Page 104 of Dance of Ruin

But I see nothing, and a shiver of relief slides down my spine.

“I need to dance,” Evelina says, grabbing my hand. “Before my brother decides I’ve had enough fun for one night.”

“Excellentidea,” I blurt, lurching to my feet. Brooklyn and Milena join us as we spill onto the dance floor, whooping it up as the crowd thickens around us—thumping music, bodies swaying, hands raised.

I let it wash over me, dulling the edges of my thoughts. My skin hums, nerves on fire, adrenaline coursing through my veins.

But then we get separated, and suddenly I’m not with my friends anymore. I can't even see them. I’m not panicked or anything, but I turn, trying to push my way through the crowd to find them again.

Someone brushes against my hip as the crowd of surging dancers sways around me. I freeze when a hand glides up my arm, sending a shiver down my spine.

It’s the scent that hits me first—leather and smoke. Clean and masculine.

Heat floods my body.

Panic. Thrill. Shame.

Want.

My breath stutters as Nico’s lips brush against my ear.

“I told you tostay put.”

21

NAOMI

I freeze.

Every nerve lights up like it’s been plugged straight into him.

His voice is like molten steel, with an edge to it that teases over my skin and makes my breath seize in my throat.

His hand captures my hip, fingers digging into my side and making the still-fresh bruises there throb with both dull pain and electrifying excitement. I can feel the heat of his body behind me—hot, hard, unmistakably Nico—and my thin dress does nothing to hide the shiver that rolls through me.

I try to turn around, but he doesn’t let me.

“Nico—”

“Quiet,” he growls over the thudding bass pounding and swirling around us.

Something panicky starts to bubble up my throat.

I’m in trouble.

This isn’t playful. This isn’t flirtatious.

He told me not to go out tonight. He looked me right in the eye and told me to stay put. And then I walked out of the apartment and came here anyway.

I defied him.

And now he’s here—behind me—like a hurricane making landfall.

My heart slams in my chest. Heat crawls up my spine, spreads over my cheeks. I try to steady my breath, remind myself that he hasn’t said anything yet, hasn’t?—

He presses his mouth to my ear again, dragging his nose down my throat.

“You thought I wouldn’t notice what’sminegoing missing?”

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