Page 22 of Oblivion

Something passed behind Dante’s eyes. Brief and fleeting, almost angry, until he erased it with a single blink.

“Yep.” He took a long pull of his beer, while eyeing me. “How old are you, Penny?”

The question took me off-guard and I pulled back a little. “Twenty-one. We all are. It was my birthday last weekend. Why?”

He hissed a curse and tipped his head back. I followed the curve of his neck over the jut of his Adam’s apple, over the five o’clock shadow on his jaw, to the pointed tip of his nose. I wanted him to close his eyes, to give me a glimpse of what he looked like when succumbing to pleasure.

I jolted when he locked eyes on me again. “I was twelve when you were born. Way to make me feel old.”

My jaw dropped. “Bullshit!” I yelled after deciding he wasn’t as old as he claimed to be. Maybe one or two of his friends, but not him.

His wide grin and laugh made me smile. It was so exuberant and full of life.

“I can assure you, Lemon Drop, I ain’t bullshitting you. But thanks.”

We paused, and during that beat of staring and grinning like fools, there was a pang of sadness that I only had Dante for one night. He seemed like a guy I could easily adore beyond our initial breath-shallowing attraction.

“Dancing! We’re dancing!” Lydia declared, accompanying the declaration with a hard shove against my back.

I lost my balance and toppled into Dante’s arms, and he seized the opportunity to have his hands on me.

“Yo, there’ll be plenty of time to feel up my girl later. Move your ass,” Lydia demanded.

Dante scoffed, yet obliged. He slid from the seat, then reached for my hand. My fingers scissored with his without hesitation, and I found myself swiftly pulled to my feet and anchored against his chest. Powerful arms wrapped around my waist, holding me in place while Lydia, Vivi, and Doughboy stood from the table.

Dante’s chest vibrated with laughter. “Bro, are you joining them?”

His friend smirked and smoothed a hand over Lydia’s booty. “Fuckin’ A, I am. Coming?”

I felt Dante’s snort. “Doubt it.”

“C’mon, Lotus, let’s dance!” I grabbed his arm and tugged, getting nowhere as he dug his heels in and stood steadfast.

“I don’t dance, Penny.”

“You do tonight. Get your ass on the dance floor,” I demanded with a suggestive thrust of my chest.

Reaching for his beer, Dante held my gaze as he tipped it to his lips and downed it in one go. He all but tossed his empty bottle at the table, then grabbed my hips. His low, heated voice created a pulse of anticipation between my legs.

“We’ll call it foreplay.”

CHAPTERNINE

Dante

With my arms locked around Penny’s waist, anchoring her back to my front, I moved us to the music while she ground her ass against my very appreciative dick.

I both cursed and blessed her for pulling me so effortlessly from my comfort zone. I preferred to sit where I could view the room. Position myself where my boys could see behind me. When we were “one,” we had eyes covering three-sixty degrees.

Penny being able to distract me spoke volumes about the mystical pull between us.

Thankful for Doughboy joining us on the dance floor, we automatically positioned opposite each other with the girls between us—all three of them.

My hands wandered over Penny’s stomach as my need to feel her shot higher. She seemed to burn under my touch, and her movements turned sensual. I smoothed my hands up her small-framed torso, slipping my fingers beneath the edges of her dress and groaning when they grazed bra-less sideboob. My dick pulsed and I bit back an impatient urge to explore further.

Leaning away while keeping my hips pressed to her ass, I swiped her long hair to the side. The bare expanse of her back, so lean and smooth, called for my tongue to lick the length of her spine. Following the subtle bumps with one hand, when I reached the base of her neck, I captured her jaw and turned her head. The music swallowed everything around us. It was just me and her, drowning in our individual need to drink and turn to a stranger for a single night of shameless sex.

Penny raised an arm above her head and swayed her hips to the music. I claimed her mouth again while smoothing my hand up her extended arm. So smooth and petite under my palm. Our fingers interlinked, then lowered to follow the curve of her breasts.

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