Page 48 of Fractured Rhythm

“It’s always the ones who talk about it that have,” she said as she held up her pinky.

“Them’s fighting words, lady,” Jax fired back, but he was clearly loving the banter.

I leaned into Cassie, my mouth an inch from her ear. “Dance with me.” I didn’t miss the shudder that rolled through her.

“Okay,” she said, pushing back in her chair.

That had been easier than I’d thought.

She pulled me toward the dance floor without a word to anyone at the table. The band was taking a break, and the house music filled the bar, the bass heavy and low. The tempo was perfect for pulling her into me and not looking out of place. The bar had filled up over the last few hours, and the dance floor was packed with swaying bodies. All the more reason to hold her close.

Fuck, I’d take any excuse I could manage.

Her fingers traveled up my chest, her thumb brushing over my nipple, and I sucked in a breath as my body tightened and pulsed with the need to drag her home with me and spread her out on my kitchen table so I could bury my face between her luscious thighs. I became hard as a fucking rock as her hands continued their exploration, tangling in the short hair on my neck.

“I miss your hair,” she whispered against my throat before she tilted her head back to look up at me.

“How drunk are you?” I asked, now wondering if she had had as much as the rest of the guys. I swore she hadn’t, but I wasn’t imagining her coming on to me stronger than she had since we were together all those years ago.

“Not really at all,” she said, and I focused on her eyes. There was no liquor glaze happening. Her words weren’t slurred.

“You haven’t willingly touched me like this in a long time,” I said, unable to keep that thought to myself. I didn’t want to call her out on anything and have her stop, but I had to make sure we were on the same page and, if anything happened between us, she wouldn’t regret it in the morning and blame it on the booze.

The morning?

Fuck. I was getting way ahead of myself.

“Just dance with me, Bash.”

She tucked herself in close and swayed with the music; her breasts pressed against my chest. Her stomach brushed against my hard cock, but she didn’t shy away, just let out a soft breath against my throat that made me harder, if that was possible.

I kept one hand anchored at the base of her spine and trailed the fingers of my other hand up and down her back, relishing in every shudder. Every soft moan. Every breath she took.

“We used to dance like this all the time,” I whispered into her hair.

“We always did fit well together.” The words were so soft I was afraid I’d imagined them.

Then she tilted her head back and stared directly at me. It was only natural for me to lower my head, to brush my lips against hers and taste the tang of beer on her plump lips before she parted them and I dove in with a groan.

Our tongues tangled, and I swallowed her moan. Her hands tightened in my hair, holding me in place, and all thoughts of our friends seeing us, and all the questions they’d have, vanished as she sank further into my body. I cupped the back of her head, wrapping my fingers in her long, dark hair and holding her in place.

She nipped at my lower lip, and my cock jumped in response, aching to break through the clothes between us. I wanted to lift her up, to fit her legs around my waist, and find the closest available surface to do everything to her that I’d been dreaming of for years—since I’d walked away the first time.

Kissing her in front of everyone we cared about was thrilling. I wouldn’t think about the questions that were bound to come up later. All that mattered was the fact that Cassie was in my arms, melting into my body, and kissing me with all she had. I was staking my claim on her, and I wasn’t letting her go anytime soon. This was meant to happen. We were meant to happen. The wasted years slipped away as we devoured each other.

“Oh, Bash. I never could resist you,” she whispered against my lips before she dove back into kissing me.

I sucked her lower lip into my mouth before pulling back. “Do you want to resist me?”

Her laugh was soft, husky, filled with a need that no doubt matched my own. “I should, but no, I don’t. I’m done fighting this.”

My entire body pulsed like a live wire, and I needed to get her out of this bar.

“Want to go home?” I asked, holding my breath.

Her eyes sparkled under the low light in the bar as she abused the lower lip that I’d been nibbling on. “Yes. More than anything,” she whispered.

“This is going to be fast,” I said, ushering her off the dance floor.

“Umm, that’s not what a woman wants to hear,” she said, humor lacing her words.

“I meant, us saying goodbye to everyone so I can get you home before I explode in my pants. Once we’re there, we are going to torture each other slowly until we can’t take it anymore,” I said, my eyes still locked with hers.

I didn’t miss the heat in her cheeks or her blown-out pupils as she took in a shuddering breath.

“Let’s make this fast,” she said.

Within minutes, we were in a cab and heading back to my place. The guy needed to pick up the pace because I wasn’t sure how much longer I would last without touching her again.

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