Page 59 of Nemesis

I don’t want to dance with anyone.

He stands and holds out his hand. Waits. Wiggles his fingers, and there it is again. A silent dare. Standing at the edge of a dock.Standing at the edge of a cliff. Standing at the edge of a dance floor.

I take it.

He keeps my hand trapped in his, his long fingers threading through mine. He leads us out of the VIP lounge and into the madness below. The main DJ has taken the stage against the far wall, and the dance floor is packed. It throbs with the beat of the music.

My body throbs, too. Just in a different way.

Don’t be attracted to him.

His wide shoulders help carve a path through the dancers. Where I can slip between, he’s got the energy—and the audacity—that tells people to get the fuck out of his way.

It’s kind of funny—he and Reese both have similar statures, but theyfeeldifferent. Reese is more careful. He seems well versed in being invisible. He’d slip through the crowd without an incident, without touching anyone else.

Kade hasn’t been invisible a day in his life.

We find a spot, whatever spot seems satisfying to him, and he faces me.

I tip my head back to look up at him.

He takes our joined hands and drags me a step closer. One palm touches my hip, the heat seeping through my gold shirt. Something flutters again.

I shouldn’t like it.

But it’s been a while since someone touched me like this. Not the bruising grip of Saint, disdain coating his expression. It’s more gentle than that. Softer. My body reacts with a pulse. An embarrassing pulse that travels right between my legs…

I touch Kade’s chest, sliding my hand up his silky shirt. To his shoulder, then the back of his neck. He is quite a bit taller than me, but he’s graceful. Like a fighter, sure, but also like something wild.

“Why Atlas?” I blurt out. I don’t know if he can hear me over the music. I can barely hear myself. The beat thunders and begs me to move.

My fingers drift through the short hairs at his nape, and he cocks his head. He doesn’t answer except to guide my other hand to his shoulder, then cup my waist.

Around us, people dance with abandon.

But Kade pulls me close, and I close my eyes.

“Dance, Artemis,” he says right in my ear.

I wish I had stuck around for the drink, but it’s too late now.

Like fighting, my body picks up his cues. Where he wants me to go by the gentle pressure, the way his arms are relaxed and loose on my hips. He follows when I sway them, slowly at first and then picking up speed. I find the rhythm of the music, and he follows me.

His knee nudges between my legs. My nails dig into the back of his neck.

This is more sensual than any dance…

He leans down, and I cock my head to the side. Giving him access to my ear, because he seems like he wants to say something.

His lips land on my throat.

A quiet annihilation of my coyness.

I gasp. My hips roll, both to the music and to the way his lips drift toward the corner of my jaw. His teeth scrape my skin, and my knees go weak.

Not that it matters, because he holds me up just fine.

This is really wrong.

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