Page 21 of Allure
“Oh God?” he questioned, amusement lacing his tone. “God doesn’t dwell in the space between us—in the things I want to do to you.” He brought his lips down to her erratic pulse. “But if you need something to pray to, I have no problem being your church—watching you get on your knees for me and spill your confessions all over my cock, little star.”
“Syra, who’s at…oh shi…oh.” Katrina’s laughter crash landed Syra back down to earth.
She was both thankful and annoyed for Kat’s interruption. There was a part of her that wanted to push Asli—dare him to see how far he’d take things with her—and that part wanted to throttle her friend. The other part of her that screamed caution knew that Kat had just saved her from making a mistake and crossing a line she shouldn’t have been crossing.
“Asli,” she murmured, pressing her hand against his chest. She looked up at him, pleading without words to put some space between them.
“Shy now, little star?” His brown eyes searched hers before his lips pulled back into a smirk and he stepped back.
The night air felt like a blessing to her overheated body temperature. She felt like she could finally breathe in something other than the light cinnamon that lingered on Asli’s skin. She looked at him—her eyes immediately went to the outline of his cock in his pants, and she pulled her bottom lip between her teeth, taking in his size.
She’d seen him that night—watched through Marco’s living room window how Asli stroked his cock before he let the woman on her knees suck him off—but the distance hadn’t given her a true image of what Asli had been blessed with. Her mouth watered, knowing he would stretch her in a different way from Marco. She shivered thinking of both men inside of her, moving in tandem to bring her a pleasure she’d never known.
Asli cleared his throat, and she snapped her eyes back up to his face, feeling a little embarrassed she got caught staring.
You were doing a lot more than staring.
“Behave,” he taunted just as Delilah came to the front door.
“I didn’t think you were going to be the one to pick us up.” She made a humming sound in the back of her throat as she looped her arm in Syra’s.
The touch of her friend grounded Syra and cleared her mind of the lust-filled thoughts she was having of Asli. They were going out for business, not pleasure, and Asli wasn’t hers just as Marco wasn’t. Syra was the one who made the sweeping declaration there could be nothing but business between her and Marco, and unconsciously that included Asli too. She needed to get her libido on board asap.
Asli rubbed the back of his hand against his chin before he stepped to the side. “Technically, I’m not.” He inclined his head toward the street just in time for a black town car to pull up to the curb in front of Delilah’s house.
Syra wanted to be impressed, but her gaze flicked to another black sedan parked across the street with tinted windows. She noticed the sedan was still running, and her heart leaped into her throat as an icy coldness bled into her system. She caught sight of the license plate, not enough to get the full number since the town car had obscured her view, but it was enough to fill her with fear.
Joel was here.
The thought made her pulse race loud and wild—a thunderstorm threatening to drown her. She wasn’t used to this fearfulness regarding Joel. He had never raised his voice nor put his hands on her to cause this need to escape. Regardless of the colorful text messages he left her, he wasn’t a violent person.
Then why the hell do I have this need to run from him?
Syra tried to stay focused on the conversation, tried to use Delilah’s body heat to pull her back to the surface, but something held her hostage, locking her in a state of fear. She had to will her feet to stay rooted, but her body was in charge now—as if it could sense danger was closing in.
She took a step back, ready to bolt inside. She felt a rising panic trying to strangle her as if a pair of phantom hands were wrapped around her neck. It was Delilah’s sure grip on her arm and a pair of deep brown concerned eyes that slowly settled her, pulling her out of the chokehold she was in.
“You good?” Delilah’s voice cleared the rest of the fog, and she nodded, feeling embarrassed and silly that she had the reaction she did. She had no proof the car belonged to Joel, and even if it did, what did that matter? Joel wouldn’t physically harm her. Yes, he was sending her hateful messages, but wasn’t he entitled to his feelings? They had been together a long time. Even if she felt like the relationship had run its course long before she filed for divorce, it didn’t mean he felt that way too. If he was lashing out it was because he was hurt, he wasn’t physically violent for her to fear him.
Syra waved a hand in front of her face. “Not sure what happened there.”
“You don’t have to come tonight if you’re feeling unwell.” Asli’s voice was soft, a hint of concern wrapped around his words that made her flush with embarrassment.
“I’m fine. I was merely blown away by your beauty in a suit.” She smiled at her weak attempt at a joke. She could feel Delilah’s eyes on her, scrutinizing and looking for the real reason she was ready to run back inside.
Syra turned toward her friend, giving her hand a tight squeeze. “I’m fine. Looks like we’re riding in style tonight, ladies.” Her voice grew steadier, and she prayed that her friends and Asli let her off the hook. She didn’t want to sit and talk about what happened because in truth she couldn’t.
“Are we going to stand out here all night?” Syra let out a breath. “We do have a long drive.” She glanced at Delilah, silently pleading to let it go.
Her eyes narrowed only for a moment before she relented. “Thanks for sending a car for us. Me and Kat just need to put our shoes on and grab our bags.”
“And I need to finish getting ready,” Syra mumbled.
“You look amazing,” Asli and Kat said in unison, which caused Kat to laugh and Syra to smile. She felt the earlier tension slowly start to melt from her body.
Delilah grabbed Kat and pushed past Syra to get back into the house, leaving Syra alone with Asli again. An awkward silence filled the air, and she fought the need to fidget under his weighted gaze.
“You sure you’re okay, Syra?” The ‘r’in her name still rolled off his tongue in a sensual manner that made heat lick up her spine. She thought he had only done it when he had his hands on her; now she wondered if that was just how he would always say her name and how she’d survive the seduction of it.
