Page 40 of The Penalty

“Well, I might care.” I squeezed him. “I would like to celebrate with my coworkers and friends at some point.”

His embrace loosened. “Pity.”

I leaned my head back and caught his eye. His gaze was teasing and relaxed. That’s a relief.

“I’ll make a deal with you. Let’s go back out to the party for a little while. Have a few drinks. Something to eat. Maybe do a little dancing and socializing.”

“And where does the deal part come into play?”

“I’ll let you hang out with me.” I planted a lush kiss on his lips, grabbed his hand, and led him back to the solarium.

Bennet sat by himself at a table staring at his phone. I scanned the room and found Hannah. She was doing shots with Noah, Jax, and several other players.

From the looks of it, we’d arrived at the anything goes portion of the evening. And knowing these guys, the after-party would be even more insane.

Hannah waved me over. I waved back, tugging on Xavier’s hand.

“C’mon,” I coaxed. “Dance with me. Or do you want to be boring and lame like Bennet?”

He pulled me close, tipping my chin up. “I want to watch you dance. If I like what I see, I’ll join you.”

Tempting.

My intentions weren’t quite the same. I wanted to ply him with alcohol and grind against him to every song the DJ played.

Between the things he’d said to me outside and the way he kissed me on the piano, my body needed release one way or another. For some reason, he didn’t seem to be interested in playing in public. Maybe I was too convincing with my be a good boy routine.

“I know this look. Am I not supposed to behave anymore?” He glanced at the dance floor. “Hannah is waiting. You should really go to her.”

“And what are you going to do?”

“Watch you.” He dipped his head, as though he meant to kiss me. A level of desire swept through me so fierce and overwhelming, it nearly left me breathless. My eyes hooded at the slow, calculated slide of his hands over my hips.

“What will you think about while you watch me?” The catch in my voice sounded painfully obvious even with all the noise.

His mouth hovered at my ear. “The more appropriate question is, what will you be thinking about?”

A soft moan rose in my throat and burst into the thick, languid air enveloping us.

“Dance for me, love.” Each word caressed my skin in sultry, warm strokes. The pulses of desire intensified. I was seconds away from unraveling.

Being with him at a sizable event surrounded by my coworkers and the media tested me on a level I didn’t know existed. Sure, I’ve gone off with athletes or whomever at events similar to this in the past.

But those were meaningless (dare I say it) flings.

This was not a fling. This was real and raw and consuming and…

He slid his hand between my thighs. I parted my lips in an effort to breathe. I knew he could feel how turned on I was.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” he asked, teasing me with his fingers. The whisper-light strokes edged me closer to release.

“Yes.”

The teasing stopped. I swallowed, looking into his eyes. A small tilt of his head reminded me of how I’m supposed to respond. One of these days we’ll be able to bypass this part, right?

“Green.”

A rough stroke across my clit nearly made me see stars.

---