I grind back into the man behind me. My body heat rises with each moment that their hands are on me. Footsteps sound at the entrance of the hallway, drawing my gaze to the final masked man’s approach. The small horns protruding from his mask indicate that this is the one from the dance floor and a smile spreads across my face at the thought of him joining the party. He strides toward us and then his body is pinning mine against the man behind me. His fingers slide into my hair, pulling the thick locks into his fist and forcing my head back as his masked face hovers a breath away from my own.
A low moan escapes my throat as I relish every touch.
“Do you want more, Fallon?” The man kneeling, slides one hand under the hem of my shirt.
“Yes,” I rasp as his other hand moves between me and the man in front of me, pressing against my clit through the material of my leather leggings. His touch sends sparks through my body.
The hum of approval from the man in front of me has me grinding harder between the two bodies. I feel like I’m going to combust. I close my eyes as sensations overtake me.
The man behind me leans closer, his mouth hovering near my ear and his breath hot on my neck. “We’ll be watching.”
All contact suddenly disappears as their fiery touches are replaced by cool air. I hear the distinct sound of the fire escape door opening and closing behind me.
Before I can open my eyes, I know they’re gone. Exhilaration and disappointment are at war inside of me. I brace one hand on the wall to steady myself, the rush of the encounter making me dizzy. I walk back through the darkness toward the lounge.
Once back at the balcony, I head straight for Quinn. Seeing me, she gives the nod. I know it well; it's time to go.
She falls into step beside me. “Let's get out of here. I need mozzarella sticks and pizza rolls.”
“This is why I love you.”
I have to say, as best friends go, this one is a gem.
I follow Quinn outside to the Uber that will take us back to my apartment building. Glancing up before climbing in, I freeze.
There standing in the shadows is the same man from the dance floor. I’m locked in place as time seems to freeze. The man takes a step toward the street… Toward me.
A car flies between us, and suddenly he’s not there. My alcohol buzz is definitely gone at this point but it’s replaced with a buzz of intrigue. What the fuck? No. Nope. Not unpacking that right now. I ignore my racing thoughts and slide into the Uber.
Eyes sparkling, Quinn hands me her phone with a nod toward the driver. On the screen I see “SMASH”.
I snicker, but as the car starts toward home, my mind is on three smashable masked strangers.
Chapter 2
Fallon
Work is always shittier on a Monday. Dragging myself out of my king-sized bed and away from the comfort of my apartment, my thoughts are borderline hostile. After several hours of avoiding Clay and meeting with my team, I find myself in my office with the scent of my Philly cheesesteak sandwich filling the air. I contemplate the images that take up most of my monitor: Matteo Moretti, Declan Huxley and Akio Savage. Apparently Lunar Security was founded by GQ models because…DAMN!
Each man manages a portion of the company. Matteo seems to be the main face of the operation, and a little extra Googling tells me he created an empire from original inventions and patents, all of which are security-related, like that new, impenetrable material that they build panic rooms out of. Akio is proclaimed an IT genius and handles the cyber security facet of the company. Then Declan, all tall, dark and brooding, is head of operations and personnel. I assume that means he manages the security guards and such.
Even as I sit here studying this company and the images of these men, I think back to Friday night and a completely different trio of guys. The fact that they knew my name should terrify me, but I’m willing to bet they got it off of the VIP list. The masks, the secrecy, their hands on me...Tingles run over my skin just remembering it. Why do I only feel like this when it comes to walking red flags instead of men like the ones on my screen now? They’re hot, of course, but something about the danger and mystery of those masked men has so much more appeal.What did they mean when they said they would see me soon?
The total control they had over me in that hallway felt almost like… relief. I stay in control of the relationships in my life and rarely let a person get close enough to me to matter, and the truth is, it’s exhausting.
The sharp knock at my door jerks me from my thoughts. “Come in.”
Clay enters, making himself comfortable on the small sofa near the door. I go ahead and dig out some Tylenol for the headache that he inevitably brings and start the internal countdown to the end of this day.
“I like when you wear that shirt.” His gaze rakes straight to my cleavage. He is the exact reason I don't wear this shirt as often, but today was supposed to be Clay-free.
“I thought you were going to be in Chisholm Bay today for the expansion meetings,” I say, ignoring his comment and referring to the major overhaul that Helix is doing as they buy out half of the housing and hotel operations in that city. Helix Enterprises started out as a simple import and export business due to having full control of the port on this coast. In the past ten years, we’ve expanded to hotels and resorts, as well as construction and development.
“Postponed to next week. Current owners need a bit more convincing.” His smile reminds me of a shark. Despite his eyes being blue, they seem dark and empty.
“Can we really afford to throw more money at that project? We don't even have a foothold in that city. To build an entirely new port wouldcost double what expanding our current one would.” My arms cross and my head tilts.
“There are more ways to convince people than money.”
