms fell away, I stumbled forward, my hands flying up to catch myself on the glass wall.

The two-way mirror might have been thick, but not enough to completely stop the sound of me crashing against it.

“Oh shit,” I muttered as the couple on the other side slowly broke from their kiss and looked over. Even though Gabriel had sworn they couldn’t see through the glass, I still froze in place. Feeling my whole face beginning to burn in mortification, I confessed to Gabriel, “I think I screwed up and disrupted the…”

The what? I wasn’t sure I had the vocabulary to describe people who made out for a living.

“…performers?” I tried.

But behind me, I heard Gabriel laugh again. I turned around just in time to see him slip off his jacket, carefully fold it in half, and drape it over the back of the couch. Then he started loosening his tie.

Damn. Even though he was still fully dressed, my eyes were glued to his every move as if he were the one on stage. By the time he sat down on the couch and started rolling up his sleeves, I worried I might be drooling a little.

“You didn’t disrupt anyone,” he assured me. “If anything, Marcus and Bethany will be excited to know they have an audience watching. Look.”

He nodded casually toward the glass, and I glanced over my shoulder.

Sure enough, the couple were now fully facing the glass, making sure every move they made was fully visible. There was no denying the boldness of their display made it even more erotic.

This time, when I turned around, my flushed cheeks had little to do with embarrassment.

“Wait. You know their names?” I asked.

“Of course,” Gabriel answered, spreading his arms wide across the back of the sofa. “This is my brother’s club, after all.”

Right. But still…

“But doesn’t it feel weird to watch your friends fu—“ And just like that, I was right back to being embarrassed again. “Doing that,” I amended.

Apparently, it was too much to hope that Gabriel didn’t catch that verbal hiccup. His smile grew, becoming more knowing.

In any other circumstance, I might have been annoyed that someone like him found my tactfulness amusing, but truthfully, I was in no position to judge—not when I was enjoying the novelty of his quirks and mannerisms just as much.

“I don’t think I’d call them my friends exactly,” he said with a shrug. “But no. It doesn’t feel weird to watch them fuck.”

He hit the word hard. Hard enough to make me feel more than a little defensive.

“But they’re not fucking yet,” I pointed out.

Maybe not, but at this point, they were doing just about everything else—kissing and rubbing on each other so intensely that I didn’t know how they could stand holding out any longer.

“Is that a complaint?” Gabriel asked, letting his head lazily fall to one side. “Do you want to tell them to start?”

My eyes went wide. “We can do that?”

“Of course. You see that control there?”

I nodded as he gestured toward a red knob on the side table next to the couch. “Yeah.”

“Turn it to the center, and we’ll be able to hear the audio from their room. Twist it one notch further, and they’ll be able to hear everything we do and say.”

“Yeah… I’m not sure I’m ready for that.” Even though I said the words and meant them, I still couldn’t manage to look away from the temptation of the knob.

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