Page 90 of Attached At Heart
I could get drunk just by watching her. What a fucking vision. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen Delaney this carefree, this alive, and it was beautiful.Shewas beautiful. And Christ, did I want her.
She danced. I watched. She peeled her jacket off. I took it from her. She nearly spilled her drink all over herself. I plucked it from her hands and set both our drinks on a nearby table, throwing her jacket there, too.
Delaney didn’t seem to notice. Her eyes remained closed. They didn’t flick open again until about halfway through the song, like she’d suddenly remembered I existed. Her gaze immediately searched for me, and when she found me standing still nearly a foot away, she pouted.
“You said you were going to dance with me.”
“Sorry.” I cleared my throat as I stepped forward, happily slipping my hands onto her hips and tugging her toward me.Delaney gave a little shriek of delight as our bodies collided. “I was too busy watching you,” I breathed in her ear.
Even with the music blaring, I heard—or maybe felt—her breath hitch. And then she admitted, “I’d rather have you touching me.”
“Fuck, Delaney.”
Hearing her say words like that aloud after so many torturous years of being her best friend who kept his distance was just unbelievable. I didn’t have a way to describe how it made me feel, but I knew it was like nothing I’d ever felt before.
“Mm,” she hummed in her throat. She pressed her hips tighter to mine, urging my body to mimic hers as if she wanted to teach me how to move like she did. And because we seemed to be stuck in some sort of magnetic field, I found it impossible not to follow her lead, not to move my body at the same tempo as her, with the same sway, following the same pulse.
Delaney wound her arms around my neck, and I took that cue and ran with it, wrapping myself around her and locking my hands on the small of her back. Locking her against me.
Her gaze tracked upward, looking at me from beneath long lashes. Her expression was inviting, urging me to move with her. Which was good because I didn’t know how to turn back now. I rocked against her, following the rhythmic beat reverberating through the club like a pulse. Time seemed to slow, our electrical impulses delayed. Arrhythmic.
Because nothing about this moment was normal. But every bit of it felt right.
I didn’t take my eyes off Delaney. A pretty flush reflected on her face, either from the heat swirling around us or maybe a reflection from that devastating red dress. God, the feel of her in that goddamn thing while pressed so close to me—fuck. She toyed with her bottom lip, also red, also devastating. Plump and kissable. She bit down on it like she was holding in a moanbefore tilting her head back, presenting me with the column of her throat. She was letting herself feel the music, letting the bright hues from the strobe lights dance across her face.
Once again, I was overwhelmed with the desire to taste her, to press my lips to her skin, and to learn things I didn’t know about Delaney London—the only things I didn’t know about her. Expose the secrets we’d been holding in our chests. Become the kind of friends whodidtalk about their sex lives. And their kinks. And then fucking explored them together. I wanted to knoweverythingabout what Delaney wanted, and then I wanted to give it to her.
I was about to lean forward and whisper precisely those words in her ear when I caught a glimpse of that same group of men from when we walked in. They stood along the edges of the dance floor, circled with their beers once more. But I couldn’t help but notice the glinting interest when one of their gazes passed over us again, or rather Delaney, and felt my blood boil hotter.
“What?” Delaney asked over the roar of the music, and I realized she’d straightened in my arms, looking funnily at me. Probably because I’d instinctively clenched my jaw so hard that my teeth might be bleeding.
I leaned in to explain in a low voice. “The guys over there haven’t taken their eyes off you since we walked in.”
Keeping one arm around her, I splayed a hand on her back possessively while using my free palm to cup her cheek. I didn’t want her to look around to try to find them. Didn’t want them to notice her awareness. And I alsodidwant to feel the flush beneath her skin, experience the heat radiating from inside her.
“And you haven’t taken your hands off me,” she pointed out, her lips twisting with an amusement that told me she didn’t mind that I’d been all over her. Good. “I’m clearly not available.”
“I don’t think it’s clear enough,” I rasped, shaking my head. Then, I used my hand on her back to press her closer to me. “I don’t think it’s clear enough that you’re my wife, Lane.”
“No?” Delaney responded by dragging her palms over my shoulders and onto my chest, as if she wanted tomakeit clear. And her wanting other guys to know that she was unavailable, that she belonged to me, was making the possessive side of me roar to life.God, yes.
Delaney watched me for a reaction as one of her hands flattened over my heart, probably feeling how erratic it was because of the way she was touching me. Probably wishing she had a stethoscope to hear how wild she drove me for herself. Her gaze shone with mirth as she rolled her bottom lip between her teeth, pulling all my attention to her mouth.Fuck, that mouth. How I wanted it on mine again.
“No, it’s not clear enough.” I trailed my fingers over the gorgeous contours of her face, slipping them beneath her chin, ready to lift it. “So I need you to tell me, Delaney.”
She pressed up toward me, lifting onto her toes. Instinctively, I leaned to meet her, stopping only when I could feel her breath on my lips. “Tell you what?”
“Tell me the occasion calls for it,” I begged, brushing my thumb over her luscious mouth, hating and loving how it tempted me. My lips grazed hers, barely a taste, but it kept me alive while I waited for her reply.
“The occasion calls for it,” she whispered, just as I realized I couldn’t wait to get my lips on her again and dragged them along her jawline, eager to explore more of her, all of her.
“Good girl,” I murmured. My mouth lowered further, finding the pulse point on her neck, sucking gently. “Tell me this is okay.”
“Yes.” She gasped softly, winding her arms back around my neck, her fingers tangling in my hair at the base of it. She tugged slightly, making my vision haze over temporarily.
“Yes, it’s okay?” I probed huskily. “Be clear for me, sweetheart.”
“It’s okay.” I felt her lips flirt with my ear, and I swallowed a groan. Especially when her wondrously breathy voice started speaking aloud my fantasies. “You gave me permission to claim you whenever the fuck I want, Blake. This is me giving that back to you.”
