Page 4 of Unzoned

His dark eyes swung away. "Kimberly, we've said everything that needed saying. I'm in the middle of something right now." Without being overly showy he pulled his arm away and raised his chin in the direction of the crowd. "I'm sure Sam could use a partner tonight."

Something close to rage flashed in her crystal blues before she shoved it away and a brilliant smile appeared. "Sure. Maybe I'll see if I can find him." With not so much as a glance Jade's way, she turned and shoved her way back through the crowd.

"Well known in these parts?" Jade supervised the venom in her own voice. Garrick simply grinned.

"I thought you weren't going anywhere special tonight?" he leaned against the bar, drawing her closer to him by leaning toward her. He'd shaved; she could smell the musk of his shaving cream. The warmth of the spicy scent tempered her frazzled nerves. Being the cure and the cause at the same time didn't clear things up for her.

She glanced over the crowd as it began to filter away from them. "I think they opened the doors." She picked up her glass, intending to get lost in the sea of people, but his hand rested on her arm, completely stilling her.

They'd been friends for years; they'd even fallen asleep in bed together during high school, but this wasn't high school. And it wasn’t any old touch.

He didn’t simply ask for her attention; he denied her the ability to walk away. It was a command. Silent, but still there. The heat from his hand radiated up her arm, sending a chill down her spine. Every bit of a contradiction.

When her eyes swept up to meet his, her breath hitched. A stern expression met her; his warm brown eyes darker now that he stared down at her. His lips were relaxed, and full, and like every other time she'd noticed his mouth, she wanted to kiss him. To feel his heat pressed against hers, and have her breath knocked out of her.

Damn him. She hated sappy romance, and there she was, living it. The room began to cool down as the party goers filed into the dungeons and private areas, leaving them only with a handful of other couples in the lounge.

"Why didn't you tell me you were coming here tonight?" he asked in a low voice.

"Why didn't you tell me you'd be here?" she countered. There were plenty of times he didn't tell her what his plans were, though now she had a better idea as to why. "Maybe you thought it was private?"

His left eyebrow arched, and his hand moved to relieve her of her wine glass. "You don't do well with wine on an empty stomach, and I have a good feeling you didn't eat dinner before you came." It wasn’t fair. He knew so much, and she stood there knowing nothing.

"I-" She stopped short of lying, that damn eyebrow nearly disappeared into his hair line. The usual attraction she felt toward him shifted into overdrive with his dominant side starting to peek out at her. She needed to get away from him if she had any hope of enjoying the evening without pining away for him. "I didn't think you'd go for this sort of place, and I didn’t want another lecture about dating." Somewhat true. His habit of getting all in her love life grated on her. He didn’t want her, but he seemed unwilling to let anyone else have a shot either.

"Go for it? Hell, I own a small percentage of it." His arrogant grin didn't persuade her to drop her annoyance.

"You own this place?"

"Not all of it, just a few shares."

"You never told me you bought into a BDSM club." She pointed out, annoyed with his own deception. They told each other everything. At least she thought they did.

"I have shares in a lot of clubs." He took a sip of her wine. "Besides, I didn't think you'd go for a place like this."

Using her own words against her was harsh.

She took a deep breath and looked for Carissa. Of course, she was nowhere to be found, probably off with the Neanderthal.

"Well, I guess we have more in common than we thought." Her cheeks heated at her words. They were at a club where spanking, bondage, and sex were bound to be center stage, and she talked about it as though they enjoyed the same genre of movies.

"I guess," he laughed. Finishing her wine, he slid the glass across the bar to the bartender. "No more, thanks. And no liquor for Jade here. Only water or pop."

The bartender nodded and made a note on a pad of paper on the bar.

"What the hell?" She shoved at his arm.

"I already said, you don't handle your wine on an empty stomach. And if you shove me like that again, I'll be forced to show you what else we have in common."

"Oh, yeah? What's that?" The alarm bells rang, but she wasn't about to answer. Not yet.

He stepped closer to her, pushing her short locks behind her ears and capturing her face in his hands. Her knees weakened at his close proximity, but when he brought his face close to hers, looking like he was about to kiss her, she had to grip the bar to keep from slipping out of his grasp.

Warmth rolled off of him and washed over her lips. Her eyelids fluttered closed, and she parted her lips, waiting for his lips to press against hers. Her pulse ran rapid, and her breath became harder to control, but it would be worth it. His kiss would settle all of her raging emotions.

"Discipline." The whispered word yanked her from her trance.

Her eyes flew open, and she found him staring into them, a soft smile tugging at his lips. Like he knew what he'd just done. Drew her in, made her want him, and yanked it all away.

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