Page 40 of The Chase
One of the men raised his hand. “Sir, the party’s this way.”
“One second.” He waved them out. “It’s her first time.”
With a nod of permission the men turned on their heels and left. Tobias beamed my way. “I think we fooled them, don’t you?”
My jaw was gaping.
“Zara?”
“Yes, absolutely.” I righted my footing as he pulled away, my scorching cheeks and racing heart needing more time to recover. “Totally convinced.” Trying to swallow this lump of embarrassment in my throat.
I tugged his jacket around me.
“I need it back,” he said kindly.
Reluctantly, I eased it off my shoulders and held his jacket out to him, watching Tobias nonchalantly pull his arms through as though we’d not just shared an incredible kiss.
He used the same mirror to straighten his shirt and tie and fix his mask.
In a blur I followed him, glancing back atLa Maja Desnudaas though I’d been the one naked and exposed.
7
We headed down the hallway following the men back toward the foyer. The door to the party was up ahead.
Music carried from within the vast room. Some rhythmic rave number, an erotic backdrop to spur those within on and tease them into an unending wave of lovemaking.
If I saw inside that room, my life would never be the same.
The taller of the two bouncers rested his hand on the door handle.
I reached out and grabbed Tobias’s arm, wanting to say his name and knowing that was forbidden.
From beneath those double doors the thump of a bass bled out and seeped all the way inside me, surging through my veins. A rush of jumbled thoughts as I judged which way to run.
They’ll stop you. And then give you back to me, Tobias had threatened before. “Turn around,” he said firmly.
My feet stuck to the ground.
Following Tobias’s lead, I feigned we were here for the party, hoping not to alert them to the real reason we’d snuck into their state room.
That chill found me and soaked into the depths of my limbs, my body trembling.
“I need you to trust me,” he whispered, pulling his necktie from around his collar.
I turned and waited, my breathing stilted, the ringing in my ears disorientating.
We’d gone too far with our ruse.
Fragile, more unsure than I’d ever felt, I was going to break apart if I didn’t relinquish to Tobias these remnants of faith I’d once guarded so fiercely, having doubted I’d ever let anyone this close. And this was more of a risk than I’d ever known, the equivalent of walking on hot coals, or skiing down a sheer ice face, or exposing the most vulnerable part of myself, the most sacred facet of my sexuality.
My breathing stilted as I reached back for him.
His warm hand rested on my nape and my skin tingled beneath his touch; with a gentle caress he reassured me.
Holding my mask in place I felt the material of his necktie wrapping over it to cover my eyes. A tug as he tied it behind my head.
The hard lines of Tobias’s body nudged up against me. “Do exactly as I say.”
